What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 466

It was a night of the crescent moon, shaped like the Grim Reaper’s scythe.

Only ominous clouds occasionally brushed past the silver disc as they drifted by.

“Cough, hack, cough! Cough!”

The man coughed dryly for a long while.

Rough sand sporadically spewed from his mouth, and dust incessantly fell from his damp, lavender hair.

His entire body, down to his fingertips, was covered in black dirt.

Blood constantly oozed from the gravel scratches on his cheeks and neck.

Having been huddled in the darkness for too long, his entire body ached and stiffened.

Moreover, the winter night was excessively cold.

His lips trembled, and his empty stomach screamed relentlessly.

He felt as though he would collapse at any moment, suffocated by misery.

Full tears barely clung to his eyelids, refusing to fall.

Verner gripped the weeds before him with his trembling prosthetic hand.

-Crack!

“Huh, kuh… Haa… Cough, cough!”

Only one thought, repeating itself, dominated his mind now.

‘I must live.’

‘I will survive.’

‘I want to live.’

-Thump! Thump! Thump!

Without a moment to catch his breath, something pounded intensely from underground.

The man blankly looked up at the sky.

-Whooooosh…

The moonlight was very faint. Unpleasant.

“Hey! Hurry up and get out!”

“I’m going to die right now! Is it all good as long as you live?!”

But the silence was only momentary.

Below his waist, survivors were still trapped in the underground tunnel.

They yelled at the top of their lungs at the Royal Scribe, who was blocking the only exit.

Listening quietly, Verner frowned deeply.

Someone grabbed his leg and began to pull him upwards.

Eventually, the man dragged his unresponsive right limbs, crawling semi-forcibly on the dirt floor.

A deep groan escaped, born of shame and displeasure. He had never felt such humiliation before.

-Thud!

“Ugh, kut… Ugh…”

-Rumble!

As he fell forward, hundreds of survivors from the collapsed black market crawled out like ants.

Unlike Verner, they were soon filled with joy as they looked at the moon in the sky.

“Haaah! I’m out! Kalak! I’m alive, kalak!”

“Oh, I’m alive! Thank you, Lord! I am overwhelmed!”

“Keheok, ptooey! Cough, cough!”

“Heu, heu, sob, I thought I was going to die! Really…! Cough! I thought I was going to die…!”

Among them were friends, enemies, and indifferent colleagues.

Most were servants who worked at Madam Morhan’s mansion, but there were also quite a few low-level black mages and mercenaries.

But for now, none of that seemed to matter.

They all hugged each other and cried, or sprawled out like corpses, laughing like madmen.

It was a natural reaction, considering they had been on the verge of being buried alive deep underground.

“Haa, ha…”

The Royal Scribe staggered to his feet.

He almost fell over with a big sway but barely managed to regain his balance.

The robe, which was already like a rag, was now in worse shape than a tattered cloth, and his inner clothes reeked of dirt and stench.

His shabby shoes were also completely torn at the soles and unusable.

But anyway, he could stand on two feet.

“Hoo…”

He could live.

“…But where is this? Kaak, ptooey! Huh? Does anyone know where this is?”

“It’s probably near Yerihow, right? We started digging from Madam Morhan’s mansion…”

“Yeah, we couldn’t have gone far. It won’t be long to the lord’s castle! Cough!”

“Should we leave right away? Or should we rest a bit?”

“Oh, I can’t move a muscle! I wish we could spend the night in a cave or something…”

“Don’t even mention caves! Please!”

After several tens of minutes, the survivors finally began to discuss what to do next.

Verner frowned slightly, looking at the robe with its hem torn roughly.

A memory came to mind.

-Kwaaang! Clatter!

‘…He’s not here either. Where did he hide it?’

‘This is troubling, even if you look at it that way.’

The night at the black market when the white-haired rogue and Arno Pan Roa burst in.

‘You’re not hiding the Royal Scribe?’

‘Would there be a reason for that? I didn’t even have the leeway.’

At that time, he had clearly concealed himself.

He had turned transparent as if he were part of the background, holding his breath so that no one could find him.

Thus, the two unwelcome guests began to fight, and under the protection of the Lord, Verner was virtually invincible.

Indeed, he was destined to win without getting his hands dirty.

But then…

-Haaaak!

That small hoe, aimed straight at him, crying out sharply.

The sight of it puffing up its tail and widening its snout into a triangular shape was ominous.

The Royal Scribe’s eyes shook greatly.

Amidst the flames spreading hotly like bloodstains, under the mansion roof collapsing mercilessly.

‘…’

The sense of crisis that he had been discovered was vivid. How?

-Why meow!

‘Kut! You bastard!’

The beast pounced on his robe with a nimble leap.

‘Booook!’ Then it tore off a piece and bit it in its snout.

Verner, greatly alarmed, shook his limbs and struggled…

“Then what happened to the black market, huh? What’s going to happen to us all!”

Flinch. A raspy voice cut through the air.

The Royal Scribe glared at the old woman, his chocolate-colored eyes wide.

“What do you mean, what’s going to happen? It collapsed so completely, how could it be restored?”

“Forget about the black market, grandma. We have to go back to the lord’s castle and find something else to do.”

“Oh my! If the underground is so ruined, the castle won’t be intact either!”

The old woman wiped her bare feet roughly and raised her voice.

Hundreds of people fell silent as if frozen at those words.

For a moment, he thought it was ‘that old man,’ but it wasn’t.

Verner sighed, running a dry hand over his face.

He seemed to have become too sensitive after surviving a near-death experience. This was not like him.

“Still… Still, we have to go! We’ve lived under Yerihow all our lives, so everyone has no choice but to go back there, right? Madam Morhan cherished that place too. Besides, some of us are injured, and some are starving to death. We desperately need a doctor and a restaurant!”

“Hey. Count us out. We’re mercenaries who came in through the eastern entrance.”

“Oh, we’re going back to the Southern Sea too. It’s no use making money in the inland, so we have to turn back to the sea.”

“…What did you say?”

The young man, who had been diligently encouraging people, looked blank.

Some black mages clicked their tongues at him.

“Tsk. Listen, young man. Isn’t it enough that everyone survived? We’re not family, and we’re not neighbors who paid taxes to the same lord. It’s a hundred times better to just go our separate ways.”

“That’s right! Madam has gone to the afterlife, so what’s the point of us sticking together?”

“That’s right.”

“If we go to the castle, we’ll inevitably become territory residents. Then we’ll have to pay taxes and go to war, so why would we foolishly do that?”

“That’s right. If we’re unlucky, we could go to jail for doing business underground until now.”

“…”

Those who had been hugging each other like blood relatives just a moment ago were quickly changing their expressions.

The logic was that the whole could not sacrifice for the few who needed help.

As sharp retorts continued, the young man only opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish.

The atmosphere was subtly unsettling.

“No, but…”

“…”

And Verner, watching them, began to strategize.

Even in extreme situations, the survival instinct and lust for power stimulated his brain like crazy.

He was once called the jewel of the Sneider Duke’s family.

He always had the label of lacking political power, but he was confident in building his own forces.

So he finally raised his voice.

“…Then I’ll offer an opinion too.”

The servants he had brought with him were all dead anyway. He needed new hands and feet.

“What?”

“Why? What did that guy just say?”

“…Isn’t that the guy who was blocking the exit earlier?”

“Yeah. And he was also the first among us to deduce the existence of the secret passage inside the mansion.”

At Verner’s gentle reply, the expressions of those with sharp edges went blank for a moment.

The Royal Scribe did not miss the gap.

He was born a beauty, and his voice was like an angel.

He had rested a lot now, but his gentle tone and beautiful manners were still the same.

There was a time when men and women, young and old, prostrated themselves at his feet as often as the pebbles on the roadside.

In short, bewitching people and stealing their hearts was as natural to him as breathing.

“Some of you may remember. I clearly said that the mansion must have been designed to allow tunneling. I even suggested a plausible direction several times.”

That truth did not change even though the man was covered in dirt and rags.

Some survivors who had been focusing on him instantly brightened their expressions.

“Oh, I remember! That person was here as a guest of Madam Morhan, saying that there’s no way there wouldn’t be a secret passage in such a mansion…”

“That’s right, that’s right. Oh, it’s dark at night, so I couldn’t see properly. That’s him!”

“I remember now too! That person told us not to give up and to dig a tunnel, huh! That there would be a way to go up!”

“He was the calmest among us. I’ll admit that.”

The survivors bustled busily.

Verner roughly rubbed his face with his hand to make his beautiful face even more visible.

Then he continued with vigor. This was easier than eating Tom Cruise [an expression implying something is very easy].

“I have a good idea. A way that we can all be satisfied, protect each other, and get through the winter.”

“…”

This silence. This anticipation. He was a man addicted to the thrill of this very moment.

Soon, a honeyed sentence flowed out.

“There is a nobleman in the northern part of the Shin-gook [a fictional kingdom] who is loyal to me. The Baarn Viscount, known for being wealthy and generous.”

“In the north?”

“Sir, the north is a bit much in this weather…”

“I understand your concerns. It’s chilly here in the central region, so you’re worried that you might freeze to death if you go north. I feel the same way. But the viscount is not one to simply overlook the unfortunate.”

“…”

“He will give you houses and money to settle down, and provide you with winter food and fur. If I lead you there myself, it won’t be difficult to get a job as soldiers or servants in the lord’s castle.”

“…Is that really true?”

“Becoming a worker in the lord’s castle? Oh my!”

Those who received the tempting offer began to discuss it in groups of three or five.

Verner raised the corners of his mouth imperceptibly.

Any wanderer would agree, but there was nothing as tempting as a stable settlement.

The northern part of the Shin-gook was a land where Hato and Jungto [likely regions or cultures within the story’s world] were mixed, making it not very good for farming, but he had heard that it had the ‘Sea of Abundance’ to the east and that the royal family and lords provided a lot of settlement support.

And since that noble-looking person promised food, clothing, and shelter…

“Not a bad condition.”

Such words flew from somewhere. Everyone’s eyes were focused on one place.

“You are…”

A strange woman pulling a cart with three wheels came into view.

She was someone who suddenly appeared from nowhere. Verner narrowed his brow warily.

But the young woman simply continued to speak with a calm look.

“Going to Yerihow now will complicate things. The Imperial Army has completely occupied it.”

“…What?!”

“Is that true? Did the enemy really come all the way there?!”

“Yes. The divine object of the black market has been resurrected in the midst of death, and Riester is becoming more firmly united in accordance with the will of the Lord.”

“Oh, my God!”

The reaction was explosive. The calm discussion instantly turned into a heated debate.

Those who had been gasping for breath widened their eyes and straightened their backs, and those who had been groaning in pain were now more actively expressing their opinions than anyone else.

In the darkness where no stars could be seen, the desolate land was filled with the shouts of criminals.

“Then wouldn’t it be better to go north? If we go to the lord’s castle and get caught by the Imperial Army and executed as an example!”

“I’m going north no matter what. I’ve already decided.”

“Me too! I’m going to liquidate my underground life and settle down!”

“I’d rather die in the Shin-gook even if I freeze to death. I can’t die at the hands of barbarians, no way!”

The flow quickly turned in Verner’s favor.

The Royal Scribe considered this natural and welcome, but on the other hand, he could not shake off the anxiety rising from deep within his heart.

He turned to look at the young woman pulling the cart with a trembling gaze.

“…”

“Huk…”

But without a sound, she had already come close.

For a moment, his heart sank and goosebumps rose.