What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 758

The Vessel of the Divine Kingdom (5)

Same day, morning.

-Pooooooo······

The sound of a horn, coming from a distant place.

-Boooooo······

“······.”

-Woof! Woof woof!

-Wawawalf! Wawalf! Rrrrr······

Leopold Lasso, the rightful owner and leader of the Lasso Estate, blinked, a thick log balanced on his shoulder.

He was directly participating in the restoration work of the Lord’s Castle.

Startled dogs began to wag their short tails, looking towards the source of the sound.

The estate residents and children, who were busily carrying snacks and running errands, also looked up in surprise.

Since the three dignitaries of the Empire and their party left two days ago, the animal forest and the human lands had been relatively peaceful.

Although a great earth tremor occurred yesterday, fortunately, no one was injured, and no buildings collapsed.

The people agreed that it must have been the roar of the battlefield.

Someone claimed that the chief god, angered by the war, had caused the earthquake.

-Doom, doom······

“Lord?”

-Squeak, squeak······

However, the sound of the flute and drums following yesterday’s earthquake was definitely frightening.

The servants who were stoking the fire and brewing sun-dried tea for the patients looked back at their master with anxious eyes.

The dogs quickly lowered their tails and hid behind the humans.

Leopold’s plump lips trembled, and his hands, which were lowering the log to the ground, also shook.

He was naturally timid and remained a fearful person.

“······It sounds like the Divine Kingdom army is retreating.”

“Oh, my god.”

“Retreating?”

“Yes. It seems yesterday’s earthquake was not a natural phenomenon.”

At the Duke’s words, the servants covered their mouths with their hands.

The artisans who were gathering nails and screws, and the workers who were carrying buckets full of pitch, were horrified and stumbled.

Everyone felt the flute sound vibrating in their chests, and even the earth seemed to be subtly trembling.

“Dolph… make sure the estate residents lock their doors and don’t come out of their houses for the time being. Explain it thoroughly so that everyone understands it’s for their safety.”

“Yes, Lord.”

But Leopold was a proper lord.

A man who was always ready to protect his beloved land, people, and animals.

He cleared his throat several times and continued calmly.

“Have those without guardians prepare to gather at the Lord’s Castle before dusk. It would be good to clean out the banquet hall in the annex at the same time. We need to check if there are enough cotton cloths to use as blankets.”

“I will do so. You two, come with me!”

The round-bellied old man took two young servants and hurried towards the annex.

The restoration of the historic main building was expected to take at least half a year, and since the ‘recapture,’ most of the administration had been carried out day and night in the annex of the Lord’s Castle.

The servants wiped the sweat from their foreheads and exchanged complicated glances.

Leopold gently stroked the cheeks of some of the little ones who had turned pale with fear.

He almost succumbed to a moment of peace, but the world beyond the dense thickets was at war. Moreover, this place was nominally the land of the Imperial Army…

“Was that just now the sound of drums, Duke?”

At that moment, a serious voice rang out from behind the man.

Leopold forced a smile at his familiar presence and turned his head.

“Duke Dheim.”

“Could it be that the Divine Kingdom army is coming here…?”

“No, it seems they are retreating towards the royal capital.”

The Duke said bitterly.

Francois, who came out in a shirt as if in a hurry, did not answer for a moment, as if he was at a loss for words.

Cornelice, who accompanied him holding his hand, looked beyond the distant mountain range.

Soon, the child’s murmur followed.

“······If I were an adult, wars like this would never happen.”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

“I’m not just saying that, Marquis.”

The young princess looked up at the adult wizard, her light green eyes shining brightly.

Lee-Seol, who was holding the child’s other hand, listened quietly.

“Adults are strange. It’s best not to fight. Why do they fight when they know that? Why couldn’t they stop it?”

“…I am truly ashamed that I have not set an example for such a precious person. We, too, are heartbroken by these results.”

Francois smiled bitterly and apologized.

The child looked at the man with a sulky expression, then grabbed his hand even tighter and vowed.

“I used to like drawing more than studying, but now I’m going to study hard too.”

“That’s a very admirable thought.”

“Yeah. I’m going to read all the books that Royal Tutor Granny tells me to read. I’m going to read the books she tells me not to read too.”

“······.”

‘The books she tells me not to read’ must mean the study of kingship.

The Marquis and the Duke thought the same thing at the same time, but they did not dare to say it out loud.

Even as they were talking, the reeds by the stream trembled intermittently.

From afar, the hooves of the cavalry seemed to be drumming on the ground like percussion instruments.

Leopold calmed the panicking dogs and asked the Marquis again.

“Has there been any contact from the main camp?”

“No, Ttuk-ssim is not back yet. If he stops by the royal capital, his return will be even later.”

“I see.”

-Pooooooo······

The ominous flute sound drifted through the clouds like a dream.

The Duke of Lasso frowned for a while, as if lost in deep thought.

Even as his workers gradually regained their original rhythm, the man remained silent.

Francois smiled at the audacity of the Second Princess, who was insisting that she wanted to write a letter to His Majesty the Emperor, and turned to leave.

It was then.

“Duke Dheim.”

“Yes.”

Leopold called Francois.

The Marquis, who was mentally reviewing the list of magical tools to be examined upon returning, suddenly stopped walking.

Their eyes met.

“…Perhaps I should go.”

“······.”

“Leaving this place to you for a while.”

The Cardinal of the Air Attribute spoke to the Marquis of the Empire.

Francois quickly understood the meaning.

-Boooooooooo······!

-Doom, doom, doom······!

“······.”

And what filled the silence between the two men was only the noise of the battlefield, which frightened even the plants and rocks.

Cornelice looked in the direction the sun was setting and squeezed Lee-Seol’s hand tightly.

“······.”

More than ever, she missed her sister and brother. But she didn’t say it out loud.

At the crossroads of fate, much more happens than pedestrians imagine.

“Oh, my. What are those things? Cough, are those nobles running away, leaving the people behind?”

-Ah······!

“Shh! Duck your head!”

A certain divine object [an item imbued with divine power] and a sinner peeked out from the overgrown path, as if about to be swallowed by the forest, and were dragged into the bushes.

‘Honey, your hands are too rough…!’ Carme almost fell backward and was about to get annoyed, but she only mouthed the words.

It was because the gray eyes of the Deputy Commander of the Garrison were gleaming like the eyes of a wolf in the shadows. How scary!

-Clatter, clatter, clatter!

“Giddy up! Let’s go!”

-Heeheeheeing!

-Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop······!

The gently shining eyes of the spirit, Carme’s wide eyes, and the sharp gaze of the 8th-grade swordsman chased after the speeding carriages from under the bushes.

The group was a mess, not long after passing through the puppeteer’s path.

They were covered in dirt from head to toe, and they hadn’t been able to wash properly in the meantime. Their cloaks and clothes were all torn, and anyone could see that they were deserters suffering.

Carme frowned at the sight of the endless stream of carriages pouring out of the forest path.

Judging from the ornate crests decorating the carriages and the gold leaf on the roof, they were all from powerful noble families…

“Aren’t they crazy? If those people run away like that, who will the people in the royal capital rely on?”

“That’s why the Venetian Divine Kingdom is in this state.”

Elizabeth spat out as she checked the dagger at her waist.

Carme answered ‘Ah!’ and stared at the procession of carriages for a while.

The spirit trembled, his body half-turned into wood, and only rolled his eyes.

The swordsman, noticing this, grabbed the divine object’s arm and asked.

“Are you alright? Can you go deeper?”

-Uh-huh, of course. Because I have the will given to me by my master. Just…

The divine object drooped its eyebrows, which were twisted into thin strands.

-I keep hearing the cries of the spirits. The undertaker didn’t confess until the very end.

“······.”

-The children of the earth wither each other and return to the soil… It’s pointlessly hateful and sad.

Elizabeth pursed her lips tightly.

After she took Carme and the spirit and hurriedly left the path, she didn’t know exactly what happened there.

She was too busy trying to save her life and take care of the divine object, so she didn’t have time to think deeply.

But she had a rough idea.

What the Deputy Commander of the Garrison witnessed at dawn was a silver obelisk soaring high through the sky of the ‘God-Forsaken Forge.’

‘-Kwakwakwakwakwang!’

‘-Swaaaaaaaaa······!’

The legend of the Liester Imperial Family. I saw the ultimate skill that I had only heard about from Master Erbe.

“…It’s presumptuous of me to say, but isn’t that what the earth is all about?”

Elizabeth, who had been lost in thought, opened her mouth with a face stained with blood and dust.

“Bearing heat and cold in the soil for a long time, blooming flowers after hardship, and becoming fertilizer after death to be reborn as another flower. I heard that is the calling of the chief god’s land. Although their graves have become battlefields in this life…”

-······.

“The cradle of the next life may be paradise.”

-······You know it well, little silver bell.

“I learned it from my fiancé. He’s quite devout.”

Then the spirit smiled kindly and hugged Elizabeth’s shoulder.

The swordsman was a little embarrassed by the sudden hug, but he stammered and hugged the divine object back.

The short peace was shattered by Carme, who suddenly broke in between them.

“Wait, wait!”

“What’s wrong all of a sudden?”

-Carme, are you jealous?

“What? Why would I be jealous when pretty people are getting along? Look over there! Isn’t that the mansion?”

Carme pointed somewhere beyond the skinny shrubs.

Elizabeth and the spirit’s gazes immediately turned to her sharp fingertips.

-Ah······.

“······.”

And two surprised mouths opened wide.

-Clatter, clatter, clatter······!

“Please hurry! At this speed, it will take us three days to get to the south!”

“Yes, Old Servant!”

-Slap!

‘Heeheeheeing!’ When a procession of carriages from a noble family sped out of the path, a faint scent of roses seemed to be carried on the east wind.

Three pairs of eyes stared blankly at a part of the grand mansion spread out below the gentle hill.

-Whooooo······

Finally, it was the Rose Garden.

On the other hand, on the opposite side of the crossroads, an accident that no one expected was happening.

“Oh, wait a minute. I’m sorry, but we have to stop the carriage.”

Of course, it was closer to a miracle than an accident, in that no one was injured and it saved someone’s life.

But the gods of the continent do not play dice.

“Oh my god, it’s a person. There’s a person collapsed over there!”

Sant, who looked out the window at Isabel’s words, exclaimed and knocked on the roof of the carriage several times.

Soon, the carriage stopped in the middle of a dark forest path.

The passengers and coachmen hurriedly got out and examined the person who had fallen by the roadside.

“God, thank you. She’s still breathing!”