How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 359

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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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It’s best to stay still. Indeed, it’s not bad to trust Antagonist once in a lifetime, thinking of it as being fooled. I looked at Leo who had returned and burst into snickering laughter as I opened my mouth.

 

“Hey.”

 

Leo, who had been closing the door with an inscrutable smile, raised his eyebrows.

 

“You’re right.”

 

Suddenly? I could see a smile with that meaning. He laughed at my words without understanding why, and I laughed thanks to the sound I heard earlier. We both laughed like that. As we laughed, I suddenly felt anger rising.

 

‘Wait a minute. What did this bastard do right to hit someone and laugh?’

 

But considering his motivation, I can’t say he just beat me up. He did hit me though. No, even so, I can’t repay a grateful friend who found a way to restore my hearing in the same way, can I? But if this is a training situation, shouldn’t I also be able to look for opportunities to counterattack anytime? All sorts of thoughts alternate.

 

‘I need to calm down.’

 

Let me take a deep breath and think calmly. I couldn’t close my eyes since I didn’t know what attack might come, so I took deep breaths with my eyes wide open.

 

“――.”

 

I could see Leo speaking to me from above with a gentle face. When I only raised my eyebrows since I didn’t have the note, he opened his eyes wide and gradually showed a troubled expression. He must have thought I could hear sounds, but was confused when I couldn’t respond to his words. He picked up the note and thrust it in front of me.

 

[Doesn’t seem to be working well.]

 

“Not working well?”

 

If it wasn’t working well, would I have said you were right in this situation? I enjoyed his flustered face as I continued speaking.

 

“I could hear for a moment. Senior Hohenzollern was looking for me, right?”

 

When I said words that weren’t written in the note, Leo opened his mouth. Soon he covered his mouth with his hand and stood up abruptly. Even without sound, I could clearly tell he was quite surprised.

 

At that moment, the note he was holding flew toward me. Simultaneously, sharp mana shot up from the grass covering the ground.

 

“…!”

 

As I reflexively got up, the mana surging from the wand tip pressed down on me. Words being written in the note flashed across my vision.

 

[Good. Great. Let’s keep going like this.]

 

* * *

 

“….”

 

I blinked while looking at the ceiling light that was spreading brightness everywhere. Blood droplets that had splattered were spreading across my cornea, obstructing my vision. The note had disappeared long ago. I didn’t know where it went, and couldn’t look for it either. My head was buzzing, and no matter what feelings I had or thoughts I tried to think, all thoughts quickly burned white and disappeared. In this situation, my core was reacting even to blood splattered on the ground, as if ready to devour any mana that entered. I pressed my face with both hands in overwhelming disgust.

 

“Can you hear?”

 

“….”

 

“You should answer.”

 

Kwaang―!

 

I stomped the ground with feet that felt only heavy. When mana exploded, Leo who was standing below me stepped aside. It must have been such a weak attack that he could respond so lukewarmly… I had no choice since even my remaining strength was completely drained. Leo didn’t mind the attack I launched instead of an answer and smiled as he spoke.

 

“Good. This time let’s experiment to see how long it lasts?”

 

Why ask me? Do I even have a choice? You’ve been doing whatever you wanted all along.

 

Leo soon sat down next to where I was lying. He opened the book he had brought from another room dozens of minutes ago and read aloud.

 

“…It is like endlessly running toward the horizon where blue sky and earth meet, yet the sky runs ahead and escapes. Thus, even with the sky above the earth before him, the child ultimately becomes exhausted without reaching the horizon.”

 

Right, I need to signal when this sound cuts off. In the first attempt, hearing lasted about 30 seconds, in the second attempt it continued for over a minute. In the third attempt, it lasted about 10 minutes. As it kept working well then cutting off repeatedly, Leo said the mana from the blood I absorbed didn’t seem to have fully settled in my ears yet.

 

‘So, wouldn’t it be right to stop attacking?’

 

Why would mana absorbed by drinking blood go to the ears but not fill them? It must be because it was used to solve problems that arose around there. I thought so, but Leo thought differently. He judged that the existing mana in the ears wasn’t completely destroyed, so the effect was minimal.

 

It was a judgment that made my vision go dark, but it made sense. Usually, mana in sensory organs isn’t destroyed by receiving general attacks that aren’t special spells, so now might be a situation where we need to pour out attacks beyond the ‘normal’ level that couldn’t usually be received.

 

And though it’s a problem in a slightly different field, he solemnly declared that he shouldn’t end with just destroying that transformed mana, but would make sure none of it remained in the body, and squeezed out even my last bit of mana. So… Ah, now that I’m reviewing this, I realize again. Since I used magic by kicking the ground, I revealed that there was more mana to extract from me, so perhaps this isn’t finished business. I should have just answered.

 

“…But even if we trace back to that place once, what could we possibly learn there? Even so, I think I can still remember the first day I saw the stars. Perhaps the stars have been looking down at me from long ago.”

 

Leo’s calm voice reminds me of theology classes flowing from early summer monasteries. It was the complete opposite of the impurity of my core, which pounded madly and endlessly craved the fishy blood remaining between my taste buds. Perhaps he would think so too, knowing my condition. However, even amid the rising disgust, the sensation I had longed for—the sound of wind settling by my ears and the dry friction from grass touching each other, the familiarity of voices resonating through my body—comforted me, and soon drowsiness came.

 

I caught my breath buried in the sounds of the world I had so craved. My consciousness gradually faded with my breathing.

 

“Lucas, sleeping?”

 

“….”

 

That was just right. I wiggled my finger instead of answering. It didn’t take long to surrender to drowsiness again, and each time Leo would shake me awake. This time we exceeded 30 minutes. When we exceeded an hour, Leo kept waking me up so much that my sleepiness completely disappeared, and to overcome boredom, I had no choice but to converse with Leo. I cleared my somewhat hoarse throat and opened my mouth.

 

“Why did Senior come earlier? My heart almost dropped.”

 

“All class leaders and vice-leaders want to have a meal together. Since you weren’t visible, she said she’d postpone it to tomorrow morning.”

 

Hmm, it’s not as important a matter as I thought. I nodded in understanding and asked another question.

 

“I see. But why did Luise come?”

 

“Well, she goes around talking to everyone with good social skills. She probably told His Majesty Hohenzollern that I would know your location.”

 

My thoughts are the opposite. Ulrike would have taken Albertina Hohenzollern around searching for me everywhere except the Prince’s Palace, and Albertina Hohenzollern, who had been dragged around for a while, would have finally come to ask Leo about my whereabouts. Since Ulrike thinks that Leo and I are the only ones in this team—this team where everyone is friends—who can’t even be friends, it seems unlikely that he would first take Albertina Hohenzollern to look for the Prince’s Palace.

 

Then Leo closed the book and checked his watch.

 

“By the way, an hour has already passed. Maybe now it’s really….”

 

Snap―

 

“….”

 

All sounds cut off as if someone had pressed a radio’s power button. As my expression changed drastically, Leo also opened his mouth and froze. He opened his note and held it out while muttering.

 

[I should make what I said earlier a forbidden word.]

 

“Do you believe in superstitions?”

 

[Well, whatever. Anyway….]

 

Leo also seemed to be losing his mind, perhaps aware that he was doing something crazy. He sat there with a soul-drained face like before, then slowly smiled.

 

[I was thinking I’d have to do it once more after seeing you use magic to answer earlier.]

 

“….”

 

I’ll consider him unaware. If anyone could squeeze and semi-dry a human, this guy would be the first to achieve it. So, I have to experience what I’ve been through again. My heart pounded. The moment I got up at maximum speed, plant stems grabbed my legs.

 

“…!”

 

As I hit the ground, a thought flashed by, and I opened my eyes wide. I wasn’t surprised by the physical impact.

 

[This time let’s see how many more hours your hearing can last.]

 

“….”

 

The thought that flashed by hit my head hard as it passed. Expectation that I could absorb mana again crept up between feelings of rejection. That was the problem.

 

* * *

 

Kwaang―!

 

I ran like crazy while fixing my shoes. It felt like plant stems would shoot up from the marble under my feet at any moment to grab my legs. Leo’s servants who encountered me greeted me urgently with widened eyes, but I had no capacity to respond. I wiped away blood droplets that had fallen on my face due to wrong aim while turning my head with my sleeve. It wasn’t enough. I turned one of the vases placed throughout the hallway upside down over my head to wash away the blood on my face and continued running. The sound of my heartbeat filled my ears so I couldn’t tell whether Leo was chasing me or not.

 

‘For now.’

 

This isn’t right for now. I don’t know why that bastard Leo doesn’t stop me. The mana in my ears seems sufficiently destroyed, so now let’s check if hearing duration lengthens proportionally to the amount of mana absorbed—this was Leo’s argument, and naturally I didn’t accept it, and just as naturally my refusal wasn’t accepted. Though I can’t be certain whose it is, Leo’s mana is definitely lingering in my mouth. Nausea surged. No, it might not be just sensation. I think there was a retching-like sound. My vision was blurry so I couldn’t tell what I did. If I go to the Isar River over there and bang my head, I’ll probably die, but anyway my mind would clear up.

 

“Count Ascanien, where….”

 

Kwaang―!

 

I used magic to push away the Prince’s Palace guards blocking me and escaped to the back of the building, continuing to run. As I was crossing the garden near the back gate, I saw a black figure. Again. Someone is in front of me again. I aimed my wand and shouted.

 

―Through the narrow gate…!

 

“…Wait, wait!”

 

Before I could think whose familiar voice it was, my wand was grabbed. My reaction speed has definitely deteriorated. The person standing before me looked me over with great tension in their brow, then quickly stepped back with a horrified face.

 

“You…!”

 

It was Mecklenburg. Why is this bastard here again? It’s become a real tourist attraction. Nicolaus would be really happy to hear the good news that Nicolaus is a Pleroma that eats blood. I raised my wand again with a burning feeling inside. Surprised Mecklenburg raised his hands and shook his head, meaning to calm down.

 

“So you were here after all.”

 

“….”

 

At the unexpected words, I tilted my head expressionlessly. Mecklenburg answered me while looking at the blood on my clothes with wary eyes.

 

“His Majesty Hohenzollern said he couldn’t find you even after going to the Prince’s Palace. I wondered what he was talking about since I had seen something myself before.”

 

“….”

 

“And I already heard about you not being able to hear. I came because there’s something I need to tell you right away, but… I was already thinking I should come personally since you couldn’t hear sounds.”

 

This guy says he already heard I can’t hear sounds, yet deliberately brings it up verbally, and while doing so, hands me a letter. This scene where words and actions conflict is quite interesting. I did the same though. When I briefly opened the letter, condolences about hearing loss were written in neat handwriting. I caught my breath, grabbed him, dragged him along, and ran again. Coming to a deserted corner, I cast a concealment spell and smiled while waving the letter.

 

“I can hear. Thank you for the condolences.”

 

“…?! You can hear…!”

 

It’s hard to act nonchalant in this state. I cut off his shock and answered.

 

“I received treatment. How are you here, Senior?”

 

“Do you think I, of all people, a senior from the Imperial Mage Association, couldn’t enter? You seem to have forgotten why we’re in Bavaria at a time when anything could explode?”

 

This bastard is sarcastic whenever he gets the chance. Anyway, I understand. After the 91st representative left, Leo probably didn’t specifically ask for no one else to be allowed in. There wouldn’t be anyone else likely to visit at this late hour anyway. As I leaned against the wall and slowly caught my breath, Mecklenburg narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth.

 

“So, are you perhaps….”

 

“What?”

 

Mecklenburg carefully pointed at my blood-stained clothes and asked.

 

“What’s this about?”

 

“Don’t worry since it’s not my blood.”

 

“Who’s worried about you?! I should be asking if you buried someone, what are you….”

 

“Buried someone? I almost got buried by the 101st Class Leader.”

 

“…?”

 

Mecklenburg tilted his head and rubbed his eyes.

 

“Wait, Count Wittelsbach? This is almost…”

 

“We were just fooling around a bit. We sparred.”

 

“This level doesn’t seem like fooling around? Your restraint…”

 

Since his tone was becoming increasingly serious—though it’s bothersome to respond, honestly I would have asked the same thing if I were him. Saying it’s not my blood means it must be Leo’s blood…—I waved my hand at him, who was clearly harboring strange misunderstandings about Leo’s abilities.

 

“So what brings you here? You can’t stay here indefinitely.”

 

Only now did he correct his expression. Though he was still looking at me with a subtle expression, he regained his usual pretentious voice and spoke calmly.

 

“The two most symbolic dioceses of the Pleroma Order have been annihilated by our hands. How do you think they’ll move now?”

 

“You seem to have picked up my speech patterns.”

 

Not getting to the point in this situation? I grabbed my throbbing head and exhaled, then mentioned the headquarters’ plan I had heard in passing before.

 

“You said that since the other dioceses would unite, we’d mobilize even the other knights who were deployed for Rampage disposal to strike other Pleroma. So…”

 

As I spoke up to that point, I felt my head ache in a different sense and opened my mouth.

 

Don’t tell me another diocese infiltration? Right now? It hasn’t even been 30 hours since the operation ended?

 

Mecklenburg pulled out an envelope from inside his jacket. It was an order. I felt the blood drain from my face as I stared at it.

 

“The Pleroma Leadership has proposed negotiations.”

 

Negotiations?

 

I frowned. This was also shocking to hear. In the already vanished Penthalon terror timeline, they had directly conveyed their intentions to the Imperial Newspaper. That was the first instance of Pleroma officially showing themselves to the public. And by my turning back time, that instance became something that never happened.

 

“Then regarding negotiations, since it’s now out of headquarters’ hands, it would be proper for the Imperial Government to step forward. But why the order…?”

 

Mecklenburg moved his lips as if to say something, then answered with more serious eyes than usual.

 

“They want to meet Count Ascanien.”

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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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