What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 608

The darkness was rapidly receding.

If they lingered, they risked waking the entire district.

*Swish!*

“Cedric, I’ll take the side door,” Elisabeth said.

“Then I’ll cover the back!” দেবী André replied.

“I’ll track Manahane,” François added.

Elisabeth and দেবী André drew their swords and dashed off. François quickly dismounted, clutching an L-shaped iron bar.

Its simple design belied the fact that it was the Marquis’s invention.

Having hastily added a few magical formulas in just a few days, its appearance was rather unrefined.

He began to walk quietly with Christel.

Cedric Riester glanced at the two and strode ahead. François tilted his head.

“Oh, you’re entrusting the Princess to me and leaving?”

“Huh? Just now? I didn’t hear you say that.”

“It’s obvious. The future Crown Princess will get used to it eventually.”

He winked and focused his attention on the bar’s movements.

Christel blinked and retrieved the poison needle she always carried in her bag.

She had never learned martial arts—she had dreamed of learning Taekwondo as a child, but circumstances hadn’t allowed it—so for now, she would protect herself with the items Isabel had acquired.

She didn’t mean to underestimate the Marquis, a genius magic scientist, but wasn’t he primarily a non-combat mage?

“Marquis, how exactly does that find the Holy Knight?” Christel asked as she hurried along.

The man launched into an explanation as if he had been waiting. “As I explained, Holy Knights wield divine power, not magical power. Mana, the power leftover from the Main God, is scattered everywhere, from the human body to the pebbles on the ground. But ether, the Holy Knight’s primary force, is different. It’s an element that constitutes the ‘vessel’ of life, a sacred and sublime energy accessible only to the chosen.”

“Ah-ha.”

“As far as I know, only another Holy Knight can sense the presence of one. Priests can also feel their power, but it’s usually limited to a sense of ‘intimidation’.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Therefore, I’m focusing on tracking the flow of mana that he disrupts and blocks, rather than chasing his ether. Compared to ether, mana is a more worldly and tainted force—please don’t forget that I’m a proud 8th-grade wizard—so when the Holy Knight emits power, it inevitably pushes the mana away. If the mana, normally evenly distributed like air, is unusually clumped or swept away, this device will detect it.”

“Wow.”

A passing necklace in his hand… It was then.

“Good heavens, indeed!”

“What’s wrong?”

They were nearing the problematic bungalow.

Christel lowered her stance and looked back at the Marquis.

His light pink eyes were wide, but no explanation was needed.

The two sleek iron bars were shaking the magic stone wildly from side to side.

*Oong, oong, oong…*

“Wow, it really works.” To be honest, I thought it was just water vein divination [a method of finding underground water sources using a forked stick or pendulum]. Sorry.

“Duke André was right! The mana here is scattered irregularly. This can’t happen naturally. Not even a myth-level magic beast could cause this.”

“Oh, the bushes just moved over there!”

“Ugh!”

Christel quickly pushed his head down.

It was a somewhat rude gesture, but she needed to hide them immediately.

Even in this confusing situation, she dragged the Marquis closer to a house’s fence.

About 50 meters away, the Crown Prince advanced silently, wielding a pure white sword.

Sir Elisabeth and Duke André were already hidden from view.

Prince Yeser had provided a rough strategy last time, but since he wasn’t here, everyone was improvising.

Of course, this wasn’t the first or second time she had adventured with him like this…

If dozens of people suddenly appear, what should I do?

I hope the Prince is safe.

*Rustle, rustle!*

“Oh my god.”

The shrubs, looking like something out of a horror movie, shook violently.

Christel made a variety of worried faces.

“There’s definitely something in that house. Did they release hunting dogs or poisonous snakes? They say it’s a place where the breath of beasts lingers.”

“That’s possible. But if it’s His Highness the Crown Prince, he’ll cut it down in one stroke—”

No sooner had the words left her mouth than the sword flashed in the dawn light. *Whirly!*

*Thwack!*

*Baa!*

…Baa? Did I just hear baa?

*Baaaa!*

*Moo!*

Suddenly, black and white goats poured out of the bushes!

“Wait, goats? That’s the ‘beast’?”

The dictionary definition is correct, but why do I feel uneasy?

*Thump!*

“You villains! Kneel down and confess your sins right now!”

I was shocked!

Along with the sound of a door crashing somewhere, Duke André’s voice echoed through the morning air.

Meanwhile, about a dozen scruffy and skinny goats gathered and began to roam the streets.

It was like a gathering of goats of all ages.

Fortunately, none of them had been injured by the Crown Prince’s sword.

The horses pulling the carriage shook their heads in surprise and took a step back.

Christel, having readjusted her poison needle, quickly supported the staggering Marquis with her shoulder.

Ah. I have a bad feeling about this!

“Marquis, we have to move. Quickly!”

“First, I’ll put up a defensive magic formula—”

Just as the two were arguing (?), advancing towards the bungalow…

“Oh my, oh my! Sirs! We don’t know anything. We really don’t know anything!”

“What’s going on, honey? Heo-eok…!”

“If you’re doing this because we didn’t feed the goats, it’s because we didn’t have any money! But we didn’t starve them all the time. I don’t know who reported us, but it’s unfair!”

“…It’s not abuse!”

What…? A couple’s pleading voices echoed long through the alley.

Christel, bewildered, could only open and close her mouth as she looked back at François.

“Oh, no. No, no, no…”

His beloved iron rod was slowly ceasing its movements. *I’m going crazy.*

Over there, Sir Elisabeth and Duke André reappeared!

“It’s not here. The basement is clean too. It seems we misjudged.”

“Still, we’ve caught those who committed animal abuse, so it’s not a complete loss. Raising sixteen goats in such a small place! This is illegal!”

“Oh, Your Grace!”

-Clang, clang, clang…!

Just then, the brass bell hanging from the edge of the roof began to ring ominously.

Christel quickly raised her head, then frowned. *Huh?*

“Marquis, that… Isn’t that red energy mana [magical energy]?”

Aaaah! We almost got caught!

-Clatter, clatter, clatter…!

“Phew! I thought my heart would stop!”

-Squeak!

“Hahaha, hahahaha…!”

Demi, at the peak of excitement, shook his limbs wildly.

I hugged him and Perry, taking a deep breath, while the Prince hugged Leia and burst into laughter.

The dawn postal carriage carrying us was briskly turning its wheels.

It was a situation that could only be described as incredibly lucky. Think about it.

Camille didn’t even have a cart, let alone a carriage, and had to walk from the main street through the alley, and Shu didn’t even have a pony.

Our only hope and teacher, Sir Johann, was obviously in no position to show off his flying skills!

“Wow, seriously amazing. I even saw a black carriage coming through the window earlier; I really thought we were going to run into them there! Sam, you were nervous too, right?”

“Yes, it was quite close this time.”

“It was beyond close. Good heavens…”

Camille, who had somehow boarded with us, slumped down between the postal items.

Right next to him was the spotted goat from the house behind ours, who had also joined us.

In the meantime, the little one who had received milk from Shu was innocent, with a bulging belly and a white mouth.

-Baa

“It’s a great relief that the delivery guy is diligent and hardworking. By the way, did I break the alarm magic formula in the house behind us? Whew…”

*So that alarm magic really existed.*

Noon, sitting by the door, looked the most daring among us, without a doubt.

She was the first to suggest the plan to ‘catch a passing postal carriage.’

At first, we naturally didn’t understand her words.

*First of all, postal carriages don’t come that regularly—*

‘It is regular. It passes in front of my house every morning at six.’

*Um. Even if that were the case, there’s no guarantee that he would cooperate with us at all—*

‘He will cooperate. He’s a young man who’s been doing business with me for thirteen years, and he even took His Highness the Crown Prince to the palace the other day.’

*Oh…*

‘The young man is in charge of everything from the center of the capital to the northwest of the palace and this district. He delivers twice a day and is never even ten minutes late. If you talk to him right, it’ll be possible.’

…Through such a flow, we all ended up relying on him!

-Clatter, clatter, clatter…

“We had a good laugh, but on the other hand, I’m worried. I hope the delivery lady won’t be harmed because of us?”

“I’m worried about that too.”

As Prince Yeseo and I whispered, this time the Crown Prince shook his head.

For reference, his snail glasses were now being worn by the Prince.

The man whispered lowly.

“The postal carriage will stop from time to time to unload cargo. There will also be frequent conversations with others.”

“Ah… I see. Since there are many stops and the door opens often, the suspicious gaze will be reduced.”

“Even if it’s discovered that we used this carriage, you can say that the delivery lady didn’t know. She didn’t actually recognize us. She believed us when we said we were Shu’s relatives.”

“He’s not a friend who’ll be easily caught. He has to be very smart and resourceful.”

So said Shu, patting the spotted goat’s neck.

Come to think of it, I saw that child the day we first burst into the old man’s house.

He often climbs over the wall alone and begs for food…

“So, where are we going now?”

“…”

At the elder’s question, the carriage suddenly turned cold.

The divine beasts were also quietly blinking their eyes.

“This carriage runs to the Legho General Trading Company, where the morning delivery ends. As far as I know, the midnight delivery also departs from there. So, our final destination is the heart of the capital.”

“…”

“There’s not much time left. We’ve only bought ourselves a moment of respite, so we need to quickly come up with the next move.”

‘Whoa.’ Just in time, the coachman’s voice called out to the horses.

We slowly felt the carriage slowing down and looked at each other.

If we made a mistake, we would be arrested one by one in the middle of the capital and dragged to the underground prison.

I quietly looked back at the phoenix folding its wings and bit my lip.

It’s not that I don’t have any ideas that come to mind right away.

No, in fact, we clearly see the only option we have.

Perhaps Ms. Gain, as well as Sir Johann and Camille, know it well.

However, it’s hard to be the first to bring it up…

“Let’s go to Evelyn.”

“Yes?”