How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 207

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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 (207)

The professor looked at the audience with a confident smile.

The presentation hall instantly fell silent as if cold water had been poured over it. Everyone stared at the professor, unable to even think of closing their mouths.

Click—

The shutter sound of a magic-powered camera could be heard.

As flashes began to burst once again, the audience finally seemed to realize time was flowing and shouted with bewildered faces.

“…Huh?!”

“Imperial Palace?”

The shouts pouring from people gathered into a great vibration that reached my ears. Because of that, I even felt a slight pain in my ears, making my expression naturally crumple.

Confusion completely consumed my mind.

‘What?’

Imperial Palace, they said. It wasn’t just them who were flustered.

When everyone was graduating from university and preparing desperately to get jobs at the Imperial Palace, they were going to transfer our affiliation to the Imperial Palace when all we had to show was a year and a half of high school records?

Of course it was good news. It was truly an incomparable opportunity.

For me, it was something I could do without, and there were troublesome aspects due to issues with my brother and the Crown Prince, but at least in terms of title, it remained the best opportunity.

However, that wasn’t what was important right now.

“…”

My eyes met with Leo’s.

‘There’s something going on.’

From Heike Einsiedel getting into Team 1 with insufficient skills to the school suddenly wanting to put us in the Imperial Palace, there were suspicious aspects everywhere.

There have been fewer than five cases of minors entering the Imperial Palace in the post-magic era.

One of them was my brother, who entered the Imperial Palace at the youngest age of 13, and the title of entering the Imperial Palace early played a part in his current fame and status. After earning that title, everything went smoothly.

It was a career achievement of such great value. Yet now the school was trying to put seven high school students into the Imperial Palace all at once.

‘I can understand up to Julia.’

He was not inferior even compared to currently active mages. The same went for Narke, Elias, and Leo.

Since it was rare for children of ruling families to attend school in the same grade all at once, they might want to gather students from various countries and raise them under the Imperial Palace’s hand. All four had skills that made waiting until university graduation completely unnecessary.

However, Ulrike and Haike.

These two were completely different.

The Imperial Palace, which had been so strict, had to force us in even by making unreasonable moves?

And February 10th was tomorrow.

‘They plan to transfer us directly to the Imperial Palace without giving us time to look into anything.’

There was no room for negotiation. Their will was firm, and there was no place for our opinions to be reflected.

“…Imperial Palace?”

Elias, who seemed dazed, whispered without even thinking to cast a sound barrier spell again.

At that moment, Leo’s mana spread thickly through the air, making it hard to breathe. Filling the air with mana without consent wasn’t exactly polite behavior, but it was necessary now.

Even Julia glanced at Elias briefly before turning her eyes forward again.

[This is an unprecedented achievement and honor for our Imperial 2nd Education Institute. Emperor Friedrich was moved by the sight of student mages who have not yet reached adulthood prioritizing the Empire’s safety and doing their best, and was greatly impressed by our students’ skills that are not inferior even compared to active mages. Our representative team Eschet will be transferred to Imperial Palace affiliation starting from the 10th, and accordingly, will begin their first external activities through a launch ceremony at the Imperial Palace starting Monday the 12th. We expect this to be an opportunity to announce the outstanding abilities and passion of Imperial 2nd Education Institute students to the world.]

The professor’s confident voice ended. He turned halfway toward us and spread his hand.

[Please give a big round of applause to the Imperial 2nd Education Institute representative team.]

Faint applause could be heard from various places, then quickly grew large enough to make the spot where I stood shake slightly. The loud cheers and clapping sounds I had never heard since coming here made my head feel numb.

“…Wow.”

A dazed voice as if unable to believe it came from the end. It was Ulrike’s exclamation.

“Did I hear that right just now…”

“I should have dropped out of this damn school long ago.”

Elias’s murderous voice cut off Ulrike’s exclamation.

Even amid the fierce noise that seemed ready to bury everything, I could clearly make it out.

Now Elias’s murderous mana began to overwhelm Leo’s mana. Haike, who was standing at the very end, covered her mouth and staggered. Even the professor standing far in front seemed to sense that current and looked at us with a flustered face.

When Leo was about to reach out to Elias, I opened my mouth.

“Eli.”

Elias slowly turned his head.

Seeing that face made goosebumps rise on my spine. Unlike his murderous intent, his expression was completely calm, and that discrepancy added even more eeriness.

He had reason to act this way.

He had spent his whole life trying to escape from the Emperor, and didn’t even set foot in the Imperial Mage Association until the latter part of the novel.

He didn’t want to go under the Emperor in a way that hurt his pride – this was the reason Elias repeated like a mantra.

As always, it wasn’t just such a simple reason.

Magic was the foundation of power.

The more mana subordinated under the Emperor, the more it symbolized strong imperial authority.

Strong mages crawling into the Imperial Palace on their own – that was the picture the Emperor and imperial family desired.

Elias had tried to shatter that. He wanted a society where mages could each demonstrate their abilities without being recognized by the Emperor’s name, and sought to realize that to weaken imperial authority.

That opportunity had been stripped away at an unexpected moment.

In a situation where everyone was rejoicing, he absolutely could not rejoice.

I looked at those blazing eyes burning like blue flames and spoke in a precise voice.

“Let’s do well.”

What had already happened couldn’t be helped. So let’s go all the way to the end.

His pupils wavered once.

He realized what meaning my words contained. In that changed gaze, there was neither his usual laughter nor the earlier murderous intent. Now I could only feel an obsession and conviction strong enough to raise goosebumps.

Good.

He had the tenacity to make uncertain things appear certain.

Even if everything didn’t flow like last time, he would win this time too. As baseless conviction filled me, I looked forward again.

Elias also now stared straight ahead expressionlessly like Leo and Julia.

After that, there were no problems.

We remained standing on stage, and the order changed to the acting chancellor’s plaque presentation ceremony and congratulatory speech, followed by closing remarks. Only then could we go down from the stage.

“Please move.”

As we exited through the passage leading to the waiting room behind the stage, a staff member gestured to us.

After the brief closing remarks ended, the host professor was going back onto the stage.

I glanced at him and closed the waiting room door.

[This concludes the Imperial 2nd Education Institute Student Military Corps final presentation ceremony. Thank you to everyone who attended.]

The professor’s voice echoed loudly.

The long month of selection was now completely over.

* * *

“Is this reality?”

Ulrike muttered.

The 55 successful applicants for the Imperial 2nd Education Institute military corps were standing in front of the new dormitory they would use, guided by school staff until the closing ceremony before the 11 o’clock roll call.

‘It’s… 10 o’clock now.’

We could quickly look around and return.

Ulrike looked up at the pure white building in admiration.

“The new dormitory is huge. But isn’t it stuck too far in the back?”

“Because it wasn’t made for us to use.”

Leo answered.

That’s right.

Since there originally wasn’t a military corps system, they cleared out an unused building to make new accommodations. It seemed to be chosen here due to the locational advantage of the 1st Education Institute military corps dormitory appearing once you crossed the barrier.

“Haha, it’s a bit far but the air is fresh and nice~”

Narke looked at the river and forest beyond the school barrier behind the building and laughed.

Then he turned around and asked.

“Lucas still lives outside school, right?”

“Probably.”

“Lucky~ We’re still in two-person rooms.”

“At least we escaped from four-person rooms.”

“That’s true.”

Narke nodded with a smile.

As students began to be guided upstairs by the staff, I completely separated from the group and headed to the lounge.

The moment I roughly pushed the lounge door closed behind me, there was a loud thudding sound.

‘Hm?’

“Luca….”

“What.”

Elias was standing right behind me. Even though he had bumped into the door, he followed me in without any complaint.

Why he was acting like this was obvious.

I plopped down on the lounge sofa and asked.

“Are you okay?”

“….”

Thud—

Elias, who had been sitting down with a listless expression, buried his face in the table.

“Haaah….”

“Why.”

Instead of answering, Elias just turned his head 90 degrees while it was still buried in the table. At the somehow eerie sight, I just shook my head.

‘Should I check the change possibility?’

“You know.”

As soon as I started thinking about something else, a sunken voice came from below.

“I tried not to live under the name of Friedrich Hohenzollern.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m not my uncle’s retainer, and I’m not my uncle’s student either. I’m not a mage that bastard can manipulate as he pleases.”

“Yeah, of course.”

I know why he followed me here and is acting like this.

Perhaps because we’re in similar situations, he always tends to open up to me more when it comes to these kinds of things.

If he feels comfortable with me, I’m grateful for that.

I propped my chin and looked down at him as I asked.

“So, what you said earlier still stands?”

“As if.”

The answer came immediately.

“I have no intention of quitting.”

Elias slowly raised his body.

He spread both hands and pressed them together, then lightly interlocked his fingers. Then he said thoughtfully.

“Running away isn’t my style. But I can turn this crisis into an opportunity.”

“Mm, that’s good.”

Elias stayed still for a while, then suddenly looked at me and smiled.

His usual mischievousness was slowly creeping back.

“Let’s break through from the inside.”

I answered that with a smile.

That’s right.

Who knows what the school and the imperial court are plotting. They might try to use our affiliation with the imperial court to frame us with some new charges and punish us legally.

Or maybe it really was just a pure calculation to gather four people from ruling family bloodlines and one mage who uses divine power all in one place. Actually, this is suspicious enough too.

“Hey~ Since it’s come to this, we should suck up all the funding we can get. Let’s raid the Hohenzollern treasury and the national treasury to support Bavaria.”

“Bavaria?”

“Isn’t it Prussia’s greatest rival in the Empire~”

Elias roughly swept back his white hair and raised the corners of his mouth.

“Imperial affiliation aside, honestly it’s incredibly fun. Now I can work with you, and with Leo and Julia, and I can get closer to Narke.”

“What about Ulrike and Haike.”

“…Well~ I’ll get close to those kids too. And being able to legally live a life where I only attend morning assemblies and don’t come to school? Wow~ Even if the team name is a bit crappy, it seems worth doing, right?”

Elias answered with a grin.

He had completely returned to his usual self as if nothing had happened.

“Yeah. Do you think it’s a bit crappy too?”

“The team name is something like ABCD, how could it not be crappy~? Huh… wait.”

“Why?”

“I think the school will name the next team ABCD too.”

“….”

If the team name is ABCD…. I just won’t join that team.

However, since the possibility seemed quite high, I couldn’t say anything in response.

As I was lost in thought with dead eyes, the door opened carefully.

Narke looked around the lounge where we were with bright eyes.

“Hey guys~”

“You came early.”

“Yeah, all the other team kids are heading back. Only our team is looking around a bit more. A faculty member said they had something to tell us, so Leo can’t come out right now.”

“Perfect timing, Narke. What’s the school plotting?! Read it for me!”

“That’s the first thing you ask? Haha, but you seem much calmer than before, so I’m relieved~”

Narke sat next to me and started having a casual conversation with Elias.

As their conversation began, I buried myself in the chair and closed my eyes.

Then, at a sudden thought, I opened my eyes again.

‘I said I should check the survival possibility earlier.’

I try not to check too often because I want to see the point increase at a glance, but now it’s time to satisfy my pent-up curiosity.

The survival possibility I last checked in early January was 30.3%.

It’s been a month since then, and many things have happened from the student military corps selection to Abraham.

There are about six and a half months left until hyung comes back completely.

How did it turn out?

I felt a strange tension as I called up the Dawn status window.

Dawn777

— Until final ending ‘Chapter X. Death’: 605 days 13 hours 57 minutes 13 seconds

— Change Possibility: 45.9% (+15.6%p)

45.9%.

I stared at it silently, then just smiled while suppressing the laughter that was about to burst out.

‘Good.’

It went up 15%p in just one month. Considering it took four months to reach 30%, this is an enormous increase.

Even if it takes a long time for a fire to catch, once it properly ignites, fire can burn explosively.

‘Actually, personally I thought it would have gone up more.’

Nicolaus is well-prepared, and so is Lucas.

Judging by the completeness of their identities, the change possibility should have already hit 50%, no, humanly speaking, over 80%.

However, that Chapter X, the cause of ‘death’ could be multiple things.

Ainsiedel and Abraham, and other Pleromas who are each building their own forces in various places like a cell organization. These must have cut my survival possibility down to 45%.

But anyway, now that the value has risen dramatically compared to before, what’s important to look at now isn’t the numbers but the trend.

Despite the enemy’s level being formidable and me being completely outnumbered, the fact that my survival possibility is drawing an upward graph means….

‘There’s a chance of winning.’

The path I’ve walked so far wasn’t wrong. If I continue like this, I can maintain the advantage I’ve already secured.

‘…It feels like walking a tightrope.’

Seeing directly that danger lurks around me made my pulse quicken. For some reason, the corners of my mouth rose involuntarily at the mounting tension.

Should I try raising the retry count?

‘No, with only around 10 points, it’s honestly risky.’

It would be better to save them until I accumulate more points.

Then, Elias waved his hand in front of my face.

“Luca’s smiling by himself~ What are you thinking about?”

“I’m glad we don’t have to use the dormitory’s two-person rooms.”

“Ah… I was going to tease you, but I’m really envious of that.”

I smiled and checked my wristwatch.

“It’s 10:50 now. Let’s head back.”

As we went outside, our teammates who had been waiting for us waved.

Narke nodded to them, then grabbed my arm and warped to the front of the classroom.

“…Oh.”

The Class 2 students who had returned first and were talking among themselves fell quiet when they saw us.

Just as the silence was becoming awkward, Oswald leaned back and clapped his hands.

“Hey, our class’s Team 1 is here~”

Perhaps sensing that the students were a bit unsure how to react due to the serious presentation atmosphere from earlier, Leo unusually smiled at that boisterous tone.

Thanks to that, the tense atmosphere relaxed considerably, and the students began talking to Leo with smiles.

“Does it make sense that five people came from Class 2 alone?”

“Class 1 must be pretty jealous, huh?”

The students began teasing with expressions that would have definitely infuriated Class 1 students if they had seen them.

No student seemed displeased about being ranked lower than us. They seemed to have already expected that part.

‘Actually, there’s no reason for the atmosphere to be bad.’

If anyone should feel bad, it would be Class 1. They only had two people pass, and one of them was a student no one knew why they were selected.

Just as I was about to pull out a chair and sit down with a light smile, something appeared before my eyes with a notification sound I hadn’t heard in quite a while.

Ding—!

【 Chapter 6. Act righteously and fear no one 】

[Proposal 2: +10,000 favorability within deadline (0/10,000) (167 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds)]

* Route 1 — 【 +30.0 points 】

* Route 2 — 【 Proposal 3 】

Hm?

“…”

“Lucas, what’s wrong~?”

Narke, who had been following behind, tapped my shoulder and moved to her seat.

I forgot what I had been doing.

Of course, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing either.

‘Ah, did I drain myself too much during the exam?’

I rubbed my eyes and looked ahead again.

[ Proposal 2: +10,000 favorability within deadline (0/10,000) (167 hours 59 minutes 52 seconds) ]

‘Right, I’ve definitely lost it.’

When this is over, I should go back to the manor and bury myself in a pile of healing magic.

I felt somewhat refreshed and closed the window before sitting down.

Then the same window appeared again.

“Hey.”

I hung my head and held it in my hands as I called to Philip in the next seat.

The guy who was sitting far away from me again somehow knew I was calling him and answered in a shrinking voice.

“What?”

“How many zeros are in ten thousand?”

“Ten thousand? Why are you asking when you know…? It’s four.”

“No, it’s not?”

In this noisy classroom, silence flowed only between the two of us.

Philip now looked at me up and down with a serious expression in a different sense.

“…Why… why are you like this?”

“…”

Denying reality failed in just 10 seconds.

A hollow laugh escaped me.

‘…Ah, I can do it.’

Right, I can definitely fill 10,000 points within a week.

What’s so hard about that?

I slowly raised my head that had been buried in my hands.

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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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