How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 560

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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 (560)

Sophia Nussbaum gazed out at the darkening sky as the sun set. Even from the dormitory corridor of Victoria Lyceum, she could see the black smoke rising from the steel mill near the Spree River. Berlin was in an uproar because of it. The roads at some distance from the Spree River were blocked by carriages and automobiles that had stopped to watch the fire, making it impossible for carriages passing near the fire scene to escape no matter how hard they whipped their horses. The commotion from all the main roads reached the dormitory corridor. The sound of whistles and the snorting of horses tied to mail carriages were drowned out by people’s shouts.

Sophia touched her chin while looking at the Imperial Newspaper in her other hand.

[Besthaven Steel Mill Fire Continues for 40 Minutes, 23 Mages Deployed but Fire Still Not Extinguished]

A photograph of smoke clouds not much different from what she was seeing now was printed on the front page. She tapped the strange object hanging by her ear and fell into thought.

Although the fire prevention system had been established long before Ion Forso, fire had always been regarded as a fearsome force that hindered civilization. No matter how splendid and elaborate urban planning might be, what good was it when fire swept through once, leaving only skeletal frames like bleached bones and making everything else disappear? Most houses built of brick didn’t even leave such frames behind, returning cleanly to ash.

At least things changed after magic appeared. Mages with unique abilities that had good compatibility with fire were employed by fire departments, and mages quick with calculations also learned formulas and honed their skills in extinguishing fires. It had been a long time since fires could be easily extinguished, unlike before.

But now, for some reason, the mages were unable to do their job properly in front of the fire. Someone might say it was simply because the steel mill was very large and vast, and since it was originally a place that used fire, explosions could easily occur again at any time, but Sophia didn’t think so. It was strange.

After contacting her newly made friend, Sophia’s suspicions grew. Could it be that among those 23 people, there wasn’t a single one with unique abilities suitable for firefighting? At the very least, they should be delivering successful news like the flames gradually diminishing. But from what Sophia could see, the sky above the steel mill was getting darker, the flames had grown larger, and most people couldn’t even approach the vicinity, so traffic wasn’t even being managed. Nothing had improved. She couldn’t even contact her friend. Then a sound came from the artifact.

[…to A7 sector…, Lord Mecklenburg, if you’re listening, please respond.]

The same words were heard periodically.

The owner of this communication device would have been ‘Lord Mecklenburg.’ Sophia touched the artifact once more. When she touched it wrong, the channel seemed to change and she heard other voices, but strangely, most of them weren’t broadcasts targeting ‘Lord Mecklenburg.’

Based on the information Sophia Nussbaum had heard for dozens of minutes, she learned that the artifact she held included notifications being sent to Lucas Ascanien. What was the principle? She couldn’t know that. Did they insert magic formulas or mana to operate the device? If so, Lucas Ascanien’s mana would have entered ‘Lord Mecklenburg’s’ device, and the reason she speculated this was because of this. Periodically, voices directed at ‘Lord Mecklenburg’—words telling him to respond if he was listening—could be heard.

It was fortunate.

Sophia Nussbaum roughly understood the situation. No matter how much her friend Ascanien had cut off contact, she could guess how the situation was unfolding through the responses to ‘common communications from headquarters to the 101st Unit’ that came back to him. She even learned that her newly made friend had insisted they must protect the ‘Imperial 2nd Education Institute Academy Joint Training Ground in Spandau.’ She couldn’t hear what her friend was saying, but the headquarters control room usually repeated it back once. She had already suspected as much. When explaining about Spandau, her friend had raised his voice as if he liked the idea.

That friend had asked for cooperation. And he said ‘thank you for helping’ and that he would bring wine later. Sophia closed her eyes. Then opened them listlessly.

What kind of cooperation in the world ends this simply?

The help Sophia herself had given wasn’t very significant considering she was even getting wine out of it. The assistance she had provided was minimal to call it the grand word ‘cooperation.’ Receiving praise for work not done is not something I find particularly welcome. That’s right… Sophia nodded to the underclassmen greeting her while becoming absorbed in thought.

Lost in thought while walking, she found herself at her room before she knew it. She had been on her way back after putting a letter in the public warp mailbox in front of the school. It was a letter to her cousin sister. More precisely, a letter that would be sent via her cousin sister to somewhere else in Berlin. Sophia quietly locked her room door so no sound would reach the adjacent room. Then she opened the Social Democratic Party newsletter that her cousin sister used to enjoy reading. Due to the Social Democratic Party’s insufficient funds, the newsletter was always printed with ink except for twice a month. However, the ink-printed newsletter wasn’t important now. Newspapers printed this morning couldn’t deliver real-time news.

Sophia checked the door once more. It remained locked. She took out thin mana paper decorated with a red band from the drawer. When she inserted the old party paper with ‘Social Democratic Party’ letters into the filter, crackling voices flowed out.

[…What on earth is the government doing? Police mages from three districts—Reinickendorf-Charlottenburg, Wilmersdorf-Spandau—are all taking carriages toward Spandau’s industrial complex and magic training grounds. Are they planning to gather hundreds of people for training when they should be extinguishing fires? Or are they finally going to get protective artifacts? Ha ha!]

[Why do you speak like that? These are very important factories for Germany’s defense, so they must be protected. Even if we don’t know what they’re protecting against, it’s necessary.]

[See? You don’t know.]

This was a broadcast run by Social Democratic Party executives, and whenever major incidents occurred in the country, the executives would inform party members and prospective members of information obtained by the party in this way.

Today’s broadcast ‘unusually’ proceeded together with a Conservative Party representative as a guest. To Sophia Nussbaum, this fact wasn’t unusual or new. Of course, because she was the one who had advised them to do so. Today at this time, the Social Democratic Party hadn’t just had one Conservative Party guest, but was actually working together with them. However, none of the listeners would know this.

It wasn’t a completely secret broadcast. Anyone with this party paper could listen, but most people didn’t go as far as entering the Social Democratic Party to request party papers, and since it was an irregular broadcast, the audience was extremely small. The government naturally knew of this broadcast’s existence, but knowing it had extremely little influence for the aforementioned reasons, they didn’t bother to block it. Sometimes excessive suppression actually calls for eruption.

However, if this broadcast sought expansion and became openly visible or caused excessive damage to the government, the government would immediately bring down the hammer. The Social Democratic Party people knew this much.

[…This is what’s important. Why won’t the Imperial Newspaper report this fact?]

Important indeed. To know information that couldn’t be learned through newspapers, this semi-closed party paper was absolutely necessary. Usually, Sophia had this due to the influence of a relative who keenly analyzed and paid attention to each political party’s movements. Even though news of ‘the government’s blunders so pathetic they made one shake their head’ was coming through, Sophia Nussbaum lowered her eyes and crossed her arms. She put down the paper and listened to what the broadcast was saying.

[No matter how secretly they send police to Spandau’s defense industry complex, can they deceive the people? Is it to protect the Conservative Party tycoons of Spandau?]

[Hey. I’m sitting right here and you’re talking like that again.]

[What do you mean hey? Is it to find the missing grand duchy’s Crown Prince? You must have been very surprised that we knew about the disappearance of the Mecklenburg-Strelitz Grand Duke, which wasn’t announced anywhere.]

Sophia closed her eyes and caught her breath.

Her newly made friend had left simple information in a note. There was some unknown soil made with magic, and this had been prepared to attack socialism today. From Sophia’s perspective, that soil seemed to be the cause of this fire as well.

How could soil start a fire? Was it sulfur or something? That wasn’t it. He said it was made with magic. She didn’t know why socialism was involved, but the only groups that came to mind capable of causing such incidents with magic were cults like Pleroma. If such a group was involved in this matter, they had certainly obtained the same information that the Social Democratic Party had obtained.

Why? The Social Democratic Party wasn’t just bragging about information anyone could know either. They gleaned such information by receiving news learned from fellow political figures, mages within the party, and letters from Berlin party members who served as excellent sources of information incomparable to the number of those mages. All these statements they broadcast weren’t publicly known information. Though they weren’t highly classified information either.

But the enemy was said to want to attack socialism.

Then?

[Cover the sky with your palm!]

How could the enemies not have Social Democratic Party papers?

Sophia Nussbaum knew what her friend intended. Her friend had said this: Spandau must be protected.

[…Our Social Democratic Party knows ‘the government’s every move.’ Police mages from other districts are ‘not being deployed’ except for the few needed to locate the Mecklenburg-Strelitz Grand Duke, and while being cautious is good, when even those few aren’t for the people, I really don’t know whose country this is.]

Whenever words she liked came up, Sophia caught them.

If that friend hadn’t been Ascanien, Sophia probably would have taken the words ‘Spandau must be protected’ at face value. But because it was Ascanien, she had to think once more. Though she didn’t know him well, according to rumors she’d heard, he wasn’t the kind of talent who would think so simply and easily. Spandau—if he would give such a simple and vague, questionable answer, he would have been shot dead long ago rather than being alive here. At least in Sophia Nussbaum’s opinion, it was insufficient. Spandau wasn’t a good choice.

Now it was about time to go down to receive a reply. Sophia pushed her chair back.

Boom…

Sophia raised her head. After hearing something explode, the window shook with a rattle. The corners of Sophia’s stiff mouth turned downward toward the ground. Right next to the steel mill, gray dust shot up into the sky from a location hidden by other buildings. She jumped up and pressed against the window, but there was nothing she could figure out. Sophia tapped the artifact. There was no contact from Ascanien.

How many minutes had passed? Not long after, the front page of the Imperial Newspaper began to change.

[Housing Collapse on Felebergerstrasse in Front of Besthaven Steel Mill]

Sophia read the first headline and felt her head grow cold as she read below.

[Explosion Accident at Count Stum’s Mansion, ‘King of Saar,’ on Tiergartenstrasse, Mitte District]

Ascanien had ‘superficially’ predicted that fires would break out in Spandau. While saying that, Spandau my ass—a fire had broken out at a Conservative Party figure’s mansion in the heart of the capital.

Success.

At least one of them.

Ascanien had diverted the enemy’s attention to Spandau. No foolish enemy would cause trouble in a place the government was preparing for. Naturally, they would move to where the government had left gaps. That was what Ascanien was aiming for. Therefore, he had urged that they should prepare for those gaps instead.

Having grasped the operation, Sophia had no intention of ending things there despite Ascanien’s expression of gratitude. The enemy certainly had Social Democratic Party papers, and that moderately closed medium had optimal conditions for convincing the enemy. So Sophia Nussbaum sent a letter to the Social Democratic Party, shaping their broadcast to look like it did now.

Then what’s next?

If attention was diverted, it shouldn’t stop there. There must be a purpose for diverting attention. If they were making it appear that government personnel were being diverted to Spandau while preparing for the safety of other locations, the explosion accident and fire at that mansion wasn’t a big problem. It would soon be extinguished by the waiting mages.

What remained now was for Ascanien, who had been at the fire scene near the refinery, to return safely, but strangely, a building had collapsed. The calculations were getting tangled. Damn, Sophia muttered while narrowing her eyes.

Then, a beeping sound came from her ear. Sophia’s head snapped up. Someone speaking in a military tone could be heard rumbling along with the sound of wind.

[Lord Mecklenburg, identity verification is required. Stop right where you’re standing and raise your hands.]

The sound of conversation could be heard. Sophia touched her ear. Even though she wanted to hear more clearly, she couldn’t. Soon a voice declaring approval could be heard.

[This is confirmed to be 98th Unit Mecklenburg. Headquarters announces to 98th and 101st Units. 98th Unit Albert Mecklenburg safely returned at 7:20 PM. Search operations are terminated.]

Then the voices of executives came from the party paper filter. They cleared their throats and shouted.

[The missing Mecklenburg-Strelitz Grand Duke has appeared perfectly fine in the city center, they say. ‘Perfectly fine’! Look at this. Just as we’ve been saying for the past 20 minutes, the only reason this person would suddenly disappear was personal whim. Nobles are immature and show off like this. If this is how it turns out, what becomes of all the personnel deployed in the Grand Duke search operation until now?]

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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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