How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 22

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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 (22)

The excited commotion disappeared, and an atmosphere like thin ice was created.

A hundred eyes filled with shock turned toward me.

It was a scene that reminded me of the day I first answered the professor’s question.

No one seemed to think of moving, so it felt like time had stopped for everyone except me.

The classroom was as quiet as a mouse until I reached the podium. It was the same afterward. Even the professor only looked down at the envelope he held, not saying anything worth mentioning.

When I opened my mouth after waiting patiently for a while, the professor began to speak.

“…This is your first time entering the special class too, isn’t it? No matter how many times I check, you are indeed the last member of the special class.”

“Yes, it’s my first time.”

“Rising from 98th place to 10th place in one go isn’t an easy thing to do. I can’t even imagine how much effort you must have put in. I hope you continue to have good results in the future.”

The professor looked at me for the first time and smiled faintly.

‘Everything’s good, but…’

Why did you have to openly mention that I was 98th place…

Well, whatever. If Luca was thought to have received a zero-point report card from a classmate whose name he didn’t even know, there’s no way anyone wouldn’t know about this grade.

I smiled the warmest smile I could manage and greeted him.

“Thank you, Professor.”

* * *

“Congratulations.”

Today too, I moved to the training ground without rest. As expected, Leo was also at the training ground.

“You too.”

“For me, it’s not surprising anymore, but I never thought you’d really get into the special class…”

“Didn’t you expect it?”

“No, I thought you could do it with your tenacity, but now that it’s actually happened, I’m surprised.”

Leo patted the spot next to him.

I plopped down beside him and leaned my back against the wall.

Leo, who had been lost in thought silently, brought up a topic.

“So, are you going to start soon?”

“I have to. I can’t just keep stalling against Hyung.”

“You saw the kids’ reactions earlier, right?”

When I nodded, Leo continued.

“It’s not just our class. The entire school is having the same reaction right now.”

“I know. The rumors will spread quickly.”

“Yeah, rumors spreading outside the school, outside the capital, outside the Empire – it’ll all happen in an instant. Of course, it’s just talk about school grades, so it won’t cause a big stir. It’ll just pass by in a word or two among people who are interested in Pleroma.”

Leo continued.

“But among those interested people are your Hyung and his colleagues. They can know about your news right now. Are you prepared?”

“Yeah, someone has to fire the signal flare anyway.”

Naturally, Hyung didn’t give any signal whatsoever until he killed Luca.

If I don’t change the development first, only the ending where Hyung kills me in about 700 days will remain.

Leo tried to say something several times, closing his mouth repeatedly, then brought up a slightly different topic.

“…Right. That plan you mentioned before is still valid?”

“Of course. This is just the beginning.”

At those words, Leo burst into laughter.

Then he stood up from his seat.

“Alright, let’s give it a try.”

* * *

September monthly evaluation day.

I leaned my upper body toward Leo, who was concentrating on my words, and clasped both hands together.

“However, it’s something to execute after midterms, not now.”

Leo’s face hardened with tension.

“…What is it.”

“I’m going to create an organization.”

“…”

“…”

My gaze and Leo’s clashed in mid-air for a long time. It was Leo who broke the suffocating silence.

“Are you thinking of becoming a thug?”

“No, I’m going to create a secret organization that researches Pleroma.”

I ignored Leo’s small sigh of relief and continued.

“As you know, Pleroma has established itself as a serious social problem. We’ll analyze the crimes committed by Pleroma so far, create predictive models, and determine how they’ll move in the future. If necessary, we could even propose our model to the Imperial Palace.”

“Hmm, yeah. That sounds plausible.”

Leo nodded after hearing my words. Then he looked at me with slightly changed eyes.

“I understand the public explanation. So, what’s your goal?”

‘Public explanation.’ It’s nice that he understands everything so well.

Naturally, this isn’t what I should tell Leo.

“To increase my allies.”

“Your allies?”

“Yeah, I can’t keep being misunderstood as Pleroma forever. As you know, Hyung has high prestige both in the Empire and abroad. It’s impossible to face such a Hyung alone. You know there are countless people who trust and follow Hyung, right?”

“I know. Your Hyung is… at this rate, he’ll even appear in biographies.”

Leo narrowed his brow and clicked his tongue.

I had to pause for a moment.

It was similar to what Leo said 10 years later in the last chapter I read. I might not remember every single word perfectly, but it might have been exactly the same. I felt a subtle sense of familiarity.

Anyway, it’s a bit of an exaggeration for now, but if Hyung doesn’t engage in useless politics and lives as he does now, it’s entirely possible.

“…Right, so I need to create my own allies too. I mean to create comrades who know I’m not Pleroma and will join me for a greater cause.”

Leo’s lips curved upward at those words.

“A greater cause – conveniently, there’s a common enemy called Pleroma. I can see how your calculations flowed.”

“Yeah, I need to use the group. Using an external enemy can strengthen community consciousness. But right now, even though I’m in the same school and same class, I’m essentially an external enemy to the students. In terms of ‘normalcy.'”

The earlier tension had completely disappeared. Leo smiled like when he was training and snapped his fingers.

“I like it. You’re saying you’ll actively use the center of the in-group. By creating a gathering that predicts Pleroma’s behavioral patterns and eliminates those bastards.”

“Right, if the students won’t incorporate me into their group, I’ll enter the group directly myself.”

“You know that’s usually impossible, right?”

“I know.”

Leo leaned closer and spoke.

“The fact that you’re bringing this up to me means my actions are important too. Right?”

“Yeah, would you be left out of my plan? Thanks in advance.”

Leo let out a hollow laugh and nodded.

“What an honor… Anyway, fine. I understand your big picture well. But you’re a figure standing at the extreme of this issue. It’s extremely difficult for someone at the end to move to the opposite side. Are you prepared?”

“Even for difficulties. If I’m standing at the end, I just need to attach the opposite end to me.”

“…Hmm.”

“Then it’ll just be a one-step difference. Don’t you think?”

Leo smiled at my calm answer.

“Right, you seem to have thought everything through. Let me hear the details.”

“There are three key points in this plan: invitation-only membership, secrecy, and trust. I’ll only reveal my story to invited people.”

Leo nodded as if telling me to continue.

“Since the matter is sensitive, I need to stimulate desires properly to prevent problems. So they become completely our allies, loyal to the gathering, and can voluntarily maintain the gathering. Recognition needs, sense of belonging, and self-efficacy should be enough.”

Leo let out a short breath as if flustered and laughed.

“…You’re… never mind. Yeah, it would be effective. Meeting in secret and invoking a greater cause wouldn’t be bad for a sense of belonging either. Are you aiming for this by operating invitation-only?”

“You’ve got the order wrong. Operating in a closed manner was simply the best option for my situation. I just found points to exploit from there.”

There’s a significant difference between being pushed around by circumstances and utilizing them.

The environment is always restrictive anyway. Waiting for conditions to be ready for a smooth start? It would be faster to wait for the day Hyung kills me.

Since thoughts determine the nuance of words and those subtle differences change the message conveyed to the other person, if this is the only choice left to me, I shouldn’t be pushed around but should analyze all elements and utilize them appropriately.

‘Of course, primarily it should be Leo who steps forward, not me, so Leo needs to be conscious of everything I mentioned earlier.’

Recognition needs, sense of belonging, and so on.

In that sense, I chose my partner well. This guy should be able to keep up at least this much.

Leo burst into laughter.

“You’re honest.”

“I have to be honest. You’re not a target of the group, you’re a business partner.”

“What a way to say you trust me….”

“Right, let me correct that. You’re my most trustworthy friend.”

“Oh, yeah. Well that’s… a relief. Nice expression.”

Leo narrowed his eyes with a face full of doubt.

If he’s going to react like this when I say it directly, then what….

I laughed at Leo’s reaction and returned to the main point.

“You’re the right person for this job.”

“You just openly said you’d stimulate recognition needs, and now you’re saying this to me?”

At Leo’s laughter, I shrugged my shoulders.

“That’s right. I’m just stating facts. If I suddenly approach them and say ‘Please join our secret group studying Pleroma,’ do you think they’d feel any recognition needs?”

“We’d be lucky if they don’t dismiss it as nonsense.”

“Right, but if you’re the one making the proposal, it’s different. With your social position and credibility, you can instantly satisfy the students’ recognition needs. So… I’d like you to persuade your friends first before I show my face. Would that be okay?”

“Yeah, that much is fine. It’s not difficult work. But….”

Leo, who had been nodding readily, looked straight at me and asked.

“You know this is an optimistic scenario, right? People’s hearts don’t always move within predictable ranges. So far you’ve only talked about general principles.”

“That’s why we need to carefully choose who to invite. And… we have a friend whose unique ability is insight.”

Actually, this wasn’t a plan I made with Narke in mind.

Even without using special abilities, Leo already has good judgment about people. Most of the people at this school are friends who’ve been with Leo since childhood anyway.

I continued with that point in mind.

“Of course, your judgment is sufficient too. We shouldn’t invite people who don’t take words at face value and always think cynically, or those without desires from the start. You probably already have a sense of who would be suitable without me having to say all this.”

“I know. I already have a rough idea of who to bring in.”

That’s fast.

With Leo’s judgment and another verification through Narke’s ability, the risk would be greatly reduced.

If problems arise even then, I can use mental manipulation magic.

‘After midterms anyway, I won’t need to desperately hide my information.’

There’s no way my midterm grades won’t reach my hyung’s ears.

Once the signal for change has already been triggered once, it’ll be fine.

Leo fell into deep thought, tapping his temple with the hand supporting his chin.

“You decided on this group because you have plans for the actual work, right? Are you confident it will succeed externally too?”

“Of course.”

Leo nodded.

“Alright, good. Just from what I’ve heard, there doesn’t seem to be any particular need to refuse. If you break away from your hyung before application season, you could use the group’s external achievements for college admissions. If the results are more solid, you might even enter the Imperial Court at a high position from the start.”

Anyway… I want to say that won’t be a problem since you’ll be making a new emperor.

“So, how do you plan to convince them that you’re not Pleroma? You’re not planning to bring up your hyung, are you?”

“Of course not.”

I answered with a smile.

My hyung must remain as the good guy.

In this scenario.

* * *

Again, the week after midterms ended.

“What time is Narke coming?”

“In an hour!”

“She’s coming in an hour.”

To Leo’s question, I repeated Fai’s answer exactly.

On the monthly evaluation day, when I told Narke about the plan after she returned by carriage, she showed an even more intense reaction than expected and gave a positive answer.

Leo nodded.

“So, you’re planning to start gathering people from today?”

“Yeah.”

“How many are you thinking?”

“Three or four per week.”

The faster the better, but considering physical limitations, I set a reasonable goal.

Ding―!

〈 Chapter 3. Constant Drops Wear Away the Stone (1) 〉

Proposal 3: Live Life Boldly! Recruit 10 team members. (1/10) (71 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds)

* Route 1 — 〈 Chapter 4. Constant Drops Wear Away the Stone (2) 〉

* Route 2 — 〈 Chapter 4. Don’t Put Off Until Tomorrow What You Can Do Today 〉

“….”

I held my head and called Leo.

“Leo.”

“Yeah?”

“Join my organization.”

“Aren’t I already in it? What nonsense are you talking about.”

I let Leo’s words pass and checked the proposal window.

Proposal 3: Live Life Boldly! Recruit 10 team members. (2/10) (71 hours 59 minutes 47 seconds)

‘Good.’

With Narke, that makes three.

So now I need to bring in seven within 72 hours….

I read the title of Route 2 once more.

‘Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.’

It seems like it’s talking to me through the title.

I felt strength entering my fists as I smiled.

Fine. The faster the better for me anyway. Whether I succeed or fail, let me at least try.

I just need to bring in two or three each day. The problem is that all 72 hours are weekdays, and the only time I can persuade people is in the evening.

‘I need to save some time.’

Gather two at once?

No good. I must exclude any method that might leave even the slightest feeling that they’re replaceable.

The plan was for Leo to spend about an hour persuading a student, then have them talk with me afterward.

The conversation with me is key. I need to clear up misunderstandings and present the group’s purpose.

‘If I provide one more thing that can really drive the point home, the discussion would go faster.’

There is a way to do it.

So much for taking the high road.

I dismissed the proposal window and stood up.

“Leo, I’m going out for a bit.”

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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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