What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 756

The God of the New Kingdom (3)

Oh my God, Sir Johann is actually incredibly rich…!

“Hahaha. They’re fake.”

At this rate, it’s not as much as the imperial family or a large trading company, but it’s comparable to a decent noble family… Huh?

“Pardon?

“You mean they’re all fake?”

Gain and I widened our eyes.

Under the moonlight, Sir Johann seemed genuinely amused by our foolish expressions.

“Due to the nature of my profession, I had to move houses frequently. I kept most of my important or easily lost items here. The gold coins are just for show.”

“Wow! Isn’t that the real treasure chest then?”

‘Do you want to see what Teacher has collected!’ Gain, even more excited than when she first saw the pile of gold, quickly got off her saddle.

Tete, who was being held in her swaddle, seemed to have fully woken up, her eyes wide and bright.

I also quickly put Demi down first and hurried over to Sir Johann.

Cedric warned me not to run, and Jibril Diop also nagged, “Remember that you’re not just a landlord but the owner of a palace.” But since my dignity is quite cheap anyway, I figured this distance was okay!

-Kkyaaa!

“Jackpot, Palace Lord. Look at this! If you scratch the surface of the gold coin hard with your fingernail, it peels off little by little. What’s inside is just a lump of iron!”

“Goodness. Where did you get these fakes? Someone like me wouldn’t know just by looking at them.”

“Let’s just say I found them while visiting a certain noble’s warehouse.”

“A New Kingdom noble was hoarding fake gold in their vault? But Teacher knew that and still raided it? At what age?”

“Around seventeen?”

“Amazing.”

Gain’s blue-gray eyes widened as much as they could.

She had even forgotten that we were entering the Venetian Royal Capital and was just beaming.

While I sat next to her, admiring Sir Johann’s treasure chest, Cedric and Diop led the horses closer.

When the Young Master took out a black pouch from his cloak, Sir Johann rummaged through the piled-up fake gold coins and opened the lid of a small wooden box underneath.

Anyone could tell that it was the ‘real’ one.

-Creak…

“Wow! A treasure map! And a bunch of keys and tools… There are swords of all kinds, as expected! There are also some medicine pouches here…”

“This is…”

An old, plain silver ring, a small, well-worn wooden horse.

Letters neatly folded and faded, without envelopes.

I quietly looked at the contents and glanced at Sir Johann.

He was silently gazing at them for a while.

Several shadows flickered over his mint-colored irises before scattering like a gentle breeze.

“…Let’s put the fruit here. It could be dangerous to keep carrying it around.”

He took out the silver ring and put it on his left ring finger, tucking the wooden horse and letters into his cloak.

He packed all the other magical tools and miscellaneous items into his luggage.

And after shoving the pouch Diop handed him deep into the box, he closed the lid with a resolute gesture.

It was the sack containing the ‘Ilan Fruit’ that Count Arno von Roen had given us.

“It’s an important piece of evidence, so we can retrieve it from here when Sneider’s trial is held later.”

“Yes.”

“No, even Teacher Johann’s grandmother wouldn’t be able to find this. There aren’t any markings on the surrounding trees or the ground?”

“Indeed. Shall we go get some sleep now? It’s late today.”

The Cardinal said cheerfully, his white hair fluttering.

Cedric and Diop tilted their heads simultaneously, and the divine creatures followed suit, tilting their heads.

I carefully raised my hand and asked.

“Does that mean… we have accommodation in the Royal Capital?”

Not sleeping outdoors?

*

The next day, early in the morning.

“Haaam…”

-Kkyawoo…

I yawned loudly and stretched, extending my whole body.

And so, we started our day in the living room of an empty house.

Although the wooden floor creaked loudly with every step, and large cobwebs hung like curtains everywhere—there were real curtains on the windows too—the house on the outskirts, devoid of furniture, looked quite decent on the outside.

It would seem like just an ordinary house to a passerby who didn’t know the area well.

“Did our precious ones sleep well? Are you all ready to go?”

-Kkaet

-Awook

-Kkureureut

“How admirable and pretty. Good morning, Gain.”

“Palace Lord, good palace-morning…”

“Good morning, Your Highness.”

Sir Johann’s claim that he knew the Royal Capital’s geography inside out was, in truth, not an exaggeration at all.

He studied the map he had taken out of the treasure chest for a while, reminisced about his memories, and then said as lightly as a breeze, “There’s a safe house nearby,” as if saying, ‘There’s a Starbucks nearby, let’s use our gift cards and go.’

Once again, we rode through the darkness with astonishment.

The deserted streets were desolate, like abandoned land, and as night fell, a mist rolled in from afar, creating an eerie atmosphere.

Sir Johann explained that the Royal Capital was bordered by the sea to the east and had canals flowing through the city.

But… Even though it was the outskirts, last night was strangely silent.

There were no diligently singing nightingales or chirping insects, and we didn’t hear a single passing carriage.

“If you’re all ready, shall we head out?”

“Yes! Palace Lord, aja aja fighting today too.”

“Aja aja fighting. Young Master, you too.”

“What? What does that mean?”

-Kkyaii

Waking up early, we filled our stomachs with the provisions we had brought, washed ourselves clean, and thoroughly cleaned up any traces of our stay.

Although the sun had not yet fully risen, we had to advance to the center of the Royal Capital as soon as possible.

It would be difficult to infiltrate the Royal Castle today, so we needed to gather as much information as possible while circling the area.

-Click!

“Serenite. Glasses.”

“Ah! Right. I’m crazy, Jung Yeseo. Thank you.”

I was about to open the door and leave when I quickly found my magic stone glasses in my bag and put them on.

In addition, the group had appropriately disguised themselves with the magical tools found in Sir Johann’s treasure chest and were wrapped in robes that Francois had enchanted to ‘blur their presence.’

The horses were so noble that they were wearing old ear covers obtained from the Lord of Raso’s castle.

Finally, Sir Johann locked the door of the safe house with the key he had taken out of the treasure chest.

We continued to discuss as we got back on our saddles and set off.

-Clatter, clatter, clatter…

“So, Palace Lord. The Grand Duke of the New Kingdom, that elder, died while stopping the *gwangsa* [a type of magical beast or plague] terror, right? I think you said he was earth attribute, but I’m confused…”

“Yes, Grand Duke Yudith Kamingha. Count Roen said so, so it must be true. The New Kingdom’s earth attribute Cardinals are only him and the Count. It must have been an irreparable wound for the Heavenly Road’s soldiers.”

“They were so shocked, but the people here didn’t feel anything at all? The Memphis Mountains where we were really turned upside down.”

“Well, seeing how deserted it is…”

I trailed off, looking around at the hazy surroundings.

I believed that the thick, towering mountains would have absorbed the *gwangsa*’s shockwave, but could it have been transmitted directly to the Royal Capital?

Even though it’s wartime, there can’t be this few people…

“There was a flyer about the Princess’s madness going around. That might have started the evacuation.”

“Could it be?”

Diop, who was in charge of the rear today, interjected cynically. I immediately turned to look at him.

“Because she’s not just any noble, but the heir to the throne and the regent of this country. If rumors spread that such a person is crazy, the country is bound to collapse halfway. Even though it’s wartime, if there’s no one at the top to handle the aftermath, the situation would have worsened.”

“…”

“Also, most of the New Kingdom’s nobles are useless.”

Cedric added bluntly. So that’s why.

“The border of the Royal Capital is visible.”

Just then, Sir Johann, who was leading the way with the Crown Prince, said.

I craned my neck and carefully examined the ground beneath Areum’s hooves.

-Kkya

“Ah…”

A flat, thin iron border with a dim color was indeed stretching out to the left and right, drawing an endless curve.

As I slowly moved my gaze, my lips formed a circle.

The land of fairy tales, shrouded in a mysterious blue mist, greedily swallowed the pod of the border, making it impossible to observe beyond it forever.

In an instant, countless sentences flashed through my mind. For example…

‘This is the shell of the summoning circle that’s trying to harm my mom.’

‘It was all real.’

Such a commonplace thought.

-Clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter…

“…”

“…”

“…”

The Heart of the Evil Dragon and the Hyegeom of Mars entered the Royal Capital first, followed by the Blessing of the Sea and the Holy Grail of Wishes.

Of course, the capital of the Holy Kingdom showed no reaction.

My friends maintained indifferent expressions throughout, but I felt a strangely anxious feeling.

“…”

Strange.

Why is it so quiet? I have a bad feeling.

What happened to the Royal Capital? Could there have been a civil war here too?

-Kkit?

“Huh? No. It’s nothing. I’m just a little nervous…”

I forced a smile and stroked Demi’s head.

The moment I slowly raised my eyes to check the backs of the two men leading the way, Spot! The ground beneath Areumhardt’s feet lit up brightly with blood-red light. I inhaled, momentarily unable to grasp the situation. When I rolled my eyes again, Sir Johann had already emptied Esprit’s saddle. The situation unfolded much faster than the speed at which my eyes could recognize it. Tok! A cold drop of water hit my forehead, and the Crown Prince’s hand was already drawing his sword. The muscles under his eyes twitched.

In an instant, my eardrums couldn’t keep up with the vibrations.

“Uh…”

So I couldn’t hear any sound. A vacuum of time for one second, two seconds, three seconds, four seconds—

-Swaaack! Kwaaaang!

“Kkhaaack!”

-Kwagwagwagwang…!

“Uwaaaack!”

As soon as a sharp sword aura spread out, and a roar of compressed air exploded with a burst of flames, I hurriedly hugged the divine creatures in my arms, not knowing what was going on. It was only a few seconds later that I realized Gain had entrusted Tete to me, and Diop had entrusted Leah to me. Paaaat…! As soon as a ragged breath escaped, my instincts deployed the largest scale of the Holy Ground first. The sight that came into view as soon as I used my ability was—

“Haaaack! Haaaaack! Whatwhatwhatwhatwhatwhat…!”

“Palace Lord! Don’t move and stay inside the Holy Ground!”

“What is this! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts…!”

Collapsing, bloodied people. Those whose bodies were dried with terrible fluids from head to toe.

“What, what is that…”

“Holy Knight! It’s a Holy Knight! Holy Knight!”

“Catch the priest! Catch the priest! Catch the priest!”

“Rape them! Crush their necks and rape all the aether in their bodies!”

“Delicious, delicious, delicious, delicious, delicious!”

“Oh my god, Demi, duck your head…!”

-Kkiiiii!

A group of ‘humans’ who resembled zombies—but clearly communicated like living people. Some had three eyes, some dangled half-fallen necks, some had feet in place of hands—

“H, h, Holy Knight? Holy Knight? D, d, did it succeed?”

The person running barefoot around the Holy Ground looked back at his friends like crazy and asked.

“W, w, why are you okay? D, d, didn’t you participate in the experiment? Keheok!”

He continued to ask until Sir Johann grabbed him by the neck, at least.

It was a man with two voices mixed together. Our eyes met.

I gasped and squeezed my eyes shut.