How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 504

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

“First, thank you for trusting me and answering.”

Emmanuel lowered the hand that had been supporting his chin and looked into my eyes as he spoke. He knew well the danger of my confession as much as he had requested it, and was expressing gratitude for it. Speaking the truth meant I trusted him. Paradoxically, his warning to be careful with my words was because he didn’t think I would come to him taking such risks, and I didn’t need to think more about what this meant. It was already clear. In any case, he was a difficult person to become close with after crossing the line…

Emmanuel spoke in a slightly more subdued voice.

“And I’m sorry for treating you this way. For putting Count Everett to the test knowing you could be such a truthful person, for using unpleasant methods, and for being secretly pleased by what Count Everett told me.”

On the other hand, I felt something new. I caught a glimpse of anxiety that flashed through the minute movements and tension in his irises and pale yellow eyelashes. The fact that he felt guilty about his joy from hearing sincerity through improper methods was as new as that anxiety itself. The anxiety was evidence. It meant he didn’t want to lose his relationship with me. Time may not be everything in friendship, but with this person, time might be everything. This was because there was no intense trigger between him and me like the first cause that made me become close with Elias. Probably like how Archduchess Maria was able to become close with him.

I understand. Earlier, he had asked me several times about the source of information. Both directly and indirectly. I was the one who evaded those signals. I was also the one who didn’t suggest going for drinks—his second means of resolving conflict that I had experienced before. He thought he couldn’t get an answer from me who tried to resolve things through rational conversation, and caused this commotion because I could be a threat to Bavaria. Even I would have first infused divine power into the head of anyone I discovered could threaten what I valued most, so I had nothing more to say. Emmanuel melted into his eyes and firm mouth corners the will not to suppress what he had to say regardless of the reaction.

“Even if you say you won’t stay with me anymore because of this incident, I won’t try to stop you.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, then took a deep breath and exhaled long while turning to face forward and opening them. Then I glared at Emmanuel again and scolded him.

“Please do try to stop me. You went this far to stay together, didn’t you.”

“Mm.”

Since he had confessed to knowing the weight of ‘this far’ by warning me not to reveal my abilities anywhere, he rolled his eyes and grinned again this time too.

“Then I’ll have to refuse rejection and stop you. Let’s continue staying together.”

He grabbed my arm and playfully leaned his head on my shoulder. I let out a snort close to an empty laugh at the absurdity.

If there was something I liked, it was that he didn’t say things I wouldn’t likely carry out just to advertise his remorse. Things like ‘I won’t stop you even if you tell His Majesty to punish me,’ and such. That would rather be provocation. He couldn’t say such things after asking me to show loyalty to Bavaria, but to that extent I felt that every word he contained was never light—rather that all calculations and courtesy were meticulously constructed. He knew the difference between what I could accept and what I couldn’t. He also knew well how not to make himself and everything he loved ridiculous. The fact that we were each taking a step back regarding the slight rudeness we had each committed was thanks to such sincerity, and it had to be so.

Emmanuel said quietly.

“When you retire from the royal court, I’ll let you live at my manor for life.”

Well now, that’s always surprising to hear from someone who built castle walls with distance.

“I’m getting déjà vu. I’m basically of the principle of living alone, so I’ll gratefully accept just the sentiment.”

“How realistic.”

“Should I have made a joke for you?”

Why is that realistic? Isn’t that not the kind of thing to say at such a time? I wanted to know the basis for using the word realistic—as if he knew that despite answering differently, I was basically thinking this way, he patted my shoulder and stood up from his seat.

“Really realistic indeed. Are you still sleepy by any chance?”

“No. I’ve been fine since drinking the alcohol Your Highness gave me.”

“That’s fortunate. Then tie up your hair.”

“Why?”

“Let’s go. Maria is probably still researching now.”

* * *

“You’ve come quite late.”

Archduchess Maria removed her protective gear and greeted us. She was solemnly holding a thick metal rod. Not knowing what it meant, I pointed at it and shrugged, so the Archduchess answered.

“It’s an astral sensor.”

“…The name…”

“Strictly speaking it’s different, but it means a natural mana sensor. It’s incomplete since it’s under development though.”

The Archduchess confidently pulled up the corners of her mouth and brought over a thick book that had been placed on the desk. She shot mana at the book and said.

“Count Everett called this a button, but I’d like to call it a lever.”

“Then do so.”

“Surely Count Everett would have tried it. Shooting mana throughout the entire room to check sections where the wavelength changes. You could find the lever that way too, right? Though you would have talked about cases where the lever is made with such advanced technology that it can’t be found even with this method.”

“That’s right.”

“Let’s imagine a hypothetical gun that can split mana into the smallest units and shoot it with strong force. Actually, in most cases we should be able to sufficiently confirm the existence of other mana like spatial magic or artifacts using this. It’s actually a useful method. Right? Just like if we shot mana in front of a transparent portal, the mana would be absorbed into the portal without a trace, so we could deduce that there must be a portal in that spot.”

I nodded. The Archduchess held the book and tapped the leather cover while speaking enthusiastically.

“But this will be a different method. Now, let’s picture two situations. First, this is a door handle. It’s different from a portal because you can move to another space by performing specific actions like pulling and releasing, rather than moving by ‘touching’ the book. Shooting mana at a closed door doesn’t make all the mana get sucked in. However, no matter how simple, since it can receive and execute commands, it’s a kind of machine-like existence, so it must be an artifact in itself. Yet the fact that it doesn’t emit mana is far too strange. Surely some special processing we don’t know about has been applied. Second, whatever movement this book requires is a defensive command to hide the fact that it itself is a portal, in which case the book is processed not to absorb mana coming from outside. We can gain one insight here.”

“What is it?”

“Whatever it is, this book has special processing applied to it.”

Emmanuel tilted his head with a face that said ‘so what are we supposed to do about it.’ The Archduchess showed her palms and said.

“This processing was probably possible thanks to someone’s unique ability rather than the formal magic studies using common mana that we know, or mystical sorcery we don’t know about—that is, indirect manipulation of natural mana. Or it was made to consume less mana than the minimum detectable threshold of detectors. This also requires considerable skill. Therefore, we cannot recognize with mana detectors that this book is precisely a spatial magic movement button!”

“Yes. That’s what you said earlier too.”

“So I decided to try this method. Count Everett would know this fact too. In an isolated system, entropy increases.”

At those words, I raised my eyelids and stroked my chin. And I looked at the occult metal rod the Archduchess was holding.

“Attempts to decrease entropy also increase entropy. In any case, entropy continues to increase. Though I seek to discover methods for absolute entropy reduction, separate from that, current science says this.”

“…So?”

The Archduchess slammed the book down on the desk with a sound and said.

“Look! This book is sitting still, but the book’s disorder—that is, entropy—is increasing. Because we’re moving and causing air molecules to move, and this is touching the book. Light and heat are the same. Even if we don’t touch this book and leave it alone, it will rot and disappear after hundreds of years. If we turn off the ceiling lights, the temperature of the book’s surface will drop even slightly. Also, we’re applying vibration to the table where the book is placed by walking on the wooden floor. Perhaps that contributes to the book’s aging. Though it’s at a negligible level, if we very delicately set or derive values from all elements around here and calculate, we should definitely be able to confirm that entropy is increasing.”

Emmanuel, standing a bit behind, nodded. He listened quietly and attentively while finding Maria’s teacher-like explanation tedious.

“And I don’t want to confirm entropy increase only in equations.”

Maria held up the astral projection cigarette and metal rod. I had to prevent my mouth from falling open. Could there be another method this simple? She was saying she would use fluctuations in natural mana, ether, that we couldn’t see with our eyes or sense with our bodies.

“In the first case, this book is doing its utmost to hide the fact that it’s some kind of lever. That is, it’s working hard not to emit mana. In the second case, this book is working hard not to carelessly absorb outside mana. What does this mean? It means there are changes undetectable within the range of human mana—that is, significantly stronger entropy increase compared to other books is occurring.”

I nodded. Then I synthesized the story I had heard so far.

“Good. Then the fact that entropy increases is just a stepping stone that gave the idea to use this object, so ultimately it’s not important content. In the end, it’s saying we can use this cigarette and astral sensor.”

“That’s right. But I wanted to tell Count Everett the entire process of how I came up with the idea.”

“Me? Why?”

I pointed to my chest with an empty laugh. I thought I could cover it with laughter, but the Archduchess quietly looked at the air and moved her lips. Realizing the atmosphere wasn’t that light, I erased the smile from my expression.

The Archduchess soon opened her mouth.

“The world is seen as much as one knows.”

Since I couldn’t know what words would come out, I nodded silently.

“Isn’t that an eternal truth? So the fact that conversation flows without obstruction and thoughts flow without obstruction means the worlds we see correspond to some extent. To give a simple example, when I talk about some topic, my words contain various knowledge I’ve learned over time and don’t even remember when I learned. That has already become part of me long ago, so I needed no resistance or review before uttering those words. Even the fact that it would sound unfamiliar to others becomes something not easily conscious unless I chew on it several times, since it was so long ago. I probably… should be most wary of this.”

So that’s why he initially pretended to have no interest in the occult at all. Though he was also reluctant to reveal it because it was accepted as anti-Christian and far too unconventional, deep down he was thinking like this.

“However, if people who don’t have the same background knowledge, life views, or values as me hear such words from me, it will usually not flow naturally at all. They’ll think I’m like a narrow-minded person, or anyway that something’s wrong with my head, or because I use words that sound difficult to them without any concern, they’ll think I’m trying to deceive others, look down on them, or show off scholarly airs.”

“…”

“Communication between those with markedly different ways of thinking often leads to negative outcomes. They think I’m indirectly insulting them or that I’ve gone mad from being absorbed in strange studies, and then I realize communication errors have occurred and explain that I had no intention of mocking you, but it’s not very successful.”

He was saying he was happy that he could communicate with me. He wasn’t simply saying it was just enjoyable. I had to choose silence after reading the emotions contained in his words.

“But you can’t explain everything in the world in simple terms. Sometimes to discuss certain topics, you absolutely must use the grammar of that field. Though I’m inexperienced since I’m not a teacher, considerable misinterpretation can occur if you don’t express things in original terminology. So I try not to answer even when someone asks about magic studies. The situation isn’t much different even for stories I bring up out of necessity.”

I nodded. Archduchess Maria thought alone and answered.

“Conversing according to the other person is a basic virtue. So people with different interests naturally scatter in different directions. It’s extremely natural and nothing to be hurt about. But a person…”

The Archduchess fell silent for a moment, looking somewhere as if she had visited another world, then continued.

“Cannot live alone with three eyes among people with two eyes.”

I smiled. Archduchess Maria continued.

“Everyone wants someone they can communicate with. Isn’t it natural to think you’d want them by your side rather than trampling others to climb up? Even if the world isn’t that dreamlike.”

“Otherwise you feel something went wrong from the start. Even if that feeling itself is wrong.”

At my words, Maria flicked her finger.

“That’s it. You know well. Count Everett is like that.”

Archduchess Maria continued speaking while idly fidgeting with a mana collector placed on one side of the desk.

“Right? We met each other and are no longer lonely…”

So she wanted to tell me her entire thought process. I silently looked down at her bag and table. Then I answered in an equally small voice.

“That’s right.”

“Yet for me to meet people who match my heart like this—this can’t be explained unless it’s good fortune. I might not be able to return to before I knew.”

I looked into Maria’s eyes. And turned my head.

I thought this place was a reality no different from any other reality. Yes, this is why I couldn’t easily decide to come to this place. I quietly muttered.

“I wonder if it’s time to go to the afterlife.”

“Why?”

“There have been many joyful things recently. Confirming sincerity is always a joyful thing.”

Then the Archduchess’s eyes lit up.

“Speaking is also joyful. It’s not time to go to the afterlife, so let’s continue devoting ourselves to occul… magic studies together.”

“Yes…”

Whether my answer was strange, Emmanuel burst into refreshing laughter. For some reason, he roughly tousled my hair with his strong hand and maintained a grinning face while smoking a cigarette. I clicked my tongue and retied my hair. Emmanuel pulled me back a little and fell silent. Thinking he was going to say something, I looked at him and he began muttering.

“Well… to my ears, there wasn’t a single bit of difficult content in that conversation…”

Emmanuel whispered and slowly let his expression settle.

“But seeing you react like this makes me reflect.”

As Emmanuel said, the Archduchess hadn’t used particularly difficult words. From the Archduchess’s perspective, it was basic among basics, and even then she had converted all explanations very easily to match our knowledge level for conversation, yet the reason for being moved like this now was probably because she had been unable to communicate with other people about magic studies and the occult before. Every time she tried to express opinions even slightly seriously, she had repeatedly become an object of misunderstanding—this background existed in her joy.

I turned my head to look at the decorated lights floating in the hallway. The Archduchess was happy when I said I wanted to seriously discuss magic studies. The house becoming like this was something the Archduchess had decorated because she was happy about my request, Emmanuel had said. The Archduchess would have been happy when teaching me the occult and communicating through the occult, would have been happy when I actively asked questions about the connections between quantum mechanics, the occult, and the world, and even before that, would have been happy when I took her to the ‘world of mana only’ and asked her to analyze that place. Emmanuel tilted his head and whispered.

“Do you still not want to retire and live at our house?”

“…”

“Then go live alone in Austria. So we can meet often.”

I smiled and answered instead.

My thoughts began to multiply. I don’t want to stay like this forever, I thought, and then loudly called out to Archduchess Maria, who was alone assembling the next invention to show us—an improved mana collector.

“Your Grace.”

“Yes?”

“I’d like to obtain some of those sleeping cigarettes and defense potions you gave to His Highness Emanuel. Would that be possible for me as well?”

“Hup…”

Emanuel raised his eyebrows and made a strange sound as he laughed. When the sleeping cigarettes were mentioned, Archduchess Maria briefly narrowed her eyes and frowned, but seeing that we all looked healthy, she answered without much thought that she would do so.

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