How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 276
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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 (276)
Ding—!
Extra Chapter
Stage 1 Open!
A mysterious window appeared along with the familiar notification sound. I didn’t have the mental capacity to interpret that. My gaze turned to the person beside me.
“….”
Leo looked down at me with shocked eyes. I even had the illusion that my optic nerves hurt from the sudden rush of light. I squinted and tried to say something, but no sound came out as if dust had gotten stuck in my throat.
Leo was the first to speak.
“…Are you awake?”
“…Ah. Yeah.”
Crash—
As I cleared my throat, Leo jumped up from his seat with a face like he’d seen a ghost and took a step or two back. I looked at him with my mouth agape in confusion. I could see the confusion filling his eyes. Only after a long while did a hollow voice emerge from his parched lips.
“Lucas.”
“….”
I turned my head again and let out a long breath.
I didn’t particularly feel like responding. I understood why he was looking at me with that face, speaking to me with that voice. I felt something heavy settle in my stomach. I don’t think my faith was excessive or that my friends’ faith was only to this extent. None of us expected something like this to actually happen. You don’t know anything until you experience it directly. It was like that then but might not be now, or it wasn’t like that then but might be right now. Change is a perfectly natural thing.
I tried to sit up but let my head fall back onto the pillow. Using my muscles felt unfamiliar, and my body felt heavy, not like I had just woken up from sleep.
“Don’t get up.”
“….”
“Lucas.”
He kept calling my name in that dazed voice.
“Say something.”
A voice that didn’t sound like mine came from my mouth. I hadn’t intended to be angry, but it might have sounded like I was. I cleared my throat a bit more and slowly sat up. The unfamiliar linen patient gown finally caught my eye.
‘Come to think of it, this is a hospital….’
It’s not a hospital. When my gaze turned there, I heard a hollow murmur from beside me.
“Do you know how many days have passed?”
I looked at him. I hadn’t paid much attention to people’s appearances so I hadn’t really noticed, but now I could see his face wasn’t in very good condition. I could see he had lost weight. His lips were set in a downward curve, and his hair, which he usually swept back neatly, now covered his forehead in an unkempt state. The area under his eyes, glimpsed between his hair, was dark. When I didn’t answer, Leo continued on his own.
“Three whole days have passed.”
“….”
I had to think for a moment about what I had heard.
Three days? I was bewildered. I thought it would be three or four hours at most.
Another possibility for the reaction he had shown earlier finally occurred to me. I frowned and found myself speaking defensively without realizing it.
“…It felt like I had just woken up from sleep. More than that, did I….”
“Lucas.”
Leo cut off my words. I had been trying to talk properly about what happened three days ago, but he kept skipping the main point and only calling my name, making me wonder what the hell this was about. When I gave him a soulless smile meaning he should stop calling my name, Leo sat back down in the chair beside me and spoke carefully.
“Are you feeling alright?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re not thirsty?”
“Not yet.”
“Not yet?”
Whether I had stolen Leo’s sleep too, Leo repeated my words. Just looking at the dark circles under his eyes, I could tell he hadn’t slept well. Since I had slept for three days, it would be good to drink some water now, but honestly, I was too tired even for that.
But Leo seemed to have more to say on this topic. He glanced around and moved his lips.
“…I mean.”
“What.”
“Don’t you need mana?”
“….”
When my face contorted, Leo quickly opened his mouth.
“No, I’m not trying to condemn you in that way. You’re, well, alive… and you’ve never died, and you’ve never drunk human blood of your own will. Of course, that’s still true now.”
His words didn’t register in my head.
So that’s what he meant by asking if I was thirsty. I felt my head go cold.
My eyes turned to his arms and hands. There were several bandages stuck on places where I didn’t want to know why they were there.
Even though they resemble humans on the outside, New Humanity’s bodies operate completely differently from humans, and among various aspects, their injury recovery speed is incomparable to humans. So these wounds were all made just a few hours ago.
I flicked my hand and Leo’s arm was caught and pulled by mana. I grabbed his hand. I could see cuts made by a knife on his fingertips. They seemed to have just started to harden. There were similar traces on his other fingers. I stared at him intently and opened my mouth.
“Tell me.”
“You’re still the same.”
Does he mean I’m still just as rude? It doesn’t matter. I spoke slowly, emphasizing each word.
“Tell me, Leo.”
“It was just needed for experiments.”
“What experiments.”
Leo looked behind him. His wary gaze circled the room once, and as if that wasn’t enough, it turned to the surroundings again.
The door was locked with human-style locks and various defensive magic. The window was the same. The wall where the window should be felt subtly off, and looking at the ceiling, only this part had no molding. They had put up curtains where they should be so no one outside would suspect, and used magic to build a new wall.
If they were worried about someone coming in, the preparations were already thorough.
Leo rubbed his haggard face with his hand and said.
“Since you slept for three days and woke up, it would be right to call the medical staff. But, sorry. I can’t do that. I have a lot to talk to you about.”
“No need to be sorry. I’m grateful you’re not calling them.”
“You know how you collapsed.”
“Yeah. I collapsed after drinking the holy blood.”
“…Well, with holy blood, you usually don’t say ‘drink’ but ‘partake.'”
I know. I used to say ‘partake’ too when I was in my right mind. I patiently explained to Leo slowly. I couldn’t speak quickly because I was short of breath.
“Right, spiritually speaking that’s true, but anyway, in this current situation where I physically ‘drank’ it and then collapsed, that’s not very intuitive. I don’t have the mental capacity to say everything precisely, so just understand. Anyway, you know I collapsed after drinking the consecrated wine that was in the Holy Grail.”
“Haha… Right. It’s refreshing to hear someone who’s a Cardinal express things like this.”
Leo laughed clearly as if he had briefly returned to everyday life. Seeing his usual expression relaxed my tension a little. But that innocence quickly faded. Worry gradually filled his face and he soon returned to his earlier appearance. He spoke in a sunken voice.
“Since you know, this will be quick to discuss. As you know, after partaking of the holy blood, you absorbed Elias’s mana. Fortunately, other people don’t know. The only ones who know this fact are Narke and me, and Elias, …and Mother.”
“What did His Majesty the King say.”
“He’s in the same position as me, so you don’t need to worry. There’s no reason to change his attitude over an accident like this at this point.”
“….”
No reason to change.
The worry I had earlier wasn’t reality. Then I could tell exactly where those traces on Leo’s arm had been used. It was good information for understanding the other friends’ reactions and the outside situation too.
Then I don’t know what I should be thinking now. Should I be grateful? Should I be relieved? Should I feel sorry? Unfortunately, my head was still foggy.
I kept my gaze fixed on my hands as I spoke.
“…That’s fortunate. So, what exactly happened to me.”
“Your core is getting stronger.”
At the unexpected words, I quietly looked at him. Leo still had a haggard face but smiled slightly as he spoke.
“That’s all there is to it. You can be happy, Lucas. Now you can theoretically have more mana than me and Elias combined.”
“Why would that happen?”
“Because your core and mana can accept everything.”
As I kept looking at him, he properly understood that more explanation was needed and continued.
“From our observations over the past three days, we detected that you absorb the minute mana flowing in the air. And we also conducted several direct experiments.”
“Experiments.”
“Of course, that doesn’t mean you accept everything. Having the ability to do something and actually putting it into practice are different things. When we experimented, we found that if you recklessly absorb others’ mana, you also get attacked. So your core doesn’t particularly try to absorb others’ mana either.”
I already understood that. Right now Leo’s mana was surrounding my core, but my core wasn’t absorbing it.
Leo hesitated about whether to speak or not, then cleared his throat and continued.
“I’ve named this state where your mana or core exists as usual the ‘not hungry state,’ though you probably won’t like it. I don’t like it much either.”
“You know me well. But it is intuitive. Continue.”
“This state has continued since you recovered. We experimented with me and Elias touching you, trying to send mana to you or draw your mana out, but you didn’t attract any mana. It means your core doesn’t want mana in that state. Probably because you have sufficient mana. So when you live your daily life, you won’t absorb others’ mana every moment like last time. That was truly an accident.”
I slowly nodded.
“There were times when your condition worsened in between, and we confirmed that you absorb human mana when urgent measures are needed. But even in this case, your core takes damage just the same.”
I muttered while going over his words one by one.
“Drawing in mana.”
“It’s natural since you have to survive. Of course, ordinary mages don’t have the ability to draw in others’ mana like you in this case, so they would just die. You’re still showing an exceptional phenomenon. But I wanted to tell you that this is just a pure ability you possess.”
Leo continued to twist my fingers as he spoke. It sounded like he was talking to himself.
“…That’s all there is to it. You just struggled not to die in a life-threatening situation, and you happened to have abilities specialized for survival. What wouldn’t someone do when they’re certain to die? If other people had abilities like yours, they would have deliberately gone around stealing people’s mana.”
“….”
“I don’t know what you felt before losing consciousness, but I can guess the confusion you’re feeling now, so let me say something that might help… Strictly speaking, you don’t crave blood. You crave mana. Blood is just a medium.”
“Right.”
After that, no one spoke.
Again, it was Leo who spoke first.
“This isn’t the end. Your core has started to gain expandability.”
“Expandability?”
“Your core is growing. Whether this is due to your mana or a characteristic of your core hasn’t been determined yet… but there’s a good chance you’ll periodically feel emptiness. The nutrients needed for growth can’t be filled by yours alone.”
“Why did you reach that conclusion?”
Instead of answering, he stared at me intently. Then he continued what he was saying earlier.
“I don’t know how long this growth period will last. If this is an inherent trait of your mana or core, it might never end. Of course, you might also grow almost infinitely.”
“….”
“I think the side effects of having your growth suppressed your whole life are finally manifesting. Of course, I don’t know why it’s appearing now instead of last year, but we’ll have to find that out from now on.”
If you ask whether this is bad, it’s not necessarily bad. But seeing this amplifies my questions even more. What exactly led me to this point that day? Why did the holy blood that didn’t react to others react only to me? If there was no problem with ‘drinking the wine,’ was the problem ‘receiving the holy blood’?
“Leo. How did the investigation go?”
“You mean whether there was a problem inside the cathedral.”
I nodded.
“There was no problem at all with receiving the holy blood. I investigated everyone who was in the cathedral that day over the past three days, but there was no one who was in contact with Adrian Ascanien, nor anyone who had recently met or corresponded with those on the list you obtained from Jurgen Beck before.”
“….”
“Still, Adrian Ascanien definitely sent you that medicine in preparation for this incident. He knew this would happen. You can’t say he didn’t know.”
“Don’t you suspect me?”
“….”
It was a question that might seem out of nowhere. However, Leo stared at me, then gave an answer that matched my question’s intent.
“Why should I suspect you? I believe what I’ve seen.”
“….”
“If I suspected you, I wouldn’t even be here, Lucas.”
Right, that would be the case. There would be no reason to make all those injection marks on his arm either.
Now the person who needs to get centered is me. The person who needs to find the truth is also me. That much I can’t pass onto my friends’ shoulders.
“I have something to bring. I’ll go out for a moment and come back. Wait.”
Leo said as he got up from his seat.
I nodded. Instead of warping, he unlocked the door and went outside. After he left, I leaned back against the backrest and let out a deep breath.
‘Let me think.’
I need to finish thinking about what I was considering earlier.
There was no problem with the holy blood I drank before. The previous mass was about 2 weeks before the day I collapsed. If I count the Protestant communion that the Imperial 2nd Education Institute requires attendance for, it would be reduced to a week ago, but since this doesn’t recognize transubstantiation, I’ll exclude it for now.
What changes occurred to me between the communion on those two dates?
Experiencing the Penthalon terror and awakening? Ash Wednesday of 1898? The former was a major incident, but if Adrian Ascanien had foreseen this, he would have used every means to return home and lock me up, or solved the incident himself. No human can take action against unforeseen events. Then the latter. Ash Wednesday is quite appealing spiritually if I’m certain that this problem occurred ‘after receiving the holy blood,’ but it doesn’t make sense realistically.
Or could it be some spell that Adrian Ascanien might have cast long ago? If such a thing existed, it would have been caught in Bavaria’s medical examinations long ago, but since the poison he uses is already made from materials unknown even to Bavaria, it’s worth considering.
‘…The problem is that no matter what hypothesis I present, there’s no evidence to confirm it. As the Archbishop said, I need to find it now.’
If possible, it would be good to find it now when I can experiment with various things since I’ll turn back time.
But how?
I ran my hand through my hair and took a deep breath.
Since there’s nothing I can do right now, I should first examine what I received before collapsing. I opened the status window and muttered the unfamiliar name in the trait slot at the bottom. A new window appeared.
Extra Chapter
Stage 1: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Stage 2: ―
Stage 3: ―
Below that, boxes marked with ‘―’ in the same manner were listed in a row.
‘…Hmm.’
What is this? I need to know something to try it, but there’s no explanation. What kind of Extra does Extra mean?
‘That first stage was opened today.’
If this is the same as the Chapter system I know, it would mean I’m currently at that stage. But there’s no reason to give me a duplicate of an existing system. Since it said ‘opened,’ there might be something different.
I stared at the text while pondering for a long time.
‘This isn’t a situation where information will just fall into my lap by staying still.’
Let me at least try pressing it.
As soon as I had that thought, my center disappeared. An ear-splitting horn sound was heard.
Honk—!
“…!”
I opened my eyes wide. I can see the sky. A small suitcase is placed under my shoulders.
‘…?! Wait. I was in the infirmary just a moment ago?’
“Hey there! Get out of there!”
“What are you doing!”
There wasn’t time to be confused for long. Now I see that everyone around is staring at me. I can see carriages and cars passing right above my head. I was lying in the middle of the road.
“Get up!”
Someone grabbed my arm and pulled me up. I hurriedly grabbed my suitcase and apologized to the driver standing in front of me.
“I’m sorry.”
“Geez!”
“Why were you lying there? Has this young man already lost his mind….”
The middle-aged man who helped me up dragged me to the sidewalk while scolding me, then opened his eyes wide. He opened his mouth and looked at me, then tilted his head with an expression like he’d seen all kinds of people in his life. I was already confused enough, and now this person is acting like this too, making me flustered. I frowned and asked.
“What’s wrong?”
“Why is your eye color like that?”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s pink. How can a person’s eye color be….”
Well. I don’t know why it’s like this either.
I was about to answer that way, but opened my mouth at a sudden thought.
This is Berlin. The scenery is a bit different from what I knew, but was there anyone in Berlin who didn’t know my eyes were pink?
I thought of a crazy possibility and carefully asked.
“…What’s today’s date?”
“It’s March 20th.”
March 20th? That can’t be right. It was still early March.
Did I come to the future? I looked around quickly. The cars passing on the street look a bit crude. Benz & Co.’s 3rd generation mana-powered car announcement. An article I saw this year flashed through my mind. All the cars currently on the road were old-generation automobiles.
I could see the person in front of me slowly backing away with an expression like he’d met a crazy person. Before he could run away, I grabbed his arm and asked.
“…What year is it?”
“…It’s 1886, isn’t it? Haha….”
“….”
While I let go of his hand, he quickly disappeared.
I stood there and stared blankly at the street. A chuckle began to escape.
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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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