What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 496

#496

Self-Severance (4)

Werner paused, choosing his words carefully before leaning towards Baron Averoner Baren in the next seat.

-Swish…

The robe woven from the fur of a high-ranking magical beast cascaded down the steps.

The magical prosthetic hand, imbued with the mana of a dark mage, emitted a more sinister glow than ever before.

His regularly oiled and maintained lavender hair shimmered, exuding a sensual fragrance.

Though it couldn’t compare to his glory days, his soft skin and delicate fingers were a beauty rarely found in the North.

The man’s hand lightly touched the baron’s shoulder.

The situation behind the curtain was a secret known only to the two of them.

Or, more accurately, it should be seen as known only to the royal consort.

“Averoner, doesn’t what he says sound strange?”

“······.”

The man’s vocal cords, irrevocably burned by the Holy Fire, hissed like a snake when he whispered.

The tone was subtly seductive.

However, there was no awareness in the baron’s empty gaze.

He heard that the disease she was suffering from was terminal.

A rare incurable disease found in the direct bloodline of the Baren family, the priests lamented that the baron would not live for another year.

When Werner arrived here, she was already half out of her mind.

She was already at odds with her only son.

It was only natural that she would lose her mind, suffering day and night from the pain of her internal organs being torn apart, yet refusing the hallucinogenic drugs to fight the magical beasts.

In the desolate land ravaged by beast attacks, neither compassion nor rumors flowed.

The Crescent Moon [referring to the Baren family’s sigil and territory] was fighting its own lonely battle here.

Indeed, the Chief God was on Werner Venetian’s side.

“Tomorrow is the last day of the year, yet how is it that the Crown Princess is only now conveying the news of the 25th to you? Or is it not so?”

“······.”

Everything was beautifully arranged, as if the entire game was set up just for him.

The man took out a small pill from his pocket.

It was a combination of the highest-grade painkillers he carried and the concocted drugs from the dark mages he had been following since the black market.

Averoner’s dazed eyes rolled downwards. A faint light entered her tired pupils.

It was the reaction of an addict.

“Or is it not so? Where is such coldness to be found?”

“······That’s right······.”

She answered in a fading voice, her skeletal hand trembling.

Werner held the pill at an ambiguous distance, just out of reach of her fingertips, and whispered.

“How can the sacred royal proxy act like this? The barony already doesn’t receive enough support from the royal family, and the people are either dying from magical beasts or starving to death all year round. But now, even revenge against the neighboring territory of Atzuma is blocked. Is this truly a fair treatment for the Baren family?”

“That’s······.”

The baron stammered. Werner looked at her sunken cheeks and thought of a certain tomb.

The ‘secret chamber’ of his sister, hidden in the Atzuma barony.

“It is truly a frustrating and resentful mistreatment. Is it not so?”

“Ah······.”

The baron made a gurgling sound. The royal consort’s eyes crinkled prettily.

His new folding fan, like a peacock’s tail, fluttered, repeatedly revealing and concealing the drug.

Dealing with an irrational patient was easier than a false confession.

Werner did not know exactly what Wilhelmina’s ‘big plan’ was.

It wasn’t just recently, but from a very young age.

His sister had always been a thoughtful and well-planned archduchess, while he was always an impulsive and emotional ‘second-rate’ person.

Wilhelmina had never shared her thoughts with her younger brother even once.

Of course, she had never asked for his opinion in return.

Perhaps she thought such an effort was unnecessary.

Because he was ‘a cunning, greedy, and transparent boy.’

She probably looked down on him, thinking that it was the same even after decades.

But that didn’t mean he knew nothing.

The red lips moved leisurely, brushing against the baron’s earlobe.

“Atzuma has been siphoning off royal support for the past hundreds of years, and now they have even stolen the peace of mind of the Baren territory’s people. This place is like a war every day, yet how can the Crown Princess not understand your hard work? Does she truly not know how difficult it is to struggle while leading with a sick body?”

“······.”

“Continue to prepare for battle.”

It was a word that melted like a sweet elixir.

Werner finally placed the pill in her grasp.

Averoner’s eyes widened.

“······Is anyone there? Cough.”

“Yes, Baroness!”

At the baron’s call, two knights gave a loud reply.

The baron faintly glared at the messenger beyond the curtain.

“Arrest that man, cough. Imprison him immediately. Today’s audience never happened.”

“Yes?!”

The young man took a step back in surprise, but the head of the barren frontier was neither the Crown Princess nor the King.

The knights, who had been momentarily surprised, quickly moved to subdue the messenger.

Her face turned pale as she struggled and raised her voice.

The royal flag stuck in her back swayed precariously. It was impossible.

“This is absurd, Baroness! I am a messenger of Her Highness the Crown Princess, the royal proxy! Let me go, no one dares to harm the King’s messenger!”

“Enough, silence him!”

“Baroness Averoner Baren! Please reconsider!”

“How noisy. Make sure he is quiet… Starve him and only give him glacial water.”

“Yes, Lord!”

“Good heavens! Baroness Averoner Baren!”

‘Creak!’ As soon as the black stone door opened its jaws, the shadows of the messenger and the knights disappeared.

The young man’s shout, ‘Aren’t you afraid of Her Highness’s wrath!’ echoed dully in the darkness like an underground echo before disappearing.

Meanwhile, three or four new figures entered the audience chamber.

Werner, a member of the royal family, felt a thrilling satisfaction as he looked down at his next prey.

-Thump!

“······.”

Oh, your precious son has arrived. And behind him…

“Lord. A priest using aether [a magical energy source] has been sighted wandering the territory, so I brought him here. All the other priests in the castle testified that they had never seen him before, but he said he helped catch magical beasts and train the remaining territory’s people for battle.”

Count Sem, the baron’s son, introduced the person behind him with a respectful attitude.

The interior was too dark to see his features properly.

Werner handed a glass of water to Averoner, who was ravenously chewing on the pill, and sharply folded his fan.

A new priest? Who would set foot on such a worthless land?

“······I greet the Lord of Baren.”

The stranger in question stepped forward and bowed. It was a very familiar voice.

The royal consort suddenly frowned, feeling an impending sense of doom.

The area under his eyes fluttered like the strings of a lyre sensing fate. Surely not.

It couldn’t be.

Could it be…

“My name is Martier Jielstra.”

The eyes of the warrior who had come into the light gleamed with a familiar vanilla color.

Crunch. Werner gritted his teeth.

*

That night.

Ocean Dragon Military Academy, men’s dormitory room 303 after lights out.

“Ugh, this sucks. It’s too cramped…”

Gain contorted her body into a chopstick-thin corner, making the most awful faces.

Since the bed’s owner was sleeping upright in perfect posture without yielding even an inch of space—well, considering this bastard’s personality, it’s not surprising, right?—she was essentially leaning vertically against a wall of air.

When she turned her head slightly, she saw a refrigerator-like bulk and a burdensome face.

Ugh, damn it! She pressed down the naturally occurring curse below her throat.

She really didn’t want to go this far, but she had no choice.

On the 9th day of the operation, the Somaek Guild had gained nothing so far.

The group was literally empty-handed.

“Haa…”

The paladin’s gloomy eyes turned towards the opposite bed.

She could see Lady Yeseo, the palace master, sleeping soundly with her eyes closed under the blanket.

It would definitely be overwhelmingly more comfortable and fun to take a spot over there, but today she shouldn’t be greedy for such things.

There was another reason why she had secretly entered the men’s dormitory (if caught, she would be expelled in one shot).

What was that?

-Clink, clink

“Oh, jackpot. It really came.”

What else could it be? Of course, it was that fire lizard.

Wow, seriously. People of the town! The lizard is picking the window with its tail!

-Click, click

Wow… Gain forced herself to ignore the chilling noise and closed her eyes.

The countless humiliations the guild members had suffered so far flowed through her mind like a 30-second teaser.

‘Ugh. My neck hurts.’

Her losing consciousness and waking up in the library was just a taste.

‘Crazy!’

‘Ah… How could this…’

The next moment, she had to face her friends who had frozen in the hallway,

‘Good heavens, my first…’

‘Francois!’

-Thud!

The very next day, Marquis Francois Duhem, the most vulnerable of the group, fainted after being kissed by the lizard.

It was the day Gain first witnessed that problematic animal.

She tried to capture it immediately, but the creature was so nimble that it dashed out the window.

Even Lophie had missed it right in front of her nose, so you could guess how fast it was.

The palace master immediately opened a circle [a magical diagnostic tool] to check on the marquis’s condition, and then,

-Fwoosh…!

‘It seems there is a temporary problem with the ‘vessel’ [a person’s capacity for magic].'”

…she diagnosed heavily. But she said it was definitely not certain.

The circle that looks into the vessel is too difficult to use.

And maybe the next day?

‘Damn it, that damn brat stole my staff!’

‘Yes?’

‘Yes!’

Gain secretly thought it was funny (the Crown Prince would probably agree), but anyway, the theft of an 8th-grade combat mage’s weapon was a serious matter.

That day, the teachers in the faculty room headed to the lizard dormitory together for the first time.

It was an opportunity to hear accurate explanations from the teachers, including the student director.

Not just adding a word or two in passing, but a very weighty and responsible behind-the-scenes story.

But you know what?

‘Mr. Klaut. Is this perhaps the instructor’s staff?’

‘What… Why is it there? Wait, don’t look at me like that. It was definitely there until just now!’

‘Lizards are certainly not familiar creatures as pets, but please don’t hate them too much. They have been quiet and haven’t caused any accidents so far.’

Rather, they were treated like villains. Of course, only Jibril Diop. Yahoo!

‘This sign has been in this place since before the military academy was established. It is a historical relic erected by the first Baron Baren.’

‘It looks so white and clean, but they say it’s about a thousand years old.’

‘The lizards have been living here for a long time…’

‘Hey. Isn’t that suspicious? Where is there a lizard that lives for a thousand years?’

‘Mr. Klaut.’

Tessa, the homeroom teacher of class 3-3, finally pressed him.

‘There are hundreds of lizards living here. If they lay eggs, they can naturally continue to prosper. Just like us humans.’

‘······.’

Diop eventually shut his mouth at the sight of everyone looking at him like he was the most ignorant person in the world.

It was an expression that he would shut up because he couldn’t win even if he spoke.

To make matters worse? They said there was nothing wrong with the magic staff except for a little dirt.

Since then, the count had a strangely bad vibe with the teachers. Tsk tsk…

‘Actually, a lizard stole my hair tie last night.’

But the news that Johan Sam’s hair tie had disappeared was enough to shock everyone deeply.

‘Yes? Is that really true?’

‘Yes. I saw the tail running out the window after I came out of the shower.’

‘Good heavens!’

‘Wow! This is a big deal, what do we do now?!’

‘The situation is serious.’

‘Hey, isn’t the reaction too different from when my staff disappeared?’

Roughly from that point on, the palace master presented the following theory to the group.

The light pink eyes under her glasses were very clear. It was pretty.

‘Those kids have no history of playing pranks like this on school teachers or students. So no one believes what we say.’

‘In other words, there is something that can only be achieved through us. And judging from the targets so far, they probably…’

‘They seem to covet strong mana or vessels trained with strong aether.’

It was a somewhat abstract reasoning, but as a group, they were slowly reaching a point where they had to make a last stand.

Was it the day after the next day?

‘It bit my grandfather’s belt and dropped it on the window frame.’

‘Yes?!’

All the guild members were speechless. The lizard was true thrill, shock, and suspense!

‘Hahaha. It must have been too heavy. I think I’ll take some luggage out from tomorrow.’

‘Your Highness!’

‘No way, this is real horror!’

‘Yeah. You still don’t think my staff disappearing was the most serious thing?’

Yeah. End of the flashback.

After roughly that series of events, the palace master became the bait herself, but…

-Clink, click!

“······.”

She never expected it to really come right away.

Gain gripped the whip hidden in the blanket tightly.

Then she opened only one eye slightly.