What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 501

#501

The Big Shot Who Came in Secret (4)

“Good, good morning? Did you sleep well?”

-······.

Startled. That was the first word that came to my mind.

The lizard stared at me, its gray eyes rolling.

Ttuk-ssim, on my shoulder, jumped, then settled, folding its wings.

The paladins, sitting far away, watched us with tense eyes.

I could feel all three of them were on guard, so I quickly shook my head.

It’s okay, I’m not asking anything yet!

-Chirp chirp chirp?

-······.

The wren, hopping down my arm like stairs, approached the lizard’s nose and chirped.

I didn’t know exactly what it said, but they seemed to communicate somehow.

The orange little one blinked, then flicked its tongue once.

Then Ttuk-ssim immediately continued the afterword(?).

-Chirp chirp chirp?

-······.

-Chirp chirp eee!

I guess it just urged, ‘Say something!’, but I must be mistaken.

I stroked its chest with my thumb, trying to defuse the tense atmosphere.

Calm down, Ttuk-ssim. It was unconscious all day.

“Easy, easy.”

-Chirp?

“Yeah. They say it’s not even a relic right now. I don’t know what the situation is, but if you push too hard, wouldn’t it be difficult for it too? It just woke up.”

-Chirp chirp bleep! Chirp chirp bleep······!

Wow, I got scolded too. I don’t know what it means, but this is definitely a scolding!

-Bleep! Bleep!

“Okay, ouch. Ouch. Don’t hit me.”

The angry wren fluttered on my palm.

It pecked at my fingers with its beak, and fluttered its wings, waving its tail feathers.

This was roughly a reaction like, ‘Are you taking its side right now?!’

Its raisin-like eyes were sparkling.

The lizard, scared and embarrassed by that, stepped back several paces.

But it didn’t run away or disappear like before.

I could see it looking towards the Hye-geom [a type of sword], so I held out the hilt so it could touch it.

“Here, it’s okay. It’s your friend.”

-······.

Then the little one wiggled its chin for a while, then carefully crawled into its arms and embraced Hye-geom.

To be exact, it seemed to be holding the blood-red gem of the noble sword tightly.

‘Physis’.

“······.”

Suddenly, a strange feeling flashed through my mind. Could it be―

“I have a question, doesn’t Hye-geom talk to His Highness, its owner?”

Suddenly! Ms. Gain raised her hand and spoke.

Thanks to her, I completely forgot what I had been thinking until just now.

A brief silence filled the beach tent, tormented by the wind.

No, but when I think about it, it was true.

The spirit in Yeriho spoke human language openly, and Ttuk-ssim understood and conveyed our language accurately every time.

Nicky, the guide of the Ark, was just at a native speaker level. Then what about other relics?

“That’s a sharp question.”

Sir Johan said, raising the corner of his mouth. I quickly nodded.

First of all, the ‘Wish Relic’ has never said a word to me so far.

I didn’t really feel like I had any contact with this guy.

The ‘Ice Silkworm’s Vault’, which accompanied us this time, also doesn’t speak—it doesn’t have a mouth in the first place because it’s shaped like a crown—but judging from how much it likes to be touched by people, there doesn’t seem to be a problem with communication.

The ‘Shrine of Trees’, which protects the forest along with numerous owners, had a very benevolent nature and communicated smoothly with Eva.

Like this, there were quite a few relics whose main focus was non-verbal communication.

“Ah, the Blessing of the Open Sea doesn’t talk. It just seems to be one with me. Hye-geom must be the same case? It just looks like that.”

‘Hoo, hoo.’ Ms. Gain chattered, taking out a sweet potato baked in the brazier.

The savory and sweet smell made me swallow hard. Maybe so?

“No.”

I see.

Uh, wait a minute. What?

I blinked blankly.

“Your Highness, are you saying Hye-geom speaks······?”

“Is there a problem?”

“It speaks? That sword?!”

‘Wahahaha! Awesome!’ Ms. Gain opened her eyes wide and fell backward.

Sir Johan gently supported her waist, saving both his disciple and the sweet potato.

I was so surprised that I opened my mouth wide while holding Hye-geom.

But the Crown Prince’s sculpted face remained unchanged. Oh my god, is that real?

It can express itself verbally? ‘That’ Hye-geom of Mars?

“Then, then what is it saying now? Could you ask Hye-geom, who is also a fire attribute, for its opinion on the lizard? I’m also curious if it knows anything else. Why haven’t I thought of this until now?”

I said with a bright smile. That’s right, the relics have been on this continent for a very long time!

Of course, there may not be much they can say due to their own stories or restrictions, but perhaps they can give us unexpected and valuable advice.

That could be a great turning point for us!

“Your Highness, please.”

“······.”

When I said it with the most polite expression possible, he clicked his tongue once and strode towards me.

Now that the lizard had woken up, there was no need for ether distancing.

The man brought his fingers to the hilt with a fairly gentle motion.

The black leather gloves reflected the warmth of the brazier and gave off a smooth light. Tap.

“······.”

And silence flowed.

Shuaaa, shuaaaaa······. It was so quiet that the sound of the waves outside could be heard even louder.

The sword showed no reaction on the outside. Indeed, it seemed to be taciturn like its owner.

But the inside might be as deep and warm as a volcano.

“······What does it say?”

I whispered.

Crown Prince Cedric looked down at us with his usual blunt expression and replied.

“It says it’s pathetic and has nothing to say.”

The lizard’s tongue dripped down.

-Bireureureu, chirp chirp chirp!

Ttuk-ssim immediately became furious!

-Bireureut, bireureureut!

“Heok, Ttuk-ssim! Violence is bad!”

The excited wren began to attack the Crown Prince’s boulder-like chest and shoulders.

Until just now, it was scolding the lizard sharply, but now it seemed to be defending it as the same relic.

‘Eok! Euhuk!’ Ms. Gain was about to suffocate from laughter, but I was horrified for a different reason and jumped up.

The person being hit had no expression of being affected, but I thought Ttuk-ssim’s beak would be hurt if this continued. Hey, no way!

No matter how much of a relic you are, how can you beat the muscles of a romance fantasy male lead!

“Jeong Ttuk-ssim, you’re going to get hurt!”

-Chirp chirp chirp chirp! Biriririt!

Ttuk-ssim finally bit the hem of the Crown Prince’s robe and threw it towards the entrance.

This meant only one thing. Flutter, flutter flutter······.

“Are you telling us to leave? All of us?”

-Chirp-po!

Thus, the four clerics were kicked out to the beach in the middle of winter with only two sweet potatoes.

For the smooth progress of the esteemed wren and lizard’s meeting.

The waves of the North Sea became higher and sharper as darkness fell, as if resisting it.

The sky, pierced by the water, scattered crimson light in all directions.

-Cheolssheodeok, cheolssheodeok······!

-Swaaaa, swaaaa, swaaaaa······!

It was sunset. The days in the north were long.

The military academy students were all eating and resting in the tents.

We lit a warm bonfire on the stiff, frozen sandy beach and sat around it.

If we were determined, we could have set up a new tent, of course.

But everyone agreed to my suggestion to watch the sunset and sunrise here today.

With the help of Sir Johan and Crown Prince Cedric, we hardly felt the cold.

In addition, Ms. Gain blew away all the moisture from the ground, so the floor was not damp and uncomfortable.

The only downside was that everyone had to use their divine power a lot, but it was okay because I was there.

Because it was the last day of the year we spent together, it was really okay.

Four shadows swayed behind us.

-Gulp, gulp······

“Euh, it’s so refreshing. It would be really great if we added some red broth here.”

‘Radish kimchi [Korean fermented radish]!’ Our protagonist sighed after drinking half of the meat soup.

That made the corners of my eyes curl up. It was an opinion I couldn’t help but agree with a hundred times.

“I agree. Or it would be delicious to mix it with warm rice and eat it with pickled onions.”

“Kyaa, as expected of our Palace Lord. You know how to eat.”

“······.”

Then the Crown Prince, sitting on the left, gave me a familiar look.

His eagerness to learn was so great every time that it made me laugh.

Recently, I explained about young radish kimchi, cabbage kimchi, and mustard leaf kimchi, but when I thought about it, I had never talked about radish kimchi, which is the best of them all.

He probably had a rough idea about pickled onions, but ‘radish kimchi’ certainly had an unusual name.

Soon, when the explanation about radish kimchi was over, he frowned and asked.

“Is there a law in your country that you cannot eat without kimchi [Korean fermented vegetables]?”

······I had to answer no, but I couldn’t in good conscience.

So I nodded vaguely, and the man heavily pointed out that ‘that is the politics of a tyrant.’

It was the face of a solemn heir to the throne.

Hey, Koreans voluntarily enjoy such tyranny.

“······The meeting is getting long. I’ve never seen Ttuk-ssim so angry before?”

Tak! Ms. Gain put down the bowl she had emptied neatly and pouted.

Kind Sir Johan gave her a few pieces of meat from his share.

The surface of the dissatisfied water droplets instantly turned bright.

It reminded me of when Herrit ate the halo grass kimchi well, and a smile spread across my face.

Our Cardinal is good at cooking, so I thought he would make delicious kimchi.

“Haa, I ate well.”

I also cleared my fifth bowl of stew.

Tonight’s menu was also the demonic beast meat caught by His Highness Stanislas and Prince Jibril Diop.

The two had disappeared somewhere again in the meantime.

To be honest, it was amazing that the wizard seemed to get along well with my grandfather, and it was surprising that he had an unexpectedly diligent side.

Thanks to that, I was eating all the demonic beasts I would eat in my life here.

It seemed to be treated as a delicacy in the Empire, but here, demonic beasts were no different from staple food.

This was especially true since all movement of goods in and out of the Barren was blocked.

Baking with holy fire, steaming with holy water, and smoking with sacred smoke gave everything an amazing savory taste.

-Sarreureureu, sarreureureu······

-Tadak, tadak, tadak······

A comfortable silence swirled between us.

The waves danced to the rhythm of the wind, and the flames hummed an old melody.

I cherished this moment, which was not awkward at all, in my heart.

“······We have to catch that Werner guy. There’s something even more crazy going on this time, right?”

Ms. Gain, who was supporting her chin with her knees, muttered.

The Crown Prince replaced his answer with a low sigh.

At the same time, our gazes turned towards the dark horizon in the distance.

-Swaaaaa······!

“······.”

Under the innocent gaze of the sky, flattened islands could be seen.

It was a landscape that I would have admired as a spectacle if I had seen it on a clear and bright day.

The islands that made up the Barren Territory were all small and close to each other, so it took only about twenty minutes by ferry to move from one island to another.

Islands connected by short bridges were also occasionally visible.

They were all pointy at the top, like wearing a crown of thorn bushes.

According to Tess’s explanation, those were all stakes driven into the top to prevent demonic beasts from attacking.

“······I can see it there, the white line beyond the clouds.”

“Yes.”

Even though it wasn’t of great use, I heard that repairing those defenses every year was the job of the people here.

Just for peace of mind.

“But there’s no aurora today. I’m glad you’re not sick, Palace Lord.”

Ms. Gain added quietly. She and I looked at each other and smiled softly.

There is a mountain of work to do.

The bad guy is right in front of us and we must catch him this time, but a swarm of demonic beasts is about to descend on this place.

We decided to help the land that even the lord cannot help, so we cannot turn a blind eye to these people.