How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 221

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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 (221)

6 hours ago.

Since the previous checkpoint was set to the celebration day, I moved back 6 hours, which was the maximum range I could directly designate and control.

The current time is 10:30.

I opened my eyes to find myself wearing a bathrobe and holding an empty notebook.

‘So this is what I was doing at this time.’

Right now, Narke, who had come along with the school’s approval, was casting spatial magic on my room.

Elias, who had just arrived as well, sprawled out on the sofa and stretched his arms.

“Wow~ It’s really comfortable with the new spatial overlay. There won’t be anyone watching either!”

“Haha, that’s a relief. I should have done this for you sooner.”

Narke laughed and sat down beside the bed.

“What are you doing, Lucas? You should sleep now if you’re going out at dawn.”

It must have seemed strange that I had opened a notebook during my rest time.

I stared at the empty notebook.

“…”

I was trying to organize what additional conditions might be needed to make that guy appear before me.

That was what I had told them in the previous timeline.

I had written in this notebook about the mistakes from yesterday’s actions with Cheringen, but now it was empty. That made sense. I had written it around now and finished it at 11 o’clock.

I turned my gaze to look out the window.

The sound of winter wind could be faintly heard. Occasionally, bird calls were mixed in.

Outside was quiet as if nothing would happen.

‘If I wait for Leo to contact me, it’ll be around 12 o’clock.’

That would be enough time.

The article I had read in the Imperial Newspaper before coming here was vivid in my mind. As long as I had that, the culprit couldn’t beat me in any way.

I went down to the kitchen on the first floor and boiled water. Then, I cast a sound-blocking spell and tapped my ear.

“Do you remember?”

[…]

No answer came. I could sense a strange bewilderment in the silence from beyond the artifact.

I lightly struck the table with my palm.

Only after causing pain to the core did Leo’s calm voice come through.

[…We meet again. It’s 6 hours ago. I’ll stop by Bavaria and then head your way.]

“Right. Let’s begin.”

I answered briefly and cut the connection.

As the kettle was getting hot, I heard movement behind me.

“Lucas.”

Narke and Elias were standing behind me, having followed me down at some point. Perhaps sensing that my attitude was different from usual, Narke asked worriedly.

“What’s wrong? You look pale again.”

“I’m just worried about something.”

That was the truth.

And while I planned to take them to the scene as well, I couldn’t tell them everything right now, so this was the best I could do.

Without asking their preference, I made milk tea and set it down in front of them.

“Drink it.”

My friends stared at me with wide eyes.

* * *

At the same time, Alexanderplatz.

[You’re not in your right mind. Just 14 people? Why? Do you have something against Orientals?]

“…”

[If you’re only going to kill 14 people, just back out.]

A mage sat on a building rooftop, listening to the protests leaking from his artifact. His gaze was directed toward the Grand Hotel.

[Don’t you know that approaching the main arena has become difficult because you threw that egg? I don’t know what this crazy bastard was trying to do.]

“…”

The mage stared blankly at the hotel’s dark windows and muttered.

“You should be grateful if I kill even 14 people for sure.”

[Can you kill them for sure?]

“Have I ever failed?”

[…]

When no answer came, the mage replied dryly.

“14 people will be worth 100 million. Isn’t it better to kill just a few and get everything if possible?”

[Explain. How are 14 people from the Korean Empire the key to getting 100 million from this country?]

The mage frowned at the stream of protests coming from the artifact. He muttered as if everything was bothersome.

“Just watch. I’ll make sure there’s breaking news in the Imperial Newspaper in 5 hours.”

The other party’s protests gradually decreased.

He sighed and answered.

[…I trust you.]

* * *

It’s 11 o’clock now.

While I checked the time, Elias looked at me with shocked eyes.

“…This is the first time I’ve seen Luca make tea for us.”

“What’s this? Are we going to do something scary?”

Narke asked with a smile.

Sharp as always. I just drank my tea without answering.

Elias, who had gulped down his tea even though it wasn’t that hot, lit up.

“It’s delicious! Luca, you got the ratio just right? I’ll make some for you too!”

“It’s fine…”

I’m already drinking some, why make more.

I stopped Elias and went to the dressing room.

When I put on my Eschete uniform and came back down to the first floor, my friends’ eyes widened.

“Huh? You’re going out again…? We didn’t receive any deployment orders.”

“You will. You need to come with me too.”

At those words, tremendous confusion appeared on Elias’s face. Saying we would receive orders now must have sounded strange, which was natural.

“You did cast spatial magic, right?”

“Yeah.”

Just in case, I even cast sound-blocking magic before speaking.

“We need to go to the Grand Hotel. I have a bad feeling about something.”

“What? Why?”

“I found out through my ability. So many things have happened that it’s almost excessive, yet that stalker is strangely quiet.”

“…”

“That person has become unable to follow me around easily now. He didn’t throw the egg to drive me away, but in the end, that incident made me escape from that guy’s sphere of influence. Most importantly, we’re openly using spatial magic to shake him off, so why is he leaving us alone? In my experience, that guy isn’t the type to just watch quietly, so why are we having a peaceful conversation right now?”

This is a bit forced for this timeline. I know. But since I said I found out through my ability and just brushed it off, and I already used the same method during Primrose Pass, it would be better to explain a little.

I could feel my friends looking at me with surprised eyes.

There’s no choice.

I said the words I didn’t want to say with my own mouth.

“Besides, not a single note came today.”

“…”

No one would think I was waiting for notes, but that’s exactly how it sounded to me. Maybe I didn’t want to say it even more because I found it ridiculous that I was on edge all day wondering whether notes would come or not.

Of course, that’s exactly why it needed to be said. Being conscious of him every moment and changing even what I should say and do. This was how that guy was eating away at my mind.

“Lucas is right. We need to go there.”

Narke’s firm voice was heard. It seemed like he had read what was about to happen through foresight.

Before he could continue, Elias said with a smile.

“Right. If Luca is saying this much, there’s nothing bad about listening. Most of all, Luca wouldn’t talk nonsense even if it’s just to save energy.”

“….”

To save energy? That’s how it’s been understood all this time?

But I couldn’t say he was wrong.

Narke burst into laughter, agreed, and said to me.

“Lucas knows what will happen there. I can feel once again that you’ve received a power similar to mine.”

He nodded at me, meaning he believed in me.

“I’ll follow your words.”

“…Thank you. Let me ask just one thing, Narke.”

“What is it?”

“You said someone is targeting both me and Penthalon. Regarding the Penthalon part, is the Grand Hotel incident I predicted that bastard’s final goal?”

Could killing 18 people and making 9 injured people die soon really be the final goal?

I don’t think so.

Narke stroked his chin and said.

“No. I think the same as you. This is something that was moved up much earlier than originally planned, and the scale is small too. Originally, wouldn’t he have tried to execute his plan when the competition started? Unless variables arise, he’ll probably do so again in the future.”

18 deaths and 9 injuries is small?

I let out a hollow laugh.

Indeed, this is a target that must be uprooted in advance.

“Right, thanks for the answer.”

“Don’t mention it.”

I smiled at him.

Just then, a servant heard the sound and hurriedly came out of the kitchen. Since none of us three had any intention of drinking more tea, I sent the servant who asked if he should prepare snacks back to his room and went upstairs.

‘In the end, it’s an incident caused by me?’

Even so, that doesn’t mean the responsibility for this incident lies with me.

According to Narke’s prophecy, the stalker is aiming for damage greater than this. Whether I’m here or not, one of his two targets is Penthalon.

Digging deeper, just because Narke said it could ruin Penthalon doesn’t mean I need to protect Penthalon. It might even be something that fattens the Emperor’s belly.

However….

First, there’s no need to deliberately let terrorism happen just to reduce the Emperor’s approval rating. There are more ways to reduce approval ratings than you’d think.

Even if I can’t save other murder or terrorism victims I can’t see before my eyes, these people are within the range where I can try to save them. It’s worth attempting once.

Second, I don’t want that criminal to experience consecutive victories and become emboldened.

Now that it’s come to this, their survival is my victory and the enemy’s defeat.

There was no more time to dawdle.

As I sat at my desk, Fai, who had followed Narke, wandered around in front of me.

I infused divine power into Fai while writing down the breaking news content I had read in the Imperial Newspaper from memory.

“What are you doing?!”

“Just organizing what I need to do.”

Fai quickly fell asleep due to the heat from my hands.

I let go and properly held my notebook.

[All 18 deaths estimated to have occurred around 3:30 AM, report time was 3:50 AM.]

‘The drug was already spread before that.’

The timing of the raid is crucial.

If we arrive too early, the criminal who discovers us will target other places for terrorism, and if we arrive too late, the same thing as the previous timeline will happen.

The Investigation Bureau said ‘the concentration of rampage drugs in the air was too high, and because the drugs were intensively sprayed only in some sealed rooms, the damage didn’t spread to other places, which is why the report was delayed.’

What information can I extract from this? The most crucial information is here.

‘This means the victims died in their sleep.’

I can deduce that sleeping pills and rampage drugs were mixed in the air.

It was intentional. If people screamed and ran out, it would be quickly suppressed before the death toll increased, so they had to put them to sleep and kill them quietly.

In most cases, the time it takes to go into rampage varies from minutes to hours, but if you directly ingest the drug, have prolonged contact, or pour it in such high concentration that it practically replaces the air, that’s not the case. Depending on conditions, rampage occurs shortly after contact.

Then, the drug dispersal time that’s neither too early nor too late would be 10 minutes to 5 minutes before the incident occurred….

‘Hmm….’

I couldn’t help but laugh. My palms seemed to be sweating from tension.

‘This range is too wide too.’

I need to narrow it down to exactly one choice.

If I’m even a minute early or late, it’s over.

Let’s say that bastard entered the room at 3:23 AM in the previous timeline and spread the drug. But if I arrive there at 3:20 AM, 10 minutes early, that bastard will just flee.

Wouldn’t it be good if he flees?

It would make turning back time meaningless.

Unable to abandon his obsession with making me return to arena security duty, he’ll go somewhere else and commit crimes.

It would be better to report him in the act of drug dispersal, making the Empire’s security much tighter, preventing that bastard from running wild like this.

‘5 minutes or 10 minutes.’

Since they said high concentration, there’s no need to consider times more than 10 minutes away from the approximate death time.

I tapped my artifact to send a signal to Leo.

[Lucas.]

“Got it. 5 minutes before the death time, or 10 minutes before?”

Leo thought about what this meant, then slowly answered.

[Suddenly? …It’s ambiguous. If you don’t want to give the stalker a chance to commit crimes elsewhere, 5 minutes would be safer than 10 minutes. You’d have to be prepared to transport some people to the hospital for long treatment, but it could be a better choice than causing more deaths elsewhere.]

Good.

I cut off the context and asked, but he understood well. Always convenient.

Moreover, he’s utilitarian like a budding leader of a new era.

However, there’s a blind spot.

‘Transport to the hospital for long treatment’ means leaving critical health problems with the players, and from what I’ve seen as Nicolaus on site for a long time, rescue during rampage usually leads to death.

That bastard used euphemistic language as is the habit of politicians and nobles, but knowing this, I shouldn’t take his words at face value.

‘Hmm. In the end, the problem returns to the beginning.’

I’m worrying about trying to prevent even those few deaths.

[Can I hang up now?]

“No.”

[Why….]

Leo also chose the second-best option because there seemed to be no best option, but of course he wants everyone to live.

So if even Leo chose to go 5 minutes early, that might be right.

I was stroking my chin when I suddenly stopped all movement at a piece of information that came to mind.

‘Victim statistics.’

I should have included the criminal’s behavioral patterns in my hypothesis.

I quickly wrote. I spoke aloud so Leo could hear and think.

“The deaths were 14 from the Korean Empire, 2 from the Ottoman Empire, and 2 from Iran. All 9 people moved to the ICU were from the Ottoman Empire and Iran.”

[…Hmm.]

All Asian.

Was this a crime targeting Asian countries?

‘Or did he target the Korean Empire because he knows something about me?’

That’s something I need to find out from now on.

It could just be coincidence. There’s one reassuring scenario, and if that’s the case, it would be rather better.

Anyway, what’s important here is….

[The victim group is clear.]

That’s right.

That bastard didn’t commit crimes with the mindset of wanting anyone to randomly explode and die.

The meticulousness of mixing sleeping pills proves this. The perpetrator didn’t want rampagers to run out of rooms and cause other humans he didn’t designate to rampage, that is, he didn’t want the ‘meaning’ of his planned crime to be contaminated.

The meaning is something that criminal wants to convey to me. Whether it’s simple shock or proof that I know this much about you.

Also, though he seems to act thoughtlessly, he once evaded the trap Cheringen and I had set.

In conclusion, that bastard appears sloppy but is thorough about his own work.

‘Thorough. To prepare thoroughly….’

Even at the risk of escape, my choice is 10 minutes early.

“I should go 10 minutes early.”

[What?]

* * *

“Then why did you ask?”

3 AM.

Leo entered the manor’s spatial magic with Riechthofen’s help. I bid farewell to Riechthofen as he returned to school and gave Leo a simple answer.

“You should always listen to many opinions.”

Leo let out a hollow laugh and shook his head at my shameless answer.

Still, he didn’t try to dissuade me from my decision. Though he hadn’t heard the explanation, he seemed to think there must be a reason why 10 minutes would be better than 5 minutes.

Until 3:18, he held a strategy meeting with us.

“Alright, so we’ll go as soon as it hits 20 minutes. The rest of the team members will receive the signal as soon as we move and teleport to the hotel coordinates. Sound good?”

“Yeah, good.”

I nodded and stood up from my seat.

As Elias and Narke stepped outside first, Leo stopped me.

“Lucas.”

“What.”

“The medicine you took in early December, I checked it myself. I had my suspicions, but… are you serious?”

I wondered when he’d bring this up.

I shrugged and said.

“I’m serious.”

“…”

Leo, who had been silent, handed me a key and said.

“I put it in an empty vault.”

“Thanks.”

I checked my watch and said to Leo.

“Let’s get going now.”

We warped to the Grand Hotel.

Naturally, we didn’t go to the main entrance but memorized one of the detailed warp coordinates used only by the Investigation Bureau and moved there.

We’re now in the center of the 2nd floor stairs with only indirect lighting on.

Leo, who was hiding behind the wall holding his breath, tapped his artifact.

Unlike him, I came straight up the stairs.

Since this fight depends on whether the 10-minute or 5-minute prediction is correct, there’s no need to wait any longer.

I checked the surroundings.

There were exactly two nameplates on doors for the players. Excluding the injured for now, with a total of 18 deaths, the Antagonist had spread poison in 9 rooms.

‘There are many places to open. I need to finish this quickly.’

I looked at the front door of the central staircase in the middle of the hallway.

The flag of the Great Empire was hanging on the door.

I felt strange. My heart began beating harder.

Knock knock—

I’d never desperately wanted to return to my homeland. I simply thought I might go back someday.

However, with the urgency of an imminent terrorist attack and being in a foreign land far away, beyond that in a completely different world, yet still being able to meet people from my homeland in this other world, I felt an inexplicable anxiety.

I didn’t want to clearly recognize the reason for that.

‘Should I break down the door if they don’t come out?’

I shifted my focus to the proper place and looked at the door.

Since sleeping gas would be sprayed in the room, there’s a considerable chance they can’t come out.

The moment I knocked on the door one last time gently with force, the door opened.

“Who is it?”

“…”

Height and magical power not much different from ours, eyes and hair bleached brighter due to magic. However, facial features that were clearly different from mine.

As I stood silently, the mage tried to keep his drowsy eyes open while looking at me. His eyes showed that the sleeping gas had somewhat affected him.

He wasn’t very proficient in German, so he spoke slowly, mixing French and English.

“What brings you here at this hour?”

“…”

“I just finished adjusting to the time difference, so I’m paying a lot of attention to my sleep. If you came here without any business, I can’t help that I’m already awake, but please don’t do this to other teams.”

I finally opened my mouth slowly. I had to speak in English so he could understand easily.

“…I’m Lucas Ascanien, Deputy Captain of Eschete from the Royal Mage Association. I’m in charge of handling the Brandenburg rampage incident.”

“I see.”

“What’s your name?”

“Kim Seong-hee.”

After stating his name, he smiled with a tired face and said.

“A rampage incident. Did you come here regarding that?”

“Yes. There’s already a smell in the air.”

“What did you say…?”

He frowned as if offended.

I know why he reacted that way. As someone who lived in the same country, I couldn’t help but feel sorry.

However, that’s not what I meant.

I gripped my staff with both hands, held it almost horizontally, and thrust it toward the window. Red magical power cut through and pierced the darkness. When it touched the window, a flash of light erupted.

CRASH—! CLANG—!

“What, what’s happening!”

Another person who had been sleeping bolted upright, startled by the loud noise.

Now my interest wasn’t in their nationality. The broken glass, shattered wooden window frame, and metal joints all fell outside. At the same time, the magical power someone had applied to block the window from outside shattered into pieces.

‘Well, look at that.’

To think they even blocked it with magic, worried someone might wake up at night and open the window.

They put quite a bit of effort into it.

It’s fortunate I didn’t think the Antagonist would hastily shove in rampage drugs in 5 minutes and lock the door. After surrounding the outside of the building with his own magic, he probably slowly injected the drugs so the people inside wouldn’t have adverse reactions.

For now, securing clean air is sufficient.

I could hear through the artifact that other Eschete team members had warped here and were following Leo’s instructions. Narke’s purification magic, cast from the end of the hallway, swirled around my feet.

I touched the artifact at my ear to connect communication to the Investigation Bureau.

Beep—

[Yes, this is Brandenburg Investigation Bureau. Please speak.]

“Evidence of an attempted terrorist attack on the Penthalon contestants has been discovered at the Grand Hotel. Please dispatch immediately.”

* * *

“…”

[It’s over. When have I never failed?]

On the rooftop opposite the Grand Hotel, a mage crouched low opened his mouth. He almost forgot he shouldn’t stand up and nearly bolted upright from his position.

Light flashed beyond the curtains of the hotel window. Shortly after, Investigation Bureau mages began warping around the hotel.

‘How?’

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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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