How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 459

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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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Narke, who seemed to have no clear plan yet, pondered for a while before slowly opening his mouth.

“Alright, let’s talk about what we know regarding Saint Marco. Lucas, you go first.”

I also didn’t have any clear clues connecting Saint Marco to the traitor in the Papal States, but since he asked, I had no choice but to pour out everything in my head. I counted on my fingers and rattled off words as I knew them.

“Evangelist, gospel, Peter, Catholic-Eastern Orthodox, Alexandria Egypt, winged lion, apostolic writer but not apostle… like Saint Luke. And Jerusalem, Antioch, Cyprus, Saint Mark’s Basilica.”

The author of the Gospel of Mark who went on missionary journeys with Paul, revered as a saint by both Catholics and Orthodox churches though their feast days differ. After two missionary journeys, he became Peter’s beloved disciple and interpreter. He was the first in the church to use the word gospel—gospel derives from the Greek ευανγγελιον, meaning a gift given when hearing and sharing good news. I wonder if this interpretation will help too.

He is the first Patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt, and his symbolic animal is the winged lion. Jerusalem, Antioch, and Cyprus are regions he traveled during his first missionary journey, and Saint Mark’s Basilica is located in Saint Mark’s Square in Venice—not where he was martyred, but where his relics are kept.

Besides this, countless pieces of information connected like a web flooded my consciousness, so I squinted slightly to focus my mind. Narke, having heard my words and apparently able to organize his thoughts, responded in a satisfied tone.

“Good. All the important points came out. What remains is just connecting the information. It’s really nice to have a friend who uses his memory like an encyclopedia.”

“I’m glad. Make full use of your memory at times like this.”

“Haha, I was going to do that anyway, of course. With our knowledge, I feel confident we can definitely pull this off. What about you?”

I didn’t answer but responded with a smile. Narke suddenly seemed curious about where my knowledge came from—since I’m an atheist and he knows it—and tilted his head slightly.

“But Jerusalem to Cyprus is the first missionary journey. How do you even know things like this~?”

“I studied separately after becoming Cardinal. Still, it’s a religion that helped me, so I wanted to study seriously and show proper respect.”

“Hmm, right. I think you said something like that before.”

“I probably just thought it to myself.”

“Aha~ hahaha.”

“…”

I shrugged my shoulders in disbelief.

Even though I studied, there are still many unfamiliar things in this world. Modern Catholicism and 19th-century Catholicism in this world differ slightly in liturgical practices, canon law, and some doctrinal interpretations. Modern Catholicism follows the declarations of the Second Vatican Council held in the 20th century, but in this era of this world, there is no Second Vatican Council yet. There never will be, and different councils will emerge. Continuing forward like this, we’ll eventually face a 21st century completely different from my world’s 21st century—so only more changes lie ahead. Anyway, the basic knowledge I had often clashed in this world, and to avoid arousing suspicion, I always had to study diligently. Of course, even though I became an honorary Cardinal—a reserve for providing divine power in emergencies—according to the magical world Papal States’ active honorary position recruitment, the fact that I tried to fully perform the duties accompanying the Cardinal position was also entirely true, as I felt indebted to the faithful minority of religious people within me.

As my thoughts reached that point, another question dominated my mind, so I took out the notebook I’d been carrying around since the day before yesterday and wrote down my thoughts.

“So, Narke. Now the problem is how to combine this information. After combining it, how will you send word to the Papal States? Since we can’t go directly, if we transmit information in writing, someone might intercept it and attack us.”

“…”

“Can you trust your adjutant, Count Simon Sabelli, in the first place?”

“I’ll work on making a plan for that from now on. What’s important right now is, as you said, how to combine the information.”

“So?”

“Saint Marco. This word tells us many things but doesn’t tell us what we actually need. Could it be priests or deacons in the Papal States with names like Marco? Or should we catch clergy with the name Johann, borrowing from Acts’ mention of ‘John called Mark’? Of course, it’s a good attempt, but the Papal States have already interrogated clergy multiple times.”

I quietly blinked, waiting for his words to continue. Narke slowly looked around the wooden case—his scytale decryption tool—and said.

“First, I should also leave a cipher to pressure Ainsiedel for more information. But he might only know this much too. So…”

Narke trailed off and his eyes lit up.

“We need Elias.”

The moment Elias’s name was mentioned in his words, I slowly raised the corners of my mouth at the thought that flashed through my head like lightning.

“That ability to present his own reasoning using two symbols—whale and Ishmael—from Moby Dick, scripture, and Leviathan, then discard the symbols again. We need a friend who possesses both originality and universality that are difficult to reconcile.”

“You’re right.”

I continued with a satisfied smile.

“Let’s gather in my room once art class ends. We’ll all think about it together. I’ll call Elias too.”

“Good! I should go back to Trier. I’ll stop by the library there and borrow some books about Marco.”

“Ah, you can actually borrow books to take outside. Nice.”

“You’re qualified to borrow too. Should I get you something you’d like?”

My eyes widened at those words. That’s right. I thought I should go soon and borrow some rare books I couldn’t get in the market. Reading rare books or non-fiction was simply a hobby activity unrelated to immediate practicality, so thinking about visiting Trier again made me feel a rare excitement. I shook my head. I wanted to personally select books I liked from that library and borrow them myself.

It was a problem I could think about after the art exchange club and basic classes ended. I asked Narke.

“More importantly, don’t you have any thoughts about drawing?”

* * *

He says no. I don’t either, but what am I doing getting swept up by two friends’ pressure.

The next day, I handed over the rose-colored three-dimensional collage canvas I made yesterday to Ulrike. Then I dove into making another three-dimensional collage canvas to give to Leo for four hours, and while the canvas I gave Ulrike had rods arranged in a circle like a volcanic crater for collage, this time I attached photos on top of a three-dimensional sculpture made by simplifying a cathedral’s cross-section into two lines. I wanted to add more volume to the picture for Leo, so I roughly applied modeling paste and attached paper as thinly as possible to fit the curved surface. That doesn’t mean the result was excellent though—applying modeling paste is a matter of manual dexterity, so I was on the verge of ruining everything—but anyway, I tried my best.

As a result, it took a bit more time, so I couldn’t finish it in four hours.

“I don’t see anything particularly strange, but he’s scary.”

This was Ulrike’s assessment of Eugene Lamour today.

“He scolded me for using rough lines in shading. Why… when drawing tree shadows in landscape paintings, rough lines were okay. Why can’t I do that with human faces?!”

“So he does teach technical things.”

“Right. I asked him to teach me…”

Ulrike spoke with a serious and solemn face when Count Lamour was around, but when it was just us, she quickly became dejected and kept sighing deeply. Then she put her hand on my back and said what she’d been curious about all along.

“But does he really have no interest in you? I thought you were his target.”

“Exactly. I exchanged two words with Count Lamour today.”

“Why on earth did he recruit you then? Did Count Lamour really see artistry in your eyes? How did he know you’d create such an amazing work?”

“Thanks. I guess it was fortunately to your taste. You’re the only one who calls this an amazing work…”

I chuckled and said that, then quickly changed the subject in preparation for Ulrike’s rebuttal.

“So, what do you think of Count Eugene Lamour now?”

“It’s only the second day. If Count Lamour really came with bad intentions, he’s likely hiding his claws. If it were me, I’d blend into our lives for months before stabbing us in the back later.”

“Hmm, so we still can’t tell?”

“Right.”

I nodded to show I understood well and got up from my seat.

“Now I should eat and prepare for the next class. Let’s go.”

After lunch time ended, I met the teacher who came to teach me basic art. Then I immediately moved to the club he mentioned yesterday. The reason was nothing special. The teacher’s kindness was unusually novel, so I thought I’d observe for about an hour and leave.

“One more person has joined our club.”

The club’s atmosphere was harmonious. Dark lighting and people wearing masks as if at a ball, easels and canvases placed here and there with alcohol. Red silk wallpaper with golden decorations around the molding. People sat in splendid attire that suggested considerable wealth regardless of their status, which matched well with their jeweled masks, but I personally didn’t like such luxurious displays. I stood in the center following the teacher’s lead, and the teacher stood on a thick orange carpet that was definitely made in the Ottoman Empire, spreading his arms as he spoke.

“Though briefly, we’ll be together. Since this person is just starting, please welcome them with warm words.”

“Welcome.”

There seemed to be about twenty people seated, all smiling brightly. I was guided to a seat by the teacher and sat in front of blank drawing paper. As I was drawing cubes and spheres as I’d learned, someone came over with a wine glass. Dressed carelessly in a shirt and vest with no trace of manners or dignity, he waved the wine glass in front of me to get my attention and suddenly introduced himself.

“I’m Eleonora.”

“Suddenly? Hello.”

“Hahaha! Suddenly? Here you can freely move around while working.”

Unlike me, he wore a yellow canary-shaped—presumably—half-mask and had ten gold rings on his fingers… The moment I confirmed this, I wondered if he might be from a gangster background. It would be prejudice, so I didn’t dwell on it.

“First time drawing, I see.”

“Ah, yes. Is it that obvious?”

“Are you asking seriously?”

“Well… yes. Is it okay to live talking like this?”

No matter how I responded, he didn’t care at all and kept asking.

“Where are you from?”

“Well. I’ll keep that secret.”

“I see. I’m from Saxony, but I live in Munich now. We have exhibitions every quarter. Will you be here until then?”

“Probably not.”

“That’s too bad.”

Eleonora offered me a handmade cigarette and went to someone else.

‘What, how anticlimactic.’

The club members all seemed very close to each other. Everyone was drawing in a harmonious atmosphere. Except for one comment that revealed Eleonora’s personality, there was nothing particularly concerning, and not a single person was doing anything improper.

I had no fire, didn’t feel like smoking, didn’t want to get involved in useless things for Luca’s sake, and didn’t want to smoke cigarettes made by others, so to sum it up in one word, I just didn’t want to, so I moved it to the easel next to me and looked at the drawing paper.

“…”

No. I picked up the cigarette and put it in my robe pocket. Then I came out exactly one hour later.

* * *

In the end, there was nothing particularly concerning. I had some suspicions about the two art teachers, but I couldn’t find clear evidence for the hypothesis that they had any charges or impure purposes. Once I became nervous about Count Lamour, everything might have seemed strange.

I arrived at my room—actually Leo’s room—and looked around. No one was in the living room. I walked down the hallway looking for an unlocked door. When I entered a room with a key stuck in the doorknob, I saw Narke, Elias, and Leo sitting around a table. I placed Eleonora’s handmade cigarette in front of Leo, who was reading a rare book Narke had borrowed.

“Leo. Investigate this.”

“…What’s this. Where did it come from?”

“I went to an art club earlier and someone gave it to me.”

“You went where?”

“A drawing club. All the art teachers are suspicious. One person runs a club, so I went as a pastime.”

Then Elias, who had been lying with his cheek against the table looking bored, suddenly asked.

“Why did you suspect them?”

“I’m learning to draw from Count Lamour this time. Do you know?”

“Of course. That person’s always in the newspapers.”

“My basic art teacher seemed to particularly dislike that person.”

“…Just for that reason? There must be more to it, right?”

“No?”

That was all. In Count Lamour’s case, I was concerned about 1. whether approaching me was his goal, or 2. if not, then what I was still curious about—how he judged whether I was an artist or not. As for the teacher, if Count Lamour truly had some problem or intention, couldn’t he provide some information about Count Lamour? Or was he also someone I should be equally wary of? Since all of this was close to preventive investigation, if I had formed the wrong hypothesis, wouldn’t it be better to examine it closely and clear up any misunderstandings?

“Wow, Luca even investigates trivial things like this. But then it’s not trivial anymore, right?”

“Hmm.”

“Ah~ I knew it. I’m right. So that’s why you dressed like that?”

I’m currently wearing robes that drag on the ground like the mages in classical stories. I had to do that to avoid revealing my leg cast. I sat down and asked.

“Now, I’d like to hear how you plan to track down this Saint Marco. There are millions of people in the Papal States alone, and about five thousand in the Vatican. Are we simply assuming that someone named Marco or Johann is the culprit?”

“I have something to say, Lucas. We’ve recruited Elias now, right?”

“Yeah.”

“We’ve solved the first problem. Now it’s time to think about the second problem you mentioned.”

“Even if we narrow down the investigation to identify who the culprit is, there’s no practical way to catch that person. The Vatican has conducted multiple searches so far, but concluded that no one contributed to the theft of the holy relic. This means they either have the ability to evade surveillance or are in a blind spot.”

“…So you’re saying we can’t even have someone do the simple task of re-questioning those ‘Marco’ or ‘Johann’ people? Because if we send a letter to the Vatican, everyone will find out we’re chasing a Vatican traitor?”

“Exactly.”

“Then we have no choice but to go there ourselves.”

“Ah, you’re quick~”

“For that, we need to get permission from headquarters. It takes two days to go by train. That’s four days just for the round trip. I wonder if we could get there in a day using some tricks, but… we’d still need to allow a day for travel.”

The tricks I mentioned involved the arduous method of crossing into Italy through the Austro-Hungarian border, passing through border checkpoints four times total, and since I didn’t know whether such a method would actually work, it was just speculative planning. Such uncertainty made me frown. Then Leo, while drinking the schisandra tea he had prepared for me—Narke and Elias each had different teas in front of them—gestured with his hand.

“Who’s going to tell His Excellency the Chief of Staff about the schedule?”

Silence fell. I laughed bitterly and explained to my friends.

“First of all, I already made a frontal assault coming to Stadelheim, so I don’t want to go to headquarters and say the same thing again. It won’t work. I already don’t want to go out because the 98th Unit is wandering around Munich.”

“That’s probably because of the Stadelheim prison riot investigation. The representative of the 91st is also in Munich.”

Yeah, right. But that’s not what’s important. I stared at Narke, who was changing the subject. Seeing me like that, Narke smiled gently and said quietly.

“If headquarters finds out, they’ll chase us. Then they’ll also learn that you’re Nicolaus, that there’s someone connected to the Vatican, and they might even discover the connection between Terminus Yukairya and Ainsiedel. We already convinced them to go to Munich Giesing, so we can’t give them any more clues.”

“….”

“Do you need more explanation? After reporting that we’d go to Giesing to find the culprit who did that to Haike and Ishmailov as you said, this terrorist incident occurred. Headquarters also knows it’s a sign that something bad is circling around us. If we say we want to do something, headquarters will definitely monitor us.”

“So you’re saying we should illegally exit… no, illegally leave the country for the Vatican?!”

“Yeah~ I already convinced Leo too!”

“How?!”

Leo smiled slightly with a face that understood my reaction, then chose his words with a troubled expression. He spoke calmly.

“When it’s a problem involving your identity, what else can I do?”

“Oh, this is driving me crazy.”

“Narke is right. Headquarters is monitoring us even now. We can’t leave even the slightest suspicious trace. You know the reason, don’t you?”

Because I knew, I didn’t say anything. As I looked at Leo with worried eyes, he readily said.

“If headquarters notices the relationship between you and the Vatican, your identity will be exposed immediately. Everyone has that much sense.”

“That’s true. But if we’re caught illegally leaving the country, wouldn’t that be even worse?”

“Of course it would be. But what if you do it well?”

I lowered my eyebrows and opened my mouth. What did he just say? Leo calmly looked at his friends and continued.

“I haven’t heard all the explanations from you, but in certain areas, I fully trust your abilities.”

Leo was deliberately looking only at me, not at anyone else. I could sense that rather than conveying a specific message to me, he had other reasons. Now he smiled faintly and looked around at his friends.

“I can have confidence that you won’t put me, Bavaria, and us in trouble, right?”

“….”

“Good. I’ll stay in Bavaria and help you. You three do whatever you want.”

“You’re saying all this….”

“If this is the second step to revive Haike, I don’t want to rashly refuse your proposal either. Is that okay?”

I pressed my eyes down with my palm. I slowly opened my eyes, looked at my friends, and moved my lips.

“Alright.”

My friends created a tense atmosphere and looked at me. I said, half resigned.

“Let’s illegally leave the country. We need to go catch the Vatican traitor.”

“Yes~ This is exciting!”

Elias shouted while rapidly swinging his fists in the air repeatedly. I was at a loss for words at this elementary school-like behavior and fell into thought. Elias quickly became serious and said.

“And I’m nervous. I’m anxious.”

“Well, that’s because we’re finished if we get caught.”

Narke also answered seriously to my words.

“Let’s do well so we don’t get caught. And we’ll illegally enter before headquarters calls us.”

“Does that make sense? They might call us tomorrow, saying it’s for investigation or something.”

“So from our perspective, it’s the challenge of a lifetime.”

“….”

Narke placed his hand on the table. Elias layered his hand on top. I gestured to Leo—who probably didn’t want to do this kind of thing, as his eyes were now only half open—and placed my hand on top of Elias’s. Soon Leo also placed his hand on top. Narke said quietly.

“Let’s do our best.”

“Alright.”

I said just as quietly and looked into my friends’ eyes as I asked.

“So, how exactly do we illegally leave the country?”

* * *

It’s hot.

In April, I’m wearing a black robe that comes down to my toes. At least it’s the middle of the night, so it’s fortunate—what would I have done if it were daytime? What should I do during the day tomorrow…. I removed the cast and rewrapped the bandages to fit boots two sizes larger, but I still had to hide my foot as much as possible. Even if I overuse cognitive disruption magic, I might have to use magic during the day tomorrow.

“You won’t be hot much longer, Lucas.”

Narke says quietly from the seat next to me in the carriage, placing his hand on my shoulder. He was already wearing priest robes. Of course, they weren’t cardinal robes. Elias, sitting in the front seat, was wearing a somewhat unfamiliar formal suit instead of clerical robes, with his hair dyed black and the back neatly trimmed. He really used hair dye. In a place where divine power was mainly used, creating illusions with divine power was very dangerous, so everything had to be changed.

With his hair color reversed, he didn’t look like Elias at all. When I stared at such an Elias, he turned his head with a pouty expression, perhaps embarrassed. This guy’s attitude has been consistent from the beginning.

And with this combination, we were taking a carriage from Munich to Zugspitze. If things went as expected, we would be stepping on the Italian peninsula in two hours.

I just nodded at Narke’s words and said quietly.

“I still don’t understand how there’s a way. How do we get from Zugspitze to Italy?”

Then Elias hit his chest with a confident face.

“Trust me! I’m an expert at illegal border crossing.”

“….”

What do I do if you’re an expert at this kind of thing…. I wanted to say that, but since I liked Elias’s behavior, I just smiled.

According to Narke, getting to Italy wasn’t the end. Because the culprit had perfectly evaded the investigation so far, we couldn’t use cardinal credentials in Italy, shouldn’t meet people we knew as much as possible, and had to secretly find the culprit and report directly to the Pope.

Therefore, the fact that we were going to Italy was unknown to the clergy of Trier and Simon Sabelli. No one except the Bavarian government should know.

The white-covered mountains gradually drew closer. The wind began to fiercely strike the windows, and not long after, the coachman knocked on the front window and said.

[Get ready. We’re getting off soon!]

Good. Before getting off the carriage, I finished the short diary I had been writing while holding a notebook and pen in my hands the whole time.

*

Naturally, this is handwritten.

It’s not that I want anyone to die or for the monastery to eventually burn down.

I just hope our plan can deceive their eyes.

Narke, who had been looking at what I was writing, burst into laughter.

“Haha.”

“Why?”

“It’s nothing.”

I looked into the eyes of Narke, who said that. Bright irises looked back at me. I couldn’t read anything from them. Perhaps finding us strange, Elias tapped our shoulders.

The coachman had already opened the door, and Narke got off the carriage first.

Whoooosh―…

The fierce Alpine wind rushed into the carriage. Then Elias, who had exclaimed “Wow!” in surprise, whistled and jumped off the carriage. Narke, who had gotten off first, extended his gloved hand to me with a slightly tense face, different from before, yet with a somewhat leisurely smile.

“Let’s do well without getting caught.”

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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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