What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 753

Noctiluca (4)

“Damn it, why is this forest so dense? It’s like a jungle.”

“Memphis is a stronghold protecting the royal capital. It has a vast area, and there’s no reason to manage it comfortably and beautifully… Ugh!”

The rock was slippery, and I almost fell backward!

I quickly grabbed a nearby branch to avoid an unsightly fall.

The Demi accompanying me—who was still a bit sleepy—wagged its tail in praise.

Hew! Right? My reflexes were pretty good for just waking up!

“Dancing the waltz in the moonlight. It’s hard to tell which one is the log.”

“……”

“Watch your step. It’s damp here, so there’s a lot of moss.”

“I know.”

-Kkichu

When Demi and I retorted sharply, Djibril Diop chuckled and pushed through the vines.

While glaring at his back, I quickly picked up Shinsoo and hurried, worried about falling behind.

The early morning patrol wasn’t as bad as I thought.

The forest was a place where the sun rose late and set quickly, so the sense of time was faint, but breathing in the cold air while hiking made my head feel clear.

I tried to follow only the direction Gongja walked. It was much easier because he went ahead and roughly cleared away anything dangerous.

“Hey, come slowly from there. I saw something suspicious near here earlier.”

“Suspicious? I don’t see anything here…”

“Wait.”

-Zhiiiing

Gongja took out his staff and lit the end with red mana.

As he covered it with his other hand and muttered something, the color of the power gradually brightened to a yellowish color resembling sunlight.

I stared at it with wide eyes. Magic is really amazing!

“Come on, come over here and look.”

“Gongja seems to be able to do everything with magic. Is that why you refused the gift?”

-Kkia?

“What gift? It was just sharing the spoils.”

Ouch.

“Anyway… there were a lot of good things in Lord Lasso’s castle. There were quite a few magical tools I hadn’t seen in the Empire.”

“Even though some of them are interesting research subjects, it’s Marquis Dium’s job to take care of it. I’m a combat mage, so I’m more comfortable focusing on the battlefield. Come here.”

Gongja was staring at something with a serious expression, so I carefully followed his gesture.

Maiker Lasso’s study clearly had plenty of accessories that would suit him, but for some reason, the man didn’t take any of the ones I offered.

But after hearing today’s answer, I think I finally understand the reason a little bit.

Even though he gets a bad reputation as a playboy in the imperial capital in terms of his private life, he seems to have his own clear convictions about his fighting style.

I thought he would like anything shiny, but his taste is incredibly picky.

“There. Do you see it?”

-Kkiung!

“Gasp! Gongja, that’s Werner’s wagon wheel track…!”

“Yes. And right behind it. Look closely near the tree roots.”

Demi was wriggling its warm belly, trying to get a closer look.

I stretched my neck, trying not to drop the little one.

I never thought I would find a clue to the national letter [a highly important official document] near the campsite, but looking back, the knights who came over from Count Roseharder’s territory to Lasso Duchy also made statements related to it.

They said they accidentally discovered Cobine Village by following the ‘wheel tracks that glowed even in the dark night.’

I squinted hard, following the light of Gongja’s staff. Beyond the faint traces of the cart glowing in the dawn forest…

What is that? Is that clothes someone left behind?

“Gongja, did the national letter stay here for a while?”

“…That’s not the trace of one person.”

“Yes?”

“Wait here for a moment.”

The man began to enter the dark thicket with the shining staff.

I was really shocked inside. Why are you leaving me alone?!

“Hey, can’t you give me the staff?”

“I’m the mage, aren’t I?”

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

Then Gongja laughed absurdly and tossed his staff to me as if throwing it away.

I was so surprised that I almost dropped the stick!

“I don’t have any mana in my body, so I can’t turn on the light!”

“The owner’s mana is embedded in the staff to a certain extent. Just hold it well.”

“Heok…”

-Kkiheo…

Demi and I gaped at the wooden stick.

Indeed, even when I, who had no mana at all, held it, the light that illuminated the darkness did not go out.

I thought about deploying the sanctuary for a moment, but I stopped because I thought I would wake up my sleeping friends for no reason.

Meanwhile, Diop quickly examined the traces of the cart and returned to the path.

I reflexively held the staff high, as if holding an umbrella for my tall friend.

“How is it?”

“It’s as expected. The wheel tracks lead towards the royal capital… and there’s only one set of footprints, and it’s not the one who pulled the cart.”

What?

“Then, could it be… that the national letter had a companion?”

Maybe ‘Božena’?

“Or there’s a persistent tracker.”

He shrugged his shoulders, dusting off his palms.

I looked up at him with a serious expression.

Werner Venetian had stopped leaving human traces sometime ago.

His only trace so far was the unidentified wheel tracks.

But there are traces of someone who followed him?

“Judging from the small footprints randomly stepping around the wheel tracks, it’s definitely not the owner of the cart. Besides, the traces also came up from the foot of the mountain.”

“…Someone may have apprehended the national letter.”

“Maybe. But there’s nothing certain.”

After it gets light, if we report it to our friends and share our opinions, we might get other gains.

I looked around to see if there were any rocks or trees that could be used as landmarks.

When Demi waved its front paws, a bunch of flower vines that were good for tying as markers poured out.

“I know the way, so put it away.”

“Oh, that’s a relief. Thank you.”

-Kkiwoo

Shinsoo booed as if it was sad. I smiled awkwardly and comforted the child.

If Werner was here until recently…

“Let’s assume he’s moving alone. Why is he going to the royal capital? Is he finally crazy enough to want to die?”

“No, it’s the opposite.”

I answered, turning the situation over in my mind.

An old thought that I had kept since the northern part of the Shin-guk popped its head out of the drawer after a long time.

Werner Venetian.

The one who ran away, saying that he would not attend the trial agreed upon by the leaders of both countries and would not pay for his sins, immediately after the Yeriho black market collapsed… went up to the northern coast and suddenly revealed his identity.

He tried to seize power by holding Baron Averoner Baren in his grasp, and even sent a warning to the Atsuma Barony, which was then in Wilhelmina’s hands, to surrender to him.

He even threatened them with the ‘Sacred Emblem’ of the Venetian royal family.

An absurd move from beginning to end.

“The crown princess, his daughter, tried to put him on trial, so she must have become untrustworthy long ago… He must have thought that his sister, Duchess Sneider, was not on his side either. Didn’t Gongja say that at the time? That the Sneider siblings were already enemies.”

“Even so, it’s hard to understand. What great things is a luxurious royal who doesn’t know a thing about military strategy going to do with force…? Ha!”

Diop let out a sigh and looked back at me.

Sharp realization formed in his red irises, and the corners of his open mouth drew an arc.

I nodded immediately.

“His anger began to turn in the right direction around that time.”

“To strike down his partner and king, Christaener Venetian, with his own hands? His forces must have already scattered and disappeared?”

“It seems like he doesn’t care about that anymore. Judging from the fuss he made in the north alone.”

I continued calmly.

Jeong Hyun-seo had already said that Werner had become a completely different person from the original.

He said that he wasn’t that crazy of a person in the ‘Toegye Gong’ setting [referring to a character archetype or role].

I felt that way while reading the novel too.

“Assuming that he is currently moving alone, it is clear that the national letter is trying to find Christaener. In a way, the king was the first person to betray him… This war has become a very personal fight for him. Of course, it was from the beginning.”

“Just like you.”

Diop looked at me and reached out his hand.

I handed him the staff and lowered my arm.

There is no need to think twice, that’s right.

“…Yes. I have to save my mother now, so that’s what happened.”

“You’re going to save the dead Prince Yeseo too.”

“Of course. I promised Cornelise.”

“Can you do it?”

“I’ll do whatever it takes. Wasn’t it Gongja who first called me ‘Son of God’?”

When I answered with a smile, he let out a hollow laugh as if he had heard a very funny story—or as if he had heard a very satisfactory answer.

I hurriedly supported Demi’s butt as it crawled up my shoulder and continued.

“No matter how many nightmares I have until the war is over… I don’t care about that. I don’t like scary things and I don’t like being in pain, but I don’t care. It’s okay because I have friends like this.”

-Kkururut!

“……”

“It may sound funny, but when we’re together, I get unfounded confidence. That we can overturn the three sisters’ game… Wait a minute.”

Wait, wait. I paused and turned my gaze.

I could see out of the corner of my eye that Gongja, who had been grinning, was making all sorts of faces.

“What is it? I’m listening.”

-Kkieo!

“I suddenly thought of it when you said we were going to overturn the game. Master Martier Zeelstra, Gongja!”

A loud voice suddenly popped out. The man winked one eye.

“When we were staying in the northern part of the Shin-guk, he was a prisoner of Baron Averoner Baren…!”

“There was a rebellion in the barony’s underground prison. A significant number of prisoners died inside and outside the lord’s castle. I remember that his whereabouts were never found.”

“Correct!”

I quickly pointed into the bushes. His sharp eyes immediately turned to the wheel tracks.

Soon, his red eyes widened slightly.

-Kkiyaa!

“Could it be that Zeelstra is chasing the national letter?”

That’s when it happened.

-Kwakwakwakwang…!

“Damn it, get down!”

“Uwaaa!”

-Kkihuuu!

It was truly a terrifying explosion.

Suddenly, the direction of the Memphis foothills brightened like daytime, and a strong gust of wind blew into the deep forest. I was truly shocked and quickly lowered my posture.

Kugugugugung…! Soon, the entire mountain range vibrated, and the terrified trees trembled and began to sob.

Bbagagagak! Terrifying sounds of rocks collapsing and breaking echoed from all directions. I desperately hugged Demi and lay flat on the dirt floor. I was just dumbfounded and my ears were ringing, wondering what all this commotion was about.

The little Shinsoo was also trembling its small body. In the shade created by Diop, I recognized the tears welling up in Demi’s eyes.

My heart sank for a moment. It’s not a child who cries easily, no matter how scared it is.

“Demi? Are you okay?”

-Kkieueueu, Kkieueueu…

…The moment I rubbed the child’s cheek, a word flashed through my mind.

-Kwagwagwagwang…!

‘Mad Death’.

*

That time.

Outskirts of the Venetian Royal Capital.

-Jiiik, tuk, deolkeodeong…

-Jiiik, tuduk, deolkeong…

Stranger.

A man as withered and pale as a corpse buried for a week, with the handle of a blue cart hanging around his waist and a black scythe in one hand, was entering a village.

-Tududuk…!

“……”

Soon his right arm fell off like a toy.

Werner looked down at it with bloodshot eyes. For a very long time.