Chapter 157
Chapter 157
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 157
Chapter Title: How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magical Noble Family
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“Already?”
“Fast.”
The professor turned around and began casting a spell on the spot where the relay screen had been moments ago.
I could hear the students behind us holding their breath. Even Leo was tense, clenching his fists.
[Team 1: Leonard Wittelsbach / Yulia Cheringen / …]
“…Ah.”
‘Ah?’
A deflated sound came from beside me.
Disappointed with this lineup? It was one of the best combos, right up there with the Leo-Elias pairing from the first round.
‘They haven’t been right in the head since earlier….’
[… / Victoria Bierman / Lothar Schumann / Christoph Ehrenfels / Joachim Glaihen]
‘Hm.’
My thoughts changed.
The school was the one that wasn’t right in the head.
The four names after Cheringen were the bottom four of those who’d made it to the third round.
In order: 24th, 23rd, 22nd, and 21st place.
‘It’s not just that they lack skill—that’s not the issue at all. Why?’
Because everyone who’d made it this far was still top-tier in the entire magic department.
The real problem was that six out of these twenty-four had to be eliminated no matter what.
Unlike before, where teams had bonded for bonus points, now the students would go all out to catch the professor’s eye and climb higher in the rankings.
Especially these four, whose final qualification was still up in the air—they’d have even more incentive.
‘In other words, teamwork is bound to fall apart completely.’
On top of that, both Leo and Yulia were used to being leaders.
Forced to team up with these four dead weights who’d wreck any teamwork, they’d try not to clash with each other, but two people who’d only ever learned to lead their whole lives weren’t going to follow each other easily.
Cheringen turned to Leo with a soft smile.
“Hm, it’s been a while since we’ve been on the same team as you, Leo. Let’s do our best, class rep.”
“Please take care of me too.”
Leo replied with his usual social smile.
Once Team 1’s members confirmed, Team 2’s list started appearing.
[Team 2: Lucas Ascanien / Heike Ainsidel / Oswald Schmidt / …]
‘Same team as Ainsidel again?’
Since that day a few days ago when we’d spent the whole day together, I hadn’t made any plans with him.
Honestly, the “unconquerable” label just made me want to try harder, but I needed to rein in my curiosity. There had to be a reason he was the only one flagged that way.
That’s why I’d been minimizing contact, but now we were teamed up again.
Staring at the scrolling text with those thoughts, my eyes widened at a familiar name.
[… / Narke Farnese]
Same team as Narke.
Narke, standing next to Leo, grinned.
[Team 3: Elias Hohenzollern / Ulrike Kleist / Philip Garing / …]
‘This team’s got good luck with members.’
Ulrike Kleist was top of Class 1-A and had already been on a team with Elias in the second round.
They were bound to mesh well.
Philip’s unique ability was useful too.
[Team 4: Melvin Clokner / Florian Osterhagen / Josephine Ruon / Hildegard Blomberg / Gunter Bock / Auguste Rosenheim]
‘Hm.’
This one…
No standout aces, but five out of the six were top of the magic department.
We’d have to see how it played out, but aside from Team 1, none of the teams looked problematic so far.
‘In other words.’
The school was bound to pull something.
Team 1 was at a disadvantage like this, while the others were decent enough, but the school wouldn’t make it that convenient.
[The third exam is in two weeks, and we’ll just let you know that you should train in the fields stored in Mimesis as you’ve been doing.]
The professor said, looking us over.
[With this, the second exam is fully concluded. Once again, congratulations to all the third-round qualifiers.]
* * *
The news spread through the entire school.
Especially since first through third years had all gotten the same field, the infamy of that final one was already legendary.
Even the answer had been shared across years—on the way back to the second training ground, some first- and third-years we passed glanced at me and whispered among themselves.
“That guy’s the earth science one…”
“…….”
They’d been calling me “Pleroma” all along, and now it was “earth science”?
*Ding—!*
Favorability +1
Of course, if they were looking favorably on me, that was fine by me.
“No, but who thinks of that in that situation? Isn’t the school messing up the difficulty way too much?”
“He did.”
“He’s just one guy. Out of the six teams from first to third year that went into that field, only his team got it right—what is that if not a mistake?”
“That’s why the third-year six teams were going around gathering signatures.”
“Oh, they’re filing a protest?”
This topic kept coming up.
The shock of the Alps field had hit both participants and spectators hard.
‘Anyway, favorability’s already raking in nicely.’
The field had been a stage in its own way.
Just the pop-ups today felt like they’d hit triple digits.
I could sense my image shifting positively.
Lucas René Ascanien
Title: Sir Nicolaus
Stamina: +3.6 (+0.4) [+6.6]
Mental Strength: +3.0 (+0.9)
Mana: ?
Technique: +4.8 (+0.3) [+7.8]
Impression: -7.0 (+2.8) [-1] [+8.095]
Luck: +4.2 (+0.6)
Traits: Dawn777, Divine Power, Charm (Lv.5), Retry (Lv.1)
‘They’ve finally rounded up Sir Nicolaus’s impression score nicely.’
More than that, impression at -7.0 now?
That box was the nationwide impression score, right?
The school one was impressive too.
Probably thanks to the trait upgrades, it’d jumped from -6 to -1.
The three-digit favorability I’d gathered today must’ve helped too.
Positive territory wasn’t far off.
I entered the second training ground courtyard with the Team 6 members.
Cheringen stopped in front of the second training ground building, where she’d first appeared.
“Lucas, don’t you have to go to drama club?”
“Yeah. Right now, actually.”
“Three hours from now, right? I’ll be looking forward to it.”
“Sure…”
I gave a faint smile and replied, having given up.
‘Why are these kids so obsessed with the play?’
They’d probably always been interested; I was the one who hadn’t cared until now.
Just as I was about to tell her to go watch it already, Philip spoke up hesitantly.
“…Lucas. Thanks.”
Everyone’s eyes widened.
Even they found it awkward hearing gratitude from this prickly guy.
The story of him crying after my sparring request had spread school-wide, but hearing rumors and seeing the change firsthand were different.
“For what.”
“Just… everything. It’s basically thanks to you that I passed. If you hadn’t asked to spar that day, I would’ve bombed today for sure. And the strategy you showed today too…”
I nodded.
“No big deal. We meshed well, so we passed. I’m the one who had it easy thanks to your ability.”
Then Melvin piped up.
“Me too, Lucas…! Thanks. Must’ve been tough prepping for the exam while doing drama club—I’ll bring a ton of people to watch…!”
That much?
I wanted the opposite.
But with Melvin’s face full of determination, I put it as gently as possible.
“No, you don’t have to come. You all worked hard today—I’d rather you rest in the dorms.”
Philip shook his head.
“Nah. Gotta go. You’re the lead, right? Adults always say you celebrate stuff like this.”
“What adults? Have you ever listened to adults? Just live your life.”
“…?”
Philip’s eyes shook, utterly confused.
I patted his shoulder and said to the group.
“Gonna head out now. See you later.”
“Yeah.”
Cheringen waved with a bright smile.
I watched their backs for a moment, then turned to the student council building right next door.
Time to head to the drama club room.
‘Gotta farm some favorability.’
The moment I turned, I nearly threw a punch.
“Eek, Lucas!”
Narke stepped back with a startled laugh.
“You scared me. Why are you here?”
“Why do you think~ Come on, let’s go in.”
Narke said as he entered the student council building.
“I was hoping to be on your team for the third round, and it actually happened—I’m thrilled.”
“Yeah. But, Narke, I’ve got club rehearsal now?”
“Oh, rehearsal, of course. But we gotta set up the stage right after it ends, so shouldn’t we prep now?”
“Yeah, we should prep. But why…”
Why follow me all the way to the club room?
That’s when it hit me.
Here to grow out my hair?
“…….”
“Haha~ Sharp as ever. Come on in!”
Half-pushed into the club room, I saw a senior member who was already there stand up when he spotted me.
“Oh, I was worried you wouldn’t show, but here you are.”
“What choice do I have. But who’s this guy?”
“Oh, he’s volunteering for makeup today. We needed someone with divine power, and he stepped up, so I brought him right away!”
Volunteering even?
I turned to him demanding an explanation, and Narke launched into it eagerly, just as I wanted.
“Oh, curiosity. Didn’t quite get why, but you seemed reluctant about the role? You’re always so nonchalant~ Rare chance to see this.”
“It’s not reluctance so much as ‘why me?’”
“Same difference. Sit!”
Narke patted the chair in front of the mirror.
“If we grow it out now, when do you get a haircut? The lead’s hair gets cut mid-story—you gonna shave it too?”
A senior behind me answered.
“We hired a stylist! Don’t worry.”
“Right…. Thorough.”
Unnecessarily so…
I muttered and sat down.
At that moment, Elias warped into the club room.
‘Everyone’s showing up.’
Elias flinched at my expression, then grinned mischievously.
“Came to see Lucas in Rosalind costume! Mind if I stay?”
“Whatever.”
“Why come watch a guy get his hair grown out? You’ll see it later anyway.”
Elias cast a soundproof spell around the three of us and spoke.
“Actually, not just that.”
“What then?”
“Nah, grow it out first.”
“Okay~”
Narke chanted the divine power spell without hesitation.
Like when Leo had grown out his hair to approach Eric Asman before, my hair lengthened, covering my face.
‘This isn’t haunted, is it?’
Pushing it back with a part, I doubted my eyes.
“…….”
I looked like Georg Ascanien.
Specifically, like his portrait from his younger days.
Narke beamed innocently.
“Wow, long hair suits you way better~”
“Lucas’s family all look like they were stamped from the same mold…”
Elias chuckled from behind, despite never having seen the young portrait.
So it gave off Georg Ascanien vibes? Well, Adrian and Lucas both resembled him anyway, so sure.
But the long hair making it hit harder was definitely a problem.
‘This is too much.’
Was this okay? Nothing said Rosalind couldn’t look like this, but it didn’t match the standard image audiences expected at all.
In my view, domestic media tolerated character personality diversity as a feature, but had zero tolerance for actor visuals. Regardless of my values.
This look was completely unforgivable.
Me asking if it was okay was about demand. Who’d want this Rosalind? Who’d come see it?
“Wow, what? Lucas’s thoughts are going so fast I can’t read anything…”
“Not reading is normal…”
I replied, rubbing my forehead.
“No good. Keep using the ability and my head’ll explode. Lucas, you’re not used to long hair, huh~”
“Why’re you so worried, Lucas? It’s super cool.”
“You think it’s fine to put this Rosalind on stage?”
“Totally! Everyone said they’d come!”
“…….”
That had its own issues…
I pulled my hand from my forehead and swept back the ghostly locks.
“Done now, right? Costume later.”
“Yeah for now~ So, Elias, what’d you come to say?”
“Lucas has rehearsal soon, right? I’ll make it quick.”
Elias layered another soundproof spell and said.
“The air in my room was contaminated today. Exactly like you described.”
“…….”
I nodded.
I’d expected Philip to get hit, but even after the school learned he’d cried, he hadn’t been targeted.
At the time, I thought the culprit had botched their chance to frame me.
But soon after, Elias had his own issue.
He’d turned it into a preemptive strike opportunity, but the culprit had committed another crime even after Adelbert’s condition eased, so his response didn’t factor in.
With another person briefly shaken by negative emotions, I figured they might target Elias too.
‘Didn’t think it’d actually happen.’
Both Hohenzollerns as targets was highly suspicious.
“I think it might’ve been Primrose Path.”
“Primrose Path?”
“Yeah. Got a letter from there three days ago, right? They probably figured out who I am before that.”
“Before that—exactly when.”
“The day they attacked Adelbert, or a bit before.”
“…….”
I got what hypothesis Elias had formed.
“They see me as someone who’d commit a crime against my great-uncle’s child, so maybe they attacked my cousin to pin murder on me. To stop my investigation.”
Narke’s face grew serious as he listened quietly.
Elias continued flatly.
“And now that it’s irreversibly ruined, they’re just trying to kill me outright.”
“…….”
It wasn’t impossible, but there were holes.
If Primrose Path had powerful backers, they could target Elias.
But it’d take serious power.
No matter how much of an eyesore Elias was to the emperor, he’d pulled endless stunts to avoid getting crushed like me, and had enough influence for his due share.
“Be careful, Lucas, and Narke. That’s why I came. The students here know we’re on decent terms.”
“Got it.”
“Just be cautious, that’s all~ They’ll be too busy chasing me to mess with you guys much, but they could send threat letters or annoy you like that.”
“Yeah. Thanks for the heads-up.”
“No prob! See you after the play!”
At least he wasn’t saying, ‘Shouldn’t have dug deeper if I knew retaliation was coming.’
He could’ve died if he’d gotten properly dosed with that air.
‘The protagonist wouldn’t be that reckless.’
Of course, did I think Primrose Path was behind it? Personally, no.
But dismissing Elias’s words as nonsense was hard.
‘I’ll have to investigate separately.’
No time for deeper thought. The senior clapped from behind.
“Alright, let’s prep for the stage!”