How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 28

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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 Noble Family (28)

Melvin, who had been staring at the papers the whole time, asked quietly.

“Magical beasts?”

“Yeah, contaminated animals have been appearing all over the Empire this year. Before, I… no, Leo went out directly to check. What did you see?”

“Completely rotted rats gnawing at each other.”

“It’s probably the result of gathering dead rats and performing resurrection rituals. Though I don’t know how they got outside.”

In the novel, Pleroma had never created chimeras or released foreign werewolves.

But if we’re just looking at the problem of magical beasts appearing in large numbers, this part is definitely Pleroma’s doing.

Though it hasn’t been revealed yet, by the end of the year it will be officially recognized as Pleroma’s crime.

Then one student pondered my words.

“So they’re doing resurrection experiments on animals too. But why didn’t they do this before and only now start with animals?”

Leo put the materials down on the desk and said quietly.

“They must have used up all the humans. Or they can see they’re running out.”

“Ah.”

“…Hmm.”

“Their growth is gradually slowing down. They must be having difficulty securing believers and test subjects.”

That statement is correct.

But since I can’t talk about what I learned from the novel, I’ll have to use statistics.

I took out a chart organizing Pleroma’s crimes and posted it on the blackboard.

“Last year alone, there were 22 cases concluded as Pleroma kidnappings. The year before that was 7 cases, and before that was 3 cases.”

“It really increased a lot.”

“They’re definitely short on people.”

I nodded and continued speaking.

“If you had to choose humans for human experimentation, which would you pick? Children wandering around with no connections, or children with parents or belonging to institutions?”

The students answered reluctantly, scrunching their eyes.

“The ones with no connections?”

“Me too.”

“Right, because proper reports wouldn’t even be filed for them. The increase in cases means that their existing manpower supply can’t meet demand to the point where they have to take people under government protection.”

At first glance, it seems like they act recklessly without considering consequences, but Pleroma also has strict internal rules.

If they really didn’t care about consequences, every tomb in the Empire would have been robbed long ago.

The fact that they’ve been taking children outside the protection network until now but are now openly targeting children under state protection means they’re already cornered enough to be desperate.

The students nodded with dark expressions.

“The missing persons section in newspapers has gotten really long too. This is all because of Pleroma? The problem is more serious than expected…”

“Right. Let’s summarize at this point.”

I wrote a summary on the blackboard.

“First, Pleroma moves in different directions depending on the season. This is basic, so we need to keep it in mind for future predictions. Second, they’re facing the biggest crisis in the cult’s 12-year history, and there’s a high possibility they’ll plan new systems to find a way forward.”

Or maybe they’ve already succeeded.

Judging by the sharp increase in magical beasts this year.

Several students copied the summary into their notes.

“I’ve never analyzed it like this before. It’s new.”

“Right. This is information only the Imperial Palace would know.”

Since this was a group I created to gather allies, I had no expectations for analysis and was doing a one-man show, but I’m grateful they think of it that way.

I should keep pushing forward as I have been.

“What I’ve said so far is about the current situation.”

“There’s more?”

“We also need to analyze by crime type.”

I put up a new map and picked up chalk.

* * *

I suggested they think about places where grave desecration crimes might occur before the next meeting, then stood up.

“Now it’s just us left.”

“What are we going to do now?”

Narke asked while flipping through materials.

“I want to think about the magical beasts.”

“Oh, getting more serious now~?”

“Yeah.”

To gain nationwide support, solving problems related to Pleroma is the best approach.

Of course, I can’t reveal my face while being active, but I can just wear a mask again when I go out.

I need to dig into the magical beast issue now, at this timing when everyone isn’t yet certain it’s Pleroma’s crime.

I put up a large map on the wall and pulled out a pen.

“Let’s start with regions. Last year’s contaminated animal appearances in the Empire were… 25 cases.”

“That was manageable.”

Leo muttered while looking at the map.

That makes sense. 25 cases would sound like a story from another world now.

This year is already approaching 1,000 cases.

“The total appearances this year reach three digits. Even though the Imperial Palace set up restricted areas to prevent them from coming out, this is the situation.”

I drew borders around the magical beast appearance areas.

Narke, who had been watching carefully, pointed to forests in remote locations.

“If they experimented with magical beasts, we can’t ignore the possibility that the experimental site is originally around those areas.”

“That’s possible, but… I need to think about that.”

If it were me, I wouldn’t use such an obvious method.

I’d conduct experiments separately and dump them in remote places, or warp them.

‘But they might have brazenly made them appear around their own base, considering that we’d think that way.’

Then Narke smiled and snapped his fingers to get my attention.

“If we go investigate directly, we’ll catch something~”

“Mm, right.”

It’s good to have someone with a different personality at times like this.

I stopped thinking and read the visible text.

“If the restricted areas were established on February 1st this year… the Imperial Palace responded quickly for once.”

Leo asked cautiously at my sarcasm.

“…You know you can’t say things like this outside, right?”

“I know.”

To hear such talk from the person who had the biggest influence on replacing the emperor?

Anyway, January’s magical beast appearances were 271 cases.

So what about February when the restricted areas were installed?

’37 cases.’

It decreased dramatically. But after that, it rose again to 80-90 cases.

‘Look at this mess even with barriers blocking them.’

This means either the barriers are incredibly poor, or they only paid attention in February, or they actually moved freely trusting the barriers.

“…”

Trusting the barriers?

I removed the hand that was stroking my chin.

“…What’s the possibility that someone in Pleroma and the Imperial Palace are colluding?”

“What?”

I strode to the blackboard and scribbled with chalk.

“Last month, September, had 87 reported cases.”

January’s 271 cases isn’t a large number. Rather, we should be wary of September’s 87 cases.

On average, 1 out of 100 entities succeeds in escaping low-grade barriers.

Compared to January when there were ‘no barriers at all,’ this means 8,700 entities currently exist.

‘…This is going to become quite a big problem.’

But I don’t need to voice this right now.

I need to find clues to verify my hypothesis first. The fact that no evidence of collusion between Pleroma and the Imperial Court was found in the novel is also concerning, and I can’t rule out the possibility that this whole mess happened due to the Imperial Court’s one-dimensional decision.

Of course, I only read up to Luca’s chapter, but there wasn’t much left until the final page after that.

I turned my gaze away from the blackboard and shook my head.

“Not now. Let’s investigate and think about it.”

“Hmm? What is it? You’re making me curious.”

“Let’s find the area for our field survey first. Like Narke said, we need to go and check it out ourselves. Since today is Saturday, we can be active until dawn the day after tomorrow.”

“You’re going to stay up all night and then go to school? That’s cool. Should I go in disguise later too?”

Narke leaned back in his chair again and smiled smoothly.

Narke needs permission from his original school, so he can’t move openly right now.

Leo chuckled at his words.

“…You want me to take two people who look like thieves? It might not be bad for just you two to go.”

“Haha, Leo, you absolutely have to be there~ Have a good trip.”

Narke waved his hand with a laugh.

His abilities are too valuable to leave behind.

If we can just get permission, I’ll take him right away.

Meanwhile, Leo tapped the blackboard.

“If we’re leaving today, let’s choose quickly. No area has been properly investigated except for the zone where the Chimera Werewolf appeared. After the incident, they only sent out one-hour patrols during the day.”

“Typical of the Imperial Court.”

“…Ahem… To be precise, it’s the Security Bureau within it. Anyway, since we don’t know what might happen safety-wise, let’s investigate the lower-level areas first.”

Leo pointed to the Restricted Area closest to the Capital.

“Shall we go here?”

* * *

Three hours later, I warped to the survey location.

After my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see a forest spread out at the end of a vast plain.

Leo, who warped after me, squinted and grabbed my shoulder.

“Hey, you’re really…”

“What.”

“…Never mind. It’s just that suggesting we go to a place like this reminds me of someone I know.”

“You felt that way just from me choosing one location?”

Leo shrugged.

“I didn’t expect there to be two people who would ignore all the vast grasslands and want to go to a Restricted Area in the swampland.”

“Nice. Did the person you know come here too?”

I asked, feigning ignorance.

I know who he’s talking about. But it can’t be helped.

If I’m trying to find changes, going to places I’ve never heard of or seen would be inefficient.

Going to places the Protagonist has been to challenge them is a much better method.

“Recently. But I got a letter just the day before yesterday asking me to go to this place together. I refused, but I never thought I’d end up going with you…”

“Really? That’s too bad. If you had gone first, Leo, I could have heard what it was like.”

“Now that I look at it, you two even have similar attitudes…”

After crossing the plain, we stopped where the fir tree forest began.

Having experienced this once before, I didn’t hesitate. I approached the dilapidated wooden building and knocked on the door.

“Is anyone…”

Bang—!

Someone must have kicked the door, as it slammed violently against the wall. I reflexively stepped back at the impact sound. Leo was also startled and unconsciously moved his hand toward his wand.

A child who looked to be in his early teens at most stared back and forth between us with his mouth agape.

“Really…!”

“Hello.”

Leo tilted his head slightly at the child’s strange reaction and spoke.

“We came to deal with magical beasts. We’d like to enter the barrier now, so where is the person in charge…”

“That’s me! I’m not seeing things wrong, am I?! I never thought His Highness the Crown Prince would come all the way to such a remote place…!”

Leo looked back at me with a confused expression, then asked in bewilderment.

“Excuse me?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I’m Hubert Kunst.”

“No, not your name.”

“Huh? Then what…”

A suffocating silence followed.

Leo, who had been unintentionally staring down the child, asked calmly.

“How did my title end up like that?”

“…How did it end up? The adults told me to address nobles with the highest title when meeting them…”

I could feel Leo’s face darkening even in the darkness.

‘He’s intuiting this.’

The Empire is composed of a union of various principalities, and among them, Leo’s family forms the second most powerful kingdom in the Empire.

Even in the novel, Leo never had a good attitude toward the social hierarchy and couldn’t hide his discomfort whenever he heard such titles.

Fortunately, Leo seemed to quickly regain his composure and answered with a normal expression.

“Just call me by my name.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

I grabbed Leo’s shoulder and whispered seriously.

In a place where the class system is alive, how could he expect a complete stranger to casually call a royal by name.

The Caretaker blinked and stammered.

“Th-that’s a bit… And I heard the person next to you is an attendant…”

I conveyed it as quietly as possible, but with the surroundings so quiet, it was hopeless.

“That’s correct. What do you mean by that?”

“Oh, no. I must have heard wrong. Actually, I stayed up all night, so I’m confused about whether I’m dreaming right now.”

“I see. To answer for him, using titles without the kingdom name in places outside Wittelsbach’s territory can cause misunderstandings. You may address me as the Duke of Bavaria.”

I gave Leo a look that meant he should be satisfied with this much. The Leo in the novel didn’t particularly like this either, and sure enough, he’s just giving an ambiguous smile now.

Fortunately, whatever we were saying didn’t seem to register with the Caretaker.

“I’m so excited right now! People living around the Restricted Area are all secretly waiting for you two to come, you know? They say it’s even more so on the Capital side.”

“I see.”

“The magical beasts keep increasing. Yesterday, a contaminated rat bit my uncle’s leg down there.”

Leo, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.

“Still no one comes to deal with them?”

“No mages have come except for one last month.”

Leo pressed his lips together and nodded.

After that, we received a magic-imbued quartz from the Caretaker and approached the barrier at the edge of the forest.

I asked Leo, who was following behind me with a troubled expression.

“What are you thinking?”

“…That I need to tour the whole country.”

“Hmm.”

I figured as much.

It would serve as investigation too, so I have no reason to stop him.

Leo let out a sigh-laden remark.

“There are so many problems. It’s no different from before. I check the newspaper every day, but I couldn’t read about stories like this.”

The media doesn’t cover stories of commoners living in places like this, so he couldn’t have known.

I reached out into the air while gripping the stone.

Light flashed from what had seemed like empty air. The air rippled wherever I touched.

We entered the barrier, but it wasn’t much different from outside.

Leo illuminated the surroundings with his wand.

“There aren’t many traces of magical beasts coming and going up to here.”

“Right. Let’s go straight to the swamp.”

“Ugh!”

At that moment, Leo waved his hand in front of his face.

A large moth flew around nearby, then fell away from Leo’s gesture, only to charge at him several more times.

The moth’s movements looked almost desperate for some reason.

“Put out the light, Lucas.”

Perhaps sensing an ominous sign, Leo spoke with a gloomy expression.

Leo had already extinguished the light from his wand and stood there with his hand on the back of his neck.

“….”

I’m getting a sense of why that thing is showing such a reaction.

If we lost even this fire here, complete darkness would come where nothing could be distinguished, but I withdrew my wand for now.

Whether fortunately or unfortunately, it didn’t take long to verify the hypothesis.

Whoooosh— Flutterflutter—!

The overlapping sounds of countless moth wings repeatedly grew distant then close.

Suppressing the urge to immediately leave this place, I quietly spoke.

“They’re contaminated.”

They’re charging even without light.

As if unwilling to even open his mouth while surrounded by moths, Leo silently slashed through the air with his wand.

The sound of wings colliding became urgent, like a desperate struggle before death. After confirming the moths had fallen to the ground, Leo quickly moved away from the spot.

“They experimented on moths? How persistent. Not satisfied with animals, now it’s insects.”

“….”

Instead of answering, I stopped and looked around the forest.

‘…This is unexpected.’

In the novel, there was never a single mention of Pleroma using insects for experiments.

Who would have thought we’d have results as soon as we entered.

I should check this out.

I searched under a tree, knelt on one knee, and sat on the ground.

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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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