The Extra is a Genius!? Chapter 592: Emerald Eyes

After Roberto disappeared, the mountain stayed hushed. The luminous motes that had borne his form away gradually dispersed into the breeze, abandoning the desolate ledge and the soft reverberation of his final remarks. For a few moments, Noel remained rooted in place, his gaze riveted to the spot where Roberto had been, his thoughts carefully revisiting every aspect of the meeting. Seeing him today had been the last thing he anticipated.

The heavy atmosphere in the air slowly lifted, the oppressive weight over the peak dissipating as the mountains reverted to their customary tranquility. The wind resumed whispering through the crags, bearing specks of dust and the far-off calls of beasts dwelling deeper within the chain. Behind him, Noir's colossal figure stirred, the immense shadow wolf contracting swiftly as the obscurity retracted into its core. In mere instants, the gigantic frame compacted into the diminutive form of a young wolf. She yawned lazily before padding back to Noel, her tiny body seamlessly blending into the shade beneath his feet.

Noel breathed out softly. 'Noir... can you think of anyone who would ally with someone like Roberto?'

'No idea.' A brief silence ensued before she voiced another idea. 'He’s unpredictable. We should assume the worst.'

Noel nodded faintly, though she had already perceived his accord via their connection. He slid Revenant Fang into its scabbard with a subtle clink of metal. The thrill of the pursuit had evaporated, and it wasn't fatigue from endless weeks of battle that ended it. Roberto had materialized abruptly here, perched serenely on a crag within the domain Noel had claimed for months. He had pinpointed Noel's exact location, a fact that unsettled him more than he cared to admit. Roberto had conversed as though he grasped every recent event, as if all of Noel's actions over the preceding months had escaped no one's notice. The notion that Roberto might have observed him for much longer than Noel suspected was deeply unsettling.

He pivoted and headed toward the teleportation circle etched into the adjacent stone dais, his reflections turning to the riddle Roberto had posed. The demon continent sprang to mind first, but Noel rejected it right away. The previous conflict had almost annihilated them, their forces shattered and their lands debilitated for generations. The reigning demon king, Deyrion, had declared plainly that he wanted no part in his father's errors. The solution lay elsewhere, and the sole alternative option struck him as even graver than the initial one.

Elarin. Should Elarin persist in that alternate realm, it stood to reason he wasn't isolated. Noctis had withheld much of his knowledge, and the revelations he had shared were disturbing to begin with.

Noel arrived at the teleportation circle and halted in its midst. He cast a final look at the mountains before triggering it. Illumination bloomed along the inscribed patterns underfoot, and within a pulse, the circle whisked him from sight.

The teleportation circle deposited him in the serene chamber under his Valon estate. As the glow ebbed, the known stone barriers sharpened into view, the floor's engraved runes fading once the magic concluded. Noel exited the platform instinctively, his focus still dwelling on the mountain dialogue.

Yet as he neared the exit, an anomaly caught his notice. Voices drifted from the passage ahead, multiple ones, hurrying from one end of the residence to the other. Doors banged open and shut deeper within the corridor, their exchanges hasty and intermingling. Not outright alarm, but insistent enough to heighten his wariness.

Noel thrust the door aside and entered the hallway. The clamor mattered less. What seized his focus at once were the unknown mana auras, numerous, already permeating the mansion. His form responded prior to his thoughts fully registering, propelling him swiftly along the passage.

The noises sharpened as he neared the central section. Rounding the bend, he spotted four unknowns in an inner corridor, two elves and two humans, three females and one male, each clad in extended white garments resembling healer attire more than military garb. Dark crimson blotches marred parts of the fabric, bloodstains yet to congeal. Noel's heart clenched as dire scenarios flooded his thoughts simultaneously. An assault. A mishap. One of the women hurt.

One elf hastened toward a proximate chamber, her pace frantic while clutching a swathe of fabric. Noel trailed her without delay. 'What’s happening?'

The elf halted and faced him, astonishment crossing her features. 'Who are you?'

'I live here.' He advanced a step. 'I’m Noel Thorne.'

Understanding dawned on her face promptly, a faint grin supplanting the bewilderment. 'Oh.' She hesitated momentarily. 'Then you don’t need to worry.' A briefer interval followed before she uttered the unforeseen. 'Actually... congratulations.'

Noel furrowed his brow lightly. 'Congratulations?'

'You’re a father.' The elf's grin broadened a touch. 'You have a beautiful son.'

The statement hung softly in the hallway, and Noel froze for an extended beat.

For an instant, Noel stood utterly motionless, the hallway falling silent around him as the revelation sank in. This wasn't meant to occur so soon. Several weeks still separated them from Elena’s expected delivery, time Noel had planned to devote to finalizing his mountain endeavors. His mind raced to absorb the news, but his frame advanced prior to comprehension.

He brushed past the elf. She swung the adjacent door wide without comment and held it ajar for him.

The room's ambiance was more serene than the hallway's, yet traces of fresh bustle abounded. The two humans lingered by a table laden with stacked linens and minor tools, murmuring to the remaining elf as they wiped their hands. Selene was present too, positioned nearby with arms crossed, her countenance gentler than Noel had witnessed. But he scarcely registered them. His focus darted straight to the bed by the casement.

Elena reclined amid piled cushions, weariness etched plainly on her visage. Locks of hair adhered to her brow, her respiration even and languid post the ordeal. Nevertheless, amid the lassitude, a serene joy graced her features, mellowing the space. She cradled a tiny parcel in soft white wrapping.

Spotting Noel at the threshold, Elena's fatigued look brightened at once. 'Hey...' Her tone was faint, yet the joy infusing it was unmistakable.

Noel approached the bed deliberately, his strides measured. His sight hazed faintly at the periphery, an unforeseen emotion he couldn't pinpoint. Elena raised the infant marginally for a clearer view. 'He has your eyes,' she murmured.

Noel bent nearer. The infant wriggled faintly in her hold, tiny digits flexing against the fabric before his lids parted briefly, unveiling eyes mirroring Noel's vivid emerald hue. For several heartbeats, words escaped him. The realm beyond the chamber vanished entirely—the peaks, Roberto, the impending conflict—all erased. Nothing remained save the babe in Elena’s embrace and the peculiar, novel gravity of the instant upon him.

At length, he uttered, his timbre subdued and tremulous unlike any prior instance. 'Hello... son.'