How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 89

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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 (89)

Given the time, the student nodded grimly without much question.

I stood in front of them and said.

“Epidermis to subcutaneous in a 2:5:3 ratio, you know about applying fixation magic to each layer, right?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Let’s start with the epidermis. First, mix tissue replication 9 and induction 1 in that ratio, then add the same amount of alimonium base.”

“Uh, wait a minute!”

“Heat and stir before it all gets replicated into base. The next layer is 7:3, add base the same way, and the medicine for dermis is 50% of the total, so calculate carefully.”

As the beakers gradually increased, Narke took charge of heating.

“The last layer is 3:7. Once you’re done, you need to succeed within 60 seconds, so you’ll need to add an amplifier.”

“How much faster did it get when we added how much?!”

It varies depending on the situation, but since they said only problems solvable at advanced level would appear, I should just say what we learned at school.

“When you add an additional 0.1% of the total, the reaction speeds up by about 10% according to each change. But don’t forget that the moment the additionally added amount exceeds 5% of the original, you get the side effects Leo showed earlier, so calculate well and add accordingly.”

The students silently poured the medicine with quick hand movements.

Their earlier wandering appearance had disappeared.

‘Just giving them some direction and they’re already doing this well.’

They did panic at the question of what 3% of 100mL was, but seeing how they immediately found their condition, they were definitely Imperial 2nd Education Institute students.

Since there are those who can’t eat even when fed, just this level of composure and attitude adjustment showed enough potential.

Ring ring ring—

“Time’s up, but go ahead and finish it.”

Leo turned off the stopwatch.

The students were already applying fixation magic and combining the medicine into one bottle as I had initially instructed.

“We’re done!”

The students held out the beaker to Leo.

Leo pricked the experimental skin and poured the medicine we made in order.

Though slower than what Leo had shown earlier, the flowing blood gradually stopped.

“…Oh!”

“It worked!”

The skin tissue was also slowly filling up.

Though they had my help with the skin part, perhaps because they made it themselves, their reaction was more intense.

“…There won’t be excess tissue, right?”

“Oh, it stopped!”

Seeing the skin fill up completely, it seems all the calculations were correct.

While memorizing the ratios of blood vessels, each layer of skin, and the medicine that goes into each layer is important, it’s meaningless if the calculations are ultimately wrong.

Seeing how they quickly regained their composure and calculated correctly in that panic state, it seems their claim about being good at calculations wasn’t an exaggeration.

‘For a first time, this is pretty good.’

Since I can teach them the manufacturing methods, I can use these two for calculations, and let Leo and Narke handle problem-solving direction.

‘Good division of labor.’

As I was looking at the results with satisfaction, the gazes of the two Class 1 students focused on me. I looked back and forth between them with a questioning look, but they remained the same.

“…What?”

* * *

“Finally, five drops of blessed lemon juice. Mental intervention drugs need their effects killed, so….”

“Dilution!”

“Right. 10% dilution.”

We were stuck in the laboratory all day.

Just as I had tried to use those guys as calculators, they also started using me as a manufacturing method vending machine.

Seeing how they memorized and recited everything I read, Leo also brought 5 years’ worth of past problems from the 64th round to finals from somewhere and dumped them on me.

‘…They really think it just comes out immediately after reading, these bastards….’

This is also work that uses the brain.

Having read too many words, I was starting to run low on energy.

“Guys, I’m going to buy something to eat real quick. Anyone want anything?”

“What? I’ll buy it for you!”

One of the Class 1 students shouted and jumped up from his seat.

“Our team’s brain should sit down. That kind of thing is what wallflowers do.”

“….”

“You’re the only wallflower, so why are you lumping everyone together?”

“You heard? That kind of thing is what wallflowers do.”

They’re getting along well….

I just left them and went out.

I was planning to get some fresh air anyway.

Either way, I can move more leisurely than other students and just run my mouth, so I don’t have major complaints.

Leo also knows magic potions just a bit better than us, but isn’t as skilled as magic potion specialty school students, so someone who memorizes was absolutely necessary.

So we stayed up all night focused only on experiments, and only returned to our lodgings at dawn on the day of the test.

“Lucas, you’re our team’s hope!”

One Class 1 student rubbed his hands together and entered his room.

I wondered when he started acting like that, but anyway, all the friends who were selected to come here had spent a semester in the special class, so the inner distance wasn’t that great.

‘Pleroma or whatever, right now practical benefits are more important than rumors that don’t even show signs.’

Then, Leo came in carrying an armful of something.

“…What’s that?”

“Flower bouquets. Underclassmen came to cheer us on.”

Leo put down a letter basket on my desk.

“Here, today’s letters.”

“Thanks. Still getting a lot.”

Then the pile of letters rustled and a familiar animal suddenly poked its head out.

“Lucas!”

“What?!”

Leo looked at Fai as if dumbfounded.

Seeing how clean the surroundings were, despite looking like a rodent, it didn’t seem to have torn up and eaten the letters.

“Narke is sleeping now~”

—”So?”

“I want to play.”

—”Can’t play, but I’ll sleep in an hour or two, so stay here with me until then.”

“Okay!”

I buried myself comfortably in bed for the first time in a while and read through the letters one by one.

After reading three or four letters and reaching into the basket again, I grabbed a letter of similar thickness to before.

“Ah.”

“What’s wrong?”

I silently showed the letter of miraculous thickness.

Leo clicked his tongue and buried his face back in the magic potion textbook.

[To my dear Count Nicolaus Ernst]

‘It changed to ‘dear’.’

Before it said respectfully, but this is much less burdensome.

I opened the letter and read the first sentence.

[I knew you would understand me! I’m so happy, Count Ernst. Indeed, our souls are connected at a very high dimension. With Pleroma as our common enemy. When will we have a chance to meet in person?]

“….”

What the hell is this bastard?

I take back what I said about it being less burdensome.

I dropped the letter on Leo’s desk and changed my hair and eye color.

Leo, puzzled by me wearing a mask, read the letter. Then he asked in an even more dumbfounded tone.

“Lucas, did you write back separately?”

“No. Does it seem a bit strange to you too?”

“Of course. What made you think I’d understand after seeing that?”

“Who knows.”

I flipped the letter envelope to check the name.

‘Robert Mueller.’

A common name with a common surname.

I took the letter envelope and warped to the Prince’s Palace, knocking on the Secretary’s Office door.

“Come in.”

“Good day. I came because I have something to ask.”

“Ah, Count Nicolaus. Good to see you.”

The secretary smiled brightly and stood up from his seat.

“Could I check the list of letters that arrived in the past week?”

“Of course.”

He got up from his seat and approached the library behind him, then pulled out a thick ledger and handed it to me.

“Thank you.”

“Not at all. Please sit and take your time looking through it.”

I opened the book, held the pages, and pointed my wand at them.

―Seek, and you shall find.

“Robert Mueller.”

Various parts of the ledger glowed white.

‘…Four letters just in one week.’

Do people usually go this far?

But… this wasn’t necessarily problematic.

Fourteen times in a week would be one thing, but four times was unusual yet not necessarily strange.

The letter I read earlier also seemed to be written by someone slightly mentally unstable or due to some mistake, but didn’t contain any particular malice.

“Could I also check the list of letters sent from the Secretary’s Office?”

“Ah, that’s a bit difficult. Is there some problem?”

“I’ve been receiving letters with rather peculiar content. I was wondering if the Secretary’s Office had sent any replies.”

“We do have standard reply letters we send out. Would you like to read them? For something like this, I can make an exception and let you check the ledger.”

The letter sent from the Secretary’s Office was extremely ordinary.

It was no different from meaningless thank-you phrases that come after filing something somewhere.

I also checked the Secretary’s Office outgoing ledger, but nothing particular appeared.

‘…Surely he didn’t take that standard reply letter and think someone understood him.’

It would be much more realistic to think there was some mistake.

While there are always strange people, given the timing, it would be better to know about and handle any potentially problematic elements early on.

‘I should check if anyone sent a reply.’

I headed straight to the Investigation Bureau.

* * *

[We will now begin the 64th round of the Bavarian Magical Potion Experiment Competition.]

I went prepared to hear complaints about investigating such trivial matters, but the Investigation Bureau accepted my request more readily than expected.

I was able to find out because a report letter had arrived at Leo’s Secretary’s Office this morning.

Thanks to that, I could participate in the competition with less worry about this problem.

“Huff… hufff…”

“Sir, what’s wrong with you…”

Our team students waiting in the exam hall corridor were all muttering in dying voices.

I asked Narke, who looked unusually calm.

“Aren’t you nervous?”

“Huh? Haha, we don’t need to worry since you have that memory of yours~”

“Did you use your ability again?”

“Mmm, that’s not it. Actually, right after exams is one thing, but I try to restrain myself before important events. If I know in advance, I might act carelessly and change the future. I’m just trusting our team~”

That makes sense.

Looking back, she always used her ability freely only for daily and trivial matters.

If something seemed even slightly important, she seemed to use it while gauging the situation.

I nodded and looked outside the corridor.

The exam hall was a huge gymnasium.

They said they gathered 10,000 people, and I could really see spectators sitting in all directions.

After listening to announcements introducing other schools’ entrances for a while, our school’s turn approached.

[Team 52, Prussian Imperial 2nd Education Institute 2nd Year Representative Team.]

“Waaaah―!”

“We’re counting on you, Lucas.”

The Class 1 students who had somehow pulled themselves together patted my shoulder with determined faces.

After the safety rules were announced, sound-blocking magic was cast on each table and the announcement to officially start the exam was heard.

[We will introduce the first experiment topic. The first topic is mental intervention magical potions.]

“Oh!”

“Yesterday…! This is lemon juice! Right?”

The students clapped their hands and asked.

I nodded.

It was a topic we practiced yesterday.

Of course, since we experimented with over 50 potions just yesterday, it would be hard not to get it right.

Perhaps because a familiar topic came up, confidence was already overflowing on the students’ faces.

Finally, the announcement signaling the start was heard.

[We will now begin.]

* * *

30 minutes passed like that, and the 64th round ended.

[This concludes the 64th round exam. We will now announce the list of teams advancing to the 32nd round.]

Magically created letters moved quickly through the air, forming numbers and team names.

“…!”

“Ah…”

“Waaaah―!”

Contrasting reactions could be heard from various places.

Red lines were drawn through numerous team names, while their opposing teams were connected with lines signifying advancement to the 32nd round.

Now the numbers continued past Team 46, to Team 47, Team 48, and so on.

And…

A line leading to the 32nd round appeared in front of Team 52, our team’s name.

“Waaaaaaah!”

One Class 1 student screamed at an eardrum-bursting volume and vigorously hit my shoulder.

“Hey, it’s thanks to you, Lucas! Without you, we really would have…!”

“…!”

Suddenly the surroundings became cold as ice.

Students from other schools turned their heads toward me.

They were probably thinking what kind of strange thing that was to say.

However, that atmosphere quickly disappeared as cheers from the next team advancing to the 32nd round were heard.

The Class 1 student who had also been startled looked around at his teammates and asked.

“…Did, did I make a mistake? I felt like I just received looks as if I absolutely shouldn’t have said that? Is it because of your reputation?”

“Probably. Thanks.”

You’re unnecessarily perceptive.

Then, Leo looked at the tournament bracket and turned around with a subtle expression.

“Guys. Our next opponent is Saxony-Meiningen School of Magic Medicine.”

“…Magic medicine…?”

Among the 32 teams that survived this round, there were a total of 25 teams from national magical medicine schools.

We’ll keep facing vocational schools from now on, so the real competition starts from the round of 32.

[In 40 minutes, we will begin the round of 32. Students may rest freely and please return to your seats by 12:40.]

* * *

And so, another round came to an end.

A scream-like cry from a Class 1 student could be heard.

“Aaaaaaahhhhh!”

“Wow, this is really great~”

Narke clapped her hands while looking at our school’s name shining on the round of 32 bracket.

Despite our worries, we safely advanced to the round of 16.

‘Just one match left now.’

I don’t even hope to advance higher, so if we just win here, my goal will be complete.

[In 20 minutes, we will begin the round of 16. Rest freely and please return to your seats by 1:40.]

“Only 20 minutes left this time. We could go to the cafe and be back in time, right? Should we run there and back?”

“Yeah, my blood sugar’s dropping. Should I get you guys anything?”

“No, we’re fine.”

“Really? Got it. I’ll be back quickly!”

Two Class 1 students ran out of the building.

I watched the two disappear in the distance and stood up from my seat.

The difficulty was gradually increasing, so I needed to review the formulas at this point.

“I’m going to check our team’s laboratory for a bit. I should reread the past exam questions around now.”

“Alright, come back quickly.”

Leo waved his hand lightly.

The laboratory was right next to the gymnasium, so I could make a round trip in 10 minutes. Many students had been going in and out of the laboratory during the first round too.

‘There’s no one here this time, probably because it’s the second break.’

Out of 64 teams, only 16 remained now, so the number of people coming and going here had definitely decreased.

The moment I stepped into our team’s laboratory, I heard something rustling.

Crash―! Clunk―

“?!”

A gust of wind rushed from behind me.

The door I had left open was now closed by itself.

‘…This feels strange.’

I immediately approached and turned the handle.

Clunk―

“…”

It wouldn’t open.

I turned the door handle and pushed with all my strength, but the door wouldn’t budge.

‘I need to enter by 20 minutes later, no, 15 minutes later now, and this is locked?’

I checked the front door too, but it was locked as well.

“Is anyone there!”

I knocked on the door and shouted, but outside was as quiet as a tomb.

As I had felt when I arrived, there seemed to be no one passing by.

‘What kind of bastard did this…’

I have so many enemies I can’t even guess who it might be.

Practically every team that lost to us could be an enemy.

Furthermore, anyone who holds a personal grudge against Luca, even Hyung, could be a suspect.

‘…No, there are too many.’

If I keep thinking about this now, I’ll just waste time.

I can find the culprit after I get out.

Clunk― Bang―

I turned the handle and tried pushing the door.

First of all, it’s not a wooden door, so I can’t break it with just physical strength alone.

‘I’ll have to break it with magic or warp out.’

But warping in and out of the laboratory violates safety regulations.

If I’m caught, it could lead to team disqualification.

Of course, even if I somehow warp without being caught, there’s the most crucial problem.

‘How did someone who can’t use magic solve this and get to the exam hall.’

I can’t avoid suspicion on this point.

If the person who did this has already fled, I could warp out and pretend someone passing by rescued me by opening the door.

But if someone is watching, I can’t stage a scene like ‘someone passing by opened it for me,’ making it awkward to escape by warping.

‘Also, if I simply warp, I won’t be able to report this abnormal situation.’

I’d lose the chance to identify and punish the mastermind.

‘…Let me think calmly.’

I need to think of a way to get out without magic.

If necessary, I could smash the door with a chair. However, the door seems to have magic cast on it, so I don’t know if I can break the door handle within 10 minutes.

I looked around and fell into thought.

As I thought before, it’s a laboratory not much different from modern ones.

Cabinets for storing hazardous materials, emergency showers, and even emergency escape hammers…

‘…Modern?’

I immediately looked up.

‘Found it.’

A way out.

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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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