Chapter 93 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magical Noble Family
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As soon as we stepped outside, the investigator who had been watching from the next room opened the warp mailbox and pulled out a file.
It was the result of comparing the mana on the door to Jürgen Beck's mana.
"...This is artifact mana."
"I see."
I had expected as much.
It's a common trick to cast spells on artifacts to hide the caster's identity.
'Had they planned to send Trout to prison, they would've had to wait until the spell on his artery was safely disarmed...'
Normally, safely dismantling something like that takes three to four days.
Sometimes a week, or even longer.
This intel was plenty for me.
My brother was curious whether I could use mana or not, and he was recycling the same pawns over and over.
I straightened my clothes and asked,
"What about the confession?"
"We got it all. Thanks to you, Lord Ernst. I was worried since you can't use divine power, but it wrapped up cleanly."
"I'm glad I could help. I'll be heading back now."
Before the conversation could drag on, I left, changed my robe's color in the bathroom, and dispersed my mask with mana.
When I returned to the waiting room, the students who had been waiting for me were there.
"You're back?! What'd they say? Was it kids from another school doing shady deals?!"
"No, an outsider."
A shadow of doubt crossed the student's face at my words.
"Why would an outsider do that? No way some kids here paid them, right?"
"Not that. They said they did it to test if I could use magic."
"Huh?"
"...Ah."
Everyone fell silent.
I knew the mood would turn like this.
Everyone here knew a criminal wouldn't be curious about mana for no reason.
Whether my Pleroma traits had been exposed or not.
No matter how you looked at it, this incident was tied to that.
"Anyway, it's fine. It is what it is."
"Yeah, now they know for sure! If you could use it, the fire alarm would've gone off, right?!"
A Class 1-A student raised his voice unnecessarily, clearly wanting to change the subject as he glanced outside.
"That guy's the reason the tournament's dragging on, right? It's supposed to be over, but it feels like it's not."
"Yeah. They're probably keeping him from leaving. If they let him out now, they'd block him at the front gate."
"Ooh... As expected of a ruling family. They handle incidents differently! Feels reassuring, huh?!"
That was true, but...
His tone was even more exaggerated than usual.
Was it because the Pleroma topic had come up?
I tilted my head slightly and asked,
"You nervous?"
"N-No, what? Not at all."
The student rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"...Honestly, it pisses me off a bit. You know."
'Hmm.'
He wasn't jumping to misunderstandings anymore.
Time really was the best cure for any suspicion.
I hadn't gone out of my way to clear things up, but more allies couldn't hurt.
I gave a casual smile and replied,
"I'm not too bothered. Still, thanks."
"No need. I should be thanking you. I got a prize thanks to you! Let's get along next semester too."
The student stuck out his hand.
I shook it loosely and said,
"We'll see each other again after Christmas for training anyway?"
"Still. Don't forget our names!"
"What could I forget in three days..."
Leo, who had been listening absentmindedly, threw in a realistic comment.
Just then, someone knocked on the door from outside.
"Runner-up team, you're up!"
[Finally, the closing remarks for the Bayern 2nd Year Potion Experiment Tournament.]
* * *
"I'm off~"
The last remaining student waved and vanished.
Now there were no Class 1-A students left in the dorms.
"Go on."
I gave a brief farewell and closed the door.
The tournament and training schedules avoided Christmas and Christmas Eve, so everyone had gone home.
Truth be told, I should've gone too.
The steward had insisted—even if it meant a 14-hour train round trip—that I had to attend Christmas dinner, and he'd actually come all the way to Bayern to fetch me.
And now, he was probably writing a letter saying he couldn't take me home.
'Satisfying.'
From the start, I'd planned to hole up in the dorms on Christmas, faking all sorts of illnesses.
And the plan had worked perfectly.
Because I'd actually caught a cold.
'I knew it from the experiment when I didn't dry my hair.'
Time had been tight, sure.
I'd barely bought time with the fire alarm—where was the leisure to dry my hair?
Things felt off from dinner, and by morning, the fever had started.
Knock knock—
"Come in."
"Lucas, here."
Leo entered holding a bouquet and gifts like before, setting a letter basket by my bed.
I hadn't checked them during the past three days of tournament prep, so the letters had piled up enormously.
It was almost two weeks now, and the interest hadn't died down yet. Amazing.
"Take your medicine. I won't be back till midnight, so if there's something important, contact me."
Leo tapped my ear.
It was the improved sensory transfer artifact from the Extracurricular Defense Maneuver Squad. Leo was using it even at school until the semester ended.
As an 'extracurricular' unit, it was meant for operations outside Bayern, but given the timing, I'd been wearing mine too.
'Luckily, no reports came in.'
A relief, but also unsettling.
They weren't the type to let it slide.
It was time to reassess what those bastards were planning.
"Got it. When you come back, let's do some trend analysis, Leo."
"Yeah, about time for an update. I'll bring the papers too."
Leo waved and left.
I waited until the door fully closed, then cleared the letter basket aside.
There was something else to check first.
That morning, the Emperor's messenger had come to Nikolaus with a letter.
I examined the stiff envelope stamped with imperial mana from all sides.
A plain letter with a red wax seal on cream-colored paper.
Whether the contents were as ordinary was another matter.
[To the esteemed Lord Nikolaus Ernst]
Unfolding it released blue mana, smoothly revealing the scribe's neat handwriting.
After a brief greeting and a reminder of our last talk, the main point arrived.
[Over the past week, we luckily discovered five commoner wizards. I hope it aids your investigation, so I'm sending their interrogation records.]
"..."
They'd found commoner wizards.
Five of them?
A chill ran down my neck.
They were experts at hiding themselves, so finding even one or two in a month was tough. Five in a week?
'Just how many secret police did they deploy?'
The Emperor's resolve was no joke.
It meant he was genuinely wary of Elias's growth.
[As you know, the moment divine power or drugs are used, they forget everything about the Catacombs. For the next commoner wizards we find, we'll try only conversation. If anything useful comes up, I'll contact you again.]
'...Conversation?'
Ridiculous. They wouldn't just talk.
They'd invoke the illegality of their very existence and unleash all sorts of torture without hesitation.
I felt the different texture of three or four sheets at the back.
I could picture their fates in imperial hands—no way I could bring myself to turn the page.
'...No good.'
The fever was rising again, so I folded the Emperor's letter away and cooled my face with my cold hands.
'I need to hurry.'
I'd never planned to attend anyway, but now was no time for extra potion training.
I had to find a way into the Catacombs.
Before they caught even one more.
With enforcement ramped up, any delay might strengthen the Catacombs' defenses and make it harder to help them.
It wasn't something I could handle alone, so I'd discuss it seriously with my friends later.
For now... I'd cool my head by reading the other letters.
After poring over them and rummaging through the basket for a while, my hand grasped another thick envelope.
"..."
These were still coming?
Judging by the thickness, it was definitely from that same guy.
The first one had been a perfectly ordinary greeting, so I skipped straight to the end of the first page.
[Lord Nikolaus. I hope you always maintain this resolve. Few are willing to stake their lives to eradicate Pleroma. In a way, it might even be an honor. Living a life remembered by all is rare. Some wish to be remembered but lack the ability...]
[...The subjects must unite. We've all learned helplessness from the long Pleroma era. You've awakened our times, Lord Nikolaus.]
"..."
You could skim past this sort of thing in one or two pages, but ten? It started feeling off.
Digging further in the basket, I found two more like it.
'I should check on that investigation I requested before.'
For now, I needed to build up some strength to go out.
I nudged Pie, sprawled in the middle of the pillow, aside and lay down.
* * *
"We found three Robert Mullers in the area. But none admit to sending letters."
"Is that so?"
I came to the investigators once my fever had settled.
The investigator handed me a file and said,
"These are them. Two don't even have typewriters at home. One's not even ten yet."
"Hmm..."
The letters were typed, so it got tricky.
They might've borrowed one, but if the name was fake to begin with, typewriter or not didn't matter.
We couldn't track every person who posted a letter, so this was the best we could do.
I stood and bowed.
"Thanks. I'll come back if there's trouble."
"Yes, sir."
Then, a piercing alert blared from the artifact in my ear.
Beeeep—
"...!"
A Pleroma report filed nearby.
A voice followed, naming me and giving warp coordinates.
My condition wasn't great, but I could still cast—not that I had a choice with my name called.
I rubbed my fingers, rolling the guided coordinates.
Cold winter wind pushed under my mask.
I'd warped to the rooftop of a building not far from our dorms.
"...The report was here. Ah."
Leo, who arrived first, grimaced, turned, and raised an eyebrow at me.
His face screamed *why are you here?*, but now wasn't the time.
It was definitely the reported spot, yet nothing was here.
"D-Down here! This is the place!"
Crowds below shouted. Personnel had already arrived, sealing the entrances.
Whether real or not, I extended my wand to staff length and slammed the roof.
Boom—!
We had to do everything before the golden hour passed.
A long blood trail appeared on the previously clean rooftop, confirming a duplicated space had overlaid here.
[Lord Ernst, support personnel arriving on site.]
I set up a barrier around the building while hearing the alert, then covered for Leo.
As I opened the door and stepped back, Leo sighed shortly.
"This is bad."
In the middle of the stairs from the rooftop to the fourth floor lay a bloodied person.
"...Not in good shape. I'll take him to the hospital and come back."
"Yes."
I didn't know hospital coordinates, so Leo—who knew Bayern's warps well—had to go.
Another support alert came.
[We're here.]
"Control warps and search from first to second floor."
I sent the brief order and headed to the fourth.
Boom—!
At the hall's end, I thrust my staff forward like a wave—pure white light spread.
Holding my breath, I observed the divine power's flow, but nothing reflected back from lifeforms.
Same on the third floor.
[Nothing on first or second.]
They'd already fled, obviously.
An uneasy feeling crawled up my body.
'Let's get out first.'
The front gate would be mobbed.
I headed to the back, but even more people had gathered there than before.
The crowd was already hyped in the overheated atmosphere.
To me, this environment was a walk in the park, but apparently not to them.
'This won't do as is.'
I told a nearby investigator,
"We need to assign crowd control here. Contact headquarters. And release warp control."
"A-Ah, yes."
I looked around as I spoke.
Everyone moved without much suspicion, but the vibe was off.
They'd openly assaulted someone and just let them slip away this easily?
On festival night, Oswald and countless victims hadn't been openly attacked.
No witnesses, and the victims themselves had no memory.
'...Not their usual MO.'
Think fast.
Other agents might not know, but the Crown Prince's location was public, so committing a crime nearby would alert Leo inevitably.
And since Nikolaus was always by the Crown Prince's side, Leo's dispatch would drag me out too.
Unless they were idiots, they knew that.
So this crime wasn't aimed at civilians.
The real target... was Leo or me.
'I need to head back.'
Right now.
Hadn't I gotten another weird letter today?
As I moved my fingers to warp, something flew at my face.
Boom—!
"...!"
"Argh!"
"What?!"
A fist-sized rock hit my barrier and fell.
At that instant, the line broke—screams erupted from behind.
An unfamiliar arm yanked my waist with brute force. A wrinkled hand clutched a worn letter.
And...
...!
Stab—
Something glowing entered and left my vision.
I spun, grabbing the old man's shoulder to pry him off. But before I could, an investigator bound him with magic.
"Sir, you can't—!"
The investigator's face went pale. His eyes darted between the robe and my face.
"..."
I reached for my side. Hot liquid gushed out.
The moment I realized what it was, the crowd's screams faded from my consciousness.
'First time in a while I've...'
No, not now.
This was either Pleroma's retaliation for this incident or that letter writer's doing.
Either way, both were clear targets for elimination.
'Thanks for the attack.'
They'd prepared thoroughly, but their goal wouldn't be achieved.
I forced strength into my throat, summoning the retry spear.
"Rewind to before this time."
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