Chapter 366
Chapter 366
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 366
Chapter Title: How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magical Noble Family
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"Hands up."
To think I'd hear such a clichéd line right here in person. Ismailov obediently raised both hands. The book thudded to the floor as a result. My ears were starting to hurt from the still-beeping artifact and the identical alarm from the receiver Albertina Hohenzollern had brought. Squinting, I waved my hand.
"Nothing happened, seniors. Seems like there's a problem with the artifact."
Narke, who had been staring at us in bewilderment, gradually hardened his expression before settling back into the blank look I'd seen that morning.
"A problem with the artifact? No way."
"Let me check it out, Sir Ismailov."
Albertina Hohenzollern approached him and jabbed her finger right above the artifact hanging around Ismailov's neck. It hurt just watching, all the way to my own throat. Ismailov opened his mouth slightly for a moment but didn't make a sound. Albertina Hohenzollern stepped back with an expression like she'd seen every bizarre sight under the sun.
"No error. It's really racing."
"...?"
No error? Then why? I stared at Ismailov, who was just gazing into space. Albertina Hohenzollern pointed at him and asked.
"Sir Ascanien. What did this man just do?"
"He was about to read Augustine's book, so I checked the title for him."
"......"
Everyone seemed to share my thoughts, forcing awkward smiles as they looked at Ismailov. It was bound to feel off seeing someone titled the Lion of the Covenant or whatever digging into theological texts. Albertina Hohenzollern kept smiling, though it looked like her forehead vein was throbbing, and asked.
"Sir Ismailov. There's no law saying you can't read Augustine... but were you afraid we'd catch you?"
"......"
Ismailov remained utterly silent. With unusually icy Narke, Pleroma Messiah whose heart rate had spiked for no reason, and the two seniors who'd come to our rescue all right there, the silence was making me want to go home. Rubbing my forehead, I spoke up.
"...To explain a bit more, he opened it right in front of me, so he probably wasn't worried about being caught."
"Hmm, is that so? I'm puzzled why it suddenly triggered such a strong signal. The checkup showed no issues with its function."
"I don't know either... He didn't do anything but let me check the title, so I can't pinpoint the cause."
While the 91st Class Representative mage and I puzzled over Ismailov's heart rate, Mecklenburg and Narke exchanged glances. Their expressions looked subtly similar.
"Got it. Good thing we have warp permission. We'll head out for now."
Mecklenburg had overheard the entire interrogation of Ismailov, so he glanced at him with even more wariness than Albertina Hohenzollern before vanishing. Once both mages were gone, Narke shot up from his chair and closed in on Ismailov. He glared at him and spat.
"Get a grip."
"......"
"Go home. I'll assign a mage to stick by your side."
Without waiting for a reply—as if he'd already predicted Ismailov's silence—he let out a long breath and warped away with him somewhere. Narke returned soon after, smiling.
"Lucas."
"You're not planning to keep sending him off forever, right? Still, he should stay within monitoring distance so if something blows up, we don't take the hit."
"True, but."
Narke approached me. The fading sunlight pierced his irises transparently.
"You're right that you have to look after Ismailov, and I get that you're putting up with this to test your hypothesis and gather info. But you don't have to endure everything."
"Of course."
Had I ever really endured anything to begin with? If he'd followed me somewhere he shouldn't have, I'd have shaken him off, and honestly, he hadn't done much besides trailing me like a puppy. I leaned against the wall casually, arms crossed, and looked at him.
"Got it. While I'm at it, let's talk."
Narke raised an eyebrow.
"Foresight aside, which I can accept. Any chance I could learn why you're not using your precognition?"
I didn't know exactly what abilities he was using, where, or how much. I could only guess. He seemed either not to use his powers on events Ismailov would cause, or if he did, he wasn't telling us what futures he'd seen. Narke just looked at me without opening his mouth.
"I just want to help you. My question might sound rude. If so, sorry."
Narke waved it off and hesitated before speaking.
"Sorry, I can't use my powers right now. At least I have to manage somehow."
"Thanks for answering. So... I still don't get why you're not using them. Is it worse than dying to talk about?"
Worried he'd feel too burdened, I asked with a faint smile. Narke looked at me and slowly dragged out his words.
"...I don't know."
There was no leisure or amusement in his tone. It wasn't the casual, slanted-eyebrow, polite-smile voice he used when insight and foresight failed and he said he had no idea what came next. So, based purely on what reached me, right now he truly didn't know if telling me the truth was worse than dying.
Narke pressed his eyelids and exhaled.
"Sorry."
"No. I didn't mean to pressure you—I'm the one who's sorry."
I'd never left intel solely to him. Even if he couldn't tell us anything... Honestly, it was a situation where I should press him, but when he put it like this, grilling a friend to the end wasn't easy. Considering all the help he'd given us so far and the time we'd spent together, yeah. Of course, I wasn't planning to summon Narke out of the blue during an interrogation like I had with Gabriele Caetani, but still. I deliberately cleared my mind and kept smiling.
"For now, got it. Soon, Leo and I plan to pool what we've each learned. If you're okay with it, let's talk then."
Narke hesitated briefly, so I quickly added.
"Just share what you can. I can't reveal all my inference bases to you guys either, or every guess I make."
"Alright. In that case."
Even though I'd said I couldn't explain everything I'd learned, he didn't question it at all. I nodded and enjoyed the Ismailov-free time. It was a good chance to learn how much of a prankster Narke could be. Lying on the dusty archive floor against my will, I gazed at the chandelier on the ceiling and muttered.
"You're a teenager too, huh."
"Haha, am I?"
"Gonna have to tone it down with you from now on."
"Why~"
Narke, who'd been resting his chin on his arm across my stomach, shifted his weight to his elbow and sat up. Before my guts got squished, I had no choice but to shove him off. I jumped up, straightened my clothes, and headed for the dining hall.
And so, I finished my first meal at Nymphenburg Palace, satisfactorily wiping my mouth. My friends had been a bit quieter due to the Ismailov fallout, but by the end of the meal, things were back to normal. Cheringen, seeing Narke glued to my side, remarked.
"Lucas is hanging with Narke all day today?"
"Yeah, it turned out that way. Nice eating with you all. Now off to feed Ismailov."
At that, Elias, who'd been coolly stoic the whole time, snorted.
"Does he know Lucas talks about him like that?"
"What's wrong with it."
"Like a dog."
"......"
If I'd thought about it, I'd have guessed something like "like mom or dad," but these nobles probably never had parents fussing over their meals, so that answer didn't come up. Even back when I lived in the 21st century, my parents rarely handled my food, but universal sentiments exist, so "parents" feels more natural here. I let out a hollow laugh and replied.
"At least I should check if the guard mages fed him."
"Then I'll come too. That guy's hair color bugs me—it's weirdly like mine."
"Me too."
Elias and Heike said. Hair color annoyance—what kind of logic was that? But Elias wasn't seriously using that as the reason. Just then, Narke, who'd been chuckling silently beside us, shot down his words sharply.
"Heike can't."
* * *
"Why?"
I was the first to break the silence among the three. Narke answered wordlessly as we headed up to Ismailov's floor.
"Heike needs to be kept separate especially. You too, actually... Anyway, you, me, and Heike should stay as far from Ismailov as possible."
So why not? I swallowed the words rising to my throat and said something else.
"But you're sticking to me even without monitoring duty. Ends up all three of us together anyway."
"Right! Why do you guys play just the two of you all day? I wanted to deploy with you too!"
Elias, following behind, threw his arms over mine and Narke's shoulders, grumbling. Narke smiled at Elias, then tilted his head at me.
"So, hate it?"
"...Not hate."
Just not used to it. That of all people, Narke, wanted to spend every moment together except bathroom breaks. At my curt reply, Narke beamed. We reached the floor with Ismailov's guarded room, where two mages stood by the door.
"Came for mealtime. How's he doing?"
"He's fine, no issues. But we delivered dinner 30 minutes ago, and no word that he ate it all."
"I see. I'll check in."
The mage dismantled the security spells and stepped back. I took a deep breath, grabbed the handle, and pushed the door open.
"......"
Ismailov hadn't touched his meal. Sitting on the sofa, he looked at me expressionlessly. And then...
Beep beep beep—
I froze at the piercing shrill. I could see Elias and Narke halting beside me.
'...Again.'
Again why? Someone popped up at the warp point at the hall's end, and soon something like Mecklenburg gripped my shoulder. Albertina Hohenzollern's presence was right beside him.
"......"
Staring into Ismailov's pale blue eyes, I snorted and replied.
"Looks like a malfunction after all, seniors."
"I said it's not."
"To me, it is."
Mecklenburg ignored me, frowning as he asked.
"Did you fight or something? You're around the same age..."
"Would we? We barely even talk."
"...Right. If nothing's wrong, we'll go."
"Wait a sec, seniors. Why do you think Ismailov's acting up?"
"......"
Mecklenburg narrowed his eyes and clamped his mouth shut. He seemed to draw a total blank. He kept brushing back the hair falling over his eyes, just scanning the room. I spoke to him clearly, word by word.
"My take is his aggression spikes every time he sees me. Definitely wasn't like that at first... Must've started after I checked the book title, building hostility."
It was a bit ambiguous. Ismailov didn't seem mad at me, but it was the most logical explanation right now.
"Hmm... Could be."
"This can't go on. Please retract the decision and swap me out immediately."
"I'll mention it. Two identical safety issues in a row—can't just ignore that."
Mecklenburg answered with an oddly vague face, then entered Ismailov's room with Albertina Hohenzollern. I glanced down at Ismailov, who was staring blankly at me, shook my head, and left the room.
It was nearly 8 already. A more peaceful day than expected—minus the two minor incidents—was drawing to a close.
My room was two floors down, right by the stairs. I unlocked the door with the key I'd gotten ahead of time, let out a hollow laugh, and turned around.
"What?"
"Eung~?"
Narke, slinging a bag stuffed with stuff, had his eyes sparkling. Elias had come empty-handed with the same expression.
"You're following me to my room?"
"Ah, Elias probably not, but I'm sleeping here too."
"No way."
"For real~"
"Why?! It's been ages since I had alone time...!"
I bit my lip and clutched my head. No matter what I said, Narke grinned, shoved me into the room, and replied innocently.
"When else would we goof off if not now~"
"Hey, should I crash here too, guys?!"
"No!"
I firmly shut down Elias's reckless question and grabbed Narke.
"This won't do, Narke. I need my privacy now too."
"I already know everything in your head anyway."
"...!"
My blood pressure shot up; I clutched my nape, and Narke waved his hands.
"Kidding. If privacy's that big a deal, why didn't you guard it sooner? Why not stop it then?"
Leo, huh? Headache. I quickly explained.
"That was... He's basically the lord of this country—how could I push back? He already knows I'm in Bavaria, so he'd find out wherever I went. And honestly, he prefers being alone. It was consideration so no incidents target me again."
"Yeah, sure. Show me that patience too."
"......"
Right... In a way, same motive. I shook my head, shrugged, and flopped face-down on the bed. Elias stood by the headboard, smiling—for some reason I couldn't fathom, probably just eye contact—watching me. Narke kindly removed my shoes and pushed my legs fully onto the bed.
"You can do it, right?"
"Why decide for me. No patience to spare."
"You have~"
I let out a hollow laugh and a deep sigh. Fine, maybe better than Leo.
For the next three hours, we gathered every newspaper on international affairs and debated. Yeah, this was way more familiar fun with Narke. The flow broke around 11 when someone knocked on my door.
Knock knock—
"Lucas."
Leo opened the door without waiting.
'Ugh.'
Even after switching rooms, seeing this face again made me wonder if I was dreaming. He tilted his head back upon seeing Narke in pajamas.
"...What?"
"What else? It's Narke."
"Haha. Wanted to try being Lucas's roommate for once."
"......"
Leo stared silently before replying curtly.
"At least I hope we agree on this."
"We will, Leo."
As the mood between Narke and Leo turned serious, Elias, sprawled on the floor, swung his feet and asked.
"What are they on about?"
"Beats me."
Despite the subtle pressure from Elias and me, they didn't answer, and Leo quickly shifted topics.
"Ismailov's not here."
"Needs some distance. Heart rate artifact glitched twice."
"Heart rate?"
"Yeah."
Leo looked like he wanted details, but I didn't feel like explaining now. Elias answered instead.
"Triggered even when there was no surprise or anything. First I'm hearing it happened twice, though."
"...I see? Anyway, I did some investigating on my way back, and there's a question for Ismailov. Is he asleep?"
"No."
"Then can we go up now? Lucas, you ask it."
I hesitated, wary of repeating the earlier scene... but would it happen a third time? Twice was plenty. Malfunction, fear, aggression—whatever. And Leo wouldn't prep useless questions, so I'd have to ask tomorrow anyway.
"Sure, why not."
I threw on my robe and stepped out. Seeing four people pile out of one room struck me as ridiculous anew, but I regained composure and headed to Ismailov's floor.
"Last check before bed."
The mages by the door stepped aside at my words. I lightly knocked and entered, greeting Ismailov on the sofa by the distant balcony.
"See you again. Eaten yet?"
Leo, entering behind me, eyed him warily.
Beep beep beep—
"......"
The same alarm blared. Leo's wand snapped forward in an instant. Ismailov merely tilted his head at the sound from his wrist, showing no other reaction. Narke's deep sigh echoed from behind.
"Again?"
Mecklenburg's voice. He and Albertina Hohenzollern rushed over, catching their breath. Despite the false alarms, they were still hurrying.
'But seriously, why?'
Why the weird reactions since earlier? Had to be a busted artifact. But hadn't Albertina Hohenzollern said it wasn't broken? Should I check his pulse myself? No. His face didn't look angry at all, but if he really was furious, I shouldn't approach. Mecklenburg, sensing the situation, spoke from behind.
"Third time. Doesn't look like he's gearing to attack anyone, but what do you think, Excellency Hohenzollern?"
"Same here. Sir Ascanien, he hasn't done anything odd since arriving? Been overbearing or...?"
"Not at all. Just asked, 'See you again. Eaten yet?' Was just a greeting."
"Then why...? If it's only in front of Sir Ascanien, it's not a health issue."
"Exactly."
"Been with him the whole time?"
"No. Just came for final check."
Elias snapped his fingers at that.
"So it's every time you enter, Lucas. All three because of you?"
"Something like that."
Silence fell. Mecklenburg let out a hollow laugh and muttered softly.
"No way."
"Nah, no way..."
What? I waited as they trailed off without elaborating, but everyone stayed quiet. I scanned every face present and finally realized what they were thinking.
"Hah... hahaha..."
Elias covered his mouth and started laughing. It was serious enough to hesitate on laughing, but he seemed to decide laughter was best, turning to punch the wall while giggling.
"...Don't laugh...! Narke!"
Narke stared at his forehead without looking at me. So that's what these people thought now? Seeing Narke avoid my gaze, I lost the nerve to face anyone else who'd been at all three scenes. Utter despair dominated my head. I desperately ignored Mecklenburg and Albertina Hohenzollern's sympathetic looks beside me and stared at the ceiling. Correction—only Albertina Hohenzollern looked sympathetic.
"Know what your face looks like?"
I nearly snapped at Mecklenburg that he had no tact, then caught myself. I swiftly removed my right glove to cool my forehead. Mecklenburg stared, then chuckled.
"Angry, huh? Cool your cheeks, not your forehead."
I nearly grabbed his collar amid his nonstop jabs but took a deep breath.
"No need to mind if you're gonna joke."
"How could I not? The Lion of the Covenant or whatever going after our Imperial Mage Association junior..."
"Enough."
"Need more thinking? Add what I heard yesterday, and it's obvious."
"You're the one with narrow thinking. Not even ancient humanity?"
"...Not calling me senior now?!"
People have instincts, and no matter how I looked, Ismailov wasn't acting like their guess. They were just bloodthirsty for a chance to tease... I rubbed my jaw and nodded.
"Got a rough idea. Seen similar cases before. Definitely not what you seniors think."
Heike. From our first meeting to every moment he'd shown me favor that day early this year, it flashed through my mind again. Heike was numb to external stimuli and lacked specific experiences—like human relations—but this guy was ignorant of nearly all experiences, a slight difference. Yet the sudden reactions, needing to deeply consider his perspective for smooth communication—similar there. Even this response.
'So what's causing this behavior?'
Simple. Probably no big reason.
My guess: he sees me as a new friend, or someone he wants to befriend. Just like Heike early this year.
"...Wait, Lucas!"
I shook off Leo grabbing me and sat on the sofa in front of where Ismailov sat.
"Let's be honest. If my guess is right, we need to address this one thing."
"......"
Ismailov looked at me with the same expression as before. I pondered long what to say to this second Heike, snapped my fingers for a soundproof spell, and began.
"First off, I can't be friends with Pleroma."
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