Chapter 32 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Elias Joins the Group
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"If you'd only devoted a tenth of the attention you lavish on me to state affairs, this country would already be a much better place to live."
"Elias."
Leo quietly scolded him.
In the novel, the protagonist's greatest enemy wasn't Pleroma or anything else. It was the imperial family itself.
The "uncle" he was referring to was the current emperor.
He had one younger brother below him, but the brother was frail, with mana so negligible it was less than that of a low-ranking noble, so he had never once been mentioned as a successor. Thus, his uncle had ascended to the throne as a matter of course.
But the emperor's peace began to crack when that younger brother had a child.
From a brother so weak that it was questionable whether he could even be called a mage, a mage stronger than the current emperor was born.
For the emperor, who had grown up smoothly as the pillar of the imperial family from birth, this was like a bolt from the blue.
Because it made it difficult to pass the throne to his own child.
Of course, normally, just because a child from a collateral line was a bit stronger than the main line's child, they wouldn't replace the main successor. The collateral line would simply seize the greatest honor and wealth available to them.
But Elias went beyond that, born with unprecedented mana that sufficiently threatened even the current emperor's throne.
Thus, from the moment his mana manifested, Elias became an enemy of the current emperor—and his children.
Elias calmed his emotions at Leo's words and smiled.
"Anyway, you're in the same boat, huh. I heard you couldn't use magic, but if Adrian Ascanien is wary of you, I'm curious just how much mana you're hiding. No, more than that, how have you been hiding your mana and surviving all this time?"
"My brother's been feeding me poison since I was little."
"Ah."
Elias furrowed his brow and stroked his chin.
I took the poison I always carried from my jacket pocket and handed it over.
He held the vial up to the light, inspected it, and burst into laughter.
"That's… surprising. Hard to believe. A man who claims to care for the people poisons his own brother. And on top of that, frames him with some bizarre false charge?"
"Yeah, exactly. That's why I have to deal with Pleroma."
"To smash the rumors my brother created head-on, right? Ah, this is thrilling."
Elias snapped his fingers.
"You know it well. You might be disappointed that my intentions aren't pure, but I'd rather you focus on the fact that it gives me stronger motivation than anything else."
"Don't worry about that. If you told people to do righteous deeds with flawless, upright, and pure intentions, seven out of ten would fail."
Elias raised his wine glass as if toasting, tilting it forward.
Then he scrunched his eyebrows and burst into laughter.
"I should've kept my mouth shut, but I slipped up. Yeah, you think that way because I'm that kind of person."
I replied with a smile.
In my opinion, he belonged to the three who didn't fit that description.
Even if not, having watched him for ten years, I knew he was more righteous than anyone, intentions aside.
I continued after an appropriate pause.
"I'm going to shatter the rumors my brother spread and ultimately escape his grasp. To do that, I need to take down Pleroma. So, I want you to join our group. You'd be a huge asset to our forces."
"What do you think I can accomplish? You saw what happened this morning. I'm just a student who causes trouble wherever I go. How would I be helpful?"
"Don't you know your own potential and abilities better than anyone? I think you're exceptional from the start—judging an imperial family matter involving magical beasts, which they haven't even officially acknowledged, as Pleroma's crime and going around investigating."
At my smile, Elias—who had been wearing his usual relaxed smile—suddenly wiped the expression from his face, then donned a smile of resolve.
"…You're right. I need to get paid properly for my efforts."
"Of course, I can provide you with help commensurate to that."
"You're brimming with confidence. Fine. Do you know what I want?"
"You're chasing Pleroma right now too. No, let's say it right. You're fulfilling the imperial family's duties in your own way."
Elias's mouth fell open as if at a loss for words, his eyes narrowing as he slowly tilted his head. Then he burst into laughter.
"You serious? Don't you know how people evaluate me? They think I'm a disgrace to the imperial family for speaking out of turn."
"You live that way on purpose, to some extent."
The laughter slowly faded from Elias's face. It wasn't a cornered expression. Just one that said he'd see how far I'd go babbling. He stared straight at me.
"There's no other way to avoid people's support. Of course, that image is perfect for achieving your goals too. The current imperial family neglects state affairs, creating vulnerabilities in many areas. I know you're running around fulfilling those responsibilities in their stead under that image."
Elias watched me silently still.
"Why do that? Couldn't the desire to act opposite to the imperial family that insults and rejects you serve as some motivation? No matter what, if that's your way of disgracing the imperial family in your own style, then even if our intentions differ, I want to say I'm walking the same path as you."
"...."
It wasn't "couldn't it serve as motivation"—it was a fact.
Because it was Elias's inner world from the novel I read.
But I couldn't reveal that now.
"I can help you achieve what you want, Elias."
Elias stared piercingly at me without so much as a blink, took a sip of wine, and smiled faintly.
"Lucas, right?"
"Yeah."
"Nice name. Come to think of it, we both have names ending in that damned 's.' So… Lucas, Lucas, Luca. Yeah, this works."
Elias tapped the rim of his glass to the rhythm of his words. Then he leisurely lifted his head and met my eyes.
"Yeah, I'll cooperate with you, Luca."
"...."
For a moment, I was speechless.
The only ones who called Lucas "Luca" were my brother and the protagonist.
In Luca's chapters, the protagonist—due to some strange affinity and certain reasons—called his classmate from ten years ago by a nickname, even though that person was already dead.
Setting aside the backstory, hearing it directly now made my tongue feel heavy.
Whether ten years from now or right here, the protagonist was the same.
The relief that the world I knew still existed here washed over me, the same feeling I often got from Leo.
That alone would've been fine, but for some reason, the fact that no one recognized the original me resurfaced—that everyone truly saw me as Luca.
Elias waved his hand at my silence.
"Hmm, shouldn't this be a moment to rejoice? Was I rude on first meeting?"
"Yeah, how do you call him that without asking first?"
Leo glanced at my expression and scolded Elias. Leo knew my brother called me that. So he must feel awkward stuck in the middle.
"No."
I looked into Elias's steadfast eyes and said,
"Welcome aboard, Eli."
Ding—!
[Chapter 4. Persistent Water Drops Pierce the Stone (2)]
Proposal 1: Make 'Elias Hohenzollern' your ally. (1/1) (11 hours 53 minutes 17 seconds)
* Route 1 ― [Proposal 2]
* Route 2 ― [Chapter 5. Don't Praise the Day Before Evening Falls]
Congratulations!
'Proposal 1: Make 'Elias Hohenzollern' your ally.' success!
'Route 1 — [Proposal 2]' confirmed.
With this, I've made two characters from the novel my allies.
Might as well check the status window now.
Elias Hohenzollern
[Affection +2]
Title: ?
Stamina: +9 [+7]
Mental Strength: +8
Mana: +9
Skill: +6
Impression: +3
Luck: +8
Traits: Eternal Protagonist (Lv.2), Charm (Lv.3)
Affection of 2.
Until yesterday, he thought I was Pleroma, so this isn't bad.
If I'd opened it at first, it would've naturally been negative, but facing it as a positive felt pretty good.
'....'
Adapting to a life where I'm happy with a 2 out of 10.
The title was a question mark like with Leo, and below it were stats unusual for someone our age, just like Leo and Narke.
More than that…
'Eternal Protagonist?'
My gaze quickly went to the trait at the bottom.
A truly protagonist-like name.
I tried to check its effects, but no new window opened.
'There must be a reason it's in the traits slot instead of title.'
As I admired the text before my eyes, Leo asked with a bewildered face.
"Eli…?"
Unlike Leo's question, Elias clapped with a satisfied expression.
"I like that! Learn from Lucas, Leo."
"No."
"I call you Leo."
"You can call me Leonard, Elias."
"Hmm, starting to wonder who actually belongs here."
Elias brushed off Leo's words lightly and tapped the table.
Checking the clock, it was almost time for the meeting.
"Wait a bit. They'll be here soon."
* * *
"Thirteen including me? That's a lot."
Elias said, counting the chairs the students were sitting in.
Last time there were ten, but we'd brought in two more since then.
Yesterday, Leo was the only one from the group who went hunting magical beasts, so it could've been noisier than usual, but with Elias sitting there, it was deathly quiet.
The students gestured toward Elias with their eyes at me and Leo, faces saying they had no idea how he ended up here.
At that moment, someone warped in at the entrance.
Narke, the last to arrive, tidied his mud-caked boots at the door and scanned the students.
"Hmm, everyone's here already. I'm not late, but why's the atmosphere…. Ah."
Narke smiled, spotted Elias, walked up to him, and extended a hand.
"Narke. Looking forward to working with you."
"I've heard about you. Exchange student, right? I just transferred to Class 1-B and this is basically my first time attending properly, so it's all unfamiliar, but having another newcomer eases my mind~"
At that, Leo chided him.
"You barely attended a day from our class because of your truancy, but Narke's already been going for a month."
"It's the thought that counts. By duration, I've been at this school for two years too."
"Haha, I get the feeling. Let's do our best together."
"Good friends, huh."
Narke winked with a laugh and returned to his seat.
Emboldened by Narke's greeting, Melvin—who was paler than usual—managed a strained smile.
"Uh, Elias joined us too…. Since when?"
"Starting today. Seemed like you guys were having all the fun. So, what activities have you done so far? I'd like to see some records."
I pulled out my file and handed it to him.
Elias flipped through the pages one by one and whistled.
"You've had four meetings so far? High quality. Who did these?"
"All of us. We compiled the data each gathered."
At my answer, someone at the table spoke up.
"Lucas did most of the conclusion-drawing."
"Yeah."
At that response, Elias looked up from the file with a grin.
"I thought so earlier too, but it's not much different from the imperial family's data. Some parts are even better. They have more volume, sure, but we could pull plenty from here?"
"That's surprising in its own way…."
Leo muttered, clutching his forehead at Elias's laugh.
This was him saying whether we should view the imperial family's work as high school club level.
Then, a sudden thought struck Leo, and he jerked his head up.
"Wait, how do you know about the imperial family's data?"
"I raided it once before. Couldn't copy it, though."
"...."
We definitely gained a solid member.
I smiled, feeling satisfaction amid the stunned students.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Read 488 more chapters ahead on NovelDex!
https://noveldex.io/series/how-to-survive-as-the-second-son-of-a-mage-family
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━