How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 200

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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 (200)

“North? The place you just mentioned is also north from Elias’s perspective, but you want him to go even further up?”

Julia turned her head to Lucas beside her.

“Right. North from Team 1’s clock tower. This plaza is actually east from our tower’s perspective.”

“….”

I wanted to ask why, but this wasn’t the time for that.

It was better to trust Lucas.

“Elias. Don’t come up toward Alexanderplatz, you need to go northeast of the capital.”

[…Okay~]

Julia cut the connection with Elias and looked at Lucas.

“So this really is a trap. Then I should go down to check on Haike.”

“No, Haike won’t answer even if you ask.”

“…Won’t answer even if asked?”

“I’ll tell you instead. Just wait a moment.”

“….”

I couldn’t tell what method he planned to use to find out. However, Julia nodded.

“Alright. While you find the location, Lucas….”

He said while stroking his chin.

“We need to revise our strategy a bit. My unique ability is lightning strike, and Oswald has good sense of smell. Florian can use plant-related abilities like before…. Auguste said she can create illusions. Right, Lucas?”

“Right.”

“Good, shall we move locations and start? We need to meet up with Elias again. And, no matter how I think about it….”

We should take Heike Einsiedel with us.

Julia stood up from his seat and smiled.

* * *

East is south.

If rampage traces are found in the east, Haike warps south and makes a false report.

That was the first command I gave.

The distance between the two clock towers is about 10km. There’s even more length like this on both sides. For a single test field, it’s quite wide.

However, thanks to the advantage of free warping and the city center being dead quiet, this width wasn’t too difficult a level for us.

Though it was a bit burdensome.

So this strategy could deal a fatal blow to Team 3, who would be hiding somewhere and tracking Heike Einsiedel.

But….

“….”

Leo bit his lips tightly and ran. The sound of wind brushed past his ears.

To figure it out already.

It must be because of the core.

Lucas had been playing around since earlier, causing irregular pain to strike the core.

Since healing magic was being used on the core, it wasn’t extremely painful, but….

‘…It’s really bothering me. Is this a disruption tactic?’

Not only was it bothersome, but now even his location had been discovered.

Since it had been about a week since Lucas was fitted with the artifact, Leo himself knew. With that artifact that copied the subjugation magic, it was possible to roughly determine where my magic power was located. That’s why I could promise to follow immediately if problems arose when Lucas met Princess Elizabeth.

Naturally, the original subjugation magic would also be trackable.

The problem was that personal artifacts couldn’t be worn during the test, so I couldn’t access Lucas’s core right now.

‘It’s unfair.’

I know I shouldn’t think childishly like this, but it’s unfair.

The right to handle Lucas’s core was a right I had legitimately obtained. Even if I could overlook Lucas manipulating my core as a big concession, losing the ability to control it felt like having my free will taken away by the school, making me irritated and my stomach twist.

In the end, wasn’t I the only one disadvantaged during this test? If I had all the abilities Lucas was using now, our team would have been in a much more advantageous situation.

Narke giggled and said.

[Then why did you allow it!]

“I never allowed it.”

He couldn’t even read my thoughts well, yet he guessed correctly. I had never told Narke about this, but he had clearly figured out the whole situation through insight. It wasn’t even surprising anymore.

[But you did~]

“What do you mean I did?! I was already so flustered back then….”

[Then break it, Leo.]

I had a lot to say but couldn’t voice it.

Why are we even having this conversation? There was no time for small talk in this confusing situation where two people’s signals had been cut off.

Just as I took a deep breath to snap back at him, Narke laughed and said.

[Ah ah ah! Got it~ I’m searching buildings but it’s not as easy as expected. It’s certain that a rampage ran around this street, but first, nothing was caught when I shot divine power on the first floor. That means there are victims in underground or second floor and above spaces. I’m searching from the entry direction to the third building on the left and right.]

“Right. More importantly, you said Lucas figured this out.”

[Yeah.]

Act as if Lucas isn’t there.

If our team finds a victim first, that signal goes to everyone’s Mimesis vision.

Since it would be too wasteful to find Lucas and enter from the rear, we planned to find victims first and pressure Team 3 to bring Lucas out.

The strategy hadn’t changed.

Leo ran like crazy, then stopped in front of a signboard.

‘Hmm, found it.’

[Oranienburger Street – 128:333:456]

A signboard with warp coordinates written on it.

Before sending me the deceptive contact, Haike had reported that rampage occurred at the intersection of Oranienburger and Friedrich streets.

The letters were flipped left and right. Since the area I was standing in was a replicated area, it was natural.

Leo pondered for a moment, then snapped his fingers and moved to the warp coordinates.

A new scenery quickly unfolded before his eyes.

‘South of the street.’

Everyone who warps to Oranienburger is set to start from this point.

Now, I need to jump up.

Thinking that while looking around in all directions, Leo discovered someone familiar sprawled on the ground.

“…!”

Whether Heike Einsiedel had just fought someone or fallen into a trap, he was being crushed by magic power.

When Leo swung his wand, the magic power crushing him shattered. Haike looked up at Leo with a frown, blood flowing from his cheek.

“…Le, Leo.”

‘An illusion?’

According to our team friends who came up from Team 4, Auguste Rosenheim, who was previously on Team 4, could create illusions.

The illusions were so realistic that even teammates would doubt if they were real, and they wouldn’t dispel just by questioning their authenticity. This was what I had heard.

So now I had to keep all possibilities open and first consider the possibility that this Haike was really our team member.

The fact that he was discovered immediately upon arriving at the Oranienburger warp coordinates could mean this was an illusion targeting me, but….

It could also mean that Haike himself, upon hearing news that he’d been discovered, gave up on deception and came here for support.

“Leo, quickly set up a barrier. And don’t worry about me, go up to Friedrich Street. Quickly.”

I checked the surroundings but there were no traces of people. Leo snapped his fingers to set up a barrier and said.

“Tell me what the situation is first.”

“…Julia was chasing me. Julia and Lucas were looking down at us from the Grand Hotel next to Alexanderplatz, did you hear from Narke?”

“Is that true?”

That wasn’t directed at Haike.

Narke answered in a voice that seemed focused elsewhere.

[Huh? What?]

“Did Lucas and Julia see Haike from the Grand Hotel next to Alexanderplatz?”

[Hmm, they did~]

Haike muttered in his characteristically slow and dry voice, yet slightly dejected.

“…The artifact is broken too. Do you have a spare?”

“Yeah. I’ll give it to you later.”

“What about now?”

“That won’t work.”

In a situation where he couldn’t tell if it was real or fake, he wouldn’t do something as foolish as throwing the artifact on the ground.

“Get up.”

Leo extended his hand to him.

Haike, who was about to grab his hand, made a terrified expression and shouted.

“Behind you!”

“…!”

Crash—!

Leo spun around and blocked his vision with his arm.

Golden mana scattered before his eyes. He knew well whose this was.

Julia was standing on the top floor of the building across the street.

He definitely hadn’t sensed any presence earlier. Well, that guy was skilled, so it wasn’t impossible.

‘By the way… is he planning to completely block entry to the street?’

“Julia.”

“Hmm.”

“Where did you leave Lucas?”

“I handed him over to Elias and came. Why?”

“Nothing.”

Leo smiled and shook his head, then thrust his hand downward.

Something shot up at an invisible speed and struck Julia.

Crash—!

Julia put up a barrier, but it was too late. Thick, tough plant stems that had grown from the building wall grabbed his wrist and tried to throw him to the ground.

Julia quickly cut through it with mana and jumped down to land on the ground.

“You’re still the same, Leo.”

“I have to be.”

“Ah, actually I wanted to spar with you one-on-one.”

“Now’s your chance. Let it all out here as you wish.”

“You know we don’t have time for that.”

Contrary to his words, a white blade flashed in Leo’s eyes.

Clang! Screech—

Julia’s characteristically heavy attack was delivered straight to Leo’s sword.

It was exactly the same sensation Leo had always felt.

‘Could it be an illusion?’

He still couldn’t tell the difference.

Julia laughed with a familiar voice.

“It was worth coming to our house for training every vacation after all.”

Until the middle of the 3rd Education Institute, he did go to Baden for training every vacation.

Leo adjusted the force in his wrist and quietly muttered.

“When was that? And it wasn’t you who trained me.”

“When was that, you say…”

Crash—!

Julia stomped hard on the ground with his foot.

Due to the mana surging from the earth, Leo maintained his balance and focused on Julia’s sword flowing down under his own sword and his movements.

Then laughter flowed from Julia.

“It’s been bothering me that you haven’t been checking behind you like this. Want to come back to Baden for more training?”

Julia was in front, but the sound of cutting through air suddenly came from behind.

The moment he turned his body to the side to dodge both attacks, Julia instantly disappeared from before his eyes.

It was an unbelievably fast speed for a human.

To disappear while fighting.

This meant his target wasn’t me.

Sure enough, Haike had disappeared from where he should have been. But this wasn’t the time to focus on Haike.

That sound of cutting air from earlier. That was…

Clang—!

Leo twisted his wrist to block the blade flying toward him.

Since that remained, Haike could wait for later.

“Why don’t you focus?”

“…”

I was focusing.

The situation wasn’t good enough to make such complaints.

What appeared was Lucas.

He still hadn’t removed the cloth covering his eyes.

‘…Ah.’

A decoy.

Instead of chasing Haike, was this about removing Lucas’s blindfold?

As he’d thought earlier, from the moment his eyes were freed to survey the field, victory would be theirs.

It was a good proposal. Of course, here too the possibilities split into two.

“Narke. Find Haike right now. He disappeared with Julia.”

[Later! Ahhh, really, Team 3 is so good at stealing~? More importantly, you come help quickly too! We need to finish before Team 3 comes!]

Leo listened to Narke’s words while keeping his gaze fixed on Lucas’s face.

When he was just imagining it, he didn’t realize, but seeing the covered eyes directly gave him more instinctive fear than expected, making his skin crawl. When Narke was muttering alone about mummies and coffins, he’d let it slide, but seeing it now, it really looked like something that had risen from an opened coffin.

“I came forward as bait myself, but if you treat me like this, the person who came gets annoyed, class president.”

“Class president?”

Swoosh— Bang!

Leo stepped aside to avoid Lucas’s sword.

How long had it been since he’d heard Lucas call him class president? Was it acting? This too had two possibilities.

Leo sheathed his sword, changed it to a wand, and continued only blocking Lucas’s attacks while speaking.

“Then take that off.”

“…”

“You know what I’m talking about. You said you came as bait. Haike was taken too, so at least you…”

Crash!

Leo stomped hard and moved his body to the side while thrusting his hand once more.

Something scattered around writhed as if it were a living creature. Lucas, sensing the mana, quickly turned around, but it was already too late.

“I should buy some time.”

Plant stems precisely grabbed and pulled the string behind his head.

Leo finished speaking and stood still, watching him.

Lucas, who belatedly regained his balance and lowered his body, clicked his tongue once and looked this way. As if the sudden sunlight was harsh, he squinted and pressed near his brow bone.

It was Lucas with his usual expressionless face.

Likewise, as always, his pink irises that seemed to find everything bothersome met his gaze.

“…”

Leo looked at that face and raised the corners of his mouth.

Throughout, two possibilities had been dividing this situation in a 50-50 ratio, but now he knew for certain.

Leo tapped the artifact at his ear.

“Narke. Auguste is around here.”

With those words, Lucas instantly disappeared like Julia had earlier.

So that Julia from before was also an illusion.

[…There are four buildings left! Search quickly! Wait, what? Auguste? Don’t tell me you’re not coming because…]

“That’s not what’s important, Narke. Are there Team 3 kids there?”

[No.]

“There are. Team 3 wouldn’t abandon a point they worked so hard to find. Look again. And you said Haike isn’t there?”

[Yeah.]

When Haike first reported real information to us, he told us every little detail.

That becomes a clue to understanding how the rampage occurred.

When rampage incidents happen in clusters, there was definitely a contaminated source somewhere, and it exploded in multiple people’s bodies around the same time.

In other words, even if multiple cases occurred, the cause is one.

And while Lucas might be different, if it’s something I can think of, then Elias and Julia can all think the same thing.

“Now, I thought of something. There was a slight time difference. Between when you told me ‘Lucas figured it out’ and when I arrived at this street and met Auguste. I remember there was about a 5-minute difference by feel.”

The corners of Leo’s mouth slowly rose.

Having grasped the situation, Narke’s small laughter could be heard.

[…Ah~ Good. I get it.]

* * *

‘Ah, damn.’

Auguste clicked his tongue and lifted his head from the wall, turning slightly toward the window.

‘How did he figure it out. He was definitely fooled up to the Haike and Julia stages.’

Since Haike was a friend I originally knew, I knew what kind of person he was, so there was no problem showing him illusions.

Julia was also successfully completed since she gave me the information I needed and left.

But to be blocked at this stage.

I thought I knew well what kind of relationship Lucas and Leo had, as did all the students.

So I naturally thought it would succeed.

When creating illusions of people, you have to delicately layer emotions in multiple levels. Otherwise, a bland, doll-like fantasy is created. It was data accumulated for over 10 years since childhood when my unique ability manifested, so I definitely knew it, and there were rarely failures.

‘But… was it wrong to mix in disgust at the Lucas stage?’

Isn’t it normal to be prepared that if I hate someone, the other person will hate me just the same? Generally, if I hate someone, no matter how long it takes, the other person gets infected with that emotion too. It’s natural for Lucas looking at Leo to have eyes that despise him.

Could it be that I secretly hoped Lucas would treat me with good feelings while I hated Lucas?

‘…No. It didn’t feel like venting anger in that way either.’

It really felt like he realized it was a hallucination.

Anyway, there’s no time for this.

I need to go inform Julia and Elias of the situation right away.

Just as I was about to run down the building and send a signal to Elias’s artifact, a notification sound loud enough to snap me to attention rang out.

Beeeep—

Auguste’s eyes widened.

Red letters appeared before his eyes, blinking.

[Team 1: +1]

[Team 3: 0]

* * *

Gave up 1 point.

[…Elias. Sorry. I held them up almost until the promised time… but Leo noticed at the end.]

“Mmm~ It’s okay. Don’t blame yourself.”

Elias said that with a laugh, then whispered to his friend with an arm around his shoulder.

“Hey~ Our Narke is really amazing. Or is it Leo who’s amazing?”

“….”

“Does it make sense to be caught in a hallucination for 4 minutes and then notice in the last minute? Whoever Leo or whoever smashed Oswald and Florian’s artifacts in just 1 minute, I don’t know what to do about this. Those guys aren’t that incompetent either, so how did this happen~”

Haike, with a soul-drained face turned pale white, was caught by Elias’s side swaying.

“…You broke my artifact too. Ulrike and Josefine’s as well.”

“So what if you mistake me for Leo, Haike. Auguste’s unique ability is really good. Right?”

At the unnecessarily gentle voice, Haike squeezed his eyes shut.

Usually he couldn’t even feel emotions well, but for some reason heat was rising.

Even though he was a friend he wanted to get close to, he was still angry being teased like this.

What happened was…

Not long after sending the fake report, Leo came running up from the south. Since his artifact was broken, I explained everything from the beginning again for 5 minutes, but that was actually Elias.

When I tried to inform that Auguste was using his ability, Auguste went to the real Leo and Elias broke his own artifact.

While Haike was lost in thought, Elias casually checked the clock inside the building and muttered.

“Now Leo will come here.”

“…What? How?”

Elias didn’t answer Haike’s question and muttered playful words to himself.

“Ah~ Our prince only works his head to death, so this friend is scared shitless. Since when is west north? Huh? Is it directional bluffing?”

“Bluffing, you say.”

“…!”

Elias whirled around.

Then he confirmed the face of the person standing behind and smiled.

Leo was approaching with an unusually fishy smile.

“I’ve never held a bad hand, so why don’t you express it properly.”

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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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