What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 315

#315

A Priest Returns, Again (4)

“What… What are you saying, Yoaner?”

Hwino muttered, dazed. Only then did I whirl around.

A middle-aged woman without a mask came into view.

Though lean, she appeared sturdy with her large frame and tall height.

Her forearms and shins were covered in scars, suggesting she did a lot of rough work.

Her closely cropped hair also bore several marks.

Overall, she had a sharp impression, with a prominent aquiline nose adding to her intense presence.

…That person must be the representative of Honing Village, Yoaner.

“Things have gotten complicated.”

Yoaner replied bluntly, setting down the cart with a thud.

The supplies didn’t seem plentiful, but still, pulling that alone through the mountains…

She had amazing stamina and strength. Feeling like a radish cube, I awkwardly stood holding the shovel.

I missed the timing to greet her, so it felt awkward to jump in.

Yoaner finally frowned and glared at me. I flinched.

“Who are you? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

“Hello…”

I greeted her politely.

I couldn’t do the Imperial greeting, of course, and remembering the Shinguk greeting was 예서 Prince’s thing.

In the end, I bowed in the Korean style. This is the real me, after all.

“Oh my! This person is an angel who fell from the sky! Just recently, why!”

“Greet her, Yoaner.”

“She’s an incredibly precious person. She healed all our children!”

“Kuhn! Yan! Come here! Tell her about it!”

The displaced residents who came out of their homes upon hearing the representative’s voice added a word each, trying to protect me.

Meanwhile, the little ones who were playing house with leaves came running.

Soon, hands were busy unloading bread, cheese, and pickled herring from the cart.

Yoaner listened to the people’s stories and stared at me.

She also observed the sneakers I was wearing.

“…Fell from above? You mean the day the sky hole closed?”

“Ah, yes! She fell into the shelter, and that’s how this pit was created.”

“It was much deeper originally! Hwino could go in, and you wouldn’t even see the top of his head!”

“I’m sorry.”

I quickly apologized. The residents laughed and waved their hands, saying it was okay.

‘The angel closed the sky hole, Yoaner. That’s what we believe,’ Hwino added calmly.

Then the representative spoke to me again. Her tone was definitely calmer.

“Did you really come from the sky?”

“Ah… Yes. I’m not from the continent. Nor am I from any of the feudal states.”

At that answer, the woman sighed deeply, as if troubled.

“…We did see something falling from below that day. I was relieved it didn’t seem to be the Main God’s sword. But it was a person.”

“She’s not just a person. She had wings!”

“Her eyes were a clear violet!”

“She spoke words we’d never heard before! A foreign language?”

“She also has a staff that’s this long and incredibly ornate!”

The residents and children competed to raise their voices. Yoaner, genuinely surprised, widened her eyes.

I turned pale and waved my hands. Ugh!

“Please, keep it a secret from people in other towns. The lord or superiors… Anyway, please don’t tell outsiders about me. I beg you.”

“Of course! Don’t worry!”

“You can trust Yoaner, angel. She works day and night to feed us.”

“Think about it, Yoaner. She fell from such a high place, created a pit this big, and doesn’t have a single scratch on her body. She’s completely different from ordinary people like us.”

“My face doesn’t hurt at all anymore, Yoaner ajumma [a respectful term for a middle-aged woman]. The medicine the angel gave me worked!”

Kuhn also defended me earnestly. The representative nodded as if she understood.

Whether it was her natural calm demeanor, she remained composed throughout the residents’ outpouring of testimonies.

Except for that one moment when she was surprised, her expression hardly changed.

“…Alright. But whether you’re an angel or a Main God, you can’t leave the village for now. You all have to stay in the shelter.”

“Oh my.”

The shelter residents covered their mouths with their hands. Hwino looked at me with worried eyes.

Tensely, I waited for an explanation.

“As I said before, Honing will surrender. The Imperial Army keeps pushing into the border… You know Bauterlot, right? The Marquisate territory right above our domain.”

Yoaner said, unloading firewood from the cart. Everyone tilted their heads.

“Bau, what?”

“Uh, I’ve heard of it. Never been there, though.”

“Why there? What’s going on?”

The residents reacted eagerly. The representative’s voice was serious.

“The people of Bauterlot united and surrendered to the Imperial Army without resisting. The Emperor didn’t harm anyone and accepted them. Only the knights were taken as prisoners, and the conscripted elderly and children were all released.”

“Goodness…”

People looked at each other and murmured. I gripped the shovel tightly.

It was such an Emperor-like move.

Frederick Liester wasn’t one to easily take lives and reign supreme.

The person I knew hated war more than anyone else on the continent.

That’s why he had been patient many times.

He was a generous ruler to the weak and only raged against injustice.

He must have had many conversations with his teacher and agonized before making the final decision.

…I was sorry to put him through this.

Even knowing it wasn’t my fault, I couldn’t suppress my feelings.

“They even distribute food to the starving Shinguk citizens. The representatives from our neighboring towns all heard it, so it’s reliable information. There are even those who witnessed it directly.”

“Amazing. The Winite River’s water level isn’t even as good as previous years…!”

“That’s not all. Knowing that the Marquis of Bauterlot had lost the trust of his people, the Emperor immediately removed him. There’s no lord in that land now. An Emperor’s vassal is temporarily ruling it.”

“Heavens! Is such a thing possible?”

“No lord? Does that mean we don’t have to pay taxes?”

“Hey, would that really happen? We’d probably pay the Emperor instead.”

“If the rule continues, it’ll be from next year. The national tax is said to be 10%.”

“10%?!”

The crowd was astonished and exchanged opinions busily.

I tilted my head. That was the standard in Liester.

Regions hit by epidemics or disasters had that halved again.

The Imperial family was wealthy, but this stemmed from the belief throughout Liester that ‘those with more power should bear more responsibility.’

From the time Arian Liester inherited Hanan Lumayan’s beliefs, the Empire had been such a country.

But Fenetian was different.

This was the land where Holy Knights blessed by the Main God gathered, and they held the main power in the nation.

The deep faith of the people and the existence of the upper class with superpowers…

“We pay 20%.”

“Right, the local lord takes an additional 40% on top of that. The Empire limits that to 30%.”

“Heo…!”

…Often led to corruption.

It was a structure especially prone to collapse in the current situation where the ruler was not healthy.

Yoaner said with dark eyes.

“We’ve been meeting and discussing with the village representatives since a week ago. Sorry for not informing the shelter sooner.”

“No, Yoaner. We know how exhausted you are.”

“So, the reason for surrendering is…”

“Yes. If we become Imperial citizens, at least we won’t have to worry about our children’s futures. We’ll be able to breathe. If we’re lucky, we might be able to see the children we sent to the Empire again.”

‘If those kids forgive us, that is,’ Yoaner muttered, wiping the sweat from her forehead with her shoulder.

The residents fell silent in an instant. Some sobbed silently and bit their lips.

A woman helping with the fence repairs raised her hand.

“Yoaner, you know. Is it really okay?”

“…”

“Honestly, I’m not afraid of things going wrong and being retaliated against by the lord. We’ve always been treated like burdens anyway. Making a living has always been hard.”

“…”

“But I’m scared that the Main God might be angry. Or the Crown Princess or higher-ups… That they might curse us. I’m scared that even the children we barely saved might be harmed.”

‘They have incredibly terrifying power, after all,’ Her thin voice trembled.

Yoaner silently stared at her and continued to unload the remaining luggage from the cart.

Soon, everyone’s faces darkened. They all seemed to harbor the same feelings about it.

The fear stemming from long-held faith. And the inherent submissiveness.

“Don’t worry about that. Priests don’t have the ability to curse anyone.”

“Angel…?”

The residents turned to me.

I gently brushed the hair of Kuhn, who was clinging to my clothes.

The children of Honing were rarely emaciated. Even if they were sick and in the shelter.

It was thanks to the adults making sure to feed the little ones, even if they themselves went hungry.

A small smile appeared.

“Holy Knights are only given sacred physical power and the aether of covenant. Priests can open circles and deliver oracles, but they must also have the target within their range. Moreover, harming life through oracles is fundamentally blocked. It’s a forbidden decree that even the Pope cannot execute. So you don’t have to be afraid. Even if a priest holds a grudge against you, the Imperial Army will block their approach first.”

“Ah…”

The residents stared at me blankly.

Yoaner’s eyebrows twitched, as if she hadn’t expected this.

I scratched the tip of my nose and smiled sheepishly.

“And to the Main God… I’ll try to talk to them nicely.”

It was just words, but I wanted to give them courage. I hoped it would help with their decision, even a little.

“…Then I’m in favor.”

Then the resident who had first expressed fear spoke.

Her face was still frightened, but she wanted to move forward.

It was the same for the other neighbors. Hwino nodded, wiping away tears.

His eyes were already swollen.

“I’m also in favor. We’ve been smuggling children into the Empire since our grandmother’s generation. Hoping they’d eat well and be happy there… Everyone knew it was dangerous. We risked our lives every time, not just the kids but us too. We all cried and couldn’t sleep when the small boat was finished.”

“That’s right. We did…”

“Let’s not be afraid of what might happen now. We have each other.”

Everyone agreed with those words.

Sensing the heavy atmosphere, the children quickly hugged their parents.

I wrapped my arm around Kuhn’s shoulder and asked carefully.

“So… How will the surrender be carried out? Is there anything you’ve agreed on?”

This was very important. For these people, and for me.

Now that Honing had decided to surrender to the Empire, the card of smuggling through the Winite River had to be discarded.

It could cause unnecessary misunderstandings, and conversely, they could be caught by the Shinguk army and become traitors.

The whole village might suffer because of me. The special circumstances of wartime also had to be considered.

So if a more efficient and safer method existed, I had to know.

“According to Mahi, the representative from the next town, the Imperial Army that occupied the Marquisate of Bauterlot has turned its direction downwards.”

Clatter. Yoaner replied bluntly, sitting on the cart.

“Downwards, so towards Honing.”

“Yes.”

“The reason they’re not digging in but attacking the southern territories first… Is it because of the river and mountains?”

“I’m not sure. But the representatives suspect so. Having water and rugged terrain would make it easier to use.”

“That makes sense.”

I glanced back. The setting sun was casting its light on the high mountaintop.

It was a beautiful natural landscape to anyone, but watching it gave me a strange feeling. Hmm…

‘Easier to use,’ huh.

“Yoaner-nim. What kind of person is the lord here? Besides being a bad guy who mistreats and abandons his people, I’m curious about his tendencies or political standing.”

“Oh my.”

“Angel?”

“Oh dear.”

The residents looked at me in surprise. I smiled at Kuhn, making eye contact.

The little one playfully creased his eyes as well.

“And I’d also like to know the name of the Imperial Army leader who subjugated the Marquisate of Bauterlot. Do you happen to have any information? If there’s a map nearby, I’d like to see that too.”

As I asked that and looked up, Yoaner crossed her arms and sighed.

Her expression still didn’t show much.

“…How would a mere commoner like me know, but I’ve heard that the lord is sly and despicable. Even in the capital, he’s always been preparing to pull others down and climb up. The fact that he received the title of viscount from being a baron is also a result of such efforts.”

“Hmm.”

I narrowed my eyes.

If he’s that kind of person, there’s no way he’d just let the Imperial Army come down.

“And I don’t remember Imperial names well… But the swordsman who struck Bauterlot is famous.”

The representative slowly got up from the cart, preparing to descend the mountain.

I waited anxiously for her answer.

“‘Moutet.’ That’s what I heard. They call him Moutet.”

“Ah.”

For a moment, I felt like laughing. My eyes felt warm with joy.

“I see.”

I bit my lip and tried to control my expression. Moutet, M-O-U-T-E-T.

Just that name made me feel like I didn’t need dinner tonight.

*

Three days later, at night.

The border of the Trossart Viscountcy, where Honing Village was located.

-Clatter, clatter…

-Rumble, rumble!

The movement of the Liester Imperial Army was swift.

Since the one they served valued efficiency and desired speed, those who followed did so accordingly.

The morale was sky-high.

It was a hot summer, but no epidemics broke out, and the military rations didn’t spoil, so the soldiers and horses were healthy.

Excellent mages were emitting mana at the head of the column, advancing forward.

This was to detect portals or magic bullets hidden beneath the ground.

Until now, the Shinguk border had been very lax, but they should never be careless.

Their leader was not of a nature to tolerate such mistakes.

-Clack, clack

One of the knights stepped back after drinking a couple of sips. It was to report to the rear.

“Commander. There are no sentries, let alone a militia. It seems the rumors that the lord abandoned the area are true.”

“That may be the case for the villages. But the mountains will be different.”

“Do you think so? A mere local lord with few private soldiers—”

“There was a revelation.”

The eyes under the glasses shone with a resolute cyan light.

The dark robe hung long, covering the saddle.

The knight bowed respectfully without adding more words.

The opponent was an 8th-level mage, a genius prophet, and the commander of the Fleur de Lis [a renowned Imperial military unit].

Until now, every point he had indicated had fallen into His Majesty’s hands. Without exception.

So tonight would be the same.

“Good work.”

“Yes, Commander.”

The knight returned to his place. Modest Bakari stared at the mountains lying darkly in the distance.

And briefly glanced behind him.