How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 374

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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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How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magic Noble Family (374)

 

Russian.

 

Only unfamiliar language lingered in my ears. Under the falling snow, I walked with half my face buried in a scarf made of layered cloth. An Eastern Orthodox monk who seemed twice my height was visible in the distance, and children in school uniforms were walking in groups of three or four like dots toward the monastery school.

 

Thud—

 

“——колбасник!”

 

Among the long stream of Russian, the only thing I could understand was a derogatory term for Germans. With those words, I lost my balance from a snowball flying from behind.

 

A child at my eye level caught me with both hands as I was about to fall, then quickly shouted in Russian at the children behind. The children who had been following from a distance muttered among themselves. The child in front of me looked at me and spoke haltingly in clumsy German.

 

“The friends here are very mischievous. And it’s cold too.”

 

White breath spread out. The child rolled his eyes and mixed in a few Greek and Russian words, then spoke to me again in hard-to-understand German.

 

“Can you follow me?”

 

I silently looked at that child’s face. He had black hair and blue eyes, but I could tell.

 

I was looking at Mikhail Ismailov’s childhood right before my eyes.

 

* * *

 

With a click, I was sitting somewhere else. It was the place I had been just a few hours ago.

 

Narke standing in the darkness flickered before my eyes. He was waiting patiently for my words with a gentle smile. I spoke quietly with a dreamlike sensation. No, at that time I probably wouldn’t have thought it felt like a dream at all.

 

“Even though you made it so I can’t use my abilities, it seems slightly open, Narke.”

 

“…”

 

“Now I understand why you’re trying to separate Haike from that child.”

 

“Do you?”

 

Narke smiled faintly. For some reason, he was leaning against the balcony looking at me with the face of someone in the calm before a storm. I nodded and looked at the moonlight coming in behind him and his yellow eyes.

 

“Yes. Why you try not to approach that child as much as possible, and why you suddenly became unable to use your insight and foresight abilities.”

 

“…”

 

“Do you remember what it was like on the day of our Eschete launch ceremony banquet?”

 

“I remember. I want to go back to that time.”

 

“When you said your ability range seemed to have expanded, you said it would shrink back down on its own. That you had to do that if you wanted to keep living here.”

 

“I did.”

 

“It’s not that it has to be that way, but what does it mean that you have to do that? It’s the opposite of ‘on its own.'”

 

Why does your trait have an asterisk, and why is there an additional explanation written below that God’s blessing was applied? I swallowed the question that had arisen from the beginning of my relationship with him and continued my earlier words.

 

“Using such contradictory expressions means someone has to be allowed to control your ability. Did you come here after handing over the authority to regulate your ability to the Papacy?”

 

“…”

 

“Ismailov eliminated the Rampage’s Vitriol. And he drew in the pheasant’s magic mass. Where did all the eliminated Vitriol go? Why did the magic mass fluctuate unstably around Ismailov? How could Ismailov, upon first meeting you, say ‘You can read me, can’t you?’ as if he had insight abilities?”

 

The sound of wind is quiet. I looked at Narke with his back to the wind and asked calmly.

 

“You turned off your abilities, didn’t you, Narke?”

 

I looked at that face with only an answerless smile and continued expressionlessly.

 

“So that Ismailov couldn’t arbitrarily share your abilities.”

 

The sound of reels turning. I confess now. I seem unable to escape from what I’ve done all my life.

 

“Teacher.”

 

“Gasp…!”

 

I started up from my seat, convulsing at the heat and presence before my eyes. A 70-month-old child was looking at me with surprised eyes.

 

“You were sleeping.”

 

“Sleep…”

 

The voice is clear. My consciousness, which had been hazy as if veiled, peeled back a layer, and now some sense of reality returned. I frantically felt my throat with trembling hands. It’s not there. Everything is where it should be. Blood is in the blood vessels, magic is in the blood, and flesh is properly attached. I looked at my clean hands without gloves for the first time in a while, confirmed once more that my shirt was completely dry, saw that magic was flowing properly throughout my body, then raised my head.

 

“I…”

 

Everything feels like a dream. Am I dreaming now too? Why am I here? I might have come here without knowing it. Maybe there’s an instinct to return home seeking peace. What’s certain is that my conscious mind has grown a bit larger than my unconscious. Like just before waking from a dream.

 

The water that had entered through my nose and mouth remained nowhere in my airways, esophagus, or lungs. The 70-month-old Leonard, who looked completely different from the grown Antagonist, was holding a candle, and the music flowing from the record player I had left on before falling asleep now felt ironic. Only peace existed here. The extra chapter that came between the crossroads of life and death was like the world after death. Everything I want at this moment is in this place. I looked at the small ghost before me and muttered.

 

“You shouldn’t come in when I’m sleeping, Leo.”

 

When the 70-month-old’s eyes widened, I immediately waved my hand and corrected myself.

 

“Your Highness Leonard.”

 

“I know it’s rude, but I have questions about parts I don’t understand. I want to ask.”

 

This budding magic enthusiast was holding a magic textbook in his other hand. I couldn’t help but remember the days with this child as if they were yesterday. It was a time when I couldn’t pay much attention to Leonard because I was attending occult meetings. I looked out at the darkness outside the window and wiped away the cold sweat that had been on my forehead.

 

“I want to tell you now too.”

 

I felt my head buzzing as I recalled the time I had passed through. Narke, and what about Haike? What about me? Do I open my eyes underwater the moment I return? Is this really my extra chapter? I took a deep breath in the brief respite and looked at him.

 

“I’ll explain next time, Your Highness. Let’s meet in the morning.”

 

If I can enter the extra chapter again next time, morning will come that day. I stroked Leonard’s head and had his secretary take him away.

 

I gripped the thick blanket that had been mine once and opened the extra chapter window. My thoughts spin round and round as if I were in a dream. I can no longer tell what is my fantasy and what is reality, but if this isn’t my dream, there was a place to visit.

 

* * *

 

Before my eyes opened, the first words I uttered were those.

 

“Where’s Haike?”

 

Even making a sound is an ordeal. A strange voice that doesn’t seem like mine. My throat is stiff. My mind was actually clearer when I was in the dream.

 

“Where’s Haike? Where’s Ismailov? The two of them are exactly the same…”

 

Someone covered my mouth. He sent the medical staff out of the room and spoke.

 

“I couldn’t fulfill your request. It was impossible, so even you couldn’t have helped it.”

 

“…”

 

“Fortunately, we pulled you out early so there’s no danger to your life. Once your throat heals, you should be able to leave the hospital.”

 

“Where’s Haike?”

 

Mecklenburg didn’t answer. Instead, he brought up a different topic after a long while.

 

“Even though I said I couldn’t fulfill your request, you don’t seem to have any regrets.”

 

What did I ask for? When I gave him that look, Mecklenburg explained with a face that said he expected this.

 

“Right after we pulled you from the water, you briefly regained consciousness and told me not to report Ismailov. You said there were people who shouldn’t know about this.”

 

“…”

 

“It’s unlikely, but you didn’t drink blood, and you were bitten by that crazy heretic Envoy of the Covenant, so I don’t understand why other people shouldn’t know about it. Anyone can see that Envoy of the Covenant tried to steal your magic to survive in extreme crisis. Just like any Pleroma commonly does. What do you mean didn’t drink blood? Anyone can see he’s a perfect Pleroma.”

 

“…”

 

“I know you didn’t ask me not to talk about Ismailov out of sympathy. You’re not that kind of person. That request must have had a clear intention. Is there something you haven’t told us?”

 

“…”

 

By ‘us’ he must mean the government. Ridiculous. I didn’t even have the energy to sneer and just stared at the bed. Sorry, but I haven’t told anyone and won’t, and I’ll be careful even with my own thoughts. Mecklenburg stayed quiet for a while before speaking.

 

“Right after you fell into the water, I moved to the canal. I lifted all the river water into the sky, and only Count Ismailov was there. In that confused moment, you appeared.”

 

The Antagonist saw the moment I briefly entered the extra chapter and returned. Not important, but. My head was ringing, so when I barely moved my hand, Mecklenburg closed his mouth.

 

“Let’s talk next time. I’d like to see you in good health.”

 

Not long after he left the room, my friends came in. As soon as I faced Elias and Leo, I immediately asked.

 

“Where’s Haike?”

 

“…”

 

“You’re awake, Luca.”

 

Elias smiled with effort in a parched voice.

 

There’s only one thing I want to know. When I stayed quiet without answering and just watched, Elias said quietly.

 

“Haike is still… unconscious.”

 

I looked at Leo behind him as if seeking confirmation. Leo also had no answer. That can’t be right, they must be mistaken about something. Even though these friends knew the scene better than I, who had been asleep, I reflexively thought that way. If only an hour or two had passed, it might make sense that he hadn’t woken up yet…

 

“How many hours have passed?”

 

“It’s been 12 hours now.”

 

“…”

 

When I bolted upright, Elias flicked his hand and pushed me back with magic. Leo said quietly.

 

“There’s no point in going. Do you think we haven’t tried everything?”

 

“…Right. He’s the same. Haike’s core has been stopped the whole time, and we keep injecting magic from outside, but nothing’s changed.”

 

Crash—!

 

I shattered Elias’s magic and got up, speaking incoherently.

 

“…I have to see. Let me see him.”

 

“…”

 

Leo gestured. Following him out of the infirmary, I went up to another floor and stood in front of the room where Haike was. Even though I had already heard what happened, my heart was pounding.

 

“Go in.”

 

Creak—

 

I looked at Haike sleeping as usual and fell silent. Unlike me, who had been lying without any devices, Haike was connected to a respirator. Ulrike was lying beside him with her face buried.

 

“…As you know, when the core is shattered, heart function also drops drastically. It’s the same situation. The core stopped and the heart stopped with it.”

 

“….”

 

My head is gradually clearing.

 

Even so, I don’t know what state of mind brought me back to my hospital room. The possibility of change hasn’t decreased. Rather, it has increased. That means ‘my choice’ was correct, and this flow is also inevitable. To be relieved that the possibility of change hasn’t decreased—it’s almost laughable. It’s a value that doesn’t reflect the safety of others besides myself, and that was clear.

 

Sitting back on my bed, I pressed my forehead and spoke with my eyes closed.

 

“They showed the same reaction. Haike and Ishmailov had core abnormalities at almost the same moment. As if they were attacked remotely. What connection is there between the two?”

 

Haike and Ishmailov. Haike Einsiedel, Mikhail Ismailov…. Remotely, remotely…. Is this Abraham’s doing? But Abraham can push someone off a cliff, but he can’t remotely stop someone’s core. He can make someone cut their own finger, but he doesn’t have an all-purpose button to stop the function of an organ. He could make someone eat cyanide or place a magic shock device on their heart where no one can see….

 

“….”

 

I sat there dazed and asked Leo beside me.

 

“Was there no remaining medicine in the body? A drug with slightly delayed effects, I mean.”

 

“Of course we checked everything, but nothing.”

 

“What about Ishmailov’s body?”

 

“Same thing.”

 

“…Elias. You were with Haike at the end. How was it at the end?”

 

“Just, as soon as I woke up I dragged Julia and barged into Haike’s room. …Since it was the next room. Haike had just woken up and was opening the window. He said he’d be going hunting soon, so I should go to the dining room later and eat well…. Haike said he should eat a lot too. That’s all. Then suddenly he grabbed his core and collapsed. He lost consciousness immediately.”

 

“It must have been very difficult seeing it directly.”

 

“More than you? You even gave your blood to Pleroma.”

 

Elias muttered while looking only at the floor. I gave a faint smile out of courtesy and fell into thought again, muttering.

 

“Why is the damage pattern different? I had my blood sucked but you caught Haike as he collapsed….”

 

“Because Haike isn’t Pleroma. Ishmailov could recover his life force by drinking blood, but Haike can’t.”

 

Elias’s growling voice was full of hostility. I shook my head while fixing my gaze on empty air.

 

“I understand your emotions, but that’s not what I mean. Haike collapsed immediately but Ishmailov didn’t. He had time to tear at my throat. We can consider the time they were attacked identical, but the patterns are different.”

 

At those words, Leo, who had been listening quietly, answered.

 

“Isn’t it because Ishmailov is stronger than Haike?”

 

“…Maybe so. Elias, could you step out for a moment?”

 

Elias calmly nodded, brushed my shoulder with his hand, and went outside. When he left, my eyes met Leo’s.

 

“Are you going to turn back time?”

 

Leo asked without certainty. Not ‘you’re going to turn back time.’

 

I could guess the reason too. It’s not like someone was hit by a falling flowerpot or stabbed by someone’s knife. Avoiding that place and time won’t make Haike’s collapse never happen. Unless we know the culprit behind this incident, turning back time is meaningless, and finding the perpetrator seems very distant for us. I answered as if convincing myself.

 

“Even if it takes months, I have to find them. Find them and turn it back.”

 

Even if it takes months to experience it first and then turn back time, even if I have to live those months again, I need to save a checkpoint in slot 2 just before Haike collapses and find the culprit.

 

‘Why aren’t there enough points.’

 

Why. Usually it gives out countless points, but this time only exactly 5 points. Is the system trying to send me a message through this and the possibility of change? Give up because turning back time won’t solve anything? I held my head.

 

‘How can I give up.’

 

After seeing that trust yesterday? I can’t. Haike is right. You only know by trying until the end. Even if I can’t turn back time, I will find a way to make his core beat again.

 

A long silence flowed. I gathered the magic power scattering around me and asked while exhaling deeply.

 

“What does Narke say?”

 

“Nothing. He has the exact same expression as you. That’s all.”

 

“I need to know if this could be Pleroma’s plan.”

 

The answer to this question can be sufficiently inferred. But I had to hear it clearly. Hear it and hear it again. Because I can only turn back time if I find the culprit.

 

I still pressed my dazed vision with my palm, then exhaled deeply and said clearly.

 

“I should prepare to go out.”

 

* * *

 

“Pleroma didn’t want this either.”

 

Narke’s clear yet dark voice was buried in the wind.

 

“Is your neck okay, Lucas?”

 

“It’s fine. They must have contacted the Papal States and restored the ability.”

 

“With something like this happening, they had no choice.”

 

The Russian snowfall I saw in my dream is vivid in my memory, but what’s before my eyes are Berlin’s spring flowers. I fixed my eyes on the magnolia trees and forsythia blooming in the park across the street and muttered.

 

“Pleroma didn’t want this either—in what sense?”

 

“Too early.”

 

Narke answered briefly. There has been no smile on his face all day. It wasn’t a situation where anyone could smile. No one opened their mouth.

 

I glanced at the petals being trampled under my feet and opened the Extra Chapter window. Earlier I was too distracted to read it properly. What I read right after falling into the river was definitely Ishmailov’s Extra Chapter, so I need to confirm that.

 

[ Extra Chapter ]

 

[ Stage 1: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! ]

 

[ Stage 2: Turn away from your sins and live according to law and righteousness ]

 

[ Stage 3: ― ]

 

…

 

―

 

[ S Stage 1: He was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil ]

 

[ S Stage ■ : ■■■■■■…. ]

 

S Stage 1.

 

Abraham’s stage was pushed down and one more was created. But it’s almost gray by itself. I looked at the stage name and frowned slightly, then called it inwardly.

 

“….”

 

It was quiet.

 

The child I saw in the new Extra Chapter I briefly entered after drinking his blood was definitely Mikhail Ismailov. Ishmailov spent his childhood at a Russian Orthodox monastery school, his hair wasn’t white, his eyes weren’t either, and he had upright character and good relationships with classmates enough to stand up to bullies who used slurs against foreigners. That such a person became like this is because of Pleroma. I know. That’s why his Extra Chapter is important….

 

Crucially, I can’t enter it.

 

‘I confirmed his face and was immediately ejected.’

 

Right after, it moved to memories of the conversation with Narke. Right, seeing it’s in the S Stage slot, I expect it won’t be easy. Then is the duration determined by the amount of blood I drank, or can I no longer enter?

 

What’s important is this. What happened to Haike is the beginning. Not the end, but just a preview of what will happen to this country. Whether this incident is Pleroma’s doing or not, if Ishmailov is somehow related to this event, though I suspect it happened neither by Ishmailov’s will nor his ability, if today’s incident is a butterfly effect born from him, I’m prepared to spend years in the Extra Chapter with Ishmailov.

 

Even if I want that, it probably won’t be allowed.

 

“He says he will meet with Ernst first.”

 

An elderly servant looked between us and spoke. I nodded to the servant and looked at Narke.

 

“Wait here.”

 

“Okay.”

 

This place is still the same. In the neo-Renaissance hall where shoe heels echo loudly enough to be annoying, the emblems of the Kingdom of Prussia still hang everywhere. The combination of eagles and black-white-red always makes me nauseous.

 

The old servant turned to me and said calmly.

 

“This way, Ernst.”

 

Of course. I’ve been here before, so I know. I looked ahead silently, lost in thought. The servant stood before the massive door and spoke loudly.

 

“Your Highness, Nicolaus Ernst has arrived.”

 

[Let him in.]

 

Creak―

 

I looked at the blonde hair visible through the opening door. Sitting with his back to the light, he curved his eyes gently.

 

“Good to see you. Am I the prime suspect?”

 

I answered expressionlessly.

 

“How could that be. You overestimate your power when you lack the ability.”

 

“That’s hurtful to hear.”

 

“Instead, I’ll acknowledge that you’re an active bystander.”

 

“….”

 

“Did your prophet tell you to do so? It’s somewhat disappointing.”

 

I mean the prophet who said strange things to me about Abel, Rosalind, and whatnot. When I brought up Daniel, Abraham clasped his hands together and waited for my words with a gentle smile. I leaned back fully against the backrest, crossed my legs, and interlaced my fingers on top. Though it wasn’t a respectful attitude, Abraham only looked at me with interest. Fine by me. I’m also feeling a different kind of curiosity toward this bastard right now. I continued slowly.

 

“‘Your Highness must have goals you haven’t told me about, and you’ll need me to accomplish them.’ Those were our first words. You’ll remember. If you want to see the picture you desire, you’ll have to help me win.”

 

“….”

 

“Instead of watching from beginning to end while knowing what will happen, like now.”

 

“Through trials, humans become strong. Only through hardship can one become a master that no ordinary person can approach.”

 

I twisted my unmoving facial muscles into a smile.

 

“You seem quite weak, so let me give you a trial.”

 

“A trial.”

 

“Sorrow follows fast upon the heels of sorrow.”

 

Abraham’s face froze with the same expression as before. He unclasped his hands and tapped his fingers.

 

“You understand it’s a magic formula that annihilates souls, don’t you? It’s the spell used right after the Pleroma recruitment target you were handling left your grasp.”

 

“Beatrix Maria Österreichestes….”

 

“Since I gain nothing from this, there’s no reason I should be used to achieve your goals, is there? Let’s end this perfectly so that when you truly need me, you won’t be able to use me in any way.”

 

Abraham burst into laughter and shook his head.

 

“It’s a bluff. Hmm…. Should I just tell you what I know about the Covenant’s Emissary?

 

“Would that really be sufficient?”

 

“….”

 

Abraham artificially raised the corners of his mouth. I followed suit with a fishy smile and tilted my head.

 

“Hand Daniel over to me.”

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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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