The Knight Commander of the Second Male Lead [Novel] Chapter 80

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 80

Chapter Title: The Stolen Taruk

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Nina took a step forward and asked Randell.

"Can you walk on your own? Are you okay?"

"No, because they took my Taruk."

Randell glanced at their clasped hands and spoke. Nina looked toward Adrian.

Adrian gazed at Nina with complicated emotions. Only when the footsteps of the guards drew near did he speak.

"Follow me."

The next moment, the world shifted abruptly.

Randell flinched, his shoulders jerking in surprise.

'Did the colors vanish...?'

Looking around, he saw Adrian and Nina walking ahead, so he hurried after them with quick little steps.

"What the hell happened?"

Nina whispered. Randell looked at her.

"The world changed when I took off the glasses."

Randell answered concisely.

"They were all treating me like a fool and deceiving me."

Even in those short words, a boiling rage was palpable.

"That. Damn. Glasses."

His words broke off sharply.

Randell struggled to speak amid the explosively surging emotions. He felt like crying again.

Crying in front of Nina wasn't difficult, but not in front of that duke.

Nina's hand quietly gripped his tightly. Randell bit his lip.

"Nina, don't get too close to him."

At Adrian's warning, Nina flashed a grin.

"Don't worry. Even if he tempts me to fall with him, I won't give in."

Randell's eyes widened at Nina's words, and he released her hand.

The duke was right.

Having the fragment of the fallen spirit lord while being so close to the spiritist Nina...

"Stay away, Nina."

Nina, about to insist it was fine, sighed under the two men's piercing gazes and stepped back.

The shadows of night stretched everywhere, with scarce obstacles, allowing the group to swiftly return to the mansion.

"I'll grab some medicine and drinks. You go up first."

With that, Nina deftly slipped through the kitchen window.

It was a high window, but Nina landed neatly on the floor without issue.

"I've got medicine from Kiril in my room. Now, for drinks... Wait, aren't you shamelessly eating and drinking in someone else's kitchen?"

Jack stood in the darkness.

He looked aggrieved as he set down his half-eaten sandwich and replied.

"It's not someone else's kitchen."

"Well, true, but won't the cook freak out tomorrow when the ingredients are gone?"

"It's fine. It's prepared for my night snacks."

"The cook knows you exist?"

"Mm, they think of me as the kitchen fairy."

"......"

"It's true! I used a bit of suggestion and illusion grass, but they genuinely believe I'm the kitchen fairy."

"Hold on, isn't that first part way too dangerous?"

Was it even justified to phrase it as 'genuinely believes'?

"Nah, it's not harmful. Plus, I come to the kitchen, tend the embers like this, and make sure nothing catches fire or goes wrong."

"You don't drop by every day. But it's always stocked? What about bread for our young master?"

"Eating every day would make me human, not a fairy. And finances are plentiful now."

Petty over food.

Jack took a deliberately large bite of his sandwich as if to show off.

"And when the prepared food vanishes, the cook is thrilled, thinking the fairy visited. See? Harmless."

"If anyone finds out, it'll be a huge problem."

The day the cook mentioned the kitchen fairy eating sandwiches, everyone would be out hunting the midnight intruder with fire in their eyes.

"Even if a report goes up, His Excellency will just say 'leave it be,' so no issue."

Nina thought, 'Yeah, that's probably true,' and gave him a reluctant look before searching for the tea caddy.

He took a sip of milk, picked up his sandwich again, and asked.

"More importantly, did you enjoy your outing?"

"Enjoy it...? Huh? Seeing you don't know what happened, no one really followed us?"

"You know."

Whether it meant 'you know the master's temperament' or 'you know no one followed,' the answer was the same.

"Right."

"Why'd you come? You returned early compared to when you left. And noisily."

"Came to boil tea."

Jack stuffed the rest of his sandwich into his mouth, busily rekindled the dying embers, set the kettle on, and said.

"I'll brew it for you. Tell me what happened."

Nina perched on the high three-legged stool like an oracle and gave a brief rundown of the situation. Meanwhile, Jack set three cups of tea on a tray and furrowed his brow.

"Something like that..."

Nina approached and extended her hand over the cups. The scalding tea cooled in an instant, frost forming on the surface.

Perfect iced tea for a summer night.

She lifted the tray and nodded toward him.

"Tell me later what you find out about that."

"Yes, understood."

Nina exited through the kitchen side door with the tray. She grabbed the medicine from her room and headed straight to Adrian's study.

"I'm here."

Upon entering, Nina regretted bringing three cups.

Not as intense as before, but the crystal ball still exuded an unpleasant aura, making it hardly suitable for eating or drinking.

Still, she set a cup down for the guest first, then left the other two on the tray atop the table.

Leaning slightly toward Adrian, she whispered.

"Jack was in the kitchen."

Adrian didn't respond, and she hadn't really expected one. She turned to Randell with the medicine.

"How'd they take your Taruk? Who was that guy? Why were you two together? Did he hit you?"

Her fingertips brushed lightly against him as she applied the medicine. After the ointment, Nina handed him a cup.

The chill of the cup against his fingertips made Randell feel alive.

Or perhaps it was the barrage of her questions easing his choked breath. These were the questions he wanted.

Worried, affectionate questions.

The ones he longed to answer endlessly.

Randell glanced up at Nina, then at Adrian, before speaking.

"We'll talk details later. Priorities first."

Randell addressed Adrian directly.

"The man who died today was Sage Avesa. His research was on increasing Taruka."

"Taruka?"

Nina tilted her head, and Randell explained briefly.

"The power needed to use magic. People casually call it mana. We call it Taruka. It's fixed from birth—neither increases nor decreases."

'A world of rigid inheritance.'

Nina nodded.

"Then that research must have been desperate. Probably a lot like it."

"Exactly. But not a single success."

"Ugh... But did he succeed? Or...?"

"His research partially succeeded recently, drawing huge attention. It involved using human life force."

"That's permitted?"

Nina pressed, but Randell shook his head.

"Of course not. Apparently started with animals, but the success was recent. I got suspicious from the logs and tailed him."

Randell gave a wry smile.

"Ended up like this."

He turned to Adrian.

"Investigate his lab, and irrefutable evidence will turn up. No sage leaves achievements undocumented, even if classified."

"With your testimony, an investigation could proceed. But are you sure?"

Sages formed a closed community, handling most crimes internally.

Public testimony like this would make maintaining his great sage status impossible.

Being ostracized by one's own was never easy.

Randell sneered bitterly.

"What do I care if the sages' gathering falls apart or shatters?"

Adrian nodded calmly, unperturbed by the heated words.

"Then it best to inform the capital guard. With today's commotion, they'll be busy."

Adrian continued.

"Do you know what happened to the fragment of the fallen spirit lord?"

"I only know he used it to extract life force. No idea where he got it. There might be records in the lab."

Adrian pondered briefly, then raised his voice.

"Jack."

"Yes."

Jack emerged from between the bookshelves. Randell was startled, while Nina shot him an intrigued look, thinking, 'Wow, he even knows the secret passages.'

Adrian seemed to trust him more than she'd realized.

'Why trust him so much?'

A twinge of sulkiness hit her.

Turning her gaze from him, Nina asked Randell.

"Okay to search the lab first? I want to know if it's tied to the spirit fragment."

"Of course. I'll tell you the location."