How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 307
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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 (307)
Elias rolled his eyes and slammed his fist on the desk.
“What?! If I asked you to rip out my heart, would you do it?!”
“That would be a bit much.”
“Ah~ I’m so moved!”
“I said that would be a bit much.”
Elias ignored my words and suddenly stood up, then threw himself across the table to hug me. I could see the chess pieces falling over. The game we had been progressing was over with this. Since I could already see the possibility of Elias capturing my pawn with en passant—it was a simple mistake, but in my current situation it wasn’t just any ordinary blunder, so Elias was seriously contemplating whether I had deliberately sacrificed the pawn as bait to exploit his weakness—I didn’t want to think anymore and didn’t bother to stop him. Rather, I was more concerned about the porcelain he had knocked to the floor and quickly pushed Elias away. While I was picking up the pieces, Elias casually stepped on the desk to leap up and sit on the back of my sofa.
“I am moved, but if I do whatever you tell me to, I’ll end up feeling sorry toward you.”
“It’s not about being swayed by your will, but simply reflecting your will.”
“Wow~ Even so, to be agonizing over the Black Eagle like this is quite an honor. The Empire’s greatest decoration…”
Elias paused before speaking.
“There’s no need to even think about it.”
I could no longer sense any playfulness in his eyes. When I looked up at Elias silently, he spoke with an expression that asked if I had forgotten.
“There’s no reason you need to ask me either. That’s a decoration you should have received long ago. Originally, you would have become the heir to the duchy instead of Adrian Ascanien.”
“…”
I didn’t answer and shifted my gaze to the chaotic chess board.
“All the decorations your brother received were originally yours. What you should have received, you’re finally getting now through your own efforts. Even if it had been Adelbert sitting in that position instead of that slippery imposter claiming to be the biblical Abraham… well, he likes you so he might have given it to you already. Anyway, even if some neighborhood grandfather had been sitting on the imperial throne, it’s a decoration he would have had to give you. Because those are things the heir to a ruling family should receive. I know that you worked hard to reclaim your position, so why should I discourage you from receiving the glorious symbol of that achievement?”
I held my breath for a moment at Elias’s words. I was quite surprised that he called it a “glorious moment.” This meant it was something I should have naturally received regardless of anyone’s favor or disfavor—in other words, it wasn’t something being bestowed through Abraham’s goodwill.
Elias spread out my jacket that had been hanging on the sofa armrest and threw it over my shoulders as he spoke.
“Accept it. Accept it and come back with one more badge on your uniform. Black and white look cool.”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
Since Elias was playing dumb, I just smiled. This kind of situation would probably make him uncomfortable. Instead of making him more uncomfortable, I changed the subject slightly.
“Did you receive the Black Eagle decoration too?”
“I did receive it, but… hmm. Unlike you, it doesn’t have much meaning for me—I just got it for being a Hohenzollern.”
“Show me.”
“I don’t even wear that badge.”
“…”
That would be just like Elias. When I just laughed, Elias giggled too.
Then he patted my shoulder and spoke again.
“You know what I said before. I’m going to create a separate order of knights just for you.”
“Hmm?”
“The Black Eagle isn’t the highest decoration Hohenzollern can give you, Luca. Soon it’ll be relegated to second place.”
Elias brought his face close to mine and spoke word by word. I thought about his meaning for a moment and opened my mouth. If Leo had been there, Elias would have had his mouth covered by now. Even though it was already sufficiently explained, Elias explained in more detail.
“Originally when you cut off heads and become king, you have to lower everything the predecessor did by one level!”
“…”
It’s not necessarily required, but well, yeah… Thinking about history, it has often been that way. Whether for better or worse. I answered with a smile.
“I’ll look forward to it.”
“Right. But you won’t just be looking forward to it—you’ll have to move together with me from now on.”
“Right, right.”
“More than that, Luca.”
“Yeah.”
“You remember where we left off in the game, right?”
“…”
“Set it up again. We need to finish this!”
So this is why he didn’t care whether the pieces fell or not and just moved around carelessly. He’s using my memory for strange purposes.
Anyway, I set up the pieces in their previous positions again. As expected, Elias captured my pawn, and I was quickly checkmated by Elias. It didn’t matter. It wasn’t a game I was trying to win anyway, and just like when we played poker, I always preferred it when Elias won.
“…”
As soon as I was checked, Elias looked at me with a face trying to hold back laughter, blinking rapidly.
“You knew you’d be checked from the moment you were captured by en passant, right~? The flow wasn’t good.”
He was asking why I didn’t give up earlier.
I shrugged at him and knocked my king over to the side. I played this far just to show him this. As expected, Elias grinned with delight. With this kind of reaction, how could I not show him?
“You don’t do this for just anyone, right?”
“You won with your own ability.”
“Ah~ Playing chess with Luca is fun, but…”
“Fun, but?”
Elias rested his chin on his hand and muttered.
“You need to be my ally. What’s the point of me beating you?”
How can you be allies in chess? I thought he was just talking nonsense as usual, but from his following playful words, I understood his meaning.
“The one I want to check is someone else. Every time I win like this, it makes me look forward to the future.”
And so, yesterday I just kept playing games as he wanted until Elias exhausted himself and collapsed. Of course, as always, I was the one who collapsed first.
“You look tired.”
Abraham’s hollow voice stabbed deep into my eardrums. My mind was pulled back to today.
Even in this place, he spoke to me as he would to Nicolaus. It seemed no one else heard his words, as if sound-blocking magic was cast around us. Right now, journalists from the Imperial Newspaper had entered the ballroom and were photographing the decoration ceremony, and the Emperor’s chief aide was reading the proclamation about awarding me the Black Eagle decoration.
[Lucas von Anhalt, as a mage of Anhalt, Prussia’s steadfast ally, has greatly contributed to the welfare of our Prussia and the German Empire…]
“I am not tired.”
I answered thus within the sound-blocking magic.
If I am tired, it’s not because I stayed up all night keeping up with Elias’s pace, but because of the debt and guilt I feel toward Elias. Rather, Abraham is wearing a satisfied smile precisely because of this. The golden eyes looking down at me from the platform are irritating.
‘The more I know this bastard, the more disgusting he becomes.’
However, now was not the time to contemplate Abraham’s irritating nature. The Emperor’s chief aide took a breath, then spoke in a more solemn voice.
[Our Imperial Court is clearly aware of the false accusations that have been directed at Lucas von Anhalt over the past ten years, and at this moment proclaims in the name of Hohenzollern that they are untrue.]
“…”
When I fixed my gaze on Abraham’s eyes, he smiled faintly.
This was an excessively direct declaration that I had never heard in any decoration ceremony before. Everything about today’s event had passed through Abraham’s hands. It was orchestrated to win my favor and to create a tool to keep Adrian Ascanien in check. Unlike before, the Pleroma label that had followed me around was now officially denied by the Imperial Court.
‘I wonder what Adrian Ascanien is thinking as he hears this news.’
[Therefore, we Hohenzollern, on behalf of the 1.9 million people of this continent whom Lucas von Anhalt saved last February, express our infinite gratitude by awarding Lucas von Anhalt the Black Eagle decoration.]
Abraham’s sound-blocking magic was broken. His voice resonated heavily.
“Can Lucas von Anhalt swear to become a member of the Black Eagle Order and pledge loyalty to the Kingdom of Prussia?”
Abraham’s eyes had never burned so brightly. I felt the illusion that magical power was swirling in his irises. I don’t want to know what Elias’s expression looks like right now. I wonder if I should have connected cores with Elias too. I answered those eyes.
“I swear.”
I knelt before him. Abraham’s sun-like magical power brushed my cheek and settled on my shoulder.
“From this moment, Lucas von Anhalt is a member of the Black Eagle Order, and Prussia awards the Grand Cross of the Order.”
Regardless of my feelings, this was a decoration received from the Empire’s most powerful institution. In terms of being a member of the ruling family, my position had become no different from Adrian Ascanien’s.
Not long after I heard the sound of a sword being sheathed, Abraham’s cool hand touched my clothes. I could see the muscle fibers of his iris changing texture according to his pupil movements. His eyes were directed not at my clothes but at my eyes, and though they appeared cold on the surface, they were persistently reading me beneath. As he pinned the cross-shaped decoration on me, he said.
“The Empire’s most famous Pleroma has now become the Empire’s most anticipated mage.”
“I know. I’ve finally come to where I belong.”
I deliberately answered that way. Even at words absurd enough to be ridiculous, Abraham didn’t mind at all.
“I think so too.”
“…”
“Are you satisfied?”
The answer to this question is predetermined for everyone. For Abraham, for me, for my friends.
I answered with a smile.
“How could I be? I have to go to the end of the board.”
* * *
“Ah~”
Narke smiled and raised his eyebrows. He held Fai in his hand and pressed his forehead.
I returned to the manor immediately after receiving the decoration. While I wasn’t obligated to find the remaining Pleroma, from a personal standpoint, the theft case wasn’t completely resolved yet. Narke would agree. So there was no time to loiter around there any longer. Abraham would find this expression absurd if he heard it.
‘But here I am, playing around…’
I looked at the chess board in front of me again and suppressed a sigh. Narke either didn’t read my thoughts at this moment or smiled and lamented.
“Oh no… How can a pawn capture like that…”
“Since you got promoted, I should say you were caught as a queen. You should have used insight instead.”
“That’s no fun~”
Narke got up and swept the pieces together, then sorted and set them up again.
Another game? But since I haven’t had time to rest with friends lately, I suppressed the urge to say that.
“You value fun more than I expected.”
“Well, life has no meaning if you take away the fun.”
That’s something I never expected to hear from Narke. This kind of talk would be more like something Elias would say.
“In that spirit, move aside now.”
Elias, who had been watching Narke and me play chess with a sulky face, said. I shook my head and got up from my seat. Elias’s eyes widened, wondering if he wanted to play with me instead of Narke.
“This isn’t the time for that.”
“Then?”
Even as he said that, Elias sat me back down and took a seat next to Narke himself. I ended up watching the chess game that had started again and said.
“Have you thought about who erased Orleans’s memory?”
“His family must have erased it. That Peruor you explained, the artifact that Orleans’s ancestors also knew about. The whole family must be in on it together.”
I had briefly explained the information I knew to Elias and friends yesterday after meeting Charles Orleans. Elias moved a piece and said.
“The French royal family is politically precarious right now. Napoleon and Bourbon supporters are still in that country. Especially since it’s the European country where the citizen class has the most power.”
The whole family would have known about the artifact’s existence… That’s a good idea.
That’s also an important question, but what I want to know now is who developed the memory-erasing technique. Also, where did the holy relic go? Charles Orleans wasn’t affected by memory removal magic regarding Pleroma, and the same went for the holy relic.
‘If they stole the holy relic, they should have erased that too.’
Especially regarding the holy relic, didn’t I ask about it directly? He answered about the holy relic without hesitation, and Narke, who was handling the holy relic theft case, was right next to me listening to that Q&A while looking into his eyes, but didn’t say he seemed like a possible culprit. Even now, isn’t he just sitting in the room like someone without any clues?
“Wow~ That’s accurate. That person isn’t it. As you guessed, the Orleans family or some organization must have had technology to neutralize security magic… People in that organization probably used the same technology to commit both theft cases.”
“…”
“Sorry. I was curious why you suddenly asked that question earlier, so I read a little.”
“It’s fine. Anyway, as you said, this case isn’t Charles Orleans acting alone. There must be someone behind the scenes using Charles Orleans as their front man…”
“It’s surprising that Pleroma isn’t behind this for once. This is 100% done by those Orleans guys, right? That technology belongs to them!”
“Isn’t there something that bothers you?”
“What?”
“…Never mind. Anyway, it was a good idea.”
This time I firmly cleared away the chess board and moved to find letter paper.
“I need to send a letter to Marian Baum now.”
And as soon as I get a reply, I’ll go straight to Bavaria.
“What? Now?”
My information about Archduchess Maria of Austria-Este isn’t complete.
Let me think from the beginning. The real Maria dies in 1888. Seeing that there’s a club in reality that said they “moved up plans by several years from what they were only planning,” we can tell that the club’s founding and Maria’s death aren’t far apart.
‘The real Maria probably died not long after creating the Hermetic Society.’
I put on my jacket and asked to confirm.
“Guys. Do you know when the Hermetic Society was founded?”
“It’s been 10 years. It’s so prestigious that they say it’s hard to let novices like us in.”
Elias said teasingly. At his words, Narke, who had been just smiling with her chin propped up, shook her head.
“They don’t want to let us in because of Pleroma. After talking with us for a while, they started suspecting we were mages from Pleroma. Suspecting we’re spies from other clubs is actually for the same reason. Our magic power was probably too much.”
I slowly turned around at those words.
“Pleroma. Are they targeting the club?”
“Yeah, there seem to have been some precedents of them trying to infiltrate the club.”
“The Hermetic Society is an artifact trading club.”
“They might be able to get good items. Maybe they’ll find resurrection methods in the necromancy performed by the elite groups inside… Their ‘resurrection’ is also in the realm of sorcery rather than official magical academia, isn’t it? Haha.”
“Then, Narke. Do you think occult fantasy-like magic formulas can be realized?”
“It would be difficult but not impossible. As you know, magic is logos, and if the occult accidentally approached logos, it would be quite possible. But those people haven’t achieved anything so far, have they~?”
“Right, if they had developed even one breakthrough formula there, it wouldn’t be operating as a secret club like now. If you create one useful magic formula, you wouldn’t need to work for the rest of your life, so there’s no way they’d leave it alone just out of love for the occult.”
When Elias agreed, Narke smiled ambiguously and answered.
“But I was actually suspicious about whether the out-of-body experience really succeeded, haha.”
“Eh?! No way!”
As I thought before, this means the technology Maria developed isn’t being used even in the Hermetic Society. I nodded and wrote down the letter to send to Marian Baum.
“So in your view, those people don’t know anything. Even so, Pleroma kept snooping around there. Why did Pleroma try to infiltrate there?”
Just to get one artifact?
Why is that? Countless ideas that can be derived from this question are churning through my mind.
Elias answered my question firmly.
“They go around stirring up trouble everywhere. Pleroma isn’t related to this case.”
Elias didn’t say that thoughtlessly. He knows I applied all kinds of decryption methods to a simple anagram cipher. He’s saying this because he knows my tendency to dig into everything in a complicated way.
“Thanks for the good opinion.”
It’s important to think simply too. I finished preparing to go out and returned to the room. Just then, a messenger bird sat by the open window. As my hand touched the bird’s leg while picking up the letter, the magic power dissolved in the pigeon’s body disappeared.
I opened the letter with an unfamiliar shop logo and muttered.
“The reply came. I should go.”
* * *
“I thought we were meeting privately.”
“This is private.”
I said, pointing to the thin navy blue jacket I was wearing. Marian Baum just looked at me indifferently.
“Except for wearing civilian clothes, all the conversation topics are related to some theft case. I wouldn’t normally bring up such topics, but is France’s jewel theft not just ordinary theft?”
‘Just ordinary theft’. That’s how it’s known to the public who have no idea why France stole another country’s jewels.
That doesn’t mean the case is light in weight. The air here is filled with fear that war might break out. The faces of countless people sitting in this cafe are full of tension.
From France’s perspective, they argue that they have no reason to steal jewels since they lack neither money nor resources, especially if those jewels contain the history of another country’s royal family.
In Austria, rumors spread that France, which secretly invaded another country’s palace and took treasures, intends to violate their national sovereignty. In other words, they think France was testing whether they could invade and colonize them. Regardless of how they would colonize that great power, from Austria’s perspective, it’s enough to react that way.
Getting back to the main point, even the Austria-Hungary Investigation Bureau doesn’t know that the Peruor is an artifact.
Our Investigation Bureau probably doesn’t know either, except for Abraham, and I’m not even certain Abraham knows. Since we don’t know what secondary problems might arise if this fact becomes known, we didn’t report that the Peruor is an artifact containing lost technology.
‘Someone might have noticed even without revealing it.’
So there’s no need to add fuel to the fire. I thought that way and answered.
“There’s no reason for just stealing. Anyway… didn’t I clearly mention in my letter that I wanted some help with the work I’m handling this time?”
Marian Baum ignored it as if he hadn’t heard the following words and answered.
“Just when the aftermath of Penthalon is finally starting to clear up, you’re still busy. Come home sometime.”
“The Catacombs have become my home now.”
“Come before you get kicked out of your house.”
“I will…”
“So, you asked if I know magic that erases memory when divine power enters.”
Marian Baum narrowed his eyes and asked. That’s the topic I just asked about.
“Yes. Do you know it in detail?”
“Know it in detail? That’s a magic formula we created. To be precise, it’s magic that activates when magic structured as mental manipulation magic among divine powers enters the body. If it simply reacted to all divine power, memory should have been forgotten just with purification or covenant magic. What you just mentioned isn’t mental manipulation magic but ‘divine power’, isn’t it?”
“It’s uncertain, but it’s not important enough to classify in such detail. The operating principles of both magics are the same anyway. Is there any route through which this magic could have leaked?”
“…”
Marian Baum stared at me intently, then lowered his voice.
“Is this because of that Peruor you mentioned earlier? The one the French royal family supposedly stole.”
“Yes.”
The smile is gradually disappearing from his face. Using Catacombs-exclusive magic formulas externally – this is absurd. Then he took out a fountain pen with blue ink and quickly wrote formulas on a napkin.
“I’m doing this because I trust you as a Count. Don’t tell me that French thief had this magic cast on him?”
“That’s right.”
Marian Baum’s face hardened stiffly.
“There’s no way it could have leaked. Unless you’re authorized, even Catacombs people don’t know this formula. Unless someone from the leadership betrayed us again like before…”
“That’s why I’m trying to find out now. Teacher Baum, please investigate the Catacombs leadership with someone trustworthy. I plan to contact someone who has information about this case from the outside.”
I read through that formula. It’s abstract. Magic studies mostly explain magic through mathematical models, but even after solving this formula, reassembling it, and drawing graphs, it didn’t produce the familiar forms of countless formulas I learned in magic studies. It just looked like some random formula written down. Despite his increasingly sour expression, Marian Baum kindly explained to me.
“For reference, it’s not because Count didn’t study that you don’t know this. It’s in this form because we had to create new magic that doesn’t exist in the world.”
“That’s a relief. When creating this, did you ever borrow help from external scholars or occult magic studies?”
“We never borrowed help from occult magic studies. Don’t tell me Pleroma took this technology? Even when those bastards entered our diocese, we never handed over this data.”
In conclusion, if neither Pleroma nor the Catacombs ever gave this technology to Orleans… where did the House of Orleans or their backers obtain such advanced technology?
As soon as those words came out, I shook my head to reassure Marian Baum.
“It’s still too early to conclude that the technology was leaked. There’s also the possibility they developed it independently. And based on the Investigation Bureau’s interrogation results, circumstantially it wasn’t Pleroma.”
“Not Pleroma? If it’s not those bastards, then where else are there crazy people who would use such technology for theft?”
“I’d like to know that too.”
As they know, this isn’t simple jewel theft, but ‘technology’ theft that occurred in the process of preparing to reach higher levels. Those who already possess technology and abilities that transcend the magic academy are now targeting unique ability replication technology, and they’ve succeeded.
Feeling Marian Baum’s confused gaze, I said.
“Rather than other places having it, it might be better if only Pleroma possessed such technology.”
Because.
When whales fight, the shrimp’s back gets broken for no reason.
I swallowed those words and checked my watch. Now it was time to find clues to verify my speculation.
* * *
“If you haven’t made an appointment, I cannot let you in. I believe I told you this yesterday as well.”
A New Humanity head servant looked at me with an ambiguous smile. Before I could even open my mouth to say anything, he firmly closed the door. Having entered through the barred gate, he looked back and forth between Leo and me as he spoke.
“…I’m truly sorry to Your Highness the Prince and your companion, but if you come again, we won’t receive you next time.”
Today marks the second day I’ve come to meet Emanuel Wittelsbach. And naturally, I’ve been turned away both times.
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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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