What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 521

Sub-Male Lead Goes on Strike – #521

Dragon King’s Straightforwardness! (1)

-Step, step, step······

“Ehehehehe.”

Again.

“······.”

“······.”

“Ahem. Hmm······. Hehehe.”

That perverted laughter leaked out again.

The Crown Prince looked down with a ‘tone it down’ expression, but I couldn’t hide my joy at all.

When I tried to stifle the sound, Dduk-ssim, hidden in the hood, beeped and booped, finding it amusing instead.

GooGoo, wrapped around my wrist like a bracelet, and Tited, swaddled in a blanket under the robe, kept wagging their tails or wriggling their bodies.

It seemed my joy was contagious, no matter how you looked at it.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Lopi also found the current situation interesting.

I couldn’t see his expression because he was clinging to the Crown Prince’s shoulder, though.

We diligently walked through the snow-covered shrubbery.

The Bareun-Atsuma Guild Hall wasn’t too far from the cave where the group stayed.

“Ah, good. Herrit will really like it.”

“······.”

When I muttered loudly as if for someone to hear, Sir Johann sighed quietly from behind.

Dduk-ssim, as if waiting, beeped and booped at him.

Tess, who was silently walking ahead, turned to us and tilted her head.

“Is something the matter, Priest?”

“No, nothing. I was just thinking about how beautiful the Holy Stone that Edelweiss gave Guinness earlier was. Isn’t it something that this person directly imbued with their power? The color is also lovely, and the flow of Ether looks particularly smooth. She didn’t even tell me where she got such a Holy Stone. I guess that means it’s a lifelong secret.”

“Guild Master.”

“To my eyes, it just looks ordinary······.”

“It’s the first time our Edelweiss has given such a special gift to someone else, Tess-sensei. As far as I know.”

“······.”

“Ah······.”

She glanced at Sir Johann, then looked back at me and nodded.

I replayed the conversation from earlier and grinned again.

Francois’s wide, pinkish eyes were quite a sight to behold.

He was handsome to begin with, but when he lowered his bangs, he looked about seven years younger, and there was a completely new feeling to his unsmiling face.

GooGoo, who was nervous along with him, was frozen like a Lego, only rolling his eyes.

‘Oh.’

‘······.’

‘I was just thinking that it would be good to have an opportunity to study the Ether of a Paladin from a magical-scientific perspective. This will be a valuable experimental material. Thank you.’

He replied calmly.

I had nothing to block my mouth, so I hastily put Tited’s flipper in my mouth.

When an impeccably aristocratic response came back, everyone’s gaze turned sharply to Sir Johann this time.

Even that Cedric guy raised an eyebrow, and Count Sem looked very nervous even though he didn’t know the full story.

I like this kind of thing. Nice to meet you!

‘······.’

-Beep beep beep!

A moment of tactless silence passed.

Then, Dduk-ssim bit Herrit’s father’s earlobe and urged him on.

This is probably something other friends know as well, but the little one was always absolutely superior to him.

That’s because the one who blocked Sir Johann with his whole body when he attacked me for the first and last time was the wren.

So, until last year, he pecked at the Cardinal quite a bit. They seem to be getting along well these days, though―

Huh! Sir Johann is speaking!

‘······It’s not for experimental purposes.’

Crazy, crazy.

‘Yes?’

‘It’s for self-defense. Since you’re not a combat mage, use it in an emergency.’

‘Ah.’

The Marquis blinked in surprise.

Around that time, our Gain was swinging both fists and getting overly immersed (the collateral damage went entirely to Jibril Diop).

‘······Thank you. I have one more cherished item.’

Huaaaak!

“Heok.”

Instantly returning to the present, I bit GooGoo’s tail instead of screaming.

The lizard quickly started climbing up my forehead.

Cedric gave me a blatantly disgusting look, but I didn’t care.

Aren’t you okay? Your teacher’s fence is gradually widening, and the number of friends coming in and out of it is increasing one by one.

How wonderful and happy is that?

Herrit, whom you still give pocket money to these days, and whose head you stroke when we’re not looking, is officially getting a godfather!

-Pitter-patter, pitter-patter, pitter-patter······

“The white lines in the sky are still there. Even after such a commotion.”

“Ha.”

Whoosh, I finally came to my senses. I raised my head and looked up at Tess’s words.

In the middle of the clear, blue sky, three lines were cutting across.

A sigh reflexively escaped at the heartless sight.

Honestly, I’m not even sure if that’s white anymore.

There are no special clues other than the number increasing, and the Holy Spirit said he felt intimacy, so I’m just holding on by believing that for now.

“Hmm······.”

-Chop

GooGoo, who had finally reached the top of my head, grabbed my head with his front paws.

I looked up at him and whispered.

“Don’t worry too much. We’re really almost there now. Just keep going straight.”

-······.

Literally, the huge Guild Hall building was right in front of us.

There were no cargo wagons today, but there were a lot of people near the main gate.

I kept talking as if steeling myself.

“Even if the sky splits in two, I’ll get your Physis back for you. And I’m going to make a big mess there too. I can’t let them do bad things with your power.”

-······.

Then the top of my head slowly warmed up.

Somehow, it felt like the Holy Spirit was saying thank you, so the corners of my mouth turned up on their own.

According to Alain’s explanation, ninety-nine out of a hundred commoners in the underground chamber don’t know anything about the experiment.

They are usually guaranteed huge sums of money and food supplies and secretly enter the meeting hall, but since the subject of the experiment is the Lord of Atsuma, they don’t even think they are in danger.

The meeting hall itself is also a public building, so they naturally feel at ease.

For example, Alain was told that it was a ‘clinical trial of an imperial flu vaccine for devout believers.’

‘It was only after entering deep into the chamber that I realized something was wrong. The people who were so friendly at the entrance······. Suddenly, they treated us like criminals and raised their voices. Some even carried whips. The supervisors were wearing helmets, so I couldn’t even see their faces.’

But by then, they had already signed the ‘agreement.’

A document stating that even if they died there, it was solely the participant’s responsibility, and if they survived, their memories would be erased and they would be released.

‘They say we can leave. They say they’ll send us home anytime. But, big mercenaries knock people out from behind and drag them away······. No one dares to say such a thing. They’re afraid of dying······.’

‘I heard a rumor that some people who participated in the Lord’s experiment never returned home. I just thought it was a ghost story. In the neighboring town, there are participants who live comfortably with a lot of money. Of course, of course, the Lord will······. He prays for the territory day and night······.’

The scene of tears welling up in his innocent face was still vivid.

So, this infiltration was different from the Salt Swamp.

It’s not just about spying on or destroying the place, but about safely rescuing the people who were dragged there without knowing anything.

I gnashed my teeth as I strode forward.

In the Statia chamber, they caught and tormented our Lopi, and in the Salt Swamp chamber, they received resources from crazy bastards and conducted experiments.

They took the bodies of the dead and used them recklessly and left them in a terrible state.

And people were dying in front of their eyes, but no one even blinked an eye.

Rather, they spouted nonsense about the Lord’s grace or something.

They had been exploiting Iran’s Holy Spirit in the black market for a long time, and they used the power stolen from the Holy Relic to endlessly repeat dirty deeds by operating black magic.

Even committing just one of those things would be punished by heaven, but the person in charge of all of this is just one person.

Duchess Wilhelmina Sneider.

-Step step, step step, step step

“······.”

How can a human being who wants to become a god do such terrible, ruthless, and arrogant things?

She’s a villain with a completely different direction from that crazy brother.

“We’re here. Prepare yourselves.”

At that moment, Tess’s voice rang out from under my nose.

As I was walking in a rage, I had already arrived at the entrance of the meeting hall.

I could see the mercenaries guarding the entrance tightly.

Rustle, rustle! The mysterious animal friends quickly moved and hid themselves.

I stiffly raised my neck and put strength into my eyes.

I had to have a noble face if possible. Especially in Gain’s words―

‘Like this, an expression that looks unconditionally expensive. Who do you think you are? This expression.’

“······Serenite.”

“Don’t call me that. I’m serious right now.”

“Is there an urgent matter?”

“······.”

Huh! I almost lost my facial muscles in an instant.

I gritted my teeth and turned to Cedric.

This guy, like a royal, said it as indirectly as possible, but that sentence just meant, ‘Do you want to go to the bathroom?’

Are you messing with me right now?

“Welcome, guests! Hold it right there.”

“What brings you here? You don’t have name tags.”

“What business would a merchant have at the meeting hall? They came to do business and expand their network.”

‘It would be even better if they stayed for a day or two.’ Tess replied curtly and started rummaging through her robe pocket.

I kept my nose and chin high and watched the situation.

There were several clattering metal pieces attached to her bundle, and the fool Jung-seo realized today that they were identification tags of the Bareun territory people.

The last traces left by the teacher’s friends who fought against the demonic beast······.

“Where is the powder room [restroom]?”

Ah, I don’t want to go to the bathroom!

“Pleasesnur Neum [a polite refusal]. Thank you so much for your consideration, but―”

“Powder room? What’s that?”

“Do we have a powder room in our meeting hall?”

“I’m really okay. That’s not why I was serious.”

“Oh oh, but those two have a unique accent. Are you from the South?”

Damn it! Our plan was to keep our mouths shut, but we’ve already said a lot!

“The priest and two bodyguards. You don’t need to know anything else.”

At that moment, Tess cut off the flow with a charismatic tone.

Even to me, who only uses the Imperial standard accent, her northern accent felt even thicker.

Then the gatekeepers opened their eyes wide like saucers and were delighted.

“A priest? What brings a priest to this kind of neighborhood?”

“It just so happens that our Lord is treating priests very kindly!”

“It’s a matter that doesn’t need to go to the Lord’s ears.”

The teacher replied bluntly, looked around, and then stuck something into their waistbands.

“Hey, what is this? We don’t accept this!”

“Heok! It’s cube sugar tobacco!”

“What?!”

That’s right.

The ultimate secret of the sugar series, cube sugar tobacco [a rare and expensive type of tobacco made from cube sugar].

That’s the identity of the tobacco that Tess smokes.

It is occasionally found on the steep rocky cliffs of the North Sea, but it cannot be artificially cultivated, and the Bareun people consume it all, so it is said that you can’t even see it in other neighborhoods, a top-quality luxury item.

I don’t like tobacco, so I don’t know, but it is said to be popular because it is smooth to swallow and has a sweet aftertaste.

“Wait, is it real? Is it real cube sugar tobacco?”

“If you promise to keep your mouths shut about us, I’ll give you one more pack.”

“One more pack?”

The two mercenaries gaped like goldfish.

I couldn’t help but admire Tess’s bold and nonchalant acting.

I think I know a little bit now why Count Sem readily recommended her instead of joining us.

The Count is still young and innocent and only knows the sword······.

“Just give us a corner room to stay for a few days. These people are from the ruined town of Yeriho, so they have nowhere to go and drifted all the way here.”

“Heo······.”

“Four name tags, one room. Three packs of cube sugar tobacco.”

Tess counted her fingers and attempted a bold bargain. The other party’s reaction was intense.

“Three packs!”

“Come in quickly, quickly!”

The mercenaries almost drooled and threw the door open.

Jackpot, infiltration success!