How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 58

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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 (58)

“…It’s difficult to say, but I have plans. It’s something personally important to me.”

“Don’t feel burdened and enjoy yourself on a day like this, Student.”

It didn’t work. He’s unnecessarily perceptive at times like this.

The Professor left the classroom with a benevolent face.

Seeing Elias’s face as he laughed silently to the point of tears made me laugh without realizing it, but watching Leo’s friends leave the classroom while reading the mood quickly turned that into a hollow laugh.

“Hah…”

Doesn’t the Professor know this makes things more difficult for people?

There’s probably no malice, but I never imagined I’d experience a situation like this.

‘…The good thing is that the Professor sees me somewhat positively…’

Otherwise—unless he was trying to mess with me—there’d be no reason to meddle like this.

But he left the classroom looking truly satisfied, so it probably wasn’t some childish way of messing with me.

I just unintentionally suffered internal damage from his way of helping.

“…Are you okay?”

Leo, who had come over at some point, asked while reading my expression.

“Do you know that asking things like this makes it even more miserable?”

“Sorry.”

There weren’t many students left in the classroom. It seems they feared something might happen to me more than wanting to watch the situation unfold.

I quickly left the classroom and spoke quietly enough for only Leo to hear.

“You go play with your friends. I have something to talk about with Narke.”

“I already sent them away. And what kind of talk?”

“There’s something like that. Anyway, go back and call him. I’m going to the library now.”

“The lib…!”

Leo stopped in place, unable to continue his words.

“…”

I let my guard down because he’s such a by-the-book guy. Going to the library on festival day must be shocking news for him too.

I calmly conveyed my intention.

“There seems to be a misunderstanding, but when I say I’m going to the library, it doesn’t mean I’m only going to study—it means I’m going to watch for the right timing.”

“…Let’s just go together. I’m more comfortable with one person than many anyway. I’m also bothered by how Elias kept saying things I couldn’t understand all evening… You didn’t even attend the 3rd Education Institute and only stayed in the dormitory during first year. Isn’t this your first festival?”

It’s not my first.

But I can’t say this. It would be Luca’s first, after all.

‘Well, it’s not like I can’t walk around during the festival anyway.’

With the Professor involved, Hyung won’t be wary just because I’m playing around with a friend, and since I need to improve Luca’s reputation anyway, I’ll have to accept some of Hyung’s wariness now.

“What did Eli say?”

“I can tell you’re changing the subject, so I’m right. Let me ask you this first. Is it really okay for you to be openly hanging out with me?”

“Even if it reaches Hyung’s ears, won’t the Professor’s story come up too? It’s obvious that the fact we were put together on orders will also come up.”

“Right… It’ll be fortunate if it doesn’t spread throughout the whole school by today.”

Is it that serious…?

While I was at a loss for words, Leo spoke again.

“You said earlier you had something to say to Narke, right? Then let’s meet up when we run into each other while having fun.”

“Alright.”

That is the most natural method.

Anyway, Narke probably vaguely realized that I’m harboring suspicions, so there wouldn’t be a problem even if I called him out separately.

‘Fai is here too, so I’ll have to take him back later.’

I absentmindedly petted the furry bundle touching my left fingers. Fai was still clinging to my hand.

“Is there anything you’ve wanted to do normally?”

“Well…”

It’s Luca who hasn’t been to festivals, not me—I’ve been to many so I don’t have any particular thoughts.

What do people do at festivals? I should recall high school festival memories rather than college festivals…

Only things like making mosquito repellent come to mind.

I opened the guidebook I received from school.

‘Still, it’s better than I thought.’

I could see everyone had prepared earnestly.

When I closed the booklet, there were stamp collection spaces on the back cover.

Leo gestured toward the booklet and said.

“Since we’re playing anyway, you should fill all the stamps and get the prize too. The student council prepared a lot.”

“What’s the prize?”

“You’ll find out when you collect all the stamps.”

For once, he naturally avoided answering without being flustered at all.

There must have been many people asking.

I nodded and gestured toward the window.

“Alright, let’s eat something first before that.”

* * *

“Leo! Oh…”

Coming outside, I could feel the situation more properly.

I feel like a zoo monkey.

Students who heard the rumors were glancing at me from a distance.

As if that wasn’t enough, students who approached with happy smiles upon seeing Leo quickly moved away after seeing me.

Leo waved to the student backing away and tried to avoid other students’ gazes. Then, unable to adapt, he cast a sound-blocking spell and whispered.

“This is no ordinary matter. Have you really been living like this all the time…?”

“Not quite this much. It’s like this because you’re here.”

“What?”

It must be novel since the guy who particularly disliked Luca is now hanging out with him.

I think we’ve been close for quite a while now, but others have only been seeing the same public image as in first year.

Leo just nodded without giving much of an answer.

I ignored the guy who was starting to get down again and pointed to the snack booth in the distance.

“Let’s eat some ice cream. We can see what events there are while eating.”

“…Alright…”

I left him behind and went to the booth.

Since they couldn’t bring refrigeration equipment here, a student from the neighboring class was diligently casting cooling magic.

“Hey, the temperature’s too low! Are you trying to make ice?”

“Ah, how far should I go!”

“…”

Using magic to manually freeze ice cream gives it a different feel.

I casually spoke up.

“Excuse me.”

“Ah, yes… Huh?!”

“Two vanilla flavors please. Put honey on one of them.”

Whether they wanted to get rid of me quickly, I was able to get them very fast.

I handed Leo one vanilla ice cream that was somehow covered with cherries.

“Eat up.”

“Thanks. But what’s with all the cherries?”

Leo scooped the ice cream with his spoon, then raised his eyebrows seeing there were cherries inside too.

I expected this from seeing Elias bring back a whole basket yesterday after wandering around doing nothing… There must be a lot left over. At this point, it’s not vanilla but cherry ice cream.

“Speaking of which, what’s Eli doing?”

“He’s probably playing with my friends, but I’m not sure.”

I turned my head to see if there was anyone I knew around.

Unlike usual, the school was filled with various decorations and banners. Among the waves of purple school uniforms, there were also some students wearing school uniforms I hadn’t seen before.

Since I’d been outside for a while now, the gazes directed at me had decreased significantly.

‘By the way, Elias probably can’t play much because of his leg.’

Especially in a place with this many people.

Since I probably won’t be able to have fun anyway and will likely end up going to the orphanage to extract information, I should look for other ways to find out the list since there are methods that don’t require that.

I looked around and pulled Fai out of my robe pocket.

Startled by suddenly being brought out, Fai turned his head this way and that.

“Squeak?”

“Fai, can you find Elias for me?”

Fai just rolled his eyes before nodding his head.

Since I was talking to an animal, Leo turned his head with a suspicious expression, wondering if he had misheard.

As soon as I put Fai back in my pocket, Fai immediately warped and disappeared.

“Let’s just look around and see what’s here in the meantime.”

“…Do you really think Fai will come back if you ask him to?”

“Probably.”

“Alright… Um, let’s go over there.”

“Art club?”

When we entered the 1st floor of the building, there were booths not much different from reality.

‘Face painting…’

The posted name wasn’t that, but anyway, what they were doing was the same. I could only let out a hollow laugh. This is something that exists everywhere, whether in reality or here.

I wonder if human thinking doesn’t change much within a hundred years, or if there’s another modern person here besides me…

I deliberately ignored my rational suspicions and opened the door.

As I entered, the students froze and stared at me with wide eyes. I held out my hand and shook my head.

“I’m not doing it.”

Obvious relief appeared on the students’ faces.

“Phew…”

‘…’

These bastards…

Just as I was about to let out another hollow laugh, Leo got caught by a junior.

“Senior!”

“Ah, Johanna.”

“What brings you here?”

“I came to get a stamp. This is a friend from my class, and this is a junior from student council, Lucas.”

Leo said while pointing back and forth between me and the junior.

Perhaps because the junior was happier to see Leo, she didn’t show any hostility toward me.

“Hello! Senior, would you like to try this? I think I might have some talent for it.”

“No, I won’t do that either. We’re going to move on to the next one.”

Leo waved his hand at the brush the junior was showing him.

But we couldn’t get away that easily.

Leo moved along while touching his cheek with a sour expression.

“Sigh…”

“It’s decent.”

“Can you stop being roundabout? The more you talk like that, the more depressing it gets.”

Leo sighed while dry-washing his face.

Though I said this, it really was decent. It was a Bavaria flag the size of a fingernail.

Moving to the next section, there was an art club exhibition.

Belle Époque era paintings were hung on pure white temporary walls. There weren’t many paintings, probably because there weren’t many club members.

“Mm, I can see why you suggested coming here first.”

“Right? You just take a quick look and leave, and they give you a stamp. There are thirty booths but you only need to collect ten stamps, so you have to hit places like this first.”

Leo answered after casting a sound-blocking spell.

I see this guy also looks for the easy way out.

When I laughed because it was absurd, Leo tilted his head, unable to tell if I was mocking him or what.

Anyway, thanks to Leo’s information network, we were able to get out in just one minute after entering.

A student holding a stamp gestured to us.

“How was it~?”

“I’d like to come again.”

“Ah, thank you~! If you draw something in the guestbook, I’ll give you another stamp! We’re putting up drawings from participants on the wall.”

“Hmm…”

They’re using loopholes right in front of the student council.

While I was surprised, Leo briefly pondered what to do.

“Yes, please give me a pen.”

“…Wow.”

“…”

Leo looked at me with a dumbfounded expression, then drew a reasonably familiar animal.

“It’s Fai.”

“Mm, you can tell right away?”

Objectively, he drew it well. If you can recognize it immediately, then it’s well drawn.

‘What should I draw.’

Fai would be compared.

I turned to the next page and started sketching lines.

“Wow, what are those lines? Really…”

“…”

“What is this really, Lucas? A dog?”

It’s a lion.

I think it looks fine?

I didn’t bother answering and held out my guidebook.

The student who stamped it asked cautiously.

“Oh, um… can I hang this up right now?”

“Go ahead.”

For some reason, the reason they wanted to hang it up immediately seemed clear, but anyway, we got our stamp so it was fine.

I left the building, leaving Leo still in shock behind me.

“Yep~”

As soon as we came out of the building, I heard a familiar voice.

Elias appeared from the alley next to the building, approaching with Fai on his shoulder.

Leo, who followed me out, spotted Elias and immediately shouted without even greeting him.

“Your clothes…!”

As expected, he wasn’t wearing a school uniform but the Prussian Investigation Bureau outfit. It seemed he really was planning to visit the orphanage.

‘Just like in the novel.’

“A rabbit suddenly climbed onto my shoulder? I was about to leave when no matter what I did, it wouldn’t get off, so I had a feeling.”

“No, but how can you walk around like that?”

At Leo’s exasperated voice, Elias casually shrugged his shoulders.

“I thought it looked good on me? Don’t you think clothes really do make the man?”

“Who said anything about it looking good?”

“You can’t argue with that~ Should I take that to mean it looks good?”

He probably couldn’t argue back because he was too frustrated, but Elias was satisfied with adequately silencing Leo and smiled while looking around.

“I figured it was just because of the festival. I even took off the insignia before coming here. Don’t worry too much, class president.”

Elias emphasized the last words. Leo, who had instantly become a stuffy person who only knew rules, smiled with various meanings and grabbed his neck.

‘They’re having fun.’

As expected, these friends are better off hanging out together.

I thought this while breaking off a cherry for Fai, who had climbed onto my shoulder and was eyeing my ice cream.

“So, it hasn’t even been an hour since it started, what have you been doing for fun?”

“We haven’t really done anything yet. We did go to the art club and get two stamps though.”

“You haven’t done anything? Looking at your face, it seemed like you had fun.”

“You know, roughly how it went…”

“Mm, I know.”

Elias chuckled and turned around.

“Anyway, I came to return the rabbit, but should I do something before I go?”

“No, don’t go and just hang out. What are you trying to do?”

“Should I do that… Want to go to the Haunted House? Hey, do you get disciplined for hitting people inside there?”

“That’s right.”

I nodded at the obvious fact.

More than that, Elias seemed to keep forgetting that his leg was still being treated.

“If we go there, you’ll have to run around. Will you be okay?”

“Ah, damn.”

I opened the guidebook again.

When I looked up toward the location marked on the map, I could see a building crowded with people in the distance.

“Should we go there?”

“Hm?”

Elias looked at the sparkling sign in the distance and clapped his hands.

“Oh, Casino~ Leo, how did you approve this?”

“It’s just the name. There’s nothing to bet. It just ends with putting your name on the Hall of Fame by category.”

“Really~?”

At the mention of nothing to bet, Elias’s eyes gleamed.

* * *

“Even if there’s nothing to bet, I never thought we’d actually come to a place like this…”

Leo frowned as he looked at the interior that was blindingly bright.

“If no money changes hands, it’s even more welcome. We can play real games. In real casinos, I can’t stand the commission they take.”

“How old are you?”

Elias didn’t answer Leo’s question and sat down with a smile.

“Let’s play a round of poker. It’s been years since we played.”

“I forgot all the rules.”

“Oh my, so like a model student. Come on, let’s try to get our names up there. Luca, you’ll play too, right?”

“Sure.”

Since we came all this way, there’s no particular reason to refuse.

Looking around, countless students at This Location were desperately trying to get their names up there even though they weren’t gaining anything. Even though it was a game with no stakes, everyone’s desire to win was incredible.

Of course, I didn’t particularly think I needed to beat anyone, so I let Elias laugh to his heart’s content.

I rested my chin on my hand and watched Elias tap the table.

This was already the third round he was winning alone.

“Hahaha! I won again~”

“Hmm…”

“That’s your skill level, Leo. Accept it.”

“What kind of match is this when I forgot the rules?!”

Elias whistled and shook his head at Leo’s words.

Then he clapped his hands.

“Ah, wait a minute. Should we call one more person? I think we need at least four people to get our names in the Hall.”

‘He’s excited.’

It was worth suggesting we come since he’s enjoying it.

Just then, a Student in black clothes approached.

“Sir.”

“Me?”

Elias asked.

The Student shook his head and pointed at me.

“No, this gentleman here.”

Leo and Elias looked back and forth between him and me with puzzled eyes.

I was equally puzzled, but answered calmly for now.

“Go ahead.”

“The table over there is asking if you could join them. Are you interested?”

When I turned my head, I saw students playing poker with three people like us.

Looking at their clothes, they were third-years. And they were laughing and chatting among themselves without any tension, looking this way.

“…”

Their goal is obvious.

I shook my head.

“I’m not going.”

“Yes, understood.”

When the Student disappeared, Elias snorted.

“Hey, what’s that about? Let’s just play a different game among ourselves.”

As Elias picked up his crutches to get up from his seat, the Student who had spoken to me earlier approached again with a troubled expression.

“Um, excuse me… They asked me to ask you one more time.”

Now Elias let out a hollow laugh as if he couldn’t believe it.

“What’s this? Then I’ll go instead.”

“No, they’re calling for this person…”

“…”

Since it’s a popular game, there were plenty of people playing poker at This Location.

For them to specifically point me out among all of them means I’m included in their list of ‘guys who will obviously lose.’

That would make sense. If it’s Luca from his first year, that kind of image would be natural.

Still…

‘It’s been a while since I’ve been treated like this.’

What should I do.

After thinking for a while, I got up from my seat.

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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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