How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 291
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magic Family (291)
“And it seems like someone quite close to you.”
I continued speaking without taking my eyes off his face. Then Emmanuel smiled wryly and rested his chin on his hand.
“Why do you think that?”
“Well. Intuition?”
“….”
First, insight and discernment are clearly different abilities, even if they have similar characteristics.
With insight, Narke can read others’ thoughts, perceive the nature of objects or people, and grasp the truth of events, albeit shallowly. Most of it is guesswork at the level of ‘probably seems like ~’, but anyway, he can intuitively conjure up images that we don’t know.
Discernment, judging by its name and previous experiences, is the ability to distinguish truth from falsehood, good from evil, and specific qualities of a target. I don’t know if this ability encompasses all of these or just one. I don’t know much about this either.
In summary, each has the core characteristics of ‘intuitive images’ and ‘discrimination’.
How did he, who has the ability of discrimination, know that I was looking for someone from the Austro-Hungarian Empire?
I came to him in the wrong way a few days ago, but still survived his ‘discernment’. From this, I can infer that his ‘discernment’ has a good-evil judgment function.
And from the fact that he just asked a question that his ability couldn’t know, I can now guess the detailed functions of discernment. His good-evil discrimination discernment doesn’t work on a target as a whole, but works on each relationship that target has with other targets. It’s actually logically sound since no one person can be good to everyone.
He judged that I wouldn’t harm the Kingdom of Bavaria and would rather benefit it, so he sent me to the competition, but at the same time, his discernment probably detected that I might harm someone from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Then why specifically someone from the Austro-Hungarian Empire? Why not look for someone on the opposite side of the Earth?
This is why I asked him ‘I suppose it’s someone you know’.
‘It must be the ability to simulate interactions between beings he knows and new targets. And that person from the Austro-Hungarian Empire must have been caught in the process.’
Of course, if I were to cause great harm to that Austrian person, he wouldn’t have let me set foot here in the first place, so he must be feeling ambiguous about it too.
This is all in the realm of speculation, and I’m just setting up possible hypotheses.
Despite my lukewarm answer, he kept staring at me with a smile before turning his head.
“Want to go drinking?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“You’ll be tormented by the prince soon. Hmm, he was watching us from over there anyway.”
“….”
Emmanuel’s hand pointing toward the Prince’s Palace rose quite high.
I don’t have the confidence to turn my head toward where he’s pointing. I tried not to let my eyes wander as I spoke.
“Let’s go.”
“Ah~ Nice.”
At that moment, Emmanuel warped somewhere with me.
It was a familiar tavern. Before taking the train to Anhalt, I had drinks here with Elias.
Is it okay for royalty to come here? In such shabby clothes? Of course, Elias is also Prussian royalty. And imperial royalty at the same time. They’d make perfect friends.
“It’s not playing around, it’s observing the people’s livelihood. Hofbräuhaus is really the best.”
“I didn’t ask, but you’re kind.”
“Haven’t you felt that from before?”
Emmanuel found a window seat and ordered two beers. Along with weisswurst.
‘Leonard said he likes this.’
I thought while looking at the steaming white sausage.
I learned a lot of new things this time. I’m not sure if 17-year-old Leo still likes this, but anyway, after being tormented for three whole days, I naturally learned a lot about 5-year-old Leo. Of course, knowing it isn’t particularly useful, but it was new.
“Cheers~ Let’s just drink without toasting to anything specific.”
Emmanuel thrust his glass toward me, meaning I should hurry up and clink glasses. I lightly clinked glasses and brought the drink to my lips.
Drinking from broad daylight. Of course, beer is like water here, so it’s culturally fine.
“I watched the competition from afar. You did magnificently well.”
“Thank you for the kind evaluation. It’s all thanks to Your Highness.”
“I am quite flexible. Thanks to that, His Highness seems pleased too, and it was a good choice to have a mage like Count Everett in the kingdom.”
He gestured toward my glass again, as if telling me to drink more.
“Are the lessons with His Highness the Prince manageable?”
“Yes, he follows along well, so there’s no problem at all.”
“Good.”
After that, he brought up trivial topics just like I had done with Leo.
He’s calmer than Elias, but still freer than ordinary royalty. This person is still in Bavaria 12 years later. He would have been there when I received the Hubertus Order from Leo. Since there was no other occasion to meet, I didn’t know he had this kind of personality.
And….
‘He’s a master.’
Unlike Elias, his skill at making alcohol flow like water is exceptional. I had to fight off the drowsiness that came over me at some point. As I was resting my chin on my hand, I heard Emmanuel ordering from across the table.
“Here, one more drink please.”
“Yes, I’ll bring it right away.”
“I won’t drink it.”
I held my head and closed my eyes. Did the ghost of someone who died from not being able to drink possess me…. Just inject alcohol directly into my brain.
“How did you know I ordered a drink for Count Everett? Come on, drink up.”
“Haven’t you been forcing alcohol on me this whole time? You drink it yourself.”
“I’ve already had seven glasses.”
“Goodness…. Don’t you need to use the bathroom?”
“Hmm, I just went and ordered a new one.”
“….”
I realized my mistake, but the other party was already smiling and nodding.
“It’s fun to take a break from teaching and play like this, isn’t it? Want to go eat something else?”
After that, he started dragging me around Munich.
“Any particular reason you don’t want to warp?”
“….”
“I don’t understand why a mage with perfectly fine limbs wouldn’t want to warp. Moreover, why would a mage as strong as you, whom anyone would envy, be reluctant to warp? You must be overflowing with mana.”
I slowly turned my head. People dressed neatly were sitting at tables. This place was more of a restaurant than a tavern. That’s right. After being dragged around drinking all this time, when I heard these words, it was already almost evening. Emmanuel had somehow changed clothes and was dressed appropriately for the venue.
This guy was also one of those alcohol-crazed folks like Elias and Haike, probably burning alcohol with mana. While dragging me around and making me drink bottled beer, he fairly drank just as much but didn’t seem very drunk. Or maybe that’s just how it appeared. Right now, even I don’t show much difference between looking drunk and not.
I frowned and pressed my forehead.
“The lesson….”
“It’s over. Isn’t the prince’s combat magic lesson in the morning?”
“He comes to ask questions in the afternoon too.”
“It’s not even contracted time, so one day should be fine. Teachers should have a day of free time too. Come on, cure your hangover with wine.”
“With what? Say something that makes sense.”
Ignoring my words, Emmanuel raised his wine glass as if to toast. When I didn’t respond, he brought the wine to his lips alone. I held my head and pulled my chair back.
“I’m sorry, but I need to go.”
“Have you ever met the Duke of Osterreicheste?”
“….”
“He’s my friend. Just as Count Everett said.”
He dismantled the escargot that came as an appetizer and stabbed it with his fork. As he was about to bring it to his mouth, he waved it around.
“Don’t just watch my fork, you eat too. Don’t you like snails?”
“Asking if I’ve met Duke Este. So this is what you wanted to ask after dragging me around all this time.”
“You caught me.”
“I knew from the beginning.”
“I suppose you would. You stayed sober longer than I thought, so I couldn’t continue anymore.”
He deliberately made a cold expression while saying that, then smiled brightly.
“Just kidding, honestly I can’t say I didn’t have such intentions, but I also had things to prepare for you, so that’s why I went around. Was my first impression that bad?”
“No.”
How would I have gotten this far without you.
Anyway, I can’t reveal my real intention of looking for the Duke of Osterreicheste here. How can I say ‘In 12 years, his possessions will be stolen under quite suspicious circumstances, so I’m investigating whether there might be connections to Pleroma or something like that from early on’? Since his ability isn’t insight, I need to find an appropriate way to get out of this.
What’s important here is that I shouldn’t say ‘It’s all your misunderstanding and I’m not interested in Duke Este’. If his ability can only distinguish good and evil, I might think it’s okay to make excuses, but there must be a reason he specifically brought up someone from the Austro-Hungarian Empire to me, so saying that would mean taking unnecessary risks alone.
How can I successfully get out of this while maintaining the above conditions? There is a way.
“I’ve been interested in occult artifacts recently.”
“…Occult?”
He frowned as if confused.
“I don’t know the Duke of Osterreicheste well, but I heard somewhere that he has deep knowledge of the occult.”
“Hmm….”
He still couldn’t hide his confusion and rubbed his mouth with his hand.
He must be someone I know well. This must be confusing. I’ve connected two completely unrelated people.
In the first place, I studied the occult to find the Holy Cross and Holy Grail. The Duke of Österreicheste’s stolen goods are gems.
Previously, we decided to target both the Occult Club and the Gem Trade Club, and it just happened that the occult came first by chance.
“Even so, I’ve never met him directly. What I’ve heard could very well be just rumors. I have many questions, but I don’t truly believe everything.”
“I see. It doesn’t sound like you’ve only heard good rumors?”
My earlier reasoning seems to be correct. Even if it’s not outright hostility, he probably thought that with a slight change in the information I have, there’s a possibility it could lean toward either positive or negative feelings. That’s true. It’s an extremely low possibility, but if by any chance he’s connected to Pleroma, I can’t just let it slide.
“Well, I’ve heard rumors about illegal artifact trading, but I don’t really believe them either. Such rumors often circulate about royalty as baseless gossip. Especially since these are rumors from across the ocean in the United States, I can’t be even more certain.”
“Hmm~”
He nodded seriously while listening to my words. Then he said something unnecessary.
“Should I have asked them to change it to something else if you don’t eat snails?”
“No.”
I picked up the escargot tongs and fork.
Good. This much is a success. Since I’ve been spouting complete nonsense, he must know that he had a misunderstanding about me. The suspicion he felt can be resolved to this extent.
“His Highness’s birthday banquet is coming soon.”
“I know. It’s in ten days.”
“Would you like to go together then? I’ll introduce you to the Duke of Österreicheste. If you meet him directly, the misunderstanding will be cleared up.”
“…”
He’ll introduce me directly?
This… is unexpected. I was planning to go and have a careful conversation step by step, but if he’s willing to introduce me, it’s more comfortable than me approaching without any foundation.
I thought for a moment and answered.
“Let’s do that.”
* * *
It’s already seven o’clock. Seven in the evening.
For no particular reason, I’m starting to feel anxious. I finished the meal insanely quickly and came out, and now I’m at the tailor’s shop. There was no moment to escape. That’s because he warped together with me.
“Your clothes are too plain. If you’re going to a banquet, you need to prepare… After we get this fitted, what should we do for fun next?”
“I’m going to the Prince’s Palace. Don’t you need to take more measurements?”
“Yes, that’s done. Now Your Excellency just needs to choose the design you want. Please come this way.”
“I’m sorry, but I’ll come next time. I don’t have time right now.”
Emmanuel raised his eyebrows at my words.
“You’re going back this early? It’s the weekend. And you need to get the clothes fitted in advance to receive them before the celebration.”
That’s perfectly reasonable. But then you should have come here from the beginning instead of going to taverns all day and saying this now? If I had known this, I would have dragged you here long ago.
“You tell kids to act like you’ll play with them forever even if you only visit briefly.”
“…”
“It’s troublesome, but please choose anything, Your Highness. I’ll be going.”
Your nephew is going to cry. I shook him off and moved to the warp point of the Prince’s Palace. Since I was entering from outside, the place I moved to was the outermost warp point.
And at that moment, I made eye contact with a child who was waiting in front of the warp point. When I couldn’t maintain my balance, the secretary caught me.
More than that…
“…”
He was waiting? My vision goes dark…
I’m not this guy’s secretary, and there’s no major official problem with going out during my free time, but humanly speaking, knowing that some little kid follows only me around, my conscience is pricked coming back after being away for so long. Especially in this case, it’s not following my magic but just following an ‘adult’ who treats him well, which makes me feel even more guilty.
“Were you waiting here?”
“Yes.”
The secretary answered instead. Then he smiled at me apologetically and said.
“Well, I’ll be going then.”
“What? Where are you going? You should take him with you.”
What am I supposed to do if you leave? You’re the nanny, aren’t you? Leonard answered my question.
“I asked him to.”
“…I suppose you did. Let’s go inside for now.”
I led him into the building. Even though it’s the end of March, seeing his red cheeks, that air seemed cold for a 5-year-old. Meanwhile, Leonard looked up at me and asked.
“Teacher. At the celebration, will you be with other adults?”
“Of course I will.”
“Then I don’t want to go. I want to have lessons that day too.”
What are you talking about… Here it comes. The unreasonable stubbornness typical of children.
Thinking that, I remembered that 17-year-old Leo wasn’t much different either. Personality really doesn’t change.
‘At least this one is 5 years old, but what about that guy being stubborn at 17?’
I suddenly want to flick him on the forehead one more time. Anyway, I appeased Leonard.
“You can’t not go. If His Highness the Prince doesn’t participate that day, it would undermine the purpose of that day’s event.”
“That’s right. People will only talk about me. Everyone will try to find out what problem the Prince has.”
“…”
Whether it’s because he’s learned a lot compared to his peers or because he’s naturally sharp, he pinpointed the facts accurately. I guess this is what it takes to become a politician at 17. Of course, it’s not strange social atmosphere to start at that age, but… this really must be Leo’s past.
Not seeming like the type to rebel for long, Leonard said with a sullen face.
“I understand. I have to go.”
“Good. You thought well.”
“If I don’t invite the Count to the celebration, His Highness Emmanuel will invite Count Everett, won’t he?”
You’re not calling me teacher? Look at this guy. As expected of royalty, his ability to use his position is exceptional from a young age. While I was just laughing in disbelief, Leonard stopped walking and said to me.
“Count Everett. Please go as my guardian.”
“…”
What he’s saying now is asking me to play with him even when we go there.
I already promised your uncle that I’d get introduced to the Duke of Österreicheste…
How exactly do I say that here? In a situation where he might have been waiting for me for hours. I let out a hollow laugh.
It might reduce the time I can talk with the Duke of Österreicheste, but how can I refuse this?
The original plan was to attend the banquet following Leo anyway. From the moment the King informed me that he could give me a higher position than I thought, it became okay even without holding Leo’s hand, but anyway, that was the initial plan. Since I can handle it alone, there’s no need to destroy a child’s innocence.
“I will do that.”
* * *
“In the end, you’re going to the banquet with my nephew? And I only found out about it yesterday?”
Emmanuel unusually made a displeased expression and crossed his arms. The way he put his legs up on the desk doesn’t look good at all. It’s amazing that this person sat up properly during our first meeting.
Ten days have already passed in this place’s time, and it’s the day of the banquet. And I’m now at his manor in the outskirts of Munich. I glanced around and answered.
“Your Highness Emmanuel will be there anyway when we go. More than that, why did you call me before we even depart?”
“Phew…”
Emmanuel shrugged and got up from his seat.
“I thought I’d give you a gift.”
“Why?”
“Have I become much more comfortable now?”
It wasn’t sarcasm, just a genuine question. Emmanuel smiled and continued.
“Anyway, since you’ll have to follow only His Highness the Prince around all day today, I thought it would be good to let you meet in advance.”
He gestured for me to follow.
I followed him outside. The manor was so vast that I couldn’t see the end of the garden.
‘What else could be here.’
I expect there to be alcohol. I’m not even hoping for it.
Emmanuel stopped somewhere and stayed still for a while. Since asking anything would definitely just make my mouth hurt—I learned this over the past ten days—I also stood there silently. After a while, Emmanuel said quietly.
“He’s here.”
Thud—
“Emmanuel!”
“…!”
Someone called this person loudly. When I turned my head toward where the sound came from, I could see someone landing while gripping the fence.
“Uh.”
I was speechless, unable to believe what I was seeing. I now realized that things like the lion’s treasure chest that requires holy water and holy blood to open are nothing. That’s the real deal.
I made eye contact with someone standing awkwardly with occult artifacts all over their body. I notice things like a medieval helmet and bizarre pattern decorations I don’t want to know about. I don’t know what kind of shoes they’re wearing, but it seems like they flew over the wall with those.
And that person also seemed speechless, not expecting someone else to be there. I could see their soul leaving their face in real time. While everyone’s faces hardened, Emmanuel, who was smiling alone, patted my shoulder.
“Say hello. That person is the Duke of Österreicheste.”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
