How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 253

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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 (253)

 

[Waaaaaaaah―!]

 

Thunderous applause and cheers could be heard. Confetti flew down from the sky. Countless flowers thrown from the audience seating fell onto the stage.

 

I felt a twisting sensation in my stomach as I looked around.

 

I no longer wanted to see these countless humans sitting in their seats. Winning was winning, but I had never been interested in victory except for one single goal.

 

If there hadn’t been a large-scale terrorist incident, I might have been enjoying myself right now. In fact, from the time I turned back time and experienced the magic lamp terrorism again, I had been losing my mind a bit, so the cheers and the refreshing feeling of battle were somewhat enjoyable… but things became ambiguous after Farnese, no, Caetani got involved.

 

It was right that he spoke incomprehensible words throughout. The tone treating me as a wicked being for being an atheist was something I had experienced plenty elsewhere, so that was fine for now, but my head was complicated because I didn’t know what he, as a Christian, was trying to tell me by even bringing in Buddhist karma theory, what relationship he had with Narke, and what relationship those two had with me.

 

And also.

 

Because he had overturned my old memories, reviving a me that no one except myself could remember, a me who no longer knew the way back and couldn’t even know the possibility of such a thing. As if that wasn’t enough, he had even brought someone I could never see again before me.

 

‘…Yes, that’s right.’

 

I had figured out all the reasons why I was happy yet not happy at the same time.

 

There was no solution. At least I couldn’t find a solution by staying here. Now that I knew the cause, it was time to pull myself together emotionally and do what I had to do. I took out a handkerchief from my pocket and wiped the nosebleed.

 

The moment I tried to get up from my seat, Gabrielle grabbed my hand firmly.

 

“….”

 

Gabrielle looked at me and slowly wiped the blood that had fallen on his face and clothes.

 

The divine power I felt through his hand had regained stability. His core had quickly recovered and was flowing divine power throughout his body again. Although he hadn’t recovered enough to move his body with his own strength yet, even so, to produce this result with just a brief rest – his recovery ability was extraordinary.

 

Gabrielle made the sign of the cross with trembling hands.

 

“…In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti Amen.”

 

Then he pulled my left hand toward him and kissed the back of it.

 

This was typical behavior of a Catholic believer of this era. It was mainly a greeting done when meeting high-ranking clergy like the Pope or Cardinal, but there was something questionable about it. If he had intended to greet me knowing I was a Cardinal, he should have done it as soon as we met, not now. Rather, he would have been displeased that an atheist held the position of Cardinal.

 

To suddenly show such behavior. Either his thoughts had changed, or there was a reason I didn’t know.

 

I stared at him intently, waiting for an explanation. He looked up at the sky again and spoke in a faint voice. The voice amplification magic artifacts attached to our clothes had stopped working.

 

―Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

 

“….”

 

―Verily, verily, I say unto you….

 

I waited for the words to follow, but instead of speaking, he used divine power on me. Light emanated from his hand holding mine.

 

“…!”

 

I furrowed my brow.

 

I felt something like healing magic seeping into my blood vessels. It was reinforcing the power of my core.

 

Leo’s magic power and his divine power collided, but soon the healing magic cleared my head. I felt the strength that had drained away returning.

 

Before I could ask for a reason, he spoke first.

 

“I now know what you will do.”

 

“….”

 

He said he now knew what I would do. I looked at him silently.

 

The host began to appear in the passage below the stage. He would soon come up onto the stage. I could see the Minister of Magic, who had sent me a message during the competition, hurriedly running after him.

 

An announcement was being made that medical staff would arrive for us too, but this wasn’t a situation to listen carefully to that.

 

Gabrielle cast a sound-blocking spell and said.

 

“Now that I’ve confirmed it, I know completely. You and I are different but in the same situation, and yet we will become very different. But we certainly became this way for the same reason.”

 

“…I suddenly don’t understand what you’re saying.”

 

I could clearly see that we were different from each other. The same situation? And for the same reason too?

 

“We became this way for the same reason. What does ‘became this way’ mean?”

 

“Someday you will completely understand my words.”

 

“I want to understand now.”

 

“Don’t you have something you’ve decided to do right now?”

 

“….”

 

“As you would already know, my name is Gabrielle Caetani. Remember it. My name will be of help to you in times of tribulation.”

 

He said he could help me in times of tribulation.

 

I just stared at him as he spoke like Luther’s German Bible translation. I couldn’t tell if it was because Imperial was a foreign language to him or if his way of speaking was originally like that. As if he had read my thoughts, he smiled briefly and gently pushed my hand.

 

“Now go, brother.”

 

“….”

 

I didn’t know why this human was suddenly acting like this.

 

What was important was that, as I had felt during the first hallucination, he had come to test me, and for some reason I didn’t know, I had passed that verification process. He now had the intention to help me when I had problems. Since he called it ‘tribulation,’ I could guess it wouldn’t be an ordinary matter. I hoped such a thing wouldn’t come to pass, though.

 

I slowly stood up and looked around. Among the medical staff coming up from below the stage, someone waved their hand to get my attention. The cross embedded in their hands had become slightly shorter. The top part of the cross had disappeared, making it look exactly like a T.

 

Now Dawn for 600,000 people was 20 minutes away. Maybe around 19 minutes.

 

During the match, while I was seeing memories of my old body, a message from the Minister of Magic arrived. Three book codes had arrived at their office and they had decoded them all. They asked me to forfeit immediately and come to them.

 

‘After ignoring my words like that.’

 

The message came around 5 to 7 minutes after the match with Gabrielle had started.

 

Then it meant the book codes had appeared roughly 65 minutes after the first appearance of the cross. This time privately.

 

Compared to presenting the book codes 40 minutes after the curse magic in the first timeline, this was 25 minutes late, and thanks to that, I had to fight foreigners I was seeing for the first time in this tournament for 25 minutes. Since this happened because the Minister of Magic didn’t listen to my request, I should probably blame the Minister.

 

“Nice to meet you, Adrian Ascanien. Could you give me your hand for a moment?”

 

The medical staff’s voice broke my reverie.

 

Anyway, the Committee wouldn’t have been able to meet the Jena University Magic Department Professor. Because that was fake.

 

And upon hearing the third book code positioned there, ‘I have told the answer to over 100 people,’ the Minister would have recalled the white phosphorus code―Sagt es allen, tell it to everyone―and what I had said about the ‘answer.’ That question about whether they could let me use the sound room for just 1 minute without interference.

 

I couldn’t even laugh, so I just looked down at my hand held by the medical staff. Gabrielle Caetani had now been taken down below the stage by other medical staff.

 

‘Then why did I theorize that dissolution magic would have the same mechanism as curse magic.’

 

Now it was time to think about it again.

 

Come, let’s slowly trace back.

 

The day before yesterday, no, now three days ago in the evening, I had this conversation with Leo.

 

* * *

 

The top floor of Bavaria’s Prince’s Palace.

 

We were sitting on the balcony behind the hall with alcohol. Fai’s influence extended here too. I remembered being dumbfounded looking at the stone tower placed on one side of the balcony.

 

At that time, I was comfortably leaning back in a white wooden chair, looking out at Bavaria’s vast forest and downtown area as dusk fell. We had set up space magic so that we could see outside but couldn’t be seen from outside, so there were no worries about problems regarding my hospital escape.

 

I looked at Leo sitting at the table with a serious face and the on-the-rocks glass placed in front of me and said.

 

“Curse magic and dissolution magic will work by the same mechanism.”

 

“….”

 

“Then to break the curse, we would need to ‘make’ the people under the curse magic ‘hear’ the input phrase that activates dissolution magic. Actually, up to this point, it sounds as obvious as ‘since we tightened the screw by turning it right, to loosen it we just need to turn the screw left.’ Right?”

 

Leo answered with not entirely trusting eyes.

 

“To some extent, yes. More than half the magic that has appeared in this world is solved this way. But you can’t be certain.”

 

“Listen carefully. I set up a hypothesis first and found the answer. Remember what I’m saying now well, then think from the beginning again after hearing the conclusion. Then you’ll be able to understand why I’m making this claim.”

 

“So you didn’t have certainty from the beginning either.”

 

I nodded and drank my alcohol.

 

The cherry flavor at the end was bitter. I belatedly realized it was whiskey not to my taste, but there was nothing to be done about it.

 

“Let’s begin. The real problem here is this. I think the trigger to activate dissolution magic is ‘the answer that the Terrorist claimed to have shown to over 100 people.'”

 

“Based on what?”

 

Leo asked sharply.

 

It was a good question. [The answer presented by the Terrorist would be the dissolution activation formula], based on what could I make such a deduction?

 

The Terrorist even provided the answer to dissolve the curse magic – wasn’t the Terrorist truly overflowing with mercy?

 

Even saying they would really break the curse magic if we got the answer right? There seemed to be no fool like this in the world.

 

But I still thought the ‘answer’ would be the dissolution activation formula.

 

Because.

 

“Leo. Before turning back time, the Minister of Magic asked ‘why doesn’t the Terrorist kill us immediately?'”

 

“Right.”

 

“I answered that ‘because they want something else.’ Remember?”

 

“…Right.”

 

“Human lives are just held as collateral to obtain what they really aim for – keeping this in mind, let’s think again. The Terrorist put all these people under curse magic, then kindly gave a hint that they had shown the ‘answer’ to break it, not out of boredom or to cause trouble.”

 

Leo propped his chin and tapped the table with his other hand. This wasn’t a look he often showed as Prince, but he seemed quite anxious.

 

“Of course not, Lucas.”

 

“Right. Let’s slowly dig into this part again. Why did the Terrorist give the hint that they had ‘already shown the answer’? First, because they hoped everyone would be freed from the curse and peace would return.”

 

At those words, Leo lowered the hand propping his chin, drank his alcohol, and let out a light laugh.

 

“They shouldn’t have cast the curse in the first place then. Do they want solidarity in crisis situations?”

 

“So this is hopeless. Then next. Second, someone who couldn’t bear to watch this crisis situation with their own eyes hoped someone would solve the answer. Third, there are no other possibilities besides the first two.”

 

Leo narrowed his eyes. He knew what my next words would be. I avoided his piercing gaze, drank my alcohol, set down the glass, and spoke.

 

“Between the first and second, the reasonable one is the second.”

 

“….”

 

“Then here again. ‘Why’ did that culprit hope someone would solve the answer? What would come out if the answer was solved? And ‘who’ did they hope would solve the answer? Don’t interrupt and listen carefully.”

 

“I won’t interrupt. Speak.”

 

In order, I laid out the most reasonable possibilities.

 

I extended my fingers as I spoke.

 

“First, the ‘answer’ is another trigger.”

 

“Hmm, you’re saying the terrorist set a trap in that ‘answer.'”

 

“Right. In this case, the moment someone recites that answer, another spell will be cast in the same way as the curse magic.”

 

“The technique is no ordinary matter, quite troublesome….”

 

Leo uncharacteristically ruffled his hair. He seemed extremely frustrated.

 

It was natural since their techniques had advanced to a level we couldn’t even catch up to.

 

“Second, who did they hope would solve the answer. The culprit already directly said they ‘showed it to over 100 people.’ It means any of those 100 people could say the answer.”

 

“But in reality, that sentence targets exactly one person. No matter how much I say it’s not me, you’ll think that way. Right?”

 

I nodded.

 

Leo clasped both hands together with a furrowed brow, looking like he wanted an answer.

 

“You’ll want to ask why. Now, the terrorist said they showed the answer.”

 

“Right.”

 

“Also, over 100 people saw that answer. This itself is a hint. ‘Over 100 people’ – meaning many people saw the answer…. It means it was positioned where people could see it in passing without carefully reading or decoding it. The numerous methods used in this terrorism so far have consistency. Whether it’s due to multiple culprits’ imitation or one person’s obsessive cryptographic fixation, we have ‘seen’ countless codes so far.”

 

“Right. Book codes, white phosphorus matches.”

 

“And there were five more codes we haven’t solved yet.”

 

I searched through my jacket, realized I had no pen, and gestured to Leo. Leo looked exasperated as he pulled out a fountain pen from inside his jacket and handed it to me.

 

I pulled out a napkin from the holder on one side of the table, stiff enough to make a rustling sound, and wrote on it.

 

[Audienz dubioses schockiertes]

 

[Bocuse dasitzende risikoscheu]

 

[Cookie diesseits zuschraubend]

 

[Diözesan dubiose tückischeres]

 

[Auszurichtendes Cookies Diebs]

 

“….”

 

“We haven’t been able to solve this code until now. How long have we been racking our brains over this?”

 

“It’s been dragging on quite a while.”

 

“Originally, I tried to interpret this as a connected sentence with meaning. Like ‘arranging cookies thief’ becoming ‘arranging the cookie thief.'”

 

“Didn’t you also use something like Caesar cipher decryption methods?”

 

“I did. I tried all sorts of code-breaking methods. But I was wrong.”

 

Leo stroked his chin as he looked at me. I leaned forward and spoke seriously.

 

“I was thinking too complexly. This code isn’t a difficult code.”

 

“What makes you so confident?”

 

“The fact that all the white phosphorus codes and book codes that appeared so far were easy codes was the foundation. Of course, you won’t be convinced here, right? I can’t either, so I’ll continue.”

 

“Go ahead….”

 

I turned the napkin toward him and pointed to each letter.

 

“These five sentences have something in common. They’re all 3 phrases and 27 characters. And they contain the same alphabet composition. When umlaut O and U correspond to regular O and U, that is.”

 

“…!”

 

Umlaut O refers to Ö.

 

Among these commonalities, the latter two – ‘all five are 27 characters’ and ‘identical alphabets’ – reveal a great deal.

 

‘What does this suggest.’

 

I looked at Leo’s expression and stuck one hand in my pocket. Then I drank and tilted my chair.

 

“Looks like you caught on.”

 

“….”

 

Leo nodded with a serious face.

 

Right.

 

These five sentences are all simple anagram codes that converge into one sentence. The culprit was kind enough to show five codes.

 

‘The problem is when to finish combining all this.’

 

If I had been combining for the past month and a half, I would have solved it by now, but two days weren’t enough. If I kept combining these one by one, the preparation period would definitely run out. I couldn’t let that happen.

 

“Instead of combining this first, I found a clue to make the combination easier. By now you probably know what clue I found.”

 

Leo’s face was rigidly hardened. He also knows what the key word of this code is. Then I could bring up a topic one step ahead.

 

“Now you understand why I have to say that code, why I believe the curse magic will be dismantled if the code is ‘announced to everyone.'”

 

“I understand the former, but the latter is still insufficient.”

 

“Good. Quick thinking.”

 

I drank and spoke with a smile.

 

“We’ve come exactly halfway here. From now on, I need to talk about the remaining half.”

 

“….”

 

Leo looked at me with his lips pressed tight. I shrugged and said.

 

“Why the death face?”

 

“I never had a death face.”

 

“Well, fine. Tomorrow I’ll tell Elias and Narke about this.”

 

“….”

 

Leo looked at me silently. It was the face of someone confronting something they didn’t want to face, the face of someone hoping no one would get hurt. I knew it well since I’d seen it many times.

 

“What can’t we do among ourselves?”

 

I extended my fist.

 

Leo looked at my hand with a sullen face, then relaxed his expression and lightly bumped my fist.

 

I smiled and said.

 

“Let’s do well.”

 

“…Right.”

 

Leo seemed to know there was no way to retreat. I spoke to Leo, who answered seriously.

 

“Now, Leo. From now on, I need your help.”

 

* * *

 

Thinking about it now, I want to go back a little.

 

The atmosphere that evening was comfortable. Even knowing we were facing the end again, perhaps because we had already experienced the end, we were both in a drowsy state. Those minutes and seconds when nothing happened seemed like they would last forever, but when did time pass like this – I’m facing another new end.

 

However, this time it will be an end to move on to the final chapter of this terrorism. Even if it’s not the last page.

 

Medical staff are chanting healing magic and various recovery formulas against my hands and back. For some reason, their level seems worse than even Gabrielle’s, but anyway, I thought while quietly receiving treatment.

 

‘What I told Leo back then.’

 

‘I found a clue to make the combination easier.’

 

Right. Fortunately, I’ve obtained the materials so far. Now let me combine the information again.

 

Clue 1.

 

Before dying, Richthofen came to find me and said he knew what magic was cast in this curse spell. Why, among all the many people, did only Richthofen quickly notice what magic was cast there?

 

A mere Catacombs high school student who isn’t even a magic studies expert knew, while the Imperial Government doesn’t know the identity of the magic, and it’s magic that doesn’t break even when attacked from outside.

 

As I thought then, doesn’t it smell too familiar?

 

Right. What’s cast over the curse magic is dual-space magic.

 

Magic that doesn’t break unless critical-level magic power hits it. Seeing how powerful it was – so much that we couldn’t know where the limit was, and seeing how it couldn’t be dismantled despite all sorts of experiments – they probably didn’t install dual-space magic in one direction but overlapped it bidirectionally inside and outside so that no dismantling spell would work.

 

To think of using dual-space magic like this – although it’s curse magic completed by stealing Catacombs’ technology and then supplementing it with their ideas, the concept is praiseworthy. The technology that made it possible to cast this just by reciting sentences is also impressive.

 

Clue 2.

 

Both the Sound Director from the previous timeline and the Player from this timeline were caught by pre-prepared mental manipulation magic and lost their memory of reciting Revelation 7:10. This means mental manipulation magic was pre-set like curse magic, and it also means there was an ‘Arcane Mage who can use mental manipulation magic’ on their side.

 

There are countless other possibilities, but if we solve it according to the questioner’s intention, that’s it.

 

Clue 3.

 

Each Pleroma Diocese often plays separately from the leadership and tries to gain private benefits. We had already witnessed such a scene directly earlier this year.

 

Clue 4.

 

The places these five codes arrived were me – my bouquet -, the Catacombs wall, and in front of Haike’s Family Estate.

 

Where were these three connected? The intersection of these three elements clearly points to one place.

 

Up to this point, if we look at the situation purely from the ‘examiner’s perspective,’ we’ve come this far. Now I just need to synthesize these four clues.

 

There are a few blind spots that need clarification, but the logical development needed for this opening ceremony ends here. Over the past two days, I solved the five codes based on the above clues.

 

There’s still a bit left to explain regarding Leo’s question about whether shouting the ‘answer’ would really break the curse magic, but in any case, there’s no room for a different outcome.

 

I let out a light laugh and exhaled.

 

‘It was long.’

 

This is why I hate Pleroma.

 

No, to be precise, I hate the bishops.

 

The Imperial Government, whose inner thoughts are completely transparent, seems lovable in comparison. I even know what plan Abraham currently has. Though he also knows that I know his plan.

 

The bishops never move carelessly even once, and as if proving they didn’t reach their positions for nothing, they fully utilize their own excellence.

 

Well, so.

 

Now it’s my turn.

 

The treatment finished, and I slowly turned my head. The rose that had fallen on me caught on my foot.

 

I slowly approached the host who was waiting for me below the stage.

 

The host also welcomed me and approached me.

 

“Welcome, Your Excellency Lucas Ascanien. You have won the final victory in the International Friendship Tournament of the 1st Penthalon Opening Ceremony! It must have been quite chaotic since it was a hastily adjusted game, but you showed us a truly magnificent match.”

 

[Waaaaaaah―!!]

 

The audience shouted. I looked at the host with a faint smile. Confetti burst again and scattered through the air.

 

“Do you see this enthusiasm? How do you feel? Please share a few words.”

 

“My feelings.”

 

I opened my mouth, feeling the air in front of me enhanced with amplification magic.

 

My eyes turned to the Eschete team members. I soon turned my gaze back to the broadcast camera. Now all the people in the arena were silent, waiting to hear my words.

 

“I heard you’re looking for someone.”

 

* * *

 

“Where are you going?”

 

Julia grabbed Elias, who was trying to leave the arena. Elias, who had been looking back at her with a stern face, looked down at the stage again.

 

“My stomach hurts. I’m going to take a big one, guys~”

 

“….”

 

Julia didn’t answer and stared intently at Elias. She knew Elias was making excuses.

 

Haike, seemingly without much thought, spoke with excitement from the victory.

 

“Come back quickly. Since Lucas won, we need to go drink.”

 

“Yeah~”

 

Elias laughed at Haike’s words and went outside.

 

It would be nice if he could come back quickly. However, he wouldn’t be able to come back that quickly. Elias’s face gradually hardened.

 

At the same time, at the Italian restaurant in the venue.

 

Silence flowed inside the restaurant.

 

“….”

 

[Someone…?]

 

The host smiled awkwardly with a confused expression.

 

“Someone?”

 

“What?”

 

Small questions were heard in the silence.

 

Since it was such an unexpected statement, people who had been eating stopped their forks and looked at the screen. There weren’t many people leisurely eating in the first place since they had been completely absorbed in the match.

 

Leo looked at the newspaper with a calm face. The light on their palms around them was getting shorter and shorter. The curse magic had already activated, leaving only about 15 minutes of life remaining. Leo’s own heartbeat began to sound like a countdown.

 

[Could you tell us in more detail what kind of person you’re referring to?]

 

[No, I might need to say the answer as I saw it.]

 

“What? Didn’t they just ask for your feelings?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

Someone spread their fingers and brought them to their mouth. It meant to be quiet since they needed to listen.

 

[….]

 

Narke’s hands gradually tightened as she watched the screen. Leo was also unconsciously holding his breath.

 

Lucas on the screen moved his lips.

 

[I’ll only say this once, so listen carefully.]

 

[Once…]

 

[‘The Diocese of Osnabrück is looking for you’!]

 

Kwaaaaang―!

 

Black smoke swept through the arena. The screen turned completely black and now the sound of wind as if caught in a storm could be heard.

 

“Huh?!”

 

“What, what is it?!”

 

“That scared me, why is this happening?!”

 

Leo looked at the screen with cold eyes and retraced his memories.

 

Die Diözese Osnabrück sucht Sie. The Diocese of Osnabrück is looking for you.

 

Early this year, the decryption result of the code that appeared on Lucas’s bouquet, the walls of the Catacombs, and in front of Ainsiedel Manor.

 

[You must keep your promise.]

 

A clear voice was heard from the black screen and the fierce wind. Again, there was a sound like an explosion as wind swept through. Screams of surprised people could be heard from beyond the screen.

 

Narke, who had been looking around with a stiff face, gestured toward the people to Leo.

 

“Leo.”

 

“….”

 

Leo slowly turned his head.

 

The countless small lights that had been flickering on palms everywhere went out.

 

His heart pounded like crazy. There was nothing on their hands now. Really nothing at all. It felt like he might be seeing things wrong, like all of this felt like a dream. The ground seemed to shake once, making people look at the floor with surprised voices.

 

‘…End.’

 

It’s over. Lucas was right. All of his judgments were correct. Now I will go apply the dissolution technique that Richthofen prepared to each of those who still haven’t heard the ‘answer’ even though Lucas drew attention and shouted the answer.

 

And after that, I must move according to Lucas’s plan.

 

This damn terrorism is finally over. At this still unbelievable fact, my vision trembled greatly.

 

At the same time, it was another beginning for us.

 

Leo wiped his face with his hand once, caught his breath, and stood up from his seat.

 

He reached out his hand to Narke and said.

 

“Let’s go.”

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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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