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[Translator - Tangrine ]
[Proofreader - Seeker ]
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Chapter 32 - Encountering the Buscard (1)
Alphaid went back to sleep and the once-rowdy forest returned to its natural calm.
“Argh! That damn lizard bastard!”
Thanks to Alphaid’s teleportation spell, the group had been dropped in the middle of a vast and open field that stretched as far as the eye could see.
They looked around and felt relieved to finally be out of the forest but the sky suddenly darkened.
A sharp whistling sound sliced through the air, followed by a loud thud as something crashed to the ground.
Instinctively, they scattered from where they were standing.
A massive boulder drove deep into the earth, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.
“What the hell is going on?!”
“I have no idea either…”
Eres grabbed the scruff of Clyden’s neck and rolled across the ground in a rush and looked around to check if anyone was hurt.
That’s when Kaysis shouted.
“Ahh! More incoming!”
Boulders roughly the size of grown adults began to rain down, hurling toward them from every direction.
“Damn it! Dodge however you can!”
Since they’d all trained with mana, Clyden figured everyone would be able to manage on their own.
He darted toward the edge of the first fallen boulder and flattened himself behind it.
“This isn’t a mortar strike—what the hell is this?!”
Clyden watched the others dodge the falling rocks with some degree of amusement.
“Whew, look at them. They’re like squirrels. Hard to believe humans can move like that… Tsk. Still, she is pretty…”
His gaze was mostly fixed on Lydis even though her personality wasn’t exactly his taste, even Clyden had to admit that her looks were on another level.
She had taken off her armor probably because it was getting in the way of her quick movements.
Clyden’s eyes followed the lines of her figure.
“Wait… huh? Watch out!”
Lydis who had been dodging smoothly suddenly lost her footing.
As she stumbled, a boulder came flying right at her.
Clyden who had been in the middle of admiring her suddenly struck by a barrage of thoughts.
What the hell am I doing? Am I insane? Survival first, right?! Why the hell am I running?!
By the time he came to his senses, he was already sprinting toward her.
“Hyah!”
Lydis had turned toward the boulder with a look of despair.
When she saw Clyden charging at her, her eyes widened in shock.
He barreled into her, shoving her clear out of the path.
She tumbled far away, rolling across the ground.
“Goddamn it!”
“Vice Commander!”
“Sergeant!”
He could hear the others shouting but Clyden clenched his teeth and focused on the incoming boulder.
His right fist began to glow as he swung it with all his might.
CRASH!
His fist connected with the boulder and it exploded into countless shards.
Clyden clutched his hand in pain.
“Gghh!”
It hurt so much that Clyden couldn’t even scream.
He just collapsed, unable to make a sound.
From far off, someone shouted.
“Cease fire!”
The barrage of rocks stopped.
“Sergeant, are you alright?!”
“Vice Commander!”
“Vice Commander, what happened?!”
Lydis, Eres, and Kaysis ran over to where Clyden had crumpled to the ground.
“Damn it! This is bad, we need a battle healer immediately or his life could be in danger!”
Clyden’s hand was completely wrecked.
Fingers twisted in all directions, barely hanging on by threads of flesh.
Torn skin exposed bone, blood dripped down steadily and as he gritted his teeth through the pain.
“That lizard bastard! All you have to do is give it some strength!”
Clyden cursed Alphaid who was no doubt fast asleep somewhere without a care in the world.
At that time, a group of knights came running on horseback and surrounded Clyden and his group.
“Don’t move! Identify yourselves! Non-compliance will be met with force!”
“Sergeant Eres Hugh Iron, Imperial Special Forces, Civilian Assistance Unit!”
The knights quickly dismounted and bowed their heads.
“You are Lord Eres of House Iron? I am Knight Kemelan of the Western Stonewall County’s Order of Knights! It is an honor to meet you!”
The knights saluted him in full military form.
Eres returned the gesture with a hurried salute of his own.
“Ah, the Western Stonewall Order, I’ve heard it said they rival even the Empire’s four major knightly orders. These are Lieutenant Lydis, our commander, and Private Kaysis. And this man—”
“Seriously?! I’m sitting here about to die and you’re playing formal introductions like this is some damn noble meet-and-greet?!”
Clyden grabbed a rock with his good left hand and chucked it hard at Eres’s head.
Eres dodged it easily.
Kemelan who had been blocked from seeing Clyden’s throw, took the rock right to the face.
“Ugh! Who the hell are you?!”
Holding his now-bloodied nose, the knight yelled.
The only thing he got in response was Clyden’s furious shout.
“What does it matter who I am?! I’m in pain here! You think I can see anything right now?!”
Only then did the knights realize how badly injured Clyden was.
They scrambled to get the group to the field infirmary.
Inside the medic tent, Lydis watched with a worried expression as Clyden groaned through his treatment.
Kemelan leaned over to Eres and asked.
“Lord Eres, is that…?”
“Yes. She’s my sister.”
“Oh! No wonder she’s known as the Flower of the South!”
“…Well, that’s true.”
“And that man…?”
Kemelan gestured toward Clyden and Eres responded with a bittersweet smile.
“That is our vice commander, Sergeant Clyden.”
“Wait—Clyden? The Mad Dog Clyden?!”
Kemelan shouted in shock, and murmurs rippled through the nearby knights.
“No way… I was wondering who’d dare throw a rock at Lord Eres. Of course, it’s the Mad Dog.”
“Isn’t he the guy who broke the limbs of the Prince of the Rostin Kingdom while laughing?”
“Shut the hell up! I’m dying over here, keep it down!”
At Clyden’s sharp outburst, the crowd instantly fell silent.
Eres sighed quietly and turned back to Kemelan.
“So, what exactly are you doing out here?”
“Ah, yes. Our Count has developed a new weapon and we were in the middle of testing it. Then suddenly one of the rocks shattered in midair and it scared the life out of us. Where on earth did you all come from? And that rock, who…?”
Eres didn’t say anything.
He glanced down at Clyden’s bandaged hand, still being treated.
Kemelan followed Eres’s gaze then his eyes widened in disbelief.
“Wait... you mean with his fist?!”
“……”
Eres’s silence was all the confirmation they needed.
The knights began murmuring again.
“Unbelievable! He smashed a boulder the size of a house with his fist?! Is he even human?”
“No way he is! He’s gotta be some kind of imperial secret weapon!”
“You bastards trying to get on my nerves again?!”
Clyden’s shout brought silence crashing back over the medic tent.
Eres spoke quietly to Kemelan.
“Can we get a communication line with the Imperial Command? They must be going out of their minds after we vanished like that.”
“Yes. We’ve already sent a messenger to the capital.”
“Thank you. That helps a lot.”
“Not at all, it’s our duty.”
As Eres and Kemelan exchanged formal pleasantries, Clyden looked visibly irritated.
Sweat poured down his forehead from the pain, and Lydis quietly wiped it away with a cloth.
“Sergeant…”
“What is it? Why are you being all soft suddenly?”
Clyden awkwardly pulling away from her hand.
Lydis gently clasped his left hand in both of hers and said softly.
“I won’t forget that you saved my life.”
“Huh? Pfft, just gonna say that with nothing else?”
“……”
“You can’t just leave it at words, right? The world runs on give-and-take, after all! Hah!”
“What do you want me to do?”
“What would be fair... Ah! How about a kiss? Sounds good, right?”
Clyden was half-joking, just trying to distract himself from the pain by teasing Lydis but her reaction was far from what he expected.
“You saved my life. That deserves at least that much.”
“Heh… wait, wha—mmph?!”
Without warning, Lydis grabbed his face and kissed him full on the lips.
The tent fell dead silent.
Everyone around froze like statues, jaws hanging open.
After just a moment, Lydis pulled away with her blushed face then bolted out of the tent without a word.
Clyden completely blanked out, unable to recover for a long while.
“Vice Commander.”
“Yeah…?”
“My sister… you just…!”
“Huh?”
The sound of a sword sliding from its sheath broke Clyden’s daze.
He turned to see Eres glaring at him, weapon drawn.
“Hey! Whoa, calm down, man! It was a joke! I didn’t think she’d actually do it! I’m the victim here, too!”
“You kissed my sister…! You die now!”
Others scrambled to hold him back.
Clyden ducked and dodged, full of regret for ever saving Lydis in the first place.
“Aaaah! I’m the victim, dammit!”
Thanks to Lydis's completely unexpected move, the only one paying the price was Clyden.
“You little punk, just because you got a couple good meals in you, the whole damn world’s yours now?”
“Not at all, sir!”
“Gave you some respect and now you’re acting like we’re equals? Huh?”
“No, sir!”
Eres lies flat on the ground in the push-up position.
Clyden sat on his back, carefully cradling his bandaged hand while barking down at him.
Earlier, Eres had managed to leave a small cut on Clyden’s cheek before being tackled and restrained by the knights.
It wasn’t until Clyden dumped an entire bucket of water on him that Eres snapped back to his senses and realized what he’d done.
It had been going on ever since with evening setting in, Eres was still gasping through the drill.
“Didn’t think the one knife in my back would be yours, kid.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? You think sorry cuts it. Why the hell’d you do something sorry-worthy to begin with, jackass?! And why are you still not back in position?!”
Clyden gave Eres a solid kick, sending him scrambling back into place with a groan.
“Legs sagging now? Tired already? Want me to change it up for you?”
“No, sir!”
“You dared to put a scratch on this gorgeous face of mine? You got a few extra lives stashed somewhere?!”
“No, sir!”
“I swear to God, if my right hand wasn’t busted, you’d be a goner already!”
Clyden muttered as he flexed his injured hand.
Just then, the door to the tent opened and Lydis stepped in.
A strange and tense silence filled the space.
“Ahem… What brings you here?”
“The Count of Stonewall has arrived. I thought we should meet him.”
“Ah—yes. I’ll get ready. Anything else?”
“No. That’s all.”
“Right, well… uh… hey!”
Clyden suddenly called out as Lydis turned to leave.
“Yes, Sergeant?”
“Nothing.”
“…Then get ready.”
She stared at him for a moment, then quietly exited the tent.
Clyden sat there, blankly watching her go.
Then he ruffled his hair in frustration.
“Damn it! What the hell is this, a shojo manga now?! Freakin’ hell, this is all your fault!”
He turned his rage back on Eres, who remained too afraid and exhausted to say a word in his defense.
After making some fuss Clyden and Eres went out together.
A group of people was gathered there.
“What’s going on here?”
“The Count of Stonewall has arrived.”
“You know anything about the guy?”
“There’s a famous story about him in high society. Viscount Buscard Von Stonewall was once regarded as the trash of the nobility but after the former lord Count Bursus passed away and Buscard inherited the title, he changed dramatically.“
“Everyone thought he’d ruin the territory within a year but he’s been running it shockingly well. Some even thought he might be an impostor.”
“…So, the guy went from notorious scumbag to respectable noble overnight?”
“Yes, sir.”
“No way, even if it’s some hodgepodge mess, there’s got to be a limit. First, a dragon reincarnation story, and now a territory development story too? No way that could happen.”
“Pardon?”
“Never mind. Let’s just go take a look at his face first.”
Clyden and Eres lazily made their way to the gathering crowd.
As they approached, the people seemed to notice them and a man stepped forward from the group, leading the way toward them.
Clyden casually glanced at the man coming toward them.
A quite handsome face with black hair and a strong, broad frame that looked like it could take on some serious work.
And the flag…
“…Huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
“That... that?”
“Yeah? What about it?”
Eres looked in the direction Clyden was pointing.
Right behind the man who was leading the way, a young boy was holding a flag.
“That’s the new flag of the Stonewall family’s lordship.”
“…Isn’t that the Korean flag?”
“Pardon?”
Clyden stared at the flag fluttering grandly.
The red and blue Taegeuk symbol is in the center of the white fabric and surrounded by trigrams.
“The trigram arrangement is wrong!”
At that moment, the man who had been approaching spoke up.
“Greetings, I’m honored to meet you. My name is Buscard Von Stonewall, the lord of the
Stonewall territory.”
“I am Sergeant Eres of the Imperial Army Special Forces. Thank you for your hospitality!”
“Oh! You’re quite the handsome man, aren’t you? I’ve heard a lot about you. And who’s this?”
Buscard smiled bitterly as he said, feeling burdened by Cliden’s gaze that was piercing through him.
“Oh… this is our vice commander, Sergeant Clyden.”
Clyden snapped back to reality when Eres tapped his side, clearing his throat awkwardly.
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Clyden von Rondell. Looks like we’ve got a lot to talk about, don’t we?”
“Eh? What do you mean by that?”
Clyden guided Buscard inside the tent, turning to Eres as he did.
“From now on, no one’s allowed to come in until we’re done.”
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[Translator - Tangrine ]
[Proofreader - Seeker ]
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