How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 491

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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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“Say something that makes sense.”

I said that while squinting my eyes and twisting the corners of my mouth. It was partly because I didn’t want to believe reality, and partly because it truly didn’t make sense.

“It wouldn’t make sense. But it does. At least we can significantly advance the treatment period.”

“Why do you need treatment right now? Because of a potential war?”

“Yes. I can’t fully demonstrate my abilities in this state.”

“…Leo. You don’t need to fully demonstrate your abilities. You don’t need to go to the front lines, and if other investigations are needed, the three of us went and handled it this time too.”

Leo’s lips twitched with the look of someone who had much to say. Then he organized all his thoughts and uttered just one sentence.

“Won’t you help me?”

“I need to hear why you think you need to reattach your arm immediately before I can help.”

After thinking for a moment, Leo nodded and stood up from his seat.

“Let’s go back to the room and talk.”

* * *

We returned to the room and sat back in our respective seats. Leo spoke when he felt we were all ready.

“First, how have we been thinking about this? We never thought that relations between the Papal States and Germany would improve after the Papal States learned the whole truth – if anything, we expected them to worsen.”

“Right.”

“The Papal States can be considered indirect victims of the Atropos problem, so naturally they can’t have good feelings toward Germany where Pleroma, who developed Atropos, is located. Since the Penthalon incident, even before that, there have been frequent calls for Germany to compensate for international damage caused by Pleroma, right? Atropos would be the decisive blow that serves as a catalyst for that. We thought the Papal States would likewise use this to attack Germany. And we thought that even if we received aid from the Papal States, we shouldn’t depend on it. If we can’t protect our own lives and can only maintain the status quo with foreign help, would that truly be a completely healthy nation? But Prussia isn’t looking for alternatives to receiving help from the Papal States while being wary of them.”

I nodded. Under the multiple layers of soundproofing magic, Leo spoke quietly.

“The Papal States already know a great deal about Atropos. They didn’t explicitly state that they knew, but I couldn’t help but get that impression from every conversation.”

“Hmm…”

I exhaled while tapping my chin.

“But the opposite happened instead. The Papal States said we need to push forward to prevent disaster and asked if they could install a semi-permanent portal to the Papal States in the Bavarian royal palace. That was an expression of their intention to use Bavaria as the main route for sending support to Germany in the future, and it meant they would help us move immediately to the Papal States when we’re in trouble. At least that’s what the Secretary of State said.”

Elias opened his mouth and furrowed his brow. I also bit my lips.

“…But that’s difficult from a sovereignty perspective. In the age of magic, why wouldn’t everyone open permanent inter-state portals? They were expecting rejection too, and since it was such a significant proposal, they frequently expressed that they wouldn’t pressure us. Looking at other proposals from the Papal States, they also said that in preparation for Atropos, mages who know the coordinate system formulas of each country should be isolated and have their memories erased. Mages who have traveled would have memorized the formulas while getting permits. Or we could replace the coordinate system. But replacement costs astronomical amounts, and erasing memories likewise consumes manpower and costs, plus since it’s done to people, it would naturally cause tremendous backlash. So most proposals had to be rejected. That wasn’t difficult up to that point.”

Elias’s expression became increasingly subtly twisted. Leo spoke in a tone that seemed not much different from usual yet carried undertones of determination.

“Does the Papal States really have the authority to advise on Bavaria’s internal affairs? It was clear to everyone, so neither they nor we needed to feel awkward or worry unnecessarily. But one thing that bothers me is the Catacombs mages. The flow of Catacombs magical technology to the Papal States since the cooperation during Penthalon is problematic, and now they’ve even received invitations to help them naturalize to the Papal States. Considering safety, it would be better to naturalize commoner mages to the Papal States, which doesn’t discriminate against them. But not all of them would want to leave Germany, so we need to ask the Catacombs directly for their opinion.”

Elias asked quietly.

“What if Prussia uses that as an excuse to attack Bavaria?”

“We won’t just let that happen. Even if it quickly arouses suspicion, the Vatican intends to declare it as the Vatican’s will. If Prussia deliberately traces back to find causes and takes a hard line, we cannot recognize Prussia as the leader of the alliance.”

Bavaria’s efforts to maintain appearances while disagreeing with the central government’s directives is part of diplomacy. It’s diplomatic consideration toward Prussia, whose position is being threatened by Bavaria, showing that they don’t need to fear us and that we won’t openly rebel against their will. Prussia likewise knows well that Bavaria is lukewarm about central policies, just going through the motions while independently deciding many things autonomously, yet doesn’t get too angry because they don’t want to reestablish the alliance hierarchy. Why do they swallow all sorts of complaints and step back from opponents who go against values they cannot compromise on? They do so to avoid war again.

However, if Prussia takes a hard stance on this precarious ice of sharp conflict, Bavaria would also have no reason to tolerate Prussia’s unilateral actions. In other words, Prussia won’t carelessly provoke opponents unless they want Germany to fragment. The same goes for Bavaria.

Into this situation, the Papal States, who desire Germany’s division, intervene.

Since they won’t do anything beneficial for Prussia, they won’t betray Bavaria externally. To join hands with other Catholic states within Germany isn’t enough to match Prussia’s weight class. In this situation, Bavaria also holds power, so it depends on how they conduct themselves.

“Now, this should give you a good idea of what the Papal States have in mind and how tremendous their will is. The Papal States plan to neutralize Prussia without lifting a finger through ethnic division while Atropos, which kills only mages, turns Germany into Europe’s enemy. At the same time, they can place Bavaria under papal authority.”

Leo continued while looking around at his friends.

“And if Germany faces threats from other countries, it would be physical and economic threats from other rulers who have allied under the pretext of eliminating Pleroma. Whether they cut off supplies coming into Germany or invade the land. Since Pleroma made drugs that can kill specifically mages, mostly nobles and royalty, it’s entirely possible. Rather than dying helplessly to Atropos, if they could unite and divide German territory, that would be quite nice.”

“In short, you’re talking about war.”

“Right. They can even claim that the German government is supporting Pleroma. If the situation heads in the direction I described, the German government plans to advertise this Stadelheim prison collapse as Pleroma’s doing. They intend to claim that we Germans are also suffering damage from Pleroma.”

“Advertise, huh.”

Appropriate word choice. The federal government will shamelessly go around telling everyone that they failed to control Pleroma. They believe they can stop other countries by saying ‘Can’t you see we got beaten up this much too?’ and advertise their incompetence. Whether it’s true or not.

Leo stared into space with an emotionless face, eyes wide open.

“Now, let’s go back to the beginning. We need to consider our goals and the root causes of the problem. My goal is to prevent war, and more immediately, to ensure Bavaria doesn’t suffer war damage while not losing power.”

Leo’s expression is cold and analytical. If Elias had been sitting in his position, the words after ‘more immediately’ wouldn’t have come out. While I don’t completely agree with Elias’s self-critical statement that he’s not suited for the throne, I do agree with his insight that someone like Leo, whose head moves before his heart, would be suitable for the throne. Leo spoke in an inflectionless tone with all unnecessary non-verbal habits completely restrained, as if he were on a podium in a conference hall.

“And the cause of all these problems lies in our failure to suppress Pleroma. The international community demanding reparations from Germany is also because the federal government couldn’t stop Pleroma. The Papal States said they’d extract our Bavaria from that chaos, but Bavaria has no intention of falling under another country’s sphere of influence. Then the conclusion is that to achieve our goal, our Bavaria must gain protection in international society without the Papal States’ help.”

“Right.”

“We don’t need to win tremendous favor. It’s publicly known that Bavaria doesn’t get along well with Prussia, and any European country knows well that we want independence. ‘Germany’ – meaning Prussia – will be the first to suffer damage. At this point, we must minimize Bavaria’s damage and furthermore imprint ‘Germany’s’ efforts and achievements to prevent alliances of other countries excluding ‘Germany’. At the same time, we mustn’t provoke Prussia. Now, you know what I’m going to say.”

Leo finished speaking while looking around at all of us. None of the three didn’t know what he was about to do. Leo said exactly what I had expected.

“We’re going to eliminate Pleroma in the Bavarian region. We can’t stop at Munich-Freising. During the headquarters’ vacation period, I plan to gather all high-level personnel optimized for combat in Bavaria and finish this job.”

We’ll form a team composed only of Bavarian mages to enter. If things go well, we’ll ally with Baden too. Since that personnel will include me and Leo, that’s why he’s saying he needs to fix his arm immediately. Setting aside other issues, let me ask this first.

“What about negotiations with Pleroma?”

To my dryly thrown question, Leo tilted his head.

“What do you think, Your Excellency?”

“The negotiations are already broken. From the moment they put Germany in a war crisis, the peace strategy with Pleroma was finished. I never trusted it anyway.”

I spoke without a moment’s hesitation and continued.

“But what’s important is what happens after we openly break negotiations. Pleroma has no shame. They’ll say they were faithfully implementing the negotiated agreements but we broke them first.”

“Mm, right. But the Papal States already said a different phase is coming. If we can believe this fantasy-like talk… they won’t stop. I don’t fully believe this, but as you said, ‘from the moment they put Germany in a war crisis,’ whether we stay still and get attacked or strike them first has become no different.”

“Good. Then what about relations with Prussia? Prussia won’t want Bavaria to clean up Pleroma. It would reduce their influence. But if we share plans with Prussia, they’ll bring headquarters personnel like before to plan the entry operation.”

They’re not people who would let Bavaria take the credit.

Also, other Pleroma parishes won’t use Munich-Freising’s methods, but finding that out… that’s my job as Nicolaus Ernst. It would be fine to enter extra chapters like before to preview other Pleroma parishes, but I’m not easily swayed by the fact that I might face death for the first time in there. However, if it’s confirmed that we’ll enter Pleroma with only Bavarian personnel, I will definitely enter Pleroma parishes in extra chapters. Much will change, but previewing is the best solution and answer available.

To the question about how to handle relations with Prussia, Leo answered without wavering.

“Leave that strategy to me.”

“…”

“Now, can you understand my determination to reattach my arm immediately?”

I fell into thought with the morning sea glowing blue in my right field of vision. Then I stood up and grabbed Leo’s neck.

“You follow me. Hey guys, wait just a moment.”

I went to the small room attached to our suite and closed the door. Since this room also had a terrace overlooking the sea, I had to cast soundproofing magic. Then I sat at the table and clasped my hands together. Leo sat in the chair across from me.

“Leo. Listen.”

“Yeah.”

“Even if I don’t know, you won’t be healed. If everything could be cured by pouring magical power into it, who would spend a month or two mending bones? Of course, even if that technology became commercially available, I’d just wait.”

Having experienced it directly, it’s not something worth doing. My ears and core still feel numb. Remembering that day makes me want to throw punches, so I had to keep my hands tightly clasped. Leo still said firmly despite this.

“I have to do it.”

“As crown prince, you have the option not to go to the front lines no matter what danger strikes this country. Of course, I know traditional royalty is different from post-magic royalty. You – no, we – are more powerful than many other mages, and in a mage society that’s already small in number, each person’s strength is desperately needed. I know the outcome of battles can depend on whether you participate or not. That’s why you want to directly attack Pleroma despite being the future king. Right.”

“Right. You understand well.”

“What exactly are you trying to do? There’s practically no way to fix your arm. I could help with divine power so your muscles don’t suffer damage and magical power flows smoothly through your bones, which would greatly aid healing, but that’s not complete healing magic. All you can do is ask me to turn back time to before your arm broke, or train to perform all attacks with your left arm and parry others’ attacks. You want me to send you to Pleroma in such an incomplete state?”

Then Leo laughed. Even after saying it myself, I felt embarrassed and shut my mouth tight. So Leo had always been in the same position as I am now. I took that laugh as an answer and sighed. It would be better to concede a point.

“…Is there actually a way to treat it?”

“Yes. That’s why I told you. Would I have spoken without a plan? I’ll use divine power to determine the range, then inject learned modified vitriol locally and infuse concentrated magical power of mine. I mixed it with Mother’s healing magical power, which has the most similar composition to mine, and calcium preservatives. I just need to inject it directly into the muscles of the injured area. Then I’ll use divine power to remove the vitriol, and the modified vitriol that soaked into the bones will come out while new magical power takes its place. Otherwise, magical power would just flow through the body, so I need to replace the magical power in bones and muscles all at once. Next, I’ll periodically take calcium supplements…”

“…You wanted me to help with injection procedures? Are you kidding?! Go to your hospital!”

“That’s… I can’t do that. Remembering the successful hearing treatment, I developed this based on your temperament. Sorry if it was uncomfortable.”

“That’s not what I mean. Did you develop this?”

“Yes. Is that not okay?”

“When you apologize versus when you’re shameless… No, it’s not uncomfortable, but is this safe?”

“I already finished simple experiments.”

“What?”

“But since I did everything from start to finish alone, it’s not an approved treatment method. The risk isn’t great, but it hasn’t been approved yet.”

“So it is unlicensed.”

“You’ll have to just lie down for about a day. Fortunately, since it’s not completely shattered, this medicine will work.”

“Hey! What if something goes wrong with this attempt?!”

Despite my shouting, Leo remained calm. He answered calmly with an understanding face.

“Lucas. I’m probably the one who worried about that the most. Why would I say I’d do it if it wouldn’t heal? I’m not Elias.”

“If Elias heard that, he’d have torn your head off by now.”

“Why…?”

“Never mind.”

“Hmm… I understand your feelings, but modified vitriol is vitriol with aggressiveness removed. It has no fluidity or diffusivity, so it won’t spread throughout the body – don’t worry.”

“Textbook, so textbook…”

“I developed it, so if I don’t persuade you like this, who will?”

Right, Leo, who’s even more obsessed with safety than I am, wouldn’t make the wrong medicine and cause a disaster. He’s not the type of person who sacrifices himself to achieve his goals, and being always thorough in calculations, he knows better than anyone that sacrificing his arm would be a bad long-term choice. Maybe not Elias, but if he’s saying this, it means he can guarantee safety based on medical magical grounds I don’t know about.

“Does His Majesty know?”

“Of course. Where else would I get His Majesty’s healing magical power to put in? Besides, I couldn’t have made stable medicine with just my skills alone.”

“…I have nothing to say.”

“He actually liked it.”

Of course His Majesty the King would be delighted since he wants Leo to devote himself to magical medicine. I think there’s a misunderstanding though – he’s not exactly happy about administering some quack medicine, but rather that you’ve gotten involved in magical medicine. I muttered while pressing my brow bone and the area around my eyes.

“For you to move outside the rules like this… it just feels so unfamiliar.”

“That depends on where you place the rules. I need to protect Bavaria. For that, I can develop and administer medicine directly. That’s all there is to it.”

Leo said calmly while looking at me. When I didn’t give any particular response, he gestured to me and went back to his room to get his bag, then took out a medicine box. He pulled out a first aid kit and pushed the box toward me. Inside were medicines he had made. I picked up one of the medicine bottles that looked completely ordinary and said.

“Why did you bring this again?”

“Because I figured you’d naturally refuse. I thought maybe if we talked about it in Italy, I could convince you a bit.”

Leo pointed to the sea behind us with a hint of playfulness. Is he trying to use the fact that this is a tourist destination? We’ve been through all sorts of hardships here that were too much to handle, let alone having fun, so what good would that do? I let out a hollow laugh in disbelief and squeezed my eyes shut.

Then I took a deep breath and asked.

“Does this hurt when you get the shot?”

“It probably would. Why do you ask?”

“Well… I was wondering if it might be some revenge.”

At those words, Leo burst into refreshing laughter. I wonder what’s gotten into him. I guess even he realizes that the day he treated my ears, his quack treatment room turned into a scene of inhuman violence. Leo’s face, whose soul had practically left his body from all that treating, still looked innocent. Leo checked his watch and asked quietly.

“Two hours left until the portal closes.”

“Is that so.”

“Want to try it? I think I can give you confidence that it’s safe.”

“Why do it here? So I can jump into the sea if it hurts? There are no other doctors here either, you bastard.”

“What are you talking about? I just have enough for one dose right now. And honestly…”

“Honestly?”

Leo hesitated, then propped his chin on his hand and looked away. Then he squinted slightly and spoke in an unclear voice.

“I’m a bit scared too. I want to do it when I’m mentally prepared.”

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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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