How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 320

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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 (320)

 

“Nine games played and won all nine? The 98th Unit?”

 

“How? Even Wittelsbach winning 8 times was amazing… Wittelsbach was originally skilled in strategy, so honestly I can understand that. But I haven’t heard anything about that 98th Unit guy doing anything special.”

 

“Me neither.”

 

The 98th Deputy Captain held his breath at the conversation between the 91st Unit captains coming from beyond the wall. Four hours had passed since the game ended. Right now, he was on his way to get the 101st Unit deployment records on Albert’s orders.

 

There were 29 main players in this game. Six captains from the 91st Unit A Team to the 98th Unit C Team and several team deputy captains were at the Ministry of Defense and couldn’t participate.

 

Since it wasn’t a tournament game but one where you could challenge as many times as you wanted within 9 sets regardless of wins and losses, the number who played all 9 games was small. Most people completely quit the game after losing a couple of times.

 

And… ironically, the only person who showed a 9-win, 0-loss record in this game was himself, that is, Ascanien. Even that Wittelsbach from the 91st Unit was 9 games, 8 wins, 1 loss, and since the mages who make it to the Imperial Mage Association are generally the most skilled mages in the country—excluding elite mages belonging to the Kingdom of Bavaria like Nicolaus Ernst—it was always common for them to lose one or two matches when competing against each other. This was possible because it wasn’t a tournament match. Achieving a perfect record in matches between the best was rare.

 

“Amazing. The 98th Unit achieved 9 wins and 9 victories that even Wittelsbach and Hanover couldn’t…”

 

“Isn’t the 98th Unit the class that was overshadowed because of Adrian Ascanien?”

 

“That’s right. The only memorable juniors were Albert and Nepomuk, but that friend Erich is definitely worth keeping an eye on too.”

 

‘…What are you keeping an eye on? Please don’t even think about looking…’

 

Who exactly had that perfect victory title dumped on them now?

 

Thinking about it made him want to go out and bang his head against something right away. That was fake and the real mastermind was Lucas Ascanien—how could he possibly explain this fact? All he could do now was get away from this place as quickly as possible so no one would recognize him.

 

“I’d like to see that 1st place winner’s face…”

 

With the voice of the 91st Unit C Team captain as the final word, the 98th Deputy Captain quickly ran to the public training ground.

 

“…35 of the missing persons succeeded in escaping as a group and are currently contributing to creating anti-Pleroma strategic materials for the Imperial Mage Association.”

 

When he arrived breathing heavily, Albert, who had been reading a newspaper with the 101st Unit standing by, looked up. Albert took the record sheet the 98th Deputy Captain handed him and continued reading what he had been reading before.

 

“On the other hand, we don’t know what happened to the more than 100 mages who haven’t returned yet inside Pleroma. The 35 surviving mages strongly insist that Pleroma will no longer maintain the same reserved attitude as before…”

 

Albert folded the newspaper and walked toward the 101st Unit. He made eye contact with all of the 101st Unit and asked quietly.

 

“As you’ve heard, everything surrounding us is racing toward the worst even right now. You may not feel it since you’re peacefully subduing rampagers, but we no longer have time to be leisurely.”

 

“…”

 

The 101st Unit had returned after handling a report that came in right after the game ended. Albert had also just returned from the Ministry of Defense not long ago, and in the meantime, the 101st Unit had again been caught by us for resisting the use of firearms.

 

During this time, the 98th Deputy Captain stared blankly at Ascanien. An expression he hadn’t seen before caught his eye. Knowing that bowing his head or such things weren’t proper etiquette, he was looking straight ahead, but no fear could be felt in those eyes. No matter how light the punishment, when seniors… no, upperclassmen came out like this, honestly anyone would be intimidated. That Esper from the Junker family, Ulrike or whatever, actually seemed somewhat afraid. Yes, that was the normal reaction. But Ascanien seemed to be enjoying this situation instead, and somehow it seemed like he wanted the 98th Unit to educate him more thoroughly. Having lived to the same age as his older brother, the 98th Deputy Captain had some idea of what could motivate such thinking that would be impossible without an exceptional mind.

 

Right now he was holding his breath until a good hand came out. Or a good hand had come out but he was observing this situation purely out of interest. Adrian Ascanien was also that kind of person. If it weren’t for us who had studied with him for over ten years, no one would know he was that kind of person. We know. That this Ascanien and Adrian Ascanien aren’t very different from each other.

 

They even looked terribly alike, except this Ascanien looked much more cold and indifferent. At least it was a face that had no intention of pretending to be nice, but it was a completely trauma-inducing mug.

 

“Erich.”

 

The 98th Deputy Captain snapped to attention at Albert Mecklenburg calling his name. He could feel the magical power of sound-blocking magic around them.

 

“I heard the news as soon as I got back. You took 1st place in this strategic game.”

 

“…”

 

The 98th Deputy Captain bit his parched lips slightly. What should he answer? That actually wasn’t me… The ranking of course went up under my name, but that was…

 

Albert Mecklenburg, who had been watching him, smiled and shook his head.

 

“Congratulations. It was truly remarkable progress. But who was the sub-player again?”

 

“…”

 

As soon as he heard those words, the 98th Deputy Captain felt all the strength drain from his body. He knows too now. That the 9-win, 0-loss record wasn’t the achievement of the 98th Deputy Captain who was the main player. The 98th Deputy Captain felt all kinds of emotions swirling and answered in a crawling voice.

 

“Lucas Ascanien.”

 

“I see.”

 

Albert Mecklenburg smiled and patted his shoulder.

 

“You seem particularly absent-minded today. Will you take care of the rest?”

 

“Ah… yeah. I should.”

 

As always. Except today wasn’t that usual ‘always,’ which was the problem. The 98th Deputy Captain swallowed those words and said to the 101st Unit.

 

“Everyone except Ascanien, dismissed.”

 

The six members of the 101st Unit saluted and disappeared from their positions.

 

Do you know what you did wrong… will you definitely improve, he should be saying something reflecting what Albert had scolded about earlier, but his mouth wouldn’t open. Ascanien was standing straight as initially ordered, but looked puzzled at the 98th Deputy Captain who wasn’t saying anything. He could feel him looking with eyes that said if you have something to say, hurry up and say it. The 98th Deputy Captain himself had so much to say that he didn’t dare say anything. What he finally managed to say after a long while was just this.

 

“How did you do it today?”

 

“…”

 

There were definitely tons of things he should ask. This question should have been asked precisely as ‘How did you manage to achieve 9 wins and 0 losses, beating the senior upperclassmen in the strategic game about 4 hours ago?’ Otherwise, how could he know what to answer about how he handled today’s deployment report or Mecklenburg’s lecture?

 

However, even to the rough question, Ascanien understood the 98th Deputy Captain’s inner thoughts and slowly opened his mouth.

 

“Are you referring to the game?”

 

“…Yes.”

 

“Clausewitz said this: The probability of the real world replaces the unlimited nature of the concept of war.”

 

“…”

 

The 98th Deputy Captain was first startled by those words. Of all things, he had criticized him asking if he had studied Clausewitz’s theory of war, and now he was mentioning that name. By now he could easily think that Ascanien was more knowledgeable about not only Clausewitz but various war theories and military science than himself, a member of the 98th Unit. Ascanien continued calmly.

 

“Raihenau, who knows Clausewitz’s theory well, would have already understood this meaning precisely and would have understood what I’m trying to say long ago.”

 

“Th, that’s…”

 

“In the extremely limited environment and resources of a game, that is, within strict probability, the degree of atypical behavioral expression is extremely reduced compared to reality. This artificially created small world is not much different from an academic model, and when facing academic models, it’s best to think based on theory. Therefore, I approached it according to some military knowledge and economic logic.”

 

“…”

 

“Would it be better if I explained more?”

 

“No… No.”

 

He understood. After explaining ‘The probability of the real world replaces the unlimited nature of the concept of war’ twice and then asking if he should explain more? He didn’t know how much he was treating the person in front of him like an idiot, but anyway, even after explaining this much, to think he wouldn’t understand—the 98th Deputy Captain couldn’t help but think it was a bit too much.

 

“I had no intention of going against your feelings. I asked to find where the appropriate line was.”

 

“…”

 

Ascanien answered as if he had read his mind, as if he had experienced such situations often. That familiarity made the 98th Deputy Captain feel even more embarrassed, so he nodded for now.

 

However, even though he understood, he couldn’t easily accept how he had won the game. Everyone studies such things. War, strategy, military science—things they had learned like crazy at the 1st Education Institute. Furthermore, the 98th Deputy Captain could fully understand why he mentioned economics. Economic thinking, that is, the basic premise that individuals are rational beings who make decisions after anticipating the benefits and losses that will occur from certain choices—this is definitely the way of thinking required to predict human behavior within a model. But just because you’ve studied doesn’t mean everyone gets 1st place.

 

He couldn’t ask again what the reason was. He didn’t want to. However, Ascanien continued looking ahead and said.

 

“Following the probability logic I mentioned earlier, I was able to win consecutively because this was ultimately a game. You know that mathematics cannot find a firm foundation anywhere in the calculations of warfare, that gambling of possibilities and probabilities, luck and misfortune intervenes in warfare from the beginning, that such gambling affects all the large and small threads of war, and that among all areas of human activity, war is closest to gambling.”

 

Ascanien tilted his head slightly as if seeking agreement. He quoted Clausewitz’s theory of war again. The intention wasn’t hard to understand, but to summarize more intuitively, it was a humble statement that he won because it was a game, but it wouldn’t have been like this in actual combat.

 

However, the 98th Deputy Captain thought differently. Contrary to his words, Ascanien hadn’t achieved these results through knowledge alone.

 

The higher one rises to the position of supreme commander, the more important intellect, intelligence, and insight become in the commander’s activities, and the characteristic of emotion, boldness, is pushed back accordingly, which is why boldness becomes something worthy of respect in itself. Boldness guided by superior intellect is not a characteristic that clumsily violates the laws of probability or crashes into the essence of problems, but a characteristic that powerfully assists the genius-like judgment that occurs lightning-fast when making choices—high-level calculations made half-unconsciously. The more boldness gives inspiration to intellect and insight, the farther intellect and insight fly together with boldness, their vision becomes that much broader, and the results become more accurate… Therefore, we cannot think of an excellent commander without boldness.

 

If he intended to downplay his achievements by quoting Clausewitz, he should have returned this description of Clausewitz in the same way. The 98th Deputy Captain thought Ascanien was the commander and strategist Clausewitz spoke of. Without that, he couldn’t acknowledge that he and his peers and seniors had been overwhelmed by him throughout the game. The more he showed humility, the more miserable he felt for having messed up all 9 games.

 

“Do you have anything more to say?”

 

“…”

 

There was something more important than that.

 

If this Ascanien was really someone similar to his older brother, he wouldn’t end his proof of ability here. Absolutely not. The 98th Deputy Captain muttered.

 

“You may go back. Before that.”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

“…Se.”

 

The 98th Deputy Captain couldn’t say anything as if a stone was stuck in his throat. After waiting for a while, Ascanien smiled as if wondering what was wrong and leaned forward slightly, opening his mouth.

 

“Se…? What are you trying to say…”

 

“…Call me senior.”

 

“Ah.”

 

“…When we’re alone. Well, we’re both deputy captains… So.”

 

Ascanien remained still with his mouth open and slightly widened eyes. The 98th Deputy Captain realized that what the addition ‘when we’re alone’ considered was too obviously readable to anyone, making him want to bite his tongue. Ascanien was about to smile but seriously corrected his expression.

 

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

 

Ascanien saluted by clicking his heels and disappeared. During this time, the 98th Deputy Captain just stared blankly at his retreating figure as he walked out without warping.

 

He felt defeated.

 

Yet he felt comfortable. He knew what kind of comfort this was. It was the same type of survival strategy he had already offered to the other Ascanien.

 

* * *

 

“We got scolded less today?”

 

At Elias’s muttering, Ulrike answered energetically.

 

“That Senior Raihenau seemed a bit absent-minded. He definitely was, since he didn’t make us lie down today.”

 

“Maybe he’s excited about getting 1st place in training.”

 

Haike added briefly. Excited so he didn’t scold us… I had to hold back laughter at my friends’ leap of logic.

 

Thanks to that, Ulrike had energy to spare and like a high school student, ran to throw her bag in her room and came running out to the hall in the center of the corridor. I hadn’t expected the facilities to be good since it was the ‘Prussian’ military quarters, but perhaps because they became much more financially prosperous in the post-magic era or because the practice of preferential treatment for mages was strongly applied, the quarters surprisingly looked like a noble mansion. In other words, there were no problems adapting. There was even a structure where I could be out here with friends like this.

 

I plopped down on the couch in the hall. I took off my cap and messed up my hair that I had boringly swept back, and Cheringen, who had been staring at me, said quietly.

 

“Lucas.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

He asked with a subtle smile.

 

“This 1st place, you did it.”

 

“Huh? What are you talking about.”

 

I immediately felt Leo’s gaze fixed on this spot following Ulrike’s question. Narke had been smiling from the beginning, probably because she knew that I had practically come in first place. Cheringen looked at Leo and stood up from his seat.

 

“Lucas. Would you come with me for a moment?”

 

There was no particular reason to refuse. After calling me out so seriously, Cheringen burst into laughter as soon as we went down to where our friends couldn’t see us.

 

“Ah, this is interesting.”

 

“What is.”

 

“Well, everything.”

 

Cheringen, who had been going down the stairs first, turned around and extended his hand to me. I stared at it blankly and asked about his intention.

 

“An escort?”

 

“Something like that.”

 

How ridiculous… Who’s doing what for whom here. This guy should have been born in the 19th century when only humans existed. Not even the 21st century, but exactly the 19th century. I grabbed his hand in reverse. Even while doing so, we were both smiling, so it wasn’t meant in any negative way.

 

We came to the garden behind the dormitory. When Cheringen snapped his fingers, a trolley with a tea set flew from the open back door of the mansion and settled beside the table.

 

“…What did you just do? I can’t believe it even seeing it.”

 

“Let’s have some tea here.”

 

“It’s surprising since you’d get in trouble for bringing things from school like this.”

 

“There are so many people there. Ah, I spilled some anyway.”

 

Cheringen wiped away the water that had spilled from the teapot and made tea, handing it to me. The conversation that followed wasn’t about the game or anything else, just ordinary talk. Stories about the missing professors, the tendency of Grade 3 rampagers to appear… When I realized that it wasn’t particularly ordinary when I thought about it, I shifted the topic a bit.

 

“I need to get at least ten more uniforms.”

 

“Do they keep punishing only you? You must get called away alone often?”

 

“Yeah, because of that. Though there might not be any reason to get called away from now on…”

 

When I said that, a smile appeared on Cheringen’s face. He seemed to know that we were talking about game-related matters. I finished my words with a smile.

 

“For the next few days, that is. I’d need to change about five times a day to be comfortable.”

 

“Hmm, but I’ve never once felt you were unclean. You must like being neat.”

 

“The cleaner the better.”

 

Actually, I’ve been spending time with Cheringen like this quite often recently. It might be good to focus on relationships with classmates as Lucas Ascanien while I’m at it. I thought this might be some kind of preparation.

 

Cheringen looked at the black night sky and spoke calmly.

 

“I wish it could always be as peaceful as today. Austria seems to have worsened ethnic minority conflicts because the leadership became noisy over this incident. Austrians who were dissatisfied with that are oppressing minorities again… oppressing them…”

 

“…”

 

I couldn’t help but hold my head at those words.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing…”

 

How could I not react this way when thinking about which country and which ethnicity the person who shot the Austrian Crown Prince in the world I lived in belonged to? Cheringen drank his tea and continued speaking.

 

“That’s why an analysis came out that there’s a possibility Pleroma might extend their hand to Austria this time. Leo probably received the briefing too.”

 

“…A total disaster.”

 

“Right. So I don’t completely fail to understand why Lord Mecklenburg keeps emphasizing efficiency.”

 

I nodded at his words.

 

“Even so… I think your opinion is right, Lucas. It’s good to use firearms appropriately against enemies, but I think that direction shouldn’t be aimed at civilians, especially people we’re supposed to rescue.”

 

Of course you would.

 

That’s why you’re friends with Leo and Elias. Even if you’re not adventurous enough to appear prominently in the novel, you and Cheringen share certain traits with them. As if proving my speculation, Cheringen continued on that topic.

 

“I hope people rampage less tomorrow.”

 

“Tell me about it. The national divine power bestowal amount keeps increasing, but there’s no sign of rampage decreasing.”

 

“Haha, it definitely wasn’t like this around this time last year. There was no such thing as rampagers back then, right? By now we would have finished preparing for tomorrow’s classes, completed assignments to submit… rescued Leo who got caught by classmates and trained together in the personal training ground. I remember drinking the alcohol Elias brought and talking about what we all wanted to do in the future.”

 

Cheringen looked at the sky, then looked at me and grinned. I smiled back and said.

 

“We have to prevent it somehow before we end up reminiscing about today.”

 

“Good resolve. But sometimes it’s right to let things flow as they will.”

 

I only raised my eyes to look at his face. Cheringen continued speaking while looking around at where the other units’ dormitories were located.

 

“If you try to change what can’t be changed, you’ll rot from within. To avoid ending before the world ends, don’t try to shoulder too much by yourself. It’s not something that happened because of your responsibility anyway.”

 

Those were right words. They were words I had wanted to say to someone, and even before that, words someone had already said to me. Before I could answer, Cheringen looked at me and asked.

 

“So then. Now that you’ve defeated Erich Reichenau, is it time to defeat Albert Mecklenburg?”

 

“Defeat is such a strong word.”

 

I answered that way, but a smile formed.

 

Erich Reichenau, the 98th Unit Team A Deputy Captain, had become my ally. In some sense, anyway. It seemed that way to Cheringen too.

 

“Class 91 probably doesn’t have a very good image of me.”

 

“I know. They’re people who have worked together in the Imperial Court since Ascanien was in his teens, right?”

 

Cheringen smiled and added.

 

“Adrian Ascanien, that is.”

 

“Right, exactly. They’re people who have treated 13-year-old Adrian Ascanien as their senior, and most of them have remained in their positions as Royal Mages for about ten years while Adrian Ascanien advanced into the imperial government. Some have worked seriously in the Prussian army, some have advanced to various governments, but…”

 

Cheringen nodded and completed my words.

 

“No one has been as successful as Adrian Ascanien.”

 

“…That’s direct. Anyway, they’re already loyal to Adrian Ascanien, but I can’t be certain they’ll show the same attitude toward me, his younger brother. Especially if there are many people who pretended to be loyal to Adrian Ascanien on the surface but secretly thought unfavorably of him. Though it won’t be harder than the 98th Unit.”

 

“So it’s time to bring Class 91 over.”

 

At Cheringen’s concise response, I answered with a smile instead of words.

 

And the next morning.

 

“…”

 

The entire time I entered the conference room, everyone from Class 91 to Class 98 just stared at me intently. Bewildered expressions followed. I could see them whispering to each other after casting soundproofing magic.

 

‘…The rumors seem to have spread faster than expected.’

 

The 98th Deputy Captain seemed to be someone who couldn’t do dishonest things, contrary to his behavior. I could see him sitting with an uncomfortable expression, head bowed. I ignored the gazes pouring toward me and sat down.

 

Thus, today’s meeting—briefing—ended quickly just like yesterday, and concluded with the same words as yesterday.

 

“Today as well, only the representatives of all teams from each class will remain here.”

 

By representatives, they meant the captains. I stood up from my seat. The moment Elias poked my back and signaled for me to quickly go outside, the Representative Mage of Class 91 stood up and gestured to me.

 

“Ah, Lucas Ascanien, 101st Deputy Captain, will also remain.”

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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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