The Extra Saved the Terminally Ill Princess and Ran Away - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Meeting of Bin and Finn

I opened my eyes to darkness.

A space so dark and empty, I could neither see nor feel anything.

A process I'd experienced once before.

My soul gradually merging with the character, 'Finn'.

"…Thank goodness."

At least that bastard author hadn't deceived me.

Just as I sighed in relief, it happened.

-Thump thump thump…

…? Where was that sound coming from?

Perplexed by this unfamiliar phenomenon, I turned my head towards the sound.

A human figure appeared.

He… walked towards me, his steps firm and strangely detached.

A man with a neatly trimmed mustache and beard, his sharp eyes overflowing with an overwhelming, almost otherworldly presence.

He carried a large, worn greatsword on his back, clearly a companion through many years, yet still radiating sharpness. He stopped before me.

Only then did I notice his height, a head taller than me. I was already taller than the average Korean man, but this man must have been close to 6'3".

I moved my eyes down his body, taking in the medieval fantasy-style armor, riddled with scars.

Even his exposed face bore numerous wounds. It wasn't hard to imagine the countless scars hidden beneath his armor.

Why had this man appeared here?

The question was unnecessary.

…After all, I couldn't possibly forget my own face, even aged as it was.

"…Finn."

At the sound of his name, the man lowered his head, his eyes meeting mine.

"You, too, are Finn now."

"Are you here to argue? To tell me to get out of your body?"

I'm sorry, but I can't.

I have a mission to save her.

….

Contrary to my expectations, the man simply closed his eyes and shook his head once.

Perhaps because we shared the same body, I understood his intentions with just that simple gesture.

"You have something to say?"

To me.

***

How?

That was my first question.

Hadn't he been buried alive with the other servants after the Princess's death in the original story?

How could he be standing before me like this?

…The answer came sooner than I expected.

It was Finn's first sentence.

"Sensing her impending death, Her Highness… worried that I, her dedicated attendant, would be killed for failing to protect her. So, she gave me more than enough money to live on and sent me away."

…And three days later, Her Highness passed away.

Finn's tone was flat, yet tinged with a deep, suppressed sorrow.

"Suddenly without purpose, having lost my only liege, I was lost for a time. I drowned myself in alcohol, often getting into brawls with other drunks."

It was agonizing to live while his liege suffered and died.

Finn clenched his jaw, a trickle of bright red blood seeping from his chapped lips.

…Although we were different individuals, I could clearly feel his emotions.

Because I had experienced them too.

"…So you took up your sword and went to war? Unable to bear the guilt?"

He couldn't repay the Princess's final act of mercy, the gift of life she had given him, with the cowardly act of suicide.

Finn silently nodded. Then, he let out a bitter chuckle.

"Ironically… I, who sought death on the battlefield… clung to life with surprising tenacity. Even with my chest pierced by enemy swords, even when I teetered on the brink of death, poisoned by venomous blades."

As if Her Highness, from the afterlife, was chasing me away, telling me it wasn't my time to die yet.

Recalling his near-death experiences, Finn said with a sad smile.

….

Live to die, die to live.

He wanted to die, so he lived. He threw himself into battle, believing that if he died fighting for his liege's empire, she might forgive him. No one could defeat him.

…Humans, by nature, fear death and struggle to survive.

Between someone cowering in fear of death and someone recklessly courting it, the victor was obvious.

***

"And so… as I lived, unable to die…"

Suddenly, Finn wept.

Tears so sorrowful, they seemed out of place on his rugged face, like the tears of a child who had lost their parents.

"The world… suddenly went dark and when I came to, I was back in the past."

Back to when Her Highness was still alive.

Instinctively knowing he had returned to the past, Finn tried to speak, to call out to his liege, whom he hadn't seen in decades.

…Or rather, he tried to speak.

But his lips wouldn't move, defying his will.

Then, unfamiliar words flowed out, and Finn realized he was trapped within his own body.

-Damn it, you reincarnated me because of a mere 34 characters?

Reincarnation.

His body, the unknown entity possessing him, had clearly said so.

Reincarnated into his past by some author.

"…Your actions afterward were… extraordinary."

Like a prophet, he acted and behaved as if he knew the future.

Finn realized, through Kim Bin's actions, how he should have acted in the past. Kim Bin knew Her Highness's favorite foods, hobbies, even her idle habits.

"…But it didn't last long."

Finn recalled the landslide, the consequence of trying to change the future.

He believed that if he had been there, he could have easily avoided it. But his body was already occupied by an unknown entity… an entity who, nevertheless, cherished Her Highness as much as he did.

"That's why I came to find you."

…To you, who cherished, loved, and carried the same guilt and remorse as I did…

To give you everything I have.

Finn, long resigned to death, had decided to entrust his and Her Highness's future to Kim Bin.

***

"I witnessed your final choice. Choosing the Eastern Mountain Range of the Empire to save Her Highness, even knowing the agonizing fate that awaited you."

Finn said he had watched everything, from Kim Bin's decision to his tears of regret, sorrow, and guilt.

With a serene expression, Finn said,

"It doesn't matter what kind of world this is."

"Even if it's a delusional world created by a mere pen-wielder, it doesn't matter."

"…I will give you my soul, my experience, my talent… everything I can offer!!!"

His thunderous cry echoed through the dark space.

He placed his hand on my shoulder.

Just… let Her Highness live a happy life. Don't let her suffer anymore.

Finn continued, tears streaming down his face.

"…Because I… I, who doesn't know the 'original story' of this world, cannot do it."

He, Finn, didn't seem to care that he was merely a character created by someone else.

As long as he could save the Princess, Lili, he would accept anything.

"Giving me everything… means you will…"

"I will probably disappear completely. Even my soul."

He inhaled sharply, his lips trembling.

"But I don't care. I've long been prepared for death."

"…No, I welcome it! A noble death for my liege, rather than a dog's death on the battlefield!!"

…I gladly accept.

His will, firm and unwavering as a mountain, flowed into me through his eyes.

"…I would have done it anyway, even without your request."

Because my desire to save her is no less than yours.

"Your eyes are more trustworthy than any knight I've ever seen."

A satisfied smile spread across Finn's face.

At the same time, his body, starting from his toes, began to disintegrate into shimmering particles of light, flowing into me.

…I felt it.

His breath, scattering like a gentle breeze against my skin.

I heard it.

The beating of his heart.

I saw it.

The immense power he possessed.

…So that's it.

You truly… truly fought with all your might to die.

That's how you became so strong.

Even without words, I understood why he wanted to give me his power.

…To protect her, Lili, from the countless deaths that awaited her.

With the experience he had accumulated over decades, risking his life, and with his talent with the sword.

***

As Finn's body faded, only his shoulders remaining…

A question suddenly arose.

If he had achieved such renown, how could I not know him?

But the name 'Finn' never appeared again in the story…

'Did he use an alias?'

So I asked. What name did he use on the battlefield?

"A name… I didn't use one. There was no need."

Finn raised an eyebrow, as if this was the one thing he could boast about.

"After all, I, this lowly commoner Finn… became known to all as 'The Sword Saint'."

…What?

The Sword Saint?

The Sword Saint who single-handedly defeated 300 knights?

Only then did I realize that Finn… looked exactly like the Sword Saint described in the novel.

"W-Wait, are you giving me the Sword Saint's talent…!"

I couldn't finish my sentence. His body vanished in a flash of light before I could.

But even without words, his final expression conveyed his message clearly.

'I leave the rest to you. You, who will now be Finn.'

And so, to my determination to save the woman who sacrificed herself for me…

Was added the will of Finn, determined to protect his liege, whom he failed to protect in the past.

Next Chapter

Index

Previous Chapter