How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 208

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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 (208)

How many zeros are in 10,000?

Obviously four.

‘Why isn’t it… damn…’

Philip looked at Lucas with an expression that said he was seeing all kinds of crazy people.

The Lucas before him had entered the classroom with a blank face as if nothing had happened today, then suddenly froze in front of his seat before plopping down and holding his head.

And then he suddenly asked this strange question about how many zeros are in 10,000?

Even someone as ignorant as me knows that much.

‘But he’s saying it’s not four?’

Is this some trick to mess with me?

Or did something go wrong during the test?

Maybe he used up all his luck and intelligence for today during the test and went crazy.

Philip felt the anxiety that comes when facing a madman and shook his head. Whatever the case, it was best not to get involved with Lucas.

“Ha… haha, ha…”

Lucas slowly raised his head and was now bursting into laughter like a crazy person. Philip felt chills and reflexively looked at Florian sitting next to him. Florian was also looking at Lucas in confusion.

He looked around to see if anyone else witnessed this bizarre behavior, but there was no one besides himself and Florian.

Lucas muttered with his characteristic emotionless eyes.

“…Enough. The challenge seems worth attempting…”

I don’t know what he’s talking about, but I don’t think we should let him attempt anything.

‘Ah, fuck it, I don’t know anything anymore, and seeing him talk to me means I got unlucky today.’

We usually just exchange notes silently every day, but sometimes he tries to have conversations like this. Of course Lucas is a decent guy—he didn’t tell anyone about my luck during the second training—but given what I’ve done so far, things get awkward sometimes.

‘So…’

Forget the closing ceremony, I’m just leaving.

Philip’s face darkened as he grabbed his bag and stood up abruptly.

At that moment, something strongly grabbed his left arm.

“…Huh…!”

At his reflexive exclamation of shock, the students’ gazes turned to Philip.

Lucas was looking up at him with clear eyes, all traces of his earlier madness gone.

“What’s wrong, Philip.”

“No, nothing…”

“Where are you going? Sit down. The professor will be here soon.”

“…”

Philip couldn’t respond further and sat back down.

It was his usual indifferent voice, but somehow there was a strange warmth to it. There’s definitely something going on. Philip’s wariness reached its peak.

“Philip.”

Philip’s shoulders twitched at the quiet call.

Lucas continued speaking while quietly watching Philip, who was pretending not to notice.

“You’re still uncomfortable around me.”

“…”

This was ridiculous.

How could he not be uncomfortable?

The top Imperial University ranked Lucas as first place in this test, surpassing Leonard. And that’s not all? Even the Imperial Court welcomed him with open arms.

From his expression and tone, Lucas seemed to regard his current situation as casually as taking a stroll to the Imperial Palace, but it’s not such a trivial matter.

Lucas is following the exact same path as Adrian Ascanien.

Adrian Ascanien has the power to lead others even without being conscious of it himself.

I don’t really know how that’s possible. It’s just that what adults say about Adrian Ascanien is that creating opportunities for oneself without being swayed by circumstances—that’s the quality of a leader, and Adrian Ascanien possesses that ability.

What I felt after watching the broadcast footage was that, honestly, I don’t know about other things, but this third test of Team 1-3 was a test led by Lucas. I could vaguely understand what the adults had said.

‘…The mage the Emperor wants.’

That pathetic guy who used to be beneath me is now a mage that even the Imperial Court covets.

He sits next to me, but he’s in a different world from mine, and it will become even more so in the future.

A sense of distance is inevitable.

Right now, all the students in the school are probably feeling the same distance without saying it. Toward all of Team 1, and especially toward Ascanien who was first place.

But asking if I feel distant? Isn’t he proud of his achievement right now? He must be feeling confident himself, and now his classmates probably look like fools to him, so asking this…

Then, Lucas, who had been observing Philip without taking his eyes off him for even a moment, suddenly spoke.

“If I made you uncomfortable… I’m not sorry, but it is rather absurd. I suppose you’d be uncomfortable since you have a lot to feel guilty about. I haven’t forgiven you that much, and I can never shake the thought that your past actions were truly pathetic, and even now I think your character and self-esteem level seem to be the only unchanging things in this world, but still, since things turned out this way, I’d like to build a smooth relationship while we’re seeing each other’s faces.”

“Huh? Say that again slowly.”

“Philip. As I said before, we’ll keep seeing each other until university. So…”

Did we agree to that?

Ascanien had definitely said unilaterally that he ‘was thinking of doing so’ at some point.

Of course, that concern was brief. ‘So’?

What is this usually silent guy trying to tell me after laying such a long foundation? There’s definitely something.

He definitely said before that he had no intention of forgiving me. Seeing him say the same thing now, maybe…

‘Could it be that the time has come for him to get revenge on me?’

Since he’s even entered the Imperial Court, it wouldn’t be difficult to bury someone like me. Since we’ll keep seeing each other, should I start paying for my sins? Or maybe serve as his lackey in exchange for letting me stay here?

Philip’s pupils shook frantically.

Lucas, who had been building suspense while observing Philip’s expression, raised the corners of his mouth. A confident and relaxed smile appeared that he had never shown once during their first year.

“Congratulations on Team 2.”

* * *

Philip relaxed his tense shoulders and looked at me.

His expression was as if time had stopped. Philip slowly creaked his head after a long while.

“…Ri, right. What’s the main point?”

“What are you talking about. Are you very tired?”

I burst into laughter and continued.

“Although we’re not on the same team, let’s do well together as fellow Imperial 2nd Education Institute Student Corps members from now on.”

“…”

“We’ll keep seeing each other, so this much of a greeting is fine, right?”

“…Yeah, of course…”

Philip briefly frowned, then rolled his eyes as he answered.

I nodded, meaning that was good.

‘This bastard just went through tremendous anguish by himself.’

I could read it in his expression. It felt like I had become someone with insight abilities.

If he had voiced that anguish, I was going to say “Do you think I don’t know you?” like last time, but fortunately he didn’t.

Then, Philip muttered in a crawling voice.

“Me too. …It’s shameless, but please take care of me.”

“Hm?”

Ding—!

[Favorability +2]

‘…Easy.’

Now I’m starting to understand how to handle him.

His favorability was 3 points before, so now it’s 5 points.

I need to gradually collect points by utilizing the time spent together in group settings.

Now it’s time to state the real reason I called him over.

I dismissed the 0.0002% filled suggestion window and spoke with a smile.

“Philip. You can live quietly in Team 2 just like now, right?”

“…Suddenly?”

“What do you mean suddenly.”

Without explaining further, I quietly stared at him, and Philip’s face turned white again.

He definitely caught on to what I’m talking about.

He had no choice but to catch on.

Watching his changing facial color was quite entertaining. I placed my hand on his shoulder and smiled gently.

“I’m probably worrying for nothing, right? You who used to do all sorts of things to me, calling me a donation-admission student who only drags down the school’s reputation, wouldn’t tarnish the name of the Imperial 2nd Education Institute now, would you?”

“…Of, of course not.”

Philip rolled his eyes before nodding his head.

I patted his shoulder a few times as encouragement.

With this, the possibility of Melvin being bullied by the team should be quite reduced. If Philip does anything stupid, I plan to submit the written statement I took at the beginning of the semester to the school and open a disciplinary committee for him.

Philip nodded roughly with a confused face. Fortunately, his favorability didn’t decrease even so. Now I could tell what position I had established with him.

Creak— Thud—

At the sound of the front door opening, I turned my head.

The students who had been chattering loudly shut their mouths and looked forward.

The voices that had quieted down soon grew loud again.

“Professor!”

“Oh?!”

Several students jumped up from their seats, unable to hide their laughter.

Our class professor, looking somewhat better than a week ago, was smiling at the students.

“It’s been 2 weeks, hasn’t it?”

* * *

For me, it had only been a week.

Though I knew he would return, seeing him in person made it more welcoming, so the students greeted him with even louder voices as soon as they saw the professor’s face.

What was somewhat surprising was that the professor gave me 2 favorability points as soon as he saw me.

Johannes Rohn

Favorability +8 [Capturable (Stage 4/5)]

So now it had become 8 points.

Puzzled by that sudden reaction, I opened the stage 4 window, but only question marks appeared.

Either the system couldn’t recognize his thoughts, or Professor Rohn himself didn’t know how he thought of me.

‘How interesting.’

Thinking that, I listened to the question from the student standing in front of me.

“Do you attend school every day?”

“Well, I think I’ll come out for morning assembly every day at least. And we also have to fulfill minimum credits, so we’ll have to come to classes occasionally.”

“I see. Man, that’s really nice… Well, I have roll call soon so I’ll head in. Congratulations on entering the Imperial Court~”

I waved my hand with a smile.

The student I just talked with was someone I had conversed with once or twice in our class.

‘Thanks for the 1 favorability point.’

I had learned this during the last favorability acquisition mission.

Just by smiling and using a friendly tone, friends who had negative favorability easily gave me points.

It’s actually obvious when you think about it.

Students who had vague reluctance without particular reason had their antipathy somewhat resolved just by me treating them humanely.

Students who didn’t think much about it also casually gave 1 or 2 points like that.

Then, someone tapped my shoulder from behind.

“Lucas!”

“Ulrike.”

“Did you get caught by the kids too? It’s been over 30 minutes since homeroom ended, why are you still here~”

Ulrike was standing with a slightly tired face, carrying his bag. He probably ended up like this after listening to students’ congratulations like me.

“That’s how it is. Let’s head in now.”

“Yeah. By the way, Lucas.”

“Hm?”

Ulrike said with a smile.

“The first time we took a test together was during the magic potion experiment competition. Remember?”

“I remember.”

“I thought we’d just take one test and that would be it, but it feels strange that we keep doing activities together like this. Today’s test was really fun.”

“Me too.”

Since there wasn’t much else to say, I just answered with the most proper smile I could make.

Ding—!

Favorability +1

Unlike the information that appeared in the window, Ulrike stared at me blankly with no expression. I waited for his words then shrugged my shoulders.

“What?”

“No, this is the first time I’m seeing this kind of expression from you? You definitely always had a death-like face before?”

“You remember all sorts of things.”

“I don’t think there’s anyone who wouldn’t remember? Your expression is better than I thought. Don’t smile just anywhere and hurry up and go in~”

“Well, alright. See you tomorrow.”

I waved my hand and watched Ulrike’s retreating figure.

‘This gives me 1 point just for exchanging passing congratulations.’

So far, I had collected a total of 35 points.

It couldn’t be easier than this.

‘If only I didn’t have to collect 10,000 points…’

I can only let out a hollow laugh.

It would be a lie to say I’m not overwhelmed.

I have no intention of missing this 30-point opportunity that appeared after a month.

Last time it was 25 points for 500 favorability points.

But now it’s 30 points for 10,000 favorability points.

Is this system planning to cut off my nose while I’m wide awake? Is it a “quit if you don’t like it” mindset? Or that it won’t give things away easily?

‘I was flustered at first but…’

Now it’s clear.

This requirement is no different from before.

If there’s a difference from before, it’s just that I need to focus more on the masses rather than individuals.

Now Lucas Ascanien’s activity stage has expanded to all of Berlin. The number 10,000 has expanded to match my range of activities.

In the end, it’s telling me to win the favor of unspecified masses.

If that’s the case, I’m already confident.

“Shall we go?”

I approached Narke, who had been waiting in the distance for the conversation to end.

Even while Narke held my hand and warped, I closed my eyes and continued my thoughts.

‘Still, I shouldn’t take it lightly.’

The 1,000 or so people at school and Berlin’s 20 million people are different in scale from the start.

Still, fortunately there’s an opportunity.

“Oh, right. I’ll come pick you up at 6 tomorrow. Is that okay?”

At Narke’s words, I opened my eyes to find we had already arrived at the manor entrance.

I nodded my head.

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

“Haha, you took a test today but you have to prepare for the launch ceremony starting tomorrow – that’s a bit too much.”

Narke laughed as he led me into the manor.

There’s the Eschet launch ceremony on Monday the 12th. From the evening of the February 12th launch ceremony until the morning of the 13th, a celebration will be held for all participants of the Imperial 2nd Education Institute Student Military Corps.

‘Good.’

If the rules I experienced before remain the same, this favorability proposal only captures favorability changes from humans within my easily accessible range.

Someone in Baden having a good impression after reading my article wouldn’t be counted within the 10,000.

So I need to use the launch ceremony day when I directly meet countless people from the capital.

“Huh?”

Then, Narke, who opened the door to my room in the manor, smiled in surprise.

“Oh, these guys just got here~”

“They’re here?”

Elias waved a bottle while greeting.

Right after that, a greeting mixed with a sigh was heard. Leo was already sitting far away with a resigned face, and it wasn’t hard to find the reason.

Unfamiliar bottles of alcohol were lined up on the room table.

“Why did you guys come 30 minutes late~”

“30 minutes? It’s still only 11:30.”

“Right. We only have 6 hours and 30 minutes left to drink.”

“….”

We really had to stay awake for 6 hours and 30 minutes.

We didn’t drink the entire time as Elias intended.

‘If I have time to drink, I should analyze the situation instead.’

The system probably didn’t make that suggestion out of boredom. I shouldn’t be complacent just because it’s the same situation as before.

And at 6 AM.

I fully understood the necessity of why such a proposal came to me.

[Lucas Ascanien, 2nd in Line of Succession to Duchy of Anhalt, Enters Imperial Palace]

[Imperial 2nd Education Institute Representative Team ‘Eszett’ Launches in 10 Days]

[‘Pleroma as the Empire’s Guardian?’ Berlin Anti-Pleroma Alliance Harshly Criticizes Imperial 2nd Education Institute]

[‘Many Things Still Unconfirmed… Ideological Verification Needed’ Berlin Gymnasium Teachers’ Association Expresses Concern]

[Anhalt Education Workers’ Union “Imperial 2nd Education Institute’s Decision Unacceptable”]

Text written with magic quickly appeared on today’s Imperial Newspaper and various regional papers I had bought in advance.

‘Hmm.’

As expected.

The problem is that if things turn out this way, I’ll have to abandon this proposal.

As I silently stared at the newspaper, Elias, who had been sprawled on the bed, seemed to sense the situation and suddenly got up to snatch my newspaper away.

“…Ah~ Why are these people acting like this again? We definitely saw the exact same reaction before, didn’t we?”

“Haha, right….”

Narke, who was sitting next to Elias, read the newspaper with a troubled expression while watching my complexion.

It’s unnecessary worry. I shook my head.

“It’s temporary.”

“Huh?”

“It won’t last long. As you said, Elias, it’s a topic that’s already been exhausted once before.”

Thinking my words were too optimistic, Elias shook his head.

“Still, it won’t just die out on its own until we put out the spark, Luca.”

Right.

That’s correct.

So now I’m thinking of trying a different approach.

I don’t need to keep running around forever.

Being friendly with people to gain their favor is good.

But that’s one thing. How long do I have to rely only on my attitude?

If there are other tools available, I don’t have to do that, right?

So in preparation for a day like this, I had one unused card.

Before preparing for the launch ceremony, I gathered the file folder with collected materials and headed back to school.

It was my first time coming to the faculty dormitories.

Knock knock—

“Professor Stefan Traut.”

Saturday morning, 9 AM.

I knocked on Professor Traut’s dormitory door.

“This is Lucas Ascanien.”

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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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