How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 104

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magic Family (104)

“Elias has picked up your habits…”

Leo muttered while letting out a hollow breath.

It seems like he’s been influenced without realizing it.

But like Elias, I’m not saying I’d hit people for fun either. It just happened to be almost the only method available in this situation.

With that thought, I stripped the robe off the unconscious Vigilante Corps member.

Leo grabbed my shoulder firmly with a look like he was witnessing complete madness.

“…What are you doing?! Are you thinking of stealing someone’s clothes right now?”

“No. You put one on too, quickly. We need to make our silhouettes at least similar.”

“…”

Earlier, Richthofen had conversed with us through spatial magic.

He would have heard the sound of the spatial magic breaking, and since the connection was cut after that, he’ll come here.

Perhaps understanding my thoughts, Leo clicked his tongue but put on the robe and pulled the hood down low.

Then, without anyone telling him to, he broke off and removed a table leg.

“You understood without me explaining properly.”

“It’s obvious when you’re telling me to disguise myself.”

Leo stood close to the wall on the opposite side of the table.

I shot magic power to smash the room’s lighting, then aimed my wand at the hallway lights as well.

Crash―! Thud―

When I eliminated even the light seeping in from outside, the inside became completely dark.

Leo muttered.

“It’ll be troublesome if more than two come. We’ll be attacked with magic.”

“No, don’t worry. He’ll come alone.”

At my firm words, Leo glanced at me then focused on the air currents in the room.

After holding our breath and waiting for a while, ripples began forming in the magic power of the air. Someone who had warped here was looking around in the darkness and tried to turn around.

“…Why is the light…?”

I swung my wand to grab his body as Leo rushed at Richthofen from behind.

At that moment, Richthofen turned his head with a shocked expression.

It was already too late.

Whack―!

* * *

“Mmm…”

At the unfamiliar voice, I looked down at my feet.

Richthofen’s fingers, which had been lying there like he was dead, twitched.

I used my staff as a walking stick and said.

“Looks like you’re awake.”

“…Hah…”

Richthofen burst into hollow laughter then pulled down the corners of his mouth as his skull throbbed.

‘This feels new.’

Whether it was with Strauchi or Gelta, I was the one stuck to the floor like a corpse…

Now that I’m directly in the opposite position, I understand.

This suits me much better.

Richthofen muttered in a completely hoarse voice.

“How primitive. To think you’d hit someone’s head with an object rather than magic power… In case you’ve forgotten, let me remind you there’s also a rational method called conversation.”

“That’s not something to say to someone who knows what situation we’ve been through by talking, is it?”

I said while looking at his hands that Leo and I had tightly bound with our magic power.

“So, how’s your magic power?”

“It’s quite appropriately blocked. Just in case, I’m asking… there’s nothing wrong with your eye function, is there?”

It’s understandable he’d think that.

Since I had covered his eyes so no light could get in at all.

“Of course not. Stop the acting.”

“…”

“Everything went exactly as you wanted it to.”

At those words, Richthofen burst into laughter.

“Indeed, trusting your judgment was the best thing I did this year.”

Finding something amusing, he continued laughing.

“To think that Nicolaus is a second-year at our school, and even that Pleroma Ascanien… No one would believe it.”

“That’s not something for someone who knew from the beginning to say.”

“Simply knowing and actually getting confirmation feel quite different. So, how long do we have to do this?”

“You would know that better than me, Senior.”

“…”

He didn’t answer.

Until now, he had been sharing senses with Robert Mueller.

The ears were disconnected when I hit his head, but the eyes were still connected.

Considering he came to face us in this Catacombs with noble status, I naturally assumed that the Antagonist above him would have prepared this much… and indeed, I could feel magic power of a different quality from his body. It was magic power that seemed to have been there for at least 10 years.

“It’s a type of curse magic.”

“Hmm?”

“When someone implants another person’s magic power into a body, nine times out of ten it’s used for criminal purposes, isn’t it? Since you’re letting external magic power interfere with even your core.”

“You know well. If you carelessly touch it, you’ll die~ It’s not just sharing status.”

He said with a smile that didn’t match the situation.

“Surprising.”

“First time seeing it?”

“With your skills, it’s magic you could easily dispel, so it’s somewhat surprising that you’ve been living with that attached all this time.”

“…”

“Is it some psychology like ‘all the bad things I do are because I’m forced to by others’? I suppose to be in a group that feeds off Pleroma’s technology, you’d need to have that much shamelessness.”

“…I can’t say that’s not true.”

He burst into laughter again and said.

“But you know well that dispelling the magic now would only make Robert Mueller suspicious.”

Indeed, he has no intention of hiding anything more about Robert Mueller.

Of course. After showing the bizarre behavior of warping there alone knowing he’d be dragged away by us, there’s no reason not to cooperate now.

“Well, that’s right. So it would be better for you to stay like that.”

“Ah.”

I have no reason to take risks considering his circumstances.

Even if that weren’t the case, I have no reason to release him.

I have no intention of letting go of the initiative I’ve seized. Why should I miss the opportunity to obtain information faster and more qualitatively?

Then Richthofen muttered.

“Amazing. It’s surprising that you knew it was being shared… And it’s surprising that you recognized Robert Mueller.”

“There’s nothing to be surprised about. It’s not like you only gave me one or two clues.”

“It’s good that things are flowing as intended. How did you cut off the sharing?”

I sat down to match his eye level and said.

“This isn’t the time for such trivial talk.”

“Ah… hahaha! You’re right.”

“Let’s start with Robert Mueller. What’s the reason you’re doing this when you’re supposed to be on the same side?”

“It’s too long. You probably know roughly, right? Tell me from the beginning and I’ll correct the wrong parts.”

How annoying…

Anyway, it doesn’t matter.

I asked to verify if my reasoning was correct.

Before coming here, I had identified Pleroma and the Catacombs’ Robert Mueller as entities that would benefit from killing me.

At first, I saw those two as separate, but my thinking has changed.

‘It’s both.’

Robert Mueller is someone who joined hands with Pleroma while also working for the rights and safety of the Catacombs.

I opened my mouth.

“The Catacombs excel in spatial magic but are relatively lacking in other fields. Even after all this time, oppression hasn’t decreased but has become more severe, so you must have wanted to supplement your insufficient population and power. There happens to be perfect material for that.”

“You mean vitriol.”

Richthofen answered.

I continued speaking.

“The Catacombs Vigilante Group that Robert Mueller belongs to must be working to receive vitriol from Pleroma. More precisely, they’re complying with threats.”

“Hmm, that’s accurate.”

“You had to orchestrate a situation where not only Pleroma but also the Catacombs would benefit. Paradoxically, if there was a way to stop Pleroma at the same time, that would be even more fantastic.”

“…”

“I wondered where such a method could exist, but the logic was actually sound. Killing Nicolaus would ruin Pleroma’s ‘real’ plan to carefully and precisely bring down Nicolaus. Conveniently, it wouldn’t be a huge loss for Pleroma either.”

“…Mm.”

Even Leo, who had already heard my explanation, was listening seriously to my words.

“It would mean that Pleroma could kill anyone the people trust and follow whenever they wanted. From the Catacombs’ perspective, they’d get closer to obtaining vitriol while injecting anti-Pleroma sentiment into all walks of life… They could gain benefits while shortening their lifespan.”

“…”

“But you failed to kill him, didn’t you? It became a bad move that raised wariness and hostility to the extreme without any benefit falling to Pleroma, so to make up for the mistake, this time you’d have to properly capture and offer up Nicolaus.”

Richthofen couldn’t speak for a long time and only let out a deflated laugh.

“I’m curious how you reached such a conclusion. Who told you?”

I’ll take that as confirmation there were no errors.

I didn’t answer his question and asked instead.

“Seeing how you cleverly sabotaged the mission, naturally you don’t share his intentions. Am I right?”

“That’s right. Unlike him, I think Nicolaus Ernst must live at all costs.”

He continued.

“The fact that I’m from a noble family constantly shakes my position. If I prioritize stopping Pleroma over the Catacombs’ revival, that too becomes something that holds me back. Whatever my decisions are, they all end up being attributed to my noble stance.”

Richthofen’s tone gradually became calm and subdued.

“But… even if it means being expelled from the Catacombs and never being allowed back in, what’s wrong is wrong. The leader is trying to establish a system where all Catacombs members can have vitriol in exchange for sharing most of the Catacombs’ spatial magic technology with Pleroma.”

“…”

My eyes met Leo’s.

They’re going to share that with Pleroma.

They’re practically going to create a Pleroma world.

This definitely didn’t happen in the novel, but the changed developments must have made them feel the necessity for technological advancement.

“It’s short-sighted thinking. It might seem like they’ve become stronger for a moment, but the Catacombs won’t be able to exist as an independent place and will soon fall to become part of Pleroma. The pride of creating their own world to escape government persecution will become a laughable story by then.”

Well, of course.

Are those bastards the type to be satisfied with just spatial magic technology? They’ll covet the Catacombs’ people and the already well-established city as well.

Then, Richthofen muttered.

“…Before making contact with Pleroma, we continuously attacked them. You might not know this. Wasn’t time distorted in Pleroma’s world?”

“It was.”

That’s how it was when I entered before. Time in Pleroma flowed slower at a 1:6 ratio.

“It’s a problem that occurs when pressure is applied to the coordinate system. They still don’t know it was our doing.”

Richthofen smiled lightly then pressed his lips together bitterly.

The past of attacking Pleroma was now gone, leaving only absorption into them, so such a reaction was understandable.

But anyway…

‘…So that was a sign of collapse.’

To think they accomplished such attacks from here.

No matter how I look at it, they possess technology in spatial magic that no one can match.

At this point, even the Emperor seems foolish. The Catacombs are opponents that absolutely cannot be lost.

“How long has it been since you made contact with Pleroma?”

“It’s been two weeks now.”

“How much technology has been transferred?”

“Nothing substantial has been transferred yet. Except for one dual spatial magic. The magic I used when I was with you earlier.”

Earlier, Richthofen was in the same space as his opponent but didn’t take any damage.

That method has been passed to those bastards.

“…”

“They’re digging their own grave.”

They’re doing good work for not only Pleroma but also the Emperor.

Of course, it became much easier because they dug their own grave to some extent.

I quietly continued.

“Now, we need to expand the game a bit. What’s the situation like outside this building right now?”

* * *

“Hah…”

It seems like every human in the Catacombs has come out here.

Elias let out a laugh close to a sigh as he looked at the plaza that seemed ready to burst with people at any moment.

Countless people pointed fingers at Elias, their faces red with anger.

“Kill him right now!”

“How dare royalty enter here?!”

The vigilante holding Elias by the scruff of his neck said.

“The reaction is heated.”

“Ahhh… this is really too much. It’s not like I came here to play.”

“I think the noble who infiltrated the only place where commoner mages can breathe, even going so far as to act like a beggar, is more excessive, don’t you think?”

“I said I’m sorry about that.”

Elias apologized with an emotionless face.

“Seeing how you’re trying to end it with one casual word, I can immediately feel how short your thinking is. I never expected blue blood to understand us, but…”

“…Some call it blue blood, others call me a rude bastard… Does this make you too upset~?”

“You must still be half asleep.”

The sword he held touched Elias’s neck.

Elias frowned and exhaled.

“Hey, wait a minute~! Isn’t this too fast?”

“Since you don’t seem to understand what I’m saying, I have no choice.”

“No, I understood. Why are you judging on your own and making a fuss.”

He looked down at Elias expressionlessly.

“You’re not thinking of bringing Nicolaus Ernst, are you? You seem to think Nicolaus will come right to you if you put it out in the open like this.”

Crack—!

The mana restraint on Elias’s hand shattered.

I don’t know how Luca judged, but if my prediction is correct…

This guy must be Mueller.

Elias grabbed the hand that was on his shoulder and grinned wickedly.

“What Robert Mueller wants is obvious now.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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