How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 46

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magic Family (46)

I answered the reporters’ questions and checked my watch.

Under the premise that Dastrote would exploit the purification announcement, I considered the directions they could take.

First, from Dastrote’s perspective, their likely thought would be this:

‘Are you trying to act virtuous to cover up the controversy?’

Naturally, they would need to emphasize that my intentions were not virtuous.

Since the most effective way to provoke public emotion is to cast me as an outsider to their group, presenting unrealistic magical compensation with specific numbers would be a good method for Dastrote to use.

Money and all subjects of desire are areas that Dastrote exploits to a tiresome degree, so the possibility of them targeting compensation was already sufficient.

“I have a question.”

“Yes.”

“The Imperial Court has expressed its intention to investigate Dastrote, and the Imperial Court immediately issued a search and seizure warrant. This is on the grounds that Dastrote made false reports using photos of Prussian Kingdom citizens completely unrelated to the interview.”

Though it wasn’t a question related to the purification topic, my aide tactfully didn’t intervene.

Here it comes.

The preemptive donation blocked one of their expected counterattacks, but I couldn’t end it there.

Are they the type to back down just because their predictions were slightly off?

No. There’s plenty of room to shift focus slightly and concentrate on adultery instead of money.

‘When that happens, I’ll just expose the false reporting incident.’

I thought the Bavaria warning would come first timing-wise, but this came first.

It doesn’t matter. Both will have significant effects.

I smiled and listened to the reporter’s continued words.

“I’m wondering whether this case really needed to go as far as a search and seizure, and I have questions about the Imperial Court’s response in issuing the warrant. Do you know if the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Bavarian Federal Government were involved?”

He could have doubts.

To summarize again, his question is this:

‘The Imperial Court usually plays ignorant about everything unless they’re personally affected, so why go as far as a search and seizure over just a few civilian photos?’

Honestly, I wasn’t certain that the prosecution—though I write prosecution, it’s really the Imperial Court—would request a search and seizure warrant.

Since I can’t see through others’ minds, I don’t move with certainty about anything.

But it’s not unreasonable that the prosecution felt a search and seizure was necessary.

Would a media company that always obtained proper evidence in a common-sense, fair manner for their articles suddenly engage in large-scale manipulation just this once?

‘Unlikely.’

Especially given that the subject is Dastrote, it’s much more likely they’ve always done this.

Naturally, Dastrote wouldn’t want to hand over evidence of all the manipulations they’ve conducted so far, so they could destroy all records or transfer them to a safe location.

There’s sufficient reason to conduct a search and seizure now.

Then let’s think about this:

‘Why react so strongly to someone else’s issue when it’s not even about the Imperial Court?’

Hasn’t Dastrote very cleverly created gossip about Imperial Court or government figures in their reporting over the past few years?

Of course they have. They’ll touch anything that has news value.

Though they didn’t go completely overboard like they did with me.

They avoided regulation and punishment by ending with just a few lines at the level of ‘suspicions are being raised.’

‘And… those were all suspicions originally created by Dastrote.’

Even if not a major blow, from the Imperial Court’s perspective, they would have been seen as a target requiring close monitoring, someone who needed to be taught a firm lesson once.

But true to a society with political-media collusion, the Imperial Court and Dastrote often share common interests.

The Imperial Court has precedent of giving hints to Dastrote about individuals they want eliminated, guiding situations to unfold as they wish.

So… cutting off magical support would be wasteful for such a useful pawn, but giving a verbal warning wouldn’t matter much to Dastrote since they know the Imperial Court needs them too.

So from the Imperial Court’s perspective, when a good pretext is prepared, pressing hard once would demonstrate their power sharply without causing long-term damage.

The timing was good.

The Imperial Court wanted an opportunity to give Dastrote a meaningful warning, and I needed to prevent Dastrote from shifting focus to adultery and strengthening false rumors.

I finished these various thoughts and answered the reporter’s question.

“As you know, I am a Bavarian citizen. I reported Dastrote’s false interview and photo materials to the Bavaria Investigation Bureau according to my nationality. I know nothing about what happened after that.”

Another reporter raised his hand.

“Including the interview and photos, a total of 5 people appeared in Dastrote, and the Imperial Newspaper reported that they already have recordings proving false information for 3 of them. Should we consider all of Dastrote’s claims to be lies?”

This one is trying to definitively establish Dastrote’s claims as false. I like that attitude.

I nodded and answered.

“Yes. Of course. Let me say again that I am not in a romantic relationship with anyone. Not in the past, and not now either. All the people in the materials Dastrote claimed are individuals I’ve never even met.”

Then, the atmosphere in the press section changed.

It wasn’t because of my words. The reporters saw something being written on the papers they brought and quickly spoke up.

“I have a question.”

“Yes.”

“Two minutes ago, the Bavarian Royal Family warned that if Dastrote publishes any more false articles attacking the royal authority, they will permanently expel the Dastrote Bavaria Branch. Count Nicolaus, did you know about this?”

What perfect timing for this connection.

Perhaps the Bavarian Royal Family was also hearing about the Imperial Court’s investigation process, so they timed their announcement to match the Imperial Court’s.

Though it would be difficult to continue the issue further due to the damage to Dastrote from the search and seizure, this drove another nail in the coffin.

Now that Dastrote’s credibility is in question, the Bavarian Royal Family has essentially proven that all of Dastrote’s claims are fake.

This completely ends it.

I smiled under my mask and spoke while looking at the broadcast camera.

* * *

Ding—!

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

Proposal 3: [Impression] Score 5 Defense (?/N) (107 hours 09 minutes 58 seconds)

* Route 1 — 〈 Chapter 5. Good Things Take Time (1) 〉

* Route 2 — 〈 Chapter 5. Don’t Praise the Day Before Evening 〉

Congratulations!

‘Proposal 3: [Impression] Score 5 Defense’ Success!

‘Route 1 — 〈 Chapter 5. Good Things Take Time (1) 〉’ confirmed.

I lay down comfortably and looked at the status window.

107 hours is about 4 and a half days.

The proposal ended just over two days in.

Since it said ‘n’, I thought it would stay that way until a full week, but it didn’t.

And…

Yesterday the last digits of my impression score were 2513.

Lucas Rene Ascanien

Impression: -9.9 [+5.0025496]

Thanks to the purification report and donation news going out in earnest this morning too, it jumped nearly tenfold.

Considering it was in the 15000s when the proposal appeared, it rose even more than that.

‘Since it ended early, I guess there won’t be any further drops in impression score within the week.’

When three variables—preemptive donation, search and seizure, and Bavaria’s expulsion warning—overlapped at once, Dastrote stopped continuing the topic.

They even wrote articles subtly praising me.

They probably thought they’d lose more than they’d gain if they kept scratching at this.

‘But that doesn’t mean I’ll stop too.’

No matter how long the legal battle drags on, I’m definitely going to crush those bastards.

Of course, filing a lawsuit as Nicolaus would only result in my information being exposed, so I’ll execute it after revealing that I’m a student.

‘Anyway, raising the score isn’t easy.’

Seeing that even spending 4.2 billion didn’t get me to the 6-point range made me realize this once again.

I closed my eyes and continued calculating in my head.

To raise my impression score by 4 more points, I’d need about two or three more events like the live broadcast.

Even with positive numbers, the larger they get, the harder they are to raise, so hoping for 3 points from a single activity like before would be difficult.

‘If I’m going to put in the effort anyway, I should build my image more precisely.’

As long as I attend school in decent condition, Hyung’s anxiety about Luca will inevitably continue to grow.

Since I can’t completely avoid school life as a student, unless I drop out, ‘Luca’ being consumed is unavoidable.

I should accept the wariness toward Luca, but I need to make Nicolaus more certainly safe in return.

Then, someone tapped the floor with the tip of their shoe.

When I opened my eyes, Leo was standing by my bedside.

Not surprising. This is Leo’s training ground after all.

Leo looked at me and nodded.

“Get up. Let’s train.”

“Sorry, but I came to tell you I can’t do it.”

“What? Why?”

Leo raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“I have a lot to think about.”

“Thinking? You can think while training too. I won’t say anything today.”

“….”

This guy keeps increasing the intensity as my skills improve each time.

How am I supposed to think about other things in that situation? It’s amazing he thinks it’s possible.

More than anything, this guy has a knack for detecting when I’m thinking about something else during training and seriously advising me about it.

Saying that now just makes it obvious he’s trying to coax me because he wants to train.

When I closed my eyes again without saying anything, Leo tried to persuade me once more.

“We haven’t been able to do it for over four days because of the council and Dastrothe. If this continues, I’ll lose all the feel I’ve built up. You need to practice consistently.”

What am I expecting from this magic-obsessed guy….

I got up abruptly and sat leaning against the wall.

“Feel is important, but first I need to build up the mental energy to think. Let’s start tomorrow.”

“Well… it’s disappointing, but fine.”

Leo sat down next to me with a strangely gaunt face.

It’s nice to see his magic-obsessed side again after so long.

Still, I have no intention of doing it.

Elias is still treating his leg so he can’t train….

“Do it with Narke. He’s good too.”

“Hmm….”

From his response, it seems they haven’t developed that kind of closeness yet.

Of course. Since they don’t really do anything together except for the secret group, they probably consider each other as half-friends at best.

Come to think of it… it would be useful if I could see the favorability between other people too.

‘…No, cancel that.’

I shouldn’t get an ability to see others’ favorability ratings.

While it might be useful sometimes, compared to insight and such, it’s relatively quite useless.

Insight would actually be more helpful for seeing favorability between others.

If you’re going to give me something, give me insight.

Thinking this, I tried to recall who Leo trained with last year. Since Luca had no interest in how the class operated, no particular person came to mind.

“Who did you usually train with?”

“Just classmates. Taking turns.”

“Then call them today and do it.”

“Not really…. Besides training, I’d have to deal with a lot of pointless conversations. More importantly, what were you planning to think about that made you want to rest?”

Since they’re mostly talking about gossip or family matters, it is indeed pointless conversation.

I nodded and answered his question.

“I want to build up Nicolaus’s achievement more precisely. Plans need to be detailed.”

“You’re trying to make Nicolaus like your hyung, right?”

“Right. I need to do at least that much so I won’t be pushed back later when hyung tries to incite something.”

For that, I need to lay some groundwork first.

Especially my past and identification, which still have many loopholes.

This part needs reinforcement.

“Come to think of it, it’s already November 15th, what about the monthly evaluation?”

The school postponed it indefinitely before, and it’s been a week with no news.

Leo frowned.

“Actually, I’m not supposed to say this until the day after tomorrow… but come to think of it, you should know. Just don’t tell anyone until the day after tomorrow.”

“What is it.”

“They’re going to clean the lower restricted area before the festival. Just the Department of Magic.”

“…What are they thinking? Aren’t we all going to die?”

“…I’m curious how the kids would react if they knew the practical exam’s last place was dismissing it like this….”

I smiled, ignoring Leo’s hollow laugh.

Well, that’s just being last place on the surface.

“So, why do I need to know?”

“You’ll probably have to take the core test again too. I told the professor it would be meaningless, but since we don’t know what might happen, they want to try everything. The school seems to have gained interest since there’s been a lot of talk about restricted areas lately.”

“Hmm….”

“Still, the schedule got messed up because there aren’t enough suitable places to send students due to compatibility issues. They’re also discussing selecting only students who pass the test… but nothing’s confirmed. What will you do, just take the medicine?”

“I’ll have to.”

This is a good opportunity.

I can clearly inform hyung about my core condition. While hyung won’t be completely reassured, this should serve as pretty good evidence.

I took out Nicolaus’s identification from the bag I had thrown far away.

Though called identification, it’s more like a mage registration card.

[Nikolaus Karl Bernhard Yoon Ernst]

The name written in bold letters caught my eye first.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the length, but making unnecessarily long names is a noble characteristic, so it can’t be helped.

The Korean surname randomly inserted in the middle couldn’t be removed due to records from my first restricted area visit, so I put it as one of the middle names.

Of course, that’s not what’s important. What I wanted to see was this.

Bavarian Royal Magic Association Temporary Registration

General Magic Grade 5

“You registered as Grade 5.”

“Yeah. Temporary registration grades all come out as median values.”

I can’t leave it as a temporary registration forever.

Looking at the deadline, it’s until the end of this year.

There’s still a month and three weeks left, but….

“I should go now. Do you have time? If not, I’ll go alone.”

“Wait, you’re going right now?”

“It has to be now.”

When the school does the core test, hyung will hear what my core grade is….

If I match that timing with the registration issuance timing, I can escape some suspicion.

Hyung’s suspicion, who recognizes Nicolaus as a subject of observation.

I guess the school wanted to mobilize students to do some good deeds.

Thanks to that, I get to ride along.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————