Chapter 258
Chapter 258
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 258
Chapter Title: How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magical Noble Family
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Leo scanned the room. Everyone was waiting for him to continue.
“First off, as for the idea of the Hohenzollerns and the Ascaniens joining hands, I’d actually encourage it wholeheartedly. Prussia needs allies right now. Bavaria has been actively sharing intelligence with Prussia and striving to maintain friendly relations, but given the power dynamics between the two nations, Prussia can’t easily grasp Bavaria’s hand.”
Accepting Bavaria’s help would diminish Prussia’s influence. It could threaten their position as the hegemon of the Empire.
This incident had been resolved through the collaboration between Lucas Ascanien and Bavaria. Therefore, if the credit was leveraged properly, Bavaria could seize the opportunity to rise to an equal footing with Prussia. As a Catholic nation backed by the Papal Court, Bavaria might even surpass that.
However, the backlash from Prussia that would inevitably follow would inflict massive damage on the Empire. From the start, that notion of equality was nothing but a shiny apricot pit. Such peace could never last. We had already watched the power struggle between the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor drag on tediously for centuries. When there are two hegemons, one must inevitably crush the other to climb higher, or be crushed and fall. Two suns cannot share the same sky. That is power.
In that process, Prussia would bare its teeth desperately to avoid falling. In the worst case, they would even contemplate mutual destruction with Bavaria.
“If we don’t want radical shifts in power to spark rivers of blood and widespread unrest, we must give Prussia a chance to recover.”
“Hmm.”
At Leo’s words, the king stroked his chin thoughtfully. It wasn’t a rebuttal, but the topic required further explanation.
“Prussia professes enlightened absolutism, but to maintain the unified Empire, they’ve been carrying out severe internal repression, pushing their subjects’ patience to the breaking point.”
The press outlets they control have never aired any reports of the repression—instead branding dissenting subjects as evildoers—which has prevented open revolt so far. Portraying reform-seeking subjects as criminal gangs has proven highly effective at fooling the majority. But everything has an end.
“The people of our era, who have set foot on the path of enlightenment, are no longer the subjects of old.”
They had endured as much as they could. Absolutism was doomed to self-destruct, and Bavaria could seize power without chasing hasty gains or shouldering unnecessary risks.
Everyone understood that was the thrust of Leo’s point. There were slight differences in their individual opinions, but with a continental crisis unfolding, minimizing risks was the sound choice—and no one disagreed. The ministers nodded.
Leo took a breath and thought.
He had no idea what conclusion the Hohenzollerns had reached regarding self-destruction.
The Wittelsbachs’ conclusion was this: They would concede some opportunity to Prussia, while ensuring they didn’t get greedy.
Now it was time to persuade Bavaria of the Wittelsbach view.
Leo met the eyes of everyone seated one by one and spoke. He hadn’t glanced at his notes in ages.
“The entities that resolved this terrorist incident can be broadly divided into two: Lucas Ascanien, and the Bavarian government—the Papal Court. As you know, Bavaria obtained aid from the Papal Court to supply Prussia with double-space magic disassembly techniques and purification magic.”
At the scene, I had sought out the Minister of Magic with the catacombs’ double-space magic disassembly method.
The catacombs’ mages had been temporarily incorporated into the Bavarian royal household.
We couldn’t invade Berlin and Brandenburg with royal mages leading the way, so from there, we needed Prussia’s permission.
In that process, they hadn’t inquired about the source of the technology, but now that the incident was over and the unrest had subsided, Prussia would surely question Bavaria’s techniques.
That was why the Papal Court’s name had been invoked.
We absolutely could not reveal that the double-space magic disassembly tech originated from the catacombs.
Doing so would lead to the catacombs’ annihilation, and Bavaria wouldn’t be safe either, having allied with what Friedrich Hohenzollern had designated as a “cleanup target.”
On this point, Lucas and I—and ultimately the catacombs’ leadership—had decided to join hands with the Papal Court. We laundered the origins of the double-space disassembly method and reverse double-space disassembly method as coming not from the catacombs, but from Papal scholars.
‘Of course, that means the catacombs loses out on their interests.’
To compensate, we and the catacombs leadership identified several catacombs magic scholars who were believers affiliated with Bavaria’s Munich-Freising Archdiocese. The leadership selected one who was actually a Munich-Freising cleric as the representative, and we immediately contacted the Papal Court.
The scenario was set like this.
‘We discovered evidence that Phleroma’s new technology had leaked to the catacombs. We don’t know when that magic might be used, but if it threatens people’s safety, we must share the disassembly method with the state. There are two problems: If we disguise ourselves as Imperial mages, the catacombs’ proprietary tech could be seized; but revealing our catacombs affiliation means we can’t survive.’
The fact that double-space magic in the wrong hands could cause massive damage was proven by its nature: an impregnable space magic that wouldn’t be attacked unless overwhelmed by superior spells.
Of course, without seeing the magic firsthand, it wouldn’t be easy to grasp. Thus, Naruke provided major help in convincing the Papal Court of the proposal’s necessity.
As a result, the Papal Court secretly ordained the scholar sent by the catacombs as a cardinal. They framed this courtesy as a means to “overcome transnational calamities and counter Prussia’s unjust oppression of commoner mages.”
“The mere fact that we solved a problem Prussia couldn’t gives them ample reason to view us warily. Prussia will try to prevent Bavaria from gaining further support from Imperial subjects. In the end, a third party—neither Bavaria nor the Papal Court—must emerge as Prussia’s collaborator.”
Leo continued.
“And conveniently, the one who ended this terrorism is Lucas ‘Ascanien.’ He’s the younger brother of Adrian Ascanien, the Vice Minister of Magic, and a mage directly selected by the Imperial court. Anhalt, a pro-Prussian Protestant state on the surface, is a natural ally for the Hohenzollerns.”
“Hmm.”
“If they join hands, the Imperial government will announce something like this: Anhalt is loyal to Prussia, and Lucas Ascanien is a faithful servant of the Hohenzollerns. The Hohenzollerns fully trusted such a Lucas Ascanien, relying on him to resolve Pentaron’s issues up to now, and this time, they actively accommodated his ‘request’ to resolve the unforeseen terrorism alongside Anhalt.”
There was a bit of falsehood, but it was solid enough. After all, the Empire—from the contaminated rat terrorism to the mana lamp incidents—had relied on Lucas’s power to reach this moment. In reality, the government—the crown prince—had trusted Lucas and even created a seat for him in a meeting he shouldn’t have attended by principle.
Grounded in facts, the Wittelsbachs could stomach this much.
“On the other hand, if Prussia joins hands with ‘Lucas Ascanien.’”
More precisely, if Prussia tried to forcibly seize Lucas Ascanien’s hand by borrowing the power of Adrian Ascanien or Georg Ascanien.
“…They’ll announce this: Lucas Ascanien collaborated with the Imperial government to achieve results. In other words, the government didn’t helplessly summon the choir to deceive the people without a plan; collaboration with Lucas Ascanien had been prepared in advance, and they deliberately misled the public to calm them until he was ready.”
He couldn’t tell these people that Lucas was Nikolaus.
Thus, he couldn’t say they couldn’t simply hand over Lucas’s achievements. ‘Lucas Ascanien’s’ credit was closer to the court’s, so no one here would agree with Leo anyway.
But this point had to be conveyed.
“We cannot allow ‘Lucas Ascanien’ to be co-opted. Doing so would give the court a weapon to attack Bavaria. Our government had a solution in Lucas Ascanien. So how was Bavaria able to swoop in late, disassemble the double-space and reverse double-space magic, and clean up the terrorism? Doesn’t that mean Bavaria foresaw the terrorism and prepared a solution in advance? …Then why didn’t they tell our government beforehand that they had a way to resolve it?”
The high officials nodded with displeased looks. Not aimed at Leo, but because his words held real plausibility.
Leo continued at a measured pace.
“Bavaria knew a terrorist attack was coming in advance to undermine Prussia’s influence, yet kept silent. Instead, they secured the technology to show themselves stopping it. Now, Bavaria will be branded terrorists despite working for the Empire’s peace.”
The king listened with a calm expression. Some officials’ faces hardened. They had suspected as much before this meeting, so it wasn’t far-fetched. That made the tension sharper.
“Therefore, the part where Lucas Ascanien ‘directly’ requested help from Bavaria and the Papal Court to resolve this incident cannot be yielded to the Imperial government’s lies.”
“Very well.”
At the king’s words, Leo nodded gratefully and spoke.
“The Hohenzollerns have already contacted Adrian Ascanien in the Papal States, demanding the Ascanien family’s cooperation. Soon, they’ll issue an official statement with Anhalt. Bavaria must preemptively reveal its collaborative relationship with Lucas Ascanien. That concludes my report.”
“How do you plan to reveal it?”
It was the prime minister’s question.
“What I’m about to say is still at the verbal agreement stage. The ministers can review it now.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
The ministers replied briefly.
To avoid exposing that Lucas was Nikolaus, they had to make them believe it wasn’t ‘Leonard Wittelsbach’s’ power at work, but ‘Eschet’s.’ Therefore…
“Our kingdom and the Grand Duchy of Baden will directly rescue Lucas Ascanien.”
* * *
“I’m here!”
The archbishop spread his arms before me.
It was now the seventh day I’d been staying here. The fifth day since I’d started acting according to my resolve.
I knew exactly what he wanted. I lightly hugged his shoulders. The archbishop smiled and asked.
“Did you rest well?”
“Of course.”
My resolve to play along with his whims remained firm. I was gradually ramping up the acting intensity each day.
Today, since I held on a bit longer than usual, he raised an eyebrow and said.
“You took that medicine, didn’t you?”
“No. I didn’t.”
My stomach was churning because I hadn’t.
Now I realized that emotion-manipulating drug had the effect of calming my mental state. Acting stone-cold sober was… Of course, acting required a clear head, but it felt like something was crawling up my throat.
The archbishop handed his hat and muffler to a servant and asked me.
“Did you talk to the staff at all today?”
“No. Who would I talk to?”
“Ah, must’ve been boring all day.”
The archbishop furrowed his brow slightly.
My response was acting—though what wasn’t acting these days—but truthfully, there’d been no chance anyway. The servants were busy working, and my valet, Lu Barr, had been away the whole time.
The archbishop had been here less than five minutes and already seemed in a rush, leading me toward what we’d used as a strategy room while saying.
“Come on, I have something to tell you today, so let’s quickly sort the intel first. Then…”
“Wait a sec.”
“Yes?”
“How many hours this time?”
It was an unfamiliar question from me, so the archbishop tilted his head.
“…Who knows. Three hours?”
“Three hours? That’s too short.”
The archbishop’s eyes wavered. He quickly composed himself and smiled.
“…I never thought I’d hear that from you. Still, we have to hurry.”
“Can’t you stay longer? I need to investigate more this time.”
“Yes?”
The archbishop looked up at me in surprise. He was smiling faintly, but the shock dominated.
He’d think: I need to find the Bishop of Osnabrück and kill him as soon as possible—what’s this? Sure enough, his face screamed that my resolve had already crumbled.
Then, as if realizing something, he said.
“…Ah, it’s already been a week for you here. How many days was I gone this time?”
“Two days.”
“…Ugh, I thought it’d been less than three hours…”
“That’s not okay either.”
“The coordinate system must be collapsing further. It’s probably down to an hour and a half now, not two. I’ll order reinforcements to hold it at the one-hour mark.”
Then he stared at me and muttered.
“Anyway, leaving you alone like this doesn’t seem so bad.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Being alone must be boring, huh.”
I nodded with a look that said, isn’t it obvious?
“Stay a bit longer. Even twelve hours here is just thirty minutes there.”
“Shall I?”
As soon as he replied, I smiled faintly, took his hand, and said.
“It’s nothing big, but there’s something I want to do together when you come.”
“What?”
“Let’s take a walk.”
* * *
“…It’s working well. Time was the answer, huh.”
“What?”
I turned around, pretending not to catch the archbishop’s mutter. A step behind, walking by the lake—he’d insisted—he shrugged and smiled.
“What did you do while I was gone?”
“Read books?”
“That’s it?”
“What else is there?”
This time, I answered plainly, true to my nature, without acting, but he didn’t mind at all and just laughed.
“Want to eat after the walk? I feel like I just ate, so I’m not hungry, but you must be due for breakfast now.”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
After that, no one said much.
I asked quietly.
“Did you know? I don’t even know your name.”
“…….”
“I don’t know your exact position in Phleroma either.”
“…….”
“Tell me now.”
He didn’t answer.
Why ask this suddenly? Why keep playing along with him?
Because it was time to end this. I couldn’t stay here forever.
Anyway, back to the point: I’d seen his name via status window, but he’d never said it himself. Whether he was pondering which name—true or flesh—to reveal, or for another reason, I didn’t know.
He slowly opened his mouth.
“I’ve found where that Bishop of Osnabrück is.”
I whipped around the moment he said it.
Seeing my expression, he laughed.
“Why so surprised? Is there anything my abilities can’t uncover?”
“Yeah, there is.”
“Haha.”
He laughed it off and looked at me.
“You’ve waited so long. Now you can be free. Soon, we’ll be able to roam your world or Phleroma’s more freely.”
“…….”
I stared at him silently, waiting for more.
“In three hours, I’ll attack the Bishop of Osnabrück with the other Phleromas.”
“By yourself?”
“Yeah.”
“Let me go with you.”
“You know that’s not possible.”
Of course.
Strategically speaking, I’d only be a liability to the allies.
I deliberately asked in a subdued voice.
“You can come back, right?”
“I have to.”
“…….”
Even as my face twisted, he showed no agitation. He just spoke calmly.
“This might sound sudden, but I have to say it. Two days before I leave, I want to hold an engagement ceremony.”
I pointed at myself. Sure enough, he nodded.
Yeah, me. Who else? Exactly.
I finished my long-practiced denial of reality and silently held up the ring.
He’d already handled the engagement gifts—what more? Even in favorite acting roles, this piqued basic human curiosity.
He caught on instantly and laughed.
“I want more certainty.”
“You said something similar before. I haven’t taken the antidote since, just like you wanted.”
“Right. Let me put it this way.”
He took my other hand, now holding both.
A faint smile graced his face.
“I’ll live on until this land turns to cosmic dust. I’ll watch countless nations fall and rise, see countless people return to dust, then new generations sprout from that dust, and the next from them, only to return again. In that time, much may grow numb.”
His eyes drifted past me. He gazed at the dim dawn sky and its breeze. The rustling reeds sounded like waves.
“You know? Even when all things lose meaning, nothing remains in me; even when crushing fatigue gnaws at me repeatedly, there’s a memory I can’t forget.”
The archbishop’s eyes now met mine.
“I want to fill my memories with you. Until history loops dozens of times and the world ends, so I can recall you.”
His face flushed. His grip on my hand tightened slightly.
“And you?”
* * *
“No way.”
Elias clutched his head. Then he shouted at Leo.
“Twelve hours have passed! At this point, it’s already… a disaster, isn’t it?!”
The three of them—plus Naruke—were back in Berlin.
Everyone knew that “disaster” meant death. The two besides Elias knew the answer, but the mood kept anyone from speaking.
Finally, Leo gazed out the window and murmured softly.
“She’s not dead.”