How a Two-Life Scoundrel Lives - Chapter 33

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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 33】

The reason the Northern Region people and Barbarians had been waging war for hundreds of years was solely because of magic stones—nothing but magic stones.

Magic stones held such a precious position in this world that they were resources anyone would covet.

This meant that there were countless others who also targeted magic stones.

Monsters were a prime example.

Monsters instinctively lingered around magic stones, and some high-level individuals had the habit of periodically consuming magic stones.

And that wasn’t all.

Mages also frequently built their own laboratories or dungeons in this magic stone-rich region of Kuberin for magical research, holing up there for anywhere from a few years to several decades.

And among the mages staying in Kuberin, the most numerous group was none other than…

‘Right, it’s a heaven for dark mages.’

It wasn’t strange at all that Kuberin was a heaven for dark mages.

Not only was Kuberin rich in magic stones, but it was also teeming with monsters that could be used as magical experiment materials.

And they could very easily obtain ‘humans’ and ‘corpses’ that served as materials for dark magic.

So from the dark mages’ perspective, Kuberin couldn’t help but be an extremely attractive location.

It was easy to obtain abandoned corpses, and it was also good for kidnapping living humans and conducting live experiments on them.

Why?

If someone disappeared, people would assume they fell victim to something and wouldn’t even think to search for them.

The nearby hidden dungeon [Antiros’s Laboratory] was in the same vein.

‘Did they really send me here to die?’

Carlisle let out a scoff of disbelief as he looked at the map.

‘If this was the plan, they should have just killed me instead.’

Carlisle shuddered as he thought of his father, Grand Duke Guntram, who had sent him to this Bowden Fortress.

Bowden Fortress was hell, teeming with not only [Antiros’s Laboratory] but all sorts of dangerous things.

‘…Crowley’s dungeon is right near here too.’

Crowley was an evil dark mage, and his dungeon was located about 2 kilometers away from this Bowden Fortress.

‘And here… wasn’t this the area that gets completely occupied by those Barbarian bastards?’

It was a fact he hadn’t been able to recall due to all the chaos, but the Bowden Fortress area was scheduled to be occupied by Barbarians.

At least that was the case at the starting point of the game [Overlord].

Since this was about 9 years and 4 months before that time, he couldn’t know exactly when that would happen.

‘I need to get out of here quickly or…’

Poke—something jabbed Carlisle’s back.

“…!”

Startled, he turned around to see [Squinty-eyed] Kudo smiling as always.

It seemed Kudo’s finger was what had poked Carlisle’s back.

“You just died from an enemy surprise attack, Sir Carlisle.”

“Ah.”

“Thanks to that, our hardworking engineers would die too.”

“I apologize.”

Carlisle quickly apologized.

Since he’d been caught doing something else while on guard duty, he had nothing to say even if he had ten mouths.

“What were you looking at so intently that you didn’t even notice the enemy coming around behind you, Sir Carlisle?”

“I was looking at the map and got distracted.”

“You were studying the surrounding terrain?”

“Yes.”

“That’s a good attitude.”

Kudo smiled gently.

“Private Carlisle, you’re quite different from the rumors. Even studying the surrounding terrain in advance. But doing other things during guard duty is forbidden.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Oh, and.”

“…?”

“Could I possibly know what that swordsmanship was back then?”

“That swordsmanship?”

“The swordsmanship that cut the enemy in half.”

“Ah, if you mean that…”

Carlisle couldn’t find an appropriate answer.

It wasn’t House Sigmund’s family sword technique, but just something like an ancient hero’s secret technique.

“Ah, is it something you can’t talk about? If that’s the case, you don’t need to tell me…”

“It’s not that.”

Carlisle shook his head.

“I happened to inherit an ancient ancestor’s sword technique, so it’s difficult to explain.”

“A lost sword technique?”

“Probably…”

“Could I possibly see it? That swordsmanship.”

Carlisle saw the curiosity sparkling between those narrow eyelids and realized he hadn’t come over just to scold him.

“Oh, of course I’m not forcing you at all. If you’re uncomfortable…”

“I’ll show you.”

Carlisle was honestly annoyed, but decided to gladly make time for Kudo.

[Noble Proof] was a quest that could only be passed by maintaining good relationships with unit members, not just through combat, so being standoffish and difficult would only hurt Carlisle.

Rather, he should be grateful to Kudo for approaching him with goodwill.

Since Kudo was a person with deep trust within the scout unit, becoming friends with him would surely help in passing [Noble Proof].

“Would you really do that?”

“It’s not a difficult thing. Should I show you right now?”

“There are too many watching eyes now, and Sir Carlisle is on duty, so that would be awkward. I’ll arrange a separate occasion this afternoon.”

“Whatever’s convenient for you.”

“And I don’t mind, but don’t let Sergeant Begman or Wilson catch you. They’ll think it’s a good opportunity to give Sir Carlisle a hard time.”

Kudo said this while winking with those long, narrow eyes, then disappeared.

* * *

After that, Carlisle stood there blankly for quite a while, watching the engineers mine magic stones.

Clang, claaang!

The engineers repeatedly sweated profusely using mining equipment coated with finely ground magic stone particles to mine magic stones and load them onto carts.

They were called engineers, but in reality they looked no different from laborers in military uniforms.

‘By the way, how can I get out of here quickly?’

Carlisle found this Bowden Fortress very unsettling and just wanted to escape as soon as possible.

Even setting aside that it would become Barbarian territory in the future, there were far too many dangerous things around.

At least around Bowden Fortress, Barbarians were just one threat among many.

Though he was lying low for now, Crowley alone was a terrifying dark mage.

He was scheduled to clash with Frey, Carlisle’s younger brother and one of the main characters in the game [Overlord], in the future.

‘I want to live quietly and peacefully as much as possible.’

Carlisle wanted to live a life removed from the kingdom’s civil war that would occur in the future.

Since he wasn’t the main character Frey anyway, he didn’t want to get caught up in the whirlwind of history.

‘I’ll leave here as quickly as possible, complete my mandatory service period, and then…’

Just then.

“Ah!”

Thud!

A small-framed female engineer fell ungracefully right in front of Carlisle.

It seemed he had fallen after tripping on a stone while carrying a sack full of magic stones.

“Are you alright?”

Carlisle approached the fallen, groaning engineer and extended his hand.

“Thank you… Kyaaa!”

The engineer suddenly let out a piercing scream.

“What’s wrong?”

“What’s happening?”

The sudden commotion drew the attention of the engineers who had been focused on their work.

“Why are you suddenly screaming like that?”

“You’re too handsome.”

“Excuse me?”

What is she talking about?

“I was startled because such a handsome person suddenly appeared. I’m sorry, oppa.”

“My rank is actually lower than yours.”

Carlisle looked bewildered at being called ‘oppa.’

The other person was a junior soldier like Russell, one rank higher than Carlisle, who was a novice soldier.

“I’m sorry! No! I mean, sorry! I’m having trouble breathing for some reason… Hehe…”

“…”

Carlisle was so dumbfounded by her rambling that he closed his mouth.

While thinking it was probably due to the confusion, he couldn’t help but think…

‘The military is really going to hell.’

Even though engineers were non-combat personnel, they were still soldiers wearing military uniforms, so he couldn’t help but wonder if this was acceptable.

Moreover, wasn’t this Kuberin, called the Blood-Soaked Land?

Such innocence in a place where the threat of death always lurked…

“Get away from her right now!”

At someone’s angry shout, he turned to see furious engineers rushing toward Carlisle like a pack.

“You perverted bastard! Get away from Gwen right now!”

“Finally showing your true colors!”

“I’ll cut your thing right off!”

The engineers threatened Carlisle while gripping their tools – pickaxes, hoes, and shovels.

“…Why are you guys acting like this again. Sigh.”

Carlisle squeezed his eyes shut and let out a deep sigh as if exhausted.

Of course, it wasn’t that he didn’t understand why they were acting this way.

Since Carlisle van Sigmund was notorious for harassing and molesting women regardless of time and place, it wouldn’t be strange ‘at all’ for him to face such misunderstandings.

It was just frustrating from Carlisle’s perspective.

“That’s not what happened…”

Carlisle tried to explain the whole situation, but the engineers wouldn’t even listen.

“What’s all this commotion about?”

If Helen, the commanding officer, hadn’t appeared at that moment, Carlisle would have been turned into minced meat by the tools wielded by the angry engineers.

“Sir Helen! That piece of trash was doing something to Junior Soldier Gwen in broad daylight…”

“Is that true?”

Helen looked at Carlisle following the engineers’ accusations.

“That’s not true! Sir Helen!”

Gwen stepped forward to defend Carlisle.

“Novice Soldier Carlisle was only trying to help me when I fell! That’s all!”

“Then why did you scream?”

“Well, that’s…”

Gwen hung her head low as she answered.

Seeing her earlobes turn red, it was obvious what her face must look like.

“…It was because Novice Soldier Carlisle was too handsome. I’m sorry.”

“…”

At Gwen’s answer, everyone including Helen was left speechless.

To call that an answer…

‘At least she’s not a bad person, so that’s fortunate.’

Carlisle felt relieved inwardly.

If Gwen had harbored ill intentions, he would have been helplessly framed.

It would have been an unnecessary worry if he were a decent person, but since Carlisle’s credibility was so low it was wallowing in the gutter, it couldn’t be helped.

“Novice Soldier Carlisle.”

“Yes, Sir Helen.”

“Follow me.”

And so Carlisle ended up having an unexpected meeting with the commanding officer.

* * *

‘Is this some new form of harsh treatment?’

Called to Helen’s office, Carlisle felt as if he were sitting on a bed of thorns.

Helen didn’t say anything to Carlisle.

She just glared at him with cold eyes…

A suffocating silence flowed.

“Novice Soldier Carlisle.”

Helen broke the silence and spoke.

“Yes, Sir Helen.”

“I’d like you to avoid getting close to female comrades from now on.”

“Excuse me…?”

Carlisle frowned, wondering what on earth she was talking about.

When had he ever gotten close to female soldiers?

What happened earlier was just him trying to help someone who seemed to have fallen badly…

“I never approached female soldiers in the first place. What just happened was…”

“I know.”

Helen cut off Carlisle’s words.

“Although you were a debauchee who engaged in all sorts of dirty and vile behavior in the past, you’re now living quietly and trying to adapt to military life, aren’t you?”

“Then why are you saying such things…”

“You should know better than anyone about your own appearance, shouldn’t you?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Sigh.”

Helen let out a deep sigh, then closed her eyes tightly and said,

“You are… you are excessively handsome.”

“…Excuse me?”

Carlisle’s face contorted.

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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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