Reincarnated extra refuses to die

Arc 1. Chapter 4-5

The night was eerily calm.

After all the chaos lived in the last five days, I was exhausted. To think it had not even been a week since Sebastian appeared at my house's front door and bought me from my parents under threats. To think it hasn't even been two weeks since I recovered the memories from my past life.

As Mio, did I ever pass through so much distress and hopelessness? Did I ever found myself in a situation where every second was critical, and one wrong decision or misstep could lead to my ruin? I had no idea if normal people, that is, people like Mio, with a job and bills to pay and a family she visited every Sunday, had to live through this kind of thing outside of TV shows or movies.

But why was I thinking of that in this moment? What was the point of thinking of my past life? Or better yet, what was the point of recovering my memories at all?

I was sure thanks to that I managed to survive this far, and the story was already deviating from the original plot of the manga, but what about it? How did that affect me? The only thing I wanted was to go back home and sleep for a week straight. I had no interest in meddling in the affairs of the main characters any longer.

That was the reason I decided, in the end, not to tell Lucas anything about the heroes coming.

I was sure Lucas would be much more receptive to what I had to say than Mathias had been, but I could not shake off the feeling that trying to force my way further into this matter would no doubt only bring more stress to my life. Meaning, I did not trust the heroes, not after Mathias and Adela anyway. What if they asked for compensation? What if they did horrible things to us as well? I didn't want to take my chances; it was too difficult getting to this point, no sense in trying to ruin it unnecessarily.

Not taking into account that, even if we did search for the heroes, what were the chances of us finding them and arriving just in time to help Mathias do whatever he had in mind? I didn't know what he wanted to do or how, but I was sure that, no matter what it was, it was something he wanted to solve by himself first.

Part of me was also thinking maybe he didn't have any intention of getting out of it alive.

Lost in my thoughts like I was, and with the weariness accumulated from five days of pure stress, I closed my eyes for just a moment, letting my body relax. Not enough to fall asleep, but just to rest a little.

Must have been too much relaxing as I had no idea when I fell asleep, but when I woke up, it was to the abrupt halt of the carriage. The horse let out a high neigh, and the force of it shook me with such strength my head collided with one of the boxes.

"Auch!" I rubbed my head, slowly sitting up and looking at Lucas. "What's wrong? Why did we suddenly stop?"

The answer came without Lucas having to say anything.

A group of men, around five or six, surrounded the carriage. They all had weapons; swords, crossbows, and axes. I saw their faces, dirty and covered with scars, as well as their malevolent smiles.

Of course. Of fucking course.

"What do we have here? What is a pair of brats doing all alone in the woods in the middle of the night?" one of the men, I wouldn't be able to discern who, spoke with a raspy voice. I closed my eyes, gathering my wits in order to come up with a plan. They were obviously thieves, fortunate enough to run into a pair of kids with a carriage full of cargo to steal from. What could we possibly do to prevent that?

"What do you want?" Lucas asked with a frown, his voice stern and unfriendly. You know, the way you talk to people with weapons trying to robe you... NOT.