How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 298

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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 (298)

 

“….”

 

“What are you standing there gaping for.”

 

Lucas chuckled and raised an eyebrow. His characteristically leisurely smile, which usually seemed somewhat disagreeable, gave me no particular impression today. No, to be precise, that composure completely dissolved my tension.

 

As I staggered toward him, the servants caught me with startled eyes. I squeezed out my failing voice and said to the servants.

 

“Could you please go back inside?”

 

Usually I would have smiled and made polite gestures, but I couldn’t do that now. Almost like throwing a tantrum, knowing I shouldn’t act this way toward anyone at my age, I pushed Lucas away from the servants while practically dragging him along.

 

“…Won’t you cast it?”

 

“….”

 

“Don’t bother going anywhere, just cast a sound barrier spell, Leo.”

 

The words scattered completely in my head. I walked frantically looking for a place with no one around, and only stopped when I reached the shade of a tree by the lake, far from the building. Lucas looked down at this spot as if recalling something, then raised his head. Our eyes met as I moved my gaze and hands around in confusion like someone who had touched his earlobe then forgotten what to do. Lucas recognized my confusion and patiently waited for me to speak.

 

Wind brushed past me. As if letting my voice drift away buried in the wind, I barely managed to open my mouth by forcing out the voice that wouldn’t come at that moment.

 

“How did you do it? That I came back with you….”

 

“….”

 

“…We returned together. I’m not mistaken.”

 

“Right, it’s reality. Six hours ago, wasn’t it?”

 

Lucas muttered while looking up at the sky. Sunlight filtering through the tree branches settled on his face.

 

“Earlier the sunset was setting. The sunlight is nice.”

 

“This is impossible.”

 

“It’s possible.”

 

Lucas, who spoke in a definitive tone yet with his usual expression, lightly stamped his foot.

 

Crash―

 

Light that burst from beneath his feet poured down along the willow trunk and turned the green grass on the ground white. Then even the water surface was completely covered in light, creating the illusion of falling into a dream. A breeze created by divine power lightly brushed my face.

 

If this place created by Lucas’s divine power had to be someone’s dream, would this be my dream? Now that the greed I had hoped and hoped for while obtaining the privilege to read lost time had come true, what else could this be if not my dream?

 

As I was captivated by the otherworldly nature, Lucas snapped his fingers. With a crackling sound, red mana wrapped around and blazed on his hand. Crimson flames that couldn’t be created even if one tried sparked before my eyes, and refreshing yet unusually sharp mana seeped into my blood vessels. He looked around this garden where the sun seemed to have descended and said.

 

“Have you ever imagined it?”

 

“…No.”

 

“Right. If this place that surpasses your imagination isn’t reality, then what is it?”

 

Divine power flowing endlessly stirred my hair. In this place where plant leaves fluttered, Lucas was smiling mischievously. He mixed red mana into the air and changed the color of his eyes with divine power. Soon his mana turned yellow, then took on the same color as mine. He created a rainbow in the sky and said.

 

“Ah, this is when I should tease you. What kind of person am I in your imagination? What is the me inside you someone who doesn’t do?”

 

“…You do everything. Whatever you do, it’s all reality.”

 

I poured out words that had only been in my head without realizing it. Lucas raised an eyebrow and asked.

 

“So you’re saying I do everything you imagine. The me in your imagination is the real me?”

 

“Maybe….”

 

The friend before my eyes was making my imagination, everything I had only gazed at, into reality. He makes everything impossible possible.

 

At my muttering, Lucas let out an incredulous laugh. At that moment, pain struck my forehead.

 

Smack―

 

“Get a grip.”

 

“…! What are you doing?!”

 

I pressed where Lucas’s mana had struck and frowned. Lucas brushed his forearm and said as if fed up.

 

“What context are you saying that in…. I seriously feel a sense of crisis. At this rate you’ll use R=VD as your unique ability.”

 

“What crisis?”

 

“I feel like I’ll either get dragged into your doctoral degree process or donate 10 years’ worth of my mana to your research.”

 

“Why is that so specific? I won’t get a doctorate, and I won’t ask you to donate. What’s R=VD anyway?”

 

“It’s a thing.”

 

Lucas said he was getting goosebumps but didn’t seem to feel bad about it, laughing as he looked around. Then he continued about what I had said earlier.

 

“So you wouldn’t doubt your eyes even if I jumped into the lake right now?”

 

“I’d doubt it. But you’re someone who could do that in reality too.”

 

“…This is troubling. Then what if I said I really fell in love with the owner of this ring right now?”

 

Lucas tapped the metal inside his left glove. He was referring to the Archbishop of Freiburg’s sapphire ring. Thinking of his track record made me feel dizzy, but I took a deep breath and tried to speak calmly to Lucas’s statement.

 

“If you said that, you’d have your reasons for saying so. And you already…. Did you forget what you showed me that day? It was fortunate the other friends couldn’t see it. I won’t receive any bigger shock than that now.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

Lucas blatantly played dumb. As I let out a hollow laugh, he examined my complexion. From his expression, he noticed that I was now relaxing and regaining my sense of reality. I spoke quietly before Lucas could bring up the main topic.

 

“You’re quite considerate.”

 

“When did I ever show consideration?”

 

“Right. My mistake.”

 

“….”

 

Lucas looked at me like I was crazy, then opened his mouth. As expected, I heard an answer to what I had asked earlier.

 

“You asked how I did it. The artifact you’re wearing now is an artifact that contains others’ unique abilities.”

 

“….”

 

“And I put my ability into that gem you’re wearing.”

 

He said he put the ability to turn back time in it.

 

As expected, unbelievable words reached my ears. There couldn’t be an artifact in the world that contains others’ ‘unique abilities.’

 

Artifacts that mimic unique abilities are theoretically possible. For example, suppose there’s an ability to control wind. We can use tools with multiple magic formulas overlapped to activate simultaneously, allowing us to use magic like a mage with air-type abilities.

 

But he’s saying he contained the unique ability itself.

 

What does this imply?

 

Unique abilities aren’t just the type of magic that produces fire, creates water, and moves air. Like Abraham’s ability to control someone indefinitely just by drinking their blood once and obtaining ‘consent’ is also a unique ability. What kind of overlapped magic formulas could possibly create this?

 

There are limits to unique abilities that can be mimicked, and Lucas’s regression ability and Abraham’s control ability are prime examples of those unmimickable abilities. The ability that manifested in Lucas this time―the ability to amplify mana in others’ blood and convert it to his own mana―is the same.

 

Right now Lucas is saying he can store transcendent abilities unknown anywhere in a tool. Such technology couldn’t be ordinary technology. It’s a major advancement that marks an epoch in magical studies, and depending on who controls the technology, it’s technology that could drive the world to extremes in any direction.

 

Apart from being happy to share Lucas’s ability, I felt chills at the existence of technology dangerous enough to rival Abraham’s or Lucas’s transcendent abilities.

 

At the same time, speculation about Lucas’s condition flashed through my mind.

 

“Then because of this, don’t tell me….”

 

“Don’t tell me what.”

 

Lucas was still carefree. I asked while checking his mana.

 

“What happened to your core?”

 

“Hmm, the backlash was quite severe when making it. If someone lacking skill tried to copy it carelessly, they’d be completely finished. It’s fortunate there’s a penalty, right?”

 

“….”

 

So Lucas had also worried about this technology falling into someone’s hands. But now isn’t the time to worry about that.

 

“That means your core is now… destroyed again. From what I can sense, that’s not all of it, so what exactly happened?”

 

“Right, there were some problems. Don’t you know who I am? I’ll recover.”

 

“….”

 

Those words, which even felt unlucky, were obviously meant to reassure me. As I stood speechless, Lucas changed the subject and pointed to my ear.

 

“I deliberately made it an earring because I was afraid it might fail if it was just on the skin. Even so, you don’t meet the conditions to directly turn back time yourself… but anyway, for you to get caught up in my ability, it needs to work properly. If you don’t like it, cut some arm flesh and put it in.”

 

“What? Who lives like that these days?”

 

“You said you didn’t want to pierce your ear again.”

 

Lucas’s playful words momentarily stung me. I turned my head and opened my mouth with difficulty.

 

“…That’s what I said when I didn’t know. This kind of…. I didn’t know what you were thinking was something like this.”

 

Since Lucas was trying to catch another opportunity to tease me, I cleared my throat and changed the subject.

 

“…Where did you learn about this technology? And what do you mean by not meeting the conditions?”

 

“I’ll talk about the conditions later. Rather than learning about it somewhere… I found out while investigating this incident. This technology is the key clue to solving the gem theft case.”

 

Suddenly the doubt I had earlier was somewhat resolved. It was something I’d been curious about since before meeting Lucas this morning. I was a bit surprised that after spending all morning investigating the gem theft case, he suddenly said he wanted to hear my story, but Lucas is now saying that’s really connected to the case. I was once again filled with questions about where he had investigated to obtain such clues.

 

Lucas looked elsewhere, lost in thought, and said.

 

“It was technology I’d been doubting the existence of usually. Haven’t you ever thought about it? That there were holes in facts we passed over casually. How does Pleroma give ‘revelations’ to people even where Abraham isn’t? How did they accomplish that ‘ideological education’ that’s no different from brainwashing? Don’t tell me Abraham alone dealt with those hundreds of thousands of Pleroma members until now? Perfect for dying from overwork.”

 

Lucas giggled sarcastically.

 

“Abraham does directly manipulate people’s bodies, but that’s not an accurate understanding. He just sends telepathy and plants those commands deep in others’ minds. Even without making someone’s body move, Abraham can inject dogmatic ideology into their heads that way. This is why Abraham was one of Pleroma’s core figures. This is also why Pleroma was wary of Abraham’s religious founding.”

 

“…Right. Ludovica tried to entrust your ideological education to Abraham.”

 

“Right. But what I’m saying is, how on earth could that ‘president’ drink the blood of at least tens of thousands of people, how could he carefully go through consent procedures with each of them, and inject dogmatic ideology into all those human brains? At this point, even having two bodies wouldn’t be enough physically. Ah, is that why he does such a poor job with Crown Prince duties?”

 

She’s not doing poorly enough to call it ‘such a poor job.’ She’s just not the type to advertise her achievements. However, Elizabeth Hohenzollern’s interests are certainly in something other than politics, which is why she receives harsh criticism as ‘an unmemorable royal’ in gatherings of anti-emperor politicians. Since she’s someone who will become the next emperor, expectations are correspondingly high.

 

I asked Lucas.

 

“So you’re saying Pleroma already knew about this technology?”

 

“It’s ambiguous. If they already knew such transcendent technology, why didn’t they develop further than they are now? Setting aside that it’s technology capable of devouring the entire Empire, why didn’t they operate under a centralized system after gathering mages with such excellent unique abilities, instead giving each of them dioceses and granting them as much authority as they have now? If they had this technology, instead of letting individual mages like the Archbishop of Freiburg or Abraham gain power, Pleroma’s founding leadership could have thoroughly used those capable mages as their own subordinates. Pleroma’s organizational structure itself would have been built differently.”

 

“Right, if they had the technology from when they were laying the foundation of the organization, that would have happened.”

 

Lucas nodded at my words.

 

“If they acquired the technology after the system was firmly established, the organizational structure wouldn’t have changed, but even in this case, most dioceses would likely be unaware of the technology. The leadership would monopolize the technology and directly manufacture artifacts to distribute to the dioceses. Or there’s a possibility that both hypotheses I mentioned earlier are completely wrong. What if there’s someone with a ‘unique ability to replicate unique abilities’? Making it possible to give that to others would also be remarkable, but…”

 

Lucas spoke in a rush and then bit his lip for a moment.

 

“What’s wrong.”

 

“…No. I just have something to think about. My head is getting complicated.”

 

“Well, you’re always like that. If you keep thinking like that, you’ll come up with ‘a unique ability to replicate and give unique abilities to others’… Excluding low possibilities, there exists technology in the world that replicates unique abilities and contains them in artifacts, right.”

 

Lucas shrugged at my words. However, he didn’t deny it.

 

Setting aside the Pleroma story, I now completely understood why Lucas said he found a clue to the jewel theft case.

 

I looked at Lucas and spoke to confirm my speculation.

 

“You think the Duke of Osterreicheste acquired that technology and infused some ability into the sapphire Parure.”

 

“Right. Someone who knows about it must have stolen the Parure to use that unique ability. And to be precise, the Duke never acquired the technology. The person who developed the technology is that Duke.”

 

“How on earth did you find this out.”

 

“I looked up the Duke’s records. The Hermitische Gesellschaft that I went to with Narke the day before yesterday is a club that Duke created, and as you can see from the fact that he developed the technology, that Duke is practically an expert in artifact creation.”

 

Lucas said that and stroked his chin.

 

“Now what we need to ask when we meet the Duke of Osterreicheste is this. What ability did he put into the Parure.”

 

“…If it was stolen, it must not be an ordinary ability.”

 

“Right. We just need to ask what ability he put into the Parure and who might know about it.”

 

I felt deflated and couldn’t help but laugh emptily. To think such a clue emerged – it was good news, but the surprise was greater. I smiled with an ambiguous expression and said.

 

“To think it would end so smoothly. I investigated until yesterday too but couldn’t catch any clues. The Investigation Bureau was the same.”

 

“No, there’s still something bothering me. The Duke said he had no idea why the Parure was stolen.”

 

That’s right. Under the assumption that he infused a unique ability into the Parure to make it an artifact, if he truly wanted to find the Parure, he should have at least mentioned the technology.

 

If the technology was more precious than the jewel and he didn’t want that technology to spread, the rational choice would have been not to request investigative cooperation for the Parure theft in the first place.

 

There must be a story we don’t know yet.

 

‘Either way, how did the enemies find out about the technology they would covet…’

 

I suppressed such doubts and said to Lucas.

 

“We’ll have to go and talk to him directly. We’re going to meet him tomorrow, right?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Lucas answered briefly and tapped my shoulder.

 

“Now, go. Go do some preemptive victim control.”

 

“What about you?”

 

“I need to go to the hospital and then prepare questions to ask the Duke.”

 

I had an intuition. Looking at his relaxed and leisurely expression, he had no intention of preparing with me or taking me along. Lucas smiled and pointed to his ear.

 

“Be careful not to lose your artifact.”

 

* * *

 

I got another piece of gum stuck to me.

 

Actually, it might have been attached originally.

 

“Why are you following me?”

 

I asked Leo, who was walking behind me. His calm answer came.

 

“I’m the representative here, so why can’t I come?”

 

“…”

 

Right. He’s the captain.

 

We’re currently on our way to meet the Duke of Osterreicheste. If we had no information, it would be difficult since there would be no way to conduct leading interrogation, but now we know he’s involved in the occult and is the inventor of this dangerous technology. I plan to interrogate the Duke, who has 12 years of memories, focusing on that point.

 

Narke, who had been walking beside me matching my pace, stared at us and laughed.

 

“Leo, you got another piercing inside your ear.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Are you satisfied?”

 

“…!”

 

“Haha~”

 

Narke playfully lifted the brim of his uniform cap slightly and raised his eyebrows with a smile. He was showing with his whole body that he had used his ability. I thought while holding back laughter.

 

‘As long as he’s satisfied, that’s good.’

 

Leo had a cold expression, but anyway, it’s convenient to know his inner thoughts since Narke reads them like this. It doesn’t happen often that Narke reads other friends’ inner thoughts instead of mine, so it always feels fresh.

 

Leo spoke through gritted teeth, pressing down hard.

 

“Don’t use your ability, Narke. You need to think about your health.”

 

“Haha. I’m probably as healthy as you are right now.”

 

Looking at his expression, it wasn’t something he said to provoke, and it was really true. Narke had recovered and become as sturdy as usual. Since the first week of March was already passing, he actually should have recovered by now.

 

We quickly arrived at the appointed building and entered the reception room prepared by the Imperial Palace. A familiar face, yet with a very different atmosphere, stood up from their seat. Leo took off his hat and said.

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Grace the Duke of Osterreicheste. I am Leonard Wittelsbach.”

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. We’ve met often. I’m truly grateful that His Highness the Prince is taking charge of the theft case of our family heirloom.”

 

The Duke said with a smile. Though smiling, he seemed full of worry, perhaps because of losing the Parure.

 

‘What is this.’

 

Had the atmosphere changed in 12 years? The facial features had also changed slightly in an odd way, but the atmosphere especially seemed like a different person. My friends wouldn’t know, but having directly seen 12 years ago, I couldn’t shake off the strange feeling.

 

However, the clothes and hairstyle were just as old-fashioned as before. Overall, it’s ambiguous. I shook hands with the Duke who extended his hand to me and said.

 

“I’m Lucas Ascanien.”

 

“I’ve heard a lot about you. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

 

“…You’re Duke Leopold Osterreicheste.”

 

“Yes. I don’t use that name often, so please feel free to call me Maria.”

 

Maria Osterreicheste.

 

The same name was written on the status window, but the numbers written below were quite different from the stats I remembered.

 

‘This is really…’

 

This has become troublesome. I smiled and let go of the hand.

 

When Leo sat down and opened the file folder he brought, the Duke clasped hands together and prepared to listen to our words. Leo looked into the Duke’s eyes and said.

 

“First, we’ve heard everything about the components of the sapphire Parure and the circumstances of that day.”

 

“Then what should I tell you? Is it even possible to find it?”

 

“Our Empire intends to do our best. First, were there any other magic formulas cast on that Parure?”

 

When Leo asked a question from the investigation record, doubt appeared in the Duke’s smile.

 

“Of course there was an anti-theft magic formula. It was an item housed in the museum of our manor.”

 

“Excluding that, are there any others?”

 

“No. What other magic would you normally cast on a Parure?”

 

The Duke asked, narrowing his eyes. Narke gave a slight look to me and Leo. He was sending a signal that there was nothing particularly strange.

 

I gestured to Leo for understanding and asked a different question instead of the one I had prepared.

 

“There’s no magic that must be cast on a Parure, but we’re asking because we need even trivial information in this situation. Do you happen to belong to any clubs?”

 

Perhaps because it felt somewhat out of the blue, the Duke rolled his eyes and then shook his head.

 

“…Everyone knows that I manage the Osterreicheste family’s Parure, but club members wouldn’t have any reason to steal it.”

 

“…”

 

Instead of answering, I stared at him intently. The Duke understood my meaning and answered with a subtle expression.

 

“I am a member of an equestrian club located in Vienna. Why on earth are you asking this…?”

 

“Is there nothing else? For example…”

 

I stroked my chin and looked down at my notes, then looked at the Duke and asked.

 

“A Hermetic society or something like that.”

 

“…! Could it be that people from such places took the Parure…!”

 

“No. We compiled a list of clubs that hold auctions in our Empire to investigate whether the item might have been put up for auction. I was just going to recite them in the order they were written.”

 

“That’s a relief then… I was surprised thinking you had caught a clue from such places.”

 

The Duke shook his head like someone who had heard something they shouldn’t have. When I raised my eyebrows and smiled as if asking why he was acting that way, the Duke followed suit, raising the corners of his mouth and squinting.

 

“If occult enthusiasts stole my Parure, that would truly be the worst situation. Who knows what they might do with a family item. As a Christian, I cannot tolerate such things.”

 

“I suppose so.”

 

Narke nodded and answered instead of me. Then he gave me a look meaning that his words were true.

 

Of course they would be. In addition to my earlier doubts, I now had certainty.

 

This is a different person.

 

New Humanity brothers born from mages who aren’t ambitious about advancement often have similar composition and ratios. If the first one turned out reasonably well, they make the later ones similarly. In such cases, New Humanity brothers look much more alike than Old Humanity brothers. To Old Humanity, they would look exactly like twins.

 

This case must have been one of those.

 

Though I plan to ask everything I’m curious about today, I first need to schedule another appointment.

 

I ignored the questions written in my notebook and asked.

 

“Good. Then… who previously possessed the sapphire parure?”

 

“Our family has always had it. It should have been in the report. This parure was made from gems that came into our family hundreds of years ago.”

 

The Duke answered with a face wondering why I was asking something so obvious.

 

“I mean personally. Isn’t it currently under Archduchess Maria’s management? Who managed it before?”

 

“Hmm. Is that important? The management methods aren’t different anyway, so that wouldn’t be much help…”

 

“It’s important. Since we have so few clues, I’d like to schedule an appointment with that person as well.”

 

I could feel Leo’s gaze turning toward me. Narke was calmly looking only at the Duke’s eyes.

 

“There’s an older brother with the same name as me, Maria Osterreicheste…”

 

The Duke hesitated for a moment as if bringing up a topic he didn’t want to discuss, then continued.

 

“He passed away some time ago. I’ve been managing the parure since then. Is it a problem that requires speaking with the previous owner?”

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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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