How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 419

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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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“What?”

 

I had to think about what I had just heard. What? What exactly. How?

 

―”Only the Prime Minister’s fingerprints are on the glass.”

 

Countless hypotheses bubbled up in my mind like foam before disappearing. First, the culprit deliberately left the Prime Minister’s fingerprints. Second, they simply discovered prints that had been there normally. Third, the Prime Minister chose death himself. Fourth, the Prime Minister sensed something was wrong and touched the stand where the culprit had applied the poison. The first and second possibilities were already dismissed as absurd the moment I thought of them. Investigator Behter had walked in here looking for his senior with a visibly confused expression, and as I had thought earlier, this could only mean he had discovered some unbelievable information. Narke would have read exactly what he was thinking.

 

―”That’s right, Lucas.”

 

Narke’s words stuck in my mind. As soon as we left the lobby, the outside wind brushed coolly against my forehead.

 

―”The Prime Minister committed suicide. That’s what they’re thinking.”

 

Outside was peaceful. Except for the fact that uniformed figures were constantly moving about.

 

The magic lamps still illuminated the city, and lights in taverns and residential areas flickered irregularly as they did in other cities. This city flowed on as usual, whether the Prime Minister died or not. With this, the time that would be consumed in finding the culprit had increased several-fold. I felt my body temperature gradually dropping as I slowly turned around.

 

Now I could understand why the Arcane Mages, despite interrogating all those humans, had concluded that ‘there was no one who prepared poison and administered it.’ I also understood why they couldn’t retrieve the stand.

 

I had to go back up. I took out a cigarette I carried for disguise, quickly lit it, and rapidly climbed the stairs. Gas with a taste I didn’t particularly want to inhale filled my lungs. To wander around at this dawn hour, I needed to at least smell the part. Narke, disguised as an unfamiliar middle-aged Human instead of Johanna, pretended not to be with our group and took the elevator up, while I, who had run up the stairs, met Katrin Behter standing in front of room 6013 and Markus, who had come outside with a flustered face while putting his arms through his robe sleeves.

 

“What’s the matter?”

 

I asked Markus, who was putting on clothes with a pale face. The elevator doors opened with a clear chime, and the middle-aged Human approached us.

 

“Oh, nothing really. We just have to leave a bit early.”

 

Markus briefly brushed me off and got on the elevator with his subordinates. The middle-aged Human walked toward room 6020, then turned around and approached me as soon as the elevator went down to the lower floor.

 

―”Left to right, right to left again. Fingerprints on the left glass. And marks from gripping the entire back with hands and lightly rubbing it. But even though it’s rotted away now, there were no visible rashes or traces on the surface when the body was intact.”

 

“…”

 

That meant there were no traces of poison on the hands. Even though it should have been applied by hand.

 

―”Only the investigators summoned from Niederösterreich know this fact so far. They’re contemplating whether to examine the scene once more and inform the entire Austrian Investigation Bureau of this fact. They’re also thinking of sending a cooperation request to the Papacy. Markus naturally doesn’t know when he ordered the fingerprint collection, but given the nature of the matter, he has no intention of voicing such doubts to his subordinate.”

 

Narke rapidly conveyed his thoughts to me. This was a moment when I felt fortunate to be with Narke. It had been like this ever since we came to this country.

 

I entered the room and sat on the sofa. My robe was getting wrinkled under my legs, but there was no time to care about that. The Prime Minister had applied Atropos to the stand himself. That Atropos that rotted the entire body. I had an intuition. No, it wasn’t intuition. Logically, there was the biggest obstacle here. This was the key that would determine the fate of the case.

 

If he wanted to commit suicide, he could have just drunk the poison.

 

“Why did the Prime Minister have to commit suicide that looked like murder?”

 

“…”

 

Why did he specifically have to apply poison to the stand? It meant it shouldn’t look like he had taken his own life. The case had to fall into mystery. Then why did it have to look like murder?

 

This was a very important question in both cases, regardless of whether the subject with murderous intent was the Prime Minister himself or someone external.

 

Now let’s classify where the murderous intent lay and continue reasoning from each case.

 

First, voluntary. Second, involuntary.

 

First, the Prime Minister wanted to die himself, while also wanting it to appear as if someone else had killed him. If we create the most plausible situation we can imagine, it would be this: The Prime Minister had extreme antipathy toward Hungarians and wanted to create grounds for Austria to legally oppress Hungary.

 

While it’s true that many Austrians harbor resentment toward Hungary now that Hungarian autonomy has been secured within the Empire through the Great Compromise, the problem is how many humans would risk their own lives to orchestrate something that might or might not work, and whether the Prime Minister extremely hated Hungary – which he didn’t. As I thought before, he was an ordinary Prime Minister. Even his political inclinations weren’t particularly extreme, and he was merely someone who would serve quietly until the end of his term. And if the Prime Minister really intended to use his death to passively oppress Hungary, he could have prepared more evidence at the ‘murder scene’ that would work against Hungary, and doing so would have been a much safer method that could guarantee the ‘value worth risking his life for’—oppressing Hungary—and expect more explosive results. If the Prime Minister had set up devices unfavorable to Hungary, this incident could have even triggered a civil war within the Empire.

 

Second, the Prime Minister had no intention of committing suicide. In this case, how the Prime Minister came to apply poison to the stand can be divided into two paths, selecting the greatest possibilities.

 

2-1. Mental manipulation magic was cast on the Prime Minister. He unknowingly applied poison to the stand and worked.

 

2-2. The Prime Minister received threats. He was given poison by someone and threatened that ‘if you don’t apply this to the stand, we’ll expose something or kill someone precious to you, and I’ll know immediately whether you followed orders or not—since you’ll die shortly after applying it.’

 

2-3. The Prime Minister didn’t know applying it would kill him. He applied the substance to the stand for some other purpose, whether for mystical reasons or otherwise.

 

2-4. The Prime Minister gradually experienced poisoning symptoms after someone applied poison and left, felt something was wrong while searching for the cause, and touched the stand.

 

‘1 and 2-2 seem to have low realistic probability.’

 

I discard them.

 

Instead, the most likely hypotheses are these.

 

2-1: Mental manipulation magic, 2-3: Applied it not knowing it was poison to achieve some purpose, 2-4: Felt something was wrong while dying from poisoning and touched his back.

 

Still no solution emerged. Damn reasoning… I pressed my forehead with my hand. New problems arise.

 

P1. In cases 2-1 and 2-3: Where exactly did they obtain Atropos?

 

P2. In cases 2-1 and 2-3: Since poisoning clearly begins the moment it’s applied with fingers, why did they specifically need to apply Atropos to the stand?

 

P3. In cases 2-1 and 2-3: How is it that no dangerous substances were found in or around the Prime Minister’s residence?

 

P4. In case 2-1: Who cast the mental manipulation magic?

 

‘I’m really going to go crazy.’

 

Countless thoughts swirled in my mind. I stared at the yellow indoor light of the hotel room and muttered frantically.

 

“…Someone other than the Prime Minister applied poison to his back. While poisoned and feeling something was wrong, he sensed the magic on his back was strange, so he touched his back with his hand. If so, we need to check the visitors. Who went where and when. The Prime Minister left work at midnight and returned at dawn. There were always sentries guarding the door, but…”

 

“That person was already investigated. Wasn’t it written in the investigation records?”

 

Narke’s words crumbled and scattered in my head. Speaking made my thoughts clearer. Narke, who noticed my expression was strange, belatedly said “Ah” and stroked his chin. I felt slight tension in my neck as I moved my mouth.

 

“Narke, the Prime Minister presumably died at 10 AM while drinking water. His secretary discovered him 30 minutes later.”

 

“That’s right.”

 

This was what we had already confirmed on the train. They had taken the water cup, and no particular poison was found. The estimated time of death at 10 AM was determined by forensic scientists through the degree of rigor mortis in the corpse, so there probably wasn’t much margin of error.

 

Though the secretary discovered him 30 minutes after death, the secretary didn’t arrive at work at 10:30 AM. The precise timeline written in the investigation records was this.

 

Midnight, Prime Minister leaves work. 6 AM, Prime Minister arrives at work. 7 AM, Secretary-General arrives at work. 8:30 AM, breakfast. 9:30 AM, Secretary-General leaves the office. 9:45 AM, Domestic Secretary visits. 10 AM, Prime Minister dies. 10:30 AM, corpse discovered. The Secretary-General left the office at 9:30 AM because he had to meet the Hungarian Kingdom’s Prime Minister on orders from the deceased Austrian Prime Minister. The Hungarian Kingdom’s Prime Minister was scheduled to visit the Imperial Palace before moving to the Austrian Prime Minister’s office. There were no other visitors. It was impossible since secretaries were guarding from the lobby.

 

From 6 to 7 AM, the Prime Minister was alone but alive anyway, and from 7 AM to 9:30 AM, the Secretary-General was continuously in the same space. Until 9:45 AM, another secretary had poked his face into the Prime Minister’s office. The remaining time until death was only 15 minutes. No one entered the room. That’s why numerous investigators had raised suspicions that poison absorbed through food, water, and alcohol at the 8:30 AM breakfast had spread throughout his body an hour and a half later. I muttered quietly in the rushing waves of thought.

 

“Hypothesis 2-4 must be discarded.”

 

What’s right about that? I reproach myself from 30 seconds ago. It wasn’t someone other than the Prime Minister who applied poison to the stand.

 

If someone had neutralized the barrier and illegally warped into the office interior, the culprit would have fought with the Prime Minister, who was a mage, and if loud sounds of magic use were repeated, the Domestic Secretary waiting outside would have immediately entered to check. Actually, before that, the Prime Minister would have screamed or rung a bell.

 

If the culprit had cast mental manipulation magic immediately after intrusion, then applied poison to the stand and left, it might make sense… but in this case, there would be no reason to apply poison to the stand. Since mental manipulation magic was already cast, wouldn’t it be fine to put poison in the water cup while the target was defenseless and then leave? It makes sense, but if this were done, poison should have been detected in the water cup, but it wasn’t.

 

It’s certain. The person who applied poison to the stand was clearly the Prime Minister. Even though I hadn’t explained what 2-4 was, Narke thought for a moment then nodded. It was fine. When solving cases like this, having him read my thoughts wasn’t bad either.

 

“Right, since the poison was applied to the stand at least after 9:45 AM, the possibility that someone entered during that time and applied poison to the light bulb seems low.”

 

“Here’s the problem, Narke.”

 

“Yeah, tell me.”

 

“First, where did the Prime Minister obtain Atropos? Second, why specifically the stand? Third, whether looking at investigation records or newspapers, there were no dangerous toxic substances among the Prime Minister’s personal belongings.”

 

“Haha.”

 

Narke laughed aloud with an unsmiling face and tilted his head.

 

“We’re thinking exactly the same thing.”

 

“Right, then you must have thought of something by now too.”

 

At my words, Narke smiled slightly.

 

I couldn’t know where the Prime Minister obtained Atropos.

 

So let’s move on to P2 – why did he specifically need to apply Atropos to the stand? In this case, the answer would differ depending on whether we adopt hypothesis 2-1 or 2-3, but at this point we must recall that the premise of hypothesis 2 was ‘murder by external force.’ Therefore, we think from the criminal’s perspective.

 

“Why exactly did they need to have Atropos applied to the stand? What about the stand was necessary that it had to be combined with Atropos?”

 

Narke smiled in circles, leaned back on his supporting arm, and looked at me. He knew the answer too. I blinked, waiting for him to tell me.

 

“…They needed the stand’s magic power, Lucas.”

 

“Good, we’re thinking the same thing again. What we can learn from this is that Atropos was the Prime Minister’s possession, and at the same time, it’s not poison by itself.”

 

Atropos is not something that exists in a poisonous state normally. I looked at Narke and continued quietly.

 

“It’s something that becomes poison only through some medium, and that medium was the magic power emanating from the magic lamp stand. How about it, Narke. What do you think?”

 

“…Hahaha! This is thrilling.”

 

When I narrowed my eyes at those words, Narke squinted and smiled as he answered.

 

“What would I add to the top scorer’s words?”

 

“…”

 

“Haha! That was a compliment~”

 

Narke burst into refreshing laughter at my subtle expression, then straightened up again.

 

“So, now we’ve decided where to go. Right?”

 

“Right.”

 

I stood up from my seat again, grabbed my bag, and said.

 

“Let’s go now.”

 

* * *

 

Here’s another problem.

 

We must also consider the possibility that not all of the Prime Minister’s belongings are currently in the Investigation Bureau’s hands.

 

We previously saw firsthand the existence of teleporting artifacts in Germany. We cannot rule out the possibility that this ‘teleportation’ technology was used to warp a case containing poison somewhere. Therefore, we must first find this out.

 

“You came to see me?”

 

I’m in the solitary cell of the Junior Secretary at the special detention center. Police officers stand guard outside the iron bars. This place didn’t have barriers installed as thoroughly as the government building, so I could enter with just an investigator’s uniform and fake identification.

 

“Yes, I heard you used to organize the Prime Minister’s luggage.”

 

“Why is that? That’s not officially part of my job.”

 

He’s looking at me with furrowed brows, afraid I might frame him as the culprit. I understand completely. He must have been tormented by investigations all day yesterday.

 

“It’s nothing special. I’m just curious about one thing. The Prime Minister has been going abroad frequently recently.”

 

“Those are overseas tours. It’s not because it’s recent – he goes out frequently every time.”

 

“I see. I’d like to know what the Prime Minister always carried with him.”

 

“…”

 

He thought deeply for a moment, then answered with a face that still couldn’t shake off his anxiety.

 

“Naturally… a couple of suits, underwear, cologne, and one poetry book. That’s about all. He wasn’t someone who carried around many things. Two fountain pens and one diary as well. I don’t know much about the documents he needed to pack each time since he handled those himself.”

 

“Really nothing much.”

 

“…Then what should there be?”

 

“It’s not that. What cologne did he use?”

 

“Penhaligon’s. He received it as a gift when he visited England. Oh, come to think of it, he sometimes brought holy water too. He would get fresh ones whenever he stopped by the church.”

 

“Hmm… I see. Befitting a Catholic nation, the Prime Minister was also Catholic. More importantly, I heard he recently visited Italy.”

 

When Italy was mentioned, he frowned once again. Then he looked at me with a tired expression.

 

“Yes. I’ve already given extensive testimony about that. Bosnia, the Papal States, and Italy.”

 

“I’m sure you have. Since that was his most recent trip. More importantly, what was in his luggage when he went to Italy?”

 

“That’s everything. We carry the gifts for nobles or royalty separately, so the Prime Minister had no need to handle them.”

 

“Then when he returned?”

 

“That’s everything. We also transported the gifts he received. He hasn’t opened the gifts yet since he returned not long ago.”

 

“I mean his luggage.”

 

“…Hmm… He did get a new watch. There was a watch case I’d never seen before.”

 

“…”

 

I smiled and nodded, then stood up from my seat.

 

Clang clang—

 

“You need to come out now, Your Excellency.”

 

Just then, a police officer struck the bars with the back of his hand and shouted. I politely bid farewell to the secretary and left that place. Now it was time to go where Narke had already cleared the path.

 

* * *

 

“Ah, you’ve arrived.”

 

Once again, the Austrian Detective stands before me. The difference is that even though he doesn’t have a badge to pass through the barrier, Narke had stolen one from someone—or from some storage—using mind manipulation magic. He briefly came outside the building to attach the badge to me, then went back up to the Evidence Storage Room. Narke held up two fingers. Two minutes. That would be all the time we had to avoid being noticed by other mages. We had decided to avoid using risky methods as much as possible, but given the circumstances, securing information as quickly as possible when variables arose was the best course.

 

The investigator opened the storage room door for us. At a glance, his eyes looked somewhat unfocused, so Narke had definitely cast mind manipulation magic on him too. The investigator led us to the table where the Prime Minister’s personal belongings were placed. The dim room relied on a single light, but the objects were clearly visible.

 

“These are all the items the Prime Minister had with him. He was quite a modest person.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

Narke glanced at me.

 

On the left table were items from the Prime Minister’s luggage, on the right table were personal items from his Imperial Study. On the table in the back were personal items he used on the Residence 2nd and 3rd Floors, but that wasn’t what I needed to check now.

 

What was in the luggage was exactly as the secretary had said. A couple of suits, underwear, cologne, and one poetry book. Two fountain pens and one diary. A watch case, and ‘documents he needed to pack each time.’ There was nothing special on the right table either. At most, just documents.

 

But this was enough. I smiled and stroked my chin, then turned my head toward the investigator who was about to leave the room.

 

“Where is the holy water?”

 

“Holy water? There was no such thing.”

 

He turned around, asking back with a puzzled voice. I smiled and nodded, sending him away. Then I said quietly.

 

“Found it.”

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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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