How a Two-Life Scoundrel Lives - Chapter 45

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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 45】

“H-Helen, sir!”

Begman looked quite flustered by Helen’s firm stance.

“The enemy forces number over 500! It’s impossible to face them with our fortress’s current strength!”

“I’m well aware of that.”

“Then why…?”

“If I could decide to withdraw at my own discretion as a commander, I would have done so. But I don’t have the authority to withdraw troops without orders from above.”

“But at this rate, we’ll all die. You know better than anyone that we could be completely wiped out.”

“Then we’ll have to die.”

“…”

“I’ll say it again – there’s no withdrawal without orders from above. While waiting for orders, we’ll continue to defend the fortress and carry out our mission.”

Carlisle could understand why Helen had made such a decision.

The Decaron Army didn’t give lower-ranking commanders serving in Kuberin the authority to abandon their fortresses.

Why?

Because lower-ranking commanders with low ranks and little experience would often panic and abandon their fortresses, withdrawing their troops at the slightest provocation.

For this reason, one needed to be at least a major to abandon a fortress at their own discretion.

In other words, Helen, who held the rank of lieutenant, didn’t have the authority to abandon the fortress and withdraw the troops.

The problem was that defending the fortress against the Butcher Tribe while continuing magic stone mining operations was essentially suicide, but wasn’t the military always an irrational and rigid organization that prioritized rules over common sense and reason?

“Isn’t there some way?”

“Not at the moment.”

“Hmm. This is serious. I don’t want to die here.”

Kudo said with a frown.

“For now… we have no choice but to make maximum use of Private Carlisle’s abilities.”

When Helen spoke cautiously, the gazes of all the soldiers attending the meeting turned to Carlisle at once.

“…Me?”

Carlisle was quite flustered to suddenly become the center of attention.

When did they treat him like a ticking time bomb and openly consider him worthless…?

“If the enemies launch a full-scale frontal assault, that’s one thing, but if they induce sporadic skirmishes with small forces like today, Private Carlisle’s detection ability will shine. Isn’t that right?”

“That’s… true.”

“Then I’m counting on you, Private Carlisle.”

“I understand what you’re saying, but what exactly do you want me to do? Mining operations are conducted simultaneously in multiple locations, but there’s only one of me.”

“That’s a good point.”

A smile appeared on Helen’s lips.

“I think keeping Private Carlisle at only one specific work site would be a serious mistake in troop deployment.”

“Don’t tell me you mean…?”

“Starting tomorrow, Private Carlisle will be assigned to patrol the work sites, detect enemy approaches in advance, and assassinate them.”

“…”

Carlisle’s face contorted as he understood Helen’s meaning.

There were at least three, and at most five magic stone mining sites.

The problem was that the mining sites weren’t concentrated in one specific area, but scattered throughout the vicinity of Bowden Fortress.

But patrol the work sites?

Roughly thinking about the travel route, it meant he’d have to move at high speed across dozens of kilometers.

Moreover, since Kuberin was rugged mountainous terrain, the physical burden would be enormous – that went without saying.

On top of that, if he was unlucky, there was a high chance of encountering Barbarian Warriors, making the mission extremely dangerous as well.

To borrow the soldiers’ words, running around those “damn mountains and forests” all day with his life on the line…

“That sounds like cruel treatment. What kind of commander assigns such difficult and dangerous missions to a lowly private?”

“Private Carlisle.”

“Yes?”

“Who would think of you as an ordinary lowly private? You’re a direct descendant of the great and noble House Sigmund.”

Only at times like this?

Carlisle protested in disbelief.

“My stamina and knee joints…”

“You’re a Sigmund, so you’ll be fine. People who carry Sigmund blood are renowned for having superior physical abilities compared to ordinary people.”

“That may be true, but…”

“I don’t want to put it this way, but… this isn’t a request, it’s an order, Private Carlisle.”

“…”

Carlisle had no choice but to keep his mouth shut at Helen’s command.

Rank was everything – how could a mere private go against a commander’s orders?

“I’m not saying to keep doing this forever. At most, it’ll be a day or two. You just need to hold out until withdrawal orders come from above or reinforcements arrive.”

“I suppose so.”

“Well then, I’m counting on you. Don’t forget that the survival of the unit members depends on you. Oh, I’m not trying to pressure you, so don’t misunderstand.”

“…”

Carlisle found Helen detestable for piling on all that pressure, but he wasn’t foolish enough to voice it.

“I’m counting on you.”

“Our youngest is going to get worked to the bone, huh? Keke!”

“There’s a reason they say in the military to just stay average. Yeah, that’s right.”

Begman and several other scout members snickered as if they found it amusing.

Of course, not everyone was like that.

“Kudo, arrange for Corporal Marder to perform search and reconnaissance missions together with Private Carlisle.”

At Helen’s command, both Kudo and Marder’s faces also contorted.

* * *

After the meeting ended.

‘I probably need to come up with some kind of plan.’

Carlisle thought this couldn’t continue as he headed toward the barracks.

It wasn’t simply because Helen had given him a heavy responsibility along with the burden.

Search and reconnaissance missions?

As Helen said, even if it was tough, he could probably endure it for a day or two.

However, there was also the possibility that the Butcher Tribe might launch a full-scale assault, so he couldn’t be completely at ease.

Moreover, since there was an evil dark mage’s dungeon around Bowden Fortress, it was an environment where accidents could happen at any time.

‘If I’m not careful, I might end up getting my throat cut by those barbarians.’

He wasn’t afraid of death, but he didn’t want to experience that.

Of course, if he died, everything would be over, so it wouldn’t matter what happened to his corpse.

‘Since it feels like a blade is slowly approaching my throat, I’m actually getting motivated.’

Carlisle discovered himself thinking about survival and let out a snicker.

He had resolved to live a life of leisure and laziness after becoming Carlisle van Sigmund, but now that fire seemed about to fall on his feet, he was actually thinking of taking action.

‘There’s no way to become dramatically stronger right away. I guess I really do need to raid Antiros’s Laboratory.’

[Antiros’s Laboratory] was one of several hidden dungeons located in the Blood-Soaked Land.

If he was lucky, he might obtain very good items, so in a situation like this, visiting it once might be a good choice.

‘My gacha luck was pretty terrible though.’

Carlisle recalled his past gacha success rate – his luck with draws.

Carlisle’s luck with draws was so bad that he’d sometimes attempt dozens or hundreds of times to get what others would get in three or four tries.

It was so bad that even when he was absorbed in playing the game [Overlord], he’d thoroughly exclude luck-based elements from his gameplay.

‘Nothing to lose…’

Just then.

‘What’s that?’

Carlisle flinched in surprise and stopped walking.

“Why are you suddenly acting like that?”

Kudo, who had been walking beside him, turned to look at Carlisle.

“I feel an unpleasant gaze watching me.”

“What?”

“I don’t know why, but it feels like someone is glaring at me?”

“As you can see, there’s no one around.”

As Kudo said, there was indeed no one around who would be glaring at Carlisle.

Deep into the night.

Since lights-out time had already passed, there was no movement of troops.

In the distance, sentries could be seen standing guard on the watchtower, and patrol groups of four seemed to be making their rounds, but there didn’t appear to be anyone specifically targeting Carlisle with their stare.

“It’s probably just your imagination.”

Kudo waved his hand dismissively as if it was nothing.

“If you’re not used to the battlefield yet, that can easily happen.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“When people are exposed to situations full of killing and violence like war, they naturally become extremely sensitive.”

“Ah?”

“It’s common for new recruits to suffer from nervous tension, so don’t worry too much about it.”

“That’s a relief then.”

“Haha.”

Kudo laughed.

“It’s a bit unexpected.”

“What is?”

“I didn’t know that even a Sigmund would experience problems like nervous tension.”

“A Sigmund is still human.”

“That’s true, but your innate temperament is different from ordinary people. They say you’re born holding a sword from birth.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

Carlisle denied the so-called 【Sigmund birth legend】 as if it was nonsense and started walking again.

‘Right, it must be my imagination. It would be stranger if I didn’t become sensitive after experiencing war. It’s not like I’m a psychopath.’

Thinking this, Carlisle said to Kudo.

“By any chance…”

“Yes?”

“Would it be okay if I went outside the fortress for a moment?”

“If you’re planning to desert, you should do it secretly like a rat, but it’s troublesome if you ask so openly.”

“I have no such intention.”

“Then why do you want to go outside the fortress? In case you don’t know, I should tell you that Kuberin nights are very dangerous. It’s not just the Barbarians. In Kuberin…”

“I know that much.”

“Then why?”

“Actually…”

Carlisle explained to Kudo his reason for wanting to go outside the fortress as he walked toward the barracks.

Flicker, flicker.

The gaze of the dead watched Carlisle.

* * *

“Hmm.”

Kudo pondered after hearing Carlisle’s story.

“So you’re saying there might be an outstanding mage’s laboratory somewhere around here? And the source of this information is the Sigmund Family Estate’s library?”

“That’s right.”

“Good heavens.”

“…?”

“To think that the Sigmund Family Estate has a library… That’s quite a surprising fact.”

“Well, that’s…”

Carlisle was at a loss for words.

Kudo’s observation was very sharp, almost razor-sharp.

House Sigmund, a renowned family of swordsmanship and a military house, excelled in force and strategy and tactics, but was completely ignorant when it came to magic and academics.

How else would rival families mock House Sigmund by calling them [Northern Sword-wielders] or [Idiots who only know swordsmanship]?

For this reason, House Sigmund had no such thing as a library.

Of course, there seemed to be a study in Grand Duke Guntram’s office, the family head, with thousands of books stored inside.

“For now, let’s report this matter to Sir Helen later and proceed slowly…”

“What if the fortress is in crisis before then?”

“That’s…”

“We have to carry out search and reconnaissance missions starting tomorrow, and it would be troublesome if they launch a full-scale attack.”

“So Private Carlisle thinks we must visit that mage’s dungeon tonight?”

“That’s right.”

“This isn’t something I can decide on my own, so we should first speak to Captain Begman.”

“Let’s do that.”

Begman’s reaction was positive.

“Really? Damn it! If there was such a thing, you should have said so earlier! I was already sleepy, but now I’m wide awake.”

Though grumbling, Begman took Carlisle to Helen and reported this fact.

“A mage’s dungeon. Why didn’t you mention this earlier?”

“I wasn’t certain about the information, and I thought you wouldn’t believe me.”

“How disappointing. Making such assumptions.”

“Wouldn’t it be natural to be cautious when speaking to someone who despises me?”

“When, when did I ever despise you?”

“You’re despising me even now.”

“This is troubling. Night operations are quite dangerous.”

Helen ignored Carlisle’s words and changed the subject.

‘She has some rather petty aspects.’

Whether Helen knew Carlisle was thinking this or not, she clearly showed signs of serious consideration.

After some time passed.

Helen made her decision after deliberation.

“Operation approved.”

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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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