How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 64

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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 (64)

It worked perfectly.

Before I could say anything, I exchanged lines with Narke as a test due to Elias’s strong insistence, and once it was proven that I really had memorized the entire script, the other students took charge and pushed the situation forward recklessly.

In this short time, we practiced only the first 3 minutes three times.

Amazingly, everyone was so focused on the fact that someone who knew the lines had appeared that no one asked for my opinion.

I didn’t need to ask to be pushed forward. I was literally pushed forward.

‘…Of course, that works to my advantage.’

“There were only 20 minutes left at that time. Actually, before you came, the professor was about to announce that we weren’t doing it.”

Narke suddenly comforted me, perhaps understanding my bewildered feelings.

Now there were only a few students left in the waiting room. Students who weren’t performing had gone down to the audience seating to claim their spots.

“Is that so.”

“Still, you made a good choice. It probably won’t be as problematic as you’re worried about.”

When I looked at him silently, Narke continued while holding his head.

“Hmm… There’s a bigger problem.”

“What?”

“I don’t really know. It’s just a feeling.”

Did he use his precognitive ability?

It’s ominous that he’s saying such things on a day when so many things have already gone wrong.

Just then, laughter from Class 1 students came from the other side of the waiting room.

“We have 155 audience members, guys!”

“Isn’t this important? They don’t even have a protagonist over there.”

“Hey, your protagonist still hasn’t come?”

Class 1 students were teasing in front of Class 2’s waiting room.

Many students had known each other since 3rd Education Institute, so they had no hesitation in playing pranks.

‘I could tell from when they were comparing how many Special Class students went where.’

How childish. It’s just laughable.

Leo also ignored the Antagonist’s provocations and slammed the door to the hallway shut.

Then, a staff member knocked on the waiting room door connected to the stage.

“Class 2, go up now!”

The current time is 9:55.

Narke got up from his seat and nodded to me.

“I’m going. See you later.”

* * *

Finally, 10 o’clock, the scheduled start time arrived.

I stood behind the stage and checked the script one last time.

When the stage lights briefly came on, murmuring could be heard from the audience seating.

“Are they really going to do it?”

“I guess Mephistopheles will do it alone.”

Laughter could be heard.

How loudly are they talking that I can hear everything from here?

Anyway, everyone would be thinking similar thoughts. They said the number of audience members already gathered was approaching 100. They must have gathered out of curiosity about how we’d start without a protagonist.

‘If we can’t start, all 100 people will just leave…’

Since we’re going to start, all that’s left is to absorb all 100 people who gathered out of curiosity.

The reason I’m thinking about this now is because the two supporting actors next to me keep whispering about audience numbers.

The two supporting actors immediately shut their mouths when they made eye contact with me.

‘I wasn’t looking at them to tell them to be quiet.’

I looked at my watch and listened to the voice flowing from the stage.

It’s now 10:03, the last line before Faust’s entrance is being delivered.

It was the final words God gives to Mephistopheles after making a bet about Faust together.

[I have never hated your kind, so I shall send you down for my humans. Go and lead them in your demonic way!]

Thud―

With the sound, the stage lights went out and the curtain fell.

The sound of students chattering also grew louder. Everyone seemed to know it was time for the protagonist to appear.

I walked onto the dark stage. The sound of the crude shoe heels prepared as props echoed.

The Class 2 students moving the set hesitated, then nodded slightly at me with serious eyes.

‘…So solemn…’

Well, I should live up to their expectations.

I sat at the prepared desk and looked into the pitch-black void.

Not long after, the start signal appeared from far away.

I slowly opened my mouth.

“…I have studied philosophy, law, and even theology with all my life’s effort, leaving nothing unstudied. Yet, nothing remains for me.”

“…Huh?!”

“What?! Faust is here?”

Even before my figure could be seen, the audience seating became noisy.

Clack―

As the curtain rose, a cool breeze rushed along the floor from the audience seating.

When the lights came on overhead, the heat of the lighting now poured down stingingly.

As written in the script, I still looked toward the side of the stage and spoke Faust’s words.

“For me, pleasure has vanished forever, and I no longer have confidence in knowing what is right, nor the confidence to teach and enlighten other humans. I am…”

“Whaaaaat?!”

“Hey, wait! What is this!”

The sound of chairs bumping could be heard sporadically from various places.

Even without looking at the audience, I could tell what the situation was like. The noise from the audience had already covered my voice, so even I couldn’t hear my own voice.

* * *

The play ended successfully.

As Elias predicted, the audience exceeded 500, with the final count being 550. Since it was a small performance hall, it was impossible to accommodate more than this.

‘And…’

Ding―!

Starting ‘Route 1 — 〈 Chapter 5 〉’.

「 Chapter 5. Good Things Take Time (1) 」

Chapter 5 Special Reward

A genuine support base! We’re giving you a new impression category.

‘What is this?’

A new impression category.

Just before the curtain call, I returned backstage and opened my status window.

Lucas Rene Ascanien

Title: Count Nicolaus

Stamina: +1.3 [+4.3]

Mental Power: -1.1 (+0.5)

Magic Power: ?

Skill: +2.7 [+5.7]

Impression: -9.9 [-7.0] [+6.61503261]

Luck: +1.15 (+0.2)

Traits: Dawn777, Divine Power, Charm (Lv.2), Retry (Lv.1)

A new slot appeared in the impression category.

-7.0, and judging by the phrase ‘genuine support base’…

‘It must be the school.’

I didn’t expect to get a special reward in this situation.

It seems to mean I should target our school students as a support base, and indeed it was right that I should gradually change Luca’s image.

I finally checked the possibility of changes.

Dawn777

— Until final ending ‘Chapter X. Death’: 693 days 13 hours 59 minutes 21 seconds

— Possibility of change: 18.6% (+0.1%p)

It went up again.

My intuition tells me this likely involved some minor negatives followed by larger positives. Anyway, if I want to gain something, I have to accept losses too, so it doesn’t matter. The final value did increase, and since there’s no way to know if it was really a mix of rises and falls, I can only focus on each situation as it comes.

“Lucas, let’s go.”

Narke wiped his sweat and grinned as he pointed toward the stage. He looked pleased to have properly finished the play he’d been looking forward to.

‘…It’s strange how happy he is after playing the demon role.’

There’s definitely going to be chaos when word gets out.

Still, for him it was an attempt he decided on alone according to his own will, so he’d be enjoying it.

As all the students who had played roles gathered on stage again, the stage lights came on.

“Waaaah—!”

Applause and cheers followed.

At first, the audience had gone dead silent when an unexpected person appeared, but as time passed, they seemed to separate the role from me and were properly immersed in enjoying the play. In those moments, I couldn’t sense any rejection toward Luca.

It felt strange, like briefly returning to reality, and I struggled a bit to recall my lines in the middle.

‘I think the immersion benefited from my trait.’

The persuasiveness of the Charm trait, that is.

I went up there without proper practice, and in my opinion I was just a machine mechanically reciting lines, but fortunately no one laughed at my mechanical delivery. It couldn’t be explained unless the 30% persuasiveness bonus had taken effect.

[Now, did you all enjoy the play prepared by Magic Department Class 2?]

The voice of the student acting as host rang out.

A decent response poured from the audience seating.

[Finally, we would like to…]

“Aaaah!”

“That scared me!”

Just then, screams came one after another from the far side of the performance hall.

The students beside me looked at each other with confused eyes.

Far away, the entrance was wide open with light streaming in.

“What? Why did they scream?”

“…”

Leo, who had been watching from below the stage, gestured to the control room and approached the entrance.

But before Leo could even reach it, the students at the entrance jumped up from their seats.

“Hey, isn’t that the kid from Class 2?”

“Oswald?”

The name of the missing protagonist could be heard.

Click—

Just then, lights came on throughout the entire performance hall.

Far away, someone looked around with half-unfocused eyes, then saw us and let out a deep breath as if relieved.

‘But…’

From his face to his school uniform shirt, he was completely covered in blood.

A student standing in the row behind me urgently spoke up.

“Wait, what’s with him? Why does his face look like that?”

“What? Is he hurt?”

As if he had no strength left to walk, he grabbed onto a chair, staggered, and collapsed.

Crash—

“Aaaah!”

Students who had been half-standing around him stepped back.

‘…This is…’

Really, it wasn’t just skipping out. That condition clearly showed he’d been attacked somewhere.

Crackle—

[This is an announcement. From 10:45 PM today, warp magic and warp tools within the school cannot be used. Movement outside is not permitted for any business. External visitors who have entered the school cannot move until the investigation is complete, so please visit the first floor of the Administration Building immediately upon hearing this broadcast.]

“Hey, did you see the newspaper?! If you didn’t, look now!”

Several students ran into the performance hall and dragged their friends out.

The atmosphere grew increasingly chaotic. Now everyone knew something quite big had happened.

The ominous feeling I’d had since Oswald disappeared came alive again, and I came down from the stage to retrace my memories.

‘…Back then, the name of the missing first-year was…’

Amalia Kastel, right.

I immediately looked up at Leo. The amplification magic spread once again.

[This is an announcement. We are looking for Magic Department 1st Year Class 2 student Amalia Kastel and Magic Department 2nd Year Class 2 student Oswald Schmidt. Any student who finds them should immediately report to the Administration Building or the School Hospital.]

Leo’s face instantly turned pale.

His trembling eyes wandered through the air before meeting mine. There was a shock I’d never seen before.

And that was probably the same for me too.

Kastel is a noble family from Bavaria.

And Oswald was also said to be Bavarian.

“Lucas!”

Ignoring someone calling to stop me, I approached the exit and picked up a newspaper scattered on the floor.

Black letters were prominently displayed in the center of the Imperial Newspaper.

[7 Bavarian Mages in Capital Seriously Injured… 4 Minor Victims Alone]

While reading, the number changed, making it 8 victims now.

In the heart of the Empire’s capital, mages had been seriously injured. And they were all Bavarian.

I slowly read through the article.

‘Perpetrator unknown.’

According to the investigation bureau’s findings, all victims had no memory, and no witnesses to the incident scenes were found.

But… it’s obvious.

Bavarian mages seriously injured at the same time in the heart of the capital?

‘…It’s retaliation and a warning.’

Anyone could see this was Pleroma’s doing.

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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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