Help! I'm just an extra yet the Heroines and Villainesses want me!

The journey back to the academy took most of the day. William used the time to review the techniques journal his mother had given him, memorizing combat sequences and essence manipulation methods that were definitely not part of standard academy curriculum.

Some of these techniques were borderline illegal, designed for killing rather than sparring, for survival rather than fair combat. But survival was exactly what he needed.

The carriage rolled through increasingly familiar terrain as afternoon turned to evening. Finally, the academy’s walls came into view with torches already lit along the fortifications.

They passed through the gates and William felt the ambient essence concentration increase, it was always stronger on academy grounds due to the cultivation of hundreds of students and the essence-reactive infrastructure.

The carriage stopped near the dormitories. William gathered his bag, secured both rings, and checked that the ancestral sword was properly concealed beneath his coat.

Students were moving between buildings, heading to dinner or evening study sessions. Several glanced at the Cross family carriage with curiosity, but no one approached.

William made his way to his dormitory building, climbing stairs to the floor he shared with Kai. When he reached their room and opened the door, he expected to find his roommate reading or training as usual.

Instead, the room was empty.

Kai’s belongings were present but Kai himself was absent which was very unusal. Kai maintained strict routines, and evening was typically when he would be here reviewing material or meditating.

William set his bag down and was about to go looking when the door opened.

Kai entered, and William immediately noticed something was wrong. His roommate moved stiffly, like someone recovering from exhaustion or injury. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his usually perfect posture was slightly compromised.

"You look terrible," William said.

"You’re back." Kai’s voice was flat, drained. "Good. We need to talk."

"What happened?"

Kai sat heavily on his bed, another sign something was seriously wrong. Kai never showed fatigue this openly.

"There was an incident during the dungeon expedition." He paused, seeming to gather energy. "Some guy named Derek betrayed the team and hired assassins. Multiple students almost died and professor Henrik’s injured. The academy’s covering it up officially, but internally it’s chaos."

William stared at him. "Derek. The aggressive third-year from House Thorne?"

"Yes. He had been planning it for weeks, apparently and used the expedition as cover for a coordinated assassination attempt." Kai’s eyes met William’s. "And there’s more. The assassination attempt wasn’t just about the expedition. Someone was using Derek’s contract as cover for a larger operation."

"Who?"

"That’s the question everyone’s asking." Kai leaned back against the wall. "But William, there’s something you need to know. The organization involved was the Hollow Court."

William felt ice in his stomach. His mother had just mentioned them this morning. "They were at your expedition?"

"Yes. They showed up after the primary assassin team failed. Five of them, professional grade." Kai looked at him carefully. "I managed to talk them into leaving by pointing out they hadn’t properly identified their target. But William, if the Hollow Court is operating around the academy..."

"Then my assassination attempts and your expedition attack might be connected." William sat on his own bed, processing implications. "Someone’s making moves against academy students and with enough resources to hire multiple assassination teams."

"That’s my assessment." Kai was quiet for a moment. "How was your family visit?"

"My younger sister was kidnapped by mercenaries hired to force me out of the competition. I tracked them down, fought them and rescued her. Then my mother spent three days teaching me some combat techniques." William pulled out the techniques journal. "And giving me weapons and resources for the competition."

Kai’s expression didn’t change much because he was too tired but something shifted in his eyes. "Your sister was kidnapped."

"Yes. Professional mercenaries with a contract specifically targeting me through family leverage." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"And now we’re both back at the academy, both targeted by good coordinated assassination attempts, it is clear that someone desperately wants us to fail." Kai’s voice was thoughtful despite the exhaustion. "This is bigger than either of us realized."

"Agreed." William looked at his roommate carefully. "What happened at the expedition? You look like you fought for days."

"I depleted my essence reserves completely. Twice. I flought four elite assassins and then talked five Hollow Court operatives into retreating." Kai’s voice was matter-of-fact. "And I may have revealed abilities I was keeping hidden. The entire team knows I’m significantly stronger than I’ve been pretending ."

"That’s going to complicate things."

"It already has. Henrik wants a full debriefing. The academy administration is investigating. And every student who was on that expedition now looks at me differently." Kai closed his eyes. "I’m exhausted, William. I need sleep and then we need to plan."

"Sleep first. Planning can wait until morning."

Kai nodded and lay down without even removing his boots. Within minutes, his breathing evened out into actual sleep, not the light rest he usually maintained, but deep unconsciousness of someone pushed past limits.

William sat on his bed, thinking about everything that had happened. His sister’s kidnapping. His mother’s warnings about his father. The Hollow Court appearing at both locations. Derek’s betrayal at the expedition.

Eleven days until the Inter-Academy competition and eleven days to prepare for an assassination attempts from multiple organizations who were set on killing him

He pulled out his mother’s sealed letter and looked at it.

Then he tucked it back into his bag and began unpacking properly. Tomorrow they would start planning with the team and figure out how to survive what was coming.

Tonight, he’d let Kai sleep and try to process everything himself.

This loop was becoming significantly more complicated than Kai had thought it would be.

And somewhere, someone was controling all of this. Someone with enough power and resources to hire the Hollow Court, manipulate noble families, and target multiple students simultaneously.

William needed to figure out who it was before the competition started.

Because eleven days wasn’t much time to prepare for war.

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