How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 412

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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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The other examinees haven’t even finished their tests yet, and they want me to meet the commander? Just Narke and me, alone?

 

I could see what picture they were painting. I replied in an even tone.

 

“I shall do so. I’ll go right now, so you may return.”

 

“No, please come with us.”

 

The Professor from 1st Education Institute approached me with a polite gesture. I responded equally courteously, extending my hand.

 

“I can go alone. Don’t you need to evaluate the progress of the other teams?”

 

“It’s fine. And explaining things to you two is also part of our duty.”

 

“Fine, you say. Are you telling me there’s no need to see the other examinees’ test results?”

 

The Professor tried to add some explanation, but another adjutant raised his eyebrows with flashing eyes and answered.

 

“That’s correct, Your Excellency.”

 

“…”

 

I felt the muscles around my eyebrows tense slightly as I tilted my chin inward. They gestured for us to hurry along, so I slowly began walking. Even during this, the Professor explained to me.

 

“The commander’s office is also monitoring the training right now. If you’re curious, you’ll be able to resolve your questions there.”

 

“I understand.”

 

I gave a brief reply and opened the change probability window.

 

As I had initially thought, this test was a good opportunity to first learn what information Adrian Ascanien had brought, and second, to understand what mindset and goals he had when returning to Germany. Therefore, I had decided to examine how the change probability fluctuated before and after the test. I had checked the previous change probability value, so what would it show now? That would contain the answer to the second expected effect. I took a deep breath and opened the change probability window.

 

—Change Probability: 72.9%

 

The moment I saw the numbers, my lips parted involuntarily.

 

‘How could it not change at all…’

 

It hadn’t changed one bit. For what reason? All sorts of thoughts swirled around. I had approached this without hiding my methods. Yet the change probability hadn’t dropped? My already expressionless face felt like it was hardening further. No, but the possibility still remained. Broadly speaking, there were two possibilities: first, Adrian Ascanien might not have heard the news yet. Second was…

 

“Your Excellency may not be the Vice Minister, but as his adjutant and co-creator of this training, I want to say that he was greatly impressed. As expected, Your Excellency is truly an Ascanien.”

 

The Professor walking alongside me spoke with a satisfied voice. I looked down at him and voiced what I had been about to say. My voice came out dry.

 

“I’m truly pleased that you evaluate me favorably. Is the Vice Minister not coming in person?”

 

“He’s extremely busy. He hasn’t been able to sleep properly for the past two days.”

 

Taking leave only to overwork himself… Moreover, contrary to my initial suspicions, except for the first day and early morning of the second day, he hadn’t shown his face at all, being absorbed in government affairs. Then the Professor dropped a bombshell.

 

“However, he has already received news that Your Excellency achieved the highest score. The Vice Minister was greatly pleased.”

 

“…”

 

My blood ran cold. He had heard news about me—what did that imply? Faced with such an obvious fact, I felt my neck stiffen as I asked rigidly.

 

“…Didn’t my test just end?”

 

“Your Excellency.”

 

The other adjutant walking ahead stopped abruptly. The gaze reaching me from below was unwavering.

 

“Your Excellency has been the top scorer since an hour ago.”

 

“…”

 

Thirty minutes from the start of the test, from the moment I entered the bakery, first place had already been decided. That was me. I should have been happy about this news, but I couldn’t be.

 

Why did my change probability remain the same even though Adrian Ascanien had received the news?

 

I had deliberately not hidden my abilities for the test. I had simply followed orthodox thinking and used no special tricks, meaning there were no particularly remarkable techniques or original solutions that would be obvious to the Professor or anyone watching. Nevertheless, I had beaten Narke, who used divine power, to achieve the highest score in this training. From Adrian Ascanien’s perspective—someone who wanted his younger brother thrown into an irredeemable place and ultimately killed—a title like highest scorer would be extremely insolent for a younger brother who should be quietly displaying his nonexistence.

 

Now, the first possibility was eliminated. Adrian Ascanien knew that I was the top scorer in the strategic game he had devised, yet despite this, my change probability hadn’t dropped one bit from 72.9%.

 

What did that mean?

 

The second hypothesis I had been considering, namely…

 

“…”

 

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

 

It meant that Adrian Ascanien hadn’t come to Germany to test me. He had no intention of obtaining information from me, no intention of harming me, no intention of setting up a game board to harm me and then leaving.

 

‘Why on earth…’

 

My head was throbbing.

 

Of course, anyone would know that this didn’t mean Adrian Ascanien was completely innocent. This didn’t ‘immediately’ mean he was a thoroughly honest, good, and humane person with the spiritual world to care for his sick younger brother with devotion. Going that far would be an excessive leap that only those who divide everything in the world into black and white or evil and good could make. In other words, I hadn’t reached the deplorable conclusion—flawed in logic from who knows where—that the previous change probability test had convinced me that Adrian Ascanien was clearly a good person and I was the damned Pleroma.

 

However, it simply meant that the system’s numbers guaranteed he had no intention of harming me. This much remained an unchanging fact. Under the premise that the system provided reliable numbers regarding my survival, Adrian Ascanien hadn’t returned with evil purposes concerning me. Why? He had truly returned only to check my injury status and for the Empire’s safety. This chilled me to the bone. It was enough to shift the weight of my firm beliefs.

 

“…”

 

Was ‘Luca’ free from his disposition? Really, was everything just slander orchestrated by his older brother? While his brother’s method of suppressing the core to restrain his disposition was certainly extreme and wrong, what was the probability that it was the best conclusion he had to reach based on some past incident? How much could I trust the information in the books I had read?

 

My mouth wasn’t smiling, but laughter bubbled up from within. The foundation of my beliefs had been shaken by the fact that Adrian Ascanien, despite witnessing my success, wasn’t trying to kill me. Since Ash Wednesday, from the day I had to give up certainty about my premises in exchange for gaining the world’s best unique ability that I had never particularly wanted and wasn’t even sure was truly good for the public—I was once again facing thoughts I could never escape.

 

My brow furrowed involuntarily. I closed my eyes and pressed my temple firmly with my hand. I felt ambivalent. If only Adrian Ascanien had come to kill me instead.

 

In some sense, that might have been better. Then, even though I had gained the ability to grow stronger by consuming blood after Ash Wednesday, the foundation of my beliefs would have been less shaken, and with clear good and evil, my heart would have been at peace. As I had this thought, I felt relieved that I didn’t continue it further.

 

‘That’s a ridiculous thought.’

 

Ultimately, such thinking was nothing more than psychology wanting Adrian Ascanien to be a thorough villain for my mental stability, even after verifying hypotheses and seeing that reality differed from ideals. ‘Adrian Ascanien wants to kill me’ and ‘I want Adrian Ascanien to be evil’ are clearly different propositions. I couldn’t find peace of mind in such a childish way, and justification secured through ‘he is evil, therefore I am good’ logic was neither justified, solid, nor sensible. If I had continued such thinking, I too would have been no different from being steeped in the dichotomous mob psychology that is the motive for unintentional murder underlying the public’s foundation and the partial lack or distortion of liberal humanism—having the freedom to distinguish, reward, and condemn good and evil with my mouth and fingertips tapping screens. No, perhaps the fact that I had such thoughts even briefly meant that despite being an act against humanity for both someone who had shared part of my life and myself, disgustingly yet inevitably as a human, I might have been placing my peace of mind in being right while others were wrong. Anyway, despite my foundation being shaken now, I wasn’t particularly despairing or frustrated, and the reason would be in preserving the humanity I wanted to protect.

 

Therefore, ironically, by verifying his purpose, things were now clear. Even if my premises were shaken, I wasn’t in a situation where I needed to reconsider efforts for Lucas Ascanien’s survival—that is, facing a dichotomous villain. By knowing my bias about the opponent’s purpose, I could clearly weave together my inner self and the external world. At least it provided a starting point for trying to do so.

 

‘In conclusion.’

 

What I needed to do now was to become an equal actor to Adrian Ascanien during his stay in Germany, treating him as a loving and respectable person. There was no need to worry or agonize over what might be beneath his facial skin. I simply needed to acknowledge the ‘fact’ that he was currently accepting my success entirely positively, had no intention of trapping me now, and had likewise truly returned to ensure the Empire’s safety against Pleroma for now. His purpose was more complex than I had expected, beyond my expectations in some sense, and there was a possibility that his time was not now.

 

Good.

 

Now, unless I could tear into Adrian Ascanien’s mind or spin time rapidly to go to the future, thinking about his purpose would be a waste of time. Let me think about other things.

 

‘…By the way, what are the others doing.’

 

What were they doing that made the others not worth watching? I asked the Professor, who was still walking with satisfied, excited steps.

 

“How was the difficulty level of this training set?”

 

“How did you find it?”

 

“If you promise not to convey my opinion to the other mages, I’ll answer honestly.”

 

“Of course we’ll keep it secret. Please tell us how it was overall. It’s a matter of professional pride as a professor.”

 

“It was straightforward and intuitive.”

 

“Ah, good. It seems our examination committee’s intentions were properly reflected. As Vice Minister Adrian Ascanien instructed, we created the training to be as natural as possible to realistically reflect events that could actually occur.”

 

“No wonder I was surprised that everything could be handled through thought alone.”

 

“Didn’t you see the Berlin University trap? We had set it up for direct confrontation, but Your Excellency avoided it all.”

 

“…I see. I was lucky. I’ll keep that in mind.”

 

“It wasn’t luck.”

 

The Professor replied with a serious smile. He and the other adjutant stopped abruptly in front of a door.

 

“And our government wants people who can succeed even when luck doesn’t favor them. We’ve arrived. The commander is waiting.”

 

* * *

 

There were only two people in the room. The chairman of the Imperial Mage Association, who now also held the commander position, and Narke were seated. Adrian Ascanien was still nowhere to be seen. Now I knew he wasn’t watching only me. I saluted the commander and sat down with the two adjutants.

 

“We met during Penthalon as well.”

 

“Yes, that’s correct.”

 

“You were Eschete then too, but even more so now. As a Prussian, I’m very pleased to meet you again. Especially since I heard you achieved the highest score in this test.”

 

The commander smiled kindly before turning his gaze to the two adjutants. It was clear the commander hadn’t participated in the evaluation. The Professor who had brought me here opened his mouth with a confident expression.

 

“An invincible combination, Your Excellency. We didn’t test all the classes in the association, but these two can truly be called the best in Command A-class.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

The commander nodded with furrowed brows and continued.

 

“Not even 98th Unit but two from 101st… But since you speak so highly of them, I can’t help but believe it. What about the rest now?”

 

“More than half are still in Pankow.”

 

“Haha, well, the Empire’s supposedly best mages are nothing but idiots… Academic achievement and personal capability don’t seem to correlate.”

 

Though it was a mutter, the listening Professor from 1st Education Institute made a somewhat subtle expression. He had no choice. Everyone except 101st Unit—save for one or two exceptions—would be 1st Education Institute graduates, yet the commander was essentially saying that 1st Education Institute graduate ≠ capable person. While academic achievement for 1st Education Institute admission was certainly important, it did rely heavily on family background and magical power, so even if it was true, it was awkward for the Professor. As silence fell, the commander sighed deeply and waved his hand.

 

“Then, among the teams that escaped Pankow, who are the most outstanding?”

 

“91st Unit’s Albertina Hohenzollern-Marie Schliffen team, 101st Unit’s Leonard Wittelsbach-Elias Hohenzollern team, and 98th Unit’s Albert Mecklenburg-Nepomucena Betin team are showing high performance in that order. However, 98th Unit’s α team has only Lord Mecklenburg, the unit representative, approaching the correct answer, and they’re completely eliminated in terms of teamwork. 101st Unit’s γ team has excellent thinking ability but shows clear signs of not having received various formal training yet. If we’re looking for alternatives, 91st Unit’s α team is showing the most orthodox excellent performance, but…”

 

The Professor gestured toward me and Narke beside me.

 

“That’s only when Narke Farnese and His Excellency Lucas Ascanien aren’t included.”

 

“…”

 

The commander slowly nodded while exhaling cigarette smoke. He put down his cigarette in the ashtray, clasped his hands together, and spoke slowly.

 

“What is everyone doing… When the training ends, have them retrain using Lucas Ascanien and Narke Farnese’s test footage. Train until they can reproduce their output exactly. At this rate, we’ll ruin the Empire.”

 

Ruin it because of whom? Can’t you be objective about yourself? Various questions arose, but unlike me, the adjutant replied politely.

 

“Yes, understood.”

 

“Right, anyway… Count Farnese. You found the answer directly using divine power. I read the report about your exceptional insight. Finishing the training in 30 minutes was remarkable.”

 

Instead of responding, Narke just looked at the commander with a serious expression. Then the Professor spoke with a firm tone.

 

“But he relied on his special ability from start to finish and completed the mission in an excessively short time. While that’s certainly an excellent ability, the desire to resolve incidents quickly can actually ruin things.”

 

He pointed at me and spoke firmly once more.

 

“In contrast, His Excellency Lucas Ascanien reached the conclusion using only thinking power, without divine power or unique abilities. If we combine His Excellency Ascanien’s composure and logic with Count Farnese’s abilities, no one from any other nation would be able to match them.”

 

“…”

 

The Commander flipped through the report, looking back and forth between us before nodding.

 

“To think our Empire has talents like you two – the Empire is truly blessed.”

 

I was momentarily flustered, conscious that the person next to me was a foreigner, but quickly recovered. The Commander continued while looking at us.

 

“I was only slightly surprised to hear that two teenagers had claimed first and second place, surpassing those old enough to know better. I have no doubts about your abilities. Especially since you two have shown great results in various operations.”

 

Whether he was treating us as high school students, his voice was much gentler than when addressing his adjutants. Yet his eyes revealed his readiness to treat us as Royal Mages when it came to utilizing us.

 

“Unfortunately, intellectual ability doesn’t increase proportionally with age, so rather than hiring the 91st or 98th Units due to concerns about your age, it seems right to reflect only ability. What do you think?”

 

“…”

 

“We are infinitely pleased to be able to carry out missions for His Majesty and 100 million subjects.”

 

That was Narke’s answer. I knew well that he was taking care of courtesy on my behalf.

 

“Good. You’ve probably already anticipated what and how our government will ask of you during training. Still, we must be thorough, so from now on, what is said in this room is forgotten outside this room. Understood?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“We must start from here. While preparing for Penthalon, the government censored all telegrams and some letters to respond to terrorism.”

 

I know. There’s a kind of blacklist where all famous people like anti-Emperor politicians, bourgeoisie, scholars, and entrepreneurs are censored. They already know about the censorship, but the government cited public safety as grounds, and since not a single media outlet will accept reports about it, they have no choice but to leave it as is. Those who could flee overseas did, but not everyone can emigrate.

 

As I suppressed the expression of pride that was about to emerge and quietly watched the Commander, he continued.

 

“Through telegram censorship, our Empire has mobilized renowned cryptographers, mathematicians, and linguists from home and abroad to attack and defend against minor operations of Pleroma suborganizations. But now they too have learned they cannot use the Empire’s telegrams. At some point, coded telegrams stopped coming in, and crimes decreased afterward. Even before the negotiations.”

 

Now even the faces of the adjutants standing beside became serious. The Commander clasped his hands, exhaled deeply, then furrowed his brow and spoke.

 

“In the midst of this, what we recently learned is that 100 barrels of a drug called ‘Atropos’ were discovered in the Kingdom of Italy. It is scheduled to board a freight train heading to Austria-Hungary.”

 

“What? Then…?”

 

“To be precise, we discovered a cipher that implies this. After the tip-off, we informed Austria-Hungary and began investigation, but we haven’t found anything suspicious on the train or anywhere else yet.”

 

“Are you saying that by decoding the cipher, you learned that someone presumed to be Pleroma from the Kingdom of Italy loaded 100 barrels of some drug called ‘Atropos’ onto a train bound for Austria-Hungary?”

 

“That’s correct. Personally, I think it’s France’s doing, but Adrian Ascanien doesn’t think so.”

 

I was at a loss for words. However, the eyes of those in front of me were so resolute… Perhaps they might be right, but it was honestly somewhat overwhelming. I had expected Pleroma to do something dangerous, but surely they wouldn’t act like this based on just one cipher? Seeing that Adrian Ascanien came this far, it must indeed be a problematic matter… I was about to close my eyes to the despair of those before me, but compromised with myself, bit my lips, and asked.

 

“The possibility that the decoding results are wrong…?”

 

“None. After interrogating priests from the Munich-Freising Archdiocese, we found they also knew about Atropos. Although they didn’t know what the drug does, quite coincidentally, it was the Bavarians. Bavaria was previously elevated to a kingdom by France, so it’s quite fitting.”

 

The Commander tilted his head while emphasizing ‘Bavarians’ with a raised eyebrow. Since Austria-Hungary is right next to Bavaria, naturally if they had colluded with that side, the diocesan Pleroma in Bavaria would likely know. Moreover… the Commander seems to think without doubt that the drug distribution is France’s doing. France, which holds animosity toward Austria-Hungary. More than that, I need to know exactly what effects that drug produces – it’s obviously poison – but he continued speaking.

 

“Our Supreme Council estimates it will cause serious diplomatic problems in Austria-Hungary. Especially if France is behind it. Moreover, there’s a very high possibility that Pleroma has infiltrated Austria-Hungary, composed of the same German people, and will import it into Germany in the near future. Perhaps they’ve already imported it and scattered it throughout Austria-Hungary or all of Germany.”

 

“…”

 

“Since they share the same language and cultural sphere, you can see that Austria-Hungary is a very good country for Pleroma to use as a second stage. Moreover, Easter is just around the corner. We think their plan will be executed next week on Easter. So…”

 

The Commander raised his eyebrows and looked at both of us with serious eyes.

 

“As the training results show, you are now the Empire’s hope. By this Sunday, please recover Atropos from Austria-Hungary and Germany, 101st Unit members.”

 

* * *

 

Around lunchtime, I packed my bags and arrived in front of Narke’s quarters. The other friends would still be training. However, we had to depart immediately, or at least before this evening.

 

Knock knock—

 

When I knocked on the door, Narke poked his head out shortly after. I entered the room and sat down as he gestured. As I watched him pack, Narke whistled and laughed.

 

“We’re paired up again after all. I mean us~”

 

“Indeed.”

 

“To think we’d be assigned one more mission together before going to Munich on Sunday, hmm… Who would have thought. I’m happy.”

 

“It’s not before – they’ve completely overlapped now.”

 

I leaned my neck against the sofa backrest and chuckled. Narke comforted me.

 

“Let’s finish quickly and arrive in Munich on Sunday.”

 

“Good. But didn’t you know this would happen?”

 

At my question, Narke rolled his eyes and laughed.

 

“I knew.”

 

“…You could have given me a heads up.”

 

“Haha. But I don’t use my ability over a wide range. I wasn’t completely certain, just thought that if we were assigned some mission, we might go together~”

 

Narke smiled while folding clothes and muttered quietly.

 

“It’s fun. After a long time. Disguising with you~ Ah, I should try being Human this time.”

 

“It’s too early to be enjoying this.”

 

“That’s true though.”

 

Narke smiled and packed other clothes.

 

Knock knock—

 

Just then, someone knocked on the door. I gestured to Narke for permission and opened the door to find a mage standing there with a pale face. Holding a copy of the Imperial Newspaper.

 

“Th-those above said there’s news that Your Excellency must check immediately, so I came.”

 

I took the newspaper from him. And the moment I saw what was written in the title, I felt my blood run cold.

 

[[Breaking News] Austria-Hungary Prime Minister Rudolf Traff Dies Suddenly]

 

“…”

 

While I stood there speechless, thinking of the diplomatic storm to come, the mage carefully closed the door and left. Narke, who had been holding his head together with me, let out a hollow laugh, then spoke in a cheerful voice.

 

“We can start from 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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