How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 396
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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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6 Ludwigstr.
To German eyes, this would immediately stand out as wrong.
[Hong Gil-dong
Jongno-gu, Seoul Special City, Republic of Korea
85 Cheonggyecheon-ro]
In Korean terms, it’s no different from writing an address like the above. Of course, it’s still understandable, and if the writer was an old person, a foreigner, or just wrote down what they heard, the order doesn’t really matter. They could write it backwards too. Even if I found a memo like this after returning to the 21st century, I wouldn’t fail to find the address. Same goes for them. They might wonder for a second why it was written this way, but it’s not serious enough to nitpick every detail about why it was written backwards. After all, isn’t the very existence of this letter containing false information a far more serious and grave problem?
So what made the reception room’s atmosphere turn cold just now?
“….”
Emanuel Wittelsbach took out a fresh cigarette instead of the one he had politely stubbed out in the ashtray earlier and lit it. He inhaled deeply into his lungs, then exhaled long and slowly. Whooooo… At that soul-crushing sound, we all glanced at Emanuel. After seeing only cigar smokers lately, it was refreshing for me to see someone rotting their insides with cigarettes.
When the Chairman looked at us nervously and moved his lips, Emanuel laughed in a subdued voice.
“Isn’t there a possibility they’re British? That would be happier news.”
“Your Highness seems to already know the answer.”
“….”
Would they be British?
Which of those two options seems like the right answer? Isn’t it obvious? Emanuel Wittelsbach knows better than anyone except me who stole the sapphire Peruer, doesn’t he? We both must have had the same thought. Emanuel’s expression gradually hardened like stone. Leaving him be, I asked the Chairman.
“Chairman Ptolemaeus, but why did you organize the bookshelf yesterday?”
“Ah, I was taking out an unused safe to store Christian relics… The room was quite cluttered, so I did a thorough cleaning.”
“So you read the letter after acquiring the relic.”
“That’s right. I discovered the relic the day before yesterday morning, took out the safe and stored it, then thoroughly cleaned the room yesterday dawn. I urgently contacted members to find the owner of the holy relic, and around 3 o’clock sent a warp mail to Emanuel’s secretary office.”
Both slow and fast. Makes me want to say ‘why bother.’
I muttered to myself and smiled. Emanuel, who had been holding his head, spoke quietly.
“Chairman Ptolemaeus, this might be a rude request, but could you excuse us for a moment?”
“Ah, yes. Please make yourselves comfortable. Shall I have tea brought?”
“That would be appreciated. If possible, please make it with liqueur.”
“….”
I narrowed my eyes and looked at Emanuel in disbelief. The Chairman also left the room with a puzzled expression. If it were Leo, I would have cut him off, but I couldn’t do that with this person. Leo’s rank is certainly one level higher, but anyway. Besides, Leo wouldn’t make such an order in the first place.
“Well, now it’s just us.”
He rested his arm on the sofa and tilted his head back. Then he just puffed away at his cigarette in that uncomfortable position. When his breath, close to sighing, repeated for the third time, I considered chopping his neck, but fortunately he spoke first.
“My neck will get holes in it, Count Ernst.”
“I was hoping for something nutritious to say. What do you think I’m thinking right now?”
“Thinking of chopping my neck?”
“….”
“I’m joking.”
“I suppose so. I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t speak.”
Then Emanuel burst into cheerful laughter as if addressing a friend. Even though I’m not Lukas Everett right now, somehow that feeling from back then brushed past me, and I silently turned my head. Just then, a servant came in pushing a trolley and set down a wine bottle with a red label and two glasses. Emanuel looked at the brand and muttered.
“Cream sherry. How thoughtful.”
“It’s amazing that a request for tea with liqueur gets interpreted this way.”
Upgrading orders on their own – what a bad habit to develop. He’s in his 40s but seems unchanged from his 20s in this regard. I watched half-resignedly as the servant poured sherry into the glasses. When he left, I received Emanuel’s piercing gaze and placed my hand on the glass, sending divine power through it. Just in case, I inserted a drug testing stick I always carry, but there was no particular reaction. Good. Nothing problematic will happen here. When I offered the glass to Emanuel, he tilted the rim slightly as if toasting and said.
“What an honor to drink alcohol personally purified by His Excellency Nicolaus Ernst.”
“Is that so.”
I won’t drink. When I shook my head slightly with that meaning, he sipped the sherry alone. After alternately savoring the sherry and cigarette, he spoke in a subdued voice after a while.
“So some Frenchman sent a letter full of lies about me to the Hermetic Society Chairman long ago. The very person who stole Osterreicheste’s jewel.”
“That seems highly likely.”
“And something presumed to be a ‘holy relic’ appeared the day before yesterday at the Hermetic Society founded by that Osterreicheste.”
He was trusting that I would make good use of the information I read in the labyrinth and was streaming his consciousness freely. Thanks to that, I had to consider where I should respond appropriately. I had to exclude anything that didn’t fall into the intersection of information read from Emanuel’s labyrinth and information obtained as Lukas Everett.
“And the jewel and holy relic were stolen simultaneously. Even if that holy relic and this holy relic are different, there’s still a fishy story connecting them. Isn’t that right? There are plenty of matters to connect and connect again.”
“That’s right.”
I replied while spinning the wine bottle to read the letters on the label. Emanuel, perhaps finding me annoying, grabbed my shoulder and spoke seriously.
“We need to deduce. Now, Count Ernst. If you can’t trust the sherry here, let’s go out together. Let’s go out and solve the case.”
“Yes… You sound like some private detective. I must solve this case even without Your Highness’s request.”
To complete the mission given by the Papal States, and to save Haike who’s at death’s door.
When I answered without looking at him, Emanuel said quietly.
“You look tired.”
“Not at all.”
I was sincere. I wasn’t tired in the least. He stared at my face intently, then nodded as if that made sense too. He took a refreshing sip as if the sherry were the elixir of life and spoke.
“So Count Ernst. Is there more information you need to obtain here? I’m waiting for you right now.”
“Of course.”
I carefully examined the letter I received from the Chairman again. Discolored, mottled yellowed paper – both envelope and contents equally discolored. The sealing wax allows the crest stamped on it to be recognized, but it seems crushed by the weight of books. Good pen used – not a single spot where ink leaked, clumped, or broke in the main text, beautiful German cursive, slight address error. Among numerous sentences, just one catches the eye. ‘Sie sollten wissen, dass dies eine großartige chance für Sie ist!’ Going well then acting up again?
‘Just do one thing properly.’
I read through the letter and rang the bell on the table. The servant outside came in and stood beside me.
“Could you call the Chairman?”
“Yes.”
He quickly brought the Chairman from outside. His gaze went to Emanuel’s glass, and it seemed certain he would talk about the sherry, so I smiled and spoke.
“The sherry was appreciated. Could you call the servant who found the letter?”
“The servant. Yes, I’ll do that.”
The Chairman gestured to the servant. Perhaps because they had to be woken at dawn, it took a bit longer this time. A young Human came in with a puzzled expression and stood beside us. I cast a soundproofing spell around us excluding the Chairman, and quickly took the initiative, worried the servant might launch into a lengthy greeting about what an honor it was.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Nicolaus Ernst. This is His Highness Emanuel Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria. Before we get into the main discussion, what is your name?”
“Helen Bexler.”
“Good. I’m sorry to wake you from sleep, but an important question has arisen and we need Bexler’s help. I heard you found this letter while organizing the bookshelf yesterday. Could you explain the process of finding this letter in more detail?”
The servant hesitated between finishing the interrupted greeting or following my request, then spoke.
“Ah, yes. Master’s room has three bookshelves…”
Emanuel raised his eyebrow as if asking whether she was really explaining from there, but I nodded to continue.
“They hadn’t been organized for nearly ten years, so he requested cleaning this time. Ah, Master doesn’t like anyone touching things in his study. So there was quite a lot of stuff. Um, I’m not sure how much to explain… When I took out everything from the fourth row of the third bookshelf, the innermost one, this was found between books. So I put it on top of the letter storage box. It had what looked like a mark from the Ministry of Education, so I thought it was an old bill, but I guess it wasn’t.”
“I see. It was stuck between books?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“If Master dislikes people touching things in his room, who do you think put that letter there?”
“Either Master from long ago or… the secretary, I think.”
“Good. Could I know the book’s title?”
“It was World Geography Encyclopedia. Since it wasn’t a single volume, I remembered it. It was heavy.”
“An encyclopedia… Excuse me for a moment.”
I placed my hand on her forehead and muttered.
―Enter through the narrow gate.
Instantly the servant’s eyes went blank. I looked at the frighteningly dilated black pupils and asked.
“Bexler. You said you found this letter in the bookshelf yesterday.”
“….”
She blinked like someone falling asleep, then moved her lips and nodded.
“You knew of this letter’s existence even before finding it in the bookshelf. Is that correct?”
This time she shook her head. She seemed to try to say something but no voice came out.
“Have you ever touched or handled the newly discovered rosary relic?”
Again she shook her head.
“Have you felt this magical power I’m flowing before?”
The servant shook her head again. I withdrew my hand and recalled the divine power.
“Good. Thank you for your cooperation.”
“…What just happened…?”
I smiled at the servant and broke the soundproofing spell. Then I asked the Chairman sitting in the front chair.
“Chairman. Do you know what book the letter was found in?”
“Yes, of course. I also asked where this letter came from after seeing it.”
“I’d like to see that book.”
The Chairman readily had a servant bring the book. The book the servant brought was an encyclopedia as the servant had said. Her mouth wasn’t running independently. I flipped through the dictionary with slightly discolored edges and said.
“It’s worn.”
“We purchased it about 10 years ago. That’s probably why.”
“Chairman, I’ll try not to ask overly obvious questions. Instead, I have something I’m curious about.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“Sometimes stones have special properties, don’t they? There are people who believe in such things.”
“Ah, yes. Of course. It’s not just belief—it’s real.”
“….”
Rather than voice my doubts and ruin the atmosphere, I simply nodded.
“Do relics sometimes have spiritual functions as well?”
At those words, the Chairman’s eyes sharpened. He looked at me with exceptionally clear and strong eyes, then nodded seriously.
“Of course. Let me give you an example. Here, this is a pen I’ve been using for five years. You could say this pen has my soul melted into it.”
“Why?”
“I’ve made countless contracts with this pen that brought me to this position. So wouldn’t you say my soul has melted into it?”
“…Ye… Yes?”
I was so dumbfounded that even my pronunciation got twisted. But I could accept this much. I nodded and listened attentively to the Chairman’s words. The Chairman took out a watch from inside his jacket and opened the cover to show us.
“And this watch was passed down to me by my late mentor. This watch has been with us for so long that it’s become a kind of spiritual artifact. In the East, they call it ‘qi’—the qi of this watch resonates with my qi. The soul has melted into the object.”
“….”
“I see. How interesting.”
Instead of me, who couldn’t easily speak up, Emmanuel smiled and responded. Seeing the Chairman’s face brighten, Emmanuel flicked his hand and continued.
“That object emits invisible energy that affects our bodies and minds. Is that right?”
“Exactly! The object’s inherent qi mixes with the qi we give to that object, creating an interaction with us. It’s the same principle. Relics possess even more powerful forces. Most notably, the Arma Christi are known to possess powers related to their purpose when used by Jesus.”
At those words, I briefly signaled for him to pause and asked.
“‘Known to’? Known to whom?”
“To us occult researchers.”
The Chairman, perhaps worried his words might sound absurd, immediately continued.
“Occult studies are both the foundation and future of magical studies. Everyone treats occult studies as too shamanistic. The magical academic world, especially magical science, doesn’t deal in depth with the fact that relics have specific abilities. They’re probably afraid of having relics looted and stolen. But occult studies are truly a discipline close to the essence of magic.”
Even Emmanuel, who had been listening attentively, seemed a bit taken aback at this point and shook his head with a smile.
“…That’s not it… No matter how much they try to hide it, if relics were emitting magical power or possessed abilities obvious enough for anyone to notice, they would already be in textbooks.”
“Yes. I’ll acknowledge that. To be honest, about ninety-nine out of a hundred cases involve objects whose qi—that is, their abilities—cannot be detected at the human cognitive level. But!”
If the abilities in relics are so unknown that no one notices them, then they might as well not exist… It’s not about qi this and qi that. The Chairman now leaned forward with an enthusiastic attitude, making his argument.
“All living and non-living things have latent abilities.”
“Yes, I understand. But now I have another question.”
“Souls are the same way. The body’s inherent abilities and the soul’s inherent abilities—aren’t we the result of that combination? Especially for mages like yourselves, this becomes visibly apparent through magic.”
“….”
I had been listening with a hollow laugh, but by the time he finished speaking, I was truly listening to his words with an expressionless face. I was hearing a new perspective on the relationship between magical power, body, and soul that I had wanted to ask Narke about. I nodded and brought up the question I had intended to ask earlier.
“Then what ability did that rosary have?”
“Unfortunately, it was one of those ninety-nine relics… My secretary here is an Esper, but she said she felt nothing. Still, just in case it had some ability, I asked Emanuel Wittelsbach for help. It’s unfortunate that it disappeared. But! Even if we can’t detect it, relics definitely have their own unique wavelengths like qi in the spiritual world.”
Right. That’s enough.
I nodded and looked at the letter I had received earlier. Then I raised my head again and asked the Chairman.
“I see. Does the Hermetic Society also have groups that study holy relics?”
* * *
I couldn’t return to Trier Cathedral. Instead, I was invited to Emanuel Wittelsbach’s house. I was now casually setting foot in the very place I had wanted to enter so badly earlier this month that I had loitered in front of it.
“….”
I took in the living room, illuminated only by the orange light of the fireplace. This place hadn’t changed much from twelve years ago. With Emmanuel, who hadn’t aged much since I met him yesterday, coming into view, I felt as if I were truly in a moment from twelve years ago. As I quietly looked at him, Emmanuel reached for my face, removed my mask, and held out a wine glass.
“Let’s drink.”
“Sherry again.”
“This time it’s not cream sherry. I didn’t think that would suit your taste. And I’m not putting any drugs in it, so drink without worry.”
“Thank you.”
I clinked glasses with him and took a sip of sherry. It felt like it was raising my body temperature as it went down to my stomach. Emmanuel quickly downed his drink and got to the point.
“Now, we’ve gathered clues, so let’s deduce. Or rather, I’d be grateful if you could deduce.”
“….”
“First, I know this much: there’s someone trying to put me in a predicament. Or trying to destroy Maria’s Hermetic Society.”
I looked at him. Even without me opening my mouth, he continued speaking on his own.
“Either me or the Hermetic Society—one of us is their target. That person called X knows I’m a friend of the founder, doesn’t he? I spent more than 95% of the Hermetic Society’s existence having nothing to do with them. It’s natural that no one would think of me.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“But the French jewel thieves knew information about Maria Osterreicheste. If they know about the existence of the numerous technologies Maria created, it wouldn’t be strange for them to try to involve me in this matter. It would actually be natural.”
Emmanuel paused for a moment, then said quietly.
“Just like when Pleroma tried to make me go berserk. This time they used someone whose thinking isn’t sharp due to age to drag me in.”
It would be reasonable to suspect that Chairman of being a spy, but he didn’t. I had briefly interrogated him, but nothing came up. I even tried the verification method I had used back then, thinking he might have forgotten some memories like that French royal, but the result was the same.
“Do they want all that information I destroyed?”
“….”
Emmanuel now stopped talking and looked at me. I looked at the pale lemon-colored sherry rippling in my glass and opened my mouth.
“Starting from the beginning, the letter obviously wasn’t received long ago. I can’t presume to determine exactly when it arrived, but one thing is certain: if it had been stuck between encyclopedia pages, blocked from light and air, it couldn’t have yellowed like that. The ten-year-old encyclopedia only had yellowed edges, but the letter wasn’t like that. Judging by the condition of the envelope, they used a high-quality pen but paper made of mediocre wood pulp that yellows easily. Also, both the envelope and the contents yellowed to the same degree, which rarely happens unless the envelope is extremely thin. Even if you make the outside look worn, human eyes focus longer on the contents where the text is written anyway. You could say it’s a case where they missed the essence while trying to create a visual effect. Moreover….”
“…I suspected it wasn’t really sent long ago because something felt unnatural, but you have quite a lot of evidence to present. How far are you planning to go?”
“…This far. Finally, if it had been stuck between dictionary pages, partial discoloration and damage from insects would be more natural than overall discoloration.”
“I’d like to hear all of this. But I’m curious about something right now, so let me ask that first. Who would go to such lengths to torment me?”
“Looking at the situation alone, it would be the French royal family, or Pleroma.”
I remained silent after that. He knew I was intentionally not saying anything. He smiled mischievously and asked me.
“Back then, on the day you rifled through my memories, you also mentioned holy relics. What happened with that? Don’t tell me you already solved it?”
“I’m in the process of solving it.”
“Tell me more details.”
“What was stolen were the True Cross and the Holy Nail. I started working on the case recently anyway, and I’m currently speculating that the culprit was within the Papacy.”
“Wow… That’s going to cause quite a backlash. Claiming there’s a criminal among divine power users….”
“That’s what happened. Naturally.”
“You even already said it? Haha… Impressive.”
He laughed while drinking and shook his glass toward me, asking.
“What’s the basis for claiming there’s a culprit in the Papacy? I’m wondering if we can connect that to my case.”
“First, the fact that they moved through Spain, Vatican, and Italy in sequence. Second, the behavior of specifically targeting certain holy relics—two pieces of Arma Christi—in a situation where no one knows that holy relics can have inherent abilities. Therefore, I speculated that there must be someone in the Papacy who can identify the abilities of those Arma Christi.”
At my words, Emmanuel leaned back deeply against the sofa, resting his arm on the backrest.
“Good speculation. But now, first, we heard news the day before yesterday about some rosary teleporting, and second, we just met someone who says holy relics have inherent qi.”
“….”
I smiled and swirled the sherry in my mouth. The aroma spread to the tip of my tongue. As I watched the flames flickering back and forth in the fireplace, Emmanuel looked at me with a face that was half mischievous and half looking at a hopeless fool, asking with a smile.
“But I’m curious how you can be so calm?”
I glanced at him and slightly curved the fingers holding my glass. Then I opened my mouth.
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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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