How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 362

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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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The mage raised his head. The light began to fade and the contours of his face slowly became visible. He swept back his long hair that obscured his vision, gripped his staff firmly, and looked straight ahead.

“….”

Mecklenburg felt the sensation of blood flowing to the floor as he stared at him in a daze. It was an eerie sight. Even his irises were the same color as his skin, and somehow even his pupils were invisible. How could a person’s eyes be white? Were his irises transparent like the light he emitted? No. If his irises truly contained no pigment and were completely empty, those eyes should not be white but red. Yes, just like….

The blood-red eyes that had looked straight at him flashed through his mind. Then Mecklenburg’s mind was swept by memories of the first day he encountered Nicolaus Ernst’s divine power. The divine power he had seen from him would be unforgettable for a lifetime. He couldn’t tell if this light could compare to that divine power, but at least it overlapped with the clear and intense light that reminded him of Nicolaus’s, making these pure white eyes seem like a mark of holiness.

Sanctity and fear are separated by a hair’s breadth. Therefore, faced with the fear that overwhelmed his heart, Mecklenburg intuited. That was artificial purity.

The Prime Minister looked at the Bishop of the Diocese with a cold voice and asked.

“Even if you have completed inspection, it is impossible to warp into the imperial palace without permission.”

“That is correct.”

The Bishop of Brandenburg slowly answered.

“‘Technically’ impossible. Since it incorporates the Empire’s finest technology. I too would never succeed if asked to warp from outside to this place, and so would anyone else.”

“Explain the circumstances. Since you have endangered security, no matter how much you are diplomatic envoys, we can investigate you right here and now.”

“We did not endanger security – wasn’t it already broken? Or—.”

The Bishop of Brandenburg interlaced his fingers and created a smile on his wrinkled face.

“Don’t you think that while security was maintained intact, there could exist a mage who surpasses it?”

“….”

A single mage who appeared to be merely in his teens at most possessed the ability to freely set foot in a nation’s imperial palace. Given that he was called the Envoy of the Covenant—borrowing an expression referring to Jehovah—this would surely not be all. With a single movement, he could stand in the center of the Hall of Mirrors that the Prussian army had reached after endless effort, and could plant Pleroma’s flag in the Kremlin. If he had lived in the turbulent Middle Ages, the Crusaders would have recaptured Jerusalem and Hagia Sophia would have remained an Eastern Orthodox cathedral to this day. Was this speculation excessive? Could one say it was not excessive, given this ability that neutralizes any security? Right now, even in the 98th A that Mecklenburg himself belonged to, there was an ability user who could warp freely without coordinates, but while that ability user could easily surpass security magic placed on doors, when security magic was placed on entire land, he could not set foot there. This was different. Everyone would already know this, not just Mecklenburg. The Bishop of the Diocese looked over all our faces and opened his mouth.

“Are there currently any rampage reports that have entered the Empire? I would like to demonstrate our abilities.”

“….”

The Prime Minister looked at the Bishop of the Diocese silently, then gestured to his aide. The aide hurriedly left the room to send a telegram, received an answer, and returned.

“Near Brandenburg Cecilienhof, at coordinates 189:231:238, there is a Class 3 Rampage. Squad 98B is dispatched and suppressing it.”

The Bishop of the Diocese nodded satisfactorily and sought agreement from the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister opened his mouth.

“On the premise that you do not harm our subjects, I will permit it.”

“Let us move there.”

As soon as the Bishop of the Diocese finished speaking, that pure white mage struck the floor with his staff and disappeared from this place. When the Bishop of the Diocese swept the air with his hand, some image appeared circling around the center of the table. It was an image unfolding from someone’s perspective, and whose perspective it was was obvious without being told. The faces of Squad 98B comrades fallen into shock were visible. The owner of the perspective walked slowly while taking their attacks head-on. When the Rampage that had been running excitedly in the distance charged toward the front of the perspective, a pure white hand surrounded by light rose from below the view. It touched the Vitriol.

Kwang—

The sound of wind was heard.

[—Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.]

An alien floating song spread faintly. In an instant, the Rampage’s Vitriol that he had touched with his hand disappeared and one unconscious person was revealed. The moment the Rampage collapsed, the mage appeared here again.

“….”

Silence flowed. The Bishop of Brandenburg spoke slowly in a rough voice.

“We will transfer all authority to the Empire until our true Envoy of the Covenant comes of age. I hope it has been conveyed how much we are willing to sacrifice for the German Empire.”

No one opened their mouth. The fact that everyone acted cautiously because no one had participated in such an abnormal diplomatic scene was no longer important. Now it was a situation where no one should rashly open their mouth, no matter who came.

‘Hand over the Envoy of the Covenant…?’

Why? While we cannot know exactly what the Envoy of the Covenant does or what abilities he possesses, isn’t it certain that he is an essential being in their soteriology? Yet they are now saying they will hand over their Envoy of the Covenant to us. Is there reason to bear such burden just to gain the Empire’s trust? Mecklenburg unconsciously looked at the seat where Nicolaus Ernst had been sitting. A pride-hurting thought suddenly struck his mind.

‘…If it were Ascanien….’

He would have grasped this situation immediately and more. With the judgment he had shown at headquarters and in Brandenburg, in Corbiniano. With Nicolaus Ernst’s information network. His stomach burned. It burned, but surely he would have found the answer.

The Prime Minister looked at that mage and opened his mouth.

“What is this person’s name?”

The possibility of revealing his true name was low, but we needed to find out which family’s mage he was and trace their genealogy. For example, the Bishop of Brandenburg had introduced himself as Lilli Lebendro earlier, and this surname Lebendro belongs to a noble family with land in Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg. If he didn’t lie, descendants sharing genes or magical power with that Pleroma would be living on Schleswig-Holstein land.

“Mikhail Vladimirovich Ismilov.”

“….”

Someone they found in Russia.

Moreover, with such a name, they must have created even his name anew. While they would claim they didn’t create Ismailov’s name since they seek a ‘new covenant,’ considering that he came here through Pleroma’s hands, he couldn’t have had such a name from birth.

The Bishop of the Diocese continued speaking with an indifferent face.

“The reason we requested Count Ascanien be called to this place today is also related to this, but it became regrettable that we cannot greet him directly. If the Empire is inclined to accept our goodwill, we hope Count Ascanien will take charge of Envoy of the Covenant Ismailov.”

“I would like to know the reason.”

“Count Ascanien would be the only one in the Empire who can deal with Envoy of the Covenant Ismailov.”

“I asked what that reason is.”

“How dare people like you deal with the Envoy of the Covenant?”

When the rhetoric characteristic of madmen emerged, the Prime Minister turned his head with a rigidly hardened face. Their sinister intention to divide Ascanien and the government had already been read by us. Though his stomach burned, Ascanien was already in a different realm from ordinary people like Mecklenburg himself. Could one say that someone who could save the lives of millions of people was not so? Without Ascanien, millions on this land should have already been buried underground, and Mecklenburg himself would have been buried in Strelitz’s family cemetery by now. The ministers and Prime Minister in this place, all would have turned to dust and disappeared during Penthalon. Initially he couldn’t acknowledge it, but not now. Everyone already knew that the Empire owed a debt to the second Ascanien. Even that the Student was Nicolaus, that he was the mage who had swiftly dealt with them from when Pleroma began rampaging—at least Mecklenburg himself knew this, and later everyone would know. Would such a shallow trick work, calling someone so utterly innocent and close to justice the same as themselves?

‘And.’

Mecklenburg looked at the old mage standing before him with worried eyes. Right now the Prime Minister could not make a decision. Faced with the opportunity to obtain the Envoy of the Covenant, who was like Pleroma’s heart, it was difficult to know immediately what the correct answer would be. Even if Pleroma’s claims were false, it would be good for our side to have an ability user, and even if we didn’t utilize Mikhail Ismailov and just stuck him in some appropriate mansion, having him wouldn’t be bad—since it could reduce Pleroma’s strength.

But the problem was that this proposal could be a trap. Who could guarantee whether the ‘Envoy of the Covenant’ had exactly what abilities, whether he would drive us to ruin or not? For our politicians who utterly distrust others, this proposal seemed like Satan’s beckoning. Yet we couldn’t just reject this opportunity because if someone with such abilities was on Pleroma’s side, it would certainly be problematic for the safety of our subjects and Empire.

‘…For now, accepting and restraining with various magic would be best.’

Physical restrictions must also be placed to prevent information from passing through him. How we could do so against someone who could move anywhere, whether restraints would work—these would need to be considered, but for now, treating him exactly as a hostage was appropriate. Wouldn’t Ascanien have judged the same way? Mecklenburg swallowed and listened to the Prime Minister’s words.

“Why are you handing over an important person to us as a hostage?”

“We and the Empire are one body. Isn’t this how diplomacy should be conducted?”

Mecklenburg looked at the Bishop of the Diocese and shook his head. This is not how diplomacy is conducted. One should measure the opponent’s national power and strategize to obtain as much as possible of what the opponent has, not give everything away like this. Giving because we’re the same people? Say something that makes sense. There must be a clear reason why they want to hand over their Envoy of the Covenant to us. Even if accused of paranoia, we should believe so.

“However, we too cannot hand over the Envoy of the Covenant to the Empire forever, so on the day the Envoy of the Covenant comes of age, we will take him back.”

“….”

“On that day, the Empire may erase all memories our Envoy of the Covenant accumulated while in the Empire. We have no intention of ruining even our final method of proving sincerity. Also, we can make a covenant that we will never attempt to extract the Empire’s secrets by placing any magic on our Envoy of the Covenant.”

“Covenant magic is not something to be spoken of carelessly.”

“We know all that. It would be regrettable if our Pleroma leadership appears to be trying to extract the Empire’s information through tricks anyone would know. As you know, aren’t all of you already having the same suspicions about our proposal?”

If everyone has the same suspicions, the side receiving those suspicions cannot honestly move according to those suspicions. It was true. The Prime Minister looked at the Bishop of the Diocese for a long time, then cast silencing magic and looked back at the mage from Farnese.

“Farnese, I need your divine power now.”

“Is this something I should step forward for?”

“Before formally requesting help from the Papal States, I will briefly interrogate whether their words are true and safe.”

Farnese smiled and shook his head.

“I’m sorry, but with my abilities, I cannot interfere with Ismailov’s mind.”

At those words, Ismailov’s eyes, which had been looking only straight ahead, turned to Farnese. Mecklenburg momentarily doubted whether his memory was wrong. Hadn’t they cast silencing magic?

Everyone watched the first reaction shown by that Pleroma called the Envoy of the Covenant. Farnese looked at such Ismailov’s eyes, smiled, and continued speaking.

“Though I know it’s presumptuous since I’m not an Imperial citizen, I will say one thing. All of the Empire’s Arcane Mages will be unable to read Ismailov’s mind. Please reconsider accepting him.”

* * *

“That’s what happened.”

At my words, Mecklenburg nodded. He exhaled long and lowered his voice.

“So Count Ascanien, you must be more careful than anyone else. Pleroma believes the scandal that happened to you in childhood more importantly than anything else.”

Right now I was at Bavaria’s hospital, and the negotiations had all ended 30 minutes ago. Strangely, Leo had restored my hearing and disappeared dragging Narke along, and my other friends hadn’t been able to come here yet either. Mecklenburg alone had come to find me and sat beside me, telling me how things had flowed after I collapsed.

“I understand. It’s refreshing that Senior worries about me unnecessarily.”

“Unnecessarily?!”

I ignored Mecklenburg’s protest and waved my hand.

“So, what happened next? The negotiations couldn’t have ended with just that.”

Moreover, how had Mikhail Ismailov turned his head toward Narke when they said silencing magic was cast? At my question, Mecklenburg again made a dark expression and said.

“I told you up to where Farnese advised the Prime Minister not to accept him.”

“Yes.”

“Mikhail Ismailov raised an objection to Farnese. He said something like ‘Can’t you read me?’ That’s what he said.”

“….”

Can’t you read me…. I rolled my eyes and slowly nodded.

“What did Narke say?”

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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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