How a Two-Life Scoundrel Lives - Chapter 43

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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 43】

“…!”

Carlisle stopped his conversation with Gwen and gripped the handle of Grimgand.

‘There are many. About fifteen.’

Compared to the battle that took place last night, it was fewer, but fifteen was still a number that could be called threatening enough.

“Let’s return to position.”

“Suddenly?”

“It seems enemies are approaching. Since a battle might break out, return to position for now.”

“Ah, understood.”

Gwen hurriedly headed toward the engineers.

“They’re coming.”

Carlisle approached Kudo, who was leaning against a tree smoking a cigarette, and reported.

“Are you certain?”

“Yes.”

Carlisle pointed to Grimgand, which was vibrating slightly.

“Damn. I thought they wouldn’t have any ideas because of the rain. At a time like this.”

Kudo frowned as if annoyed.

“Is it because of yesterday’s defeat?”

“How would we know that?”

Kudo shrugged his shoulders as if asking how he would know.

“What’s certain is that they’re trying to interfere with our mining operation.”

“Yes, well. That’s true.”

“How much time do we have?”

“About 5 to 10 minutes.”

Carlisle answered after determining the enemies’ position through Grimgand.

“How many of them are there?”

“Fifteen.”

“Hmm.”

Kudo thought for a moment and then spoke.

“Fifteen isn’t an easy number. Most of our side are engineers.”

“What if we sneak around and eliminate them one by one?”

“Hmm?”

“Since it’s raining, visibility is poor anyway, and screams would be drowned out, wouldn’t it be a viable strategy?”

The reason Carlisle could propose such a strategy was because it was raining truly fiercely.

Whoooooooosh!

The rain was so heavy, and the raindrops hitting the leaves and such would surely drown out most sounds.

Moreover, visibility was so limited that you couldn’t make out what was ahead even a few meters away, so it would be difficult to notice even if someone was ambushed right next to you.

Under these conditions, it would be needless to say that the ambushing side would have an overwhelming advantage over the side being ambushed.

“Since it’s come to this, let’s strike first.”

Carlisle persuaded Kudo once more.

“If you send me, I’ll handle it myself.”

“Private Carlisle alone?”

“Since I’m the only one who can determine their positions anyway.”

“Ah.”

Kudo nodded as if he understood.

Since only Carlisle could confirm the barbarians’ positions through Grimgand, it would be impossible for other scout unit soldiers to get behind the enemies.

“Good. However, I won’t send Private Carlisle alone. Take Marder with you. He’s a capable fellow, so he’ll be helpful to Private Carlisle too.”

“Let’s do that.”

Carlisle actively agreed with Kudo’s decision to assign Marder.

Marder was a capable former hunter, making him perfectly suited for ambushes, and since he was also a marksman, he could silently take out enemies with his bow from a distance.

“Let’s go.”

“Go ahead. I’ll follow on my own.”

“Yes, then….”

As Carlisle stepped into the forest, Marder followed behind him.

* * *

The forest was even more chaotic than the magic stone mining site.

With many trees and thick undergrowth, the sound of rain was further amplified.

Thanks to this, Carlisle and Marder could move at high speed without worrying about their footsteps and get behind the barbarian warriors.

– Over there, two.

– Confirmed.

Carlisle and Marder exchanged hand signals.

There, two barbarian warriors were approaching the work site where mining operations were taking place with very cautious steps.

Carlisle approached behind the barbarian warrior positioned on the left.

– Three, two, one.

Thunk, thud!

The tip of Grimgand’s sword pierced through the barbarian warrior’s back, and Marder’s arrow pierced through the head of the barbarian warrior positioned to the right.

Thump, thump!

Two allies had fallen in the blink of an eye, but the barbarian warriors didn’t notice.

The bad weather that had helped the barbarian warriors approach the work site stealthily was instead driving them to their deaths.

– Over there.

– Confirmed.

– Three, two, one.

Thunk, thud!

Once again, two barbarian warriors fell.

‘At this rate, even ten would be possible?’

Carlisle’s prediction was correct.

The barbarian warriors didn’t notice ‘at all’ that they were being ambushed until exactly ten of them had fallen.

And the price for that was ‘very’ fatal.

Wheeeet, as Kudo’s whistle sound echoed, the engineers turned around.

“…!”

The barbarian warriors were flustered.

The sight of those who had been concentrating on their work without knowing anything suddenly turning around was quite a chilling sight.

“Attack!”

“Kill those rats!”

The engineers, each gripping their tools, charged in unison toward the direction where the barbarian warriors were hiding.

“Damn it!”

The barbarian warriors hastily tried to respond by raising their military weapons, but the outcome was as good as decided before the battle even began.

“Wh-where did everyone go!”

The barbarian warriors’ commander shouted in panic, but the already dead allies couldn’t answer.

“Aaaah!”

“Val, Valhalla… Gack!”

In the end, the barbarian warriors not only failed in their ambush but were instead ambushed themselves and completely annihilated.

There was only one survivor.

“J-just kill me! Don’t defile a warrior’s honor! Graaah!”

The barbarian warriors’ commander screamed at the top of his lungs.

He had the fortune of being the sole survivor after being subdued while resisting to the very end.

Of course, whether that was fortune or misfortune would only be known when all was said and done.

‘Ugh.’

Carlisle frowned.

The reason his appearance was so wretched was because it was the Engineers who had subdued him.

When the Engineers subdued him, they had beaten him with tools like shovels and pickaxes, so instead of dying, he had become like well-minced meat.

“I am Tolrok, son of Olrgar! I am a squad leader of the honorable Butcher Tribe!”

The Barbarian Warriors’ commander suddenly introduced himself.

“I haven’t asked you anything yet?”

“You were going to ask anyway! So I just answered in advance! An honorable warrior has nothing to hide!”

These unnecessarily honest bastards…

“You’ve got the wrong person. I’m just a lowly private, so I don’t really have anything to say to you. If you have something to say, go to the fortress and talk to our commander.”

“That’s ridiculous!”

“What is?”

“You may be ugly, but aren’t you quite a strong warrior!”

A flattened nose, protruding buck teeth, a face full of scars.

Certainly, those weren’t words that someone with such a brutish and menacing appearance should say to the most handsome man in the north.

“Why am I ugly?”

“Don’t you look like a sickly gigolo!”

“…Right.”

Carlisle decided not to argue with Tolrok about appearances.

The Barbarians’ aesthetic standards were completely different from those of the continentals.

“But how do you know whether I’m strong or weak?”

“Aren’t you the one who faced Centurion Bjornsen in last night’s battle! I saw it clearly with these eyes full of courage!”

“Ah.”

“For a warrior like you to be just a lowly private, do the continentals not know how to treat warriors!”

“That’s right.”

Indeed, whether in terms of skill or status, it was absurd for Carlisle to be merely a lowly private.

In other families, he would have started his service with at least a commander’s rank, that is, as an officer…

“If that really bothers you, why don’t you talk to the higher-ups for me. Tell them to promote me.”

“No way.”

Tolrok narrowed his eyes and stared intently at Carlisle.

“You, are you a Sigmund?”

“I might be, or I might not be.”

“Hmm. You seem too weak to be a Sigmund though…”

Tolrok seemed to be having a hard time thinking.

‘I am quite weak for a Sigmund.’

Carlisle smiled bitterly.

The direct bloodline of House Sigmund were human weapons and living instruments of death.

If a had been here right now, a small fry Barbarian Warrior like Tolrok would have been erased from this world without even being able to let out a single scream.

“What should we do?”

“Execution would be the answer, wouldn’t it.”

Kudo answered Carlisle’s question.

“Barbarians rarely open their mouths, and it’s obvious this is a retaliatory attack for yesterday’s battle, so I don’t think there’s any need to take him back for interrogation.”

“I suppose so?”

“How… will you handle it personally?”

“I’ll pass.”

Thunk, as soon as Carlisle declined, Kudo’s knife pierced through Tolrok’s throat.

[Notice: 【Noble Proof】 progress has reached 30%! (3/10)]

[Notice: 【Noble Proof】 progress has reached 30%! (3/10)]

[Notice: 【Noble Proof】 progress has reached 30%! (3/10)]

[Notice: 【Noble Proof】 progress has reached 30%! (3/10)]

[Notice: 【Noble Proof】 progress has reached 30%! (3/10)]

* * *

Carlisle’s unit returned to the fortress only after completing the magic stone mining operation.

Having brilliantly repelled the enemy’s surprise attack and achieved a great victory, there was no reason to stop work and withdraw.

On the way back to the fortress.

Limp, limp.

Carlisle saw Gwen limping and said.

“Did you get hurt again?”

“Hehe.”

Gwen grinned sheepishly at Carlisle’s question.

“I ended up falling while charging.”

“…”

Carlisle was left speechless by Gwen’s innocent nature.

Come to think of it, he seemed to remember seeing a small-framed soldier running with a pickaxe and falling flat with a thud…

“But it’s okay! This kind of injury is nothing! I’m a Northerner after all!”

“I’m sure you are.”

Carlisle shook his head in exasperation at Gwen’s spirited response.

Whether Northerners were born insensitive to pain, they often acted as if it was nothing even when they were broken and bruised in several places.

It was so extreme that you could often see the sight of people drinking at taverns even when their limbs were severely broken with white bones clearly visible.

‘When I look closely, they don’t seem much different from Barbarians.’

As Carlisle was thinking this, Kudo looked at the fortress visible faintly in the distance and spoke.

Perhaps due to the heavy rain and fog, the fortress’s dim silhouette somehow gave off an ominous atmosphere.

“I’m worried, by the way.”

“What are you worried about?”

“Because we can’t be the only ones who were attacked.”

“Ah.”

“Usually on days like this, when we return there are casualties lined up… I’m already dreading our return. I hope there wasn’t much damage.”

Kudo’s eyes looking at the fortress were anxious.

There wasn’t a single soldier who didn’t know how dangerous it was to force work on a day like today, and since they had actually been attacked by Barbarian Warriors, it was natural to worry about other units.

And Kudo’s worries soon became reality.

You could tell the situation wasn’t good just by looking at the expressions of the sentries guarding the front of the fortress.

“It seems we weren’t the only ones attacked after all.”

“…”

As they passed through the entrance and entered the fortress, a heavy silence pressed down on their lungs.

The expressions of those moving busily were rigidly hardened.

“…Ah.”

Carlisle unconsciously sighed at the scene unfolding before his eyes.

About ten soldiers were lying on the ground in formation, getting drenched by the pouring rain.

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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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