What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 430

The Consequences of a Sub-Male Lead Going on Strike – Episode 430 (430/920)

#430

Long-Term Relationship (4)

At that moment.

-Swishhhhh…

-Pitter-patter…!

Rainwater poured incessantly from the eaves.

Johann, carrying firewood from the shed to the main building, quietly peered beyond the fence.

It wasn’t an area where water vapor should rise, but the view was hazy with humidity solely from the heavy rain.

It was strange weather, uncommon in this region.

In the distance, coniferous forests and small houses were sparsely visible.

“……”

Perhaps this, too, was the will of the ‘God of the Beginning’.

Since the rain wasn’t letting up, there would surely be significant damage in the lowlands.

The man roughly rolled up the sleeves clinging to his skin and removed the cloth covering the firewood.

Transparent droplets formed at the ends of his white hair, repeatedly falling.

From the shed across, Elizabeth emerged, carrying another pile of firewood on her back.

A mercenary with an owner and a soldier with a superior had quite a few things in common.

They didn’t talk much, but they roughly understood each other’s behavior.

“Is there more space inside?”

“No. I think we should stop here for today. It would be difficult with the horses in the stable.”

Johann replied gently.

‘Thud!’ The knight, who placed the firewood pile next to him, nodded.

If there was no more space left in the main building, the rest had to be left in the shed.

The two men and women stood silently under the roof, relaxing their muscles.

Fortunately, the Neily couple had deliberately chosen a high-altitude area when building this house.

They had often suffered flood damage in the place where they used to live as neighbors with Johann.

After Josefina passed away, the village was completely ruined.

The two moved to completely different areas and chose completely new jobs.

He heard that the lord here wasn’t as wicked as the previous lord.

Accepting settlers from distant lands without asking or questioning anything was certainly rare.

However, he wasn’t very bright.

She was someone who would accept anyone as long as they helped secure taxes, lacking political power and weak in calculations, unable to make a proper move until the fall of Yeriho.

‘She’s foolish and can’t do her job… but at least she doesn’t plunder or harass us. The security is surprisingly decent too.’

‘She collects less tax than that bastard back then, and if the territory has a good harvest, she even slaughters cows and pigs to distribute to the residents. She just throws a feast when she’s in a good mood.’

‘So it’s okay here, Johann. We’re doing well in our own way.’

Neily said, wrapping dried herbs in paper with a smile.

‘Woof!’ Their companion dog, Bari, barked cheerfully once and wagged its tail.

Toby stamped the herb bundles his wife handed him with a crooked seal and neatly arranged them in a large wooden box.

After finishing that task, he diligently recorded the condition of the herb roots hanging from the ceiling in a notebook.

Johann drank hot anise milk (anijsmelk) while listening to his friends’ stories.

He didn’t know it in the past, but after returning to the Holy Kingdom and tasting it again, he seemed to know for sure.

He quite liked this drink.

‘It’s only been six years since I started this job. I still have a lot to learn. The first year, I had to throw away all the herbs I worked hard to grow in the winter. They all got moldy….’

‘Why a herbalist of all things?’

‘You’re not asking because you don’t know, are you, Johann?’

Toby frowned and smiled, his eyebrows scarred. The paladin quietly waited for an answer.

‘There wasn’t even a vice priest or a doctor in our village, remember?’

‘……’

‘This was the best we could do. But we knew a little about medicinal herbs.’

‘If there’s a place nearby that sells medicine, people who are sick won’t die without being able to do anything. We can’t let people like us be born again.’

Neily chimed in with her husband’s words.

Then, she slyly peeked into Toby’s notebook and slapped his butt, saying, ‘You wrote the date wrong again!’

The couple giggled simultaneously as if they had planned it.

Johann’s throat rumbled as he watched his two friends.

They seemed truly okay now.

Even if they hadn’t completely healed from that day, they seemed to be able to comfort each other by looking at the scars and saying, ‘It hurt so much back then.’

They would probably become even happier in the future.

Like him and Herrit.

‘Toby, did you see that just now? Bari can distinguish between his left and right paws!’

‘Oh my god. Is our baby a genius!’

Johann was very happy about that.

A herbal medicine book with tattered covers and a puppy offering its front paws to Neily came into view.

Beings that had gradually erased the couple’s pain.

“What did those people want?”

“……”

Startled. The man snapped out of his dawn memories and turned his head.

Sharp gray eyes were looking at him.

The humid air was mixed with the scent of soil and medicinal herbs.

Slow smoke billowed from the chimney.

The couple seemed to be preparing breakfast for the group.

“You haven’t been out catching demons all this time, have you? You must have received a secret order from His Majesty.”

“……Ah.”

The corners of her mint-colored eyes slightly folded. Elizabeth chuckled.

“Enough with the pretense. Cedric must be guessing too. What did those guys say?”

“Well. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the luxury of torturing them. I can’t use aether [a magical energy source] either.”

“Ah.”

“But it seemed certain that their target was His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“……”

At those words, her eyes sharpened. The two exchanged glances for a moment.

Soon, Elizabeth spoke first.

“……There have been such people occasionally since I was young.”

“……”

“Cedric was weak, after all. He even received ominous prophecies.”

“Yes. I know roughly about his physical condition. I have a guess as to why, and I’ve actually seen it.”

Johann replied casually. It was as if he was just saying, ‘I hope the rain stops soon.’

The Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard nodded. She wasn’t surprised either.

“There weren’t any who openly harmed the Emperor of the Empire, but there were forces that went right up to that point. I heard that most of them were dealt with by His Majesty and His Royal Highness the Prince Consort.”

“A time when the position of heir to the throne was precarious.”

“Yes. I was young, so I don’t know well… As you know, there are many members of the Imperial Family in the Empire. There must have been those who believed they could replace the Crown Prince themselves.”

-Swish, swish, swish…

The rain, hit by the wind, fluttered like a curtain.

The nearby old trees shook their branches, declaring surrender.

Elizabeth turned to Johann.

“You’ve really worked hard. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“No. Protecting Cedric and his friends is also my duty.”

Then, she slyly raised the corners of her lips. Johann nodded his chin in response.

The topic changed immediately.

“Is the medicine you applied this morning helping? If it’s good, I might buy a few bottles myself.”

“Even if it’s not as good as what they sell at the pharmacy in the Imperial Capital, it’s excellent. Especially the ointment I applied on your back, I often used it during my mercenary days. It contains demon beast fluid components, so it’s also effective for muscle pain.”

“Oh.”

The knight’s eyes lit up. Effective for muscle pain, it was tempting.

This morning, she had come out to check the outside situation and met Johann and the herbalist couple.

A small commotion was taking place on the first floor of the building.

Neily, who had accidentally discovered the paladin’s wound, offered to apply medicine, but Johann stubbornly refused.

Elizabeth chuckled softly as she watched the three people arguing.

If left alone, the confrontation seemed likely to continue until the first rooster crowed.

‘Apply the medicine quietly, Sir Haynes. There’s a saying that it’s also wrong to worry your loved ones.’

‘Is that so?’

‘Yes. Last time, Ganael— Ugh.’

Suddenly, a needle-like headache struck Elizabeth.

‘Thud!’ She staggered greatly, clutching her forehead.

Toby, who happened to be outside the counter, hurriedly supported the knight.

‘Oh my, Sir Blanc!’

‘Kuh, my head….’

‘Your head? What to do. Sir suddenly has a headache, Neily!’

‘Oh dear, please wait a moment. I’ll brew some effective medicinal tea!’

Whisper, whisper, the two couples moved in perfect unison.

They quickly sat Elizabeth next to Johann and wrapped a blanket around her knees.

Toby spoke in a tense voice as if a war had broken out (which it had).

‘Johann, I’ll bring some other medicine too. I have emergency medicine and things that are really effective. I have a lot of it piled up in the basement.’

And he went down the stairs with a crash.

There was also a pile of medicine brought from the Imperial Palace, but it was too late to stop them now.

Elizabeth frowned, pressing her temples and shaking her shoulders.

It hurt but it was funny, and it was funny but it hurt.

Even in the midst of this, the fragments of memory that flashed through her mind were vivid as if she could grasp them. Her ‘fiancé’….

‘Apply it quickly and go inside. If you go up and see Ganael’s face now, you might remember something.’

‘That’s welcome news.’

‘Yes. Please cooperate, sir. You have no way or will to beat these two people anyway, do you?’

‘Hard to argue.’ Eventually, Johann took off his shirt.

Elizabeth quickly opened the medicine lid with nimble hands and targeted the newly formed wound on top of the old scars.

As expected of someone from a mercenary background, his upper body was full of slashes.

Some of the subordinates from the provinces occasionally had such bodies.

The more demon beasts appeared in an area, the more often they had to fight barehanded.

In Sir Haynes’s case, the opponent was more likely to be human than a demon beast.

‘How much weight training do you usually do? Our captain is also curious.’

‘I don’t do it often, but I think I can lift about four oak barrels worth of weight.’

‘You don’t lift as much as I thought.’

Elizabeth could lift three barrels worth of weight. Johann shrugged silently.

It seemed to be because he had practical muscles.

The Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard, who had satisfied her curiosity, focused on applying the ointment.

Captain Erbe trained with an oak barrel full of wine….

She probably had thoughts like that. Until the Neily couple returned.

“The rain is finally stopping.”

“Ah.”

At the man’s voice, the knight’s eyes sparkled. It was true!

-Drip, drip, drip…

It didn’t stop all at once like a lie, but the rain was indeed thinning.

The downpour that seemed like it would never end was finally heading towards its end.

The two silently looked up at the sky. Morning sunlight was gradually entering from the east.

Blue sky seemed to be visible here and there. Elizabeth’s lips gently curved into a line.

Her fiancé also had that hair color. He was quite cute.

“Sir Mute! Sir Haynes!”

-Thump, thump!

As soon as she thought about it, the person in question’s voice echoed through the small two-story house.

Elizabeth and Johann quickly exchanged glances and turned their heads.

What kind of incident had occurred this time—

“Huff, huff. Haa… Cough!”

“Ganael?”

“I, I have something to say to those two!”

The younger fiancé, who had appeared like a bolt of lightning, was in his pajamas.

Princess Juliette, who had run after him, hurriedly wrapped a blanket around the boy’s back.

Christel, who had chased after the two, wrapped the princess in a blanket so as not to be outdone.

The determined girl was wearing a gown and a coat all by herself.

Her water-colored eyes were sparkling like freshly made candy.

Behind them, the Crown Prince was leaning against the door alone, glaring at them.

The divine beasts were also jumping up and down. The situation seemed very serious.

What is it this time, Cedric?

“I don’t care where Sir Mute’s heart is directed.”

“……Huh?”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened. Sorry, but she couldn’t understand the meaning at once.

Ganael’s face was as red as wine.

If she wasn’t mistaken, she could see tear stains, and above all, his throat was severely hoarse.

She was worried that he might be sick. Johann instinctively took a half step back.

“I’m saying that it doesn’t matter who you’re in love with right now.”

“Ganael, why are you suddenly saying such things—”

“I’ll take it back. No matter how long it takes, I will.”

“……”

“Because I’m already yours.”

The surprised young count’s mouth slowly opened. The audience was in an uproar.

‘Aaaaaah!’ Christel, who pressed her cheeks with both hands, screamed silently.

She bent her back, raised it, soared up, and plunged to the ground. It was a mess.

At this rate, she seemed like she would pull out all her hair.

The princess, with a flushed face, suddenly pretended to look for the horizon.

The hand that closed her eyes tightly and wiped her face was trembling.

What is all this from broad daylight—

“So, you can be nervous.”

The boy, who had already grown taller than his fiancé’s eye level, declared.

White breath flowed from under his jawline, which had shed its childishness.

In an instant, Elizabeth felt like her heart had stopped.

“……”

“The rain has stopped. I’ll prepare so we can leave for Yeriho right after the meal.”

Ganael said firmly. And there was a moment of silence.

She felt like she had to give an answer, but she felt so nauseous that it was difficult to form a sentence.

The boy simply wore a calm expression at Elizabeth’s lack of response.

Then, he bowed politely….

“……”

He made long eye contact with Johann, then turned his body and walked away step by step.

“……”

“……”

“……”

“Ughaaaaak! Baby, let’s go!”

‘What to do! Mom!’ Christel, who had collapsed to the ground with a thud, began to assault the innocent floor.

Johann stared at his master with dazed eyes.

The princess, not knowing what to do, only repeated ‘That’s not what I was trying to do’, ‘No’, ‘Jackpot’.

And as for the young count….

“……”

She was holding her left hand tightly, which had become warm even in the cold.

The yellow diamond on her ring finger sparkled cheerfully.