Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magical Noble Family
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How much time had passed?
Just hearing her voice was enough to send my emotions soaring like some lovesick fool, which could only mean I definitely hadn't taken the antidote.
On top of that, I felt strangely drained.
It was a familiar sensation. It felt just like the mana-restricting cuffs that had been placed on me when Elias and I were captured together.
"That's a bit much, don't you think?"
I muttered while staring up at the ceiling.
I'd only managed to get them off after dealing with Koffman, and now here they were again with the exact same thing—just different materials.
Someone answered from outside my line of sight.
"Compared to how you've been deceiving everyone and faking your true feelings while chasing after them all this time, which do you think is worse?"
"Let's call it a tie. More importantly..."
I turned my head to look at Genda and continued.
"You're more capable than I thought. I hadn't heard you could even use mind manipulation magic directly."
"Don't I deserve to have at least one weapon up my sleeve?"
So that's why she'd kept it hidden?
No regrets there about dosing her emotions to break down her guard.
I'd thought she carried the scent of her kind before, and seeing her now confirmed it.
*For now, I need to think this through properly.*
Strauchi and the others had been lenient in this regard too—they hadn't bound my limbs.
But something felt off. Genda Asman was at least 15 cm shorter than me.
*She must have something she's relying on.*
Was she planning to keep using that ability from earlier?
If she deployed it before I could throw a punch, I'd be out cold with no chance for a fight.
*The exit...*
As long as I didn't pass out before reaching it.
And even if I opened the door without Genda Asman's pendant, our world wouldn't unfold.
That was when I finally noticed Genda's expression.
Her face was eerily pale, almost ashen. The way she stood suggested she was half out of it.
Our eyes met, and she asked in a chilling voice.
"How long?"
"I'm not sure what you mean."
"The Vitelsbachje drug."
Now I understood why Genda looked even more shocked than before.
There was no need to voice it and make her feel even more pathetic—she'd come to meet me after deliberately taking the drug.
"......"
"You don't have to answer. It doesn't matter now. After you used me to try to kill Mr. Koffman, what could I possibly expect?"
Even if I said it was unavoidable, Genda Asman wouldn't buy it. And I wouldn't expect understanding from someone I'd used either.
Genda Asman
Favorability +9*
*...Why the hell did her favorability go up this much?*
Until the flu hit, I was just an amusing diversion for Asman, wasn't I?
Or had I misjudged her from the start?
*...If only the trait would kick in here and drop it to +6.*
Either way, if I wanted to get out of here, it'd be faster to play to her tastes.
I clutched my throbbing head and let out a sigh.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize."
Genda cut me off.
"......"
I could guess why.
Just as it was convenient for me to see 25-year-old Genda Asman as a flat villain, it was easier for her to attack me if I was a thorough con artist.
And an apology would be me admitting to using her with my own words.
*First, I need to soothe her.*
That way, even if she fed me something to plant negative emotions, the end result could still be comfortable.
I opened my mouth.
"...No matter how it started, my feelings aren't fake. If you, Asman, can't tell what state I'm in right now..."
"It's not fake, sure, but it's artificial. Emotions created by one potion and erased by another—what else would you call fake?"
Genda shook a vial filled with a transparent liquid.
*......*
The antidote.
I'd tucked it into my jacket's inner pocket, but it seemed she'd taken everything I had while sealing my mana. Looking now, my jacket was gone too.
I didn't react, but Genda promptly uncapped the vial and turned it upside down.
Splash—
"......"
"Sorry. I can't give it to you."
Genda stood, brushing the liquid away with her shoe.
She sat back down beside me again.
In the ensuing silence, I turned my head to look at her body. I spotted a hemostatic tape on her arm.
Before I could ask, she spoke.
"It worked well. I didn't want to drink until you were ready, Baizel, but... well, now I know everything, so I'll skip the apologies. That's fine, right?"
"No. Bloodsucking in a church? That's beyond the pale."
Of course, I didn't say it was beyond the pale anywhere. She should already know that without me spelling it out.
I'd expected some pushback about my actions being even more outrageous, but Asman surprisingly asked in a calm tone.
"Is it?"
"......"
"Maybe I thought the same before my resurrection. Actually, thinking back, drinking human blood wasn't even on my radar. It was the stuff of fairy tales and folktales."
She knew that well enough.
More importantly, had her indoctrination worn off? Why was she thinking so clearly?
"You think Pleroma is a crazy cult, right?"
"Yes."
"You're not with Pleroma, Baizel. No preliminary believer training or anything. You came through me to thwart Pleroma's plans. Right?"
"Spot on."
I didn't say sorry, as per Asman's wishes.
I'd never apologize for stopping Pleroma's plans in the first place.
"I thought you were sincere."
"......"
"That's why I answered your questions without suspicion."
I get it.
I knew what emotions she was feeling right now.
I knew what methods I'd chosen and that they'd lead to this outcome.
"I woke up to find everything gone. One day I open my eyes, and I'm 40 years into the future. Turns out I'm someone who died and came back to life—what's that about?"
Telling her my story in this situation...
It would just make us both uncomfortable.
Still, I listened quietly. I didn't want to invite more resentment here.
"I thought I'd found someone worth trusting in a world where I was all alone, but I made the wrong choice from the start."
There were no words to offer.
Convince her this was the best way to stop a crime?
*Yeah, that'd go over great.*
Even so, I didn't regret it.
I'd make the same choice again if I could go back.
Genda Asman's feelings mattered less to me than lives. That hadn't changed, potion or not.
"Well, you might not care about the plight of a child abductor, Baizel... I'd probably feel the same. I understand you were trying to stop Pleroma's plans."
"Now you say that?"
Think that before kidnapping people.
At the same time, I wondered why Genda Asman had been spouting such "normal" talk since earlier.
"After the connection with Mr. Koffman broke, I sensed something was off. I remember bringing the kids here for some purpose, but I can't recall what it was. How could I keep believing in Pleroma after that?"
"While we're on the topic, send them back before things escalate further."
"I already sent them back where they came from."
My tension deflated.
Just like that?
You're kidding.
*No... of course it's welcome, but...*
Sensing my bewilderment, Genda gave a faint smile.
"You were sticking by my side to stop my actions, right?"
"...Yeah."
"My head's still a mess and I don't know what's what yet, but your goal is clear to me. So... what if I don't stand with them anymore?"
Genda took my hand and overlapped it with hers, just like I used to do.
"How about it? Would that change your mind? Or am I still just a means to an end and a target?"
"......"
So... she'd sent them back to gauge my reaction, figuring that removing the reason she was a tool might make me see her properly?
She was confused by Pleroma's brainwashing, but not fully back yet.
"No."
"...I see."
"Even so, we can't continue our relationship. I'm sorry. It was my fault for being so careless."
I admitted it.
I'd charged ahead fixated on my goal, without deeply considering the feelings of those involved.
It was unavoidable, but it was natural for her to feel profound betrayal.
Genda shrugged as if she'd expected that, then spoke with a cold expression.
"That's too bad. Sorry, but I need blood."
There it was—her true colors showing at last.
I stripped the emotion from my voice as well.
"If you plan to return to society, you'll have to quit those activities."
"No."
Genda continued with an icy face.
"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't go back."
With those words, my consciousness faded once more.
* * *
*Good grief... unbelievable.*
Was Strauchi one up on her for not drinking blood?
A day had passed in this place's time, and now my vision was spinning.
This body was already low on stamina, so why not just drain me to the marrow?
I'd tried using force just in case, but it failed every time. Whether it was from drinking my blood or not, her skills were improving.
Retry didn't even activate.
It made sense. To prevent this, I'd have needed to go back two weeks and never meet Genda Asman.
I shook my bluish left arm and spoke.
"Enough already. Let's negotiate."
"Go ahead. I'll hear you out."
"If you let me go, I'll let you draw blood every day. As long as you give me time to recover, you can decide the amount."
"What makes you think I'd trust that?"
"You don't?"
Genda burst out laughing.
"I do."
She continued right away.
"As long as not all the trust you've shown so far was manufactured by potions. Of course, I think it's fine. You've dosed me with them targeting me multiple times already, so no qualms about more."
"Scary words."
From what I could tell, she meant she'd drug me and drain my blood like this.
Genda sat in front of me holding an unfamiliar potion vial.
"You must be tired, so let's make it pleasant."
"How many stages?"
I eyed the vial in her hand.
"If you know that well, you know it hurts, right?"
"Now?"
"Double 10th stage. Ever tried it?"
No way. I'd be done for if I drank that.
I checked my status window.
Six hours had passed in real time.
*Leo and Elias...*
They probably hadn't found the coordinates destruction site. Same for Nark.
What to do.
To execute my plan, I needed my mana unsealed first.
I stared at the floor, lost in thought.
*There is a way...*
It was risky, but... it was about time to head home.
Conveniently, she'd brought the perfect materials.
I looked up and opened my mouth.
"...Yeah, give it to me.