How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 153

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

How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magic Family (153)

“Exactly half of the people here will survive.”

“Well. If not us, then who will survive?”

“Ah, hahahaha! That’s true.”

Cheringen laughed loudly.

He looked satisfied.

‘As long as it goes according to practice, there shouldn’t be any big problems.’

The space the School stored in Mimesis is truly a basic space.

How could it not be easy when the Victim honestly stays tucked inside the building? In real situations, Victims don’t stay safely like that. By the time reports come in, they’ve already burst out of buildings and are charging toward areas with many civilians.

‘Compared to that, this is convenient.’

“Come to think of it, Lucas, are you more nervous about the arts festival than the exam?”

“Ah… you heard.”

“Of course. Congratulations on getting the lead role. I really thought you acted well during the previous festival, so I’m happy I can see another play with you as the protagonist.”

He says such embarrassing things right to my face.

Expressing everything in a textbook manner is a characteristic of noble Family children, but Cheringen was especially extreme in this regard.

“That was hastily prepared, so thanks for judging it favorably. But you don’t have to come.”

“Why? You must have worked hard, and isn’t it better to have more audience members?”

“…”

It was good that I didn’t try to persuade the new humans back then. There was a high probability I would have only wasted my energy and failed to make them understand anything.

Look at this.

Unlike the old humans, he doesn’t feel any doubt whatsoever. He’s just thinking things like ‘protagonist = good thing’, ‘good thing = congratulations’.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter either way.’

It wasn’t a role I couldn’t handle.

As I told Adelbert, when learning acting, you try all sorts of different roles.

When I’m already doing Animal acting in front of people, changing gender alone doesn’t suddenly make it impossible.

It’s just the visuals that are concerning.

‘I never thought I’d come to this world and try something new.’

Well, aside from my personal feelings, there’s nothing problematic about it.

It’s actually beneficial.

If it had been a loss, I wouldn’t have accepted it.

For me, memorization isn’t a problem, and there aren’t many opportunities to stand for 2 hours and sweep up favorability, so I just accepted it.

Let’s see how high my impression value soars.

“Just do whatever you want.”

“Hmm? Ah, we’re going to an after-party when today ends, and I scheduled it for after your play finishes. Is that okay? Does the Drama Club need to have an after-party too?”

“Probably so. Besides, you won’t be able to walk out of School at such a late hour. Are you going to warp out?”

I often warped outside at dawn, but honestly, it would be troublesome if I got caught.

I warped freely only because no one, including the dorm supervisor, ever came to my Room, but if we disappeared as a group like this, we might get our tails caught.

“It’s fine. I’m planning to buy things in advance.”

“Really? I’ll drop by if it’s convenient, even if it’s in the middle.”

Then, a notification sound was heard.

[30 seconds until exam start.]

Team 1 Students were already inside the Exam Hall. Team 2 was the same.

Therefore, two broadcast screens were running simultaneously in this location.

Cheringen’s face, which had been chatting beside me, became serious.

“It’s starting now.”

[3, 2, 1. Begin.]

Beep―

Along with that notification sound, the broadcast screen changed.

[…We announce to all citizens at Frankfurt Central Station.]

“…?!”

“That field wasn’t in Mimesis!”

The murmuring voices of Students could be heard.

On the broadcast screen, the view of a massive Train Station unfolded beyond countless passersby.

Surprisingly, both Team 1 and Team 2 received the same field, but since an unexpected field appeared, everyone seemed to have little interest in that.

Our team was no exception.

Philip shouted, unable to hide his bewilderment.

“What? We didn’t practice that kind! Fields we didn’t practice can appear too?!”

“Hmm…”

Cheringen furrowed his brow.

“This is beyond expectations.”

I agree.

I narrowed my eyes and examined the field.

It’s not coming out as given in Mimesis. I naturally expected the detailed terrain to change, but I didn’t know buildings with completely new purposes would appear as fields.

Frankfurt Central Station is one of the most important train stations in the Empire, and accordingly has an enormous floating population.

Just the fact that this Central Station alone contains stations heading in three directions shows how many people gather here – no need to say more.

And the biggest problem is that due to the existence of magic, cities throughout the Empire expanded earlier than in the past of where I used to live.

Even though it’s not the 21st century, this place has already reached a population of 100 million, and everyone actively travels throughout the Empire by train.

This will be the largest among all the Building fields we’ve dealt with so far.

‘I thought it would naturally come from within those since they already stored 20 fields in Mimesis. I underestimated the School too much.’

Indeed, it was too easy.

Just as drowsily easy theory transforms into problems of all sorts of bizarre difficulty on exam day, it seems they plan to do the same not only for written tests but also practical exams.

Then, an alarm sound began to be heard.

[A runaway has currently occurred within Taunus Station at Frankfurt Central Station. Citizens at Taunus Station are requested to evacuate promptly following station staff instructions. Citizens heading to Wiesbaden cannot approach the station until suppression is complete.]

[Let’s begin.]

Leo let out a laugh while readjusting his grip on his wand. The wind scattering his hair and robes was fierce. But even in the midst of that, his expression was rather relaxed, so from a watching standpoint, it was just amusing.

If Team 2 had come out and been watching this, they would have felt uneasy from the start.

I had been watching carefully from the beginning, but not once did I sense any panic on his face.

‘This bastard, don’t tell me?’

Did he know in advance?

There would be information he’d pick up unintentionally from the Student Council, so he could have heard that the difficulty would change.

Or maybe Narke gave him a tip.

I wondered if he heard in advance what field he’d receive, but that doesn’t seem likely. The Antagonist isn’t the type to accept such underhanded behavior.

Anyway, so that’s why he was so persistently trying to verify my situational judgment.

‘Because it won’t be the scale we practiced.’

And because new types of buildings and new environments would be given.

Cheringen quickly collected his panic and began analyzing the field.

“I can already see problems. Lucas, what do you think?”

“There are problems. We need to fix that broadcast first. How many people are inside there, and they’re broadcasting the same announcement as other fields?”

“Thank goodness. I also thought that part was problematic, and since you think so too, I’m confident.”

Just words – the Antagonist probably already had confidence in his own judgment.

Cheringen attempted a high-five.

This place doesn’t even have a term meaning high-five or hand gestures commonly used for this meaning, yet he keeps trying such novel actions.

Now it just makes me laugh. This time I properly hit the Antagonist’s hand.

Then, Leo gestured to Narke.

Narke, who had arrived at the Plaza in front of the Train Station, struck his staff down on the Floor.

Kwaaaaang—!

The screen instantly turned pure white before returning.

Divine power quickly surged into the Train Station.

‘The skill that purified 10,000 pyeong at once is showing.’

“What? Is he purifying?”

Questions from students around us could be heard.

‘Of course not.’

Now I understand what Leo instructed.

He’s trying to calm the citizens’ anxiety with divine power.

Even though it’s fake footage, their actions are identical to ours, so this measure is necessary.

‘Now he’ll speak as well.’

As expected, Leo layered amplification magic and opened his mouth.

[We’re from the Empire Crisis Response Headquarters! The Crisis Response Headquarters will cooperate with Frankfurt Central Station staff to assist with evacuation, so please maintain order and follow the instructions of mages wearing Empire badges to exit the station.]

Leo finished speaking and gestured to the other two students.

The two students entered the west entrance of the train station. Since that’s where the runaway was located, they had to quickly evacuate civilians.

Now it was time to deal with the rampaging victim.

Leo called Narke.

[Narke.]

Narke nodded and warped alone.

“…!”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

The place Narke moved to wasn’t Taunus Station where the runaway was.

“It’s over.”

Cheringen muttered.

Yes, it’s over.

In a good way.

The space Narke moved to was the central massive hall connecting the three train stations.

The place where the largest population gathers.

Leo didn’t send Narke to the victim’s side but deployed him for civilian rescue.

‘Since a Crisis Response Headquarters mage who can use divine power has been deployed, the probability of accidents due to panic will decrease.’

It’s natural given the strong faith in divine power.

Students consider runaway suppression as the main objective, but overall safety is most important.

Leo and his team will receive points for the bold decision not to use the team’s ace for runaway suppression.

‘No need to watch further.’

In this massive space they’d never practiced in, they formulated a strategy without any delay.

This team has no choice but to receive bonus points.

On the other hand, Team 2 that entered with them…

‘This is bad.’

As hundreds of civilians began screaming, the school reduced the volume.

Countless people crowded all the doors of the central building. The mages would have already warped out on their own, so they’d all be old humans.

The 2nd Team Leader cast amplification magic and shouted loudly.

[Maintain order!]

[Hey, this won’t work…! Let’s break the windows!]

[Wait. We’ll get points deducted! Rather, let’s hold hands one by one and warp them!]

[Isn’t this current situation not subject to deduction?!]

[We don’t know how many points property damage deduction will be in this field! We can quickly suppress the runaway and broadcast again. Right?!]

[Ah, damn… We’re screwed…]

Someone among the team members cursed and muttered. Only the voice was audible, but I could feel they wanted to cry without even looking.

Then the sound of windows breaking was heard.

[What? Who broke the window without orders? Don’t you think about teamwork?! The civilian side can still hold out!]

“That team did well during training, but this is bad.”

Cheringen frowned beside me.

Back then, there wasn’t a team that couldn’t do it. Since the lower ranks were already filtered out in the first round, at least mid-tier teams are participating in this current exam.

‘No, Team 8 that blatantly excluded one member was the worst.’

The rest did so well in the standard way that it was hard to distinguish superiority.

An unexpected variable had turned people back to such a novice state.

Cheringen muttered.

“The next teams are… Team 7 and Team 8. I’m curious who will score higher among these.”

The order is Teams 1-2, 7-8, 3-4, 5-6, so our team is last.

Being last is somewhat burdensome, but it’s good because I can watch Leo and Elias’s exams beforehand.

I asked Cheringen.

“Which of the two teams do you think will score higher?”

“Well.”

Cheringen’s lips curved upward.

If it were a few days ago, maybe not, but now he seemed to know that things would be different again.

Now the training for Teams 1 and 2 proceeded as expected.

As the tension began to ease a bit, I took out a cola from my bag. Cheringen asked with a curious face.

“What’s that?”

“A carbonated drink that was recently imported.”

“Oh, really? The color looks like coffee.”

As expected, it’s not very famous since it’s early in production.

It’s only famous in its homeland, after all.

“Anyone want to drink?”

Philip now avoided eye contact when he saw cola, probably remembering that day.

Since everyone was wary, I gave the cola to Melvin, who looked the most pale, as encouragement.

Since we borrowed the 1st Education Institute Gymnasium anyway, the place is so large that no one gets caught for eating something.

Originally, professors from other departments who came to watch were also having something to drink.

Melvin, who had been keeping his mouth tightly shut, opened the cap.

‘But why is he shaking his hands like that?’

I thought he was drinking well, but then the sound of water spilling on the floor was heard.

Since it’s tiered seating, the sound of water dripping right behind my head was very vivid.

“Huh… Huhhhhh…”

“What’s in your cola?”

“N-no, no. It’s just my first time seeing such a wide field, so I’m a bit nervous…”

At those words, Philip’s eyes widened.

“Field? Not the drink? Hey. Know that you’ll die if you tremble during the exam.”

“Haha, does saying that help you relieve tension? I should have said this to you every time.”

At Cheringen’s words, Philip shut his mouth.

During that time, the two teams’ exams ended.

The students came out of the gymnasium that had been prepared separately as the exam hall and sat in the waiting area here.

Unlike Team 2’s atmosphere where curses would spill out if you poked them, all of Team 1 was relaxed.

Actually, even in Team 1, excluding Leo and Narke, the remaining four’s skills are no different from Team 2 members.

I’m watching the scene where pass or fail is divided by team member luck.

[Team 7, please enter.]

[Team 8, please enter.]

“Now it’s their turn.”

I focused on their movements again.

[30 seconds before exam start.]

Team 7, well, let them do their thing.

I fixed my gaze on Team 8’s broadcast screen.

Elias had his arm around Team 8’s leader’s shoulder.

‘He’s already established strict discipline.’

The team leader was frozen with a smiling face.

Even though he’s the only one in that team who’s close to Elias, if he’s like that…

[3, 2, 1. Begin.]

Beep―

[Attention to all citizens residing in Trier. A victim has currently occurred near Porta Nigra. Citizens are advised to….]

Trier.

A region where Roman-era ruins remain, and the oldest city in this Empire.

[Hmm~ Porta Nigra? Rome is good. It’s also good because you can clearly see the harsh point deductions coming.]

Elias grabbed the hood of Gunter’s training uniform from far away and put his arm around his shoulder.

The Team Leader, pulled along, looked around nervously with a tense face.

[Let’s do well, Germans. You know what to do, right?]

[Y-yes, I know.]

[Ah! Let go.]

Elias ignored Gunter’s words and grinned at the broadcast camera.

[Hey, Leo! Thanks~]

[…Elias…!]

He must be thanking him for clearly showing what needs to be done.

And the guy from Team 2 who mentioned property damage deductions earlier wouldn’t have said that if he had seen this field first.

The train station that was just built can simply be repaired, but in a place where ruins are scattered throughout the city, damage deductions are much harsher.

Elias released his arms from the Team Leader and Gunter and pushed their backs.

[Gunter. Go find all the ruins and set up barriers.]

“Hmm?”

Cheringen stroked his chin as if finding it interesting.

Now I see the team leader role seems to have changed.

Elias looked around at the students with a serious face and gave instructions.

[Ulrike, you start with civilian control.]

* * *

Elias’s team successfully dealt with the victim.

Though scores haven’t been announced yet, at least from what I could see, the results were completely opposite to the joint training from a few days ago.

After that, the exams for the next two teams ended smoothly as well.

Of course, I’m saying it was smooth in the sense that it ended quickly from my perspective as an observer, but the participants themselves probably weren’t satisfied.

‘Well, both Team 3 and Team 4 did worse than during joint training.’

It’s surprising how diversely they managed to fail.

Then I heard the announcement calling our team.

[Team 6, please enter.]

We moved to the gymnasium being used as the exam hall.

Perhaps due to nerves, no one opened their mouth.

After a while, Cheringen, who had been smiling leisurely, looked around at us and said.

“Our unique abilities are, first… lightning, and this one is plants, this one is super-perception. That’s it, right?”

“For now.”

The Class 1 Ainsiedel answered in an indifferent tone.

“Since we can use plant growth abilities, it would be good if we get a field with natural elements.”

Melvin timidly nodded at Cheringen’s words.

“…Uh, um, then… to use lightning too, we’d need to create cumulonimbus clouds. It should be warm to be advantageous, right? It would be good if we get something like a tropical rainforest.”

“Ha… do you think there are tropical rainforests in our country? Did you sleep during science class?”

As expected, the one who just snapped was Philip.

When I turned toward Philip, he shut his mouth like before.

Cheringen gave Philip a look and smiled while steering the topic back.

“I’m genuinely curious what we’ll get~? Since we had urban areas twice and one natural field before us, it seems like we’ll get something natural.”

Then, the countdown sound grew louder.

[3, 2, 1. Begin.]

Whoooosh―

The sound of wind hit my ears.

A cold that was hard to handle even with winter robes struck, making my body shrink involuntarily. Looking at their condition, my teammates seemed to be the same. No, they were worse off than me.

‘What?’

The surroundings were completely covered in snow.

Moreover, what I was stepping on… seemed to be rock.

Even though it’s January, I’ve been living well with this robe. It was made warm enough to avoid the midwinter cold just by draping it on without a coat. The capital wasn’t that cold to begin with anyway.

Then an alarm sounded.

[Attention to all citizens residing in Garmisch. A victim has currently occurred at Zugspitze Mountain. Citizens are advised to….]

A region that designates rampagers as victims.

It’s Bavaria.

But that’s not what’s important right now.

“…Zugspitze? In January?”

Someone muttered.

It is natural elements as desired.

The highest mountain in this Empire, and….

Cheringen burst into laughter and looked around at us.

“Guys, we….”

“….”

“We’re taking our exam in the Alps.”

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