Is It Wrong for an Extra to Steal the Protagonist's Harem?-Chapter 38: Bet

I walked toward the designated area for Group 11.

While I was approaching, I heard a commotion from Emily’s direction.

’Is she causing trouble already?’

As anyone who played the game knew, trouble always surrounded the heroines, usually requiring the protagonist to swoop in and save the day. I briefly rolled my eyes and looked toward the silver-haired girl standing alone in the crowd.

Fortunately, Emily wasn’t causing trouble. She was just standing there, radiating an aura of absolute zero.

Instead, a male student was sticking to her like a burr, talking busily.

"Nice to meet you! I’m Martin Luke, from the Luke Viscounty!"

The boy had a small stature, messy brown hair, and a slightly mischievous—bordering on annoying—smile.

"Hahaha~ It’s interesting that Emily is on the same team as me," Martin laughed, trying to look cool. "With your ice and my wind, this exploration assignment is going to be too easy, right? We can just breeze through it!"

Emily stared at him. Her eyes were like glaciers.

"Shut up," she said. Her voice was quiet, but it cut through the noise like a knife.

"Yes...?" Martin blinked, his smile faltering.

"Your mouth," Emily clarified coldly. "Shut it."

"Ah. Yes. Sure."

Martin closed his mouth tightly, though he kept smiling cheerfully, clearly unfazed. He looked at Emily with the eyes of a puppy dealing with a strict owner. A massive simp.

On the other hand, as I walked up to them, Martin didn’t even spare a glance in my direction. To him, I was just "Alex Edelhart," the fallen noble extra.

’A Simp and an Ice Queen,’ I noted internally. ’Group 11’s composition is a disaster waiting to happen.’

"Enough with the greetings. Everyone, focus."

Cassandra, who had manipulated the earth to create a stone podium, looked down at the students.

"There isn’t a single student here who doesn’t know what a Scroll is, right?"

She held up a piece of parchment glowing with faint runic light.

"Then the question comes: this assignment is an Open Scroll exam. Why?"

She looked around the crowd.

"Why are we giving you scrolls instead of asking you to cast spells directly?"

The plaza went silent. Perhaps because the person asking was the terrifying Cassandra, everyone was reluctant to answer. No one wanted to look stupid.

But suddenly, Cassandra’s eyes locked onto me.

It was a demanding gaze. She remembered me from the History class incident. She wanted to see if I was the real deal or just a loudmouth.

Since I couldn’t look away, I had no choice.

I opened my mouth.

"Because the level of the students is low."

The silence in the plaza somehow got deeper.

Upon hearing my answer, Cassandra twitched her eyebrows, a spark of amusement lighting up her eyes.

Come to think of it, I unconsciously used informal speech again. I just couldn’t get used to this world’s stiff formality.

"What is he saying?" "I think he’s gone crazy. Who does he think he is..." "Is that the Fallen Noble? He’s got some nerve."

The students standing beside me started murmuring. But all I did was utter a bitter truth.

The scroll—parchment imbued with pre-cast mana—was a useful item for novices. It allowed them to trigger spells they didn’t have the mana capacity or skill to cast themselves. It was a crutch. A training wheel.

"Where are you all looking? Look at the Professor," I said, ignoring the whispers.

The shocked eyes of the students turned back to Cassandra. She stared at me, twirling her wand.

"The level is low... Is that all?" she pressed.

"Using scrolls itself is a low-level and embarrassing task," I added calmly. "It’s an admission that we cannot control our own mana."

But before I could finish, a sharp voice cut through the air.

"Professor Cassandra!"

A hand shot up from the front row. It was a girl with fiery red hair tied in twin tails, eyes burning with determination.

Ariana Flamehart. Another heroine. The Fire Prodigy.

"I think it’s too presumptuous for Alex to say something like that!" Ariana shouted, glaring back at me. "It seems like he doesn’t even know his own subject!"

Cassandra alternated her gaze between me, standing calmly with my hands in my pockets, and the infuriated Ariana.

Then, the corner of her mouth curled up. She looked like she was enjoying a delicious dessert.

"Well then, Ariana," Cassandra purred. "Why do you think this exam will be an Open Scroll?"

"Scroll techniques are advancing every day!" Ariana declared, puffing out her chest. "Now, even high-ranking magicians must keep up with the flow of the times. It’s only natural to enhance proficiency in utilizing scrolls to increase agility and casting speed!"

Ariana glanced at me with a sharp, victorious gaze.

"Is the level of a mage underestimated just because he or she uses scrolls? That’s an idea that only old-fashioned, obsolete magicians would hold. Don’t you think you’re just ignorant of the current era, Alex?"

The murmur of the crowd shifted. Many nodded. Ariana was right—scrolls were modern. They were efficient.

Cassandra turned her head to me again, her grin widening.

"Alex, is that what you think? That you are obsolete?"

I didn’t react visibly. I was getting tired of engaging with them. They didn’t know the lore. They didn’t know that in the late stages of the world, when the real monsters appeared, scrolls were useless because the mana density in the atmosphere would scramble the ink.

"You should give Ariana an answer, right?" Cassandra urged, clearly fishing for conflict.

I sighed inwardly.

"It sounds like giving up on progress," I said flatly. "I can’t imagine a life where a mage relies on ink and paper to define their power. Magic is about will, not stationery."

"What did you say...?!"

Veins stood out vertically on Ariana’s forehead. Smoke actually started to rise from her hair.

"Are you crazy? In the end, you’re going to use scrolls in this test too! We all are! What’s with this attitude of pretending to be special all by yourself?"

"Student Ariana, calm down. Calm down."

Cassandra laughed, waving her wand to dissipate the heat radiating from the red-haired girl. She already had no intention of hiding her own amused smile. She looked at me with renewed interest.

"Student Alex, Ariana’s words weren’t entirely wrong," Cassandra noted, leaning on her staff. "I know you are excellent when it comes to theory. In fact, it would be wrong to say you haven’t memorized more spells than all of the students here combined. Your brain is a library."

She paused, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"But can you cast them? Memorizing the formula for a fireball and actually manifesting one are two very different things. If you continue to cling to that arrogant attitude while participating in this test—which is designed for novices—it might be a bit... awkward for you. Will Alex not participate in this test?"

The plaza went quiet. It was an out. She was giving me a chance to back down.

"I will participate," I answered immediately.

At that moment, literal sparks flew from Ariana’s eyes. She stomped her foot.

"Then keep your mouth shut and participate!" she yelled. "Why do you keep criticizing everything if you’re just going to do the same thing as us?!"

I looked at her. Then I looked at Cassandra.

"I will participate," I clarified, my voice steady. "Without using scrolls."

"...!"

A stillness fell over the plaza, heavy and sudden, as if time had stopped.

Ariana’s eyes widened, her angry retort dying in her throat. Her mouth hung slightly open. Cassandra, too, froze, her lazy expression replaced by genuine bewilderment.

Cassandra asked me back, blinking slowly.

"In an Open Scroll test... you’re saying you’ll participate without using scrolls?"

Instead of answering, I simply nodded my head.

Cassandra stared at me for a long second. Then, she burst into laughter.

"Pfft! Hahahaha!"

It wasn’t a polite chuckle. It was a loud, delighted cackle that echoed off the academy walls.

"Your determination to keep your word is commendable... truly! But do you have confidence in achieving high grades?" She wiped a tear from her eye. "Think carefully, Alex. You have two team members, after all. If you fail, you drag them down with you."

I glanced back. Martin looked horrified. Emily looked... indifferent, but her ears were perked up.

"Yes," I said. "I have confidence."

"Alright, then. Good. I like a gambler."

Cassandra straightened up, her aura flaring with authority. She looked around at the students and raised her voice.

"Listen up! I’m adding a special rule. If Alex achieves the highest score in this exam without using a single scroll..."

She pointed at my group.

"...Group 11 will be exempted from the next Written Exam. They will receive automatic perfect scores."

Gasp.

The crowd erupted. An automatic pass on a written exam? That was a massive reward.

"That’s the plan," Cassandra grinned. "Is there any student who objects to this?"

No one raised a hand. Why would they? To them, it was impossible. Alex Edelhart had a Mana stat of an ant Casting combat magic without a scroll required at least 20 to be effective. He was setting himself up for failure.

The eyes of the students who had been looking at me with astonishment had already changed into looks of mocking and sneering. They were waiting for the clown show.