How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 280

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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 (280)

 

“Hurry up. Since we used electricity, the core shouldn’t be damaged at all. He won’t wake up anytime soon.”

 

“Ah, yes.”

 

“You’re not hurt, are you?”

 

“Of course not. I was properly shielded.”

 

‘Ah… damn it…’

 

Why? Why does this keep happening? What karma did I accumulate? It hasn’t even been half a day since I vomited trying to drink human blood, and now…

 

Drowsiness pours over me. Someone is pressing my forehead to the floor. Faint divine power enters my body to detect life signs and spreads through me. The lighting changed as my position shifted, and I was now on a floor covered with sound-absorbing material. The texture against my face was unpleasantly rough. As my neck stiffened and the world became hazy and swayed, my gaze quickly swept around. There was no monitoring equipment used for anesthesia.

 

‘…If we assume they plan to kill me… they have too much to lose in this situation. This isn’t something done with murder in mind…’

 

My consciousness fades. When I opened my eyes again, I was trying to continue the thoughts I had before. Since they must keep me alive, they plan to continuously administer small doses of magical anesthetic at intervals. That means while I’ll lose consciousness briefly when they administer new drugs, I’ll mostly remain in a drowsy state – that is, maintaining some level of consciousness.

 

Strange mana continuously entered below my wrist and spread through my blood vessels. Soon a needle-like stinging sensation pushed into the inside of my forearm. A voice full of dissatisfaction came from above.

 

“Why isn’t it working? There must be something we’re missing to be doing this, this isn’t a situation where talk should come up for no reason.”

 

“But as you can see, it’s not working. Only normal shock reactions are appearing.”

 

“Hah…”

 

“Didn’t Bavaria also conclude there were no problems… Actually, I’m a bit unsure about this.”

 

Now no one spoke.

 

The sound of nervously shuffling feet was heard a couple times. Andrea Friedmann spoke with a voice clearly showing displeasure.

 

“Wrong. The attack for core examination was too weak.”

 

“What? Ah!”

 

Someone startled and moved away, accompanied by the crackling sound of mana colliding. I couldn’t lift my head or open my eyes, so I could only tell what was happening by sound.

 

Andrea Friedmann said to his opponent.

 

“Would you develop the will to devour someone with this level of attack?”

 

“What? What are you doing?! Of course not. Why suddenly ask that…”

 

“Humans cannot easily kill other humans. For a healthy human to kill another human while maintaining normal brain function without illness, they need external help – whether mass hallucinations or hallucinogens – but this one is an individual. A specimen with brain defects might be able to kill its own kind comfortably, but such an exceptionally inferior New Human couldn’t survive as they would have been disposed of long ago.”

 

No answer came from the other party. They must have responded non-verbally. Andrea Friedmann spoke with a confident voice.

 

“Even if there were some problems, how could this one reach here without being disposed of or isolated from society? This one is fundamentally no different from us – a normal New Human. Do you understand what I’m saying now?”

 

“Yes, I understand.”

 

“Ordinary attacks won’t work. Try everything possible. That’s the only way to trigger survival instincts.”

 

He grasped the essence well. Leo’s experimental results and what came from his mouth are fundamentally similar. When I’m in my right mind, I don’t absorb others’ mana, so he’s saying to drive me to the brink of death. By doing so, he thinks I might show abnormal behavior like absorbing others’ mana or blood-sucking.

 

Someone grabbed my arm and injected me again. I seemed to regain consciousness a little while later. I don’t know what they did while I was unconscious. I need to get up immediately. But my body still stuck to the floor, unwilling to move. The floor seemed like the ceiling. It also seemed like a wall, and I felt like I might be standing up.

 

There didn’t seem to be any particularly dangerous actions taken – I felt no changes. As part of their ‘attempts,’ they seem to plan using anesthetics to make me feel threatened, but rather than life-threatening danger, only irresistible drowsiness poured over me. Soon they too will notice the futility and change methods.

 

‘…I need to move to the extra chapter…’

 

Should I do that? I should.

 

But what would change by doing so?

 

I will turn back time, and when I turn back time, they will come for me again. Since Hyung requested it, it’s difficult to simply refuse the hospital visit. Why should I do something that could give Hyung cause for suspicion?

 

I had one piece of good news. They found absolutely no problems with me in their examinations. That means if I just prevent this incident in the next timeline, optimal efficiency will be achieved. To do that, I must silently watch this preview. Though I can’t be sure if this is really a preview when I’m experiencing it directly…

 

It would be nice if I could vividly know the future without experiencing it directly, as if I were actually living through it. Am I not given prophetic abilities? By now…

 

When I opened my eyes again with such thoughts, I wasn’t lying face-down on the floor. I was lying on a bed looking at the ceiling, with someone pressing the end of a medical staff against my chest area. If they’re a doctor, they should be a doctor – how petty to use magic on top of that. Such 21st century Old Human-like thoughts occurred to me.

 

I closed my eyes again, opened them, and fell asleep again. That was all.

 

‘Persistent…’

 

How long will these bastards keep this up? When I next opened my eyes, I couldn’t breathe well. I lost count of how many times I’d awakened. I feel like my head is turning pure white. While gasping for breath, someone sent mana through my arm and wiped the sweat from my forehead with a gloved hand.

 

“…It’s not working. No method works, Deputy Director. It seems our hypothesis was wrong. We should wrap this up…”

 

“Not working? Then just destroy the core completely.”

 

“Destroy it! Then we can’t handle the aftermath. Besides, as a doctor, I can’t go that far…”

 

“Deputy Director. The strength is extraordinary, so we can’t destroy it with the tools we have. It looks difficult even with our mana. To be honest, I’m afraid to even be here. Setting aside the aftermath, we don’t know when His Excellency might wake up.”

 

Another doctor interjected with an answer.

 

I almost laughed at those words. Now they can’t even destroy it. I understand well why Adrian Ascanien desperately tried to kill me. How could they win against someone with such a future if they don’t crush them in advance?

 

Andrea Friedmann seemed thoroughly angry as he began speaking through gritted teeth.

 

“Then try to destroy it.”

 

“…”

 

“There must be a way to activate the trait, right? Wasn’t it activated from the beginning? How was it possible for him to kill someone at age five? You should be able to turn it with that core. Push harder!”

 

The doctor hesitated for a long time before calling the nurses. Two nurses, one New Human and one Old Human, touched the IV and strung cords across the bed.

 

“We probably just haven’t found the examination method to grasp this core’s nature yet. If the mana is fully charged, bring that machine from this morning first.”

 

“That thing now? Didn’t you say to use it sparingly?”

 

“――…”

 

“…!”

 

Bang―

 

I seemed to have lost consciousness again. When I opened my eyes again, it was right after electricity had passed through my body. I tried to jolt upright, but the cord stretched across the bed pressed me down. Despite the restraints, as mana began to spark, the doctor standing beside me hurriedly swung his wand to block my hands with his own mana. Someone’s mana pressed against my throat.

 

“Kuk…”

 

Are they really planning to fry my brain? If earlier my brain was bleached because sleep poured over me against my will like crazy, now it’s being bleached by anger. It might be because of the electricity, but the fact that I have no power to hold onto reason was the same as before.

 

‘They said they’d attack the core… why electricity again…’

 

My head, which moved on its own, was still beyond my control, so I shifted my eyes to look up at those standing around me.

 

The doctors’ expressions are different from before.

 

‘…Why.’

 

I felt my spine chill as I looked at them through my half-closed vision. A machine I’d never seen before – no, never felt before – was placed across my forearm. Silver wrapped around my arm was embedded in my wrist. I feel like the mana in my wrist is being sucked into this artifact.

 

‘Wait.’

 

Wait! Not only the mana in my arm, but all the mana remaining in the extremities of my body is being sucked into this artifact. I might be mistaken. Am I really mistaken? I’m probably thinking what I want to think. A sensation of my stomach growing cold and my whole body shivering came over me. I broke out in cold sweat. It wasn’t as sudden a reaction as in the cathedral, but my whole body temperature was growing coldly as if my blood sugar had hit rock bottom. I felt drowsy not because of drugs but because of emptiness. But I couldn’t sleep either. The pain from emptiness interfered with sleep too.

 

Then mana flowed back in. This time it wasn’t mine. Leo’s mana, which had barely managed to stay around the core without being swept away, entered the core first, and unfamiliar mana that someone must have stored in the machine was instantly sucked in together. My arm hurt as if it were burning. My body twisted involuntarily.

 

“…!”

 

“It worked, Deputy Director! Not in the direction we expected, but…!”

 

“…”

 

It worked. No answer was heard. Did my ears block the sound? Maybe that’s possible…

 

[Good, since we succeeded, just erase the memory and make it look like he went berserk.]

 

I laugh. They finally succeeded in grasping the unusual aspects of my trait. Yes, I was waiting only for this moment. Only then can I go back to the past. I need to check all the cards the enemy holds before I can go back and rewrite the future satisfactorily.

 

―Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it…

 

A doctor capable of using divine power is pressing my forehead.

 

“…!”

 

Something unexpected happened. The divine power is being sucked into the core.

 

This is an opportunity. Just then, clicking sounds were heard. The weight on my limbs was relieved. Now we will warp back to Imperial Central Hospital, and they will give false testimony that I went berserk. The doctor’s cool hand touched my forehead again.

 

―Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction… through it…

 

The doctor’s words gradually faded as his expression changed. His eyebrows twitched in bewilderment.

 

Of course. I moved my soundless mouth.

 

Kwaang―!

 

I launched myself from the bed and swung my fist at the doctor. Three mages’ mana rushed at me. As expected, they were fast. Annoyingly so. One doctor shouted with a horrified face.

 

“What, why isn’t it working!”

 

—Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain!

 

“…”

 

Mana is seeping into the core. Though mana is hitting me hard enough to make standing difficult, the intensity of that pain wasn’t as severe as what they had done to me earlier. To think I’d learn the extent of my abilities like this – I didn’t particularly want to know.

 

Standing with both arms blocking in front to avoid being pushed back, I swung my hand. The wand that should have returned to me by now, nothing at all was caught in my hand. They must have broken the wand in half. There’s no choice. I kicked off the ground and rushed at one of the wands.

 

Kwaang―!!

 

“Aaaaah!”

 

The doctor whose hand I grabbed screamed. I twisted his wrist backwards and threw him against the wall. Annoying screams continued. I rolled the wand in my hand and changed it to a staff. The crude-looking medical staff conducted mana well, suited to its purpose. It was unexpectedly the optimal tool.

 

“No, don’t, wa…!”

 

―Enter through the narrow gate.

 

Kuwoong―

 

As I brought down the staff, light spread out. I don’t have time to adapt. I closed my eyes. I feel the violent movements of the mana masses standing in this space stop. Mana seeps into me, making my skin tingle.

 

―I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

 

As I finished the incantation, the light faded. It’s my first time using this, but it’s successful. Now they cannot disobey my words.

 

“You cannot go anywhere.”

 

I muttered this as I stood before the doctor crouched against the wall.

 

This is him. The person who contacted me and led me to the hospital first, who ordered me to destroy my core. He’s looking up at me with half-dazed eyes, partially affected by mind manipulation magic. I can read fear in those trembling eyes.

 

Andrea Friedmann

 

Affection 0* [Capturable (1/5)]

 

Title: ―

 

Stamina: +4

 

Mental Power: +4

 

Magic Power: +3

 

Skill: +7

 

Impression: +6

 

Luck: +1

 

Traits: ―

 

So his affection is 0. If it’s the midpoint between -10 and +10, he doesn’t particularly hate me. He doesn’t have any great malice toward me, yet he can do such inhumane things to me… How fascinating.

 

At least I understand his motive well enough. This guy didn’t do this because he hated me enough to kill me personally. What makes a human do such things to another human?

 

Was it unavoidable because this incident was part of Hyung’s plan?

 

Wrong.

 

This isn’t Hyung’s doing to begin with.

 

I smiled and grabbed him by the collar.

 

“Hyung would be truly dismayed if he knew.”

 

Hyung would have really cleanly requested just an examination. It’s simply that he orchestrated this incident because I infringed upon Andrea Friedmann’s own interests.

 

I suspect that if I became the Duke of Anhalt, they would have much to lose.

 

“Why, why…”

 

“When such a stupid follower grabs his own ankle like this, he can’t even kill him off. What’s he to do? Isn’t that natural?”

 

Confusion filled the other’s eyes. I pushed divine power into the floor while continuing to mutter.

 

“If you were going to do it, you should have done it properly. Every single one is disappointing…”

 

The problem occurred in the same way as with Stefan Traut. Hyung’s follower simply made what he thought was the best decision for his own benefit, and in his own way, for Hyung’s benefit. This is their best. They’re showing such a dismal level of decision-making that they don’t even seem worth dealing with.

 

To cause trouble immediately at the location mentioned in a letter. Are they asking to be caught? They even brought an Arcane Mage to erase my memory, but unfortunately for them. Even if I had fallen for their scheme and gone berserk in front of the Prussians, Hyung would never have welcomed it. A younger brother who became a national hero after going through terrorism receives a letter saying ‘I’ll send someone from the Imperial Central Hospital,’ and then problems suddenly occur there? Especially when it’s known that he was just treated at the Bavaria Medical Center right before? I’m really curious about Hyung’s expression in this route. It’s a shame I can’t witness it directly. That perfectionist isn’t someone who would handle problems this messily.

 

There’s no need to tell them what’s wrong. It would only make my mouth hurt. This isn’t the time to waste time on useless things, but to achieve the purpose I’ve been waiting for. What I need to find out from now on is information that will be truly necessary for me in the next timeline.

 

I pulled my jacket that they had stripped off and thrown aside toward me with magic power. There’s a small elixir bottle, about the size of a finger joint, in the inner pocket. Yes, it would still be an elixir. No one noticed. Even if I drink this, it will look like I’m drinking an elixir to others.

 

The blue liquid in the bottle rippled with the slightest shake, unlike blood. A taste that couldn’t come from an elixir touched my tongue. The condensed magic power dissolved in blood spread throughout my body.

 

The gentle magic power clung strongly to my core and blood vessels. Magic power circulated through my body even faster. What I couldn’t feel earlier because I spat it out, I can now clearly sense. It seemed even stronger than before drinking the blood. The artifact magic power from Leo that my core had been absorbing began to settle back into place. I could feel my magic power flowing outside my body. The color drained from Andrea Friedmann’s face.

 

“…”

 

I slowly blinked while looking down at my hands.

 

It seems the King’s words about not evaluating this ability negatively weren’t lies. When my body becomes this light, as if newly born, what combat-type mage would view this negatively? An ability that everyone except me would want – it would have been fine if it hadn’t come to me.

 

―If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. But there is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.

 

White light spread through the air as I recited the incantation. I grabbed Andrea Friedmann by the collar and dragged him to the machine that had absorbed my magic power earlier. I slammed him onto the machine and said.

 

“Let’s try again.”

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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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