What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 699

#699

Lead Us Not Into Temptation, But Deliver Us From Evil (1)

“…Lord’s Castle?”

Gain’s mouth fell open in a perfect ‘O’ shape.

Meanwhile, Leopold Lasso was meticulously checking the dogs that recognized him and approached.

The man who seemed to shrink before sharp, cold weapons was incredibly skilled with animals, who wagged their tails at him.

With practiced ease, he tore off a piece of his shirt, picked up a branch lying in the barn, and quickly fashioned a small splint.

The speed at which he tied a ribbon around the leg of a puppy limping every few steps was also remarkable.

The sheepdogs with skin diseases barked happily, clinging to his knees and back.

“…So, all of you were hiding here. I’m sorry I wasn’t a better father.”

“What are you talking about? Why is sunhalo grass in your house?”

“…”

When Gain asked again in a surprised voice, the man’s gaze turned serious.

He stood up and walked towards her.

The hand that took the feed basket from Gain trembled noticeably.

“At Coby’s tent… I didn’t get a chance to say it.”

“…”

“My mother is a nephrosis [kidney disease] patient. She’s been on medication her whole life.”

“What? Then, could it be…?”

Her mind froze.

An innocent lady of the Inner Palace like Yeseo wouldn’t have thought this far, but Gain knew instinctively.

There were truly more wicked people in the world than one could imagine.

People with no reason for their evil deeds, or those with reasons that were all too obvious, were abundant.

The ponies and quails in the barn cried out as if supporting her deduction.

“Your mother has been monopolizing sunhalo grass all this time? Ignoring the sick children in the territory and keeping that expensive, precious stuff all to herself?”

“…”

A shadow fell over the man’s sturdy shoulders and jaw.

Gain clearly saw his lips trembling with fear.

“If, if that’s true…”

“…”

“…Wouldn’t I have to steal it?”

“…Oh, really?”

The paladin tilted his head. *Hyah*, here we go again.

The secret village in the mountain valley was, fortunately or unfortunately, not large.

There were only about thirty tents in total, each with different colors, sizes, and shapes.

There were about fifty children under the age of sixteen, but only half of them could engage in outdoor activities, and the other half were generally sick.

About half of those were nephrosis patients, but as expected, without sunhalo grass, the children suffered severely day and night.

According to Sir Johan, who had gone on the first patrol, there were no sunhalo grass habitats to be found even a few kilometers outside.

To make matters worse, I couldn’t completely cure the other patients either. Several children were already suffering from serious illnesses at a young age.

-Swoosh…

“…”

We needed a healing priest as talented as my teacher, or even just a very skilled doctor.

But neither could be expected here.

I bit my lip, watching Sant soak a towel in a basin that looked like it had been beaten to a pulp.

It wasn’t the first time I’d seen a struggling village in wartime, but this place was particularly heartbreaking and weighed on my mind.

Once the war is over… I need to study healing priesthood more deeply.

Even if it means going back to school.

“But, you know… Why is the angel mister an angel mister?”

“Because he’s pretty? Because he’s a priest?”

“They say he has wings on his back. Coby and the kids saw it themselves when they went to check the traps.”

“Liar.”

“Wow! I want to see it too!”

“Shh, what if a demon comes and takes the angel mister away?”

“What’s the angel mister’s name?”

“Huh?”

I was concentrating on healing—though this child was suffering from nephrosis, so my power only temporarily relieved the pain—when the patient innocently asked.

I hesitated for a moment before smiling and answering.

“…The mister is Serenite.”

“Serenite? That’s a pretty name.”

“Yeah. He came from a village with a calm lake.”

“Wow. A lake.”

“I’ve never seen a lake before!”

The children who heard my words instantly became noisy.

Even the children who were always lying down because they were sick gathered to see us today.

Sant and I looked around at the young faces and sighed.

Even the healthy-looking children were smaller than their peers when you looked at their actual age, and the sick children were in even worse nutritional condition.

Most of their guardians had been dragged to the battlefield or were similarly suffering from serious illnesses.

I asked if it wouldn’t be better to stay in the village…

‘Our village people were especially disliked. So, it’s more comfortable to live in hiding. This is our own little country.’

‘…Disliked? By that former lord?’

‘Yeah. The neighborhood aunties and uncles gathered at night with torches because they couldn’t send their children to the conscription… Those older siblings were only fifteen or fourteen years old.’

‘…’

‘They were all dragged away in the end. After that, the lord’s grandmother hates us. She sends scary knight ladies to watch us.’

‘…’

‘That grandmother is rich, so she doesn’t need our taxes. I guess she doesn’t need us either.’

‘Coby, that’s not true. You are always a precious person. Rather…’

I held Coby’s thin shoulders tightly and said.

No one wanted the child to grow up with such a bad misunderstanding.

‘You don’t need such a leader.’

“…Your Grace, my father will take these children in.”

At that moment, Sant whispered to me, handing me a towel.

I looked back at the priest with eyes as innocent as a calf.

He was the one who had left his family on his own and naturalized in Liester.

I couldn’t even imagine how deeply he had thought about this before saying these words.

“Although he is strict and scary to his children… he is very kind to the people. He has always been friendly to those without a registry. So, if we take these children and cross over to the Roseharder County… I, I will meet my father or mother…”

“But can we cross the Memphis Mountains?”

I whispered with a heavy heart. Sant’s shoulders drooped immediately.

“Well, the Lasso Duchy and the Roseharder County are right next to each other… But as you said, Memphis is very rough. It’s definitely difficult for sick people to cross…”

‘Come to think of it, the weather is still chilly.’ The priest’s voice shrank.

I smiled bitterly and patted his back.

Sant’s words were not without merit.

Court Count Etzard Roseharder was a well-known incorruptible official even in the Empire and was publicly called the ‘High Priest of the Rose Garden.’

He was known to be a political rival of Duke Sneider, and if Sant said so, he was a trustworthy figure.

His land was the closest territory to the Lasso Duchy, so it might be the most realistic alternative.

However, under the assumption of ‘moving as a group,’ the size of the tent village was not small.

To carry out that operation, we would have to take over a hundred patients and children, and dozens of animals, across the mountains.

Even then, we had to do it without being detected by anyone, while overcoming the rugged terrain and the beasts roaming throughout the mountains.

Not to mention that the outdoor environment was the worst, and the patients’ physical strength and condition were very poor.

In a word…

“It’s impossible. If you said that, our leader would hit you with a broom.”

Oh my.

“…Coby.”

I blinked as I looked at the child who had entered the tent.

Coby was wearing a mask on her face, as if she had gone outside the wagon wheel tracks again.

The hand that took off the thin cloth was so frail that it was pitiful.

The children sitting in a row greeted the girl cheerfully.

Coby accepted her younger siblings’ greetings with a prickly expression.

“If we get caught crossing over to the county, we’ll all die. And this is the country we made.”

“…Yeah. It’s dangerous to cross the border.”

“Right. We’ll never abandon this place. Those wagon wheel tracks protect us whether it rains or snows, so we can rest assured in the future. We’re not going to risk going outside.”

“…”

“Um, Miss Coby.”

Sant, who was opening a circle for the children sitting on the other side, spoke carefully.

The girl made a strange expression as if it was the first time she had been called ‘Miss Coby.’

“Um… When can we meet the leader? We think she already knows we’re here.”

“Of course, she knows. I reported it. But our leader is very busy these days.”

‘It’s hard to meet her right away.’ Coby said, putting down her small pack.

“She caught a prisoner. Some very suspicious kids.”

“…Prisoner?”

“Didn’t you say you haven’t brought any other outsiders here?”

Sant and I widened our eyes. Coby shrugged her shoulders as if it was a habit.

“That’s right. The leader is guarding those kids outside. We can’t bring them inside yet because they’re still prisoners. We have to investigate.”

“Are those kids young too? Could they have run away from the territory like you?”

“I don’t think so, Angel Mister.”

“She said one of them has princess disease [spoiled and entitled].”

“Hahahaha!”

“It’s true. She said she was a princess. Dora heard it!”

“What’s a princess?”

“You idiot, the king’s woman!”

“Ah!”

“…”

The children soon became noisy, and I exchanged glances with Sant and let out a hollow breath.

It seemed that those prisoner children would soon come here and live together.

There was a girl who came to mind at the word ‘princess,’ but I took a deep breath and quickly shook it off.

There’s no way she would be in a place like this.

-Flap!

“Your Grace, you need to come out for a moment.”

At that moment, Francoise came in, holding a baby, as the tent entrance was lifted.

I stopped giving ether to the child, not knowing how many times it was.

Lynn, who met my eyes, stretched out her arms and smiled brightly.

“I caught something this, this big.”

“…Huh? Who?”

“Ung. Ugly see.”

…Ugly mister? Who is it? Jibril Diop?

I tilted my head and supported the sick child to get up from her seat.

The other children, sensing that there was something to see, followed Sant and me.

It was still daytime, but some people were already preparing dinner because night came early in the mountains.

And next to the wide fire pit in the center—

-Squeal!

“Oh my god, Demi!”

What is that giant wild boar!

I was shocked to see the pig lying there, blackened.

Sant gasped and almost collapsed on the spot.

Of course, we were surprised first, but admiration and cheers spread like wildfire among the children.

“It’s a pig! Pork!”

“Wow.”

“Is it a real pig? I’ve only eaten pork once!”

“Oh my god, it’s a pig!”

“Me too. Me too.”

In the meantime, Lynn gestured to me, so I leaned over, wondering if the baby liked pigs too.

Then, her young eyes flashed with a strange gray-pink light.

“I can… kill pigs too.”

Heok!

“Lord have mercy, Lynn!”

“No, you don’t have to kill it. Babies don’t do things like that.”

-Thud!

Francoise and I were so shocked that we gaped like goldfish, but the ‘ugly pig hunter’ in question appeared before us.

I quickly greeted him, hugging the red pandas clinging to my knees.

“Thank you so much for your hard work, Young Master Diop. Thanks to you, the children will eat well. I heard you went on patrol, but you made such a great contribution…”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

Huh?

“…Cedric? No, wait a minute. Clearly…”

She said an ugly person caught it.

I glanced at the prince, who was making an ugly face, and then blankly looked back at the baby.

Lynn was smiling with a perfectly clear face. I had a bad feeling for a moment.

Does this child… have a serious problem with her sense of beauty? Or is her eyesight bad?

“Your Grace! Lady Yeseo!”

At that very moment, this time, a clear voice rang out from the direction of the barn.

I was startled and came to my senses.

“Your Grace, great news!”

Of course, it was our Gain.