How a Two-Life Scoundrel Lives - Chapter 68

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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 68】

‘What does family even mean.’

Carlisle thought that his understanding of family and Andre’s understanding of family were vastly different.

Suddenly, memories of his family from before coming to this world—that is, from his previous life—came flooding back.

Carlisle’s father had been the CEO of a fairly successful company.

Though the company was classified as a small-medium enterprise, it was large enough to be comparable to a mid-sized company.

It was a publicly listed company with high growth potential, so Carlisle had essentially been born with a silver spoon.

Even Carlisle himself couldn’t deny that he had been born into wealth and lived a comfortable life.

The problem was the family.

– Who the hell did this bastard take after to be such a blockhead? Hey, you little shit. Do you know how much money I’ve poured into academies and tutoring for you to only manage this much? Huh?

– Who the hell did this bastard take after to be such a blockhead? Hey, you little shit. Do you know how much money I’ve poured into academies and tutoring for you to only manage this much? Huh?

That bastard of a father had high expectations for Carlisle, and constantly abused him with verbal violence and curses using grades as an excuse.

Carlisle had gritted his teeth and worked hard, but his father’s expectations were far too high.

He would just throw money at him and spew verbal abuse and curses, never once showing genuine interest in Carlisle.

Excluding the one-sided verbal abuse and cursing, their father-son conversations throughout his entire life probably didn’t even amount to a few hours.

Meanwhile, whenever he had the chance, he would frequent entertainment districts and faithfully pursue leisure activities like golf, fishing, and yachting with young, pretty sponsored women.

He might have been competent as a company CEO, but as the head of a household, no matter how generously one tried to view him, Carlisle’s father was an irredeemable figure.

So what about his mother?

– Your father acts like that and goes around outside because you’re not good enough. Don’t expect to go out for a while. Just stay put and study. Got it?

– Your father acts like that and goes around outside because you’re not good enough. Don’t expect to go out for a while. Just stay put and study. Got it?

His mother knew about his father’s habitual affairs but didn’t dare make a sound, instead constantly harassing Carlisle.

She could have divorced him and secured a generous alimony settlement, but the reason she didn’t was because of the title of being the wife of a successful company CEO.

The courtesy of a chauffeur, the enormous monthly credit card bills for luxury spending, and the status as a corporate CEO’s wife in various social gatherings were things that no amount of alimony could provide.

Having grown up in such an environment, family to Carlisle meant people who were worse than strangers.

It was so bad that Carlisle considered himself fortunate to be an only child.

He thought it was enough for him alone to suffer the emotional and physical abuse from those unqualified parents.

Being such a person, there was no way the words about family having no good or bad between them would resonate with him.

Heh, thinking of his parents from his previous life naturally brought a sneer to his lips.

“You don’t look good. Did I say something wrong?”

“No.”

Carlisle shook his head.

“I was just thinking about the old days for a moment.”

“I see.”

Andre nodded as if he understood.

“You’ve caused more than one or two incidents, so it would be stranger if you had a good relationship with your family.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Carlisle said with slight indignation.

“What do you mean that’s not it. How long have I been hearing rumors about you.”

“Ugh.”

“You seem to have come to your senses now, so just do well from now on. Like I said earlier, why would Commander Selena have rushed all the way to this tiny fortress? It’s all because she’s worried about you, her brother.”

“I’m telling you that’s not it.”

“Talking back now. Phew!”

Andre rolled his eyes, then stubbed out his cigarette on the ground and got up.

“Alright! I’ll prepare yours first, so wait over there for a bit.”

“Sure.”

Carlisle walked toward the back of the tent that Andre had pointed out.

* * *

‘Selena worries about me?’

Carlisle couldn’t agree with Andre’s words in the slightest.

“Pfft.”

It was so absurd that he could only laugh.

If Carlisle’s memory was correct, the relationship between Carlisle van Sigmund and Selena van Sigmund was very bad.

Also, perhaps because he had grown up being beaten since childhood, Carlisle’s antipathy toward Selena was beyond imagination.

On top of that, as Carlisle began to seriously go astray, their relationship deteriorated to the worst possible state.

In fact, from about two years before Carlisle’s death, not a single word of conversation had passed between the two.

‘Worry, my ass. She came because Grand Duke Guntram ordered her to go deal with the dark mage that appeared. There’s no way Selena would worry about me… Wait. Or is there?’

A memory suddenly came to mind.

It was right after Carlisle had awakened.

– Father is going to hold a trial. Beg for forgiveness desperately. Swear that you won’t do it again, that you’ll become a new person. Remember this. If you don’t do at least that much, you’ll end up executed.

– Father is going to hold a trial. Beg for forgiveness desperately. Swear that you won’t do it again, that you’ll become a new person. Remember this. If you don’t do at least that much, you’ll end up executed.

He hadn’t remembered clearly because he was in such a panic then, but thinking about it again, there had been times when Selena worried about Carlisle.

‘She does… worry about me.’

Carlisle even remembered that Selena had come to find him together with Frey, and wore a bewildered expression.

‘That’s right. That scoundrel Carlisle was more loved and cared for than I was.’

As he was thinking this, Andre came over with a well-prepared meal and set it down in front of Carlisle.

“You did wash your hands before making this, right?”

“What, are you afraid cigarette butts might come out of it?”

“It’s not that.”

“What do you mean it’s not that. Don’t be so fussy. This is a battlefield. Throw hygiene concepts and such to the dogs.”

Though he said that, no matter how much of a battlefield it was, hygiene management and ingredient management were essential unless it was an extreme situation.

If food poisoning occurred, the entire unit could lose its combat effectiveness, and there was no way Andre, who was supposedly in charge of cooking, wouldn’t know this fact.

Yet for someone like that to be puffing away on cigarettes in the kitchen was inexcusable no matter what.

“Anyway, eat well. War hero. Loyalty!”

Andre gave a salute and stepped aside.

“Go on, eat.”

“Is this really okay to eat?”

The baby dragon, having heard the conversation between Carlisle and Andre, frowned.

“Just eat it. It looks like we’ll be going on leave in a few days.”

“Leave?”

“Yeah. I’ll treat you to lots of delicious food when we go out. So just bear with it for a few days.”

“Okay.”

The baby dragon’s eyes sparkled brightly, then immediately buried its head and began devouring Andre’s cooking.

‘It does seem like Selena worries about me… Did she volunteer to come, or was she sent by Grand Duke Guntram.’

Though he was slightly curious, Carlisle had no intention of asking Selena directly.

So what if she had volunteered to come, and so what if she had been forced to come.

What mattered was that Selena’s overwhelming military power had swept away all the enemies, allowing Carlisle as well as the soldiers of Bowden Fortress to survive.

“Nom nom.”

As Carlisle was mindlessly watching the baby dragon eat, the tent flap was pulled back and Maranello and Evangeline appeared.

“Young Master, what are you doing here… Hmm?”

“Oh my!”

Maranello and Evangeline’s eyes widened as they spotted the baby dragon.

“Could it be… a dragon?”

“Probably?”

“Good heavens.”

Maranello pressed his palm to his forehead as if he couldn’t have imagined it.

Even Maranello, a legendary knight, seemed to be seeing a dragon in person for the first time.

“You’re so cute…!”

The baby dragon was so adorable that Evangeline’s face turned red.

“Young Master.”

“Huh?”

“Can I touch it once…?”

“No. It bites.”

“Ah, yes.”

Evangeline clicked her tongue regretfully.

The baby dragon was a specimen with soft, glossy fur like a cat’s instead of sharp, gleaming scales, possessing a charm that made anyone want to pet it at least once.

The problem was its nasty temperament.

“Young Master, what on earth happened to you?”

“Many things happened.”

“Even so, how could you bring a baby dragon…?”

Maranello’s face hardened as if the mere thought was horrifying.

“Are you worried about the mother dragon’s revenge?”

“How could I not worry? A dragon’s wrath is terrifying, Young Master. Just looking at the history books…”

“It’s fine. This one doesn’t have parents.”

“What…?”

Maranello frowned as if asking what kind of nonsense that was.

“No, Young Master. Even if it’s a baby dragon, how can you say such harsh words when it’s listening?”

Then the baby dragon spoke.

“Nom nom. It’s true I don’t have parents, old man. Nom nom. Nom nom nom.”

“…”

Maranello’s mouth fell wide open.

* * *

“Such things happened to you?”

“You’re truly amazing, Young Master.”

Maranello and Evangeline were very surprised to hear about what Carlisle had experienced.

‘Though it’s full of lies.’

Carlisle smiled bitterly to himself.

Since he couldn’t tell them 100% of the truth, he had no choice but to appropriately distort and embellish the facts.

“Young Master, you are truly admirable. Sniff.”

Maranello lowered his glasses and took out a handkerchief to wipe tears from his eyes.

“Not only did you admirably fulfill your duty of national defense, but you also achieved Blood Mark Awakening and made great contributions to the country… This old man has no regrets even if he dies.”

“I don’t think it’s that much…”

“Sob sob…”

Maranello actually cried, as if his emotions were truly overwhelming him.

‘They say people become more tearful as they age.’

But thinking about it from another perspective, it made sense.

Before the possession, Carlisle was the acknowledged Northern Scoundrel.

Anyone would be moved to see human trash they thought would never amount to anything living a decent life.

“Oh, right.”

Carlisle wasn’t affectionate enough to comfort Maranello, so he turned to Evangeline.

“This really helped me a lot. Thanks to it, I saved my life several times.”

“I’m so happy it was helpful to you, Young Master!”

Evangeline smiled brightly.

“This is a gift.”

“What is this…?”

“A Magic Amplifier. I picked it up from the Mage’s Dungeon I mentioned earlier, so you use it. It’s not incredibly good, but it should still help.”

“Thank you so much! I’ll treasure it as a family heirloom for life!”

“A family heirloom is a bit much…”

“No! It’s the first gift you’ve given me, Young Master, so I must treasure it for life and pass it down to my descendants!”

Evangeline seemed so pleased with Carlisle’s gift that she looked ready to bounce up and down where she sat.

‘If she hadn’t been an Earth Elementalist, if she hadn’t caught my eye. This girl would have ended up like Private Gwen too.’

Carlisle looked at Evangeline and thought of Gwen.

Whether in terms of age or circumstances, Evangeline and Gwen had quite a lot in common.

“You received my letter, right?”

“How could there be any doubt? As soon as I read the letter, I immediately reported to His Grace the Grand Duke.”

“I was so happy to receive a reply letter from you, Young Master!”

While Carlisle was having various conversations with Maranello and Evangeline, someone quietly lifted the tent flap.

“Carlisle, you bas… Ah.”

Kudo discovered Maranello and Evangeline and closed his mouth.

“Oh.”

Maranello’s expression became strange.

“Were you here?”

“…”

“Good to see you. Fancy meeting you in a place like this.”

Maranello casually greeted Kudo.

‘What, they knew each other?’

Carlisle blinked.

One was just a soldier serving at a small fortress.

The other was a legendary knight worthy of being recorded in history books.

He could only wonder how people who would normally have difficulty finding common ground could be acquainted with each other.

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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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