What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 691

The Reason for Being (4)

“Don’t look back.”

“······.”

A firm voice cut through the air between them.

Slowly turning his head, Cornelith immediately stopped moving.

It was the first time he had received such an order, but instinct told him that disobeying would be dangerous. Iseol silently clenched the sand in her palm.

The surroundings became quiet again, leaving only the occasional sound of insects and rustling bushes.

The early spring evening breeze that brushed the children’s cheeks was cold and heartless.

Around that time, another warning came.

“We don’t have princesses in our country.”

“That’s right, we’re all family. All the same.”

“But who are you? You little brats······.”

······At least three. There were three voices confirmed.

However, whether they were wearing masks or not, their voices sounded muffled, and they sounded ridiculously like they were imitating someone else.

Moreover, they had to be careful because other people might be hiding nearby.

While Iseol was clenching sand in both hands and spinning her head, Cornelith frowned.

It was because what she had just heard was so strange.

There are no princesses in the Holy Kingdom? What does that mean? *I* have one, and my sister too.

If you include awkward relatives, there are even more.

“I’m asking who you are.”

The person behind them said bluntly. The little priest calmly looked ahead and replied.

“Get rid of the spears first. Otherwise, we won’t answer anything.”

“······What? Are they nobles?”

“Scary.”

“Shh, be quiet.”

Although the only clue was their voices, the three seemed a little intimidated by Iseol’s momentum.

You could tell just by the fact that the sharp spear quickly disappeared and busy footsteps were heard.

Cornelith tried to look back again, but this time a plump hand came and tightly gripped the child’s wrist from behind.

It hurt just a little.

“I told you not to look back. Even if you’re a noble, nothing changes.”

“You’re going to our boss. If you stay quiet, you won’t get hurt, so listen carefully.”

“······Boss? There’s a boss too?”

“To tie us up like this. Are you bandits?”

The princess muttered in a trembling voice, and the duchess [a high-ranking noblewoman] came up with her own sharp reasoning.

Iseol was the daughter of a powerful family who had received a good education.

She was the eldest grandson of a family with a big liver for generations [a family known for their courage and audacity], and she had a calm personality that was hard to believe she was only eleven years old.

The child said solemnly, kneeling.

“This is the territory of Count Roserharder. The Count of the Court works for the people every day, so you shouldn’t make things difficult for yourselves by doing bad things like this.”

“Roserharder, my ass. You’ve come much deeper than that.”

“Did you get lost? How stupid.”

“What?”

Cornelith’s eyes widened.

The mountain valleys were where darkness came the fastest, and already the twilight of night was enveloping them.

Naturally, fear welled up.

Iseol had clearly introduced her to a well-known village, but she felt so pathetic for not stopping her adventure there and encouraging her to go further.

Even while the princess was blaming herself, the strange voice continued to speak.

“The boss will see you directly and judge your usefulness. So shut up and do as you’re told.”

“Why do you have so many questions? Aren’t you scared?”

“Give me your hand too.”

‘Tak!’ It was just as the strange men’s rough hands reached for Iseol.

-Swish!

“Ugh, my eyes!”

“Ah! Sand got in my eyes!”

The child, who had been holding the sand since earlier, threw it and jumped up!

As expected, the masked men covered their eyes and stumbled, some screaming loudly.

Iseol quickly blocked Cornelith and deployed the Holy Ground [a protective barrier of divine energy].

-Paaaat!

[Get out of here! Do you know who this person is······!]

Huk! The girl’s last words were cut off.

“What······.”

“Ugh! My eyes sting······!”

“Ah, water. I need to wash it with water, water!”

“It hurts so much! How do I get it out? Should I keep blinking?”

“······.”

Iseol stared blankly at the fallen people.

She had to get the princess up and run away right away, but she was so embarrassed that she just kept moving her lips.

Then Cornelith, who was tied up and looking straight ahead—the child had never received formal Holy Knight training—slowly turned her head.

This time, there was no one to tell her off for looking back.

“······Ah?”

And the princess’s expression also changed to be exactly the same as the future ‘Queen Consort’.

The two girls watched the strange men for a long time before looking at each other.

*

I don’t know how long we ran.

Since the underground doesn’t get sunlight, the sense of time was very blurred.

-Saaaa······!

“Areum, please cheer up a little more! I beg you!”

-Pururung!

-Clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter······!

It felt like three or four hours had passed, but maybe we had been moving for a whole day.

Sant and I took turns opening circles [casting spells] and constantly replenishing our friends’ stamina.

Of course, there is no better way to recover than eating healthy food and taking adequate rest.

But we couldn’t rest right now, and if that was the case, someone had to keep energizing the group so they wouldn’t get exhausted.

It was a great relief that Sant and I had each other. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to gain strength from other priests’ pure ether [spiritual energy]!

“Hey! It seems like the earthquake has disappeared since a while ago?”

-Clatterclatterclatterclatterclatterclatter······!

“Yes, Sneider’s alarm device seems to have stopped working! I guess it was designed to kill intruders!”

Jibril Diop, soaked in sweat, looked up at me and shouted, and I nodded, flying over the skeleton crowd.

As he said, the ground vibrations and falling rocks had noticeably decreased since a few tens of minutes ago.

Moreover, thanks to the divine beasts that supported the space with all kinds of green plants, Lilianer Venetian’s secret passage was almost undamaged and maintained its original appearance.

Hugging Leah, who was fast asleep, I tried not to get too excited.

There were times when I was afraid that I would die underground like this, but somehow hope seemed to be in sight. Maybe······.

-Clatterclatterclatterclatterclatter······!

“Oh, over there! It looks like sunlight is coming in over there? Or is it?”

‘Tite, is my sister hallucinating now?’ Gain asked, looking down at the baby in her arms, and my face instantly lit up.

Duke Lasso, who confirmed the end of her finger—

“That’s right! That road is a passage I know!”

For the first time, he smiled brightly without any worries.

Even his blue eye makeup, which had been heavily smudged, finally seemed to come to life.

Only then could we look at each other and let out a long sigh.

Cedric, who had grasped the situation, skillfully began to slow down.

The man soon showed off his smooth lane-changing skills and pulled out of the pile of bones onto the shoulder, and following him, the entire group lined up in a row and slowly stopped.

-Clack, clack······

Wow······.

“Oh my god, everyone really worked hard! Thank you for your hard work. Our Areum really tried hard.”

-Squeak

“Wow, that’s crazy. I didn’t know horses could run this long. Oh my, what should I do, our Doria is so tired······.”

“Cough. Cough cough.”

While Gain and I were having a short conversation, Sant coughed, gasping for breath.

Francois had already collapsed on Areumhardt’s neck and closed his eyes.

I stepped on the ground with trembling legs and almost fell over.

I can confidently say that my ability to fly is the best output of Jeong Hyeon-seo, but since wings are also part of the body, it was naturally tiring and difficult to use them for a long time.

I don’t know how much more difficult it would have been if Ddukshim and Sir John hadn’t pushed me from behind with the wind······.

“It’s dizzy just thinking about it. Ugh!”

-Squeak!

“Stand up straight. Unless you want to turn the little ones into mush.”

While I was pathetically staggering alone, Diop, who had already gotten off the saddle, grabbed my arm and pulled me away.

Around that time, my brain speed had slowed down and I was in a state similar to an amoeba.

I was startled and came to my senses······.

-Clatterclatterclatterclatter······

“······Ah.”

The skeletons who had found the exit with us were slowing down and gathering in the light-filled corridor.

Clatter, bang! Some remains were in such a hurry to rush out that they became entangled with each other and shattered.

I almost got hit by them and got hurt.

Forgetting even the instinct to collapse anywhere, I held my breath and watched them.

Leah, who had been fussing, slowly climbed up my shoulder with her body getting warmer.

-Squeak?

“······They say these are people who have been trapped here for a long time.”

-Kuku?

“Well······. Hyung [term of endearment for older brother or male friend] doesn’t know. What big mistake did those people make?”

The aftertaste of muttering like that was bitter. Was it their sin that they were too naive?

Was it such a foolish thing to trust their king so firmly?

But the leader······. Wasn’t he the one who was entrusted with everyone’s trust and ruled?

“······Are you really understanding what that guy is saying?”

Suddenly, Diop frowned and asked. I squeezed out an answer even in my listless state.

“Um, the divine beasts? I just guess half of it······.”

-Tak!

Oh my god. I was startled by the sudden big hand that came in.

In an instant, the fatigue disappeared and my gaze went up.

Diop had been holding me all along because he was afraid I would stupidly mix in with the skeleton crowd, but not now.

“Let’s go out now.”

“Yes?”

Cedric Riester looked at his cousin with hot eyes and suggested.

His gloved hand was hanging in the air. I reflexively asked back and then closed my mouth.

Oh, he wasn’t talking to me.

“······.”

“······.”

-Clatterclatterclatterclatterclatter······

“Aren’t you going out together?”

But even after waiting for a long time, the two didn’t move. Were they giving way to the skeletons?

I wondered if they weren’t going to be in the vanguard this time, so I tentatively asked, and two pairs of eyeballs rolled towards me at the same time.

Maybe because they had been starving for a long time, the royals were also very edgy.

Unable to watch any longer, Francois called me from the saddle.

“······Princess.”

“Yes, Marquis.”

“It’s all useless, so let’s go out with me.”

“Ah, should we?”

I didn’t understand the meaning exactly, but I was too tired and hungry to ask repeatedly.

Anyway, Duke Lasso, who knew this place well, was here, so they didn’t need to step in.

Gain, who had come down from Doria’s back, chuckled and linked arms with me.

Isabelle supported my other arm.

-Thud, thud, thud······

-Clatterclatterclatterclatterclatter

-Clatter, clatter, clatter······

That’s how we went to the surface with those who had longed for freedom for a long time.

*

About 5 minutes later.

“Don’t move! Abandon the group and put your hands up!”

“Whoa!”

Ah, what kind of development is this again!

“I’ll shoot if you move!”

“Calm down! I don’t know what’s going on, but calm down!”

It was fortunate that the sunlight outside the passage was not strong, but everything else was far from fortunate!

I couldn’t come to my senses from the new ordeal that had suddenly befallen the group.

I don’t know what this situation is all about. We are a group of dozens of masked people—

“Hey you! Don’t look around!”

Ugh, I got pointed out.

“I’m telling you, I’ll shoot an arrow if you keep doing that!”

“I’m sorry!”

When I answered loudly with sincerity, the child raised his nose and sneered at me.

We quickly exchanged glances with our arms raised to the sky.

What is this······. Why are there only children here? They look like they’re at most twelve or thirteen years old.

“You’re all going to meet our boss. If you follow us quietly, we’ll spare your lives.”

“I’m sorry, but is your boss also a minor?”

Gain asked politely.

Then the masked girl standing at the front got angry.

“Don’t say rude things! Fourteen is old enough to be a boss!”

······The boss is fourteen years old. I quietly lowered my eyelids.

The difficulty of the Holy Kingdom infiltration operation was already dizzying.

#692