How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 195

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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 (195)

Non-prosecution.

The eyes of Elias sitting at the far end of the Hohenzollern seats and Leo in the Bavaria section on the left sharpened.

It was natural since today’s outcome would determine whether our class professor could return or not.

Only the Crown Prince, who had been wearing a gentle smile throughout, tilted his head and laughed. His hand reached toward Adelbert beside him, wrapping around his shoulder and pulling him close. Adelbert looked completely frozen.

“This proposal is based on investigation results officially recognized by the Investigation Bureau and represents the Investigation Bureau’s judgment. However, I want to make it clear from the start that the final decision authority for disposition lies with the prosecution and His Imperial Majesty. I will explain the investigation process that has been conducted in chronological order. One week ago, I visited the Second Imperial Academy to investigate the attempted murder case of a member of the imperial family. Eric Frey, the imperial priest who participated in the investigation under His Imperial Majesty’s orders at the time, and Prince Adelbert Hohenzollern can testify to my interrogation.”

I pointed to them with my hand.

No objections had come in yet. It wasn’t time for that.

“As a result of the divine interrogation, the two suspects had no knowledge whatsoever of having visited the victim students’ rooms or dormitory building at the time of the incident. Since the prosecution conducted interrogation using the same method, please refer to page 7 of the report distributed before we began.”

The sound of papers turning could be heard.

An aide turned the Emperor’s report and floated it in front of him.

“While the suspects remember neither their crimes nor the buildings and places they visited, they reacted to the question of whether they had ever heard the detailed warp coordinates of the victim students’ rooms. Prince Adelbert can personally testify to this.”

Adelbert, who had been stiff throughout, stood up from his seat and spoke in a dignified voice as if nothing had happened.

“It is true. I personally witnessed Count Ernst conducting the interrogation in this manner.”

“Esteemed attendees, what possibilities have you considered regarding this?”

“…”

“They have no memory of where they went, but they remember hearing warp coordinates. How could such a thing happen? Has anyone here speculated?”

No one opened their mouth.

Their minds would be filled with thoughts of Abraham right now.

In reality, this made no sense except for Abraham’s ability.

“If someone implanted commands in their heads while the two professors were unconscious, such a thing would be possible. Though it’s an unrealistic ability close to supernatural powers, considering that magic is not a completely explained field of study, it’s worth considering this possibility. In fact, we now know that something incomprehensible by our common sense happened to former Deputy Minister Marco Schreiber.”

The Crown Prince’s golden eyes met mine.

I stared into those eyes that seemed to draw me in and continued speaking.

“The expected question of whether divine power could have been used to erase memories is anticipated, but there are no mages capable of using divine power at the Second Imperial Academy, and external access was strictly restricted at the time. The crime time of suspect Johannes Rohn is estimated to be between 10 and 12 o’clock on January 26th, but there are no records of the suspect entering or leaving during this time, and since the suspect was immediately put into an emergency meeting from midnight, there is a clear alibi that he was not manipulated by divine power.”

I could see Investigation Bureau personnel nodding and marking something on their papers.

“At that time, I…”

“Wait.”

I turned my head toward where the sound came from. The Crown Prince was holding up his hand as if telling me to stop.

“Please speak, Your Highness.”

“I want to know for certain about suspect Stefan Traut’s alibi.”

The Crown Prince looked at me with a faint smile.

“I understand the error of vaguely arguing by bundling two cases together because the crime locations are the same and there are several commonalities, but since this is a matter involving the Empire’s security, please answer thoroughly.”

“…”

I looked at him silently, then calmly opened my mouth.

“If he had been affected by divine power, the coordinates should have been erased from his head as well, Your Highness.”

“Hmm.”

The Crown Prince nodded while stroking his chin.

His leisurely voice, which felt almost languid, echoed through this vast space.

“Clear. You’re saying there was no need to deliberately leave only the coordinates. But… what if they erased important keywords for a perfect crime but didn’t think to erase the coordinates?”

“…”

“I know your abilities well. But just because you are competent doesn’t mean other mages will be the same as you. The questions you asked during interrogation and the answers derived from them had consistency, but when another mage accessed the suspects’ brains to manipulate information, it’s highly likely they couldn’t predict receiving such logical questions.”

Several investigators nodded.

It seemed they thought that could be possible after hearing it.

Yes, the Crown Prince’s question was sharp. It was a legitimate question.

Though the purpose might not be legitimate.

“In other words, there’s a possibility that you overestimated the opponent’s thinking ability. Is this a possibility that can be ruled out?”

“…Though extremely low, it cannot be ruled out.”

“Then? You didn’t come here without thinking about this possibility even once, did you, Your Excellency.”

So this is how he’ll block me.

No, he’s not blocking.

He’s testing my limits under the pretext of Hohenzollern’s safety.

Whether it’s the limit of my abilities or my patience, I’ll find out as I watch.

I nodded.

“Very well. I will explain from now on. The date of Prince Adelbert Hohenzollern’s rampage incident was January 17th, and Prince Elias Hohenzollern’s rampage incident occurred one week later on the morning of January 24th. In this case, we need to find records of Professor Stefan Traut’s off-campus visits from 6 o’clock on January 24th when he finished supervising the second exam until January 26th when the Ascanien warp incident occurred.”

I took out the faculty’s gate entry and exit records and displayed them large in the air.

“One record exists for that period. The purpose was purchasing supplies.”

“I’m curious why a faculty member went out personally when teaching assistants and staff exist for such tasks.”

“The reason for that cannot be known.”

“Of course. Count. Even if he really did purchase supplies, he might have met an arcane mage while he was out. What do you think?”

The investigators were now looking at me rather than the report.

It was a valid point.

Tracking Traut’s outing was impossible.

Since it was already past time, and if his brain had truly been cleansed, the fact that Traut met an arcane mage couldn’t be extracted from him either.

However, if I couldn’t clarify this, the fact that the professors only reacted to warp coordinates would no longer have meaningful connection to Abraham’s weakness, and the possibility of someone other than Abraham committing the crime would arise.

Then, what should I do?

“…That could certainly be the case. As Your Highness said, whether the suspect went out and engaged in activities outside the records or met someone is completely unknowable in this current situation.”

“Hmm.”

When I readily admitted it, Elias and Leo looked at me. The Crown Prince still wore an inscrutable smile.

“Then I will do this, Crown Prince. Throughout this Empire, there are 93 arcane mages including myself, and among those 93, there are 24 mages capable of erasing memories. Half of these are held by Hohenzollern and half by Wittelsbach.”

If he asks what cannot be discovered by everyone’s abilities, this is the only way to answer.

I paused for a beat, then turned my head to Leo who was listening attentively to my words.

“Dear Crown Prince Leonard Wittelsbach of Bavaria. Though I know this is an investigation close to state secrets, to conclude the question given by Crown Prince and provide a clear answer to His Imperial Majesty and the high government officials attending this meeting, I request this. Please allow a complete investigation of the activities of the 12 specially managed grade priests among Wittelsbach’s 33 priests over the past month.”

“…”

The corner of Leo’s mouth twitched slightly. Whatever caused that reaction, he soon wore a relaxed smile and nodded.

“I grant permission. Do as you wish, Count.”

Earlier, I was wondering what to do.

It’s not difficult.

I just need to approach it in reverse.

If Traut met an arcane mage and had criminal traces erased from his head?

Traces of meeting Traut would remain in that arcane mage’s memory.

’24 people out of 100 million population.’

There’s no reason we couldn’t investigate even this much.

I could see the Crown Prince slowly twisting his lips.

It wasn’t a sarcastic or flustered face. It was an enjoying face.

Regardless, the defeat at this moment belonged to him.

I smiled and looked at the House of Hohenzollern.

“Your Imperial Majesty, and Crown Prince. If you allow a complete investigation of Prussia’s 12 specially managed grade priests, I can provide a clear answer.”

Why does the defeat belong to him?

Because this crime is indeed Abraham’s crime.

Even if we investigate all 24 people, no arcane mage who instigated Traut’s crime and erased his memory will appear.

In other words, the Crown Prince unnecessarily asked questions and solidified that this incident was his doing.

“Hahaha…”

The Crown Prince burst into clear laughter.

Since the Emperor clearly had an expression of ‘the Crown Prince’s doubts are appropriate but why investigate further,’ the Crown Prince answered my request instead of the Emperor.

“Good. We will investigate this separately after this meeting ends. However, since we’ve confirmed that Your Excellency has clear logic, let’s proceed as is for now.”

I witnessed well how defeat was packaged to not look like defeat.

I offered polite thanks and immediately continued the explanation.

“Now, let’s move on to the next point. At that time, I conducted an investigation to confirm whether any changes or problems had occurred with the suspects, and confirmed with the Head of Faculty Management at the Second Imperial Academy that an irregular health examination was exceptionally conducted in the second week of January. Director.”

When I called, the Head of Faculty Management stood up from his seat with a nervous face.

“Could you please tell us about the situation at that time exactly as it was?”

“Yes… First… On January 7th, the Imperial Central Hospital directly proposed an irregular checkup under the pretext of examining the faculty’s health. So we conducted the checkup on January 10th.”

“Good. January 10th. This is one week before Prince Adelbert was harmed. I searched the hospital and discovered clues to resolve the questions I presented earlier. This is the data I received from the investigation bureau at that time.”

I floated a file bundle named ‘1/10 Imperial 2nd Education Institute Checkup Records’ in the air.

Then I unfolded the magical power examination section on the next page.

Among the densely written text, only two sections were completely empty.

“As you can see, only the blood test sections for the two suspects are empty.”

“…”

“I judged this was definitely not unrelated to the above questions, and through the disappearance of the two suspects’ blood and the fact that two Hohenzollern students fell into ‘rampage’ danger, I speculated that Pleroma was behind this incident. Legislator Alexander Kruger provided me with much assistance in this matter.”

At my words, that Pleroma legislator stood up from his seat.

Legislator Alexander Kruger had a good position as a pro-Emperor politician because he used his position within Pleroma to pass Pleroma information to the Imperial Court and provide assistance.

He sells information that can be released after getting permission from the cult and maintains his position in both groups.

Since Pleroma keeps most information top secret, verification of information in this field is inevitably slow. Legislators like Alexander Kruger or Werner Strauch had been leaking trivial Pleroma information for a long time, and as time passed, they naturally proved its truth, making them highly valuable as reliable information sources.

His statement itself was evidence.

Alexander Kruger began speaking with a grave expression.

“Pleroma is an antichrist religious group with the motto of resurrecting people according to their arbitrary will to live eternal life. They use an ability called ‘mission’ to quickly make the cult’s clergy accept their own fanatical ideology, and this was an ability by a mage named Gregorius who existed since Pleroma’s founding. That person is Abraham.”

To speak of the group he belongs to like that, I suppose you need this level of thick skin to survive as a spy.

“According to testimony from an informant who contacts me, when Gregorius gives missions, he makes the mission target drink their blood. So when Ernst asked me if the blood loss incident might be connected to Pleroma, I immediately knew this was Abraham’s doing. This is very similar to how Abraham gives missions.”

Most investigators nodded and wrote something on paper.

Instead, one person. The Police Chief briefly extended his hand as if to stop and look.

“From whom did you obtain this information?”

Everyone’s gaze turned to the legislator.

The legislator seemed unperturbed as if it was a frequently heard question, and spoke while acting with a serious face.

“As always, it’s difficult to say. I have informants working as spies within Pleroma, and I can only say that I obtained information from them. If I reveal who they are, people will be immediately identified, making it impossible to monitor Pleroma’s movements anymore.”

“Ah.”

Everyone’s gaze returned to the center seat.

It was a voice that reminded me of Elias, but it wasn’t him.

The Crown Prince sighed briefly with an interested voice and let out a laugh.

“Correct words. Legislator Alexander Kruger has long contributed greatly to our Empire’s peace, and the informant the legislator has has provided accurate information for the past 5 years. If we reveal the informant’s name and identity, it would be like feeding the Pleroma lurking around us. So let’s not use such short-sighted methods.”

The moment Legislator Kruger lightly bowed his head as if expressing gratitude for the Crown Prince’s support and raised it, the Crown Prince spoke to me.

“Ernst. Prove Legislator Alexander Kruger’s innocence here and now.”

“…”

“…Excuse me?”

The legislator asked back as if he didn’t understand what he had heard. The color was draining from his face.

It was natural.

Right now the Crown Prince was demanding I use divine power.

“I, I have always for the past 5 years…”

“Legislator.”

When I called him, he looked at me with urgent eyes. A plea to please not do anything was melted into his earnest expression. Even in this darkness, I could see he was agitated.

Using divine power means death.

The Crown Prince knows he’s Pleroma, and also knows what kind of magic is cast on him. He’s doing this on purpose to undermine the credibility of my argument.

‘Because.’

Since my ability is one that cannot be explained to the world, to persuade with information discovered through it, I must rearrange the sequence and fabricate sources like now.

Since he can’t find logical flaws in me, he tries to reveal that I’m currently using Pleroma. Just exploding to death would prove his affiliation.

“…I’ll go.”

I cannot refuse his command.

I stepped away from under the light and approached the audience seats. The legislator backed away with a terrified face. I stepped on the tip of his shoe and grabbed his shoulder so he couldn’t run further.

Seeing his reaction of being almost on the verge of death, it seemed to have the opposite effect, but it couldn’t be helped. I snapped my fingers and drew my wand to aim.

—Enter through the narrow gate. The gate that leads to destruction is large and its path is wide…

“Aaah…!”

Before he could finish screaming, his eyes lost focus. After sitting him down before he could fall, now only silence flowed in this space. Everyone was looking this way.

I slowly opened my mouth while maintaining magic power at a constant intensity.

“Legislator. Everything you said here today must be true. Can you swear to it?”

He slowly nodded his head.

‘Good.’

This much is enough.

Cold sweat breaks out from operating magic power and divine power simultaneously. I quickly put away my wand.

“…Huk…! Huff! What just…!”

The legislator writhed as if having a seizure and staggered.

He looked at me with crazily enlarged eyes while panting.

How could he possibly be alive. His expression was asking that.

Instead of answering the legislator’s question, I looked at the Crown Prince and Emperor and said.

“The legislator is innocent, and this person’s testimony is trustworthy. Your Majesty, may I now return and continue the presentation?”

The Emperor nodded as if to proceed.

The Crown Prince watched this scene with interest, his eyes gleaming within a calm smile as if he had seen an even more amazing spectacle than before. His gaze continued to not leave me.

‘It would be interesting.’

Since a human who should have exploded to death didn’t die.

I can only apologize for not letting things go his way this time either.

That legislator couldn’t die from the start.

Previously, I had subordinated his core to me. I made it so I could manipulate it freely by covering his core with my magic power.

Right now I properly adjusted the flow of my magic power injected into his body. Before the core could react to divine power and explode, my magic power covering it absorbed Pleroma’s curse magic and bought time.

Of course, if I had delayed further there, he naturally would have exploded to death. My magic power was only acting as a buffer, not an antidote, so once it was all worn down, the curse magic would have spread throughout his body.

The Crown Prince’s interference attempt was good, but…

Now it’s over.

Then, the Crown Prince clasped both hands together and spoke to me.

“Your Excellency.”

“Please speak.”

“Let’s meet briefly when everything is finished. I have something to give you.”

His voice was not like usual. It was a whispering voice, as if his attention was not in this place because he was trying to see through something.

Leo and Elias’s gazes turned to him.

Elias naturally had a fierce expression from the moment he opened his mouth, so that was fine, but even Leo seemed to sense something unusual in his voice and was looking at him with searching eyes.

“I will do so.”

I readily answered.

“Now, this is the last part. I formed a hypothesis that Abraham had interfered with the professors’ minds, and interrogated 69 people in middle management positions or higher among the employees of 23 establishments in Primrose Pass. This was an interrogation conducted together with seven Imperial Court priests.”

“I swear there were no abnormalities in Nicolaus Ernst’s interrogation and its records.”

A mage who was representative among the Arcane Mages stood up and spoke.

I unfolded the page with recorded testimony and floated it with magic.

“During interrogation from 7 PM yesterday evening until 3 AM this morning, I found several consistent parts. Most of them said they ‘received commands directly to their heads’ from the ‘chairman’ of Primrose Pass, and testified that they didn’t know exactly who the chairman was and had never met him directly.”

I raised my head and looked around the audience seats.

“Receiving missions from someone they’ve never met. This is similar to how the professors could receive commands despite only being at school.”

The investigators nodded with serious faces. This time the Crown Prince’s aide spoke up.

“Isn’t it revealed that Abraham’s mission conditions include communion with others? But the suspect was only at school. At that time Abraham would have been using Marco’s body… How could Abraham and the suspect have communion?”

“That’s right. This part is curious.”

Someone from the prosecution agreed.

‘Hmm.’

This level is serious.

Although it was a question deliberately thrown to scratch at me, I could clearly feel that the Crown Prince’s question was a much higher quality question.

As expected, the Crown Prince was just smiling with an expression of wondering why such a question was being asked.

I explained slowly in a gentler tone than before.

“Unlike blood, communion can fulfill conditions with another’s body as long as one can speak. If it being Abraham’s body was a problem, Abraham wouldn’t have gone around seeking consent with Marco’s body, would he?”

“Ah, I see. I understand well.”

“So, I had an investigator examine the conversations these two suspects had been having. Gloria Klein. The dorm staff employee who was detained this time for accessing classified coordinates had unusually frequent conversations with professors. This person is also currently known as a victim of Abraham.”

The Police Chief asked.

“Isn’t it simply that they’re sociable?”

“That’s why they either became another target of Abraham, or Abraham personally displayed sociability from within that person’s body.”

I continued speaking while looking into the Crown Prince’s eyes.

“It must be one of the two.”

“Hmm.”

“With this, the basis for the non-prosecution disposition I proposed is complete. If there are no more questions, I’ll conclude here.”

No one opened their mouth.

The Crown Prince smiled with satisfaction.

Even if they tried to find fault now, there would be no grounds for it.

‘Of course, separate from that…’

He really is Abraham.

To realize his words about looking forward to it in this way – it’s laughable.

Of course, his questions and attempts paradoxically increased my credibility even more. Crisis is opportunity. He probably didn’t do this expecting it to become a self-defeating move, so I can only feel sorry.

The Crown Prince looked at the Emperor beside him with a smile that seemed half resigned, half amused.

“Your Majesty. It would be good if you made a direct decision at this point.”

The Emperor silently raised his hand and sent a stop signal.

At that signal, several prosecutors rose from their seats.

Sound-blocking magic was cast between the audience seating where they sat and me, and only after a long while did I hear that the meeting had ended. Only then did I return to sit in the audience seating.

The Emperor, who had sat in place the entire time without making a single statement, went to the front of the podium where I had been standing.

After slowly looking around at us, he opened his mouth in a serious voice,

“Regarding the Prussian Investigation Bureau’s proposal for non-prosecution disposition in this case, our Empire…”

* * *

With Leo’s help, I warped to the front of the Prosecutor’s Office Detention Center.

We went through brief procedures and moved to the visitation room.

Clank— Creak—

The thick iron door opened to the side, and I spotted a mage coming here between two guards. Leo unconsciously furrowed his brow upon seeing his dark under-eyes.

I slowly approached him.

“Professor.”

The mage looked up at me.

Whether this incident had been quite shocking, his face had changed so much in a week that he was difficult to recognize.

“Ernst?”

“You recognize me.”

“How could I not recognize you?”

He answered with a faint smile and resigned tone.

He couldn’t not know me as an individual either. Since I was essentially the one who had him detained.

However, I didn’t sense resentment in his gaze toward me. Only that unbelievable incident of nearly putting a student in danger with his own hands and the long week of investigation into things he couldn’t remember would have worn him down with fatigue.

The Professor now seemed to notice Leo beside me, brightening slightly as he acknowledged him.

“Beside you… it’s Student Leonard. Are the students in our class doing well?”

“They’re waiting for you to return, Professor.”

The Professor closed his mouth as if finding it difficult to say anything. Since it was hard to prove innocence in this situation, it was natural.

I withdrew my gaze from Leo, who was looking down at him with a troubled expression, and opened the envelope I had brought.

“There’s something you need to know, so I came to tell you directly.”

Stiff white paper with a red seal was extended toward him.

Even though I had extended it, he stared blankly at me before slowly fixing his gaze on the desk after a long moment.

“…!”

His eyes widened.

“His Majesty has issued a non-prosecution order.”

He jerked his head up and looked back and forth between me and Leo.

His expression showed he couldn’t believe even the report. Seeing his face, I smiled.

“You can return to school now, Professor.”

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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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