How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 548

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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 Noble Family (548)

“What if you do that?”

I placed my hand on the door handle. Overlapping my hand on Abraham’s, I made his fingers grip the door handle again and slowly pulled it inward. The door leading to the stage closed. Then I cast a soundproofing spell again. I stared into his lemon-colored eyes for a long moment and tilted my head. His yellow eyelashes were right before my eyes.

“Honestly speaking, I don’t care whether you succeed or fail in persuasion…”

“…”

“It’s just lamentable that Prussia will once again fail to take care of its people. If you’re thinking of saying that a righteous person isn’t acting righteously, then you should stop. Besides, couldn’t you just choose a different base? Of course, it would be efficient to invest in a place where the original operating technology existed, but even so…”

I raised my eyebrows slightly.

“You could certainly do something inefficient. You want to test me too much.”

“You know well.”

“If I succeed in the negotiation, are you planning to stop this damned media play? Stopping isn’t enough. Not less, not more—adjust my public opinion to the optimal level I intend.”

Of course, the one who made the trash should clean it up. That’s basic. I shouldn’t stop at just demanding they cease their attacks, but should extract benefits for myself. I continued speaking slowly.

“If His Highness doesn’t just stand by and watch the media’s rampage but cooperates, then I’ll do so.”

“Hmm.”

“Also, don’t create conflicts between the identities of Nicolaus Ernst and Lucas Ascanien.”

Then Abraham raised his head listlessly.

“Then this one place isn’t enough.”

“Then I’ll be going back.”

I passed by him without hesitation. Since the principal and others had excused themselves and returned to their seats, there was no one to witness the scene of insulting royalty. Only when I had nearly crossed the entire corridor did Abraham begin to speak leisurely.

“I just proposed a strategy that would be advantageous to both you and me. Compared to your shameless acts, the current media is just child’s play, isn’t it?”

Shameless acts. He was referring to executing strategies to elevate Bavaria without informing him. The back of his head must be quite sore. I looked back at him. Since I had pushed as far as I could, now it was time to listen to what he was babbling about. Abraham leaned against the wall and gestured with his hand. When I stood still in that spot, he muttered.

“It seems Bavaria doesn’t call their subjects like this. Come and help me.”

“I was just thinking how truly remarkable Your Highness’s lack of manners is, wondering if there hasn’t been a single person to point it out to you all this time. Well done. Since you spoke like an intellectual with words, I’ll come over.”

Then Abraham truly remarkably smiled, raising his eyebrows with a grateful expression. He pulled out a cigar case from his chest.

“Do you have a light?”

When I didn’t answer, he closed his eyes and pulled out a lighter from another pocket. He threw the cigar and lighter to me.

“Light it up. I’ll tell you what you need to know while we talk until you finish lighting it all.”

He called it conversation, but it wasn’t really conversation. Holding the cigar, I couldn’t do the toasting method of lighting the end with a torch due to my lack of skill, so I’d have to light it like a cigarette, and he’d certainly talk well while I did that. Due to their thickness, cigars don’t light immediately like cigarettes. You have to keep heating the end continuously for 1 to 3 minutes for it to light properly. In other words, he was saying he’d babble alone for up to 3 minutes. But what do you think was in there? Also, I didn’t want to do anything that would make me feel sorry to Luca. Even though I couldn’t avoid secondhand smoke. I looked at him indifferently and said.

“Doesn’t this go against Prussia’s health campaign? It’s truly contradictory, regrettably not quite illegal.”

“You decided to fix my manners but are you giving up already? It’s an imperial command.”

“What if I refuse?”

“I’ve never thought that far.”

Abraham smiled nonchalantly. It’s a lie. It’s obvious what would happen if I refused. He’d throw me in jail immediately on charges of insulting royalty. Well, for someone like him who doesn’t mind scoring own goals against Prussia, it makes sense. I’m already getting tired thinking about having to get out of it. He’s been displeased since a few days ago about me making things difficult for him, and now he’s making things difficult for me in return. Even though the difference in severity is enormous.

Attention-starved brat. Muttering that to myself, I looked at him indifferently, put the cigar in my mouth, and applied fire to the end. I could smell the tobacco scent right in front of my nose that I had already inhaled terribly from the air in the Prussian Crown Prince’s palace. Since it wasn’t lit, no smoke was coming in.

“This place is meant as an apology.”

Abraham said while watching me.

“You would have figured out how things are going anyway. Even if I don’t interfere with the media anymore, Prussia’s girls’ schools have already been influenced by the articles, both students and teachers. But is that just a problem of media play?”

“…”

“You need to think about that. You should have foreseen today from the moment you decided to target people from the bottom up. Even if the articles hadn’t come out, the fire was already spreading among students. Do you think there wouldn’t have been opportunities in the future for teachers to act like the students’ parents and view you unfavorably? Do you think Prussian students really wouldn’t support you in directions you didn’t want? Adrian Ascanien was sanctified so early that there were no such signs, but since you’re trying to start from a low place, you’re seeing all sorts of things.”

I coughed briefly and caught my breath. His cigarette was just a regular cigarette without any magical power.

And it was different from the beginning. Adrian Ascanien showed the appearance of royalty greatly and seemed to exist in an unreachable position, so he probably didn’t receive many love letters like I did, which was itself a form of respect.

As Leonard and Abraham said, I had approached people closely enough that the hurdle had been lowered. It’s not that I was taken lightly, but that the closeness I intended was felt.

“…So, I gave you a chance to try resolving it. It’s both a rehearsal for all future events and your first real battle. Isn’t a thousand students and faculty too few to be worth trying?”

Instead of answering, I shook my head.

“Those involved rejected our proposal for the reasons you expected. That’s all. In other words, if an eloquent negotiator is attached, that would end it. However, I’ve told them that you’ve prepared a presentation to control public opinion within the school before negotiating with the principal.”

Religious ideology—that’s what makes Victoria Lyceum, a Lutheran school, reject the imperial government’s proposal. Prussia’s divine power support proposal is rooted in Bavaria’s policies. If they accept Prussia’s proposal, this school would receive and use Bavaria’s divine power, and that divine power is part of the 5,000 tons of divine power granted by the Papal States.

Lutheranism is Protestant. It’s a Christian denomination that follows the teachings of Martin Luther, the father of the religious reformation that began on German soil. This is why there are many nationalists among Lutheran believers of this era.

Let’s briefly touch on history. Prussia has been oppressing German Catholicism under the name of Kulturkampf. There are various reasons, but one of the most likely causes is as follows: to suppress the Center Party, a party composed of Catholic believers. Part of the Center Party serves the Papal States as much as they serve Germany. For example, like this: they believe the Pope should regain power and that the German Empire should therefore support the Pope. Even today when the Papal States are strong, there are those who believe this.

Therefore, in the eyes of German Protestants and nationalists, German Catholics are seen as evil elements that hinder the nation’s development and independence. Regardless of reality, this was how they were viewed in Prussia. Victoria Lyceum, run by Lutheran operators, isn’t just saying they can’t receive divine power—they’re arguing they can’t accept the 5,000 tons of divine power that the Papal States granted to secure influence in Germany. No matter how much Prussia intervenes and mediates.

“You’ll push through with that fine imperial command of yours.”

I exhaled and removed the cigar from my mouth. I know. Imperial commands can’t be overused either. Persuading those who can be reasoned with is the foundation of any government. Prussia is the same in their own way. It’s clear that Abraham is treating me exceptionally, and as you know, I’ve been marked, one way or another. Whether in a good sense or bad sense.

“To fix Your Highness’s manners, you’d need a teacher that Your Highness doesn’t like.”

I said that and put it back in my mouth to keep what remained alive before the fire went out.

“Isn’t it too early to give up already?”

Abraham glanced at the half-lit cigarette and replied nonchalantly, then continued.

“If you succeed, you’ll have proven to yourself that you can always remain as Prussia’s Nicolaus Ernst no matter how many times situations like today occur in countless schools across the nation. Prussian people now know that you’re overflowing with courage and have backbone. They also know well that you’re capable. But knowing that with your head and knowing it with your heart are different. You may feel wronged, but…”

Abraham now took away the cigarette. I didn’t want to smoke, so I just held it to my mouth and breathed normally as usual, but when he inhaled deeply, the fire at the front of the cigar glowed brightly. He exhaled smoke at me and said.

“What can you do? Blame yourself for being born this way.”

“How tiresome.”

I heard knocking on the door from the opposite end of the corridor and continued.

“I understand well why I should go out there. In short, it’s a position that benefits me too—that might be so. If I’m confident of success, it wouldn’t be a loss. However, if you’ll listen to all the demands I made earlier. If you can do that, I’ll gladly do it.”

Abraham raised only his eyebrows in response.

“From now on, whether it harms or benefits Prussia, actively help me. You must help with matters agreed upon with me. Also, don’t interfere with my associates’ career paths.”

“You’re demanding beyond my authority.”

Abraham smiled and nodded. Then he answered cleanly.

“I’ll make possible efforts.”

There are types whose words you can trust and types you can’t. Relatively speaking, Ainsiedel’s words are easy to trust, but this one isn’t. Is it because Ainsiedel is visibly blind to one goal and finds everything else bothersome? I’d be equally wary if he were an enemy, but in this one’s case, it’s different.

“Proof?”

“Well now, how should one usually give trust?”

“There’s no way. Even I couldn’t give you trust, so didn’t you do all sorts of useless things?”

“You evaluate yourself highly.”

Abraham, with a face that seemed to be pondering—though it was the face of someone thinking about where they put their bracelet, not hesitating about giving proof—closed his eyes and pulled out a familiar bracelet. He uttered two phrases with a time gap. Only after I directly saw that his bracelet didn’t work for promises to fulfill contracts but did work for his intentional and blatant mischief did I turn my steps. The smell of blood faintly wafted through the corridor.

Creak—

I opened the door again. The seats were now perfectly filled. Everyone sat properly, waiting for the speaker. With each step I took, my field of vision expanded. My head grew hotter and hotter with the flood of thoughts.

[Affection +1]

About four or five windows suddenly appeared. Thankfully, the system was helping me. Whether it was helping me or trying to leave me speechless, I couldn’t tell…

It was time to strategize.

What should I reveal and what should I reduce?

I am a student at Imperial Education Institute No. 2 and a mage of the Alliance. The fact that I’m affiliated with the Alliance at this age is likely to be seen as an object of envy by students my age. In other words, regardless of my status, my background isn’t likely to be viewed favorably by peers.

I looked at the numerous high school students sitting in their seats. It was complicated. I could interpret the light in their eyes and felt briefly nauseous, but at the same time, it was familiar. It almost felt like coming home. Whatever picture Abraham expected, this place felt like nowhere else I should be, and it was at least less unfamiliar than standing before ten thousand people. I was shocked once again by the fact that I was so familiar with it.

Let me think. First, some of these students might see me, their peer, as a competitor and view my background unfavorably. No matter how much the aftermath of the class system remains in society, even if the other party is from a ruling family, humans can be like that. And what about some others?

Some might act the opposite way. There’s one thing Espers overlook: some people apply different judgment methods when dealing with the same sex versus the opposite sex. I’m not talking about thinking differently in areas where differences should be made, but showing different reactions when the subject performing some task is the same sex as them versus the opposite sex, even in areas where gender differences aren’t particularly warranted. I wonder if such tendencies are really just “some.” To me, who can’t help but be conscious of gender first when meeting people, the world was a mass of enormous disparity, so I’ve felt that those who evaluate the Achievement of the same sex and opposite sex differently for the same work are not a minority but the majority, but that’s my judgment. I don’t know what the facts are. However, whatever it may be, the phenomenon I’ve experienced is this—when some of these high school students view a peer’s achievements unfavorably, another portion might judge my background positively precisely because I’m the opposite sex. This doesn’t stem from camaraderie or friendship.

I swallowed. The sound of heels touching the wooden floor stretched long, slowly devouring my mind.

…Let me think about the former. Certainly, if these students judge me as a competitor and find my achievements distasteful, that would indeed be nauseating and difficult to handle. But I know what to do. I know how to temporarily suppress it or even draw it toward me.

On the other hand, if students start showing romantic interest like the latter. I need to worry about this. If that happens, I’ll become the culprit who disrupted the academic discipline of promising high school students who will become future leaders, earning extreme resentment from teachers, and the negotiation will also fail completely. Though I’d feel wronged about what I did, realistically I can’t avoid the teachers’ resentment.

To dismiss this as overthinking due to excessive self-consciousness, I knew that their gazes weren’t much different from the minor interest or curiosity I had seen from unspecified members of the opposite sex who were peers or seemed to have significant age differences above or below me in the 21st century. After living my whole life in the center of stages I never intended to enter, if I didn’t know that, I’d be a fool—what else would make me a fool? If they’re looking at me like a theater actor or a local celebrity, that’s fine. Distance protects each other. I’ve gotten used to that. But if it’s not that… it can’t happen. It can’t. I don’t want it now. The stuffiness learned over a lifetime, an indescribable sense of separation, slowly gnaws at me at a subtle level.

Windows that appeared with a ding burst throughout my vision and then scattered like powder. Standing in front of the podium, I raised my head. Let me continue thinking. Such curiosity is really just curiosity, so it’s shallow favor, not affection. But if I succeed in my speech, it could easily grow into greater favor. Is there a way for me to shake off attention once gained? The other party has no choice but to let go—so I never figured it out in my lifetime. The only option is to kick this place and run away, but doing something that disappoints both me and the other party isn’t counted as a method in my dictionary.

[Affection +1]

I looked at the white text of the window that appeared whenever I was about to forget and thought.

If I succeed in the speech, the students’ positive curiosity will likely turn into favor as Abraham intended—though he told me to prove the politician Lucas Ascanien, paradoxically, I become Herzensbrecher even if I succeed in the speech. Both Abraham and I know this fact—and then I’ll earn the extreme resentment of the teachers. I’ll make not just an extremely bad impression but the worst impression. Ultimately, the negotiation fails. The teachers have a duty to protect devout Lutheran female students from a male student with a national reputation as Herzensbrecher, and I also hope they’ll be faithful to their duty. Even though I’m the target they need to repel…

Ah.

I slowly smiled.

I just need to win over the teachers. If I capture the teachers’ hearts, it’s solved. A good daughter, a good son, a good… student worth nurturing. Something that’s not more experienced than them but shows potential they’ve never had—this is the strategy.

The instinctively confident smile quickly changed, containing slight distance and tension toward the audience, just like in some filming location during my high school days when I played a model student council president. I had to be skilled at acting ‘not very skilled at standing before teachers.’ Back then, when I heard the direction that I should be more familiar with standing before adults like teachers than other students but not look like it was steeped in duty and should look slightly shy, I briefly thought what kind of nonsense this was. As someone who was also class president at a real school, not just the filming location, I faced teachers with extreme duty as a middle manager between teachers and students, and since that was my mission, there wasn’t much reason to be shy.

But I know. The director’s words meant to be in the bright, lively student-like appearance that adults draw, an appearance that adults enjoy watching. Even back then, I ultimately knew it inwardly and did as told, so the time to feel something had already passed. I looked at the audience and spoke in a calm voice.

“Good day. I am Lucas Ascanien, 101st class of the Imperial Mage Alliance.”

It didn’t seem like it would be difficult. Having boldly finished speaking, I swallowed at the bombardment of affection windows that suddenly shot up.

The important thing is that the above strategy doesn’t really mean to act naive in all aspects, so it should be limited to facial expressions only. Strategically, I need to show more sophistication than the adults in this place right now.

I placed my hands on both sides of the podium, lightly gripping the edges, and surveyed the entire auditorium. While making eye contact with everyone, I spoke as smoothly as flowing water.

“I didn’t think it had been that long since I left school grounds, but when I step on school grounds again like this, I find myself immersed in a kind of nostalgia. Even so, I learned for the first time today that this can happen even if it’s not the school I attended. The horse chestnut and large tree clusters I saw on the way here are also on the path leading to the back gate of Imperial Education Institute No. 2—perhaps that’s why.”

Unlike my previous speech, I spoke as if reading from a book. I don’t know about my voice, but my tone without severe highs and lows harmonized peacefully with the sunset streaming through the auditorium windows.

Now, there was another concern I hadn’t discussed earlier. Should I continue with the tone of my previous public address?

I had two problems. First, I needed to resolve the teachers’ antipathy, and second, I had to persuade them on sharp religious-political issues.

As I had already concluded, the former problem told me this: I shouldn’t proceed with the same approach as my previous speech. I needed to be experienced yet student-like.

Next, I could easily conclude the answer to the latter as well. Religious and political persuasion wasn’t possible. Especially while maintaining a student image, it was even more impossible. I absolutely shouldn’t try to persuade them. Then what should I do? Simple. If macroscopic problems can’t be solved through macroscopic debate, they can be resolved through microscopic stories—stories closely related to our lives.

I turned my head slightly to look at the students and smiled gently.

“As an aside, the jacket I’m wearing today happens to be the same color as Victoria Lyceum’s uniform. Isn’t that right?”

The moment I made eye contact with the students, countless favorability windows appeared. What had I done? I felt grateful for their goodwill while also experiencing slight fear. I had to try not to be flustered. The students also gave me polite, well-mannered smiles. The atmosphere between the Prussian city councilors and students had somewhat relaxed. I looked around at the teachers who still seemed more guarded, fixed my gaze forward, and spoke.

“There’s something I didn’t mention when introducing myself earlier. As many of you know, yet might not immediately recall, I’m still enrolled as a 2nd year student in the Magic Department at Imperial 2nd Education Institute. I study under Professor Johannes Rohn in Class 2.”

I smiled at several students among those with curious eyes who began to widen their eyes in surprise.

“Is this your first time hearing this? I’m 18 years old. I’m now six months away from my 19th birthday. There must be students here who are the same age as me, right?”

Instead of smiling, I now looked down briefly to create a pause, then looked back at the audience and continued.

“If all goes as planned, we’ll finish our 2nd year, 2nd semester of high school in a couple of months and prepare for our 3rd year, 1st semester. It’s an exciting and complicated time as we approach our final year of high school. Some students will have made unforgettable memories this 2nd semester. Others will have experienced unforgettable wounds and growth.”

The students nodded. Then I witnessed a favorability window from a different direction. Though faint, for the first time, a favorability window appeared from the teachers’ side. I continued speaking at a steady, appropriate pace.

“In my case, my 2nd year, 2nd semester at Imperial 2nd Education Institute consisted of the military academy selection competition. I made unforgettable memories and unforgettable friends then. Ah, you seem interested.”

I looked at a student whose eyes were particularly bright and tilted my head. Fortunately, the student I had singled out with my gaze wasn’t the introverted type, as they smiled confidently, showing their teeth slightly.

“Since it’s been a while since I met a peer student who isn’t a team member, I’d like to tell you various stories, but that would become a very long tale. However, one thing is certain. The first half of this year also brought us unforgettable pain.”

I felt the quietly settled audience, and like blue tide that had unknowingly filled the space around us on a day without even a breeze, their concentration. I spoke while looking at the world with unfocused vision, as if my eyes were open but unconscious of all things.

“It feels like yesterday that I sat by the Spree River with a newly made friend in the 2nd semester, promising to swim together when summer came, but now we can’t go to school, and I can’t see that friend open their eyes and speak. Sometimes I think I was dreaming. Unable to accept the current reality, I sometimes think I might have imagined the ordinary school life we could have enjoyed in my head.

…I’m well aware that the teachers and students here are fighting fiercely for the victims. Sharing such intimate experiences and thoughts with everyone at this school who volunteers for the victims’ life support and rehabilitation might not be the best choice. You have faced souls crying out from low places and directly witnessed them collapse without proper help. After seeing such heartbreaking lives—mine, yours, and ours—my present pain of being able to eat with loved ones in an intact body today is nothing.”

I left the white light particles of the favorability windows scattering at the edge of my vision as they were. I was slow and the world accelerated. I smiled again and spoke.

“Now that I think about it, I don’t just share clothing colors with Victoria Lyceum.”

I decided not to do everything abruptly. I erased my smile and looked at people with thoughtful eyes, my face neither too stiff nor too relaxed.

“I meet those who are dying from explosions every day. Before victims come to rehabilitation facilities like this school’s hospital, I do the work of pulling victims from death and sending them to hospitals. I also prevent the aftermath of rampages from spreading to the city center. To do this, I temporarily left school to become a Royal Mage traveling throughout the Empire. Imperial 2nd Education Institute said they needed students’ help, and I gladly did so.

Members of Victoria Lyceum, whenever I meet colleagues like you, I feel deep respect from the bottom of my heart. Among you, there may be those indifferent to observing and helping victims’ prognosis, and perhaps some who find it distasteful for their own reasons. However, the path your community has ultimately chosen is one that distances you from the daily life you once considered home and brings you closer to the unknown, chaos, and irreversible change that you had only watched from afar without ever directly experiencing. All of us fighting against the massacre of Pleroma that will remain in history on this day in 1898 have chosen to fall away from the stable lives we could have chosen. Therefore, whatever choices you make going forward, I can only respect your actions so far and your future relief activities.”

Though only a few hundred people were seated, favorability windows continued to shatter at the edge of my vision. I paused for a beat, then looked at the entire audience and continued.

“Religious ideology is an important matter.”

The ground began to tremble slowly, and I held a stone toward the surface of the lake pooled above it.

“Religion is connected to our spirit, values, and identity. Particularly, the fact that the Papacy has constantly strived to function as Europe’s ruler for the past several centuries greatly tensions us.”

As expected, the movement of favorability windows stopped briefly. There was no need to directly point out that the school was rejecting the proposal for political reasons. They simultaneously believed they were maintaining their convictions for religious reasons. And at the same time, there was no reason to completely avoid political and religious topics. So this was sufficient. I wouldn’t persuade them on political or religio-political dimensions. As I thought earlier, it wasn’t a matter that could be persuaded. Instead, I had to rely on people.

“Everyone, you all know why I’m here. I stand here at the German Empire government’s request to persuade you. But that’s impossible. I wasn’t speaking as a spokesperson for the German Empire, but as a comrade standing at the front lines of slaughter and destruction. That’s still the case now. I can’t tell you that you must make this choice or that choice. However, I’d like to quote a passage from Pascal’s 【Pensées】.”

The teachers’ gazes reached me. I looked at them and spoke.

“There is enough clarity to enlighten the elect, and enough obscurity to humble them. There is enough obscurity to blind the corrupt, and enough clarity to condemn them and leave them without excuse.”

In the original text, clarity is paraphrased as light and obscurity as darkness. They would be understanding both meanings while listening to my words.

“While I express my deep gratitude and respect to all of you whom I honor.”

I slowly looked around the audience and continued.

“I’d like to ask you to reflect on what we should take as light before the value of life we have protected until now.”

Silence flowed.

The sound of clapping was heard. It quickly spread widely, just like what I had heard before. The slowly emerging favorability windows now gained momentum and began pouring at the edge of my vision.

I let out the breath I had been slightly holding. I had finished everything I needed to do. So now it was time to cool the heat that had risen to my face.

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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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