What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 716

Buddy Movie (2)

“Crazy! Is our operation ruined like this?”

“······Dolph?”

“Good heavens, Duke. You’re really Duke Leopold!”

The old gentleman with a round body and cartoonish mustache shouted, then hurriedly closed the door and came inside.

Thud, rumble! The large warehouse swallowed a groan, as if trying to keep a secret.

It was a great relief that the armored knights hadn’t come in, but I couldn’t figure out what was going on.

I quickly put Tete and Leia in my arms and prepared to open an Ether Circle [a magical formation used for teleportation or summoning].

Sir Johann, holding Lynn in one arm, made a sword in his other hand, and frost formed at Gaine’s feet.

Who the heck is this person······?

-Grasp!

“I knew it would be you, Duke. I had a hunch, but I knew it would be you!”

The old man, called Dolph, grabbed Leopold Lasso’s hand and rejoiced.

Now that I looked, his forehead and neck were covered in sweat.

The man who had been half-cramped in the carriage was surprised and stammered.

But it was clearly an attitude of recognizing the other person, and a clumsy smile spread across the Duke’s lips.

“Dolph, good heavens. You knew I was coming here? How······?”

“Well, the Sarhentini young master is wearing our young master’s clothes.”

“Ah······.”

“Anyone else might think it’s just similar clothes, but I’ve been by the young master’s side since he made those clothes. I can’t not recognize the special material and shape. Even if my eyes have gotten worse, I can’t not know such a thing. And the horse that young lady rode in on······.”

The gentleman took a deep breath and gestured towards Isabel.

Behind her stood a caramel-colored mare with black ear covers.

“Isn’t that Alison?”

-Neigh

The Duke of Lasso’s beloved horse shook her head as if glad to see him.

Finally, the Divine Beasts and I could breathe a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, he’s a good person.

“······Indeed, you recognized me.”

“Of course. Even if my days are numbered······. I vividly remember carrying the young master’s meals to the stable whenever Alison was sick.”

The old man said in a nasal voice and stroked the back of the Duke’s hand.

Then the man patted the old gentleman’s shoulder with an affectionate touch.

His festering eyes and trembling lips were unusual, as if he had suffered a lot.

My friends and I quickly exchanged glances and just mouthed words.

A touching reunion is very welcome, but we couldn’t waste any more time here.

We were enemy troops in a time of war who had infiltrated this place for military purposes.

If we could get help through this person, we had to persuade him somehow, and if that was difficult······.

“Seeing you secretly bring people here like this, you must be trying to recapture the Lord’s Castle.”

“Huh?”

“Ah?”

-Squeak?

The Duke of Lasso and I made foolish noises at the same time. Demi was a bonus.

The old man dabbed his tears with a handkerchief and tried to control his expression.

“Then I will help.”

-Eek

Eh?

“······Oh? Wait a minute. You?”

“Although I may not be able to run around as much as I did in my younger days, wouldn’t things be much easier if I helped? I’ve been the head butler here for thirty years.”

This was another unexpected development.

Lopi and Demi wagged their tails in the same direction and stirred.

The Duke of Lasso blinked his big eyes and looked back at us.

“Well, that’s true. But······. Are you really okay with this? Do you know who these people are? Besides, if things get bigger, there will be a conflict with the Knights, and if you or the other butlers or servants get hurt······.”

“Even now, Lord Maiker’s knights are coming here. They say they need to measure the magic of the monsters and evaluate their marketability.”

“Wow, thorough. Those who make money by abusing animals are different.”

Gaine clicked her tongue. The old man immediately nodded at those words.

“Yes. So you have to be even more careful.”

“······.”

“I believed that the Duke would definitely come back alive. Someday······. Before I die, I wanted to see you return home and welcome you in person.”

“Dolph.”

“If they know that the Duke has entered, many will come forward to help. The servants have been extensively replaced, so there are few who can be trusted······. But most of the butlers who know your face are still there.”

“Oh, that’s a relief.”

The Duke finally smiled.

Dolph the butler looked back at the doorway and lowered his voice even more.

“······Seeing you come in like this, it seems you have a separate plan prepared, are you perhaps aiming for the birthday celebration?”

Ah, yes!

“That’s right. At that time, the guests and Maiker Lasso’s security personnel will all move to the banquet hall, so we expected the security in other spaces of the main castle to be relatively lax. Isn’t that right?”

“Oh······.”

When I raised my hand and answered, the old man turned to me with surprised eyes.

He seemed to examine me closely for a moment.

“Excuse me, but is the young master not a monster but a friend of our Duke?”

“Well, still a colleague······.”

Then Duke Lasso made a very shocked expression.

Alison also had a rather hurt look. The Divine Beasts raised their beards and jeered.

I hurriedly changed my words. No, even though he’s a prisoner?

“He’s a colleague and a friend.”

-Cooing

“That’s a great relief. I wouldn’t want you to be sold off to some house and suffer hardships.”

“Pardon?”

“That’s a really good thing. Our young master has finally made a human friend······.”

Did something terrifying just pass by?

“Dolph. Can you really help us?”

“Of course. Just tell me what to do. However.”

Dolph stuck out his belly and said heavily.

“Even if I somehow get the Knights past here, the problem is the Sarhentini young master. Lord Maiker called him separately a little while ago.”

“Called him separately? Oh no. Did he already notice······.”

The Duke covered his chin and groaned.

Sir Johann, who was listening to the conversation, summed up the situation, saying, ‘That’s why my disciple hasn’t returned.’

Isabel and I looked at each other with worried eyes.

There were several scenarios we had imagined before entering, but as expected, reality was far more dynamic than we had anticipated.

Gaine, who had been deep in thought, suddenly spoke.

“Well, there’s nothing we can do. Let’s just scrap the operation.”

“Pardon?”

-Auk

“Christel?”

“No, listen. Since when have we been moving step by step according to plan, right? It was about time we went off track. We don’t have much time right now, and if this person is right, we may have to revise most of the routes we had planned.”

She scratched the bridge of her nose and smiled.

“Shouldn’t we be flexible depending on the situation? Let’s maintain the goal, but just completely overhaul the process.”

“That’s a very bold princess. Excuse me, but what is your age this year······.”

“Dolph!”

The Duke was horrified and stopped the butler.

Thus, our operation (at least in part) turned into bubbles in an instant.

Really, as always!

*

Some time later.

Jibril Aliénor Diop—just because he received the Empress’s name doesn’t mean he has to enter politics. From the beginning, wasn’t his name taken from a certain archangel?—thought for the seventh time.

-Clink

-Click

“······.”

“······.”

What on earth is this old hag up to?

“······.”

“······.”

Several minutes had passed since she put down the teacup, but Maiker Lasso only occasionally observed what Jibril was doing, without saying anything.

The magician blinked his red eyes and made a very relaxed expression.

He had heard some information from Duke Leopold Lasso, so he knew what the old woman’s labored gestures meant.

Wearing a mask in front of nobles was something he had done all his life, so he could do it as easily as breathing.

“······Sarhentini, what’s the matter.”

“Yes?”

Jibril straightened his back with an innocent face. The old woman frowned at him.

Soon, her crooked tongue made an awkward pronunciation.

“Clinging to Sneider like a leech. Not even glancing this way since then.”

“Ah. Yes, Duke. That happened in the past.”

‘My mother has not regretted those days for even a single day,’ Jibril replied in a seemingly serious voice.

The old woman stared intently at his lips.

“We should have made a wiser decision; a merchant should have looked further ahead than that. She always said that.”

Whether Ahata Sarhentini really said that is something even Jibril’s sixth cousin’s in-law’s grandfather wouldn’t know.

Jibril didn’t even know the age of the ‘Biorn Sarhentini’ he was playing. Who cares?

“Hmph. Sneider. That viper-like Sneider, is he doing usury or something?”

“Hahaha. Maybe.”

If he had only done such cute things as usury, the continent wouldn’t be in this state.

“My mother seized this opportunity to correct her past mistakes. The Duke’s seventy-seventh birthday—there couldn’t be anything more symbolic than this. And aren’t they truly wonderful monsters and beasts?”

“······.”

“I’m not trying to make a shallow boast in front of someone with deep insight, but capturing them was truly the grace of the Main God. As soon as my mother saw them, she said, ‘Those precious beasts came to us······.'”

Jibril glanced out the window while elegantly holding the teacup.

It was not intentional at all.

“······.”

But the very next moment, he wished that all of this was a thoroughly intentional game.

“······.”

Outside the damn window, that damn boy was still standing there.

“Is he really crazy?”

“What?”

The man brought the teacup, which he was about to throw, to his lips, then elegantly turned his head and looked at the old woman.

The great Liester Empire may fall in the next generation.

“······That’s exactly what she said. ‘Those precious beasts came to us; it’s a miracle that’s hard to explain unless my eyes are crazy. So take this opportunity······.'”

-Click!

Around that time, the door to the reception room opened, and an old gentleman who appeared to be the head butler came in.

The knights guarding the room bowed stiffly to him.

Whether the grace of the Main God really exists, they didn’t seem to have noticed the existence of the boy lurking beyond the window frame yet.

The servant the old man brought with him pulled in a cart loaded with wine bottles, ice bowls, and glasses.

Jibril gently put down the teacup and turned his eyes to that side.

-Rattle, rattle······

Wait a minute?

-Clatter!

“Damn it.”

He almost spilled the glass as it was.

Jibril gritted his teeth as he looked at the familiar blue-gray eyes of the servant.

Her hair was closer to brown, but there was no way he couldn’t recognize her face.

Hey, Pink Princess. What are you doing here?

“We have brought a particularly precious wine for the guest, Young Master Sarhentini—a grape variety that is only grown in the Lasso Territory, made by intentionally freezing it in the field without harvesting it······.”

The pot-bellied head butler explained slowly.

Meanwhile, Christel Rambuillet was diligently preparing to put ice in the glasses and pour the wine.

He was speechless and choked by her audacity in not even looking this way.

Hey, miss. What about the 33rd Cavalry Division operation?

Where did all those things you stayed up all night working on go?

Where did you leave the Princess and wander around alone?

“It’s ready, Head Butler.”

“Oh, yes. It’s heavy, so put it in the middle of the table first. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Yes.”

Christel put the wine bottle, glasses, and snacks on a large tray.

Jibril glanced at the head butler and quickly gathered his thoughts.

No, is this old man also in cahoots [conspiring or colluding]?

-Crash!

“Oops!”

-Clang, clang!

At that moment, the servant’s hand slipped, and the round tray spilled out with a crash. Red wine and broken glass shards flew everywhere. A surprised Christel cried out with a tearful face.

“Oh no, alas! Oh, I was working for the Lord, I’m going crazy!”

“Duke, are you hurt anywhere? Shall I call a doctor?”

“I will take you to the bedroom immediately.”

The knights who quickly approached supported Lasso’s body, and she shuddered at the sudden touch.

‘You, how can you make such a basic mistake!’ The head butler scolded, but at the same time, his big, round body hid Christel’s movements.

-Rustle!

In the midst of the chaos, Jibril found a note slipping into his sleeve.

‘Operation scrapped. Take the kid and go to the study. In charge of searching for Sun Halo Grass.’