How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 512

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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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The Prince allowed one hour for the request to postpone the dialogue by an hour and a half. Since they were all mages, warping didn’t take much time, so they were able to gather the entire leadership in the Catacombs’ grand council chamber again with 50 minutes remaining.

Marian Baum and Chairman Susanne Nussbaum of the Judicial Committee had talked for 30 minutes. Now he had to summarize the content faster than that and convey only the essentials. Also, as Chairman Susanne Nussbaum had pointed out, he had to try not to use metaphors, but even without that, Marian Baum had come to secretly trust Chairman Susanne Nussbaum’s interpretive ability through their previous conversation and used the persuasion method he was most skilled at under the unconscious belief that he wouldn’t misinterpret his words or be swayed by them, but he didn’t yet have faith in other people’s critical thinking abilities, so he didn’t want to speak carelessly before an unspecified multitude who might lack interpretive skills. This was because metaphors were precisely the easy and intuitive language they were wary of.

Marian Baum organized their conversation as quickly and accurately as possible without using the metaphorical methods he usually employed to most effectively persuade others, and so he inevitably had doubts about whether he had properly persuaded them in the end, but he finished his argument doing his best.

When he checked his watch, 20 minutes had passed. Marian Baum received the water handed to him by the chairman’s secretary, drank it, and expressed his gratitude. A voice came from the end of the table.

“Very well.”

Co-Chairman Yanina Schweitzer clasped her hands together and continued with sharp eyes.

“So, Teacher Baum, have you gathered us here to defend Bavaria?”

Marian Baum pressed his lips tightly together and gripped the table. It felt like his soul was draining away. Though he maintained his expressionless face, Susanne Nussbaum also closed his eyes.

A difficulty from the very start. The premise itself had been misunderstood. There was no way a discussion that started from different points could conclude healthily.

It was natural that no discussion about phenomena would work on someone who focused on origins rather than phenomena. This corresponded to the difference of opinion between moderates and radicals, but it was different. Moderate Marian Baum and radical Susanne Nussbaum could communicate with each other. Whether Chairman Nussbaum fully agreed with Marian Baum’s words – well, that was definitely not the case, though it was unknown because he didn’t show it with his characteristic expressionlessness and silence. Countless counterarguments would have arisen in an orderly fashion in Chairman Nussbaum’s mind. However, Chairman Nussbaum didn’t commit the error of asking “Are you Bavaria’s lawyer?” after the previous discussion.

Chairman Yanina Schweitzer’s words now presuppose a binary factional logic, rather than the innate difference between moderate and radical. The same framing that operated when she created the “bystander” frame for Bavaria is operating now.

It was natural for people to misunderstand Marian Baum and Susanne Nussbaum’s intended meaning like this. They were Catacombs people, and therefore were in a position where they were supposed to regard the establishment as an enemy. Because it was believed that they were in a situation where black-and-white logic with proper justification could be applied, they shouldn’t make statements that would benefit the kingdom even if they had no such intention, and they also shouldn’t make statements that would ease the Catacombs’ hostility toward Bavaria even if they had no such intention. Since that hostility was also related to the Catacombs’ morale, any statement that made them reconsider even one basis for hostility was regarded as taking Bavaria’s side. The counterattack “Is Teacher Baum defending Bavaria?” operated through this mechanism.

Marian Baum closed his eyes and pressed his brow bone.

Before a faction, the demand for critical thinking that transcends factions is considered an attack. For politicians like Yanina Schweitzer, Bavaria must exist as absolute evil, because only then can politicians rally and lead the masses. It is the nature of crowds to rush there with enthusiasm when a leader points and says “That is the absolute evil we must eradicate,” and this was also why Marian Baum opposed the immediate introduction of a republic.

In Marian Baum’s view, the masses always wanted a powerful leader who would unite them, put them on a chariot, and guide them to paradise. They also seemed to hope they could willingly entrust their sovereignty to him if only they could enjoy the sweetness he would bring. That was wanting a new king, not wanting a leader of democracy! It was impossible for a republic to be introduced in the current state, but if it were, the masses would elect a militaristic and nationalistic leader who would make Germany a more proudly powerful nation. If that happened, a nation-state would be born that would rush toward a future worse than the current Prussia, where law partially constrains the royal family’s despotic rule, and this prediction was not something only Marian Baum had specially made, but the most pessimistic speculation that could be extended if one could only grasp the current political situation. However, since such a powerful and destructive nation-state had not actually been introduced and a republic was not a near prospect, he could not actively urge vigilance.

What Marian Baum had said so far was rooted in the thought of a political philosopher who had greatly influenced him in his youth, and he often quoted the political philosopher Montesquieu, who laid the foundation for the separation of powers. Montesquieu emphasized that for a democratic republic to function, there must be virtue among the people. He applied to civil society what the leaders of ancient Greece had identified as the only way to control themselves: virtue education. In a monarchy, the monarch rules by law and law constrains the monarch. In a republic, the people had to be able to be constrained by the political virtue they had cultivated.

Therefore, Marian Baum judged that if a republic were introduced, the role of citizens in making the dominance of easy and intuitive language impossible, as Chairman Susanne Nussbaum had warned, would be important, and a true democratic republic could only function when reflective citizens grew powerful enough to purify society. Premature changes before that would only accelerate the emergence of a dictatorial president, and it was hard to predict how much blood that dictatorial president would spill. And what was the foundation of that dictatorial president? All the thoughtlessness he had discussed with Susanne Nussbaum would grant a democratically elected president power like an absolute monarch. Therefore, Marian Baum now stood not just before this moment’s debate but at a crossroads of the Catacombs’ fate. No, this moment was originally at a crossroads since it was a decisive moment tied to the Catacombs’ sovereignty and future. Would they create a leadership where Yanina Schweitzer’s political language functioned, or one where it could not function smoothly? That depended on Marian Baum’s response. He had to be thorough in every moment. Marian Baum swallowed. His stomach churned before so much responsibility.

Yanina Schweitzer is familiar with political language. More precisely, he is familiar with dealing with crowds. He shouts many things in black-and-white logic and doesn’t deviate from factional logic. Few try to know that the absolute evil he advocates is merely propaganda, far from the truth. Therefore, to Yanina Schweitzer, anyone who undermines Bavaria’s absolute evil nature is Bavaria’s defender. A person’s attempt to fly above their own faction and look down at the situation more objectively is treason.

Of course, it’s unclear whether he himself believes that. In Marian Baum’s judgment, he was truly for the Catacombs’ welfare, truly a radical, and truly a politician. Therefore, Marian Baum couldn’t tell whether Co-Chairman Yanina Schweitzer hoped to compress problems rather than think about them three-dimensionally in order to use all this as propaganda, or whether he truly felt attacked himself. At first he thought it was the latter, but gradually it became unknowable. If it was the former, Marian Baum had to fight against Yanina Schweitzer’s “easy and intuitive” political language – that is, his propaganda employing deliberately thick framing – and if it was the latter, Marian Baum could look for compromise with Yanina Schweitzer while being wary of “easy and intuitive” language and the hasty thinking that enabled factional logic.

Marian Baum slowly began to speak.

“What the Catacombs should seize as the opportunity of a lifetime is Prussia’s misgovernment, not Bavaria’s proposal. Bavaria’s proposal is a historic event and valuable opportunity in itself, but the true protagonist who created the fundamental opportunity for reversal is Prussia itself. In that situation, we continued our discussion having made the mistake of regarding Bavaria’s proposal as the opportunity of a lifetime. I want to know what here constitutes taking Bavaria’s side.”

“I think Teacher Baum traces back too far toward causes.”

Chairman Yanina Schweitzer leaned forward, widened his eyes, and said.

“The fact that Prussia is in such a political landscape was conveyed by Bavaria, and the fact that we can break Prussia’s influence by using Easter was also conveyed by Bavaria. So according to their information, we are moving entirely in accordance with Bavaria’s command! Even so, do you say we’re not indebted to Bavaria?”

The chairman raised his voice and continued.

“Also, Teacher Baum overlooked that ‘commoner mages,’ if not ‘Catacombs’ itself, are being continuously attacked by Prussia. Teacher Baum’s opinion is correct. The ‘Catacombs’ in the precise sense is not being attacked by Prussia. They’re in a stupid state of not even knowing where we are. But commoner mages are being attacked by Prussia. In this situation, moving according to Bavaria’s command to attack Prussia and succeeding thereby to liberate commoner mages is truly something made possible by borrowing Bavaria’s power as commoner mages – that is, politically and spiritually ‘becoming indebted,’ isn’t it? Because Prussia stakes its life on hegemony, our rising up as those they oppressed becomes an aggressive threat to Prussia – that’s correct. But don’t you think that precisely because the damage Prussia suffers is enormous, it becomes all the more a matter of becoming indebted to Bavaria?”

The debt they’re talking about here means the debt the Catacombs owes the royal family in real political terms. The “obligation to settle unresolved rights” is a debt in an ethical context that the royal family owes us. Therefore, Marian Baum now wants to talk about the debt the Catacombs will owe Bavaria in the same real political sense.

“First, it was the Prince’s ability to observe the situation and seek to utilize it appropriately. I won’t deny Bavaria’s merit. Therefore, I dare say I understand the opinion that considers it becoming indebted to Bavaria.”

“Thank you.”

Chairman Yanina Schweitzer raised an eyebrow as he spoke. He wasn’t exactly being sarcastic, but he wasn’t expressing favorable gratitude either. Marian Baum bowed his head, then raised it and said.

“First, Montesquieu’s theory of separation of powers can be extended to international relations. Balance among various forces guarantees overall stability and freedom. Utilizing Bavaria’s information contributes to achieving overall balance by strengthening our checking power against Prussia. This is not undermining our autonomy, but rather a strategy that guarantees our freedom and independence in a larger framework. Isn’t pursuing such a strategy done through our autonomous judgment? If not, what is the reason?

Second, let me unify Chairman’s and my perspectives. Bavaria would not be ‘ethical’ enough to try to settle unresolved rights and wouldn’t have provided information in that sense either, so our interpreting their favor as obligation alone is unseemly, and using the information they provided to ultimately seek the Catacombs’ liberation is using resources gained in a way that is neither dignified nor autonomous – therefore, it’s achieving liberation in an unclean way that ‘indebts us to them.'”

Marian Baum looked at Yanina Schweitzer and continued.

“I know that Chairman Yanina Schweitzer and other leadership ministers who share your views think this way. That’s why you said earlier that you would observe the Prince’s attitude.”

“That’s right.”

“I have absolutely no disagreement with the opinion that we must carefully observe the Prince’s attitude at the conference, and I want to make clear that this is an attitude we must have. Returning to the main point, as you wish, I will look at the current sovereignty issue based on economic interests rather than ethics or morality.”

“Please do. I’d like to hear it.”

Chairman Yanina Schweitzer propped his chin with his clasped hands and looked sharply at Marian Baum. Though it could easily be mistaken for hostility on the surface, Marian Baum was momentarily flustered. Chairman Yanina Schweitzer had directly expressed his intention to listen. Until just now, Marian Baum had thought he didn’t know whether Chairman Yanina Schweitzer was deliberately using political language excessively, or whether he himself wanted to clarify Marian Baum’s position out of concern for the Catacombs’ welfare. But now the truth seemed visible.

Marian Baum cleared his throat and said.

“I interpret the relationship between Bavaria and the Catacombs regarding this 【Great Pleroma Liquidation Operation and the benefits obtainable from it】 from a perspective similar to alliance negotiations between powers. Think of the Hanseatic League. If Lübeck, Cologne, and Bremen were in a situation of wanting to form an alliance to gain mutual benefit, no one would talk about who owes whom a debt in a relationship where each side uses the others’ strength to gain ultimate common benefit.”

Then voices of concern began to emerge from various parts of the room.

“We are not in an equal relationship, Teacher Baum.”

“You’re wrong. The constituent cities of the Hanseatic League you used as an example are equal to each other, but our current situation is closer to the relationship between England, the Kingdom of Portugal, and the Kingdom of Spain.”

As expected.

Marian Baum had anticipated this and waited first. Chairman Schweitzer, who had crossed his arms and closed his eyes while taking a deep breath, gestured with his hand and said seriously.

“We are not in an equal relationship but in one of oppressor and oppressed. As the story goes, we are in Portugal’s position, joining hands with England to avoid being devoured by Spain. Portugal may have survived the turbulent international situation as a result, but didn’t it ultimately become a country dependent on England?”

“Chairman. I too fear that.”

Marian Baum nodded and readily admitted it. Even if he had speculated alone about the Prince of Bavaria’s intentions, they hadn’t actually entered into talks yet, and if the King intervened instead of the Prince, the situation might change, so it was true that he feared the possibility of future threats to sovereignty.

“We are not in an equal relationship at the Imperial law level, and we don’t actually hold equal power. Bavaria is a powerful group. But the situation is different for discussing that now.”

“How is it different?”

Chairman Schweitzer clasped his hands again, furrowed his brow, and asked.

“You are considering not 【Great Pleroma Liquidation Operation and the benefits obtainable from it】, but . Looking at the situation only from that perspective, naturally we are Portugal, so we can’t help but feel we’re becoming indebted to Bavaria. The former is neutral, but the latter is not very neutral.

You know the principle of trade. Adam Smith put forward the theory of absolute advantage as the reason why gaining benefit through trade is possible. He said that benefit can be gained by exchanging items that each can make at the least cost – that is, items in which they have strengths. Later David Ricardo advocated the theory of comparative advantage. The theory of comparative advantage doesn’t need to come up now, so I’ll omit it. We have different strengths and resources. The Kingdom of Bavaria must inevitably become an information hub by its very nature, and the royal family employs intellectuals to analyze collected information and derive useful conclusions. Analyzing information for the kingdom’s welfare is their role and duty. Therefore, returning to the first point, I highly value the Prince’s strategy but have never thought we are ‘subordinated’ to it. Ultimately, all this activity is being carried out for the benefit of the Kingdom of Bavaria as well, even setting aside the issue of settling unresolved rights whose true intentions we cannot yet know.”

However, regarding the issue of settling unresolved rights, I think it must be this era. But since this debt and that debt are different debts, there’s no reason for it to come up now. Marian Baum continued.

“Second, despite being in a position to obtain numerous pieces of information, the kingdom lacks technology comparable to or surpassing Pleroma, and has proposed cooperation to us Catacombs to receive technological collaboration. We have absolute advantage in technology insofar as we can provide highly developed spatial magic technology to this situation. Becoming indebted, you say? We don’t say one party becomes indebted in a situation where both sides gain mutual benefit. I trust you know that information is also a resource. We obtain information to attack Prussia, and they obtain our services. What’s important here is not the technology itself but the fact that we provide services, and I think Chairman Yanina Schweitzer will have no compromise on this either. Can we, who can choose to autonomously adjust the scope of such mutual benefit, really be said to have no sovereignty in the current negotiations? Do you believe we exist only in a position to be dragged around by Bavaria?”

“…”

“Going back to the front, what about ? This is one of the utilities of this affair from Bavaria’s perspective. Without our technology, Bavaria won’t be able to liquidate more Pleroma, and in this case it becomes a matter of actively making enemies of both Prussia and Pleroma. Uncertain liquidation is worse than not doing it at all. That is, without the power of us Catacombs, Bavaria must let this opportunity slip away without being able to check either Pleroma or Prussia. You can think this far sufficiently. From this perspective, Bavaria needs us. If we accept Bavaria’s cooperation proposal and call it a debt that we can go to the surface with the information they brought, then Bavaria, which will check Prussia’s power using our technology, is likewise indebted to us. You know that the discussion of whether Bavaria might slowly try to encroach on our sovereignty for technology afterward must be a separate discussion. Therefore, there should be no disagreement with the current argument. If you don’t recognize the benefits Bavaria gains from us as debt while regarding only the benefits we gain as debt, then Chairman, you are not recognizing the Catacombs’ status and sovereignty in itself.”

Marian Baum knew his speech was getting faster and faster. Even knowing that his unsteady attitude would not sound good at all, he continued to pour out words.

“Why don’t you acknowledge as they are the fact that they lack something and the fact that we alone possess strengths? Therefore, we are equal in this negotiation. In terms of information, they have the advantage. On the other hand, in terms of technology, we have the advantage. Is information alone the cause that will bring about the elimination of commoner mage discrimination? Our execution also becomes a source for eliminating commoner mage discrimination. Even with information, without technology, that’s nothing but an empty dream! We have the power to turn Bavaria’s meticulous strategy into mere fantasy. Is that enough now? Do you understand now that I’ve expressed a group that might become our ally this way? Or don’t you still grasp why I said our Catacombs humiliated our self-respect by interpreting the ‘incident’ as an ‘opportunity’?”

Only then did Marian Baum stop speaking and catch his breath. His vision shook so he couldn’t make out what faces everyone in the room had. Marian Baum squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again and tried to focus as he said.

“Why do you think the value of the technology we possess, this precious technology made by scraping our blood and bones, falls short of the strategic information Bavaria provided? I’m saying that’s unjust, Chairman. Our Catacombs’ pride is being destroyed by that thinking that judges Bavaria’s information as debt.”

Chairman Schweitzer sat breathing deeply with his eyes closed for a long time. He opened his eyes and stood up from his seat. Would he leave just like this? Marian Baum swallowed at his behavior without an answer.

However, Chairman Schweitzer stared into Marian Baum’s eyes and opened his mouth.

“I understand. Thank you.”

* * *

The Catacombs leadership moved to the conference hall with 5 minutes remaining before the scheduled meeting time. They couldn’t execute the plan to move with time intervals to exercise maximum caution, but they couldn’t delay any longer.

Upon entering the conference hall, Marian Baum faced a familiar face.

Bavarian Retainers in military dress uniforms sat in a circle, and in their center, the Prince, who stood out with his exceptionally robust build and dignified appearance, was looking at them. Marian Baum looked at the gold-decorated table and the banners behind it in silence. The carpet on the floor, the multiple layers of security magic felt in the air, and the retainers sitting around the table overwhelmed them. From minor details like the officers’ loyal and restrained expressions to the Oberst colonel rank visible on the shoulders and sleeves of the youngest Prince, everything about them spoke of royalty.

Now, how would they persuade the Catacombs leadership here? That the royal family’s atmosphere was like this was common knowledge, but actually seeing it evoked different sensations. Everyone knew this and came to this place, but it was enough for everyone to feel fresh antipathy.

Marian Baum’s duty, though he had briefly felt relief an hour ago thinking his duty was finished when it truly wasn’t, was actually finished for now since he had concluded even some clashes and emerged.

From now on, the task of resolving the leadership’s remaining antipathy depended on the Prince’s attitude.

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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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