Chapter 350
Chapter 350
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 350
Chapter Title: How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magical Noble Family
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“Now, which coordinate system are we in?”
[Bayern.]
I curled the corner of my mouth slightly at Leo’s curt reply.
We’d escaped Corvignano. Corvignano was the name of the operation to enter Pleroma Munich-Prising, and given our actions so far, it had naturally become the name we used for the Pleroma Munich-Prising coordinate system. The fact that Elias and I here had moved straight to Bayern suggested that this building with the control room was bundled together with the archbishop’s residence sector as one mass.
That meant it was time to search for the bishop.
‘Why haven’t we heard back from 98th Batch C Team on their search results?’
Hadn’t they gone to the archives ahead of time? The archives were the only place left in this coordinate system, so we should have gotten word by now that they’d found the bishop. HQ had even reached out to them.
[98th Batch C, status?]
[Still searching. Can’t move rashly because of the air.]
The air. Earlier, I’d told 91st Batch A Team and B Team to head to the control room and take measures to prevent Pleroma from escaping. From dozens of experiences, it had become common knowledge to me that occupying the control room allowed us to deploy specific spells into their air, and naturally, we had to incorporate that into our strategy. However, we’d only applied control spells against spatial magic to keep them from fleeing, not mind manipulation spells.
There were two issues with that. First, the air mixed with mind manipulation drugs—imitations of Pleroma’s own—would be inhaled by our allies too. Divine power could purge the drugs on the spot, but that required all allies to stay close to divine power mages, and if not, the purification would weaken the drug’s effect on the enemy as well: this limited our movement range, making it hard to respond flexibly to variables. Second, the moment we extracted the linked space to Bayern, that coordinate would escape the Pleroma control room’s influence, freeing all Pleroma from the airborne drugs and allowing them to fight again.
So why not have Papal mages waiting in Bayern to cast wide-area mind manipulation spells directly? Sure, that would work. But it wasn’t much different from fooling ourselves with sleight of hand, and the first issue remained a subtle flaw. That’s why we’d planned not to use mind manipulation drugs in places where most enemies could be subdued without issue by us and the Papal support mages, but to herd the bishop into one coordinate system and then deploy the drugs. With only one coordinate system left now, the archives should already have been laced with mind manipulation drugs.
‘Even with movement restrictions, they should’ve found something by now.’
The enemies were already weakened, and in that state, hiding wouldn’t be easy, so spotting them shouldn’t be hard. They were supposed to link up with the teams scheduled to confront the bishop right after discovery, but this delay...
“I’d like to stay here forever. Right?”
It was a situation that couldn’t help but feel off, so Elias’s dry mutter reached my ears. Stepping out of this building would bring us to real Bayern, and I wanted to stay too. It’d be a lie to say I didn’t long to return to that Isar River where I’d once used divine power before the King of Bayern, to feel the spring breeze there, to sit around the table at the Munich Residenz with friends and eat warm food. The past was uncertain too, but far clearer than the uncertainty of the future. Our victory might end right here and now, and we who live in the present might be the only ones smiling, unaware of it. But we couldn’t stay trapped in the past forever.
Earlier, Leo had informed HQ that our 101st Batch would move to the stronghold. It was our time to go too.
I took Elias’s hand and closed my eyes. When I opened them again, the Isar River dam stood before me. A cold wind blew in from the river, sending chills through my whole body. Once aware of the wind, I lifted my head toward the 101st Batch friends watching me. Leo, clutching his earpiece artifact to block out sound, scanned everyone and spoke softly.
“91st Batch A, 98th Batch A, and us 101st will move to the final coordinate and link up with 98th Batch C.”
“That’s a lot.”
“The other three teams are handling the remaining Pleroma in the coordinates moved to Bayern, so we’ll monitor and deploy as needed.”
We nodded. Leo paused once before urging us.
“Let’s do this right to the end.”
I smiled at Leo’s words. He quickly tapped his artifact to send the movement signal to HQ, then began counting down from 5, and we stomped our feet in unison.
Boom—
“...!”
I squinted against the fierce wind hitting my face. The grassy scent I’d grown tired of that morning stabbed at my nose. A vast plain stretched into the darkness, and I narrowed my brow at the forest beyond.
‘...This isn’t indoors.’
Not the archives. We definitely hadn’t heard anything like this from 98th Batch C Team?
[The coordinate...! We’ve arrived at a plain, not the archives.]
[—David said, the hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me the design of all these things....]
[Can you hear? Even reciting the separation incantation doesn’t take us to Bayern.]
We weren’t the only ones moving at that moment. 91st Batch A Team, dropped somewhere else, cried out in panic too. Arriving at a plain was bad enough, but not moving to Bayern? It was bewildering. Beside me, Narké tried the same spell and clutched his forehead.
The archive coordinate wasn’t something we’d obtained during strategy planning but info extracted from interrogating a Pleroma by a Papal divine power mage after arriving here. Why the need? We’d searched the university library site from the extra chapter back then, but no traces of dual coordinate systems. They’d altered coordinates in their many pre-built spaces and periodically changed entry points but kept the locations the same—except for the archives. Had they pulled something here at this stage?
Then Ulrike spoke urgently.
“Did we miscalculate the coordinate...!”
“No way.”
Leo cut him off. It was natural to suspect a miscalculation, but with 91st Batch here too, no. Possible it was wrongly transmitted, but then what about 98th Batch C Team who’d gone to the archives first?
[98th Batch C Team, where are you?!]
At 91st Batch’s question, 98th Batch C Team replied in confusion.
[...Still in the archives. As we said earlier, they’re using Kreisfürkirche St. Nikolaus as the archives. We’ve searched down to the basement, but no one’s there.]
[Recite the coordinate once.]
[Corvignano 790:347:495.]
‘It’s similar to what we memorized under the dam earlier.’
Clap—
I clapped my hands sharply as it hit me. To avoid potential clashes, we’d shifted the movement coordinate one step at a time, so even similar meant adjacent areas. Thus, this spot I’d chosen was indeed the archives. More precisely...
Boom—
More precisely, above the archives.
A roar echoed. As my brow furrowed at the amber light flashing like lightning in the dark, something warped in abruptly beside us. Mecklenburg, one hand gripping his team’s hands and the other slamming his staff down, exhaled upon seeing us.
“...Hoo.”
I’d only glimpsed him briefly during mock training, but seeing 25-year-old Mecklenburg this close felt odd. Compared to the 18-year-old who’d frozen in shock at all things Pleroma, that expression from back then was gone. Even though I’d smashed his core to summon him, he showed no defiance like glaring daggers. Not the time for that now.
He quickly tapped his artifact to communicate.
“98th Batch A, linking up with 101st at Corvignano 790:346:495. The bishops have overlaid spatial magic on the archives.”
Spatial magic overlaid on the archives’ position in the Corvignano coordinates. No bishops in the archives where 98th Batch C Team was, so the bishops had created a spatial magic layer atop the coordinate system and were fleeing there.
‘Spatial magic on this scale...’
Harder than duplicating a building. And since the Papal coordinate transfer spell didn’t work, multiple defensive barriers were up too... We’d already dismantled defenses in every control and command room.
‘Then likely a person themselves is serving as the defense function.’
Either carrying a specific artifact to produce the effect or possessing an innate ability related to spatial magic. They always sniffed out proto-human potential to turn into Pleroma, making headaches for us this way. Deploying spatial magic like this meant they’d squeezed out every last drop of stamina, but being capable of it showed immense skill.
Mecklenburg continued to the 91st Batch mage.
“Overlaying a plain over the narrow archive building stretched the distance between coordinates.”
[Boom—!]
[They overlaid spatial magic... We considered variables like this, but the space isn’t collapsing now. Plus, 98th Batch C Team, who moved minutes ahead of us, is still in the original coordinate.]
“There’s a system we don’t know about. It’s not just a temporary overlay—it’s like a solid new coordinate system, suggesting someone with spatial manipulation innate ability.”
Mecklenburg’s view matched mine.
“So we need to find the bishop group here. The spell we applied to their air was a control against Pleroma-style spatial magic. The fact that this place we’re standing on could be created means it wasn’t Pleroma methods but an individual’s innate ability.”
Right, spot on. To think Munich-Prising recruited talent like this in those 7 years—impressive. The problem was...
I tapped my artifact and spoke.
“May I say something? This means Pleroma can now move outside and call for reinforcements.”
You all know that, obviously. I swallowed those words and waited for a reply. We couldn’t spend forever analyzing; someone had to speak up.
[......]
The 91st Class Representative went silent. Meanwhile, my other ear heard HQ relaying our words to all, issuing directives. Someone gave a brief response. After deep thought, the 91st Class Representative spoke.
[Of all things, we meet again like this.]
“......”
What was that about? Leo, Mecklenburg, and I knew instantly. Leo’s head turned my way, our eyes met briefly with Mecklenburg’s. Ignoring their reactions, I listened to the 91st Class Representative.
[Fine. We’ve executed 80% of the original plan, but things have changed—we discard the old strategy. Current situation briefly: Our simultaneous infiltration and speed push forced the bishops to flit through other spaces after entering the archbishop’s residence. Those who stayed and resisted died; some fled to join comrades or escaped Pleroma’s outer world.]
“......”
[And now they’ll return here.]
“HQ’s tests prove useful at times like this.”
I replied curtly to the 91st Class Representative’s briefing. A plain—couldn’t help recalling the second test. Maybe it sounded rebellious; Mecklenburg’s eyes narrowed slightly. I scanned our surroundings and continued.
“Please issue orders, Excellency Albertina Hohenzollern. What now?”
Let’s hear it. I had no idea what strategy she’d propose, but this wasn’t the time to defy the chain of command on a whim. The enemy took a deep breath, paused in silence, then spoke slowly.
[Roles reversed. But now’s not the time to test our strategic capacity.]
Cryptic. As I pondered the meaning, the 91st Class Representative continued.
[I’ll delegate command to the 101st Batch Vice Squadron Leader.]