Chapter 40 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magical Noble House
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The vice chairman frowned at the pitch-black box Elias tossed over.
"What is this?"
"Important materials I prepared myself."
"…Materials? Anyone who threatens the safety of participants or disrupts the meeting will face severe penalties. Can you swear that this is safe?"
"Yes, I swear it."
The vice chairman eyed Elias's face and the box with suspicion. He glanced at Elias once more, then opened the lid.
"Sleep…!"
Before I could finish my word, the color drained from his face in an instant.
"U-Uwaaaaaah!"
Bam—!
He jumped up and slammed his leg into the desk, something shattering in the process.
At the same time, the other councilors grasped the situation and leaped to their feet.
"What is it, a mosquito?!"
"Get it out! Hurry!"
Chaos erupted in seconds.
The councilors' screams mixed with the clatter of toppling chairs into a cacophony of noise.
"Don't push me!"
"Get out! Get out!"
"How could you do this here…!"
The vice chairman's voice leaked in from outside the door.
Elias glanced that way and smiled.
"What did I do?"
"Do I have to spell it out?! Huh?!"
"I handed over a box with two mosquitoes inside. That's it. By the way, they're males."
"That's it? Is that all you have to say?!"
"Now, hold on, Vice Chairman. Could it be…?"
One councilor held him back and whispered something to another.
A councilor clinging to the doorway gestured at me, pointing alternately between the mosquitoes and my wand.
"…Lord Nikolaus. Could you purify it, please?"
I drew my wand and cast a purification spell.
Silence.
No reaction whatsoever.
"...."
"No way…."
"They're ordinary mosquitoes."
Elias raised his free hand—the one without the crutch—beside his head as the guards pointed their wands at him.
Then he shrugged.
"The Vice Chairman clearly said there'd be no problems. You said the imperial family would prepare for disasters in advance. With such firm faith, where did this impure thought that they might be contaminated mosquitoes come from?"
"But who wouldn't mistake it when you shove mosquitoes in our faces out of nowhere?!"
"So does Pleuroma announce itself before it comes?"
"...."
Of course it doesn't announce itself. The meeting hall fell silent again as Elias's intent became crystal clear.
Someone realized they were at a disadvantage and frantically signaled the broadcast camera to cut off.
Elias addressed the councilors with a serious expression.
"This is the material I'm presenting. I assumed you wouldn't be fazed by something like this since you were so nonchalant. You didn't treat this as a problem before, so why are you freaking out over a couple of common mosquitoes now?"
"Hey! Make some sense!"
"You're the ones who haven't made sense until now! Councilors, you all boldly claimed there was no issue even as the entire nation faced killer mosquitoes, yet you bolt at the first sight of everyday bugs. Impressive. Why don't you step down from your senate seats while you're at it?"
The councilors, furious, pointed at Elias and hurled insults.
Amid the chaotic uproar of their shouts, I opened my status window.
Seeing the protagonist pull off something this insane in real life, straight out of a novel, felt surreal.
When I just read it, I breezed through the rampages knowing they'd somehow resolve. But now that I'm right here, breathing it in, every wild thought races through my mind.
Still, the core result in the most crucial area would turn out far better than feared.
Elias Hohenrollen
Impression: +5.4 (+0.9)
5.4 points.
Just ten minutes ago, it was 4.5.
From experience, gaining even 0.1 points in positive territory takes a solid week on a good day.
Yet he'd pulled off +0.9 in mere minutes.
That's how fed up the public was with councilors who prioritized budget shortages over safety.
Federal committee councilors were mostly nobles or equally wealthy.
Living behind five or six layers of protective barriers in their territories and mansions, they'd never suffered from contaminated mana—and never would.
So this wouldn't hit home for them.
To them, it was just another money leak.
Elias had shoved the reality the citizens faced right back at them.
Ethics aside, the instinctive satisfaction the public felt was manifesting as impression points for Elias.
Legal repercussions later could wait; purely on planned outcomes, this couldn't have gone better.
'A bit startling, but… putting the protagonist in this spot was the right call.'
"You wouldn't still talk about budgets after freaking out over regular mosquitoes, knowing our subjects face contaminated ones skin-to-skin, right?"
Elias smirked wearily.
He glanced at the broadcast camera and raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, right—greetings. Uncle, thank you always. I know this aligns perfectly with your will."
The hall went dead silent at the mention of the emperor's will.
"…No. Get him out. Out, now."
The vice chairman, back inside the room, muttered as aides supported him. He looked twenty years older.
The mages dismantling the broadcast spell, per council orders, hastened their chants.
Elias strode to the broadcast camera and spoke clearly.
"I know I chose the wrong method. I apologize for the disturbance, Your Majesty. Lord Nikolaus bears no fault, so I'll take the blame alone."
"Enough! Get out! The vice chairman ordered you to leave."
"Just drag him out! The Imperial Gazette hasn't cut the feed yet?! Who's still connected?!"
"Without this demonstration, convincing them was impossible. Every citizen who watched will agree. I trust Your Majesty knows my intent, my sincerity."
The moment he finished, the broadcast spell fully dissolved.
* * *
"We'll reconvene after a five-minute break."
Leo's aide announced, scanning the reporters.
Right now, I was at a press conference where Bavaria stated its official stance on the insect contamination issue.
And the council fiasco…
Despite the unimaginable chaos, it succeeded.
[Meppen-Osnabrück Citizens Over 50,000 Rally in Support of Elias Hohenrollen & Nikolaus Ernst]
[Bavaria & Imperial South Cheer Duke Elias Despite Regional Tensions]
[First-Ever 'Dissolve Parliament' Rally in Imperial History… Deeply Disappointed by Public Address]
[58 Spontaneous Protests Nationwide Post-Address, Disbanded After 2 Hours on PM's Advice]
No, it wasn't success despite the chaos—it exploded thanks to it.
Zzzzt—
The last article vanished mid-read, likely censored.
Soon, the third one cleanly disappeared too.
'This country's doomed.'
Anyway, it wasn't just simple support.
[Emperor Friedrich Issues Administrative Order: "Weekly Purification of 21 Contaminated Zones Nationwide"]
["Nephew Duke Elias's Rhetoric Too Radical, Needs Caution… But Intent Admirable"—Emperor Friedrich Interview (1)]
The proposal passed too.
With national support pouring into Elias at a frightening rate, the emperor swiftly shifted from indifference to scolding and praising him in one breath.
Acting the noble big uncle for his gain—eerily familiar.
And…
Ding—!
[Chapter 4. Constant Droplets Pierce the Stone (2)]
Proposal 2: [Impression] Score 5 Achieved (1/1) (47 hours, 38 minutes, 12 seconds)
* Route 1 — [Chapter 4 Special Reward]
* Route 2 — [Chapter 5. Don't Praise the Day Before Evening Falls]
This proposal succeeded too.
By original math, it would've hit the deadline exactly after some post-address events. But one speech filled the impression to 5.
Ding—!
Congratulations!
'Proposal 2: "[Impression] Score 5 Achieved" succeeded!
Confirming 'Route 1 — [Chapter 4 Special Reward]'.
'Hm.'
I'd prefer opening this later, not now.
Unclear what the reward is or if it can be held, but if the system times rewards and status to fit situations, there's a better moment.
Whether because I wanted to hold it or the system already agreed, the window didn't advance.
I'll assume it's savable for later.
Anyway…
Nikolaus's impression score kept climbing even now.
Lucas René Ascanien
Impression: -9.9 (+0.1) [+5.0000099]
Even as I blinked, the numbers shifted.
Lucas René Ascanien
Impression: -9.9 (+0.1) [+5.0000105]
Elias started at 3 points; Naruke's a question mark.
Most students ranged 1 to 5.
Judging Leo at +10, brother likely had max impression too.
With my face hidden, human-like favor had limits for Nikolaus.
10 was impossible, but stable 8, ideally 9, would keep me steady against brother's schemes post-reveal.
This choice was right on that front.
Big gains demand big risks.
Of course, that meant adapting to this too.
I glanced at my arm, lowered under the conference table.
The manacles perfectly blocked mana flow from my hands.
Elias caused the uproar, but citizens liking me meant they saw me as his accomplice.
So I got hauled off with him.
'Damn….'
Just absurd.
As expected, though. Didn't need everything to go exactly to plan.
Never dreamed I'd wear silver bracelets in real life, ones I'd never even seen before.
No blaming Elias, though.
He chose the peak reaction for that moment, and knowing his potential for beyond-imagination chaos, I handed him the reins.
Success wasn't measured by arrest or detention.
This was grand-scale psychological warfare.
Odds of jail time were near zero anyway; even if the state imprisoned us, public backing meant ultimate victory ours.
'If I hated risks, I'd have stayed far from the protagonist.'
I judged gains with him outweighed losses—and sure enough, impression rocketed, clearing the proposal two days early.
Mental strain aside, efficiency and results blew past expectations.
"Let's begin."
Break over, Leo returned to his seat.
I eyed the packed conference hall and distant live-feed devices.
Post-broadcast, Elias and I got detained, then Leo vouched, moving us temporarily to Bavarian territory.
For the pre-scheduled Bavaria contamination report.
Since Elias's investigation was pending, flight risk meant mana restraints.
"As reported in writing that same day, all five restricted zones in Bavaria were purified by November 3rd dawn. No contaminated insects found in Bavaria's zones, I reiterate."
Leo, at the long table, amplified his voice with magic, scanning the crowd.
"Per imperial policy, our kingdom secured two divine-magic users within deadline for weekly purifications."
"Any discussion on which mages will handle Bavaria's zones?"
A question from the side.
Our proposal passed, but the imperials didn't disappoint here either.
Divine mages scarce, they shockingly ordered kingdoms and duchies to source their own for quotas.
As an 'imperial kingdom' themselves, they hogged registered mages nationwide.
'Politics without a shred of tomorrow.'
Whatever their game, none of my business.
The worse they played, the better for me.
"Gratefully, Lord Nikolaus here—who spotted the issue—has agreed to handle Bavaria's zones from the start. Thank you again."
Flashes erupted as Leo finished.
Nikolaus secured another official role.
Another reporter spoke.
"Lord Nikolaus has offers from eight imperial grand duchies and duchies, correct? Especially Hesse promising double pay."
Naturally, regions scrambled for suitable mages.
Bavaria's government got flooded with Nikolaus scout offers.
"Yes, correct."
"Then why choose Bavaria over others?"
"I'm a Bavarian citizen and Bavarian Royal Army member. I'll serve our kingdom always."
I gave the answer they craved.
True to pride as imperial second-strongest state, satisfaction flickered on some Bavarian reporters' faces.
'Time to check again.'
Lucas René Ascanien
Impression: -9.9 (+0.1) [+5.0000139]
From 105 ten minutes back to 139 now.
Growth slowing.
I pushed the window to vision's corner, speaking as camera clicks and flashes eased.
"Yet as an imperial citizen, I can't ignore fellow imperials' plight. Post-prep period, for regions still mage-less, I'll join purifications on other days as my divine power allows."
Instantly, my periphery flashed—white numbers whirring rapidly.
Lucas René Ascanien
Impression: -9.9 (+0.1) [+5.0005979]
From 139 to 5979.
Reason I thanked imperial and government filth-talk, foot-dragging: exactly this.
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