How a Two-Life Scoundrel Lives - Chapter 42

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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 42】

“Is mining magic stones on a rainy day very dangerous?”

“I’d say so.”

Kudo answered Carlisle’s question.

“It would be optimal conditions for attackers. The sound of wind and rain would mask their presence. If the rainfall is heavy, visibility would be limited too, so we’d inevitably struggle with perimeter operations.”

“Ah.”

Carlisle nodded as if he understood.

Since magic stone mining operations took place outside the fortress, the defending side would be at an overwhelming disadvantage.

“Does this happen often?”

“Sir Helen doesn’t usually order reckless mining. She always prioritizes the safety of the engineers above all.”

“Then what about today?”

“If the pressure from above is intense, Sir Helen would have no choice. What power does a low-level commander have to refuse orders from superiors?”

“True.”

Carlisle nodded as if he understood.

In the end, Helen was just another victim of the “do as you’re told” system.

What soldier wouldn’t be…

“Seeing that there’s even an operation meeting, it seems they’re planning to conduct work simultaneously across multiple areas.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“There are various types of magic stones, aren’t there? Since we need to mine different varieties, they’ll probably divide into groups and work separately.”

“Wouldn’t that be more dangerous?”

“Of course.”

“…”

Carlisle was left speechless after hearing Kudo’s answer.

He couldn’t imagine just how much pressure the superiors had applied for Helen to push forward with work despite such harsh weather.

‘What’s so important about some magic stones.’

Of course, Carlisle didn’t voice that thought aloud.

To dismiss them as trivial would be wrong, as the importance of magic stones in this world was beyond imagination.

Magic stones were extremely important resources treated as nearly omnipotent through highly advanced alchemy.

Alchemy, magic, medicine, food, metallurgy, fuel, and so on.

Since they were used diversely across all fields, the continent’s people were practically obsessed with mining and stockpiling magic stones.

Even just one or two months of unstable magic stone supply could shake the continent’s economy…

“Still, don’t worry too much. The barbarians know we’re reluctant to conduct mining operations in this weather, so there’s a high chance nothing will happen.”

“That’s a relie—…”

Carlisle suddenly stopped mid-sentence and frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“I have this unpleasant feeling like someone’s watching me.”

“Pardon?”

Kudo looked around, but there wasn’t a soul in sight who could be staring.

If anything, there was one thing.

“Could it be that barbarian over there?”

Kudo grinned and pointed to Bjornsen’s severed head displayed in the distance.

“…That’s impossible.”

Carlisle let out a snort of laughter.

How could a severed head already put on display stare at anyone?

– …

Grimgand was also quiet.

Since [Killing Intent Detection] wasn’t activating, there was clearly no real threat lurking.

“It’s probably just your imagination.”

“You’re right.”

The reason Carlisle agreed with Kudo’s opinion was that this was his first time seeing a severed head up close.

No matter how insensitive Carlisle was, having such a grotesque thing nearby could naturally cause such thoughts.

Like making eye contact with a dead fish’s eyes at the market.

“By the way, there’s going to be quite a battle when the time comes.”

“Battle?”

“Everyone’s going to want to take Private Carlisle with them.”

“Me?”

“Having that inheritance sword gives a tremendous tactical advantage.”

“Ah.”

Carlisle understood what Kudo meant and nodded.

“Come on, let’s head inside. We should eat something before the operation meeting starts to have some energy.”

“Let’s do that.”

Carlisle and Kudo entered the barracks.

Dead eyes glared fiercely at Carlisle’s retreating figure.

* * *

The meeting began.

As Kudo had said, the magic stone mining operation would proceed simultaneously across multiple areas.

Since various types of magic stones were all in short supply, this was the only way to meet the superiors’ requirements.

“Therefore, not only the engineers but also the scout unit will be divided into three groups. Each group will be led by me, Scout Captain Begman, and Sergeant Kudo.”

Helen said this and then organized the personnel for each group by rank.

“Each group should be organized like this…”

Everyone’s gaze focused on the last remaining scout member.

“…”

Carlisle squeezed his eyes shut as all attention suddenly focused on him.

It seemed Kudo’s prediction about a battle was about to come true.

“We’ll take the newbie with us.”

Wilson, who belonged to Helen’s group, quickly tried to pull Carlisle over.

“That won’t do.”

Marder blocked Wilson’s path as if it were out of the question.

He belonged to Kudo’s group.

“What are you talking about! We’re taking the newbie!”

Daurian, nicknamed [Ogre] for being larger than most barbarians, also joined the battle.

Daurian belonged to Begman’s group.

“What nonsense! We should take the newbie!”

“Try and take him then?”

“Oh. You want to fight?”

Sure enough, a battle broke out.

Grimgand’s [Killing Intent Detection] was so useful it was practically a cheat code, so it was natural that every group wanted Carlisle.

Commander Helen and Scout Captain Begman didn’t express their desire to take Carlisle due to their dignity and position.

But the other scout members were different.

Since having or not having Grimgand made a dimensional difference in survival advantage, everyone inevitably wanted Carlisle.

This led to arguments, a hostile atmosphere, and they were on the verge of coming to blows.

“Enough!”

Helen, unable to watch any longer, stepped in to stop the scout members.

“Taking Private Carlisle…”

Helen squeezed her eyes shut as if it was difficult to speak.

“We’ll decide fairly with rock-paper-scissors.”

There was a clear sign that he couldn’t quite accept that Carlisle, who had been a burden, had suddenly become a precious resource that everyone preferred.

“I won. Haha.”

Kudo, who became the winner, smiled.

“Ohhh!”

The scout members belonging to the same group cheered.

“Tsk.”

“Yeah, you guys take it all!”

“Don’t forget it’s our turn next time.”

The scout members belonging to the groups led by Helen and Begman clicked their tongues in disappointment.

“Private Carlisle.”

“Yes, Sir Helen.”

“Follow me for a moment.”

Helen took Carlisle to a secluded place and held out a letter sealed with red wax.

Seeing the Sigmund family crest stamped on the wax seal, it was clearly sent from the main house.

“This is a letter for you.”

“Ah?”

“There’s still some time before the operation, so if you want to reply, read it right away and write back. The messenger hasn’t left yet, so you can send it with him.”

“Thank you.”

The letter was sent by Maranello and Evangeline at the main house, and it wasn’t anything special.

It asked about Carlisle’s well-being and expressed their worries along with hopes for his safe return.

‘A reply.’

Carlisle briefly pondered whether to reply or not.

While he was grateful that they sent a letter first, he didn’t feel like replying readily because it felt somewhat embarrassing.

‘I’ll see them when I get leave anyway, so there’s no need to reply… Ah.’

Carlisle was about to not reply when a sudden thought made him look for a quill pen and parchment.

‘Right, what’s the harm in getting my hands dirty.’

Carlisle wrote a very simple and concise reply to Maranello and Evangeline saying he was doing well.

Then he wrote another letter separately to send to Maranello.

A letter containing very meaningful content…

Carlisle borrowed wax from Helen to seal the letter and handed it to the messenger.

“Please deliver this to Chief Steward Maranello at the main house. It’s a very important letter, so please deliver it as quickly as possible.”

“Ah, yes.”

The messenger was startled when he saw Carlisle, but his relief at the polite attitude was evident.

No matter how much of a private he was, the other party was a direct descendant of House Sigmund and the second son of Grand Duke Guntram, the lord of Decaron.

It went without saying that he could never treat him carelessly.

‘Now that I’ve sent the letter, there should be a reaction. If there’s no reaction, then there’s nothing I can do.’

Carlisle thought this way and began preparing for deployment.

* * *

Whoooosh!

The rain poured down so fiercely that visibility was nearly zero.

Clang, claaang!

Claang!

In the harsh weather, the engineers relied on nothing but raincoats as they constantly worked their tools to mine magic stones.

Meanwhile, the scout members guarded the surroundings and prepared for any possible enemy surprise attacks.

Even when the engineers took breaks under tents to escape the rain during intervals, the scout members couldn’t rest.

Ensuring the safety of the engineers mining magic stones was the scout unit’s top priority.

Carlisle also stood guard in the pouring rain as a member of the scout unit.

“Um, brother.”

Gwen approached Carlisle, who was standing guard, and spoke to him.

Carlisle didn’t care whether Gwen called him brother or not.

He would have corrected her once or twice, but at this point, he thought it was better to just leave it alone.

“Here, please eat this.”

Gwen held out a piece of bread soaked with rainwater.

“I’m fine. Please eat it yourself, Private Gwen.”

“We rested and ate something, but you haven’t eaten anything, brother.”

“That’s the scout unit’s job.”

“But…”

Just as Gwen was making a sad face.

“Refusing kindness wouldn’t be a good attitude either.”

Kudo threw in a comment as he passed by.

“Private Carlisle.”

“Yes?”

“As your commander, I’m granting you a 10-minute break. Rest for a moment.”

“You want me to rest suddenly?”

“You’ve been at it for four hours, so it’s time for a short break.”

Having suddenly been given break time, Carlisle reluctantly accepted the bread Gwen offered.

As Kudo said, refusing kindness didn’t seem polite.

“Thank you so much for yesterday.”

“Yesterday?”

“Don’t you remember saving me?”

“Ah.”

There had definitely been such an incident.

When Carlisle had saved Gwen from danger.

“There’s nothing to be thankful for. Not anywhere else but on a battlefield.”

“Still.”

“But why did you enlist? When you can’t even fight well.”

Carlisle was curious about this.

He couldn’t understand at all why she, who seemed to have not even a speck of athletic ability, was serving in such a dangerous place.

“My mother is very sick. My younger siblings are still too young.”

“What about your father?”

“He died at the hands of barbarians three years ago. My older brother also died in battle here a year ago. So I’m the only one who can take responsibility for the family. Hehe.”

“I see.”

Carlisle felt like he shouldn’t have asked, but nodded as if he understood.

It was a common story.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that there wasn’t a single person among the people of Decaron who hadn’t lost family to the barbarians.

Perhaps because of this, Decaron had a very high ratio of female soldiers compared to other territories.

Due to the war with the barbarians killing off so many men, the population ratio collapsed and the number of female soldiers naturally had to increase.

‘This is average for northerners though.’

Carlisle recalled the harsh life of northerners and took a bite of the bread Gwen gave him.

Despite being half-soaked with rain, the bread was only chewy and hard, with a strong smell of stale flour.

‘They could at least give us better food.’

Just as Carlisle was thinking this.

Woom!

Grimgand at his waist vibrated slightly.

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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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