How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 175

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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 (175)

“What did I just hear?”

At Elias’s question, Narke answered with a smile.

“A wastrel.”

“Setting aside your old-fashioned word choice… what?!”

“Sorry for talking like an old person.”

“Luca.”

Elias leaned closer to me and spoke quietly.

“You don’t look like that at all.”

Leo, who had been wearing a dumbfounded expression the whole time, added his words.

“…I don’t want to say this, but I agree too.”

“What do you mean I don’t look like it. I can just change.”

“No! Simply changing clothes isn’t enough! Your eyes radiate integrity. Besides, a wastrel is completely useless like Narke said earlier.”

“I’ll make it useful. Right?”

I looked around at my friends and continued.

“Your words had the answer. An investor, a Federal Committee legislator’s aide or nephew, a thug who wants to work there – those were the three options, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Each one had a problem. But what if we combine all three?”

“Hmm?”

Elias stared at me and stroked his chin.

“Wouldn’t that create quite a useful person? Someone with high utility value due to wealth and connections, but if he’s not a ‘proper’ person, that wouldn’t be welcome from their perspective. Instead, if he’s a wastrel who’s done nothing but play around without learning anything and lacks brains, it wouldn’t be so strange for him to offer money to a raided establishment, and he’d be relatively easy to exploit.”

“Luca. Why does my heart hurt so much~?”

“Don’t feel guilty since it’s not about you. I’m talking about the type that parents, school, and society have all given up on reforming.”

“Heh, hehe… huuung…”

What was that last sound?

Anyway, the more I talked, the more it seemed to point to Elias, so I decided not to open my mouth further. I hadn’t intended it that way.

Though he deliberately speaks and acts carelessly, his thinking isn’t careless, and though he doesn’t seem to know it himself, it shows in crucial moments.

‘It already happened once in the Catacombs.’

For the character I’ll be acting this time, I need to eliminate even those momentary calculations.

“Well, now I just need to solve the problem of not matching that image. First, let’s consider this. I appeared in the newspaper because of the 1-1 exam broadcast. I’m a bit worried someone might recognize me.”

“Don’t worry~ It was taken from above so your face doesn’t show well.”

Narke answered.

That’s true.

Moreover, since there are no cell phones here and news can only be received through newspapers, photos of people’s faces don’t float around everywhere like on the internet. Due to low accessibility and solid media control since I’m a student at the Imperial 2nd Education Institute, not many people would know my face.

Also, the fact that the Primrose Pass guys ‘tried to offer me to Freiburg’ doesn’t mean ‘they know my face.’ They just used records to approach me.

But I need to be careful. In that sense, it would be good to choose a character image completely opposite to mine.

“Elias. You probably know this field best.”

“Want me to help with disguise?”

I nodded.

I need to hear the opinion of the guy who looks most like a thug in our school—his appearance rather than his conduct looks that way.

“Hmm… First…”

After thinking for a while, Elias opened his mouth with a serious expression.

“Try changing your hair and eye color to brown.”

‘Hmm? It’s a pretty safe color in many ways, but isn’t it a bit distant.’

Since honest brown seemed a bit much, I changed the color to a desaturated light brown. Then Narke clapped her hands.

“Wow~ It’s Fai’s color!”

“Mm, good.”

Elias nodded seriously. Meanwhile, Narke spoke with a completely pleased expression.

“Lucas, can you tell me what color spell this is? I want to do it later too.”

“Sure…”

Does she want to become the exact same color as Fai? I don’t know why she needs to, but I wrote the formula in the notebook on the side table and handed it to her.

Elias earnestly touched my hair, then parted it to the side and swept it over.

‘Is this right.’

There’s no mirror, but just from the feeling, something seems to be going wrong.

The moment I thought that, Elias fastened the top button of my shirt.

“Why are you fastening the button?”

“…”

Without answering, Elias untied my ribbon and retied it tightly. I was gradually getting a sense of what Elias was envisioning. Elias muttered with empty eyes.

“Luca should be like this…”

“No, I asked you to make me look like a thug, not…”

“Luca. Have you ever skipped school for 60 days in your life?”

“Would I have?”

“Right. Everything starts from there. It’s not something you can achieve by simply dressing up. I can’t accept this!”

Instead of answering, I shook off Elias and got a mirror from Leo.

“…”

I looked almost like Leo.

No, even more so. I looked like someone who should be stuck in a 200-year-old school dormitory studying.

‘Is this why they’re friends?’

Right.

Even if he lives skipping school for 60 days, when looking at others, someone who lives uprightly might seem plausible. A life you’ve never lived always looks more appealing.

“I’ll just do it myself. Don’t interfere.”

“I dressed you well though… is it strange?”

I’d usually listen to him, but not this time.

Then Leo spoke up.

“When are you going out? Elias and I will update you on the school situation.”

It’s 6 o’clock now.

I need to be careful from 7 to 12 o’clock during autonomous training time.

The school will heighten its alert level from now on. Though it’s chaotic now, the nighttime when everyone in the dormitory should be asleep is actually more dangerous.

Until now our dormitory operated as if there was no supervisor, but from now on they might start doing roll calls.

“I’m going out now. Narke. Let’s just go for an hour.”

“Ah, me too?!”

Narke pointed at herself with sparkling eyes.

“Yeah.”

An hour might seem excessively short, but I need to show my face and make an impression a few times.

So the real game will be in a few days.

Leo pushed Elias away from his seat and sat next to my bed.

“I’ll help you.”

“Hmm?”

“Before that, Narke, Elias. Can you step out for a moment?”

When Elias shrugged his shoulders, Leo cursed with his eyes.

“Haha, right. Our Leo’s expression is so fierce that this 18-year friend’s heart hurts so much~ No wait, it’s 17 years, right?”

“Get out.”

After Narke and Elias disappeared, Leo sighed briefly and said.

“Is Lucas’s original eyebrow color black? Then can you make just your hair yellow?”

“Just the hair? That would remind me of Hyung though.”

“It’s fine. Bleached blonde is different from natural blonde, right? Try changing to that color.”

Bleached-looking blonde?

Even in the 21st century, it’s a hair color that’s a bit much for students.

Now in this era too, it’s been nearly 100 years since bleaching methods using hydrogen peroxide were developed. Many things from the 21st century existed in this era too, more than I thought.

But there are virtually no cases of noble new humans bleaching their hair…

‘Right.’

I understood.

So that’s what he wants me to do.

I snapped my fingers while reciting a transformation spell.

Meanwhile, Leo made a call to someone and disappeared to Bavaria without a word.

About 10 minutes later, he brought clothes in a pattern I’d never seen before and laid them on the bed.

“You want me to wear this? Thanks.”

He nodded and sat down next to me.

“Lucas. I said I had a favor to ask earlier. Remember?”

“…Yeah.”

He said he’d help me if I granted him one favor.

Which also meant he wouldn’t help if I didn’t grant the favor.

Leo remained silent for a while, then looked at me and spoke seriously.

“Come back in exactly this state.”

“…”

The slight tension I’d been holding completely drained away.

This is his favor?

“Then of course I’ll come back in this state.”

“Every time.”

So he’s not just talking about today, but for at least the next week when I’ll be going back and forth there.

“Of course I’ll come back in this state every time.”

I acted with the most trustworthy face possible, but he was looking at me with an expression that said ‘let’s see how much nonsense you’ll spout.’

In other words, he didn’t believe my words at all.

To begin with, that could be used as a strategy, and even if not, it’s beyond my control. Besides, this guy isn’t the type to ask for such pointless favors.

“Leo. I know well that you’re not someone who worries about things like this.”

“What? Humanly speaking, that’s a bit ridiculous.”

“You know what I mean. If you’re going to keep acting like this, I can’t help but ask. What’s been bothering you since earlier?”

So, what exactly did he see?

Now neither of us spoke.

Only the sound of wind hitting the window could be heard.

He moved his lips expressionlessly, then raised the corners of his mouth.

“Until you tell me, I can’t say anything either, Lucas.”

“…”

“My favor doesn’t make sense to you? Then let’s do this. Lucas, think once more about what you’re in charge of in Bavaria and what position you hold.”

“…”

“The people now depend on you like they look at His Majesty the King. You must know that even the entire Empire now depends on you.”

I listened silently and then nodded.

Right. Since Nicolaus has already become someone with widespread influence, I need to be more careful than before.

“Yeah. I understand.”

“Do I have to say it like this for you to understand?”

Leo smiled weakly and clicked his tongue.

“Fine. It doesn’t matter as long as you understand something. Promise me. Always come back in exactly this state.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“You know that’s not enough.”

Human affairs are unpredictable, so what am I supposed to base a definitive answer on?

“I’ll try my best within my capabilities, but just in case, let me ask. What will you do if I can’t keep it?”

Leo, who had been fiddling with an artifact, thought for a moment after hearing my words.

Soon he turned to look at me and smiled.

“Well. What do you think will happen?”

At that moment, Elias appeared in the hospital room, tapping an artifact like Leo, as if he’d received contact.

Narke was with him too. He must have prepared to leave while we were talking, as his appearance was already unfit for a student.

Elias looked me over and muttered.

“Wow…”

I could tell from his reaction alone. Leo had definitely changed me more successfully than Elias had.

“This is how you do it, Elias.”

“No, it’s not enough. What you need to create isn’t an artist but a thug. Eh?”

“It’s a bit much hearing that from you. Anyway, shouldn’t it make the observer question things once? Like how I feel watching you always walk around in just shirts after selling your vest somewhere.”

Leo brought down the hair that Elias had slicked back earlier.

“Lucas will handle the rest well on his own. There, is this good enough?”

“No. Luca’s face overflows with intelligence anyway. That’s the biggest problem.”

Elias said with a sulky expression.

I’m not sure about that, but there’s a way. I waved my hand and said to him.

“Elias. Do you have alcohol in your room?”

“I do.”

“Please bring me one bottle.”

* * *

“Ugh…”

As I dry-heaved over the sink, Narke held my back.

“I didn’t know you’d drink all that on an empty stomach… No, I didn’t even know it was possible. Your willpower is amazing.”

As Elias said, if I kept my right mind, it might show in my eyes. Seeing him keep finding fault, I thought I had no choice but to deaden my gaze.

‘More than that, this kind of thing should really be done with soju.’

Even gin or rum would do.

I feel a bit sorry doing this with premium wine.

I turned on the water and was about to put my hands under it, then came to my senses and pulled back.

I was about to wash my face naturally. How could I immediately sober up after creating this state?

I listened to the sound of water flowing from the sink and muttered.

“You didn’t know I’d drink it all at once? You didn’t use foresight.”

“I used it just now. If you’re going to vomit, you should do it in the toilet, not here…”

“You said I won’t vomit?”

“Yeah!”

“That’s a relief.”

What kind of conversation is this?

I turned off the water appropriately and raised my head.

The preparation was complete.

Thanks to Elias even giving me a name, there’s no problem going like this.

I roughly wiped my mouth and gestured to Narke.

I closed my eyes briefly at the floating sensation, and when I opened them, an unfamiliar street spread out in my view.

“Warping this way seems fine after all. Right?”

“Right.”

I lightly stepped on the ground and looked around. Narke held my shoulder to help me balance.

In the distance, I could see winding alleys. Thanks to photos already taken by the prosecution, I knew well where those alleys led.

I walked into the alley with Narke.

After walking deep inside with several turns, a path appeared where the sky between streets was blocked, letting in less and less light.

Narke smiled and frowned seeing the increasingly unpaved dirt ground.

—”Wow… It’s amazing that hundreds of millions in sales came from here~?”

—”It’s the biggest street in the Empire.”

It certainly looks run-down.

But this is just an appearance created by disguise magic; peel away one layer of magic and a clean street will appear.

—”Since it’s getting to be evening time, there are some shops with lights on. Where should we start?”

—”We should start from places less affected by the search and seizure.”

Anyway, since I’m going today to advertise that ‘this kind of person has started coming to this street,’ it doesn’t matter which place I enter.

In the first place, the places that got thoroughly cleaned out due to the raids have remained completely closed from then until now, and several shops were clearly filled with dust. The shops that are currently open and operating must have been just regular taverns with no illegal activities from the start.

I pointed to a place at the end of the dim street that had a green sign.

―”Let’s start there first.”

* * *

“I didn’t expect you to order three whole bottles in this state~ Can you finish drinking all of this today?”

“I’ll drink it even if it kills me.”

I muttered while glancing around.

There were more people in the shop than I expected.

There seemed to be roughly 15 people just on this floor.

‘If it’s this much even after the raids, it must have been quite busy before.’

“Wow~ Your willpower is impressive. I’ll burn it off as I drink.”

She meant she’d burn it away with divine power.

I simply responded with a light laugh.

‘Lucky her…’

My stomach really isn’t feeling great.

I was starting to think I should have just ordered by the glass, but I can’t go out looking that weak.

Simply changing your appearance doesn’t fix your image right away. You have to slowly build it up through your actions over several days.

‘I didn’t even come here to do anything specific today, but this much…’

Thinking about having to do this nonsense for several more days just makes me laugh.

Just then, Narke looked up with a flustered expression.

“Excuse me.”

At the sudden voice, I turned my head.

Two Demihuman Women were looking down at me with bright smiles on their faces.

“May we sit with you?”

I looked over their appearance.

Both were demihuman women.

Their age seemed to be late twenties to… broadly speaking, mid-thirties at most.

They definitely didn’t seem to be in the entertainment business, and judging by their clothes and the distinctive elite-class way of speaking, they likely came from bourgeois families.

‘…Hmm.’

Getting involved with people this early wasn’t in my plans.

But having more mouths around would benefit me.

Instead of answering, I downed the wine remaining in my glass in one gulp and said.

“If you’re confident you can put up with my drunken rambling.”

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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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