Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magical Noble Family
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“Congratulations, Luca.”
As time rewound, the moment I had just experienced unfolded before my eyes once more.
The eyes that had been scrutinizing my mana now brimmed with joy again.
Whether then or now, there wasn’t a trace of killing intent to be found, no matter how closely I looked.
No doubt about it—my brother was the one who should have been acting.
“I’m truly touched that you think so highly of me, brother.”
If he was going to wrap his murderous intent in familial love for his poor little brother, then it was only right for me to play along.
I uttered words that weren’t in my heart at all.
“What you’ve said feels like a stroke of luck that’s still beyond my imagination. I’d be more than satisfied just not to tarnish the family name.”
“What are you talking about? I’ve never once thought you were tarnishing the family name.”
Adrian furrowed his brow slightly, then tilted his eyebrows in concern after a long pause.
“It seems the weight you’ve been carrying hasn’t been light. You don’t have to worry about that anymore. Even if we can’t fix the issue with your disposition, people won’t be able to dismiss you so easily if your attitude changes.”
‘Even if we can’t fix the issue with your disposition’...
He was willing to accept the mana issue, but he had no intention of dropping the Pleroma frame-up.
I took that to mean he had plans for that part.
As I simply stared at him, Adrian spoke softly with a smile.
“Even if that’s difficult, I’ll always be here to help, so don’t worry, Luca.”
“Hearing that makes me feel more secure than ever.”
It was absurd coming from someone plotting to bury me even more meticulously than before.
I responded with a smile, just as he always had.
* * *
I conversed with him for a long while and only returned to my room as night fell.
“Luca!”
Pie popped out from under the covers and leaped onto my shoulder.
I flopped onto the bed before my strength could give out again.
Perhaps finding it odd that I closed my eyes without even changing clothes, Pie poked at my eyelids with a paw.
“Why~? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
Now I could finally rest.
Pondering my brother’s strategies had drained my stamina in no time.
As I tried to close my eyes, I remembered the letter Pie had brought and sat up.
Lately, Pie had been warping between the school and here to relay messages, which had eased my breathing room a bit.
With a sweep of my hand over the desk, the invisibility spell lifted, revealing the letter.
‘...Tooth marks again today....’
There was a clear indentation on the envelope’s flap. Well, Pie had carried it in his mouth, after all.
I leaned back against the bed comfortably and opened the envelope.
[To Luca]
[You’ll do great.]
‘Straight to the point from the start?’
He must have anticipated my face-to-face with my brother today.
Perhaps because Narke had been using his ability on me whenever he felt like it, he seemed to get a sense of things even without seeing my face now.
‘He’s not reading my thoughts remotely, is he?’
...No way.
I shook off the suspicion and flipped the page.
The back sheet contained letters from Leo and Elias.
‘It’s much more relaxed than the first day.’
When I’d just arrived in Anhalt, the letters were full of heavy topics, but now Elias’s note was mostly about getting smashed together once I got back.
Narke must have relayed my updates, loosening their tension a little.
After reading my friends’ letters, I unfolded the paper where Narke had written about the investigation progress.
‘If I want to raise Nikolaus, I need to move the moment I get back.’
That’s why I’d asked him to send it specifically.
All I wanted was to return as soon as possible and solidify my foundation properly.
Honestly, a bit of competitive spirit had ignited too.
My brother had kept a calm facade even regarding my divine power.
‘Well, he can kill me before it becomes public.’
He maintained composure in situations he could win.
I wondered how he’d react if he knew that ability had already been revealed to the world.
With those thoughts, I read through Narke’s letter.
[...
The water samples collected up to the second day showed drug reactions, but the ones gathered sequentially from the day you went home showed none.]
With two divine power-wielding priests storming the area, they’d have to lay low.
They couldn’t keep dumping drugs into the water source without getting caught.
But...
‘Drug reactions? Up until now, they didn’t have any testing tools to detect whatever they were putting in the water?’
[And you’re probably wondering how I detected the drug reactions.]
“......”
[I got that drug you guys took in the catacombs from Senior Lichtofen.
It wasn’t exactly vitriol, but something that synthesizes vitriol in the body.
I analyzed it and compared.]
So that’s how.
It was great that things had progressed smoothly in my absence.
I turned the page with a relaxed mind.
[...
Finally, I have a proposal.
The Pleroma side is probably avoiding us.
Not just for that reason alone, it seems, but their priest identities are definitely too conspicuous. Want to disguise ourselves again~?
P.S. Leave anything you need to know about the contamination. I need your input.]
Narke was thinking the same as me.
By the way...
‘This guy really loves playing civilian....’
Good thing I didn’t leave him out of the Haeringen trip, or he’d have thrown a fit.
It’s not always a bad choice. Cutting off information to the enemy is key to gaining the upper hand.
‘Anyway, no plans to disguise here.’
He’d asked for my opinion.
Everything was fine, but there was one more point to consider.
I tore a sheet from my notebook and picked up my fountain pen.
[You said you compared them. No other drugs detected?]
—“Pie.”
“Yeah?”
—“Can you deliver this?”
“Of course!”
Pie clamped the long strip of paper in his mouth and vanished in an instant.
Less than a minute later, a reply arrived.
I unfolded the cream-colored paper Narke had sent.
[Yeah, nothing else.
You must be really stressed. You look tired.]
I’d only written the words, but it seemed true that abilities were easier to use on people you knew well.
‘More importantly, nothing else...’
That was the problem.
Lichtofen had said vitriol needed to be taken with the memory drug.
To disrupt mana, that is.
‘But there are too many possible counters to that.’
Narke seemed to be using insight on me nonstop right now, so better to summarize it in a sentence he’d grasp.
I picked up the pen again and scribbled.
[Then we need to figure out why only some people were affected in the same situation.]
The moment I dotted the i, Pie—who’d been watching me write with sparkling eyes—piped up.
“Deliver it?!”
—“Yeah. Thanks.”
He must find the back-and-forth fun.
‘Anyway, no other components besides vitriol capsules in the hot spring water.’
Vitriol only causes contamination when taken with the memory drug, so how did people suffer damage from vitriol alone?
‘Of course, the memory drug that revives bad memories is used to disrupt mana. Even without it, if mana is disrupted, vitriol can invade the core.’
At this point, consider that most victims in that area were non-mages.
Without a core, they might be affected by vitriol alone... but here’s a critical issue.
The public water supply is used by countless people daily—why only five cases?
‘That means even non-mages aren’t affected by vitriol alone. There must be another trigger condition.’
High probability it’s emotional.
I’d need to verify, but perhaps those who drank the contaminated hot spring water and had their emotions intensely stimulated.
Just then, Pie warped back onto me with the reply in his mouth.
I took the paper and unfolded it.
[I didn’t even think of that. Thanks.]
‘He grasped it quickly.’
Then, I felt another long strip of paper behind it.
[Oh, this’ll take time, so let’s meet in person tomorrow and talk. I’ll be waiting.]
Tomorrow?
He wasn’t coming to Anhalt tomorrow, was he?
He wouldn’t casually suggest we all die together like that.
Even though that’s what I’d written, the reply was just a smiling face drawing.
[^_^]
“......”
* * *
‘So that’s it.’
The next morning, I immediately understood Narke’s words.
On the first floor of the castle, servants helped Adrian into his coat and arranged his luggage beside him.
The steward said with a reluctant expression.
“You haven’t fully recovered yet—if you leave like this...”
“No, it’s fine. His Majesty summoned me; I can’t turn away.”
“That’s true, young master, but this isn’t an ordinary injury. Wouldn’t it be better to at least see him on your final day of recuperation?”
“It’s an already confirmed appointment. I was planning to pay my respects as soon as I recovered anyway. It’s just two days earlier, so don’t worry too much.”
Adrian smiled gently at the steward and turned to me standing beside him.
“Luca.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll always be cheering for you.”
Instead of replying, I gave a light smile and ended the conversation.
After that, I escorted him to the entrance with the steward, saw him off, and returned to the castle.
“Then, I should prepare to leave as well.”
“Ah, are you heading back too, young master?”
“My brother was the one who called me here. With him gone, there’s no issue if I go.”
“Shouldn’t you pay respects to the Duke today?”
“He’s granting me an audience?”
“......”
The steward couldn’t respond.
I shrugged and curled my lips into a smile.
“I’m sorry to be a bother. Let’s prepare to head to school.”
* * *
What conversation would there even be if we met?
They wouldn’t even open the door for me in the first place.
That’s why Luca always came and went without formal greetings.
The steward had even advised skipping greetings to avoid unnecessary trouble back then, but now he seemed to think I’d changed and was insisting on it.
In the end, it only delayed my arrival at school.
‘The greeting at the court banquet was a miracle.’
Even then, I thought it was barely formal, but seeing how things worked at home, that was actually polite by their standards.
And so, the steward and I boarded the train again and arrived at school.
“Then, please head in.”
The steward handed me my bag.
“Yes, thank you.”
“The day for your medicine will come soon; I’ll see you then, young master.”
I gave a light bow and turned to enter the school.
Classes were still in full swing, so no one was outside.
‘Five hours until classes end.’
But... it felt oddly cold.
Even in January here, it wasn’t as harsh as a Korean winter, yet it felt unusually chilly.
I hurried to the dormitory.
Then, just like yesterday, I set down my bag and sat on the bed.
‘This is it.’
I was finally back.
‘...It feels like just yesterday I thought I might never return.’
Coming back to school after bracing for expulsion felt different.
The tension in my muscles melted away simply from being in the dorm.
“Wow~”
Pie leaped out of the bag too, marveling at the stone pile he’d built before leaving.
We always cleared it away soon after he made it, so seeing it intact for days must have been novel.
‘I feel bad for dismantling them all this time.’
But piled in the middle of the desk... how could I not?
I’d keep doing it.
With that thought, I closed my eyes.
When I opened them again, night had already fallen.
Something rested on my forehead. Despite the weight, it felt refreshingly divine, like holy power.
‘What’s this?’
I flicked the lump on my forehead, and Pie jolted awake with a shrill scream.
“Eek!”
“...Why so jumpy? Sorry. But why were you sleeping there?”
“I was cooling you down ’cause you were hot!”
“Hm?”
Wondering what he meant, I touched it—there was a slight warmth.
I hadn’t noticed in the moment, but meeting my brother without planning had been stressful.
Honestly, it had been nonstop tension.
Even if I had no intention of dying, facing someone who wanted me dead and anticipating his dozens of possible moves was exhausting.
‘...Even so, if this were my original body, I wouldn’t catch a cold.’
In Luca’s body, I’d already caught two colds this winter alone.
My stamina score was a pure 3, objectively good compared to imperial citizens overall.
But immunity was another story.
I infused my divine power into Pie.
“Thanks. I feel much better now.”
I wasn’t about to lie there with just a cold.
I opened the drawer, grabbed the medicine I found, and swallowed it all at once.
As a magic potion, the effects spread through my body quickly.
“Mmm.”
Refreshing.
I’d planned to discuss those two questions with Narke, so now it was time to head over and get started.
“Is Narke at school now?”
“He’s in Baden-Baden right now!”
“Why? Didn’t he say he’d wait?”
“Um~ Someone called him during the day. Wanna go now?”
He must have rushed over.
‘Another devil-possessed case?’
With that thought, I turned my head.
That’s when I noticed the newspaper on the corner of the desk.
[Mysterious Parade of the Magicless... Empire-Wide Alert for ‘Black Smoke’]
‘...Hm.’
Well, now.