How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 49

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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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How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magic Family (49)

“Ah, Count Nicolaus. It’s a pleasure to meet you like this. Honestly, I never expected I’d actually get to see you.”

The legislator who spotted Lucas smiled brightly and extended his hand.

Lucas accepted his handshake and replied.

“How could I turn away from a request from you, Legislator?”

“Haha, thank you. You truly are as compassionate as your reputation suggests.”

The legislator spoke with a slightly raised tone at the end, as if moved.

Lucas smiled in response.

“So, you said there’s something you’d like me to investigate.”

“Yes, that’s right. First, would it be alright if I invited you to my manor? This conversation is… difficult to have in a place like this.”

“Your manor.”

“You don’t need to feel burdened. It’s a place I use for work instead of an office, and it’s around the capital. If you’re uncomfortable, we could stay here…”

After thinking for a moment, Lucas readily nodded.

“Let’s go. If you give me the regional coordinates, I’ll follow.”

“No, as the one making the request, I can’t trouble you with such effort. Please hold on.”

The legislator extended his right hand.

Lucas stared intently into his green eyes, then grasped his wrist.

The legislator counted quietly to himself, then deployed warp magic. In an instant, his manor spread out before their eyes.

No, to be precise, what they saw first was the garden. The surface of green leaves like those of summer sparkled and shone in the sunlight. It was completely unbelievable that this was a winter garden in November.

Lucas looked around and muttered.

“Magnificent.”

“Haha, I’m grateful you think so. I put some effort into it to invite you.”

The legislator climbed to the highest floor of the manor, attempting various conversations. He pointed to a table positioned near the window of the room and sat down.

“What would you like for tea? I’ll order whatever you prefer.”

“It’s fine. As you know, I can’t remove my mask.”

Lucas smiled and tapped the edge of his mask.

The legislator leaned back and laughed loudly.

“Ah! Haha, that’s right. Count Nicolaus, why do you really wear a mask? There’s been a lot of talk, and I’m curious.”

“I thought people might have prejudices if they saw my face. I wanted them to focus on my abilities and actions.”

“Hmm, how… interesting. Just from your atmosphere, you don’t seem like you’d look that strange. And how ugly can a person really be? It’s all a matter of personal interpretation.”

I wasn’t talking about appearance, but that’s how he interpreted it.

Lucas smiled gently and answered.

“Usually, prejudices arise from that realm of interpretation.”

“I see… I suppose I can’t easily discuss what you’ve experienced. Anyway, no one finds it strange that Count Nicolaus wears a mask anymore. That was all early talk. Let’s return to our original conversation.”

“Let’s do that.”

“You must be well aware that Pleroma’s situation hasn’t been normal lately. I happened to catch sight of Pleroma moving differently than usual. Can you see this?”

The legislator took out materials from his bag and handed them to Lucas.

The neatly bound papers contained statistics and photos he had analyzed.

After checking the contents, Lucas slowly stroked his mask’s chin and said.

“The number of graveyard desecrations has decreased.”

“Yes.”

“The decrease is rather minimal. This level seems like a change that could easily occur.”

“I thought so at first too. But when I looked into the situation, that wasn’t the case.”

Lucas raised his head to look directly into his eyes. Strauchi shook his head with a serious expression.

“I have an informant. Many politicians in the Empire probably have their own informants, but my case is a bit different. I have someone who was deeply involved with Pleroma for a long time and escaped a year ago.”

Lucas let out a light sigh.

“What if that Pleroma betrays you? Why do you keep them by your side?”

“That can’t happen. We’ve already taken measures on our end.”

Lucas paused for a moment and smiled.

This part was worth addressing.

It would be related to the methods he’d use from now on.

“Is there a method?”

“You can change their mind through divine power, or place restrictions on parts of their body. If they break the sworn conditions, the magic injected above their heart will burst it… Count Nicolaus uses divine power, so you’d know well.”

The legislator raised his eyebrows and grinned.

“I knew about it, but hearing that it’s actually used is refreshing. It’s truly a primitive and certain method.”

“That’s right. There are reasons why classics survive and are passed down. I came to realize that here.”

“I suppose so. Honestly speaking… I’m not sure about the ethics though.”

“Are ethics important to Pleroma? Those who act completely opposite to His will don’t deserve to live.”

“You’re saying they’re people it’s okay to kill.”

“They weren’t human to begin with.”

I understand his position as a legislator well.

Lucas nodded.

At that reaction, Strauchi grinned and brought up the original topic again.

“According to my informant, Pleroma would increase their annual target for collecting corpses if anything, but would never decrease it. That’s how it’s been for the dozen years he was involved.”

“Why?”

“There are many uses for them. If they’re commoner corpses, they can be revived as-is and used for labor like digging graves again, and they can extract vitriole from them for their own use. They’re also easy to infiltrate into society.”

He said they extract vitriole.

They call Pleroma’s magic power vitriole.

Anyway, this part is worth remembering too.

Lucas nodded.

“So that friend speculates that this time, instead of the dead, Pleroma might be targeting the living entirely, or pursuing large-scale reforms unlike before.”

“I see. That seems like a quite plausible hypothesis.”

At that answer, a smile appeared on the legislator’s face.

“That’s why I’m making this request to Count Nicolaus. You know I’m a federal representative of Mecklenburg. When Pleroma appears at Mecklenburg’s graveyard, I’d like Count Nicolaus to catch them for us. We don’t have anyone on our side with the power to handle vitriole.”

Vitriole is difficult to handle because it can temporarily produce dozens or thousands of times the power of ordinary magic.

He’s attached various plausible stories to recruit me. So far, his logic is at a level I can somewhat accept.

“Well then. What will you do if you catch Pleroma?”

“We’ll make them confess everything they know. If Count Nicolaus could use divine power for that part too, I’ll offer greater compensation. Of course, all information obtained that way will be used entirely to thwart Pleroma’s new plans.”

Lucas nodded slowly while listening to his words.

The legislator’s gaze, waiting for acceptance, was fixed on Lucas.

After some time passed, Lucas slowly opened his mouth.

“As you know, I’m assisting His Highness the Crown Prince of Bavaria.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“In that position, I cannot approve this matter independently.”

“Then…”

“I also think favorably of your plan, Legislator, so I’ll try requesting permission from His Highness.”

A smile spread across the legislator’s face.

“By His Highness the Crown Prince, you mean Duke Leonard Wittelsbach of Bavaria.”

“That’s correct.”

“That’s a bit troublesome.”

Lucas looked at him without any change in expression.

The legislator slowly rose from his seat.

“I’d prefer the conversation not go that far. And… it should be more than enough time for the poison to take effect by now.”

“…”

“I wonder if even using divine power, you can endure this long. Ah, forget about the request now. You didn’t take it seriously, did you?”

“If you want me to understand, speak more clearly. If you want to talk to yourself, I’ll leave.”

“Please do.”

Werner Strauchi tilted his head slightly and twisted his hand to point toward the doorway.

Lucas looked at him indifferently once, walked to the door, and turned the handle sharply.

Click—

“….”

Lucas quietly looked down at the door handle that wouldn’t turn past the halfway point and chuckled softly.

“You’re the first person to tell me I can take a door that won’t even open.”

“Right? You’re also the first person I’ve seen who’s fine in this air. I should have noticed when you could use divine power on such a large scale….”

“Warp too….”

Lucas rubbed his fingers together.

Crackle―

No matter how many warp formulas he ran, no proper reaction appeared.

It was only natural. What fool would block only the door when dealing with a mage and not block warp?

“Of course it won’t work. Go ahead and recite all the coordinates you know. I’ll wait.”

“How did you do this? Remarkable.”

Despite Werner Strauchi’s mockery, Lucas sighed faintly with a calm voice.

The Legislator smiled warmly like him and leaned against the table, crossing his arms.

“Would you understand if I said the coordinate system itself is different? If where we were is World 1, then this is a partial copy of it, World 1*… something like that.”

“The world itself is different?”

“Rather than that…. You don’t know? Anyway….”

The Legislator squinted slightly, then curved his lips gently.

“You only need to know one thing. Without my help, you cannot return to where you originally were.”

“…Originally?”

“That’s right. You cannot return as a Bavarian Royal Family mage from the Papal States. Your brilliant career advancement ends here too. You’ll have to spend your entire life in This Location where there’s nothing but my Manor.”

“Haha….”

Lucas burst into laughter that sounded deflated.

“I’m not sure where ‘originally’ refers to.”

“Don’t you want to go back?”

The Legislator tilted his head slightly at Lucas’s muttering.

Lucas silently stared into space, lost in thought.

After waiting for a while, the Legislator raised the corners of his mouth slightly.

“This silence… feels like it means you’d be fine not going back. Am I right?”

“Hardly.”

Lucas stared intently at Werner Strauchi who had approached right in front of him.

“Let’s start with negotiations.”

“….”

“What do you want? Why did you bring me here?”

“Surprising that you can be so calm.”

Strauchi let out a laugh mixed with bewilderment.

“Answer me.”

“You seem to be mistaken about who has control of this situation….”

CRASH―!

The floor right next to where Lucas stood began burning black.

“I don’t need to answer your questions. Right?”

Certainly the initial magic for warp had deployed earlier. The faint sound I heard proved that.

It’s just that the coordinates I input were coordinates that don’t exist in This Location, so space couldn’t be connected.

In any case, this isn’t a place where magic can’t be used at all.

“It seems like a world where magic can be used. It’s just that the coordinates aren’t valid.”

“Hahaha… So, you’re going to charge in relying on one spell?”

CRASH―!

Before the words were completely finished, with an explosive sound, Strauchi’s body flew and crashed into the Wall.

“Kuhek…!”

He slid down from the Wall and collapsed forward. He dry-heaved against the floor as if he might vomit at any moment, then slowly got up from his position, groaning in pain.

His legs trembled madly as if he couldn’t put strength into them from the shock. Nevertheless, Strauchi continued chuckling and approached Lucas.

“If you come at me like this, it will be disadvantageous for you.”

Lucas placed his hand at the edge of his mask.

Every time he inhaled, an unfamiliar smell of blood stabbed at his senses. Soon after, he felt something flowing down from inside his nasal bone.

‘As expected.’

I had suspected it from the moment they brought me here without restricting my movement.

From the circumstances, there was definitely curse magic in This Location that drained stamina the more magic was used. It’s curse magic that appears everywhere from children’s fairy tales to high school curriculum, but it’s surprising to experience it directly.

‘So this is the method they use.’

I understand Pleroma’s method of confining mages well.

There’s no need to tie them up somewhere or beat them into incapacitation. Just preventing them from using magic would make a good weapon.

Then I could just physically overpower my opponent… but considering this is Luca’s body, the possibility of that is extremely low.

Most importantly, the opponent can use magic freely.

So magic using vitriol definitely isn’t restricted.

‘Still….’

This much isn’t even a strain for me. At this moment, I’m grateful to Hyung. Originally, if that Antagonist hadn’t existed, there would have been no need to hide my identity, but anyway.

Probably about four or five more times.

That much would be completely fatal, but I can survive until then.

Of course, I have no intention of telling him the truth.

“I can probably use it about one more time.”

Lucas kicked his legs and knocked him down again.

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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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