Chapter 28 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magical Noble Family
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Melvin, who had been staring at the paper the whole time, asked quietly.
"Magical beasts?"
"Yeah, contaminated animals have been appearing across the Empire since this year. My… no, Leo went out and checked personally before. What did you say you saw?"
"Rotted rats gnawing at each other."
"Probably the result of gathering dead rats and performing a resurrection ritual. No idea how they got out, though."
In the novel, Pleroma had never created chimeras or released foreign wolf species.
But if you just looked at the massive outbreak of magical beasts, this was definitely Pleroma's doing.
It hadn't been revealed yet, but by year's end, it would be officially recognized as Pleroma's crime.
One of the students mulled over my words.
"They're doing resurrection experiments on animals too, huh. But why skip humans until now and suddenly go for animals?"
Leo set the documents down on the desk and said softly.
"They've probably used up all the humans. Or they can see they're running out."
"Ah."
"…Hmm."
"Their growth is starting to slow. They must be having trouble sourcing followers and test subjects."
That was spot on.
But I couldn't talk about things I knew from the novel, so I had to use statistics.
I pulled out a chart summarizing Pleroma's crimes and stuck it to the blackboard.
"Last year alone, there were 22 confirmed kidnappings by Pleroma. The year before, 7. Before that, 3."
"That's a huge increase."
"Definitely seems like they're short on people."
I nodded and continued.
"If you had to pick humans for human experiments, which would you choose? Kids with no guardians wandering around, or kids with parents or tied to institutions?"
The students squinted uncomfortably and answered.
"Ones with no guardians?"
"Me too."
"Right, those cases don't even get properly reported. The fact that the numbers are rising means even their current supply isn't enough—they're having to grab people under government protection."
At a glance, they seemed to act on whims without any logic, but Pleroma had strict internal rules.
If they really didn't care, every graveyard in the Empire would've been ransacked long ago.
They'd stuck to kids outside the safety net until now, but openly targeting those under national protection meant they were truly desperate.
The students nodded with dark expressions.
"The missing persons section in the papers has gotten so long too. This is all because of Pleroma? It's worse than I thought…"
"Yeah. Let's sum this up."
I wrote a summary on the blackboard.
"First, Pleroma moves in different directions depending on the season. It's basic, so keep it in mind for predictions going forward. Second, they're facing the biggest crisis in the church's 12-year history, so there's a high chance they'll plan a new system to find a way out."
Or maybe they already had.
Judging by the sudden surge in magical beasts this year.
A few students jotted down the summary in their notes.
"Never analyzed it like this before. It's fresh."
"Yeah. Stuff even the imperial family might only know."
It was a group I'd formed to gather my own faction, and I hadn't expected much in terms of analysis, so I'd been carrying the show solo. Grateful they thought of it that way on their own.
I'd push forward as usual.
"That's been the overview so far."
"There's more?"
"We need to analyze by crime type too."
I put up a new map and picked up the chalk.
* * *
I suggested they think about places where grave desecration crimes might occur before the next meeting, then stood up.
"Just us left now."
"What're we doing from here?"
Narke asked as he rifled through the documents.
"Thinking about the magical beasts some more."
"Oh, diving in deeper, huh~?"
"Yeah."
To gain nationwide support, solving the Pleroma issue was key.
Of course, I couldn't do it with my own face, but that just meant using a disguise again.
We had to dig into the magical beasts now, while not everyone was fully convinced they were Pleroma's crimes.
I stuck a huge map on the wall and uncapped a pen.
"Let's start with regions. Last year's contaminated animal sightings in the Empire… 25 cases."
"That's not bad."
Leo muttered as he looked at the map.
Fair enough. 25 cases sounded like a story from another world now.
This year was already nearing 1,000.
"Combined sightings this year are in the high hundreds. Even with restricted zones set by the imperial family to keep them contained, it's still like this."
I drew borders around the magical beast sighting areas.
Narke, studying it closely, pointed to some remote forests.
"If they experimented to make magical beasts, we can't rule out testing sites nearby."
"Could be, but… we'll have to think on that."
I wouldn't use such an obvious method.
I'd do experiments in one place and dump them in remote areas or warp them out.
'Or maybe they anticipated we'd think that way and brazenly let them loose right by their base.'
Then Narke snapped his fingers with a grin to get my attention.
"Just go investigate in person, and we'll catch something~"
"Hmm, yeah."
Having someone with a different personality came in handy sometimes.
I set aside my thoughts and read the text in front of me.
"If restricted zones were set on February 1st this year… that's quick for the imperial family."
Leo asked cautiously at my scoff.
"…You know not to say stuff like that outside, right?"
"I know."
Hearing this from the guy who'd had the biggest hand in replacing the emperor?
Anyway, January had 271 magical beast sightings.
February, after restricted zones?
'37 cases.'
A sharp drop. But then it climbed back to 80-90 per month.
'Look at this, even with barriers up.'
Either the barriers were utter garbage, they only played nice in February, or they got cocky relying on the barriers.
"...."
Rely on barriers?
I dropped my hand from my chin.
"…Any chance someone in Pleroma's colluding with the imperial family?"
"What?"
I strode to the blackboard and scribbled with the chalk.
"Last month—September—had 87 reports."
271 in January wasn't the big number. September's 87 was what to watch.
On average, 1 out of 100 entities escapes low-grade barriers.
Compared to January with 'no barriers at all,' that meant 8,700 entities now.
'…This could get big.'
But no need to voice it yet.
Needed evidence to verify the hypothesis. The novel never hinted at Pleroma-imperial collusion, and it could just be the imperial family's simplistic decisions causing this mess.
Of course, I'd only read up to Luca's chapters, but the end wasn't far off.
I turned from the blackboard and shook my head.
"That's enough for now. Let's investigate and think it over."
"Huh? What is it? You're killing me with curiosity."
"Let's pick spots to scout. Like Narke said, we'll check in person. It's Saturday, so we can move till dawn the day after tomorrow."
"Pulling an all-nighter then heading to school? Cool. Maybe I'll sneak out incognito sometime too?"
Narke leaned back in his chair again, chuckling smoothly.
Narke needed permission from his old school, so he couldn't move openly right now.
Leo let out a dry laugh at his words.
"…Drag around two guys who look like thieves? You two going alone wouldn't be bad."
"Haha, you gotta come, Leo~ Have fun."
Narke waved him off with a laugh.
His skills were too valuable to leave behind.
If he got permission, I'd take him right away.
Meanwhile, Leo tapped the blackboard.
"If we're heading out today, pick quick. No areas properly surveyed except where the chimera wolves appeared. Just daytime patrols of an hour after the incident—that's it."
"Classic imperial family."
"…Ahem… Technically the Security Bureau inside. Anyway, start with low-risk zones for safety."
Leo pointed to the nearest restricted zone to the capital.
"This one?"
* * *
Three hours later, I warped to the scouting spot.
Once my eyes adjusted to the dark, I saw a forest stretching at the edge of a vast plain.
Leo, warping in after me, squinted and grabbed my shoulder.
"Hey, you're awfully…"
"What."
"…Nothing. Just reminds me of someone I know, insisting on a place like this."
"Picked one spot, and you feel that?"
Leo shrugged.
"Didn't expect two people to skip wide open fields and pick a swampy restricted zone."
"Sounds good. The guy you know went too?"
I played innocent.
I knew who he meant. But no choice.
Scouting unheard-of places for changes was inefficient.
Stamp-collecting where the protagonist had been was far better.
"A while back. But I got a letter the other day begging to go together again. Turned it down, didn't expect to end up here with you…"
"Really? Too bad. If you'd gone first, I could've heard about it."
"Now I see your attitudes match too…"
Crossing the plain, we stopped where the fir forest began.
Having done this once, no hesitation. I approached the gloomy plank building and knocked.
"Anyone…"
BAM—!
Someone kicked the door—it slammed hard against the wall. I reflexively stepped back at the impact. Leo, startled too, unconsciously reached for his wand.
A kid who looked maybe early teens stared at us back and forth, mouth agape.
"No way…!"
"Hello."
Leo tilted his head at the kid's odd reaction and spoke.
"We're here for magical beast cleanup. We'd like to enter the barrier now—who's in charge…?"
"Me! I'm not seeing things, right?! His Highness the Crown Prince really came all the way out here to this remote spot…!"
Leo turned to me, baffled, then asked blankly.
"Pardon?"
"Oh, sorry. I'm Hubert Kunst."
"No, not the name."
"Huh? Then what…"
An suffocating silence followed.
Locked in unintended eye contact with the kid, Leo asked calmly.
"How did my title end up like that?"
"…How? The adults said to use the highest title when meeting nobles…"
I could feel Leo's face darkening even in the gloom.
'He picks up on it intuitively.'
The Empire was a union of principalities, and Leo's family ruled the second strongest kingdom.
In the novel, Leo never cared much for status hierarchies, so titles like that always made him uncomfortable.
Luckily, he snapped out of it and replied evenly.
"Just use my name."
"That work?"
I grabbed Leo's shoulder and whispered seriously.
In a place where class mattered, calling a total stranger's royal name casually?
The manager blinked and stammered.
"Th-that's… And the gentleman next to you is your attendant, I heard…"
Even whispering as quietly as possible, the silence carried it—no helping it.
"He is. What about it?"
"Oh, no. Must've misheard. Stayed up all night—maybe dreaming."
"I see. To clarify, using the title without the kingdom name outside Wittelsbach territory can cause misunderstandings. Call him the Duke of Bavaria."
I shot Leo a look saying this was enough. The novel's Leo didn't like this either, and sure enough, he just gave a vague smile now.
Thankfully, the manager wasn't hearing a word.
"I'm so excited right now! Everyone around the restricted zone's been hoping you two would come, I bet? Especially from the capital side."
"I see."
"Magical beasts keep increasing. Yesterday, a contaminated rat bit my uncle's leg down there."
Leo, who'd been listening quietly, spoke.
"No one's come to handle them still?"
"Just one mage last month."
Leo pressed his lips and nodded.
After that, we got mana-infused quartz from the manager and approached the barrier at the forest edge.
I asked Leo, following with a troubled face.
"What're you thinking?"
"…Gotta do a nationwide tour."
"Hmm."
Knew it.
Good for investigations too—no reason to stop him.
Leo sighed.
"Problems everywhere. No different from before. Check the papers daily, but missed stories like this."
The press ignored tales from commoners in places like this.
Gripping the stone, I reached into empty air.
Light flashed where nothing had been. Air rippled at my touch.
Inside the barrier wasn't much different from outside.
Leo shone his wand around, scanning.
"Not many traces of magical beasts coming this far in."
"Yeah. Let's head straight to the swamp."
"Ugh!"
Then Leo swatted at something in front of his face.
A large moth flew at him, brushed off by his hand, then charged again.
Its movements seemed desperately frantic somehow.
"Kill the light, Lucas."
Sensing something ominous, Leo said with a sunken face.
He'd already doused his wand's light and clutched his nape.
"...."
I got why he reacted that way.
Without this light, total darkness would blind us, but I lowered my wand anyway.
Luckily or not, verifying the hypothesis didn't take long.
Whirr—flutterflutter—!
Wings from countless moths overlapped, fading then nearing repeatedly.
Suppressing the urge to bolt, I said quietly.
"It's contaminated."
They charged without light.
Surrounded by moths, Leo didn't want to open his mouth—he silently slashed the air with his wand.
Wing-clash sounds grew frantic like death throes. Once they hit the ground, Leo quickly retreated.
"Experimented on moths? Gross. Insects now, after running out of animals?"
"...."
Instead of answering, I stopped and looked around the forest.
'…This is unexpected.'
The novel never mentioned Pleroma experimenting on insects once.
A find right on entry.
Needed to check it out.
I found a tree base, knelt on one knee, and sat on the ground.
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