What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 661

Sub Male Lead’s Strike – Episode 661

#661

Wartime Restricted Persons? (9)

“Ugh, ugh! Sir Johan, Sir Johan, Sir Johaaaan!”

-Papapapapat!

“Save me!”

The Cardinal was instantly swept away into the distant sky, and I was free-falling without a safety line!

Ice-cold winter winds lashed at my cheeks from all directions, dragging me down.

It felt like my eyeballs were freezing solid, but I couldn’t dare close my eyes.

Even my panicked vocal cords stiffened up.

My heart began to pound at a crazy speed from the dizzying sensation of falling—

-Flap, flap!

“Puh!”

Suddenly, whitish-yellow pieces of paper struck my mouth and forehead before fluttering away.

At the same time, I snapped to attention and my mouth fell open.

A chilling sense of crisis, not the cold, sent shivers down my spine. Crazy!

Those are the documents His Majesty gave me; I absolutely can’t lose them!

“No! Ptoo, come here! Come here!”

-Whoosh!

I must have lost my grip due to the sudden fall and dropped them all.

Frantically reaching out with one arm and putting strength into my upper body, my lower body suddenly received something like buoyancy and soared up.

I frantically began to doggedly chase after each fluttering piece of paper.

Every line written on them was a precious clue and textbook, so there was no way I could lose them like a fool.

These were materials His Majesty entrusted to me, so I had to treat them as precious as my own life.

Perfect recovery, just four sheets left, three sheets, two sheets…!

“Ugh!”

-Rustle!

“Got them! I got them all; I didn’t lose a single one!”

I let out a huge breath and grinned.

The scarf wrapped around my neck like a balaclava had completely come undone and was fluttering like a flag, and the file I held in my arms, though a mess, felt thick and reassuring.

Looking around, I finally saw Sir Johan in the distant sky, descending with his son’s hand in his.

He was giving me a very, very, very satisfied look.

He wasn’t usually one for big changes in expression, but I could tell by the way the corners of his drooping eyes curved and his mouth was slightly open.

Gugu, hanging from his shoulder, stuck his tongue out and then rolled it back in.

Herit was beaming the whole time, as if he was having so much fun.

-Flutter flutter!

“Huh?”

…Huh?! Am I flying right now?

“Just a moment! Sir Johan, I think I just flew on my own! Maybe without your help!”

Wow, it’s really working! The wings are moving much more naturally!

“Yes. You did very well.”

“Woo-hoo!”

“Herit, did you see Uncle fly? And I didn’t drop a single piece of paper, did you see me get them all? Did you see well?”

“Uh-huh!”

The child, fluttering like a butterfly, clung to my waist.

I carefully readjusted Herit’s coat, feeling happy and relieved.

I was still dazed and couldn’t quite believe it, but when the situation became urgent, my wings seemed to instinctively exert their power.

A quick glance at my wings showed that all six were now fully spread, unlike the two that had been out a little while ago.

The joy of success made me forget the cold for a moment. Excited, I looked down at the ground—

-Screech!

“Yeah! Hyung [older brother/term of endearment] flew; I did it quickly!”

-Awoo!

“Wow…!”

Demi and Tete were cheering, held in the arms of Benjamin and Ganael, respectively.

The workers passing by joined in with shouts of support, and Leah, Perry, and Sant seemed very busy stomping on the snow piled up on one side of the drill field.

I barely overcame my embarrassment and waved to them.

The shouts grew even louder. Next to my friends was Jibril Diop with a disgruntled expression….

“Huh?”

…What’s with that serious face?

I tilted my head, watching the wizard pull out his short staff.

When I was holding onto Sir Johan’s clothes to go up, he scoffed and said something like, ‘Just try to come down today.’

Now he was wearing an awful expression as if some emergency had broken out….

“Wait.”

A cold feeling came over me in an instant. Quickly regaining my composure, I turned my head sharply to look at Sir Johan.

He was wearing the most innocent fatherly expression in the world.

His head tilted gently to the side, and his white hair scattered like untouched cotton candy from childhood.

Herit, staring intently at his dad, also wore a face as if he didn’t know anything.

I almost fell for their innocent act. But….

“Eek….”

Ugh—! These sly foxes!

“Sir Johan! Did you deliberately drop me?!”

“It was a desperate measure to achieve the best results in a short amount of time.”

“No way! Seriously!”

How could you say that, Herit’s father!

“I was so scared! I really thought for a moment that something was going to happen to me, and my mind went blank…!”

“That’s exactly what I intended.”

Sir Johan gently cut me off.

I was momentarily speechless and stared blankly at him.

I wondered if I had raised my voice too much, so I quickly checked on Herit, but fortunately, the child didn’t seem startled by me.

Rather, he looked very excited, like a kid who had pulled off a Halloween prank.

Only then did a short, hollow laugh escape me. Oh, dear….

Well, at least you had fun, my stubborn partner!

“Wow, how could you do this….”

“I heard that you were definitely able to fly freely on the first day your wings sprouted, but after fainting and regaining consciousness, you had difficulty controlling them.”

“Well, that’s true….”

“You are a very rational person. Once you became aware of the existence of your wings, you weren’t sure how to accept them, and you probably felt awkward, as if they were separate from you. It’s only natural that control became elusive.”

“Oh….”

Come to think of it, that might have been the case.

“The best way to deal with that is to cut off your thoughts and awaken your instincts.”

“Ugh.”

The Cardinal’s mint-colored eyes drew a beautiful curve.

I frowned, feeling unreasonably sulky.

I knew that it would be resolved in a few minutes anyway, so I wanted to at least pretend to be angry for now.

“You could have at least given me a warning.”

“If I had told you in advance, you wouldn’t have seen such excellent results as you did just now.”

That was also true. He smiled softly as he watched me pout.

Oh, it’s subtly infuriating!

“If we had more time, I would have tried other teaching methods. But unfortunately, you have a tight schedule today.”

“….I don’t like being called ‘Your Highness.’”

There wasn’t really anything to complain about, but I didn’t want to let it go so easily, so I latched onto a truly trivial detail.

Then Sir Johan escorted me to the ground with a very cheerful face.

As expected, everything he said was right.

Once I had awakened my instincts, I could move my wings as naturally as blinking or breathing.

I was still aware of the existence of the feathers, but that was only for a moment.

Anyway, Sir Johan wouldn’t have let me crash into the ground.

If the situation had really gone wrong, he would have definitely saved me.

“It’s a bit unfair, but….”

As expected, the Grand Preceptor is different….

-Thud!

“Your Highness! Welcome back! You were amazing! You are incredible!”

-Kkihoo!

“Haha. It wasn’t a big deal. Thank you. Thank you, Perry, too.”

As I stood softly on the dirt of the drill field, Sant brought the divine beasts to greet me happily.

He exchanged a few words with Sir Johan and then asked Herit various questions, wearing a gentle smile.

It had been a while since I had seen the priest’s friendly face, so I kept glancing at him.

Ganael took my file for a moment, and I drank the warm water that Benjamin handed me, thinking quietly.

Even if Ganael and Benjamin came here as part of His Majesty’s arrangement in case I returned to the palace….

What about Sant? I guess I can assume he came simply as Herit’s guardian?

*

Sir Johan Haines (34 years old, top instructor at Romero Palace), who had neatly completed his mission, was summoned by His Majesty and had to leave for a while.

Herit and I waved our hands together and said, ‘Daddy, come back soon.’

Since Duke Diop was in charge of our escort, there shouldn’t be any problems.

That guy is more meticulous than he looks.

You can’t help but know if you spend a few days with him.

“Why are you looking at me like that again?”

“Isn’t the Duke perhaps quite a capable person?”

“….Don’t ever say that anywhere. It’ll make your life difficult.”

“Hmm.”

On the way back to the cabin, we met many soldiers beyond the barrier again.

I heard that they had been waiting for my return in the cold. I felt really sorry.

“May Your Highness live for ten thousand years!”

“Th-thank you. I will pray that you stay healthy as well.”

“Oh, my! I am overwhelmed!”

“Your Highness! I received shoulder treatment from you last time and have completely recovered! My skin disease has also improved a lot, making life so much easier. Thank you.”

“I saw you at the Statia military camp! Just in case, just in case you don’t remember…. At that time, Your Highness pressed down on my chest like this…. I barely survived….”

“Ah! I remember both of you. I’m glad to see you both healthy!”

When I greeted them with great joy, the two soldiers were startled and bowed deeply.

I was embarrassed, so I bowed back and shook hands.

I had only done what I had to do as a priest who had learned healing circles, and I had used CPR because I had learned it.

The priests and doctors who always work hard in the same place rather than me, who goes out, deserved much more credit.

I waved my hand to hundreds of soldiers as best I could (much more naturally than a few hours ago) and barely managed to get indoors.

-Creak, click!

“Ugh….”

And as soon as the door closed, I collapsed onto the table.

Actually, I wanted to wash up and lie down on the bed, but that was absolutely out of the question until I passed His Majesty’s test.

“Wow, it was my first outing, but the schedule was really packed.”

-Whimper….

“Yeah. Hyung [older brother/term of endearment] isn’t very outgoing….”

Even Demi, who usually likes to play outside, seemed to have been drained by the journey between the cabin and the drill field. The warm fur ball slumped on my lap.

Lofi had followed Cedric in the meantime and was nowhere to be seen.

I asked Benjamin and Ganael to get the children’s wet towels, and while the two were away, I placed the files on the table with a thud.

Diop, who was sitting sprawled out anywhere, was staring at me, watching.

His pockets were full of candy that he had been carrying since the drill field.

“Hey, Your Highness.”

Crunch, crunch. That sounds like you’re losing all your teeth.

“Yes.”

“You don’t really think you can solve His Majesty’s task, do you?”

“Of course, I can solve it.”

“….”

“I may look like this, but I was raised with a good education. I’ve been through fierce entrance exam competition, and I’ve solved problems within a limited time hundreds, thousands of times in my life. I’m confident.”

Then the Duke let out a ‘huh’ and a sigh.

I poured water to drink from time to time and prepared a quill and notebook.

“Do you even know what ‘Wartime Restricted Person’ means?”

“Aren’t they key figures from enemy countries who are prohibited from entering or leaving during wartime? More precisely, they are people whose border crossings are strictly prohibited because they could benefit the enemy forces.”

“….”

“But His Majesty has brought them to the forefront here and said that they can be used. He’s trying to break old customs and conventions and try something. I already have something in mind from the drill field.”

“You have something in mind even after all that fuss?”

The wizard said provocatively, supporting his chin with one hand.

I was secretly shrinking back, but I tried to act as tough as possible on the outside.

“You’re asking the obvious.”

“Then you know how your position will change when you solve this task?”

“….Yes?”

I stopped writing the number 1 on a clean page.

The crimson eyes I met looked very serious for some reason.

…My position? Is that important?