How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 371
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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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“Oh.”
As Elias cut the connection, Cheringen tapped the artifact and laughed. After pondering for a moment, he put his hand on his hip and said.
“Narke. Think we can reach him~?”
Beep―
[Julia~ It’s nice to hear the voice of my truly, truly, really beloved friend here.]
“I’m curious whether the artifact was turned off and on by the air just now.”
Cheringen shrugged with a laugh. Elias paid no attention at all and asked with a curious voice.
[Julia. By any chance, isn’t Leo saying anything beside you?]
“Why do you think he’d say something?”
[I just said truly, truly, really…]
“I can guess what you’re going to say.”
Cheringen looked at the ground and shook his head. Then he made a mischievous smile.
“So, I’d like to know what happened?”
[Curious?]
“Yeah.”
Cheringen nodded slowly as if Elias were right in front of him. After a long pause, Elias raised his voice.
[We just caught one more, so we’ve already caught two~! How many pheasants do you exchange rabbit meat for?]
[…Haha. My eardrums hurt, Elias…]
At those words, Cheringen looked back at Leo and me and made a meaningful smile.
“We should work harder too.”
[No matter how hard you try…]
“By the way, did you really catch a rabbit?”
[No, not yet. I want to hear how many pheasants you’ll count it as before deciding~]
“Let’s try not to handle rabbits if possible. There’s no need to make it smell of blood.”
Cheringen looked up at the sky and smiled, then immediately turned off the artifact to end the conversation. He looked back at us with a regretful expression and said.
“This is trouble. Ishmailov’s ability seems advantageous for hunting.”
“What ability?”
“Ishmailov was humming something. He said he sang before to eliminate Vitriol. Could it be related to that… He shouldn’t have much magic power left in his body now, no, beyond that, all remaining magic power should be reserved only for warp, so how was that possible.”
Leaving them behind, I was alone pouring magic power to dig a pit in front of the warp marker, concentrating on digging dirt and muttering.
“It’s a good opportunity, isn’t it?”
Cheringen’s eyes lit up with an unusual light as he raised the corners of his mouth.
Government investigation has its limits. No, in the first place, my job is acting on behalf of government investigation. The atmosphere emphasizing competitiveness and rivalry reveals many things. It becomes an opportunity to naturally see abilities that wouldn’t normally be used due to lack of opportunity.
Just having the question of how he could use specific abilities even while his magic power was restricted by the government, isn’t the opportunity this situation provides clear? I glanced at my friends and continued speaking.
“To become friends, you need to know many things.”
“That’s right. But shouldn’t we move on to the next stage now?”
As Cheringen began speaking, Leo crossed his arms. Cheringen pointed to the distant plains and forests with no end in sight.
“It’s obvious what we need to do to win the pheasant hunt right away, isn’t it? What we should be doing now in this place that’s easily over 100 hectares.”
* * *
“Hmm~ Strange, strange.”
Elias stroked his chin as he looked at the animals around him. There were many creatures like Fai gathered around. Seeing those mice and squirrels, Narke muttered that they reminded him of Fai―when did you say it was a lagomorph? They do look similar though!―but Elias’s interest wasn’t in that.
“Animals came when I sang. How?”
Ishmailov didn’t respond. Elias gestured to him and laughed loudly.
“Your voice sounds like it has the Holy Spirit in it. Hahaha!”
“…”
“…”
Narke smiled and turned his head. Ishmailov was looking straight ahead with an expressionless face. Elias, who caught that look from the corner of his eye, smacked his lips.
“No fun~ Ah, that’s right. Count Ishmailov, can I call you ‘you’?”
“He asks this directly, Elias does.”
“What else can I do. Anyway, honestly, I was much more comfortable with the atmosphere this morning.”
Ishmailov, who had been silent the whole time, spoke for the first time.
“Please do so.”
“Ah~ good. Then you call me casually too.”
“I’m always speaking casually to you.”
“Ah.”
The conversation ended there. Elias, who had waved his wand to correct the Pointer’s path as it ran too far, broke the silence and said.
“Do you not want to become close by any chance?”
“No.”
“Really? Then call me casually.”
“I am comfortable.”
When Elias stopped abruptly on the path, Narke and Ishmailov also stopped and looked at him. Only the Pointer that had been running through the reed beds in the grassland ahead was circling around this area. Elias just raised the corners of his mouth silently, then turned his head.
“Are you uncomfortable with me? Am I being tactless? Do you really want to keep speaking formally?”
“No. I’m not uncomfortable.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Ishmailov’s neck snapped back. Elias put his arm around his shoulder and brought his head close under his face.
“Ah, good. Come here. If I have to explain this nonsense in words. This means call me in a way that’s comfortable for us, not just comfortable for you. Being evasive has its limits, you know? If you don’t really hate speaking casually, shouldn’t we go in a way that’s not tiring for both of us?”
“That’s probably not exactly what he meant.”
At Narke’s interjection, Elias raised his eyebrows and quickly clarified.
“Of course I meant call me however you’re comfortable! But usually at our age, calling each other ‘you’ is comfortable for both, and I asked if you were uncomfortable with that earlier. Usually in these situations… Agh!”
“Haha~”
“Unless you’re afflicted with a disease where you must call me with honorifics, don’t make me explain, Ishmailov.”
Ishmailov rolled his eyes and answered.
“Alright, I’ll do as you say.”
“That’s it!”
Elias snapped his fingers and shouted.
“You called me ‘you’ before Luca did~?”
“It’s my first time. I might make mistakes because it’s awkward.”
Silence flowed. Elias chuckled and nodded.
“Fine. Who did you say it was your first time calling ‘you’? This is really giving me a headache. Tell me the reason later.”
After this hunt ends, when we seriously extract information about Pleroma’s plans. Before Ishmailov could say yes or no, Elias raised his voice and brought up another topic.
“Alright for now. But aren’t there any foxes here? Wild dogs either? Well, it is the royal palace garden. They’re all herbivores.”
Elias looked around quickly. There are swamplands and reed beds. There are many pheasants in places like this. The tree cover with lots of insects is also good. But that wasn’t the important thing. Elias stroked his chin and said.
“Pheasants came when you sang too. They were a bit far away, but the pheasants are very… mobile.”
You might ask what’s strange about pheasants being mobile, but Narke said nothing.
There was something to tell Luca. As soon as he thought that, Narke raised his musket. Now he could see the Pointer’s paw was raised.
Bang―
He missed. As the pheasant fluttered up into the sky, Elias quickly moved his gun barrel that had been aimed at the sky. After two more gunshots, the pheasant fell to the ground.
“Good. One more~ Actually, this is enough success to quit and go home.”
“You hit it while it was flying in the sky.”
“Yeah. But why did you go back to formal speech when I was going to let it slide once?”
“Sorry.”
Ishmailov apologized briefly. Narke smiled calmly as he saw the pheasant the Pointer brought back.
“Hmm, it’s still a bit difficult for me.”
“When did you start training to be good at it~”
“You won’t even give me empty compliments.”
“You know me. But Ishmailov, you need to keep calling! Sing!”
So the three walked toward the canal side of the park.
The animals that had scattered from the gunshots gathered again to Ishmailov’s song. How far could that ability be varied? Could that really be considered magic? Elias thought this as he fixed his gaze on something that looked like a chicken in the distance.
Bang―
Elias smiled brightly as he took the musket off his shoulder. The Pointer came running with a pheasant in its mouth. Narke shook his head and smiled.
“Wow, you’re really good at shooting.”
“Of course~ But they keep coming out. Just how many pheasants did you prepare?”
Narke just smiled. Elias had no intention of saying more either, so he held the pheasant upside down and observed it. The pheasant’s form was wavering. After that, everyone just walked while listening to Ishmailov’s song.
This makes it 4:1. We’ve walked quite a bit now, so we should start hearing gunshots from the opposing side soon.
‘But we haven’t heard any so far?’
Then that itself becomes good information, right? Naturally.
Since we’re not hearing gunshots, I can make two assumptions. First, it would mean the opposing side’s pointer hasn’t even found any pheasants. Coming back empty-handed isn’t something humans like, but hunting dogs don’t particularly enjoy it either – too bad for them.
So then, what’s the second possibility?
Even if you told a random passerby the situation rapid-fire for 30 seconds and asked for an answer, they’d get it right. This isn’t some twice-twisted strategic game that schools or headquarters love to throw at us, but a simple battle of stamina. While strategy applies to all games, the strategy for this pheasant hunting bet is simply: 1. Secure better locations than the opponent 2. Shoot well – that’s all. So what it means when we’re not hearing gunshots from the opposing side is this.
Elias switched his gun to his other hand and drew his wand.
“Shouldn’t we be moving to another location soon? Narke!”
Crash—!
“Where are you going?”
A gentle voice. Red hair fluttered in the wind. Two swords that had instantly executed transformation techniques clashed. Elias put strength into his left hand supporting the tip of his blade and smiled.
“…Where am I going? I have to go since this was bound to happen~”
They would have known we could gather up pheasants, and would have decided to come catch us to secure the ‘good spot.’ This is the basic assumption. The place where Ishmailov is located is precisely that ‘good spot.’ Ah, I wish we had fled a bit earlier, but since they too would have reached this place after searching here and there, I won’t feel wronged.
Elias’s eyes turned toward the edge of his vision.
Narke and Ishmailov had disappeared at some point. It was natural behavior since they had to avoid attacks from Luca and Leo. They had definitely been around here, but they were now naturally no longer here. Narke would have disappeared while simultaneously warping Ishmailov away. Leo would be trying to find Ishmailov and tie him up tightly with plants. The important thing is this. Right now, my only opponent is Julia.
“I knew you’d come. There’s no way you’d watch us throw a pheasant party~ So where might our Leo be?”
As sharp sparks flew from the sword, Julia squinted and raised the corner of her mouth. The sound of his body barrier being destroyed and restored rang clearly in Elias’s ears. As cracks formed and seamlessly mended again, parts of the body barrier scattering into midair sparkled like gem fragments, so it was actually visible to the eye too. Elias observed it with interest while drawing out his words.
“Hmm~? If you won’t tell me where he is, step aside, Julia.”
“Why should I do that?”
“Ah, right. You would say that.”
Elias whistled sharply. The clashing blue and golden magic shook all the senses, but that sound alone struck both their ears clearly.
“Seeing Julia guarding Leo – what a sight to behold in this long life~”
Crash—!
Julia bent his body sharply backward to avoid the blue attack. Elias, whose center of gravity had shifted from pushing forward with strong force, stomped the ground hard with his foot and immediately leaped backward. Julia chased after such Elias. Elias continued his provocation.
“You’ve always tried to absorb everything Leo learned, whether politics or magic.”
“Even so, it’s lamentable that your skills are inferior to Leo’s.”
“Hmm?”
“Am I wrong?”
Swish—
“Well, the difference isn’t lamentable enough…”
It feels like watching someone who got 98 points lamenting that they’re bad at studying while looking at a 100-point test paper. Julia’s magic spreading through the air slows down movement. Elias swung his sword to sweep away the air with his own magic while continuing his words. Serious provocation against a close friend didn’t suit his nature.
“That guy is just a professor when it comes to technique. But you have more magic power, don’t you?”
“I’d like to return those words to you. What did you do to increase your magic power so much in the meantime?”
“It’s my growth period.”
The blade flew toward Elias’s hair. Elias’s eyes moved to find the warp marker embedded in the floor, but the blue blade kept flying toward his face, blocking those attempts repeatedly.
“I’m not as blindly devoted to magic as Leo is. I do truly love magic, but compared to Leo, I… wouldn’t it be hard to even say I love it?”
Screech— Clang—
The blade makes contact. Julia’s golden eyes shone even with his back to the sunlight.
“So shouldn’t you also let your friend happily run wild?”
Meaning I should obediently let myself be subdued here instead of going to find Narke and Ishmailov. Elias shook his head vigorously.
“Leo likes using swords much more than controlling plants. He’s not happy at all~”
“But what can you do? Leo’s ability to actively use that non-combat horticultural magic in battle and achieve results is also Leo’s capability – is there any reason to disparage it? We just need to support Leo’s present.”
Horticulture, he says. If Leo had been here, well, if it had been the Leo from when he attended the 3rd Education Institute, he would have gritted his teeth and charged forward, determined to defeat Cheringen. But it’s true. Normally you don’t treat it like some alien life form.
‘But I can’t get caught up here.’
Squelch—
Being driven close to the swampland, mud is devouring the boots. It’ll be trouble if my feet get heavy. Julia is in the same situation, but if I keep getting pushed back like this, the first person to suffer damage from the swamp would be Elias himself. Elias shook his head vigorously and said.
“Umm, no~ No. No!”
Whoosh— Clang—!
Elias naturally turned his body toward the opposite direction of the sword Cheringen held—toward his right arm side to change direction. It was a choice made to delay the opponent’s response by even 0.1 seconds, but this also required a direction change for Elias himself. Only the options of twisting his wrist the opposite way or retreating backward were the countermeasures available to him, and Elias retreated toward the back where the reed bed would be. Cheringen re-gripped his sword and immediately rushed at Elias.
“What exactly is not the case?”
“Leo wants me to be happy, Julia. He wants me to win this pheasant-gathering contest. His happiness is my happiness and my happiness is his happiness.”
“Your confidence is amazing. Hmm, I also cherish you as my lifelong friend. Your happiness is my happiness. Whether my happiness is your happiness, I’m not sure.”
“Then let me go~ I think I’ll be happy if I get rid of you.”
“No, you’re happy right now, Elias.”
Why? Why am I happy right now? Did this guy also learn reckless rhetoric? Elias squinted and raised his eyebrows. Even at his thoroughly mocking expression, Julia didn’t yield and showed a warm smile.
“Because you’re with me.”
“…”
Bang—!
The moment Julia’s sword came down toward Elias’s face, Elias bent his waist backward. A bad move. By the time he realized this, it was too late. The sun was stuck somewhere in the sky, and that orange light stabbed his eyes. The leather sole of a shoe touched Elias’s neck.
‘No good.’
Elias twisted the corner of his mouth and swallowed. If weight is applied, it’s over. Mental attacks are also one method, but where is there such a dirty way of doing things? Goosebumps rose all over and it was hard to stay still, but thankfully, Julia’s attempt to step on his neck with his foot made it impossible to stay still anyway. Elias grabbed his shoe sole with both hands and pushed it away while gritting his teeth. Julia put strength into his leg and said.
“So this is how it’s done. I’m still not used to having no immunity since I don’t look the type.”
“Don’t look the type, you say!”
“Haha.”
“Whatever. Where did you get such grandparent-generation comments? I wouldn’t do it even if you paid me.”
“No, this is your comment. I learned it from watching you.”
“That’s nonsense!”
Bang—
In terms of timing, Julia’s head turning sharply should have been first, but the gunshot was recognized first. Elias actually widened his eyes at the noise. Magic smoke spreads into the sky. The sound of a pointer excitedly running over from far away can be heard. Julia, who had been aiming far away with his gun barrel and then corrected it to point toward the sky, gently raised the corner of his mouth.
“Thanks to that comment, it turned out like this. Thank you.”
“All mouth!”
“As it should be. Now, Lucas, Leo. Between Monopteros and the center of the Grand Canal.”
Julia, who tapped his artifact to inform his friends of the location and took out his watch, let out a hollow laugh seeing the remaining time. Now 15 minutes until mealtime. When the bell rings, everyone will return to Nymphenburg Palace again. If there were no time limit, they would catch pheasants all night long, but skipping the evening banquet prepared through the efforts of many servants in the first place wasn’t a dignified thing to do, so ending by that time was a tacitly agreed matter.
The current score is 4:2. Since there are limits to what can be shot in this area, neither Julia nor Elias can be active. For the remaining two to cover both Narke and Ishmailov, even scoring 2 points could be difficult. When humans fight noisily, pheasants and everything else run away. Julia put a bit more weight on his foot. Then he smiled at Elias, whose head was flushed with blood from exerting all his strength.
“There’s still a bit left to catch up. What shall we do to pass the time meanwhile?”
* * *
“Do we really need to go this far?”
Narke pushed away the sword and smiled awkwardly. He asked while using divine power to dismantle the plant stems clinging to his feet.
“We don’t even know what the bet’s reward is? Lucas.”
“I’m not someone who only moves according to rewards.”
“Haha!”
Narke burst into laughter. Ishmailov is not present at this location right now. Just as I was about to continue my thoughts, Narke asked with a laugh.
“At first you pretended otherwise.”
“I never pretended otherwise.”
“Your true feelings are always like that, aren’t they? Both your words and actions need to be peeled back layer by layer. You even deceive yourself.”
“…”
It’s something I heard from someone once. It’s not that I don’t know and think this way, but I still get caught because I can’t yet understand why Narke speaks those words. Narke’s gentle words burrowed into my ears.
“That’s why I like you.”
Clang—!
“The fact that shell is being peeled away is also novel. Where are you going? Even showing your back.”
I, who had passed by Narke as he was, slashed at the midair behind him with my sword, then turned around and struck up the white sword from below to deflect it.
“Are you going to keep distracting me by saying incomprehensible things?”
“Hahaha! I’ve always done my best to inform you.”
Screech—
Narke blocked my path and muttered lowly.
“At this rate, we won’t even catch pheasants. If we keep fighting among ourselves, they’ll all scatter. I can’t call them back, Lucas.”
“Even if the pheasants run away, it’s just around this area. More importantly, why are your attacks so passive?”
Fighting Narke with swords is the best approach. Since he can use divine power and is skilled in utilizing all kinds of magical formulas, ‘for me’ fighting sword to sword has much better odds of winning. I could counter if he deploys wide-area magic, but that field is Narke’s home ground. Then why is Narke facing me in a way that’s not advantageous to him? With that thought in mind, I repeatedly struck down his sword in small pieces and kept going in and out.
“You could attack like Leo. You don’t even need to use a sword. Using a sword instead of a wand means you’re only going to rampage in a very small area. Why on earth?”
“…”
I asked even though I knew. I observed Narke’s expression and smiled.
“Okay. Let’s not stake our lives on this. Let’s go back and talk, Narke.”
“Good, then you’ll let us go?”
“That’s different. Right now I have to protect Leo, so what can I do.”
If I let go here, you’ll go to subdue Leo. Narke’s eyes widened at those words, then he gave a suspicious smile and muttered.
“I’m curious what it feels like to raise someone yourself and use them as your guard.”
Boom—
With an explosive sound, Narke landed far away. The red mana I released burst and scattered everywhere.
“I already seem to know, so I can’t enjoy it purely.”
Narke said while striking down the plant stems flying toward him. It seems that way. What a truly mysterious expression. However, since I couldn’t understand why he said he was ‘enjoying’ this, I frowned.
Leo is watching both of us from somewhere right now. If I don’t stop Narke here, he’ll launch a wide-area attack to find Leo.
At the same time, Ishmailov isn’t here. Since that’s the key, we might have no reason to be in this place. But I still couldn’t send Leo a signal to move. I looked around and asked briefly.
“What do you mean?”
“Silence is golden. Not choosing is also a choice.”
“Right. Avoidance is also a choice.”
“I should spar with you often.”
I understand why he says that. When you have strategic sparring where victory and defeat are decided rather than general training, you surprisingly talk a lot. Like now, you have to use every means possible to distract and drain their spirit. I focused on silently crossing swords, and Narke did the same.
“I’d also like to raise you myself and entrust my back to you.”
When he says his back, does he mean the Papacy’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith? For some reason, the thought that it seemed to represent too many things wouldn’t leave my head.
“How about it, will you take it on? If you answer that you’d gladly do so, I’ll let you go.”
“You’re putting too heavy a topic on too light a match.”
As if he’d been thinking about it since long ago. I swallowed those words and raised my voice.
[I saw a vision at night, and the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea.]
Kwaaaaang—!
Four streams of red mana spread fiercely in all directions.
Why did Narke have to use a sword, and why didn’t I send Leo elsewhere?
“You using a sword is to prevent wide-area magic from being used. Your mana couldn’t spread beyond a certain range.”
Then why shouldn’t wide-area magic have been used? There are two reasons, and I’ll only mention one of them.
“Count Ishmailov is in this place, isn’t he, Narke. Right?”
Currently, Ishmailov’s body only has the minimum mana left for two warps per day, and since that mana is connected to the warp assistance artifact, it can only be used for warping. However, Narke couldn’t have created a situation where no one was by Ishmailov’s side, so he would have kept him here. Moreover, if he’s in a state where he can’t even use insight properly on me, his ability to predict Ishmailov’s future should be considered rock bottom, so Narke’s wariness would have intensified.
Clang—!
In the distance, the faint concealment magic Narke had set up broke, and a pure white mage covered his front with his arms. With a cracking sound, blue-green plant stems that shot up covered his limbs. As I kicked off the ground toward him, I saw Narke change his sword to a wand and thrust it toward me.
Kwang—
Narke’s golden mana trying to bind my limbs successfully wrapped around my arms and legs. Before dropping my wand, I thrust it toward him, pulled Narke into my embrace, then stomped my foot once more.
The scenery before my eyes changed. At a place about 10 minutes’ walk from the starting point of Amalienburgh, in front of the warp marker, Narke staggered. Since I was going to collapse after warping anyway, I deliberately fell to the side and fortunately avoided the mess, but Narke fell into a pit covered with thickets.
“Ugh…!”
“…Dizzy. I’ll be right back.”
“Ah, wait, Lucas! How can you do this!”
I quickly snapped my fingers and warped by pulling back the warp marker coordinates of where we were standing one space at a time. Even gaining 5 seconds is profitable.
Ishmailov had been singing until just before we arrived. That should have gathered animals for a while. The pheasant… setting aside detailed explanations for now, based on experience so far, it definitely would have appeared nearby. I changed my wand to a staff and struck down.
A flock of birds flew up with a flutter. From the next warp coordinates where we were, that is, near where Leo was lying in ambush, gunshots rang out and something was seen crashing down.
Good, it’s 4:3.
I thrust out my wand and warped once again. I pulled all the nearby warp coordinates back one space each and poured mana into the ground. Birds flew up to the sky and escaped.
‘Honestly, if you search by overturning everything like this, real hunting enthusiasts would be disgusted.’
Wherever I go, I just need to win. Narke is probably pursuing me by now, so it’s not time to be picky about methods. I glanced at the nearby pavilion and struck the ground once more.
‘…Hmm, from Badenburgh’s perspective, where we were earlier is northwest.’
I observed the types of birds jumping into the sky, then quickly found north and pushed through the curtain.
Kwaaaaang—!
The sound of tearing through air pushes the sky. The place where I’m standing, Badenburgh, and where we were earlier are at opposite ends of a lake, so it’s not very far. Having adjusted the pheasant’s flying direction, I immediately leaned on my staff and caught my breath. Now it’s time to leave the handling to friends with guns.
Deng—
The first bell toll is heard. It was now the exact hour.
Bang— Kwang—!
Between the second bell toll, two gunshots I didn’t fire overlapped from different places. I looked at the pheasant falling from the sky to the ground in the distance, narrowed my eyes, and raised the corners of my mouth.
So where did this one come from?
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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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