What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 475

I struggled to remain calm.

I gritted my teeth, doing my best not to falter.

“…Excuse me?”

But it was impossible.

“A man with artificial limbs is in the North?”

No matter how I thought about it, it was physically impossible.

“Yes, Your Grace. I swear on the brightest full moon… It’s all true. A very handsome man, as striking as a peacock…”

*How are you even alive there?*

*Didn’t you disappear when the black market collapsed?*

“He… his appearance is shabby, like a beggar, but his brown eyes were very sinister. His hair was a light purple color… Ah, he had an elaborate tattoo around his eyes. Anyone could tell he was a nobleman.”

*No, how did you get there alive? How could a human with no superpowers do that?*

“He was as flamboyant as a viper… It was an unforgettable face. His voice was hoarse, like a snake’s hiss.”

“…”

“That man pulled an empty cart, braving the cold wind… He came all the way to our city gate.”

The administrator’s chapped lips trembled.

Her eyes, recalling the recent past, wandered aimlessly into the void.

A chilling silence heavily pressed down on the conference room.

I was momentarily speechless, staring at the woman.

The first of us to speak was Gaine, who was standing behind me.

“Do you know his name?”

“Bożena… It was a name one might hear in the neutral zone…”

“Bożena?”

*What is that?* I blinked, soothing the dozing Leah.

Even amidst the confusion, my mind raced. *So…*

Even though this is a world based on a fantasy novel, the continent, from a Korean perspective, belongs to the Western language sphere.

Roughly, the Riester Empire (French) and the Corleone Principality (Italian), along with the western part of the continent, belong to the Romance language family, while the Venetian New Nation in the Far East and its affiliated islands belong to the Germanic branch (Dutch).

On the other hand, various languages were commonly used in the neutral zone.

Monica, India, and Marion, whom I met at Chaum Caravanserai [a roadside inn or trading post], all had English names.

Gonzalo, the manager of Moreno Caravanserai, and Carme, who was involved in a bad situation there, are presumably Spanish names.

Ralph Gigolt, the founder of Gigolt Caravanserai, and the manager Zeromin, I guarantee are German names.

For reference, the name of His Majesty Hanan Lumayan is written in Arabic.

“What about his last name?”

“He didn’t reveal it. At least, there was no way for me to know…”

But the name ‘Bożena’ is unfamiliar. *Is it from the Slavic language family, like Ukrainian?*

Then it was a name that could be used in the neutral zone.

But why would Werner Fenetian, a royal secretary of a nation, use such an alias?

*What are you thinking this time? What are you doing there?*

“When and how did that man come to the administrator’s hometown?”

“That was… It was definitely December 2nd. It was our young lord’s, our poor young lord’s birthday, so I remember it.”

The woman stammered, on the verge of tears again. Just thinking about the ‘young lord’ seemed to break her heart.

I turned to look at the Crown Prince and Gaine, quickly exchanging glances.

It was dawn on November 25th when we destroyed the black market and came up.

It was also on that day that Rophie bit Werner’s transparent robe.

So, a week later, Werner had advanced to the northern part of the New Nation…

Is that possible without being detected? Realistically?

Yeriho is already occupied by the Imperial Army.

“Administrator, which region did you say you were from exactly?”

Sir Johan asked, stroking his riding crop with his fingertips. The woman immediately lowered her head.

“We are from Baarn, sir. The northernmost territory of the New Nation, made up of islands. The main island is also very small.”

“How long did it take to get here?”

“It took a full week. We moved with almost no sleep.”

“What means of transportation did you use, and what were the health conditions and age ranges of those who moved?”

“There are five carriages that can carry twenty people, and the rest came on old donkeys or ponies. Most of those who accompanied us are children under sixteen, the sick, pregnant women, and the elderly.”

The administrator answered, shedding tears.

Thinking of the people she left behind in her hometown, her heart seemed to be torn apart.

I quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe her face and asked the soldiers to untie her ropes.

Ganael approached as if she had been waiting and handed her a warm cup of tea. “Thank you so much.”

“Let’s move on from that for now. Administrator, can you tell us about the ‘Griffin’ and ‘corpse’ stories you mentioned earlier?”

“Hic, hoo…”

I gently changed the subject.

Since the woman’s condition was not good, it seemed better to hear her story as quickly as possible and let her rest with the other refugees.

Anyway, we had time.

We could figure out how Werner could have gone all the way to the northernmost part later with our friends…

“Yes, Your Grace. In our territory, every winter, a herd of beast-like monsters invades.”

“Is that perhaps a griffin?”

“There have been times when that was the case, or so it is said. It’s not entirely a false rumor. When I was young, the elders of the village used to tell stories of griffins they had seen before their eyes. But at least, that didn’t happen during the reign of the current lord.”

*That’s a relief.* We swallowed silent sighs and listened to the following words.

“The land is cold year-round, and island farming is very difficult, so there is not much to eat in the winter. Most of the people of Baarn are engaged in fishing…”

When the blizzard season began in earnest, even the sea in Baarn froze solid.

Then the territory’s people locked their doors two or three times and refrained from going outside.

And they lived through the winter tenaciously, eating the fruits and food they had stored during the past year.

They said they only got some fresh air when merchants from neighboring territories attached to the mainland came in, or on days when the sun was shining brightly.

The solid roof and squat stone house were their home and shelter.

Because the monsters flying in from the distant East Sea relentlessly attacked the houses.

“They peck at the roof with their large beaks, turn the winter vegetable storage into a mess, and eat people while cawing menacingly… And our lord has devoted his entire life to exterminating those monsters. He is truly a great man.”

The types of flying beasts were diverse.

One year, four high-level monsters, Alkonosts [mythical birds from Slavic folklore], attacked the territory, and just last year, a swarm of low-level monsters, demonic scarlet ibis, came and turned the territory into chaos.

In this environment, the lord, Anette Baarn, was a warrior who fought with all her might to protect the territory, following the will of her ancestors.

She devoted her whole heart and soul to protecting the territory.

“She showed talent in magic from a young age, and the previous lord generously supported his daughter. It doesn’t matter what others think, since she wasn’t going to go to the capital anyway. The high archbishops point fingers, saying that mana is a lowly power, but if it can save precious lives, then it is no longer a lowly power. The lord tried to become the best magician in order to promote peace in the North.”

Jibril Diop gritted his teeth. But the lord’s resistance did not last long.

At just over forty years old, she contracted a serious illness.

Tears fell down the administrator’s cheeks.

“She spat blood from her mouth every day, and her mana became very weak… She was planning to pass on the title directly to her young and frail son. Recently, her condition had deteriorated so rapidly that she could not even recognize her close subordinates.”

“Oh, what should we do…”

Gaine, who was sitting next to me, groaned. Peridot also looked very disturbed.

Soon, the woman’s face hardened.

“It was then that Bożena appeared before us.”

“…”

The administrator’s voice gradually quickened.

“The Crescent Moon is a closed-off land. There is no reason for outsiders to come. We are ignorant of rumors, and we didn’t have any soldiers to send to the war because we were fighting monsters. So we didn’t know who that person was, or which noble family he belonged to.”

According to her explanation, ‘Noble Bożena’ arrived at the lord’s castle, escorted by several magicians and mercenaries.

However, for some reason, he was pulling the wooden cart himself.

He demanded an audience with the lord in a very authoritative tone, but his attitude was so overbearing and noble that no one dared to refuse.

That’s how Bożena met the sick lord.

And in just a few days, everything changed. The lord had become a completely different person.

“I wasn’t there, so I don’t know exactly what he said to the lord. But I heard it from the chamberlain and the knights.”

“What is it?”

“Bożena told the lord about the behind-the-scenes dealings of the neighboring territory, Atsma, and fueled his sense of crisis.”

“Neighboring territory?”

*Oh my.*

Cedric, who had approached without a sound, tilted his head in a noble posture.

The administrator quickly lowered her head.

“Yes. All the royal special support that comes into Baarn has to go through Atsma, but the Baron of Atsma is embezzling more than half of it in the middle.”

“…”

“Also, many of our territory’s people are buried in Atsma’s cemetery after they die. This is a long-standing agreement between the Baron of Atsma and the Lord of Baarn. This is because Baarn is a territory made up of islands, so there is no longer a suitable place to bury them. But, according to Bożena…”

*No way. Right?*

“None of the bodies that went to Atsma have been buried so far. The baron is secretly using them for other things.”

“Crazy.”

Gaine’s jaw dropped. I quickly covered her mouth with my sleeve.

Honestly, I would have dismissed it as Werner’s trickery if it were normal, but we were already considering other possibilities in the North.

Wilhelmina’s human experimentation lab. The ‘secret room’ where holy knights are made.

-Squeak, squeak

“Leah, it’s okay. Brother is fine. I’m breathing.”

Could it be that Werner used my sister’s information without permission? *With what thoughts?*

“So, the Lord of Baarn believed that…”

“Yes. He wasn’t originally like that, but whether he was deceived by Bożena’s instigation and trickery, even his eyes changed. He said that the war with the monsters was not important now, but the war with the Baron of Atsma… He was so angry that he smashed half of his bedroom with his bare hands.”

“I’m sorry… So you’re saying he’s not in his right mind now?”

Gaine whispered. The administrator nodded sadly.

“That’s right, Princess. The subordinates said that they should hear the position of Atsma as well. Even if they were to wage war, they should at least get through this winter safely, but no matter how much they pleaded, he wouldn’t listen. And he summoned all the soldiers to fight the monsters to the lord’s castle. He didn’t leave a single one on the other islands…”

“Good Lord.”

David invoked God, holding his forehead. The Crown Prince’s low voice echoed above his head.

“Then the one who sent you was not the lord, but the lord’s son.”

“Yes, that’s right. The young lord made us elope. The knights of the territory helped him, decided to evacuate only the elderly and weak, secretly opened the castle gate. He said that he could no longer protect us, so, sob, run away quickly…”

‘Ughhh…’ The administrator burst into tears again.

Before long, her voice was approaching a scream.

“But the north wind is unusual this year. It’s too early and too fierce. It’s like the weather in legends, and I’m afraid. Fortune tellers say that griffins will come this time!”

“Administrator, calm down.”

“I should have faced it together and died! We left the poor young lord and the young men of the village behind!”

‘Aaaaaah…!’ The woman tried to hit her forehead on the floor with a scream.

I quickly opened a healing circle.

-Paaaaah!

[Take a piece of the god’s dream as your nourishment.]

“Ha…”

*Thud!* The woman collapsed as she was and fell into a long sleep.

Blue ether particles lined up in a row and entered her mouth.

I quickly checked the patient’s pulse and looked for His Majesty the Emperor.

The adult had the most troubled expression I had seen recently.

“…Father was right.”