How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 227

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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 (227)

“…That….”

“I won’t tell anyone. Why is the Archdiocese of Freiburg called your ideal?”

Silence followed.

I looked at him and quietly opened my mouth.

“I think I’ve been quite accommodating to the Legislator, but it seems that hasn’t quite reached you.”

The Legislator moved his lips and swallowed his saliva.

The fear melted in his eyes was easily readable, and Richthofen was just making an awkward smile beside him. He seemed unable to adapt to threatening someone who was a federal legislator.

I led the conversation to make it easier for him to speak.

“I have a rough idea. I was in that region at the beginning of this year. As you know, the Archdiocese of Freiburg is a diocese that includes the Grand Duchy of Baden.”

He immediately understood what I was talking about.

Even though he knew he shouldn’t fall for such words, the Legislator’s eyes already seemed full of anguish.

He lowered his head and slowly opened his mouth.

“…Your Excellency is correct. The diocese that brought the nation to the brink of emergency as it is now is Freiburg. They first conducted runaway experiments in the Grand Duchy of Baden and spread it throughout the country.”

Baden-Baden, which we visited at the beginning of this year, belongs to the Archdiocese of Freiburg. The Papacy judged the abnormal phenomena of the people there as the work of demons, but in reality, they were all runaway incidents induced by Pleroma.

“To think you people consider this a great achievement really makes me sigh.”

“…For now, yes.”

“Now, I know there’s more than that. Please tell me what you know.”

Naturally, he hesitated.

Where are you trying to escape to?

I need to add more fuel to the fire at this point.

“We can tell how much the Legislator is hiding and how much he’s telling.”

“…Ahem, you may already know, but our Pleroma ranks achievements monthly, and Freiburg was always a diocese in the top ranks. It was a diocese that provided so much blood that it could be called the heart of our Pleroma.”

“The heart. There must be a reason why such a place hasn’t been caught in the investigation network.”

“Yes, because it’s on the border, they recruited many foreigners… It was reputed as a diocese that worked safely to avoid being caught in the nation’s investigation network.”

Narke’s smile gradually hardened. Richthofen’s expression wasn’t good either.

“Around the second half of last year, you know those runaway drugs being used now? They developed those first. The idea that people could be made to run wild to extract Vitriol, how revolutionary is that?”

I stroked my chin and shook my head.

Freiburg developed the runaway drugs?

There are some parts that don’t quite add up.

“Are the contaminated mosquitoes in Meppen your doing?”

The contaminated mosquito experiment in Meppen led by Werner Strauch.

It was the first attempt to make people run wild using contaminated magic power. It can be seen as the incident that started the current nationwide runaway situation.

In a situation where competition between dioceses has intensified, are you saying that drugs developed in Freiburg were used in Meppen of Osnabrück?

The Legislator tilted his head, then opened his eyes wide and clapped his hands.

“Come to think of it, the contaminated mosquito incident in the Diocese of Osnabrück came first. This feels like I’m gaining more information as I talk with Your Excellency.”

“To express it as information. Do you think the two dioceses were in a cooperative relationship?”

“They probably were. I’m not in a high enough position to know all the alliances between dioceses, but I do occasionally hear of cases where dioceses cooperate. It seems highly likely that the two dioceses were closely sharing each other’s technology. They would have shared the profits accordingly.”

“I see?”

I nodded and fell into thought.

He seemed to have taken a liking to the activity of finding new information from me, as he continued talking.

“Our Archdiocese of Brandenburg is competing with the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising. Since they’re in Prussia and Bavaria respectively. It’s not to the point of rejection, but we’d prefer to achieve higher results than them if possible. Since Your Excellency’s appearance, the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising has been broken in many ways, so it’s been livable recently.”

Yeah, how nice….

You’re bragging about that in front of Nicolaus.

I answered with a smile.

“Regional sentiment seems to persist in Pleroma as well.”

“That’s right. After all, aren’t we all people of the Empire?”

“But if there’s regional sentiment, why is someone presumed to be from the Wittelsbach family serving as the Bishop of the Diocese in Baden?”

Even if not as competitive as between Prussia and Bavaria, Baden and Bavaria are neighboring countries with subtle tension.

The Legislator thought carefully and lowered his voice.

“…I’m curious about that too. Still, it’s not a very surprising thing. There are more such people. The Bishop of Osnabrück is also from Prussian Junker origins.”

To bring up Ainsiedel’s story.

Since I have an appointment with Haike soon and don’t have time, I won’t ask in detail now, but I need to hear about it.

I looked at him silently. He quickly grasped my gaze and began talking about Ainsiedel.

“…Hmm. What I know about him is that he’s been around since the early days of the sect’s establishment…. He’s extremely capable and was marked as an archbishop of a major diocese long ago, but for some reason he insisted on the Diocese of Osnabrück and ended up staying there only as a bishop.”

“So, he’s actually someone who could receive an archbishop position?”

“That’s right. I don’t know why he insists on that diocese. It’s unfortunate…. With his level of ability and achievement, he could have entered the highest leadership positions, not just bishop, but he kept refusing opportunities and missed his chance, so now he’s only being checked.”

There’s a high probability that the leadership now has more juniors than seniors. Unless he was a quite virtuous senior, there’s no way the leadership would view Ainsiedel comfortably or favorably.

The Legislator returned to the Freiburg story.

“Anyway, that Archbishop of Freiburg really doesn’t look human. Among ourselves, we once joked that he must be continuously receiving blood transfusions of Wittelsbach blood.”

“Even with magic power influence, appearance doesn’t change from blood transfusions.”

“Yes, that’s true. It was just something we said as a joke.”

I scribbled that content in my notes and organized the list of things I really needed to know.

I had obtained new information I hadn’t expected. But now there wasn’t enough time to ask too many things.

“Do most of Pleroma wear mental resistance artifacts?”

“No. Even if we wore such things, they probably wouldn’t work against powerful mages like Your Excellency anyway. As you know, mental power is less researched than physical strength in terms of its mechanisms. If there were such universal tools, everyone would have used them… Don’t tell me somewhere was using such tools?”

“No. I’m asking because I’m developing products targeting mental power enhancement artifacts. I want to test the effects of newly developed artifacts.”

“….”

The Legislator’s smiling face turned ashen.

It was a lie but seemed to sound like the truth. Of course, since I would soon start development, it couldn’t be called a complete lie. I didn’t explain and immediately asked the next question.

“Which diocese is in an adversarial relationship with Freiburg? At least a competing diocese or something.”

“There isn’t really such a place, but actually our relationship with the Archdiocese of Brandenburg isn’t very good.”

There isn’t really such a place.

I shook my head and rewrote his words in my notes.

“There seems to be performance competition. That was a good topic. Penthalon is coming soon, what are you people planning to do?”

“….”

The Antagonist’s eyes shook like crazy. He turned his gaze elsewhere, trying not to show his agitation.

“Um, that incident that the Eschete 1st place Student blocked, that was our diocese’s plan. I don’t know which diocese acted first and did such a reckless thing…. Because of that, everything stopped temporarily. And such important plans aren’t shared with low-ranking Pleroma like me at a time so far from implementation.”

“Why?”

“To prevent situations like this from happening….”

Prevent?

“Then we’ll need to meet every day from today until the weekend.”

“…Haha…?”

“I’m serious.”

The Antagonist’s face gradually darkened.

“Regarding that Eschete 1st place Student, doesn’t Pleroma have any plans?”

“He’s probably the 1st priority recruit student. But naturally I don’t know the detailed plans.”

When I picked up my wand, the Antagonist was startled and waved his hands.

“Re, re, really…! I truly told Your Excellency only the truth today. Didn’t Your Excellency already say we’re in the same boat… I answered faithfully too….”

Narke looked at me and nodded.

It seems he didn’t say anything false.

This should be all the information I can get from this guy.

“Well, let’s stop here for today.”

I smiled and lightly tapped my palm on the notes. The Antagonist flinched as he tried to place his hand near his heart.

“I’ll write to you soon.”

“Yes, yes….”

The Legislator answered weakly, not seeming pleased at all. Then he escorted us to the lobby on the first floor.

Coming out of the government building, I looked at the sun floating high in the sky once and checked my watch.

“It’s still 3 o’clock.”

“Because your team skipped the entire schedule today.”

I ignored Richthofen’s nonsense.

After the terrorist attack against me at Pentalon Main Stadium, I could freely adjust such schedules anyway.

“Thank you for coming out, Senior. I can call you out often from now on, right?”

“If I told you not to call, would you not call?”

“No. Thank you in advance.”

I answered like that while taking off my mask and returning my hair and eye color to their original state. Richthofen smiled and said.

“If you’re grateful, come to the Catacombs.”

“I will.”

He took me to the manor, waited until I changed into casual clothes, then took me again and moved to the military academy dormitory.

Now, my schedule with Haike remained.

It felt awkward to return from being a Bavarian politician to a high school student just 30 minutes after meeting the legislator, but it couldn’t be helped. It was a situation where I had to save even a minute.

‘I need to finish the proposal.’

How could I have collected 7 points so far only to waste the proposal because I’m 5 points short?

When I came out to the military academy dormitory lobby, I saw Haike looking around.

“Haike!”

“Oh, Lucas.”

Haike turned around expressionlessly and waved his hand in greeting.

He observed me this way and that, then snapped his fingers with still an emotionless face.

“I wondered what was different, and it’s this. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you with your hair down.”

“Haha, I suppose so.”

“It’s also the first time I’ve seen you in casual clothes.”

“I suppose so. Do you want to change and come out too? We’re going to have fun, so you should wear something more comfortable.”

Even so-called comfortable clothes weren’t as comfortable as modern ones. Just shirts and jackets made of more flowing fabric, and loose-fitting pants. Still, it would be less burdensome than the rigid uniform Haike was currently wearing.

“…Should I?”

Haike quickly ran up the stairs to his room, then came back down to the lobby only after 10 minutes had passed. I smiled and pointed to the beige jacket under my black robe.

“Ah, you’re wearing similar clothes to mine~”

“I matched it on purpose.”

Haike said with a determined face.

Since he said such things seriously rather than playfully, I didn’t know how to react. I made a similarly determined expression and said anything.

“Mm, yes. Good. It feels like we’ve become closer somehow.”

“Right?”

Since Haike answered with a proud face, I slightly turned away from him.

Anyway, now I needed to decide what to do.

“Haike. Have you eaten?”

“It’s not mealtime, is it?”

“That’s true.”

I stroked my chin, then gestured toward the window.

“Want to go to the Spree River?”

Haike seemed fine with whatever I suggested. He nodded vigorously.

When Haike suddenly tried to go back to the dormitory saying he needed to find warp coordinates, I dragged him out walking.

What fun would it be to warp there? Depending on the exit, you could usually walk from school to the river in 10 minutes.

We came out through the back gate closest to the military academy dormitory and slowly walked toward the river.

The sun hadn’t set yet. Due to the snow that came last night melting, water droplets on the roadside and bushes sparkled in the sunlight.

Walking outside the school had been prohibited since January, but since the military academy had to go out frequently, the restriction regulations were now meaningless.

As we got farther from school, Haike looked around the increasingly narrow residential area alleys and muttered.

“It’s nice walking.”

“Right?”

“But it feels like we’re going around.”

“You know well.”

I was deliberately taking a detour to where the taverns were instead of going straight to the river. As soon as I finished speaking, a small tavern with a wooden sign appeared.

I bought beer in small glass bottles from the tavern and put them in his hands. Since Haike was a nobleman—though I was the same now—he just fidgeted until I entered the store. He didn’t seem particularly familiar with commoners’ taverns.

After having pointless trivial conversations, we sat on the grass of a riverbank that got good sunlight. When I held out my beer bottle, Haike tilted his head and looked at me. He seemed not to notice what I intended.

“Cheers.”

“Aha.”

Haike pressed his lips together and clinked bottles. To others, it would look like an expressionless, angry face, but having seen him for a month, I could tell he was slightly embarrassed and holding back laughter.

I drank beer while watching the sunlight reflecting on the river and small wooden boats.

“Local kids often jump in here.”

At my casually thrown comment, Haike’s eyes began to light up.

When he started to take off his robe, I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.

“Ah, no… Wait. We can’t.”

“Ah. Is that usually something commoners do?”

“That’s true, but that’s not why I said we can’t. We have to be careful about our private lives now.”

“Right… That’s a shame.”

“Next time, if we find a place where we can be alone, shall we try it once? Preferably in summer.”

“Good.”

When silence followed, Haike glanced around and muttered.

“Usually you hang out with Elias or Narke a lot. Isn’t it awkward coming out with just me today?”

“Huh? No way.”

I was actually enjoying that silence, but Haike seemed to be the type who couldn’t stand silence.

I would have normally ended the conversation there according to my usual personality, but I felt I should speak longer for Haike.

I sat up and said with a smile.

“So what if it’s awkward. I suggested hanging out like this because I want to become closer now.”

It was because of affection points, but since we became teammates anyway, it was true that I wanted to become closer.

Since I still needed 5 points to achieve the proposal, I hoped he’d give as many as possible. Since he was a friend who had hardly given me any affection points so far, I wasn’t expecting much.

‘It would be nice if I could get even 2 points from Haike…’

Of course, I could also use this opportunity to spend time getting to know Haike better, so I didn’t think the time was wasted. Among our current teammates, he was the one I was least close to, and also the friend most likely to be left out among our seven.

Haike, who had been lost in thought, smiled.

“Is that so.”

“Don’t feel burdened and let’s enjoy this time. Once we become close, we won’t even remember when we were like this.”

I smiled and winked.

If it had been another friend, those words would never have come from me. I pointed to the ground and continued speaking without pause.

“Do you know our robes are all wet from where we’re sitting?”

“Oh, they are?”

“Should I dry them with magic?”

“No… That’s not real fire.”

I hadn’t meant it to be funny, but thanks to the pointless comment, the atmosphere lightened a bit and Haike let out a hollow laugh.

I looked around and said.

“Where do you want to go now? If we keep sitting here, our clothes will get soaked from the melted snow.”

“Alcohol.”

“That’s like you. Let’s drink next time. Is there anywhere you want to go?”

Whether he didn’t have anywhere particular in mind, or didn’t know where would be good to have fun, he just kept looking at the river.

“Haike. How about kegling or billiards? Of course, everyone would be a bit surprised if we went in. Or want to go play tennis?”

Kegling was a game that became the prototype for bowling.

Anyway, if you asked whether these were truly the only options, they really were the only ones.

Otherwise, horseback riding, shooting, golf, theater, opera…

Horseback riding, shooting, and golf were generally done by setting aside a separate day at the estate. After excluding several such options, there weren’t many entertainment activities we could casually approach. To play really simply, we had no choice but to bring a bottle of alcohol, a deck of cards, and a few books like now and lie down on a blanket by the river or in a field.

‘But to suggest card games now, we’ve already played those a lot at school and the dormitory.’

Today I wanted to give Haike an experience he probably hadn’t had much before. For example, the experience of just hanging out with a friend outside school, unconnected to family.

When I casually asked while touring the training ground with Haike earlier in the day, Haike said that although he had wandered around Berlin alone, he had no experience wandering around with friends.

Haike blinked while continuously pouring beer down his throat. I didn’t know how he could drink without resting for even a moment. Soon, as if he had finished thinking, he spoke in a slightly smaller voice.

“I’ve never played bowling with my friends. Or billiards either.”

“Then all the more reason you should try it with me today. If you’re not into sports, we could join a club around here together. Theater wouldn’t be bad either.”

Haike emptied his bottle to the last drop and nodded as he spoke.

“No, that sounds good. If you’re okay with it, let’s go bowling.”

He made the decision more cleanly than I expected.

Just as I was about to get up from my seat, Haike lightly grabbed the hem of my clothes.

“Before that, Lucas. There’s something I’ve been wanting to try. Could you come with me?”

‘Something he’s been wanting to try?’

I could sense a strange tension beneath Haike’s expressionless face.

Was there any need to be nervous? I was all for it.

I smiled and extended my hand to help Haike up.

“Oh, of course. What is it?”

“Want to go take photos together?”

“….”

Did photo booths exist in the 19th century too?

That was my first thought.

“…Huh? Photos?”

It was completely unexpected.

Was there anyone in this era who suggested doing that for fun? I could understand if it were modern times, but….

“You must like taking photos. Why?”

“Only records remain in the end.”

I slowly nodded my head.

Since everything remained in my memory, I couldn’t really relate, but most people thought that way, so it wasn’t particularly strange.

“Alright. Do you know a place?”

“Yeah.”

Haike quickly finished his entire bottle of beer and led me around Berlin for about 15 minutes.

Just as I was about to ask where the shop might be, Haike stopped in front of a single-story building on a deserted street. There was no sign, so I couldn’t even tell if this was a photo shop or not, but through the dusty window I could barely make out the purpose of this place from the glimpses of screens and cameras visible inside.

“…How did you know about this place? I didn’t realize you were familiar with Berlin’s geography.”

“No, this is the only place I know. If not here, then the forest or park. I don’t know where billiard halls like you mentioned are… or where kids hang out these days.”

Haike casually grabbed the door handle that was so old it was on the verge of rusting and knocked on the door three times.

Even after waiting a while, there was no answer. Haike shrugged his shoulders and just turned the handle, walking straight inside.

While it looked quite run-down from the outside, once we entered, rather than simply being old, it appeared to be a shop with an antique atmosphere.

As I was looking around at the interior that felt somewhat stuffy with all the furniture made of mahogany and the antiques scattered throughout, an elderly Human came out through an interior door.

“Oh, you came again today.”

The Human smiled at Haike. Haike just grinned without answering. From what I’d observed so far, I knew for certain that him acting this way toward others wasn’t common.

‘He must have come here alone often.’

Surprising.

Did he have a hobby of taking—or having taken—photos? If I’d known that, I would have bought a camera and searched for good photo spots.

The shop owner glanced at me and asked Haike.

“Did you come with a friend today?”

“Yes.”

Haike’s answer was strangely quick.

The owner, who had been staring intently at my eyes while adjusting his glasses, spoke in a surprisingly unprejudiced voice.

“You must be Lucas Ascanien, student?”

“Yes. How do you do.”

The owner grinned and tipped his hat in greeting, then spoke to Haike again.

He seemed to already be close with the photo shop owner. If that taciturn guy had become friendly enough with the shop owner, I wondered just how often he’d been coming here.

After finishing his conversation with the owner, Haike stood in perfect posture next to the chair placed in front of the camera and gestured toward the chair. It meant for me to sit there since we were going to take a photo now. I’d expected it from the moment he suggested taking photos in the 19th century, but the atmosphere was quite traditional.

After giving myself a brief internal hesitation that was meaningless at this point, I plopped down next to Haike and smiled.

The photographer adjusted our positions a few times and then stood in front of the camera again.

“Taking the photo. One, two, three!”

‘I came here to have fun, so why am I taking a profile photo….’

Was this practice for an Eszett profile shoot….

The shutter sound came two or three times, and the photographer clapped once.

“Alright, you can come out now~”

Haike nodded and led me to another chair.

His expression was serious, but he seemed quite happy, probably because he’d achieved what he wanted.

The shop owner looked at me and said loudly.

“Since it’s a mana-powered camera, the photos will be ready quickly. Just wait a little.”

“Yes, understood.”

It seemed obvious what kind of picture would come out.

Just a typical 19th-century black and white photo. Of course, not everyone in this era only took photos standing in formal poses, but naturally when coming to a photo studio, people usually stood with their hands behind their backs.

‘That aesthetic is nice too, but….’

Since we were going to take photos anyway, and since I came here to satisfy Haike anyway, it might be good to try something a bit different.

I pointed to a small camera placed by the window and asked.

“Could we borrow that? We’d like to take some ourselves.”

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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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