Chapter 54 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magical Noble Family
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Narke had been smiling for a while before nodding.
"Yeah. You're right."
"...."
If he wasn't a priest or a bishop, that narrowed it down considerably.
Seeing Leo and Elias's expressions change, Narke clapped his hands.
"Hey, the mood's gotten way too stiff~"
"...."
"Let's take it slow. I wasn't planning to keep hiding it from you guys anyway."
"From us?"
Leo pointed out the questionable part and asked again.
"Yeah."
Narke nodded in response to Leo's question.
But he didn't delve deeper into that.
"What you really want to know is this, right? Why would a mage from the Papal Court go out of his way to hide his identity and come to the Imperial Second Academy?"
"Yeah."
It wasn't strange that he belonged to the Papal Court, just looking at the divine power he used.
Would there be no mages around his age registered there?
They were overflowing. Especially the higher the rank, the more so.
As times changed, the Papal Court had accelerated its recruitment of talent to secure divine power, starting to appoint mages as clergy at younger and younger ages.
So it wasn't an issue that he was a Papal Court mage at just seventeen.
But the question remained: why had someone who should be working there come to the Empire's high school, and why hide his identity?
"Let me ask just one thing. You guys don't trust me, do you?"
"I do. But being thrown into this unexpected situation makes my trust feel shaky."
Leo answered without taking his eyes off Narke's face.
"Yeah, I get it. To be honest, I wasn't trying to deceive you. It's more like I couldn't reveal who I am, just like Lucas."
"Revealing it would put you in danger?"
Elias asked.
"Haha, no, not that. Compared to Lucas, my issue isn't that serious. I just came here under a promise not to reveal my identity."
The situations were similar in that he couldn't speak about it, but they didn't seem comparable in terms of danger, and even though it was a promise with the Papal Court, it didn't feel enforced.
"I don't know everything yet, but honestly, I like you guys. You might not feel close to me."
'...Hmm.'
Of course he would like me on his own.
With his Insight ability, Narke could immediately tell someone's character, whether they were trustworthy or not. But the reverse wasn't true.
'One downside of Insight, noted.'
The one who could see even unspoken things could find common ground in the other's inner world and build rapport, but not vice versa.
If Narke's words were true, an asymmetry in their relationship had already formed.
Leo frowned at Narke's words.
"…Honestly, we're not super close yet, but it's been less than two months, and we've only really faced each other during club meetings. Compared to that, I think we've gotten familiar pretty quickly. Do you really need to decide already how close we are?"
Perhaps because his class rep suddenly said something negative, Leo comforted him in the tone he used during class rep duties. Elias, who had been listening with a blank face, chimed in.
"Yeah, we haven't had much overlap yet, so if you say that already, how are we supposed to get closer~? I like you too!"
"Haha, so that's how it comes across. I didn't mean it to sound upsetting; I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable."
Narke gathered his thoughts and spoke again.
"This is a better way to put it. You might find it a bit burdensome, but I trust you guys more than the other friends. Not that my trust is perfect."
"Yeah."
"If I didn't trust you more than others, I would've refused the deployment order and been sitting in the Investigation Bureau with you guys, right? I wouldn't have stuck my face into a case the whole nation is watching, risking my identity."
"Probably. I'm really grateful for that."
Leo, who had been listening without reaction, nodded and said.
"No big deal. The plan was for one of us two to get deployed from the start anyway. Anyway, I trusted you not to tell anyone about my story, so I took this on. Even if you do tell, I won't blame you, but I want you to know one thing before hearing the rest."
Narke paused in thought, then opened his mouth.
"I was ordained as a cardinal five years ago."
"...."
Even though it was expected, the atmosphere froze.
He had clearly said he wasn't a bishop earlier.
To be ordained a cardinal, one needed to be a bishop, but since he strongly denied being one, it seemed the reality and system differed from what I knew.
There was the identity issue too—if he was going to hide it, why not hide it thoroughly? Why wear bishop's robes? But outwardly, rank mattered in diplomatic contexts.
Sending such high-level personnel only to be mistaken for a regular mage would be wasteful in many ways.
Elias broke the silence.
"A cardinal, of all things? Weren't you twelve then?"
"Right. I could use divine power right after I was born."
"Wow, just born talented."
Narke chuckled lightly and continued.
"Honestly, I was worried you guys might feel distant… but you're not normal either, so it should be fine, right?"
"Yeah~ Just talk comfortably. We're all the same humans here."
Elias waved his hand dismissively.
"The reason I came to the Imperial Second Academy specifically… yeah, that's the biggest reason you were wary of me. I said earlier I used divine power almost from birth? They delayed my ordination as long as possible, but I got there at twelve. Truth is, even before that, I wasn't living normally."
'....'
Hold on. I had a guess about why he came here.
I asked quietly.
"How long did you attend seminary?"
"About half a year before ordination. Honestly, it was just putting my name on the records once I was old enough."
"Was there a reason you didn't attend longer?"
"Hmm… lots of reasons, but the adults judged it would interfere with my work."
"What work kept you from even going to school?"
Elias tossed in a comment.
"Haha, I can't say properly because of regulations… You know what makes this world go round?"
"Mana. From one to ten."
"Yeah, that."
Narke nodded in agreement.
"...."
Everyone fell silent.
He'd cut out a lot, but the most plausible hypothesis was that he provided divine power to sustain families.
From the way he'd been saying it was hard to reveal his identity, that he was in a similar position to me, it seemed his very existence was classified.
Everyone seemed to have pieced together why Narke was here.
"You're getting too down about it? Haha, it wasn't hard for me! If I'd been born to commoners, maybe, but I wasn't. It wasn't done recklessly, and honestly, I grew up spoiled and naive."
Of course. With his family's wealth, power, and future riding on him, they must have treated him like royalty.
I quietly waited for him to continue.
"Still, I wanted to experience it at least once. A lot of people at magic schools over there know my story. If I'm going to live the same life at school, it's much more comfortable to come somewhere no one knows me."
"…Sorry if I came at you too hard."
Leo apologized, pressing his brow with a darkened face.
"No, I judged I could tell you guys from the start, so what."
"I feel like trash for doubting you even briefly! Hahaha!"
Elias burst into hearty laughter.
Then he leaned back in his chair and muttered.
"Man, even my great-uncle, who only thinks about exiling his nephew, didn't block school."
"Don't say that."
"Don't worry too much, Leo. This is your home."
"...."
Elias ignored Leo's wide-eyed stare and changed the subject.
"Good thing the festival's coming up soon~ You got a big role in the play too. You can enjoy real school life before heading back."
"Right."
"Nice. I might not be able to play much because of my leg… Wait, hold on. Can you go to university here in the Empire?"
"Hmm, as long as my affiliation doesn't get out, I think I can."
Narke smiled softly.
At that, Elias's eyes sparkled, and he clapped his hands.
"Hey, let's clear our heads, guys~ Anyone remember what we were just talking about?"
"Not telling anyone."
"...."
I let out a hollow laugh at Leo's dry response.
In class, someone would usually play along with Elias's nonsense, but not here. At least Elias didn't buckle under any reaction, which was fortunate.
'Anyway….'
Those two might be oblivious, but this wasn't the time for me to fool around.
On the surface, there was nothing odd about his story.
It was true he could rise to that position at that age, and true he was qualified.
It was also true that many families extracted mana from strongly born children to accumulate wealth.
But if he really wanted proper school life, and absolutely had to leave the Papal States for the Empire on exchange, that story should appear in the novel.
Yet I'd never read a single word about Narke's story.
His claim of wanting to live normally here might be true. With that much power, living normally is harder, factually.
But things don't always have just one cause.
There was another factor making him act differently from the novel.
'Probably because changes not in the novel at that time occurred.'
As far as I knew, just me.
But it wasn't the kind of change that would reach the Papal States as rumor. Just answering a question or two, using a bit of mana in class.
Could they hear about me and rush an exchange prep in two weeks?
This made it seem my change wasn't the reason he came here.
'But I can't stop here.'
I opened his favorability window while looking at him.
Narke Farnese
Favorability +7.5
It was 7 when we first met.
How could someone he'd never met have that much value?
Pie was a similar case, but her starting at 10 wasn't strange at all.
Pie thought I'd saved her on day one and realized we clicked that day. High favorability made sense.
But why did Narke start at 7 with me?
At first, I was too busy being wary of this stranger, and with that favorability, the chance he'd harm me was low, so I hadn't dwelled on it.
As Narke chatted with Leo, our eyes met, and he smiled.
I smiled softly back and sank back into thought.
But on this topic, it was worth pinpointing why his favorability was higher than others'.
* * *
After that, we bounced between school talk and Strauch talk past midnight before finally sleeping.
With everyone together, it was hard to get answers, so until I could get Narke alone, I couldn't probe his real reason for the exchange.
More importantly, before that, there was something I needed to focus on now.
On Sunday morning, I received word from the king and went to meet him.
As I entered the room, the king dismissed all the attendants and greeted me simply.
"Good to see you again."
"Yes, Your Majesty. It's an honor."
I gave a suitably formal greeting and sat in the chair he indicated.
Since my identity was already exposed anyway, wearing a mask before the king would be rude, so I removed it and placed it on my lap.
He stared at my face as intently as Elias had, then spoke.
"The windows have been handled beforehand, so no worries."
"Yes, thank you."
He must mean they'd made it so no one could see in from outside.
Then the king spoke again.
"From the Empire to the Papal States, the Strauch congressman issue is the hot topic. Did you see the newspapers during your break?"
"I did. Pleroma's been exposed after so long in such a high position, so the reaction's big."
"Indeed. Accordingly, I personally hold your courage in high regard."
He paused in thought, tilted his head, and spoke again.
"No, not you, but should I say the young lord of Anhalt Principality?"
"...."
Again….
But unlike his words, his face wasn't stiff.
Rather, he looked relaxed, waiting for my reaction, with no apparent malice.
In the novel, descriptions via Leo's lines often portrayed him as no pushover, and now I saw why.
First, I should say what I needed to.
"I apologize for not telling you sooner. No matter how I put it, it won't erase the sin, but I never intended to deceive Your Majesty."
"Yes, I've heard everything."
"I know it's illegal. I'll accept proper punishment."
"Then I'd be an accomplice who knowingly stamped a fake ID."
He raised an eyebrow and gave a faint smile.
'Hmm.'
Good. Fortunately, we're on the same page.
My stance had been conveyed.
I stayed silent to signal understanding.
Denying it or admitting fault here would just make him speak again.
His intent was clear to anyone: both of us had done nothing proper by the book, so let's drop the formalities here.
As expected, he moved on immediately.
"I heard you're close friends with the crown prince. How are things with him?"
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