The Retired Hero is an Extra

'He's a hero, surely he won't be unscrupulous, right?' Jash tried to think like that but found it incredibly hard to maintain that thought.

He didn't know if he was thinking that way to fool himself or if he really believed those thoughts.

He quickly assessed his surroundings, calculating his next moves as two more attackers closed in.

But before he could counter-attack, he saw Grunghin, who had closed the distance between them, ready to attack him as he dealt with the other two.

It was a good move, if not for being against Jash, who couldn't help but deem it pathetic.

'At least they know the word teamwork,' Jash thought in an attempt to lighten his previous doubts, but it did nothing to dampen the bad feeling.

Unnecessarily growing wary was also a disadvantage and Jash understood it well enough.

His movements were slightly sluggish compared to before, but it wasn't very conspicuous, given how tired and haphazard the group was.

Instead, his composure shone, standing out amongst them, as he decisively countered the two with the flat of his blade, using the force to offset Grunghin.

Due to his miscalculation, he missed hitting Grunghin, being a beat slower, and couldn't help but pull back his sword.

In return, the two who had been blocking and pressuring Jash felt inexplicably confident before reality hit, like a slap in the face.

Ahem, it was Grunghin's blunt hammer.

The one on the farther side was barely fine but the one who took the full brunt of it fainted with internal injuries.

However, it could've been worse had Grunghin not tried to stop his momentum at the last second.

Jash didn't even care though. He insisted on taking out the stunned Grunghin as well but his sword met resistance in the face of a staff.

Surprised for a second, Jash regained his calm and remembered he was the one talking with the lightning martial artist.

'I don't know what they talked about, but this guy seems... tacky?' Jash didn't know what else to call his flamboyant style of waving the staff.

Still, Jash chose to be careful and scanned the remaining group to keep their positions in his mind at all times, not daring to risk being ambushed.

However, his mind could only do so much without the eyes being able to focus on each of them all the time as that was impossible.

It would be rather absurd for someone at his level to be able to do that kind of thing.

But he really did push his limits, allowing his body to adapt fairly quickly in the face of extreme pressure at every moment.

It wasn't that fighting them was difficult or anything, but the more there were, the more physically and mentally drained he became.

All he could rely on was his body being able to hold up as he had really focused somewhat more on it than his mana or elements.

And thanks to his past life memories, his swordsmanship was a cut above the rest, so he didn't have to care too much on that part.

Using just that, he subverted the staff for a second before blocking a spear blade with his sword.

'Avon!' Jash was only slightly surprised to see him come play his part too as he didn't seem like the type to get goaded into doing acts that could blemish the Imperial name.

'Thinking of being the heir, he really restrained his temperament,' Jash mused with schadenfreude, knowing it was all useless in the end.

After all, when had responsible and strong men not defected in the face of women.

They must not have been strong and responsible, to begin with. That was the only explanation.

Unless... they were secret masochists...

Not daring to think further and distract his thoughts, Jash warily took a few steps back, casting a sidelong glance to check if there was someone behind him too.

'At least no one can use proper stealth without mana,' Jash heaved a brief sigh of relief before trying to come up with ways to deal with the staff and spear.

'The two don't have good coordination, but it's only a matter of time,' he mused, aware of the monstrous advantages that came with being a genius.

He himself could be called one, so he surely knew it, whether it was from his past life or this one.

Not daring to let him get a rest and retaliate stronger, both the spear and staff reached for him from opposite sides.

But it wasn't in a way where he could jump or move back and the two would clash.

'This is...'

His eyes narrowed with sharpness hidden underneath scanned the two of them and he understood deep in his heart.

This situation seemed hopeless to not just the onlookers, but even him, just at the first glance, though.

Jash spun his sword into a large slash before the two of them even reached him, confusing everyone except Aileen as her eyes bulged.

"Could it be...?" She blurted out in ecstasy yet her voice went unheard by anyone else.

And as if to echo her expectations, Jash kicked his sword, using it as a platform, to alight himself off the ground.

While it gave strong force to the sword, and by extension, to his wrist and arm.

To the untrained, it might seem clever, but the trained recognized it as making himself an easier target.

However, what if the two couldn't change their weapons' trajectories in time?

Jash was not stupid enough to leave things to luck, when it really mattered the most.

Instead, he used the pain and momentum of his sword and arm to turn around mid-air and reign in his legs to not get cut open.

The sword and spear hurling towards him also had great momentum and could barely be turned to pincer him.

But Jash was already half his body above their heads and directly kicked them in their faces before somersaulting back to the ground.

All of it looked quite graceful and a few maidens' hearts almost stirred, but the horrifying sight was enough to calm them down.

Avon, who was about to connect his spear towards Jash's back, now front, saw Jash turning mid-air before he was knocked out all of a sudden.

The staff-wielding guy had long noticed something off, but still couldn't change the result.

"What the hell is this monster?!"

Someone couldn't help but comment seeing Jash making impossible maneuvers as if they were second nature to him.

Even those poised to attack halted as they saw two of their own knocked out in a single move.

All of them were fighting without mana, so their numbers should've given them an advantage.

Yet it turned out to be entirely opposite of what they expected to happen, making them greatly hesitate in going further.

'Good! This should be enough to curb their enthusiasm, right?' Jash mused, still appearing calm on the outside, as if he had not done something outrageous.

His calm face as he scanned the ones hesitating in their actions chilled their hearts for no reason.

The image of losing and getting knocked out in one blow appeared in their minds, making them shudder.

They believed Jash had a clear advantage as long as they could not protect themselves using mana to strengthen themselves internally.

However, that was entirely false.

Only Jash, himself, knew he couldn't go on without something unseemly happening, so he put on a facade to curb their lively spirits and dampen their adrenaline rush.