How a Two-Life Scoundrel Lives - Chapter 110
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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【Chapter 110】
“What are you sorry for?”
“Well, that’s…”
Lieutenant Melvin suddenly broke out in a cold sweat and began rambling incoherently.
“If you called someone as worthless as me, I must have done something wr-wrong…”
“It’s not like that. I just called you because I wanted to ask something.”
“Th-then that’s really a relief. Phewwww.”
Lieutenant Melvin must have been quite anxious, as he let out a long breath and calmed his startled heart.
“I-I thought I had made some mistake. Private Ca-Carlisle.”
“It’s nothing like that, so don’t worry.”
“Th-thank you.”
“…”
Though he wasn’t sure what there was to be thankful for, Carlisle shook his head and spoke.
“I’m really sorry about this.”
“Hmm?”
“It looks a bit awkward having you sitting here blankly like this, so if you’re going to keep staying like this, maybe find somewhere out of sight.”
“Was I… bothering you…?”
“Something like that.”
“I-I see. I didn’t mean to, but I must have made you uncomfortable. I’m really sorry, Private Carlisle. I’ll go outside during the day or something.”
“…”
After hearing Lieutenant Melvin’s response, Carlisle found himself at a loss for words.
‘Just how low has his self-esteem gotten?’
But thinking about it, it was understandable.
Even without ‘that incident,’ Lieutenant Melvin wasn’t recognized as a proper scout member.
His physical strength was weak, so he would often fall behind or collapse during running drills, and despite being an officer in name, he was ignorant about strategy and tactics.
Moreover, since he had a timid personality, he was perfect to look down on in terms of character as well.
Of course, if he had been good at magic like a proper mage, it would have been overlooked somehow…
‘Tch. I had expectations since he’s a mage, but this worthless mag… Ah.’
Carlisle suddenly realized why Lieutenant Melvin had been bothering him.
It was because of expectations.
The expectations for Lieutenant Melvin had been high.
Didn’t Carlisle, as well as all the scouts, want Lieutenant Melvin to decisively sweep away the enemies?
‘Failing to meet expectations… that’s really a shitty feeling.’
Carlisle understood Lieutenant Melvin’s feelings a little.
“But…”
“Did I do something wrong again?”
“No.”
Carlisle shook his head.
“I’m just curious.”
“What are you curious about? Feel free to ask me anything.”
Lieutenant Melvin seemed both afraid and quite pleased to receive someone’s attention after such a long time.
Well, he had been treated like he was invisible for the past month…
“Why did you fail back then?”
“Back then… Ah.”
Lieutenant Melvin’s face darkened rapidly as he recalled the incident.
“Actually, I… have no talent for magic.”
“What kind of bullshit is that?”
Carlisle frowned as if he found it absurd.
How could it make any sense for a mage to say he had no talent for magic?
“I mean it literally. I only have the minimum talent needed to become a mage, but I’m someone who can never become an outstanding mage.”
“Huh?”
“Actually, I studied magic for two whole years at the military academy, but there are only a few spells I can properly perform. Still, the Exploding Fireball was a spell I occasionally succeeded with, so I tried it… but it didn’t work as expected.”
“…”
Carlisle was so dumbfounded that he clamped his mouth shut.
‘He thought to use magic with a low success rate in his first real battle?!’
It seemed the problem wasn’t just his magical talent.
“I once believed that I could become a great mage too…”
“…?”
“I was about six years old. That’s when my magic first manifested.”
Lieutenant Melvin began to tell his life story.
‘I’m not curious about this…’
But since it would be awkward to stop him, Carlisle decided to listen to Lieutenant Melvin’s story.
* * *
Magic in this world wasn’t something you could do just by learning it.
It was a discipline that only those born with magical talent could study, so not just anyone could do it.
There was a reason mages were precious.
Of course, if you could just handle mana, entry-level magic was possible, but since the limits were clear, you couldn’t be called a true mage.
Melvin was born into such a world and showed magical talent around age seven.
He demonstrated very basic and primitive forms of magic, like lighting candles without matches and moving brooms.
“My parents were very happy. The villagers also praised me as a genius and looked up to me. Everyone liked me and hoped I would become a great mage.”
“And then?”
“I think I was around ten years old. His Grace the Grand Duke came to find me personally. Little me.”
“Huh?”
“His Grace the Grand Duke told my parents he would provide an excellent teacher and suggested sending me to study in the capital. That’s how I became Sir Pascal’s disciple.”
“You were Sir Pascal’s disciple?”
“Shamefully so.”
Lieutenant Melvin gave a bitter smile at Carlisle’s surprised question.
‘To think this worthless guy was Pascal’s disciple.’
Pascal.
The one called by the epithet [Mage of Calamity].
As a retainer of House Sigmund, he was Decaron’s greatest mage.
He once served as a guardian deity protecting House Sigmund alongside Maranello, the Grim Reaper of the North.
However, Pascal passed away three years ago due to old age, and since then, no outstanding mage had appeared in Decaron.
This problem remained unchanged even after Frey succeeded Grand Duke Guntram as the lord of Decaron.
Therefore, when playing the game as Frey van Sigmund, you would inevitably struggle due to the lack of excellent mages.
“My master never gave up on me until the end. But I… *sigh*.”
“…”
“My master worried about me until the day he closed his eyes. I’m an unfilial son. I was nothing but a shameful disciple… I never once made my master happy, not even until he passed away.”
Melvin’s eyes reddened as he thought of Pascal.
“Ugh.”
Carlisle frowned and pressed his forehead.
“I don’t want to hear any more, so please stop.”
“Did I go too far? You’re right. It’s not something to talk about when we’re not even that close. I’m sorry. For bringing up such a pointless story…”
“You don’t need to be sorry. It’s just too deep a story.”
“Th-that’s true.”
“Anyway, don’t just stay here doing nothing. Do something. You can’t keep living like this forever.”
“Is that… okay? Everyone told me not to do anything…”
“That means don’t do useless things by yourself.”
“Ah?”
“They’re not all bad people, so if you show them you’re making an effort, their attitude will change.”
“Is, is that so?”
“Probably.”
“Hmm…”
“And I think it’s actually a good thing.”
“Actually good?”
“You caused such a huge incident that nobody expects anything from you, not even a speck.”
“Wh, what do you mean by that…?”
“I mean if you do even a little well, everyone will praise you.”
“…!”
“Do I really have to spell it out for you?”
“Such a method…!”
“If you understand, then start doing something from now on.”
“Then I’ll focus on practicing the exploding fireball that failed last time…”
“Are you planning to destroy the entire research laboratory?”
Carlisle glared at Melvin as if he were pathetic.
“Do that kind of thing at the military unit. If a fire breaks out here, we’ll all burn to death together.”
“Ah, I understand. Then…”
“Just do push-ups or something. Sit-ups are good too.”
“I’ll try that. And… thank you so much, Private Carlisle.”
Lieutenant Melvin said with a bright smile.
“I was secretly worried, but you’re very different from what I heard. You even talk to a failure like me.”
“I just couldn’t stand watching you sitting there alone looking pitiful, so don’t read too much into it.”
“…”
“Well then, I’ll be going.”
After Carlisle left.
“Still, thank you, Private Carlisle. Thanks to you, I know what I need to do.”
Lieutenant Melvin watched Carlisle’s retreating figure, then immediately lay down and attempted push-ups.
One, two, three, four, fiv… thud!
“Ugh!”
It seemed his physical fitness problem was more serious than his magic.
* * *
Carlisle’s group spent leisurely time holed up in Antiros’s research laboratory, regardless of whether Krabel was burning with anxiety.
This was quite good for the scout members as well as Carlisle.
They were excluded from training, operations, and even minor tasks, so they could rest comfortably.
However, one cannot enjoy the honey forever.
“Shall we go soon? By now the battalion commander’s heart should be getting tender.”
“Yeah, let’s do that. I was getting stuffy too.”
Begman nodded in agreement with Carlisle’s suggestion.
The other scout members seemed to share the same opinion.
“But listen.”
“Yes?”
“What are we going to do about that young lady?”
“Ah.”
Carlisle made a troubled expression.
Beatrice.
The creation of the mage Antiros.
“What should we do?”
“Why are you asking me that!”
Begman shouted angrily.
“She’s the young lady you brought, so you should take responsibility!”
“I never did that.”
“This bastard is still spouting such obvious lies! You punk! That won’t work!”
“Hmm.”
Carlisle pondered Beatrice’s fate regardless of whether Begman raised his voice or not.
“We can’t take her with us, but if we leave her behind, she’ll probably follow us.”
“Brother.”
“What.”
“Are you… going to abandon me?”
Beatrice was on the verge of tears, about to cry at any moment.
“I think we can worry about that later…?”
Marder, who had been quiet, suddenly spoke up.
It seemed he had discovered something while conducting aerial reconnaissance through Hugin.
“Why?”
“Because it doesn’t look like we can return today. Haha, hahaha…”
“What do you mean by that?”
“They’re swarming in huge numbers.”
“What is?”
“Barbarians.”
“How many?”
“It looks like over a thousand…?”
“Over… a thousand?”
“Maybe even more.”
“That’s quite troublesome.”
Carlisle showed reluctance.
“Then let’s wait until they pass by.”
“We’ll have to.”
Marder nodded.
“Then let’s decide to wait, but first quickly report to Sir Helen. Tell her that enemy forces are moving in large numbers.”
“Yes, captain.”
Marder called Hugin into the research laboratory through the ventilation shaft, tied a small message note to his ankle, and sent him out again.
Now Hugin would go to Bowden Fortress and report this fact to Helen.
“It should be fine in about half a day, so let’s depart late tonight or something.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
Carlisle and the scout members thought the barbarians’ large force would pass by soon.
But that was a huge miscalculation.
“What… are they doing right now?”
Carlisle looked at the magic mirror with a perplexed expression.
The research laboratory had a magic mirror installed that could monitor about a 50-meter radius, making it possible to observe the outside situation.
“Aren’t they doing construction?”
Kudo made an incredulous expression.
The barbarians seen through the magic mirror were definitely not just passing by.
They were diligently building a fortress using stones, dirt, logs, and other materials.
The location happened to be exactly above the research laboratory, so the entrance as well as several ventilation shafts were all about to be included within the barbarians’ new fortress.
That means….
“Ah, fuck.”
A curse slipped out of Carlisle’s mouth.
They say an unlucky person will break their nose even if they fall backwards, but who could have known that Barbarians would swarm to the exact spot where he was hiding to build a fortress.
“W-wait.”
The Baby Dragon suddenly poked its head out and used the Magic Mirror to illuminate a specific location.
“That thing… isn’t that a bathroom?”
“…!”
Several Barbarian Engineers were building a bathroom right above the ventilation shaft.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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