How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 336
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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 (336)
The only thought in my mind was that he was insane. That thought circled endlessly in my head, making it impossible to think of anything else. Leo had put an artifact in his arm. So beneath that shirt hem and bandages, there would be knife cuts, and under his skin, there would be gems altered by magic power. I’d known for a while that he was someone who would do anything to achieve his goals, but this wasn’t right. My head spun at this behavior that defied common sense. After sitting there dazed for a long while, what came out of my mouth was a completely worthless question.
“…Did you come wearing summer clothes just to tell me this?”
“What do you think?”
Leo asked, tilting his head slightly. Answering a question with a question – I’d experienced this before, and that memory flashed by like a revolving lantern. So that meant yes? Leo would go this far on purpose? For a moment, I was so dumbfounded that I collapsed back onto the bed. Setting aside my suspicion that he seemed to have come with the sole intention of screwing with me, I still couldn’t believe there was a gem embedded in that arm. I’d read about crazy ancestors in magic history books who sutured artifacts into their flesh to channel magic power directly into their blood vessels, but this was the first time I’d seen someone put artifacts in their body to prevent them from being stolen. An unprecedented madman was right before my eyes. And this was the human who would become the future King of Bavaria. This was the human who would establish a new Emperor of the Empire. Suddenly, a strange sense of crisis dominated my entire body. I pressed my face with my hands, dry-washed my face, and said.
“…You’re not that kind of person.”
“What kind of person do you think I am?”
“The type who listens well, obsesses over rules, and teachers would love.”
He should be standing with an armband on his arm and his hands behind his back. Certainly until some point. Even knowing my words were sarcastic, Leo smiled calmly.
“I listened to you well and left you alone for the past 6 weeks as you were, didn’t I?”
“…Yeah, thanks for the consideration. I don’t know how you’ll take my words, but I’m sorry and grateful beyond what words can express. I mean it.”
“Mm.”
“But why are you so nonchalant? Are you proud of putting gems in your body?!”
“Like I said, I didn’t know you’d be doing that dozens of times in that place.”
Leo’s eyes, looking straight at me, burned coldly. After staring intently for a while, he turned his head and spoke calmly.
“I know it’s not your fault. I don’t intend to ignore the moment you made a contradictory request to consider me, and the moment you felt indebted to me by doing so, and get angry as I please. So I had no choice but to do this.”
“…”
Because it’s not your fault – he murmured those words quietly in a voice like ash scattering in the wind. I thought of the finger-length red knife cut that would be under those bandages. Because it wasn’t my fault, instead of reproaching me, he put an artifact in his own body – that’s what he meant. The tears that had formed under his pale sky-blue irises when he first saw me overlapped with his current eyes that held not a drop of moisture. The more I heard, the more dizzy I became. I felt like I might understand the meaning, yet I couldn’t. He was different from the abstraction in my head. Leo, who lived and breathed outside of me, understood me much more deeply than my one-dimensional fantasies, and precisely because of that, even though he could have done so, he didn’t pour out his emotions of wanting to reproach me without filter, and precisely because of that, he did something much more insane and returned.
“I’m only grateful to you. You, who never waste time, found the best world within the worst this time too. I fully understood your heart that thinks of me. Lucas, that’s why I can’t stand myself.”
A bitter smile crossed Leo’s face.
“I fully understand what you worry about and despair over… But apart from being grateful for your kind consideration, I’m not weak enough to always have to hide under your goodwill.”
The moment those words ended, a sound-blocking spell was cast. Leo continued with a gentler face than usual.
“I want to be with you for all your time, no matter what kind of time it is. Shouldn’t I have that privilege?”
“…”
Only the sound of wind blowing through the window remained in this place. He wasn’t weak enough to hide under my goodwill, so he decided to be with me for every moment. He would do so no matter what I said. I knew that fragments of time that had now become nothing more than midday dreams stubbornly clung to memory and pierced those eyes. He knew too. Even though he clearly knew what had happened to him, he was saying it was fine to fall into the middle of that time. I couldn’t keep my mouth shut and looked at him before speaking.
“It’s not a privilege.”
Only then did Leo smile peacefully again.
“Right, the ability to turn back time isn’t a privilege. But being able to share a burden that you carry alone, that no one in this world knows you carry, is certainly a privilege granted to me and a fitting duty I’ve taken on as your friend.”
Beyond claiming rights, he mentioned duty. A duty that was neither excessive nor insufficient. That child I had taught for dozens of days in another world now had a fully grown face, and he began to naturally speak the products of making the raw knowledge he learned in childhood completely his own.
“The difficulty of earning one person’s trust is no different from the difficulty of earning a kingdom’s trust. I received such trust from you. Even if being with you causes the fatigue you mentioned to fade my soul, even if such a crisis comes, I won’t regret it, and if I’m with you, it won’t happen. We’ll have incidents like this one in the future too. You’ll always feel double fatigue between leaving me behind and continuous deaths, and I too hope you don’t lose the clarity of your soul. Is it wrong to want to repay you, who did your best to lessen my pain?”
His righteousness is expressed through all his kindness. He said I considered him, but I feel that sentiment toward him. Though the result was enough to cause bewilderment, the essence of it doesn’t change. I watched the soul contained in his eyes pulsate in the light for a long while, then slowly moved my lips that hadn’t closed.
“You already cut your arm and embedded an artifact, so what are you asking?”
“…”
He understood my meaning too. Leo finally smiled brightly and raised his eyebrows.
“That’s a relief. I was worried you’d insist I should cut open my arm.”
“If I told you to cut it, would you?”
At my words, Leo shrugged with his arms crossed. That smile saying ‘not a chance’ was subtly irritating. We’d talked enough now. To change the subject, I threw a magic-infused punch to break the sound-blocking spell and gestured toward Elias.
“Elias will be sulking.”
“I have no complaints about Lucas, but I do have complaints about this annoying prince. There are three of us, but what kind of manners is it to cast a sound-blocking spell in front of a friend~? I held back from smashing it.”
Elias put his arm around Leo’s shoulder and glared. Then he looked at me with pitiful eyes again and said.
“What have you two been doing since earlier? What artifact? Don’t speak vaguely, tell me too!”
I tried to deflect appropriately, but Leo cut off his pleading with a cold voice.
“You don’t need to know. Just go home.”
“Why! Tell me too! I’m your friend too!”
At that ear-splitting cry, Leo leaned away from Elias, then as soon as his shouting ended, shot back precisely.
“You had secret meetings with Lucas all last week, but no matter how much I asked, you didn’t say a word to me. What did you do well that I should explain to you?”
“You play with Nicolaus. I’ll play with Lucas. Why should I explain to you what I do with Lucas? And Narke was in those meetings too!”
“Hah…”
Leo frowned. He must have judged that talking longer with Elias would be meaningless. Elias glared at Leo, then flopped onto the bed and muttered.
“Ah~ I wonder when Narke will come. At this point, consider the Trier Cathedral’s feelings and come back with your composure restored.”
‘Watching these guys is fun…’
Leo and Elias, I mean. Given that they were like this until their late twenties in the novel, I decided not to expect any development. They’d act the same way until they died.
More importantly, I need to think about points now. I suspect Leo thinks I’ve used up almost all twenty-two chances. Leo’s prediction is correct. I have 4 points left now. Having spent most of what I’d saved up and the points gained from luck score increases, only enough for exactly two more times remains. Just in case, I need to find corners to make points now…
I’ll leave that to the system for now, and I need to go give a simple greeting to someone. I asked Elias.
“What about Senior Mecklenburg? Is he hospitalized here too?”
* * *
“Senior.”
Though I didn’t hear permission to enter, I flung open the hospital room door I’d been guided to. Mecklenburg, who was sitting on the sofa reading a book in outdoor clothes, looked at me with surprised eyes. I’d just finished discharge procedures too, and it seemed he’d soon be returning to Brandenburg as well. I took a long deep breath and opened a window I didn’t particularly want to face.
Albert Mecklenburg
Affection +5 [Capturable (Stage 3/5)]
‘Hmm.’
I thought it would be moderately low, but it wasn’t. The time we fought together in the Brandenburg Archdiocese must have been time that changed his perception of me.
I turned back time several times and during the last time at headquarters, I performed exactly what I’d done with Class 98 Team A and Albert Mecklenburg in the first round. I interfered with Erich Reichenau’s strategy game, answered the 91st representative mage’s strategic questions the next day, prevented weapon use, took over the military dog from Mecklenburg—this time I passed it to someone else—and for all other times, I took leave and immediately warped to avoid Leo, finally returning on the strategy test day. I’d revealed I was Nicolaus more than ten times now, been trapped behind the warehouse with Mecklenburg about six times, and secured enough time for conversation with him.
In one timeline, inside the closet behind the warehouse, he asked me this:
“Why are you hiding that you’re Nicolaus?”
I stared at him and kept my mouth shut. He asked the same thing several more times in subsequent timelines, and I only changed my response in the final timeline. At that time, I’d entered the warehouse too early, so I needed to buy more time.
“What do you think of my brother?”
Yes, I repeated the exact question I’d asked him in an already vanished timeline in the last round. I could see Mecklenburg’s face harden with bewilderment again. He, who was skilled at hiding emotions, revealed everything on his face in the extreme situation—and from the shock of facing Nicolaus. Because his reaction was immediate, my response was similar, and thanks to that, I could build a certain uniform intimacy with him in each timeline and wash away some fatigue. Ironically, as time passed, my intimacy toward him grew greater. It might be better to call it camaraderie formed in extreme situations. Along with still disliking his 19th-century ethics, it was closer to one-sided emotion arising from seeing a colleague who became a corpse to protect me several times.
Since I never felt great hatred toward people, I accepted Mecklenburg’s distortions and perversions as the immaturity of a certain subject itself. Though I felt severe displeasure at evil acts arising from such immaturity and made value judgments that they weren’t right, I didn’t have emotions intense enough to be called malice toward him as a human. That would be unnecessary waste. Though my emotions weren’t negative from the start, it was quite ironic to see imbalance arise in an unexpected direction.
Anyway, he answered my question the same as the first time.
“Well, he’s a good friend.”
“I’m asking what you think.”
“Didn’t I say he’s a good friend?”
“Do we have time for word games?”
“What are you dismissing as word games?”
“Weren’t you going crazy wanting to defeat my brother?”
At those words, Mecklenburg stared at me blankly. His eyes blinked rapidly. Though he was clearly older than me, in this moment alone he looked infinitely young. The worst memories overlapping were contained in those eyes. Fear also seeped over them.
“Going crazy, speak properly. I’m not particularly…”
Continuing to make excuses wouldn’t accomplish anything. No matter how much I needed to buy more time before leaving, I didn’t have long to talk. I had to save magic power for the sound-blocking spell too. I stimulated him, looking into those eyes that seemed to see Nicolaus or reflect Adrian Ascanien.
“What are you trying to hide when you can’t even look at that younger brother’s face properly?”
“…What did you say…”
“You want to beat my brother but have never beaten him, so after losing for over ten years, now just seeing his face makes you breathless? Well, getting vicarious satisfaction from hearing words of respect from a junior seven years younger…”
“…Stop!”
Mecklenburg cut me off. I could see his face turn red again.
“Fine. So what? Because I’m inferior to Adrian, does Nicolaus Ernst find me laughable too? You might not understand from the position of an excellent younger brother with an excellent older brother, but living as a perpetual second place isn’t easy either.”
“…”
I realized words were spilling out of his mouth uncontrollably. He was spouting whatever came to mind in a voice that seemed ready to cry. I calmly soothed him.
“I never said you were laughable. I was just saying I know everything, so please answer properly.”
“Then what should I say? That I passed through a period of wanting to drag that bastard down and bury him in the mud if I could, and now I don’t want to be involved with someone like Adrian Ascanien anymore, that I’m sick of even seeing Magic Department news? Should I say that even doing so won’t resolve fifteen years of accumulated resentment? The time to beat Ian has already passed, and he’s rising to a place no one can catch up to, while no matter how desperately I try, I keep staying in the same place, which is frustrating – if no matter how I try to turn my gaze away, no matter what I do, the fact that I can’t catch up to my friend is painful, are you scratching at me in this situation hoping I’ll say that?”
He got more pissed off, but good. I needed to induce this answer. Claiming to be good friends with Adrian forever wouldn’t lead to any progress. More than that, the sound-blocking spell shook like crazy because of his excitement. His legs kept bumping into things, which was annoying. And there was a more critical problem – at that time, I was holding my forehead because I had 4 retry points left and waved my hand at him. But before my restraint could reach him, he fired off words like a machine gun.
“Just when I was trying to forget someone like Adrian and live my own life, you came in as my junior with that face. So I was afraid, afraid that unless I kept you under my feet every moment, I’d be trampled by that face again, that I couldn’t shake off the fear that had become instinct after fifteen years no matter what I did. Yes, to be honest with you, I wanted recognition, or I wanted to break you for satisfaction instead. But I, in that situation, the fact that you’re Nicolaus…!”
I covered his mouth. His breathing was choppy but his words wouldn’t end, so he really seemed insane. And… yes, the reason he was ranting like this was ultimately because he’d learned I was Nicolaus not long ago.
“Fine. I’ll tell you why I brought this up now.”
When I removed my hand, Mecklenburg hung his head and muttered.
“…Now that you’ve heard my words, I wonder if I can even breathe from disgust. Very pleasant words for a genius family to hear.”
“…You’re sick. Now listen to me.”
“I know. No one trampled me. I trampled myself. There are problems I can’t solve even knowing about them. I probably want to solve this problem more than you do. I know that I’ve insulted your precious brother so much that you must hate me enough to never want to see me again.”
“…”
“I won’t bother you anymore. That’s enough now. I’d been gradually forgetting that friend since graduation, and though I was supposed to work on the same team as you soon, I know that as always, I have to solve my own problems. I’m sorry for projecting Adrian onto you when you did nothing wrong. When we get out of here, I won’t acknowledge you anymore…”
I blocked his mouth again. Okay, I get it. Just be quiet. As long as you know I’m Nicolaus, especially as someone considered close to Adrian Ascanien knows, I absolutely can’t leave you alone. The Monsignor will enter in about 30 seconds now. I glared at my watch, then quickly turned my gaze to his eyes.
“Who said I wouldn’t acknowledge you?”
“….”
“You said I’d dislike you now because you insulted Hyung. ‘Now’—where does that confidence come from that I would do so ‘now’?”
“…?! No…!”
Mecklenburg’s eyes contorted. I looked at those eyes and smiled. It was 10 seconds before Monsignor would enter.
“Just kidding. Actually, on the contrary….”
I folded my fingers to show him the time remaining and quickly continued.
“What would you think if I said Senior is actually starting to grow on me now?”
Mecklenburg’s eyes narrowed, then widened as if they might burst when he understood my meaning. It would sound absurd that someone who insulted Hyung was starting to grow on me. After that, we couldn’t bring up any related topics. Naturally, since there was no more time left in there.
And now, I’m looking down at him sitting in the infirmary wearing street clothes. As I just silently stared at him, Mecklenburg, who had a perfectly fine complexion without being covered in blood, looked at me awkwardly.
“…Well, if you’re going to come in, at least say something.”
“Senior.”
“Yes. Stop calling me that and get to the point.”
“How are you feeling?”
Mecklenburg suddenly got goosebumps and straightened up. When I let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity, he shook his head.
“I’m fine. I wasn’t seriously injured, so there was nothing to treat. You’re probably more tired from continuously using god… magic.”
“I’m overflowing with mana, so I’m fine.”
“….”
Mecklenburg looked at me with eyes that said ‘what kind of annoying bastard is this.’ I sat in the chair in front of him and took out an apple from his fruit basket.
“Would you like some?”
“Does your superior know you’re going out like this?”
“You mean His Highness the Prince. Of course he knows.”
“….”
Mecklenburg narrowed his eyes with a face that said something was wrong and opened his mouth. Then he rubbed his face dry.
“…Well, I’ve been thinking since yesterday, Nicolaus is with the Imperial Government…. Together with the Prince of Bavaria….”
“We’re both in the Imperial Mage Association’s 101st Unit, Senior. We both received good teachings from the 98th Unit seniors.”
“….”
“How thrilling. By the way, among all the seniors there, only Senior Mecklenburg knows.”
Mecklenburg didn’t remove the hand pressing his face and breathed deeply. Then, as if something was troubling him, he looked at me and turned his gaze away repeatedly. He seemed unable to say anything because he had too many thoughts. Then he closed his mouth and asked.
“…Since when?”
“Since when what? From the beginning. What are you asking?”
What he said about thinking since yesterday, and if I left it like this, he’d just spout more nonsense. I shrugged and started speaking first.
“Actually, I didn’t come here because I had much to say.”
“Then why did you come? We’ll see each other at headquarters again when vacation ends.”
“I should at least greet you. I survived thanks to Senior.”
“…I’m not in a position to receive thanks. I survived thanks to you.”
I answered with a smile and changed the subject.
“Do you remember our conversation in the warehouse? Senior was curious about why I’m Nicolaus and why I live hiding that identity.”
Mecklenburg stared at me intently, then nodded.
“Yes.”
“I told you that after hearing about Hyung, Senior actually started to grow on me. You remember that too, right?”
“Of course. How could I forget such crazy talk?”
“As you probably guessed, my creating the Nicolaus identity is related to my brother.”
“….”
With just this one sentence, Mecklenburg could guess there was something between Adrian and me. Surface-level relationships were done with now. He naturally wouldn’t know the exact circumstances, but he could sufficiently guess that we had some negative something unknown to the public. Mecklenburg remained silent, then looked straight into my eyes and spoke.
“Even if I asked, you could have deflected with excuses. Why are you telling me this?”
“Because we’ll get along well. Though our motives might differ. Don’t you think?”
Mecklenburg’s eyes hardened. He must be noticing this wasn’t ordinary business. There would be no reason for someone with no problems to bother creating and hiding behind a Nicolaus identity, so thinking that way was natural in a sense. I showed a relaxed smile to ease his tension and said.
“And since Senior already discovered my identity, there’s nothing I can do. Senior has no choice but to help me now.”
Even though I spoke carelessly, Mecklenburg looked at me with a serious face. I guessed the thoughts melted in that expression. The words that came much later were his affirmation.
“I suppose so. Since I found out.”
I smiled looking at his face. I briefly greeted him and stepped outside. As soon as I came out of Mecklenburg’s infirmary room, I saw a white mass standing before my eyes. Elias, now dressed as if he absolutely had to go play somewhere, spread both arms and shouted.
“Luca! Narke came!”
“Really? Where is she?”
“She went to the Prince’s Palace. You need to pack too, so stop by!”
“Pack? Why?”
I didn’t really want to go in there anymore. And more than anything, it was bothersome. When I showed a lukewarm reaction, Elias, whose eyes had been sparkling, grabbed my ear and said dramatically.
“We’re going to the hot springs.”
“What?”
“We’re going to Julia’s house!”
Now? We’d been saying we should go for a while, so it was about time. Though I was a bit flustered, since we all got vacation, if we were going to rest, now was the right time. I smiled and was about to reply that I’d bring my luggage soon.
Ding—!
【 Chapter 7. Truly, truly I say to you…. 】
Proposal 2: Increase Elias Hohenzollern’s favorability +1 within the time limit (0/1) (23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds)
* Route 1 ― 【 +5 point 】
* Route 2 ― 【 Proposal 3 】
‘Hmm.’
They are giving me a chance. I’ll check it in a bit later…. I was about to naturally dismiss the window that appeared before my eyes when I froze seeing the name inside. Whose favorability should I raise? Even when I closed it and opened it again, it was the same. Elias waved his hand back and forth in front of my eyes.
“Luca~?”
I looked back and forth between the proposal window and Elias’s face. It didn’t take long for my vision to go dark.
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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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