How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 121

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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 (121)

I thought about grabbing him by the collar.

But using time twice just to satisfy my personal desires would be a complete waste of points.

I held onto my reason and brought my hand toward his. No, I tried to.

“Just kidding, Luca.”

He lightly crinkled the corners of his eyes and withdrew his hand.

If he wasn’t going to check, I could save points and didn’t need to move drastically, so it was fine by me, but…

I could only laugh.

I suppressed the urge to throw a punch and looked at him expressionlessly.

“I trust you. If you say you took it, then you really did.”

“…”

It was a ridiculous statement.

No matter how much I said I took it, it was only four months ago that he forced me to take medicine for his own amusement.

“You seem quite moved.”

“Moved, you say.”

“I was wrong.”

Adrian muttered while maintaining his chin-resting posture.

When I looked at him silently, he continued lightly.

“I won’t do it again, I’ll take proper care of you from now on. Please spare me… That’s what you said.”

“…”

Those were all words I had uttered after entering Luca’s body.

Not my will, but words that Luca’s memories reflexively spilled out upon seeing his brother.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“It turns out you took your medicine on time, yet you made such excuses. You must have been scared. Thinking about it slowly, I feel like I couldn’t fully trust you due to my unnecessary worries.”

He appeared to be reflecting, but he deliberately brought up words from just before the transformation, hoping to see me waver.

His smile contained a gaze trying to assess my condition.

There was no reason to give him the reaction he wanted.

I chuckled and leaned back against the chair.

“I learned many things thanks to you, Hyung, so there’s no need for you to feel guilty.”

I’m going to cut his throat anyway, so what’s the point of him feeling guilty?

More importantly…

There was now one thing to examine.

‘What’s the reason Antagonist isn’t checking my mana while making excuses about trusting me?’

The reason would be the same as what I thought earlier.

First, the case where he thinks ‘since everything has changed completely, there’s no way the mana wouldn’t have been restored.’

It wasn’t an unreasonable assumption.

The ability to maintain taking the medicine was thanks to the fear Luca felt toward his brother.

Even if the head servant personally administered the medicine, there were indeed loopholes to escape through.

Second, the case where he obtained information that ‘Luca’ uses magic.

Earlier I thought I needed to know which of the two it was to determine my future course of action, but…

‘Now I don’t need to know.’

Whatever the cause, Adrian had already concluded that ‘Luca can use magic.’

That conclusion would lead to only one action.

My death.

Either social death, or actually ending up in a coffin buried underground, or both.

Of course, I had no intention of letting him succeed.

* * *

Surprisingly, Adrian did nothing to me even past lunchtime.

All we did was read books together and drink tea.

I naturally didn’t want to go to the basement, but if it were the original him, he should have locked me up there long ago.

‘This means Antagonist’s strategy has changed.’

While I was thinking about my future course of action, Adrian spoke up.

“Come to think of it, I heard you participated in the school play. I didn’t know you had interest in that area. Since when did you like acting?”

“You know about it.”

“How could I not know about my younger brother’s affairs?”

Right, Traut must have told him.

I looked calmly into his eyes and said.

“I don’t particularly like it, but I wanted to gain some experience. Same with participating in the Potion Competition.”

“Experience, you say.”

Adrian smiled while stroking his chin.

“To think my younger brother has grown enough to take on various challenges, I’m quite moved. Just six months ago, you couldn’t say a single word in front of people.”

“People can change at any time, can’t they?”

I looked into his unwavering eyes and continued speaking calmly.

“Hyung, you’re the one who has kept me alive until now, so I didn’t want to continue living in a way that would burden you.”

He was treating me with suspiciously peaceful demeanor right now.

Just because things appeared peaceful on the surface didn’t mean I should reveal my true feelings.

This situation itself was probably part of Antagonist’s strategy.

Adrian nodded silently.

Now he was lost in thought, his gaze fixed on empty space.

“Yes, as you said, people can change at any time. Your completely different appearance from last year proves that.”

Adrian’s lips curved up gently.

And with the words that followed, I doubted my ears.

“I’m truly happy that you’ve changed.”

“…”

Happy that I’ve changed?

My head went cold for a moment, and I raised the corners of my mouth and stared at him intently.

To hear such words from Antagonist – I would never have a more ironic experience in my lifetime.

He looked out the window calmly and continued.

“Being in the Papal States, I learned many things. Pleroma cores have characteristics. Most have cracks and strong expansion power. These are typical common traits of cores that absorb others’ mana through blood.”

That would make sense since vitriol needs to be added, just as I heard from Richthofen.

Of course, there was no reason to cross-verify Richthofen’s information right now.

I kept my eyes on him while thinking about his intentions.

“That might be a good core condition for Pleroma, but you know well it’s not for us. Someone who gains mana by taking human blood could never be accepted by society.”

There was no longer a smile on his face. Only solemnity remained.

“So it always weighed on my mind. The ordinary life that many enjoy was never given to you. Your inability to make eye contact with me, your difficulty speaking up when servants asked questions – all of these came from the stigma placed upon you.”

“…”

“How wonderful. You’ve practically seized your own life.”

“…Seized, you say. You evaluate my changes quite favorably, Hyung.”

“How could I not? Advancing to the First Education Institute won’t be difficult now. You’ll be able to make many good friends too. Beyond that, you’ll be able to reclaim one by one the things you should have rightfully obtained.”

Now Adrian Ascanien was smiling more brightly than I had ever seen.

“Truly congratulations, Luca.”

“…”

I looked at him and smiled.

These were completely different words from the past where I died after graduating from the 2nd Education Institute, let alone advancing to the First Education Institute.

His thinking had changed.

‘I need to scrap all the plans I’ve made so far.’

What I just heard was exactly Antagonist’s strategy.

This was why he hadn’t thrown me into the basement until now.

Coming this far, if he had thrown me into the basement and tormented me like last year…

‘I would have been disappointed instead.’

The one-dimensional insults and harassment from last September are already outdated strategies.

If I’ve changed but the Antagonist hasn’t, then in the long run, defeat will be his.

Hyung must have judged that my transformation was much more rapid than expected, which is why he decided not to advance until he could grasp the cards I’m hiding.

In other words, the timing for the Antagonist to kill me isn’t right now when winds of change are blowing around me, but when he can achieve perfect victory.

‘Should I try a little test?’

I fidgeted with the tea he had given me earlier, then took a sip.

“Hyung-nim said that I had seized my own life.”

“That’s right.”

I placed the cup on its saucer and flicked my hand.

Whoosh—!

Pink magical power surged along the table.

I deliberately didn’t lower the output since I had something to figure out from now on.

Adrian Ascanien’s head reflexively moved back, and his golden hair swayed with it.

After a moment of silence, a bright smile spread across his surprised expression.

“This is incredible… What truly magnificent magic, Luca. To think I’d see magical power of this color in our family.”

Now I could no longer read any anxiety, unease, or worry of any kind in his eyes.

It wasn’t entirely unexpected.

‘You’d need this level of composure to kill someone at age 11 and pin it on your 4-year-old younger brother.’

While listening to his words, I opened the change possibility window.

Dawn777

— Until final ending ‘Chapter X. Death’: 647 days 8 hours 59 minutes 34 seconds

— Change possibility: 30.3%

30.3%.

It’s the same.

This means that him knowing my magical power doesn’t bring any particular crisis.

Well, as I guessed earlier, it was probably already within his expected range.

Then the figure of 30.3% must already be the result of overlapping pluses and minuses.

‘Good.’

I closed the window and opened my mouth.

“I wanted to show Hyung-nim first. There’s something else I’d like to show you, would that be alright?”

I still couldn’t sense any agitation from Adrian.

Well, when the younger brother he needs to kill is voluntarily providing information, there’s no reason to be agitated.

I reached my arm toward his forehead.

I’m planning to use divine power from now on.

The effect will be somewhat reduced, but even if I plan to turn back time anyway, it wouldn’t be good for him to hear the incantation, so I should make it so the voice can’t be heard.

—”Unless the Lord watches over the castle, the guards stand watch in vain.”

White light spread out in a rush.

However, unlike others, Adrian didn’t fall asleep.

‘I expected it, but it’s still surprising.’

Mental-type magic doesn’t work on him.

That was something I had predicted after seeing Hyung’s status window before.

Adrian Ascanien

Favorability: ?

Title: ?

Stamina: +10

Mental Power: ?

Magic Power: +9

Skill: +10 [+?]

Impression: +10

Luck: +10 [-10]

Traits: Charm (Lv.10), Tenacity (Lv.10), Chapter X (Lv.1)(!)

Before, Ainsiedel had his magic power shown as a question mark.

For Adrian, it was mental power.

If he’s filled all those stats to the brim, his mental power must be no ordinary level.

He admired the divine power particles floating in the air one by one with fascination.

“Even your divine power is splendid, befitting an Ascanien. To think a mage who uses divine power would emerge from our family, Father would be truly delighted if he knew. I have so many questions I want to ask… but I’ll wait until you tell me first.”

I responded with a smile instead of words.

Since Adrian smiled with a face that said thank you for showing me, I responded with the same expression instead of words.

So, let’s see what the reality is.

Dawn777

— Until final ending ‘Chapter X. Death’: 647 days 8 hours 58 minutes 00 seconds

— Change possibility: 0.3% (-30%p)

‘…-30%p.’

This is the first time I’ve seen the change possibility drop.

This just means I’m going to die.

It means he judged that killing me right now would be much more beneficial than finding a perfect long-term murder method.

Using retry will return things to normal, but for now, it was a chilling number.

‘The conclusion is…’

Even if he expected the magic power, he didn’t expect the divine power. Well, of course. There were no signs of divine power in childhood.

And thankfully, it also means he still doesn’t know that Nicolaus is me.

‘I understand clearly how I should move.’

Thanks to not living according to the novel’s flow, the Antagonist’s actions have changed.

He must have expected that carelessly making a move in the current state would make things much bigger than in the novel. There’s no other way to explain the changed development.

Adrian’s perfectionism aims for the opponent’s complete defeat and his own perfect victory.

Having postponed my death, from now on Hyung will search for the optimal method to kill me.

Then his plan will become much more elaborate and thorough.

Honestly, if he becomes more determined from here, I don’t know what might happen.

But having time means…

It also means I have time to complete Nicolaus so I can perfectly defeat him.

Then I should give it a try.

A smile naturally formed on my face as I looked at him.

I called up the retry window and opened my mouth.

“Turn back.”

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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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