Chapter 44 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magical Noble Family
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An unexpected reaction.
The person standing in front of me right now was unmistakably the one from the first interview photo in Dasrote.
This wasn't a situation where he should be greeting me with a smile like this.
He looked me up and down with the eyes of someone examining a fascinating creature, then tilted his head as if sensing something odd.
"But… what brings you here? There are no restricted zones nearby, and it's not exactly a bustling area. You've come pretty deep into the city."
"…I have some personal business to discuss. Could we talk for a bit?"
"It's nothing strange, right? Like, magical beasts haven't made it all the way here…."
He seriously thought it wasn't anything weird?
I was dumbfounded, but getting emotional from the start wasn't a smart move.
"Well, I figured you'd know more about that than I would, Mr. Belter."
"Me?! Did I do something wrong?"
"...."
For some reason, my head started to ache, but I managed a smile.
Narke let out a short sigh beside me and tapped my arm.
"Lord."
"Yes…."
Narke smiled and snapped his fingers.
—"Come to think of it, I wasn't sure what to call you. Lord Nikolaus will do, right?"
"…!"
It wasn't his words that startled me.
It was the way they were delivered.
Just as Pie's words bypassed the air and drilled straight into my mind, Narke's did the same.
'So this is divine power too.'
Handy skill to pick up.
I nodded.
Narke grinned and spoke again.
—"Haha, feels a bit weird. I'll go with that for now. And… this guy really has no idea? Dasrote doesn't even cross his mind when he looks at you."
He doesn't even think of Dasrote?
Even after seeing me….
'…Hold on.'
That makes perfect sense.
This could be an even bigger blow to Dasrote.
Having sized up the situation, I softened my tone to reassure him.
"No, that's not it. I just need to investigate something. I came because I need your help, Mr. Belter."
"My help? Is there something I can tell you, my lord?"
"Of course. I'm desperate for information right now. If you have time, I'd like to have a quick chat with you."
He glanced back and forth between Narke and me with a puzzled look, then flung the door wide open.
"I still don't get what's going on, but… come in."
We sat at the table he pointed to.
"I don't have anything to offer right now. Give me a sec to go grab something."
"No, we're on a tight schedule. It's fine."
It was almost 4:30 already.
We had another stop after this, so we couldn't linger.
"Oh? Well, sorry about that since you came all this way."
"Really, it's okay. We're the ones asking for your help."
"Right, of course. So, what did you want to ask about?"
"Have you heard anything about me?"
Narke snorted beside me at my words.
Sounded pretty self-important when I put it like that.
I held back the urge to explain and waited seriously for his answer.
"You're Lord Nikolaus, right? I saw you in the Imperial News a few days ago."
"You did. Anything else you've heard?"
"No… well, just that you pulled off something totally unexpected with Duke Elias…. That's it? Anything else?"
He furrowed his brow, deep in thought, stroking his chin.
Seemed like nothing was coming to mind no matter how hard he tried.
I pulled yesterday's Dasrote from my bag and handed it to him.
"Oh."
He frowned at the cover, then nodded.
"Nice. Yesterday's issue has a special feature on you, Lord Nikolaus."
"The contents aren't so nice."
He flipped through a few pages, then gave an awkward smile.
"Heh heh… yeah… you're right. You actually read this?"
"Yes."
"For real? You okay?"
He narrowed his eyes and continued cautiously.
"You're not this calm because it's all true, right…? Like, really meeting seven women at age 77…."
"No. Of course not."
I pulled out today's paper and slid it over to him.
"Take a look at this too."
He nodded and turned to the first page.
The smile vanished from his face.
"Huh?"
He grabbed the paper with both hands, flipping it front to back in panic, then scanned from the front.
'As expected….'
I let out a hollow laugh.
They hadn't gotten permission to use the photos.
They'd just grabbed any old faces.
A handling method that screamed future backlash.
Whether the guy fetching the materials screwed up or what, it was shocking that a place like Dasrote operated this sloppily.
'Well… that's how it goes.'
Even the imperial court runs on autopilot—what can you expect?
His face pale, he flipped back to the page with his photo and pointed it at us.
"What is this? That's not me!"
"Asking me won't…."
"Right, yeah. It looks like me… no, it is me. But why is this here?!"
Narke stared straight into his eyes and asked.
"Mr. Belter, you have no idea?"
"No. This interview… no, I never even got an interview request! And I just met Lord Nikolaus today—why would I say something like that? What the hell are these people on about?"
"Hmm, got it. That's the truth."
Narke spoke to reassure Mr. Belter—or so it seemed.
Actually, it was for me.
"Of course it is. I'm too shocked to even speak! How could they use my face for something like this?!"
Not 'why is my face here,' but 'how could they use it for this.'
Anyway, he wasn't completely uninvolved.
Narke picked up on that and immediately asked for the full story.
"What exactly happened?"
"Some people came before, offered five thousand fel per photo, said they needed shots for the newspaper…. This must be from then."
"Five thousand fel."
Narke repeated, emphasizing the end.
A hundred thousand won per shot.
I'd never sell my face for fifty thousand won's worth of utility… but to each their own.
"They kept asking me to make a serious face while looking at the sea over there. They brought up the ocean nonstop, so I thought they were promoting the local area. That's how they introduced themselves…. Never imagined they'd use it for this…."
Mr. Belter clutched his head, face flushed with anger.
I leaned forward and asked.
"They didn't specify what it was for?"
"Just said it'd be used for article concepts. I wouldn't have done it if I'd known."
"I see."
I smiled and checked my watch.
These two would wrap up quicker than expected.
* * *
He ranted about suing Dasrote on the spot, then exchanged contact info with us.
He calmed down after thinking it over and realizing the costs, but I could cover that—he just needed to be willing to fight in court.
And the other two were the same case.
They were speechless about their photos being used this way, but seemed eager to let it slide to avoid a years-long lawsuit.
Still, after some convincing, I got testimonies for submission to the authorities.
And… now it's six.
"It's six!"
The moment I checked my watch and lowered my arm, Pie poked his head out of Narke's robe pocket with a flash.
He'd been sleeping the whole time, but must've remembered what I muttered last night in the room together.
We'd planned six as the inflection point for impression scores, so checking from now on was key.
"Wow~ Right on the dot!"
Narke checked his wristwatch and marveled.
'But how does he know the time….'
Even the owner just learned this ability….
Handy to have Pie around without a watch.
Anyway, not the point.
I opened the status window.
Lucas René Ascanien
Impression: -9.9 [+5.0003821]
Earlier, it broke ten thousand and dropped to 8931.
While I finished investigating, it fell another five thousand.
Considering evening papers weren't out yet, that was a huge shift for 3-6 PM.
From now on, entering prime evening hours, it'd plummet even faster, hitting the four-point range in an hour or two.
No, not 'would plummet'—it already was.
Impression: -9.9 [+5.0003789]
Yeah. No surprise.
Blink once, and it shaved off 32 more.
We stopped by the Bayern Investigation Bureau, then headed back to school.
Changed clothes in the dorms and warped to the meeting spot for the briefing.
Narke had arrived before me and was waiting with the other students.
A quick eye greeting with them, then I sat, and they resumed chatting among themselves.
"No, not sure if it's true, but honestly, I hope it's not. Who benefits from them dropping this?"
"For Phleroma's sake. Man, zero situational awareness. Even if they went around like that, they could've timed it better…."
"Turns out Phleroma's the one with the harem?"
This place was all Nikolaus talk too.
But since everyone here despised Phleroma to the extreme, they sided blindly with Nikolaus regardless of rumors.
After all, Nikolaus was the first whistleblower, and with Elias, he'd dealt a huge blow to Phleroma.
I stood at the blackboard with my prepared materials and spoke.
"Alright, it's already 7:30. Let's start today's analysis."
I pulled out the newspapers by outlet I'd stashed here and cast a spell.
The text of today's articles slowly emerged.
[[Hessen] Nikolaus Ernst Joins Purification in Hessen Grand Duchy and Two Other Nations: "Will Help as Many Subjects as Possible"]
[Leopold of Württemberg King: "Truly Grateful to Nikolaus Ernst for Answering the Call"]
[Guidance Period D-3… Württemberg, Hessen, Baden Succeed in Recruiting Mages Amid Manpower Shortage]
"Whoa."
The students who opened evening papers with me let out short gasps.
"This guy's really going everywhere."
"Bayern has five restricted zones alone, and now three more countries?"
"That means four countries a week…? Does he have the stamina?"
"Yeah, let's bury Dasrote!"
Laughter at the last one.
Same wavelength as me.
One reason the decline slowed was this.
Yesterday, I'd gone to Bayern to hand off the investigation into Dasrote's fake reports set for today.
Dasrote bribed people for evidence, so smashing that would solve a lot.
'This alone is solid defense.'
But against lunatics like Dasrote who ignore norms, half-measures won't cut it.
They could bribe our witnesses or shamelessly claim 'just reference images,' targeting the public lured by sensationalism over truth.
For people claiming seven affairs without proof, it was a viable path.
So, knock them down hard enough they stay down—exhaust them first.
To do that, give them bait for one more attack.
And these articles were my bait.
"Man, all seven papers have this on the front page."
"At least they're not stooping to Dasrote's level."
Multiple outlets ran front-page stories on the purification resolution for the three countries.
From federal regional papers to imperial ones—basically all reputable sources showed the same trend.
If they only cared about sales, they'd copy Dasrote's report, tweak a few words whether I did purifications or not—but they didn't. It wasn't even political.
These straight-laced papers had long criticized tabloids like Dasrote.
No reason to amplify their manufactured controversy without vested interests.
It was 7:40 now.
Over an hour since the last check.
Around now, people would be catching evening reports.
'Let's check.'
Lucas René Ascanien
Impression: -9.9 [+5.0002829]
An hour ago, it was 3789.
Down 960.
'Huh.'
Just 960.
Earlier, five thousand dropped.
Splitting 3-6 PM evenly: about 1670 per hour.
But from 6 to 7:40, under a thousand.
Even as newspaper buying peaks, when scores should've dropped more than 3-6 PM.
Second biggest hit after morning, yet this slowdown….
'It's over.'
I smirked and closed the status window.
Morning Dasrote had grabbed attention enough.
Few first hearing Dasrote news in the evening.
'Impression didn't drop as much as expected.'
Overall trend: people noticed the report but didn't buy it much.
Real-time broadcasts built a stronger friendly image than gossip.
Dasrote's timing failed.
And now growth stalled too….
'They must be getting antsy.'
Just need them to attack with a new angle.
Purification news broke two hours ago.
Plenty of time for Dasrote to revise.
Evening sales too juicy to skip—even if less than morning, greed might push another hit on me.
Maybe even tomorrow's morning edition.
I glanced at the papers and asked quietly.
"Anyone got today's Dasrote?"
"Dasrote? Me!"
One student pulled the tabloid from his bag, froze staring at the title, then showed the cover to the group.
"Look at this…. They're at it again."
Red text over the bottom cover hushed the chatter.
Today's Dasrote title had changed.
[17.75 Million Fel in Tax Funds for Affairs? Lord Nikolaus's 'Holy' Purification]
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