Chapter 169
Chapter 169
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 169
Chapter Title: How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magical Noble Family
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“So, you’re saying I staged the whole thing myself.”
Alfred Winter.
I opened his status window and spoke.
At that moment, our homeroom professor waved a hand and stood from his seat.
“Professor Winter, he’s still a victim here. It won’t hurt to investigate the scene first.”
“‘Won’t hurt’... So even Professor Ron thinks there’s a chance this student is the culprit.”
“......”
Our class professor, momentarily at a loss for words, shook his head.
“I was just keeping all possibilities open. How can a fellow professor leap to conclusions like that? And didn’t Lucas say for sure that his friend was in the room with him?”
“Is that an alibi? Can you be certain it’s reliable?”
Professor Winter narrowed his eyes.
Reliable? Hardly.
My conversation with Narke was only to prevent the issue from escalating—not to put out the fire.
No one would think a single friend’s testimony could wrap up a case like this neatly. Anyone could see it was a contingency, not a solution.
And he assumed I didn’t know that. Or rather, that I hadn’t even considered it.
Right.
I had no hard evidence for my alibi. Just Narke’s word.
Our class professor raised a vein on his forehead and shouted.
“Then let’s bring that friend in here. If Lucas’s testimony holds up, Narke will say the same!”
“What about the chance they’re covering for each other? They were on the same team in the third selection round and got pretty close, didn’t they?”
“......”
Our class professor, speechless for a long stretch, finally pointed at him and glared.
“Professor Winter, you need to realize you’re being extremely rude to our class’s students.”
“Well, I’m just concerned for the safety of Imperial Academy No. 2.”
Our class professor shot him a terrifying glare before warping away.
Less than five minutes later, Narke appeared—now in his school uniform, dragged in by the professor. He looked a bit bewildered at first, but soon flashed his usual smile.
Our class professor gripped his shoulder.
“Narke. You must speak only the truth here. Can you swear it?”
Narke glanced at me and Leo, then smiled back at the professor.
“Yes. I swear in the name of Christ. I won’t speak a word of falsehood.”
“......”
The professors seated around exchanged glances. They hadn’t expected him to go this far. Neither had I.
‘...Coming from someone of a priestly family that’s produced a pope, it hits different.’
Even without knowing he was a cardinal, everyone knew what the Farnese family was famous for.
“Good. Then, from the end of training at 8 p.m. until midnight, you were with Lucas the whole time?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
He was lying boldly in the name of Christ.
Of course, if he’d answered honestly at this point, I’d have collapsed from sheer rage.
Professor Winter cut in.
“Student. You two must have gotten quite close lately?”
“We have, recently.”
“Did either of you step out at any point? To the bathroom or anything? Lucas or you.”
“......”
Several professors beside him narrowed their eyes.
He was pushing too hard. Like he’d pin it on me the moment there was even a brief gap.
But despite the discomfort, no one stopped him.
Naturally.
Who came to mind first among those who could access Pleroma on campus?
The only one getting angry here was my homeroom professor.
“I did step out once, but... well, I didn’t hear Lucas leave the room and come back.”
“I see. A short gap like that might be too much to expect. So let’s say nothing happened between 8 p.m. and midnight.”
As if to ease the other professors’ concerns, he took a step back.
“Then what about between 6 and 8 p.m., when Narke couldn’t vouch for Lucas? What do all you professors here think about that?”
“......”
Narke shot me a quick glance.
I broke the silence.
“Professor, do you know when that spell was set?”
He just shrugged instead of answering.
“Then do you know where this warp spell leads?”
“We traced the air currents. It led to Primrose Pass warp coordinates.”
“......”
I nodded.
That was enough.
Time for me to step back too.
But first, one question.
“Professor, do you think Pleroma is connected to Primrose Pass?”
Something no one knew...
I stared straight into his eyes.
“The coordinates could be anywhere. Especially a notorious crime den like Primrose Pass that’s been in the news lately—it’d benefit someone faking victimhood, wouldn’t it? Not saying the student did, just hypothesizing.”
“......”
There wasn’t a trace of acting on his face.
In other words, he had no idea what Primrose Pass was tied to.
Just extremely rude.
“I understand. You think I’m the only one at this school who could collude with Pleroma. With my odd eye color and unstable core all this time, I get why you’d suspect me.”
“Don’t you know about the murder that happened in Anhalt?”
At that, our class professor exploded.
“Professor Winter!”
Not the first time for this sort of thing.
I replied calmly.
“I can say for certain: I have no dealings with Pleroma, nor have I committed any crimes on campus.”
“I understand, but you can’t be removed from suspicion. Even if you saved Adelbert...”
Bam—!
Several professors flinched, shoulders jerking.
I gaped and turned.
This was a secret meeting known only to a few magic department professors. Who the hell barged in at this hour?
“...Right now.”
Looking like he’d just rolled out of bed, one disheveled man wildly scanned the room.
The professor who’d started surveillance on me after my brother’s letter during midterms stood at the door.
Professor Trout.
“What’s going on here?”
“Professor Trout, this is a magic department meeting. Please leave.”
The department head stood, visibly flustered.
Trout, oblivious to it all, stared wide-eyed at the professors and demanded.
“Is Lucas Ascanien being treated as a suspect? Is that right?”
“Professor Trout.”
“I won’t breathe a word of what I see here to anyone, so let me stay. If you do, I’ll tell you how word leaked out on campus and reached me. Deal?!”
What was he on about? He seemed out of it.
“It’s against regulations! This is for His Majesty’s ears only—how can an unauthorized—”
“Wait.”
Professor Winter raised a hand.
“I was wrapping up anyway. Even from the knight faculty, you’re a full professor in ‘magic’ swordsmanship, aren’t you? There must be a reason you came all this way, so let’s hear why.”
“Fine. I came to say this: What grounds do you have for framing Lucas Ascanien as the culprit?!”
“...?”
My eyes met Leo’s for a split second.
Narke looked at me in confusion too.
Professor Winter stared at him, speechless for a different reason.
“......”
“I heard everything. His Highness nearly rampaged, and Duke Elias too. And today...”
In a place that shunned class distinctions in education, the formal titles made the professors’ faces twitch.
They outranked us, so it wasn’t exactly proper.
“Whatever happened today, you’re pinning all this on Ascanien? Lucas Ascanien—have you ever accessed Pleroma?”
Before I could answer, Trout gripped my shoulder hard.
“No matter how twisted your nature is, whether you drink blood or not, there’s no way to get that drug without Pleroma! Right?!”
“...Yes, Professor.”
“Have you ever contacted Pleroma? Yes or no.”
“......”
His voice far quieter now, I met his eyes silently.
Bloodshot veins filled them.
“Of course not. I’ve never done anything to threaten Imperial Academy No. 2 or any of its subjects.”
Trout exhaled deeply and released my shoulder.
Professor Winter, who’d been watching disapprovingly, cut in.
“Narke. When Adelbert rampaged, you weren’t the first to find him. Lucas was. Right?”
“Yes. But until I got there, Lucas hadn’t even opened the—”
“Lucas Ascanien and Narke have been conveniently linked twice now.”
“......”
“If you’re innocent, mind proving it?”
Narke’s face hardened.
Even a passing dog would know that wasn’t a request—and the method was obvious.
Narke glanced my way.
Leo looked stunned, like he couldn’t believe what he’d heard, then spoke.
“Professor.”
“That’s enough! We have reasons for not using that method ourselves.”
Before Leo could voice all his concerns, another professor shouted at him.
Narke spoke calmly.
“Professor. You didn’t interrogate the entire faculty this way... because using an underage student’s ability publicly for the school raises too many issues, right? Though that’s just the surface reason.”
Narke continued.
“You worry about me extracting info from your heads, but it’s fine to use his ability on a student?”
“It’s just a request.”
“You didn’t ask Lucas. Isn’t that beyond your authority to request?”
“No. Do it.”
Narke whipped around, eyes wide.
‘It’s fine.’
Having to prove innocence as the victim sucked, but whatever.
It was what I wanted.
Trout, still standing there dazed like a loose screw, peered at me and growled.
“Lucas. It has to be the truth.”
“He says it’s fine. If innocent, better to prove it quick and be done.”
“......”
A smile of inscrutable intent crossed Narke’s face.
‘He’s pissed.’
Not easy for a noble-born to take orders.
With that thought, Narke approached slowly and murmured.
“...It’s not like that.”
“What?”
“First time, so I’ll start small and build up.”
Ignoring my question, he placed a hand on my forehead hesitantly and chanted.
—Enter through the narrow gate.
My vision blurred sharply.
It felt like drowsiness crashing over me. No—exactly like the drug from Primrose Pass. I fought madly to control my reaction.
Surprise flickered in Narke’s eyes.
He cleared his throat and chanted again.
—Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it....
—....
All sound vanished. Every sense shut down at once—no chance to even register the wrongness.
When I opened my eyes again, it was when Narke’s holy power touched my core.
He held my head just as before.
[Professor. Is that enough?]
[......]
The professor nodded reluctantly.
[We’ll send him to the hospital. For now, understood. If he used holy power and it’s clean, nothing more to say.]
The professors around looked paler than before.
One scowled.
[Professor, after pushing so hard, ‘understood for now’? Shouldn’t you apologize first!]
[Haven’t you all suspected him before? You speculated and tore into him plenty when he wasn’t around—now you...!]
As they bickered, I slowly closed and opened my eyes.
When I opened them again, it wasn’t the meeting room.
‘...Huh? What?’
What was this disorienting shift?
A dark ceiling loomed, dawn light filtering from outside. Narke’s face popped into view.
“You’re awake?”
Only then did I recognize the place.
The school infirmary.
“Why’d you bring me to the hospital?”
“Lucas.”
“What’d I say?”
No fear or wonder at my first mind-manipulation spell. None of that.
Just in case—unlikely as it was—I’d spouted nonsense or something vague?
“No, your answers were fine. But then your breathing suddenly sped up super fast~ I was shocked.”
Fine?
Good enough.
I shifted to the person beside him.
Leo sat with arms crossed, silently watching me.
Narke whispered in my ear.
“Lucas, was there really something up earlier?”
“......”
No answer, so Narke laughed brightly and whispered.
“If it’s trauma, it’s fine! A sedative and some sleep fixed you right up, yeah?”
“Yeah. But why’s he here?”
“Class rep duties. Problem?”
Leo answered curtly, then resumed silent watch.
I gave up on talking and replayed events. Silence prompted Narke.
“They’re all super hostile. First time Hohenstaufen’s been hit, so everyone’s on edge, I guess. Doesn’t make cornering someone like this okay, though...”
“It’s fine. I expected it. This is normal.”
The real culprit picked me to hide themselves.
Planning a fake criminal from the start? A worthy opponent.
Leo’s face chilled as he spoke.
“Not normal. Just the calculated right answer, Lucas.”
“Yeah.”
Sharp. Figured it out without me spelling it.
More than that, after earlier, I didn’t want a long chat with Leo.
Narke timed it perfectly with a grin.
“Still, our prof’s sending that one to the faculty disciplinary committee. Your breathing spiked right after, so he thinks it was stress from being grilled innocent. Gonna use it as evidence.”
All the same sort—fat chance it’d fly—but this worked. Good anyway.
“What about Trout?”
“......”
“Assigns surveillance one day, orders lab locks the next—why suddenly take my side?”
Narke and Leo looked just as puzzled.
Their faces clouded.
But Leo sorted his thoughts quick.
“We’ll find out today.”
Before I could ask what, Leo pulled two letters from his pocket and handed them over.
“His Majesty summons you.”
* * *
Word of the double warp spell on Imperial Academy No. 2 dorms reached the emperor’s ears right at 6 a.m.
And his decision matched my prediction.
‘Never thought I’d show up here openly like this...’
In Nikolaus’s form, no less.
The imperial coachman shouted outside the carriage.
[We’ve arrived!]
I raised the carriage window. The familiar building came into view.
Imperial Academy No. 2.
After the police bureau, I was about to vet every politician at our school for the second time.