How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 584

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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 (584)

Leonard Wittelsbach’s eyes crinkled. His gaze drifted from the headrest of the leather chair to his hands resting aimlessly on the wooden armrests, then down to the dark green carpet on the floor. The sensation of the warm fabric he had just grasped and the thick frame easily felt beneath it vanished like a mirage.

His brow furrowed mercilessly. He twisted his lips while fidgeting with his fingertips.

Even when he recalled the memory again, the texture of bone and clothing that had definitely been in his grasp disappeared from his fingertips as if it had never been there. His hand, having lost its destination, clenched empty space. The veins on the inside of his wrist stood out. The magical power his entire body’s senses detected remained the same as before—there were no currents of warp.

Lucas had disappeared.

He had vanished in a non-warp manner, leaving behind words to wait just 5 minutes as he would return. The military instincts honed over a lifetime began catching the minute currents of all things. Leonard swept his fingertips down the armrest, then withdrew his hand and slowly looked around the room with eyes that could never normally be found on him. Aside from the rustling sound of wind, not even the sound of an ant crawling could be heard.

Soon, hurried footsteps could be heard from afar, and Leonard moved his eyes—which had never once closed until now—to look to the side. A cautious knocking sound came from outside the door.

“Your Highness, may I enter?”

Leonard did not speak. He slowly listed in his mind the ways one could evaporate instantly like dew meeting the sun, in a non-warp manner. There were no such methods.

He recalled how Lucas had always wanted to be alone whenever he gathered information. He recalled how Lucas always obtained information so excessively detailed that even the intelligence department wouldn’t know it. Intuitive reasoning easily flowed to Lucas’s tiresome power—the ability to reverse the laws of the universe and start over again. The speculation was over. Leonard looked down expressionlessly at the leather chair where a person had been sitting just moments before.

Right, 5 minutes.

He could wait. Even at this very moment, 1 minute had passed. Leonard stood in front of the sofa and coldly glared at the wall clock on the left glass wall. The heavy bronze second hand was slowly running between the lines like the sluggish joints of a train’s driving wheels clattering listlessly before departure.

* * *

After resolving the earlier commotion, about an hour remained. When I had finished talking with Prince Hildegard and headed to the administrative office, it was about 30 minutes after arriving here, and when I came out of the administrative office again, it was approaching the one-hour mark. Since hierarchical changes due to violence flip rapidly like turning over one’s palm in a short time, fortunately it didn’t take long from getting beaten to beating others. Dragging out a fistfight for dozens of minutes is amateur work. Against opponents with a significant skill gap, 5 minutes is sufficient.

5 minutes. 5 minutes… I thought of the friend waiting outside. I considered leaving early, but I wanted to leave with at least a foundation drawn, even if I couldn’t obtain major gains. It was also because I wasn’t mentally prepared yet.

I looked down at the gloves still stained with the smell of blood, then looked up at the sky outside the window again. This ‘abnormally elevated time differential level’ had granted me 2 hours and 30 minutes for 5 minutes today as well. Thanks to my life’s 5 minutes being 2 hours and 30 minutes here, when I was exhausted from the Prussian government’s interrogation a few days ago, I was able to spend over a week’s worth of nights during that brief dawn. As I had thought before, raising that level once more required preparation, and I didn’t want to do it. That wasn’t what I wanted. Especially not today when my mood had been soured by talk of messiahs and such.

I lit the fireplace as I had wanted and made a hot cup of coffee, sitting in front of it. Leonard Wittelsbach had intense feelings toward Lucas Ascanien, but Hildegard Wittelsbach did not. He had simply said one word to his attendants: ‘Look into it.’

Please take more interest. More actively. I pressed my lips tightly while leaning back against the chair. How should I go about that? The fact that he was under different preconditions than Leonard Wittelsbach gave me the need to change strategies.

Still, thanks to not going through the trouble of acting as Lucas Laplace, I had created grounds for him to continue watching me closely. That is, here I had to somehow show an image opposite to Laplace to capture the prince’s attention. I had to continue showing unexpected sides… The problem was that once that too became routine, it would no longer be unexpected.

In the end, time was the answer. That was my conclusion. First, I had to wait for the next class—the class I would take together with Prince Hildegard.

Every time I shifted my sitting position, my leg muscles ached. When the room had warmed up, I threw my cravat onto the bed and began removing my outer clothes. Let me see how much I was beaten. As expected, the situation wasn’t very good. From my forearms to my sides, everywhere that had ached when I was hitting those guys was covered in bruises. Some were old and healing, while others looked like they were from yesterday. I considered borrowing divine power but decided against it. Using self-healing magic would consume too much divine power, and since I still didn’t know how those guys had been dealt with, it seemed too early for me to erase the evidence. I put my outer clothes back on and drank coffee, thinking my legs would probably be in similar condition. Unlike Luca, my body wasn’t particularly sturdy—though it wasn’t completely scrawny either—and my skin color was excessively pale and wan, with no particularly appealing aspects. First, this guy needed to get his skin tanned. In summer I’d lie on the beach wearing only shorts, but it was winter so that was out of the question. I concentrated on warming my body in front of the fire while having such useless thoughts.

When I opened my eyes again, the somewhat setting sun was coloring the room. A cautious knocking sound came from the left.

“I’m coming out.”

I said while straightening my shirt collar that I had left standing while hastily dressing. When I opened the door, unwelcome visitors were there. A person who appeared to be a school employee and the two seniors I had seen earlier were here. The one who had suggested a fencing match at the end, fearing a knife wound—that is… the student who had tried to steal the trauma medicine textbook wasn’t there.

The two seniors hung their heads low with dejected faces, watching the employee standing behind them. Whether he was actually an employee was unclear, but I assumed he was in charge of student guidance matters. The employee gave me an awkward smile and pushed them into my room with a stern face.

“Apologize. That’s what you came for!”

“Apologize?”

“They say they want to convey their intentions. I’ll come in with them as well.”

My gaze dropped to around their waists. The Germans had no wands. They were unnaturally gripping their sleeves tightly, and when they moved their bodies, shining silver lumps were visible. I laughed. It was probably restraints the school had put on them to prevent magic use. More than that.

They’re apologizing? I turned my head around and snickered with a disgusted expression.

It was a communication error. That was highly likely. If the prince had stepped in to stop it, it meant he had an aversion to the culture of picking on new students unlike other students, and if that wasn’t resolved, it would be troublesome for this ‘Royal’ Julius-Maximilian University, so they might have urged them to come and apologize properly. The still completely deflated state of these people proved that.

Good. The seniors stood fidgeting even after the employee and I sat at the table, and only sat in front of it after I bent my knuckles and tapped the table. Both were carrying large bags, and one person carefully pushed his bag toward me.

“You open it.”

At my words, that senior flinched and took the bag back to open it. As if he knew what I was concerned about, he opened everything that was locked and laid it out in front.

I frowned seeing the shirt collars and cuffs coming out of the box in a pile, and only then opened the wardrobe. There were no shirts in the wardrobe except for undershirts. So they had taken everything except the one I was currently wearing.

“Why did you take them? Don’t have money?”

“…”

What leeches I’m seeing. I almost gave each of them another punch in frustration. When I ask why they took them, look at them keeping their mouths shut.

I knew without them saying. It meant don’t attend classes. Don’t wander around outside either. It meant I didn’t have the right to do so. I looked over the shirts, then threw them into the wardrobe and returned to my seat.

The money they had taken was also neatly placed in envelopes. I suppressed the urge to whistle at this unexpected gain—recovery—and nodded, putting it in the drawer before sitting back down. Then one senior said in a regretful voice.

“We’re sorry for everything until now. …We crossed the line, Count Laplace.”

How well they know that now. When I pulled up my cheek and opened my eyes mockingly, the seniors looked at each other in embarrassment. Then one person carefully took out wine glasses and a wine bottle from his bag and laid them out.

“So we brought a bottle of wine as an apology, the finest liquor stored in our family. I hope you like it… May we pour you a glass now?”

“No. Just leave it.”

“Uh, well…”

The seniors exchanged glances again. Now even the employee did the same. They stamped their feet as if their insides were burning, then looked at me. I glanced at my watch and asked.

“I suppose you need to receive my forgiveness before leaving?”

“Well, so…”

“Pour me a glass.”

I said while gesturing with my hand. Then the senior who had exchanged glances with the employee stood up and skillfully opened the wine and filled the glass. My gaze slowly passed over the wine bottle and glass. A third wine glass was pushed toward me.

What should I do? Should I drink it or not? Should I drink it, or switch it…

When I rested my chin and fondled the stem of the glass with one hand, the employee looked at me strangely. Even at this moment, my mind was devising ways to capture Prince Hildegard’s interest. Couldn’t I utilize this moment as well? How could I become friends with Prince Hildegard? Going to France alone would be fine, but leaving the country while still under suspicion might be impossible. Even if it were possible, I could assume he would attach informants to monitor me. Since Hildegard Wittelsbach didn’t even have that much regard for me. And if I were then misunderstood as a spy.

I didn’t want to take that route. And…

Royalty for royalty, king for king, wouldn’t that be right? I couldn’t let such a good colleague as Hildegard Wittelsbach go like this. The uneasiness I felt when facing him was still inexplicable, but I couldn’t be swayed by anxiety.

I looked down and gazed at the transparent wine glass, then stroked the bowl of the wine glass with my finger. Then I grabbed the stem and took a sip of the liquor. One more sip. My eyes met with the seniors who were watching me with eyes clearly lost in thoughts I didn’t particularly want to know about. They pretended not to know. Again they made faces crushed by guilt and muttered.

“We made violent remarks earlier. We’re truly sorry. The reason we brought wine… actually, Count Laplace, at the freshman welcome party… you were the only one who couldn’t perform the brotherhood ceremony hosted by our medical department student council.”

Brotherhood ceremony. It was the Brüderschafttrinken they had mentioned earlier. Why was Lucas Laplace the only one who couldn’t perform it? I crossed my arms and nodded while asking in a declarative tone.

“Because of you people.”

The Germans anxiously avoided eye contact, then reluctantly nodded. They drank wine and said.

“Let’s do that ceremony now.”

The senior stretched out his arm toward me. I opened my mouth and stared blankly at the other party who was saying this with a tense expression and a face all swollen from being beaten. After being deflated the whole time, he spoke in a strong tone for once.

“I’ll make an official inquiry to the student council. Let’s solidify the Brüderschaft again at the upcoming banquet. Count Laplace is a member of our school, so he has the right to participate…”

I was getting goosebumps and responding to the other party with a rotten smile, then answered firmly.

“No. I refuse.”

“Uh, why…”

They panicked as if they hadn’t expected me to refuse.

Brüderschafttrinken is a ceremony where you hold the same wine glass and drink while linking each other’s elbows, then kiss after drinking. Once the series of ceremonies is complete, you become close enough to use Duchen instead of the formal Siezen. This custom mainly occurs among the Human middle class, usually used as an initiation ceremony for groups with strong belonging like student organizations, or between family members who will soon be united by marriage—for example, between the groom and the bride’s brother. It’s also occasionally seen in neighborhood taverns. So in conclusion…

“I don’t have the stomach to kiss you people. I don’t want to catch your germs.”

Where do these bastards get off trying this now? Is this new violence? Since they can’t win with force, are they trying to torment my mind? I returned the words I had heard earlier and spoke indifferently.

Though it was a custom with quite a history, history be damned—I didn’t want to make contact with them. While the Germans hung their heads low, the employee looked bewildered and said with an expression that seemed to ask why I was refusing this.

“But if you do that, you become a true member of the department? You become brothers with us students of the Royal Julius-Maximilian University.”

That’s exactly why I’m dumbfounded. First, these Germans kiss without any hesitation, but unfortunately I can’t help but feel repulsed.

Using kissing as a ritual has absolutely no sexual meaning—even if Espers occasionally do it, since there’s no gender consciousness in daily life to begin with, it’s identical to Human customs—so I actually had to reproduce sexual meaning in front of cameras and had done so fairly smoothly since childhood, so I don’t feel repulsed in that dimension. However, there’s one major problem that can’t be excluded. Hygiene. In this era of advanced medicine, I cannot accept sharing oral microbiomes as some kind of initiation ceremony. If it were meant to strengthen immunity by exposure to various viruses and bacteria, that might be different, but are they in their right minds? No, they’re not.

Second, even setting that aside, not with these bastards. When I should be beating them more as human beings, what brotherhood ceremony? Have I ever seen such shameless bastards… As I looked at the seniors with rotten eyes, the employee smiled and explained.

“You don’t know because you’re French? If you’re worried about hygiene, you can do it on the cheek. Not many people do it that way though.”

“I don’t want to do it on the cheek either. I just don’t want to put my lips on your faces. Actually, I don’t want to link arms with you either. Even having you sit in front of me is somewhat unpleasant. Let me be honest. I don’t want any kind of brotherhood ceremony with these seniors.”

The employee who had been staring wide-eyed finally spoke quietly after a long while.

“Oh my.”

The employee who had sighed looked at his watch, then glared at the two seniors. The meaning that what had they been doing all this time to make this so difficult was conveyed to me as well. They didn’t seem to have any intention of hiding it. Then one of the two seniors seized the moment and said.

“Teacher, you may go about your business as you mentioned. Since this is a problem we created, we should handle it. Since we’ve done many things that require Count Laplace’s forgiveness, it seems we’ll need more time… We should get up now too.”

The employee, who seemed to have business, stood up with displeasure. He glared at the two Germans, telling them to resolve things well before coming out, and went outside.

The Germans were anxious even while slowly putting their coats back on. Since they showed no intention of leaving even after getting fully dressed, I looked at my watch. One of the seniors stared intently at my wine glass, then startled and spoke only when I tapped the table with my finger.

“Then… what should we do now?”

I stretched my neck out while keeping my arms crossed. Then I raised my eyebrows and asked.

“How should I accept your seniors’ apology?”

“Yes, that’s righ—”

“How would I know?”

Laplace would have wanted to fit in at school without being ostracized. These seniors would have known that. Now that their biggest card had lost its meaning, they wouldn’t know what to do to change my mind.

I snickered and continued speaking.

“I understand your sincerity in coming, but I have no idea what you expect me to do about it. So…”

I glanced at the wall. The clock’s second hand was moving faster than ever. A pounding that I couldn’t tell was excitement or extreme fear began echoing in my eardrums. 5 minutes had now passed. Standing up from my seat, I acted out an appropriate smile and politely gestured toward the door with my hand.

“Please leave now.”

* * *

The two 3rd year medical students left the room with tense faces. For some reason flushed, they walked quickly out of the dormitory and entered a deserted area. The one wearing glasses asked his companion rapid-fire.

“You made a copy before returning the spare key, right?”

Since he spoke with a swollen mouth, it was hard to understand what he was saying, so the other person frowned.

“Did you copy the key?! You frustrating bastard.”

“Of course! And does that seem like the problem right now?!”

The student who was about to shout turned his head. There seemed to be rustling sounds from behind. But there were no passersby. No people or animals. The student turned his head back to look at his friend. He pointed at the dormitory window and growled low in equally unclear pronunciation.

“Why is that bastard fine?”

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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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