How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 173

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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 (173)

“For what?”

Leo asked me while restraining Narke, who was about to cheer.

I repeated what he had said earlier.

“Like you said, it doesn’t seem like the investigation will be conducted properly. The Investigation Bureau probably can’t even get a clue about where to start catching those who gave the revelations.”

“So you’re going to move? You don’t know where to start either, Lucas.”

Leo’s voice was unusually cold.

No.

Certainly, those revelations were used in Pleroma under the name of missions, but I know that this time the Primrose Pass bastards also worked after receiving revelations.

If I go up that way, there’s definitely a good chance of success.

‘But… if I say this, I’ll be suspected again.’

What should I do.

I looked into his eyes and fell into thought.

“Or don’t tell me you’re planning to just barge in? Into Pleroma? You know it’s a waste of time, a waste of energy, and has an extremely low chance of success. It’s practically like going to die.”

Leo, who had been speaking in a hollow voice, laughed.

“No matter what happens, I have to oppose what you’re trying to do this time.”

“…”

He’s different from usual.

He always tried to stop me, but he never tried to stop me in such a half-crazed state with his tone and expression like this time.

‘The homeroom professor incident must have been quite a shock.’

That’s exactly why I can’t back down here.

“Then if I have information, there’d be no reason to oppose it. Right?”

“What?”

“I’m saying I know. Where to go in.”

“…”

Leo looked at me silently.

“There are two reasons why we need to move quickly. First, if the state where not even a clue is found continues for long, the investigation will eventually turn unfavorable for the professors. Second, what do you think the real culprit will do when they hear that a professor was taken by the Investigation Bureau?”

“…”

“They won’t try to move further from here. Or they’ll try to give revelations to someone else. If we can’t stop this, do you know what other incidents might happen nationwide in the future?”

Even if I’m suspected, there’s information I must tell and information I shouldn’t.

This is information I must tell.

Transparent light blue eyes were looking at me piercingly.

Soon he opened his mouth.

“Then what about you?”

“What about me.”

“What’s the point of everything if you die in the process?”

“…?”

I was speechless.

It was something I never expected to hear.

“Even if you save the entire nation, if you’re already dead and can’t even see that scene, what meaning does it have for you? Is being remembered as a national hero who died in the line of duty your final goal?”

“That can’t be. Why suddenly…”

“Of course not. But you’ve always made choices with a high possibility of death. When you said you’d go meet a Pleroma Legislator alone, when you approached Asman disguised as a Human journalist, when you acted as a Human aspiring actor to enter the Catacombs…”

Wondering how far he’d go, I didn’t speak and waited quietly.

Narke looked back and forth between us and pressed his lips tightly.

“Don’t you care what you go through?”

“…”

“Do you need an explanation? Whether you get a concussion, get strangled, have blood drawn for four straight days, take illegal drugs with double effects, get beaten by aspiring actor bastards or not, does it not matter? Should I continue? Whether you get handed over to Pleroma as a trading target, nearly die to a bishop chanting Strauchi prayers…”

“Stop.”

Silence continued for a long time.

He had strayed from the topic since earlier.

But he wouldn’t just be saying this casually. He doesn’t worry for no reason.

Something he read from me before led to this conversation now.

That would be the right way to think about it.

‘Exactly what did he read.’

Narke looked at us, then warped outside the hospital room. He seemed to think it wasn’t a conversation for him to hear.

Neither of us paid attention to where he had left.

“…”

“Lucas. Isn’t this place real to you?”

Not real?

I slowly raised my head to look at him.

Unlike me, Leo’s eyes showed no wavering whatsoever.

“Or even if it is real, do you have no attachment?”

“…”

“Then, after you escape from Hyung. Will you continue to stay alive?”

Wrong.

This place is another reality.

Whether I can return, why I came here, why a novel that borrowed the lives of people from this world existed in the 21st century without magic – I don’t know any of it.

In such a situation, could I carelessly think ‘since it’s inside a novel, it doesn’t matter if I die or not’?

However, to be precise, his words weren’t wrong.

Not because of this place, but reality was never real to me.

‘…This is why.’

I didn’t want to be alone with him or have conversations.

My neck began to stiffen.

“And, I’ve been wanting to say this since earlier. You said ‘According to what I found out, there’s no problem receiving revelations even if it’s not Pleroma.’ You also believed that people could be controlled through revelations. What’s the basis for that? I don’t remember us ever finding that out.”

“…”

“It was always like that. You always come knowing things we don’t know and make impossible challenges. Then you succeed as if to show off.”

“…”

“What tells you such things? No matter how useful the information it gives you, that’s definitely…”

Leo looked at midair and moved his lips.

“It’s definitely not on your side.”

“I know.”

At my answer, Leo just looked at me with an expressionless face for a long time.

Soon he turned his gaze toward the window and began to smile faintly.

“Looking at it, I don’t seem to know anything about you. You’ve been looking at me with eyes like you’ve been watching me for a long time since some point.”

Did I?

I don’t particularly remember that, but since I can’t hide even my subconscious, that’s understandable.

I frowned, feeling my head continue to grow numb.

“In first year, if I hadn’t treated you that way, would you trust me now?”

“…”

That has nothing to do with it.

It’s just my problem.

Leo has nothing he needs to do.

How do I explain this series of absurd events that even I don’t understand to him who acts according to protocol in everything, no, to friends living their daily lives.

Actually, I am not myself. How crazy would this sound.

Being able to turn back time, having read a novel with content identical to this world in another world, being able to read others’ information under the name of status windows – it’s all the same.

Leo exhaled and opened his mouth.

“Do as you wish. If you just grant me one request, I’ll help you too.”

“…”

“Your choice is a choice beneficial to all people. On the other hand, there’s nothing I can do by stopping you.”

It’s true that I need his help.

Despite knowing he would object, I told him the plan because Nicolaus isn’t in a position free from Bavaria. He has to handle the gap created when I’m deployed to Primrose Pass.

But still, this readily?

As if Leo read my doubt, he continued speaking on his own.

“You’re right. I am committing injustice. Standing in a position where I should protect all people, yet worrying about a friend’s safety – if that’s not injustice, what is? Elias, Narke, even Julia wouldn’t stop you if they were in my situation. Because that’s the role of a leader.”

Leo stood up from his seat and looked down at me.

He patted my shoulder and smiled.

“Anhalt has gained an excellent lord.”

And Leo has gained a not-so-great friend.

I can’t be a good person as a friend.

“I’ll bring Narke and Elias now.”

“After everything’s over.”

At my words, Leo, who was about to leave the hospital room, turned back.

“I’ll tell you then.”

“…”

I can’t let go now.

We’ve already come too far to turn back.

Even if Nicolaus withdraws here, Pleroma is already targeting Lucas Ascanien. They’re targeting me purely out of ambition.

It was something I couldn’t help.

With the information that Baden’s bishops are looking for me, and knowing where to tackle this problem, the odds are in my favor now.

So it’s most effective for me to attack first.

“Got it.”

Though I didn’t specify what I’d tell him or what I’d say after finishing everything, he answered like that.

Since I wasn’t looking at Leo’s face, I couldn’t read his expression.

Much later, he warped back to the hospital room with Narke and Elias.

The cautious behavior from earlier was brief – Narke was smiling again now.

The problem was Elias. His eyes were terrifyingly different from usual.

‘He must have heard everything already.’

From the warp magic to Primrose Pass being installed in my room, to the professors being used in this affair.

There’s no way he could have that expression otherwise.

Perhaps noticing I was observing his new expression, Elias forced his lips up into a smile as soon as he saw me.

“Oh, Luca was here~”

“Yeah.”

“Right now, word has spread throughout the school that Nicolaus came and went. It would have been fun if you saw the kids making a fuss, what a shame.”

Instead of answering, I observed his condition.

Usually brushing things off with jokes is his specialty, but this time he can’t seem to do that. Despite trying to bring up light topics, his tone was completely subdued.

“Elias.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s not your fault. Even if you hadn’t started it, everything would have turned out this way.”

“…”

Since Baden’s bishops – specifically Freiburg’s bishops – had targeted me, this would have unfolded similarly even if Elias hadn’t touched Primrose Pass. Rather, because he devastated Primrose Pass, they hastily put their plan into action, creating many loopholes that allowed me to easily deduce their intentions.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Elias answered with a smile.

Though a cold feeling remained, it seemed sincere.

‘I thought he’d start whining and collapse on the bed again…’

Surprising?

Narke seemed to have the same impression, her eyes widening.

“Oh~?”

“Haha! If Luca says so, it must be true. Luca doesn’t comfort people. He only tells the truth.”

“Ah~ That’s true.”

“…”

Doesn’t comfort people? I haven’t lived that harshly.

Anyway, seeing him like this now, his will seems sufficiently strong.

“Now, let’s think through things one by one.”

Elias pulled out a chair and sat next to me as he continued.

“Leo told me earlier that Professor Traut and our class professor were involved in this. But Leo doesn’t know why our class professor was chosen by those bastards?”

Elias said with a smile.

“It’s probably because of me.”

“…”

What everyone was thinking but not saying aloud, he said without concern.

“Because he’s my homeroom teacher. Luca becoming a target is probably because you’re my friend too.”

“Didn’t you just say I only tell the truth?”

“It is because of me, but it’s not my fault~ The fault lies with those bastards who committed the wrongdoing.”

Even while saying that, his face was pale.

He pressed his skin with his fingernails and muttered.

“There’s no time to waste on self-blame. We need to stop them before they pull off something even crazier. And if we can stop that, it means cutting off their heads isn’t far away either.”

I watched him quietly and nodded.

“So, what’s Luca’s opinion~? I’d prefer if there’s something I can help with.”

“From what I’ve investigated beforehand, if you go up through Primrose Pass, you can find the person who gave that revelation. We need to find the person called the president there first.”

Though the ability user might be somewhere between him and the lower ranks, targeting the president and working up is easier in many ways than finding middle management.

“…”

I could feel Leo’s piercing gaze.

Without me needing to try to divert attention, thankfully Elias clapped his hands.

“Wow~ That’s really good information. I won’t ask where you found out. I’d believe anything Luca says anyway. But then it’d be hard for me to get involved.”

“Right. It’s difficult for you to infiltrate Primrose Pass. They know your face over there. More than that, there’s something we need to do before infiltration.”

Leo, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.

“We need to research first. To know how to meet this president bastard, we need to understand his needs first.”

“Exactly. I need to go to the prosecution now. Elias, I’d appreciate it if you could visit the prosecution and Security Bureau too.”

“Hmm, what do I need to find out?”

Elias, who had been sitting with dead eyes the whole time, spoke with a confident face.

At the sudden change, Narke, Leo, and I exchanged glances.

“No wait, what are you going to the prosecution for first, Luca?”

“I need to find out if there’s anyone with corrupt ties to Primrose Pass. And to Pleroma too.”

“Do you need to go right now?”

“No. I just need to go for a final check. Other mages are conducting interrogations there.”

“Ah, good. Then that can wait a bit, right?”

Elias suddenly disappeared from sight, then returned holding a bundle of papers.

“What’s that?”

“I copied it from the prosecution~”

“What?!”

Leo’s face darkened instantly.

“They were acting like they’d return the materials, so I infiltrated first. While I was at it, I raided the Imperial archives again after a long time.”

“…”

Unlike me, who was steeling myself for infiltration, this is just daily life for him.

Not surprising at all.

“Now, tell me. What do you need?”

“Primrose Pass is crumbling to the point where it’s difficult to utilize again. But Pleroma is involved there too. Surely this president bastard won’t be able to abandon Primrose Pass.”

“Right. No one could easily abandon that goldmine~ So?”

“Then how is he planning to rise again now? Do you know that too?”

Elias, who had been blinking for a while, suddenly burst into laughter.

He seems to have caught on to my intention.

I need to stop that first before infiltrating.

To make him come down personally to face me when I show myself, I need to kick away their opportunities so they can’t rise up.

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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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