How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 373

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magic Noble Family (373)

 

“…What did you say?”

 

As I muttered in a daze, Leo waved his hand and stepped back.

 

“Sorry if it was a burden.”

 

“Wait, that’s not it!”

 

I grabbed Leo’s wrist. Leo, startled, gripped the bottle of blood tightly lest he drop it. My thoughts became completely muddled.

 

“…Why? Leo. Why should I drink blood?”

 

“….”

 

Does Leo know about the extra chapters? How?

 

That can’t be. There’s no way he could know this. No matter how I think about it, there weren’t enough clues given. First of all, blood is only used when opening extra chapters, not every time you enter them, and even I, who can see extra chapters, only learned through experience that drinking Abraham’s blood was the condition for opening extra chapters after doing so. From the outside where you can’t even see status windows, there’s far too little evidence to connect extra chapters with blood. Could it be that he felt something strange about how I keep bringing information even when my core connection was severed and I disappeared for periods of time? Yes, from that aspect Leo could certainly guess that I’m hiding something. But even so, there’s no reason for blood to come up, is there?

 

Or did he find out the same way he knew about my retries this time? Then just how much does this friend know about me?

 

Leo, who had been staring intently at me, finally looked away.

 

“Sorry. I know you hate drinking human blood, but I brought it up anyway and seem to have hurt you.”

 

“No, that’s not what I mean.”

 

I unconsciously pressed hard on the skin of his wrist and whispered.

 

“What could I find out if I drink blood?”

 

I can see Leo’s eyes waver with confusion. He tilted his head slightly with a face that said he didn’t understand why I was speaking in this tone.

 

“…Your core has the property of absorbing mana, so I meant how about trying to absorb Ishmailov by drinking it. What’s wrong?”

 

“…You want me to absorb Ishmailov.”

 

“Your body will react differently to each blood you drink. How did it feel when you absorbed my mana?”

 

“Is that important right now?”

 

“Tell me.”

 

“I said it felt like going to a hospital.”

 

“Tell me in detail.”

 

I furrowed my brow and stared at him quietly, then sighed and opened my mouth.

 

“It’s comfortable. Even though it’s your mana, it changes to feel exactly like mine, making me think I’ve received extra life. I wondered if this is what it would feel like to receive another body. Satisfied?”

 

“I’d like to hear more, but that’s disappointing.”

 

Is this really the time for such words? I bit my lips while looking at Leo who was smiling faintly. Leo rested his elbow on his knee, propped his chin, and asked.

 

“Then, when you drank Senior Mecklenburg’s blood in Brandenburg?”

 

“….”

 

Even though I stiffened and opened my mouth with a thud, Leo spoke nonchalantly.

 

“It left such a strong impression in your memory that I couldn’t help but know.”

 

“…I drank it to survive. To figure out how to succeed next time, I had to keep moving even after Senior died….”

 

“I know. You don’t need to explain to me.”

 

“….”

 

“So what was your impression?”

 

Leo tilted his head inward, demanding an answer. I looked only at the floor, then fidgeted with my hands as I answered.

 

“You’re asking about the mana, right. It was clean. Surprisingly not very aggressive and dissolved well. Different from your mana in a refreshing way, I’d say. For some reason the mana had a strong water element… probably because of his unique ability. It would be an easy type to handle in anyone’s body, and he himself wouldn’t have had any difficulty handling his own mana. Also….”

 

“That’s enough.”

 

Leo clapped his hands to cut me off. He smiled while looking at my expression full of wariness.

 

“Does that explain it now? You seemed to have doubts about Ishmailov’s mana, so I suggested drinking his blood to absorb his mana so you could feel Ishmailov directly. I thought you might need blood but couldn’t bring yourself to ask me.”

 

“….”

 

Ah.

 

All my energy drained away.

 

I leaned back against the sofa with a thud, my mouth hanging open. As I pressed my eyes hard under my palms, Leo asked in a puzzled voice.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“Hahaha….”

 

I had misunderstood. Leo really brought blood based on the essential nature of things – the property of my core randomly absorbing and amplifying others’ mana. That’s why he asked about my injuries too.

 

‘I almost tormented an innocent guy.’

 

While I let out a long breath and relaxed my tension, Leo fell into thought and synthesized what I had said.

 

“If mana is based on the soul as Narke said, then there should be commonalities with unique abilities that are similarly based on the soul. Just by drinking blood, you can get close to that person’s essence, that is, their soul.”

 

“….”

 

I stiffened once again. I can never let my guard down for even a moment in front of this friend’s insight. ‘That person’s essence’ – extra chapters would also be connected to essence in that they open as worlds with that person as the owner. I didn’t get to communicate with the world’s owner for long since I was busy solving incidents, but fundamentally. Leo muttered to himself.

 

“Your ability really is extraordinary. It’s unparalleled.”

 

“….”

 

“The Papacy’s decision to immediately appoint you as Cardinal was an excellent choice.”

 

“Your decision to accept me into Bavaria was also an unparalleled excellent choice.”

 

When I threw out a joke to lighten the heavy atmosphere, Leo smiled and answered seriously.

 

“You’re stating the obvious.”

 

“…Thanks for the consideration. I was actually wondering whether I should ask you to get me some blood, so I was surprised when you brought it just at the right time.”

 

“Hmm, I’m glad I didn’t bring it for nothing then.”

 

I smiled at those words and grabbed the bottle Leo held in his hand. However, Leo didn’t let go of it. When I looked at him questioningly, he shook his head.

 

“I have no intention of just giving it to you. I brought it for you, but I don’t want you to go wrong after drinking this.”

 

“Then what now.”

 

“If you say you’ll drink it, I’ll draw my blood. Drink Ishmailov’s blood drop by drop while I watch. I’ll observe the progress and cover it with my blood.”

 

“…What are you talking about. Can that really be covered?”

 

“About 10ml for every 1ml should do it, don’t you think.”

 

Annoyingly, Leo grinned.

 

I’ll die from a burst stomach drinking blood. I let out a hollow laugh looking at the bottle of Ishmailov’s blood that seemed to be at least 20ml. I stared quietly at the red blood contained in that bottle and said.

 

“How did you know I was trying to learn about Ishmailov’s mana? There’s more than one or two things we don’t know about that person.”

 

“It’s obvious from how you deliberately changed the pheasant into a rose in front of Ishmailov.”

 

Right… I’m amazed by this judgment. Whether Leo knows I’m thinking such things or not, he quietly continued.

 

“As you know, if songs attract animals, then a pheasant that’s a lump of mana has no reason to move. But seeing that lump of mana move anyway, there’s definitely… something in Ishmailov’s song, that is, the human essence or mana. Weren’t you wanting to confirm that?”

 

I smiled at his words and stared at him quietly for a while. Then Leo made a puzzled expression. I covered his hand holding the bottle and pushed it toward his chest.

 

“Thanks for the gift. But there’s no need to confirm it.”

 

“What?”

 

“I’ve already figured it out.”

 

I checked my watch. The time I had arranged to meet with Elias and Narke was approaching.

 

Opening an extra chapter would be good too. I don’t know if it will actually open, but it’s worth trying. The problem here is that Leo declared he’d make me drink his blood 10 times more for safety. I need to calm this guy down first before drinking to finish quickly – I don’t have confidence to handle 1ml + 10ml twenty times in a short period, even if 20ml might be manageable – but since there’s no time to calm him down right now, it seems better to try when we’re alone with plenty of time. I got up from my seat and gestured.

 

“Want to go?”

 

“Where to.”

 

“If you don’t have other plans, let’s go meet with friends for a meeting now.”

 

* * *

 

“It’s 1 AM now. So we’re going hunting again at lunch later?”

 

When Leo and I moved to Narke’s room, as soon as we showed our faces, Elias grinned and mentioned hunting once again.

 

“Because our Luca wanted to take photos under the magnolia tree~”

 

“Don’t like it?”

 

“I like it. But Luca isn’t the type to like going hunting two days in a row~ is what I was thinking.”

 

“No, I like it too. Since I’m going with you guys.”

 

“This time I’ll definitely win. Got it?! Both you and Leo, Luca.”

 

“Hmm, isn’t there an option for us to be on the same team?”

 

Only then did Elias open his eyes clearly like someone who had achieved enlightenment. I waved my hand at him who was preparing to pour out words rapidly and quickly sat down.

 

“There’s not much to discuss today. Since you guys need to rest too, let’s wrap up quickly and disperse.”

 

“Good. When we’re done, I’ll make more rose pheasants and do some shooting practice!”

 

“Don’t you know it’s time to sleep? You’re noisy.”

 

When Leo scolded him, Elias pouted. I ignored them and said what I had to say.

 

“Elias, Narke. You were on the same team as Ishmailov. What happened in there?”

 

“When he hummed songs, real animals really came over. Fake pheasants came too.”

 

Instead of Narke who was smiling quietly, Elias answered quickly. I nodded in response and said.

 

“Seeing that he attracted ordinary animals with no mana in their bodies, we can establish two hypotheses. First, what this guy used wasn’t ordinary magic as we know it, but a unique ability that can’t be explained academically. It’s not even restricted by restraints. Second, he manipulated the animals’ minds. I don’t know if that’s even possible though.”

 

I gestured to Narke while looking around at my friends who were seriously listening to my words.

 

“Narke, will you help? Which hypothesis seems more appropriate?”

 

“Both make sense. If he can manipulate the preferences of specific creatures with his unique ability, then it makes sense that animals were drawn to his singing. Also, thinking about how he put the rampage to sleep with a requiem, comprehensively speaking, it would be possible to control creatures at will by singing.”

 

“Good answer. Thanks. Now the problem we’re thinking about is this: how exactly could a pheasant made of mana be drawn to Ishmailov?”

 

“Hmm, this is difficult. Maybe it saw other herbivores moving and followed them~?! It does move like a pheasant after all.”

 

That’s simple enough. While real pheasants aren’t particularly smart either, a pheasant created with mana still makes more standardized judgments than a real pheasant. A pheasant mimicked with mana flies up to the sky when it hears loud noises or predators threaten it, and normally just scurries around meaninglessly under trees and in bushes. That’s all. But if it recognizes the movements of other herbivores and follows them to peek at what’s there, wouldn’t that be entering the realm of the ‘real’?

 

Leo also seemed to find something awkward about Elias’s words as he inhaled and crossed his arms.

 

“…Even if it were a real pheasant, if rabbits and mice were gathered somewhere in a crowd, there doesn’t seem to be any reason for the pheasant to go there. I’m not certain it wouldn’t peek around, but isn’t the possibility of it peeking around like that every time rather low? It would be different if other pheasants were gathered there though.”

 

“That’s true too. Then what is it.”

 

I glanced at Narke, who was still silently looking down at the table, and asked my friends.

 

“Ishmailov could have multiple unique abilities. Something like a kind of ‘charm’ that applies to mana.”

 

“Charm? On mana? Hehehe…”

 

“If I were to explain my thoughts from the beginning, I thought Ishmailov’s second unique ability might be ‘the ability to draw targets with mana toward him.’ But since the pheasant didn’t approach before that, and seeing how Ishmailov consistently used singing from when he dealt with the rampage, I think that unique ability only works when he sings.”

 

“Hmm. Is that really the case? I’d like to have a bit more evidence…”

 

Elias rested his chin on his hand and continued while tapping the table.

 

“Actually, when I caught the pheasant, it was flickering. It doesn’t normally do that, right? I thought something was strange. But actually, we who were nearby didn’t really change anything just because Ishmailov was singing.”

 

“That bothered me too. If Ishmailov’s singing had affected your mana as well, there’s no way you wouldn’t have mentioned it by now. So.”

 

I revised the hypothesis.

 

“What if he’s drawing in natural mana that’s floating around in this universe and atmosphere, not something emanating from life?”

 

“…Natural?”

 

“Right, something like the ether that Aristotle talked about.”

 

The pheasant’s mana is, strictly speaking, colorless, odorless, and tasteless artificial mana that contains no characteristics. The mana used as a base for magic potions is also this kind of mana, and because human characteristics have been erased from mana that has passed through the filter of the ‘human core’ once, it’s actually easier for it to dissolve into other mana. Therefore, in this case, it’s a hypothesis that treats even the pheasant’s mana, which would decompose and return to nature, as ‘natural.’

 

Then what exactly is natural mana, or ether, as spoken of in the post-magic era?

 

During Ion Forso, humans were suddenly given mana. Our generation inherited cores from them, so we feel as if mana is necessarily in the realm of heredity, but Narke once said that’s not actually true. The prevailing theory is that mana existed everywhere in this world, but humans couldn’t sense it until they began to during Ion Forso. In Europe’s case, this was rather strongly combined with the class system, divine right of kings, and Christianity.

 

But the problem is, while people can sense mana, in normal states they can only perceive mana in human bodies and artificial mana. The natural mana possessed by that grass, earth, and atmosphere doesn’t get caught by us as if it’s beyond our perception, so we often say there’s ‘no mana’ for convenience.

 

To summarize to the point of feeling somewhat forced, natural mana can be thought of as the magical version of cosmic background radiation.

 

“Even now, Ishmailov should be able to draw in the natural mana dissolved in this air and that forest. But whether he does that consciously… At least in the pheasant hunt, he didn’t. Ishmailov clearly didn’t know at first that the pheasant was a fake made of mana.”

 

For someone who spoke as if he could see right through Narke, he doesn’t use insight-like abilities in everything. If he had, my heart wouldn’t have beaten like crazy at his words, and he would have known the hunting results well enough that there would have been no need to hold a gun. The reason he held a gun despite never having shot one was because he had hope, not knowing the future.

 

Elias chuckled and said.

 

“Aristotle would be delighted if he came back to life. You’re saying there’s a messiah here who unconsciously became one with this great nature and perceived the fifth element.”

 

Elias, who had been mocking like that, suddenly frowned as if he had grasped something strange.

 

“But distinguishing between human mana and natural mana to draw them in is also a bit strange, isn’t it? If you draw a set diagram, humans would be included within nature.”

 

“It’s incomplete. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have been able to do anything.”

 

Two firm words. Narke threw out those words and fell silent.

 

Our meeting ended with that. We had originally gathered to exchange opinions, so we had no intention of finalizing the hypothesis, and above all, my friends didn’t know much information about mana either. I saw off my friends as they left Narke’s room and came back in, closing the door again. Narke’s calm voice was heard.

 

“You seem to have something to say.”

 

I answered with a smile and patted the sofa. Narke shook his head and walked past me toward the balcony.

 

“Speak, Lucas.”

 

* * *

 

The conversation continued in a way not much different from throwing glass marbles back and forth to each other. Under the dawn sunlight in my room, I rolled my pen and fell into thought.

 

The possibility of change hadn’t dropped. Surprisingly. It had actually risen by 0.5 percentage points, but I couldn’t figure out why.

 

Knock knock—

 

“Please come in.”

 

“Your Excellency, Count Ishmailov asks if you could permit him to take a walk.”

 

A walk. Since he must be accompanied by me if he’s to leave his room, this is something that necessarily requires me to go out as well.

 

“I’ll permit him to go only as far as the canal behind here. Can’t he go out alone?”

 

“That would be difficult. We’d like to let him go alone too, but…”

 

“…”

 

I don’t really want to meet him right now.

 

I can’t let him escape my surveillance outside his room. We’ve been meeting constantly anyway and will have to meet constantly in the future, so it’s unavoidable, but right now I wanted to think alone a bit more, but that won’t be possible.

 

5:50 AM. I left a brief letter for Elias and Leo, who would wake up in about 10 minutes, changed clothes, and left my room.

 

“Thank you for yesterday.”

 

He sat on the lawn of the Grand Canal in front of Apollo Temple, getting some air as he spoke. I chuckled and shook my head.

 

“Weren’t we friends? You don’t need to greet me so stiffly…”

 

“That was the first time I used a gun. And yesterday Count Hohenzollern told me to speak casually, so I did.”

 

It’s quite an abrupt topic change, but the transformation is stark. I smiled at this change and said.

 

“You’re speaking to me first without talking about books.”

 

“Is that not allowed?”

 

“It’s not that it’s not allowed. Rather, I’m pleased. But there’s one thing I’m curious about.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“The pheasant you called with your song yesterday wasn’t real but made of mana—how did it follow you?”

 

“I don’t know either.”

 

I nodded. What would you know anyway? Fine.

 

Rather, I’m going to throw a fastball from now on. It’s about information I became certain of after my conversation with Narke, and it’s a question about something we can’t avoid.

 

“Let me ask just one more question.”

 

“…!”

 

Then Ishmailov inhaled and stiffened, pressing his heart. I felt a chill at his strange reaction and asked.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

Ishmailov didn’t answer.

 

“Are you hurt somewhere?”

 

“…”

 

Instead of answering, Ishmailov opened his mouth and barely shook his head. The already pale guy had turned even whiter now. As if he had been attacked by someone.

 

“Huff…”

 

Seeing him gasping for breath, apparently his heart beating rapidly, something was definitely wrong. I reached out my hand to support him and said.

 

“Do you have the strength to warp? If not, I’ll contact the hospital right now, so let’s go inside and wait first.”

 

“No, just, just a moment…”

 

Ishmailov spoke haltingly in a powerless voice. For the first time since we met, his expression was tinged with faint terror. I quickly scanned the surroundings. No one was there.

 

‘This won’t do.’

 

I can’t keep him under the outside wind. Just as I was about to put my hand on my artifact, a signal sound was heard. As soon as I answered, rough breathing was heard.

 

[Luca, come to the hospital right now!]

 

“What? Why?”

 

[Haike, Haike’s core stopped. No, he’s not breathing…]

 

Elias, who had been rambling incoherently, just kept gasping for breath. His words didn’t continue. I narrowed my eyes and moved my lips.

 

‘His core stopped?’

 

Even my old core, which was so shattered it could barely circulate any mana properly, had never completely stopped. This kind of thing only happens when you die…

 

“…”

 

I looked at the other mage behind me who was covering his face with his hands and breaking out in cold sweat. The back of my neck felt chilly.

 

[Luca, I know you won’t believe it. We were just with Haike until a moment ago when this happened, so we don’t know what or how anything happened. We don’t know what might happen, so hurry…!]

 

Elias’s uncontrollably trembling voice grew more and more distant. I jumped up from my seat.

 

“I have to go see.”

 

Grab— Crash—!

 

Cold hands grabbed me and yanked me back. The moment I lost my balance and fell backward, snow-white hair fell across my face, covering my vision. Something foreign pressed sharply against the skin of my neck.

 

Crack—!

 

“…!”

 

Along with the sensation of all the mana in my body draining out, I had the illusion of new mana rushing in like a tide. What on earth is happening to me right now, I mean, right now… Intense pain surged through my muscles and blood vessels, and I gritted my teeth to suppress a scream as I tried to kick him away.

 

“You…!”

 

The attack I launched by swinging my foot sank into Ishmailov’s body. Mana sparked under Ishmailov’s restraints. The smell of blood vibrated. Is it even possible for someone to pierce another’s flesh and draw blood? Am I in reality right now? I mean, I, in all my life…

 

‘For this to happen…’

 

He said he had no bloodsucking desire or experience. My judgment was the same. He said he would be ‘contaminated.’ But why me? Why? My consciousness grew hazy. There was already no life in his eyes. Whether the mana sent out from his heart was leaking straight through the hole, drowsiness came over me. The sky gradually darkened. Haike, the same time, the same reaction, all sorts of thoughts flashed through my head. The end of my thoughts turned again to my friend.

 

“…”

 

Crack―!

 

Blood spurts from Ishmailov’s torn earlobe. I throw away his earring that I had ripped off with all my strength and swallow the blood just as he had done to me. Bright white text begins to flicker before my eyes. I don’t have the capacity to read it.

 

Embracing Ishmailov’s head as if to crush it, I squeeze out all my strength and kick off the ground once more with my feet.

 

Crash―

 

The sound we made when we hit the water was more terrifying than any other sound in nature. The explosive noise from the impact behind my head quickly became muffled. The canal water was cold even in spring.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————