The Useless Extra Knows It All....But Does He?-Chapter 385 - "Thank You!"

Night had settled quietly over the Holy Kingdom.

The chaos of the day—the roaring crowd, the divine light, the execution that had shaken the entire kingdom—had long since faded into a distant memory, replaced now by the calm hush that only the late hours could bring.

Inside one of the guest chambers provided by the cathedral, a tall balcony door stood open, allowing the cool night air to drift freely into the room.

Luca stood there alone.

He leaned lightly against the stone railing of the balcony, his posture far more relaxed than it had been in days. The faint breeze lifted strands of his dark violet hair, brushing them across his forehead as the cool air carried the distant sounds of a sleeping city far below.

Above him, the night sky stretched endlessly.

The moon hung bright and serene, casting a pale silver glow across the rooftops of the Holy Kingdom, bathing the cathedral spires and quiet streets in soft light.

For the first time in what felt like an eternity—

Luca allowed himself to breathe.

He exhaled slowly, shoulders loosening as the tension he had carried for so long finally began to fade.

Finally... it’s over.

His crimson eyes remained fixed on the moon as thoughts slowly drifted through his mind.

Although I couldn’t break through to the next realm...

A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

...I gained far more during this holiday than I expected.

The wind shifted gently around him as memories from the past weeks passed through his thoughts one by one.

And especially... the direction everything is heading now...

His gaze sharpened slightly.

...is completely different from the original story.

The game he had once known—the rigid sequence of events he had memorized through countless playthroughs—had begun to fracture beyond recognition.

Sylthara was the first of those fractures.

The girl who now carried the essence of the World Tree inside her had become something entirely unpredictable. In the original timeline she had never possessed such power, never stood so close to the core of the world itself.

Now she had become a variable that could reshape the future in ways even he could not predict.

Then there was the Saintess.

Luca’s eyes lowered slightly.

Her path had changed completely.

The girl who in the game had been crushed under the weight of betrayal and corruption had now walked through the truth of her own birth, through the darkness that had surrounded her existence from the very beginning.

And yet—

Her faith had returned.

Not the blind devotion she once carried.

But something stronger.

Something forged from pain, truth, and the final belief of the woman who had given her life.

Luca exhaled softly.

With that new faith...

I can’t even imagine what kind of hell she’ll unleash on the cultists.

The thought was not one of fear.

If anything, it carried quiet satisfaction.

Then there was Aurelia.

His lips curved faintly.

Even she had begun walking a path that had never existed in the original game.

Her growth, her choices, her future—all of it had begun to diverge from the script he once knew so well. The unpredictability surrounding her had only increased, yet somehow it felt like the future ahead had become brighter rather than darker.

For a moment, Luca simply stood there in silence.

But not everything has gone well.

The warmth faded from his expression as new thoughts surfaced.

There was still the shadow hanging over everything.

The Demon Generals.

The Second Demon General had already appeared.

The Fifth had shown himself in the Elven Forest.

And now—

The faint shadow of the First Demon General had emerged behind the entire Saintess incident.

Luca’s gaze hardened slightly.

There are still far too many things happening behind the scenes.

Things even I never knew about while playing the game.

That realization lingered heavily in his mind.

The world was changing faster than he had expected.

And the deeper he looked—

The more secrets he discovered that had never been visible before.

The night breeze swept through the balcony again, stirring the curtains behind him as Luca remained lost in thought.

Then—

A soft sound broke the quiet.

Knock.

The gentle tapping against the wooden door echoed faintly inside the room.

Luca blinked once, his thoughts returning to the present.

Slowly, he pushed himself away from the balcony railing and walked back inside.

His steps were unhurried.

Tonight he wore simple clothing—just a dark t-shirt and loose trousers, far removed from the armor and weapons he had carried during the chaos of the day.

The quiet comfort of ordinary clothes felt strangely unfamiliar after everything that had happened.

The knock came again.

Luca reached the door and opened it.

The moment the door swung inward, his eyes widened slightly.

"...Saintess."

Luca stepped aside the moment he recognized her.

"Please... come in," he said quietly, moving away from the doorway and gesturing toward the room.

The Saintess nodded once in acknowledgment before stepping inside. Her movements were calm, almost weightless, yet there was something different about her now—something steadier, something grounded in a way that had not existed before the events of the day.

The door closed softly behind her.

For a brief moment, neither of them spoke.

The room remained filled only with the quiet whisper of the night wind drifting in from the open balcony, carrying with it the faint rustling of curtains and the distant hum of the sleeping city beyond the cathedral walls.

They walked further into the room slowly.

Luca moved toward the small table near the balcony while the Saintess stopped a few steps away, her gaze briefly drifting toward the moonlit sky outside.

The silence lingered.

Then finally—

She spoke.

"How are you?"

The question was simple.

Yet it carried a strange softness that made Luca blink in mild surprise.

He looked at her, tilting his head slightly before answering.

"I’m fine."

Then his tone shifted subtly, the same question returning with slightly more emphasis.

"How are you?"

The Saintess did not answer immediately.

Instead, she fell into thought.

Her eyes lowered for a moment as if she were carefully searching for the right words among emotions that had not yet fully settled.

"I wouldn’t say I’m fine," she admitted quietly after a moment.

Her gaze drifted back toward the horizon beyond the balcony.

"But..."

A faint breath escaped her.

"It feels like I finally have a sense of purpose now."

Her voice carried a quiet determination that had not been there before.

She continued looking outward, toward the distant cathedral spires and the vast city spread beneath the moonlight.

"This Holy Kingdom..." she said slowly, the words carrying both sadness and resolve.

"...has rotted to its core."

Her fingers curled slightly at her sides.

"The corruption, the cruelty, the hypocrisy that has been allowed to grow within these walls... it has stained everything."

Her eyes hardened slightly.

"And now, as the Saintess of this kingdom..."

Her voice steadied.

"As a representative of the Goddess..."

She paused.

"And as someone who wishes to honor my mother’s final belief..."

Her gaze sharpened as she looked out into the night.

"I want to cleanse it."

Not destroy.

Not abandon.

Cleanse.

"I want to return this land to what it was meant to be."

Her voice softened slightly.

"A place where people can live without fear... where faith is not used as a weapon... where children can grow up without the shadows that consumed my mother’s life."

Her eyes brightened faintly.

"A heaven for the people."

Luca listened quietly.

There was no hesitation in her words.

No uncertainty.

Only resolve.

He nodded slowly.

"So that’s your new faith, huh?"

The Saintess turned back toward him.

She nodded.

"Yes."

For a moment, neither of them spoke again.

Then her expression shifted slightly, as though she remembered something she had come here to say.

"There is... one more thing."

She hesitated.

For the first time since entering the room, her composure faltered slightly.

Then she lowered her head just a little.

"Thank you."

Luca tilted his head in mild confusion.

The Saintess lifted her gaze again.

"There was no reason for you to go through all that trouble for me," she said honestly. "We weren’t particularly close."

A faint, almost self-conscious smile touched her lips.

"In fact... the last time we interacted before all of this, I ended up dragging you into danger inside the Hellsand Dungeon."

Luca’s mind briefly drifted back to that chaotic moment.

The Hellsand Dungeon.

The battle.

The big bull.

His thoughts flickered briefly.

Didn’t the Empress say I would get a surprise after that?

His brows furrowed faintly.

What happened to that?

But before he could follow the thought any further—

The Saintess continued speaking.

"And yet," she said softly, "you still came here."

Her gaze held his steadily now.

"You walked directly into the Holy Kingdom knowing the danger involved."

"You stood against the clergy."

"You fought the Divine Guards."

"You exposed the truth that had been buried for decades."

"And..."

Her voice softened again.

"You fulfilled my greatest wish."

Her eyes shimmered faintly.

"You let me see my mother."

Silence followed.

The weight of that statement lingered in the air between them.

"Thank you," she repeated quietly.

Luca simply smiled.

It was not a grand reaction.

Not a heroic one.

Just a small, genuine smile.

"I’m glad," he said lightly, "as long as everything turned out fine."

The Saintess studied him for a moment longer than necessary.

Her gaze lingered on him quietly.

As if trying to understand something.

Then she nodded.

"I should leave now."

Luca nodded in return.

"Alright."

He walked with her toward the door, the quiet night still flowing gently through the room.

When they reached the entrance, Luca reached for the handle and pulled the door open.

And then—

He froze.

Standing outside the door, her hand raised mid-knock, was Aurelia.

The moment the door opened, Aurelia blinked.

Her gaze moved from Luca—

To the Saintess standing beside him.

Then back to Luca again.

For a brief second, no one spoke.

And Luca suddenly felt a very distinct tingling sensation creeping up the back of his neck.