How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 172

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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 (172)

“No way.”

Leo muttered quietly.

Looking in that direction, my mind also froze for a moment.

One second began to feel like an eternity. Only after a long time had passed did I slowly close and open my eyes. I had to confirm whether what I saw was reality.

‘…Was the question.’

Inaccurate? I must have said something wrong. If not, it doesn’t make sense.

Why him?

I frantically scanned the surroundings again, stopping my gaze among the professors wearing magic department ceremonial robes. One of their heads was slowly tilting.

Even when I looked again to see if anyone else was reacting, my gaze stopped at that spot several times.

Even the Royal Mage who had just finished dealing with the operations team staff and returned here was looking at him.

His head tilted and stopped when it touched the backrest.

Thud—

“…”

It’s our class professor.

Someone I had never once expected.

I shook my head and slowly opened my mouth.

“…From yesterday evening until before midnight, have you heard or thought about the coordinates ‘233.3:808.3:000.1’?”

[…]

Once again, only our class professor reacted to my words by dropping his head.

Rather than nodding, it was closer to lowering his head that had been leaning against the backrest, but in a situation where everyone else showed no reaction, I knew what it meant for him alone to show conspicuous movement.

Leo’s face was already completely drained of color.

“…”

Just looking at the +6 favorability rating, he’s probably the only one among our school’s professors who looks at me without prejudice.

He believed that I couldn’t have caused Adelbert and Elias to go berserk, that I couldn’t be Pleroma.

When I was distracted by identifying suspects and Professor Traut’s eccentric behavior, he was angry on my behalf and tried to refer Professor Vinter to the faculty disciplinary committee.

Was all of this a smokescreen to cover up his crimes?

‘No. It’s ambiguous.’

I already know how revelation works.

That Human nodded when asked if he received commands directly in his head, and whether those commands could control his body.

There might have been errors up to that point since he could have been mistaken.

But I verified that it was true by asking the same question three times.

If he wasn’t being controlled, he should know that he went to ‘Magic Department Dormitory Building 1’, ‘Student Lucas Ascanien’s room’. There’s no reason to react only to simple coordinate numbers.

‘Damn…’

Starting with attempted murder of royalty, threatening the safety of Imperial 2nd Education Institute, and trying to hand me over to Primrose Pass – for all these crimes, the real culprit will hide behind the professor while the professor is executed alone without knowing why.

“So you’re saying Senior Lucas’s homeroom teacher entered his student’s room and installed warp magic. Then that professor must have contaminated my room too?”

Adelbert spoke analytically without any emotion, and when none of us answered, he began looking around with puzzled eyes.

Right.

I need to find that out now.

First, I can’t just stand by and watch him get his throat cut, and if my hypothesis is correct, there was no reason for him to be chosen even if he was being controlled.

I cast a sound-blocking spell in front of the professors and asked Leo.

“Your Highness.”

“…”

“What are the warp coordinates for Student Elias Hohenzollern’s room?”

I knew, but I had to ask to create the performance.

Leo, still with a pale face and unable to take his eyes off the professor, muttered.

“233.3:805.2:007.1.”

“What about Prince Adelbert?”

“237.8:808.3:001.5… Could it be…?”

I snapped my fingers once to dispel the sound-blocking magic and struck my staff on the floor.

Divine power spread throughout the auditorium once again.

“Is there anyone who recently heard the coordinates ‘233.3:805.2:007.1’? Please raise your hand instead of answering.”

Would they understand these long numbers? As my head became foggy, useless worries came to me now, but unlike the stupid thugs I met at Primrose Pass, these people understood my words exactly.

“…Huh.”

Adelbert opened his mouth wide with his eyes widened.

All the magic department professors reacted.

And at the end of the auditorium, someone among the group dressed entirely in red ceremonial robes raised their hand to chest level.

“You may lower your hands. And is there anyone who has heard the coordinates ‘237.8:808.3:001.5’? Please raise your hand similarly.”

The reaction was identical.

Those who had heard Elias’s room coordinates had also heard Adelbert’s room coordinates.

The suspect pool for both incidents is the same.

Then the problem now is this.

‘Too much time has passed since the day of the incident.’

There’s been a lot of contamination for gathering information.

Unlike the warp incident that happened just yesterday, the attempted berserk incident happened quite a while ago. They might have heard the warp coordinates not for committing crimes but during the investigation process.

So…

‘What question should I ask to leave only the real culprit?’

My head is throbbing.

Still, I had to provide an answer. I stood holding my forehead for a moment, then quietly opened my mouth.

“Those who know which student’s room ‘233.3:805.2:007.1’ belongs to, please lower your hands.”

They’ve heard coordinates that are supposed to be confidential, but they don’t know it’s Elias’s room.

What would that mean?

Rustling sounds could be heard. None of the magic department professors were raising their hands anymore.

“…”

My eyes turned to the only person with their hand raised.

Knight Department, specifically a Magic Swordsmanship professor.

The very person who pressed me yesterday saying I ‘must not be related to Pleroma’ is the culprit of the attempted berserk incident.

‘…Right.’

This one is as expected.

Elias claimed that ‘I would have attacked Adelbert at Primrose Pass to politically destroy me.’

And I only kept reserving judgment on that opinion.

After returning from Primrose Pass, I became convinced that there wasn’t no connection at all, but there’s still a problem with the crucial part.

If Adelbert had to be killed to politically eliminate Elias, instead of using berserk, they could have sent someone to kill him, mixed lethal doses of poison in his food and water, or given revelation to Elias.

No, they absolutely should have done that.

Why?

Because if they used berserk, the most likely suspect would be Luca, who has lived his entire life being considered Pleroma.

Not Elias, who is Nicolaus’s partner and accepted as part of the Pleroma Taskforce.

If they planned to use the image reversal to amplify the damage—if they planned to frame Elias using berserk, they should have at least created evidence that would make him a suspect.

This very sloppiness was the reason I hadn’t accepted Elias’s claims all this time.

And the moment the same thing happened to Elias beyond Adelbert, I was certain.

Whatever the final target is, this incident is turning its blade toward me.

Then, let’s consider the case where their primary plan fails and Lucas Ascanien slips out of suspicion.

Right now. This moment when I’m not meekly accepting false accusations.

Stories are made of cause and effect. Crime scenarios must be the same. No, they must be composed of even more meticulous cause and effect than any other story in the world.

Who could try to frame me?

From my perspective, the most certain culprit is Stefan Traut.

A scholar from Anhalt Duchy at Imperial 2nd Education Institute, a professor who aligned himself with Hyung, someone who would benefit if Adrian Ascanien succeeded.

Now that the successor to the Ascanien duchy is uncertain, it’s a clear fact that Hyung’s followers won’t welcome me.

So, they would have given revelation to Stefan Traut.

This was my speculation.

“Ernst, so there’s more than one culprit right now?”

“That’s right.”

I muttered without even looking at Adelbert.

Adelbert couldn’t accept the situation where there were two criminals, and only now shook his head as if shocked.

“The person who sprinkled the drug in my and Senior Elias’s room and the person who cast warp magic on Senior Lucas’s room are different? How could two people do such things in one school….”

“No. That’s enough about conscience issues.”

I spoke briefly to Adelbert, who had gotten excited and gone into faulty logic.

I don’t have the energy to give advice.

Leo, who always maintained his composure well on the surface, rarely bit his lip.

Soon he cast a sound-blocking spell around me, excluding the Prince.

“Count. Professor Traut is the culprit of the rampage attempt incident.”

“Yes.”

“Weren’t you considering all of yesterday’s incidents to be his doing as well? If the rampage incident was meant to frame Lucas Ascanien.”

I hadn’t told him anything, but as expected, he spoke as if he had entered my mind and come back out.

“….”

“But then why did Professor Rohn receive a revelation this time? If they had set up a double target assuming a situation where the false accusation would be cleared and the culprit revealed, they should have chosen him as Lucas’s enemy this time instead. Because in this situation, Student Lucas should be the victim.”

Leo clearly believes I will give him an answer.

He wouldn’t want to accept that the adult he trusted is involved in this matter in some way.

“Later. Not now.”

I barely managed to open my mouth to give a brief answer and broke the sound-blocking spell.

Then, the Royal Mage who had been silently watching from behind spoke in an indifferent voice.

“Two people total. I’ll take them into custody.”

“….”

I didn’t answer and snapped my fingers.

The professors groaned and sat up with voices like they had just woken from sleep.

When my answer didn’t come, the Royal Mage leaned his face toward me.

“Ernst? May I transfer the two culprits you just identified directly to the Investigation Bureau as they are?”

“…Do so.”

I answered without taking my eyes off the professors.

The professors, who had looked tired but relaxed like before the spell was cast, exchanged glances at our conversation.

[Investigation Bureau?]

[What does that mean?]

I spoke to the Royal Mage.

“But there’s something you should know. These people are not the real culprits.”

“What? You identified them as the culprits.”

“Since the crimes were committed through revelations according to Pleroma’s methods, these people are merely puppets. You should know that there’s someone else with malicious intent to attack the students of Imperial 2nd Education Institute.”

At my words, the Royal Mage nodded but said something different.

“First, we need to find out whether revelations actually exist and whether they really received them. What is the name of the Professor sitting over there?”

He pointed to our class professor as he spoke.

The professor looked around and then asked with bewildered eyes.

[Are you talking to me?]

“Yes.”

[…Johannes Rohn. Why do you ask?]

The Royal Mage didn’t answer his question and pointed to where Traut was sitting.

“What is the name of the Professor sitting at the front of this row?”

Traut answered with a frown as if he couldn’t understand the current situation.

[Stefan Traut.]

“Both of you need to move to the Investigation Bureau immediately.”

[What?]

[Wait, have you found the culprit?]

Professor Vinter stood up abruptly with a flustered face.

[Ernst! Are you saying that our Imperial 2nd Education Institute faculty threatened students? The investigation must be wrong!]

[Wait a moment! I never entered the dormitory yesterday. Why would I have cast warp magic to Primrose Pass in a student’s room? Besides, Student Lucas is my student, so why would I do such a thing to a student in my class…!]

Our class professor shouted.

Traut also tried to say something with a pale face, but the Royal Mage immediately cast a sound-blocking spell on him. It was quite a rude action.

“Regardless of which class you’re in charge of, both of you have confessed to being the culprits yourselves, so there’s no need to say more.”

The Royal Mage said this and placed his hand on his wand. Since his opponents were mages, he clearly intended to subdue them quickly and drag them away by force.

Meanwhile, our class professor stood up and spoke loudly.

[I only moved to the dormitory after receiving a report from our class president. There’s also a Professor here who was with me until 10 o’clock. I was organizing materials for today’s class until before midnight, and besides, what would I gain from…!]

He seemed at a loss for words and stayed quiet, then looked at me.

[Ernst, I really didn’t harm my student. I have absolutely no reason to do such a thing.]

“….”

I know he has no reason to do so.

I answered with a sense of devastation.

“You wouldn’t.”

[What?]

“Because you would have simply received a revelation. As I told you an hour ago.”

[…Wait, then, are you saying that I’m really the one who installed magic in the student’s room?]

Silence flowed.

I slowly opened my mouth.

“It’s difficult to say for certain right now, but even so, it wasn’t your will, Professor.”

[….]

The Professor now stood with his shoulders drooping and a soulless expression.

He seemed to need time to understand.

Since ‘revelation’ was just a name I temporarily assigned, and no one currently knows who gave it or how it could be given, I had nothing more to say to him.

The Royal Mage scolded me.

“Ernst, you shouldn’t answer so definitively about matters the Investigation Bureau hasn’t concluded. He might be the real culprit.”

He drew his wand and aimed it at the professor.

―Through our reliance on the Lord, we shall overcome our adversaries….

Crash―!

I deflected his magic and turned my head to the Royal Mage.

“You can’t just listen to what suits your taste and leave. If you don’t trust my reasoning, do you find my guidance methods you’ve heard so far trustworthy?”

“No, that’s not what I meant….”

“Not what you meant?”

“….”

Since he couldn’t answer for a long time, I continued speaking.

“If this was done of their own volition, why doesn’t either of them remember setting foot in the dormitory?”

“They might have erased their own memories…. There’s also the possibility that another culprit who was their accomplice erased their memories.”

“Have you checked the investigation records? Imperial 2nd Education Institute has no mages who can use divine power, and no one went outside during the time last night’s incident occurred. So why can’t that Professor remember what happened last night? Don’t you still understand what it means that he only responded to coordinates?”

“That’s….”

The Royal Mage just looked around with a troubled expression.

Then the Investigation Bureau mages he had called warped to this location.

I spoke slowly.

“I’m not saying don’t investigate, nor am I saying don’t punish them even though guilt has been established. I’m saying don’t hastily conclude and keep possibilities open since evidence has emerged that we can’t determine how far this matter extends.”

If Lucas Ascanien had said it, he probably wouldn’t have even pretended to listen, but since I spoke with Nicolaus’s identity, the situation was different. The Royal Mage nodded.

“Understood. I’ll convey that.”

I didn’t reply and let him go.

He went downstairs and began instructing the professors to come down.

Meanwhile, everyone present looked at me with faces that understood nothing.

Then, another mage greeted Adelbert and stood before me.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ernst. I am Auguste Moltke. The news delivered to the Investigation Bureau was immediately conveyed to His Majesty.”

“…I see. Nice to meet you.”

“His Majesty was very pleased with your achievements.”

“This is just the beginning, yet he’s already pleased. It’s too early.”

When I replied like that, Leo looked at me.

It wasn’t exactly proper words, but the mage didn’t seem to think I had badmouthed the Emperor in front of him.

“Haha, you are indeed humble. His Majesty said he would like you to visit the Imperial Palace if you have no other schedule. Would you like to go together now?”

* * *

I talked with the Emperor for about 10 minutes and immediately returned to school.

I couldn’t return to the school infirmary in Nicolaus’s condition anyway, and since the carriage was waiting outside the school, I had to meet the Emperor.

“A revelation, you say. You used your head well.”

Narke got out of bed and sat in the chair beside it as he spoke.

I finally switched places with Narke, who had been sitting disguised as me in the hospital room.

I hadn’t said anything to him, but just by looking at mine and Leo’s faces, he seemed to have read our memories on his own.

Narke asked with a serious expression.

“No one knows, right?”

“Right. They won’t report it in the future either.”

That was fortunate at least. It gave us time to investigate without drawing public attention.

Whether we caught the culprit or not, the fact that a member of the imperial family was harmed at the Imperial 2nd Education Institute must not be known anywhere.

Even to our school students, they would probably only be told that a professor took a leave of absence.

Leo hadn’t said anything from earlier until now. This guy seemed to have a lot on his mind too.

Narke looked at us and asked.

“What are you going to do? This doesn’t seem like an ordinary problem.”

“There’s too little information.”

Leo spoke up.

“Even if Professor Traut and our homeroom teacher were just puppets used for arrest, everyone has no way of knowing that. Unless someone actually captures the guy who gave that revelation and demonstrates their abilities, the investigation doesn’t seem likely to proceed smoothly.”

“…”

“Honestly, I accepted it because it was Lucas saying it, but if it weren’t, I wouldn’t have been able to accept it.”

I agree.

Revelation itself is an unfamiliar and strange concept.

I was lost in thought while Narke and Leo were talking.

‘That human clearly distinguished between ‘Pleroma’ and ‘us’ back then.’

Although Pleroma and Primrose Pass are connected, they’re not the same group.

When I felt something strange at that point and asked him who from ‘our’ side ordered this incident, he answered ‘probably the chairman.’

What I heard after that was the story of working while receiving instructions in his head.

There’s no need to go as far as Pleroma.

If I follow the Primrose Pass route upward, I can meet the one who gives revelations.

‘Most likely that guy called the chairman.’

I organized my thoughts and spoke.

“Guys.”

“Yeah?”

“I need to create a new identity.”

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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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