How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 152

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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 (152)

The two engaged in a battle of nerves until the students left.

As Elias kept grinning continuously, the creeped-out 1st Class Student was the first to kick back his chair and stand up.

“We should go together. Huh? If we get eliminated now, it’ll definitely be because of you, so I have to accommodate you?”

“…”

I called out to Elias as he was driving the 1st Class Student out.

“Elias.”

“Hmm~?”

Now there were 4 days until the exam, or 3 days in terms of time remaining.

The key was whether they could fix their ruined teamwork and demonstrate their skills within that time.

Of course, if it’s Elias, I’m not worried at all.

“Good luck. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

The corners of Elias’s mouth curled up wickedly.

“Ah, what if we do better than your team~?”

“Start first, then talk.”

“Alright, see you later! Wait for me at the dormitory~”

I nodded.

Elias went straight to the training ground, even skipping dinner.

And the rumor quickly spread throughout the school. It was thanks to the students and professors who had attended the disciplinary committee together.

“He did that?!”

“No, did he really just go play around? I don’t understand.”

I wasn’t trying to listen on purpose, but everywhere I went, this was all people talked about.

It seemed like the students’ interest had already skyrocketed because that 1st Class Student had distributed flyers throughout the entire school.

He really dug his own grave.

More than that…

I suppressed a hollow laugh as I entered the dormitory.

‘This has spread, but…’

Because of his usual behavior, it’s not being easily accepted.

But although he looks like a delinquent, acts slippery, and seems thoughtless, Elias had been publicly attacking Pleroma and moving for the sake of the people since last year.

Rather, the general public would accept it without difficulty.

‘Still, there’s no problem.’

The students who watched the disciplinary committee in the council chamber were excitedly spreading this story around.

Regardless of Elias’s reputation at school, what he had done so far wouldn’t disappear, so even the students who were bewildered now would gradually come to accept it.

And now I had to go train again.

I changed from my school uniform back into training clothes and warped to the familiar training ground coordinates.

Leo, whom I had seen earlier in the disciplinary committee council chamber, had already arrived.

“You’re here?”

* * *

“Good work. Your response skills seem to have improved a lot.”

Leo smiled with the most refreshed face I had seen from him this month.

Seeing that, I was so dumbfounded that I just dropped my head to the floor. Since my entire body was already stuck to the floor anyway, this was much more stable.

I wiggled my finger and tapped the floor.

Leo understood my intention and asked.

“Hm?”

“…This…”

Only a completely hoarse voice came from my throat.

I gave up trying to speak with just my voice and used divine power.

―”Hey, you bastard.”

“Ah, it’s been a while since this method. But why?”

“Phew…”

Why? I just want to laugh.

Did I do something annoying today?

I don’t know why I always end up reflecting on the past when training with this bastard.

In other words, he trained as if I were his mortal enemy.

‘Today was fine though.’

Could the partner issue still be bothering him?

But there’s no reason to be angry about that.

And that happened last Friday, and I trained with him over the weekend too.

It was definitely normal until the weekend, but today, Monday, the training intensity suddenly became insanely high.

‘…Did he notice I was training separately with Cheringen?’

But again, there’s no reason to increase the intensity for this reason.

—”Hey. Did I do something wrong?”

“What could you have done wrong? Why did you think that?”

―”Even though I said your teaching method was fine, shouldn’t you at least leave me with minimal stamina as a human being?”

“That’s true. Was it hard? Sorry.”

I turned my head to check his face.

For someone saying sorry, he was smiling very conventionally.

‘Sounds like bullshit.’

Like Elias earlier, his eyes looked like his soul had gone somewhere else. In other words, he only had magic on his mind.

He planned to push hard from the beginning.

I think Gunter, who must be getting beaten up by Elias, feels exactly like this right now.

‘Normally I would have just cursed once and been done with it.’

Because I heard that this magic power manifested due to my own qualities rather than being Luca’s, I started feeling a sense of crisis.

Actually, until now I thought it wasn’t my business whether Leo was obsessed with magic or not. The magic power he had been chasing for over 10 years was Luca’s, not mine.

‘But if the magic I’m using now manifested from my own qualities, that changes things.’

The magic I used in Adelbert’s body was crude due to lack of adaptation, but its nature was different from Adelbert’s. First, the number of colors was different. I could use divine power too.

Then there must definitely be differences between Luca’s magic and my magic.

But Leo currently can’t distinguish between the two magics.

Actually, even if the magic I use is mine, and Leo considers my magic power academically perfect, nothing would change externally.

But isn’t a madman called a madman for a reason?

I have absolutely no intention of telling him, but even if he found out I wasn’t from this world, as long as magic power remained, he would probably use me as research material.

‘If this enthusiasm doesn’t break, I’ll have to send him to graduate school.’

This fanatical passion should be poured into research, not end with just observing other people’s magic power. It’s a national loss.

When I didn’t answer and just stared into midair, Leo activated healing magic.

[Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.]

“Giving disease then medicine?”

“Hmm?”

“Never mind. So what’s today about?”

“Nothing much. What you showed in today’s joint training was a bit unexpected.”

“So you wanted to confirm it?”

“Something like that. Sorry. I got competitive without realizing it.”

At those words, I let out a light laugh.

He noticed.

Although he pushed harder than usual today, I minimized my magic use.

He definitely felt that too.

‘Now I’m starting to understand.’

He’s still puzzled about how I only used my body without properly using magic during this morning’s joint training.

He probably tried to figure out how I move, even if it meant one-on-one.

“No wonder you attacked like a victim today.”

“Mm. So you’re not planning to tell me? Today’s method was following Cheringen’s instructions, wasn’t it?”

“Well, it’s just what you’ve always seen.”

“I’m curious about the strategy you’re setting up, Lucas.”

So he’s talking about situational judgment.

Normally it would be fine, but no matter how close Leo is, he’s on a different team so there’s no need to reveal it.

Leo pressured me today to find out if our team was hiding something, so let’s call it even.

“Well, check on exam day.”

“Hmm… I’m looking forward to seeing how your team trained.”

“No, don’t get your hopes up.”

I said that and warped to my room.

And as soon as I entered the room, I found Narke sitting in a corner eating snacks with Fai.

“Lucas is back~?”

“You’re here again.”

Aren’t you dropping crumbs everywhere.

When I looked at the snack case, Narke must have judged that I wanted some and took out a snack, extending his arm.

I took off my coat and accepted the snack.

‘Wait, this guy knows everything I’m thinking, right?’

He just gave it to me to shut me up.

“Haha, exactly right~ I’ll clean up properly before I leave.”

“Good. And read in moderation.”

“Come to think of it, can Narke read thoughts now too?”

Leo, who had followed me, asked.

“Apparently so.”

“Ah, only Lucas~ I don’t know about the rest.”

“…You can only read my thoughts? Why only mine?”

“Now you’ll have to be careful with your thoughts too…”

“Careful or not, he’s always thinking about Pleroma anyway, so~ He’s perfectly suited for the cardinal position.”

He says I’m perfectly suited when I don’t think about God for even a single moment?

“There are plenty of people who think about God while committing all sorts of sins. People who mention God while doing wrong and don’t even repent aren’t faithful but rather blasphemous. Such rationalized sins cover history, don’t they.”

“Mm.”

He sounded like a religious person.

As soon as I thought that, Narke smiled with a questioning look.

I ignored that laughter and spoke to Leo, who was sitting and reading a newspaper with stories about Primrose Pass.

“Come to think of it, you look happy. You seemed bewildered when Elias was tearing clothes earlier.”

“…How could I not be bewildered… It’s just, even though his relationship with Emperor isn’t good, he handled it so cleanly.”

Still, he’s basically royalty.

It’s hard for organizations within the Imperial Palace to go against their master’s will.

Simply put, it’s like asking if I could interfere with organizations inside the Ascanien Family.

‘Of course, the problem is that the relationship between Emperor and Elias isn’t very smooth.’

Elias seems to have handled this problem well on his own.

Surely Elias went to the gambling den and then immediately stormed into the Security Bureau, and before the Security Bureau could report to Emperor and make a decision, he probably shouted that it was urgent and pressured them relentlessly.

Looking at how he got the search warrant from the Security Bureau that Antagonist had completely overturned, this is the only possible route.

Then, light flashed at the room entrance.

“Oh, what. Everyone’s here already.”

Elias greeted us and naturally lay down on my bed.

He was in pajamas, having apparently just finished showering.

Seeing him still grinning, the training must have ended cleanly.

“Ah~ refreshing. This is what living is about.”

“How was it?”

“How do you think~? Did those guys have any other choice?”

Elias said with a relaxed smile.

“You didn’t threaten them in some weird way again, did you?”

“Hey, what do you take me for~! But Luca, you’ve been drinking that a lot lately.”

Elias looked around trying to find something to change the subject and pointed at the cola on my desk.

It was a bottle I had started drinking this morning.

“Have I?”

“Yeah. Every time I come to your room, there’s always exactly one half-finished drink on your desk.”

I was just happy to see it.

Actually, I never touched regular drinks that weren’t zero-calorie in reality.

It was partly because I needed to manage my weight for work, and partly because I didn’t enjoy consuming things.

‘I didn’t think much about it back then.’

Instead, coming here made me drink things I never used to drink.

Now it’s a design that should be excessively in a museum, but anyway, I seemed to unconsciously seek it out because I was happy to see it.

Then, there was a sound of movement outside.

Knock knock―

Once again, my friends and I made eye contact.

I had cast soundproofing magic on the door, so our conversation wouldn’t have leaked out.

I stood in front of the door, then bit my hand at an inexplicable sense of foreboding.

[Senior.]

Mm.

I thought it would be the club president, but it’s Adelbert.

I opened the door and froze in place.

“…”

The club president was standing next to Adelbert.

‘I didn’t really consider the possibility of them coming together.’

Adelbert already had a half-dead expression.

I can see how things progressed without even looking.

“What’s this about?”

“S-sorry… The president asked me to come.”

Actually, I did say we’d talk later during the day and brushed him off.

I just didn’t know that “later” would be just a few hours afterward.

Adelbert shook off the president and whispered to me.

“Senior. Do you happen to know why the president’s complexion is like that…? I thought he had health problems.”

“I wonder.”

Even from Adelbert’s perspective, the president must look like a wreck.

It’s inevitable since there’s less than two weeks until the play and no protagonist.

No one would be mentally sound when a long-scheduled performance is about to fall through.

‘Well, obviously he tried to get other guys to substitute for Adelbert, but their memorization skills probably weren’t up to par.’

Still, two weeks should be doable.

It’s not a 40-minute play like during the festival, but nearly 2 hours, so the burden seems big.

The school put too much burden on arts clubs made up of students crazy about entrance exams.

Everyone came to make some fun memories, not to recite lines for 2 hours.

‘But that goes for me too.’

I even have the problem that my mindset isn’t that of a new human yet.

Anyway, I have logic prepared for me, no, a method.

“Sorry for visiting suddenly. Junior, do you have time now…?”

“Yes, I do.”

This was something I had to properly finish discussing someday.

I softened my expression and spoke to lead the negotiation well.

“President. I’ll adapt the script again. Since I edited focusing on romance elements, Rosalind’s role increased. Then if we expand the family conflict story, that should solve it, right?”

When the play discussion began in earnest, the president’s eyes became serious.

“Ah, I actually considered it. The first-year substitute kept failing to memorize his lines… But most of the audience coming to see this play comes for the romance. Everyone has expectations for each play. Just like no one comes to Hamlet wanting to watch romance for two straight hours.”

Hmm.

That’s a valid point.

I stroked my chin in thought.

But if that’s the problem, it’s hardly a problem at all.

“Then let’s change my role to the male lead. Increase my lines and reduce Rosalind’s. If romance is needed, we can make it a male protagonist version, right?”

“Oh…?”

“The original work describes more of Rosalind’s inner thoughts anyway. So let’s twist it once. We should be able to generate decent buzz.”

Perhaps intrigued, the manager’s eyes became a bit more lively.

I smiled and drove the point home.

“I’ll handle the adaptation myself, so Manager, just focus on your own role. You’re playing the character with the second most lines anyway.”

“That’s… true, but.”

But?

I tried to maintain my smile as I tilted my head.

The manager gave a soulless smile.

“Actually, there’s a reason I keep coming to find you, junior.”

“What is it?”

“We’re screwed.”

“What do you mean screwed?”

The manager didn’t speak for a while, so Adelbert spoke instead.

“…He said the performance date has been moved up to this Friday.”

“What?”

“The exam schedule was moved up, remember? It was scheduled to coincide with the second exam day.”

“What does the performance have to do with the exam?”

“If you’re going to rest, you should rest after the exam ends. That day is the club arts festival.”

“…”

It is somewhat of a festival day.

Then couldn’t they just wait until after the third exam is completely over?

What’s the reason they can’t push it back that far?

‘I need to know the reason for this.’

Anyway, assuming we proceed with this schedule, let me think.

The adaptation has to be abandoned.

And the school seems to think casually that moving up a schedule announced months ago by just one week wouldn’t be a big problem, but anyway, since they broke proper etiquette first, there’d be no issue with notifying them that we’re reducing the play to one hour.

‘But if it’s Friday, that’s essentially three days left.’

Even if we reduce the performance time, three days…

The problem is that no one has properly memorized that character’s lines so far.

“So I’ve been thinking. If you could tell me why you don’t want to take the lead role, I’d try to improve what I can… Is there a particular reason?”

“There’s a slight emotional issue.”

“What?”

“…”

What kind of response is that.

I just gave up. There’s no way to convince these new-generation kids.

“Fine. Let’s just go with it.”

* * *

And so, the day of the second exam arrived.

Time flew by incredibly fast.

Of course it did, considering how many things had to be replaced in just three days.

‘For now, let me set aside thoughts of the performance.’

It’s time to focus on the exam.

Then an announcement came over the exam hall.

[Team 1, please enter.]

“Leo’s team is going first.”

Cheringen, who was waiting in the seat right next to me, muttered to himself.

Soon he smiled and asked.

“Aren’t you nervous, Lucas?”

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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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