The Extra's Return

'Why did Gilbert manage to regain his senses? No, it would be more appropriate if I asked about why the connection I had with Gilbert got cut off.'

Was it due to the insufficient Death Mana that Gilbert managed to regain his consciousness? In that case, wouldn't every Mind's Puppet that I would later control be suddenly disconnected, and they would regain their consciousness?

To be clear, I started sifting through what I knew about Mind's Puppet.

First, Mind's Puppet can exist because Death Mana has accumulated in the Stigma of Darkness. Meanwhile, I can collect Death Mana through the people I kill.

The more Death Mana in the Stigma of Darkness, the longer the duration of Mind's Puppet control. Considering the way Death Mana is collected is by killing people, wouldn't I be a mass murderer?

And the second and most important thing is another trigger for Mind's Puppet to activate. That is the target must have demonic mana.

I don't know to whom I wonder. Maybe I was hoping for the World System. I wish the World System would tell me more clearly.

But, I think what happened to Gilbert can give me a little additional information about Mind's Puppet.

[Congratulations! You have understood how to make a Mind's Puppet.]

[You have obtained the Mind's Puppet skill.]

Finally, the system message I was waiting for appeared.

[Skill Name: Mind's Puppet

Description:

You can control the creature you targeted with Death Mana. The duration and consumption of Death Mana depend on the target you control. The more you get used to it, the more proficient you will become at controlling your target. But you have to be careful because not only consume Death Mana, but this skill also consumes your mental strength.

Terms of use: You can only control living things that have demonic mana.]

Maybe the Mind's Puppet skill looked great, but in this world, there weren't many creatures that possessed demonic mana.

Despite the slightly smiling pleasure I have from acquiring a useful skill, I'm getting tired of being out here.

"But how long should I wait."

I'm currently waiting outside the warehouse.

As time went on, I got so fed up I wanted to ignore Gil and just walk away. But I remembered that I had to make Gil my informant in the Warwick mansion.

Luckily, it wasn't long before Gil came out of the warehouse. He came out carrying his brother's body. Looking at the look in Gil's eyes, I was like looking at a walking corpse. He was obviously very distressed.

"You are still here?"

"Sure. What are you going to do with your brother's body?"

"I'm going to bury him. After that, I want to hear the story of how and why he died."

"As for why he had to die, unfortunately, I don't know. But I will tell you what I know. Even so, you'd better hurry. I don't want to waste too much time in this village."

"Alright. Just a moment."

***

We went to the public cemetery in this village.

He didn't waste much time.

As he said, he immediately dug the ground and buried his brother's body. Of course, he buried it in the graves of the other villagers, not on random vacant land.

While looking at Gil crouching in front of the tombstone over his brother's grave, I think about how the story between Gil and Gilbert is so different from the story between me and Daniel.

Even though the ending in our story is almost the same, namely the death of our brother, there are clear differences between our stories. If Gil weeps over the death of his brother, here I am, the one who killed Daniel with my own hands but has no sorrow or anything else.

Maybe I looked naughty and pretended to be strong and self-righteous. Nevertheless, I don't regret my decision.

A thorn has to be removed from the road if you don't want to get into an accident.

Even after I repeated my life in this world once again, I still adhere to the principle of not letting the enemy escape if I can get rid of them. Unless my enemy is still useful.

And that's the lesson I learned after living a life full of suffering in this world.

'I don't think my survival instinct has faded. I'm happy about that.'

"Now, I beg you to tell me about what I said earlier."

Gil's voice wakes me from my reverie.

I'm glad he put away the expression as if he suspects me. All that was, he just looked down and begged me to tell him the cause of his brother's death.

From there, I started telling the stories.

I started the story as if I were a spectator watching from afar. The first was about how Gilbert was fighting the soldiers outside the north gate. Then about how Gilbert fought fiercely against the Vice Knight Captain, Trusty.

"Until I finally saw him running away. Then I rescued him and brought him here according to his request. If you don't believe me, you can ask anyone. I think a lot of people can attest to what I'm saying."

Gil pays close attention to every word I spit out.

"Then how did you save him? And for what reason?"

"I didn't want to get involved at first. I don't know why that guy is fighting a bunch of soldiers. Is he a criminal? I would feel sorry if I did save a criminal."

"Ugh!"

After I questioned the nature of his brother, Gil stopped contradicting what I said.

"Sorry for doubting you. And thank you for helping my brother. If you didn't help him, I probably wouldn't have seen him until he was a cold corpse. At the very least, I had seen him before he died."

He lowered his head and kept muttering about something. After I paid close attention, it turned out that he was in a dilemma between holding grudges with Baron Warwick's household or trying to let go of his brother's departure.

"Strange, if indeed my brother has been deemed useless, why did Baron Warwick assign me to deliver a message to him."

"What message do you mean?"

"Oh... It's fine. I'm just a little confused. I'm here to convey Baron Warwick's message to my brother."

"And what does the message contain?"

"Eh... Sorry, I couldn't tell you. Although I am indebted to you, I will die if I carelessly reveal Baron Warwick's message. But as my gratitude, I will let you know that the message relates to that useless Young Master I previously served."

"And who are you calling that useless Young Master?"

"Who else if not Young Master Mesties? Just because he lost against Jullian Arkie, he just ran away from the house. Even though anyone would understand that. Who would have thought that the withdrawn, drunk, and depressed Young Master, a.k.a Mesties, could win against the main heir to the Arkie noble family."

Seriously, if I was a kid, I would have felt the emotions boil in my head at the sight of Gil's mouthfuls.

"You mean me?"

I pulled down the hood covering my head and the cloth covering my face. When he saw who I really was, he almost lost consciousness. But in the end, he just put his two ugly butts on the ground.

Originally I wanted to act as a mysterious figure if he harbored a grudge against Baron Warwick and took advantage of his hatred for Baron Warwick. But seeing that he didn't hold a grudge too much, I diverted my plan.

'It seems that he and his brother's past is a bit complicated.'

"Y-Young Master Mesties? H-how?"

"Don't be too surprised. I'm just a closed-minded Young Master, drunk and depressed. You don't need to pee your pants like that."

"S-Sorry, My Lord!"

"That's fine. But I hope you won't tell anyone that you met me, do you understand?"

"...Y-Yes."

"Are you still not willing to tell me what message my father wants to convey?"

"I-I don't dare, Young Master."

He fixed his position and started to speak.

"Baron Warwick's message was, he wants to order my brother, Gilbert, to kidnap you…"

Hearing what Gil said, I couldn't help but widen my eyes. Why would Baron Warwick order the leader of the Black Box organization to do such a troublesome thing?

If the order had come after I fought the soldiers and the Knight Vice Captain, Trusty, then I would have taken it for granted, since I had killed Daniel and fought his soldiers.

But it seems it was an order that came after I was kicked out of the mansion. In other words, at that time I had not yet fought a group of soldiers and had not killed Daniel.

Now that I think about it, if it's true to what Gil said, then, the incident where I was kidnapped by the Black Box organization in my previous life was not a coincidence, but because of Baron Warwick's orders?

Somehow I felt a bit of anger in my heart.

But it turns out that Gil isn't done talking.

"... But that was just an act of kidnapping. In fact, he wanted to keep you safe at the Black Box organization headquarters. At least, that was the gist of the message your father wanted to convey."

Gil continued speaking after scratching the back of his head.

Meanwhile, I just widened my eyes, feeling as if I couldn't believe what he was saying.

If what Gil said was the truth, then there's only one answer I can think of. Baron Warwick has a split personality. That's the conclusion I got.

It could also be a form of parental love. But I highly doubt that. Then there was only one conclusion left, and that was that Baron Warwick had multiple personalities.

'Is that the demonic mana effect I felt from Baron Warwick's body yesterday? Or…'