How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 247
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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 (247)
I looked up at the sky.
Since all the lights in this place had gone out, the starlight was clearly etched in my eyes.
When I turned my head, I could see something glittering here and there. As expected, it was the marks that had appeared on the hands of those holding the Imperial Newspaper.
My mouth felt parched.
“Wow, that startled me. It felt like the ground was shaking, didn’t you feel it?”
“I didn’t feel it…”
“Huh, what’s that on your hand?”
“Hand? Huh?”
I could hear people’s conversations. The murmuring grew louder and the opening ceremony venue gradually became restless. Even though the number of people affected by the curse was small, it was natural for them to be surprised when something strange suddenly appeared.
‘The screen went out.’
There are two possibilities for why this happened.
First, the present changed due to my actions that differed from the past.
Second, if the player ‘originally’ hadn’t committed suicide, the future was meant to flow this way. In other words, even if I hadn’t made these minor changes like entrusting technical development to the Catacombs, reducing the screen volume to 70%, or setting entry time limits, a possible world where the player doesn’t commit suicide would unfold like this.
‘Hmm. I could find out which one is correct by turning back time once more…’
There’s no need to go that far. Any road leads to Rome.
Just then, Elias called me with a murderous voice. I had already removed the sound-blocking magic when Elias woke up.
“Luca.”
“Yeah?”
“Was this part of the plan?”
“No. Now I need to go solve it.”
Elias blinked and then grinned wickedly.
“…Ah~ That’s refreshing? Good. But you’re not saying you’ll personally cast omnidirectional curses as if nothing happened, right?”
“Of course not. If I went that far, I’d become a criminal.”
I looked around and continued speaking.
“The situation has already occurred. Now we need to respond according to the changed circumstances. We need to accelerate the plan and try something that wasn’t in the plan.”
“Something that wasn’t in the plan.”
The original plan was to ‘initially’ let all 1.37 million people remain under the curse.
However, now that things have gone wrong and fewer people are affected, we need to make even fewer people affected.
Why?
Because at this rate, more people will be affected than the previous 1.37 million.
Then, an announcement echoed through the dark arena.
[Attention. The mana in the circuits is currently depleted and we are reorganizing the mana circuits. Once again, the mana in the circuits is depleted and we are reorganizing the mana circuits. We apologize for the inconvenience.]
“…”
Depleted.
Others might really perceive this as a possible accident, but we already know from the previous timeline how properly the screen’s mana was functioning.
Moreover, the current situation has the maximum volume lowered to 70%, so mana consumption has been considerably reduced. Since fewer people entered than before, the number of venue copies attached through spatial magic has also decreased.
Someone intentionally depleted the mana.
Or the government cut off the screen using depletion as an excuse.
‘I need to think about this.’
The second possibility I considered earlier – if this is the original future of ‘a world where the player doesn’t commit suicide,’ then there’s information that’s difficult to rate highly even with my reasoning.
Anyway, since variables have emerged that prevent us from proceeding according to the original plan, what I need to do now is clear.
‘First, I need to go to the Committee immediately.’
The terrorist didn’t mobilize that technology and vast mana just to cast curses on this small number of people. As previously expected, they could forcibly revive the screen or cast amplification magic to spread the curse once more, so we need to block the sound immediately. For that, we’ll need quite a few mages, so the Committee’s orders are necessary.
However, the problem is that unless the Committee calls me, I have no way to contact them first. I requested their contact information, but they firmly refused.
Even though I solved the mana lamp terrorism, I’m still an outsider after all.
Since it’s difficult to meet with the Committee immediately, I need to use unconventional methods to summon them.
Of course, that’s for later.
Right now, preventing the curse from being cast again is more urgent.
“Elias. The artifacts and magic potions we requested from Bavaria – how are they now? Are they finished?”
“No. It’ll take a bit longer.”
They’re magic potions to be used on air and ground, but my order was a bit complicated and the requested quantity was large, so it seems to be delayed.
I tapped Elias and prepared to move.
“Got it. Keep the sound-blocking magic up.”
“Huh? Where are you going!”
“To cast reverse sound-blocking magic on other buildings.”
When I answered like that and quickly ran out to the staff hallway, Elias chased after me frantically.
“Aaaaah! You’re not going to cast magic, you’re going to do something else!”
“Why did you think that?”
“It’s too inefficient!”
Hmm.
I stopped running and turned around. Elias, who almost bumped into me, jumped in surprise. I grabbed him and said,
“What method do you have? Normally, I should go to the Committee right now.”
“The Committee?! Just tell me. Even though I don’t have authority to enter the Committee…”
Elias muttered with an expression of saying something he didn’t want to say.
“If you have something for the Committee to do, it would be faster to tell my father. Don’t you need to handle this right now?”
Elias’ father is the Emperor’s brother.
Elias doesn’t have a bad relationship with his father. Of course, regardless of their relationship, Elias doesn’t like extending his hand to adults. After all, his father also lacked the ability to defend his child from the Emperor’s attacks and is actually living by appeasing the Emperor.
The problem is that Elias doesn’t accept help from his father or any Hohenzollern. Even during the contaminated monster incident, why would Elias have moved alone, experiencing falling off a cliff and breaking his leg? It’s because of his stubbornness and belief in not accepting more help from the Hohenzollerns than necessary.
Elias grabbed me and started shaking me.
“Just tell me. Quickly! The lives of almost two million people who entered here depend on you! You have to give instructions for me to relay them!”
“…”
I shook my head.
“Your father is out of the question. You don’t want to tell him. Can you contact the King of Bavaria?”
“No. He’ll take as long as the Committee level too. If you want to save people, tell me.”
That’s true.
Not because the King would ignore our words, but because for him to mobilize Bavarian mages here, he’d need to get Prussia’s permission due to diplomatic issues. That’s obvious.
I looked into Elias’ determined eyes and sighed deeply.
I didn’t want to do something unfair to Elias, but it couldn’t be helped.
“…Tell them to control access to each building and cast reverse sound-blocking magic on each building. As quickly as possible, starting from the outskirts where screens aren’t installed on streets or buildings.”
“Outskirts, reverse sound-blocking magic. Got it.”
Elias answered expressionlessly and contacted his father.
After about 3 minutes, Elias nodded and looked at me. Fortunately, his father seemed to have immediately agreed without raising any objections to his child’s words.
Of course, I expected this. From the novel, Elias’ father had guilt about not being able to protect his child from the Emperor and tended to grant any request from Elias.
More importantly, the way Elias just used his father wasn’t exactly legitimate. The jurisdiction over this place belongs to the Emperor, and someone like the Emperor’s brother has less real power than government organizations to which the Emperor has delegated authority.
That’s obvious.
In other words, this is close to mobilizing Elias’ father’s private soldiers just for ‘quick response.’ It’s a situation that would draw criticism for overstepping authority from the Committee and Emperor, and in medieval times, heads would roll, but since the Emperor is fond of his brother – this is surprisingly true – and the terrorist situation is certain, punishment can be avoided. If luck follows, it might even become a merit.
I looked at Elias’ somehow bitter expression after finishing the contact and said,
“I’m sorry.”
“Hey, what for? This is a situation where I can finally breathe easier because you gave me something to work with, so why apologize?”
Elias led me back toward the arena and muttered,
“I do think it would have been nice if I had as much power as my father, though.”
“You’ll have it soon.”
“Ooh.”
Elias grinned and whispered,
“It’s thrilling every time I hear such words from your mouth. But if you mess up, you’ll really go to prison!”
It’s not really something that would send me to prison. For example, if I told other Eschete friends ‘you’ll soon have power,’ it wouldn’t be a problem.
Only because the other party is Elias, what shouldn’t be a problem becomes a problem.
“I didn’t expect such words to come from you, it’s surprising.”
“Right. I was fine when I was going around spouting words that would get me charged with treason too.”
I nodded instead of answering and headed toward the staff entrance of the arena.
For now, I had put out the urgent fire, so I needed to observe the situation a bit more. To watch the situation, it was better to enter the arena rather than stay in the hallway.
‘In the previous timeline, the Committee contacted me first.’
I needed to confirm if things would unfold the same way. My plan would proceed smoothly only if I made contact with the Committee.
With that thought, I cast a sound-blocking spell on Elias and myself. Now external sounds could no longer be heard.
“Luca. They say they’ve cast magic on twenty buildings now.”
“That’s fast.”
“Oh, thirty-five now.”
“Why does it keep increasing every time you speak…”
“Because they’ve deployed tons of mages.”
Clatter—
“…?!”
The sound-blocking spell wavered.
My eyes met with Elias, who was receiving contact from Father through an artifact.
[Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.]
[Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.]
[Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.]
Murmuring sounds faintly leaked in as the sound-blocking spell wavered. The sounds overlapped from all directions. I couldn’t make out the words clearly. However, the content would be the same as what I had heard before.
“…”
Elias opened his mouth and stared at me. I immediately broke the sound-blocking spell and rushed into the first floor of the arena.
‘The screen.’
The screen was still off. However…
The damned blue light had multiplied hundreds of times. The murmuring from various places had also grown proportionally to the increased markings.
“Ugh, so noisy.”
“Just now that… huh, what’s this?”
“Huh?”
People were looking down at their own hands.
The sound that just came wasn’t from the screen. It was closer to someone speaking with amplification magic cast over the entire venue.
‘As expected.’
That terrorist wouldn’t just sit still.
To have enough magical power to cast amplification magic over the entire venue—at this level, I wonder if they have some kind of magic-generating machine.
In the previous timeline, the Committee called me around this time. When the scale of the incident had grown to about this extent.
I tapped the artifact at my ear and spoke.
“Leo.”
[Lucas. Can you hear me?]
“I can hear you. What about the Committee?”
[I can’t contact them well either. At least I’m with Narke right now, but…]
“…”
[The Committee must know this is curse magic too… From the fact that communication isn’t working, it seems they have a plan they’re executing among themselves. Though you probably don’t think that’s possible.]
Right. In the previous timeline, they had no plan. They probably don’t have one now either.
Now, I suspect they’re in a state where they ‘believe they have a plan.’
“Got it. What about that player?”
[Narke interrogated him, and it just finished. This time too, he has no memory, so there was nothing to extract.]
“That curse incantation—can you have that player recite it one more time?”
Leo, who caught on to what I ultimately wanted to confirm, answered quickly.
[That spell is single-use. You know that.]
“You mean you tested whether the curse magic would work again if that person spoke it with his own mouth.”
[Of course.]
I understand for now.
A magic that can only be used once.
It’s obvious that saying ordinary words infinitely doesn’t produce infinite magic, but I had hoped it could be used multiple times.
If it can only be used once, it becomes a bit troublesome for me too.
“Anyway, thanks. Let me know if you learn anything else.”
[Got it.]
I placed my hand on the artifact to disconnect. And at that moment, I doubted my ears.
Ta-da— Ta-da-da—
Suddenly, trumpet sounds rang out. It wasn’t just me who found it sudden, as people’s murmuring stopped for a moment. Then, light from the magic lamps installed at the far end of the dome came on.
“What is this…?”
Elias, who had been standing awkwardly beside me listening to my conversation with Leo, widened his eyes.
It was bound to be bewildering.
On the stage, children wearing choir robes were lined up in two rows.
[Glória in excélsis Deo—.]
“…?!”
[et in terra pax homínibus bonæ voluntátis.]
The choir began singing the Gloria in Excelsis.
Elias looked at the choir with an expression of disbelief.
I was also dumbfounded.
‘What is this?’
“Suddenly? This?”
“…”
I slowly turned my head to look at the crosses that had appeared on people’s hands.
The surroundings grew chilly as divine power began pouring down from the sky.
[grátias ágimus tibi propter magnam—.]
‘Ah, these bastards.’
Now I understand why they brought a choir.
I couldn’t have imagined such a response. It’s laughable. Who would have thought the variables would be on our side? I came knowing how to deal with the enemy’s interference, but our own side is the one interfering?
The government is trying to break through this problem with an extremely unconventional method.
‘They plan to divert people’s attention and find a solution in the meantime.’
Right. This has become quite interesting.
I gazed at the choir, lost in thought.
‘The situation has changed.’
Previously, a player had shot himself in the head during a live Imperial Newspaper broadcast.
That was enough to throw people into panic. People were already anxious about the country’s troubles with Pleroma, and when an involuntary suicide incident occurred, they sensed signs of terrorism and immediately tried to escape, turning the event venue upside down.
But not now. Since the player didn’t die, people looked at the ‘white magic-like’ crosses on their palms and didn’t think they were curse magic. So everyone just sat there making peaceful comments like ‘what is this?’
The same applies.
Since the player didn’t commit suicide, the Committee’s response changed.
‘Even so, this is a despicable act.’
Despicable to whom?
It’s despicable to the citizens. What kind of crazy bastards am I dealing with?
The Committee knows these crosses are the problem.
I knew that when the apparent danger level decreased, the Committee would try to solve the incident quietly, but I thought it would be to the extent of secretly calling related parties for a meeting. I never imagined they would go so far as to use deception to hide behind it while solving the incident.
They plan to treat the crosses on people’s hands as some kind of event.
But they shouldn’t respond this way. They don’t know there’s only a 30-minute time limit. No, even if they don’t know, whose brain came up with the idea that there would be plenty of time here?
Is this the Minister of Magic’s mistake? There’s no point thinking about it now.
So, to summarize:
Unlike the previous timeline, the Imperial Government is trying to cover up the curse magic problem.
When the player died, there was no other option, but now it’s different. Since no atmosphere of fear was created, they clearly believe they can handle it ‘safely, peacefully, and quietly.’
The problem is that since they themselves didn’t feel the atmosphere of fear, they’re acting quite complacently compared to the previous time. They’re probably running around in their own way looking for curse magic dispelling experts, so they won’t realize at all that they’re being complacent.
From the back seats where we stood, laughter from people in the upper audience seating could be heard, and from the vast stage in front, the children’s singing voices reached us.
Peaceful reactions poured out from everywhere.
“Wow, the scale is really huge.”
“I know, right. They didn’t say they were doing something like this, but it’s amazing.”
“But why did they display this cross?”
People are reacting exactly as the government intended. Among the audience, some who are skilled in magical studies probably noticed that this cross is problematic, but since the number of ordinary people is overwhelmingly large, no strange reactions are visibly apparent.
Elias’s face began to sour.
There’s a variable here.
In the previous timeline, the Special Task Force called me at this point. However, if the Special Task Force changes their strategy like this, the possibility of them not calling me has increased.
Just like during the mana lamp terrorist incident, they only ask for outside help when they lack confidence, are pressed for time, or are cornered. And as I thought earlier, I’m an outsider.
Naturally, they’ll currently try to resolve things well among themselves. If they don’t call me, I’ll have no choice but to go find them myself.
‘Around this time.’
There’s something to think about.
What could be the method to dispel the curse?
It’s simple.
According to the code written on the white phosphorus match, ‘Sagt es allen—tell it to everyone.’ At least if we follow the perpetrator’s intentions.
Then what must be revealed?
The ‘answer’ that the terrorist said they showed to over 100 people must be revealed.
Let me trace again how the curse magic worked. It was cast on those who ‘heard’ a specific sentence. According to what I’ve deduced from the information so far, the dispelling also works in the same way. I’ll think about this part in detail later.
If the dispelling magic has the same mechanism as the curse magic as I’ve assumed, then to dispel the answer the terrorist presented, I can’t just mutter the answer to myself. It must reach the ears of everyone who was cursed.
That’s why I said earlier that I can handle 95% with my own power, but can’t do so for the remaining 5%. No matter how much I broadcast the voice through screens and newspapers, and no matter how much I focus the attention of the many people who came into the event venue, I can’t be certain that everyone will listen to the broadcast. Honestly, 5% is an optimistic figure.
What’s fortunate is that if I recite the dispelling incantation before the population pool that was focused on the screens and broadcast—those who were cursed—loses interest in the broadcast, I can at least approach that optimistic figure.
Considering that the dispelling magic, like the curse magic, is probably a one-time spell, even this requires careful timing.
The moment I moved to leave my seat, Elias grabbed my arm.
I asked him, who was looking at me with a serious face.
“Why.”
“Luca. You said you saw the answer before. You found out what it was too.”
“Yeah.”
“Tell me.”
“…”
When I remained silent, Elias shook his head and said.
“You’re thinking of going to the Special Task Force now and saying you know the answer.”
“Yeah.”
“Those terrorist bastards haven’t even given the book code yet. If you say you know something at this point, you’re definitely going to detention after this is over. Why? The moment you say ‘I know something,’ the prosecution will run to the court to request an arrest warrant.”
“I know. So, you’ll go in instead?”
“It’s better if I go in instead! I haven’t been to detention, but I’ve been to a holding cell.”
“…”
This really exceeds imagination. He probably didn’t go there for actually committing a crime—no criminal record—but my head is throbbing.
But regardless of anything, it won’t work.
“No. I have to be the one to say the answer.”
“Why?”
“If someone other than me says it, it’s meaningless.”
Elias’s brow furrowed.
I already explained it to him separately two days ago. Despite hearing many explanations from me, his reaction isn’t very desirable.
When I shook my head once more, Elias took a deep breath and said slowly.
“I understand everything. Then, at least wait until the book code comes out.”
“It’ll come out soon.”
At those words, Elias grabbed my shoulders and shook me.
“Ahhh… Luca… You really don’t listen.”
“I don’t want to hear that from you…”
Elias looked at me and let out a deep sigh. Anyway, he seemed to have no words to refute what I said.
Right. He wasn’t originally someone who tried hard to dissuade me. I smiled and said to him.
“Eli. Just find this one thing for me.”
“What is it…”
“Where’s the sound room here?”
* * *
I don’t think I’ll be able to get into the sound room.
It would be fortunate if I could infiltrate briefly and shout the dispelling magic to the event venue, but to safely save many people, I need to draw the attention of those who entered the event venue in advance, so that’s actually difficult too.
It’s obvious. A crime was committed using sound to cast a curse, and they’d gladly open the door for me. They’ll definitely prevent me from entering no matter what.
As expected, the front of the sound room was full of guards. The Imperial Court’s arcane mages were also scattered around here.
The mage standing in front of me said to me seriously.
“It’s not allowed. Private use is absolutely not allowed.”
“It’s not private use. Didn’t I just explain the entire situation?”
“Even if His Highness the Duke of Anhalt comes, direct use by anyone is not allowed. Dangerous situations might occur.”
“To whom?”
“To the people.”
Hmm. Right. These people seem to have heard the situation. The fact that ‘one can be cursed by hearing words.’
Thorough. It’s good that they’re thorough.
The problem is that they’re fixing the stable after losing the cow, but since I couldn’t inform them of the incident in advance either, I understand that point.
The mage who appeared to be the head smiled and said.
“You said you know how to solve the terrorism. His Majesty has ordered that this fact not leak anywhere except to curse dispelling experts. So, no matter how much Your Excellency Ascanien belongs to the Imperial Court, you cannot be completely safe as long as you know this fact.”
“…”
“We won’t say that Your Excellency knows about the terrorism. If you understand, please leave now.”
If I understand, I should leave. They’re even making threats thoroughly.
I laughed and exhaled.
As I thought earlier, briefly seizing this place to directly manipulate the sound here has a low success rate. It would be hard to seize in the first place, and it’s safer to get permission and secure time.
But…
Crash—!
At least, I can provoke them to meet the Special Task Force, can’t I?
As I stepped on the cloud, red mana spread out in all directions. I pointed my wand at the mage who stepped back with a flustered face due to the attack.
“Come out.”
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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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