The Extra is a Genius!?-Chapter 546: The Harbor of Return [IV]

Seraphina was the one who brought it back under control.

She let the moment linger for half a second longer, just enough for the teasing to finish running its course, then straightened slightly in her seat. The warmth didn’t vanish, but something more focused settled into her expression as she looked at Noel.

"Alright," she said, not sharply, just firmly enough to reset the tone. "Jokes aside, I want to hear it properly. Not the short version people tell in reports. What actually happened out there."

Noel nodded, the shift landing easily. He leaned back a little, eyes drifting to the curtained window as if lining everything up in his head, then spoke.

"We reached the islands without too much trouble at first," he began. "Things felt wrong almost immediately though. Not abandoned, just... held in place. Like the city itself was waiting for instructions." He glanced back at them. "That’s where we ran into the Second Pillar."

Elyra went quiet, listening. Seraphina didn’t interrupt.

"We fought her," Noel continued, voice steady but unembellished. "And we won. She was maintaining the system, not commanding it directly, but once she went down, the chains lost cohesion. That’s when we realized the bigger problem wasn’t her."

Seraphina frowned. "Bigger how."

"The shards," Noel said. "They weren’t just infrastructure. They were anchors. Spread across Elarith in a formation nobody noticed because it didn’t look like one." He exhaled slowly. "The whole continent was being used as preparation for a ritual. Not a weapon. A summoning."

Seraphina’s posture stiffened. "A summoning for what."

"For something that shouldn’t be in this world," Noel replied. "Whatever it was, the shards were drawing small amounts of mana and life resonance from everyone connected to them. Not enough to kill anyone outright. Just enough to fuel the final phase when the trigger activated."

Elyra’s jaw tightened. Seraphina’s eyes widened slightly.

"But we stopped it," Noel went on. "We found the control structure, dismantled the ritual properly, node by node

The shards are inactive now. Safe. They still work as tools, but they can’t be used for that anymore."

For a moment, Seraphina just stared at him, trying to process the scale of it. "You’re saying," she said slowly, "that the entire continent was one step away from being used as fuel."

"Yes," Noel said. "And we cut that step out completely."

Her hands tightened in her lap. "And the others."

"Marcus almost died," Noel said bluntly. "He took a direct hit earlier on. Charlotte kept him alive long enough for everything else to catch up, but he’s not walking that off. Not ever." He paused, then added, "He’s stable now. Out of danger."

Seraphina stayed quiet for a few seconds longer, absorbing everything Noel had just said. Then her brow furrowed slightly, something finally clicking into place, and she glanced toward the empty space across from him.

"...By the way," she said, leaning forward a little. "I didn’t see Roberto get off the ship with you."

Noel blinked once, then huffed a quiet, humorless laugh. "Yeah. That would’ve been nice."

Elyra shot him a look. "Nice?"

"I mean," Noel went on, shrugging slightly, "if he’d died somewhere along the way, it would’ve saved everyone a lot of trouble."

Seraphina stared at him. "Noel."

He raised both hands in surrender. "I’m joking. Dark joke. Mostly." His expression sobered almost immediately. "But no. He’s alive."

The air in the carriage shifted.

Seraphina’s voice dropped. "Then where is he."

"He’s a traitor," Noel said flatly. "Has been for a while." He looked away for a second, jaw tightening before he continued. "He’s the one who almost killed Marcus. And he’s the reason Nicolas ended up in the state he’s in. Half-dead and running out of time."

Seraphina went completely still.

"That’s..." She stopped, shook her head once. "That doesn’t make sense. Roberto was Class S. He was always with you. He knew everything."

"Exactly," Noel replied. "That’s why it worked."

Silence settled heavily between them, broken only by the sound of the carriage wheels.

Seraphina leaned back slowly, disbelief written plainly across her face. "...So that’s why he’s not here."

Noel nodded once. "Yeah."

For the first time since they’d left the harbor, the relief she’d been holding cracked, replaced by something colder and sharper. "Then he’ll be hunted," she said quietly. "Not just as an enemy. As a traitor."

Seraphina let the silence sit for a few seconds longer, then straightened in her seat, the edge in her expression sharpening into something unmistakably serious.

"There’s something else," she said quietly. "News about Nicolas."

Noel’s eyes lifted to her at once.

"He wants to see you," Seraphina continued. "While you were gone, his condition worsened. The healers did what they could, but..." She hesitated, just briefly. "He doesn’t have much time left."

For a split second, Noel’s eyes widened.

The reaction was instant and unguarded, gone almost as soon as it appeared. His eyes widened, breath catching for a fraction of a second before discipline snapped back into place. Noel drew in a slow, measured breath, fingers curling lightly against his knee as he pressed the surge of emotion down, burying it beneath control. His expression settled, composed again, but the tension didn’t fully leave his shoulders.

"I see," he said after a moment, voice steady enough to pass.

The carriage continued to roll forward, the soft rhythm of the wheels filling the silence that followed. The weight of Seraphina’s words lingered between them, heavier than anything they had discussed so far. Noel stared at the curtain across from him, eyes unfocused, thoughts racing despite the calm he projected. Images surfaced unbidden—Nicolas’s sharp mind, his stubbornness, the way he always seemed one step ahead even when his body failed him.

Noel turned back to Seraphina. "Can we go see him first," he asked quietly. "Before we return to the academy."

Seraphina didn’t hesitate.

"Yes," she said immediately. She leaned forward and knocked once against the panel separating them from the driver. "Change our route. We’re going to the castle."

"Yes, Your Highness," came the reply from outside.

The carriage shifted as it turned, its course realigning toward the heart of Valon, carrying them toward a meeting that could no longer wait.