How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 170

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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 (170)

Our school, they say.

It’s a good thing, but the burden is tremendous.

Aren’t these people who have spent every single day with me? Even though I’ve altered my voice and covered my mana, body scent, and divine power, I’m still conscious that Lucas Ascanien’s atmosphere might subtly show through in my actions.

‘At least there’s no one around.’

I deliberately came through the back gate to avoid being noticed.

Imperial carriages entering and leaving our foundation’s school isn’t particularly unusual, but today it would be troublesome if crowds gathered before I finished my business.

As soon as I got off the carriage, I could see the faces of the Imperial 2nd Education Institute’s chancellor and Leo.

I was about to greet them when I saw another person standing beside them and closed my mouth.

Adelbert was standing there, looking at me with sparkling eyes.

“…”

I didn’t come here to interview a respected figure, but every time I see that guy, that’s all I can think about.

Just then, the chancellor approached me and removed her hat.

“It’s my first time meeting you, Count Ernst. I am Helena Falkenhain.”

“Pleased to meet you. I heard from His Majesty that you actively cooperated with this matter.”

“It was only natural. For the safety of our school, and if it’s His Majesty’s will, I’m prepared to follow anything.”

I responded with a smile instead of words.

Actually, this person is the acting chancellor.

I don’t know where the real chancellor went, but that person hasn’t shown their face once since enrollment.

The students just call the acting chancellor the chancellor.

Before he could drag out his words, I spoke to Leo.

“Your Highness, it feels fresh seeing you at school.”

Leo twisted only one corner of his mouth before nodding.

“I feel the same way.”

“Yes. And… Prince, I’m glad to see you’ve recovered well.”

“Ah, so you heard everything.”

If I hadn’t heard about the rampage, there would have been no reason to talk about recovery.

Anyway, I handled it directly, so how could I not know.

I swallowed the words that had risen to my throat and asked a different question.

“You’ll have to report everything that happened today to His Majesty in detail, won’t you be tired?”

Adelbert being here isn’t for fun.

He’s trying to additionally perform the role of the imperial divine power mage who followed beside me at the police station.

Of course, besides Adelbert, there is an imperial mage who came with me now.

At my question, Adelbert startled and raised his voice.

“Not at all! I think it’s an incredibly meaningful opportunity. I’m grateful that His Majesty, no, that you accepted my request, Count.”

‘That much?’

As if thinking the same thing, I could see Leo’s expression beside me change to one of puzzlement.

Feeling almost like I was at a job interview, I just smiled.

“I’m grateful you think of it that way. But if we stay here any longer, the school grounds will become chaotic. Let’s go inside now.”

The chancellor, who had been watching with a smile, took me into the nearest building.

“Count Ernst. Today’s purpose has been set as collecting materials about Pleroma, so if any problems arise, please handle it that way.”

“Yes, I understand.”

I don’t plan to use divine power from the start.

School is different from the police station.

The professors have been desperately investigating Adelbert’s attempted rampage incident for two weeks, and there’s a student they’ve marked as a suspect—me—and they have their own well-founded opinions.

To prevent them from questioning the results, I’d need to completely remove not just today’s memories but all memories and materials, so it’s better to use divine power only when really necessary and lead conversations to persuade them.

After that, I exchanged a few more words with the chancellor before entering the building’s underground.

A small auditorium appeared that I had never entered even once as a student.

The chancellor stood in front of the door and turned around.

“You may go in. Since you’ll need to use magic on me as well, I’ll go in together.”

“Yes, I understand.”

When I went inside, the professors I had seen yesterday were sitting there wearing formal robes.

My eyes naturally turned to the professors wearing red formal robes.

The Knight Department. I briefly made eye contact with Professor Traut.

I stood in front of the platform and looked around the audience as I spoke.

“It’s my first time meeting you all.”

Due to the distance, even the sound I made echoed back to me.

I cast amplification magic and continued speaking.

“I believe you all know well why I came here today. Regarding the recent attempted rampage incident, I came here to compare and analyze the school’s investigation with information I investigated separately. I thank all the professors of the Imperial 2nd Education Institute for your willing cooperation.”

Actually, they probably didn’t cooperate willingly, but that’s not my concern.

Sure enough, someone opened their mouth with a displeased expression.

[Are you planning to use magic to make us confess? Aren’t you trying to identify the culprit by assuming there’s a criminal among us?]

“I’m sorry you think that way. My participation in the Imperial 2nd Education Institute’s investigation is His Majesty’s command.”

[…]

As expected, they’re dissatisfied with investigating only the professors. They’re asking ‘Won’t you investigate the students?’

I won’t investigate them.

‘Then it would become a situation where Nicolaus investigates Lucas, would I do that?’

No way.

In the first place, if we distinguish the ‘political world’ as Pleroma expressed it, the Imperial 2nd Education Institute can hardly be considered part of it.

In reality, only about 50% of the professors are politicians, and according to the initial contract, the school isn’t my jurisdiction, and actually investigating this far while leaving the ‘political world’ alone is wasteful.

But the Emperor isn’t someone who would back down over such things.

One of the two letters Leo brought from Bavaria was an additional agreement the Emperor sent to the Bavarian royal family.

The fact that he handed the contract to the royal family first means, in light of the current situation, that he made it so there would be no disadvantageous terms for Nicolaus and Bavaria even after legal review.

‘Well thought out.’

In this political arena, no one signs contracts at meetings without having their legal team analyze them. In other words, the Emperor prepared the stage so I could move immediately.

And as if proving this, he didn’t include ‘interrogation of students’ in the additional agreement.

Why? While professors are half politicians and the foundation is structurally under imperial jurisdiction, giving plenty of room to draw out my agreement, the politicians among students can be counted on one hand, and they’re not employed by the school but people who paid the school.

He was clearly concerned about lengthy legal interpretations.

‘Of course, if nothing comes from the professors, he’ll subtly extend his hand to the students too.’

Thanks to the Emperor’s impatience wanting me to move immediately after a new incident broke out, I avoided one danger.

That situation where Nicolaus would have to interrogate Lucas. Just thinking about it gives me chills.

I now cleared my thoughts and focused on them.

“And I know that trying to solve things through coercive methods isn’t a good approach. Let’s talk carefully until you’re all convinced, and it won’t be too late to act after that. Let’s slowly compare the information we each have. That’s the help I can offer you, and what His Majesty desires.”

[…]

“First, I received the school investigation records this morning. The Magic Department was in charge. It’s notable how thoroughly you investigated using every method except divine power.”

At those words, the Knight Department professors slightly furrowed their brows and looked at the Magic Department professors.

[Ah, so that’s why you demanded minute-by-minute statements? I heard about the attempted rampage incident only today and was wondering…]

“It must have been for the investigation. As a result of that investigation… it’s notable that you couldn’t find anyone with a gap period for preparing the crime.”

As soon as those words came out, someone from the Magic Department opened their mouth as if they’d been waiting.

[That’s right, Count Ernst. I understand coming here because it’s an imperial command, but as you just read, we couldn’t find a single person with suspicious points among our faculty.]

It was Professor Vinter.

To encounter someone I saw yesterday in a different appearance. Anyway, he seemed to have no idea that I was that student.

Judging by the reaction, our homeroom professor was the same.

I nodded to indicate he should continue speaking.

[If you think ‘there must be Pleroma among the faculty,’ we’ve already reviewed that and can tell you it’s absolutely not the case. Then the crime must have occurred under Pleroma’s or their associates’ instigation, and someone inside our school became the conduit for the crime. Right?]

“You share the same opinion as me.”

I smiled lightly and continued.

“To enter a room and commit a crime, you need to know the detailed coordinates, so at least the person who provided the coordinates becomes the culprit inside the school. And detailed coordinates are only accessible to faculty, right?”

[Students often find out detailed warp coordinates of rooms and warp directly into rooms. It’s not uncommon for them to share this with friends. So we should also consider that the conduit for the crime might be among the students.]

Here, detailed warp coordinates means coordinates to enter directly into the room interior, not the hallway in front of the room. Because I didn’t know this, I had to break down Adelbert’s room door to enter.

Anyway, I had to hold back my laughter.

He still thinks the culprit is among the students.

Well, if we had to find a suspect among the students, Heike Einsiedel would be the most likely candidate rather than me… but he still seems to suspect me.

[Anyway, that’s not the point. If one of the professors was acting under Pleroma’s orders, there should be a gap. The time to go out and talk to those contacts and conspire to commit crimes!]

“Hmm.”

I nodded briefly.

He continued speaking rapidly like a machine gun.

[Or did they communicate using artifacts? Did they go out and receive letters directly? Knowing this might happen, we already conducted surprise searches of faculty quarters and their homes. We even went to the home of a professor who had been stuck at school for three months and ransacked his house.]

“…”

[Naturally, we didn’t find a single trace.]

I listened to his words with interest for the first time in a while.

Since I just stared at him without responding, he began defending the faculty even more passionately.

[To prepare for a crime, they would need to obtain drugs, so they’d have to warp outside directly to bring items or go meet Pleroma. Or someone from outside would have to warp drugs to the school or send medicine through the school post office. Right?]

“Please continue.”

[The second case is ridiculous. Transporting only inanimate objects with warp magic was banned this year, and all mail within the school is censored and goes through a purification process. So let’s look at the first case. Warping directly outside… The time to bring medicine wouldn’t even take a minute, so perhaps the drug aspect could be acknowledged.]

Now the other professors began nodding their heads.

[But professors at Imperial 2nd Education Institute are different from students. It’s not a word choice I particularly like, but the faculty here are entirely the foundation’s property. In exchange for receiving tens of millions of fel in research funds, they can be deployed anywhere. While students are allowed warp magic to guarantee their freedom, professors must be on campus 24 hours a day as guardians of the school. Whether walking out or warping out, they must report detailed reasons every time they leave, and they can’t be away for long periods.]

This hadn’t been the case for very long.

After experiencing the Bavaria mage attack incident last year, and then Pleroma poisoning the river, the regulations changed like this.

The reason was that since the school was no longer a safe zone, professors’ protection was needed.

I opened the reason report recorded in the investigation file.

‘Really, none of them go outside.’

Even combining all department professors for the past month, the outing list only amounts to one page worth.

I nodded and said.

“I see. Especially if the culprit for the runaway attempt incident and this Ascanien incident are the same… there would be even more conflicts.”

To supplement Professor Vinter’s lacking logic a bit…

Someone could leave letters at storage facilities or shops with instructions to be delivered to people at our school.

How long would it take to go out on business and secretly receive a letter? In this case, naturally there would be no gap.

But there’s something else to consider.

While this might work for the runaway attempt incident that had a long preparation period, it doesn’t work for this warp magic incident.

Not knowing I would take his side, Professor Vinter exchanged glances with his colleagues before asking me.

[What do you mean by conflicts?]

“First, let me inform you of this. Primrose Pass is receiving support from Pleroma. But I heard this warp magic was connected to Primrose Pass?”

[Yes, that’s correct. But that side is with Pleroma…?]

There’s no reason to answer his question one by one.

I immediately spoke.

“The reason they chose Student Ascanien as a target is because the prosecution investigation resumed after I met Emperor. Now that Elias and I are seen as partners, Primrose Pass probably believed that attacking Elias’s friend would be sufficient pressure.”

I felt Leo frowning beside me.

Of course, that’s not the complete reason I was taken, but there’s no need to reveal that.

And this is as much information as Leo needs to know. No, for future activities, he needs to know at least this much. But knowing more than this would be dangerous.

[…]

The professor nodded as if telling me to continue.

Primrose Pass chose me as a retaliation target after hearing news that Nicolaus had visited the Imperial Palace.

I sent the letter to Emperor at 6:30. I sent the letter during dinner time, and within 30 minutes, a reply came saying he would meet me immediately. From 7 o’clock when the reply came, I prepared and entered the Imperial Palace at about 7:30.

Even if the news reached Primrose Pass directly without any delay, it would be 7:30.

But there’s a problem here. Emperor didn’t order the resumption of the Primrose Pass investigation at 7:30.

“The pressure on the prosecution came at 8:30 PM after my conversation with His Majesty ended. If Primrose Pass or Pleroma wanted to attack a student at the school, there should be someone who went out from this time to hear orders and plan the crime…”

I continued speaking while carefully reading through the investigation record.

“There’s no one.”

[…Haha, that’s right. You’ve acknowledged it too. Whether warping or walking out, there’s no time to meet Pleroma directly, no way to exchange letters or communicate through artifacts. Where exactly would there be time to conspire together? As you expressed, none of the professors have any ‘gaps.’]

I smiled at those words.

It’s similar to what I heard in the disappeared time.

I asked the Human I last met at Primrose Pass how they received notification and proceeded with their work.

He said he didn’t meet directly, didn’t contact in writing, didn’t communicate through artifacts, and didn’t receive orders through any intermediary, whether person or animal.

After that, only one thing occurred to me.

“Even without gaps, it’s entirely possible to commit the crime.”

At those words, Leo and Adelbert’s gazes turned to me.

“If they already know what they need to do, there’s no need for time to go out and conspire crimes.”

[Ernst.]

An expression that said ‘speak sensibly’ flashed across the professor’s face.

It had to. If they already knew what to do beforehand, that would mean Pleroma is within the school.

“I’ll tell you this for the first time here. Pleroma gives revelations in the name of missions to those newly born.”

This was something I learned from Asman.

No one told him, but from the moment of rebirth, he instinctively felt the mission to ‘lead many people to Pleroma’s path.’

And getting an idea from this, my last question to the Human at Primrose Pass was this.

Did you receive direct instructions in your head? If that’s possible, can the one giving instructions also control thoughts and actions?

And that Human nodded.

“As you might guess from the word revelation, Pleroma can transmit information directly into minds. The time needed for criminal conspiracy would be almost nonexistent. And according to what I’ve discovered, even those who aren’t Pleroma can receive revelations without problems.”

[…]

Professor Vinter just stood there with confused eyes, seemingly at a loss for words.

Anyway, professors can access detailed warp coordinates inside all dormitories if they want to, making them better tools than anyone else.

If only they could be given revelations.

“Now, does that answer your question about gaps? Shall we begin?”

I rolled the new wand I received from Bavaria between my fingers.

And I struck the staff end against the floor.

BANG―!

―Enter through the narrow gate.

Pure white light surged out. I felt the Royal Mage behind me casting protective magic in front of Leo and Adelbert.

‘The question is whether they know about their own crime or not.’

Thinking about the meeting that happened at dawn, I’d bet on ‘doesn’t remember.’

“Between 8:30 PM yesterday and midnight, someone will have had their memory blank out, even briefly.”

I looked at them and spoke slowly.

“Those who apply, please answer.”

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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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