Chapter – 132….
“What’s the mission this time?”
“What do you think? Search and recon.”
“Isn’t that something Corporal Marder handles on his own?”
“You should know his abilities aren’t all-powerful. The area we’re scouting this time can’t be observed from the air.”
“Huh?”
Carlyle glanced sidelong at Marder walking beside him.
‘Well, yeah. He’s a long way from unlocking Eye of Truth.’
Marder’s pet, Hugin, gained new abilities as it grew, and one of those was Eye of Truth.
Once learned, it could pierce even the thickest vegetation, allowing them to scout the entirety of Kuberrin—the Blood-soaked Land.
But that required Marder, Hugin’s master, to reach at least 7-star rank. That day was still far off.
‘They’re getting stronger, but… too slowly. Guess that’s inevitable since none of them are important named characters.’
The scouts were people who didn’t even appear in the main storyline of the game Overlord.
In a way, they had even less importance than generic extras.
Which meant that all of them either died as nameless soldiers on the battlefield or, even if they survived, never made a name for themselves.
So expecting the scouts to grow significantly stronger might’ve been wishful thinking.
‘They’re all excellent soldiers though. If only there were a way to strengthen them…’
As Carlyle entertained that thought, Kudo suddenly spoke.
“What’s got you thinking so hard?”
“Huh?”
“You look lost in thought. Did something happen during your leave?”
“Not really.”
Carlyle brushed it off.
“I see. I thought maybe you went into closed-door training or something during break.”
“…Come again?”
“Oh, nothing major. You just look… more relaxed in your movements.”
“…Relaxed?”
“Confidence, maybe? Haha.”
“I don’t feel any different. But why would you assume I was training on my break?”
Carlyle narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Kudo.
‘This guy’s always had sharp eyes. He seemed to know something about Maranello too. Definitely not ordinary.’
Carlyle had a strong intuition that Kudo was no normal person.
Something about him felt off—different from the other soldiers—sometimes giving Carlyle a strange sense of dissonance.
“Well, all Sigmunds are like that. So I figured it applied to you too.”
“Huh?”
“You people grow stronger at terrifying speed day by day. I assumed Private Carlyle here used his leave for training.”
“Do I look like someone who’d do that?”
Carlyle pointed at himself.
“…You don’t?”
Kudo looked genuinely startled.
It was common knowledge that Sigmunds relentlessly pursued strength and subjected themselves to grueling, bone-breaking training.
But Carlyle, from what Kudo had observed, did not seem like the type who’d willingly put himself through such hell.
“Well, I did train.”
“Ah, I knew it.”
“Not voluntarily though.”
“…Haha…”
Kudo forced a laugh.
“What about you, Corporal Kudo? Did you train during your leave?”
“Someone like me? Just a lowly soldier? What good would training do for me? Haha.”
“Is that so.”
Carlyle didn’t believe a word of it.
He hadn’t forgotten the day Kudo asked him to demonstrate World-Breaker and Loyal Heart when he was first assigned to the scout unit.
A few hours later.
“…Huh?”
Carlyle made a small noise as he examined the map—surprised.
He wasn’t the only one.
“Uh, Sergeant Begmann? Isn’t this… a little too deep?”
Second Lieutenant Melvin asked Begmann with unease.
“If we go just a bit farther, we’ll be in territory held by the barbarians, right…?”
“That’s right.”
“What?!”
“Is there a problem?”
“Isn’t… isn’t this too dangerous?”
Begmann’s curt reply made Melvin shrink visibly.
“Sorry to say, but recon missions are supposed to be dangerous. There’s a reason our main job is scouting.”
“I know, but still, this area—”
Wilson cut him off, unable to hold back.
“Jesus fuck! If you’re gonna whine, go ahead and turn back! We don’t need a cowardly weakling like you slowing us down!”
“H-hick?!”
“Our youngest is following along without complaint, and you’re an officer shaking in your boots!”
Wilson pointed at Adrian, the unit’s youngest.
Adrian looked tense but not trembling like Melvin.
“Wilson’s right. If you really can’t handle it, turn back now. We don’t need cowards in the recon team. Dragging someone like that along will only get comrades killed.”
“…”
Melvin clamped his mouth shut.
‘Why did Pascal take someone like him as a disciple? Are mages that scarce?’
Carlyle snorted internally, remembering that Melvin was the student of Pascal, the Sigmund household’s retainer and the greatest mage of the North.
To think someone with no talent for magic, timid, indecisive, and cowardly would be his disciple…
“S-sorry… I lost my nerve. I’ll follow quietly…”
Just then—
BEEEEEP!
A sharp cry from above—Hugin’s signal—made Marder raise a hand.
“Quiet.”
“What is it?” Begmann whispered.
“The forest’s too dense to see clearly, but… there’s a lot of movement.”
“Yeah?”
“At least several hundred are on the move.”
“Hm.”
Begmann thought briefly.
“If we can’t check from the air, we’ll check with our own eyes. Camouflage, now.”
“Yes, sir!”
The scouts immediately changed into camouflage gear.
‘This part’s dangerous.’
Carlyle hesitated, but for a different reason than Melvin.
‘There’s a man-eating tree habitat here.’
Kuberrin wasn’t home only to Decaron soldiers and barbarians.
It was crawling with dark warlocks, monsters of all kinds, and strange, dangerous creatures.
This region in particular was full of man-eating trees—monsters that devoured humans.
One careless step could get them eaten before any barbarian even showed up.
“Captain.”
“What.”
“Let’s not go this way. If we must, we should circle around here.”
“Why?”
“It’s not on the map, but there are way too many monsters on that route.”
“…Really?”
Begmann looked shaken.
He had no intel indicating the area was a monster den.
“How do you know? It’s not like you’ve been here before.”
“I was bored during leave and poked around old military archives. Found it by chance.”
“You… read military documents…?”
“Am I not allowed?”
“That—that’s not what I meant! Why do you always twist my words?!”
“Ha.”
“Fine, I get it. Old data might not be accurate, but… better safe than sorry. We’ll avoid that route. Satisfied?”
“Sure.”
Carlyle backed off.
If they avoided the man-eating tree region, the mission could continue safely enough.
Of course, infiltration was always dangerous, but war itself was full of uncertainties. No plan was ever flawless.
“Move out. Quiet and stealthy from here on.”
“Yes, sir.”
Begmann led them forward into enemy territory.
Once inside the barbarian-controlled zone, the scouts found a place with good visibility and went completely silent, lying in ambush.
“Beeeep!”
Hugin helped as best it could with limited reconnaissance.
After nearly two days of quiet observation—
“We can leave this area alone.”
Begmann concluded so because the barbarians were busy slaughtering each other—full-blown inter-tribal warfare.
“Yeah. Let’s watch a bit more and then pull out.”
Carlyle agreed.
Barbarians fighting each other wasn’t unusual.
The so-called “barbarians” were actually a collection of tribes collectively called the Barbar peoples.
They shared ancestry but had almost no sense of unity.
As a tribal society, their identity revolved more around tribe than ethnicity.
They sometimes hated rival tribes more than their true enemy—the continental humans.
In Kuberrin, inter-tribal wars over mana-stone-rich regions were common.
‘Good for us, though.’
Carlyle felt relieved.
If the barbarians ever formed a unified kingdom, it would be a nightmare for the continent.
‘As long as no king rises among them…’
Just then—
Woooong… WOOOOONG!
Grimungand vibrated violently.
Carlyle quickly signaled to the others.
They were deep in enemy territory. A fight would draw too much attention.
Their mission was information gathering. Even if barbarians passed right in front of them, the best thing to do was stay hidden.
“Huff… huff…!”
A young barbarian warrior suddenly came running straight toward their hiding spot.
Dozens of barbarians chased after him moments later.
‘Oh no.’
Carlyle’s eyes widened.
The fugitive was heading directly toward their ambush point. At this rate, they’d be discovered.
‘This is ridiculously unlucky—oh.’
Carlyle instantly came up with a solution and tightened his grip on Grimungand.
Hear the cry of those whose hopes have died. Miracle forsaken by the world, yearning of the desperate. Let a single light descend upon me…
A wave of fortune wrapped around him.
His mournful blade, Wish of the Desperate, increased his luck and critical chance—perhaps enough to overcome this sudden disaster.
Maybe his prayer reached something, because—
Thud.
“…!”
CRASH!
The young barbarian tripped on a rock and fell spectacularly.
He hit the ground so hard he couldn’t get up, only groaning in pain.
He lay about fifteen meters from where the scouts were hiding.
