How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 552

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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 (552)

The path to the Foreign Ministry wasn’t very far. I rode in a carriage with two civil servants and moved to the front of the government building. On the way, I looked at the spring-like green street trees and the lively people, opening the window to feel the breeze.

When I got off the carriage, the civil servants took me to the top floor. The Foreign Minister’s office was located there.

“Good to see you again. Did you rest well?”

The Foreign Minister asked with a friendly smile, as if he had been seeing me for days, wearing a rich smile. Why is this person acting like this? I couldn’t help but think that. I hid my confusion and said.

“Of course.”

“What would you like for tea?”

“I’ll have whatever Your Excellency is having.”

“Hehehe!”

“…?”

I made a lukewarm smile and placed my hands on my knees. The Minister looked in better spirits than when I saw him a few days ago. He looked pleased, and in some ways, he had the face of someone who might start whistling at any moment.

The Secretary brought tea. Unusually, instead of cookies, round things that looked like sweet bean jelly were served as refreshments. Since the Minister gestured for me to drink, I lifted the steaming baroque-style teacup and drank it. The Minister pointed to the teacup with a proud face and a triumphant smile.

“This is tea imported from China through Britain. It’s a high-quality product that was presented as tribute to the Qing Empire’s imperial court. They say this tea was drunk for hundreds of years even before the dynasty changed.”

“…”

I put down the cup mid-drink and smiled. I know well that Europeans have long traded Asian goods at high prices and often show them off at important occasions. Chinese tea leaves in particular were of good quality and extremely popular in Europe, which isn’t much different from the history I know. I don’t know how he obtained something supplied to the imperial court, but I thought about why this European was showing me such hospitality and why he was saying this. But…

I don’t know. No matter how much I thought about it, there was no suitable answer, so I nodded and said somewhat playfully.

“I’m honored, Your Excellency. The flavor is truly excellent.”

“Indeed it is. I received it yesterday and really wanted to serve it to you, Count.”

The Minister waved his hand and clasped his fingers together.

“The thing is, as you’ve probably already heard, France has sent their first proactive message. I want to discuss this matter with you, Count.”

“I heard on the way here. That they want to come to our Empire.”

“That’s right. I suppose you must be confused that I called you to this position.”

“To be honest, that’s correct, Your Excellency.”

“I was impressed by how you responded point by point to Chancellor Alvensleben’s concerns during the previous state council meeting with Crown Prince. While I don’t fail to understand Chancellor Alvensleben’s arguments, he has an overly safety-oriented aspect.”

I blinked my eyes as a substitute for an answer. Then the Foreign Minister, lost in thought, tilted his head from side to side and said.

“His Majesty might be pleased with such arguments. But in reality, that’s not the case. As Count Ascanien said, France is ultimately in a situation where they must send peace signals, and they know it too. So they’ll try to change the situation before sending peace signals.”

Terminus Yukairya’s first plan was to kill two birds with one stone without lifting a finger. They intended to make the German Empire an undeniably terrorist state to weaken Pleroma’s stronghold. That way, Pleroma would also be placed in a precarious situation. They must have been confident they could fight and win against Germany, which occupied that territory, both militarily and politically. At least until Pleroma was reduced by half.

However, now that things have unfolded differently than expected, they too are at a time when they must reset their plans. Terminus Yukairya must reassess Bavaria’s military and political power, which unexpectedly launched fierce attacks on terrorist groups, and establish new strategies by understanding how European nations view this dynamic. And regarding Germany, whose current situation they cannot grasp with their intelligence, they cannot rashly speak of victory prospects, so in the current state, they will eventually have to send peace signals. And at that moment, European nations that were tempted by France’s claims will quickly return to their original state upon the leading nation’s declaration of surrender.

But France won’t want to waste the opportunity they’ve worked hard to seize, nor do they want peace. Therefore, they decide to postpone in order to somehow find possibilities and seize the initiative in a future full of variables.

What are they postponing? All anti-German foreign moves.

Chancellor of the Privy Council of Foreign Affairs of Alvensleben overlooked this. Long-term and short-term, reality and theory, cunning schemes and orthodox diplomacy – he failed to place all of these in their proper positions. However, he didn’t say anything completely incomprehensible, and it was reasonable enough to think about once. The Emperor didn’t place someone completely incompetent in the position of Chancellor of the Privy Council of Foreign Affairs.

The Foreign Minister enthusiastically repeated arguments similar to what I had said three days ago.

“Giving France time now when their practical surrender is expected is tantamount to permitting the chaos they’ll cause between the current hostility and their future surrender.”

The Foreign Minister’s thinking was the same as mine. No, actually, if one had just a bit of appropriateness, thinking like this Foreign Minister wasn’t strange.

By the way, there’s something I’ve been curious about from the beginning. The Foreign Minister looks subtly excited right now…

There was something I could somewhat guess. The existence of a diplomatic division in the Emperor’s advisory body would seem like a threat to the position of government ministers. The Imperial Court and the government are different. The more the Imperial Court has institutions similar to the government, the more anxiety the government must feel. The two institutions should be independent, but if the Emperor often interfered whenever government departments made decisions and rejected government decisions based on what the Chancellor told him?

Did the Emperor… do things properly? Probably the Emperor acted like this: when the Foreign Minister requested or suggested something, the Emperor would act with a good-natured face, ramble on with logical-sounding lengthy speeches, and only at the end say things like ‘no.’ Germans generally don’t speak indirectly, so it would have been better if he spoke in a deductive manner, but the Emperor wasn’t that type.

In other words… From the beginning, the Foreign Minister who always gets beaten by the Emperor and the Chancellor of the Privy Council of Foreign Affairs who is the Emperor’s intellectual companion are in a competitive relationship. So that day too, the Foreign Minister was quietly watching that detestable guy open his mouth in a meeting composed of detestable guys, when suddenly a young upstart refuted the Chancellor’s logic, which must have been entertaining for the Foreign Minister to watch. Ah, I looked down at the tea brewed from Chinese tea leaves. The clean, falling sweetness was satisfying enough to make my mouth water – it had been a long time since I tasted something so pleasant. Such hospitality is because he got to stick it to a competitor he dislikes… isn’t that right? It’s not ‘isn’t that right’ – it’s probably the truth.

I almost laughed at the nerve war between middle-aged politicians. Having briefly faced a crisis, I quickly succeeded in seriously clearing my throat.

“That’s right, Your Excellency. I’m pleased that my intentions align with yours, Minister.”

“Hehe. There’s no need to be that pleased. Actually, there’s still a bit more road ahead. Count Ascanien said something obvious.”

“Is that so?”

That would be the case. Everyone sitting there would have known which countries German trade was strong in and who was superior in the comparison of benefits with France. But I don’t understand everything about the Prussian government, and such fundamental talk was the only method of expression left to me. I’m still a student and it’s not my field, so it probably didn’t seem too strange.

“Still, it was remarkably insightful, befitting ‘Count Ascanien.’ Seeing such excellent thinking, I thought that if properly cultivated, we could expect excellent foreign affairs.”

Ah.

I moved my lips then shut them tight. So he wants to involve me in Foreign Ministry work. I’ve gained an ally in the Prussian government. If I had allies like professors and Mecklenburg in Prussian politics, now I have one in the government too.

“Those are kind words. You flatter me, Your Excellency.”

“Count Ascanien. I called you here to ask about this and hear the picture shown from your swift and clear perspective. What do you think is the reason France wants to visit our country?”

A politician’s own abilities are of course important, but they should also have the insight to judge people and the ability to use those people in appropriate positions. ‘Swift and clear perspective’ – the word ‘swift’ reminds me of the professors’ evaluation. He’s using me as an advisor to reduce the costs of decision-making.

Returning to the question, what could it be? Why would they say they’re coming?

To tell us to stop the boycott before prolonged conflict damages industry? Or to restore the French image?

Think sensibly. Actually, there was no need to deliberate. France appears to be acting recklessly right now. Their intentions were completely transparent from what they were doing.

“They’re coming to find fault with Germany.”

The Foreign Minister nodded with serious eyes, listening intently. It meant for me to continue.

“They’ll verify what our Pleroma response system is like, what technology we have, what personnel and information we possess, whether we’re a safe country capable of preventing terrorism.”

“That’s right. They even said they’d form a verification team with scholars from neighboring countries. They’ll definitely find fault with our system. They want to create turbulence before peace signals – you’ve already thought about that. We need to sufficiently strengthen Prussia’s system before they visit, and here I’ll show you materials received from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Please tell me if you see anything that needs supplementing, and what among these should be revealed. Of course, I’ve already made my judgment and am asking you last, so don’t feel too burdened and approach it from the perspective of sharing viewpoints.”

The reason for not refusing is probably because refusal itself would give France justification to raise their voice. We have no choice but to proceed by accepting France’s demands through detours while essentially not accepting them. The Foreign Ministry intends to do just that now. I watched him take out materials and opened my mouth.

“Of course I’ll do that, Your Excellency. But there’s something being overlooked.”

“Hmm?”

“Actually, coming to verify safety isn’t their practical goal. They intend to thoroughly investigate Germany under the pretext of ‘safety verification.'”

The Foreign Minister slowly lowered his hand that had been reaching toward the bookshelf and turned his body toward me. He gazed at me with a face full of interest, while also being ready to seriously listen to my words.

“Not getting faulted isn’t what’s important. Whether they find fault or not is a later issue.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re coming to assess Germany’s current situation and level above all. They intend to steal internal information to put a period on their plans that are under revision, having changed significantly from their original scheme. They’ll definitely say they want to visit Bavaria after looking around Prussia. Even if there’s currently no need to verify Bavaria’s safety situation. In other words, can we fight Germany and win? The moment that conclusion is reached, they’ll return to their homeland and shout until their mouths burn that Germany is a country inadequate against terrorism and has compensation responsibilities to all of Europe.”

“…”

“No matter how well-equipped a system we have.”

Even if we show a well-equipped system, they’ll say there’s compensation responsibility – when? When they obtain information from us and feel their plans are complete, that is, when they think it’s worth fighting. Even if our military power is excellent, there’s a possibility they’ll attack. For example, if they learn that we don’t have some magical technology they expected us to have after experiencing Pleroma’s half-destruction, that fact alone might be enough for them to have their own plan to offset our other advantages. Because they’re not ordinary French Imperial Family but an institution controlled by Terminus Yukairya, we can’t overlook any possibility.

In other words, since we don’t know what field Terminus Yukairya’s plans target, we bear great risk regarding the delegation’s visit.

“How ‘safe’ a country we are isn’t in their consideration. Whether we’re a country worth fighting or not is what’s in their consideration, and they said they’d come to our country to see that.”

“Naturally, I was planning to prevent access to important information so it wouldn’t become a problem. That’s why I didn’t consider it to this extent…”

They had thought about it too. Since it’s natural for delegations to assess imperial trends before returning. But they thought it wouldn’t be a big problem since they could control access to classified facilities. In other words, they perceived France’s purpose slightly differently from me. Perceiving it just slightly differently results in a big difference.

Unlike the Chancellor of the Privy Council of Foreign Affairs, the Foreign Minister began writing something on a memo board. He asked with satisfaction, with the face of someone whose choice was right.

“That’s a good point. Your observation is correct. The fact that they’re coming to steal information is also important, but the most important issue is… they might not send peace signals after assessing our situation. Then what?”

* * *

Two days passed.

As soon as our Foreign Ministry’s decision came out, France quickly formed a delegation of experts from various fields. Today is the day they visit. A delegation composed of figures from European countries including Britain and the Netherlands, Austria-Hungary and Russia, and Belgium and Switzerland will also come here.

“The rumor that you’re a Foreign Ministry advisor has spread everywhere.”

And the person who said this to me is Mecklenburg. When we met again after not seeing each other for a few days, unlike his previous anxious state, Mecklenburg glanced at my face and acted normally as usual without much comment. Right now, several captains and vice-captains from various units of the Imperial Mage Alliance are standing in front of the Foreign Ministry building. I’m the only one from the 101st Unit. Leonard isn’t here because he should be someone representing Bavaria, while Mecklenburg is here despite being the heir to a grand duchy.

Why is that? It’s the difference between being pro-Prussian or not. People from ruling families of countries that are somewhat subordinate to or friendly with Prussia are suitable to appear as Imperial Mage Alliance representatives at welcome ceremonies hosted by Prussia for the German Empire, but Bavaria refused. They consider it beneath their dignity. They should appear not as Imperial Mage Alliance representatives but as representatives of an entire nation. They’ll probably appear later at a more official occasion, not now.

I stood three rows away from the building where the diplomatic portal was installed and muttered.

“Already?”

“As you know, walls have ears.”

Mecklenburg said while casting a thicker sound-blocking spell.

“The Foreign Ministry… hit the jackpot. That you’re actually…”

Who would have known you were Nicolaus Ernst? He seemed to want to say that. Mecklenburg pursed his lips then changed the subject as if he had nothing to say.

“This is the first time I’ve seen you in those clothes.”

“Is that so?”

I’m currently wearing the same uniform as Mecklenburg. It’s neither the 101st Unit’s nor the 98th Unit’s. It’s formal wear commonly used by the Alliance in special cases – a blue-gray wappenrock reminiscent of colors mainly used by Prussia in the past, with black velvet making up a large proportion. I’m wearing a cloak of the same colored velvet, which was a bit hot for spring. I considered pushing the heavy silver braiding back but left it in place and just checked my watch for when the French delegation would arrive. I still had to wait about 10 more minutes. I asked Mecklenburg without much thought.

“What do you think about the French people coming now?”

“Would it be good?”

Mecklenburg answered with a tongue click.

“I encountered people from Académie Puissance during Penthalon. They were ruder than expected.”

“Not as much as you though.”

“What?!”

My ears hurt from his shout, so I squinted and put my finger to my mouth. Mecklenburg still has a greatly shocked expression.

“Senior, you’ve become too comfortable with me now.”

“That’s not it. How can you compare me to French people and say I’m worse? Are you still German after saying that? Even if I’m dislik… somewhat like that, there are comparisons you can make and ones you can’t.”

“How typical.”

“What is?”

“I was just thinking anew how terrible the relationship between our Germany and France really is.”

“Will it stop at just dislike? Just looking at how they’re trying to collapse Germany, it’s clear how much they regard us as enemies. From our German perspective, having been unilaterally beaten recently, would France look welcome?”

Germany, which proclaimed the establishment of the Empire in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles in France, probably shouldn’t be saying this. But it’s true. France and Germany really showed no signs of becoming friendly. They hate Germany more than England, which had been their bitter enemy for centuries. Germans likewise hate the French. In times like these, if you go to a tavern, you can commonly witness scenes of French people being called frog-eaters.

I looked around at the other mages and let Mecklenburg’s machine-gun-like words go in one ear and out the other as I chided him.

“I understand, so please calm down.”

“I’m already calm. With those amphibian gourmets coming soon, how could I not be calm.”

“….”

I squeezed my eyes shut tight, then opened them wide and opened my mouth. I had to prevent my expression from hardening uncontrollably. It wasn’t funny, but actually Mecklenburg hadn’t said that to joke around. That was the nobility’s characteristic roundabout way of speaking: Froschfresser (frog-eater) looks long in Korean but is shorter than Amphibien-Feinschmecker (amphibian gourmet). Hearing it in the pronunciation of the upper class, who constantly strive to sound slow, soft with northern accent, and refined, left me speechless. I kept my eyes half-open for a while, stretched my mouth to both sides, then spoke quietly.

“Senior, this is childish. Being swayed by both sides squabbling over mutual interests.”

“Did you sleep through school? They did suffer unilateral damage.”

Mecklenburg smiled crookedly and acted pretentious.

He was talking about the past victory in the Franco-Prussian War. I was increasingly at a loss for words at this person’s patriotism. When Mecklenburg saw my face becoming more and more indifferent, he scolded me.

“It’s not something to view as merely childish. Didn’t our government also use that psychology?”

He meant the boycott articles. He’s right.

I just don’t think much about it, but actually, if you’re someone born and raised in Germany as a German, this kind of reaction might be natural. Though I call it childish, for people of this era who stake their lives on their country, it really is a matter of pride. Actually, even in the 21st century, weren’t pride battles invoking nationality common, though weaker…? If France’s rival in the 21st century was England, now it’s Germany. I sighed and shrugged my shoulders.

It’s certainly not something to view as merely childish and should be criticized. Even if they politically moved public sentiment, that doesn’t mean it permits such blatant criticism. Just as Mecklenburg is acting so pathetically, conversely, the French are also calling Germans strange nicknames like sauerkraut. It’s a phenomenon where not a single positive aspect can be found.

Anyway, with Mecklenburg making this fuss, there won’t be any more questions about what I think of the French… It would be better not to ask such questions to any Germans.

Ding—

The sound of a bell ringing comes from far away. When the hour struck, the inside of the building became noisy, and soon the huge wooden doors were opened to both sides by guards. People in formal dress emerged in two rows between the eagle stone statues beside the door. It was the French delegation that had come through the portal placed inside the building.

The person at the front greeted the Foreign Minister with a handshake. Before the greetings with government officials were even finished, Mecklenburg and I were called out from the association line. We were considered to have priority as people from ruling families.

“This is His Highness Albert Mecklenburg of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg, and this is His Excellency Lucas Ascanien of the Duchy of Anhalt. Here is Minister Gaston Levi of the French Ministry of Magic.”

The Foreign Minister introduced the Frenchman and us while gesturing slightly with his hands. Mecklenburg smiled trustingly as if he had forgotten when he said things like amphibian gourmets, and silently shook hands with France’s Minister of Magic. When France’s Minister of Magic released his hand from Mecklenburg and brought it toward me, I also extended my hand. However…

The Minister reflexively flinched, then briefly grasped my knuckles and let go. I glanced at the hand I had extended and looked at the Minister’s face. The Minister was just smiling while trying not to look at the hand I had extended.

“….”

Look at this person. I turned my head slightly and looked at the Minister. When someone makes it this obvious, getting angry about each instance is amateurish. I raised my eyebrows and was about to open my mouth…

Then I doubted my eyes at what I saw from the corner of my eye and turned my head. It was a subtle difference, but Mecklenburg’s smooth smile had instantly hardened stiffly. I reflexively became serious. I couldn’t help but sense that his ‘patriotism’ switch had been turned on.

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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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