How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 370

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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 put on hunting attire and headed to the hunting grounds with Ishmailov.

 

Nymphenburg Palace looks like a long manor with a lake in front when viewed from the front, but if you go around to the back, there are several pavilions connected by arcades and a park spanning over 200 hectares. The park is divided in two around the Grand Canal, and among them, we’ll be playing in the southern forest where Amalienburg, a pavilion built for hunting, is located.

 

“Finally here!”

 

When we entered the path where Amalienburg could be seen, I encountered Elias whistling and shouting. I had sent word to my friends through servants while changing clothes, and it seems they had already arrived. I sensed people inside Amalienburg and asked.

 

“Looks like everyone except us is here?”

 

“Yeah. What took you so long?!”

 

“Well.”

 

I gave a vague answer, but actually we were late because of Ishmailov. He spent a long time looking for a proper place to store the book I gave him as a gift, and finally I had to take it away and put it in the desk drawer before he changed clothes and came outside.

 

‘So much care just to store one book…’

 

I’m grateful that he treats the gift preciously, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone like this, so it’s fascinating. Even Haike wasn’t this extreme.

 

When we entered Amalienburg, the room I had only heard about appeared. More precisely, it should be called a hall. All the walls were decorated with mirrors and silver, so no matter where you looked, the room’s appearance seemed to continue endlessly – a splendid place. It was quite famous among the palace servants.

 

I admired Amalienburg’s Rococo-style interior and moved to another room beyond it. As soon as I entered the yellow room currently used to store hunting equipment, I met eyes with Leo, who was putting on protective gear.

 

“Clothes?”

 

He skipped greetings and asked a question first while looking at Ishmailov beside me. He must be asking how it was possible when Ishmailov couldn’t have hunting attire. I was about to ignore his question but answered briefly.

 

“Gave him mine.”

 

“Why? The length won’t fit because of the height difference.”

 

“It fits well enough. If it doesn’t fit, well, should he hunt in the clothes he was wearing earlier?”

 

Honestly, in my eyes, both casual clothes and hunting attire are uncomfortable, so it doesn’t matter what he wears. Shirt, tie, and jacket – why is this stuffy fashion called hunting attire? Except for the brown color, nothing has changed, hasn’t it? I can never shake this doubt. The hunting attire I know as a modern person is a jumper made like mountaineering clothes.

 

By the way, there was something I had discussed with Leo, but this guy is now ignoring that promise. We agreed not to act friendly in front of Ishmailov. Although I don’t know how far Ishmailov can read people’s minds – can he really read everyone’s thoughts? Even my ability to read status windows couldn’t figure this out, so this is questionable from the start – as long as he can’t read my mind, there’s absolutely no reason to act friendly on the surface. Even if he can read Leo’s mind, it would be better to leave him confused.

 

‘Talk to him moderately.’

 

I gave Leo that look and turned around. But what could I expect from this stubborn guy? Words immediately followed.

 

“If you had told me, I would have lent him some.”

 

I closed my eyes and let out a long breath.

 

“So he says. Count Ishmailov, please thank Count Wittelsbach instead of me.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“…”

 

Ishmailov was tactless, and thanks to that, Leo turned his head with an expression of disbelief. I gathered the gun and cartridges he had taken out and came back outside.

 

“You’re here~”

 

I see Cheringen and Narke, who must have come out through the back gate and are now at the spot where I greeted Elias earlier. These are all the members who will play the game today. Since Narke had asked me to isolate Haike, I couldn’t bring him, but thinking he’d be bored alone, I left Ulrike with him.

 

By the way, there are two Pointers running around at their feet. I stood at a distance and waved to my friends. Cheringen smiled and held up a leash.

 

“There were several, but they said these friends catch the best. Cute, right.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

When I answered that way, Narke laughed silently behind me.

 

‘Still, it wasn’t just empty words.’

 

The Pointers were wagging their tails even at the appearance of new people – me and Ishmailov – so they weren’t too scary. And my brief experience managing military dogs in Brandenburg was helpful. Also, when I actually trained with dogs, I found that there weren’t many dogs that charged recklessly like Richthofen. Though that one isn’t really a dog, but anyway…

 

‘Humans really have the worst attitude.’

 

I don’t know if it’s okay for all these seniors to be interested only in teasing. I thought that way and pulled Ishmailov from behind.

 

“Julia, this is Count Ishmailov. You saw him yesterday morning.”

 

Cheringen smiled and extended his hand.

 

“I’m Julia Cheringen.”

 

As expected, Ishmailov shook hands without introducing himself. This time he let go quickly, and Cheringen seemed to intend the same.

 

Look how his words decrease like a ghost. Considering that earlier I had to ramble about ten meaningless words by myself to barely get an answer, this reaction isn’t that strange. It just makes me laugh helplessly. Ishmailov now looked away from Cheringen and stared at the dogs.

 

“Dogs.”

 

“Yes. Hunting dogs.”

 

“I saw them in fairy tales. Are dogs absolutely necessary here?”

 

“They can supplement senses that humans don’t have. Also, aren’t they faster than humans?”

 

“Is that all?”

 

“Well… if the hunt fails, play with the dogs.”

 

“You mean for psychological therapy.”

 

“That’s not what I meant, but yes.”

 

The differences between him and Ishmailov are becoming increasingly apparent. In terms of saying useless things, he might be even more frequent than Haike.

 

Then Elias burst out of Amalienburg, leading Leo and shouting.

 

“Let’s go! Did you bring cartridges?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

I answered while tapping my clutch.

 

So we all left Amalienburg and went down toward the Grand Canal. Perhaps because of Ishmailov’s presence, everyone who came to play didn’t open their mouths. Surprisingly, perhaps because he was somewhat excited, Ishmailov, who had been so taciturn, spoke first.

 

“Do you like hunting, Count Ascanien?”

 

“Just from what I said earlier, doesn’t it seem unlikely? I thought you would have misunderstood long ago.”

 

“By what you said earlier, do you mean your argument that using the term Ancien Régime itself is now somewhat ridiculous?”

 

“Your summarizing skills are excellent… It’s fine if you didn’t misunderstand. While it’s true that it’s a hobby enjoyed by many Espers, at least this is a hobby that can be enjoyed regardless of social status. I don’t have much resistance to the hobby itself, but I’m not particularly familiar with it.”

 

I should have lived by hunting.

 

Ishmailov quickly agreed and brought up another question.

 

“What am I supposed to catch in this park?”

 

“Pheasant hunting is basic. We could catch rabbits or roe deer, but all the dogs we brought today are hunting dogs specialized in pheasant hunting.”

 

“I see.”

 

“Come to think of it, I still don’t know how to do it. I’ve only done it a few times for education, so there’s nothing I can really tell you…”

 

I raised my hand and gestured as I continued.

 

“When the hunting dog finds a pheasant, it will be pointing like this with one paw raised. Then you need to find the pheasant’s position hidden in the bushes and shoot, but if you’re not used to pheasant hunting, or if you’re not in sync with the hunting dog, the pheasant will fly up to the sky before you can shoot. Naturally, even when you miss, the pheasant will fly away and escape. Even then it’s not too late, so you can shoot. And.”

 

I picked up one of the cartridges I was about to put in the clutch and squeezed it tightly. Before my eyes, the cartridge turned into red smoke and disappeared.

 

“This cartridge is entirely made of mana, and fortunately, even if hit, there’s no major threat to life. Still, since it’s not your mana, it would hurt, right? The possibility of getting hit by this is low, but let’s be careful.”

 

“Why do you say there’s no problem when it’s a cartridge used for hunting?”

 

I just smiled at those words and patted his shoulder.

 

“I’ll tell you that later.”

 

* * *

 

The Grand Canal appeared before long. From here to the end of this park, we’ll use the entire area for pheasant hunting. Forests, swamps, and lakes spread across all these places. The weather is perfect too. Elias clapped his hands and asked.

 

“What should we bet on the score, guys! Why are we deciding this now.”

 

“Hmm, what should we do.”

 

When Cheringen stroked his chin in thought, Elias raised his arms and shouted.

 

“Alcohol!”

 

“Stop drinking.”

 

Cheringen cut off Elias’s words with a gentle but firm tone. When Leo, Narke, and I, who had no interest in – or wouldn’t have – score betting, showed no reaction, Cheringen smiled and looked around at us.

 

“Should we start without deciding? Let’s decide after we finish.”

 

“Loser buys drinks.”

 

Perhaps misunderstanding that his words didn’t get through because he spoke too playfully, Elias responded seriously this time. Cheringen shook his head.

 

“I said no.”

 

“Why? Then recite poetry or something.”

 

“Haha, it’s already so boring that my motivation is disappearing.”

 

“That’s exactly it. So we have a logical reason why we should drink alcohol.”

 

“Then shall we talk about it after we finish?”

 

Cheringen, like a true childhood friend, let Elias’s words go in one ear and out the other.

 

Now it’s time to divide into teams, and naturally we can’t do this randomly. So I planned it in advance. Knowing this fact, Cheringen gestured for me to speak up.

 

“Now we’ll split in half, and I’ll be on a different team from Count Ishmailov.”

 

Perhaps not expecting this, Ishmailov tilted his head and looked at me.

 

“Count Ishmailov will be on the same team as Count Hohenzollern here and Count Farnese, and I’ll be with Count Cheringen. Count Wittelsbach too.”

 

He rolled his eyes. Though his expression was still unimpressed, he seemed a bit flustered, so I comforted him.

 

“This is a game where luck plays a big role more than anything else. We can’t control all the movements of living creatures. So don’t think too deeply and just enjoy it.”

 

“Yes.”

 

When I finished speaking, Elias grabbed his hand firmly. Now they will go together to the southern end of the park. They’ll move from the ends of the park to the center.

 

When they disappeared, Cheringen clapped to focus attention.

 

“Let’s do well, guys.”

 

“….”

 

Leo nodded and released the leash of the dog he was holding. Meanwhile, Cheringen looked around and spoke cheerfully.

 

“Fortunately, we have a landlord on our team. That’s quite advantageous for us.”

 

“Just because he’s the landlord doesn’t mean it’s unconditionally advantageous.”

 

“How cold.”

 

Cheringen, who replied like that, moved forward first following the pointer. No, actually he almost ran.

 

About 10 minutes passed. While I was walking at a brisk pace following Cheringen, looking around, gunshots were heard from the swampland where Cheringen was.

 

Bang―

 

The dog was running back carrying a pheasant that Cheringen had shot. Cheringen approached from the distance, petted the dog’s head, and picked up the pheasant’s leg. He tilted his head, grinned, and showed us the pheasant.

 

“Good start.”

 

Leo, who had been silent the whole time, smiled and praised with brief words.

 

Sometimes it takes hours of wandering around to catch just one, but to catch one right away like this – this could only be described as good luck.

 

“The feather color is beautiful. It’s a male pheasant.”

 

Cheringen touched the pheasant’s green feathers and looked up.

 

“Elias’s side hasn’t caught any yet, right?”

 

* * *

 

[The feather color is beautiful. It’s a male pheasant.]

 

“Hmmmm~”

 

I frowned and grabbed my temple. Julia’s words were coming through the artifact.

 

[Elias’s side hasn’t caught any yet, right?]

 

“Ha! I’m about to catch one now!”

 

“Haha, Julia is accurate.”

 

Narke grinned beside me.

 

I looked at Narke and Ishmailov on either side of me while frowning.

 

“Ah~ No way. They’re too advantaged! They even have the landlord! That landlord’s unique ability is also a bit concerning.”

 

“There don’t seem to be any pheasants in this area. Let’s go toward where the canal is.”

 

“Did you use insight?”

 

“No. I was just thinking that pheasants might be drinking water at this time~”

 

Might be drinking water? I tilted my head and chuckled.

 

“Narke, it’s refreshing to hear you say something like that. So what is Lucas doing right now?”

 

“Why?”

 

“Lucas is the only person you can read. I was asking what that team is doing.”

 

More precisely, the person he can read ‘on this street.’ Since there are warp coordinate markers scattered across the floor, if Lucas spots a pheasant, I could arbitrarily pull a tile and warp to catch it.

 

“Ah…. I can’t read him now. For a moment.”

 

What does it mean that he can’t read him now? I maintained my smile and looked straight ahead. Narke went even further and said with a laugh.

 

“I have no choice but to rely on yours and Ishmailov’s abilities~”

 

“Me?! I’m…. Count Ishmailov. What is your unique ability?”

 

“….”

 

No response. He was talking properly with Lucas earlier, but now we’re back to square one. I can’t treat him like this.

 

“I heard you sang a requiem and turned all the rampage’s vitriol to nothing. Do you have any useful abilities related to that?”

 

“….”

 

Ishmailov still remained silent. I let out a hollow laugh and waved my hand dismissively.

 

“Fine, never mind…. We’re going to fail miserably, but well, if you won’t tell us, there’s nothing we can do.”

 

Ishmailov glanced at me, then looked straight ahead silently again and took a deep breath.

 

“Oh? What are you doing?”

 

When I teased like that, Narke grabbed my shoulder and pushed me back. A song with incomprehensible lyrics began coming from Ishmailov’s mouth.

 

‘…Huh? Why is he suddenly singing?’

 

Something seemed strange from when they said he dealt with the rampage using a requiem, could his ability be….

 

Rustle―

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

My eyes met with Narke’s. A rabbit appeared. No way? Did the rabbit come out because of his singing? I alternately pointed at the rabbit sitting in the distance and Ishmailov, then opened my mouth wide when I saw some mouse-like creature coming out from under a tree.

 

“What? Is this person perhaps a princess?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“No.”

 

Is his voice itself magical power? Hmm. What kind of magic formula did he cast for creatures to respond like this? That means humans could respond too, right? I should tell Luca to research this. But more importantly….

 

I waved my hand enthusiastically, meaning for him to continue. Ishmailov looked at my expression and continued humming something. I spotted a gray poultry waddling in the long thicket in the distance and grinned.

 

“Ah~ This makes us way too advantaged, what should we do.”

 

Bang―

 

I lowered my gun and waved my arm toward the dog that ran off in the distance. The pointer came running back to this location with a pheasant in its mouth.

 

The balance became uneven. No matter how much the opponent can control plants, it would be difficult to distinguish between the weight of pheasants caught on plants and the weight of mice and rabbits. Unless Leo had spent his entire life hunting.

 

[…What? Elias, did you catch one?]

 

“Hmm~”

 

I smiled and stroked my chin before turning off the communication. Then I patted Ishmailov’s shoulder.

 

“Good. Keep singing until pheasants come out in droves!”

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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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