What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 510

Sub Male Lead Goes on Strike – Episode 510

#510

Therefore, when the disaster suddenly struck…

‘I was thinking of leaving this bell with François for a bit, would that be alright?’

‘······.’

Rosy pink eyes traced back to the recent past.

‘Just this once, Your Highness. I’m worried about leaving my sick friend alone.’

‘It is yours, do as you wish.’

Clearly, such a conversation had taken place. Between our dear Marquis and His Highness the Crown Prince.

-Ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling······!

“Oh, dear.”

‘Thump!’ François hurriedly grabbed the national treasure.

The white, shining bell rang more and more frantically and desperately. His falling bangs fluttered busily.

He immediately changed the direction of the blanket, wrapped Tete around his back, and opened the window with nimble movements.

‘Creak! Clatter, creak!’ The wooden window, long exposed to the sea breeze, opened its mouth with a painful groan.

A cold sea breeze roughly ruffled his brown hair. ‘Whoosh!’

-Rumble······!

“Something’s coming.”

From the direction of the coastline where His Highness and his party were headed, an unidentified vibration and noise were spreading.

Even though it was still midday, the sky towards the sea was strangely dark and red.

However, there was no clear movement visible.

The students in the training ground were looking around at each other with bewildered expressions, and occasionally teachers were running back and forth.

François instinctively tensed his whole body and turned around.

Fortunately, he felt perfectly fine.

He would be in perfect condition if he rested for another day or two, but even now, he wasn’t in bad shape. He was one of the few 8th-circle mages in the Empire, a figure who was a definite help just by his existence.

-Ting-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling······!

“I should get out of here for now.”

-Awooo

Quickly hiding the bell in his arms, he put on a thick robe and pulled up the hood.

Then, he bent down low towards the bottom of the bed.

Rophy, who was curling up his back and raising all the fur on his body, had his eyes wide open and his tail down.

It was pitiful to see him so frightened for the first time.

He remembered that it wasn’t this bad even when he first came to the Liester military camp.

François smiled gently and slowly reached out his hand.

No matter how urgent it was, he shouldn’t startle him.

“Come with me, Rophy-nim.”

-Haa!

“It’s alright. Didn’t I bring Rophy-nim out that day too?”

-······.

A gentle whisper followed.

From the Statia Rock Fortress, where terrible bio-experiments were being carried out, he escaped with Johan Haines and the blood-soaked divine beast.

Since that day, the little cat had gained complete freedom.

He could go anywhere, and he might never meet humans again.

“Shh.”

However, he remained there of his own will, beside the warm humans, like an incense burner.

-······Nyaa

“You made a good choice.”

The palm-sized divine beast ran up and clung to his sleeve.

François chuckled softly, then immediately got up and snatched the mace he had placed next to the bed. ‘Thud!’

-Whiririk!

-Paaaaaa―!

At the same time, intense rosy pink mana burst out from the mage’s body.

Immediately after he disappeared from the dormitory, the earth’s rumbling grew even louder.

*

‘Eve, wake up!’

Flinch.

“······Damn it.”

Did I doze off for a moment? Frederick Liester massaged her temples, trying to clear her head.

Inside the spacious barracks, her office desk was piled high with all sorts of documents again today.

The midday winter sun brightly illuminated the white cloth.

In the golden, dazzling brazier, a night soup to satisfy her hunger was bubbling away.

It didn’t look like a battlefield to anyone.

“Haa······.”

Currently, the Empire and the Holy State were in a temporary truce to commemorate her and the Crown Princess’s birthday week.

So it was okay to rest for a while.

She also knew very well that Aurelia in the Imperial Capital was taking care of state affairs on her own.

However, Frederick didn’t want to burden her partner too much.

She had to check at least roughly how the internal affairs were going.

Even though she was on a personal campaign, it was absurd to completely turn a blind eye to the domestic situation.

She was the Emperor of the Empire. No matter how tired she was, she had to do what she had to do.

Of course, perfectly. If possible, without even an inch of gap.

“Ahem. Water.”

Frederick ordered briefly. But there was no answer.

She frowned, a headache slowly creeping into her forehead, and raised her head.

The surrounding sacred stones were filled with a noble golden ether [a hypothetical medium believed to carry light].

Her breathing calmed down for a moment at the gentle warmth with a faint beige tint.

However, the fact that there was no one to carry out the imperial order was a disturbing problem.

“Is anyone there?”

Still, there was no response. She was starting to get a little annoyed.

She was already on edge because her contractor wasn’t by her side.

Frederick gave her another chance with the vast generosity of the Emperor.

“Bring me water. Wine would be fine today too.”

“Ah, be quiet······.”

“What?”

From somewhere in the pile of documents, someone’s grumbling voice was heard.

The Emperor barely managed to dig through the papers, her hands itching to draw Durendal [Frederick’s sword].

‘This person is trying to die…’

“Cough······.”

“Huh.”

Finally, the appearance of the traitor was revealed to the world and discovered by the Emperor.

Frederick made the most awful expression at the familiar bulk and hair color.

“Marchioness Mute.”

“Sigh······.”

“Hey, Lisa. Go sleep in your barracks.”

‘Thud, thud.’ She kicked her long legs with her boots, but Caroline didn’t budge.

Her half-shaved head was firmly laid on the desk, and her long hair covered her eyes like a blanket, which was quite a sight.

The Emperor chuckled slowly, finding Durendal and grabbing it. ‘That’s right.’

How many people in the world would dare to come into this body’s barracks without greeting, dismiss all the subordinates as they pleased, take a seat, and take a nap?

Even her only son was raised strictly, so he couldn’t do such a thing.

“A Sword Master has so much sleep. That’s why Michelle is keeping the bed empty and can’t make a second child.”

“Kuh······. Phoo······.”

“······Well, you wouldn’t have been able to endure another ten months.”

‘Me neither.’ The Emperor eventually chuckled and put down the scabbard.

She was thinking of waking up her old friend and having a sparring match, but she had fallen asleep for a while, so she must be just as tired.

Perhaps this was the only space where she could sleep without being disturbed by anyone.

If she had been in her own barracks, her subordinates would have been coming and going every few minutes, looking for her.

“Rest for ten more minutes. Just ten minutes.”

The Emperor said sternly and returned to her seat. No, she was about to.

“······.”

But the document that Caroline was lying on caught her eye.

There were also traces of scribbling with a crooked quill.

It seemed like she had the intention to work even while she was falling asleep.

Frederick gently pulled out the piece of paper and counted the parts that the Marchioness was looking at.

‘Report on the Doll Master’s Cheonro (泉路) Conquest’

It was a document that she had already read and reviewed several times.

The headache that she had forgotten for a while came back.

‘······Cheonro is an impregnable land that has never been conquered by the armies of other countries, and even King Yuri Venetian I was reluctant to fight here when suppressing the rebellion.’

‘The great warlord, the late King Romero, said that Lilianer Venetian was as cunning as a devil and used the lives of soldiers as easily as toys, so he did not waste even a handful of Cheonro’s soil. Thus, the path called ‘Cheonro’ was nicknamed ‘The Doll Master’s Cheonro’. As Your Majesty knows well, historians unanimously analyze that the reason why the late King’s army retreated to the desert was because of the defeat at Cheonro······.’

‘The late King Valery, who was well-versed in geography, left the following analysis: As long as Cheonro exists, the unification of the continent is far away, so expand the sea route with the Principality of Corleone and actively foster the navy······.’

‘It has been confirmed that all six cardinals of the Holy State are still alive. We must thoroughly check our strategy in preparation for the fierce resistance at Cheonro······.’

“······.”

‘It is expected to be a great war where the outcome of victory or defeat is unknown······.’

‘If we fail to gain the upper hand here, the scale of damage to our forces will exceed several times the number of accumulated casualties······.’

“It’s very nerve-wracking.”

Hmph. Frederick let out a hollow breath and leaned back on the desk.

Perhaps she wouldn’t be able to let go of this document even if she looked at it until it wore out, even if she memorized the contents.

The conclusion of the report was also simple and concise.

Although she had written various scenarios by mobilizing numerous strategies and tactics―

‘The current Imperial Army is stronger than any army in any era, and the morale of the soldiers is soaring because of their extreme loyalty to Your Majesty and the country······.’

‘······If we do this, the Great Liester Empire will finally be victorious with the grace of the Main God and enjoy glory.’

“Tsk.”

‘The grace of the Main God.’

The Emperor pondered the words for a moment. In the end, luck had to follow.

Because none of the previous emperors of the Empire had ever crossed Cheonro.

She considered the possibility that the Holy State might miraculously hand over Werner Venetian now.

“······.”

Damn it.

Her temples throbbed.

The leadership of this country had already split into factions and had not been able to speak with one voice for a long time.

“Your Majesty. It’s Elizabeth.”

At that time, a clear voice rang out from outside the barracks.

Frederick glanced at Caroline and brought her daughter in.

“What’s going on?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. From Yeriho······. Oh my, I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. Your mother has been through a lot, so let her rest.”

The young man who walked in, saw his mother lying on the desk and was embarrassed.

Frederick waved her hand with an indifferent expression, defending the Marchioness.

Elizabeth had just returned from transporting the criminals who had tried to promote Marguerite Diop as Crown Princess to the Imperial Capital.

On the way, she stopped by Yeriho and stayed for a day.

Since there were Liester garrisons there as well, the communication network between the units was constantly maintained.

“Yes, from Yeriho?”

“Yes. An urgent communication came from there. Against the surviving subordinates of Duke Wilhelmina Sneider, who survived in the black market, cross-examination and interrogation about the northern part of the Holy State continued······.”

The face of the Vice Commander of the Imperial Guard gradually hardened. Frederick immediately sensed an unpleasant aura.

“Our army has actively adopted the interrogation method proposed by Lady Yeser. They compiled a so-called ‘keyword’ dictionary by collecting the words and repeated gestures that they mainly use. At first, everyone questioned whether this would be useful······.”

“They would have. I’ve never seen that girl talk nonsense.”

“That’s right. There was one who was light-mouthed, so after attempting a long-term conversation, a story about the ‘Salt Marsh’ came out.”

“Salt Marsh?”

The Emperor narrowed her brows at the unexpected word.

She knew very well that there was a Sneider’s secret chamber there.

Could it be that the Salt Marsh is also related to the Atsuma barony in the north?

“According to his statement, Sneider’s side, immediately after the Salt Marsh collapsed, ‘sold’ the ‘snake’ that was there to the ‘Undertaker’s Mansion’.”

“······.”

“So our army diligently combined the words listed in the keyword dictionary······.”

The Vice Commander of the Imperial Guard chose her words. Her gray eyes sank heavily.

“It was derived that the ‘divine object’ was ‘moved’ to the ‘north’.”