What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 724

The Sub-Male Lead Goes on Strike – Episode 724 (724/920)

You Are Perfect and Ultimate (5)

When we finally burst into Lord Lasso’s bedroom—

-Kkiiiiiik······!

“······Huh?”

It’s Head Butler Grandpa!

“Oh, Divine One! Welcome, Duke. And your friends.”

“Hello, Head Butler. It’s nice to see you again.”

-Kkiha

-Awoo

Head Butler Dolf and other staff members were already there.

The old man, who had been looking up at the sky and praying briefly, greeted us with a face drenched in cold sweat.

Most of the staff were middle-aged, and though they looked tense, they seemed to know Duke Leopold Lasso’s situation well.

Seeing their faces brighten at his appearance, one couldn’t help but notice their bond.

While the Duke was talking with the Head Butler, Cedric and Jibril Diop quickly began to search the surroundings.

They lifted the frames hanging on the walls and carefully examined the tables and display cases.

Meanwhile, I adjusted Tete in my arms and looked around.

The bedroom had a high ceiling and was very spacious, but overall, it had a gloomy and unsettling atmosphere.

Outside the window, long, dark bars were densely placed, which was the first time I had seen such a thing in a noble family’s house.

Sayde’s room in Romero Palace was quite dark, but it was deliberately decorated that way to stabilize the owner’s disposition.

On the other hand, this place gave a creepy feeling like Dracula’s castle.

Outside the window, a sunset that looked like splattered blood was setting.

Suddenly, my partner came to mind.

······It’s already this late. I wonder if Gain is okay?

“Lord Maiker is in the bathroom. Two servants who assist with bathing went in with him, and they brought bath salts and scented candles to calm his mind, so he won’t be out for at least two hours. I told them to drag out the time as much as possible inside.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much, Dolf.”

“The gratitude is mine, Duke. Thank you for coming back.”

The old man grabbed Lasso’s large hand and shed tears.

The other servants seemed to be barely suppressing their overwhelming emotions.

Leia and the Goos were scurrying around, sniffing.

I spoke to one of the servants.

“Excuse me. How do I get to the study from here?”

“Ah, it’s beyond this door. I’ll open it for you right away, Young Master.”

“Thank you.”

Ttok, ttak, ttak! The skin on the back of her busy hand was peeling off red.

It didn’t seem like a recent injury, but a scar that was at least a few years old.

Before I could even sort out my thoughts, His Majesty Hanan in my coat pocket spoke quietly.

-Tsk. Why is there no one unscathed?

“······.”

-The attending servant is so injured, yet they haven’t even allowed a healing priest. That human will receive divine punishment.

-Click, kiiiik······

“This way.”

At that moment, the door to the study opened.

Once again, the royals entered first to scout, leaving me and Sir Johan here.

I was sure they would search well on their own, but I wanted to help too.

I aimlessly moved the doorknob of the bedroom in the opposite direction and swept the carpet away.

The Duke Lasso, the owner of the house, helped me and moved quickly.

“······Hmm, it’s not here either.”

“Hoo······.”

There was still nothing.

Meanwhile, large and small noises constantly flowed in from the pandemonium beyond the window.

Clang! Clatter! And the screams of people in chaos.

‘It’s a monster! A monster has appeared!’ ‘Aaaagh! Run, run if you want to live!’

······We had to stay calm, especially at times like this.

“Duke, isn’t there anything that could be a clue? Like a book your mother often read, or a drawer she often opened. Ah! What about the jewelry she wore every day or her favorite clothes?”

“I, I’m sorry, Angel. I hardly ever interacted with my mother······. I don’t know much about her. It was hard to even make eye contact with her usually······. Oh!”

As if something suddenly came to mind, the Duke’s large, clear eyes stared blankly at one corner of the ceiling.

His thick lips were even slightly open, which was unusual. I quickly urged him.

“What’s wrong? If you have any information, please share it!”

“Angel, Angel, look at that.”

Thump! He dropped the carpet he was holding with a loud noise.

I quickly turned my gaze in the direction the Duke was pointing. And—

“Ugh.”

-Awoong······

As soon as I saw ‘it,’ I instinctively took a step back. Goosebumps rose on my arms.

At the top of the wall where the bed’s headboard was placed, the head of a monster that looked like a huge deer was mounted.

It was such a hideous and large shape that it was surprising how I hadn’t noticed it as soon as I came in.

It seemed to be a different species from the Ironclad Deer I had once roasted and eaten in Evelyn.

The monster’s horns were adorned with various ornaments that looked like magic stones, and its eyeballs emitted a vivid light as if they were alive, no matter what treatment they had undergone.

Goodness, it seemed like I hadn’t noticed it right away because the ceiling of the bedroom was high.

The eerie atmosphere of the room, combined with such a taxidermied head, was truly bizarre.

The Duke continued in a trembling voice.

“She especially cherished that taxidermied head······. I remember. When I was young, I hated coming into my mother’s bedroom because I was afraid of it. Even more than being beaten with a stick for no reason, those decorations······.”

Hmm.

“Could there be a special device hidden there?”

“Damn it, it’s here too. That old hag’s taste······!”

I asked as calmly as possible, but at the same time, there was a loud noise from the study.

Leia perked up her tail and ran towards it. Sir Johan and I immediately followed.

“Young Master Diop?”

“Look at that. I almost had a heart attack.”

‘How can you read a book with that kind of thing hanging there?’ The lightning magician complained, waving his staff as if to shake off the unpleasant dust.

Sayde stood in front of me as if to protect me.

Perhaps because I had already witnessed something similar once, I wasn’t greatly shocked this time.

The head of a monster, the size of several adults combined, was hanging at the entrance to this room as well.

However, the difference from the taxidermied head in the bedroom was······.

“That one has its mouth wide open. The one in the bedroom has its mouth completely closed······.”

“Does it mean anything?”

Sir Johan immediately asked the Duke. The man shook his head in surprise.

“I have no idea. But if it means something······.”

“It might be the key to opening a secret space.”

The pretty boy sharply cut him off. I blinked and looked at Cedric.

“There are no special devices in the bedroom or the study. The only thing we haven’t examined is that taxidermied head.”

“I will check it.”

Sir Johan said gently. We turned to him and nodded.

Then Duke Lasso hurriedly looked for the Head Butler and his staff.

The staff, who had been taking out each book from the bedroom blankets and the study, looked up in surprise.

“You all need to get out of here quickly. And get as far away from the castle as possible. I’m really grateful for your help today.”

“Yes? But Duke······!”

The horrified old man approached, his face pale.

Perhaps because his eyesight had deteriorated a lot due to old age, Head Butler Dolf’s eyes were clearly dim and blurry to anyone who looked at them.

I curled my lips as I looked at his trembling cheeks and the deep scars on his neck.

The old man’s attitude was affectionate and pitiful, like he was treating his own grandson.

“Duke, how can you do this? We will stay by your side. Just like that day in the past······.”

“I don’t want to repeat that day. That’s why I’m doing this.”

The man’s golden eyes were full of conviction.

If there was no fear, it would be deception, and if his voice didn’t tremble, it would be a lie—but I was clearly watching Leopold Lasso grow up belatedly.

“If you go outside the castle, Alison and the other horses will be waiting obediently. Take care of those children and leave in the direction of Roseharder. Hurry.”

“Young Master. Our Young Master.”

“······They are good at finding their way. Besides, am I not a Cardinal [a high-ranking cleric]? We will be able to meet again.”

‘I promise.’ The Duke said so in a choked voice.

The old man stroked the Duke’s scarred arm and sobbed quietly.

Soon, Sir Johan gently floated into the air.

*

After some more time passed, our struggle finally paid off.

-Kooong! Kureureu······!

“Oh, it’s moving! The bookshelf is really moving!”

“More! Hey, Duke. Turn it more clockwise!”

“Ah, I understand!”

-Kureureureu······

After analyzing the two taxidermied monster heads for a long time, we learned that they were pure mechanical devices that did not contain black magic or curses.

I shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if there hadn’t been two magicians in the group.

Thus, Sir Johan took charge of the taxidermied head in the bedroom, and Duke Lasso decided to take charge of the taxidermied head in the study.

He was very awkward at using Aether [magical energy]—I had never seen a Holy Knight who couldn’t control Aether like that—but he succeeded in flying up and grabbing the monster’s horn like Sir Johan.

However, even after taking charge of each taxidermied head, we struggled for a long time because we didn’t know exactly which horn to move in which direction.

In the end, I recorded every case one by one in my notebook and tested them all.

-Kureureureung······

And now.

The bookshelves that covered the three walls of the wide study were moving like sliding doors.

Tete and I, who were holding pens, were momentarily stunned.

Kugugugu······. The mouth of the monster in the study, which had been wide open, was slowly closing.

Conversely, the mouth of the monster in the bedroom was slowly opening. It’s really amazing and creepy.

“Serenite, this way.”

“Wow. Ah, okay!”

Cedric, who had already grown to about eighteen, grabbed my arm.

I shuddered as I watched the bookshelves sliding over his head.

They didn’t have tracks embedded in the walls (at least not on the surface), and they weren’t magically enchanted, so how could they move like that?

I almost clapped when I saw the long bookshelves being separated into sections. Duke Lasso, the owner of the house, reacted no differently.

For reference, his bedroom and office were on completely different floors and were said to be very ordinary rooms.

“Wow······.”

On the other hand, Maiker Lasso’s study was a space closer to a very elaborate puzzle or music box.

It’s like a facility made almost as one with the fortress. Then it must have been in this place for hundreds of years?

-Kureureu······

“Huh?”

Just as the movement of the bookshelves came to a stop.

We realized that the wall that had been hidden by the front bookshelf had a very strange structure.

That’s like······.

“Goodness. Could that all be doors? Or drawers?”

“That old man, he’s completely senile. Why does he hide the medicinal herbs so well? Is he getting sick from taking them out like this every time?”

Indeed, such a hypothesis was plausible.

Perfectly square doors, the size of a human torso, were densely filling the entire wall.

Without knowing for sure, there seemed to be well over a hundred of them.

Moreover, judging from the fact that each door had a golden handle, it seemed certain that they were objects to be ‘opened’ in some way.

I packed my notebook and pen in my Ggaga bag and thought to myself.

It’s like a box of chocolates. Square and neat from the top of the ceiling to the floor······.

‘Lasso. I’ve been there.’

‘······What? You’ve been to the castle?’

“Huh? Wait a minute.”

At that very moment, there was a conversation that lit up my mind like a fluorescent lamp.

‘Yeah. I went. Rin is royalty, so.’

‘That’s amazing, Rin. How much do you remember? Can you clearly recall the inside?’

‘No. But I know it when I see it. There’s a secret room there.’

‘A secret room? What does it look like?’

“Goodness, Rin.”

‘The door······. The door is square. That’s amazing.’

‘Oh, the door is square. What else?’

Crazy!

“That’s amazing! This is the secret room Rin was talking about. I’m sure of it!”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Let’s check it right away.”

Diop grumbled as always, but Cedric understood my words perfectly.

Sir Johan and Duke Lasso, who had already approached, joined the exploration of the secret room.

The moment we hurriedly grabbed the handle of the first chocolate door—

-Thud!

-Kagagagang!

“Huh?!”

With a deafening noise, something poured down from the ceiling. Pouring, pouring!

“Aaaagh!”

-Kwaaaang!

“Damn it!”

It didn’t take even a few seconds to realize that it was a ‘grating’ [a framework of parallel bars used as a screen or guard].

We were trapped just like that!