How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 210

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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 (210)

“No matter how much it’s His Majesty’s decision, I can’t understand it. Even so, isn’t it too much for a mage organization that prioritizes safety?”

At the words of the person sitting in front, the young civilian with glasses who had been quietly listening smiled. He called a waiter to order a meal and said.

“That’s right. I was thinking the same thing.”

“Right? There probably isn’t anyone who doesn’t think so right now.”

“Yes, but…”

Just as he was about to continue speaking, loud conversation could be heard from the entrance. As evening approached, people began crowding in. At the sudden increase in noise, they turned their heads toward the entrance.

The civilians who entered the shop were laughing loudly and conversing.

“Seeing the footage, he does seem skilled.”

“No, it’s just using his head. Kids who graduate from gymnasium these days are quick-witted, so anyone you pick up can do it. There are so many talented people, why specifically choose a Pleroma?”

“Isn’t he not a Pleroma? Even if it’s a bit unreliable, His Majesty must have chosen him because he really isn’t one.”

“He might have conspired with the hospital to spout nonsense. From what I see, he volunteered on purpose to suck blood.”

There were issues with how one would drink the blood of someone going berserk and whether the Imperial Court would just stand by and watch, but everyone didn’t think that far. After all, what they needed wasn’t truth but stimulating stories to relieve even a little fatigue.

“Hehe, you’re quite angry. Shouldn’t you throw eggs at the launch ceremony or something?”

“Those middle school kids are already plotting. Just wait until he comes out of the Imperial Palace after the launch ceremony…”

“The kids are already ready.”

The civilians giggled and took their seats.

Though the evening newspaper had been published, it hadn’t been long since its release, so everyone was still influenced by the articles published in the morning.

The hostility ignited by the media was manifesting in this way.

The young man who had been interrupted looked at them and muttered.

“They’re talking about the same topic too.”

Today, the capital was entirely noisy with talk about the mage world. Among them, the fact that a Pleroma student had taken first place stimulated the boring daily lives of countless civilians.

Listening carefully, it seemed like everyone in this shop was talking about that story. His companion smiled and shrugged.

“Today, probably the entire country is only talking about this. His Majesty bringing a Pleroma into the Imperial Palace.”

The civilian with glasses nodded appropriately, then threw out a speculation that hadn’t come up until now.

“But isn’t it a bit strange?”

“What is?”

“Why would they bring Lucas Ascanien into the Imperial Palace when it’s obvious this would cause such misunderstandings?”

“…”

The companion sitting in front tilted his head slightly.

“The important thing is why they put that person in knowing they’d hear such words from us, the public.”

“That’s right, that’s really the curious point. The Imperial Palace probably didn’t think much about it. Or they didn’t consider our opinions important.”

“The Imperial Palace had no thoughts at all or dismissed public concerns?”

“Yes, well…”

“Both would be complete insults to the Imperial Palace.”

At the mood-breaking statement, even the sounds from surrounding tables suddenly quieted. When the two civilians looked around with surprised eyes, only then did the tavern gradually begin to fill with conversation sounds again.

However, even while they conversed among themselves, the attention of people in the tavern was still unknowingly focused on those two young intellectuals.

The civilian with glasses looked at his companion and spoke in a more serious voice.

“What if the Imperial Palace absolutely had to bring in that Ascanien? I think there must be something we don’t know.”

“Something?”

“Last year, that student changed completely as if he had been reborn. To change so much that it’s hard to see him as the same person – isn’t that suspicious just by itself? What if his character was always like it is now, but we just didn’t know it? Or what if Ascanien intentionally hid his true nature during the year he first showed his face publicly.”

“…”

“And now the Imperial Palace. Perhaps there was already an understanding between His Majesty the Emperor and Anhalt.”

“What kind?”

Then, as if it was now difficult to speak openly, the glasses-wearing youth said something in a smaller voice. The companion who heard that story shook his head with a surprised face.

“Come on. Ah, surely not… Hahaha, then even if all that were true, there’d be no reason to give him first place in this exam, would there? It’s too precious a key to reveal publicly.”

“This is exactly it. Didn’t those high-ranking people also induce this kind of reaction? Since we’ll criticize that student like we’re doing now anyway, isn’t it fine? Separately from that, since it’s time to use him now, they have to acknowledge his abilities. If they keep hiding it, they can’t utilize it, can they?”

Despite not knowing exactly what content they were discussing, people’s attention was entirely focused on them.

“If not for this reason, how would a Pleroma enter the Imperial Palace? There’s definitely something only the nobles know. You know well that nobles don’t share information with us.”

At the civilian with glasses’ words, the man who had been lost in serious thought lowered his voice and asked.

“…That thing you mentioned earlier, it doesn’t seem like just your own thought? Where did you hear it?”

“…”

The glasses-wearing youth looked around and gestured. Then his companion leaned his head forward.

Despite their voices being inaudible, the noise in the tavern began to gradually decrease. Except for people sitting far away who had no interest in this side, those sitting around them engaged in meaningless conversation while glancing at them.

“…Huh?”

The expression of the person who heard the whisper was completely different from before.

He shook his head slightly with eyes as if he had heard something unbelievable. Then he exchanged glances with the youth and cleared his throat as if nothing had happened.

“…”

At that strange reaction, the civilians who had been secretly observing them exchanged glances with each other.

Even if they couldn’t know what exactly was being said, they could sufficiently feel that they were discussing information unknown among themselves.

A civilian from another table made eye contact with his companions, and when it seemed they had reached the same conclusion, he called out to the two young men.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes?”

“Tell us in detail. What does that mean?”

At the same time, something similar was happening at a place quite far from the previous tavern.

Loud shouting could be heard from a restaurant in what appeared to be a completely run-down slum.

“They’re crazy! The professors at Imperial 2nd Education Institute have all gone senile.”

“Hahaha, those people aren’t even 100 years old yet? You should be the one going senile at 60 years old without even being a mage.”

One person laughed while eating meat with a fork. The sound of the fork hitting the tray was quickly drowned out by shouting.

“If they’re not even 100, they should live with their heads on straight. Now who’s protecting whom? They’re letting a Pleroma roam around Berlin? If they haven’t gone senile, then these bastards just have holes drilled in their heads.”

“Hmm, I think it’s worth watching, but this friend keeps…”

“No! You must not have heard the news. There’s talk that the Imperial Palace deliberately lured that friend out to properly catch evidence that he’s a Pleroma.”

“What?”

At those words, a middle-aged man sitting at a table in the back row turned his head. He was someone wearing a noticeably expensive-looking suit alone.

The civilian who had been talking about Ascanien all along seemed already tipsy from just the drinks and shouted loudly.

“To make him lower his guard! They plan to catch evidence that he’s a Pleroma and then kill him off. Otherwise, there’s no way the Imperial Palace would do something like bringing in a Pleroma. Right?”

“Hey… If this is real, His Majesty really thinks deeply.”

“That Ascanien is a slippery bastard. Since that bastard who’s the Deputy Minister of Magic is incompetent, they haven’t caught anything until now. That bastard really isn’t in his right mind either. If he wants to advance, he should kill his younger brother first. Why keep such a guy alive? Now that he’s grown up like this, it’s become difficult for anyone to touch him. Making the Imperial Palace handle it directly!”

“…No, but where did you hear that?”

“Right. Where did you hear it? Is it real?”

Emboldened by the interested reactions, the civilian raised his voice even more.

“It’s real, I tell you. Want to bet? From what I see, that student will definitely cause an incident related to Pleroma within a month…”

“That’s different from what I heard.”

At the sudden words, the civilians turned around.

It was a face they had never seen in this area, with a strangely new-human atmosphere—he seemed like a civilian but also seemed like a new-human since he was wearing a wand—a middle-aged man was sitting there.

The civilians frowned slightly.

The person sitting in the back smiled and shook his head.

“Would His Majesty have taken that student into the Imperial Palace without knowing such talk would arise? What do you think you would have done if you were His Majesty the Emperor?”

“What suddenly? Don’t butt in…”

“I said it’s different from what I heard. You don’t think there might be a reason why they had to take him into the Imperial Palace even knowing criticism would pour in. It’s none other than His Majesty the Emperor who chose him. You wouldn’t think he would dare put a Pleroma in that position, would you?”

“…”

What I heard?

The civilians’ faces crumpled slightly.

“Isn’t His Majesty someone with a strong will to eliminate Pleroma? Have you never thought, ‘There must be something those high-ranking people know that can’t be revealed to the public’?”

“Then what do you know to…”

“You said let’s bet. Hey there!”

At those words, the owner who had been in the kitchen naturally wiped his hands and came down to the store.

He was holding a thick ledger in his hands.

Since this was already a place being used as a gambling den on this street, he was accustomed to such responses.

Even though no one had made any specific requests, he asked familiarly.

“Yes. What’s the category?”

“Just a simple either-or. Let’s bet on whether student Lucas Ascanien will cause trouble within a month or not.”

“Heh heh… There’s already a similar bet going on. How about joining that one?”

“What’s the pot?”

“Ten people have joined and it’s at a hundred thousand so far. They’re all betting on the Pleroma side, so we need someone on the opposite side. If you’re going that way, come join this game.”

“Ten people for a hundred thousand? Just transfer it to my game.”

“Pardon?”

At the owner’s question, he pulled out bills from his wallet and said.

“Seven hundred thousand. I’m betting that the student is not Pleroma. Is this a decent amount to attract the small fry?”

When an amount that could pay lodging fees for over a year was mentioned, the tavern fell quiet.

Since betting even 1 pel was illegal anyway, whether you bet a thousand pel or ten thousand pel, getting caught was the same, so the tavern didn’t set upper limits on the pot.

Since the income level in this area was rock bottom anyway, it was rare for such an amount to be mentioned from the start.

The owner, who had been staring with wide eyes in bewilderment, let out a hollow laugh and approached him closely.

“Don’t you know this neighborhood well? Here, even betting a hundred thousand alone is considered high stakes. If you lose half a year’s salary like this, what will you do about your family? Of course, for you sir, it might not be half a year’s worth…”

“Hey, take this!”

“Don’t stop him!”

People throughout the shop pulled out their wallets and shouted.

The middle-aged man snapped his fingers at the owner who was about to turn around, drawing his attention.

“So you’re saying that student will definitely cause problems within a month? I’m getting confident. If there are many like you, I’ll take all the money here and become rich soon.”

“I’m just saying this because I don’t think you’ll have much fun, sir.”

“This won’t do.”

The middle-aged man gestured as if telling him to lean in.

After whispering something to the owner for a while, the middle-aged man pulled his face away.

Unlike before, the owner’s expression had changed to the complete opposite. Despite trying to show disbelief on the surface, he couldn’t hide his half-believing emotions.

“…”

“Now you can go round up some friends to put money in the pot.”

“…Heh heh…”

“Owner, you probably know well where you should stand too. With so many people thinking he’ll cause trouble within a month, how could I not have fun?”

The middle-aged man looked at the customers beyond the owner.

Those who had been about to bet money began exchanging glances with each other.

Earlier he had said he had ‘heard something.’ His attire that seemed like he’d occupy an important position, and his attitude of casually throwing around half a year’s salary.

That much was fine, but now the owner’s reaction was somehow unusual.

Lucas Ascanien is Pleroma and since he entered the Imperial Palace, he’ll now reveal his true nature – anyone could see this was the right answer, yet that middle-aged man was saying he should naturally take the opposite side.

Now even the owner’s expression was telling them the same thing.

The expressions of those watching them hardened slightly.

A hesitant atmosphere began to flow.

* * *

7 PM.

After finishing dinner at the Imperial Palace, just as Team 1 was about to move to Elias’s room in the Imperial Palace to rest for a moment, a servant approached us.

“This is a letter from the school.”

As soon as Elias confirmed that the letter the Imperial servant delivered was from Imperial 2nd Education Institute, he ripped open the envelope and checked the contents.

The corners of his mouth gradually rose.

“…Does this professor only go on restaurant tours? Not Magic Swordsmanship but Berlin doctorate.”

I took the paper Elias handed over and looked at it.

A Berlin map was marked with X’s in various colored inks. There seemed to be about twenty places roughly.

I let out a light laugh.

‘He found them well.’

I could see he had diligently collected them for 4 hours from 2 PM.

Earlier, I had ordered Traut to find out the places in Berlin where people from each social class frequently gather and disperse, where gossip and rumors are mainly produced.

The bourgeois class, the working class, and among them the average class and the poor. The strategy direction had to differ according to each characteristic.

This world isn’t the 21st century. Public opinion isn’t formed through the internet, but in places where people gather and disperse like parks or clubs.

Traut has lived in Berlin for a long time, and most of his connections are concentrated in Berlin.

Of course, I could have found similar places by asking students around…

‘Why should I do it.’

When you can make others do it, you should make them work hard.

That way you don’t die from overwork.

Moreover, it’s hard to get results this quickly with simple requests.

This was possible because I used threats.

He’s doing his best to prevent the story that ‘he tried to interfere with Ascanien’s second son even while tying up Jurgen Beck’s arteries’ from reaching his family.

As I got up from my seat and stepped out into the hallway, Elias put his arm around my shoulder.

“Making the professor create a Berlin restaurant map, you’re not ordinary either, Luca.”

“It’s not restaurants.”

“So~ what are you going to do now? Spread rumors?”

I nodded.

As Elias said before, the core of battle is information.

Making lies look like truth and making truth look like lies – this is the way to get closer to victory.

People consume criticism of me because they need stimulating stories?

Then, if there’s another stimulating story, wouldn’t things change?

If both are lies anyway, it’s better to spread lies that are favorable to me.

“Elias. Can you warp with me to the mansion now?”

“Huh? Of course~”

Elias stopped his steps toward his room and snapped his fingers while gripping my shoulder tightly.

In an instant, the view changed to the mansion entrance.

Actually, warping directly like this from the Imperial Palace isn’t ideal, but since we’re students whose identities are guaranteed by the school, we received permission to warp freely just for today.

‘Since we’re stuck in the Imperial Palace annex anyway, there’s no reason not to give permission.’

Thinking that, I entered the building and climbed the stairs.

Elias quietly said to me.

“I know why you came here.”

“You know?”

You should know. If it’s Elias, he has no choice but to know.

The biggest problem with my plan is that if I use Traut’s connections to spread gossip among humans, it becomes even more dangerous.

The connections Traut used ‘to take down my article’ are Hyung’s loyal subjects.

I thought about asking our class professor, but paradoxically, since he’s Berlin-born, his connections weren’t as solid as Traut’s. He was also someone who didn’t get involved in politics.

On the other hand, Traut had the characteristics of being an Anhalt native residing in Berlin and an Adrian Ascanien supporter, so he could have deeper relationships with those who shared the same characteristics.

Naturally, if I use that manpower excessively, that is, if I don’t stop at taking down newspaper articles but use it for direct public opinion manipulation…

‘I’d be giving Hyung’s supporters grounds that I manipulated public opinion through dishonest methods.’

It’s like burning down the whole house to catch a bedbug. No matter how much I want to earn 30 points, I can’t do such obviously visible foolish acts.

Then couldn’t I use divine power to erase memories?

Of course that’s a good method. I already slowly mixed mental manipulation magic while ordering Traut to make a restaurant map—whatever I told Elias seems like a decent expression.

But while using divine power on just Traut alone might be fine, if I have to go around finding Traut’s connections and their subordinate intelligence personnel and use divine power on all of them, there’s no answer.

Don’t I have a more efficient method than that?

I elaborated to Elias, who kept nodding vigorously beside me.

“Your guess is probably right. I came to ask a favor from a human I know.”

“Oh~ as expected.”

I came to send a letter to Marian Baum.

This is why I demanded Traut create a restaurant map. The target I’m about to ask a favor from, namely Marian Baum, is the most appropriate target in the current situation, but also has somewhat insufficient information power.

‘It’s a difficult request for that person.’

How would someone who has always been active in Bavaria, both in the novel and here, know Berlin geography?

But asking him to mobilize the Berlin humans of the Catacombs would be demanding he clearly exceed his authority, so it’s an excessive request.

This is no different from the level of unreasonable move when I told Traut to ‘try blocking the article.’

So, I needed to be courteous. I should prepare what I need to prepare first and try to persuade them.

“You’ve arrived.”

After passing through the hallway completely covered in navy blue to reach where my room was located, another servant greeted me.

I smiled and greeted them back before entering my room.

“Hm?”

This was the first time I’d seen such a sight in this manor.

There was a letter placed on the desk.

When I casually flipped it over, I saw unfamiliar letters.

[To D.G.]

“This is…”

It came to the wrong place.

Just as I thought that and pushed the letter aside on the desk, Elias shook his head.

“No, it’s yours. You’re a step behind, Luca.”

“…”

A step behind?

At Elias’s words, I opened the envelope.

“…!”

As soon as I opened the envelope and saw the name written there, I let out a small laugh.

It was a letter for someone who called me Dietrich Granach.

“…Yeah, Eli, you’re right that I’m a step behind.”

I answered like that and fixed my gaze on the letter.

He had accomplished exactly what I had planned.

Without me even asking first, he had gathered the Prussian humans from the catacombs and released them to the gathering places they knew. It even seemed like he had sent them in teams rather than one by one.

[…It’s been over 2 weeks since I told you to come to the catacombs once, so how come you haven’t shown your face even once? Please come in February for sure.]

A playful phrase was written at the very end of the letter.

When Marian Baum had told me to come to the catacombs back then, I had worried that the people in the catacombs would be reluctant.

In the end, he was saying once again that the people in the catacombs didn’t dislike me.

That would be right. After reading the plan he executed for me, I could tell for certain.

The Prussian catacomb people currently deployed wouldn’t do such things for me alone unless it was their own will.

‘…Who would have thought that incident would come back around like this.’

Even while looking at it, I could hardly believe what I was seeing.

Every day feels like the first day I fell into this place. I’m so used to grabbing everything with my own hands that I never even thought someone could move for me first without me even threatening them. It’s not really a problem that they’ve figured out to some extent that I’m Nicolaus. From the moment I set foot in the catacombs, we were basically in the same boat anyway.

“Teacher Baum’s timing is amazing~? Is he someone with insight abilities?”

“Now isn’t the time to hit rock bottom with my image.”

The timing when the status window offered the +10,000 proposal was very appropriate. Right now is a good time to flip my image.

Whatever the Imperial Court’s schemes are, I became a safe mage officially recognized by the Imperial Court starting Friday.

So shouldn’t I make good use of that benefit? Marian Baum must have also thought that now was the right time in various ways.

‘Well, still, it would be worth hearing about how he knew what and helped me.’

But not now.

If things are being resolved this quickly, I need to move just as quickly too.

The information I extracted from Traut is actually information that only gathered the points where high-ranking figures in politics and media spread informants.

Although the Berlin people in the catacombs are skilled with the geography there, most of them are ordinary citizens after all.

Wouldn’t things be easier if I gave them information actually used in political circles to create an intersection between the two cases?

I put the map I received from Traut into a warp mail envelope and began writing a short thank-you letter.

* * *

A fairly decent weekend passed by.

It was such a peaceful time that I doubted when I’d be able to spend such calm days again.

Since it wasn’t enough time to develop team cohesion or affection for team members, I just felt like I was normally at school, which made it rather comfortable.

‘Of course, I’m not comfortable right now.’

About 1 hour before the launch ceremony.

The Imperial Court’s makeup artist had been touching my hair for an hour now.

While he went far away, I whispered to my friends.

“Do you guys live like this all the time?”

It reminds me of my original body after a long time…

Since coming here, I’ve lived a life of just washing my face and immediately rushing to the classroom, so this kind of lifestyle feels bothersome.

Cheringen said with a laugh.

“Lucas, you’re going to stand on stage later, so think of it as preparing in advance~”

These royal bastards anyway…

I don’t really know how ordinary nobles live, but certainly these people from ruling families, namely royalty, were sensitive about appearances. Just looking at how they wax their hair until their heads become stones and come out covered in jewels all over their bodies shows they’re different.

‘Well… it’s not like royalty can appear at official occasions looking like they’re just going out in the neighborhood.’

It’s natural to get more favorability when appearing with an impression befitting one’s status, so I can understand why everyone puts effort into their appearance.

I was thinking up to that point when I realized something was wrong.

‘No…’

Bang—!

Others can’t even see the favorability window, yet I naturally expressed it as favorability.

When I banged my head against the wall to wake myself up, Elias asked with a flustered face.

“What, what? Why?”

“There’s something like that…”

I quickly opened the proposal window to divert my thoughts. Of course, this whole mess started because of the proposal window, so what good would looking at it again do, but I had no choice.

I had no option but to finish it quickly and get rid of it.

Proposal 2: Favorability +10,000 within deadline (552/10,000) (111 hours 58 minutes 54 seconds)

0.0552% progress.

‘The natural increase rate is surprising.’

It’s gained momentum.

This value only looks small because 10,000 points seems so hopeless. These 552 points must all have been gained from people I met at school and the Imperial Court, and considering what the trend was like during the previous mission, this was an incredibly fast rise.

The reason was here.

Lucas Rene Ascanien

Title: Count Nicolaus

Stamina: +4.0 [+7.0]

Mental Power: +4.3

Magic Power: ?

Skill: +5.1 [+8.1]

Impression: -4.1 (+1.7) [+3] [+8.126]

Luck: +5.0

Traits: Dawn777, Divine Power, Charm (Lv.5), Retry (Lv.3)

The impression value that had increased by 1.2 over 2 weeks rose by 1.7 in just 48 hours.

This was thanks to the media reporting positive keywords—for example, the qualities of a mage—in connection with me.

And the catacombs’ work must have definitely had an influence too.

I opened today’s Daslotte newspaper.

[How Far Do the Imperial Court’s Plans Go?]

— Secret cooperation between the Imperial Court and Anhalt… Student A confirmed to have Pleroma traits, actually the Imperial Court’s ambitious Pleroma countermeasure?

‘Do they think calling me A makes it different?’

Anyone can see it’s me.

Thanks to my experience of my impression points dropping steadily because of Daslotte, I knew well how much influence this tabloid had on the general public.

Of course, it’s beneficial. I read the newspaper inwardly.

‘…If one doesn’t believe in Pleroma’s ideology, even if they have Pleroma qualities, they can stand on the side of our people. Some are raising questions about whether the Imperial Court accepted Student A’s academic evaluation results and took him into the Royal Mage Association to research ways to deal damage to Pleroma.’

These bastards just copied gossip floating around the capital as is. Since they’ve always been like that, it wasn’t strange, and since this would be what the catacombs wanted, I was only grateful.

I was reading the article moderately when I looked up at Elias’s stiff voice.

“I wondered why the clothes came out later than the hair. What kind of situation is it to give us clothes 30 minutes before?”

Several servants had come in carrying our formal wear, but seeing Elias’s expression, they retreated to a distance.

I closed the book and looked at the waiting room that had grown cold once again.

“Ahem… Hey guys. Can someone explain why the atmosphere is so bad?”

Ulrike asked, glancing at her teammates.

Except for Haike, who looked as thoughtless as always, and Ulrike, who was a Junker, the rest—Elias, Leo, and Julia—had slightly bitter expressions.

‘They have good reason to act like that.’

All black long coats with red neckties.

Shirts were usually white, but anyway, these three colors clearly carried political meaning.

Black, white, and red—the colors of the German Empire’s flag.

The atmosphere was completely opposite to our white and blue school uniforms.

“Look at those damn clothes.”

Elias clicked his tongue and gave a cold smile.

Leo answered calmly.

“Where else but Prussian blue.”

The Imperial Court probably wanted to do that. Prussian blue had long been used for Prussian military uniforms, which is why numerous mage associations under the Imperial Court used to wear Prussian blue uniforms.

However, this time, considering there were three students from foreign ruling houses who weren’t from Prussia, they used the colors of the German Empire’s federal flag instead.

Giving uniforms that reminded one of Prussia’s ‘military uniforms’ rather than the Empire would have been too obvious even for them, so they took a step back.

Since the transfer to the Imperial Court after this selection hadn’t been negotiated, openly making them Prussia’s subjects could have drawn protests from Baden and Bavaria.

Of course, in this nation that only superficially maintained democracy, loyalty to the Empire meant loyalty to the Emperor. Even the black and white of the federal flag were Prussia’s colors, and black, white, and red were again the colors of the House of Hohenzollern’s royal flag.

In the end, it was no different from covering one’s eyes and pretending, so Elias’s reaction was natural.

Anyway, the Imperial Court giving us this just before the launch ceremony…

What else could it mean? It meant they wouldn’t take our opinions. Even though something trivial could become a diplomatic issue, their stubbornness was truly remarkable.

Elias didn’t seem to plan on rebelling at this moment either. He looked around at us once, let out a big sigh, and gestured.

Only then did the servants approach him.

After that, I was lost in thought as the launch ceremony’s start time approached.

I had prepared all weekend for today, so now it had to pay off.

If I couldn’t finish this proposal at today’s launch ceremony, I’d have to consider those 30 points lost.

‘People within the range I can perceive.’

That was the previous favorability calculation standard.

What exactly was the range I could perceive? People within my living radius whom I could see with my eyes anytime and interact with.

That’s what I had learned from experience so far.

‘Then the 552 points I’ve gained so far aren’t all the favorability I can get. In that case, eventually…’

People from the protocol department entered the waiting room.

My friends, who had been noisy until just now, became quiet when it was time to move.

We proceeded straight through a corridor where sunlight streamed in. In the distance, I could see a massive door made of dark brown wood.

The drumbeats from the band that had been audible since earlier grew louder.

And then, the door began to open.

The figures of countless people who had entered the Imperial Palace and the guards standing on both sides appeared faintly white in the distance.

‘Eventually, I’ll be able to get the points I haven’t obtained so far.’

“…Waaahhhhh—!”

Ding—!

Favorability 1,000 achieved (1,000/10,000)

From that window, countless windows appeared overlapping. Due to the notification sounds, I couldn’t even hear the cheers people were making.

Favorability 2,000 achieved (2,000/10,000)

Favorability 3,500 achieved (3,500/10,000)

Favorability 5,000 achieved (5,000/10,000)

Just as I was bewildered by the speed of the achievement windows continuously updating so fast the text was barely visible, the final notification sound came.

Ding—!

Favorability 10,000 achieved (10,000/10,000)

Congratulations!

‘Proposal 2: ‘Favorability +10,000 within deadline (10,000/10,000)’ successful!

‘Route 1 — 【 +30.0 Points 】’ confirmed.

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