I Want to Be an Extra

Chapter 8

The day begins swiftly for Daisy, the exclusive maid of Lewin Dee Dryerf. It is dawn, with a faint glow from the moonlight. Daisy wakes up and refreshes herself with a splash of cold water before enjoying a moment of solitude during her tea time. As the other servants start to wake up, she begins her preparations for work, already completing most of the morning tasks by the time they finish theirs.

While others may consider this a usual productive start to the day, Daisy is different. Once all the preparations are done and the sun rises in the sky, she engages in a constant battle.

“Master,” she calls out to Lewin Dee Dryerf, the young master she has been serving for a year now. He is hailed as a genius in the Dryerf Duchy but is also known for being incredibly lazy.

“Master,” she repeats, slightly startled. The slight movement from Lewin causes a small vein to appear on Daisy’s beautiful forehead. Instinctively, she knows that her troublesome master is finally waking up.

“Master, I know you are awake,” she asserts.

Lewin’s eyelids slowly open, revealing his gem-like blue eyes. He lets out a weak chuckle and a small whine, reaching Daisy’s ears.

“Just 10 minutes.”

While other members of the Dryerf Duchy might easily acquiesce to this outrageous request, Daisy is not one to give in.

“That’s not possible,” she retorts with a colder voice than usual.

Daisy is all too familiar with this trick, which is why she firmly grabs Lewin’s blanket.

“Hey, hey!”

“It’s time to get up.”

Lewin desperately clings to the blanket, protesting Daisy’s attempt to forcefully lift it.

“What are you doing? Taking away the blanket of the master resembling the sky!”

“Master, the sun in that sky has been up for quite some time now. Please wake up.”

Despite Lewin’s feeble resistance, Daisy does not hesitate. She snatches away the blanket, opens all the windows to let in the fresh air, and forcibly awakens Lewin, who shivers in the cold wind. Thus, her day truly begins.

“That’s too much,” Lewin grumbles after being kicked out of bed, but Daisy’s expression remains cold.

“What’s too much is you, master. By waking up early, you shorten my working time by at least 30 minutes.”

That’s the minimum.

Unable to refute Daisy’s assertion, Lewin has no choice but to suppress his sulking.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

With Daisy’s unequivocal response, Lewin is left without words.

Instead, he suggests, “Then sit on the bed.”

“…Yes.”

Lewin beckons Daisy to sit on the bed, and she complies, closing her eyes as if it’s a routine.

“Gah!”

The moment Lewin’s hand touches her body, Daisy clenches her teeth and lets out a brief moan.

‘It’s always strange.’

The peculiar sensation envelops her entire being. Despite experiencing it multiple times, she never gets accustomed to the surge of energy coursing through her body.

“Breathe.”

“Yes…!”

At Lewin’s composed command, Daisy regains her composure.

She inhales, holds her breath, and exhales. These actions cause the mana within her to move according to Lewin’s will.

“Is it difficult?”

“No.”

“Of course, Eyriel and Hains must be constantly striving to become stronger, right?”

In the Dryerf dukedom, there were four individuals dedicated solely to serving Lewin. Alex, the butler; Daisy, the maid; and the two children, Eyriel and Hains, who had come to the dukedom alongside Daisy.

“As the older sister, you wouldn’t want to lag behind the children, would you?”

However, Daisy’s daily responsibility was to take care of Lewin’s mornings. There was a simple reason for this: she had no talent for swordsmanship.

“Yes.”

Daisy managed to respond, her teeth clenched.

The mornings of Eyriel and Hains, who unexpectedly showed talent in swordsmanship, differed from those of typical servants. They began their day by training with other knight apprentices.

“So endure it.”

“Hmph!”

With that remark, the flow of mana intensified, and the peculiar sensation Daisy was experiencing grew stronger.

“Done.”

How much time had passed? It couldn’t have been very long. But even in that brief span, her entire body was drenched in sweat. The strands of hair clinging to her cheeks and the uncomfortable feeling of her clothes sticking to her skin with every movement bothered her.

“May I excuse myself for a moment?”

Daisy wished to wash up and change her clothes. With that thought in mind, she looked at Lewin.

“It must be difficult for you to move around like that.”

Seeing Lewin nod, Daisy’s face slightly creased.

‘It can’t be easy.’

Directly manipulating the mana inside someone’s body from the outside—such an act was unbelievably extraordinary, even to Daisy, who had been ignorant of mana before joining the Dryerf family.

Yet, he seemed perfectly fine.

A stark contrast to herself, who felt utterly exhausted from merely breathing and absorbing the flow of mana within her body.

Feeling the disparity anew, Daisy unknowingly bit her lip.

‘Will I ever be able to assist him?’

The day they first met, she poured out the depths of her heart without realizing it, and he responded with a smile.

“Sure, I’ll crush them all.”

It was a response akin to a child’s playful remark.

In truth, even then and even now, Lewin Dryerf was, indeed, a child.

The ones who had brought about her downfall were high-ranking nobles of a kingdom and the priests of the supreme deity of mankind. Even though the Dryerf family was a duke’s family in the empire, they were not to be trifled with easily.

But why?

Back then and even now, Daisy believed in Lewin’s words.

Was it because it was her only glimmer of hope? The sole lifeline she could hold onto?

That might be the case.

After all, she could no longer do anything herself.

However…

‘He might actually succeed.’

She was certain.

She was certain that Lewin Dryerf, the person she had placed her trust in, could make it happen.

She couldn’t explain why, but he seemed like someone who could accomplish anything.

“Huff.”

After washing away the sweat with cold water and changing into fresh clothes, Daisy returned to her master’s room. As she looked at the empty bed, she realized she had been deceiving herself.

“Ah.”

Lewin Dryerf, her master, indeed seemed capable of anything.

However, that didn’t guarantee that everything would go smoothly.

“This guy, really.”

She groaned, recalling today’s schedule. It was time for enrollment at the academy, which meant various teachers were scheduled to visit.

In other words…

“Did he run away again?”

He had run away.

From what exactly was this planned event? Sensing the flow of mana? Refusing to get up from the blanket?

“Ha.”

Daisy felt a headache, but that wasn’t important right now.

What mattered was finding her elusive young master before classes began.

“Every day is never just a day.”

She sighed softly and started gathering people to help catch the runaway Lewin.

***

The morning of Lewin Dryerf started in a hurry.

“Young master!”

“Where are you?”

Of course, it wasn’t his intention.

‘Why are they so diligent?’

It would be nice to take it easy for once.

As he thought this, Lewin took careful steps, concealing his presence.

‘A day spent lying under a warm blanket as if you were dead is a good day too.’

Taking a walk outside was pleasant, but the comfort of a cozy blanket was the best.

Muttering to himself, he strolled lightly through the house.

The vast size of the castle befitting the title of a duchy made it difficult to find Lewin.

“Young master!”

But from the beginning, they didn’t recognize Lewin walking right beside them.

‘They’ve probably stationed guards in all the best napping spots.’

The public perception of a hero is that of a warrior who courageously defeats enemies on the front lines.

But the reality was a bit different.

Standing at the forefront and triumphing over the enemy was only possible when the gap between allies and enemies was not significant, or when there were no formidable foes.

Initially, defeating enemies on the front lines would boost ally morale and lower the enemy’s spirits.

However, heroes are human too.

Swinging a sword continuously leads to fatigue, and utilizing mana depletes one’s energy.

It would be ideal if the enemy could be vanquished before reaching one’s limit, but there existed a formidable monster beyond the hero.

The Demon King.

Even under optimal conditions, defeating that monster was a challenge.

Especially after exhausting stamina and mana, the outcome became evident.

Therefore, humanity devised a strategy for the battle between the hero party and the Demon King.

But the demons were not foolish.

They would not send out the Demon King, their most powerful entity, to all fronts.

Hence, heroes had to adapt.

They had to learn the method to slay the Demon King, the leader of the enemy.

For Lewin, who had experienced being a hero in nine out of ten lifetimes, the definition of a hero was straightforward.

An assassin.

A precise instrument of humanity aiming for the Demon King’s throat.

‘Hehe~’

With his stealth skills capable of infiltrating the Demon King’s castle across continents, Lewin had reached a divine level.

Though there were physical and mana limitations, unless directly confronted, ordinary servants couldn’t detect Lewin’s presence.

“Hello?”

‘How is this possible?’

Why was he caught?

No, who is she, to begin with?

Lewin gazed at the girl standing before him, their heights nearly equal. She appeared to be around the same age, dressed in neat and luxurious clothing.

‘Do we have such a girl?’

The Duchy held significant power and often hosted visits from numerous noble families, including their children. However, he couldn’t recall her face.

With his extraordinary memory, Lewin was certain he would remember anyone he had encountered since birth.

“Who are you?”

Driven by pure curiosity, Lewin questioned the girl in front of him.

In response to his inquiry, the girl stared at Lewin with a blank expression.

“What?”

“You should introduce yourself before asking someone else!”

Lewin nodded in agreement with her statement.

“Hello, I am the son of the owner of this estate.”

With a brief and straightforward introduction, the girl blinked.

‘Um…’

The etiquette education she had received did not include such a self-introduction. However, she had also learned that customs and etiquette could vary among different families. Thus, she introduced herself as she had been taught.

“Hello, son of the estate owner. I am Laila Reinhardt, the second daughter of the Reinhardt family.”

There were a few points he wanted to address, but something else seemed more important.

“Reinhardt?”

“Yes!”

The name sounded familiar.

Whenever the Duke Dryerf was mentioned, there were always two names associated with it. One was the name of the empire to which the Duke belonged, Babellian. The other was the name of the family that stood as pillars alongside the Duke Dryerf.

“Reinhardt?”

“Yes!”

The Reinhardt family.

If the Duke Dryerf’s role was to vanquish the enemies of the empire, the Reinhardt family focused on strengthening the empire from within.

As Lewin, who frequently heard such discussions, a pure question arose.

“Why are you here?”

Why was a daughter from the prestigious Reinhardt family in their modest estate?

Perplexed by the series of events he couldn’t comprehend, Lewin tilted his head.

“Because I am here?”

She also tilted her head, displaying a similar confusion in response.

And then…

“Young Master, you really need to come out now!”