How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family Chapter 133

"Leo, thank you."

I smiled, listening to their conversation, and murmured quietly.

It ant thank you for setting the stage. Of course, even without Leo's help, those aggressive bastards would have co to pick a fight with anyway.

[Ah~ This is going to be fun. I'll be watching, Luca!]

Elias replied, cackling, instead of Leo.

I'm sure he made that noise during the play on the festival day too.

I turned off the communication and looked down at the newspaper I brought from Bavaria, organizing my thoughts.

Attitudes are being divided based on benefits regarding the sa situation.

I rummaged through the pile of notes stacked in a corner of the desk.

'Almost twenty.'

Twenty out of 72 is a considerable number, especially considering that partners have already been decided at this point.

It's a similar number to the requests Leo and Elias have received so far.

No matter how much noise a few loud voices make in objection, it's only a temporary uproar. In the end, the flow shows that I have a good chance of winning.

Also, the fact that there are people desperately resisting for fear of losing sothing again is a sign that I'm definitely going in the right direction in terms of achievent.

'More than that.'

Adelbert Hohenzollern received a 3 rating yesterday, I heard.

The academy was so noisy that it was impossible not to know.

Coincidentally, when I went to my office in Bavaria, there was a letter he had sent a few days ago.

'Unlike his father, he doesn't send ssengers.'

He sent it by warp mail normally.

But because of that, I checked it too late.

'I should reply now.'

Even though his Skill stat is only 2, he's been getting good grades enough to skip grades until now, so I can clearly see that he'll be suffering ntally from his rating suddenly dropping like this.

Even if it seems like nothing, if he makes the wrong decision at this ti, his whole life could change.

In the first place, this student military selection wasn't even in the novel, and if there was no selection, he wouldn't have received a 3 , so I should give him so encouragent.

'If he gets discouraged for nothing and locks himself in his room from now on, I won't be able to get any information from that bastard either.'

I tore open the wax seal stamped with the imperial family's crest and unfolded the letter.

[To the esteed Ernst, Your Excellency,]

[…Recently, a mobilization order has been issued in the capital school, and everyone is taking qualification exams. It seems voluntary, but it is not. Especially for . His Majesty keeps urging that I must be in Team 1.

…

However, I don't think I can et His Majesty and my teachers' expectations. Have you ever had this happen, Your Excellency?]

"...Hmm."

I see why his grades dropped.

I now know why he stopped with a grim look on his face at the theater club before.

I don't know if he would even think of telling this to soone with -5 Favorability... but it's probably right to think that he was so frustrated that he wanted to tell it to anyone, even soone with rock-bottom Favorability.

'But I've never encouraged anyone before.'

I've experienced similar situations to that bastard countless tis, but to be honest, if I were to encourage myself in those days, I wouldn't have anything to say. When I didn't have any tolerance, nothing anyone said would have gotten through.

After agonizing for a long ti without thinking of any appropriate encouragent, I decided to write only one sentence.

[Expectations are ant to be broken, Your Highness.]

I picked up a pen and wrote the content in the neatest handwriting possible, adding the cliché that he could contact anyti if he had any concerns, and warped it to my office in Bavaria.

Honestly, I don't know if it will resonate with him. It would be better to just et him in person and say it….

'More than that, it seems the Emperor is paying so attention to Elias.'

I closed the cap of the fountain pen and got up from my seat.

Looking at the clock, it was getting close to 11 o'clock.

'Should I get so fresh air one last ti?'

I hesitated about taking Pai, who was sleeping on my pillow, but went up to the rooftop alone.

I leaned against the railing, enjoying the night breeze and looking down below.

Tomorrow, I should make a partner first and then expand the board as those bastards co.

As I was thinking that and killing ti, I heard voices coming from the rooftop door.

"...I said earlier, but I think that friend deserved to receive a 1 rating."

"...We're gathering kids right now, but are you really not going to try it?"

An familiar topic ca up and when I turned around, I saw two students from class 2 opening the door and coming in.

When our eyes t, one of them was startled and took a step back.

The other one raised an eyebrow, smiling leisurely.

"Ah, Lucas."

While the other friend hurriedly left the rooftop, he approached .

"So we et here. Ah, do you happen to know my na?"

"How could I not? We're in the sa class."

Yulia Tsheringen.

The heir to the Grand Duchy of Baden, the person who will beco the Grand Duke of Baden in the future, or in other words, the monarch of Baden.

And the student I was going to propose a partnership to.

"I see. It's not that I was trying to ignore you, but I actually heard so stories from lvin. I'm glad you know ."

I guess Luca told him that he didn't morize the nas of his classmates.

Luca didn't know the nas of most of the students, including lvin, for the entire year.

"More than that, I was really surprised in the first exam yesterday. I didn't know you had that kind of talent, and it was a good learning experience for as a colleague who will be taking the exam together in the future. It was also stimulating."

"Thank you for the good evaluation."

"It's nothing."

Tsheringen laughed heartily and opened his mouth again.

"I suppose you wouldn't take it very well no matter what I say from here on out. It's true that no matter how much you praise the abilities of those who are as outstanding as you, it doesn't resonate with them."

"……."

I was going to go first, but I guess there was no need.

'Our intentions were the sa.'

More than that, there's nothing particularly special about the content alone, but his tone and attitude are the most like the heir of a ruling family among the students I've t so far.

Unlike Leo, who is reluctant to hear the title of Crown Prince, he seems like a person who doesn't feel any reluctance about that title.

'Is that why he didn't have much contact with Leo or Elias?'

That's not to say it's bad.

If this person was a tyrannical figure, Elias would have gone to hit him, so Tsheringen will probably beco a monarch who doesn't do anything particularly bad in the future.

However, a typical aristocrat who has completely adapted to the class system would not be able to deeply connect with Leo or Elias. That's all.

I nodded to an go ahead.

"It's embarrassing to say this between people who haven't mixed words a few tis, but you are currently being evaluated as having received a 1 rating thanks to pushing through with your Magic Power, Lucas. Do you know?"

"I know."

"That's sowhat true. But that's not all."

I didn't answer and waited for him to continue.

I have a rough idea.

He's not praising right now, but trying to prove his usefulness.

It's a natural strategy in a way, but it wasn't a thod that could be found among the students who sent notes so far.

He smiled as if he was amused and leaned against the railing in the opposite direction from .

"The reason most of the friends are evaluating you as pushing through with Magic Power is purely because they didn't feel any special technique or characteristics in your movents. Do you agree?"

"Yes, I agree."

"And that's not because you're ignorant of Skills, as other students think, but because your movents are perfectly textbook-like."

"……."

"It was a movent that reminded of Leonard Wittelsbach's thod. It was so neat and restrained that I wanted to learn it."

Certainly, the eyes of those who are good at sothing in one field are different.

Unlike the students who simply said he pushed through with Magic Power, he had already properly analyzed the movents.

"This attack thod has the disadvantage of being relatively easy to read. Of course, that's just an excuse for diocre people, but at the sa ti, it's an undeniable fact for 99.9% of people. That's why everyone tries to make their own tricks and create their own characteristics."

His face beca slightly serious.

He looked at the air and continued.

"And it's needless to say that everything goes wrong from such reckless luck. The possibility of developnt cos from the right path."

He's like Leo.

Unlike those who pursue imdiately good results, he looks far ahead.

"However, the disadvantage of being easy to read doesn't seem very aningful to you. Because there aren't many people who can handle your Magic Power. At this ti, the only disadvantage you have is that it's difficult to flexibly respond to the opponent's attack because you still lack data. It's just a guess."

"Well, you're not completely wrong."

Even in cases where I could move much more efficiently if I had studied more, I tend to move only as I have learned so far due to my lack of experience.

"You felt that way too. Then… if there is a partner who technically responds when a gap occurs, you can effectively block the score hole that may occur in the slightest. As you know, partner selection is also part of the teamwork evaluation item, so the partner's movent is also your score."

I smiled silently, looking at him.

Tsheringen smiled confidently and held out his hand.

"I don't know what kind of attack thod you prefer, but I can fill it in any way without lacking, Lucas. I want to be with you in the second test."

Golden eyes with lted intelligence shone in the darkness.

That smile that doesn't consider rejection.

It's a smile that's possible when you know your own excellence well.

He is now approaching thoroughly politically.

And that's because my intentions were not much different either.

This exchange is not just the end of the exam, but perhaps a groundwork for the heir to the Duchy of Anhalt, which may change.

'I recognized it from his tone.'

Subtly, it was a tone as if dealing with a peer he t in the political world, not a high school friend.

If it's a ti when he can get a relationship with so little effort, he wouldn't have any reason to refuse to beco friends with .

Of course, that's why I have no reason to refuse either.

It would be fortunate if the future King of Bavaria and the Grand Duke of Baden were all my colleagues.

"Okay."

I smiled, shaking his hand.

I felt a hand full of calluses, showing traces of effort similar to Leo's and Elias's.

* * *

I woke up completely after getting so fresh air.

I also woke up because the friend I was going to ask for a partner made the sa request to first.

'I also got 3 more Favorability points.'

I'm getting closer and closer to acquiring 15 points.

I was thinking that and turned over the newspaper that Leo had left behind earlier.

'I should analyze what to analyze.'

Now is the ti to reveal the changes, so I need to analyze the press once.

[Bavarian Magical dicine Center, "Lucas Askanian's Core Perfectly Normal"]

[Bavarian Magical dicine Center, "We cannot know the state of the past, but it is normal now"]

dia outlets from all over are pouring out similar articles with different contents.

[Is 'Pleroma' Treatable?]

[Anhalt Protestant Church Alliance Strongly Criticizes "The Era When Pleroma Handles Pleroma"]

[Lucas Askanian, The Only Way Out for the Askanian Family]

["Cannot Entrust Citizens to Pleroma" Imperial Second Academy's Decision Resolutely Opposed]

Let's put aside the analysis articles about my magic since they mostly only tell positive stories.

At first glance, the articles that ntion other than magic mainly tell negative stories.

If you spread out ten, seven of them ntion 'Pleroma' and 'Vampirism' and express concerns.

'If you only look at this, it's not a very good sign.'

But this is a natural result.

If the negative perception of the world that has accumulated so far is reversed overnight, you should rather find it more strange.

It would an that soone high up is controlling the press according to their intentions.

But what I need is information right now, so what should I do if there is a ti difference between the reflection of the conventional wisdom like this and the revelation of people's true perceptions?

At this ti, there is a place that reflects the psychology that people do not express the most.

'It's the market.'

I picked up yesterday's economic newspaper that Leo had left behind.

Anhalt has not achieved any special industrial developnt compared to other countries.

However, Adrian Askanian began to covet steel, railways, and the defense industry from around my age, and in fact, developnt in that direction is in its initial stage.

However, since Anhalt is originally an agricultural region, there is a basic anxiety that developnt into a new industry can be reduced in scale or abolished at any ti if the leader changes, as policies are still in their initial stage.

Even though there is still a long way to go, Georg Askanian has let go of the steering wheel, so the fluctuation is bound to be more severe even with slight information.

I underlined the companies involved in the developnt promoted by my brother and the companies that have financial transactions with those companies.

And, the result is….

Nieyer Engineering -6.4%

Anhaltbaur -7.95%

A&P Special Steel -5.9%

…

'It's a ss.'

I smiled.

When looking at the entire empire, there was no major change in the stock prices of companies in the sa industry, but the stock prices of companies involved in my brother's policies all fell.

Has the investnt injected into Anhalt been recovered due to the increased concern about across the country? It wasn't that, as there was no significant change in the stock prices of other corporations located in Anhalt.

Only the companies that joined my brother's economic developnt policy showed this decline.

'Good.'

What can be learned from the stock price decline is not just the economic situation.

It's just a temporary phenonon, but that's what's important to . The imdiate calculations and psychology that people show imdiately after information is given.

In other words, what this result ans is one thing.

The market has lost its firm belief in the heir to the Duchy of Anhalt.