Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: First Patrol
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‘What’s with this shaggy-haired guy.’
Wilson, a mountain of a soldier, was the owner of a mop of hair that looked incredibly unnatural.
For someone nicknamed the Barber, why was his own hairstyle in such a state…?
‘Is he a barber who can’t cut his own hair? Well, I guess so. There’s that saying about how a monk can’t shave his own head.’
As Carlyle was having such trivial thoughts, Wilson leaned in close.
“Listen up, kid. I don’t give a damn if you’re from the Sigmund family or the Grand Duke’s second son. What matters is that you’re a greenhorn rookie. Do you get what I’m saying?”
“...”
Carlyle couldn’t think of anything to say, so he kept his mouth shut and waited for Wilson’s next words.
“What I mean is, if you’re a rookie, act like one. Don’t go showing off. When you’re told to do something, do it, and do it fast. And don’t even think about doing anything you weren’t told to.”
“I will.”
“Hm?”
“I’ll do as I’m told. And I won’t even think about doing anything I wasn’t told to.”
“Hmm.”
Wilson seemed a bit flustered, seeing that Carlyle was far more obedient than he had expected.
“Th-that’s right. One mistake from a rookie like you could get the whole unit wiped out. If that happens, I’ll chase you to the ends of hell and kill you a second time. Got it?”
“I’ll bear that in mind.”
Carlyle replied, thinking to himself.
‘So I’d be dying a third time?’
A thought only someone who had already died once could have.
“Hey, don’t scare him too much.”
Marder, nicknamed ‘The Castrator’, scoffed and spoke up.
“If he gets too intimidated, he’ll make mistakes he wouldn’t normally make.”
“Intimidated? Hardly.”
Wilson snorted.
“If he was going to get spooked by something like this, he never should have picked up a sword in the first place.”
“Well, you’ve got a point there.”
Marder nodded in agreement with Wilson.
“Everyone’s on edge because there’s a rookie in the ranks, so don’t worry about it too much. The veterans aren’t fond of new guys.”
Russell whispered in Carlyle’s ear.
“Wasn’t it that they don’t like me specifically?”
“Well, there’s that too. Your reputation isn’t exactly stellar.”
Was it just ‘not stellar’?
Carlyle was infamous as the North’s greatest hellion…
“But that’s not all there is to it. When I first joined the reconnaissance team, I got chewed out a lot for being clueless.”
“Oh?”
“We handle a lot of dangerous missions, so we can’t really like rookies. They can’t pull their own weight. At best, they do maybe thirty percent of a man’s job? And most of the time, they can’t even manage that. That’s just how it is.”
Russell had a point.
It would be impossible for a freshly assigned rookie to pull his own weight.
Normally, it would take at least a few months of learning, training, and adapting to the unit before one could do their part.
That was no exception for officers—that is, knights.
Unless one was a rookie on their second life…
“Don’t worry about it for now. A proper evaluation of you will come after you’ve seen some real combat. That’s what really counts.”
“Ah.”
A conversation he’d had with Maranello flashed through his mind.
- Isn’t there any training to prepare for actual combat?
- We are doing it right now.
- Not this kind of thing. Um. How should I put it? For example…
- Are you perhaps referring to freezing up in a real battle, or getting scared and running away?
- Yeah, that.
- Young Master, a warrior's heart is born, not made.
- What’s that supposed to mean?
- No matter how harsh their training, there are more knights than you’d think who freeze up in a real fight. Of course, it’s very rare for us Northerners…
- Really?
- Yes, Young Master. So please don’t worry about such things and focus on your training. You are not someone who needs to have such concerns.
- Why? I could freeze up too.
- Young Master, you were born with the blood of a warrior. How could one with the blood of Sigmund flowing through their veins possibly freeze before an enemy? Hahaha!
Not long ago, he’d wondered if he could even kill a person in battle, but it seemed there was something else he should have been worried about.
‘How will I act? I’m not even a real Sigmund.’
Carlyle was suddenly curious.
Although the heart beating ceaselessly in his chest was a Sigmund’s, his soul was not.
“You don’t have to worry. You’re a Sigmund. What’s there to worry about?”
“We’ll have to wait and see about that.”
Carlyle didn’t overestimate himself.
He might be possessing the body of Carlyle van Sigmund, but his soul was merely that of a gamer who had played [Overlord].
***
Under the command of Reconnaissance Captain Begman, the team set out on a simple search and reconnaissance mission.
It was the most basic of security operations, more akin to a simple patrol around the fortress.
But even that wasn’t easy.
Kuberin, the Blood-Soaked Land, boasted such rugged terrain that it wouldn’t have been surprising if most people had collapsed halfway.
But Carlyle wasn’t struggling at all.
“You okay? Not tired?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Good stamina. I had a really tough time at first. Is it because you’re a Sigmund?”
“...”
Carlyle didn’t bother to answer.
It wasn’t because he was a Sigmund, but because of an elixir that had permanently boosted his endurance.
“I guess even debauchery requires stamina.”
“At least we won’t have to worry about him collapsing from exhaustion.”
The reconnaissance soldiers were clearly pleased to see that Carlyle had better stamina than they’d expected.
After all, tireless stamina was a basic requirement for serving in the reconnaissance team.
‘It’s nice to get some fresh air.’
Carlyle had been feeling a bit cooped up after spending the last few days inside the fortress, so patrolling the area like this felt like taking a walk.
“Listen up, newbie.”
Begman took Carlyle aside and started teaching him a few things.
“Never let your guard down just because you don’t see anything around. Do that, and you’ll never know when you’ll end up dead. You get what I’m saying?”
“I think you’re telling me to observe my surroundings carefully.”
“Be more specific.”
“Um…”
“Speak up. I won’t bite your head off.”
“First, you have to carefully observe the surrounding grass and trees. Check the wind direction, too. If enemies are hiding, the direction of the grass or branches would be unnatural.”
“What else?”
“You have to listen for the sounds of animals and birds. Wild animals are timid and wary, so if something is lurking nearby, they’ll either flee or hide.”
“You’ve learned well. So even a hellion is still a Sigmund, is that it?”
Begman looked quite surprised by Carlyle’s fluent answers.
‘This is the kind of stuff you can learn even in a game.’
[Overlord] wasn’t just a game about managing a territory.
It prioritized developing one’s chosen character through a narrative-driven experience of combat and adventure.
As a result, one-on-one duels and small-scale battles with a few companions were heavily featured.
It was only natural, then, that Carlyle, who had played [Overlord] quite extensively, was well-versed in most strategies and tactics.
“But there’s a difference between just knowing something and *really* knowing it. You can learn theory at a desk, but seeing, hearing, and feeling it for real is a completely different story.”
“I suppose so.”
“So which one are you?”
“...?”
“Are you just a book-smart weakling like those clueless junior knights who only know theory, or are you someone who can actually use what they know in a real fight?”
“Hmm.”
Instead of answering, Carlyle picked up a rock from the ground and hurled it into the bushes.
*Swish!*
The rock flew so fast that the sound of it cutting through the air was truly menacing.
*Clang!*
Just as the sound of stone hitting metal rang out, someone rose from the bushes.
“Hoh.”
The person who emerged from the bushes was none other than Kudo, nicknamed ‘Slit-Eyes’.
They said he was called Slit-Eyes because he was always smiling.
“Oof, if that had hit my head, I’d be dead. Haha.”
Kudo held up his dented vambrace and clicked his tongue in amazement.
‘He blocked that?’
Carlyle frowned.
The rock’s velocity must have been at least that of a professional pitcher…
And from only about ten meters away, no less.
“Not bad.”
This time, Begman truly saw Carlyle in a new light.
He had intended to test the rookie, Carlyle, but who would have thought he’d pinpoint Kudo’s location so accurately?
And what was with the speed of that rock he’d just thrown?
Begman wasn’t the only one who was surprised.
“So he’s really got something, huh?”
“Whoa. It’s not easy to find Kudo when he’s hiding.”
The wide-eyed gazes of the reconnaissance soldiers focused on Carlyle.
Clearly, a single demonstration was better than a thousand words.
But Begman couldn’t acknowledge Carlyle just yet.
‘But can he really perform in a real battle? A hellion like him?’
Begman didn’t trust anything but actual combat experience.
He’d seen his share of knights who were fine in training but fell apart the moment they entered a real battle.
***
And so, Carlyle’s first mission seemed to be ending on a rather successful note.
Though in truth, it was more like training for the new recruit than an actual mission…
“So, how is it? Manageable?”
“Yes.”
Carlyle answered Russell’s question curtly.
“A Sigmund, through and through. Great stamina, and you found Senior Private Kudo in one go. I couldn’t find him once in two months and just got ambushed every time.”
“Oh?”
“I guess knights learn and train for that kind of thing beforehand, right?”
“Something like that.”
“Still, you must have trained hard. I thought you just fooled around all the time and hadn’t trained a lick.”
“Heh!”
“Oh, did I offend you? If I did…”
Russell flinched slightly when Carlyle let out a small chuckle.
Even if he was a low-ranking soldier, the man before him was a nobleman and the son of Grand Duke Guntram.
“I’m not offended at all, so there’s no need to apologize, Private Russell.”
Carlyle deliberately addressed him by his full rank, acknowledging Russell’s position as his senior.
“And for the record, I really did just fool around.”
The real Carlyle truly had done nothing but fool around.
His head was so empty that he didn't have a single shred of useful knowledge for the battlefield.
“I-I see. Still, that’s amazing. Finding Senior Private Kudo in one go was really incredible…”
Carlyle didn’t hear the rest of Russell’s words.
‘What is this?’
The sword hanging at his waist… the jet-black sword, Grimungandr, was vibrating faintly.
It was so faint he might have missed it, but Grimungandr was definitely vibrating, making its presence known.
And the vibrations grew stronger and stronger.
‘Why is it suddenly doing this?’
Carlyle couldn’t even begin to guess why Grimungandr, which had been quiet until now, was acting this way.
Since Grimungandr was an item that didn’t appear in the game [Overlord], even Carlyle knew nothing about it.
*Ting!*
A notification window popped up before his eyes.
[Notification: has detected a savage bloodlust!]