How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family

Chapter 355

Chapter 355

"Dealt with. One remains!"

"Leo! Where's Luka?!"

The instant my words ended, Elias shouted at me. Elias, who had killed the one bishop Lukas had entrusted to us without a moment's hesitation, grabbed my shoulder with the bishop's blood still dripping from his hand. Having arrived late, he didn't know where Lukas had gone. But not knowing where he'd gone was the same for me, who'd been standing right there.

Corniviano's burning fields and murky sky began to dissolve. In an instant, Füssen's Kreepkirche St. Nicolaus—the small church the Pleroma of Munich-Freising had been using as their archives—unfolded before us. We stood in the narrow cloister where moonlight streamed in, covered head to toe in Vitriol. The sound of someone shouting and running could be heard.

[…It seems Saint Corbinian has sided with the Empire.]

Lukas's faint voice struck my head and passed through. Only then did it sink in. We had returned. We'd returned, and it was over. All of it. I ran blindly toward where his Magic Power pulled.

The back of Albertina Hohenzollern of the 91st—and behind her, the familiar yet alien red eyes, already half closing. Albertina Hohenzollern's reflexes were faster than the speed at which I ran toward Lukas. He fell into her arms.

***

Until that point, I think I felt relieved. Whatever the process, we could go home. And so, only after dawn broke did we all arrive at a hospital in Bavaria, and only now did I learn that one of Lukas's senses had been lost."Your Highness Crown Prince Leonard Wittelsbach, please come in."

"Hey, Leo. They're calling you."

In a voice two tones lower than usual, Elias slapped my back hard. I had no idea what state of mind had gotten me up. I took one look at the room where Lukas was and slowly turned around to pull open the consultation room's door handle. The doctor saluted me and sat down, pulling out a file. A steaming cup of black coffee and a jar of sugar cubes sat before the chair.

"All examinations for Sir Askanian have been completed. You'll want to hear the explanation right away, so I'll get straight to the point…."

Corniviano's plains and the black smoke that had been billowing skyward on all sides had scattered just like that. Like sand. We'd patrolled Füssen's tranquil monastery town until the morning glow appeared, but nothing remained from that evening. No matter where one stepped in the garden behind Kreepkirche St. Nicolaus, the field that had burned and been soaked in Vitriol was nowhere to be found, yet irrationally, the effects of that space still lingered. I no longer knew with what heart I should set foot in Füssen's Neuschwanstein. The doctor's voice was buried and scattered in the smoke rising from the black liquid.

"Your Highness, I know your spirits must be low because of what happened to your comrade. Still, thanks to escaping the spell quickly, the worst has been avoided. Ultimately, time will resolve…."

I'd heard everything up to this point—that my friend's condition wasn't terribly bad and the prognosis was positive. I was well aware of what the doctor was inferring from the micro-expressions on my face, but right now, the loss of Lukas's sense wasn't the problem. Yes, I could admit it to no one but acknowledge it. The countless thoughts crumbling and caving in everywhere had nothing to do with the examination results. There was no meaning in tying him to that spot. My friend always moved in the opposite direction of my wishes. And by moving opposite, he ultimately achieved what I wished for. The relationship I had wanted from the start but failed to obtain, the misaligned first button I'd fastened—he was the one who'd moved it, and everything depended on his hands. Even now. Absurdly crude devices, plans, promises I'd thought could bring peace of mind…. A white island dropped onto black water was devoured and disappeared. A single piece didn't even taste like sugar.

CREAK—

Maybe I needed to pour the entire jar of sugar in.

"So? What happened?"

"……."

"Hey! You have to tell us!"

When I opened the hospital room door, Lukas, who'd been reading a book, looked up. He flashed an awkward smile and scanned the 101st friends filing in behind me. He cleared his throat and, as though coaxing out words that wouldn't come, asked.

"You came?"

"Yeah."

Silence. Lukas rolled his eyes, closed the book, and leaned back against the headboard. Watching him, I murmured without thinking.

"What do I do?"

"So there are things even His Highness the Crown Prince doesn't know how to handle."

Why did this familiar sarcasm—which I'd normally have let slide—sting so much now? Because I truly knew nothing, a thorn lodged deep in my heart. Facts stated to those who have are no different from an ant on a boot toe. Facts stated to those who don't all become sharpened arrowheads that pierce. I pressed my eyes under my palm and murmured.

"I'm not in the mood for wordplay."

"…So everything I say sounds like a joke now? Is that why even my concern comes across as nothing? Does our Crown Prince think that even my concern for a friend—however uncouth I may be—looks frivolous?"

If you're going to keep at it, maybe it would have been better to haul everyone to whatever Imperial Whatever Hospital where they all took bombs to the head—then at least a Bavarian Crown Prince with no connection whatsoever wouldn't have been hogging the examination results…. His continuing words became daggers again. But what my eyes caught at that moment was Elias's Adam's apple moving under weight, and his eyes growing a shade deeper, and the past I knew of him. This was why I always had to sharpen myself. My fatigue leaves scars on others, and those scars circle back to me.

"Everything sounds like a joke—that's not what I—my intention aside, it could certainly…."

"If that's how it came across, I apologize. I'm sincerely sorry, Elias. I heard you and I'm sorry too, and I'm grateful for your generosity. We always fight to the death with words, and fighting here too is exhausting. Can I answer the question now?"

Yulia, who'd been listening to such conversations since childhood, and the ever-expressionless Heike Ainsidel showed no interest in us as always, but Ulrike Kleist alone wore a face full of fear as her eyes darted between us. That semicircle sweep wasn't exclusive to Kleist. Unable to immediately grasp what we were discussing, Lukas's gaze flickered rapidly between me and Elias. Ah, I'd been thoughtless. The moment Elias and I simultaneously closed our mouths, Lukas smiled, folded his arms, and tilted his head. The face he always made when we'd presented a flawed argument or done something wrong. So—was he saying our clamming up out of concern for him made him more uncomfortable? I couldn't tell. He pointed at the bandage around Elias's neck and the bandage on my left hand and spoke.

"You're hurt."

I forced the corners of my mouth upward at his words.

"Both of us got a bit burned. The Vitriol was incredibly strong."

"Right. I got my hair chopped again this time too. Look at this~ after all that effort growing it!"

Elias grumbled, showing the short-cropped back of his head. 'After all that effort growing it'—hadn't he cut it once when infiltrating the Munich theater and then regrown it with Divine Power? He'd just…. I was about to say something but stopped and looked at Lukas. Lukas silently studied Elias's neck, then mimed a Vitriol splash and smiled.

"You cut your hair. No wait. It got cut?"

"……."

Yulia maintained her smiling mouth but furrowed her brows with a complicated expression. It was us who couldn't adjust to the sudden change. Even knowing he couldn't hear, we spoke as we always did because it didn't feel real. Knowing, and yet. Elias quickly nodded, then used his hands to show something flying at the back of his head, then mimed crying. Lukas grinned, paused for a beat, then asked.

"So, when's it coming back?"

We all knew he meant his hearing. Ulrike Kleist looked sharply at me, and after Heike Ainsidel, every gaze returned to me. I looked into those pink irises and moved my lips.

"Nobody knows."

"Huh?"

Elias screwed up his face and turned.

To be precise, this was part of an ambivalence. While thinking of ways to speed up recovery, these words had escaped first.

The estimate was about a month. Once most of the Magic Power in his body was replaced with new Magic Power, the lost sense should return—treatment alongside would speed things up. That was what the doctor had said. I took out the notebook I'd received from the attendant and wrote.

[They say about a month. The formula that was cast on you is one they've never seen, so they can't be certain.]

"What, a month?"

Lukas burst out laughing vacantly and pressed his forehead. Ulrike Kleist gaped and rolled her eyes.

"Wow…. That's way longer than expected…?!"

"Hmm. Either way, the fact that it'll come back is good, but what about work in the meantime?"

"That period depends on how well you…."

Recover. If you don't go running around on research trips again, you could recover quickly. I should have said that, but my thoughts blocked my mouth. Once your hearing's restored, you'll go back to work, take on another impossible operation, create another impossible breakthrough, and end up in another hospital bed. In that case, maybe it would be better to just….

"……."

I pressed my lips with pale fingers. The thought I was having chilled my blood. This couldn't be a normal thought. Narce looked at me. Surprise flickered across his face, then a look of amusement lingered.

"I'll make sure you recover fast."

I spoke with deliberate certainty to stamp out the thought that had suddenly bloomed. Even knowing Lukas couldn't hear. I took the sketchbook and wrote it for him. Lukas laughed heartily, grabbed my hand and patted it, and leaned back against the headrest.

"Ah, reassuring. Thanks. For now, I can't handle the incident report, and to recover I should just laze around doing nothing for a while. Right?"

"……."

"I'm confident. Confident I can do absolutely nothing. Let me set the record for fastest recovery time."

"As if you'd actually laze around."

"Did he just insult me?"

Lukas pointed at me and asked our friends. Shamelessly, they nodded with smiling faces, so I gave them a frigid look. Then Ulrike spoke with force in her eyes, seriously.

"Guys. Later, Lukas and Senior Albertina Hohenzollern have to go out together, but Lukas can't hear, so what do we do…. We, I mean Lukas, hasn't even trained in lip reading."

At that, Narce spoke as if just remembering.

"Ah, right~ hasn't everyone heard the news yet?"

"The examination just finished. Not everyone would know yet."

"Mm, I see. If I relay it to Lukas so he can hear, it should be fine."

Relay so he could hear? Surprise surged ahead of any memories. Narce set aside our puzzlement and leaned close to Lukas. Lukas, who'd been reading a letter, blinked at the unusual proximity, then raised his eyebrows. Soon his eyes widened with surprise, and he smiled and spoke.

"I'm happy too."

Happy too? Out of nowhere? Narce was speaking through Divine Power, and Lukas was answering aloud. Knowing that, the surprise still didn't easily subside.

"Ah, what conversation is this even~? I'm feeling left out."

Before Elias's jest was even done, Lukas, his face brighter, answered Narce.

"This is useful at times like these. If you don't mind, I could just talk through you from now on."

"Nooo! Talk to me directly!"

Elias snatched my sketchbook and wrote the same letter endlessly, then showed it to Lukas. The slant of his eyebrows was so insufferable I clicked my tongue. In the distance, Yulia snickered.

Meanwhile, Lukas squinted to read it and laughed.

"'Nooo'? That's so you."

Then, while the rest of us stood there dumbly watching, he began conversing with Narce.

"Ah, I'm going too? That's fast. Didn't expect them to do it starting today."

"……."

"Makes sense. Alright. I prefer meeting people over sitting in a hospital room anyway."

Elias, wide-eyed at their unfathomable exchange, slapped my arm.

"Did you hear? Luka says he likes meeting people."

"What do you want me to—"

"Forget it."

What was that supposed to mean? I was decoding Elias's words when I quickly dismissed the thought, looked at the 101st friends, and spoke.

"Hey. I need to talk to Lukas for a bit. If you're done saying hello, could you step out?"

At that, Narce widened his eyes.

"Hmm, I need to leave with Lukas soon for the banquet~?"

"Come pick him up when it's time."

I ushered every friend out of the room. Displeased at losing his conversational partner, Lukas looked up at me with dissatisfaction. I wrote in the notebook and showed him the first thing I'd wanted to say.

[Congratulations on the successful operation. It's thanks to you.]

"Congratulations to you too. I'm glad everyone's relatively unharmed."

I answered his hearty response with a smile and wrote on the next page.

[You're out of your mind.]

"……."

Lukas snorted and tilted his head.

"That's funny—Senior said the exact same thing. How does it look to you?"

Senior…? I frowned. That personality-deficient bastard from the 98th…. There was nothing to gain from saying more. I sighed and scrawled rapidly.

[From where I'm standing, you're obviously out of your mind. You knew that Pleroma would launch a desperate final attack.]

"Of course. Think about it from that Pleroma's perspective. All he needed was to drink blood to deploy Space Magic. If he poured everything into a lethal blow, reduced his opponent to half-dead, and drank the blood, he could recover to baseline and beyond—so what reason would he have not to create that final strike?"

The thing I couldn't understand was that he'd charged in knowing all this. When I moved my lips, I saw Lukas's gaze drop to them. I waved my hand to signal I'd said nothing. Lukas shrugged placidly and continued.

"Because I knew, I figured out what magic to use, and that's why we're all here now. I didn't expect to lose my hearing temporarily, but the formula I'd prepared in advance meant it ended at a level that treatment can heal."

Yes, I knew everything he was thinking. I understood. Maybe it was something someone had to do. Perhaps it was a luxury for me to wish that a friend I admired wouldn't die in a place like that. And so I could say nothing more. Lukas broke the silence.

"Am I speaking properly, though?"

It felt like a blow to the head. I looked down at him in silence. So far, he was speaking no differently than usual. When I nodded, Lukas quickly accepted it and brought up something else.

"You have more to say to me."

Obviously. As if this were everything. I didn't answer, but Lukas read my expression, let out a hollow laugh, shuddered, and got up from his seat.

"I have no idea what you're going to say. Let me hear the lecture later. Don't we have to go down in an hour? Go on, get out."

Hear the lecture later….

He was right. I hadn't managed to say even half of what I wanted to say to him, and I had no intention of saying it all during a chaotic time like this.

Lukas chased me out, changed from his hospital gown into formal dress, and came out. The brief rest ended, and a short while after everyone except the two admitted to intensive care had risen, we all went down to the ballroom. On both sides of the ballroom sat everyone who had participated in this operation, and I could see the Chairman of the Imperial Mages' Association—nominal supreme commander of the command post—who had come on the Emperor's delegated authority. No Bavarian royals were present. They had merely lent the space temporarily to Prussia and the Empire, so there was no obligation to attend.

An aide to the Chairman I hadn't seen before read through the prepared speech. Standing before him were Albertina Hohenzollern of the 91st and Lukas.

"…We hereby award the Corniviano Military Merit Medal to the 91st, 98th, and 101st Classes of the Imperial Mages' Association, who led this operation to success."

Narce appeared to be sitting in the front row, relaying everything the supreme commander said directly to Lukas.

"No matter how I think about it, this is either jumping the gun or speed achieved by grinding people up. When did they even make a medal?"

Elias murmured. Fast processing. Everyone reacted just as Lukas had earlier. From the Empire's perspective, they'd want to maintain this victory momentum without breaking it, so it was a natural decision.

The Chairman, having placed the medal around their necks as representatives, rested his hand on Lukas's shoulder and spoke earnestly.

"Thanks to the brilliant contributions of Vice-Captain Lukas Askanian of the 101st, our Empire was able to achieve a great victory. From the beginning to the end of this Corniviano operation, there is not a place untouched by Askanian's hand. Our Empire will never forget Sir Askanian's dedication."

"My strategy was only able to shine thanks to the Imperial Mages' Association's thorough training. It was an honor to protect the Empire's safety alongside such outstanding mages."

Lukas answered as cleanly and cheerfully as always. The ordinary demeanor he showed in front of people other than me, Elias, and Narce. Whether a sense was gone or not, naturally, he was still himself.

A brief celebratory atmosphere followed. We moved to the adjacent banquet hall. Before Lukas joined Narce, I approached him and he offered a simple remark.

"Do they throw a banquet every time an operation ends? That's nice."

"Usually."

I could have said more, but ever since I noticed Lukas's gaze was fixed solely on my lips, I didn't. He filled his answer with a smile and didn't open his mouth again. After a long silence, Lukas pointed at a canapé with a cherry tomato and white cheese on a stick. I shook my head, and he ate it by himself. Everything continued via hand signals. He'd always been a man of few words, but if I had to guess, he was likely economizing his speech more than usual out of fear of saying the wrong thing. It stung a little.

"The sound—do you wish it'd come back even a day sooner?"

When I spoke with my mouth, Lukas, belatedly catching that my lips had moved, showed a flash of consternation. I scribbled something on a memo and held it out. Lukas, who normally would have answered with a serious face and a terse affirmative, replied cheerfully—whether he was worried about us worrying, or simply in good spirits.

"What…. Isn't that obvious? If I were doing something else it might be different, but as a combat mage, I need to recover my sense today if possible. Or else train to fight without it."

He paused briefly, then continued.

"Got a method or something?"

The moment I opened my mouth to answer, Lukas looked past me and raised his eyebrows.

"Hold on. I need to go get Narce."

Why again?

Thinking that, I turned where his gaze had landed and immediately understood. I had to stop my expression from souring at this immaculate face I'd seen to the point of disgust since the Corniviano coordinate system. The 98th A Captain standing beside me watched Lukas disappear into the distance and stared with disbelief.

"Why is the Vice-Captain just leaving?"

Because of you. I swallowed the words and smiled.

"I wonder. I have no idea."