What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 403

Sudden Attack (4)

“Aaaaaaaah…!”

“Good heavens! Are you alright?”

“Mademoiselle!”

A sigh of relief and screams filled the entire street.

Dozens of onlookers instantly rushed onto the road.

Sant quickly picked up Herrit, holding him tightly, and hurried towards the flower-selling girl.

The child had grown quite a bit, but thanks to the chick in the bag, he was as light as a feather.
The chick poked its little beak out and chirped loudly. ‘Cheep, cheep—!’

“Oh my! Are you hurt anywhere, miss?”

“No. No, I’m fine… Thank goodness for that gentleman… And the flowers are safe too!”

The mademoiselle smiled, beads of cold sweat on her face.

Her pale face and trembling hands were pitiful, but thankfully, the woman didn’t have a single scratch.

‘Thump!’ As she collapsed from the shock, kind people rushed to check on her.

While Sant released aether [a magical energy source] to calm her spirit—to the surprise of everyone watching—Herrit carefully received the bouquet.

As a thank you, he gifted her three gold coins and two handfuls of colorful candies, and the girl brushed off her skirt and laughed out loud.

“Hahaha. Thank you, young master. This is the first time I’ve sold such a sweet and expensive bouquet.”

“You! How did you manage your horses? How could you let something like this happen on the main street?”

At that moment, a very rough and booming voice echoed.

The noisy crowd’s attention instantly focused on one spot.

Herrit also turned around in surprise.

An old man with a very large grayish-black bear pelt draped over his shoulders was calming the horses that had been pulling the carriage.

That man was the gentleman with superhuman strength who had stopped the running carriage with his bare hands.

The horses, rolling their eyes until the whites showed, finally lowered their heads and seemed to calm down.

The coachman, utterly pale, tumbled down from the driver’s seat.

His thin legs trembled like fallen leaves.

“I am so sorry, sir! I am truly indebted to you. I sincerely apologize, Mademoiselle. These young ones were startled and excited by the huge harvest festival decorations at the intersection earlier… They haven’t been running for very long… Oh, I am truly sorry…”

“It’s alright, sir. It’s not like you did it on purpose!”

The coachman bowed to the old man and the woman in turn, and the girl waved her hands, readily forgiving him.

Herrit stood there, mouth agape. The bear pelt man was incredibly large.

His hairy hands were as big as pots for boiling ball de Picoulat [a type of meatball stew], and his forearms seemed to be twice the size of his waist.

His beard, a mix of every shade of gray in the world, was also very full and impressive.

His right eye was black and his left eye was silver-gray, and his deep-set eyes looked truly magnificent.

It was a completely different vibe from the slender and beautiful Marquis François.

His height and shoulders were the largest the boy had ever seen.

“Wow…”

So, wider than Ervé Diem and taller than His Highness the Crown Prince!

“I’m not very well-off, but if you require compensation, I can…”

“Oh, no. This gentleman has more than compensated me. I’m talking about the bouquet young master.”

The mademoiselle winked at Herrit.

Then, the bear pelt old man silently looked down at the boy. Ah…

-Rustle, rustle

Herrit hurriedly handed him the bouquet. The wrinkled eyes widened slightly.

People watched the child with affectionate admiration.

“Oh my! How kind…”

-Rustle, rustle

“Eung.”

He also took out a rhino wood carving from his pocket and handed it over.

Sant, watching the child’s actions, smiled brightly.

“This is to thank you, sir. The rhino seems to express respect for your strength. It’s quite a cherished doll.”

“…”

“Ah. The child is not yet ready to speak. I apologize for that.”

The old man silently examined the two of them. Soon, Herrit’s lips parted again in a round shape.

It might have been a misunderstanding, but for a moment, his eyes seemed to moisten and turn slightly red.

The gentleman took the bouquet of roses—which was so large that Herrit could barely hold it in his arms, but looked like it only filled his palm—with his large hand.

Then, he put the rhino doll in his pocket and stroked the child’s head once.

A smile broke out at the unexpected, careful touch.

It was somehow a warmth similar to that of His Highness the Crown Prince. He didn’t know why.

“…Thank you. Go inside.”

“Eung.”

A much kinder reaction than expected came back. Herrit bowed to the adult with a bright face.

Sant and the other onlookers also lowered their heads.

The old man did not reveal his identity, but his noble attitude and tone were clearly those of an aristocrat.

His attire was somewhat drab and scary, but people inherently possess an aura that cannot be hidden.

He lightly looked around at those surrounding him, left a few words of advice to the coachman, and then quickly left the scene.

Herrit watched the old man’s back for a very long time.

The hand he held with Sant occasionally swayed back and forth.

-Cheep

“Chick, don’t tell me you knew that person would help and stayed still?”

-Cheep-o!

The wren replied briefly and began to groom its feathers with its beak.

It seemed to be feigning ignorance.

While the priest tilted his head, Herrit captured the scene of the mountain-sized old man disappearing as a black dot.

“…”

It was towards the Imperial Palace. For some reason, he had a good feeling.

*

-Flutter!

The first thing I saw as I burst into the tent was David kneeling in front of the bed, praying.

Starting with him, the entire room rushed into my vision.

I thought it was a familiar sight, but suddenly everything seemed unfamiliar.

It was that scary of a situation.

“Sir Mute! Can you hear us?”

“You need to breathe!”

The Crown Prince’s camp was turned upside down.

I felt the blood draining from the face of the deathly still Elizabeth.

Beyond the curtain, in another bed, François, who had finished his burn treatment, had his eyes closed.

In an instant, my heart ached and my chest tightened.

“Bring the highest-grade magic stone stimulant and awakening potion! Quickly!”

“Yes, High Priest!”

“Also, bring Commander Bakari! To use the potion extracted from the highest-grade magic stone, we need confirmation of the dosage from a non-combat mage of at least the 7th circle!”

“As you command!”

The sub-priests frantically ran back and forth, repeatedly running in and out.

Already, four high-ranking healing priests were attending to Elizabeth.

At the center of them was her close friend, who had recently promised to catch the patient’s bouquet.

Her pink hair billowed like a rough wave.

“Huff, huff, huff! Huff, huff, huff! Huff, huff, huff…!”

“Keep going, Sir Rambouillet!”

“Please don’t stop until the circle analysis is complete!”

“…Fifty. Sixty. Seventy.”

Sir Johann, next to her, had rolled up his sleeves and was preparing to take over.

His voice counting the numbers sounded particularly surreal.

The gaze we met was uncharacteristically cold. It was a look that seemed to foresee misfortune.

But Ms. Gain, of course, had very good stamina.

Indeed, not just anyone could become an archbishop-level paladin.

She had quickly memorized what I did after watching me a few times, and was now performing CPR that could be included in textbooks.

Soon, Sir Johann would take over the baton. If so, there was something else I had to do.

I squeezed my eyes shut and slapped both cheeks with my palms.

Get a grip, use your head. Quickly!

“Prince Dioph.”

“What? You know who I am?”

“Yes. As I said earlier, I would like to borrow some of your abilities. As an 8th circle combat mage, you should be able to give a slight electrical stimulation to specific parts of the body, right?”

“Ah, easy. That’s my specialty.”

Dioph suddenly made an unpleasant expression.

No, I didn’t want to say this without knowing, but I felt genuinely unpleasant.

His tone was also a bit strange. However, I didn’t have the luxury to express it.

Hastily guiding him to the patient, I began to explain.

Even in the midst of this, my words came out abstractly, which was frustrating. I wish I were in the science department!

“It should be about the level of electricity that is very ticklish for the prince. Not the feeling of burning the opponent, but the feeling of startling them for a moment. That exactly—”

“Gods!”

At that moment, the healing priests shouted. I was startled and quickly turned around.

The atmosphere was somehow strange.

The person who deployed the circle quickly opened his mouth. ‘This is the first time I’ve ever seen this.’

“Apparently, the aura that had begun to accumulate in the dantian [energy center in the body] was scattered by the shock. I can see a silver energy floating in the body. This is neither mana nor aether, but clearly a Swordmaster’s aura.”

Everyone except Ms. Gain and Sir Johann froze. What did you say?!

“The reason we can open the circle and look at the condition is thanks to the fact that the heart hasn’t completely stopped beating. We cannot open a healing circle on a deceased patient. However, the heart is showing disordered and abnormal movements. You can think of it as a state similar to muscle twitching…”

Damn it, this is really a situation where a defibrillator is desperately needed!

It didn’t matter now what a Swordmaster was.

We had to somehow return the heartbeat to normal and push out the aura.

I bit my tongue and looked for Dioph.

In the meantime, Herrit’s father began heart massage, taking over from Ms. Gain.

“Did you hear? The target is over there. In other words, you need to make Elizabeth’s heart come to its senses. Like patting her on the shoulder and saying, ‘Don’t be like this, try harder.’ Please let the electricity flow like that. Please!”

“It’s too hard to understand. Princess, do you have no talent for mana at all? How do you know what will happen if you plant electricity—”

Hey!

“This is not the time to argue,”

-Whooooong!

Whoaaaaaa…! The floor instantly turned metallic red.

I blinked in surprise. Electric shock was Dioph’s specialty.

In short, he didn’t need to summon a magic formula to use electricity. But this now,

-Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang! Charrrrr!

Exactly seven squares opened like a fan and overlapped up and down.

It was a jaw-dropping casting speed.

Already familiar mana was tickling my hair. There was no way I couldn’t know that power.

I hurriedly turned around.

At the same time, the orange eyes that had been waiting for me slowly closed.

A splendid black gown embroidered with gold thread was swaying. I instinctively realized.

“I will help, Your Highness!”

That guy, he’s going to send electricity directly to Elizabeth.

Even though his body is not yet fully recovered, he’s trying to force it.

Even if it’s not his ‘specialty,’ it’s possible if he knows the elemental magic formula!

“Wait a minute, cousin—”

-Zzzzzzz!

Soon, the magic formula added a new pattern and emitted an intense flash.

Faaaaaa! I deployed a sanctuary over it and quickly released aether.

It can’t do the same thing as mana, and it’s not enough to counter the black magic left in his body—but I could do anything to protect the shaking vessel.

I could help the Crown Prince endure.

Standing face to face with him, I closed my eyelids tightly and focused only on the flow of aether.

For a moment, it seemed like something brushed past my eyes. Something like a thin crack…

-Saaaaaaa!

And my eyes snapped open.

It was the moment when a desperate crimson light was born in a space tinged with blood and gold.

I repeated it hundreds and thousands of times in my mind.

Please succeed. Please work. Please, save my friend. Please!

-Pzzzzzz!

At the same time, there was the sound of electricity crackling.

And the vice-captain’s body twitched greatly once. Clunk!

“…Cough! Cough, cough! Cough, cough! Huk!”

Uwaaaaaak! Thank you!

“Lady Elizabeth!”

“Hwaaaaaang! Aaaaaaang…! Aaaang, Mommaaaaa!”

Ms. Gain burst into tears like a water balloon pricked with a needle.

She immediately lunged to hug her friend, but the calm priests stopped her, saying, ‘Rib fractures are the priority!’ ‘Sir Rambouillet, you can’t!’ and she retreated, whimpering.

In the end, she settled for hugging Sir Johann like a teddy bear and crying.

I approached the bed, bewildered, and stood on tiptoe.

Beyond the busy shoulders, I could see Lady Elizabeth’s face, smiling weakly at me.

In an instant, I felt choked up. My eyes felt hot and my vision blurred.

“I’m glad… I’m really glad. I’m glad…”

Only that sentence lingered around my lips like a prayer.

Finally, I smiled brightly and turned to look at the Crown Prince. He seemed to be in better condition than I thought.

However, he was not looking at us.

“…”

“…”

-Flutter!

Dioph, who had been exchanging sharp glances with him, left the camp without saying goodbye.

That was the end.