How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 118

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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 (118)

Narke smiled and called out to me.

“Priest.”

“Yes.”

“That might be correct. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a drink.”

Look at him reading my thoughts so naturally….

If you’re reading them now, stop reading.

The moment I thought that, Narke suppressed a laugh and nodded.

I opened my mouth.

“That’s right. Most of their movement routes are similar. They seem to have mainly participated in hot spring renovation work. Martin Durer, who was victimized yesterday, and Karin Cole, who was victimized a week ago—why did they enter the unopened hot spring building?”

“Martin Durer is the head servant of my manor. Since we’re planning to finish renovations and open soon, I sent him to check if there were any problems before the principality government inspection. And Cole….”

Not knowing the person, the nobleman said something to his servant.

Shortly after the servant disappeared, another servant came running.

“Ah, hello. I heard you have questions about those who participated in the hot spring renovations.”

“Yes. What was Karin Cole doing in the hot spring building?”

“She was hired to check if there were any problems with the thermometers. But this isn’t a system where people only do exactly their assigned work… If you need to know more precisely, I’ll go ask and come back.”

“That’s fine. Do they work wearing gloves?”

“We did provide them, but… there’s nothing dangerous. Unless they were doing tile work, most probably worked barehanded.”

I nodded and turned the page.

If demonic possession only appeared in those who entered the hot springs, they wouldn’t be unaware of the cause.

In reality, there were five more people who were said to be possessed by demons even though they hadn’t actually entered the hot springs.

“There are records of five people drinking water at Peterkeller at the same time—where is this place?”

“Ah, that’s Baden-Baden’s public drinking fountain. The hot spring water here is safe to drink.”

“….”

I could see Narke’s face instantly freeze while maintaining his smile.

We couldn’t continue speaking and just nodded.

“I understand.”

“Would you like to go see it? It’s a bit hot, but it’s good in this weather. Since you priests came from afar, you should try drinking it once….”

“Hahaha, no.”

Narke quickly cut him off with an answer.

Then he gently asked the nobleman.

“Could you close that place for about a week? We have something to check, and if it’s open to the public, it will interfere with our investigation.”

“Close it? I think I’ll need to consult with the government first.”

“I see. Please do so quickly. If there are other drinking fountains, those too.”

He didn’t seem to know exactly why it needed to be closed, but the nobleman answered that he would inquire as quickly as possible.

We left the cathedral and walked around the village.

“Was this inspired by Strauchi?”

“Putting drugs in water—the method they’re trying to use is certainly similar~”

Narke stroked his chin in thought.

“Lucas, this wasn’t in the documents we obtained, right? I feel somewhat blocked trying to use insight without looking at anything.”

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t there.”

Previously, I knew there was performance competition between Pleroma and Pleroma.

From Ainsiedel’s case, I learned one more piece of new information.

Dioceses also compete with each other in their own way.

While there might be plans shared by the entire religious order, in reality, there must be people like Ainsiedel trying to monopolize benefits in various places.

Just like we raided Osnabrück, we’d have to raid the Pleroma Diocese here to understand the related plans.

‘We don’t need to understand that far since we’ve already been discovered anyway.’

How bold of them to pull off something like this.

Then, Narke suddenly stopped.

Immediately, screams from several people could be heard.

Hearing not just one or two screams in the middle of the night made my skin crawl instinctively.

From Narke’s reaction, this was definitely another matter related to demonic possession. Narke and I exchanged glances and ran toward where the sounds were coming from.

“Wow.”

When we arrived at the point where the screams came from, Narke looked up at the sky and let out a quiet exclamation.

And for good reason—the sky that had been blue was now completely black only in this area.

Below it, someone was shrieking like the person we saw yesterday, clutching their body and jumping out of a building.

From the black magic-like energy flowing, that person was probably this time’s victim.

“It’s Tuesday today, but is it really okay to start from the weekend?”

“Haha…. I’ll have to report that we’re starting a little earlier than scheduled.”

Narke drew a circle and struck his staff down on the ground.

The circle he drew instantly spread across the entire plaza, making the ground glow white.

“Whether what’s inside that person is a demon or Pleroma’s handiwork, we need to do something first. If you’re not inclined… if you build up good performance, your salary goes up. Peace maintenance fees come out~”

“I never said I wasn’t inclined.”

I answered while swinging my wand.

All of this becomes blood and flesh for my future position, so why wouldn’t I do it? It’s my assigned work to begin with.

[Uaaaaaaak!]

Surprisingly, beast-like sounds came from the human.

These were symptoms identical to what I’d read in the exorcism ritual book.

“Name?”

“Melanie Ritter.”

“Good, thanks.”

Narke changed his staff back to a wand and smiled at me.

“Let’s begin.”

* * *

The confrontation wasn’t long.

Unlike last time, subduing the possessed person and returning their condition to normal took less than an hour.

However, divine power didn’t work on them.

This was yet another case different from the one we saw the day before yesterday.

‘I should go and do some classification today.’

What we’ve discovered is probably just the tip of the iceberg, but I had a feeling.

This too is no ordinary matter.

And since we’re not specifically seeking out only such incidents, it’s more reasonable to judge that problems of this magnitude are occurring somewhere in other regions rather than thinking that only this region is affected by Pleroma’s bold plans.

Then, the professor entered the classroom with a stiff face.

Several students saw the professor’s particularly dark expression and looked puzzled among themselves.

It didn’t take long to figure out who was causing the professor to have such an expression.

Because a familiar name was called.

“Student Lucas.”

Why me?

I composed my expression and answered.

“Yes, Professor.”

“Pack your things now and go down to the main gate.”

“Excuse me?”

At these incomprehensible words, all the students’ eyes turned to me at once.

I was just as confused about what this meant.

Why pack my things?

Did I get expelled without knowing it?

“Professor, what do you mean by that?”

“This doesn’t seem like something to discuss here. Ascanien’s head servant is waiting at the main gate, so go to the dormitory now and pack everything you’ll need at home for a week.”

‘…Head servant?’

And what exactly does “everything you’ll need at home for a week” mean?

Why am I going home now?

Elias turned around with a noticeably flustered expression.

Even Leo, who had been so guarded, seemed to have difficulty composing his expression this time, furrowing his brow.

An inexplicable sense of foreboding crept over me.

I couldn’t understand why the head servant was here either. Today wasn’t a day for taking medicine.

“…Home, you say.”

“You’ll understand when you go down.”

The professor’s voice was somber.

Why?

Dozens of possibilities were already running through my head.

None of them were for good reasons. My heart began racing.

“No. I don’t see why I need to go, Professor. Today isn’t a day to meet the head servant either, is it?”

I didn’t particularly want to mention in front of my classmates that I was meeting the head servant under family orders.

But everyone knew that I missed classes once or twice a week for family matters. Now wasn’t the time to ask questions based on my preferences.

The professor was choosing his words as if troubled.

Someone knocked on the front door and naturally opened it.

“Excuse me. I cannot delay any longer, so I came up. May I speak with the young master for a moment?”

“Ah, yes. Student, please go out right now.”

The professor said to me.

Since this kind of status intervention within the school wasn’t actually in accordance with school rules, I could see the professor trying to quickly get me out of the classroom.

“If you can’t explain why I need to go home when the semester has just started, I cannot go.”

Both the head servant and professor wore troubled expressions and couldn’t easily speak.

Soon the head servant spoke resolutely.

“You must arrive at Dessau Estate by today, young master. I cannot tell you the reason, but Count Georg Ascanien has given orders not to me, but to the young master.”

The atmosphere instantly turned cold. The friends around me glanced back and forth between them and me.

‘…So, this isn’t something you get to decide after hearing the reason.’

I could easily understand what humiliation Elias had felt.

The damned class system doesn’t even guarantee superficial freedom.

Surprisingly, in this situation, my head became calm instead.

First, I couldn’t be certain why Georg Ascanien was calling for me.

After wasting two weeks of vacation, I couldn’t be certain of the reason for trying to take me there, even interrupting morning assembly.

But I couldn’t hold out by refusing to go here.

I didn’t know what consequences there might be for disobeying orders.

And if the reason I suspected was correct…

Surely not, but if that was really it, it was something I would have to face eventually.

I slowly rose from my seat.

* * *

Under the pretext of packing, I went alone into my dormitory room, emptied three bottles of the medicine my brother had sent, and boarded the train with him. My core ached like crazy.

I considered leaving the artifact in my room, but since I didn’t know how things might turn out, I put it in a magic-blocking box for now.

On the train to Dessau, the capital of Anhalt, we didn’t say a word. Whatever I asked, the head servant only said he couldn’t answer.

“We’ve arrived in Dessau now, young master.”

While I was thinking of dozens of contingency plans, the head servant spoke.

We got off at the train station and boarded an Ascanien carriage waiting in front. Even in that brief moment, people gradually moved away when they saw me.

‘Still the same outside of school.’

Of course, it seemed better than when I took the carriage at the beginning of the semester.

At least I looked like a normal person, which seemed to help.

I probably benefited a little from the news that I returned from the magic potion competition week without causing any problems.

Curious about what Pleroma would do when they went out, when demand exploded, Anhalt’s daily newspaper shared coverage from the Kingdom of Bavaria newspaper.

I tried to fill my head with such peaceful thoughts, but even during that time, thoughts about the family continued endlessly beneath the surface.

As I looked out the carriage window for a while, the carriage suddenly stopped.

“We’ve arrived.”

As soon as the head servant finished speaking, the coachman opened the door and stood beside it.

“…”

The scene before my eyes was quite a sight.

Countless people dressed in black were lined up on both sides of the path.

It seemed like all the servants and attendants in the manor had come out for this occasion.

Someone standing nearby took my bag from the head servant.

“Welcome back, Your Highness.”

It was incomparable to the initial treatment.

Of course, the place where I first opened my eyes was one of the many castles and manors within the estate, but even if I had opened my eyes here at the main manor instead of that manor, I wouldn’t have received such treatment.

This meant a distinguished guest had come here.

They probably needed to maintain appearances even for the young Pleroma master. Because of that distinguished guest.

I silently scanned their faces once and walked down the path.

It wasn’t a relationship to greet at this point. Everyone here was Adrian Ascanien’s confidant anyway.

I stopped in front of the castle gate. When the two servants guarding beside it turned to open the gate, I spoke.

“No.”

The servants about to open the gate looked at each other with confused faces for a moment, then turned to look at me with bewildered expressions.

They seemed not to have expected me to speak. Since Luca had been that kind of person until last year, I wasn’t angry at such a reaction.

I looked at the gate and calmly asked the head servant.

“Where is Father?”

“He is here at the main manor. You will be able to see him at the evening banquet, young master.”

I nodded.

“Let’s go straight to my room then.”

“Please spare a moment before that. There’s something I need to show you right away.”

“Is that something I need to examine first after traveling for three hours?”

Even to my coldly delivered question, the head servant answered with a dark expression.

“Yes, young master. I beg you.”

There was no need to show my intentions when I’d come to the heart of enemy territory.

I nodded silently.

One person opened the door, and another followed in to take my school cap and coat.

Even during this, the manor remained quiet.

I walked the path the head servant led. We moved to the left wing of the castle and climbed one flight of stairs.

Going up to the second floor, there would be a hall like the first floor. Luca’s memories naturally unfolded before me.

The moment I reached the familiar yet strange hall, I saw someone in pure white clothes leaning against a couch by the window, admiring the outside.

“…”

It was a sensation I hadn’t felt in a long time.

I felt my head growing cold and twisted the corner of my mouth.

Adrian Ascanien, who had turned his head expressionlessly, discovered me and opened his eyes wide.

Then, the gentle smile I had seen when I first opened my eyes in this world spread across his face.

“You came, Luca.”

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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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