Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Mandatory Service
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“I will take my leave for a moment.”
Maranello excused himself to give the father and son their space.
“……”
“……”
Even after Maranello had left, neither Carlyle nor Grand Duke Guntram was quick to speak.
It was Carlyle’s first time meeting Grand Duke Guntram one-on-one, so it felt unfamiliar, and besides, he had nothing in particular to say.
*‘This must be about Evangeline.’*
But Carlyle’s assumption was completely wrong.
“Were you disappointed?”
“Pardon?”
Carlyle was slightly taken aback by the Grand Duke’s abrupt question.
He had expected a conversation about Evangeline, not a question about whether he was disappointed.
“No.”
Carlyle answered.
“I wasn’t disappointed. Not at all.”
“……”
Hearing Carlyle’s response, Grand Duke Guntram fell silent for a moment, as if at a loss for words.
Then he spoke again.
“Is it true that you weren’t disappointed?”
“Yes.”
“Even though your father misunderstood you?”
“The circumstances of the incident led to that conclusion. It’s not your fault, Father.”
“But…”
“Given my usual behavior, how could you have trusted me in that situation? I think it was natural for you not to.”
“If that is what you think…”
Grand Duke Guntram’s voice trailed off, as if he understood.
The nuance suggested he had more to say but was choosing not to.
“Maranello told me you had changed. Seeing you with my own eyes, I can tell you’ve changed beyond recognition.”
“Hmm.”
Carlyle couldn’t readily answer.
*‘Dammit. How am I supposed to act that out?’*
Unless he was a professional actor, perfectly portraying a scoundrel of Carlyle’s caliber was impossible.
“They say people sometimes change after a major ordeal or a severe head injury.”
“Ah, yes.”
“In that case, may I allow myself to have some expectations?”
“No.”
Carlyle answered that way because he had no desire to struggle to meet someone else’s expectations.
Even if it was his own family.
“Then do you intend to continue living like such a degenerate?”
“Yes.”
“……”
At Carlyle’s contrary response, Grand Duke Guntram squeezed his eyes shut.
It was obvious he was struggling to contain the rage simmering deep within him.
*‘A scoundrel should act like a scoundrel.’*
He felt a little sorry for the Grand Duke, but Carlyle had not the slightest intention of giving up his role as a scoundrel.
If he became a good son, expectations would rise exponentially. But as a scoundrel, as long as he didn’t cause trouble, they would consider it a relief.
“Fine, I understand. Expecting someone to change overnight is too much to ask. However, remember one thing.”
“Go on.”
“From now on, you will pay a fitting price for your actions.”
Carlyle took the Grand Duke’s warning to mean that he would no longer turn a blind eye to his troublemaking.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good. I will leave now.”
“Aren’t you going to ask about Evangeline?”
“Is that child not your handmaiden, and thus under your authority?”
“Well, yes.”
Carlyle was a little surprised.
To think he would so easily entrust him with Evangeline, an earth spirit contractor.
“Whether you can keep her as your handmaiden will depend on your actions.”
“Ah?”
“If I need her, I will consult you. Now, get some rest. It must have been a tiring day.”
“Take care.”
And so, the first one-on-one meeting between Carlyle and Grand Duke Guntram came to an end.
***
“Aargh, ahhhhhhh!”
“K-kill me. Please…”
“Gyaaaaaaah!”
Meanwhile, Jeffrey and his accomplices were being subjected to truly brutal torture.
The torturers of the Sigmund family were on a completely different level from ordinary ones.
It was only natural, as the Sigmunds were a family that had waged war against the barbarians beyond the border for ages.
As a result, their torture techniques had evolved for the purpose of breaking not ordinary people, but barbarian warriors.
The fierce and resilient barbarian warriors wouldn’t bat an eye at conventional torture, forcing the development of bizarre and unimaginable methods.
The result was…
“W-we are… spies from the Lauren family.”
Within two days of the torture beginning, Jeffrey had spilled everything he knew.
He had been trained to endure torture before being dispatched as a spy, but it was all useless before the Sigmund family’s special techniques.
“Those Lauren bastards, how dare they.”
Grand Duke Guntram was enraged the moment he received the report.
The Lauren family, one of the thirteen families supporting the Nürburg Kingdom, were longtime rivals of the Sigmunds.
The animosity between the two families ran deep, to the point they had fought several territorial wars over the past two hundred years.
At any other time, it would not have been strange for this incident to trigger a war.
Despite this, Grand Duke Guntram could not speak of war.
“Of all the times…”
The Grand Duke frowned, looking down at the military map spread across his large desk.
Blue pieces represented the forces of the Nürburg Kingdom, with the Sigmund family as their core.
And the red pieces represented the barbarians.
The problem was that the map was overwhelmingly covered in red pieces, far outnumbering the blue.
The barbarians’ uprising was imminent, and the Sigmund family currently lacked the resources to wage war against the Laurens.
Far from fighting the Laurens, they were in a position where they needed to request additional troops from the royal family.
In the Grand Duke’s judgment, it was no exaggeration to say that a large-scale, all-out war with the barbarians was due within one to two years at the latest.
“…Must I endure it again this time?”
Grand Duke Guntram muttered to himself, swallowing his anger.
Moreover, without conclusive evidence, the Lauren family would surely deny everything to the end and claim they were being wronged.
It was impossible to secure an apology from the Lauren family based solely on a confession extracted through torture.
***
That afternoon.
“Young Master, the Grand Duke summons you.”
“Why? Did I do something wrong again?”
“Not that I am aware of.”
“Then why does he want to see me?”
“Haha.”
Hearing Carlyle’s words, Maranello let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.
“A father doesn’t need a reason to scold his son to call for him, Young Master.”
“Hasn’t that usually been the case?”
“W-well, that is true, but…”
Maranello broke into a cold sweat.
Indeed, the main reason Grand Duke Guntram had summoned Carlyle in the past was to reprimand and punish him for causing trouble.
“What a pain.”
“Even if it’s a pain, you must go.”
“I have no choice.”
Carlyle reluctantly answered his father’s summons.
“You called for me.”
“Sit.”
“Is there something you wanted to say?”
“Something I wanted to say.”
Grand Duke Guntram mulled over Carlyle’s question for a moment before opening his mouth as if in agreement.
“Yes, I called you because I have something to say.”
“Go on.”
“As you know, in three months, you will be twenty-four.”
“That’s right.”
“The time has come.”
“Don’t tell me.”
In that moment, Carlyle realized what the Grand Duke was about to say, and his face hardened.
*‘Damn it. I’d forgotten about that.’*
He had been so preoccupied with the trial these past few days that he hadn't realized it, but for the members of the Sigmund family, the age of twenty-four was a crucial turning point in life.
Upon turning twenty-four, a member of the Sigmund family was required to enlist in the Decaron army and serve a minimum of three years of mandatory service.
It was a family tradition befitting a martial house that had fought the barbarians beyond the border for ages.
“Are you telling me to enlist?”
“Yes.”
For Carlyle, the news was like a bolt from the blue.
*‘I’ve already done it once, why do I have to go again?’*
It was something he couldn’t possibly do in his right mind.
He had thought that a different world would mean no mandatory military service…
“I don’t want to.”
Carlyle said flatly.
“You have no choice.”
“I wouldn’t be any help even if I went. You know that. It would be a blessing if I didn’t lower our allies’ morale.”
“Then you can be dealt with by military law.”
“……”
“Did I not tell you? You will have to take fitting responsibility for your actions.”
Faced with this, Carlyle had nothing more to say.
“I can’t fight.”
“Weren’t you a one-man army when you were brawling in the tavern?”
“That’s because everyone went easy on me since I’m your son.”
“So you do know.”
“I’m weak.”
“Then you can become strong.”
“I can’t. I have no talent.”
Carlyle’s words were true.
[Carlyle van Sigmund]
Race: Human
Age: 23
Status: Noble
Occupation: Unemployed (Scoundrel)
Trait: (Reset)
Title: Scoundrel of the North
Whether due to the possession, his trait had been reset, so Carlyle didn’t even know what he was talented in.
Furthermore, since the original Carlyle was a character meant to die, he had no prior information about him.
“How dare my son claim to have no talent?”
“There are plenty of sons in the world who are worse than their fathers.”
“And there are many sons who surpass their fathers.”
It was truly a clash of spear and shield.
The war of words between the one trying to enlist him and the one trying to avoid it continued for some time.
Rage boiled up from deep within Grand Duke Guntram, but he did not raise his voice.
If Carlyle had clung to his leg and begged to be spared from enlistment like he used to, the Grand Duke would have erupted in fury.
It was better that he was trying to slip away like an eel.
It wasn’t what he said, but how he said it.
“Then I have no choice but to revoke your noble status.”
“What?”
“If you will not fulfill your responsibilities and duties as a noble, then you can have no complaints about being demoted to a commoner, can you?”
“……”
Faced with this, Carlyle had nothing more to say.
He was threatening to disown him…
“War is not far off.”
Grand Duke Guntram said in a stern voice.
“A large-scale invasion by the barbarians is imminent. How long do you intend to remain like this? You should at least be able to protect yourself.”
“Hmm.”
“If you wish to maintain your status and inherit your fortune, you must fulfill your responsibilities and duties as a noble.”
“And after my mandatory service period is over?”
“Then I will not interfere with your life, no matter what you do.”
“You have to keep that promise.”
“I will.”
“Fine, I’ll enlist.”
Carlyle made that decision because he did, in fact, need to get stronger.
*‘If I’m going to live here, I need to be strong.’*
This was a world ruled by sword and magic, a world that ran on the logic of power.
No matter how high one’s status, a minimum level of strength was essential.
“Good. A wise decision.”
“I’m being forced.”
“……”
“By the way, is this a military map?”
Carlyle asked, pointing at the large desk.
“Yes. As you can see, it’s a military map showing the disposition of our forces and the barbarians.”
“Looks tough.”
“The situation is not exactly favorable.”
“That may be, but… you should strike here.”
Carlyle approached the desk where the map was spread out, then pointed to a specific area.
“Where are you pointing?”
“Here.”
“That place is… wait.”
In an instant, Grand Duke Guntram’s face froze over as if struck by frost.