What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 76

#076 The Visitation (2)

No, that’s not quite right.

“I’m here to observe today, so I’d like you four to proceed as usual,”

I replied with a smile.

The primary purpose of coming here was to observe Sant’s situation.

If I stepped in to help him right away, I wouldn’t be able to understand Kristel and Prince Cedrick’s behavior.

“······.”

The Prince glared at Sant with a very dissatisfied look.

It was as if he was telling him to hurry up and produce the Ether [a magical energy source] before he turned him into dried squid.

Poor Sant hunched his round body as much as possible and deployed his Sanctuary [a protective magical barrier].

I thought my Sanctuary was quite shabby compared to Cardinal Boutier’s, but Sant’s was much smaller, and the light was weaker.

The patterns were also very simple. It seemed the difference between a Bishop-level and a Priest-level was evident here.

Still, you shouldn’t bully people with things like this.

“Slow.”

The Prince growled lowly. Sant flinched.

The flow of Ether didn’t seem to satisfy him.

I suppressed the urge to say something to the Prince and looked at Kristel.

The protagonist was frowning at the Prince, and that face was quite familiar.

When I thought about where I had seen that expression, it was Eunseo.

Whenever I took young Eunseo to the dentist, she would make that face while listening to the cries of the children who went in before her.

“Since you’ve come to observe, I’d like to hear your impressions.”

A man’s voice, higher than the Prince’s but lower than mine, was heard.

Turning my head, Sir Johann Haynes stood there with his snow-white hair tied back.

A faint curiosity flickered in his mint-colored eyes as he looked at me.

He still hadn’t shaved, and his hair was sticking out here and there, but he looked less tired than when I saw him on the pirate ship.

He didn’t seem to care that the priest accompanying him was being treated so poorly.

“······Well.”

I had my impressions, but more than that, I wanted to point out the three Holy Knights’ oppression of the priest.

“Feel free to speak your mind.”

Sir Haynes said, interpreting my silence in his own way, and blinked slowly.

Then, the wind in the training ground stopped abruptly.

“Huh? Just now,”

“He closed the door of air. Now, only the four of us can hear the Prince’s voice.”

I blinked.

He, an Air-attribute Holy Knight, had blocked the medium of sound, creating a transparent secret room.

Benjamin, Ganael, and Sant were together, but they couldn’t hear our voices at all.

It was like pressing a mute button.

Ganael, who was next to me, felt my gaze and smiled, but only his lip movements were clear; no sound was audible.

“Air-attribute is amazing.”

I couldn’t help but admire. It was really amazing. Sir Haynes raised the corner of his lips and smiled gently.

With that expression, he looked much more handsome.

“Your Highness, what did you think of the sparring?”

Kristel naturally interjected. Her eyes were cold as she looked at Sir Haynes.

They didn’t seem that close yet. I carefully opened my mouth.

“Well, in my humble opinion… Lady Sarnese’s growth has been remarkable. However, she seems unskilled in handling ice. For example, when she did a somersault and landed on the ice stairs, if she hadn’t consumed it like that and blasted it to the other side, she could have distracted the Duke. Also, when the Duke exploded the waves, if she had immediately frozen the steam, she wouldn’t have lost momentum.”

“Hmm. That’s right. When turning water into ice, a process of changing the Ether one more time is needed… so the judgment becomes a bit slower.”

Kristel bit her lip. Sir Haynes crossed his arms and chimed in.

“It takes time to apply special Ether. You’re doing well now, so there’s no need to be impatient. If you practice steadily, you’ll be able to do it with your eyes closed.”

“Really? Do you think so?”

Kristel’s face brightened. I also agreed with Sir Haynes’ words.

She had used her ice abilities without anyone’s guidance even during the ‘Great Monster Subjugation’ without any guidance.

Duke Evelyn’s book explained that the ‘Blessing of the Azure Sea’ she absorbed was literally a divine object that bestowed blessings.

If that was true, the blessing not only possessed her but also turned an ordinary human into a Holy Knight, gifting her with the intuition and talent to control Ether.

In short, she had become overpowered, so from now on, she would only continue to improve no matter what she did.

“And as for the Duke…”

I shifted my gaze to the Prince. He slightly raised one eyebrow as he received Ether.

It felt like he was saying, ‘My condition isn’t great right now, but go ahead and say whatever you want.’

“You may be excellent in magic and swordsmanship, but you tend to consume too much Ether in a single attack. I read that the key for a Holy Knight is to manage Ether efficiently… I think you should also consider the possibility of not being able to use the Sacred Sword.”

Don’t glare at me. That’s what your father wrote in his book.

Besides, if you run out of Ether… you’ll be in trouble.

“You see well. I was curious about what kind of person you were as a priest, but you have insight.”

At Sir Haynes’ words, I felt like the surroundings opened up.

A cool north wind swept across my forehead once.

He had broken the secret room and restored the flow of air. I was so surprised that I let out a hollow laugh.

Ganael quickly clung to me.

“Your Highness, just now.”

“Yeah, Sir Haynes used his ability for a moment. To talk.”

“Wow!”

The boy exclaimed, opening his mouth in admiration.

Benjamin also seemed impressed by the power of the Air-attribute Holy Knight, which he was experiencing for the first time.

As we finished our conversation and sat down, Benjamin opened the picnic basket and began to set out snacks and drinks.

It was break time.

Only Sant, who hadn’t finished replenishing the Prince’s Ether, was struggling.

It’s taking too long, but I guess it can’t be helped since he’s a Priest-level.

“The reason we’ve been conducting classes mainly with sparring so far is to gauge what position you two will hold when you are formally appointed as Holy Knights.”

Sir Haynes said, sharing my licorice tea.

“Ordinary Holy Knights start learning as acolytes at a very young age and gradually rise from the Deacon level. But in your case, the story will be different. In my opinion… you will become Bishop-level, and if you’re lucky, Archbishop-level Holy Knights.”

“What do you mean by ‘if you’re lucky’?”

“The appointment of Holy Knights is up to the Cardinals. At least, that’s how it is now that the Pope is not here.”

Sir Haynes replied lightly to my question.

Unlike priests, whose positions are clearly divided by the evolved form of the Ether Circle, it was difficult to clearly distinguish the superiority of abilities among Holy Knights.

It was even more so because of the differences in their attributes.

The fact that positions could change depending on the Cardinals’ judgment must have meant that.

“Of course, if you unlock the ‘Stigmata’ [a Holy Knight’s unique skill], you can immediately rise to the Cardinal level. Unless you’re from a commoner background.”

Even though he had a drooping impression, Sir Haynes’ eyes were very cold as he said those words.

His sleepy, subdued voice felt somehow drained in a different way.

“How long does it take to unlock the Stigmata?”

The Prince asked.

The Stigmata, to put it in game terms, was a Holy Knight’s unique skill and ultimate move.

There were many related theories, but I didn’t read them diligently because it wasn’t my job.

However, not all Holy Knights could unlock the Stigmata, and it was said that one’s own effort and the grace of the Main God had to be combined.

But the Prince was acting as if he already possessed it.

It wasn’t wrong, so it was a bit annoying.

“The youngest Cardinal-level Holy Knight in history is Crown Princess Elysee Venetian of the Venetian Divine Kingdom. She unlocked the Stigmata at the age of twenty-six. I believe she was appointed as a Priest-level at the age of six.”

Then, that Prince stared intently at me. Crown Princess Elysee was Prince Yeser’s sister.

I knew she was a Holy Knight, but I was a little taken aback because I didn’t know she was such a great person.

Even if you stare at me like that, I don’t have any information to give you.

“The bell?”

“The bell? Oh, I have it.”

The Prince suddenly changed the subject. He always carried it with him, so he had brought it in his arms.

Come to think of it, I should thank him. And ask about its exact use.

-Thud!

“Priest!”

Ganael was startled and stood up from his seat. Suddenly, one side of the table became noisy.

Sant, who had fainted, was sprawled on the floor like a sack of barley.

I felt my head grow cold and quickly sat down next to him.

Opening a healing circle and checking, fortunately or unfortunately, there were no other abnormalities besides losing consciousness.

It was a typical Ether depletion symptom. But so quickly?

“It’s not that Priest Sant is particularly lacking. Rather, it’s that Your Highness and the Lady require a lot of Ether.”

Sir Haynes explained calmly, as if narrating a documentary.

It seemed that only I, Benjamin, and Ganael were agitated. I immediately turned my gaze to the Prince.

“Duke, did you perhaps come into contact with the priest?”

He frowned as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have.

He didn’t change his statue-like, noble posture in the slightest.

“I don’t have a hobby of touching other humans’ bodies.”

My face crumpled. What is he saying, you Ether pig? Am I not human then?

-Creak

The door opened. A ray of light, as bright as the sun, seeped into the dim bedroom.

The intruder moved carefully, lest the child wake up.

A magical light, left on for the Second Princess who feared the dark, cast a dim glow beside the bed.

The figure picked up the toys and dolls scattered in the path to the bed, one by one.

The fact that they were not tidied up until this hour was not because the discipline of the royal palace’s servants had become lax.

It was because of her orders.

The Second Princess had personally packed and organized the youngest’s toys into a box until the day before she left the royal palace.

The reason was simple.

She said that by doing so, she could know what the youngest had played with that day, what she liked most these days, and what she was tired of.

That affectionate routine was now being carried out by Elysee Venetian.

No matter how busy or tired she was, she couldn’t forget.

Because she didn’t want the youngest to feel the absence of the Second Princess even more.

“Your Highness, I will help you.”

The Crown Princess’s attendant, who had quietly followed her in, began to clean up the messy room with her.

A familiar silence passed between the two. After moving for a while, the box was filled with various toys.

Elysee sat quietly on the edge of the bed, looking at the pig figurine placed on top of the box.

It was a gift that Yeser had given to Cornelise.

“Have you not heard from Sir Haynes?”

“Yes. But there has been no bad news, so he probably delivered it safely.”

To the Crown Princess’s quiet question, the attendant quickly gave an answer.

Elysee nodded once and looked at the sleeping Cornelise.

Seven years old. An age where she knew nothing.

The Crown Princess wanted to make everything right before the youngest learned of the frightening and terrible reality.

But the most urgent thing was to protect the Second Princess.

To get a line to the Papal States and spend more than half of the slush fund to make a sword for her sister.

Elysee was the Crown Princess of the great Divine Kingdom, but there were still more things she couldn’t do than things she could do.

Her mother, who had lost her lover, often became deranged and lost her judgment, and her father acted as the King’s proxy each time, expanding his foothold.

If things continued like this, she felt like she would really lose her sister.

Yeser had collapsed after eating her father’s poison in front of Elysee, and she had almost been hit by an arrow.

What made her father act was not rational judgment but madness stemming from inferiority and jealousy.

She had no choice at all.

That’s why. She had come to think that she had to send that child as collateral to save her.

“Please don’t worry too much, Your Highness. Prince Yeser is surely doing well.”

“The Prince has awakened as a Holy Knight, I hear. And some Lady too.”

“······.”

“And my sister too. Didn’t you say she manifested Ether there? Such miracles are rare.”

The Crown Princess lowered her head.

Her long hair, shining with a deep golden color, curled down onto the sheet.

Elysee briefly kissed the sleeping youngest’s forehead.