What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 683

The Coward and the Catacomb (6)

To be precise, the symptoms varied greatly depending on each person’s stats.

“Ugh…”

As someone with a Mana Sensitivity close to zero, I couldn’t feel the corrupted mana at all.

In short, it was possible because I had over 99% immunity to black magic.

There was a musty smell and something like the odor of food waste all around, but Ms. Gain explained that this wasn’t just a simple concept of ‘bad smell’.

-Fwoosh…….

“……”

Under the torch that Cedric had lit, I carefully examined my friends’ faces.

In the excessively wide and dark passage, several red shadows flickered.

Sant, who had lived his whole life as an ordinary person, complained of slight nausea and dizziness, and Isabel, who hadn’t been the incarnation of Empress Hanan for long, seemed to be in a similar state.

However, she said that she had been experiencing headaches since a little while ago.

As for Ms. Gain and Sir Johan, the situation became even more serious.

With good Mana Sensitivity, the two of them had pale, cake-like faces and were even sweating slightly.

The prisoner, Duke Leopold Lasso, was particularly suffering from severe motion sickness and couldn’t even keep water down. This was despite the fact that I had been continuously deploying the Holy Ground [a field of purified energy] as we walked.

And as for our mages, who had excessively high Mana Sensitivity…

“Damn it…”

“Whoa! Young master, be careful!”

I hurriedly grabbed the man, who had finally lost his footing and was staggering, by the collar and pulled him up.

His red eyes opened hazily, and he glared at me irritably.

He had a sharp expression as if he would spew out venomous words right in my face.

Well, people do become sensitive when they’re sick. No, he was always like that, though…

“Ah, I wish I could just go to bed like this…”

-Flap, flap

“The war has to end before we can go home. To do that, you need to keep your wits about you. Just hang in there a little longer.”

I barely managed to put the young master, who was grumbling like a drunk person, back in his place.

From behind, Areum nudged his waist nervously, as if saying, ‘Shut up and walk.’

He looked quite unstable, smacking his lips and running his hand through his hair as if something sour was rising from his stomach.

Even the great 8th Circle Battle Mage, Jibril Diop, was in this state…

It seemed like we needed to change our course around this point.

Francois was already half being carried by me.

However, he was enduring better than I thought (he was even capable of light jokes), which seemed to be thanks to his mental strength that had been honed over the years.

As the ‘Great Noble, Marquis Dhiem,’ he was much older than us.

…Anyway, it’s impossible to continue this forced march.

“Shall we take a break? It would be good to close our eyes for even ten minutes. I will personally give everyone Ether [a magical energy]. The children should chew on some herbs, too.”

“I, I’ll help!”

When I opened my mouth first, unable to watch any longer, Sant raised both hands eagerly as if he had been waiting for it.

‘I’ll help, I’ll help, I’ll help!’ The priest’s crooked voice echoed several times in the high arched ceiling.

Then, Cedric, who had been walking ahead, turned to look at me with a ghostly pale face…

“…I will follow Juliette’s wise opinion.”

He declared in a low voice, as if he had returned alive from the Styx River waterfront [the river separating the living from the underworld in Greek mythology] just before being placed in a coffin.

My jaw dropped on its own at his face, which seemed to have lost weight in the meantime.

“My goodness.”

Seidi, you’re really going to faint!

*

And so, virtually everyone collapsed in the hallway.

“Ugh, I feel like I can finally breathe. Seriously, Princess Consort’s Ether is my ah-ah-go Zero Coke [a popular soft drink, used here to express strong preference]… I seriously thought I was making Korean pancakes a while ago…”

“Hahaha.”

“Are you laughing?”

Ms. Gain poked my side with a weak finger.

I collapsed helplessly and greeted the next patient.

Sir Johan smiled faintly and offered me his arm first.

This kind of thing was very rare in the past, but it has been happening often these days.

I happily accepted his wrist and began supplying Ether.

-Swish…….

“Ha…”

With a low sigh, mint-colored eyes disappeared beyond the eyelids.

I felt relieved to see him stabilizing.

We still haven’t found even the first clue, and it will take at least another day to get out to the other side of the passage—but there was no alternative to going back the way we came.

Even if there was an entrance to another underground passage, it would take a long time to find it.

Rather, there was a possibility that we would be discovered by the Sneider forces or get caught up in a major battle.

My other friends would be fine, but right now, we have three non-combat personnel and even a prisoner, so that would be too big of a gamble.

In short, we had to solve it here.

Whatever it is, here, in this underground.

We can do it.

-Rustle…….

After Sir Johan, it was Cedric’s turn.

He had considerately yielded his turn to his partner and teacher.

“Are you feeling better now? Wait a minute, let me see if you have a fever.”

“……”

The Crown Prince, leaning against the wall, obediently offered his forehead, and I breathed a sigh of relief only after confirming that his temperature was normal.

It was a relief that it wasn’t a condition caused by an injury.

The paladin friends got a lot better just from me supplying Ether through contact.

Still, they said that the ‘unpleasant feeling and revulsion of bugs crawling all over their bodies’ didn’t go away.

Ms. Gain added that it felt like ‘being exposed to cigarette smoke from smokers at a crosswalk all day long.’ I frowned at the analogy.

How hard must it be?

“Here, have a sip of clean water, too.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why don’t you want to? If you listen to your brother, good things will happen even while you’re sleeping. You should be fine now that your stomach has calmed down to some extent. Take it.”

“……”

Perhaps because he was born with the fire attribute, he didn’t crave water when he wasn’t feeling well, but I still made him drink water for his health.

He looked like he wanted to argue more, but he obediently took the canteen and drank (Ms. Gain was giggling while lying on the floor).

‘Eat dried meat and cheese between the bread slices.’ I added that, and after confirming that the man was glaring at me, I immediately moved to the next seat.

“…Ch, Angel Gong.”

And hopefully, the last patient of the day.

“It’s okay. I won’t neglect a prisoner just because they’re sick, so give me your wrist.”

“……”

Then, Duke Lasso hesitantly held out his hands, which were tightly bound in front of him.

He had looked very nauseous since earlier.

I exchanged glances with my friends, and after receiving clear permission, I released his hands.

He had no athletic ability to the point where he would fall over on his own, and he was disarmed with an Ether restraint, so everyone seemed to be lenient.

Whether he was surprised or not, I lightly grabbed the inside of his wrist and checked his pulse as I had learned from my teacher.

It felt like pouring Ether directly into the thumping blood vessels.

That was said to be the most effective.

-Swish…….

“Wow…!”

“Is this your first time receiving a priest’s Ether? Why are you so surprised, considering you’re a duke?”

He suddenly opened his mouth in amazement at the energy spreading throughout his body, which was funny to see.

Then, the duke rubbed his cheeks with the other palm as if he was embarrassed.

“W, well, it’s not the first time. But it’s not a frequent occurrence… I think this is about the sixth or seventh time. Ah, of course, your purple eyes are the most mysterious! They’re as beautiful as the Milky Way in spring.”

“……What did you just say?”

“Beautiful…”

“No, what did you say before that?”

Did I mishear? That must be it, right? I stared at him with a blank expression.

Then, the man blinked his large eyes and shrugged his shoulders.

“No, maybe it’s the fifth time… Ah, th, thank you for giving me Ether. Now that I think about it, I forgot to thank you…”

“What do you mean by that? Do you mean that you’ve only had five experiences with Ether supply so far?”

Isabel asked gently from the next seat.

She was already much better thanks to Empress Hanan’s recovery power and Sant’s help.

And as expected, she was a person who was quick to grasp the situation and knew how to get to the point, just like the Lambouillet [referencing a character known for their sharp wit and social skills].

The duke looked back and forth between us, pursing his lips, and made a face as if he didn’t know if it was okay to talk about this.

“…Th, that’s right.”

“No… How? How is that possible?”

I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t believe it.

He’s not young and even a royal paladin, but he’s only received pure Ether supply five times in his life? Does that even make sense?

He must have suffered from fever during Ether Awakening, and there was a possibility that he went berserk when he obtained the Stigmata [visible marks of Christ’s crucifixion wounds].

No, even if it wasn’t such a serious situation, the pure Ether of a priest was of great help on days when he wasn’t feeling well, or in moments when he was having a hard time.

You don’t necessarily have to use healing powers—

“My mother…”

“……”

“I, my relationship with my mother… wasn’t very good.”

“……”

We kept our mouths shut and watched the duke for a long time.

But there was no further explanation that followed.

The man was just subtly hiding his face in the shade where the light didn’t reach.

So I couldn’t say anything more either.

I just pressed his wrist a little harder…

“Huh?”

…Wait a minute.

“Here, why is this like this? Is this a burn scar?”

I had a bad feeling about this.

I carefully observed the white scars dotted deep in his forearm, specifically on the inside of his elbow.

This was definitely not a trace of injury from the battlefield.

And I know because my military juniors suffered from atopy [eczema] and shingles, but it’s definitely not a skin disease either.

It’s quite an old mark, too.

“Ah, it’s nothing. It’s nothing.”

The duke, who was very embarrassed, hurriedly pulled out his arm.

It was a gesture that even rejected the Ether he was receiving well. The moment I was surprised and dropped my body—

“It’s not nothing.”

Thump! Ms. Gain, who had already approached, grabbed the prisoner’s wrist strongly.

The man was horrified and pretended to cover his head with his other arm.

I opened my eyes wide.

“It’s a burn from cigarette ashes. It’s obvious just by looking at it.”

“Gasp…”

It was a voice that didn’t contain any emotion, and at first glance, it sounded indifferent.

Lasso slowly lowered his arm and looked up at her.

For a moment, even my mind felt dazed.

Isabel spoke in a gentle and elegant tone as usual.

“Kristel, let’s make it so you can talk when you want to.”

“Who did this? Your dad?”

“…My father passed away early.”

“Then your mom must have done this.”

I could see his eyes trembling.

I tried to capture Ms. Gain’s expression in my eyes.

However, her face, with the flames behind her, was covered in dark shadows.

So I couldn’t dare to fathom it.

“…Did you just live being taken advantage of like a fool?”

“Kristel.”

Isabel sternly called her daughter’s name.

At that moment, the young paladin flinched and blinked her eyes.

The strength was released from her white grip, and the scarred forearm was helplessly released.

“Kristel.”

I called out once more, but Ms. Gain already had a face that was greatly shocked by her own words and actions.

She silently took a step back.

Finally, the light of the sacred fire settled in her blue-gray eyes.

But the irises, which contained Isabel straight on, were somehow surging like a sea encountering a storm.

Fear. And again, fear.

“…I’m going to go for a walk for a bit. I’ll pick up anything if there’s anything in the middle.”

“Wait a minute, Kristel!”

She disappeared into the darkness in an instant.

My voice echoed off the stone walls several times, but there was no sign of her returning.