Chapter 105
Chapter 105
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magical Noble Family
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“Outside the building.”
Lichtofen pondered for a moment before flicking his hand.
Leo nodded, keeping his wand trained on the man.
It was a sign that it was fine to release the restraint on his hands.
I crushed the mana sphere binding him with my foot.
“Hmm, wasn’t expecting it, but thanks.”
“No problem. I’ll just put it back on soon enough.”
“Haha….”
Lichtofen rolled his shoulders and swept his hand through the air, chanting a spell.
[In omni re vincit imitationem.]
In the range where he thrust out his arm, the image of a crowd appeared.
Far off in the distance, a familiar figure knelt with their nape gripped tight.
An amplification spell must have been cast, because their voices rang out loud and clear.
[Trying to wrap this up with a few light words—shows just how narrow-minded you are right off the bat.]
“Who is that?”
At Leo’s question, Lichtofen grimaced, though his eyes were still invisible, and replied.
“It’s the Captain.”
“Robert Müller?”
“One of them, yeah.”
It wasn’t surprising that Robert Müller wasn’t acting alone.
What mattered was that he was our target.
And that Elias was with him.
‘Perfect.’
Elias being there with him was a stroke of luck.
[…One calls me blue blood, another says I’m a disgrace…. Doesn’t that just break your heart~?]
“…….”
Classic Elias.
Even captured outright by Robert Müller, he didn’t show a hint of tension.
I couldn’t help glancing at Leo.
‘Hmm.’
Leo wasn’t repulsed or flustered.
Surprisingly, what I sensed in his eyes was trust.
‘…Come to think of it, this happened a lot in the novel.’
[Since you don’t seem to get what I’m saying, I guess I have no choice.]
[No, I get it. Why are you making judgments on your own? You’re not thinking of dragging Nikolaus Ernst into this, are you? You’re betting he’ll come rushing right to you if you flaunt this openly.]
“Good call.”
Lichtofen chuckled as he chimed in.
The guy must think the vigilante captain would act that way.
Of course, he wouldn’t go.
The intent was obvious— no way he’d play along.
‘Above all, this isn’t something for Nikolaus to get involved in.’
Gaining the Catacombs’ support was a turning point that could change Elias’s fate.
From here on, every word out of Elias’s mouth had to be his own deliberate choice.
At that moment, the mana restraints on Elias’s hands shattered.
[Wha—what the!]
[That guy just…!]
[Now it’s obvious what Robert Müller wants. Isn’t it?]
I let out a hollow laugh at the scene.
“…He needs to drag it out a bit more.”
“Yeah.”
Leo replied simply.
I sat down and shattered the mana covering Lichtofen’s eyes.
“…Huh?”
“Changed my mind.”
I pressed hard on his heart.
—In the one who gives me power, I can do all things.
“Ugh!”
“Adjust it yourself so your vision doesn’t overload. Or dispel the curse yourself.”
“…….”
Lichtofen squinted against the light, then looked at me and curled his lip.
“…Obviously. Or I’d die, right?”
“You get it.”
It was a subjugation spell.
An improvised variant of another spell—my first time trying it on him—but from his reaction, it had taken root in his core successfully.
“Now, you’ll come with us from here on. But first, you need to know exactly what we’re doing.”
I looked down at him and asked.
“What do you think brought us here?”
“Pleroma, probably… That’s what most people say.”
And you think differently?
I swallowed those words and smiled.
“You’re right. We came for Pleroma.”
“Hmm….”
He gave a meaningful smile and nodded.
“And to take down the Robert Müller who tried to kill me. We’re eliminating both.”
“Yeah, personal grudge makes sense.”
I pulled a folded letter from my pocket and said.
“His Majesty the Emperor asked us to ‘check on the Catacombs’ status.’ So I can say it’s not personal.”
“…….”
Lichtofen stared at me and asked.
“So you came all the way here? Out of loyalty to His Majesty?”
“Opposite. We came to remove the pretext before His Majesty has an excuse to massacre the Catacombs.”
At that, Lichtofen’s lip curled up. He tapped his ear three times and said.
“Thanks for the good info. I was wondering when you’d bring up the Emperor.”
“…!”
I knew exactly what he’d used.
A sensory transfer artifact.
“Don’t worry. I only sent it to the squad members.”
I stared at him for a moment, then burst out laughing.
I’d checked for enchanted spots, but he’d hidden this one.
It was probably linked to spatial magic again.
In any other situation, I’d rewind time on the spot, but right now, it couldn’t have worked out better.
“Might owe you one for this.”
“It was a hassle. Been here ten years, but being nobility didn’t win me many allies.”
Lichtofen stood up.
“Still, luckily the vigilantes aren’t all pro-Pleroma. Plenty were put off by the Captain’s vitriol injections at first. Throw the Emperor into the mix, and opinions shift fast.”
“How many?”
“Five hundred secured with this.”
Not bad.
Wasn’t expecting it, but he’s come through—pretty useful.
Manpower’s covered, so….
I turned back to the plaza feed.
While Elias won over the Catacombs’ hearts there, I had to deal with the Pleroma connected here first.
“Does the Pleroma Robert Müller’s contacting know about this situation?”
“We haven’t reached out to their leadership, but they know. Another Robert Müller must’ve told them.”
So they have a way to contact leadership.
I held out my hand to Lichtofen and said.
“Lead the way.”
* * *
“…Robert Müller?”
“No use denying it, right? My jaw’s tired from talking already.”
Elias tightened his grip on the hand clutching his shoulder.
Balconies on both sides bristled as vigilante wizards leveled their wands in a line.
[Immodica ira creat insaniam.]
“…!”
Elias hurriedly moved his hand to his chest.
The spell must have worked—the mana leaking with his blood slowed. It felt like being crushed by something.
‘Guess one person couldn’t cut it. Multiple casters at once.’
They must have me way overhyped.
Elias grinned and slowly fed his own mana into his core. To avoid dying, he had to act before their mana fully crushed him, even if slowly.
“…I get you’re trying to seal my magic, but I haven’t even gotten mad or lost my mind yet. Isn’t that spell a stretch?”
“Even a layabout royal like you can parse that much Latin, huh.”
“Gymnasium drills it into you endlessly.”
“Not something that applies to me, the guy who couldn’t even get in.”
Elias let out a short sigh, smile still in place.
“…Aaaah, seriously…. Didn’t think you’d poke at that too….”
“Poke at that? You exist to poke at us.”
“Sure, I’d be pissed too. Go ahead, stay pissed? Honestly shocking you’ve kept me alive this prettily.”
The captain responded softly.
“You’re under some delusion.”
“What?”
“The Latin studies you find tedious are what slum kids down there desperately crave. The ragged clothes you wore specially to infiltrate are someone’s daily wear. The scripture spells you toss around casually are privileges others can’t even dream of.”
The plaza’s murmurs died down one by one.
They were clearly waiting for the royal’s reaction.
Sure, there were bourgeois commoners here too, but beyond ‘persecuted by mana,’ building common ground was tough. Given the Catacombs’ nature, targeting the very bottom rung made strategic sense.
Of course, the analysis ended there.
Nothing new. Even if everyone took it for granted, Elias himself had always lived questioning everything the man said.
The captain leaned in close to Elias’s ear, voice clear.
“No matter how much you see yourself as the black sheep of nobility—or even if that’s true—you’re more accustomed to première cru classé wine than a five-pfel jug of gin, aren’t you?”
“…….”
Elias silently looked down at the plaza crowd.
Spot on.
Could anything describe him more aptly?
But saying he thought the same as them here wouldn’t change a thing. Lucky if it didn’t rile them up.
‘Saying that from the heart of privilege means nothing.’
And he couldn’t tell if this was stubbornness born of rebellion against his uncle.
Even if it was just rebellion, he had zero desire to defend classism. But spouting feel-good words to commoners, ignorant of his own heart, with his life in their hands— that’d just make him an opportunist like his uncle.
‘The time to say it is right before chopping off Uncle’s head.’
Then it might land.
Sure, he might be seen as a regicide packaging a coup as reform, but at least more fitting than now.
“‘I’d be pissed too’—all I can say is that’s laughable. How much depth could those words have…? You’re in a position from birth that can’t understand us. Whatever’s got you fired up, you’re burning with excessive justice, rushing in to help us, right?”
“Spot on.”
Elias murmured with a faint smile.
Uncle’s reach was closing in.
One misstep, and spies—surely planted by the Emperor—would expose them. No matter the spatial magic prowess, the damage would be immense.
He always thought them fools, but they weren’t actually fools.
Like with Lucas, he couldn’t abandon them to die.
The captain’s cold voice pierced his ear.
“But we don’t need help from a noble like you. Get that straight.”
Even with this treatment now.
Fear of power’s overthrow had driven them to shove promised protectors underground. Generations of irreversible oppression had led here.
‘…That’s that, though.’
Time for the main point.
Elias spoke bluntly, smile gone.
“You don’t. Since you’ve allied with Pleroma.”
The plaza fell dead silent in an instant.
Elias let out a hollow chuckle at the sight.
“…Pleroma?”
“Pleroma what?”
A loud voice shouted from the crowd’s midst.
“What’s that supposed to mean! Explain!”
The reaction spread across the plaza.
Elias shook his head.
“Hey, wasn’t this off-script? Impressive~”
“Enough!”
The captain stepped forward, raising a hand.
The plaza’s rising clamor slowly died down.
Elias whistled at the scene.
“Some serious loyalty. Yeah, gotta have this much pull to sell out the country on a whim.”
“Let’s see how long you keep spinning fairy tales.”
Elias tugged one corner of his mouth.
Better to talk than lock him up right away, they figured.
Hiding the first shouter now would only amplify suspicions, not resolve them.
Of course, it also meant they had a defense against ‘allied with Pleroma.’
“You weigh the lives of commoners—who might die any day—over your own ambiguous identity and standing. Compared to scraping by day-to-day, I’m just whining from a warm bed, right? Did I get that?”
“Quick judgment for someone who just woke up. But what’s that got to do with your earlier claims?”
“Hahaha….”
Elias let out a small laugh.
As if it had nothing to do with it.
To gain support, you first admit your weaknesses.
Elias slowly pried off the captain’s hand and rose to his knees.
“You’re right. Claiming I understand everyone is arrogance.”