How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 347

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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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“Why are you saying such things when you’re from Pleroma?”

 

“What reason would a nobleman of unknown identity, who claims to have traveled from Berlin to Austria-Hungary and then crossed over to Munich-Freising, have for not understanding that?”

 

“….”

 

“Surely you must be bewildered that a Pleroma member, who should only be evil, speaks words that follow good. It’s remarkable that you try to conclude whether I’m good or evil after knowing me for such a short time. What could be important? If you’re on my side, I’m good no matter what I do, and if not, I’m evil. In this era when yesterday’s national heroes become today’s massacrers and former heretics become pioneers of this age, when historical evaluations change as easily as flipping one’s palm according to ideology, have you never realized how much those standards depend on childish subjectivity and how futile they are in their variability? So in your mind, am I someone who shouldn’t harbor resentment against Pleroma, simply because I drink blood?”

 

“….”

 

Then would you not ask if you were in my position?

 

However, I had no intention of agreeing that he was wrong and I was right, or that everything he said was correct. I already knew well that his words were passing right through me and heading toward his own memories. Whether he was speaking to the world or to himself, or perhaps both, it was an incantation cast not at me but at something beyond. This wasn’t a story only I could notice. Anyone would have experience throwing words that could never reach their past self, dragged out from some space-time, and when that happens, they know what words contain and what sounds they emerge in. Mecklenburg must have already sensed this too, as his face showed not questioning but merely watchful eyes looking behind him.

 

“Whether you believe my words or not is up to you. I wouldn’t mind if you saw me as a liar, sophist, or fraud.”

 

Every word is a clue. In conclusion, his words, combined with the actions he’d shown so far, explained to me why he would be the Bishop of Osnabrück seven years later. He had already transcended evaluation, and the same went for the evaluations he gave himself. If it were someone else, the interpretation would be different, but considering the future he’d shown so far and the words he’d told me, this became quite dangerous talk. In other words, he lacked even the minimum controller that should rightfully exist. Or paradoxically, he was blindly craving only that. I could only hope this was merely my misjudgment.

 

Crash—

 

In front of a room with various security spells, apparently where only the most important secrets were kept, Ainsiedel burst through the thick door and cast a spell.

 

—Seek, and you shall find.

 

Divine power spread out from beneath his staff. I had seen his divine power before in Osnabrück, but unlike the murky divine power I’d seen then, this light was bright.

 

“Brandenburg Archdiocese.”

 

As he said this, lights flashed from various parts of the room that had been gradually darkening as the divine power faded. Ainsiedel began pulling out books from the nearest bookshelf. I pulled out everything stuck in the bookshelf opposite him, put it all in my head, and opened the suggestion window a little later. The gauge was now filled for 2 minutes. Resting didn’t count.

 

‘Conversation…’

 

Thinking about the state of our recent conversation, I needed to examine this more carefully. It was time to question why they gave me a 30-minute conversation as a suggestion. Why not tell me to raise favorability while we’re at it? Why not tell me to talk for days and win his heart? I think now is when I should do that, and the system could easily argue for me to target Ainsiedel, so why did they suggest just a 30-minute conversation? After suggesting I raise Elias’s favorability, which would obviously be costly, why didn’t they do the same for this person of interest? Why did they only call for 30 minutes while acting like they could see through everything…?

 

Countless thoughts flashed through my head, eventually leading to one conclusion. No matter what I do, Ainsiedel won’t readily participate in conversation. The system isn’t even expecting more than a 30-minute conversation right now. What I can do is naturally extract information from him before his patience—which the system estimates at 30 minutes—runs out.

 

And I mustn’t forget the main purpose. The biggest reason and goal for coming here was to obtain information about Munich-Freising. This was certainly related to our safety, so while I could allow some dispersion of attention, the importance must never be reversed.

 

‘Well, anyway, the materials are definitely useful.’

 

Naturally, I’m saying this considering the seven-year time difference. Since this room apparently only contained the most secret of secrets, there wasn’t much inside, so I didn’t need to go through the trouble of searching through this and that—I could just put everything in my head. I asked while flipping through materials.

 

“Before bringing us in as colleagues, what were you originally planning to do to this diocese?”

 

“I was thinking of quietly stealing the archives. I might face the bishops in the process, but that’s no problem.”

 

“I see. Then why did you stir up such a strict place?”

 

“First, since you told your friend you’d overthrow this diocese, achieving only my goal wouldn’t be enough.”

 

“…How considerate of you.”

 

“Second, since it’s been a while since I had a mage moving with me… I don’t know. Is this what people call being happy?”

 

“I wouldn’t know if you asked me that. So, where will you go when you leave here?”

 

“What about you?”

 

“I’ll return to where I was living. For now.”

 

I said that and immediately asked.

 

“Why do you try to remain in Pleroma while hoping Pleroma disappears from the world?”

 

“Let’s set aside how you knew I was trying to remain.”

 

Ainsiedel muttered as if questioning, then said nothing more. When I looked up at him, he was fixing his gaze on the book, only looking at that. Just as I was about to give up on getting an answer and move to another section, I heard his quiet words.

 

“Because the ambition of the person I’m looking for pierces the heavens, and no words could possibly change their mind.”

 

“….”

 

“I can only lose to fate. If just one thing would remain with me, I could willingly give up anything.”

 

I had an intuition. He was talking about someone I knew. The person I had driven to the brink of death. It was as if the young federal legislator from Mecklenburg-Schwerin, whose ambition had pierced the heavens, was floating around this place. The contaminated mosquito from Meppen, its butterfly effect still remained by my side. I slowly closed and opened my eyes, putting the letters on the paper, those black strokes that wanted to bounce away, into my head. Containing Werner Strauch’s name was a bad choice. I moved my lips.

 

“Why does that person make you move?”

 

Ainsiedel didn’t answer. Only the sound of turning pages cut through the silence. I could fully understand why. Even I wouldn’t naturally bring up stories from deep inside me in front of a temporary colleague. To see what was inside others, I had to show mine first. Even then, I might not hear what I wanted. I spoke out a story I never wanted to voice in such a place, in front of people who weren’t friends.

 

“I lived a life where nothing in the world remained for me.”

 

The sound of turning pages. I felt it making my words feel empty, yet I continued speaking.

 

“What was the problem? There must be many causes, so even I don’t know. I belatedly realized that I didn’t even feel wronged about being different from others. Not because I was mature. It wasn’t that I went from 0 to the next 0, but because I stayed at 0 continuously, no one could see the middle. The resentment, ambition, hatred, love, and desire to be loved that humans naturally feel as they grow—I had none of these, and ironically, because I had nothing, I came to understand well that these were the most important driving forces for human survival. Yet I don’t even think about trying to obtain them.”

 

I let my tongue, which I had been forcibly pulling, rest quietly. I wouldn’t tell the next part of the story. The person who should hear the next story first was none other than me. Me and my friends.

 

Whether this was enough, Ainsiedel, who had kept his eyes on the book the whole time, put it down and looked up at me. I looked straight into his blue eyes and asked.

 

“So I’m curious how you have such an intense goal. What about that person brought you this far?”

 

Mecklenburg was looking at me with blank eyes. He might wonder why I was saying such things here, but right now I had to. Ainsiedel stared at me intently, then turned his gaze back to the book.

 

“That person alone treated me as human.”

 

“….”

 

“Since I wasn’t treated as human, I didn’t even know I could have such thoughts, but I was wrong.”

 

So he had already met Werner Strauch, not planning to meet him in the future. Given how sensitively he reacted to Werner Strauch, questions about him needed to be careful. I nodded, then spoke after a long while.

 

“Will you go to Osnabrück?”

 

“Osnabrück?”

 

Ainsiedel asked back indifferently. From his tone, he had no plans to go to Osnabrück. I thought he would move to find Werner Strauch in Osnabrück, but then where exactly was Werner Strauch?

 

Come to think of it, it was strange for him, a federal legislator, to be in Osnabrück Diocese. He should have been in Brandenburg Archdiocese or entered Hamburg Archdiocese where the Mecklenburg-Schwerin Principality was located. But suddenly moving west to be in Osnabrück Diocese?

 

Crash—!

 

“They’ve come.”

 

Ainsiedel carelessly dropped his book and struck down with his staff. We who had been underground were back on the first floor. I grabbed Mecklenburg’s arm and changed my wand to a staff. Indeed, attacking the coordinate system was the most essential thing when dealing with Pleroma dioceses.

 

Crash—!

 

But there was no time for such leisurely thoughts. Black slime dripped down the barrier in front of us, dissolving the magic power. The trim decorations on the habits worn by those standing beyond the barrier were pink. Some were purple too.

 

‘…Monsignor and Bishop…’

 

They’ve all gathered indeed. Some of these would be in Pleroma’s ‘center,’ the church leadership, seven years later, and some would continue to remain in Munich-Freising. They would grow over seven years, but it was still a sufficiently valuable experience.

 

Crash crash crash— Splash—

 

The sticky impact sound characteristic of Vitriol made me frown involuntarily. The innermost barrier shattered from the impact, and I moved Mecklenburg behind me while striking down with my staff once more.

 

[Fear not, for I am with you.]

 

A dome-shaped barrier enveloped us. Ainsiedel beyond was already facing the Monsignors with Vitriol, wielding his sword alone among them. Every time I closed and opened my eyes, their positions kept changing. It wasn’t just because they were running…

 

“Hey, those heretics…!”

 

“They’re warping.”

 

“Right!”

 

Slash—

 

Mecklenburg cut down a black tendril flying toward us and shouted. I shouted to him, knowing I was saying something crazy about facing multiple opponents.

 

“Buy me some time!”

 

“What?!”

 

“Buy time!”

 

“This…!”

 

Crash—!! Screech, thud—

 

The barrier made strange sounds as it was pushed back. Even without real combat experience, Mecklenburg wasn’t the 2nd place at Imperial 2nd Education Institute for nothing—he skillfully escaped the barrier without breaking it and began shooting magic at them. I stood right there and struck my staff to the ground.

 

Rumble—

 

[The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, Son of man, set your face toward Mount Seir, and prophesy against it.]

 

“Aaaaah!”

 

Following Mecklenburg’s screaming, the sound of blade meeting blade could be heard. The bishops and monsignors warped here and there, avoiding Mecklenburg’s attacks. No matter how skilled that guy was, I couldn’t let him face multiple opponents. I pushed power into my staff and continued the preparation spell. Blue magic power began endlessly seeping into the ground.

 

[Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and a waste.]

 

“Ugh…!”

 

Screech, the sound of blades scraping against each other. Mecklenburg barely managed to turn his body and parry the sword. Seeing the Vitriol coming over the sword, he quickly landed backward. At that moment, his face contorted. A monsignor in black habit had warped into the spot that had been empty just moments before. A sword flew toward Mecklenburg’s head, and I witnessed his wide-open eyes fill with shock.

 

Crash—

 

[I will lay waste your cities, and you shall become a desolation, and you shall know that I am the Lord!]

 

Blue magic power that had been hiding somewhere shot up from the ground and covered the surface. It was magic that blocked spatial warping. The afterimages created by numerous clergy warping here and there cleared cleanly, and questions erupted from various places. The moment the monsignor who noticed the anomaly’s gaze shifted elsewhere, Mecklenburg’s sword-holding hand rose fiercely diagonally upward.

 

Clang— Slash—

 

“Aaaaah!”

 

One monsignor who failed to warp at the right time rolled on the ground clutching his arm. Blood and Vitriol gushed out wildly. Mecklenburg’s face went pale seeing the blood on his sword.

 

“….”

 

This guy was like this at first too. It feels strangely unfamiliar. Mecklenburg chanted several spells and changed his sword to a staff. Orange magic power stood out unnaturally in this dark space, and screams filled with evil could be heard from people. Then I saw one monsignor thrust his hand and charge at his barrier.

 

‘Why his hand instead of a wand…’

 

Crash—!

 

My body was faster than my thoughts, and the moment I pushed that monsignor back with magic power, I gritted my teeth. The ground hit my head.

 

‘Damn it…’

 

It was fortunate that Mecklenburg, who had the worst skills among us, wasn’t hit. There’s someone who makes electricity flow through magic power. We should capture that mage and hand him over to the university so science can develop rapidly.

 

—The prayer of faith will save the sick.

 

Ainsiedel’s divine power flowed in from far away, and the shock and stiffened muscles that had entered my body quickly loosened. When the light cleared, the monsignor was under Ainsiedel’s feet, and Ainsiedel pulled out the sword he had stabbed into his heart and swung it through the air. Blood splattered in the air.

 

Clang— Crash—!

 

He dealt with the Monsignor charging at me once again. In terms of skill alone, his version from 7 years ago was stronger than the future one. It was worth noting.

 

‘…Whatever the case, good.’

 

I avoided the future where I would enter this diocese in reality only to be fried by an electric ability user. This was why I had to turn back time several times—because of people like these. The fortunate thing was that through Ainsiedel, I discovered that this was a unique ability that worked on mana but didn’t work on, or worked less effectively against, divine power. A mana user, regardless of their skill level, wouldn’t be able to defeat that person, but using divine power with its different structure from mana would work.

 

Kwang—!

 

I struck away the black mud mass rushing toward me with mana and stood up from my position.

 

‘These ones are done now.’

 

If they hadn’t revealed their unique abilities despite over five corpses already fallen on the floor, they were insignificant, and if they were saving them to use at the end, I could confirm that when the time came. I quickly checked my surroundings. Ainsiedel was facing two bishops. Recalling the number of people who entered my sight when they first warped, there should be one more bishop in this space…

 

Looking up, I saw a mage on the 2nd floor pointing his wand downward. He was continuously chanting some spell, and his trim decorations were slightly darker than those of the corpses fallen on the floor. Good, I was certain how to finish this. I immediately struck my staff against the floor.

 

[Have you commanded the morning since your days began?]

 

“…!”

 

“Ugh!”

 

Mecklenburg squinted his eyes at the blue light bursting from the staff and pushed away the Pleroma charging toward me.

 

[And caused the dawn to know its place, that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?]

 

I watched the black mud bursting through the light and channeled mana through my staff.

 

[It is changed like clay under the seal, and all things stand forth like a garment.]

 

Kwaaaaang—…

 

Something like the sound of waves could be heard around us. Wind rushed sharply between clothes and covered the skin.

 

[From the wicked their light is withheld, and the uplifted arm is broken!]

 

Kuwung— Chwaak—

 

The black vitriol crossing through midair turned to sand and scattered. Then it spread not only in front of me but throughout the entire archives, and the heavy sound of air being pushed all at once shook my ears. The screams of the Pleroma were buried in between. I immediately gripped my staff with both hands, swung it in a circle, and spoke another incantation.

 

[The Lord of Hosts will punish them with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest and the flame of devouring fire.]

 

The air turned blue as if underwater. It felt like being in the deep blue sky before dawn. I struck my staff forcefully against the floor.

 

[And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.]

 

Kwaaaaang—…

 

The explosive sound made my ears ring, cutting off the sounds I should have heard. I looked at the blue pillars of fire blazing around me and finally felt the screams of the Pleroma covering my ears.

 

“Aaaaak…”

 

“…!”

 

Kuwung—

 

Whether Mecklenburg was perceptive or because he had experienced the cathedral earlier, he had wrapped himself in several layers of barriers, but now collapsed to the floor with a face completely drained of energy. I injected divine power into his back and dragged him toward Ainsiedel, who was looking at the fire blazing toward the high ceiling from the opposite side.

 

“…”

 

Ainsiedel caught him and chanted a healing spell. I could see Mecklenburg awakening from sleep. Ainsiedel helped him stand up, then asked me with an unknowable smile.

 

“If you knew how to do that, why didn’t you do it right away?”

 

I could immediately understand what he was talking about. Should I tell this person that there was a timeline where I ended up finished after casting wide-area magic right away without considering unique abilities? I didn’t answer. Now it was time to interrogate the bishop upstairs…

 

‘This bastard’s eyes look a bit strange.’

 

Ainsiedel’s eyes scanning me held some peculiar interest. Having made my judgment, I gripped my wand properly and opened my mouth. Or rather, I tried to, but an empty voice interrupted.

 

—Verily I say unto you.

 

“…!”

 

It wasn’t an incantation I had uttered. My vision spun. Though it was an incantation I’d never heard before, seeing its effect, I knew. This was…

 

—Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

 

Kuwung—

 

This was Ainsiedel’s style of mental manipulation magic. No, it went beyond that level. More than ordinary mental manipulation magic…

 

‘No.’

 

Kwak—

 

I bit my tongue, feeling the thread of consciousness slipping from my hands. The Ainsiedel I had met before wasn’t a practitioner of this level. A person who had fallen completely to my mental manipulation magic was actually stronger in the past? No, this wasn’t the time to think about this.

 

[Something seems strange.]

 

Ainsiedel’s voice echoed from far away.

 

[You have absolutely no hesitation about killing… as if you’ve experienced this kind of confrontation dozens or hundreds of times.]

 

“…”

 

[What you showed earlier wasn’t magic just anyone could perform. No matter how I look at it, you seem familiar. Right? Have we been together somewhere in there before? I absolutely must know that.]

 

So you’re asking if I’m Pleroma. Saying you’ve met me in the Pleroma world, when? I was never Pleroma to begin with, and you only in 7 years… His words became completely tangled in my head. He drew a knife and slashed horizontally across the four fingers of his left hand. Blood burst out and flowed down, seeming to drip onto my face. I couldn’t breathe and could no longer make out anything. Blood, flesh containing blood forced its way through my lips and pressed against my throat. Mana-mixed blood wet my tongue.

 

[I’ll know once I check. Drink.]

 

[Kkeuk, kek…!]

 

Clearly I was striking away his hand, at least in my consciousness I was, but my body’s hands wouldn’t move as I willed. Ainsiedel’s continuously muttered mental manipulation magic was turning my consciousness white.

 

[…]

 

Now I couldn’t hear any sounds.

 

He asked why I didn’t use wide-area magic right away if I knew how. This person was overlooking something. Since I didn’t know who might have what abilities, I had to be cautious. The mana in the blood vessels adjacent to where the blood had flowed in writhed frantically. Feeling the disillusionment covered in drowsiness being washed away by an unknowable liberating pleasure, I opened my eyes.

 

Kwaaaaaang—!!

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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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