How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 214

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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 (214)

Haike, who is an impossible conquest target, has never given me affection points on her own.

But how?

‘Hey.’

Come out here. What kind of contradiction is this?

If conquest is impossible, then why is that guy giving me affection points?

[…]

A window appeared in front of me, but no text was written on it.

Then, something I had heard before suddenly flashed through my mind.

[I think you’re a wonderful teammate… But that might just be stubbornness from wanting to get close to you, not necessarily my true impression. Of course, I don’t even know if my desire to get close to you started from preference for you, or from my obsession with wanting to try making a friend for once.]

These were words Haike Einsiedel had said to me.

At the time, I thought this.

‘I don’t know if his emotional deficiency is directly connected to not giving affection points, but if he’s the type who hardly feels emotions about anything, it would certainly have an influence. Some people give them out easily and others don’t. Then there’s a possibility they could rise, right? Of course, that’s also questionable in its own way. Is it normal to record the affection points of an impossible conquest target? Isn’t it impossible to conquer because you can’t raise affection points? Or is it impossible to conquer because there’s no ending?’

Now I understand.

Haike’s affection points could rise of their own accord.

Then there’s no reason it should be impossible to conquer.

First, this damn system isn’t omnipotent.

If conquest was impossible, it should have prevented the target’s affection points from rising. But why couldn’t it do that?

Despite having the ability to turn back time, despite having the ability to raise others’ affection points by as much as 6 points, why?

‘Damn. I can’t even ask Narke about this…’

Second, it gave warnings but allowed me high degrees of freedom.

Then why didn’t it just write “villain” in big bold letters?

Is it lack of ability, or the result of allowing me free will?

‘If I had to choose the rational option right now, this would entirely be a lack of ability from this system.’

More than that, there’s something else I need to examine now.

“Huh~?!”

Narke, whose shoulder I had grabbed, gave a flustered laugh.

I dragged him to a secluded place, cast a sound-blocking spell, and muttered.

“…What did you say? What is this?”

“I said Lucas wants to become even closer friends with you than now~”

“That’s not all of it… Huh? What did you do to make that kid look like he’s at an amusement park for the first time in his life?”

Of course, to others it still looked like the same stoic face, but those of us who had spent the past month with Haike knew.

That was a rare expression to see from Haike, who usually had thoughtless eyes about everything.

He wasn’t even smiling and was expressionless, yet there was that strange expectant look in his eyes.

As I gradually moved closer, Narke stepped back and waved his hands in front of him to stop me.

“It’s, it’s true~?! I really only said one thing. I used some insight, you know. I needed to know what would make Haike happiest, so we could have a conversation in a softer atmosphere~ Honestly, we’re not going to tell Haike pleasant news.”

“…That’s what Haike likes to hear most?”

“Mm-hmm. Oh, of course among stories that involve you.”

Well, that makes sense then. The burden is somewhat lifted.

If it had been something like wanting to get close to me being the most enjoyable goal in life above all else, I would have immediately looked into exorcism rituals. There was no basis for that anyway.

As I let him go and stepped back, Narke explained as if to appease me.

“But it really is just the desire to become friends~ Haike said it directly before too. That he wanted to try making a proper friend for once. He has absolutely no intention of selling information or harming us.”

When I stared at him intently, he tilted his head to the side. He seemed to have become more playful from being drunk.

“Your ability range seems to have expanded quite a bit.”

“….”

Narke silently turned his gaze elsewhere, then as if deciding this much was okay to say, quietly answered me.

“It will shrink back down on its own.”

“It will shrink down. Why?”

“I have to do that if I want to keep living here.”

Narke said something ominous and then smiled.

I know it’s rude to pry unless he tells me first, but there are more than a few things I want to ask about.

An asterisk attached to affection points means a trait has been applied.

But what does it mean when it’s attached to a trait like Foresight (Lv.2)*?

Doesn’t that mean another trait has been applied to the insight and foresight abilities?

I know he’s hiding a lot from me. There are quite a few suspicious parts. But since he doesn’t tell me first, and since he doesn’t harm me, I haven’t asked.

But today he’s strangely kind to me.

“Narke. Are you drunk?”

“No~ I can’t drink until I’m drunk. Anyway… so if you have anything to ask right now, ask away. It’ll only increase slightly, but wouldn’t it be more accurate than last time?”

“….”

The desire to ask about the status window surged up.

Should I ask once and then turn back time?

‘…I’d have no choice but to explain to Leo that I turned it back just because I was bored.’

That’s obviously terrible.

And just in case, let’s refrain from asking Narke such sensitive questions.

“Tell my fortune.”

“Ah, good! But Haike is waiting. Want to come to my room later to hear it?”

I nodded.

When we went outside, Haike looked back and forth between the two of us, probably wondering why we had suddenly disappeared.

“Sorry! Lucas was really embarrassed…”

I covered his mouth with one hand and explained with a smile.

“It’s not that. Haike, your reaction seemed different from usual, so I wondered if he might have told you what I said to Narke earlier, so I went to ask. And he said he did tell you. Um… was it very burdensome?”

“No.”

Haike answered in a robotic voice.

Yet his eyes were sparkling.

‘…Do you want to make friends that badly…’

My conscience is pricking me.

What I have to tell this guy really isn’t pleasant news.

Narke pushed us toward the upper floor of the banquet hall.

“Come on, let’s go now.”

The lounge for new guests was wider and more elaborate than the room Elias had used earlier.

Considering how Elias had been causing a ruckus while displaying his flamboyant personality, it felt like he hadn’t been guaranteed very good treatment. At least thanks to that, he had the remarkable advantage of turning everyone into Gunter-like people without being purged, so Elias seemed to accept this level of unfairness.

‘Come to think of it, it’s about time for Elias to become independent.’

He’s not someone who necessarily needs to live in the Imperial Palace, is he?

Since the Emperor had kept him there to monitor and control him, in the novel he immediately left the Imperial Palace after gaining support.

Of course, now things have gotten bigger before graduation unlike in the novel, and he’s entered the Imperial Court, so things might change again.

Narke seemed flustered by the quite different atmosphere from the room we saw earlier, turning his head around like me.

“Hmm. The Imperial Court has a lot of money.”

“Indeed.”

Haike answered briefly.

He was holding a wine glass in his hand like before, but fortunately it didn’t seem like he had cast a refill spell on it.

After finishing his drink, he smacked his lips regretfully and put the glass down on the table.

“Guys. But is it okay for just us to be here like this? Shouldn’t we call our other friends too?”

Haike spoke in a monotone, rattling off his words. However, the expectation in his eyes and his flushed face remained.

He clearly wanted to get closer to more friends.

Narke, who had been silent, spoke to me using divine power.

—”My conscience is pricking me…”

—”Mine too.”

Since we already confirmed before that he genuinely wants to get close to us, today we just need to confirm one thing.

If I ask out of the blue, it’ll be no different from an interrogation, so let’s lighten the mood first.

I shook the ice cream cup I had received from Adelbert earlier.

“But where did this ice cream come from? There shouldn’t be a freezer here.”

“Remember the ice cream booth the Department of Public Administration ran during the festival? The cooling mage friend who made those brought some again.”

“I see. It’s surprising they got permission.”

“That first-year underclassman gave permission~”

“Ah…”

So Adelbert gave permission.

How absurd. The eldest is right over there plotting some rotten scheme to exploit Pleroma, while the second son is thinking about eating ice cream.

Of course, from my perspective, there’s no real reason to feel much disconnect. Those two have no reason to be alike.

According to the conclusions I’ve reached over the past two weeks meeting with Gregorius—Abraham, digging through all sorts of books and extracting every possibility, the Crown Prince is no longer Adelbert’s family. More precisely…

“Good.”

While continuing my thoughts and half-listening to the gentle conversation between Narke and Haike, an unexpected word caught my ear.

Haike, who had somehow picked up an empty glass again, muttered while looking down at the bottom of it.

“I wanted to be on the same team as you guys… but honestly, there was no sign of that happening. I never imagined the spots would be increased either.”

“I see.”

“We’re also happy to be on the same team as you, Haike~ Who knew having one more person would feel this reassuring.”

Haike, who had only been blinking at Narke’s words, belatedly smiled as if realizing he should smile at times like this.

“It’s amazing that my wish came true.”

“…”

This guy really says a lot of embarrassing things.

To say in front of us that wanting to be on the same team as us was his wish. I could see Narke keeping her mouth shut while working hard to think.

I threw out a question to gradually get to the main point.

“You said making friends was your first time, Haike.”

“Yeah.”

“Did you not have the opportunity? I couldn’t make friends because I didn’t attend the 3rd Education Institute, so I’m curious if you were in a similar situation to me.”

“…”

“Sorry if that was a rude question.”

“Me too.”

When I waited quietly, he slowly continued speaking.

“I didn’t have much time to get close to friends because I was following my uncle around. And I’m not really a sociable person either.”

At least he knows…

Unlike me, Narke focused on the earlier statement and leaned forward.

“It seemed like you didn’t get along well with your uncle, but you followed him around? That must have been really hard. I don’t get along well with the adults in my family either, so I somehow relate.”

“The adults of the Farnese Family?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Was there a reason you traveled with your uncle?”

It naturally felt like it was flowing into something like a background check. As expected, Haike hesitated without answering.

“Ah, that must have been too sensitive a topic. We’ll be done at 6 AM, want to play board games at the dormitory then?”

“Sure. Is Lucas coming too?”

“Sorry. I’m tired so I want to sleep a little.”

“I see.”

Haike nodded as if that was fine.

I chatted with them until the atmosphere in this place relaxed considerably.

However, I couldn’t keep doing that forever.

‘I’ll ask once more… and if he doesn’t want to answer, I’ll have to cast mind manipulation magic.’

Then I’ll turn back time.

Other magic might be different, but mind manipulation magic is too much to use on a friend. I can’t leave him with such memories in any way.

Even if he wouldn’t remember, making it as if it never happened is the final courtesy.

I waited for the conversation to naturally pause, then suddenly asked.

“Haike. This might be very sudden, but about your unique ability.”

When I said that, Haike’s expressionless face subtly hardened.

“Have you used it on people often?”

“…”

Haike was just looking down at the table.

Around the time Narke and I shared the feeling of sitting on thorns, he nodded.

“…Often?”

“Yeah.”

“It seemed like you didn’t like using it on people.”

“That’s right. So you don’t need to worry. Before… because of that incident, you might find it hard to trust my words…”

I shook my head while making the most benevolent smile possible.

“No, that matter was already settled back then. I trust you. But why do you have a lot of experience using it when you don’t like it?”

It’s overwhelming to be prying so persistently when it doesn’t match my personality.

Haike was also just rolling his eyes like someone who had done something wrong.

After a long while, he spoke in a crawling voice.

“Because my uncle made money using my ability.”

“…”

I could immediately understand why he didn’t want to be with his uncle.

This is also a similar case to Narke.

Narke gave me a look. It seemed to be true.

“Before doing anything, he would always take me along and make me touch the land and people there. So when I was young, many innocent people suffered because of my uncle.”

“…You told him exactly what information you read.”

At Narke’s worried tone, Haike nodded.

“You said you didn’t get along. From when I realized that problems were arising because of my ability, I stopped telling him exactly what I read. …My uncle isn’t stupid either, so he probably immediately knew I was lying. Even though he’s my uncle, I have no intention of speaking well of him. My uncle is not a good person.”

“…”

While I was lost in thought, Haike looked at me and said.

“I was sorry about last time. I guess I was influenced by my uncle too. So… um, what I mean is… I won’t use that ability to get close to people anymore. No, I don’t want to use it no matter what happens. Especially never on our team members.”

It seems he understood my question as ‘Are you going to use your ability on me again this time?’

Anyway, since I heard his clear answer about this topic, that’s enough.

I can verify it for certain without going as far as mind manipulation magic.

Narke looked at me and nodded. It meant Haike’s resolve was clear.

While there are plenty of guys who just talk like that but only act according to what benefits them, Haike seems to have no such intention at all due to his bad childhood memories.

This is why you need to have conversations.

I looked into those honest eyes and worried.

“Come to think of it, you used your ability a lot during this exam. Since you didn’t have good memories about your ability, it must have been really hard.”

“Still, I just had to put my hands on the ground, so it was relatively okay. There was no one like my uncle, and it was even during an exam.”

Haike smiled faintly and fiddled with his ear.

Several artifacts were inserted there.

“After the exam ended, my ability seemed to loosen up a bit, so I got artifacts fitted too. So you can rest assured.”

“Ah, that’s really good.”

Narke looked into Haike’s eyes with a pitying expression.

“I also said earlier that I don’t get along very well with the adults in my family, right? Actually, it’s for the same reason as you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. The adults always made me work to extract divine power… They tend to want to do everything according to their tastes.”

Haike didn’t answer and was lost in thought, then slowly nodded.

“…I guess it’s a common thing in our society regardless of country. It’s not just me who experienced this.”

“That’s right. It’s common~ Insubordination is common, killing relatives is common, and using mages under ten years old to fatten up families is also common.”

“…”

I listened to Narke’s words with a meaningless smile.

Right. It’s a common thing. Didn’t Marco Schreiber also say that New Humanity usually only has one child? There are reasons for all of that.

‘There’s more than one or two guys with family problems.’

How unfortunate.

New Humanity is more calculating than Old Humanity. Even in the Old Humanity era, all sorts of bizarre political schemes and assassination plots occurred, but New Humanity is worse, not better.

The reproduction of Old Humanity’s successors is mostly based on love, but the reproduction of New Humanity’s successors stems from the desire to gain power superiority through magical enhancement. So birth is achieved solely by procuring the highest quality magical power and matching the optimal ratio. Along with a handful of blood and one standard model that removes most elements deemed inferior by New Humanity society.

So for Luca, only Georg Ascanien exists as a parent, and if we had to pick two, the second largest proportion of magical power that Georg Ascanien contracted would be the other parent.

New Humanity, who walk a different path from Old Humanity from the start and grow up that way, also have different values from Old Humanity. Since they were only in schools attended by young children and were busy studying, they didn’t feel much difference from Old Humanity, but New Humanity society becomes more individualistic as the age group increases, and meaningful emotions between humans fade.

It’s natural that a society that views humans as tools for achieving purposes from the start doesn’t function normally. Haike also couldn’t possibly develop affection for a family that sees him as a tool.

Of course, if we’re talking about normalcy, I wonder if the world I lived in could truly be called completely normal.

Narke looked at Haike sitting in the front seat and said.

“Still, most don’t live like us, so our luck probably wasn’t that good. I’m glad to meet a friend like you, Haike, who’s in the same situation as me.”

“Me too.”

“Ah~ the atmosphere got too heavy! We should talk about fun things. Haike, what do you want to do after graduation?”

Narke smiled slightly and acted playfully.

Perhaps because he had the experience of confidently taking on the role of Mephistopheles, he’s indeed skilled at acting.

“I want to try living with my mom.”

“Oh?”

“I don’t know if mom will treat me like uncle does, but I’m curious.”

“I see.”

Narke listened to his words with an expression that seemed to see through his inner thoughts even more than before.

‘Is this information worth remembering?’

It wasn’t fun talk at all, yet he asked what he wanted to do after graduation.

When we all fell silent, Haike, who had been silent along with us, opened and closed his mouth, then seemed to gather courage and said.

“…This might be sudden, but, um, I should have said this earlier. If it’s a deployment situation or somewhere my abilities are needed, I want to be helpful, so please tell me anytime. I’m also a team member now.”

“You said ‘you guys.’ It’s ‘us.'”

At my words, Haike nodded.

“That’s right.”

Since his smile was excited, I smiled back at him.

Narke clapped his hands and pulled out his wand.

“Alright, good~ Finally, Haike!”

“Yeah?”

—I can do all things through him who gives me strength.

At that moment, Haike clutched his heart and opened his eyes wide.

It wasn’t me who cast it.

I had only told Narke the formula I improved.

Narke smiled and apologized.

“Sorry.”

“Huh? Huh? What is it?”

Haike turned his head back and forth looking at me and Narke, seeming to check if there was anyone who would explain.

Though he cast it casually, perhaps he didn’t feel completely free conscience-wise, as Narke’s eyes wandered slightly before he smiled.

“I… tend to use this magic on all my newly made friends.”

“…”

He’s making excuses like this.

As expected, Haike also had common sense as he raised his eyebrows slightly.

“Why?”

“It means you’re a friend I’ve collected. Actually, I need to bind all my friends to me to feel satisfied~”

“You’re really strange.”

“…”

Haike answered calmly as usual.

Who’s the really strange one here. This is the first time I’ve seen someone with such a calm reaction.

“Then it’s not just on me. Did you cast it on all our team members?”

“Huh? I need to collect them now. I already cast it on Lucas next to you too.”

When?

But the effect was definite.

Suddenly, Haike’s eyes began to shine.

He seems to regard it as a sign of really close friendship.

‘I absolutely can’t tell him the magic’s name is subjugation.’

I also can’t tell him that except for Leo who was a special case, I only cast it on guys who each had something to be caught for.

“Oh, and it’s a secret. You can’t tell other friends!”

At those words, Haike asked in a more energetic voice.

“Why? I’ll try to persuade Kleist. You said you need to collect them.”

“Ahhh! No~ This needs to be collected by my own power to be fun~”

“You’re really strange.”

Thinking again, he’s the really strange one.

The moment I tried to change the subject to restore some common sense since the atmosphere seemed like we were all going crazy together, divine power suddenly surged from behind.

—Se il Signore non custodisce la città, invano veglia chi la custodisce.

“…!”

Haike lost consciousness and fell asleep from just one spell.

I jumped up from my seat and caught Haike.

‘Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.’

This is the spell he cast.

‘Italian…’

I let out a hollow laugh. He recited it in his native language so we couldn’t understand.

Narke smiled as usual and supported Haike’s back.

“Ah, really sorry… But there’s no feeling of anything being severed~ You felt it too, Lucas, right?”

“Yeah.”

There’s no connection between Haike and anyone else.

If something had been connected, the magical power flowing through his body would move slightly differently when he lost consciousness.

“Clean. But it seems there’s some information he unknowingly recognized. So he even prepared artifacts.”

“Did he touch our things?”

“Mm, he probably read them without knowing it himself. Since I also cast the subjugation magic, we’ll know right away if anyone attacks Haike… Anyway, this should be fine.”

Narke smiled and looked at me.

“Whatever the result, let’s do our best without regrets.”

“…”

I stared at his yellow eyes and nodded.

“Yeah.”

Since the atmosphere felt like something might explode at any moment, I deliberately made a playful smile and changed the subject.

“Ah, I forgot. How’s my future? Since you used your ability once, use it for me too.”

“Ah, I should…”

Narke, who was looking down at me, didn’t continue his words.

Just when that silence was becoming frightening, Narke smiled and said.

“We’ll do our best with that too.”

* * *

Haike thought he had briefly passed out from drinking too much alcohol.

He came down the stairs with us, muttering in a dull voice.

“Should I stop drinking?”

‘Wouldn’t people normally stop drinking on their own after something like that happens?’

“Drink more~”

Despite being a priest, Narke just smiled as if he didn’t care whether people drank until they got drunk or not.

Anyway…

I cast a sound-blocking spell and spoke to Narke to hear the answer I couldn’t hear earlier.

“Narke. What the hell does that mean?”

“Later, let’s really go to my room and talk. It seems like it’ll be long. It’s not just you involved in this…”

Narke made an awkward smile that was neither smiling nor anything else, speaking with a troubled expression.

I know that at level 2, it’s still an ability full of holes, but to hear such an eerie prophecy with this enhanced ability?

‘Ah… I shouldn’t have known about my future in advance.’

No.

I need to know so I can come to my senses.

“But you’ve had some time to breathe recently! Right?!”

“Isn’t that how it should be originally?”

“…That’s true…”

Narke smiled with an awkward expression.

Just then, as if she had been waiting for us from afar, Ulrike came running over hurriedly.

“Hey guys!”

For some reason, she looked pleased.

Before I could even ask what had happened, she thrust a crumpled piece of paper at us.

[1st Year 1st Team – 9th Grade Rampage Processing]

[1st Year 2nd Team – 9th Grade Rampage Processing]

[1st Year 3rd Team – 9th Grade Rampage Processing]

[2nd Year 1st Team (Eszett) – Pentalon Main Stadium Inspection]

[2nd Year 2nd Team – 9th Grade Rampage Processing]

[2nd Year 3rd Team – 9th Grade Rampage Processing]

[3rd Year 1st Team – 9th Grade Rampage Processing]

[3rd Year 2nd Team – 9th Grade Rampage Processing]

[3rd Year 3rd Team – 9th Grade Rampage Processing]

“Only we get to do that!”

* * *

At the same time, in the Niedersachsen region.

On the 3rd floor of a house in Niedersachsen, in a space that was practically a dark room, someone swept their hand over numerous photos and pins attached to the wall. His gaze moved to a map of Berlin.

The mage who had been standing still in that spot for a while connected the red string that had been hooked on a pin to another pin.

He began humming a song quietly in Low German.

“Knock on my door and turn the door handle… Father thinks. It must be the wind. Mother also thinks. It must be the wind. Father…”

Beep—

The mage tapped the artifact hanging by his ear.

Soon, someone else’s voice could be heard.

[The schedule is out.]

“…thinks. It’s just the wind. Mother also thinks. It’s just the wind.”

[You really sing like shit. It’s truly amazing how you can sing such a cheerful song like a criminal.]

“The schedule is.”

[Pentalon Main Stadium inspection.]

“Hahahaha!”

The mage scribbled something on paper and stuck a pin on top of it.

“The first mission is something like this? They must be planning to use me as the Empire’s poster boy.”

[Don’t think like that. All mages would want to do this kind of representative work as their first mission. Especially since it’s work that lets you play around for the next month.]

“Good. Starting tomorrow?”

[Starting tomorrow. Now… Ah!]

The person who was about to hang up shouted urgently.

[Can you hear me?]

“What.”

[Don’t take the Ascanien photo with you. You’ll be finished.]

“…”

The mage who had been silently staring at the photos and map on the wall shrugged his shoulders.

“Sure thing.”

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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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