What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 449

#449

Unfamiliar Wind and the Black Wizard’s Mansion (4)

“…My head hurts.”

Noe muttered. Gain quickly checked behind the desk.

“……”

It seemed she wasn’t lying.

The informant was holding her forehead in pain, and her cheeks and neck were covered in cold sweat.

Her plump baby fat was pale.

Watery eyes darted to the fiery eyes.

The man’s gaze was heavy. Noe barely waved her hand.

“Go back and rest. I can’t talk anymore today…”

“We haven’t even started yet. Are you okay? Should I wake up the landlord and get you some medicine?”

‘I have headache medicine too,’ Christel chirped, rummaging through her robe.

Then, the priest began to stagger.

The two men paused at the sight of the small body slowly approaching.

Noe looked genuinely unwell to anyone.

Just a minute ago, she was fine, but suddenly she looked completely ill. It was strange.

Just then.

-Kkia!

‘Thud!’ Demi, who had landed nimbly, raised its tail and ran to her.

It was clear that it had something to say, so Cedric watched the divine beast’s actions.

The white tail wagged as it began to examine the informant’s body.

It caressed her drooping hand, stroked her back, and sniffed her knees.

It was a completely different approach from when they greeted each other last time.

Meanwhile, Christel took out a medicine bottle from her pocket—her partner had packed it—and filled an empty glass with clean water.

-Pour, pour

“Ugh, ugh… Kkeueueueuk…”

The informant was clutching the desk legs with trembling hands, as if her headache was severe.

Around that time, the Crown Prince witnessed a bizarre phenomenon.

-Saaaah…

“Kgut!”

And immediately covered his nose and mouth with his robe sleeve.

A dim, purple ether was emanating from Noe’s entire body.

The stench was bad enough, but the energy itself was terribly unpleasant and repulsive.

This wasn’t just a matter of preference.

Demi, startled, hurriedly returned and nestled in the Crown Prince’s arms.

Gain reflexively covered his and Tete’s faces, his eyes wide.

He was so surprised that he almost spilled the glass.

What is that…?

“The ether… Noe, your ether is strange!”

-Thrrrrrr…

“Yes! So get out of here quickly! It’s not good for a paladin. If you’re exposed to rotten ether, even your energy will be contaminated, ugh…!”

Her small shoulders heaved greatly. The two men looked at each other simultaneously.

‘Rotten ether?’ Was that even possible?

When a priest died and was buried, the ether remaining in the remains seeped into the ground, creating sacred stones and blooming halo grass. [Sacred stones are crystals formed from concentrated divine energy, while halo grass is a plant that thrives on etheric residue.]

Cremation was common in the Empire, so even that rarely happened. That was all the two had learned.

The thought that the purest power of the Main God could decay had never even crossed their minds.

His Majesty Hana was the closest case, but his energy didn’t stink.

Neither Aurelia Boutier nor Teacher Johann had given them such teachings.

Black magic mana, maybe, but why pure ether…?

-Gurgle, gurgle!

“Kkeueuk, eut, euuu…”

This was too bewildering, and even a little eerie.

The physiological revulsion was so extreme that they couldn’t even dare to approach.

Gain bit his lip, trying to suppress his nausea.

“Wh-what…”

-Kkiiiii!

At that moment, Demi cried out loudly, as if urging them on.

Then, it began to press down on Cedric’s chest with its front paws.

Only then did he snap out of it!

“Pilsner, the sacred stone! The ether Heineken filled it with might neutralize it!”

-Kkieung! Kkieung!

It wasn’t certain, but Demi was now using its whole body to say, ‘Give me your stuff!’

The Crown Prince frowned and took out a small sacred stone.

Then, the divine beast snatched it up and quickly jumped down again, placing it on Noe’s instep.

Considering that even a grandmaster-level paladin couldn’t overcome his instincts, it was a very courageous act.

Then Demi returned to the Crown Prince, hopping. The man quickly hid the divine beast in his arms and watched the situation.

-Saaaah…!

“Heol!”

A miraculous thing happened immediately. Gain’s mouth dropped open.

As soon as the golden ether flowed out of the sacred stone and settled on Noe,

“Eueueue…”

-Paaaaat!

Her body floated into the air!

Tearful eyelids slowly closed, and her short hair scattered in all directions.

Tiny golden particles seeped into the moldy, dark purple energy.

‘Charrrrr…!’ The particles moved in a spiral, carefully enveloping everything from Noe’s fingertips to every strand of her hair, and gently gathered the ‘rotten ether’ that had been scattering like ash.

Then, a slow flush began to return to the informant’s cheeks.

The gloomy dark purple power gradually brightened to a gray color, then to white—and then back to beige.

It wasn’t yet as healthy and clear golden as Lady Yeser’s ether, but it was at least in that family!

-Tharrr, tharrr, tharrrrr…

“Ah… You guys…”

“Noe! Are you awake? Are you feeling better now?”

Christel rushed to her in a fluster.

Only after exhausting all the energy in one sacred stone did the informant seem to finally escape from the pain.

The rotten ether no longer emanated.

Soon, a small hand trembled and reached out to the Crown Prince. The man realized that the priest wasn’t pointing at him. He carefully held up the portrait frame.

“Are you looking for this?”

“Yes… My sister…”

A very tired voice flowed out. But her consciousness seemed clear.

Gain knew instinctively that Noe was beginning to tell the truth.

So he hurriedly grabbed the frame and hugged it to her chest.

“Sister? Is that person in the portrait your sister?”

“She wasn’t my real sister, but she was more precious than that… The only one in the world…”

‘My family.’ Noe whispered weakly. Tete whimpered softly.

Thus, a very long story unraveled, rough as hemp cloth.

‘Cursed with mana.’

A newborn baby abandoned in the black market with such a label, and an eight-year-old subdeacon girl who raised the baby alone.

A sister who had protected and cared for her all her life was more precious than life itself to her younger sibling.

But living a life of deprivation, the woman had come to have beings as precious as her sister.

And what her sister had done to avoid losing her…

‘Isn’t it strange? Even though Sister waters it so diligently, the tree keeps withering.’

‘Yeah. What could be wrong? I’m worried someone is secretly tormenting Balttobi. There was definitely a sprout here yesterday.’

‘…I have a good idea, Sister. That pebble stuck in the knot hole.’

“She deceived me… And killed the paladin who was trying to be my partner, heueuk. That tree…”

“Oh my god.”

“I didn’t know it was a sacred object. I had a hunch, but I never imagined that such a sacred being would be in such a miserable place…”

Very terrible, and

“My memories aren’t complete now. The aftermath of the loss is so extreme that there are moments that are blacked out in places… Too many… Even though I started gathering information to try to remember somehow… Heueueuk…”

“……”

Unspeakably horrific things.

*

-Clack!

Okay, we arrived at the portrait hallway safely!

I don’t think we wandered for very long!

-Kugugugung…!

“Uwaaak!”

The wide hallway shook violently once, as if to throw us off. Fortunately, thanks to Sir Johann, we weren’t swept away anywhere, but we couldn’t erase even the momentary sinking feeling.

I gripped the silver candlestick embedded in the wall and looked around.

The hallway with colorful wood panels and the handsome mahogany drawers came into view.

The portrait in question was hanging nearby. Djibril Diop was squinting as he observed it.

In a zero-gravity state as if swimming in space, I moved slowly, grabbing the wall decorations and candlesticks one by one.

The robe and hair fluttered in a free rhythm.

Lophy, tucked into the hood, was the same.

-Nyaa

-Thwack!

Finally, I stopped right in front of the portrait. The painting was bigger and more ornate than I thought.

“Wow… Sir Johann, look at this.”

“The Princess was right. This woman looks just like the informant.”

“Yes, her features are very similar. The old-fashioned Main God Church priest robes are the same too… Then who is that over there?”

“This is Madam Morhan’s house, so it must be that woman. Surely she wouldn’t have someone else’s portrait with no connection or signature in such an expensive frame?”

“Is this an expensive frame?”

“……”

Diop looked at me, speechless. I pouted and examined the painting again.

Something was subtle. In the continent, portraits of people naturally had the same status as photographs. [Portraits in this context are considered highly accurate representations of individuals, akin to photographs in modern times.]

The skills of professional painters were generally excellent, so this could be seen as the closest thing to the real thing.

But the person holding the back of Noe’s chair…

“She doesn’t look like a villain to me. Of course, you shouldn’t judge by appearance alone, but her impression is very gentle…”

“Hey, Princess. Look at the way that person is looking at the priest.”

“Yes?”

I asked dumbly. The strategist sighed deeply and pointed to the painting with his thumb.

“That kind of gaze can’t come from just any relationship. The fact that the painter captured that, and the fact that she allowed him to capture it, means a lot. Don’t you know how to read paintings?”

“……”

“Haa.”

I blinked and scratched my cheek. A guy who’s learned as much as he has says so, so it must be so.

It’s embarrassing, but the only works of art I know deeply are Joan’s paintings…

“Tell me honestly. Have you ever met a woman? All that ‘Playboy of the Divine Kingdom’ stuff seems like a lie.”

“Yes?!”

Even in zero gravity, I seemed to have soared 10cm. My earlobes burned hotly with shame. To have my private life exposed like this all of a sudden!

Sir Johann’s jade belt emitted a faint light, pulling me back down.

Unlike me, he seemed very calm. Lophy in the hood, and the strategist who spoke, were the same.

‘Gugugugu…’ Even the moving hallway was too quiet.

So, am I the only one feeling strange right now!

“Just looking at what you do, you just feel like the second son of a country nobleman who raised pigs in the countryside. Unmarried, with brothers above and below, meddling with the territory people at the drop of a hat. The head of the family spends his time writing leisurely essays.”

What, don’t make such exquisitely accurate inferences!

“That’s enough, Strategist Diop. It seems you’ve forgotten your current situation.”

“Doesn’t the Grand Preceptor seem to have a different opinion? Anyway, the Prince is… Does he even have a desire for power?”

“Would he? The strategist must have picked up some strange rumors somewhere.”

I quickly retorted. At that time,

-Kukukukung…!

Eueot! The hallway, hitting something, vibrated greatly and stopped moving forward.

At the same time, ordinary gravity pulled us down!

-Thud!

“Keuk!”

But Diop was the only one who crashed to the floor.

I landed safely with Sir Johann’s help.

I know it’s childish to the point of death, but I couldn’t help but stick my tongue out at that moment.

Then, before the strategist could protest, I quickly turned my head away.

The opposite hallway, which had been wide open, was now completely blocked by a wall. The black space where the corrupt mana had been wandering was gone.

Then this path is…

“Is this the way to Madam Morhan’s room?”

“The First Warehouse was said to be ‘right in front’ of her bedroom. It seems likely.”

‘You can check it as soon as you wake up in the morning. Because it’s right in front.’

Yes, a worker in the warehouse had definitely said that.

We cautiously took one step at a time.

When Sir Johann tapped his belt twice, Diop was dragged along.

For now, we had no choice but to trust our choice and venture on.

Of course, there was a possibility that this hallway would lead the group to a completely different place, but the portrait hanging on the wall had a very private atmosphere…

-Thud, thud, thud

-Thump, thump, thump…

Hmm.

If the woman in that portrait is Madam Morhan, how did the two end up breaking up like this?

What was the relationship between the two?

If they were in the same portrait, weren’t they as close as sisters?

Why did Morhan deceive Noe, and how?

…Did she want to monopolize the sacred object that much?

-Wooowoong…

Hmm. I snapped out of my thoughts and raised my head.

Before I knew it, we had advanced to the end of the hallway.

A tall iron door that seemed to pierce the ceiling blocked the group.

Covered in red and green rust, it stood like a totem pole, its imposing presence looking down on outsiders, leaving me speechless for a moment.

In the place where the doorknob should have been, there was a dial as big as Sir Johann’s torso.

The embarrassment doubled. This was less like someone’s bedroom and more like…

“Grand. Is there even a vault in the room?”

“Yes, it seems so.”

Sir Johann replied in a cool voice. Startled by the tingling premonition, I looked up at him.

The man’s black pupils were slightly widened.

“I can feel the ether of the sacred object here, which I couldn’t even feel in the black market plaza.”

-Miyaak

“Oh my god.”

Lophy readily agreed, and I hurriedly began to examine the door.

This wasn’t the bedroom of Morhan I had expected, nor was it Werner’s guest room.

But if Sir Johann and Lophy were right, the life force of Balttobi might be accumulating right here.

The power suppressing the sacred object ‘Spirit of Iran’ is here…

“Ah?”

I paused and read the letters engraved on the dial.

But no matter how many times I checked, the content didn’t change.

Soon, the heads of the three men and one divine beast gathered together.

‘One chance

Explosion of the mansion upon input error’