How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 20

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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 (20)

No matter how I look at it, this is an ability I should keep close by.

At this point, I need to examine the two routes shown in the status window again.

Unlike the ‘Make Leonard Wittelsbach your ally’ proposal where a death route appeared if the mission wasn’t completed within a week, this time neither of the two routes resulted in death.

This suggests two things.

First, even if I don’t make Narke an ally, I won’t feel his absence as greatly as I would Leo’s.

This doesn’t mean Narke is incompetent, but rather that Leo can already help in a considerably wide range of areas.

‘Still, the more horses you have, the better.’

That’s why my survival probability increased by 1%p when I decided not to antagonize him.

We’re not even close yet, and it was just one decision.

Second, this point is most important.

Considering he’s a character who doesn’t appear in the original work, I need to think about the negative impact he could have on me.

However, there’s no chance Narke will cause me fatal harm. If he were someone who could hold my weaknesses and kill me, or had connections with Hyung, the system would have thrown at least one of the two paths as a death route. My survival probability wouldn’t have increased in the first place.

The conclusion is one.

There’s no need to worry.

I just need to make this person my ally. Slowly.

I smiled and answered Narke’s words.

“Thanks, now my curiosity is satisfied.”

“Really? That’s a relief. I was nervous~”

Narke grinned while speaking playfully.

Then his expression gradually began to contort. Narke fiddled with the green ring on his left hand and held his head.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It’ll get better in a little while.”

“Sorry. Is it because of my questions? I’ll get you some medicine.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s because I used my ability recklessly. Wow, at this rate I won’t be able to use it for at least two weeks.”

Same difference.

But… he’s telling me this? He has no intention of hiding his ability.

Just then, Narke brought up the topic.

“Ah, I trust you won’t carelessly talk about this to other people. You know what I’m talking about, right?”

“I have no reason to go around talking about it.”

Narke nodded satisfactorily, then stroked his chin.

“Hmm, usually people don’t know about my ability at all. You must have received similar powers to mine. It’s still amazing no matter how much I think about it.”

Rather than powers… I found out through the status window, but I won’t bother correcting him.

I brought Narke some medicine I kept stocked in my room and sent him back to the Dormitory with Fai in his arms.

And so the last weekday of September arrived, the day of the monthly evaluation.

This is an exam given to departments where practical skills are important, like the Department of Magic. The exam difficulty is determined according to each person’s magic power grade, and since I was absent consecutively during the grade test, it was decided that I would write an alternative report instead.

‘I can’t be found out during the monthly evaluation.’

Last year’s Luca recorded grade 9 out of 9, the lowest rank.

But if my current self were to have my grade measured… what would happen is as clear as day.

Today the School was strangely excited with the Students’ busy movements.

It was both the first monthly exam of the new school year, and because there were few opportunities to go outside the School.

I arrived near the Back Gate and boarded the Carriage I was directed to.

“Department of Magic Class 2 departing!”

The staff member’s amplification magic echoed through the Carriage waiting line.

Students who can use warp magic move to the test site on the Outskirts with warp magic, while Students who failed the warp magic safety test travel by School Carriage.

Three people from our class took the Carriage.

Me, who received a disqualification judgment before even taking the test due to having the lowest core grade; Narke, who was recommended to travel directly for safety due to his foreign status; and Leo.

If we include Animals… Fai was also tucked in Narke’s arms.

“So.”

Leo tapped the window with his wand to cast a spell preventing sound from leaking out and asked.

“Now Narke also knows about your situation.”

“Yeah, I told you that three days ago.”

And this guy is riding the Carriage even though he received a qualified judgment on the safety test. He came here refusing warp magic for the purpose of escorting exchange Students and maladjusted Students from the same class as class president, so the Professors would have been convinced.

“Ah, Leo, you know too.”

Narke nodded as if he expected as much. For some reason, Leo smiled with a face that looked like he might grab someone by the scruff of the neck at any moment at the calm tone.

I could predict that Narke wouldn’t harm me by considering various factors, but Leo couldn’t.

He’s probably thinking about what exactly he trusted in an exchange Student he just met to talk about life-threatening information.

Still, seeing him manage his expression showed he was maintaining courtesy as a classmate.

Leo nodded as if trying to understand on his own.

“Right, it’s about time to expand the scope.”

Leo tapped the armrest beside his chair with his finger and fell into thought.

“The fact that you directly told him about something life-threatening means at least Lucas had confidence in you.”

“Um… yeah. That’s true.”

Narke answered with a slight pause. Leo raised his eyebrows, sensing something strange in that expression.

* * *

After listening to Narke’s explanation for a while, Leo pressed his brow firmly.

“A unique ability of insight and… foresight?”

Leo thought while holding back a sigh.

‘It wasn’t that Lucas told him ‘directly,’ so that’s why his reaction was like that.’

It’s an ability that could be used very dangerously if the caster had even slightly bad intentions. Perhaps noticing that thought, Narke hastily explained.

“I know what you’re thinking. Let me just make it clear that I have no intention of harming anyone. You might not understand, but my unique ability wasn’t something I wanted to tell anyone about in the first place.”

The question of why he’s telling me something he didn’t want to reveal would be meaningless.

From Narke’s perspective, he wouldn’t want to be seen as someone who would kill a friend. Especially since Narke is an exchange Student from the Theological School. He has no choice but to be more sensitive about such issues.

Leo nodded.

“Alright, you don’t need to tell me more. Sorry for continuing to pry.”

“No, it’s a natural thought. Honestly, it is a dangerous situation.”

Just then, the Carriage stopped. The coachman got down from his seat and shouted.

“We’ve arrived.”

* * *

Leo doesn’t completely trust Narke yet, but he doesn’t completely distrust him either.

I observed the Students’ movements during the monthly evaluation and watched Narke and Leo have a long conversation after their turns were finished.

Then, three or four people caught my eye at the edge of my vision.

I couldn’t see clearly, but they seemed to be looking this way and talking. When I stood up, they immediately left their spots.

‘…Hmm.’

The feeling is strange.

I moved to the outskirts of the area designated as the test site. Coming this far, I could see more clearly. In the Residential neighborhood alley visible in the distance, several people were looking at me.

Fai stood up on my shoulder and asked.

“Are those people looking at me?!”

“I wish they were.”

Just then, Narke whistled to call Fai over.

A little later, Fai returned and climbed onto my shoulder again.

“They said no… People are talking about how Lucas changed. From the start of second year, not now~? What was it again.”

“Hmm, I see.”

I’m gradually understanding what situation this is.

Several stories from School would have slowly spread to shops around School, and then beyond that. It’s natural. And those people are talking about those stories now.

‘It doesn’t matter.’

If it mattered, I wouldn’t have decided to take the midterm exam either.

I looked around and stopped my gaze at one shop.

‘Maybe I’ll read a newspaper.’

Let me check once whether official media is talking about my story, not just word of mouth.

I had already finished writing the substitute report, and there was nothing else to do until going to school. I purchased newspapers and magazines from the newsstand one by one and returned to the carriage.

Leo, who had returned with a tired expression after being surrounded by friends, frowned when he saw the newspapers inside the carriage.

“What are you doing?”

“Trend analysis.”

I don’t have time to read through all of this one by one.

I spread out the books and newspapers in a pile and brought my wand to the top. Then, I chose one of the spells I had memorized and spoke it aloud.

—Seek, and you shall find.

The tip of the wand glowed white.

Before the wand’s light went out, I spoke the word I was looking for.

“Ascanien.”

My hand moved on its own. After turning a few pages, there was text that particularly caught my eye. I circled the article.

“…When did you even learn something like this?”

“During class time.”

“I’m getting curious about what your midterm exam scores will be.”

I brushed off Leo’s hollow laugh and continued reading the article.

There was a brief story linking me and the changes in Pleroma. I turned back to the front page to check the title.

‘It’s a local newspaper.’

The distribution itself only takes place within this city.

It has poor accessibility, and accordingly, the number of users is also small.

However, I need to be aware that my story is spreading from such localized outlets.

I picked up a newspaper from a larger media company and used the same magic.

Unlike before, it was clean.

Of course it would be.

To turn a student suspected of being Pleroma conducting proper school life into an article would be… excessive.

If the Pleroma rumors about me hadn’t been circulating for long, it might be different, but it’s difficult to dedicate space to every change in someone who’s been crazy for more than just a day or two.

So rather, what I should be paying attention to is on the opposite side.

Just then, Leo folded his newspaper and put it down, shaking his head.

“Lucas. If I were your hyung, I don’t think I’d read these orthodox newspapers.”

Leo pulled out one of the thin magazines from the bottom of the pile.

“I’d rather read the yellow press.”

Right, the problem is the gossip magazines.

These don’t discriminate between anything. Just opening them reveals photos and illustrations that make you frown, far removed from culture or current affairs.

Of course, they have the disadvantage of low credibility due to rampant exaggeration, distortion, and fake news.

But at the same time, they’re optimal for introducing issues that people are interested in but are inappropriate for mainstream media to cover.

Leo asked while skimming through the gossip magazine.

“What will you do, should I block it for you?”

“Not really.”

It would be a waste of effort in the wrong place.

It’s illegal to carelessly spread photos or information of students enrolled in Imperial Palace-authorized schools. Moreover, even yellow journalism can’t ignore the power of noble families. In other words, they have no choice but to maintain certain boundaries.

I said while reading the gossip magazine Leo handed me.

“I didn’t look into this to block it. Rather, I shouldn’t block it.”

“What? Why.”

“I need to know through what channels hyung can obtain my information so I can disrupt the information going to hyung. Right?”

At those words, Leo stared at me silently before slowly opening his mouth.

“Looking at you… it seems like you’ve changed as a person.”

“…”

This is why perceptive guys are…

I slightly raised my eyebrows.

“That’s nothing new.”

“Right. It’s nothing new to say. Yeah, you’ve been like this every time since becoming a second-year. You’re right.”

I took a breath. For some reason, I feel sorry for the original Luca.

I quickly opened my mouth to change the subject.

“Speaking of which…”

“But let’s address one thing here.”

What else are you going to address.

I smiled and waited for his words.

“I understand that you’ll use that to your advantage someday. But… if you leave that alone, people will notice your changes. Look, even now your story is circulating in local newspapers.”

So this was what he meant.

I felt my heartbeat return to stability and answered calmly.

“I was just about to talk about that.”

“Do you have another… plan?”

“Yes.”

Still, being perceptive is good at times like this.

I leaned my upper body toward Leo and clasped my hands together.

“However, it’s something I’ll execute after midterm exams, not now.”

* * *

Three weeks passed.

Time flew by quickly as I spent busy days without a moment to spare, focusing on building my foundation through physical training and magic practice.

Lucas Rene Ascanien

Title: Hunter of ???

Stamina: +0.9 [+3.9]

Mental Power: -3.2

Magic Power: ?

Skill: +2.15 [+5.15]

Impression: -10

Luck: -0.9

Traits: Dawn777, Divine Power, Charm (Lv.1)

Recalling my initial state that was marked by -5 and -10, my status window has improved significantly.

During this time, there were no special schedules except for the September monthly evaluation.

But now an important schedule approaches.

Tomorrow is the midterm exam.

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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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