How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 322

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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 (322)

 

“Just do it like usual.”

 

“Ugh, ugh, ugh…!”

 

Ulrike clutched her throat with a face that looked like she was about to collapse. I grabbed her shoulder and nodded.

 

“That’s right, Luise. Just like usual.”

 

“We’ve only been in charge of this for less than a week…! What usual?! No! What is this all of a sudden?! Why are they testing our stuff?!”

 

I’m realizing again that she’s just as noisy as Elias. Watching this high school student writhing and dying next to me… I could empathize, but I couldn’t help feeling my energy being drained. Before my soul could escape any further, I smiled and gently grabbed her cheek.

 

“Luise.”

 

Only then did Ulrike close her mouth.

 

“Even if you make a mistake, we’ll handle everything, so let’s calm down first before going in.”

 

“…”

 

Ulrike, who had been blinking, slowly nodded.

 

“Right.”

 

Ding—!

 

[Affection +1]

 

‘Right now…?’

 

Thanks… There’s no mission to raise affection, but still. Seeing this pop up means she must have calmed down. I quickly let go of my hand and changed the topic slightly.

 

“At least the 98th Class A Team Seniors are going first, right?”

 

“That’s true. I’m a bit worried they might just start shooting again this time… but at least this time it’s mimesis.”

 

They will shoot. That’s the secret to shortening time.

 

I led Ulrike and the other friends to sit in the training ground chairs that looked similar to a stadium. Elias, who had been chattering his teeth—not from cold or fear, but from his expression, his blood seemed to be boiling with competitive spirit—cast a soundproofing spell as soon as I sat down and said.

 

“How we do today will determine everything, right? It’s so sudden, it’s confusing.”

 

“Right. Everyone probably has a rough idea of what method the 98th Class A Team uses.”

 

So the most important thing here is proving our abilities.

 

When it comes to killing, not only the 98th Class A Team but the entire government are accomplices. This was something I thought about from the beginning. It’s safe to say there are no mages here who have negative feelings about killing rampagers. Because they view rampagers not as humans but as monsters that threaten citizen safety. In this situation, saying killing is bad would be completely meaningless. No one sitting here doesn’t know that murder is wrong.

 

Let me think about the history of the world I lived in. A little further into this era, arguments that the reproduction of ‘wrong’ people should be prevented will run rampant in America and Germany. Massive sterilization surgeries of criminals and the mentally deficient will be carried out. Only then can people who would be born as their children avoid lifelong unhappiness, and the spread of impure genes to the nation can be prevented—this was exactly the eugenics logic of the early 20th century. There’s no need to say more about how much this logic gained strength from confirmation-biased research. Crucially, the people who participated in these decision-making processes were not a group of psychopaths excited by murder. This isn’t surprising. Don’t we know that Eichmann was a good person to his neighbors?

 

The reason they don’t see rampagers as people isn’t much different from our history. Since the standards for humanity are set, rampagers have already become subhuman beings. I’m ostensibly facing the 98th Class A Team and Albert Mecklenburg, but in reality, I have to face their entire ethical worldview. That’s why I need to make the entire Special Operations Command my ally.

 

“Can we stay here too?”

 

Far away, the 98th Class C Team Leader came over to the 98th Class A Team preparing for the game and said. Mecklenburg glanced at him and replied lightly.

 

“Do whatever you want.”

 

“Must be nice, having the best performance?”

 

“…”

 

To the C-Team Captain’s playful question, Mecklenburg answered with a smile and led his team members down to the training ground.

 

[3, 2, 1. Starting.]

 

The mimesis announcement wasn’t much different from the school’s. Well, it was natural since the professors made it. In the vision that appeared like a round screen before my eyes, I could see forests and fields. Elias, sitting next to me, whispered.

 

“Oh. Countryside. This is totally Leo’s field.”

 

I nodded.

 

The six mages weren’t grouped in pairs but were positioned in different places in a hexagonal formation. The 3rd-grade rampager, who had been running from the start, gave them no time to prepare and ran down the hill almost flying while screaming. It was faster than when mages usually run with mana in their legs. The six 98th Class A Team mages also ran after him, trying to maintain formation. The two mages right next to the rampager swung their wands and turned them into staffs.

 

‘Those two are taking the first attack while also… playing the central role.’

 

They hold the center, while the two in front and back, still holding wands, prepare for irregular moves. Erich Reichenau was behind the rampager, and Mecklenburg was in front. Since these two were the most outstanding people on this team, I could understand the distribution.

 

I analyzed their movements and replied to Elias’s whisper.

 

“For the 98th, this kind of plain field is actually a minus.”

 

There need to be obstacles for the rampager to slow down, and also to create opportunities to surround the rampager.

 

So since they fell into this disadvantageous field, the 98th’s course of action actually became clear. They would create obstacles on the spot.

 

Mecklenburg’s unique ability, as far as I know, is the ability to manipulate water dynamics. It’s better understood as telekinesis that only works on water. Due to the risk of vitriol spread, it’s an ability that doesn’t match well with rampager disposal. And Erich Reichenau—the 98th Deputy Captain—has a similar unique ability to Mecklenburg, but the difference is that he can freeze liquids.

 

Crash—!!

 

Erich Reichenau stomped the ground with his foot. From there, the floor seemed to harden, and soon even the vitriol the rampager had spilled on the ground froze. Their low secondary damage was probably partly due to this. If it’s absorbed into soil, you have to call an Arcane Mage or remove at least 10cm depth of soil, but if you freeze it like this, you can just break off and throw away only the vitriol.

 

‘Why doesn’t he freeze the rampager too.’

 

I thought that, but the answer was simple. He couldn’t keep up with the speed the rampager was running, and couldn’t properly predict its direction either. Going further, he’s not skilled at wide-area magic. Even if he froze it, the moment the rampager’s foot touched the ground was too brief. Looking at what he was doing, it seemed he had never properly deployed his ability without using the ground as a medium. He could consider freezing the water in the body, but that also seemed impossible.

 

‘…Such unique abilities are difficult to use on moving bodies without being skilled. More than that… surprisingly, they’re moving more defensively than offensively.’

 

Since that guy always took charge and made everyone do push-ups, I had an image that he’d show off the most in the field too, but he focuses more on defense. Of course… the other five weren’t actively attacking either. Everyone here would know the reason.

 

I recalled the names and reputations I had investigated and asked.

 

“Who is Nina Mackensen? Do you know?”

 

“That orange blonde whose hat flew off… I think?”

 

Elias answered roughly. The tall Esper without a hat alone swung his staff. A barrier wall formed along the direction the rampager was running. Nina Mackensen pulled the staff back sharply…

 

Immediately, the barrier tilted and struck the rampager. No matter how strong the vitriol was, the barrier’s mana melted away like water instantly, but no one panicked. Other people’s barriers overlapped on top of it several times. The concentrated assault of six seemed a bit burdensome, so the rampager changed strategy. His thick legs slammed down on the floor. At that moment, what we heard was an artificial explosion.

 

Crash—!

 

A team member other than Albert Mecklenburg shot all six cartridges at the rampager’s leg. This time, screaming could be heard from the fourth shot.

 

Mecklenburg flicked his finger. In the time it took to blink once, Mecklenburg, who had been about 200m away, was standing on top of the rampager. Though the vitriol had turned the entire area black making it hard to see, Mecklenburg strengthened his body barrier and kicked the rampager lying on his side and screaming to make him look at the sky, and when he blinked once more, his staff had already struck down into the heart.

 

Beep—

 

“…3 minutes 17 seconds.”

 

Ulrike’s dazed voice could be heard. Then the announcement also said 3 minutes 17 seconds.

 

I could see the 98th Class A Team members lightly clapping their hands. While silence close to stillness continued from the 98th Class B Team and 101st seats, ambiguous praise-like exclamations burst out from all teams of the 91st, as if acknowledging it was decent. Since there was a big difference in class numbers, they didn’t seem to particularly view them as competitors. Not everyone would be so relaxed though.

 

‘…Right, it’s fast.’

 

It has to be fast. Since they used tools.

 

Excluding the 10 minutes they dawdled when trying to demonstrate to us, they probably handled most cases with such quick decisive battles. First, as I felt when holding the revolver, those cartridges are artifacts. If they were ordinary bullets, they would have immediately melted and disappeared in the vitriol. They must have compressed an enormous amount of mana into finger-joint-length cartridges, so they could not only interfere with the flow of mana circulating in the rampager’s body but also burst the flesh. That power is no different from shooting metal cartridges at human flesh.

 

‘Hmm…’

 

There must be some way to utilize this point… I thought that while watching the 98th Class A Team returning to the stadium.

 

The 91st Class A Team through C Team seemed to have no particular objections as expected. I focused on their conversation.

 

“…They certainly use firearms particularly actively. But I don’t think everyone using firearms would achieve that speed… though.”

 

“We’ll have to try to know. It was a formation trained around firearms, so maybe we couldn’t properly utilize firearms because we used them as auxiliary means to magic.”

 

“Right, it’s the simplest to imitate. Push with quantity, suppress, and destroy the core.”

 

“The 101st didn’t receive firearms. It’s not that being D-class means they’re really bad at skills, but those kids lack practical experience, and even though that deputy captain friend makes some strategies…”

 

From then on, soundproofing magic was cast.

 

Shall I guess what will follow? I’d most likely predict ‘Just watching the 98th seems sufficient?’ Friends didn’t seem to think differently either, as their expressions gradually hardened. As always, only Cheringen and Narke had ambiguous smiles that made their intentions unreadable. Elias, who had been staring straight ahead, propped his chin and said.

 

“This doesn’t look good.”

 

From the beginning, they created this occasion to see the 98th Class A Team’s method. The idea of also seeing the 101st’s method was in an ambiguous position from the start. Since the 98th Class A Team didn’t deviate much from what they expected, there was no particular reason for the 91st to react negatively.

 

“My shoulders are getting too heavy…”

 

Ulrike tilted her head and slowly stood up from her seat. Even though the situation didn’t seem very friendly, we had no choice but to confront it now.

 

I came down thinking so seriously, but naturally, even my friends didn’t go according to my will.

 

“Of all things! Of all things, urban! We’ve never finished quickly in urban areas, not countryside!”

 

Elias waved both hands and shouted. Fortunately, since the broadcast hadn’t started yet, it wouldn’t be transmitted outside the mimesis. While Leo pressed his shoulder firmly, Elias continued shouting while pointing around.

 

“And it’s a main street! People! Evacuation! Carriages!”

 

“Alright, I get it…”

 

He’s solving everything with words, but I can feel what he’s trying to say. The 98th got a quiet countryside field and finished without needing to protect private homes, but we’re not in that situation, so it’s impossible. It’s okay. Anyway, most people evacuated as soon as the report came in. Instead, we have to be careful not to break building windows.

 

‘At least being outdoors should be considered fortunate.’

 

Since we don’t have to waste one of our unique abilities. Elias is just talking like this because of his complaints, but he’s not a friend who gets flustered that easily.

 

“Guys.”

 

I said while surveying the field.

 

“We don’t have to do exactly like the 98th Class A Team seniors. We don’t need to aim for under 3 minutes. It’s natural that the time considered varies depending on the field.”

 

“So.”

 

“Don’t obsess over time.”

 

“Is this words or farts… We were called because we used a bit of time the second time.”

 

“…”

 

At least Ulrike, who had been standing behind rubbing her hands together, could be seen holding back laughter at Elias’s half-joking words. Right, if tension was released this way… I chuckled and pretended to flick Elias’s forehead, then brought my hand to my mouth meaning to be quiet. The friends who quickly became serious gathered around me.

 

“Leo.”

 

I looked at Leo standing on the opposite side and said. It meant to entrust command authority to me. Since everyone was watching, handing command to the deputy captain could hurt one’s pride, but Leo nodded. Having received permission, I immediately said to my friends.

 

“If we just demonstrate our method as usual, there will be problems.”

 

“Right. The reason we could reduce time much below average until now wasn’t because we had special factors, but because our teamwork was efficient.”

 

Cheringen grasped my intention and answered. I smiled and agreed.

 

“Right. So let’s not forget this. We’re here to teach our seniors. The most intuitive and efficient method will be adopted here.”

 

“….”

 

“Right now we don’t have any points that everyone can easily follow. On the other hand, the 98th Class A Team seniors have firearms, the simplest and easiest tool. Now it’s obvious who will be adopted.”

 

Haike wore his usual half-open eyes with a thoughtless expression, and the other friends just stiffened their facial muscles without showing any particular reaction. Ulrike became serious by herself, true to her nature. However, even if they didn’t express it, everyone would be aware of our problem like Ulrike.

 

Having raised the problem, it was time to present the answer. I looked each of my friends in the eye and spoke calmly.

 

“So from now on, we’re going to benchmark the 98th Class A Team.”

 

* * *

 

[3, 2, 1. Starting.]

 

Beep―

 

Albert Mecklenburg sat in his seat and looked at the arena.

 

He could finally end the tiresome arguments with the 101st. Everyone here knew that a future where everyone would train using the 98th Class A Team’s methods was not far off.

 

However, since it wasn’t over until it was over, he was prepared to watch the 101st’s movements.

 

Mimesis was now showing some urban area somewhere in the Empire. Everywhere you looked, houses and shops lined up in rows. Two, two, two, one. The rampage seemed unable to decide where to go with so many options, looking around wildly. The 101st could be seen split in four directions around the rampage who was still wandering around lost.

 

Who among them would move first?

 

Mecklenburg’s gaze turned to Narke Farnese. As if that was a signal, the friend from the Papal States struck down his staff. At the scene that followed, Mecklenburg had to hold back his laughter.

 

Divine power that seemed to blind the eyes covered the entire downtown area that Mimesis was showing. Then Ascanien’s red mana enveloped the sky. Now Vitriol couldn’t escape outside Ascanien’s dome. The reason the 101st had minimal secondary damage at the scenes they handled was probably due to these two juniors.

 

“Everyone must have practiced light adaptation. And that one over there… is an Ascanien, right?”

 

The C-Team Captain sitting next to him stared at Mecklenburg and nodded. Instead of answering, Mecklenburg nodded his head. The size and height of the dome was extraordinary. To maintain that throughout the entire time while separately conducting attacks – that was impossible with ordinary skill or ordinary mana capacity. If it were someone like Adrian Ascanien… that might be different though.

 

When the divine power reached it, the rampage let out a shriek and began running along the main road. At the same time, the downtown area could be seen turning green. Plants covered all the windows and doors of the buildings. Ascanien immediately opened his mouth.

 

[Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Who can pour out the bottles of heaven, when the dust runs into a mass and the clods stick together?]

 

Crash―

 

At Ascanien’s special magic formula, the ground writhed and moved. No, the Vitriol that had accumulated on the ground gathered into human form and rushed toward the rampage. Animal-like shrieks continuously scraped at the eardrums. Meanwhile, the two Junkers ran toward the rampage with swords drawn from the opposite side.

 

“He’s like Adrian. How about it, is his personality similar too?”

 

“….”

 

“You don’t get along with that junior, right? If you don’t, let me see what I can do about it.”

 

This was the biggest problem with the Imperial Mage Association. Since most of those in the same class had been together since the 3rd Academy, they sometimes spoke inappropriately. Mecklenburg ignored the C-Team Captain’s voice and analyzed their movements.

 

‘The intention must be to disperse the rampage’s attention.’

 

Sloppy. This method would only provoke the rampage’s anger, so if it were Adrian Ascanien, he wouldn’t have made such a choice. Were they being so leisurely because they had a way to prevent secondary damage? If Narke Farnese used a magic formula utilizing divine power, it could be finished quickly, but what was the reason for not using it…?

 

‘I understand well the reason for not relying on divine power.’

 

Because it was the 101st’s unique ability. Leonard Wittelsbach’s plant manipulation ability was also a unique ability, but other teams had mages who could use unique abilities well. While Leonard Wittelsbach’s ability was indeed remarkable, ordinary unique abilities were considered manageable differences between teams, whereas divine power was not. When looking for processing methods that all mage teams could benchmark, they must have thought it would be difficult to appeal the 101st’s method if they used divine power.

 

But it was futile. The 101st already lacked a universal yet effective method that could appeal to the 91st.

 

Crash―

 

[Graaaah! Aaaaah!]

 

‘Already 2 minutes have passed during this.’

 

Mecklenburg tapped the chair’s armrest with his finger. It seemed they had already failed to emerge for nearly 5 minutes – what did they plan to do? Mecklenburg fixed his gaze on Ascanien.

 

Ascanien, showing some leisure, counted the floors with his finger then created a barrier in the air. Soon Ascanien, who had jumped onto the building’s roof using it as a stepping stone, knelt on one knee and took off his hat. After adjusting his mana with the tip of his wand, he smiled. At the tip of his wand, a bell-shaped mana mass about one and a half finger joints long was created. Red mana continuously sparked around it like fire. Such mana sparking was possible when mana was moved most dynamically, yet the mass he created appeared more static than anything. Mecklenburg squinted slightly as he looked at the mass Ascanien had created.

 

“….”

 

Wait. It didn’t take long to recall what that mana’s shape resembled. Ascanien, who had been quiet all along, quietly opened his mouth.

 

[Elias.]

 

Despite calling ‘Elias’, the mages waiting divided in three directions of the road drove the rampage in one direction like rampage herders. Hohenzollern climbed onto the rooftop just like Ascanien and leaped across it.

 

‘Huh.’

 

What mattered now wasn’t Hohenzollern’s movements. Gathering mana now to imitate a revolver cartridge? Yes, a good attempt. Whether an individual could replicate government-issued artifact cartridges, and whether that condensed mass could deliver the same impact as when going through a revolver even through a wand, the optimal medium for magic, was questionable, but even if successful, it would be ridiculous. After actively opposing firearm use all this time…

 

Crash crash crash― Crash―!!

 

To do the same thing now?

 

“…!”

 

Mecklenburg squinted at the first thunderous roar he’d heard since the start. The mages from the same team sitting around also pulled their heads back and grimaced. With the roar, the screen turned completely white. Following the rampage’s rough breathing, the shrieking stopped, and the screen hadn’t returned yet. Then someone’s staff striking sound was heard. Only then did the rampage’s pained cry resume.

 

[…Aaaaah! Cough…]

 

Beep―

 

[3 minutes 31 seconds required.]

 

“….”

 

Mecklenburg looked at the screen expressionlessly.

 

Our time was still shorter. However, everyone knew that these few seconds didn’t matter.

 

“After showing off with firearms, you got shown up by that Ascanien too.”

 

The C-Team Captain’s laughing voice was heard. Even though the screen had turned white at the crucial moment, those of us who had been active this long couldn’t not know the process. The C-Team Captain knew what Ascanien and the 101st had done, and so did Mecklenburg.

 

The voices of 91st mages could be heard talking.

 

“They set up a barrier and smashed it right in front of them. Right?”

 

“Seems so.”

 

Using Elias Hohenzollern’s vast mana capacity to install a barrier, and immediately after its installation, Ascanien used that mana he had shown us earlier to deliver concentrated strikes in a short time. Intense light and noise, a barrier made of powerful mana being shattered and attacks hitting the body, vibrations that completely scattered the senses. Depending on the rampage, several sensory organs would have been destroyed, so they had to attack as many senses as possible in one strike. He utilized the fact that the bullets from the revolver I use are essentially condensed mana, but crucially, he didn’t use it on the rampage’s body. If shot directly at the rampage’s body, it would work similarly to bullets and could potentially leave permanent injuries other than mana damage to the rampage.

 

However, the current conversation of the 91st was not the core issue. They had misunderstood.

 

Ascanien had presented the easiest method to disrupt all five senses of a high-risk rampage of about grade 3 at once. What was fundamentally important now to the 91st, and to the ‘rampage processing method unification’ agenda, was this point. The 101st had subdued a rampage in a short time in a way similar to using firearms without actually using firearms, in a method anyone could follow.

 

It wouldn’t have been difficult for anyone to calculate this far. In short… Mecklenburg stared straight ahead and said quietly.

 

“Simple.”

 

And the crucial problem was that this was a situation that needed to become simple somehow.

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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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