How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 86

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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 (86)

“…!”

Adelbert’s face turned pale.

I released my grip from his clothes.

“Please forgive my rudeness. I was trying to save you and ended up doing this.”

“….”

Even though I had let go, the Antagonist remained in shock, unable to even think about straightening his clothes.

“What….”

The nobles looked at us with bewildered expressions. They seemed shocked that an accident had almost occurred.

The noble who had staggered and pushed Adelbert spoke frantically.

“Y-Your Highness, are you alright? I drank too much, no, I was rude to Your Highness. I’m sorry.”

“…I’m fine.”

The Prince answered without taking his eyes off me.

The noble turned to me and bowed.

“Count Ernst, thank you so much. I’m alive thanks to you.”

“Not at all. Since nothing happened, please go inside. Your Highness, it was just a mistake, so it would be fine to let him go, wouldn’t it?”

“…Do as you wish.”

“Please go now. Your Highness must be quite startled, and if the place becomes noisy, it will be even more difficult.”

“Y-yes, that’s right. I’ll be going.”

The nobles disappeared cautiously, continuously glancing back.

I looked at Elias, who seemed dumbfounded, and Adelbert, who was still in panic, and said.

“Shall we have a conversation?”

* * *

“….”

Only the sound of crackling flames from the fireplace could be heard.

I cast a sound-blocking spell and sat in a chair.

“Don’t you have anything to say?”

“….”

Adelbert kept his head down and his mouth shut.

Elias, who had been pushed by the falling Adelbert and had no time to grasp the situation, also seemed to understand the circumstances from the atmosphere and sat with an unusually calm expression.

“Your Highness was pushed by Lord Orly and almost fell down the stairs. And Elias was below.”

“….”

“Lord Orly thinks he stumbled because he was drunk, doesn’t he?”

Adelbert’s shoulders flinched.

Elias continued to look at him expressionlessly.

“But… from what I saw, it seemed like he was pulled by magic and fell over, wasn’t it?”

The color drained from Adelbert’s face once again.

By now, some excuse should have come out, but he couldn’t seem to open his mouth and just sat there trembling.

Rather, it was Elias who first gave him room to deny it.

“Evidence?”

“There is none.”

At my words, Elias raised his eyebrows and looked at me.

“Nothing was recorded, and the magic that remained in the air has now scattered and disappeared. And….”

“And?”

“Most importantly, what made him stagger would have been Prince Adelbert’s unique ability, so there would be even less chance of magic remaining, wouldn’t there?”

“….”

Adelbert’s unique ability, that is, the ability he could use freely without learning, was the ability to control wind.

It was also the reason he had skipped grades. The ability to manipulate natural elements was not common.

Elias exhaled and said.

“What were you trying to accomplish with such an act?”

“If he was thinking of crushing Elias’s leg again, would that be sufficient answer?”

“….”

“…Well, didn’t Prince Adelbert fall together as well?”

“It would be difficult to crush a leg just by rolling down the stairs alone, so he would need to add weight. Since he would be hurt less than the person underneath while easily escaping suspicion, I would fall together too.”

I wanted to say that he had succeeded in injuring the already injured leg again, but….

I couldn’t do that.

Fortunately, Elias seemed to think my words were not wrong.

Unable to turn away any longer, he grabbed his forehead and let out a deep sigh.

“…Your Highness, please answer.”

“….”

A long silence followed. No matter what was said, his mouth didn’t seem like it would open.

For the 30 minutes we had been here, he hadn’t uttered a single word.

“If you’re thinking of an excuse, I might have to say I saw wrong about how Lord Orly’s hair was swept back in an instant before he even fell….”

When I spoke sarcastically, Elias let out a hollow laugh.

After that, only silence lingered again. No one opened their mouth first.

I had plenty to think about myself, so I didn’t need to speak first.

‘What should I do?’

Honestly, I was only being polite because we were in front of royalty, but I didn’t even want to see his face.

Anyway, this Antagonist who would constantly interfere with Elias’s affairs and be locked in an underground dungeon from his mid-twenties, should I just cut him down now?

He might be at an emotional age, but not everyone lives this way.

No matter how much you dislike someone, who actually pushes them down the stairs?

‘…Still, there is one thing that bothers me.’

The Adelbert I knew wasn’t someone who acted this despicably.

Although he constantly attacked Elias for the Crown Prince’s throne, he didn’t fight by committing fraud.

Even now, he was in a position where he could call the guards and have us thrown out, but he wasn’t doing that and was just trembling.

‘….’

I needed to make him speak.

It would have been good if Narke were here, but bringing him now would look strange, and it wouldn’t be good for the Emperor’s people to know we were closely connected to Narke.

Anyway, since there was something that bothered me….

‘Let me get him to open up first.’

After that, I could make my judgment.

I asked the Prince, who was keeping his head down, quietly.

“Shall we have a sparring match?”

* * *

Although it must have sounded out of the blue, fortunately the Prince nodded silently just when I was thinking I might need to try another method.

It was the first reaction he had shown.

‘He must think that would make him feel like talking.’

Or… he thought he could delay the current situation even a little.

We arrived at Elias’ Private Training Ground.

It was much more spacious and neat than the Training Ground we used at School.

“To think Count Nicolaus has grown enough to teach someone, how moving.”

Elias chuckled alone in the cold air.

Maybe because his leg wasn’t shattered yet, but it was amazing that he could joke while facing his cousin Younger Brother who had tried to permanently disable his leg.

I could only say it was just like Elias.

“I’m not teaching.”

“Then?”

Obviously to drain his energy.

I also needed to relieve the excessive tension.

Mental state is closely related to physical strength, so if his body couldn’t hold up when his energy was already depleted from being cornered, his strong mental fortitude would also collapse.

Around that time, it was natural that persuasion should come instead of the whip.

No matter how cornered one might be to the point of wanting to give up everything, it’s not easy to tear down one’s own beliefs with their own hands.

Since torturing a member of the royal family was out of the question, the only option was to push him to his limits in the way he desired.

‘Driving someone relentlessly is easy enough.’

That’s probably right since I have plenty of experience being driven relentlessly myself. I don’t even know how many times I’ve crossed the line between life and death because of Leo.

I didn’t answer and walked to the opposite side of the training ground.

“Let’s begin.”

Though his face looked half-dead, the Prince was still standing firmly on both legs.

I skipped introductions and assumed the Bavarian Royal Army stance.

“Well, well, seeing the Bavarian Royal Army stance in the Imperial Palace.”

Perhaps worried the sparring might become too serious, Elias made a sarcastic comment in a faint voice.

Now that I look at him, he doesn’t seem to be in the mood for jokes either, yet he keeps doing this anyway.

‘He’s certainly not in the right state of mind for this, naturally.’

If his supporters increased, the Emperor would become wary of him.

The Elias from the novel knew this well too. Elias was probably calculating every move of his uncle, cousins, and countless pro-Emperor politicians in his head right now.

And before, I said, ‘From this point on, the Emperor began attacking Elias.’

This is something that didn’t happen in the novel.

I should be alarmed that such an incident occurred at ‘this exact timing,’ and by a member of the royal family no less.

If I hadn’t turned back time, Elias would have truly had to walk with crutches for the rest of his life. For a combat-type mage, that would mean the end of his career.

After a while, Adelbert assumed the Imperial stance. At that moment, a flash of light flickered through the dark training ground.

Kwaaaaang―!

‘As expected.’

I tilted my head as I watched the fragments of mana scatter after hitting my barrier.

Just as I thought, he’s the type who charges in with brute force.

Naturally, this would work on 90% of people. They’d be too busy defending to find an opening to attack. And once overwhelmed like that, there’s no way out until the match ends.

Realizing I hadn’t taken any damage, the Antagonist extended his wand and slammed it into the ground.

As mana rushed toward me like a wave, something pure white flew at me in a line. I rolled my wand to change its shape.

Kaang―!

The sound of blades scraping against each other rang out.

The speed itself is good. Judging by how it reached me before I even noticed, he must have channeled mana into his legs. This reaction speed is only possible with smooth mana circulation within the body.

I don’t know why he hastily changed his wand into a sword already though…

Screech― Squeak―

With my lack of physical strength, prolonging this kind of standoff won’t do me any good.

I relaxed the strength in my sword hand and quickly lowered my body. The sword in my hand had already changed back into a wand.

“…!”

The Antagonist lost his balance and staggered forward. It was just an instant, but the opportunity was sufficient.

Kwaaaaang―!

The mana that surged from my wand hurled him far away.

Thud―

“Ugh!”

“I wonder if he has basic skills or not…”

I can see why his technique score is 2 points.

I approached the Prince who had collapsed after hitting the wall on the opposite side of the training ground.

“If you intended to use a sword instead of a wand, you should have kept the mana in your lower body when you leaped, rather than transferring it to your upper body.”

“…”

“Judging by your proper stance, it seems you were taught not to pour all your mana into just your wrists during confrontations, but I don’t know why no one told you that having weak legs makes everything pointless when using a sword.”

I heard Elias whistling behind me.

I don’t need to listen to know what he’ll say. To someone like Elias, I probably look like I’m just showing off anyway, so there’s no need to pay attention.

“Let’s go again.”

He struggled to get up, pressing his hands against the ground. The wand in his hand turned back into a sword.

Swoosh―

I immediately turned my body to deflect the attack.

After that, the Antagonist persistently kept charging at me.

I had no choice but to change my wand into a sword to block his attacks.

‘No matter how I look at it, this guy really just came here to get beaten up.’

Who could possibly break the stubbornness of someone who brings out the same technique he was just criticized for? He was like this until the end in the novel too.

It’s not that I’m thinking this because I’m angry that he ostentatiously drew his sword.

That’s none of my concern.

It just became more certain that he couldn’t break that stubbornness himself and hoped someone else would do it for him.

Whoosh―

Mana rushed in the direction the sword was cutting.

I channeled mana into my sword to push it away, then changed it back into a wand and charged in.

* * *

“Well, this shows how important having a good teacher is. Did you only learn how to kill people through training all this time? Your disposition is exactly the same as that person’s.”

“…Huff, gasp…”

The Prince knelt down and gasped for breath, unable even to think about wiping the sweat dripping from his chin.

I let Elias’s words flow past me as I tried to focus. But there was no need to. The opponent had already lost his center.

Thoom―

The staggering Prince collapsed to the floor.

To be honest, I barely held on by reinforcing my stamina with divine power, and I feel like I might collapse like that regardless of my will.

Elias stood in front of him and looked down.

“You won’t be able to walk tomorrow.”

“…I can walk…”

“No, you can’t. You always study superficially so you wouldn’t know, but I, who’ve lived more diligently than you, can guarantee you’ll have body aches tomorrow. You’ll be fine after suffering muscle pain for about 3 days.”

“…”

The Prince seemed to lack the strength to respond and just kept gasping for breath.

He seems to be trying to get up, but his eyes keep closing, so if I push him any further, he’ll probably faint.

I caught my breath and sat down beside him.

“Please speak.”

“…”

“Didn’t Your Highness also think you needed to be pushed this far before you could open your mouth? I don’t think you just exhausted yourself meaninglessly.”

“…”

“If Prince Adelbert has nothing to say, then there’s nothing more I can do.”

I waited for his words for quite a while.

After about 10 minutes or so, he opened his parched lips.

“…All.”

“What did you say?”

“…Your guesses are all correct.”

Elias silently looked down at him.

“You’re saying His Majesty pushed you?”

“…Yes.”

“Why?”

“…”

“You must have known from hearing about it from Father. Did you want me unable to walk?”

The Prince looked into empty space with unfocused eyes, then wiped his forehead with his trembling hand.

“…I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

Elias let out a hollow laugh, then spoke with a serious expression.

“I have no idea how far your family needs to bring me down before you’ll feel at ease. Do you hate me that much? What did I ever do to you?”

This is a reasonable reaction.

Elias’s light and seemingly thoughtless way of speaking and acting was partly due to his nature, but also intentional to avoid being the Emperor’s target of wariness.

But the Emperor’s children, who had no way of knowing these circumstances, had come to despise Elias upon seeing this behavior.

It was a vicious cycle.

“I don’t like it. Do I have to explain why I don’t like it? I don’t like it, but…”

“Say it.”

“…I didn’t think… to go that far.”

I could see strength entering Elias’s fists.

“You bastard… What do you mean you didn’t think to go that far after doing all that?!”

“S-sorry, Elias. But I don’t know either. I really don’t know what I was thinking when I did that.”

“…”

When the Prince’s voice trembled as if he was about to cry, Elias let out a deep sigh.

“…You drank too much. Alcohol makes you act on things you usually only think about. Did you know that and keep drinking like that anyway?”

“…”

“Acting like this when you drink means your usual thoughts were like this. That this is your true nature. Aren’t you disgusted with yourself?”

After a long while, the Prince nodded slightly.

Seeing that somehow made him even angrier, as Elias grabbed his collar with a fierce expression.

“Ah, this bastard really… The more I think about it, the more I think beating you is the answer. You know what? Don’t even think about becoming Emperor. I swear I’ll break your neck that day and go to prison.”

“…”

Something about this…

It feels like treating violence with greater violence.

Anyway, the outline is gradually becoming clear.

“Your Highness.”

“…Yes.”

“The alcohol His Highness the Crown Prince gave you tasted good, didn’t it?”

“Ah.”

Thinking I was being sarcastic again, he answered in a shrinking voice.

“…I’m sorry, Count Ernst. I won’t drink anymore.”

“…”

I feel like I’ve become a school principal.

“Anyway, you did drink it.”

“Yes… after you left, Count.”

I now looked at Elias and asked.

“When did His Grace the Duke tell your family about the leg matter?”

“What… how many days ago, it was 5 days ago. Why?”

I didn’t answer that and questioned the Prince again.

“Your Highness, what did His Highness the Crown Prince say about Lord Elias’s news?”

“He said it must have been uncomfortable but it really worked out well.”

“What did Your Highness say to His Highness the Crown Prince?”

“…”

“There’s no need to hide it now. Honestly, your feelings weren’t good about it, were they?”

“…I said it would be better and quieter if he just lived with it broken…”

“Ah, this bastard really needs to get beaten a bit…”

I pushed back Elias who was rolling up his sleeves.

“Then, when did you receive the alcohol gift?”

“I received it yesterday. Since there’s a banquet, and my birthday is coming soon too… he told me to go to my room when I felt like it and drink moderately…”

“I see. His Highness the Crown Prince certainly told you to drink it alone, didn’t he?”

Elias’s face, which had been watching indifferently, gradually hardened.

It seemed he had grasped the situation.

“I’m curious, could I have a taste?”

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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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