Is It Wrong for an Extra to Steal the Protagonist's Harem?-Chapter 35: An unexpected encounter

The bath was less sexual and more maintenance. The water turned a cloudy, milky white almost instantly as we washed off the oil and semen.

I had to use my fingers to scoop the remaining cum out of her. She whined and blushed the entire time, her sensitivity heightened to painful levels, but she let me clean her out.

"You’re swollen," I noted, running a washcloth over her nether regions. Her pussy lips were puffy and red from the friction.

"A badge of honor," she whispered, kissing my wet chest.

We dried off and returned to the bedroom. I stripped the ruined sheets—there was no saving them—and tossed them in the corner. We slept on the bare mattress, Lily curled up against my chest, gripping me like a vice.

****

The Next Morning.

Sunlight hit my face.

I opened my eyes instantly. No grogginess. No fatigue. My brain was sharp.

[Stamina: 29/29]

I felt invincible. I looked down.

Lily was still asleep, drooling slightly on my pectoral muscle. Dark circles were under her eyes, and she twitched occasionally. I had thoroughly broken her.

I carefully untangled myself from her limbs.

"Mmm... Master...?"

"Sleep," I whispered, kissing her forehead. "You have the day off. I’m going to town." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"Breakfast..."

"I’ll buy something. Rest."

She didn’t argue. She rolled over, clutching my pillow, and passed out again.

I dressed quietly. I grabbed my student ID and my pouch of gold coins (the monthly allowance from my family, which was surprisingly generous despite my "fallen" status).

"Objective: Gear," I muttered.

The Freshman Expedition was in three days. I had the Mana (barely), the Intelligence, and the Stamina. But I had Strength: 4.

If a goblin jumped me, I couldn’t overpower it physically. If I ran out of mana, I was dead.

I needed a weapon that didn’t rely on brute force.

*****

The Commercial District.

The streets of the Academy City were bustling. Carriages rattled over cobblestones, and the air smelled of roasting meat and magical exhaust.

I walked with a new gait. Before, Alex walked with a hunch, trying to be invisible. Now, I walked with the smooth, predatory stride of someone who had Agility: 8 (decent) and Stamina: 29 (monster). I weaved through the crowd effortlessly.

I stopped in front of a shop with a sign depicting a hammer and a wand crossed: "The Arcane Anvil."

Ding.

I pushed the door open. The smell of hot iron and ozone hit me.

"Welcome!" a gruff voice boomed.

The shopkeeper was a Dwarf with a beard that dragged on the floor. He looked me up and down.

"Student," he grunted. "You look like a mage. Wands are on the left. Staves on the right."

"I’m not looking for a stick," I said, walking to the counter. "I need a blade. Something that conducts mana. Lightweight. High resonance."

The Dwarf raised an eyebrow. "A Spellblade? With those noodle arms?"

He pointed at my biceps.

"Don’t let the size fool you," I smirked. "I have endurance."

"Hah! Endurance doesn’t swing a greatsword, boy. But fine."

He reached under the counter and pulled out a sleek, black shortsword.

"Obsidian alloy. Inlaid with weak spirit stones. It’s light, sharp, and if you pump mana into it, the edge vibrates."

I picked it up.

It was heavy for me. My wrist strained slightly. Strength: 4 was really a pain in the ass. But with two hands, I could manage it.

"How much?"

"500 Gold."

"I’ll take it."

As I was counting out the coins, the shop door chimed again.

"Excuse me."

A cold, imperious voice cut through the shop. It was a voice that demanded attention. A voice that sounded like it cost money to listen to.

I froze. I knew that voice.

I turned around slowly.

Standing in the doorway was a girl with silver hair that cascaded down to her waist like a waterfall of moonlight. She wore the Academy uniform, but hers was customized with gold thread and lace. Her eyes were a piercing crimson.

[Character Detected: Alicia von Heist] [Role: The Villainess / The Duke’s Daughter] [Status: Arrogant / Dangerous]

In the game, Alicia was the primary antagonist of the first arc. She hated "commoners" (and low-ranking nobles like me), she was a prodigy in Fire Magic, and she had a temper that could burn down a building.

And right now, she was glaring at the Dwarf.

"I ordered a custom rapier last week," Alicia announced, flipping her hair. "Is it ready? Or do I have to report this establishment for incompetence?"

The Dwarf sighed, clearly used to her. "It’s ready, Princess. Hold your horses."

Alicia’s eyes scanned the room while she waited. Her gaze landed on me.

She paused. Her crimson eyes narrowed.

"You," she said, pointing a gloved finger at me.

I blinked. "Me?"

"Yes, you. You’re Alex Edelhart, aren’t you?"

She walked towards me, the heels of her boots clicking sharply on the floor. She stopped a foot away. She smelled of expensive roses and fire.

"I heard a rumor," she said, crossing her arms under her modest (B-cup) chest. "Professor Sylvia said you answered a question in Alchemy that even the third-years couldn’t solve. And I heard you corrected the History teacher yesterday."

She leaned in, her eyes searching mine for weakness.

"Are you cheating, Edelhart? Or have you been hiding your ability this whole time?"

I gripped the hilt of my new sword.

This was a test. If I acted like a wimp, she’d crush me. If I acted too arrogant, she’d burn me.

I decided to use my new confidence.

"Maybe I just started paying attention," I replied smoothly, meeting her gaze without flinching. "Or maybe, Lady Alicia, you’ve just been too busy looking down on everyone to notice what’s right in front of you."

The shop went silent. The Dwarf stopped polishing a shield.

Alicia’s eyes widened. Her mouth opened slightly. No one spoke to her like that. Especially not a "mob" character like me.

Her face flushed—not with embarrassment, but with anger. And... interest?

"Hah," she let out a short, sharp laugh. "You have a sharp tongue for a piece of trash."

She stepped closer, invading my personal space.

"Let’s see if your magic is as sharp as your words during the Expedition, Edelhart. Don’t die in the first five minutes. It would be boring."

She snatched her rapier from the Dwarf and stormed out, her silver hair whipping me in the face as she turned.

[System Notification: Connection Established (Alicia von Heist).] [Interest Level: -10 (Annoyance/Rivalry)] [Note: Negative attention is better than no attention.]

I watched her go, rubbing my cheek where her hair had stung me.

"She’s a handful," the Dwarf grunted.

"Yeah," I smirked, paying for my sword. "But she has nice legs."

After the encounter with the Villainess, I finished my shopping with efficiency. I bought three vials of Low-Grade Healing Potion, a Smoke Bomb (for emergencies), and a Mana Stabilizer pill just in case my heart decided to stop.

Loaded with gear, I returned to the Edelhart private dormitory.

Lily was still sleeping, exhausted from our... activities the night before. I quietly crept past her room and headed straight for the basement training room.

It was time to test my hypothesis.

The idea was to break down the Recoil Energy generated by my tangled, defective Internal Circuit into raw mana to strengthen my body.

In theory, it was perfect. The "trash" attributes of this body—the tangled circuits—could be turned into a high-risk, high-reward engine.

But since I was dealing with Recoil Energy—the same volatile force that usually crippled mages—I couldn’t help feeling tense.

"Last time, I nearly died just from leaking a tiny bit of mana," I muttered, locking the heavy iron door of the training room. "If I screw this up, I won’t just faint. I’ll explode."

"Phew. Let’s give it a try."

I stripped off my clothes and changed into a thin, white short-sleeved shirt. If I coughed up blood—which was highly likely—I didn’t want to ruin my expensive jacket.

I stood in the center of the room. I closed my eyes, tuning out the hum of the magic lamps, and focused my entire consciousness inward.

I visualized the mess of wires in my chest—my Internal Circuit.

I quickly began channeling mana into the knot.

VROOOOM.

Suddenly, a loud noise erupted inside my skull, like a jet engine starting up. My entire body felt burning hot, as if someone had injected liquid magma into my veins.

Basically, an Internal Circuit’s role is to break down magical power into mana. The decomposed mana then circulates through the body, reinforcing muscles and bones. Standard knights use this to swing heavy swords.

However, Alex’s circuit was garbage. It barely broke down anything. Instead, due to the massive resistance, it produced vast amounts of Recoil Energy.

But that was the trick.

Breaking down normal magical power yields a 1:1 ratio of mana. Breaking down Recoil Energy yields a 1:1000 ratio.

This was the fundamental reason why Demonic Humans in the game lore were so terrifyingly strong. They ran on pain and recoil. It was a realm of power that could never be reached with human-level resonance.

"Nnnggghhh...!"