How a Two-Life Scoundrel Lives - Chapter 54

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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 54】

Helen gathered the Scout Members and Engineer Platoon leaders to relay the operation details.

“The mining operation will proceed across three areas: here, here, and here.”

Tap, tap, tap.

The Command Baton pointed to three locations on the Map.

“Platoon leaders should focus on Magic Stone mining, but maintain thorough perimeter security so you can retreat at any time if enemies launch a Surprise Attack. Also, keep your Weapons on you at all times so you can respond to enemy Surprise Attacks whenever necessary.”

“Yes.”

“Furthermore, during retreat, abandon all Carts loaded with Magic Stones. Prioritize lives over Magic Stones.”

Carlisle’s eyes gleamed as he listened to the briefing.

‘The distance between each Mining Site is just right. Not too far, but not too close either. The evacuation routes prepared for emergencies are good too. Telling them to abandon Carts loaded with Magic Stones must be to save even one more Soldier. It’s the most rational decision she can make while following Command Headquarters’ orders.’

Even to Carlisle’s ears, Helen’s orders were flawless.

She was someone who enlisted as a lowly private and served as an Engineer mining Magic Stones.

The fact that she was promoted to officer and even received a Knight title meant she had the ability to match.

Just surviving for seven whole years in the Blood-Soaked Land of Kuberin was already proof enough of her capabilities.

“The Scout Unit will also be divided into three teams like the Engineers, deployed to each Mining Site to guard the perimeter and assist Allied Forces’ retreat in emergencies. And…”

Helen’s gaze swept over Carlisle, Marder, and Kudo.

“Corporal Kudo, Corporal Marder, Private Carlisle.”

“Yes!”

“You will move without fixed positions and perform Search and Reconnaissance missions.”

“Yes!”

“As you know, the mission you’ve been assigned is crucial. It’s no exaggeration to say your comrades’ lives depend on your hands. So give your best effort in carrying out the mission.”

“Yes!”

Deploying and utilizing subordinate forces in the right places at the right times was also one of the very important abilities for a commander.

From that perspective, Helen was a commander with excellent Troop Deployment skills.

Since she assigned the Search and Reconnaissance mission to Carlisle, Marder, and Kudo.

“This commander will stand by at the Fortress and prepare for any possible enemy offensive. We can’t leave the Fortress completely empty. Each platoon leader and Scout Member, don’t forget to bring Signal Flares.”

“Yes!”

“The operation will commence approximately one hour from now, and personnel assigned to Search and Reconnaissance missions should deploy early to secure Allied Forces’ safety. That is all.”

Following Helen’s orders, Carlisle, Kudo, and Marder left the Fortress immediately after the strategy meeting ended and were deployed on their Search and Reconnaissance mission.

* * *

“Well then, may fortune be with you.”

Kudo grinned as he always did and disappeared into the Grass Field.

“Let’s meet alive.”

“Wait a moment.”

Carlisle stopped Marder.

“Did you happen to learn anything from that guy?”

“Huh? What would this thing teach me? Isn’t it just a hawk?”

Marder glanced at Hugin perched on his left forearm and asked back.

“Hmm.”

After hearing Marder’s answer, Carlisle pondered for a moment then said.

“Would you like to try flying him once?”

“Huh.”

Flutter, as Marder sent Hugin flying, Carlisle said.

“Try following along. Vision Link.”

“Vision… what?”

“Vi. Sion. Link.”

“Vision… Link.”

Slowly, Marder’s two eyes turned white just like Hugin’s third eye.

“Huh? Huuuh?”

Marder swayed in place, not knowing what to do.

“Heh heh.”

Carlisle laughed watching Marder like that.

‘He must feel like he’s flying through the sky. He’s looking down from dozens, hundreds of meters above.’

The [Vision Link] that Carlisle taught Marder was literally a skill that linked Hugin and his master.

In other words, Marder was essentially flying through the sky right now.

More precisely, he was sharing vision with Hugin…

Was that why?

Tremble tremble tremble!

Marder’s two legs shook like aspen leaves.

No matter how brave a Scout Member might be, they couldn’t help but suffer from acrophobia at a height they were experiencing for the first time in their life.

“Aaaah, aaaaaaaah!”

Thud!

Marder collapsed.

He was clearly startled, thinking he was falling from the sky due to Hugin’s sudden dive.

“Bwaaaaaah!”

Marder couldn’t hold back his motion sickness and vomited up the Military Rations he’d eaten that morning.

“Wh-what was that just now? I was flying through the sky… urgh!”

“You just received shared vision.”

“Received shared vision?”

“Exactly as it sounds. You’re seeing what Hugin sees.”

“I-I see.”

“It’ll be difficult since it’s your first time, but we don’t have time to build proficiency, so try to adapt somehow.”

“So I’m not actually flying, right?”

“As you can see.”

Carlisle shrugged his shoulders.

“Got it. I’ll try to adapt.”

“Oh, and while Vision Link is active, Corporal Marder’s vision becomes useless, so…”

“Hide in a safe place before using it? Since I could be attacked by enemies while defenseless.”

“You catch on quickly.”

“Experience doesn’t go anywhere. I’ve got years of rolling around here. But there’s probably nothing to worry about, right? I have the Camouflage Suit you gave me.”

Marder grinned.

Even for someone with quite keen eyesight, finding a person wearing the [Mutation Camouflage Suit] wasn’t an easy task.

If they were in a chaotic state, they might pass by without noticing someone in a [Mutation Camouflage Suit] hiding right in front of them.

“Still, you should be careful. Just in case.”

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll use it carefully. Well, I’m going. You be careful too.”

Marder gave a playful salute with two fingers and headed toward the area he was assigned.

‘Let’s go.’

Thanks to wearing [Guerrilla Spirit], his steps were several times lighter than usual.

His movement speed was very fast accordingly, and the burden on his knees and ankles was about one-third compared to wearing other shoes.

‘Ugh.’

Carlisle shuddered at the somewhat tickling sensation from his two feet wearing [Guerrilla Spirit].

‘No, that can’t be it.’

Carlisle earnestly prayed that Antiros and Begman weren’t athlete’s foot patients, and quickly moved toward the area he was assigned.

* * *

The mining work that began early in the morning continued past lunchtime until late afternoon.

‘It’s too quiet.’

Carlisle felt uneasy.

‘Could they be waiting for when the mining work ends and we withdraw?’

Perhaps that could be the case.

Mining was very strenuous manual labor, so the engineers’ stamina would naturally drop significantly after the work was finished.

If Carlisle were an enemy commander, he would target the moment when the work ended.

When the engineers were exhausted would be the best timing to attack.

‘Hmm. The Butcher Tribe got badly burned once, so I can understand that, but Crowley has no reason to do so…’

As the enemies remained unexpectedly quiet, Carlisle’s mind grew more complicated.

‘No wait. From Crowley’s perspective, lying low might be the better choice.’

Dark Mages were a profession that had to protect themselves at all times, so if their existence was discovered, it was better to run away desperately or hide quietly like a dead mouse.

If they foolishly wandered around showing off, they would be subjugated by subjugation forces.

In a way, the wisest method Crowley could choose right now was to hole up in his dungeon and live quietly for a few years, or flee far away and relocate his base.

Of course, since Carlisle knew where Crowley’s dungeon was, hiding at home wouldn’t be such a good choice.

“Butler.”

The baby dragon suddenly poked its head out.

“What now.”

“Uh…”

“Hungry? Want food again?”

“Yeah. I’m a newborn so I need to eat frequently.”

What kind of newborn in the world was this shameless…

“Ugh.”

Carlisle let out a deep sigh and offered dried jerky and hard rye bread.

“Not that stuff. You know, what I had this morning.”

“Do you think I’d have that during an operation?”

“You could just go eat and come back. Can’t you?”

“Then I’d go to prison. For deserting during an operation. If I left my post in a situation like this, I’d be executed.”

“Tch.”

The baby dragon pouted.

“Then give me that for now, but from next time, bring some tasty stuff. How can you live eating things like this even during operations?”

“Everyone lives like this.”

“Northerners are really so shabby.”

The baby dragon shook its head and said while chewing jerky.

“I’ll let it slide this time, so take good care of me starting tomorrow. Nom nom nom.”

“…”

“Answer.”

“…”

“Answer.”

“Eat and grow.”

Carlisle gently pressed the baby dragon’s head and tucked it into his chest, then continued walking.

Since enemies could attack at any moment, even the lazy Carlisle couldn’t neglect search and reconnaissance for even a moment.

A few hours later.

“Everyone worked hard. Except for those on guard duty, get some good rest.”

“Yes!”

At Helen’s command, the unit members scattered to their respective positions.

In the end, neither the Butcher Tribe nor Dark Mage Crowley had attacked.

“Why do you look like that?”

“It just seems strange.”

Carlisle answered Begman’s question.

“The Dark Mage aside, there’s no way the Butcher Tribe would retreat this easily.”

“They’re probably catching their breath for about a day. Maybe they even gave up. It’s not like we were the only ones taking damage. If anything, their losses would be greater.”

“Hmm.”

“It’s good if nothing happens. Don’t be too anxious. There’s nothing we can do anyway until reinforcements arrive.”

“That’s true too.”

“So get some sleep. You haven’t slept since yesterday. Think about tomorrow’s problems tomorrow. If you worry about every little thing, you won’t last long. You’ll suffer from nervous breakdown and eventually go crazy.”

“You’re right.”

Carlisle flopped down on his bed with a whatever-happens-happens attitude and tried to sleep.

As Begman said, there was no need to worry about things that hadn’t happened yet and get unnecessarily worked up.

* * *

The next day.

Like yesterday, Carlisle was assigned to search and reconnaissance duty and patrolled around the mining site.

“Screech!”

In the distance, he could see Marder’s pet Hugin soaring through the sky performing aerial reconnaissance.

Of course, the Blood-Soaked Land was mostly vast primeval forest, so even looking down from the sky, perfect reconnaissance was impossible.

The thick thickets and trees would block Hugin’s view.

Of course, if Hugin grew more in the future, that would be a different story…

‘If we can just get through today safely, reinforcements will come. Please, just let us get through today safely.’

Carlisle was thinking this while feeding the baby dragon bread baked with plenty of butter.

Fwooooosh, boom!

A red signal flare decorated the sky.

“Ah.”

A sigh burst from Carlisle’s mouth.

Who fired the signal flare wasn’t important.

What mattered was the color of the signal flare.

There were three types of signal flares currently operated by Decaron’s army.

First, green signal flares meant , and blue signal flares meant .

Finally, red signal flares meant .

In other words, whether it was the Butcher Tribe or Dark Mage Crowley, someone was launching a large-scale offensive.

And…

Buzz buzz buzz!!!

Grimgand began vibrating fiercely.

[Alert: 【Barbarian Killing Intent】 detected!]

[Alert: 【Barbarian Killing Intent】 detected!]

[Alert: 【Barbarian Killing Intent】 detected!]

[Alert: 【Barbarian Killing Intent】 detected!]

[Alert: 【Barbarian Killing Intent】 detected!]

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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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