What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 491

#491

Youth☆ Naval Academy (6)

“…It’s candy. Klaut gave it to me, so I accepted it.”

It was Djibril Diop.

“Klaut?”

At that, a shadow like a sunspot fell over his elegant face.

A heavy voice, like well-cut onyx, sank, and his lush eyelashes trembled subtly like butterfly down before settling.

It was a clear sign of wariness and displeasure. I swallowed hard, feeling inexplicably nervous.

It’s not like I accepted poison; anyone would think I followed some bad guy just because they offered candy.

Isn’t there no need to be so hostile to a fellow guild member? And he’s your relative.

He gave it to me out of pity because he saw I was hungry.

“You skipped class to be with him?”

Oh, come on, why would you say that?

“I absolutely didn’t want to skip class. I’m sorry. I sincerely apologize to Teacher Tess. I was wandering around the hallway for a while…”

“Ah! I saw you.”

A student who had been listening to our conversation, holding their breath, suddenly raised their voice.

Dozens of eyes snapped towards her, and her classmates let out silent screams.

Even Tess, the homeroom teacher of Class 3, looked shocked.

The group immediately began to punish their friend with their fists.

The sturdy body swayed back and forth.

“Ouch! Ah, you hit my bone!”

“Hey! Are you crazy? Shut your mouth!”

“You should just hold a sword for the rest of your life! Huh?”

“Ugh, seriously. You’re so bad at reading the atmosphere!”

“No! Earlier during class… I saw you wandering outside the window… from far away…”

‘I’m sorry,’ the student quickly clamped their lips shut and gave apologetic glances.

I smiled wryly, took off my hood, and gave a nod.

Then, whispers spread like wildfire through the crowd.

Ugh. My cheeks felt like they were burning, and I couldn’t bring myself to look up.

Counting the time I’ve spent here, I’m thirty years old, yet I’m still a hopeless latecomer and a lost cause, deserving of the finger-pointing.

I’ve never been late like this at school or work, so I was embarrassed.

That’s why I arrived an hour and a half early on my first day of work.

“I should have just gone with the Crown Prince. Actually, I was going to ask him last night, but I didn’t.”

“……”

I smiled awkwardly and whispered, and he stared down at me. I know it’s an excuse.

“He always goes out for meditation and training early in the morning. I didn’t want to disturb him.”

“……”

Indeed, the old saying that you can’t spit on a smiling face was true.

Crown Prince Cedrick’s expression softened a little from before.

Or perhaps he calmed down at the sight of Tete drooling as he looked at him in his swaddling clothes.

Even the Crown Prince of the world tends to give in to his precious ones’ charms.

“Ha…”

The man’s mountainous chest sank slightly. It was then.

-Thump, thump, crash!

“Hey! Focus! Focus! Cough, cough!”

“It’s a real mess, right now! Major announcement!”

Teenagers, breathless, stopped abruptly in front of the training ground in their short sleeves.

For a moment, I felt a chill, thinking it was a monster attack.

Tess and the students’ gazes moved quickly like hummingbirds. Whoosh!

“What’s going on? Explain calmly.”

“It’s a big one, Teacher! A big one!”

“No! Is it a huge one?”

“Someone put a brown sugar anemone in the 1st-grade hallway! A live one, too!”

“What?!”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the noise in the hall exploded.

‘No way!’ The students, at their growing age, had incredibly loud and solid voices.

It was so deafening that my eyes squeezed shut!

“Rice Bucket, don’t lie!”

“It’s real! It’s huge, big enough for a person to fit inside!”

“Why is the anemone in the hallway?! Not in the sea?!”

“How would I know! Go look yourself!”

“The 1st-grade hallway is a mess right now, all the teachers are out there!”

Judging by their attitude, it didn’t seem like a joke, and the faces of Class 3-3 brightened up.

Some didn’t even greet the teacher and ran out into the hallway.

It was several times more enthusiastic than when they heard the news of catching a white sugar bear.

Tess called the students who had run over and asked them questions.

The Crown Prince frowned and called over a student who was nearby.

“You. What is a brown sugar anemone?”

“…Yes? Yes, me? Me?”

“Don’t make me ask twice.”

Despite his blunt and cold tone, the male student stammered, his face red.

Half of his friends surrounding him were already staring blankly at the Crown Prince.

The other half were having a heated debate about what brown sugar tasted like and how many servings you could get if you caught it.

I couldn’t even begin to fathom the greatness of the ‘brown sugar anemone’ since they didn’t even notice the nobleman right in front of them.

“Br, brown sugar is, used as a home for white sugar, white sugar bears.”

“Sea anemone. Outsiders call it a sea anemone.”

“Really? Anyway, it’s a rock anemone where white sugar bears live, no. It’s a sea anemone.”

My eyes slowly widened. Tete’s mouth, facing me, also opened round.

No way… It can’t be.

“Brown sugar fills the white sugar’s nutrition, hides its body, and moves with it. White sugar bears are precious, but their homes are even more precious. It’s good for the body, very. It’s great for stamina.”

“It’s used as medicine, mainly eaten for health.”

“Ahahaha!”

Some teenagers covered their reddened cheeks and laughed loudly. Oh my god…

“What?”

“And, it’s, it’s a noble gold color. But now with a strawberry color mixed in.”

“Hey! Why are you talking so weirdly!”

“My tongue is stiff, gone… I can’t think of anything…”

Tete wiggled his whiskers with a puzzled look.

It was a sentence structure that was difficult to understand with just one listen. But the Crown Prince was the Crown Prince.

He asked back with an attitude as cold as a winter wind.

“Does that mean the brown sugar anemone is a sea anemone that functions as a nutrient supply and habitat for white sugar bears, and is difficult to capture because it moves on its own with rare monsters?”

“Yes!”

“Wow, he even speaks well!”

“You’re really like a prince! Cool!”

The group of students exclaimed with genuine admiration.

I nodded vaguely to match the atmosphere.

The white sugar bear was only called a ‘bear,’ but in reality, it was a high-ranking monster that looked like a combination of a pig and a catfish.

My friends and I were treated to it gratefully yesterday, and it was really delicious.

The flesh itself tears like mackerel, but when you put it in your mouth, it melts like beef sirloin.

Certainly, it seemed difficult to find a higher quality meat than that in such a barren environment.

But there’s an animal that’s its habitat and food.

Around that time, Tess was making a very serious expression.

“How on earth did the anemone get into the hallway… Was the window broken?”

“No! But there was a note. The other teachers have it, so we didn’t see the contents!”

“Good heavens. Did they say there was an intruder? I should go take a look.”

“Um.”

I ended up opening my mouth.

I was going to stay quiet if possible, but when I thought about it, there was evidence of my illegal parking.

Everyone, including the Crown Prince, stared intently at me.

It was a topic I could no longer avoid. Gulp.

“I… caught it.”

“Yes?”

“That…”

Here, Tete and Ropi were, outwardly, companion ‘monsters.’

The school members were shocked by the fact that humans were accompanied by monsters—because they were busy fighting monsters—but soon fell head over heels for the overwhelming cuteness of the two little ones.

Divine Beasts were extremely rare in history, so I couldn’t reveal their identities carelessly.

If I did, people would suspect our identities, no matter how remote the land was.

Okay, Ye-seo. Let’s act.

“Actually… that’s why I couldn’t attend class. I caught the anemone on the beach, but I couldn’t see the road, and it was heavy. So I left it in the 1st-grade hallway. My name is written on the note too. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”

-Awoong, awoong

Tete nodded as if what I said was right.

Of course, only I recognized his gesture of affirmation since he was one with his body.

A glacial silence flowed through the indoor training ground.

Tess looked at me with astonished eyes. Her thin lips moved, but no sound came out.

It wasn’t that she didn’t believe ‘me,’ but rather that she couldn’t believe ‘the current situation.’

After a while.

“…Hwaaaak! Long live Guild Master!”

“Thank you! Wangddaeng [a term of endearment]! Really Wangddaeng!”

“If that’s why you couldn’t come to class, we’re totally okay with it!”

“Haineken is the best!”

“Waaaaak! It was real!”

-Gurgle

‘Looks like we’re going to have a good year!’ It was as intense as the cheers on high school sports day.

I felt a pang of guilt for lying, but I briefly thought it might be okay since everyone was so happy.

Some students were excited, rolled up their sleeves, and rushed towards me.

I was inwardly embarrassed because it looked like they were going to toss me in the air.

At that moment, the Crown Prince raised the dagger he was holding and stopped them.

The charisma of the royal grandson was truly enormous.

“…Meal.”

“Yes?”

I was startled and looked up at him. Did he hear the sound from my stomach? No, it was properly drowned out by the cheers.

“Breakfast.”

“Ah, I ate a bread in the infirmary. I also met Edelweiss and Guinness in the morning.”

“Tsk.”

The Crown Prince clicked his tongue in the same tone as his mother and spat out as he tucked the dagger into his leather belt.

“Let’s go to the cafeteria. Follow me.”

At those words, my mouth widened like a gourd.

I always want to act like an older brother in front of him, but today was a miserable failure.

Even the youngest Divine Beast, who only eats Ether [a magical energy source], happily folded his eyes.

I hurriedly chased after the human youngest.

The students’ murmurs quickly faded away like something from another world.

“Thank you! Let’s go together!”

*

A few hours later. Class 2-2 of the 2nd grade, before the 4th period.

“Oh… You must have been so hungry.”

“Hahaha. I’m okay now. I could handle it.”

“No. Your pretty face has become half its size in half a day. It’s like nothing you eat goes to your body. It breaks my heart, noona [term for older sister or female friend].”

Ms. Gain, sitting backward on the chair right in front of me, looked at me closely and felt sorry for me.

She still looked pitiful even though she saw how much I ate at the cafeteria.

I briefly covered her hand to mean don’t worry, and when I took it off, she quickly covered my hand with both of hers.

A small laugh burst out at the affectionate playfulness.

We were sitting in the back of the classroom, waiting for the teacher as observers of this class.

It had been about 10 minutes since the class bell rang.

Occasionally, students glanced at us with excited faces.

It was only natural since there were no other beauties like Christel.

“Let’s have lunch together later. I’ll pick you up in front of your room tomorrow morning.”

Whisper, whisper.

“…Yes, thank you.”

The tips of my ears heated up at the shy proposal. My breakfast was as hearty as it was late.

Originally, I was only going to eat one serving because it was for the students, but I heard that the monsters that Grandfather had hunted in the early morning were piled up in the warehouse.

It was such a grateful and thankful thing. Thanks to that, I was able to eat 4 servings.

For dessert, I also tasted the green tangerine sherbet, which was a specialty of the Naval Academy.

The chef, who praised me as the ‘Great Anemone Hunter,’ scooped ten spoonfuls of sherbet into a large wooden bowl.

“Didn’t Duke Diop say anything else?”

“What do you mean?”

Ms. Gain asked in a hushed voice, so I asked back in a soft voice.

Then her red lips moved poutingly.

There were tiny wrinkles on the bridge of her nose, and the forehead visible between her bangs was as white as porcelain.

“Just, well… badmouthing us or something. Sowing discord?”

“Hey. Why would he say that? What’s there to criticize?”

“Really?”

“Of course. He only talked about that lizard story.”

It was pointless to say it twice. When I asserted it, early spring came to the protagonist’s face.

I felt good as well, as if I was feeling better with the bright blooming smile.

At that moment.

-Click!

“Your Excel–”

‘Hiss.’ I quickly covered my mouth. Ms. Gain whirled around and sat facing forward.

The teacher of ‘War History’ for Class 2-2 of the 2nd grade was none other than His Excellency Stanislaus. Oh my god!

“…Nice to meet you. I am a member of the mercenary guild Somac. Today, I will be conducting the War History class in place of Teacher Lena.”

A dignified voice flowed from his benevolent face.

The hand that placed the textbook on the podium was as big and thick as a pot lid.

The students were overwhelmed by his energy and didn’t know what to do. Savior Ms. Gain quickly raised her hand.

“Teacher! Tell us about your first love!”

At the audacious request, Grandfather’s eyes sank heavily.

“…She died. Let’s open the book.”

Ah… Oh dear.