How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 164

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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 (164)

Elias just blinked his eyes before suddenly falling on top of me.

It’s right to say he fell. Because Antagonist roared as he got up and hugged me.

“You thought to use that here?! Hey, the timing is perfect~”

“….”

“Lucas’s face went pale….”

My heart sank for a moment thinking he might fall backwards, but Elias didn’t care at all.

Anyway, even without me, Elias would have found a breakthrough. Though in that process, someone’s career would have been threatened in a groundbreaking way….

‘That would be more interesting though.’

But after falling into this world, it was hard to just leave it alone.

There was a considerable gap between watching a fire across the river and me standing next to the fire.

“If I tell Luca, everything gets solved. Thanks.”

“No, it’s not over yet. We’ll have to see after going there. And….”

I said while looking at my friends alternately.

“It doesn’t mean there’s definitely a connection with Pleroma. It’s just to extend the investigation. In case you think we can catch two rabbits at once.”

“Ah, I know~ I didn’t accept it as being related. If we do a full investigation, everyone will have to use their abilities anyway, so we’re trying to find politicians with ties to Primrose while we’re at it.”

He understood well.

Elias chuckled and continued.

“In the first place, those aren’t two rabbits but double the trouble…. Even if they appear, it’s ambiguous to beat them up.”

“You know it’s ambiguous too.”

“Hey, I know what I need to know! If it were easy to beat them up, you would have already blown up Osnabrück and come back. Saying you openly blew up Osnabrück means you’d have to face all of Pleroma, so how could it be easy.”

That’s right.

We needed time to hone our skills enough to defeat the entire Pleroma cult.

But now I’m not sure if it would be possible even if all the mages in the country joined together.

Narke, who had been listening quietly with a smile, said.

“It might be possible if we go against fate.”

“…Huh? But can you go against that? Looking at the scriptures, it turns out even that was God’s arrangement, something like that.”

“Hahaha, you know well. You’ve read the scriptures too much.”

Even if everything worked out….

‘Is it okay for a lifelong believer Cardinal to say such things?’

Sometimes I get scared he might be excommunicated.

Since Narke ended his words blandly without further explanation, Elias lightly diverted attention.

“Hmm~ If it were up to my heart, forget Primrose or whatever, I’d just want to play, eat, and laze around. Right?”

“Right~ I’m just waiting for summer vacation.”

“Ah, but it seems like we’ll be going out for training all summer vacation….”

At those words, the light disappeared from Narke’s eyes.

I guess he didn’t use foresight for things like this.

Anyway, now the two of them started chatting earnestly, leaving me out.

‘It’s surprising that he wants to play and eat.’

It feels strangely unfamiliar that the future Emperor has such thoughts. Even in this world that has changed a lot from the novel, whether he can become Emperor is uncertain, but Antagonist won’t have time to laze around because of his nature.

Born as a new human, as royalty, with that nature of constantly questioning that position, how could he play and eat?

Anyway, since I liked that and read through that insanely long novel without noticing time pass, I have no reason not to join Elias’s intentions now.

‘My friends have also accommodated my pace a lot so far….’

Anyway, there’s no time to think about such things now.

‘It’s 4 AM now.’

To see His Majesty today, I need to at least give Bavaria a heads up.

Just in case, I pressed the artifact to send a signal to Leo.

Then, even before the signal finished, Leo’s voice was heard.

[Lucas?]

“Oh.”

That’s fast.

[What?]

“Didn’t you sleep? Your voice sounds energetic.”

[How could I sleep? I heard from Elias that you were going there.]

Right, this guy was also wary of Haike just the same.

“Fortunately nothing happened, so go to sleep now. But there’s one thing I want to talk about. Today I’m going to request an audience with His Majesty as Nicolaus, and I thought you should know in advance.”

[At least you know what I should know, Lucas.]

“….”

Since I usually handled this and that on my own….

Anyway, I belong to the royal family, and this guy is my superior. In this situation where the Emperor uses Nicolaus while also keeping him in check, the Bavarian Royal Family that serves as my backing needs to know my entire schedule to be safe.

[Got it. I’ll send a letter to His Majesty in the evening.]

“Thanks.”

When I cut the connection, Elias waved the photo.

“Should we ask Haike to read the memories of this? I’m curious who took it and who brought it to school.”

“That’s a good idea.”

I said that and added a thought.

“But if Haike contacting Pleroma is really the future, it would be better not to reveal any information as much as possible.”

Even if it doesn’t become a huge problem, you never know what information might cause a butterfly effect, so it’s better to be careful.

Elias seemed to think it was reasonable and slowly nodded, then looked at me.

“Luca. But shouldn’t we stop Haike before he gets captured by those guys~? That’s what I’m going to do.”

“….”

If impossible to conquer means ‘we can’t change the future with our power.’

I was so absorbed in that that I couldn’t think of the obvious.

“Right. We should.”

We have to stop it before it happens.

We can’t just sit back without even trying.

Narke smiled and held out his hand.

“Should I try reading it? If some useless information is okay, I can read it.”

“Yes!”

Elias handed the photo to Narke as if he’d been waiting.

Narke fiddled with the photo then grabbed his forehead.

“The person in this photo would be in big trouble if they knew it was taken. More than that, I think the person who took it thought they were photographing Elias.”

“…Why would they think it’s me? Is the person in the photo really Ainsiedel?”

At those words, Narke just stroked his chin for a while.

“Elias. Don’t get angry and listen.”

“Yeah. Why would I get angry at you~”

“It’s you.”

“What?”

Silence followed.

One second felt like one minute.

Narke tilted his head and smiled.

“Well, that’s how it reads with my ability… but I know better that it’s not true~ I even dyed your hair black then. It’s just speculation, but maybe because the subject who took the photo mistook that person for you, it reads that way to me too. Anyway, if everyone mistakes him for you to that extent, circumstantially it’s probably Ainsiedel~”

“…Just how similar are we? What are that person’s characteristics! Tell me so I can prepare myself mentally. They say you die if you meet someone identical~”

Then, Narke said to Elias who still couldn’t grasp it.

“Right now there’s one important thing. At Primrose Pass, they have tremendous hostility toward you, Elias. That much is certain.”

“…Right.”

Whether they were mistaken or not, trying to photograph ‘Elias’ was probably to use this for blackmail.

Elias was probably thinking the same thing now, just holding his head for a while.

He slowly opened his mouth.

“And… as I said before, you guys be careful too. From now on, Primrose Pass will try to kill me. Of course, they probably won’t actually kill me.”

Narke nodded at Elias’s words.

“They’ll kill him socially~ Especially with nobles, physically attacking them only harms the attacker… Especially recently, it’s common to gradually pick off those around them.”

“Well, how do you know? The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith doesn’t do that kind of thing, does it~?”

“…”

Silence followed.

A subtle smile appeared on Elias’s face after his casual question.

“Haha, not me but people from hundreds of years ago… Since I study the history of the organization I belong to~ Just to be clear, the current Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith absolutely doesn’t do that!”

He seems to be talking about the Inquisition era.

“Right… Anyway, it’s as Narke said. They’ll try to gradually cut off my personal relationships. Of course, they can’t pose a real threat to you, but as I said before, it’ll become troublesome…”

The thugs’ methods are obvious.

Isn’t their method to torment those around him to make him feel guilty, to slowly bleed him dry?

That’s not Elias’s fault. He was just trying to prevent crime; that criminal gang acting like thugs is what’s wrong. Anyway, as in the novel, all of this will affect his ascension to the throne, so I have no major reason to oppose or withdraw from it.

I organized my thoughts and spoke to Narke.

“Narke. There’s something you need to do when you go to School.”

“Hm?”

“About the rampage incident, until now it’s been entirely an internal School investigation. When I reported the damage to Professor, you had already requested drug analysis from Bavaria Magic Medical Center through your friend Leo’s help.”

“Right, we coordinated the story that way~”

“I’ll convince Adelbert, so now tell Professor. That Prince is now ready to report the entire situation to His Majesty.”

* * *

Adelbert hesitated slightly but ultimately followed my wishes.

That perfectionist didn’t want to let even his family know that he had nearly rampaged after taking drugs.

I don’t plan to tell everyone anyway. Just three or four professors from Imperial 2nd Education Institute and Emperor. Only they need to know.

‘Now the culprit has lost their mind and even touched Elias.’

That means Antagonist is still being careless.

I can’t let this situation slip by.

That evening, I visited Emperor in Nicolaus’s form.

I sent a letter during dinner time, and surprisingly, Emperor said he would meet with me immediately in less than 30 minutes.

‘The shock of his child nearly rampaging must have been considerable.’

He thinks I’ll somehow provide a solution.

I stood in front of a Room I was visiting for the first time.

Located in the most secluded area and covered entirely with special magic, I could feel how anxious he was.

When Servant announced my arrival, I immediately heard a voice from inside telling me to enter.

“Have you been in good health, Your Majesty?”

“Yes.”

Emperor concluded his words simply without further pleasantries.

I sat in front of him and said.

“You don’t look well.”

“I’ve received unpleasant news, so it can’t be helped. I’d appreciate your understanding.”

Without giving me a chance to respond, Emperor immediately continued.

“You know too, don’t you? My nephew is also a victim of this incident.”

“Yes, I’m aware.”

Emperor slowly lifted the teacup in front of him and took a sip of tea.

Despite his attempt to find composure, his face remained flushed.

“To think they still haven’t caught the culprit makes my blood boil. And the fact that I heard about this a week later doesn’t help.”

“…”

“Of course, receiving the report only now was Adelbert’s decision, so I can forgive that, but I cannot tolerate Imperial 2nd Education Institute’s complacency.”

He sighed and spoke in a subdued voice.

“Of course, there’s also the possibility that the culprit isn’t within School. If it’s someone who would attempt such a thing on my child, I don’t know where to even begin… My head aches.”

He certainly seems flustered.

To start talking about his child without any preamble.

I’m not trying to think something like ‘After all, this person is also Father who has a child.’

It’s just nauseating that someone who can do their best for their own child sits in the position of Empire’s leader and tramples the Old Humans, his own people, to death.

God shed the blood of His only begotten Son for humanity, yet this person ignores the suffering of Old Humans to keep one nephew in check while feeling endless rage and anxiety over his own child’s rampage crisis.

Although I, thinking this, am an atheist, Emperor is still a Protestant. This person is acting completely opposite to the teachings of the religion he believes in.

But I cannot reveal this disgust in front of him.

“Your Majesty, I have something to tell you about that. If it’s someone who could commit such a crime against royalty, they wouldn’t be an ordinary person. They must have deep connections to Pleroma.”

“That would be so.”

“Previously, I told you there are Pleroma within Empire’s government. How about proceeding with verification of all government officials as promised then? I will follow Your Majesty’s opinion completely.”

Silence flowed.

Emperor drank his tea again and looked out the window as he spoke.

“Count. The reason we postponed that verification was because Pleroma began destroying our subjects’ lives. Even at this moment, there are probably those dying from rampages.”

“…”

What he was trying to say was clear.

To think he’s considering his political life even in this situation.

Emperor spoke slowly.

“Let’s proceed with the verification in utmost secrecy. Even after the verification is completed, this matter must not leak anywhere.”

This was what I had hoped for.

If we report that we swept Prussian Government today, how do you think other countries will react?

They’ll naturally prepare countermeasures.

This verification would be over if Emperor showed even the slightest complacency, but if he approaches it this way first, I welcome it.

“We’ll do that, Your Majesty. And there’s one more thing I need to tell you. While not directly related to this assassination attempt, I learned of an incident that’s presumed to involve Pleroma. The timing is coincidental, so it might be good for you to know about this too.”

“What is it?”

Emperor’s eyebrows began to tense slightly.

I could clearly tell he had no intention of dismissing this story.

‘It’s over.’

I placed the photos I had received from Elias on the table.

“Pleroma Bishop visited Primrose Pass.”

* * *

After that, everything proceeded swiftly.

The materials obtained through the search and seizure were not returned. This was the story I had heard from Elias earlier.

Emperor doesn’t know Bishop’s face, but basically the ‘Pleroma Taskforce’ image he had of me seemed solid.

There wasn’t much more to gain from suspicion anyway, and if believing brought benefits, it would be beneficial rather than harmful, so it was natural.

And I visited the police station starting today for verification.

Along with a Mage from Imperial Palace who uses divine power. This meant Emperor was also keeping me in check to some degree. It meant monitoring whether I was implanting wrong ideas in government officials.

‘Of course, it’s beneficial for me.’

I don’t want false accusations pinned on me later.

So I also brought one of King’s attendants from Bavaria—with both countries’ permission—so there shouldn’t be any problems with this.

After talking with Police Chief for a while, when there was nothing more to gain, I placed my hand on his forehead and muttered.

—Enter through Narrow Entrance.

“…Hm?”

As soon as I finished speaking, focus returned to Police Chief’s eyes.

Seeing the magic work with just that one phrase, he didn’t seem to have particularly strong mental fortitude either.

‘More than that, his way of thinking really…’

I don’t want to get more involved.

Anyway, I couldn’t read any connection to Pleroma from him.

Instead, there was collusion with Primrose Pass.

‘Just how much money did you take?’

I snapped my fingers to remove the lingering effects of brainwashing from him and said.

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

“Not at all. Please feel free to ask about Pleroma’s movements anytime.”

Seeing him say such random things, it seems the fake memories I implanted have settled in well.

I got up from my seat, gave a brief greeting, and stepped outside.

The Imperial Mage followed behind me. He probably already knew from watching until now, but I summarized once more.

“First, among the people I met today, none were related to Pleroma. There was also no connection to His Highness the Prince.”

“Understood. I will report accordingly.”

I exchanged brief greetings with him as well and immediately boarded the carriage the Emperor had prepared.

‘I’m tired.’

I used too much divine power in one day, so my head hurts.

‘Still, this much can be considered a success.’

Things are going smoothly.

It’s almost questionable how everything is unfolding exactly as planned.

After thinking about various things for a while, the carriage stopped in front of the inn Elias had secured.

I immediately changed clothes there and warped to the dormitory. The familiar room I had seen just yesterday spread out before my eyes.

Before I could even feel relieved, my legs wouldn’t move as if they were rooted to the ground.

“…?”

It’s not a rampage.

I didn’t feel any magic cast in the air.

The problem is…

I looked down at the floor.

It’s an unfamiliar magic, but I know what this is.

Someone cast warp magic on the floor.

The moment I thought that, everything in front of my eyes turned black.

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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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