How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 475

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

The 0.1-second interval felt like an eternity to me. “Ah—”, Narke opened his mouth as if bursting air from inside his lips, and called the warp formula of the Italian coordinate system first instead of coordinates. All sorts of formulas tangled in my head before connecting in an orderly fashion. Twelve numbers poured out like rapid fire. Twelve, not nine? Narke had figured out the detailed coordinates of where he stood. How—his insight had done it. I knew well that this was beyond his usual available range. I could almost smell Narke’s blood that would be lingering in the park air by now. Ah, damn it. He knew my plan all too well, and to fulfill my plan, he had to use his ability until overload came, and consequently the risk grew that much. But there was no choice. I could only hope that the worst case scenario wouldn’t happen—where I would overlap with Narke, where the particles forming our entire bodies would have no choice but to unite, where the warp magic formula would automatically transport us next to him. “Now!” I shouted while stamping my foot, and the last thing I witnessed was a servant in the hallway feeling the vibration and turning around. When I opened my eyes, I had turned my body backward half a half-turn and raised my right arm to my chest. Narke wasn’t here. He had disappeared to somewhere else in Rome that I didn’t know. Instead, I wore Narke’s face and looked into the eyes of a priest who would have been holding Narke 0.1 seconds ago at the spot where I stood.

Matteo Orsini. Simon Sabelli was the same, and this one also had a striking appearance. Did they do genetic manipulation as a group—thinking that about humans who had already been manipulated long ago and become a closely related species to Homo sapiens was just ridiculous. No laughter came. I looked into the neatly dressed priest’s eyes and opened the status window. There was no trait, no insight. No foresight either. He had no mental-type magic like discernment at all. Only divine power existed. Without insight or anything, how did he recognize Narke?

“Your Eminence…”

Matteo Orsini pulled his outstretched arm close to his body with a surprised face. Narke was a secret cardinal, but the Papal clergy knew he was a cardinal. This person was a priest belonging to the Roman Archdiocese, which meant he was closely connected to the Papacy and had Papal clergy as family, so he would know.

Since Narke had been wearing the appearance of a stranger earlier, the 0.1-second switching gap that occurred when we warped simultaneously could be deceived as an effect that happened during the process of dispelling illusion magic. This was my first intention, and my second intention concerned Narke’s safety.

The reason I had to wear Narke’s face was because Matteo Orsini would have confidence in himself. With enough confidence to grab a stranger’s appearance and call them Your Eminence, even if I switched with Narke and said ‘you’ve mistaken me for someone else,’ he would think there was no way he could have misidentified Narke. When the beliefs of overconfident people are completely shattered, they tend to harbor resentment rather than accept it. Moreover, since we knew that Matteo Orsini’s prediction was 100% accurate, it was obviously effective to adjust that accuracy to 50% instead of cutting it to 0% to avoid amplifying the opponent’s suspicion. The moment I revealed that I was a complete stranger with no superficial connection to Narke whatsoever, instead of being deceived by my warp-illusion trick, he would immediately start combing through Rome like catching mice to find Narke. If news spread that someone presumed to be Narke had entered Rome, we would have to withdraw. Rather than that, it would be more efficient for me to be captured and restrict his movements. So, then. Let’s see how far this works.

Wearing Narke’s face, I felt my hair flutter in the outside wind as I blocked my nose and tilted my head. Fortunately, the smell of blood that Narke would have just spilled didn’t blanket the air, which would be because even if the blood pressure in his head surged due to overload and burst the capillaries in his nose, there would be a time lag before the blood that came out spread thickly in the air. Fortunately, I was a divine power holder, and neither Matteo Orsini nor I had the eyes to calculate how many blood scent molecules were floating in the air. Matteo Orsini stepped back with a bewildered face, yet smiling brightly.

“How long has it been since I’ve seen you. To think Your Eminence would be in Rome. Weren’t you supposed to be in Germany?”

As old believers who respected clergy usually did, he bent his body and extended his hand. I should have placed my hand over his, but I had no such intention. As I looked down at him with cold eyes, Matteo Orsini raised his head.

“I guess not.”

The time it took for him to realize that I, wearing Narke’s face, was not Narke was 30 seconds. Even if I had covered it well, he would have noticed through magical power. Right now, I was subtly leaking magical power to hide my divine power.

Since he had noticed, we now had to move to the next step. I turned my body. I took two steps and when I tried to take the third step, my arm was grabbed again. Unlike the relatively gentle capture, his expression was terrifying.

“Unique ability? Or divine power?”

“What?”

I spoke in English, and Matteo Orsini nodded and began speaking in English, abandoning Italian.

“Why are you going around imitating His Eminence’s face?”

“I’ve never imitated anyone.”

“If this isn’t imitating, then what is it? How do you know His Eminence?”

Matteo Orsini scanned Narke’s features on my face while gradually tightening his grip on my arm. A good question. I irritably shook off his arm and answered.

“I don’t know who this ‘Your Eminence’ is, but it only looks that way to your eyes. Ask the people passing by. What face I’ve been walking around with.”

Matteo Orsini nodded with a face that showed he wouldn’t hesitate, then grabbed my neck and dragged me toward passersby like he was catching neighborhood delinquent children to scold them.

“Excuse me, ma’am. What does this person look like?”

A grandmother with a round face and thick eyebrows opened her eyes wide and answered.

“He looks handsome, what do you mean how does he look?”

“No, more specifically. How does he look?”

“My husband looked like this when he was young.”

Matteo Orsini looked at me expressionlessly.

Of course, that was because I had taken some elements from this grandmother’s face to overlay a new illusion. Narke had previously applied illusions only to passersby, excluding me, when changing his appearance. Similarly, I made the illusions appear differently to each person. This was what I was aiming for. How should I solve the question of how I knew Narke? If I told the truth, we would be exposed as Union 101st who came to Germany to find Papal traitors. But if I made excuses, from Matteo Orsini’s perspective, how could a complete stranger like me, whom he’d never met, possibly know Narke, a secret cardinal? Whether I told the truth or lied, it couldn’t be resolved without leaving problems, so I decided to use the blame-shifting method again. I would drive it as if it wasn’t me, but Matteo Orsini’s unconscious that had summoned Narke.

“What color is his hair?”

“Brown. Why, did this young man do something wrong?”

At the mention of brown, Matteo Orsini slowly looked at me with a hardened face. He must be wondering what was going on, since the me he was seeing now—the original Narke—had black hair. I also looked at him with cold eyes. Matteo Orsini looked at my glaring eyes and hastily turned his gaze away, contrary to his earlier stern expression, yet answered strictly.

“Yes. Absolutely.”

* * *

Only after asking the same question two more times did Matteo Orsini accept the reality before him—that ‘everyone he met saw me as a different person.’ He dragged me to the cathedral. I sat in a dark solitary room that relied on a single small candle, turned my head toward the window in front, and said.

“A confessional isn’t originally supposed to be used like this, is it?”

“Well.”

Well? I held my head and sighed. Matteo Orsini opened the confessional window and sat across from me, stroking his chin while watching me. I leaned my back against the wall and clicked my tongue.

“Father. At least I know this isn’t a place where you talk face to face. What is this, an interrogation room?”

“Never mind that, is that a unique ability? Explain in detail.”

“…Yes. It’s a unique ability. People see me differently. Sometimes they see an enemy’s face, sometimes a close friend’s face, sometimes a family member’s face. But I don’t always appear as someone who exists on Earth. Sometimes I appear as a face they don’t want to become, sometimes as an ideal face. Personally, I’d like to try an eagle head once, but no cases have been discovered yet, so I’m waiting.”

I spoke with increasing abandon, and Matteo Orsini seemed unaware of this. He nodded seriously and asked.

“Is it always like that?”

“Would it be? It’s not always like that, there are occasional periods like this, but since I can’t control it, I can’t prepare for it. To think it would happen like this on the day I came to Rome for travel…”

Unable to contain my distress, I repeatedly swept back the hair falling forward and pressed my scalp. When I let out a hollow laugh out of habit, Matteo Orsini’s eyes widened. When I looked at him questioningly, he said quietly.

“That expression just now is a first.”

“…”

After thinking deeply for 5 seconds about what I had heard, I instantly felt my spine grow cold. The passion flowing from his pupils turned my stomach. I suppressed the urge to let my expression turn cold and said nonchalantly with my hand thrust into my pocket.

“Everything would be a first for you. I don’t know who you’re seeing, but ‘His Eminence’s’ usual expressions would be different from mine. I only make my own expressions.”

Matteo Orsini kept touching his lips while never taking his eyes off my face. While it was true that I didn’t feel particularly good, since I had always felt like a monkey trapped in a zoo, I could refrain from getting angry. As long as he wasn’t reading my thoughts and inner feelings, I could tolerate him just staring intently. Only after a long while did Matteo Orsini speak.

“You have the face of someone I respect.”

“So even church priests have people they respect.”

“Believers tend to regard priests as great people, but we’re just human beings like everyone else.”

I know that well. I shrugged and pulled my eyelids upward.

“Yes, well, I suppose so? So what does this human do? ‘Your Eminence’ sounds like a very high-ranking person?”

Matteo Orsini struck my hand with magic and said sternly.

“Show some respect.”

“Hey, I’m playing with my own face, no need to hit me…”

“To me, it doesn’t look like your face but the face of someone I respect. This person is a very sublime individual. Our wisdom could never catch up to this person’s erudition. Even Pliny and the Encyclopedists would bow their heads in admiration before this person. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the Akashic Records are spread open before him.”

So he says… Whether I liked it or not, whether I wanted it or not, the information he injected was carved into my mind. An indescribable sense of guilt settled at the foundation. At the same time, I was getting closer to information. I closed my eyes and thought of words I could use to deflect without thinking deeply. I had to appear extremely ordinary.

“What records? For a priest to use such cult terminology.”

“What words that don’t match your appearance. How terrible! It’s merely a metaphor, so please don’t be trapped in narrow thinking and cultivate literary refinement.”

“Ah…”

The amount of books you and I have read in our lifetimes would be similar. Even though I deliberately spoke thoughtlessly, hearing such words was absurd. Anyway, it meant my acting had worked, so I had no complaints.

Matteo Orsini’s gaze pierced through the candle placed in the middle of the confessional and stuck to me. The candlelight was smeared all over his face, flowing down thickly like candle wax. In that silence, I looked at the dreary wood grain of the confessional that looked overwhelming just to see. There was still no contact from Narke. I had no idea what Matteo Orsini wanted to extract from Narke, and since deciphering the intent of the gaze looking at me was something I never wanted to do even when I was in the previous world, I tried not to think about anything.

Anyway, even if I thought about it, my imagination stopped at this line—with this level of interest, Matteo Orsini must surely be trying to pressure Narke into writing a theological encyclopedia. Or maybe he was trying to extract prophecies and insights… There was no way he could be this persistent without having something he wanted to obtain.

But his interest seemed to be based more on essence than such material demands, and the stubborn set of his mouth and the muscles around his eyes showed the same kind of persistence as the blind devotion a child shows when following the adult who raises them. I moved my lips slightly.

“Father, do you visit the Papacy often?”

“No. There’s a blockade order so I can’t enter.”

“I see. More than that, you don’t ask what my name is.”

“When are you leaving Rome?”

He gave an irrelevant answer to my question. But that itself was also an answer to the question. He thought of me as a substitute for Narke, not as an independent personality. I was merely a statue of Narke Farnese, so for him, there was no need to know what ‘my’ name was. However he treated me, I didn’t really care. But even from the standpoint of loyalty and righteousness with my friend, I thought I absolutely couldn’t maintain Narke’s face.

“Well, I’m thinking of returning before Easter. I’ve seen everything there is to see. I wanted to see more of the Marcellus Theater, but because of you, Father, I can’t even do that.”

If I stormed out right now, everything would be in vain. I answered patiently. The other party wasn’t focused on my answer anyway.

“What did you used to do?”

“I’m a student studying theology. Though I can’t attend school very often.”

Since he also knew I was a mage—though of course he didn’t know what level of mage I was—I had to give an answer that fit an ordinary economic level. Excusing myself as a student was all-purpose in the current situation. Matteo Orsini clasped both hands together and said calmly.

“Then you must be someone with a certain amount of pure soul, brother. My scribe quit work recently, so there’s a position available.”

“…”

“Will you work with me?”

I looked at him expressionlessly. It was a face full of determination. Contrary to my expectation, he wasn’t shocked that I wasn’t pleased. He quietly opened his mouth.

“It’s because of the face, isn’t it? I’ve seen many people like you, Father.”

“That’s right.”

Contrary to my expectation again, he readily admitted it.

“I want to recruit you because you resemble someone I respect. When we are with a respected teacher, when we are with respected parents, our spirit can reach higher places. Even if it’s just the outward appearance.”

“I’m not particularly inclined. I refuse. In case you forgot, let me add one more thing—as I mentioned earlier, I don’t know when the ability will end.”

“That’s fine. I know you’re not him but another person. How about it.”

“No, I said I refuse. I’m going back to England. I don’t want to do secretarial work…”

I turned my head at the rustling sound. And I looked motionlessly at the object that came at me like a blade within a span from my eyes. Without taking my eyes off the wand aimed at my forehead, I slowly raised both hands as non-combat mages typically do. He broke my expectations once again.

—Enter through the narrow gate!

“…!”

—…the gate that leads to destruction is wide and the road broad, and many enter through it.

Instantly my pupils dilated and strength drained from my shoulders. Ah, damn it. This bastard… An unpleasant drowsiness invaded my head. But I couldn’t completely lose consciousness. Even if I tried, it wouldn’t happen.

“Isn’t it a good proposal? —The gate that leads to life is narrow and the road constricted, and few find it.”

My stomach churned. Something seemed to be flowing backward, but nothing came up through my throat. Matteo Orsini put my robe hood over my head and supported me. He led me out of the confessional and began heading toward the cathedral’s backyard. My mind frantically alternated between consciousness and unconsciousness. A human who uses power to satisfy personal greed really couldn’t look any weaker than this. He must have lived arrogantly with divine power, but what good did it do? He must have lived scheming to obtain what he wanted in this way. In the end, divine power was used for such petty matters… Ah, it was truly clear. Shadows fell over my blurry vision. We had entered an arcade.

“Being with me will be sufficiently helpful for your religious life. If you want, I’ll have you registered at the school here. You’ll find my proposal very satisfactory. There’s no reason to refuse, and you never refused.”

I heard the sound of a door opening. Judging by the sounds and vibrations I could hear, this was definitely an empty room. It would be closer to a storage room than a room… I grabbed my throbbing head with my free arm. The scene of Matteo Orsini’s eyes turning toward me unfolded in my slow vision.

CRASH—!

I turned my body inward and slammed Matteo Orsini’s head into the floor.

“…!”

The fact that the mind manipulation magic didn’t work on me despite being chanted to the end made his eyes the largest I’d ever seen. Having flipped him over, I pressed down on his head while using my other hand to grab both his hands and hold them behind his back. I moved the hand pressing his head and placed my index and middle fingers on his temple.

“What is this…!”

―Enter through the narrow entrance.

I pushed the divine power drawn from my heart into his head. Matteo Orsini’s mouth fell open and his pupils dilated in an instant. I watched his reaction and muttered.

“This seems to be a place where we won’t be discovered for a while. Thanks to you, we’ve arrived at a good location without much trouble.”

I raised my head. The wooden door was firmly locked, but it looked like it would break right off if someone kicked it. I checked the surrounding scenery and spoke quietly.

“From now on, you must be very quiet. If they hear from outside, it would be quite troublesome for you, Father.”

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