How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 358

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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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I was at a loss for words and chuckled before taking a step back.

 

“Hahaha…”

 

[Why are you laughing?]

 

“It’s so serious that I can’t help but ask. Let me just address this one thing. If you’re going to solve this with such a medical approach… what if you mess up my ears while I’m entrusting them to you? What if my skin gets blown off completely?”

 

Of course, considering what this guy has said to me so far, he would never deliberately blow off my skin, but couldn’t it easily happen due to negligence?

 

[I’m not going to slice flesh. If that was the plan, I would have taken you to another teacher or mother.]

 

“Then why are you trying to treat me personally? Is this your area of expertise?”

 

[Right now, only I can do it.]

 

Leo’s gaze was resolute. He lowered his eyes for a moment in thought, then opened his mouth. His words were written at the tip of the floating quill.

 

[If the situation worsens, I’m prepared to call Elias.]

 

“…”

 

Good.

 

Then I’ll prepare to spend 2 retry points. Sorry about that.

 

I took off my shoes and lay down on the bed haphazardly. Watching Leo’s back as he locked the door, I asked.

 

“So, what exactly are you going to do?”

 

[The doctor said your hearing will return to its previous state when all the magical power in your body is replaced with new ones. The magical power in your ear tissue has been destroyed by the bishop’s spell formula. Fortunately, thanks to you blocking that spell formula early, the tissue itself wasn’t destroyed, so you should be able to recover in a month.]

 

“You’re my doctor right now, but when you say ‘the doctor said it would be~’ it makes me unnecessarily anxious, you know? Say it with some confidence.”

 

[I can’t help it? I’m not confident.]

 

This is driving me crazy…

 

I’ll trust Leo’s usual conduct. Lying down as if about to undergo surgery and facing the light on the ceiling, my heart pounds. It’s ironic that I’ve actually had major surgery before, but my heart didn’t beat like this then. Though back then my blood was draining out so my pulse was gradually weakening, I’m certain my heart is beating much harder now than it would have even if blood flow hadn’t been insufficient then. I think it’s natural for heart rate to vary depending on whether the surgeon is a real medical professional or not. Just then, Leo casually lit a fire.

 

[Take off your earrings and all metal objects.]

 

‘How amateurish to give instructions after I’ve already lain down.’

 

But out of courtesy, and for my mental health—even knowing it was amateurish, having him admit it himself was a different matter. If I agreed, it would probably be twice as damaging—I decided not to voice it.

 

I sat up again and removed my pendant and watch, handing them to Leo. I could see plants on the wall creeping down to the floor.

 

‘…Why are those coming down too. No matter how I look at it, plants shouldn’t move like that.’

 

As I was distracted by the endless creepiness of the extending plants, Leo tapped my shoulder and pointed to his notebook.

 

[Now, let me explain again. To summarize, because the magical power stored in all organs that make up your ears isn’t functioning properly, we need to wait a month for most of the magical power to be replaced.]

 

Leo’s hand lightly covered one of my ears.

 

[So let’s try an experiment. Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.]

 

Thud—

 

“…!”

 

Healing magical power so strong it makes my vision blur rushes in and permeates. I pressed my head and grimaced. In my briefly unfocused vision, I could see words the quill had written.

 

[How is it, can you hear any sound? Even very briefly, even faintly.]

 

Whether I heard any sound, even briefly. It was still that same state of nothingness that felt terrifyingly empty because I hadn’t adapted to it in less than a day.

 

All day today I felt an impulse to grab onto whoever was standing next to me. Anyone at all, simply because my hearing wasn’t functioning right now. That strange and uncomfortable impulse that the previous me wouldn’t have felt, I suppressed all day and am still suppressing now.

 

Perhaps because Leo’s words gave me a little hope, I kept my mouth moving while withholding my answer, hoping to hear even the sound of wind, but I remained left with merciless silence. Complete, utter quiet. I still uttered inaudible words. Just as I had been doing all along, not knowing whether my pronunciation was slurred or twisted.

 

Leo nodded with a troubled expression.

 

[Hmm, yes… As expected, pushing new magical power into your ear’s magical power doesn’t solve it. Even if new magical power flows from outside the cells, it can’t extract the magical power stored in each of your cells and replace that space. So now we need to use a new method. I don’t know what you’re expecting, but it’s not that complicated.]

 

“So what is it then.”

 

Leo opened his mouth and looked down at me. The pen kept starting to move then stopping, as if he was repeatedly trying to say something then stopping.

 

[I’m going to fry you from now on.]

 

“…”

 

I smiled and got up from my seat. Leo pulled my shoulder and sent me back to the bed. I felt my vocal cords trembling more as I shouted.

 

“Fry?! You’re going to fry a person? With what?”

 

[Listen. We need to replace the magical power in your ears and all organs connected to your ears with new ones. Magical power is definitely circulating in your body right now, so why aren’t your ears recovering? We need to extract those existing destroyed chunks. To do that, we have no choice but to attack them all to empty them, then put in new magical power, right? You happen to be someone who can accept new magical power more stably than anyone else.]

 

“…”

 

Simple and clear. It would really be the correct answer. In short, Leo is saying he’ll 1. send not healing magic but attack magic into my head to destroy the sensory organs’ magical power and 2. immediately inject new magical power to replace the destroyed areas.

 

‘…Now I understand.’

 

Why he wants to perform this surgery himself without telling anyone else, I could guess the reason from the second point. Just speculating whether my guess is true is already making my mouth go dry.

 

However, the immediate problem is the first thing. Doubt rises again and cold sweat flows. I swallowed dry saliva and muttered.

 

“Leo, I never thought in my life that I’d have my head fried by a friend’s hand…”

 

[It won’t be just your head. That might spread and adversely affect other areas.]

 

“So you’re saying you’ll fry me from head to toe? How confident of you.”

 

[If you don’t want to—.]

 

The quill began writing those words on paper. Wait, I’m not saying to stop immediately. I quickly grabbed the quill to prevent it from continuing to write. Leo, startled by my action, stopped speaking. I too belatedly realized that instead of covering Leo’s mouth or waving my hand, I had moved as if the pen were his mouth.

 

“…No.”

 

I don’t have the luxury of an adaptation period while missing one sense in this crisis. And even if that weren’t the problem, I…

 

I don’t want to bury my face in an old notebook and make futile gestures of grabbing a pen to stop words that burst out seconds ago. If I trained to adapt to losing a sense, I wouldn’t make such mistakes and would be able to excellently read lips by watching others’ mouths, and I could smile real smiles instead of fake ones made to reassure others and myself, but I don’t have confidence to endure the time in between. If only that could be permitted to me right now, I wanted to look at my friends’ faces and have conversations again.

 

No, let me be a little more honest.

 

I wanted to hear words spoken directly in their own voices.

 

“I can’t not even try after coming this far. Do it. I’m ready.”

 

I took a long deep breath and spoke. Leo stuck a syringe into some medicine bottle and brought it to my arm.

 

[It’s a painkiller.]

 

Transparent magical medicine enters my arm. Whether it’s magical medicine or whatever, I’m really curious how someone who only learned the most basic basics of medical-related things as a child knows how to give injections. I wonder when he even practiced.

 

When Leo snapped his fingers, the plants on the floor shot up toward the sky. Plants again? The moment I was dumbfounded by that sight, Leo, who had been looking down at me, stopped all movement. Soon he pressed one hand to his eyes and let his shoulders droop.

 

[I can’t…]

 

The quill gliding across the paper stops in place. Seeing Leo’s lips not moving, he was clearly unable to continue speaking.

 

[I can’t do it.]

 

“…”

 

This guy?

 

I let out a hollow laugh and bolted upright.

 

“Are you kidding? Now that I’ve finished preparing mentally, you can’t do it?”

 

[I need some time to adapt too. Telling me to harm you… This is ridiculous.]

 

“Didn’t you harm me just fine usually? I must have gone to the afterlife a hundred times because of you.”

 

Leo stroked his chin with a faintly pained expression. Then, he gestured to me.

 

[Get up.]

 

‘Now get up again? No matter how I think about it, the amateurish signs…’

 

I got up with suspicious eyes, clicking my tongue.

 

Leo moved to the empty space next to the bed—disguised as a surgical table—to the wall farthest from the bed. The moment he deliberately distanced himself from me, I could immediately tell what he was trying to do. Instead of deploying a spell formula, he made the sign of the cross. Magical power scattered in a cross shape. I immediately reached for my wand holster, but…

 

“…!”

 

Nothing was caught. When I turned my head, some plant stem had already snatched it away.

 

Crash—

 

There was no sound, but it was clear. My head hit the floor, and magical power pressed down on my chest. Between the purple-looking magical power collisions, a boot heel stomped down hard on that spot. I struggled to push away his magical power bouncing above my lungs while catching my breath. Plants that had covered the floor crossed over my neck and arms. I could see Leo smiling and muttering something.

 

‘Isn’t this guy crazy.’

 

When we’re not training, he says he can’t attack me, but when we are training, it’s okay to treat me like this? Of course he’s always been like this, but thinking of his earlier attitude, the contrast is so extreme it’s giving me reality shock. Save the student’s human rights, damn it… Leo kindly snapped his fingers to drag over the notebook and quill, pushing them in front of me. What he had muttered earlier was written there.

 

[This should be a good way to start.]

 

“This is…”

 

[Do your best.]

 

Leo, who directly grabbed the notebook and shoved it at me, moves his lips. The letters written accordingly are eerie enough to make me laugh hollowly. Do my best in this grassland that’s perfectly disadvantageous to me? As expected, whether intended or not, the earlier training was tantamount to hearing recovery exercise.

 

I can’t breathe. That sharply honed aggressive magical power whips through my head. Plant fragments annoyingly interfere with my movement. Doing my best in this environment didn’t mean dodging well so as not to get hit even once, or counterattacking well with the goal of bringing Leo down. In other words, it was no different from meaning to get beaten a little less even if I got beaten.

 

“…”

 

[Breathe.]

 

“Wait a minute. Wait a minute… hold on.”

 

That was probably what was written in the notebook. I too probably said this. Maybe I couldn’t even get it out. Too much magical power penetrated my head for any thoughts to come. My ears, my throat are burning up. Behind my eyes was hot too. Magical power was rising as if flowing backward. Each time one wave ended, Leo’s plant in my grip broke weakly. New stems quickly covered my hands. The magical power in my body gradually became insufficient. Magical power concentrated toward the intensively attacked areas, but that was quickly scattered again by Leo’s attacks. It disappeared like that. He said to do my best, but I couldn’t go so far as to use mental magic to pin down a friend here. I might have a chance with magical power alone, but his unique ability interfered with that. Only one thing remained in my head. Magical power I could make mine, well-refined and purified magical power…

 

That source was right before my eyes. I looked at my blurry vision then closed my eyes.

 

Crash crash crash—

 

I opened my eyes again at the strong vibration that struck like an earthquake. The impact of two magical powers inside my body, and not stopping there, all nearby magical power was being scraped away. I gritted my teeth to suppress the scream that wanted to come out.

 

[You’re not using your full strength. Still, this much seems to have drained a lot of the contamination.]

 

This much?

 

Even just this wasn’t at the level of usual training. Being unilaterally pushed around was more similar to the difficulty of facing actual rampagers or Pleroma in real combat rather than training. I had exhausted more energy than even those times. The physical pain was painful, but I needed to strengthen my mental power, otherwise if I perhaps…

 

Cool magical power presses down on me and rises upward. I tried to hold onto my consciousness that kept spreading white. It’s better than when I faced Ainsiedel. I need to stay conscious. Incomparably better than when I faced him…

 

[Now I’m going to get serious.]

 

“…!”

 

I reflexively flinched. An incomparable amount of magical power compared to before rushes into my head. It feels like the back of my head has completely disappeared. My vision burns white. My mouth seems to have opened instinctively. The smell of blood assaults me. The moment fishy magical power dripped onto my tongue, I clenched my mouth shut. Blood flowed from my closed mouth. The Antagonist in front of me tears at my jaw. Humanly speaking, no. No matter how many times I experience it, drinking blood, especially a friend’s blood, wasn’t right. That thought remained last, making me grit my teeth until my molars were about to break.

 

[It’s not my blood.]

 

Leo flicked his finger and showed me a blood bag.

 

Crash—!

 

I opened my mouth at the intense pain striking my core. That can’t be. Even if you bought blood, even if you mixed your magical power into it, how could I believe that in that moment? At that moment, a hand pressed down on my head.

 

“Kugh…!”

 

[You have to drink it now. You know you have to fill it right after breaking it.]

 

Not much blood drips into my mouth. I can feel magical power flowing like crazy to the most severely damaged area. Only after seeing me swallow did Leo get up from his seat with a completely drained expression. I couldn’t think of anything either. No thoughts came to mind and I couldn’t feel any sensations.

 

“…”

 

At that moment, Leo opened his eyes wide, raised his head, withdrew his magical power, and stood up. Someone came. Such words were written on the note he had floating in the air.

 

I just breathed heavily without saying anything. It’s a total disaster. That disaster wasn’t over. Though I tried hard despite being a non-medical person, the silence still remained. I slowly closed my eyes, feeling the quiet. The path where the mass of magical power moved was clear to me. He turned around the hallway and approached the door, then outside air faintly rushed in from far away. I opened my eyes, feeling my greedy core that wanted to absorb even the external magical power touching my skin. What he said was written on the note.

 

[His Majesty Hohenzollern. And… hmm, Ulrike?]

 

“…”

 

Of all people, not complete strangers either. Even breathing was difficult, but tension swept through my entire body as people I knew came here. Leo must have greeted them so someone must have spoken, but those words weren’t written on the note. Only the speech of the person who channeled magical power into the note gets written here? I looked at the note where nothing was written. Voices as faint as ant sounds flowed from far away, beyond the bent hallway.

 

“We came because they said no one knows where Lucas Ascanien is staying. We tried to send the Royal Guard, but they were blocked in front of the Prince’s Palace.”

 

‘…Me, not Leo? No way.’

 

I reflexively twitched my fingertips that had no strength. They’re looking for me, when I need to escape to the hospital right now? No, when I’m like this with blood…

 

“…”

 

Wait.

 

“…!”

 

I grabbed my ears and bolted upright.

 

Crash—

 

“…Are you inside? If so, right now…”

 

I overestimated my stamina, and my vision tilted. Leo’s words were written on the note that had fallen far away. But even without looking at the note, I could tell what he was saying.

 

“No, no one’s here. Something must have fallen.”

 

Beep, something like tinnitus rang out, then everything cut off again. The cold silence that had remained by my side all along continued.

 

It wasn’t important.

 

I opened my mouth and recalled the voice that had entered my ears earlier.

 

Leo’s hypothesis worked on me.

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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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