How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 40

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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 Family (40)

The Vice Chairman frowned when he saw the pitch-black box that Elias had thrown.

“What is this?”

“It’s important material that I personally prepared.”

“…Material? If you threaten the safety of those participating here or disrupt the meeting, you’ll face severe punishment. Can you definitively answer that it’s safe?”

“Yes, I swear it.”

The Vice Chairman swept his suspicious gaze over Elias’s face and the box. He looked at Elias once more, then opened the lid.

“Wait…!”

Before I could finish speaking, the color instantly drained from his face.

“Ah, ahhhhhhh!”

Crash—!

As he stood up, his leg must have hit the desk, making a sound like something breaking.

At the same time, the other legislators also grasped the situation and jumped to their feet.

“What, mosquitoes?!”

“Get out! Quickly!”

It instantly became chaos.

The legislators’ screams and the sound of chairs falling over merged into a cacophony of noise.

“Don’t push, please!”

“Get out! Get out!”

“How could you do such a thing here…!”

The Vice Chairman’s voice leaked in from outside the door.

Elias looked in that direction and smiled.

“What exactly did I do?”

“Do I need to spell this out for you?! Huh?!”

“I handed over a box containing two mosquitoes. That’s all. They’re males, by the way.”

“That’s all? Are you done talking?!”

“W-wait a moment, Vice Chairman. Perhaps….”

One legislator stopped him, then said something to another person.

A legislator standing by the doorway gestured to me, alternately pointing at the mosquitoes and my wand.

“…Count Nicolaus. Please perform a purification.”

I drew my wand and cast purification magic.

It was quiet.

No reaction occurred whatsoever.

“….”

“Don’t tell me this is….”

“They’re ordinary mosquitoes.”

Elias looked at the security guards pointing their wands at him and raised his hand without the crutch beside his head.

Then he shrugged his shoulders.

“The Vice Chairman clearly said there would be no problems. He said the Imperial Court could prepare before disasters occur. If you have such firm faith, where did these impure thoughts about them being contaminated mosquitoes come from?”

“No, if you suddenly thrust mosquitoes at people like that, who wouldn’t be mistaken?!”

“So does Pleroma give advance notice when it comes?”

“….”

Of course there would be no advance notice. As Elias’s intention for causing this incident became clear, the Council Chamber fell quiet once again.

Someone noticed the disadvantage and urgently sent a termination signal to the broadcast camera.

Elias looked at the legislators with a serious expression and spoke.

“This is the material I’m presenting. Since you all acted so nonchalantly, I naturally thought you wouldn’t be surprised by material of this level. You didn’t even consider this matter a problem, so why are you startled by mere mosquitoes now?”

“Listen here! Say something that makes sense!”

“The ones who’ve been saying things that don’t make sense are all of you! You legislators all boasted so confidently that there were no problems even though the entire nation is in danger from killer mosquitoes, yet you’re the first to run away from common mosquitoes you can see in any neighborhood. I’m impressed. While you’re at it, why don’t you leave your Senate seats too.”

The legislators pointed fingers at Elias in anger and hurled curses.

I opened the status window amid the atmosphere that had become chaotic with the legislators’ angry voices.

It’s fascinating to actually witness the protagonist’s crazy antics that I’d only seen in novels.

When I was just reading, somehow things got resolved even when he caused chaos, so I read without much thought, but now that I’m living and breathing at the scene, all sorts of thoughts come to mind.

However, the result in the most crucial and important aspect would be completely different from my concerns.

Elias Hohenzollern

Impression: +5.4 (+0.9)

5.4 points.

Just 10 minutes ago it was 4.5 points.

From experience, raising even 0.1 points in a week was quite difficult when in positive territory.

Yet now he had gained 0.9 points in just 10 minutes.

This meant the people were that disgusted with legislators who put safety on the back burner and only cried about insufficient budgets.

Federal Committee legislators are generally nobles or equally wealthy individuals.

Living in estates and mansions wrapped in five or six layers of protective barriers, they’ve never experienced or had reason to suffer from contaminated mana.

So this matter couldn’t possibly feel real to them.

It could only seem like precious money flowing away.

To such people, Elias had returned exactly the situation the citizens were placed in.

Ethical issues come second. The instinctive satisfaction the people felt was showing up as impression values for Elias.

Setting aside the legal responses he’d face afterward, looking only at the results of his planned action, it couldn’t have been more successful.

‘I was a bit flustered, but… putting the protagonist in this position was a good choice.’

“After making such a fuss over ordinary mosquitoes, you surely don’t still intend to talk about budgets to citizens who will face contaminated mosquitoes firsthand, do you?”

Elias chuckled as if fed up.

He looked at the broadcast camera and raised his eyebrows.

“Since I thought of it, let me give a greeting. Uncle, thank you always. I know this is exactly your will.”

At the mention of the Emperor’s will, the Council Chamber instantly fell silent.

“…No, cut the feed. Cut it, quickly.”

The Vice Chairman, who had somehow returned to the meeting room, muttered while being supported by his aides with a face that looked twenty years older.

The mages who had been dismantling the broadcast magic at a legislator’s instruction since earlier sent their spells even more rapidly.

Elias strode up to the broadcast camera and spoke in a clear voice.

“I know I chose the wrong method. I apologize for causing a disturbance, Your Majesty. Count Nicolaus bears no fault, so I alone will pay the price for my sins.”

“Stop! Leave! The Vice Chairman has ordered your ejection.”

“Just drag him out! No, why hasn’t the Imperial Newspaper cut the broadcast yet?! Who’s the one connecting right now!”

“I couldn’t possibly persuade them without presenting this material. All the citizens of our Empire who watched this discourse would agree. I believe Your Majesty also understands what I was trying to convey, my true intentions.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the broadcast magic was completely dismantled.

* * *

“We’ll resume after a 5-minute break.”

Leo’s aide said, looking around at the reporters.

Right now, I’m at a conference hall announcing Bavaria’s official position on the insect contamination issue.

And what happened at the Council….

Despite the chaos beyond imagination, it was successful.

[50,000+ citizens of Meppen·Osnabrück express support for Elias Hohenzollern·Nicolaus Ernst]

[Bavaria and other southern Empire regions show strong wave of support for Duke Elias despite regional sentiment]

[First ‘Demand for Council Dissolution’ rally in Empire history held… Greatly disappointed by public discourse]

[58 regions nationwide hold spontaneous protests after discourse, disbanded in 2 hours on Prime Minister’s recommendation]

No, it wasn’t successful ‘despite the chaos’ but rather gained an even more explosive reaction thanks to that chaos.

Crackle—

The last article seemed to have been censored, as the article itself disappeared while I was reading.

Soon after, the third article was also cleanly erased.

‘This country will collapse soon.’

In any case, it wasn’t just support that was gained.

[Emperor Friedrich’s Administrative Order “Weekly purification of 21 contaminated zones nationwide”]

[“Nephew Duke Elias has extreme words and actions requiring caution… However, his intentions are quite admirable” Interview with Emperor Friedrich (1)]

The demands were also accepted.

When the Emperor saw that the support of the entire nation was frighteningly concentrated on Elias, he quickly changed from his indifferent stance and began to both scold and praise Elias.

Acting out the ideal uncle figure according to his own interests is very similar to someone I know.

And then….

Ding—!

〈 Chapter 4. Constant Drops Wear Away the Stone (2) 〉

Proposal 2: Achieve [Impression] Score 5 (1/1) (47 hours 38 minutes 12 seconds)

* Route 1 — 〈 Chapter 4 Special Reward 〉

* Route 2 — 〈 Chapter 5. Do Not Praise the Day Before Evening Comes 〉

This proposal was also successful.

According to my original calculations, I should have been able to succeed just in time after going through several planned events following the speech, but the impression value of 5 points was completely filled with just one speech.

Ding—!

Congratulations!

‘Proposal 2: Achieve [Impression] Score 5’ successful!

Confirming ‘Route 1 — 〈 Chapter 4 Special Reward 〉’.

‘Hmm.’

I think it would be good if I could open this later rather than now.

I don’t know what will come out as a reward or if it can be postponed, but if the hypothesis that rewards and status windows are given according to the situation is correct, there might be a time when I need it more.

Whether it was because I wanted to postpone it, or because this system had the same thought from the beginning, the window really didn’t proceed.

I’ll assume I can use it later.

Anyway….

Nicolaus’s impression score continues to rise even at this moment.

Lucas Rene Ascanien

Impression: -9.9 (+0.1) [+5.0000099]

Even in the time it takes to close and open my eyes once, the numbers keep changing.

Lucas Rene Ascanien

Impression: -9.9 (+0.1) [+5.0000105]

Elias’s original impression score is 3 points, Narke’s is a question mark.

And most students range between 1 and 5 points.

Judging by Leo’s impression score being +10, there’s a high possibility that Hyung also has a perfect impression score.

Since Nicolaus is covering his face, there are limits to gaining human likability.

While 10 points might be difficult, I need to get at least 8 points, and stably 9 points, so that when I reveal my identity later, I won’t be easily swayed by Hyung’s schemes.

In that sense, this choice was correct.

To gain great benefits, you must take corresponding risks.

Of course, that means I have to adapt to things like this too.

I looked down at my arm lowered under the conference hall table.

The shackles completely blocked the mana flowing through my hands.

The fact that the people view me favorably even though Elias was the one who caused the commotion means, in other words, that I was naturally perceived as being on the same side.

So I was arrested along with him.

‘Damn….’

I can only laugh bitterly.

It’s as expected. Though there was no need for even this to go as expected.

I never even wore handcuffs in real life, but here I am wearing silver bracelets.

That said, I don’t intend to blame Elias.

He made the choice that could draw out the best reaction in that situation, and I too, knowing his potential, entrusted him with the initiative in this matter even though I knew he always causes chaos beyond imagination.

The success criteria of this matter don’t depend on whether we’re detained or arrested.

This fight is a grand psychological warfare.

From the beginning, the possibility of going to prison for this is close to zero, but even if the nation were to imprison us by any chance, if the public protects us, the final victory would be on our side.

‘If I didn’t want to take risks from the start, I should have stayed away from the Protagonist.’

I judged that the benefits of being with him would be greater than the losses, and indeed the impression score rose so rapidly that I achieved the proposal two whole days early.

My mental health might take a hit, but in terms of plan efficiency and effectiveness, it far exceeds expectations.

“We will begin.”

The break during the conference ended, and Leo returned to his seat.

I looked at the people filling the conference hall and the live broadcast equipment placed far away.

I was arrested along with Elias as soon as the broadcast ended, then temporarily moved to the Barony of Bavaria with Leo as my guarantor.

It was to give the previously scheduled report on Bavaria’s contamination status.

However, since Elias’s investigation wasn’t finished yet, my mana was restricted due to flight risk concerns.

“As reported in writing on the day of the announcement, at dawn on November 3rd, we completed purification of all 5 restricted areas within the Kingdom of Bavaria. We announce once again that no contaminated insects were found in the Kingdom of Bavaria’s restricted areas.”

Leo, sitting at the long table in the conference hall, looked around at the people with amplification magic activated.

“Our kingdom will follow the Empire’s policy and recruit two mages capable of using divine power within the deadline to perform weekly purifications.”

“Has there been any discussion about which mages will be in charge of Bavaria’s restricted areas?”

A question came from one side of the conference hall.

Our demands were accepted, but here the Imperial Palace didn’t disappoint in another way.

Due to the shortage of mages capable of using divine power, the Imperial Palace issued an amazing directive telling kingdoms and duchies within the Empire to find their own mages and meet their purification quotas.

Since the Imperial Palace also formed a ‘kingdom’ within the Empire, they naturally monopolized the mages from various regions registered with the Imperial Palace.

‘They can really do politics so recklessly.’

Of course, I don’t care how those guys do politics.

I’m actually grateful the more they act that way.

“Thankfully, Count Nicolaus, who is present here, has agreed to take charge of Bavaria’s restricted areas from the moment he discovered the contamination problem. I would like to express my gratitude once again in this place.”

The moment Leo finished speaking, flashes went off everywhere.

With this, I gained another official position for Nicolaus.

Another reporter spoke up.

“Count Nicolaus, I understand you’ve already received offers from 8 grand duchies and duchies within the Empire, is that correct? Particularly, I heard Hesse promised you double the compensation.”

Naturally, various regions became desperate to find suitable mages.

Because of this, numerous contacts arrived at the Bavarian government trying to scout Nicolaus.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Then is there a reason you chose Bavaria instead of other countries?”

“I am a Bavarian subject and belong to the Bavarian Royal Army. I will always remain loyal to our kingdom.”

I brought out the answer they most wanted to hear.

Befitting a country with pride in being the second strongest nation within the Empire, satisfaction flickered across the faces of several Bavarian reporters.

‘Should I check again now?’

Lucas Rene Ascanien

Impression: -9.9 (+0.1) [+5.0000139]

The last digits were 105 ten minutes ago, now it’s 139.

The growth rate is gradually slowing down.

I pushed the window to one corner of my vision and spoke up as the camera shutter sounds and flashes diminished.

“However, as a member of the Empire, I cannot turn away from the difficulties of fellow Imperial subjects. If there are regions that haven’t been able to find mages even after the preparation period recommended by the government, I am willing to participate in purification on other days as well, as long as my divine power can support it.”

At that moment, one side of my vision flashed and white numbers changed rapidly.

Lucas Rene Ascanien

Impression: -9.9 (+0.1) [+5.0005979]

From 139 to 5979.

The reason I’m grateful every time the Imperial Palace and Imperial Government make lousy statements and guidelines is right here.

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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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