How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 389

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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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Let me get my bearings.

 

What am I doing here right now? This thought comes from being unable to think properly.

 

In front of me now stands a cathedral building made of old bricks, and the spring breeze brushes past the front of my robe. The air now carries the scent of grass. And I am…

 

“Hah…”

 

“Out of breath?”

 

A gloomy voice comes from beside me. Right now Elias is saying something so obvious while hoping I’ll give him an answer that suits his taste. Despite this unreasonableness, I tried to speak clearly, word by word.

 

“How could I not be out of breath?”

 

“Can someone who’s supposedly part of the Papal Guard not carry 90kg for even an hour?”

 

“Are you crazy? Even 40kg would be tiring to carry around for an hour!”

 

It wouldn’t even take an hour. I’d be looking for a place to sit down within 5 minutes. I grabbed and pulled at the thick forearm wrapped around my neck, scrunching up my nose. Narke stopped and turned around with an ambiguous smile.

 

“Let’s have him come down now, Elias.”

 

“Right! So saying you’re out of breath was my mistake. You still have the energy to yell and you’re still lively.”

 

At Elias’s words, I felt all the strength drain from my body.

 

By the way, 90kg… He definitely doesn’t look that heavy. Espers weigh a bit more on average than Humans for the same height, so let’s subtract about 5kg. Even so, for a Human height of about 185cm, 85kg is quite heavy. My head is spinning, so now useless thoughts are following one after another. As if thinking about other things could somehow break through this situation.

 

As if he knew I was thinking about weight—no, what could he really know? He was probably just guessing—Elias pinched my neck and scolded me.

 

“This is muscle, you know?! I worked hard to build it!”

 

“Who said anything?! Hah…”

 

I barely managed to build up my own weight and he’s not even teasing me, this guy really… Compared to Elias, I’m practically just bones, so if he says things like this, I can’t help but get annoyed.

 

‘At least I’m lucky my bones are strong since I’m an Esper.’

 

I can feel that the strength of my bones is different from when I was Human. Of course, that doesn’t mean they’re optimized for carrying Elias around all day. It means Elias’s bones might be more intact when I slam him down.

 

“The ground is caving in. Luca, try digging the ground with magic.”

 

“That’s not really…”

 

I stopped, feeling like sweat was getting in my eyes. Then I gestured to Narke for understanding and turned around.

 

It’s hot. How can it be this hot at the end of March? Is it time to stop wearing robes and just wear cassocks? The end of March—just thinking about this time period used to give me chills because of international affairs, but now I just want to throw Elias off.

 

“Luca, where are you going?”

 

From the moment I turned around instead of continuing on our path, Elias, who had his legs supported around my waist, kicked my legs with his shoe heels and asked. This guy must have some intuition too. He seemed to know something felt off.

 

“Behind the building.”

 

“Why?”

 

Why?

 

Thud—!

 

“Ugh! Ahhh~”

 

Elias, who hit his head on the grass, screamed. I lay sprawled on top of Elias—actually, I was just lying in the same position as before—and took a deep breath. White, chunky clouds drifted lazily and a flock of pigeons spread their long feathers and glided. The sky stretched above me.

 

‘Now I feel like I can live.’

 

I don’t know how I carried this for over an hour. I took off my robe and waited for the wind to cool my sweat. Elias shouted noisily from behind my head.

 

“Luca, no! How can you fall backwards… Even if I’m behind you, weren’t you scared?!”

 

“Being scared is one thing, but having to carry you around all day makes me see white.”

 

Still, I was prepared. From the moment I decided to use free operation, I knew this guy would cling to me like a sloth. If Elias didn’t eat something, or look for alcohol, or cling to me, I’d feel disappointed at this point.

 

Elias, who was breathing in, made a dying sound because of my weight. I considered putting more force on his ribcage but generously moved aside. In that moment, Elias exhaled deeply and then jumped on top of me again.

 

“Ah!”

 

Please! I’m dying of heat. I threw off Elias, who was trying to sit on me, and got up. No, when I tried to do that, Elias quickly grabbed the part of my robe with the brooch.

 

“You can’t abandon me, Luca.”

 

“I won’t abandon you!”

 

I was about to hold my head but instead thickened the magic forming my mask and looked up at the sky. The errand boy was leaning against the window frame with a surprised face, watching us.

 

“…”

 

This is exactly what a Cardinal does well. I checked whether the sound-blocking magic I now habitually wore was properly in place—it was—and smiled and waved at the child.

 

When the child disappeared in surprise, I grabbed Elias by the collar, lifted him up, and patted his shoulder.

 

“Why would I abandon you? I just wanted to give you a break. But… try to hold off on the alcohol.”

 

“Right, you’re confident we can get out quickly?! You and Narke seem to have almost identified the suspect.”

 

We’ve identified them, but no one is saying out loud that we should go beat up that suspect. Why is that? First, it’s nearly impossible for us to prepare first and leisurely invade someone’s base to beat up the culprit like we did in Munich-Freising. We need to devise a new strategy here. And next…

 

“Elias, I’ve been thinking, maybe it would be better to stay here a bit longer.”

 

At those words, Elias tilted his head. He was clearly trying to convey the meaning of ‘why?’ and I would have asked the same thing.

 

“Right now, I’m officially on sick leave after being mauled by Ishmailov. Honestly, I don’t know if it’s okay as a Royal Mage to be in the hospital all the time. Anyway, when I return, I’ll be processed as discharged. You and Narke are officially on mission according to the Papacy’s request. Right now, Eschete’s net is empty.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“To avoid being swept up in external turmoil of any kind, it’s better to remain in a state where we can’t be mobilized for government plans. Let’s investigate everything we need to investigate here, then perfectly save Haike and leave.”

 

“…”

 

Elias turned his gaze from me to the grass and calmly nodded.

 

“…Right. That would be better. Even though there’s no alcohol… How many chances will we get to be under the Papacy’s protection?”

 

“That’s what I’m saying. I’m glad you’re going along with it.”

 

“I can’t sell safety for mere alcohol. No matter how much I like drinking, I’m not that far gone.”

 

“Right, I know that well.”

 

I already know well that Elias is excellent at making sound judgments. Isn’t he the one who acts up but then changes completely as if nothing happened? I smiled and patted his back. Elias grinned in response to my encouragement and whispered.

 

“Besides… I already brought a hip flask.”

 

“…”

 

“If you need it, just say so, Luca. I’d gladly give you half a bottle of whiskey.”

 

“Thanks…”

 

Half a bottle, no less. His heart is so boundlessly big I don’t know what to say. As I was contemplating whether to tell on him to Narke while taking a deep breath from my core, Elias unusually said something serious.

 

“More importantly, what if the culprit flees? Since Haike collapsed yesterday, wouldn’t it be better to attack today?”

 

“That’s meaningless. Since they didn’t come directly to attack us but launched a remote attack, there’s a high possibility they’re already hiding somewhere we can’t find and attacking from there.”

 

“Hmm, right. Since we’re on the topic, let me ask one thing.”

 

“I’m hungry because I haven’t eaten, Elias. Let’s go to the dining hall before meal time ends.”

 

Then Elias pulled out a handful of candy from his pocket. What kind of magic did he cast on his pocket… There was nothing like that when I just crashed him to the ground. I unwrapped a white candy first and put it in my mouth.

 

Elias watched me and asked seriously.

 

“What’s your basis for connecting remote attacks with the Holy Relic? ‘Remote’ could also work if someone has a special unique ability like my cousin. Getting closer to the truth is good, but I’d like to know the reasoning.”

 

“As you said, if it’s remote, there are only two possible options: unique abilities and some unknown artifact that the French side got their hands on. In this case, unique abilities have infinite possibilities, so we can’t even use the process of elimination. If we gather more clues, I decided to look for the latter first, which we can connect like puzzle pieces.”

 

Elias nodded for me to continue. And we’ve been through two extra chapters. We gathered everything from the beginning of the case from scratch and came back here.

 

“But… strangely, reasonable circumstances were discovered on the latter side.”

 

I need to tell the story of my time with Helga Brandt at the end. I couldn’t do that. Since Elias was still waiting for me to continue, I shook my head.

 

“I’m still wondering if I made forced reasoning to fit the pieces.”

 

It’s something I’m always wary of. If I don’t examine whether I’m relying on confirmation bias, eventually all information will seem to prove the hypothesis I initially set up. The error of firmly believing that waves didn’t come because the village chief performed the ritual with utmost sincerity, when actually the wind blew in the opposite direction and the waves didn’t roll in, is not so far away even in human history. The error of gathering only favorable clues and reasoning despite clearly unfavorable possibilities—the possibility of unique abilities that could completely mystify the case—is the same. I’m right at that crisis now, and Elias also questioned whether I summoned the Holy Relic in a way that was convenient for my thinking.

 

To explain why I brought the Holy Relic into this in a way they can understand, one mention is enough for now. This question alone can reveal why I designated the Holy Relic thief as the culprit of this case.

 

“Why Haike and Ishmailov? Why didn’t anyone else besides those two suffer damage? Setting aside the possibility of coincidence and thinking only of inevitability?”

 

“…?”

 

Elias looked at me with a face asking what nonsense I was talking about, then soon exhaled deeply.

 

“…Ah, right. So that’s how it flowed. Okay! Don’t say more.”

 

Elias’s finger came right up to my mouth. I looked at the hand he spread out meaning to be quiet and shrugged my shoulders. Elias asked with a triumphant face.

 

“I’m fast, right?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Faster than Leo?”

 

“Hmm…”

 

That’s about right. At least in terms of having an insanely open mind that easily accepts anything. I was about to answer that way, but Elias was already muttering to himself.

 

“If we dig into this wrong, won’t this lead to war? Can’t we just secretly find out how to save Haike and learn only that? I prefer making things bigger, but this time… it’s a bit different.”

 

“I don’t know either. Let’s ask Narke, who has precognitive abilities, about what might happen.”

 

There was no time to ask.

 

Because of the long struggle with Elias, there were only 10 minutes left for meal time, and I had to drink only soup and enter the meeting place. Elias, who efficiently used even those 10 minutes to devour a plate of steak, stuffed my pockets full of candy—how did he know there were pockets in the cassock, his observation skills are good—but it wasn’t much help.

 

This meeting was supposed to be where the Bishops and we two Vatican Cardinals shared and discussed our reasoning, but it consisted almost entirely of their one-sided questions and our answers.

 

“Then Your Eminence, we’re really curious about what technology they melted into the Holy Relic.”

 

“As I mentioned, if our reasoning is correct, they probably imbued it with the ability to destroy someone’s core.”

 

When I answered that way, I felt Narke’s gaze. He soon looked at the other Bishops. The other Bishops didn’t react like Narke and were watching me.

 

‘…Or that Holy Relic itself gained certain abilities from Ion Forso onward.’

 

It would be good if I could find an extra chapter from the appropriate year.

 

As I was saying that, a thought suddenly occurred to me and I opened my mouth, but when Narke started looking at me, I quickly voiced what I needed to say.

 

“The skull of Saint Helene is also a holy relic. I know this may sound blasphemous, but bones are good for making artifacts. But there must be a reason why they only took items related to Jesus Christ and not the remains of other saints. What exactly is the Papacy’s position on the relationship between the Arma Christi and divine power?”

 

“The Arma Christi, you say. Like most holy relics, they are objects where the purest magic, that is, divine power, can fully manifest its true value.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

If I were to ask about the basis for that… I wouldn’t hear the answer I want. If I asked in the middle of Christians ‘Why do you think the instruments used in Jesus’s passion contain the highest purity magic artifacts’… there would be nothing to hear except that it was because they were instruments of Jesus’s passion. While that might be a good religious answer, as someone who wants to delve into the principles, I honestly want to hear a more magical academic answer. Why they had to take the nails instead of the skull.

 

‘Are the cathedral thieves also the type obsessed with prophecies about covenant messengers and such?’

 

So they decided to collect the instruments used when Jesus suffered? As I remained silent in this uncertainty, the Archbishop gestured to the deacon standing beside him. The deacon went to another room and appeared carrying an antique wooden box.

 

“Here, this is a wand made from part of the remains of the previous Pope.”

 

“…”

 

“Please try using it once.”

 

The Archbishop gestured to me. The wand clearly had an atmosphere that not just anyone could hold, especially seeing the thinly crafted platinum leaves and thorn stems above the handle. It definitely wasn’t something to hold during combat but was clearly ceremonial. I stopped my rude speculation about how much money went into decorating this wand and carefully received it.

 

‘…Hmm.’

 

It felt good from the start. As soon as I gripped it, the magic in my hand flowed into the wand like riding the wind. It seemed to quickly take root in my heart. When I extended my hand and lightly waved the wand, Narke hastily rose from his seat, changed his wand to a staff, and struck down.

 

Kwaang―! Kwagwagwang―

 

“…!”

 

Light burst like fireworks in the air and poured down. The people sitting exclaimed and hastily dodged. Just now Narke’s divine power and my divine power collided. I squinted and slowly lowered the arm that had been covering my face. The wand I had been holding was now in Narke’s hands, his face pale as a sheet. The Archbishop asked with a bewildered expression.

 

“Your Excellency Farnese?”

 

“…Count Ernst must not carelessly use holy objects.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“There’s already a precedent. He nearly blew up St. Peter’s Basilica.”

 

Narke smiled with an expression asking for understanding, showed me the wand, then handed it to the bishop. At those words, the Archbishop looked confused. I too broke out in a cold sweat again thinking of what happened on the day of ordination.

 

“Ahem, I see. Then Your Excellency Ernst, now you can probably guess the power of artifacts made from the Arma Christi. That wand was made calculating the optimal ratio for magic resonance. But I don’t think we can completely ignore the fact that it contains holy objects. Though Count Ernst has already said everything, it seems to me they’ve found a converter that can amplify abilities dozens of times over.”

 

“…”

 

Right. Whatever the principle, there’s no way to prove it, and the Arma Christi will have even better effects. I understand well. I think it might be good to consider other angles too, but for now.

 

Regardless of what I was thinking, the Archbishop stood up holding the wand.

 

“Of course, the user’s ability is also important. Let me try some magic.”

 

Whoosh―

 

The Archbishop smoothly flicked the wand using his wrist like conducting. Only light flowed from the tip of the wand. It sharply cut through the air like sunlight piercing through darkness and scattered. The bishop showed completely different control from when I had waved the wand earlier and spoke with determination.

 

“As you can see, there’s a clear difference. I cannot use magic as pure as Count Ernst’s. Moreover, those who aren’t even clergy, no matter how much they’ve stolen from the cathedral, won’t easily achieve their purpose.”

 

At those words, Narke and I made eye contact.

 

* * *

 

“So His Excellency the Archbishop believes there’s hope. ‘Surely they couldn’t have harmed anyone with that, if we recover it as soon as possible, the cathedral won’t be contaminated by the wicked motives of evil people.'”

 

“Right.”

 

“But it seems clear that those who stole it have already attacked Haike and Ishmailov.”

 

“Hmm, that’s right. Though there’s insufficient physical evidence…”

 

Narke is also being cautious about potentially biased thinking like Elias and me. Narke stopped firmly in front of our room and took out his notebook to tell us today’s schedule.

 

“We have to go meet Ishmailov later. Leo, Julia, and Ulrike are also coming together, so organize all your questions beforehand, and let’s meet again before dinner.”

 

“Dinner? Let’s have a conversation together before that.”

 

“Ah, right. But I’m going to my room now. I think Elias has hidden some alcohol.”

 

Ah… Already caught. Too bad. I smiled and entered my room.

 

‘But why did they tell us to protect Elias?’

 

What does the Papacy know? The Leviathan cutting through the sea with white foam, Lilli Lebendro, successor magic extraction, Narke… All the information gathered so far isn’t connected yet and is scattered everywhere. None of this is unnecessary. Rather, more information needs to be gathered to solve the additional questions that arose from connections. Can’t I try making some connections with what I’ve found out so far?

 

Thud―

 

“Squeak!”

 

When I took off my robe and carelessly threw it on the desk, a strange sound came out. I froze for a moment, then quickly threw the robe toward the coat hanger and picked up what was underneath.

 

“Fai.”

 

“Lucas!”

 

The grayish-brown bundle spun around on my hand. I smiled awkwardly and greeted him.

 

“It’s been a while.”

 

Has it really been a while? The time in the extra chapters was long, so now I’m confused. Countless pieces of information are swirling around chaotically in my head. Fortunately, Fai interrupted my confusion and answered.

 

“Right! We should meet every single day!”

 

“Yes, that’s right. But now I’ll have more time with Narke, so I’ll be able to spend time with you too.”

 

Since Fai follows Narke around. When I was at school, I often played with him, but basically I don’t have time these days. When time with him disappears, naturally time to meet Fai also decreases.

 

And as of yesterday, or perhaps from several weeks ago, I’ve needed to talk with Fai. I carefully sat at the desk and asked while looking at the pile of stones that had just begun to establish its foundation.

 

“Fai. I’ve been curious about this for a long time, let me ask just one thing.”

 

“Mmm?”

 

“Since when have you been able to communicate with Narke?”

 

“Since I was born~! But why?!”

 

“Since you were born as a new rabbit, or… since you were born spiritually?”

 

“I was born.”

 

“I know, you are you.”

 

I smiled and handed Fai the grass he had brought. Fai touched the grass to check its moisture, then grabbed it with both feet and ate.

 

“Then, Fai. Besides me and Narke, was there no one else you could communicate with?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“But what do you think is the reason your words can be heard by me?”

 

I keep returning to the beginning. I’m now asking Fai one of the many questions I wanted to ask Narke.

 

“Umm…”

 

Fai just mumbled, whether he was distracted by eating or didn’t know the reason. I continued speaking while watching such Fai.

 

“I thought Narke didn’t know the reason either, but now I’m starting to think that might not be the case.”

 

“Right! Narke knows everything.”

 

“Knows everything?”

 

“Yeah. But doesn’t know everything.”

 

“…”

 

Are you a sphinx? I leaned one side of my head against the desk and exhaled deeply.

 

“In what sense doesn’t he know?”

 

“He doesn’t know what people want him to know. So everyone has a lot of worries. Narke says it’s okay, but people bother Narke so I didn’t like it either.”

 

“…”

 

“Does Lucas like Narke?”

 

“Of course.”

 

Then I can see Fai’s ears and whiskers twitching. I don’t know exactly what it means, but it probably means he’s happy. I quietly continued speaking.

 

“He was like a Cheshire cat friend.”

 

“…Cats aren’t good!”

 

“Ah… sorry. You would think so.”

 

“No~! But why ‘was’? Isn’t he like a cat now?”

 

“…”

 

The cat isn’t the important part.

 

Anyway, right now I’m not sure if I know or don’t know. I don’t know what I can define him as. No, maybe that’s why he’s still like that… I wanted to say that, but it wasn’t a story that would help Fai. Perhaps it was taken as meaning I was tired, as Fai put his feet on my eyes.

 

“Take a nap!”

 

“I don’t have time for that.”

 

I don’t have time for that, but fatigue is washing over me from the neck wound that still hasn’t fully healed since Ishmailov bit me. Maybe it was also from carrying Elias for a whole hour. I took out a couple of elixirs that Leo always packed from my clutch, drank them, and closed my eyes.

 

* * *

 

I don’t know how long I slept. As I bolted upright and inhaled, I felt the people standing around me step back.

 

“Gasp…!”

 

“Ah.”

 

Narke was looking down at me with wide eyes. Elias, who had been doing something to my hair, was also surprised and stepped back with his hands spread.

 

“I came to cover you with a blanket. Sorry.”

 

“Did Luca have a nightmare?”

 

I looked at them for a while then shook my head.

 

“No. Is it time to go meet Ishmailov?”

 

“No, not yet! You haven’t even eaten!”

 

Looking at it now, I hadn’t even slept for 30 minutes. I held my head and closed my eyes, muttering.

 

“Right… fine. I had something I needed to ask you two.”

 

I needed to hear exactly how the relationship between soul, magic, and body worked, and what other outrageous statements they’d make about Moby Dick. Every time I thought about the Extra Chapter, the thought that I needed to gather information as quickly as possible dominated my mind.

 

My expression must have been strange because Elias frowned and brought his face closer to mine.

 

“Luca, it seems like you had a dream. You dreamed something weird.”

 

“Right. I had a dream.”

 

What I last experienced in the Extra Chapter still remained with me. I just dreamed about it. What’s so difficult about that? When I readily admitted it, Elias looked at me suspiciously.

 

“That’s why I want to establish all hypotheses as quickly as possible. Elias, you connected Moby Dick’s sea monster to the Ishmailov and Haike incident.”

 

At those words, now Narke narrowed his eyes. I glanced at him and turned my gaze away. Conversely, Elias seriously corrected his expression and nodded.

 

“Yeah, I did.”

 

“Could you explain it to me?”

 

“It’s nothing special. That Ishmailov is like this Ishmael.”

 

I rolled my eyes at those words and asked.

 

“…Elias. I get that, but the protagonist of Moby Dick and the whale that appears in it aren’t the same being.”

 

Was it hard for me to understand this friend’s words because I just woke up? I wondered if I should have asked Narke about the relationship between soul and body first. Elias, emboldened by my silence, made an expression that created tension and spoke solemnly.

 

“Right, that exact point is the problem. What if Ishmailov is both Ishmael and Leviathan?”

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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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