How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 461

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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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“Alright, fine. So what’s the next plan? If we follow that passage up, which city will we reach?”

It was time to accept it. Although I doubted whether medieval secret passages would still remain to this day, and wasn’t certain if such passages actually existed in the first place, we were already in the same boat. I quickly agreed and waited for Narke’s answer.

“There’s no point in arguing about that. But… want to try reasoning it out? What route did Germans mainly use when going to Italy in medieval times?”

“Via Imperi. If you’re going to Rome, this road is the best.”

Via Imperi was the road that connected from the North Sea through Bavaria and along eastern Switzerland to Rome.

“You know well. What else?”

“The Alps. But Via Imperi was designed to go through Brenner Pass anyway.”

Brenner Pass is part of the Alpine mountain range spanning Austria. Narke seemed pleased to be talking about something he knew well, speaking with a smile.

“Right, you know that well too~ People would go down through Via Imperi, or down along the Rhine River, or through various routes via the Alps. They would come to Italian Verona and Venice through Austria via Brenner Pass, but they would also arrive in Italy through Lake Constance like us. Of course, even when going via Lake Constance, they usually came down the Rhine Valley and arrived in Milan via the Septimer route through Chur in Swiss Graubünden.”

He was explaining on the premise that we already knew the Alpine terrain well, meaning that whether going through Lake Constance or not, heading toward the Alps was generally more common. Of course, there were other routes as well.

So far, Narke had essentially hinted to me that even if we took the underground passage, its end wouldn’t lead to the traditional Alpine routes. I wiped the lake water from my forehead and said.

“So the conclusion is… you’re not trying to say the end of the passage is in Chur.”

“Right, Lucas. You already know the answer.”

“I think so too…”

Then Narke’s eyes lit up as he waited for what I would say. Ever since Narke went to Austria-Hungary with me once, he seemed to have developed a taste for testing me. Or maybe he was like that from before.

He had essentially said that even if we took the underground passage, its end wouldn’t lead to the traditional Alpine routes. From the information that illuminated manuscripts were smuggled from Reichenau Island below Constance and entered the Vatican in Rome, let’s exclude other complex routes—for example, unnecessarily complex hypotheses like illuminated manuscripts entering France and then a French Catholic taking the manuscripts to Rome. If we only consider the case where merchants who stopped in Constance smuggled illuminated manuscripts south into Rome, the merchants would likely have chosen Zurich in Switzerland as their next destination.

While Zurich was also a major city adjacent to Reichenau Abbey, I wanted to use the Manesse Codex, a German artifact, as a clue for my reasoning. This is a representative artifact of medieval German illuminated manuscripts, a song manuscript commissioned by the Manesse family of Zurich in the 14th century. It contains over 100 miniatures along with works by court poets. Considering that the Reichenau Ottonian illuminated manuscripts were made in the 10th to 11th centuries, even with the time difference, if we were to pick a place where Reichenau illuminated manuscripts actively influenced with our limited clues, Zurich seemed relatively close.

Near Zurich is Einsiedeln Abbey, where a Benedictine monk from Reichenau Abbey existed at the beginning of this abbey’s history, and one of the ancestral branches of the 13th-century Manesse family ruled the Einsiedeln Abbey estate—this also served as weak background for my reasoning. Anyway, all these subtle connections arose thanks to the close proximity between Reichenau Island and Zurich, so what I paid most careful attention to was ultimately their geography.

Anyway, if the underground passage extended from Reichenau to Zurich, it would be extremely long, which couldn’t be possible, so I think the passage exit might be at a point far enough from the port to avoid inspection of trade ships and goods, yet on a route that could lead to Zurich.

“It seems likely there’s an exit on the route to Zurich, but it would still take an incredibly long time on foot. Would it take just an hour or two?”

“It’s fine. Finding the exit is also something we need to do, but even if we don’t exit completely, just entering Swiss territory from inside the passage would allow us to go to Italy.”

Just entering Swiss territory would be fine… that’s only possible if we’re assuming warp? I felt doubt rising and narrowed my eyes.

“Hey, do you know the Swiss coordinate system formula?”

“I do, but unfortunately I can’t get a permit. Only illegal warp is possible.”

“What kind of person thinks about getting permits when illegally entering a country? That’s not the problem—how do you know the coordinate system?”

Had he traveled to Switzerland before? If so, it would be possible… I looked at him with suspicious eyes and shook my head.

“Don’t tell me you estimated two hours for walking time inside the underground passage? You said you’d be on the Italian peninsula after two hours.”

“That got extended because Elias wanted to take a boat~”

“That wasn’t agreed upon?!”

Get your story straight. This is why Elias needs a friend like Leo by his side to stop him at every turn, but with two equally reckless kids meeting up, it became a trip with unclear plans and everything else.

“Actually, I was going to warp to Baden Gaienhofen and take a boat from there to Constance and Reichenau Island. As you said earlier, it’s right next to Gaienhofen. But getting a boat was the first obstacle, so I entrusted Elias with the first stage of illegal emigration.”

“You were going to cause trouble for Julia.”

“When you put it that way, yes~”

“…No matter how I think about it, the underground passage is a bit questionable. Elias, you had a plan too, right? What was your illegal emigration plan?”

Then Elias gauged the position of the barrier floating on the lake and said confidently.

“Swimming across. First diving below where the barrier would be!”

“Let’s quickly go find the underground passage.”

Then Elias grabbed my shoulder as I turned around, but I had no choice but to urge Narke with my eyes. Narke stroked his chin and looked beyond the dark wharf.

“So we’ll start looking now… First, let’s cross over to Reichenau Island. When we get there, we’ll see St. George’s Cathedral, and we need to stop there first.”

Wind roared past my ears. The air was warm thanks to the lake, but the wind blew strongly. Walking along the land route from Constance to the island, the entrance to Reichenau Island appeared.

What we saw immediately was a Flurkreuz. Narke made the sign of the cross toward the Christ figure hanging on the stone cross and carefully walked toward the small St. George’s Cathedral in the distance behind. The island was wide open, and there were no particular markings on the surrounding land, whether the warp point was deep inside. The warp point provided by the Baden government’s travel brochure would be coordinates that move directly in front of Reichenau Abbey.

Perhaps because it was late, there was no one around. If we did well, we might be able to find the underground passage without being caught by anyone. I looked into the distance and whispered.

“The underground passage is good, but we need to investigate here too, Narke. There’s St. Mark’s Cathedral here.”

“Right. Is it just the church? St. Mark’s remains are also there.”

At those words, I slightly furrowed my brow. Elias also twitched his eyebrows. Narke walked a step ahead and spoke quietly again.

“There’s also soil stained with holy blood from Golgotha Hill in that church. Soil truly stained with blood believed to have been shed by Christ. Perhaps the ‘St. Mark’ that Ainsiedel mentioned refers to this place.”

I think so too. It’s possible. I looked at St. Mark’s Cathedral, which appeared like a dot in the distance, and fell silent.

While walking to St. George’s Cathedral, Narke took out a piece of paper from his chest and handed it to us. It was a drawing done in charcoal, seemingly copied exactly from a fairy tale book illustration he had seen as a child. Narke drew quite well, but for reasons different from his skill, the composition of the drawing was quite unusual. In the back, a person stood blankly, and in front, a person on horseback was looking to the side.

“The fairy tale book I read naturally didn’t flow smoothly from beginning to end. It was a fairy tale book that arranged individual biblical illustrations in an order pleasant for viewing. Most were parts of gospels or liturgical books, and one of them, the very last page, had no special content. A person who appeared to be St. Nicholas was riding a white horse like St. George, holding a spear. Behind him, St. Luke was holding scales and a bible—naturally, given the era, an illuminated manuscript spread open.”

“Very strange. It’s a deliberately fabricated story.”

“Right. This isn’t a drawing of part of the bible, but someone creating a story. You probably know that in the old days, many people couldn’t read, so pictures helped them understand the bible. This is also a picture drawn to convey information to illiterate people. There are even unknown numbers written diagonally in small letters at the bottom with a quill pen. To whom did they need to deliver this code?”

“Following current logic, it would have to be delivered to merchants.”

“Right. If this is really a picture drawn at Reichenau Abbey, then the white horse and spear symbolizing St. George would represent this St. George’s Cathedral, and St. Nicholas might be a merchant? Since he’s the patron saint of children, sailors, and merchants. Considering that St. Luke, the patron saint of painters, is holding an illuminated manuscript, doesn’t the framework somewhat fit?”

“It might.”

I couldn’t be certain at all—having connections doesn’t necessarily mean a definitive answer—but considering Narke’s abilities, there was no reason to criticize his claim as hasty or lacking solid evidence. If it seemed completely unreasonable, Narke would have stopped thinking about it on his own. Narke walked ahead and whispered once more.

“At least that’s what I thought at first.”

“So you thought differently the second time?”

Instead of answering my question, Narke pushed the charcoal drawing toward me.

“Want to keep it? Lucas.”

“I won’t refuse if you’re giving it… but why?”

Narke said nothing. Elias stared intently at such Narke. I also folded the charcoal drawing, put it in my jacket’s inner pocket, and quietly watched Narke’s back.

Finally, we carefully stood in front of St. George’s Church. However, it was a difficulty from the start. Narke carefully touched and shook the rusty padlock hanging on the gate. Whether he hadn’t foreseen this or chose not to, he tilted his eyebrows with a slightly flustered face. Naturally, no matter how much he twisted it, the padlock wouldn’t come off. They must have locked the door because it was so late.

Eventually, as Narke was about to reach for the wand at his waist, I shook my head and tapped Elias’s arm.

“Eli.”

“Hmm, you recognize my true worth.”

“…”

Elias took out thick wire from his clutch and twisted it. He crumpled the wire into the padlock and turned it a couple times, then snapped his fingers audibly. Then he pulled out the wire, changed its shape appropriately for about a minute, inserted the wire back into the padlock, and fiddled with it again. Narke was watching the scene with bright interest, smiling widely—he likes all sorts of things.

Click—

The padlock opened. We carefully walked into the dark cathedral’s hallway. Elias was crouching outside, putting something in his pocket. Regardless, Narke gathered light at the tip of his wand and shot it at the wall. I looked around at the colorful murals and muttered.

“Murals.”

“Right. They were painted in the 10th century.”

I nodded. Elias, who had come in by then, carefully examined the inner paintings and muttered.

“Mark chapter 5. This is the story of possessing 2,000 pigs with demons and drowning them in the sea.”

“Haha… Drowning. Thinking that we’re above water makes it eerie.”

“Hey! Even if it’s the size of a city, it’s still a lake~”

“Right~”

Narke answered with his characteristic dismissive speaking style. Elias and I couldn’t help but feel creeped out simultaneously. Elias cleared his throat and moved to the picture right next to it. Even though he only slept during worship services, he seemed to have learned something, as he could tell what and where things were just by looking at the pictures.

“Luke chapter 14, the story of curing dropsy. Hmm, that’s about calming the sea. That’s about making the blind see. Curing lepers… reviving a widow’s son. This is also about saving a daughter and treating a wife, that’s Lazarus’s resurrection. Hey, there are several stories here that people criticize asking what this is. Why did they specifically include these?”

Hearing Elias’s way of expression, I was dumbfounded and laughed emptily while looking at Narke. Unlike medieval times when all citizens were Christians, nowadays there are increasing numbers of Germans who don’t believe in Christianity, so controversies about certain episodes have also intensified, which seems to be why Elias felt that way. Anyway, Narke answered with a peaceful face.

“What meaning would all the controversies have? These are pictures drawn to comfort the people. Washing away pain, reviving dead family members… They’re pictures that give strength that everything people earnestly wish for with all their hearts will be fulfilled through Christ. But now we need to think that there was also some calculation here.”

Elias tapped his shoulder with an “I knew it” expression.

“Right, that’s why I asked. Why did they specifically draw pigs drowning in the sea? Are we going to drown while looking for the passage?”

“Hmm~”

“Now, Narke. We came to St. George’s Cathedral according to your interpretation. There must be a reason why St. George was drawn on that flyer, and you seem to think it’s these murals. Right?”

“Right, correct.”

“So you think we can infer the location of the secret passage from these murals?”

“I can’t be certain, but it’s worth trying.”

Narke took out another manuscript from his chest and pointed to the numbers written below it. I realized what he was trying to do. Just as I was about to turn my head to the mural’s inscription, Narke suddenly stiffened his face and quickly said.

“Lucas. Can you memorize all the titulus written here? Clockwise!”

“What? Wait.”

I read all the Latin inscriptions written below the pictures as instructed. Then Narke pushed Elias and me out of St. George’s Cathedral and hurriedly locked the door with the padlock. Before we could ask about the situation, he grabbed us and ran to hide behind a small building next to the cathedral. Only then did I see white light approaching from the distance. I opened my eyes wide.

Rustle—

In the distance, beyond St. George’s Cathedral, someone approaching from the Reichenau Abbey side was standing with a lantern. Black collar fluttering in the wind. We held our breath.

“Is anyone there?”

“…”

The monk gradually approached closer to the cathedral. He examined the cathedral and turned his head. The sound of footsteps on grass and dirt was getting closer and closer. Narke smiled and swallowed his saliva.

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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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