How a Two-Life Scoundrel Lives - Chapter 41
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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 41】
Bjornsen, crushed under the rock, died instantly and never rose again.
His bulging eyes seemed filled with resentment.
‘Well.’
Carlisle could understand why Bjornsen couldn’t close his eyes.
Since he couldn’t go to Valhalla even in death, it would be the most bitter death for Bjornsen.
“Well done, rookie.”
Begman approached and placed his hand on Carlisle’s shoulder.
“Thanks to you, we avenged Derek.”
“Not at all.”
Carlisle wasn’t getting carried away.
He had only exchanged greetings with Derek once.
Mentioning his revenge was merely to move Helen’s heart and get permission for the operation.
It was just an excuse to kill Bjornsen.
“But why did you do that?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why you made this bastard like this.”
Begman asked, pointing at Bjornsen’s corpse crushed under the rock.
“Well.”
Carlisle answered as if he didn’t know.
“I somehow felt like I should do the same to him.”
“Vicious.”
“Suddenly?”
“Unless you’re quite vicious, it’s not easy to act like that when someone you weren’t particularly close to died. And what you said would have been more painful than death for that barbarian.”
“…”
Carlisle didn’t answer.
He had never thought of himself as ruthless.
“Anyway, well done.”
“Wasn’t that an insult?”
“Why would that be an insult? It’s praise.”
“…?”
“A scout member should naturally be vicious.”
Begman spoke as if asking what kind of talk that was.
“Right, of course.”
Wilson, who usually looked at Carlisle unfavorably, nodded and agreed with Begman’s words.
“This time I liked it, rookie.”
Wilson grinned at Carlisle.
Carlisle’s idea of crushing Bjornsen with a rock seemed to please him quite a bit.
“Alright, we’ve avenged Derek, so everyone clean up and let’s head back.”
“Yes, captain.”
Begman looked around at the scout members and declared the end of the operation.
Ding!
A notification window appeared before Carlisle’s eyes.
[Notification: Progress of 【Noble Proof】 has reached 20%! (2/10)]
[Notification: Progress of 【Noble Proof】 has reached 20%! (2/10)]
[Notification: Progress of 【Noble Proof】 has reached 20%! (2/10)]
[Notification: Progress of 【Noble Proof】 has reached 20%! (2/10)]
[Notification: Progress of 【Noble Proof】 has reached 20%! (2/10)]
* * *
The scout unit cut off Bjornsen’s head, put it in a bag, and immediately returned to the fortress.
Since dragging the entire corpse crushed by the rock would be quite troublesome, they chose to just cut off the head and take it.
As soon as Begman returned to the fortress, he went to Helen, who was commanding the battlefield cleanup, reported their return, and presented Bjornsen’s head.
“Here, the enemy commander’s head.”
“You succeeded.”
Helen showed considerable surprise.
Even if Bjornsen were alive, she had considered the possibility of killing him very low.
“Private Carlisle played a big role.”
“…Is that so.”
Helen’s gaze turned to Carlisle.
“Private Carlisle.”
“Yes, Sir Helen.”
“Good… work.”
Helen made an effort to praise Carlisle.
Even acknowledging Carlisle when allowing the operation hadn’t been easy, so giving praise like this seemed quite difficult.
“Your performance will be reported to the higher-ups without omission.”
“Yes, Sir Helen.”
“And…”
Helen’s gaze encompassed all the scout members.
“I, Helen, as commander of this fortress, pay my respects to the courage and efforts of you scout members.”
After saying that, Helen ordered that Bjornsen’s head be hung in front of the castle gates.
Having killed the enemy commander and obtained his head, it was natural to boost allied morale and break enemy morale through public display.
“Waaaaaaaaaah!”
Cheers erupted from the soldiers who saw Bjornsen’s head being hung up.
“Kyaak! Ptui!”
“Serves you right!”
“Good riddance! You bastard!”
The soldiers vented their anger at Bjornsen’s head by hurling curses, spitting, and throwing stones.
Most likely, Bjornsen’s head would hang on the castle wall for about a month, suffering all kinds of humiliation.
‘What’s the big deal about a mere corpse.’
Carlisle had no interest in Bjornsen’s head.
To Carlisle, Bjornsen’s displayed head was nothing more than rotting flesh, looking like just an unpleasant decoration.
There was someone who saw through Carlisle’s inner thoughts.
“Don’t you understand it?”
Kudo approached and asked.
“I don’t understand it either. It’s just a corpse anyway, so venting anger won’t change anything. But it seems like quite an efficient method.”
“An efficient method…?”
“Would you understand if you think of it like a latrine? A latrine for the soldiers to discharge their emotions. For example… anger, hatred, or revenge.”
“Ah.”
Carlisle understood Kudo’s meaning and nodded.
If it could serve as an outlet to discharge emotions built up in this hellish battlefield, displaying the enemy commander wouldn’t be bad.
“How is it? Your thoughts on experiencing proper combat.”
“There’s not much to say… I need to get stronger to survive, I suppose?”
Carlisle said, recalling his fight with Bjornsen.
It was fortunate he was with the scout members, but if it had been one-on-one, Carlisle would have been the one to die.
The current Bjornsen is merely a 4-star Barbarian Warrior.
“Heh.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“I laughed because that’s such a Sigmund-like answer.”
“…?”
“It’s probably an instinct carved into your bloodline. You’ve always been like that. The Sigmunds constantly pursue and crave strength.”
“Is that so.”
Carlisle couldn’t agree with Kudo’s words.
Strictly speaking, Carlisle wasn’t a Sigmund.
“Are you perhaps troubled? Or afraid?”
“Not at all.”
“That’s very Sigmund-like indeed.”
Instead of responding, Carlisle looked at Kudo with suspicion.
‘Just from the way he talks, he’s definitely not some ordinary soldier. Hmm.’
Certainly, Kudo was an extremely suspicious character.
There’s no way an ordinary soldier could use aura.
It was also incomprehensible that such a person had been knocked down by Bjornsen’s headbutt.
‘Is he someone I know?’
He racked his brain, but nothing came to mind.
That was likely because Kudo was a figure from the past who didn’t exist during the timeline of the game [Overlord].
It wasn’t just Kudo.
The entire Bowden Fortress was like that.
At the starting point of the game [Overlord], Bowden Fortress had become Barbarian territory.
That meant….
‘They might all be people destined to die.’
Carlisle thought that might indeed be the case.
* * *
The next day.
Rain poured down from the morning.
Helen ordered the bodies of the fallen warriors to be placed in a cave about 1 kilometer away from the fortress.
Normally they should have been sent straight to Dekaron, but it was impossible to travel nearly 150 kilometers through such terrible weather.
Moreover, they couldn’t keep the decomposing bodies inside the fortress.
“Damn it. If we had even one mage, we wouldn’t have to go through this trouble.”
“What do you expect from such a tiny fortress?”
“True enough.”
The soldiers assigned to body recovery work lamented the absence of a mage at Bowden Fortress.
If there were a mage, they could use preservation magic to prevent the fallen warriors’ bodies from decomposing, so they wouldn’t need to move them to the cave….
Meanwhile, the scout members gathered in front of Derek’s body, each holding a glass of strong vodka.
“For Derek.”
“For Derek.”
After the scout members prayed for Derek’s soul, they downed the vodka in one gulp.
‘Why on earth do northerners drink this harsh stuff.’
Carlisle grimaced terribly.
The alcohol scent of cheap vodka felt like poison rather than just being harsh.
It burned from his throat all the way down to the depths of his stomach.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, Captain.”
The engineers moved large rocks to block the cave entrance.
This was to prevent monsters or beasts from being drawn by the smell of corpses and devouring the bodies.
Perhaps for that reason, the rock surface was covered with claw marks that appeared to belong to monsters or beasts.
‘I don’t think we should leave them here.’
Carlisle was negative about placing the fallen warriors’ bodies outside the fortress.
Why?
This area was the domain of the evil dark mage Crowley.
Considering that his specialty was creating and commanding the undead, it didn’t seem like a good decision.
‘Isn’t this like leaving fish with a cat.’
Though Carlisle thought this, he couldn’t come up with a good excuse to persuade Helen, so he decided to stay quiet.
From the atmosphere, it seemed they had been using the cave as a morgue without incident for several years, and he didn’t want to create unnecessary trouble.
“Loyalty. All scout members have completed the task of placing the fallen warriors’ bodies and returned safely.”
“Good work.”
Helen’s expression was troubled as she received Begman’s report.
“Is something wrong, Sir Helen?”
“A messenger just came by.”
“Don’t tell me.”
Begman frowned.
The scout soldiers’ expressions also twisted with displeasure.
“Don’t you know how dangerous it is to force work in this weather?”
“It’s not like this is the first or second time.”
“Even so, it hasn’t even been 24 hours since the battle, and now work….”
“They say magic stone production is insufficient, so there’s no choice.”
Helen closed her eyes tightly as if she too was troubled.
“But our unit’s production is sufficient.”
“The higher-ups explain that other units have been fighting Barbarians frequently recently, so their production is lacking.”
Wilson exploded in anger.
“This is damn ridiculous! Why should we make up for other units’ incompetence!”
“That’s right!”
Other scout members also voiced their complaints, agreeing with Wilson.
But that was brief.
“Everyone quiet!”
Begman shouted loudly, silencing the scout members.
“You all clearly know Sir Helen doesn’t like this either! We’re soldiers of Dekaron and the honorable Scout Unit. Have you forgotten that following orders is our duty, life or death?”
“….”
The scout soldiers fell silent at Begman’s rebuke.
“…There will be a strategy meeting in one hour, so rest until then,”
Helen seemed unable to give the order directly, said this and left.
“When you’re a soldier, you do what you’re told, what choice is there. Damn it.”
“Shit.”
“Days like this are the most dangerous.”
Carlisle stepped outside briefly to escape the grim atmosphere in the barracks.
‘Ordering magic stone mining in this rain.’
Whoooosh!
The rain had become even more intense, making it impossible to see ahead.
Sizzle!
Looking to the side, he saw Kudo leaning against the wall, lighting a cigarette.
“Phew.”
Kudo exhaled cigarette smoke and offered his cigarette pack.
“Would you like one?”
“If you’re offering.”
Kudo lit Carlisle’s cigarette for him.
“How unexpected. Knights usually refuse when offered cigarettes.”
“I’m just a lowly foot soldier, though.”
“That’s true as well.”
Kudo let out a snicker.
“Were you originally a smoker?”
“I didn’t particularly want to decline.”
The reason Carlisle answered that way was because he had been a smoker in his previous life.
He had simply been unintentionally abstaining from smoking since becoming Carlisle van Sigmund.
* * *
Whoooosh!
Meanwhile, Bjornsen’s head, displayed in front of the fortress, was still being battered by the fierce rain with its eyes wide open.
Drip, drip.
Just as the raindrops continuously flowed down Bjornsen’s bulging eyes.
Blink, blink.
Bjornsen’s eyelids flickered as if blinking.
Soon, the lifeless, cloudy eyes slowly turned.
The gaze of the dead turned toward the reconnaissance unit barracks.
More precisely, toward Carlisle, who was sharing cigarettes and conversation with Kudo…
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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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