Chapter 145
Chapter 145
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magical Noble Family
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“…Why are you looking at me…?”
Philip narrowed his eyes as he asked.
He seemed eager to show his anger, but as he recalled that the Chelringen family was no ordinary household, his voice quickly grew subdued.
“Probably because you have the most potential to cause problems.”
“How am I…!”
“Do you not think so? I didn’t mean to pick a fight, so I’m sorry if you truly believe you’ve lived a model life.”
‘…Hmm.’
To mock him right from the start.
It didn’t seem like empty words—he was clearly intent on nipping any issues in the bud.
He wasn’t about to tolerate anyone interfering with his extra points.
Philip, who had two people in the room who could call him out, spoke in self-defense.
“…I’m not going to cause trouble. My score’s on the line too.”
“Good. Now that we’re on the same team, let’s do our best.”
Chelringen smiled and spoke in a firm tone.
Neat and tidy.
It was reassuring to have someone leading the team who knew exactly how to handle a guy who judged all relationships by hierarchy.
“First, let’s check out our unique abilities. As you all know, mine isn’t one I can use in this exam. I can’t exactly drop lightning on a rampager.”
‘Oh.’
His unique ability sounded pretty comic-bookish.
A good power.
Seeming to read my expression and guess my thoughts, Chelringen smiled and added an explanation.
“Lucas, you’re probably learning this for the first time today. It’s not literally lightning creation—it’s water manipulation. But since I don’t know the underlying principles well, I can’t adapt it.”
“Hmm, that makes sense.”
That’s usually how it goes.
Even Adelbert uses wind as his unique ability, but isn’t that really just gas manipulation?
There’s a reason he doesn’t call it gas manipulation as his unique ability.
He can generate wind without mana or physical movement, but he can’t instantly remove gas from a space to create a vacuum, or split molecules into atoms and recombine them—adaptations like that are beyond him.
That’s what unique abilities are.
They’re powers limited to certain fields that even their possessors don’t understand why they have them. Expanding the scope isn’t impossible, but it’s incredibly difficult.
“Alright then… Melvin doesn’t have one, so Heike, why don’t you start?”
At those words, Heike Ainsidel shook his head impassively.
“Mine isn’t usable right now either.”
Her voice, which I was hearing for the first time, was cooler than expected. Even though it didn’t seem laced with negative emotion.
Anyway… she does have one.
When it was my turn, I answered briefly.
“I don’t have one.”
Philip’s face twisted slightly.
Heike Ainsidel and Florian’s gazes turned toward me as well.
I could guess what they were thinking.
‘They probably see the trait of increasing mana by drinking blood as a unique ability in itself.’
The Bayern examination had declared my core free of issues ‘currently,’ but it was accepted as fact that there had been problems in the past.
So, in people’s minds, my past traits could manifest at any moment.
I wouldn’t feel so wronged if I could actually increase mana by drinking blood.
At that moment, Philip’s friend, whose turn it was, hesitated before speaking gravely.
“Hmm, I’m not sure if I can use this one or not.”
“Well, just say it. We all know roughly anyway—no need to hold back now.”
Chelringen responded dismissively, as if urging him to spit it out and move on.
Seeming to agree it was the right call, he began speaking despite his hesitation.
“I can somewhat control plant growth rates… but I can’t push past limits like Leonard can. I’m mentioning it just in case it might come in handy somehow.”
“Good. Noted.”
A school bully with a unique ability, no less.
Still, it could be useful.
The exam fields ranged from urban areas to natural ones.
It’d be handy in natural fields.
Chelringen turned to Philip, who had his lips pressed tightly shut.
“So, that just leaves you, Philip.”
“Mine’s not usable right now either.”
“We’ll see. I’d appreciate it if you’d explain properly.”
At Chelringen’s firm words, Philip let out a scoff with a dumbfounded look.
“Why ask when you already know? It’s useless except for finding ley lines.”
‘How did he even discover ley lines?’
The fact that he could find them suggested he could amplify seismic perception.
Come to think of it, on the day this punk tried to feed me pie, his confident claim that no one would show up must have been thanks to his unique ability.
He clearly didn’t think much of it, given how reluctant he was to mention it.
Chelringen jotted something down on paper and said indifferently.
“So, extrasensory perception. Sounds pretty useful. Ley lines are definitely worthless, though.”
Philip’s face flushed red in disbelief at having the one thing he’d called useful dismissed as worthless.
But I agreed with Yulia. I genuinely couldn’t see why he thought ley lines were useful.
‘Still, hearing this is eye-opening.’
It was a bit ridiculous that both school bullies had unique abilities, but they all felt like real mages now.
Chelringen in particular could go star in a movie as is.
After that, the meeting proceeded smoothly. Philip and his friend grumbled a bit, but they kept a generally cooperative attitude.
We set strategies for the 20 fields announced by the school and wrapped up the meeting.
Chelringen stood from his seat.
“The third team’s leaving the training grounds vacant in an hour. We can take a break until then and regroup.”
“Got it. Back here?”
“Yeah. We’ll head over together.”
I nodded as I listened to Heike and Chelringen’s exchange.
The moment we stepped outside, a familiar voice called out.
“Lucas!”
Team 1 must have just started their break too—Narke was lounging in the lounge area at the end of the hall.
“There you are. When’s your training?”
“We’ve got an hour until our reserved slot.”
Narke gestured for me to sit in the seat next to him and continued.
“So, how’d the meeting go? I was shocked to hear you’re teamed up with Philip.”
“It was okay. We’ll see how it goes in practice, but no issues so far.”
“Good to hear.”
Narke glanced around before using divine power to speak.
—[How’s Ainsidel?]
She’s on his mind too, huh.
“Average.”
Aside from being the first ‘unassailable’ rating, that is.
Just then, the artifact in my ear picked up the sound of someone knocking on my office door, so I immediately warped to Bayern.
Ten minutes later, when I returned to the same spot, Narke grinned.
“You’re busy~ Doesn’t headquarters keep calling for you?”
“Yeah.”
I seemed to pass through there dozens of times a day.
To keep them from estimating when I was in the office, I’d warp there the moment someone knocked and then back here, repeating the process.
Since yesterday’s incident with Adelbert and the announcement not to touch victims’ cores directly, I’d been summoned even more.
More importantly, I had something to ask Narke.
I cast a soundproofing spell and brought it up.
“Narke. We need to investigate the Adelbert incident discreetly. What should I say about my alibi?”
“Hmm, an alibi…”
Narke responded with a troubled look.
“It probably won’t matter even if we check now.”
“What do you mean?”
“Um…”
Narke gave an ambiguous smile.
Even if I fabricated an alibi, things wouldn’t flow favorably for me.
“Don’t worry, though. Long-term, this was the best outcome. If you hadn’t entered Adelbert, several mages would’ve died by now.”
“True enough.”
Pleroma must be baffled right now about why their new drug isn’t working on mages.
Since the no-touch order was only notified internally, it’d take them time to realize we’d figured out their update.
“Then, one more thing I want to ask.”
“What?”
“The place I entered was Adelbert’s dream, right?”
“Kinda ambiguous. It’s a dream, but also a real world in a sense.”
If it was based on a dream, it wouldn’t be easy to explain my use of divine power there.
After all, Adelbert, the creator of that world, wouldn’t be unaware that I could use divine power.
“Narke. I didn’t enter there as myself—I went into Adelbert’s body.”
“Ah, I figured. I can’t imagine you walking around with Adelbert’s face.”
It did look quite different.
“That’s not the point. I could use divine power from within that body. I can’t wrap my head around how that was possible. Any ideas?”
“Oh, even in his dream, it was still you inside the body~”
“……”
We weren’t understanding each other.
“Hmm, how to explain…? Most people aren’t aware of this area, so it’s normal not to know…”
He stroked his chin thoughtfully, then his eyes lit up as if he’d found a good analogy.
“Lucas, in Pleroma’s world, there are the unfit and the fit, right? Why don’t all non-mages who receive Vitriol end up able to use magic equally?”
“……”
“Vitriol has the special property of settling into the core, but it doesn’t create magical aptitude from nothing. It manifests the latent aptitude the person already had once the core forms.”
“…Hold on.”
“Yeah?”
I knew that, but applying it here?
This was pretty shocking.
Does that mean the mana I’ve been using…
I pressed my forehead with one hand and asked.
“Narke. So even if I enter Adelbert’s body in the real world, could I still use the mana I’ve wielded up to now?”
“Didn’t expect such an intriguing thought from you~ You’ve got quite the imagination.”
“It’s not intriguing.”
“Haha, anyway…”
Narke shrugged.
“With some adaptation, wouldn’t it come out even stronger? Adelbert’s core tested as special class 1.”
“……”
“Naturally, even if you become Adelbert, the mana that emerges is still yours. It’s your aptitude.”
The same held if interpreting Adelbert as Lucas and me as my original self.
Had the mana I’d believed was Lucas’s all this time actually been my own?
Dozens of questions flooded my mind at once.
“Lucas. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
I pressed the spot above my eyebrows to avoid his gaze as I replied.
Come to think of it, he mustn’t know.
He might exorcise me.
‘…If he exorcised me now, could I return to my original world?’
No, was my original self even alive to begin with?
All these thoughts would sound bizarre to Narke.
“Thanks for explaining.”
With that, I stood from my seat.
Fortunately, his expression suggested he was already lost in other thoughts.
“No problem~ Oh, Lucas!”
“Yeah?”
“The drama club was looking for you.”
“How’d you know?”
“Someone came into our meeting room earlier asking which room your team was using.”
“……”
* * *
With the club president missing his timing, now was my chance.
Whichever department they were from, if magic, they’d be in meetings like us; otherwise, morning classes kept them occupied.
I immediately gathered the scattered Team 6 members around the building and warped us to the training grounds.
Luckily, the previous team had finished twenty minutes early.
As we entered our reserved training ground, Chelringen laughed.
“Haha, I didn’t know you were so serious about training, Lucas.”
“We’ve got to give it our all.”
Philip’s lips were pursed tightly, probably because I’d led us here, but fortunately, he said nothing.
Chelringen clapped to draw attention.
“Alright. We’ve got the grounds for two hours and twenty minutes—no slacking. Want to run it seven times straight?”
“Let’s try one and decide. What field first?”
“Something straightforward—let’s do buildings.”
Heike Ainsidel said impassively.
‘…Calling her Ainsidel feels weird somehow.’
My left hand was perfectly fine, yet it kept feeling broken.
No one objected to the building field in the meantime, so Chelringen activated the spatial magic artifact in the training ground.
In that instant, one of the school’s stored worlds unfolded before us. Neat roads and countless buildings.
[Wow, first time pulling up somewhere other than the exam venue with this.]
Chelringen’s voice, which had come from beside me, now transmitted through the artifact.
The school had introduced the tool so we could receive instructions just like on-site.
I looked around.
Unlike a real scene, no people were passing by.
Chelringen must have selected the empty version. Civilians wandering a rampage site would spike the difficulty.
Then, Chelringen’s voice buzzed in my ear via artifact.
[Good. No civilians, rampager level set to 5. Way tougher than the 6 we did last time. Still, I’ll direct you right away as discussed, so just follow the plan.]
He paused once before continuing.
[Countdown, then the rampager alarm sounds. I’ll give coordinates, but inside the building, we find the position ourselves. Lucas, and Philip.]
“Yeah.”
[Once Philip locates it, Lucas assists from nearby. You two handle exterior, the four of us interior—you two enter.]
So Philip was my partner for this second exam phase.
Truth be told, I’d prefer sticking with Chelringen the whole time, but I understood his decision. No better option to pair with Philip.
“Got it.”
“Wait, hold on, why me with him….”
Philip said with a look of disbelief.
But Chelringen was already instructing the others, ignoring him.
‘Why do you think?’
Better to pair him with someone who’d already asserted dominance, given his shady record.
Couldn’t risk Melvin, and not Philip’s friend either—who knew what those two might pull.
Pairing with Class 1-A’s Ainsidel would be a gamble with no data.
In short, Philip would alternate between me and Chelringen from here on. Troublemakers needed close supervision.
I smiled at Philip standing beside me.
“First time partnering up with you. Let’s do well.”
“……”
Philip just furrowed his brow silently.
By then, Chelringen’s briefing ended, and the countdown began.
[3, 2, 1. Begin.]
Beep—
The exam start tone blared alongside the wince-inducing alarm.
[Citizens of Kreuzberg, this is an announcement. A rampage has been reported at coordinates 12:333:718. Citizens, please maintain order and promptly evacuate to open areas free of black smoke or to shelters.]
Never got fully used to that alert.
I plugged the coordinates into the formula I knew and snapped my fingers.
Melvin and Class 1-A’s Ainsidel, handling the exterior, were enveloping the entire building in mana.
Since Philip hadn’t entered yet, I tapped his shoulder lightly.
“Philip.”
“…!”
He practically jumped and turned to me.
“…….”
What’s with that…
Ignoring the reaction, I led him through the main entrance and cast soundproofing synced to our movement speed.
The Vitriol orbs inside the building made no sound.
They knew getting caught meant death.
Reacting instinctively rather than calculating showed their threat level was no joke.
The moment we entered, Philip leaned against the visible wall nearby, focusing his senses, and whispered.
“Not on the first floor.”
[Copy. We’re waiting by the back entrance—report position immediately when found. Sealing the building now.]
No escape now. Exterior blocked even the windows.
We soundproofed as we swept from the second floor to the third.
His ability was definitely useful.
Even concentrating mana in my ears made it hard to detect lifeforms inside rooms, but he’d focus for about five seconds and bolt upward.
‘Wasting that ability on causing trouble all this time.’
Perfect for mischief, though.
No wonder finding ley lines was the most practical use for it…
Then, on the top floor stairwell, Philip leaned against the wall and grimaced.
“Fifth floor, right stairwell room from main entrance.”
[Got it.]
Now Yulia and her partner would head there.
To decide timing offset with them, we needed the rampager’s power level and current expansion.
Philip moved to dash ahead first, so I grabbed his shoulder.
“Wait….”
“Gah…!”
I clamped his mouth shut.
“Hey… no, Philip.”
“……”
“Even with soundproofing, yelling’s no good, right? Vibrations travel through the floor.”
“Y-Yeah.”
“Calm down.”
I soothed him simply and got to what I’d meant to say.
And so, the first practice run ended reasonably successfully.
“Wow, recommended clear time twenty minutes, and we did it in fifteen…!”
Melvin grinned, unable to hide his excitement.
The result itself wasn’t bad.
‘Am I imagining it?’
Well, another run would tell.
Thirty minutes later.
Boom—!
As I fired a spell at the target, I saw Philip flinch hard from the opposite side.
Team members nearby stared at Philip instead of the target.
“…….”
Of course, it still ended without major issues this time.
Beep—
[Exam end.]
“Hmm, challenged a thirty-minute one and cleared in twenty-five.”
“Our teamwork is seriously clicking…!”
Melvin had thought the team comp was the worst, but with consistent good results, he seemed satisfied.
But not me.
‘I thought this lineup would be problem-free.’
No sign of the issues I’d anticipated.
Like Philip causing an incident.
But he wasn’t causing incidents—yet he spasmed like this every time I looked at him…
‘Is he messing with me?’
Did I look like I was going to eat him or something?
No doubt he saw me as a vampire like Adelbert a few days ago.
Probably listed under Pleroma’s攻略 stages.
With that kind of grit, he’d bullied me fine in freshman year. Back then, I must’ve just seemed like a helpless wimp who couldn’t do a thing, so nothing scary.
“A bit regrettable, but we’ve got two weeks left—let’s refine it step by step.”
Chelringen said, looking around at the students.
“Good work, everyone. Reserved the grounds for tonight too, so rest up and we’ll go again later.”
“See you then.”
The team members exchanged brief greetings and left the training grounds.
Philip, drained from all the startling, shuffled out with slumped shoulders.
Or tried to.
Boom—!
I magically yanked the training ground door shut and locked it.
“…?!”
“Philip.”
Chelringen had said to refine gradually, but problems needed fixing ASAP.
I gave the blood-drained Philip the gentlest smile I could muster.
“Shall we talk?”