How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 52

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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 (52)

I grabbed the Antagonist by the collar and lifted him up.

“Guk….”

“No, what you’ll experience isn’t an illusion but reality, so it won’t be exactly the same. What did you mean when you said you couldn’t return to Mecklenburg?”

I pulled out the artifact hanging on my other ear. As it separated from my skin, the stealth property attached to the artifact was released.

I held the artifact up to his view and smiled.

“What do you think it means?”

Strauchi’s face, already pale and terrified, turned cold and rigid. His eyes trembled violently as his lips quivered.

“…No way….”

“What you’re imagining is probably correct.”

I grabbed his collar and slammed his head against the railing.

Bang―!

“Urgh!”

The illusion Strauchi had created was still functioning perfectly, with countless people watching us with tense, alert eyes.

I pressed against Strauchi’s cold neck and muttered.

“I wonder how everyone would react if they knew that the young Federal Representative from Mecklenburg-Schwerin was Pleroma.”

“No, no…. Don’t….”

“Everyone is prepared to devote their time to you. Now your story will come up at every family’s dinner table. Letters asking about well-being will surely mention the Pleroma politician story, and schools, the Imperial Court, and the Federal Government will of course spend decades using your case to warn their juniors.”

Strauchi shook his head rapidly and backed away. It seemed he no longer had the strength to speak.

I had drawn the maximum possible mana in an instant to attack him so he couldn’t use any magic, so this was natural.

I felt his life force fading and opened my mouth.

“Look back. What achievements did you feel proud of? Graduating from the Imperial 1st Education Institute’s Department of Magic with top honors? Getting to work for the Federal Government right after graduation, being selected as Schwerin’s Legislator before even ten years passed…. You received a lot of support for having such a short political career.”

I looked at his unfocused eyes and tilted my head.

“Impressive. It was the brilliant life everyone desperately desires. Right?”

“….”

Even after saying all this, I wonder if he regrets getting involved with Pleroma. Of course, regretting it now wouldn’t mean much.

I felt Strauchi’s breathing become irregular and gradually slow down.

It’s time to wrap things up. I took off my gloves and pressed his forehead.

―Enter through the narrow gate.

I always stopped here before.

But this time, I can’t do that.

I continued the formula and put strength into my hand. Without doing so, my hand would tremble too much to concentrate on the magic.

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

While speaking, I felt something break again. My blood dropped onto his pale face.

‘…I can’t stop here.’

Just a little more.

I don’t know what Pleroma’s system is like. I don’t know how they might scrape his memories.

―But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

So I can only feel at ease if I damage the original.

When the spell ended, Strauchi’s trembling eyes stopped moving. His hands and legs went limp.

He wasn’t dead.

When mana flowing to the brain receives a strong shock, it temporarily shows this reaction. This means his level was lower than mine, and my memory manipulation magic succeeded.

Even though I proved he was Pleroma, it’s better to let the Imperial Court handle his final disposal rather than me cutting off his breath immediately. It’s best not to leave even the slightest possibility of negative image or unnecessary disturbance.

‘More than that….’

The price of using four or five times worth of mana at once is catching up to me.

I had been desperately ignoring it, but perhaps because I thought the work was completely finished, my tension suddenly released and I couldn’t bear it anymore.

Thud―

My vision was narrowing at a steady pace, like lights going out one by one. A chill suddenly spread from somewhere in my stomach.

Boom―

For some reason, the same loud noise from earlier came again.

It was definitely longer, but perhaps because I couldn’t accept it, my ears immediately blocked the sound. A dazed state like being underwater continued.

I raised my hand to touch my ear. A sticky liquid got on my hand.

‘….’

What was this? It’s definitely a name I should know.

It feels like a circuit has been cut. My expression naturally crumpled.

Now my eyes are closing on their own. If I wait like this, support will come soon, so it wouldn’t be bad to rest a little.

‘No, that’s not right.’

Right now I need to find out what that loud noise I didn’t make was. There’s not enough time to think about the next action, so what….

Crash―

Something fell and wind arose. I saw a human silhouette in the dust cloud far away.

“…Can you hear me? You’re covered in blood. Are you okay?”

It was a familiar voice.

I clenched my hand and opened my mouth.

I felt the fog in my head clear slightly. Only then could I remember what was on my hand.

“I saw all your magic. You know you almost killed him?”

I squinted to focus in my blurred vision. A figure in black robes over priest clothes laughed aloud and swung a staff.

“As expected, your potential… my eye wasn’t wrong. But let’s not kill him. I need to see how he dies.”

―Stretch out your hand, and in your holy name perform healing, signs, and miracles.

Pure white divine power spread before my eyes.

My mind cleared. I could tell I had a bit more leeway.

Only then did I notice something strange about the other person’s appearance.

I caught sight of the deep pink fascia tied around the waist of the priest clothes under the robe. As far as I know, there are few clergy who can use such a color.

The staff also went beyond my common knowledge – a staff given to Papacy clergy was in his hands. His hair color wasn’t the usual dark brown but close to the white that the Papacy set as standard for divine power users. His irises were also a pale water color where the pupil boundaries were eerily clear.

There’s really a lot to ask about his appearance, but I wasn’t in the right state of mind.

I leaned against the railing and muttered.

“You’re only coming now….”

“Yeah, sorry. Strauchi messed up the coordinate system twice.”

Narke slightly lifted his mask to show his face. He sat in front of me, checked my condition, then smiled with a subtle expression.

“Your internal injuries are serious. It’s not poison so purification doesn’t work either… there are many problems. When we get back, I’ll have to extract something from Wittelsbach’s backbone.”

“You’ll extract it for me?”

“Haha, how modest. I’ll bring you a newspaper when you wake up after treatment later.”

When I frowned at the incomprehensible words, Narke burst into laughter.

“Right now the entire Empire is stepping forward as if they’d extract anything for you, so there’s no way your affiliated place wouldn’t do it. Now answer my question. Well….”

Narke turned my head and pointed below.

“Do you still know where this is?”

“Capital Square… Top Floor of the Clock Tower.”

“Good. Then you know those people are your hallucination?”

“I know.”

“You also know this place is 100 meters above ground?”

“I didn’t know that much.”

I answered while holding my throbbing head.

“Roughly so. Anyway, I should mention that in our coordinate system too, people are gathered below us like that.”

“What…!”

“Don’t get worked up in that condition. I couldn’t bring a mask because there wasn’t time, so what should we do. Should I lengthen your hair? No, let’s cover it with the robe first.”

“We can just warp. Ah, damn… the coordinate system….”

“Right, there’s no way to move the coordinate system. This is my first time doing something like this too. Do you remember where I came from earlier?”

I silently shook my head.

“I fell from the sky from your perspective. I had to create a crack by applying impact. There were a couple of replicated parts, but fortunately the world you’re in came up in the first draw.”

“…What are you trying to say….”

I held my head.

Words that made absolutely no sense were being listed.

Normally I would have understood from context, but I wasn’t in the right state of mind for that.

Then my vision tilted. Narke had lifted me up and positioned himself.

“We’re going the same way we came. We need to jump now, Lucas.”

“What?!”

“Haha, there’s no other way. Sorry. But this is the best option, so I’m not really that sorry.”

Narke leaped up onto the railing in one bound. Standing here, the wind hit us even more fiercely.

Whoooosh—

“I’ll cast a cognitive disruption spell. Don’t worry about your face being recognized.”

“No, you call that something to say right now…!”

“You can trust my skills. If we delay any longer, forget about hyung, you’ll die right now. Alright, three, two… one.”

Narke lightly lifted his foot.

The wind sound stopped, then I felt a muffled sensation in my eardrums. Soon after, wind sounds of a magnitude I’d never heard before filled my hearing completely.

Whoooooooosh—!

“Aaaaaaahhhhh!”

“Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen you react so dramatically.”

Narke laughed as he pointed his staff toward the ground and cast magic.

I think it would be hard to find anyone who wouldn’t scream while falling from 100 meters up with their bare body. I thought this while cursing internally in succession.

As I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth, at some point Narke turned my head inward.

“Oh! Over there!”

“He’s coming!”

Around the time I could hear people’s voices, my memory cut off.

* * *

I don’t know how much time has passed.

My vision is hazy. I frowned and tried to focus as I surveyed my surroundings.

“Are you feeling a bit more conscious?”

I turned my head toward where I heard the voice.

Someone was holding my hand and channeling mana into me.

Having received treatment, my body now had enough strength to move somewhat.

More than that… the person treating me right now was the foremost authority in magical medicine in Wittelsbach.

“…”

In other words, the King of Bavaria.

Why is this person here?

I was shocked and tried to get up, but lay back down at his firm gesture.

“…It’s my first time meeting you, Your Majesty.”

“As Count Nicolaus? Or as Lucas Ascanien?”

“…”

There was a sharp edge hidden in the question wrapped in a gentle smile.

Right… from the moment this person is beside me, my identity was already discovered.

As I couldn’t answer easily, he smiled just like Leo. Though their faces didn’t resemble each other much, anyone could tell they were family from their atmosphere alone.

“If you’re referring to the latter, I’ve been seeing you since you were young, you know? You seem not to remember, but you’re still vivid in my eyes.”

“Is that so.”

“How’s your body feeling?”

“Yes, thanks to you, I’ve recovered quite a bit. Thank you.”

He nodded silently as if he understood.

‘…Hmm.’

Until now, I hadn’t had the luxury to take unnecessary risks, so I’d been solving identity issues using Leo as a proxy.

But strictly speaking by propriety, I should have gone directly to the king, explained the situation, and asked for a new identity. Success naturally couldn’t have been guaranteed though.

Even knowing it wasn’t proper etiquette, I didn’t do so because even Leo’s family was a major risk factor for me.

‘So, I need to check first whether this person is trustworthy.’

I immediately called up the window showing change possibilities.

Dawn777

— 696 days 21 hours 41 minutes 18 seconds until final ending ‘Chapter X. Death’

— Change Possibility: 17.4% (+2.0%p)

It went up by 2%p.

This means there’s no problem even if the king knows.

I briefly thought that this could be the result of going up 3%p and falling 1%p…

Issues regarding Nicolaus’s identity only have two paths.

Status quo and irreversible failure.

Problems touching on identity don’t make impression scores fluctuate within a certain range like Dastrothe’s mischief, but immediately make hyung act, leading me completely to death.

If he were someone who moves contrary to my interests, the change possibility wouldn’t drop slightly by 0.1%p or 1%p, but should plummet to the bottom instantly.

So that figure only contains the increase gained from eliminating Strauchi.

A heavy silence continued for a while.

During this time, I could feel the clean mana he was channeling circulating through my body.

“To think Count Nicolaus Ernst was Ascanien’s second son, it’s surprising even thinking about it again.”

No matter how I answer, there’s no right response.

It must be surprising? Are you mocking me…

I had no intention of revealing it? That would be saying I tried to openly deceive him before the king.

I was planning to visit and tell you later? Honestly, at this point I don’t care.

I’m sorry… Right, this is better at least. Whatever my circumstances, I should apologize for what needs apologizing.

When I was briefly contemplating and about to speak, the king shook his head.

“Let’s discuss this later. You’ll have to return to school the day after tomorrow, so let’s have a brief conversation tomorrow.”

“…”

I’d rather just do it now…

But when I should be begging forgiveness for many things, I couldn’t say that.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The king nodded slightly as if satisfied and stood up.

“Well then, see you tomorrow.”

I bowed to his back, and when the door closed, I tried to sit up but realized it was still too much and lay back down.

Since I don’t know how things proceeded, I should at least read some newspapers.

There were definitely things I needed to address.

‘What exactly happened at the end.’

Though my body had recovered considerably, my brain function didn’t seem to have returned yet.

Let me recall things one by one slowly.

I rewound time, and when Strauchi tried to turn me into Pleroma again, I drove him to the brink of death.

And I think I briefly lost consciousness due to internal injuries. Fortunately, support came…

‘I fell.’

I fell with Narke from atop the clock tower in Capital Square. Fortunately I’m alive, but…

‘…!’

Narke definitely said ‘there’s just as much of a crowd gathered in the real plaza too.’

Did everyone fail to recognize me?

He said he’d use cognitive disruption magic, but that magic wouldn’t work on mages stronger than Narke.

‘…Quickly. Status window.’

Lucas Rene Ascanien

Title: Count Nicolaus

Stamina: +1.3 (+0.2) [+4.3]

Mental Power: -1.6 (+1.0)

Mana: ?

Skill: +2.7 (+0.25) [+5.7]

Impression: -9.9 [+6.50098951]

Luck: +0.95 (+0.9)

Traits: Dawn777, Divine Power, Charm (Lv.2), Retry (Lv.1)

-9.9.

This is the first time I’ve felt relieved seeing this number.

Narke’s words were true. No one was able to recognize me.

Let me think for a moment.

There must have been mages in that crowd, yet Narke was able to use such powerful cognitive disruption magic?

Of course, if Narke had warped directly from the air of our world while covering my face, and used disruption magic as an auxiliary device on top of that… it’s not exactly an impossible situation.

As my thoughts reached this point, I recalled Narke’s strange appearance.

That was definitely a Papacy mage’s staff, and the color of his priest robes was far from ordinary. As far as I know, that purple color was something only someone at the level of a Bishop could wear.

For such a high-ranking clergyman, even the Imperial 2nd Education Institute would be a trivial school, so why would he bother coming on an exchange?

“…”

He definitely said he was attending a Seminary. Are student status and the position of Bishop compatible? Or is one of them a lie?

Once doubt crept in, other memories surfaced as well.

Before, in the Restricted Area of Bavaria, he easily used divine power covering ten thousand square meters.

Regarding Narke, my survival probability has never dropped even once, but…

‘I should look into this as well.’

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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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