"Turning the press against you means all your achievements will fall into the royal family's lap. Do you think the press will write favorable articles about a blackmailer?"
"You're worried about me?"
"..."
Leo, standing beside me, scowled and waved both hands dismissively. It seemed like a sign to just listen casually and move on.
"...Yeah."
"Touched~ But there's no other way, is there?"
"You're okay with your achievements being stolen by the royal family?"
"No, I'd be pissed. Extremely pissed."
"Wow, you really...!"
Elias put an arm around Leo's shoulder, patting him as he continued.
"But right now, at this very moment, people are getting hurt and dying. Even some damn bugs have shown up. We can collect on the credit later, with interest. Right?"
Since he was collecting it with his life on the line, it was fair to say he was collecting with interest. Knowing how well he kept his word sent a shiver down my spine.
"I'm not saying we should scrap the current plan."
"Then?"
"Let me ask this first. That plan was the one we made during the barrier compatibility issue, right?"
"Yeah. Why? You said we'd still raise the barrier compatibility issue too."
Right.
Even if we periodically manage and supervise to interfere with Pleroma's experiments, there would still be remaining magical beasts, so the barrier needs strengthening.
"Luca, the press has no reason to report stories negative towards the royal family. If we want to move fast without missteps, don't we need to grab them by the throat first~?"
"Of course."
I looked Elias straight in the face.
"But the situation is different now."
"Now?"
The 'barrier compatibility' issue is about the royal family's lack of oversight.
But what if the reported story is about Pleroma's insect experiments?
The royal family steps out of the spotlight, and Pleroma becomes the target of criticism.
"...Ah~"
Even before I could formally lay out the idea, Elias raised an eyebrow and snapped his fingers. I felt it with Leo too, but his quick understanding was really good.
"That's why you asked when the plan was made. If we lead with the mosquitoes, the focus will shift, right?"
"Right. The target of the criticism just needs to be Pleroma, not the royal family."
The demand for barrier upgrades is included in the mosquito proposal anyway, so there's no need to stir up the press by making it the headline.
"Wow, you guys? We have to think about things like this too?"
"...I suddenly feel like I'm just sitting around doing nothing."
The students laughed with awkward expressions.
"No need to feel pressured. We just have one thing to do."
I looked around at the students and said.
"We're going to report this issue to the press, and file a lawsuit."
* * *
I spent the whole day in the infirmary and warped to the meeting place once night fell.
〈 Chapter 4. Constant Dripping Wears Away a Stone (2) 〉
Proposal 2: Achieve [Impression] Score 5 (0/1) (163 hours 53 minutes 51 seconds)
* Route 1 ― 〈 Chapter 4 Special Reward 〉
* Route 2 ― 〈 Chapter 5. Do Not Praise the Day Before Evening Falls 〉
'...Hmm.'
Giving me a proposal on the day I was reminded once again that I'm still in my brother's grasp. The timing is apt.
But...
Impression score -9.9. They want me to raise it by a total of 14.9 points now?
'...'
And within a week?
Forget the reward, maybe the title of Chapter 5 itself, which gives me a bad feeling, is just telling me to get lost.
'Wait.'
Stopped in my self-deprecation, I suddenly had a thought and halted my bitter smile.
Let me look at the impression score on my status window again.
Lucas Rene Ascanien
Impression: -9.9 [+2.0][+2.0]
Come to think of it, I had confirmed two impression scores this morning.
Could it be that the proposal saying [Impression] score is...
Clearly, from my memory, when it told me to raise my stamina score to 0, it didn't say [Stamina] score.
It just said 'stamina' as usual.
Could it be telling me [Impression] so I don't get confused about which one to raise?
'...'
Why is it really like this?
I said before something felt off.
It was just speculation since it wasn't explicit, but I'm starting to get it now.
No matter how I think about it, those brackets are definitely Nikolaus's impression score.
A +2.0 couldn't come from Luca's national image.
Seeing how a new impression category appeared only after I resolved to actively utilize the 'Blue-Eyed Hunter' makes it quite plausible.
Anyway, this score probably also has diminishing returns as it gets larger.
It's not like raising negative stamina to zero; I have to raise it by 3 whole points from an already positive state.
'...No.'
The timeframe is a bit ambiguous, but there's a chance.
Just then, Leo, who had warped here, spotted me and spoke.
"Why didn't you come to class?"
Today is a day without meetings.
Since we already finished discussing the lawsuit yesterday, there was no need for the other students to meet.
But, Narké and Leo had agreed to gather here.
"I took medicine."
"Medicine? Don't tell me...!"
Leo put down the bag he was carrying and sat down.
"Don't tell me you were summoned because of that?"
"Yeah. My brother is trying to have the head butler force me to take medicine twice a week."
"...Twice? Can you handle it?"
"He raised my core performance, so it's not completely unbearable."
It was a good thing I raised my stamina score a lot—even if it was semi-forced.
Leo chewed his lip thoughtfully and said.
"If you can't handle it, tell me. I'll use healing magic or something."
"Okay, thanks."
"But... your brother has started acting very aggressively."
I nodded.
"He's trying to kill me off quickly."
But I don't plan to move in earnest yet.
If he did, he'd come find me himself.
Leo looked slightly shocked, his mouth slightly agape, then let out a sigh.
"...Should I assign you a guard or something?"
"Is there any chance of being found out?"
I smiled and shook my head.
Leo also seemed to deflate, letting out a faint laugh as he replied.
"Right, looking at your skills alone, physically there shouldn't be a problem... So, are you okay for now?"
"I'm okay. Narké helped."
"He noticed right away? His ability is certainly good."
It's a good ability.
To the point that if another trait draw comes up, I'd want that ability too.
'Really, is there no way?'
"Everyone's here~"
Speak of the devil, Narké appeared with a smile and slapped my back loudly.
"Feeling better?"
"...!"
From the back he slapped, a refreshing energy spread to the extremities of my body, completely wiping away the faint remaining traces of poison.
"...What was that?"
"The magic you used at the charity event."
So he purified it.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it. We're heading out now, right?"
"Yeah."
We're going to Bavaria now.
There are five contaminated zones within Bavaria alone.
We plan to purify them all with divine power and return.
To lay the groundwork for the next plan, and as a bonus.
'...Anyway, I'm a mage belonging there too.'
Even if it happened without my knowledge.
Anyway, now that a proposal to raise Nikolaus's impression score has been added, the more I show my face and produce results, the better.
"I'm looking forward to it. I've been holding back ever since coming here, so even something minor is exciting!"
Narké, who can use divine power, is coming along too.
Narké seemed to really regret not being able to come last time, so as soon as it was a weekday, he contacted the school and got permission.
Last time might have been different, but since the insect issue will break tomorrow, the logic that Leo recruited Narké, a divine power user, for restricted zone purification is sufficient.
Leo expressed doubt at Narké's words.
"The whole time? Were you hunting magical beasts in the Papal States?"
"Did something similar."
"Really? That's unexpected."
Narké grinned at that.
"If you see it, it won't be that unexpected."
* * *
Kwaaaang—!
Narké pulled the end of his staff from the dirt.
The divine power had turned the evening sky as white as midday.
"..."
There was no time to marvel, busy blocking the wind rushing in with a roar.
No, I was just speechless.
With just this one spell, he purified an area covering a whopping 3,000 pyeong. At this level, he could probably even beat a professor.
"...Ten thousand square meters of divine power? Exchange students are definitely something else."
Leo muttered.
Not all exchange students are like that, but he seemed to be blabbering anything in his shock.
"Well, Lucas could probably do it too?"
"I haven't learned a wide-area magic casting method this large."
"Ah, so it's not about power."
Narké answered nonchalantly while his eyes scanned here and there, looking for magical beasts to kill.
Soon, he curled the corner of his mouth, aimed his wand at one spot, and flicked his wrist lightly.
Bang—! Sizzle....
The area under a giant tree root flashed brightly.
The contaminated rats, weakened from the purification and wandering around, had turned black as if electrocuted.
Narké muttered in a low voice with a face full of pleasure.
"I could probably do this alone."
"..."
"Guys, go check the other places first. I'll handle the purification here."
"Yeah, okay."
His voice was as kind as ever, but his expression wasn't particularly kind.
'...He really is from the seminary.'
Anyway, it's good he's on our side.
And he probably knows that for now, there's no other method besides extermination, which is why he's acting like this.
By dawn, we had purified all five restricted zones in Bavaria and returned to school.
Narké purified two, and Leo and I purified three.
Leo doesn't know how to use divine power, so the purification itself was up to Narké and me.
Narké checked Leo's bankbook with a surprised face.
"Whoa, just the Imperial Bank reward is 1.25 million phel."
That's 125 million won in Korean currency.
Seeing this made me feel how extremely rare the last incident was.
Three low-grade and two mid-grade zones, five total, netted 1 billion, whereas last time we spent 1 billion on just one zone.
Anyway... we have no plans to use this money.
Narké handed the bankbook back to Leo, picked up his black leather bag, and stood up.
"I'll head to the special class first. You guys come slowly."
"Okay. Thanks for the hard work today."
"Don't mention it, it was the most fun I've had this semester."
"..."
I warped to the dorm, changed clothes, and came out nonchalantly.
I deliberately took a detour to the lecture hall building to buy a newspaper.
['Blue-Eyed Hunter' Sir Nikolaus's tip-off... 'Pleroma conducting resurrection experiments with insects']
[Unexplained skin disease in Mepfen region, cause revealed... Pleroma's doing]
[Josef Friedrich, Imperial First Education Institute Honorary Professor: "Could become unprecedented biochemical weapon"]
[2,000 citizens of Osnabrück gather in square 1 hour after report... 'Demand swift action']
[Clemens Graf, Pleroma Research Institute Director: "Worst case could reach national disaster level"]
[Impact of Pleroma's insect experiments on local communities]
'Success.'
Unlike the original, media coverage happened without resorting to self-destructive强硬 tactics.
However, there was no mention anywhere of the story that the proposal sent to the security headquarters and parliament in Elias's name was rejected.
[Security Headquarters: 'Will use Grade 1 purification magic to exterminate contaminated bugs in Mepfen region']
Look at them bringing it up only now.
There was also no mention of doing it continuously.
It's just a one-time event; if it goes like this, Pleroma will just lay low for a while and come out again.
Naturally, parliament had nothing to say either.
Since the security headquarters presented a stopgap solution, they probably thought there was no need for them to move either.
That evening, Melvin carefully opened the door to the small room attached to the meeting place and entered.
"Lucas...! We just got a reply from the Federal Council."
"What did they say?"
"They said it's difficult to handle within a month. They can't make laws that quickly..."
We urged parliament to act once more, but the reply was again a refusal.
And they answered on the legislation side.
Well, since the government isn't requesting additional budget, these guys can't do anything first either.
Of course, they probably have no intention of passing a budget according to our proposal either.
"What about the Security Headquarters?"
"There... no reply to the telegram we sent today."
"Okay, thanks."
Yesterday, through my brother's crazy act, we confirmed the word had reached the government.
So we sent the proposal and data packet again.
Back then, they shamelessly accepted it and replied, 'We will inform you of measures through the official Security Headquarters channel later.'
In the end, those measures were just a one-time thing.
We sent a telegram urging proper action, but again, silence.
Melvin stood there for a while, then frowned and cautiously asked.
"So now... we move to the next step, right?"
"We have to. The Security Headquarters doesn't seem willing to resolve it beyond this."
"Is it really okay to do that? No matter what, it's the government..."
"It's already done."
I held up one of the evening newspapers.
[Elias Hohenzollern files administrative lawsuit against Imperial Security Headquarters]
* * *
The same time, Imperial Chancellery building.
"Does this make any sense?! What is that troublemaker doing now?!"
"Watch your language. He is also a member of the imperial family."
"...Ahem, right. Duke Elias is suing the imperial family? We're not going to take this seriously, are we, Chairman?"
"It would be more appropriate to call me Chancellor outside parliament."
"Yes, Chancellor. What will you do? Just say the word, and I'll talk to the judiciary."
The one called Chancellor didn't answer, just stared into space.
"Chancellor. We tried to prevent word from leaking that the Security Headquarters and parliament failed to provide appropriate responses. We blocked it well, and now he's filed a lawsuit. Who wouldn't grab this scoop? On top of that, he demanded a live broadcast of the trial!"
"It doesn't seem necessary to take it seriously, does it?"
"Yes."
The Chancellor smiled at that solemn tone.
"Because Duke Elias raised it?"
"That's correct."
"My impression is similar to yours. What could he possibly know to file a lawsuit? He must have taken on this matter with his usual hot-blooded temperament."
"So you think so too, Chancellor."
The Chancellor nodded silently, then looked at the other person.
"Do you remember what Duke Elias demanded from the court and the judge?"
"That due to the urgency of the matter, the trial be held within 7 days without administrative review and mediation procedures, and that the trial be broadcast from start to finish through the Imperial Newspaper. Two things."
"Right."
The Chancellor paused for a beat before continuing.
"I intend to grant all those demands."
—-----------
T/N:
Free members get 10 advanced chapters every week.
Want more? Get access to 40 chapters ahead on Patreon:
[email protected]//hiddenmage