How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 6

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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 (6)

“I haven’t used magic in so long that my condition isn’t good, Professor. May I go in now?”

At those words, Leo’s face crumpled severely.

‘His condition isn’t good?’

Right now, that bastard is talking complete nonsense.

That weak magic was intentional. He didn’t even put out 1/100th of the power he could unleash.

If he had just stood there blankly without using magic at all, it might be different, but now that he’s cast magic once, he can’t fool anyone. That innate talent wasn’t something that could be hidden no matter how he tried to conceal it.

‘The Professor must know too, right?’

The Professor looked as surprised as the students, then just nodded with a dazed expression.

“…Alright. Go ahead and sit down.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

‘Hah.’

Leo let out a short breath as if he found it absurd. Lucas smiled faintly, bowed, and returned to his seat.

It was a ridiculous situation.

In liberal arts classes like history, he goes out of his way to answer questions, but in magic class, he deliberately holds back his power?

‘It’s not like he’s joking around, so what is this?’

Leo glared at Lucas with coldly hardened eyes.

* * *

I bowed to the Professor and found my seat. Leo’s piercing gaze clung to me until the very end.

Much later, as the class was ending, I glanced over at Leo’s seat. Leo was still looking at me with terrifying eyes.

‘Successful.’

He seems to have noticed already.

Well, with Leo’s level of skill, he could probably detect even the subtle mana flowing around my body.

Naturally, he would have realized that I was hiding my power and lying.

Even so, I didn’t expect him to be unable to hide his anger to that extent.

I quietly checked my favorability rating. The number that had been -8 was now hitting -9.

It was such an immediate reaction that it was almost laughable.

‘Easy.’

It wouldn’t be easy for Hyung to rush here from the Papal States over minor changes.

But if it’s news about ‘proper’ magic—that is, that I’m not taking the medicine—that would be a different story.

Since the time when Hyung can know I’m not taking the medicine should be after I find the antidote, openly revealing all my magic to everyone would be foolish.

The only one who should see my magic in its entirety, for now, should be Leo alone.

Now there’s only one thing left.

I just need to wait for Leo to come find me, unable to contain his anger.

I stood up from my seat at the sound of the bell signaling the end of class.

* * *

The magic he had seen ten years ago appeared before his eyes in the same form. Not in a dream, but in reality.

Leo returned to the dormitory, closed the door, stood there blankly, then leaned against the door.

He couldn’t tell how the day had passed or what thoughts he’d had while spending it.

All that remained in his head was the magic he had seen during the day.

‘It wasn’t that he couldn’t use magic.’

That bastard wasn’t unable to use magic—he was definitely choosing ‘not’ to use it.

This was no longer speculation.

But the shock and excitement he felt from seeing that bastard’s magic quickly disappeared.

He couldn’t understand at all why, after using magic, he would make such a flimsy excuse about his condition being poor and leave his position.

Leo glared into the dark, empty air.

Judging by his expression and attitude before and after, that was definitely not a mistake.

It was an act with clear intent behind it.

If so, for what purpose?

* * *

That day, the school was abuzz with talk about my magic.

However, since the power was pathetic, it didn’t have the staying power to remain a topic of conversation for long.

When you think about it, this level of magic was basic among basics.

Even if it wasn’t a great family, anyone born into a household with at least one title would naturally have this much ability.

Therefore, only reactions like ‘So that bastard is from a mage family after all’ and ‘Is he finally trying to do proper school life now?’ emerged, and public opinion wasn’t formed enough to erase the negative image of donation-based admission.

Some circles did spread conspiracy theories about whether I was actively trying to reveal my affiliation with Pleroma, but that didn’t last very long either.

‘It turned out exactly as I intended.’

The students’ interest quickly cooled, while Leo sharpened his senses.

Provoking Leo without letting news reach Hyung.

Since that was my goal this time, it could be called successful so far.

‘Status window.’

Lucas Rene Ascanien

Title: The Empire’s Greatest Fool

Stamina: -5

Mental Power: -10

Mana: ?

Skill: +0.015 (+0.013)

Impression: -10

Luck: -9.985 (+0.013)

Traits: Dawn777, Divine Power

As expected.

Fortunately, my impression score didn’t rise from this incident.

It’s not that rising impression scores are inherently problematic.

Rising impression scores mean that people around me are evaluating me more positively, which is clearly a good phenomenon.

The problem here is ‘how’ to improve my image.

If I made bold attempts like demonstrating 100% of my ability in magic class or proving that the Pleroma rumors are false, my impression score would rise ridiculously quickly.

But that would be the same as saying I’d die at Hyung’s hands immediately.

‘That said, I don’t plan to leave that -10 as it is.’

If I can’t change it openly, I just need to do it secretly.

After recruiting Leo and improving my skills, I plan to work on improving my impression score.

Underwater, slowly, without anyone knowing.

Today is Thursday.

This is only the fourth magic practice session so far.

For the past three days, I had only emitted faint light, but today I drew magic all the way to the tip of my wand before sending it back into my body.

It was as if I hadn’t released anything outward.

I lowered the wand I had raised into the air and spoke.

“Professor, I’m sorry, but I really have no strength today.”

“Then go sit down.”

The Professor’s interest had also cooled dramatically since yesterday.

It was natural since there was no change.

Fortunately, he wasn’t a particularly enthusiastic professor to begin with, nor was he one who liked Luca.

As I returned to my seat, I surveyed the surroundings.

Perhaps because I hadn’t even done as much as usual, Leo’s gaze clung to me even more intensely.

The bell signaling the end of class rang out.

Just as I was organizing my wand and about to get up from my seat, a shadow fell across my vision.

When I looked up, Leo was looking down at me with a cold expression.

“Hey, I need to talk to you.”

‘As expected.’

I thought he’d make his move around this time, and it was a perfect match.

In the novel, Leo was always like this.

His magic power was weak—by the standards of the protagonist’s group—but his stubbornness about magic was genuine.

He was someone who insisted on the righteous path instead of taking the easy road.

There was no way Leo would just stand by and watch someone play around with magic.

Especially if it was the behavior of someone who had led him to the path of magic.

I feel a bit sorry, but… there’s no choice for now.

I asked simply without changing my expression.

“Why.”

“Come to the training ground at midnight.”

“I asked why. Answer that first.”

At those words, Leo snorted.

His expression seemed to say, what’s the point of hearing that.

“Fine. If you don’t come, I’ll drag you out anyway. Choose whether you’ll come out on your own or be dragged out.”

‘Look at that temper…’

Right, this is what he was like at this age.

Could things go any more smoothly than this?

Proposal: Make ‘Leonard Wittelsbach’ your ally. (0/1) (20 hours 07 minutes 44 seconds)

’20 hours.’

That’s enough.

I smiled while looking into Leo’s cold eyes.

* * *

At midnight, I left the dormitory.

There was no reason to postpone this opportunity that had rolled right to me.

Given Leo’s personality that I felt from the novel, he would really tear down the dormitory if necessary to keep his word, so there was no need to make things bigger when things were going as I wanted.

‘…Though it is a bit strange that I’m coming out without complaint just because he told me to.’

Such points probably wouldn’t even register with him right now, so let’s not worry about it. Rather, he’d be more annoyed that I arrived at the training ground only after midnight had passed.

I looked at the clock tower in the distance.

12:11.

I roughly arrived at the training ground used by the Department of Magic. Leo has his own personal training ground, so I’ll need to find my way there.

But…

‘Come to think of it, did this guy think I would naturally know where his training ground is…’

Luca, who had only stayed holed up in the dormitory, naturally wouldn’t know such things.

Anyway, since he said he’d come find me if I didn’t show up, if I came this far, he’d probably find me on his own.

I moved my steps, planning to kill time at the athletic field located in the center of the training ground.

Just then, someone grabbed the back of my neck.

“You need to come inside, what are you doing?”

“How am I supposed to know where your training ground is to go in? Even when I come, you make a fuss.”

Leo didn’t answer and dragged me inside, locking the door.

Leo installed locking spells on the entrance one after another and opened his mouth.

“Do you think we’re idiots?”

“What?”

“You think we wouldn’t know? You think we wouldn’t know, so you act like that?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

At those words, Leo turned around with cold eyes.

“You think we wouldn’t notice that you deliberately stop using magic halfway? The professor, and our friends too!”

Silence flowed.

When Leo showed no intention of lowering his heated gaze, I casually shrugged my shoulders.

“The professor definitely seemed to know. But… the kids didn’t seem to know?”

At those words, Leo let out a hollow laugh.

He didn’t even try to hide that he had controlled his power, making his earlier questioning seem ridiculous. Leo’s face flushed with anger at the nonchalant remark.

“If you’re going to act like this, get out of this school.”

“Why should I?”

“This is a place to learn magic, not a playground where you slack off and do whatever you want. You should have realized that when you got in through a donation admission.”

At those words, I slowly nodded my head.

“Am I ruining the academic atmosphere?”

“You know it well. If you’re not going to seriously engage in classes, just get out of here. This isn’t a place you can attend with that kind of attitude.”

“What business is it of yours?”

“What?”

Leo’s face hardened even more.

I stared directly at Leo like that.

I really didn’t want to come at him like this, but paradoxically, to avoid making Leo an enemy, there was no choice.

I continued my act and shot back.

“Why are you stepping in when even the professor hasn’t said anything about it?”

“The students are the owners of the school. Do you think the negligence of a professor who’s just waiting for retirement is absolute? What’s so important about the silence of a professor who knows everything but doesn’t care whether students participate in class or not?”

Leo answered with force in his voice, speaking clearly.

‘Hmm.’

This aligns with my thoughts.

The professor’s irresponsibility had helped me as a result, but it wasn’t actually the ideal image of an educator.

‘Just like the protagonist’s friend.’

Who would have thought I’d hear the words that students are the owners of the school in this fantasy world.

But just because my values align with his doesn’t make them absolutely right.

I need to take a different approach now.

“Not only students but professors are also subjects of the school. Is it right to dismiss them without even trying to express your opinion to the professor? If you really didn’t like the professor’s silence, you should have directly suggested that they maintain the quality of classes properly.”

“….”

“That seems much more reasonable than calling someone out at this hour past midnight without even telling them why, don’t you think?”

Leo glared at me silently.

He still looked like he had a lot to say, but he didn’t seem to want to continue the long conversation right now.

‘That’s fine with me too, so it worked out well.’

Should I add a little fuel to his impatient temperament?

I let out a deep sigh and shook my head.

“I don’t understand. You called me all the way here just to say this? If you have nothing to say, I’m leaving.”

“Draw your wand.”

An ominous voice came from behind me.

I silently turned my head to look at Leo. Leo drew his wand from his waist and looked straight into my eyes.

“If you win, I’ll shut up no matter what you do. Whether you play around in class or whatever, I’ll accept it all. But if I win, get out of this school immediately.”

“….”

“Funny. You were running your mouth just fine earlier, but now you’re not confident?”

Finally.

This was what I wanted. The corners of my mouth slowly twisted upward.

“As if.”

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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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