How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 95

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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 (95)

Would those who believe they can sacrifice a celebrity or two miss the opportunity to use Nicolaus’s life?

‘I may be thinking of getting my hands on them… but I have no intention of being used as their propaganda tool.’

If the novel’s situation remains the same, those who pulled this stunt are only a very small part of the Catacombs.

I can’t let the Emperor benefit from the actions of that small faction.

Then Elias tilted his head with a smirk.

“Just Nicolaus~?”

“Right. Let’s create one more identity.”

“Haah… I figured as much.”

Leo let out a deep sigh.

“Of course, we’ll start after the treatment is finished.”

“That’s right. We can’t leave before we’re fully healed anyway, so why are you making such a big deal about it?”

Leo said with a gentle smile.

As I was left speechless and could only smile, Leo shrugged his shoulders.

“Still, your plan is worth listening to anyway. Your goal is our goal too. Tell us about it.”

Good.

This is how you should respond.

Without Leo, it would be difficult to find information. Besides, Leo doesn’t seem like he’d lift the warp restrictions anyway.

I clasped my hands together and looked at both of them.

“First, before we talk, there’s something you need to read. Leo, I’m going to warp to our dormitory now, so please turn off the alarm for a moment.”

“Why bother turning it off. I’ll bring it, so tell me what it is.”

Leo said with a smiling face.

I could clearly see his firm stance that not even a moment would be allowed.

Well, if he’s going to bring it, that’s convenient for me.

“There’s a letter His Majesty sent on my bed. Read it.”

Leo disappeared and quickly returned with the letter.

Leo’s expression gradually hardened as he began reading the letter.

“He found a commoner mage?”

“…”

Elias turned his head with the same hardened expression.

Since he knows what kind of conversation the Emperor and I had, he would have immediately understood the situation.

As Leo looked confused, Elias spoke up.

“Uncle is trying to use the Catacombs as a tool to raise his approval ratings.”

“What?”

“If he drives the Catacombs to Pleroma and eliminates them, most commoners will think the Emperor is protecting them from Pleroma and be happy, while the nobles will be pleased that the ‘commoner mages’ are gone. It’s a good way to win favor from all social classes.”

“…”

So that’s why they’re hunting down commoner mages like catching mice right now.

Leo couldn’t take his eyes off the letter with that expression.

Elias said coldly.

“He’s dead. Without even getting a grave.”

A long silence followed.

Finally, Leo quietly spoke.

“Right. Since you showed me this, your plan must be related to this letter. Tell me what we need to do.”

“Marian Baum. Can you find this person?”

A Catacombs mage who cooperated with Elias until the latter part of the novel.

He has high regard within the Catacombs because he has been rescuing commoner mages for decades, risking the danger of being caught by police. As such, they conduct post-verification rather than pre-verification for people he brings.

‘Of course, rather than such calculations… Marian Baum is the only Catacombs mage whose location I know right now.’

Since he’s the one who brought Elias to the Catacombs in the novel, going through him should keep the progression stable too.

“Nationality?”

“I’m not certain, but it’s probably Bavaria. At least his area of activity is definitely Bavaria.”

“Hmm… Right. Who is this person?”

“A Catacombs mage.”

Instantly, Leo and Elias’s faces hardened.

“You know someone from the Catacombs?”

“…Wow… I wonder if this person is going to die soon too.”

Leo glared at Elias.

“…Bavaria doesn’t kill commoner mages. Even the inspections are just formalities.”

“That’s true, but.”

That’s generally speaking.

Most regions of the Empire, except Bavaria and a few other countries, faithfully follow the Imperial Government’s zero-tolerance death penalty recommendation.

“It’s not exactly accurate that he’s from the Catacombs. I need to verify first whether the information I obtained is correct.”

In the novel, Elias naturally met him while wandering around like a beggar, but since I can’t reveal the source of my information, it’s better to lay this buffer.

“I’ll do that. So, what do you plan to do after that?”

“Approach him, naturally.”

When I answered that way, Elias, who had regained his composure, laughed refreshingly and said.

“Come to think of it, we were talking about Robert Mueller, but now we’re talking about the Catacombs. Luca, you must think this incident is the Catacombs’ doing?”

“Right. I think this incident is a twice-twisted problem.”

Since Leo was looking at me silently, I continued speaking.

“Leo, your point is this. All evidence points to it being the work of the obsessive fan Robert Mueller, but in reality, even that is all Pleroma’s intention. That makes sense. If it’s not Pleroma, there’s no reason to attack me.”

“Right.”

“But what if there’s one more group that would benefit from attacking me?”

At my words, Elias laughed as if it were interesting.

“The Catacombs would benefit from attacking you? You haven’t been influenced by Uncle’s opinion in the meantime, have you~?”

“No way. Leo said it earlier. If Pleroma simply kills us, it would only provoke national anger.”

“Right.”

“That’s what they’re aiming for. If Nicolaus becomes a victim at this time when the issue has become a hot topic, the antipathy toward Pleroma will reach its peak.”

I handed Leo Mueller’s letter that I had read earlier and said.

“In short, they can easily unite the people with anti-Pleroma sentiment.”

“…”

“I don’t know the plan after that, and I can’t even guess with the current clues. However, right now we can’t rule out the possibility that this is the Catacombs’ doing.”

Elias clapped his hands.

“Hey, this is getting a bit complicated~ You’re saying the Catacombs pulled this stunt precisely because they’re also enemies of Pleroma… It doesn’t make sense at all conventionally.”

Elias erased his smile and stroked his chin.

“But it doesn’t seem impossible. Before being enemies of Pleroma, those people are commoners. The Catacombs are persecuted much more than non-mage commoners just for being born with magical power.”

“By us, you mean.”

“Right. And Nicolaus Ernst, the Crown Prince’s exclusive aide, is a quite successful noble among nobles. They’re on the same side but not really on the same side… Ah, this kind of thing is the most interesting.”

Elias muttered while raising one corner of his mouth, just like the day we first met.

Elias always had peculiar points where he found things amusing.

Leo said to me with a serious face.

“Lucas, if you think this is a twice-twisted problem, we should consider whether we’re overestimating our opponents.”

“Right. We can’t rule out the possibility that it’s simply Pleroma.”

Actually, I can’t definitively say there isn’t a single Pleroma member in the Catacombs.

“…Still, you think the Catacombs are likely? Honestly, I still think this is Pleroma’s doing, but if you need to go to the Catacombs…”

Leo stared down at the bed for a while, then continued.

“Let’s do that. I’ll help.”

“Wow, you’re really trusting him completely. Good attitude.”

Elias giggled. Then he spoke to me.

“First, Luca, I agree with your opinion. But I’d like to hear in advance what you plan to do after infiltrating the Catacombs.”

“We need to cut out the wrong parts. Before you or other famous anti-Pleroma figures become sacrifices for the Catacombs.”

“Right, that’s obvious. What about after that?”

Elias, maintaining his smiling expression, tapped the back of his hand as if striking piano keys.

He seemed worried about how I would respond.

Even the slightest misstep could end up helping the Emperor.

I smiled gently and answered.

“We need to obtain the Catacombs, Eli.”

* * *

Leo brought the materials three days after I brought up the topic, which was Christmas day when my treatment ended.

According to the materials, Marian Baum was working as the general manager and director at an established theater troupe in Munich.

‘Come to think of it, this was mentioned in passing in the novel too.’

This was good news. Since he wasn’t some hermit in hiding, at least I had secured enough time to make contact with him.

When Christmas evening came, I unwrapped the bandages from my hands and came to the theater to find Marian Baum.

‘I’m not sure if I’ll be able to find him right away though.’

Let’s start slowly.

“…Ah, it feels empty.”

At the muttering I heard from beside me, I turned my head.

Narke, sitting next to me, also glanced back at Elias.

Even after arriving at the theater, Elias kept touching his neck.

I gestured toward his scarf that was still wrapped around him despite being indoors.

“You already came with your scarf wrapped all around you.”

“It can’t be helped that it feels awkward since I suddenly cut it~ But it really suits me, right?! Ah, I look so cool, don’t I?”

“I’m glad you’re taking it so well.”

I answered with a smile.

Elias had been growing his hair to just above his shoulders, but this time he cut it short like Leo.

He might have had strong objections to changing his hairstyle, but knowing he could grow it back anytime with divine power, Elias readily gave up his hair.

I brought him not knowing what might happen, but since it would be troublesome if someone recognized him, I even cast cognitive disruption magic, making him blend in without standing out.

Elias whispered to me.

“You’re… just Felix Weichel, aren’t you?”

It was similar.

This time my hair was red too.

I couldn’t make it blonde since that would make me look like Hyung, and the only naturally remaining color choices were brown and red.

But it didn’t matter.

Felix Weichel had only formed one human relationship anyway.

“This time I’m not wearing glasses. My eyes are a darker color too.”

“Well, that’s true! Much better.”

The play began soon.

The play was Faust, four times longer than the performance I had directly participated in before.

Narke spoke to me using divine power.

―”Hmm, the person you mentioned isn’t here. They didn’t even come out to greet the audience.”

―”Really? I’ll have to go backstage after it ends.”

After about 3 hours, the lights came on in the audience.

I exchanged glances with my friends and immediately left my seat.

Everything up to now hadn’t even been the beginning.

I went out through the building’s back gate and looked at the clearing.

In the distance, in front of the opposite building connected to the performance hall, someone was smoking and walking around.

Narke spoke to me again.

―”Ah, we can start with that person.”

―”What kind of person are they?”

―”It’s just a guess, but they’re probably in a position where they can connect you to Marian.”

That’s good.

First, I needed to spend some time inside the theater troupe so they could sense that I had magical power despite being a commoner, so I had to express my desire to work there as either an odd-job worker or servant.

A theater troupe of this caliber would be at full capacity, so even that would sound like nonsense.

So there was only one method.

‘I need to say something even more absurd first.’

I approached the person Narke was pointing to and greeted them.

“Good evening.”

He stared at me intently, then tilted his head with a puzzled expression.

“Excuse me, but who are you?”

“I’m Dietrich Granach. I was deeply moved by the performance just now.”

“Ah, thank you. But what can I do for you?”

“I want to work as an actor here immediately.”

“Hmm, here… What?!”

I could hear Elias whispering to Narke behind me.

“Is this okay?”

“Haha…”

It was refreshing to hear that question coming from Elias.

It was a perfectly normal reaction. To become an actor, you had to spend several years as an apprentice anywhere.

But asking to be used as an odd-job worker wouldn’t work, since theater troupes these days don’t hire people specifically for menial tasks.

They could just use aspiring actors as apprentices. It was somewhat absurd, but it wasn’t particularly strange here.

‘So there’s no problem starting strong from the beginning.’

Actually, the probability of being rejected when asking to do menial work was higher. With aspiring actors overflowing to work for free, there was no need to keep separate laborers.

As expected, he looked me over with the expression of someone who had seen all kinds of weirdos.

Then, with a completely clueless expression, he said.

“May I ask… where are you from?”

“I came from Prussia.”

“No, which theater troupe are you with?”

“Excuse me?”

“Aren’t you an actor?”

“…No, I’m not.”

I almost misspoke for a moment.

The other person’s expression changed completely in an instant.

* * *

I thought I’d be treated like a madman and chased away, but fortunately that didn’t happen.

He took me inside and bombarded me with questions.

“How old are you?”

“I’m twenty-three.”

“What do you do for work?”

“I work at Degenberg Manor.”

Before coming here, I had already asked King if there was a family that could back up my story. This was the place that came as an answer.

“Come to think of it, what should I call you?”

“Please call me Jonas.”

“Jonas, how many actors do you have here?”

“Well, exactly… I’m not in charge of managing actors. Including apprentices, there are probably about fifty.”

“That’s more than I expected.”

“The industry is growing bigger and bigger. With more star actors emerging, everyone wants to do it.”

From the theater troupe’s perspective, it wasn’t a bad situation.

They could work everyone to the bone while saying they’d give them a chance someday.

“Then I’ll start as an apprentice too.”

“That’s right.”

“What do apprentices generally do?”

“Naturally, you’d have to act, right?”

“….”

Right. Of course that’s how it appears on the surface.

But that’s not the reality, is it?

“Apprentices don’t go straight to the stage, do they? Even to receive acting training, I understand you have to wait several years, so what I mean is, what exactly would I be doing until then….”

“Ah, you don’t need to worry about that part at all. Perfect timing!”

I turned my head toward where he was looking.

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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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