Chapter 25 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magical Noble House
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How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magical Noble House (25)
I turned around on the spot, locked the door, and unfolded the letter.
As if my brother were holding a pen right that moment, the dark green ink written by magic slowly continued across the page.
[To my beloved little brother.]
[How have you been? It's hard to believe two months have already passed since the new semester began.]
It started the same as always.
I felt my grip tightening as I stared down at the letters with cold eyes.
The usual pleasantries one might expect from siblings with a big age gap stretched on, until the main point finally appeared.
[I heard you placed in the top ten of your department on the midterms. You can't imagine how proud and happy that made me. I've always known you were clever since you were little, but seeing you hold onto that same innocence through all the hardships without changing... it touches my heart in ways words can't express.]
*Quit the act,* I wanted to say.
Smiling, I turned to the next page.
[But at the same time, I'm worried. You've always been a diligent child who never let down our expectations. Even with your poor health, you worked tirelessly to keep us from worrying. I wonder if I put undue pressure on you by bringing up grades in the first place—if my request made you ignore your body and bury yourself in studies out of a sense of obligation.]
[I don't mean to criticize your achievements or efforts. The pains and perseverance you've endured are beyond my imagination. If my words have burdened you, I'm writing this to say there's no need for that. Your brother always puts your health first and foremost.
It's still reasonably warm here, but I've heard the capital has gotten quite cold. Take care of yourself, and contact me anytime if you need anything. Let's meet again healthy and well.
Once more, I sincerely congratulate you on your results. May God's blessings always be with you.]
[—With all my heart, your brother.]
"...Haha...."
I let out a deflating laugh.
I resealed the envelope with wax and shoved the letter deep into my drawer.
The contents of the letter didn't matter.
What mattered was that it had come from him.
It was about time to prepare a counter to my brother's moves.
* * *
Let's list out what my brother could do.
From the most extreme and impossible to the trivial but feasible.
First: Come kill me himself right now.
Impossible. Dropping everything he's doing—especially mid-semester—would be too much of a burden.
Second: Send someone to kill me.
No chance.
My brother is a ruthless perfectionist who won't leave even a speck of dust behind on something like this.
The odds of him entrusting my death to someone else are minuscule, and even if he did hire an assassin, he'd kill them after the job was done to tie up loose ends—along with their family and associates.
Third: Fabricate some new incident like when we were kids to tarnish my image further.
The physical distance makes it hard to pull off, and he's never staged anything outside our territory on such a grand scale.
He wouldn't unless he deemed it absolutely necessary.
Fourth: Actively seek out information.
Most likely. He's probably already dug into every mention of Ascanien in the papers after hearing about me.
He's weighing whether he needs to kill me yet or not.
Taking Luca's tendency to obey his every word unconditionally into account, he's probably left room for multiple possibilities, deciding it's too premature to strike now.
Even if he decides to just kill me regardless, the situation isn't ideal, so the first and second options are off the table.
That leaves the best move for him right now: fourth. Plant a spy on campus.
I arrived at the second-year floor of the Magic Department lecture hall and passed the regular classrooms, heading for the special class in the center.
Students lounging in the lounge area in front of the special class stopped talking and glanced at me the moment they spotted my face.
"They're looking at Lucas, right?!"
Pie piped up from my shoulder.
This guy's been hoping for attention forever. Anyway, Narke's invisibility spell kept him hidden from everyone else.
I answered with a chuckle and opened the door to the Magic Department special class.
The special class classroom I was seeing for the first time was spacious.
They'd given it two full fifty-person lecture halls just for ten students.
With so few desks and people, the wall of windows offered a clear, sweeping view outside.
The nine already seated turned their eyes toward me.
Melvin jumped up from his seat with oblivious enthusiasm.
"An...! Ahem...."
Seeing my puzzled expression, Melvin cleared his throat, stretched, and sat back down.
Narke, wide-eyed and flustered, bit her lip to stifle a laugh.
After yesterday's meeting, Melvin's favorability had shot up to +3.
He must've liked the analysis materials I'd compiled on Pleroma. With real work starting, any lingering suspicions had probably vanished too.
Ignoring them both, I asked casually,
"Anyone know where my seat is?"
"Next to me!"
Narke patted the spot beside her.
I set down my bag and slotted my books into the shelf.
That's when an unfamiliar voice called out.
"Lucas."
Leo, who'd been ignoring us completely to study, reflexively turned toward the voice.
Narke did the same.
I turned to look. A tall student with a very confident expression extended his hand.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Kristel Claiber."
I shook his hand lightly, keeping my expression neutral.
Since I hadn't heard the name during roll call, he must be from Class 1-A.
*'A Class 1-A student acting like he knows me?'*
That was surprising.
"I'd heard you joined the special class and was curious. Meeting you in person is something else. Let's get along."
"Yeah. Looking forward to it."
I replied with a suitable smile.
To a normal student, it was an utterly ordinary exchange. But not to Lucas. It was anything but ordinary.
*'Let's see what the situation is.'*
Lunchtime came, so I headed to the school cafeteria for the first time in ages to check things out.
"Wow, everyone's staring at Lucas here~!"
Pie climbed onto my shoulder and whipped his head around on his hind legs.
Just like Pie said, I was under an onslaught of stares.
Students kept glancing at me the whole time I ate.
I caught snippets like "Ascanien" and "Lucas" drifting into my ears.
*'Definitely not like this last semester, from what I remember.'*
No, even up until just before midterms, no one stared at me like I was a zoo animal. They'd avoid eye contact and leave the area if anything.
*'So that Class 1-A guy wasn't the exception.'*
Sure enough, after becoming second-years and post-midterms, the students' interest had spiked.
I brought it up at the training grounds, and Leo gave a clear answer.
"Lately, lots of people are interested in you."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Even some of my friends were thinking of talking to you. Though it's more curiosity than wanting to be real friends."
Curiosity? I couldn't help but laugh.
"What about Pleroma? They're getting complacent."
"That's how shocking your change was. Honestly, if you went from dead last to top 10% overnight, wouldn't you be curious? And... it's not just the Pleroma rumors that made kids wary of you."
Fair point.
As I'd thought on the first day of school, there were multiple reasons students openly avoided me.
First: Getting in on donation despite not being able to use magic.
Second: The Pleroma rumors.
Third: Popular kids like Leo hating on me.
Of course, that wasn't all.
Add in the constant mumbling, unkempt appearance, hunched shoulders, and cowering posture—no one wants to approach someone like that unless there's a special connection.
Say there were four reasons total. The first and last were already resolved.
I was still known as magic-less and a donor admit, but crushing most students on the written exams made those points irrelevant now.
Leo added to my reaction,
"I'm not saying the rumors don't matter. But... you get it. 'Anyway, raising his grades like this—maybe he really plans to go to university. No way he'd pull something crazy out in the open.' You know the vibe? I heard talk that Ascanien won't just sit still either."
"I see."
It really showed their narrow-mindedness, assuming everyone stakes their life on college entrance like they do. Still, negative feelings turning to curiosity was welcome.
"Naturally, more kids are scared you'll win them over and turn it into Pleroma. But the proportion of the other kind has grown enough not to ignore."
"Good. That's great. But...."
I ran a hand through my hair and continued.
"Except for one thing. My brother sent a letter today."
Leo froze with his mouth open for a second, then rubbed his chin.
"Things just got complicated."
"Yeah. Now I can't easily figure out who's my brother's spy among those approaching or showing interest in me."
"You think he's already planted someone? Or that he will soon?"
"Who knows."
The letter arrived today, a full week after the rankings came out.
From his perspective, no reason to delay gathering info any longer.
*'But given his caution, picking a spy would take time too.'*
The letter was postmarked this Tuesday.
Meaning he'd gotten the info just days ago.
I stood up.
"We'll find out. If there's a spy at school now, someone besides me would've gotten mail from him today."
"Going to the post office? They won't just tell some random guy with no connection if there's mail."
"They won't. Doesn't matter."
I felt Leo's incredulous stare.
I tucked Pie, who'd been playing in Leo's bag, into my jacket pocket and checked my watch.
8:57.
School facilities closed at 10.
Plenty of time.
* * *
"Hello."
I entered the campus post office, tucked in the far left corner.
No one else was there, just one staff member.
The clerk, alone and scribbling listlessly in the ledger with dead eyes, slid his chair back slightly when I approached the counter, his eyes growing even more hollow.
Pretending not to notice, I put on a troubled face and spoke.
"I think some of my mail might've been missed. Could you check how many pieces are here under the sender's name?"
"Yes, go ahead."
"Adrian Ascanien."
He nodded, pulled out a binder. He didn't ask for my name—must already know. Didn't seem interested in chatting either.
I waited a while, watching his quick hands.
He ran a short wand down the names, pausing at one spot.
"We delivered one letter to you this morning. That's it."
"Oh, I heard there was another, but maybe it's not for me?"
He checked the spot I'd pointed to and shook his head.
"Yes."
"Got it. Must've been a mix-up. Thanks."
I left the post office, feigning puzzlement. Pie poked his head out of my jacket pocket.
"What was that? Mix-up why?! Did they screw up?"
"No, just checking something."
I shook my head with a smirk.
Leo's point was valid.
If I'd asked if Adrian Ascanien sent other mail to the school or who received it, the clerk wouldn't have answered.
No reason to disclose one person's mail to a third party.
So I'd led him with questions.
If there was no 'other' mail from Adrian Ascanien, he wouldn't have answered so cleanly with yes.
But by affirming, he'd confirmed another letter existed—and it wasn't for me.
My brother had sent mail to someone at the Imperial Second Academy.
For what?
Obviously to get reports on me.
The surveillance probably started today.
Which meant I had to find out who received that letter from now on.
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