REAPER SCANS
Regressing as the Reincarnated Bastard of the Sword Clan
[Translator – Mr.Ghost]
[Proofreader – Harley]
Chapter 103 - The 6th Candidate (3)
“Well, well. Look who it is! Navan, right?” someone suddenly shouted in astonishment.
Theo and Navan, who were on their way back into the banquet after their chat, both stopped in their tracks and turned their heads toward the voice.
A man was walking towards them. He had disheveled hair that resembled a lion’s mane, but his handsome features and dignified eyes still shone through.
‘Thorkell Ragnar...!’ Theo clenched his fist, not having anticipated meeting a throne competitor.
Navan greeted him with an odd expression on his face, “Uh, hey. It’s uh, been a while.”
“It’s been more than a while. After the Awakening Ceremony, I bugged you to meet up over and over again, yet you didn’t say yes once. You really hurt my feelings, you know.”
“I had family matters to deal with. And, well, I had some health problems, too. You get it, right?”
“You could have at least attended a reunion every once in a while. You know how much I wanted to recruit you into the Black Iron Cavalry.”
“You did...?”
“Anyway, how have you been? It’s nice seeing you again, unplanned especially.”
Navan was normally cynical with everyone he met, but for some reason, he was struggling against Thorkell. It looked like Thorkell was draining Navan. It seemed that Navan’s cynical attitude didn’t work against Thorkell, who was famous for being highly sociable.
‘A social butterfly feeding off of a pessimist. What an entertaining sight,’ Theo was fascinated by seeing a side of Navan he had never seen before.
“...Anyway, that’s how Ayan ended up with me in the Black Iron Cavalry. Funny, right?”
“Uh, yeah. Funny. Ha. Ha...”
“I wanted to ask how you’ve been doing, but I got way too caught up just talking about myself. Sorry ‘bout that.”
“It’s uh... fine. It’s whatever.”
“So, what’s up with your buddy next to you? Seems like you befriended a real celebrity,” Thorkell said, shifting his gaze over to Theo.
‘He knows who I am.’ Theo suspected that Thorkell wasn’t after Navan but him.
The 6th Candidate, Receiver of the Black Marble, and other such rumors. It was enough to get the Five Major Candidates to finally stop sitting on their laurels.
Theo greeted him politely, “Theo Ragnar, sir. It’s a pleasure to meet the honorable commander of the Black Iron Cavalry.”
Thorkell extended out his hand with a smile, “I’m Thorkell. I finally got to meet the man behind the rumors. I heard that you joined the White-Armored Dragon Cavalry. What a shame. I wanted to take you under my wing.”
“I was grateful for your generous offer. However, the favor I owed Commander Julius was far too great.”
“I see. We were simply not fated to be. But I hope we can keep a good relationship. I don’t know if you’re aware, but Black Iron Cavalry and the White-Armored Dragon Cavalry often carry out joint missions.”
“It would be an honor if I could have a great relationship with you, Sir Thorkell.”
“Hahaha. You sure know how to butter someone up,” Thorkell seemed pleased by Theo’s polite yet confident attitude.
However, that only reignited his desire for Theo.
“You’re really tempting. I’d love to make you an even better offer right here and now...” Thorkell spoke while glancing at the banquet, “But too many people would have my head if I did so...”
“......?!” Theo didn’t understand what Thorkell meant.
He decided to just shrug it off and pull his hand away from the handshake, but he couldn’t budge an inch.
Thorkell smiled mischievously at him.
‘Is he testing me?’ Theo wondered if Thorkell was curious about how he’d react.
There was no reason to refuse such a challenge. Ragnar was a northern martial clan of great tradition. To them, there was no better way to converse than with strength.
Fwooo—
Theo quickly circulated his magic power to push Thorkell’s hand away.
“Oho,” Thorkell’s eyes lit up.
His vise grip would have posed a challenge even for most combat swordsmen, yet to escape from it so easily...
But what surprised Thorkell most was, ‘He freed himself before I could even read his magic power.’
Thorkell’s goal was to get a gauge on Theo’s magic power and to slowly analyze its properties and characteristics. However, because Theo got out so quickly, he failed to figure anything out.
Though he was disappointed to have failed, he didn’t make out with nothing.
‘This is fun,’ thought Thorkell.
Until now, the only candidates he had to worry about were his older siblings. He was the one chasing them.
But now he finally learned what it was like to be chased after, and he found the sensation quite novel. He didn’t dislike it. After all, the desire for competition was a part of Ragnar's blood. The moment you rejected competition and found it beneath you, you were only a step away from plateauing.
“Thank you for being considerate, Sir Thorkell.”
“You shouldn’t call me Sir when we’re brothers. From now on, call me big bro in private.”
“I understand, big brother.”
“No, big brother is still too formal.”
Theo didn’t miss the subtext that Thorkell had acknowledged him.
Thorkell looked back and forth between Theo and Navan as he changed the subject, “So, how do the two of you know each other? I don’t see when you two would have crossed paths with each other.”
“I met him while investigating the Seres Merchant Guild,” Theo answered.
“Eh? Wait, how so? Navan, were you investigated to see if you were complicit or not?”
Navan half-nodded, “Yeah. Something like that. That’s when I decided to take him on as my liege.”
“...Eh?” Thorkell tilted his head in confusion.
Theo also quickly turned his head toward Navan. But Navan, despite having made a shocking announcement, looked nonchalant. He acted like such an enigma.
“You heard me right. I don’t have anything else to discuss, so I’ll be going,” Navan walked away while waving his hand, as if he were too lazy to answer any more questions.
Thorkell tried to grab his shoulder and stop him, “Hey! Can you explain properly—?!”
KA-BOOM!
But before he could finish his sentence, they heard an explosion coming from the banquet.
Theo, Navan, and Thorkell all instantly turned their sights toward the source of the commotion.
What they saw were ripples of a shock wave that shook not just the banquet hall, but even the sky and the entirety of Daffodil Palace.
“Kyaaaaah!”
“What’s going on?”
“Th-the Demon Dragon and the Elder Dragon are facing off!”
“It’s a fight between two of the Nine Dragons!”
The crowd screamed in panic.
The trio didn’t hesitate as they leaped toward the scene.
* * *
Reaper Scans
[Translator – Mr.Ghost]
[Proofreader – Harley]
Join our discord for updates on releases! https://dsc.gg/reapercomics
* * *
Crash! Blast!
Two fierce auras collided with each other again and again.
The tables, chairs, plates, glassware, and decorations around them had long been shattered. Spectators watched in fear while maintaining a safe distance. A catastrophe rivaling a natural disaster was unfolding in front of their eyes.
To be able to cause so much destruction simply by unleashing their auras... it made the spectators wonder if they were truly human.
However, neither Julius nor Wolfgang seemed to pay any mind as to what the bystanders thought.
“What was that, Commander Julius? Perhaps I misheard due to my old age.”
“Ah. If you’re that old, why did you bother attending? You should have stayed at home in your adult diapers.”
“...Watch your language.”
“Since you didn’t hear me the first time, let me repeat myself,” Julius said with a smirk, “I asked you if you’re really that eager to get beaten to death.”
“How dare you?!”
Fwoosh—
A fierce wind kicked up around Wolfgang. His intense gaze looked like it was about to ignite.
However...
Thump!
Wolfgang’s ferocious aura started being crushed by the massive pressure that descended from the sky. It was as if a giant dragon was looking down upon him.
“......!” Wolfgang’s body froze.
‘Mother of pearl!” Wolfgang felt all the booze leave his body as he suddenly remembered the past. What Julius looked like barging into the council alone, the day a high-rank swordsman of the White-Armored Dragon Cavalry lost their arm.
At the time, more than half the councilors who represented Ragnar ended up with their arms or legs snapped in half. Wolfgang himself was among the injured councilors.
“I warned you, Wolfgang,” Julius no longer addressed the head councilor by title but by name.
The low growl of Julius’s voice made the traumatic memories Wolfgang had buried resurface: “If you dare retaliate against her for today’s events, or if you try to pull anything in the shadows, or if you ever make her shed tears again...”
“At the time, I held myself back so you could save face. However, I was clear there would be no second chances.”
“...I will rip the arms off of all of you.”
Wolfgang saw the same terrifying dragon said to call forth ruination from that day overlapping with the current day Julius.
“Wait—!” Wolfgang shouted in fear.
However, before he could even finish, Julius was twisting his wrist. Sweat beaded on his forehead as Wolfgang put up resistance by exerting all his aura.
The clash of their energies was intense. People worried it might bring down Daffodil Palace.
However, their battle did not last long.
C-crack—
With the sound of crushed bones, Wolfgang’s right arm was torn from his body.
“Ahhhhhhh!” Wolfgang screamed in agony.
Amidst the fountain of gushing blood, Julius stood silently with his eyes glaring coldly.
“H-head councilor!”
“Protect the head councilor!”
“The commander of the White-Armored Dragon Cavalry assaulted the head councilor!”
A squad of swordsmen dropped down from above, pointing their swords at Julius.
The crowd murmured.
“It’s the Swords of Law!”
“The tribunal is here...!”
One of the tribunal swordsmen walked forward, “Commander Julius, you are under arrest for assaulting the head councilor. Come with us.” Though he feigned bravado, it was clear he was nervous.
However, Julius refused to answer, let alone acknowledge their presence.
‘We need to isolate him before things really get out of hand...’ the tribunal swordsman clenched his teeth, afraid of the storm that was about to come.
「Commander!」 Evelyn sent Julius a sound telepathy.
「Don’t worry. I will take care of what happened today.」
「That’s not what I’m worried about...!」
Evelyn couldn’t understand Julius. She knew that he greatly valued his men, but his actions today would put him at a great political disadvantage—not to mention the fact that she didn’t even have a scratch on her.
The Julius she knew was an odd, playful man who liked to laze around, but he was capable of rivaling Ed when it came to mind games. This was very unlike him. He was incredibly emotional, as if this were his personal business.
‘......’ Evelyn’s eyes trembled as she stared at Julius’s wide shoulders.
“Kgh...! How dare you do this to me because of some common woman? Have you gone mad, Julius?” Wolfgang shouted while being protected by the Swords of Law.
The dominant arm was both the pride and lifeline of a swordsman. Losing it was no better than losing one’s life and dignity as a swordsman.
“You should be thankful I didn’t rip off the useless can between your shoulders,” Julius snarled back.
“Y-you really have gone mad, haven’t you?” Wolfgang glared while screaming.
“Commander Julius, I will make you answer for your crimes!” a voice echoed from above.
Men and women with fierce auras descended from above. Their appearance made the Swords of Law freeze. Their worries were coming true.
It was the council.
Though each councilor’s aura was lacking compared to Julius’s, their combined aura was enough to cover the entirety of the banquet hall.
Wolfgang may have been ostracized like a powerless scarecrow, but he was still the head of the council. An affront against him was a challenge against the entire council.
“Perfect timing. You, you, you, and you,” Julius, not batting an eye at their presence, started pointing his fingers at some of them.
Confused by his behavior, the councilors scowled.
Julius continued, “You all were present that day, were you not? Then you must remember what I said.”
The councilors that were quick to catch on all froze.
“I don’t have time to waste on you all, so just extend your arms. I promise to cut them off nice and neat.”
“......!”
“......!”
“......!”
“Does your insolence not know bounds?!”
Fwooo—
Shing!
The aura of the councilors grew intense, intertwining with each other. Unable to hold their wrath back, they collectively drew their swords.
As if he had been waiting for this, Julius reached for his sword.
“What is the meaning of this? On the celebration of my daughter’s birthday?” a voice interrupted them.
Shatter, shatter—!
A killing intent pierced through the entirety of the banquet hall, breaking all the windows.
Julius, the council, and the crowd all turned their gaze towards the roof of the palace.
Standing at the top of the building, with the moon shining behind her, the Ice Dragon Nele looked down with a cold gaze.
Join our discord for updates on releases! https://dsc.gg/reapercomics
