How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 571

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magic Noble Family (571)

“I should live in Rome.”

Ulrike was so busy looking around at the nameless architectural structures that he kept turning his head left and right and stopping frequently. Having almost swept through the interesting items at the market, he regretted the passing time as he quickly exited the marketplace. He ran through the maze-like city center with light steps, marveling at everything. The paths were narrow with many stairs everywhere, making it impossible for me to walk properly. I could only move with the magical assistance of my friends. While Leonard smoothly pushed the bed, Ulrike spun around, his bright-colored suit fluttering.

“Really. When I retire, I’m going to live in Rome. I’ll wear bright clothes like this, eat gelato every day, drink coffee every day, and see this wonderful city every day. Everywhere I turn my head, there’s only beautiful things!”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen Luise speak so rapidly.”

“We have to come back here. I can’t be the only one to see this place. I should show it to Haike and Elias too.”

“Yes, I agree. Let’s definitely get vacation time and all come together.”

Seeing his usual demeanor return, which had been nowhere to be found during the day, put my mind at ease. As Leonard slowly pushed the bed, my eyes gradually closed. Just thinking about Haike leads to thoughts of Ainsiedel, and thinking about Ainsiedel leads back to thoughts of Terminus Yukairya and Pleroma. Such complex thoughts seem to drain energy and make my eyes close. As the night deepened and the cold intensified, I pulled my coat tighter layer by layer and buried my head. Ulrike, seemingly unbothered by the cold, threw his jacket into the air and caught it while shouting.

“Why wasn’t I born in Rome?!”

That much, huh… All four of us probably had the same thought. Ulrike didn’t mind that we didn’t answer and looked back at us, speaking with enthusiasm.

“It’s fortunate I found out now. I can experience both Germany and Italy.”

Cheringen, who had been walking in step with Narke, added in a calm voice.

“At this rate, I’m starting to think we might retire early.”

“Indeed.”

There wasn’t much we could do on this night. What my friends did was stop in an empty alley and play a game of balancing pumpkin-shaped lights they’d bought who knows when on spoons and running—all things they could do in Germany too. It should properly be done with eggs, but breaking eggs on non-private property seemed a bit much.

Since I couldn’t run, I watched. I had to serve as referee for now. It was fortunate there were no people in the alley.

“Whoa—”

“Luise.”

Ulrike tried to catch the pumpkin light flying in the wind with magic, but at the sound of my clapping, he let his shoulders droop. Ulrike pouted and sat on the edge of the bed. He turned his body slightly and lay on his side across my legs, then stared at me intently. In return, I stared intently at the German student who wanted to pretend to be Italian. The more I looked, the more it seemed like brainwashing—if not a southern Italian, he might pass for someone from the north. Though such distinctions are sometimes prejudiced and meaningless.

Ulrike asked.

“Hey. Lucas, did you tell the kids to write letters before coming here? Letters to send to me, I mean.”

“Letters?”

“Yeah. Letters… with poems written in them. Wasn’t it something you arranged? Since you guys were preparing to go to Italy today, I thought you had prepared those letters too.”

“Not at all. What exactly was it?”

“You don’t know? Then Julia didn’t give you a hint?”

“No.”

“…It wasn’t Julia’s handwriting though…”

“Was it a letter from Ainsiedel? It’s about time we heard from him anyway.”

“I wish that were the case.”

Ulrike pressed his lips as if chewing them and slowly exhaled. Having finished thinking, he suddenly sat up.

“I don’t know. I’ll let you know when we get back. Anyway, Lucas, you were thinking more about this incident too, right?”

Of course. It’s not all over. We need to see how Germany and France will handle the aftermath, and how the political situation will unfold…

Most importantly, I’m not convinced that Terminus Yukairya’s operation this time was complete in itself. Isn’t that right? Or am I overthinking?

It’s hypersensitive speculation. It must be. I looked down at the elixir serving as a painkiller substitute stuck in my arm and my still slightly throbbing stomach. The night air had awakened me, but after being awake for just that brief moment, fatigue now overwhelmed my consciousness again. When I close my eyes, the two images I saw before being stabbed in the stomach overlap: Ulrike with beast-like eyes as if sensing threat in the darkness, and Ulrike squinting as he swayed uncomfortably under the bright hall lights.

“Not now. Let’s have fun now.”

Ulrike spoke firmly while looking at his friends, as if he understood this.

“Lucas, this time too you need to watch carefully whether the others are using magic to move the pumpkin or not!”

“Yeah, yeah. Go and run… Wait, no. Stop running already!”

My words were already unheard. He hopped on his injured leg toward his friends, making me wonder how many more days he planned to drag out his treatment. I slowly closed and opened my eyes while watching Leonard and Cheringen holding a strategy meeting, and Narke welcoming back the returning Ulrike.

* * *

I don’t know when I fell asleep.

There was a sweet fragrance that refreshed my chest. That is, a floral scent mixed with grass. When I opened my eyes, I saw the night sky, not much different from before I closed my eyes…

And the faces of four people with flowers in their hair looking down at me came into view at once.

“Have they finally gone mad…”

“What did you say?”

“Ah— nothing…”

I turned my head to the side and pressed my eyes firmly with both hands, then removed them. There were flowers between my fingers too, making me wonder what this was as I brushed them off. As soon as I turned my head and opened my eyes, I made eye contact with the eerie cluster of stamens from a flower that was facing me directly. That’s not important, but even after closing and opening my eyes, these crazy guys’ appearance remained the same.

I was speechless. I glanced sideways at my friends’ appearance and remained silent. Looking from below, they all looked like moai statues. I felt like I was about to be offered as a sacrifice in some unknown ritual, so I slowly sat up, only then realizing there was also a pile of flowers behind me, above my head. The entire bed was a flower garden.

“What is this?”

“Flowers.”

“I know that. Are you planning to make a grave with flowers?”

“Gasp. So that’s what it means…”

“…No, fine. It’s good except it looks like bugs might come out. Where did you pick these?”

“We didn’t pick them. Leo sprouted the seeds we bought at the market earlier. He’s a complete mage. Look at this!”

Ulrike rummaged through a paper bag and dropped small seeds covered in soil into Leonard’s hand. Leonard, who was smiling with an already much-troubled face, clenched and opened his hand once.

“…Oh.”

A white daffodil bloomed instantly. It was as if months of time had been fast-forwarded. There were roots at the end of the thickly grown stem.

The ability to manipulate life force even without being an Arcane Mage is always amazing to see. Amazing, and also frightening. Many people don’t yet know the potential of this ability, but this power wouldn’t be safe for either the world or the user.

Ulrike, who received the daffodil, cut it to an appropriate length and stuck it in my coat. Looking now, my clothes were already a flower garden too. Too lazy to pull them all out, I unbuttoned my outer coat only to find flowers inside as well. How many layers did these guys do this… When I looked at my friends with half-open eyes, they pretended not to notice.

“Hmm hmm hmm~”

“Now they’re singing…”

“Hey there!”

What’s with the “hey there” for everything. At Ulrike’s playful scolding, I smiled with downturned lips. Then I pulled out a daffodil that was pressed against my clothes, smelled its fragrance, and muttered.

“Guys. You know what?”

“What?”

“You all look strange with flowers in your hair.”

“That’s true.”

Cheringen, who also had flowers in his hair, answered with a smile. Unlike Ulrike and Leonard, who had flowers stuck in their ears due to lack of grip in their hair, Narke—who had suffered more damage thanks to slight waviness and was the only one among them likely to do such a thing voluntarily while the rest were probably influenced by that friend—looked troubled as he brushed his brow bone. Ulrike shouted in shock.

“Isn’t it pretty?! I deliberately considered color coordination like we learned in art class!”

“I figured it was your doing. Yes, yes. Everything’s harmonious.”

You tourists. I swallowed those words. Anyone could see we were Roman tourists, so people glanced at us but passed by without much interest. Narke might have been relatively comfortable in Rome because he was buried among the group of ‘tourists.’

But what had they been doing to end up like this? Looking around, it seemed they had spent time working on the bed instead of just playing among themselves. Since they were all subtly staring at me without saying anything, I squinted and asked.

“Why? What did you do now?”

“We hypnotized you. Look at this. We got this from that flea market at the end of the street—it’s supposed to be a hypnotist’s pendulum.”

“…”

Ulrike seriously held out an antique-looking pendulum. He quite boldly said they had used it on me. Narke waved his hand in explanation.

“I didn’t touch even a hair on your head, Lucas.”

“Why didn’t you stop them?”

Standing by meant he was also enjoying watching, didn’t it? What good does it do if you just don’t participate directly? They’re having fun without me.

Still, I wasn’t in a bad mood. First, such a bold attitude actually proved their mental integrity, and even before reasoning that far, I had no suspicion that they would have asked inappropriate questions—there was already that level of mutual trust. Most importantly, I didn’t think the activity they claimed was hypnosis would really work without magic—would it?—and everyone couldn’t have seriously thought it would work. If it had actually worked, Ulrike would have felt the most uncomfortable about it. With his thoughtful nature, he couldn’t have engaged in inappropriate pranks.

It was probably just this mindset—Lucas is talking in his sleep, so let’s ask him something and see what he answers! That pendulum was just used as a prop. What’s wrong with asking friends a few things? I was slightly worried about whether I had answered something they shouldn’t know, but since the questions probably weren’t deep, such concerns barely arose. I asked leisurely.

“What were you doing? Did I answer something wrong?”

“We asked whether it’s better to eat vanilla gelato with honey on top or just plain, and you said you didn’t like either.”

What kind of question is that…

Reading my expression, my friends all smiled the same way as if they had done something good. Anyway, the accuracy drops sharply from here. Hypnosis my foot… It was just sleep talk full of nonsense. Convinced of this, I stroked my chin and answered roughly.

“Hmm, that’s not quite right. I don’t feel the need to sprinkle honey on it… but at least I enjoyed plain gelato when I came here before.”

“Ugh—ugh—ugh—mm. You were like this.”

Ulrike squeezed his eyes shut, frowned, and shook his head sideways. Leonard and Cheringen were smiling subtly. Seeing Ulrike acting out sleep talk, I couldn’t help but snicker.

“When did I do that?”

“You did! Julia, it’s true, right?!”

Ulrike spun around seeking agreement, but Cheringen didn’t answer as he wished.

“Hmm, it was somewhat exaggerated.”

Ulrike froze with his mouth wide open, looking thunderstruck.

“I, I really saw it like this.”

Cheringen, who had been leisurely observing Ulrike’s expression changes, added a comment.

“The framework might be the same?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying!”

I burst into laughter and shook my head.

“Ha, really… Fine, let’s go with that. Is that all? You could have just asked about gelato flavors normally.”

“Actually, they asked a few more things.”

“What did you ask?”

“Can’t tell you. But there’s one thing I asked – I asked if you’re really close with Leo, and you said yes.”

I widened my eyes and dropped my jaw. Then I looked at Leonard. He was shamelessly looking down at me.

“Why didn’t you stop him?”

“Why would I?”

Just stop talking.

It’s not that I don’t understand. Since Ulrike doesn’t trust easily, this friend probably thought it would be better to convince Ulrike this way. Without much expectation, I protested to Ulrike with a hollow laugh.

“Luise. That’s what I told you every day even when I was fully conscious. Geez, what a waste of time. You should ask something else. Do you only believe it if you hear an answer from my unconscious self?”

“He says it’s fine to ask other things…”

Leonard narrowed his eyes and interjected, but Ulrike held out his hand toward him and continued speaking.

“‘Really’ close, I asked. Like school friends. Not colleagues who stay close out of necessity, but really, truly comfortable with each other. But do you know what you said?”

“Yeah. I know. I obviously said we’re close.”

“Right. You got slightly annoyed and told me to stop asking, then went ‘uh-uh-mm’ and nodded.”

I reflexively blinked rapidly and let my gaze wander to my friends.

“Me? I got annoyed at Luise? That can’t be right.”

When I carefully denied it, Narke confessed honestly.

“It’s not quite right~ but a little bit right.”

“Narke~!”

“What do you mean ‘a little bit right.’ Anyway, I’m sorry. Whatever you say, I have no intention of getting annoyed at you, so I’m a bit surprised—”

“There was a bit of exaggeration there~ Lucas just chuckled like he does now. Seeing that, Luise was shocked. ‘This guy is mocking what I’m saying while sleeping’!”

“Just the same.”

Leonard chuckled and muttered at Narke’s words. If laughing because the question was ridiculous also counted as mocking, then Ulrike understood correctly. Ulrike was clapping at Narke, who repeated his words without missing a single syllable. I moved closer to him and asked.

“So will you believe me now?”

“Hmm.”

Ulrike reluctantly nodded, then brought two fingers close to his eyes as if to say he’d be watching, then pointed them at me and my friends. I looked around at my friends and rested my chin on my hand.

“So, is that it? Is there more?”

“Can’t tell you. Only we’ll remember.”

Ulrike answered playfully. Seeing Cheringen’s upturned corner of his mouth, I found myself making the same expression. So that’s how you’re going to play it… What answers did they get from me that only they would know? Anyway, just looking at the gelato answers shows it’s all nonsense. I looked up at the sky with a hollow laugh.

“Luise, give me the pendulum.”

“No way! I paid a whole 50 centesimo for this.”

“How much is that, really. I’ll pay you back when we return to Germany, so give it to me. I want to hypnotize you guys too. There’s something I want to hear.”

Then Ulrike instantly wiped away his playfulness, became serious, and stood close beside me.

“Really? I’ll tell you directly.”

“See. I could have told you directly too, without any hypnosis.”

“Huh…”

Ulrike furrowed his brows with a contemplative face, then nodded seriously. After pondering, he carefully offered his opinion.

“But there are words and expressions you can only hear and see when asking during the most vulnerable moments.”

He speaks well. I just found it so absurd—I even lost the will to refute this ridiculous logic—and slid down into the blanket while rubbing my face with both hands. My head hurts… Realizing that I had come out in a way that said ‘let’s stop talking,’ Ulrike spoke analytically.

“Why aren’t you embarrassed?”

“Is that the goal?”

“No, I’m just curious.”

“If what I revealed is sincere, then it’s not particularly embarrassing. Right now, talking about this, is more awkward. What are you analyzing from one bit of sleep talk…”

“When you heard that ‘everyone’s… whatever’ thing, why was your reaction different?”

Ulrike seems to be studying and getting to know me now. I was momentarily speechless and spaced out, then shrugged my shoulders.

“That has nothing to do with my sincerity. As I said then, it was closer to bewilderment.”

“You were pissed off.”

“Somewhere in between. Now, if you understand, give me the pendulum.”

When I reached toward Ulrike’s hand, he lifted it toward the sky.

“Can’t catch… Oh!”

I didn’t even expect to. I pressed my fingers together and flicked them like shooting a paper flick, sending needle-like magic toward the pendulum Ulrike was holding. Somehow knowing the moment I pressed my fingers together, Narke grabbed Ulrike’s shoulder and yanked him back, and the magic barely grazed past the pendulum with just a finger’s width difference. Ulrike bent down and spread both hands.

“Huh, huh… Hehehe. I’ll give it to you. Don’t use magic!”

He put the pendulum in my coat pocket and even fastened the button. He dusted off his hands as if finishing a task and looked at his watch. Seeing Ulrike’s satisfied face made me feel proud somewhere, and it seems I’m not the only one.

“How would Elias have reacted at this moment?”

As Ulrike muttered while looking around downtown Rome, Leonard said coolly.

“What’s certain is that if Elias were here, you wouldn’t be able to act so freely like now.”

“…When you, who’s closest to Elias, say that, it becomes credible… Still, I wish he were here. Haike too.”

Ulrike furrowed his brows and fell into deep thought, then leaned toward the bed and spoke to his friends.

“Somehow I don’t think Haike is just staying still. Why is that? I keep thinking that Haike is wandering around this world doing something. Don’t you think so? Haike is still in the hospital. Even right now.”

All the friends just exchanged glances without having much to say.

“We weren’t actually that close, and it’s not like our thoughts connect without knowing each other. His magic isn’t leaking from his body, is it?”

At Ulrike’s cautious speculation, Leonard shook his head.

“If that happened, we’d be contacted immediately.”

“Right?! That’s a relief… It must be because of that magic bottle I have.”

Haike’s magic contained in the small bottle Ainsiedel gave to Ulrike. Ulrike still carried it with him. As the atmosphere settled down a bit, Ulrike clapped to focus attention.

“Alright, guys. Did you finish making the bed? This should look good enough, right?”

“Mm, yes.”

Without even asking for my opinion, Narke nodded. Ulrike pushed Narke’s back while looking around at all of us and shouted.

“Since we brought up Haike, we have somewhere to go now. Narke, let’s go!”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————