How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 368
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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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Ishmailov looked at us silently. Those blue eyes began to feel eerie in a different way. He looked at the beer swirling at the top of his glass and spoke calmly.
“It’s alcohol.”
“Right! What kind of alcohol~?”
‘Isn’t he the one treating him like a dog…’
I clicked my tongue watching Elias’s behavior. Ishmailov maintained his composure steadfastly, unbothered by the excessive reaction.
“It appears to be beer.”
“What kind of beer~?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ahh…”
Elias let his shoulders droop, then immediately spoke firmly.
“At times like this, you should at least guess even if you’re wrong, Count Ishmailov.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s not absolutely necessary, but it’s good for maintaining the atmosphere~ If you say you don’t know so seriously, it’s hard to keep things lively.”
‘Suddenly being realistic…’
The usual Elias wouldn’t actually react this way. No matter how seriously someone said they didn’t know, wasn’t he the type to just chatter away by himself and try to elicit responses? Besides, if Elias were in Ishmailov’s situation, he’d just act however he pleased, and even if he could read the atmosphere, he’d smash everything if it didn’t suit him.
It seemed like he was going out of his way to say things for Ishmailov’s sake—things he might not normally say, even topics he might dislike—but I wasn’t sure if it would actually help. Haike might have learned something from Elias rather than Ulrike. Anyway, Ishmailov glanced at me and answered this earnestly too.
“I understand. However, I don’t know what kinds of alcohol Bavaria has.”
“Study up!”
“Is this guy already drunk? Unbelievable.”
Leo grabbed the back of Elias’s shirt and cursed with his eyes. Elias showed his palms as if to say he understood, then took out other glasses, banged them on the floor, and handed one to each of us.
“You should revere Haike as your lifelong benefactor.”
At those words, Mecklenburg smiled with his public-friendly nice act.
“So Heike Einsiedel is the mastermind.”
“…”
“It’s quite an impressive technique. I won’t tell anyone about it. But you shouldn’t do this kind of thing when you return to headquarters and the official residence either.”
“Of course.”
Elias almost showed his temper for a moment, then smiled smoothly and raised his eyebrows. Knowing that the resentment toward Mecklenburg among friends hadn’t completely dissolved, I watched both of them nervously before snapping at Mecklenburg.
“What’s with the lecture, so unlike you?”
“Guidance is a senior’s duty, Count Ascanien.”
I was about to whisper to Ishmailov that this kind of guy was the top candidate for expulsion from drinking parties, but stopped. We wouldn’t create this crazy situation again with this composition. I cast a sound-blocking spell again and asked quietly.
“It’s funny that you mention a senior’s duty. You didn’t stop this and even defended it—you must be confident?”
“What would I lack confidence about?”
“You must have only drunk alcohol for all 25 years of your life. At school, you didn’t even look favorably upon wine, which is quite interesting.”
Mecklenburg looked puzzled at those words, then answered shamelessly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’m skilled at moderation. Besides, isn’t the reason Count Elias Hohenzollern brought alcohol now to hear a confession? Creating the atmosphere is advantageous for us.”
I looked at him silently, then broke the sound-blocking spell and muttered.
“Control yourself as you see fit.”
Looking forward again, everyone except Ishmailov was waiting for us. Since Ishmailov was only looking at the glass placed in front of him, it was difficult to say he was waiting. Elias asked with a grin.
“Finished talking~?”
“Yeah.”
“Then cheers.”
Elias raised his glass to eye level and stared intently at us.
“To Count Ishmailov.”
“Cheers.”
“Why did it get so heavy again this time?”
Leo muttered that and downed his drink. Since Ishmailov was unresponsive and just staring into space, Elias had to guide his every action with his other hand. After somehow managing to clink glasses and while we all swallowed our beer, Ishmailov had set his glass down on the ground and was watching us. Only belatedly seeing this, Elias’s mouth fell open and he shouted.
“You have to drink! Where is there a person who toasts and doesn’t drink!”
“I see.”
“It’s not ‘I see’~! Hurry up and drink it!”
“But I don’t drink beer.”
“This is grounds for revoking German citizenship… Oh right, you’re not German. Then do you drink vodka?”
The faces of friends I know who are ‘German but don’t like beer’ flashed through my mind. Leo must have had the same thought, as he looked at Elias with disbelief. Regardless, Ishmailov answered firmly.
“Communion wine.”
“What? What communion for a cult member… Take this chance to get into beer!”
“But drinking alcohol is sinful.”
“Drinking Jesus’s blood isn’t drinking alcohol?”
“No.”
“Then drink real blood or why drink wine? I heard from him that you don’t drink blood.”
Ishmailov couldn’t interpret this chaotic question and just blinked. I too wondered what kind of flow this was. Leo sighed and answered.
“You don’t need to answer. Instead, start drinking slowly. If you don’t drink, this will continue.”
“I cannot drink something whose safety hasn’t been verified.”
“That’s the problem~!”
Elias arbitrarily snatched Ishmailov’s glass. Despite having alcohol in his own glass, he gulped down about 1/4 of Ishmailov’s beer, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and handed the beer glass back to Ishmailov.
“I drank it too, right? Please drink.”
Ishmailov stared into Elias’s eyes, then brought the glass to his lips. He swallowed one sip and slowly lowered the glass. For the first time, he squeezed his eyes shut tight, then opened them narrowly.
“…”
Everyone’s gaze was fixed on him. It seemed everyone was equally curious about the reaction of someone drinking alcohol for the first time—and a Pleroma Envoy of the Covenant at that. Amid the flowing silence, Ishmailov spoke.
“It doesn’t taste good.”
‘So he does have taste buds.’
He was such a rigid guy that I thought he could drink even this without batting an eye.
“It doesn’t taste good…? Then what do you like?”
“Nothing.”
“Then unfortunately, I can’t accommodate you…”
Elias made a dejected face, then smiled and patted his shoulder.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and drink.”
“It doesn’t taste good.”
“At times like this, you just drink~”
Ishmailov looked back and forth between the alcohol and the air. However, his hesitation wasn’t long, and he obediently did as Elias wanted. Taking advantage of Elias’s attention being focused on Ishmailov, I only took half of a half sip at once. Narke, who continued to remain silent, seemed to do the same.
And so, an hour passed.
“Hey, you’re not burning it with divine power, are you?! Isn’t this cheating? Huh?”
“Is what this person uses actually divine power?”
I heard Elias’s scolding and Mecklenburg’s question. I lay on the damp grass looking at the sky, then turned my gaze to Ishmailov.
Ishmailov was sitting upright with his eyes closed. It was determined that the Pleroma Messiah couldn’t handle alcohol.
“There’s someone who falls asleep after three glasses…”
Mecklenburg looked at Ishmailov’s closed eyes and laughed hollowly. He might be sleeping. Mecklenburg’s words about having nothing to lack confidence about weren’t bluster after all. He wasn’t drunk at all.
Then Ishmailov spoke with his eyes still closed.
“My tongue is stiff and words don’t come out well. When I open my eyes, I lose my sense of direction and I keep feeling sleepy.”
Elias, who had been continuously drinking only alcohol without any snacks, opened his eyes wide.
“Who asked for a progress report? Anyone can see you’re drunk.”
“Then what should I do?”
“Keep drinking! Where’s the time to talk!”
“Hey! Stop it…!”
Elias pretended not to hear Leo’s restraint and gestured to Ishmailov.
“Hmm, no. Tell me more of your impressions.”
“It doesn’t taste good. Normal thinking is difficult. I feel considerable elation, but this induces irrational thinking.”
At those words, Elias smiled broadly and brought his head close to him.
“Elation~? Why?”
“Alcohol affects the brain…”
“No! It’s because you’re getting close to us!”
‘What nonsense…’
I looked at Mecklenburg with the feeling of watching a last brake, but this guy was just watching with interest. Ishmailov stubbornly stuck to what he had learned without yielding to Elias’s unreasonable demands.
“But what I learned about alcohol is…”
“No. Would you have been this happy if you drank alone? Would you have been this excited and elated? Absolutely not. It’s all because we’re here with you.”
“But…”
“Hey. At times like this, just say you understand~”
“I understand.”
This might be how to brainwash someone without divine power. To think he responds so obediently to such words – the conversation I had with him earlier must have been helpful. Elias pushed Ishmailov’s shoulder, making him fall to the floor, and lay down beside him.
“But why is your hair color like that? It couldn’t have been like this from birth.”
“It’s been like this from the beginning.”
“That can’t be. I’m seeing hair color like mine for the first time in my life. Should I say it’s two, since I heard about one through word of mouth?”
“…”
“You know that blonde hair like mine is rare too. Especially for me, who came out all pale and alone in my family, I can’t help but find you fascinating. I’ve never seen anyone with hair as light as mine in my life, but two similar guys appeared in Pleroma. You understand why I’m asking this, right?”
So he’s asking whether it was artificially changed or not. Ishmailov got fixated on something pointless and answered.
“It’s not blonde, it’s white hair.”
“Ah, right. You guys would probably be taught that way. But this is strictly platinum blonde.”
“It’s white hair.”
“It’s blonde.”
Elias answered sharply while scratching his neck. Leo responded to that reaction as if it didn’t matter.
“It does look like white hair though.”
“It looks like it! Even almost white hair is strictly classified as blonde.”
“White? You admitted it too.”
“I said ‘almost’ white~”
I need to separate these childhood friends. At this rate, it’s obvious they’ll just continue with pointless chatter. I asked a question that was related to Elias’s question but closer to the essence.
“Count Ishmailov. What did you do before entering Pleroma?”
This was the question he couldn’t answer earlier. Ishmailov stubbornly refused to answer even with drunken eyes, and as if wanting to regain his clear mind, he asked a different question.
“May I use magic to eliminate some of the alcohol?”
“…He’s asking something like this. That’s up to you…”
I glanced toward Elias and whispered, but Elias had already shouted loudly.
“No! If you’re going to break it down, why did you drink in the first place?”
‘…The conversation keeps jumping to other places.’
This is hopeless. Since we have to stick together for a certain amount of time each day anyway, I wanted to gather as much information as possible, but I might have to target times when Elias isn’t around. Just as I started to hold my head and chuckle, an answer suddenly came.
“I have no previous life.”
“…You were born outside Pleroma. But you have no previous life? Why?”
“Because there is none, I can only say there is none.”
He looked at the sky and slowly closed and opened his eyes. A transparent voice continued.
“The most distant memory I have is of a small church in Bergeningken.”
“Bergeningken?”
“It’s a rural village at the edge of Pillkallen. The church where I was located could see Russia beyond the fields, and a fig tree preserved by magic was the only attraction.”
Everyone’s presence quieted down. It was the first time he had spoken at length. Reminiscing about things we hadn’t even asked, unlike his usual responses. Since I had no intention of missing his words, I asked calmly.
“Pillkallen would be East Prussia. It’s surprising since it’s not an environment where fig trees would grow, and it would have been difficult to preserve them.”
“It was a local attraction. I remember the pastor taking loving care of it.”
“…”
I exchanged glances with Elias and Narke.
“How old were you when you remember this?”
“I was three years old.”
“Then how did you end up entering Pleroma?”
“The pastor who raised me was from Pleroma.”
“So that’s why you said Pleroma from the beginning. Then how did you end up in Bergeningken?”
“Magic scholars who came from Russia left me at the church and disappeared.”
I can see Narke making a bitter smile. I thought it was fortunate that Ishmailov didn’t see it and asked.
“Did the pastor give you your name?”
“He said it was given by the one who made me.”
“…”
The materials Leo had investigated contained information about the Ishmailov surname, and records and rumors about missing Russian Espers. I recalled one passage and said.
“Ishmailov is not a noble family surname. And you are… an Esper, aren’t you.”
“I know.”
After that, no one spoke. When the sounds of wind and waves flowed through the silence, Elias suddenly shouted again.
“This guy is only Russian in name, he’s a German who grew up in Germany. Why are you drinking beer for the first time?! Huh?”
“Russians drink beer too.”
“What’s with you when you know that?”
“Drinking is a sin.”
“I have to fix this mindset.”
‘…This is chaotic.’
My head is spinning. Leo scolded Elias’s words with a disgusted voice.
“You should live knowing it’s a sin. I want to stop drinking.”
“No! You need to get drunk.”
“Why me too?! Come on!”
“It makes for an interesting picture in itself.”
I ignored their conversation and lay down with my chin propped up, looking at Ishmailov. Thinking that I should gradually mix in my own stories so this guy could speak without discomfort, I chose a topic and opened my mouth.
“As you know, I grew up being driven toward Pleroma.”
“I heard that was the case.”
“In your view, am I Pleroma?”
“I don’t know. But I like you.”
What does that have to do with anything? I answered reluctantly.
“Ah, yes… I suppose Pleroma should only be friends with Pleroma?”
“What you just said…!”
Leo, who had already been looking at Ishmailov suspiciously, stood up. I quickly advised Ishmailov.
“It would be better not to say such things out loud if possible. There are cases where people misunderstand like this.”
“How?”
“…”
What should I answer? I pointed at Leo and answered roughly.
“Like this. Let’s talk about something else. Why don’t you drink blood even though you’re Pleroma?”
“He said I would be contaminated if I drank blood.”
At that moment, my eyes met with my friends. I had thrown out this topic hastily to change the subject, but unexpectedly heard an interesting answer.
“Contamination. But don’t many Pleroma drink it?”
“He said I shouldn’t. Above all, I don’t feel the slightest desire to drink blood.”
“He forbade only you…”
Worth remembering. I exchanged signals with my friends through eye contact and asked.
“Then, do you have anything you’re curious about regarding me?”
“Why do I like you?”
“…”
“Hehe…”
Elias let out a hollow laugh. I was momentarily dumbfounded and coughed, glancing toward Leo. Ishmailov, not grasping the situation, looked into my eyes and spoke in a clear voice.
“Your eyes are just like flames.”
“Me? They are similar in color…”
“No. Not the color…”
“That’s enough!”
I should refrain from bringing up topics about myself now. Mecklenburg is laughing quietly. I’m starting to break out in cold sweat as I feel like my back is being pierced by the stares from behind.
Looking at the clock, it’s been almost two hours since we came here. While more information is always better, it’s fine to stop here and ask more tomorrow. Ishmailov is also saying strange things, probably because he’s drunk, so it’s time to wrap up.
“That’s enough. Let’s talk about those Russian scholars. I’m curious.”
Ismailov pondered what to say before answering.
“I know nothing. All I know is that I was placed in the church along with seven golden candlesticks.”
Seven golden candlesticks. When those words came out, we could all think of something.
“Did those scholars leave them behind?”
“I don’t know. Even though they could have sold that gold to help with church operations, the pastor kept it in the church, saying he would give it to me when I came of age.”
“I see.”
I glanced at Narke once before asking again.
“Since when have you been the messenger of the covenant that Pleroma speaks of?”
“From the beginning.”
“Of course. Who would have thought such mythology was being written in the Russian border countryside.”
I slowly got up and looked at my friends. They seemed to have caught on too, wearing the same expression as me.
* * *
“It’s mythology. Literally mythology.”
I said as I put down the materials Leo had handed me on the table.
We had taken Ismailov to his room and then gathered together in a small building in Nymphenburg.
“That person is mistaking memories newly created by Pleroma for his own childhood.”
In other words, if what I’m saying is true, Pleroma stole even Ismailov’s childhood from him. How that was possible is still not exactly clear.
“Why do you think that?”
Elias is asking me for reasons even though he knows everything. I gave a crooked smile and shrugged my shoulders.
“Mages from the East brought some baby to the church along with seven golden candlesticks, right? And there’s even a fig tree preserved by magic at the edge of East Prussia, completely removed from the Mediterranean climate? Everything’s strangely mixed together, isn’t it?”
“Hahaha~”
“It’s too artificial, but we should still consider the possibility that it’s real. You never know what might happen with people.”
Then Narke, who had been smiling the whole time, lowered his eyes and whispered.
“…This feels bad. It’s insulting.”
“Ah, right. Here our orthodox Cardinal had to suffer listening to heretical nonsense. And it wasn’t just ordinary nonsense either.”
“No, I wasn’t talking about it from that perspective.”
Narke lowered his head and closed his eyes. As suffocating silence followed, Leo let out a long sigh and spoke.
“…We need to investigate Filkalen Verzeningen.”
“We need to be careful about even setting foot in that place. It’s completely undeveloped, and as far as I know, at the edge of East Prussia, one district might have a population in the three digits at most. It’s impossible for outsiders to go in for investigation.”
At my words, Elias raised his eyebrows with an interested expression.
“Not even three digits… It’s natural that there aren’t many people since it’s countryside, but you know the details. How did you find out?”
“Because of Anhalt’s sugar beet industry.”
When it comes to sugar beet production, people in the 21st century commonly think of Russia, but right now Germany is actively researching and developing this commodity. Sugar beets are included among the crops grown in Anhalt, which has a lot of farmland, and similarly, there are many places in East Prussia that cultivate sugar beets. However, the edge of East Prussia is relatively difficult for sugar beet cultivation, and not many people live there due to the weather. I knew this because when I was studying what competitive products Anhalt had, I also researched East Prussia. But this isn’t the time to explain where I got this information from.
“Pleroma has probably already planted people in that region. It might be a trap to lure us there.”
Leo nodded at my words.
“That’s possible. Then we should investigate people who lived in Filkalen or nearby areas until about 10 years ago and then moved elsewhere.”
“Right. That’s good~ So Luca, now that you’ve talked with him, tell us about the hypothesis you had set up. Why did that guy come here?”
I need to gather more clues. Since the two hypotheses I had initially set up have already multiplied into several, the clues I need to gather have also increased. Still, I nodded first.
“First, if they really intend to make Ismailov into a god, sending him to the surface itself has meaning. In this case, the condition would be achieved just by coming down to the surface and living.”
The condition for ‘divinity’ to manifest, that is. In short, it means he’ll accumulate suffering stacks here. In their ‘new covenant,’ we are the Roman army and Ismailov is the persecuted only son.
“This is a very fantastical hypothesis.”
“That’s what I’m saying. But since we don’t know what Pleroma’s prophecy is like right now, we should meaningfully consider even fantastical hypotheses. Second, it’s similar but a slightly different hypothesis. He came down to the surface and needs to achieve some additional condition before he can fully realize his divinity. For example, he might need to steal holy relics or create his own ‘apostles.'”
“Hmm.”
Elias nodded satisfactorily.
“Good. That’s more reasonable than the ridiculous nonsense about simply coming for peace. But what exactly is that condition?”
“We’ll have to interpret that from now on.”
“Ah, good. But one more thing.”
I raised my eyebrows to indicate he should speak. Elias tilted his head and smiled.
“You didn’t mention the most crucial thing.”
“You know well.”
“What about the third~?”
“It’s too early to say now. I need to gather more clues.”
“Hmm, right…”
I shifted my gaze from the deflated Elias to the other friends.
“Before exchanging the information we’ve each gathered, let’s try interpreting. Narke, what do you think about the seven golden candlesticks?”
Seven golden candlesticks. And seven stars. It’s the story from Revelation where ‘one like Christ appeared in John’s vision among seven golden candlesticks, holding seven stars in his right hand.’ Narke began reciting scripture with his eyes closed.
“…In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.'”
“Hmm.”
“What’s important is what comes next. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. We need to think about this.”
“Wow. How did you memorize all that~”
“Haha. Ismailov said he came with seven golden candlesticks. So… as Lucas said, this is mythology. Whether it’s true or not, Pleroma’s prophecy began like this.”
At those words, Elias shrugged and sneered.
“That may be so, but it feels like they just attached too many symbols. It’s cult-like.”
“Even if they only attached symbols, Pleroma will ultimately try to make what they said into reality. I can’t give all theologians’ interpretations, so to put it briefly, the seven here can also mean ‘all.’ In other words, the seven golden candlesticks could be interpreted as all of Pleroma’s dioceses.”
Elias nodded at Narke’s answer.
“That would be right. Then aren’t the seven stars their leadership? If that’s the case, they should have put seven stars too, so why did they put gold but no seven stars.”
“Bringing seven star shapes would look a bit awkward…”
Just imagining it makes me chuckle. I said that and added my thoughts.
“If the memories Pleroma implanted in Ismailov are actually related to their prophecy, then the seven golden candlesticks, that is, the church, are already in Ismailov’s hands even though the pastor is temporarily holding them. Isn’t it like the Pleroma leadership is operating Pleroma on behalf of Ismailov, who hasn’t become a god yet? But the seven stars aren’t in Ismailov’s hands now. They were never there from the beginning.”
“Never there from the beginning.”
Elias asked back seriously.
I’m thinking based entirely on the point that it’s ‘mythology.’ Since I keep calling some non-god’s childhood mythology, it seems mocking—to be honest, it’s somewhat correct—and I feel sorry for Ismailov, but no matter how you look at it, those aren’t his own memories but an artificial story.
‘I’m terrible at this kind of fantastical thinking.’
As if wanting verification, my friends look at Narke. Narke said nothing and just looked at me. I held my head and continued my thoughts.
“Considering that in Pleroma’s prophecy, ‘the Lord you seek’ comes after the ‘messenger of the covenant’ arrives, the divinity possessed by the messenger of the covenant is incomplete. In other words… he might need to find those seven stars that were missing from Ismailov’s mythology to find his divinity.”
“…”
“We can apply the second hypothesis here. Pleroma might have sent Mikhail Ismailov here to find the seven stars.”
Narrowly, seven people to become messengers of his church; broadly, making the world belong to Pleroma… it can be interpreted in these two ways.
But if the latter is a condition for finding divinity, it falls into contradiction. Making the world belong to Pleroma is something that happens when the ‘Lord’ comes, but you have to make the world belong to Pleroma to become the ‘Lord’? Therefore, it seems right to interpret these seven stars not as ‘all’ but really as seven or a correspondingly small number.
For some reason, silence flows. Then Leo asked with a stern face.
“Seven?”
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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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