The Retired Hero is an Extra

"It\'s finally time, huh?" he muttered to no one in particular.

"Haa..."

Heaving a sigh, he shook his head and walked back inside, heading to bed.

Unfortunately, his much-loved sleep evaded him as he tossed and turned, trying to relax.

Thankfully, he had to undergo no training today, so his day was a bit too lax.

In the end, it seemed that was the reason for his inability to sleep.

"Damn, my sleep schedule!" He grumbled under his breath, tossing aside a spare pillow to vent.

"Should I try thinking of boring stuff to put myself to sleep or complex?" he mumbled in contemplation.

Sleep, it seemed, was his primary source of concern when most awakeners around his age were getting fired up for the Entrance Test tomorrow.

"Whatever helps me sleep, I guess," he decided on thinking about boring stuff before moving to the complex.

\'Amael would most likely be having that conversation, no?\' Jash mused, back to lying on his bed.

...

"Haha, I am sure you\'ll get the First Rank this year," the Emperor smiled as he talked with Amael.

"It seems so," Amael agreed politely before adding, "But what can be said about the Elves, the Dwarves, and the Church?"

"Maybe they will have someone better than me or the style of the Entrance Test being against me, like a group test."

"As they say, I can just try my best and hope for it to be the best among all," Amael concluded, a polite smile ever-present on his face.

The Emperor also took on a contemplative stance and the two walked in silence before he turned to Amael.

"I\'ll advise you to not hold back in the Entrance test since you aren\'t the only one who can do such a thing."

With that as his parting words, the Emperor left, leaving Amael to think to himself what the cryptic words meant.

\'System, do you think he means what I think he means?\' Amael asked his system rather than wasting his time.

{There\'s a high chance for that to be the case, Host.}

It seemed the system agreed with whatever web of complex thoughts Amael went through.

Since a lot of politics was involved, not all young awakeners had shown their strength in the Imperial Banquet.

As a public event, it naturally stopped the schemers from showing off, preparing instead to give a sweet surprise during the Entrance Test.

Having once been the most wanted man, Amael was naturally aware of such things. What he found strange was the Emperor\'s advice.

\'It never happened in the novel, though,\' he thought as he entered the treasury to get the promised special reward.

In the end, Amael chose to focus on the present as the sight of the treasure was too dazzling, even for him.

Although he was the heir to a duchy, he hadn\'t gotten access to any Family Treasury ever, so this was his first time.

{The description paled in comparison to the real thing.}

Even the system gave a rare word of compliment to the Imperial Treasure as Amael glanced around.

Piles of gold, silver, platinum, and mana stones were left to rot on the floor of the Treasury.

Several pieces of equipment were scattered around, seemingly having no value yet they could be considered Family Treasure for any commoner.

Amael, of course, spared them no more than a single glance before choosing to move ahead.

His eyes grasped the contents around before arriving at rows of shelves and glass cabinets on all sides.

From equipment, to books, to scrolls, to artifacts, to potions--everything one could imagine--was present here.

Looking at the sharp weapons and sturdy armors, Amael had a rare smile as he passed by them.

He didn\'t even spare any book a glance, irrespective of what they contained--be it a spell, a mana circulation technique, a weapon technique.

His footsteps only stopped at the sight of a pitch-black sword as he continued to stare at it for a prolonged period.

{Host, remember what we are here for!}

The system chimed in, reminding Amael of the specific armor that Jash informed them about.

Although both carried suspicion about how Jash was so certain about it, they agreed that it was a better choice than taking this cursed sword.

Of course, the system said that it could remove the curse... for a price.

\'Damn, you system!\' Amael cursed inwardly, recalling the "reasonable price" the system demanded.

\'Who the hell asks for 9,999 Villain Points just to remove a curse!\' he complained, all the while looking for that armor.

The system refused to answer, even though Amael was right in his assessment.

The sword\'s curse would easily be removed after it got stolen by that villain who perished due to the curse.

\'Oi, System, how did that sword even get stolen in the first place?\' Amael asked, wanting to know how that was even possible.

{I don\'t know, Host. I am not omnipotent or something.}

Hearing the reply, Amael just kept quiet, thinking to himself how it happened with all the security in place.

\'With all these runes and many hunters at S-Rank and SS-Rank, it makes no sense,\' he wondered.

Obviously, it was the system who told Amael about all of it, he wasn\'t at a level to notice the number of eyes observing him.

That\'s why he had to waste his time and stop at random things, pick them up and then move on.

It really increased the time and difficulty to get the armor he came here to take.

\'Do I even need it? The Academy doesn\'t allow it,\' Amael asked his system once more, unwilling to waste this chance.

After all, he was the one who got it, just a little later than now

{Host, we both know that it\'s not for the Academy.}

\'Yeah, yeah, I know,\' he told the system, and just then the system yelled in his mind.

{There!}

Amael\'s eyes turned in response, and his lips twitched at the sight of the black armor lying on the ground.

\'Just what kind of idiot grades things here? No wonder it got stolen and no one even knew,\' Amael cursed the idiot appraiser.

Just as he picked it after picking random things, he took a look around and walked out.

"What a waste," a security guard commented as Amael picked up a seemingly subpar artifact.

"But it\'s sufficient for his rank," another chimed in.

The others agreed as they were well aware of the side effects of using artifacts of higher ranks.

"Still, he could\'ve saved the chance and taken a better one when he grew up. Not like he needed it now. The Entrance Test is tomorrow, no?"

Hearing the first one talk again, they couldn\'t help but agree this time.

The security personnel didn\'t know, but Amael had his system, which would allow him to smuggle the armor into the Academy.

Of course, they also didn\'t know the true worth of this armor, or would it have been lying as a piece of trash?

{Host has gained...}

Looking at the number of Villain Points he gained, Amael smiled as he walked out, making the security personnel think of him as stupid.

...

While all this was going on at the New Year\'s Eve, Jash had finally fallen asleep as he recalled the scene of Amael and the Emperor.

He didn\'t know yet that his words had changed the entirety of the scene itself.

Well, that and the system...

Oblivious to the turmoil in the world, he slept blissfully, enjoying his relaxing sleep with a happy smile on his face.