REAPER SCANS
Regressing as the Reincarnated Bastard of the Sword Clan
[Translator – Mr.Ghost]
[Proofreader – Harley]
Chapter 104 - The 6th Candidate (4)
‘How dare they?!’ Nele’s gaze was bleeding sharp.
There were only two things she wanted today. One was to celebrate Ray’s birthday and her completion of the Awakening Ceremony. The other was to gauge Theo’s talent.
However, some unexpected fools were ruining her daughter’s celebration.
One of the councilors started speaking, “My apologies, Lady Daffodil. However, we cannot let this stand. Please wait for us to punish the White-Armored Dragon Cavalry Commander—Agh!” but he was quickly interrupted as his right arm was cut clean off.
The rest of the councilors froze.
“What is the meaning of this, Lady Daffodil?”
“Have you decided to side with Commander Julius—?!”
“Silence!” Nele’s scream echoed, shaking the entire palace and banquet hall.
The form of a giant dragon rose around her as the entire area became covered in frost. The temperature suddenly dropped, cold enough to instantly condense one’s breath.
“Continue running your mouths and I will have your heads, regardless of your positions as councilors,” Nele threatened.
“......!”
“......!”
“......!”
The councilors all took a step back.
Over the past few years, she had restrained herself due to taking care of her ill daughter. However, in her youth, she was known to have a rowdy personality, having turned the Ragnar Clan upside down on multiple occasions.
“White-Armored Dragon—what a frustrating long title. I’ll just call you by your name. Julius, you as well. Continue causing a scene, and we will have a duel to the death. Have I made myself clear?”
Julius remained silent, looking back at Nele with indifference.
“If you’re tipsy and want to cause a mess, go do it outside. This is no place for you to have a drunken bout! I deserve more respect than this!” Nele spoke while looking back and forth between Julius and the councilors. “Now take your swords and leave, because it’s taking all I have to restrain myself from cutting off your heads.”
Out of nowhere, both Julius and the councilors were surrounded by the swordsmen of the Daffodil Palace, all pointing their swords at them.
These were elite swordsmen, personally taught by Nele. They did not care who their opponents were. They would follow Nele’s orders at the drop of a hat.
Yet...
“What if I don’t want to?” Julius said, his expression still indifferent.
Nele raised an eyebrow, “What?”
“Since you’re calling me by name, I shall do the same, just like in our younger days. I’m sorry, Nele, but I cannot leave. I need to take an arm from each of these geezers.”
“Commander Julius!”
“You really want to finish this?”
The councilors shouted in anger.
However, the chilling smile on Julius’s face remained the same, “Even if I wanted to leave, I don’t think he’s done with me either.”
“Correct,” Wolfgang stood up, his wound cauterized. “Of course I can’t let you go so easily... After what you’ve done to me...!”
He lost his right arm, his dominant arm—what was considered to be the lifeline of a swordsman.
Not once in his over a hundred-year-long life has he faced such utter humiliation.
Wolfgang intended to settle matters once and for all with Julius. ‘If I back off here, my political life will be over. I endured so much to get here! I cannot let it end like this...!’
Due to his involvement with Ed, he was under suspicion and on the brink of being purged.
But he thought that perhaps this was an opportunity in disguise. ‘If I can set up a perception that I am an innocent man, facing unjust persecution by the Demon Dragon... I can unify the council and take him down. Then the Black Dragon will have to ease off on placing political pressure against me.’
Kyle, Robert, Julius, and Osa. He would have a chance to finally put a dent in the political power those four wielded.
Wolfgang liked his odds.
As skilled as Julius may be, without his cavalry, the council greatly outnumbered him. Not to mention, it appeared that he could drag Nele to their side.
He had calculated the risks and payoff, but to his surprise...
‘He’s laughing?’
...Julius started chuckling while staring him down, as if having anticipated all this. A shiver ran down Wolfgang’s spine, but he tried to brush it off.
“I see. So you want to see this through to the end,” feeling ignored, Nele kicked up a blizzard. “Fine. Let’s dance. Maybe you won’t be able to sully my daughter’s birthday once I tear off all your heads.”
Nele raised her sword high, condensing the blizzard at the tip of her sword, creating a bright source of light.
Right as she was about to strike down with her sword...
「Before you unleash your wrath, may I please be given a chance to speak?」
...Nele paused as a familiar voice spoke to her with sound telepathy. She turned her gaze and saw Theo walking towards her with Thorkell and Navan.
“Theo Ragnar?”
“Why did Lady Daffodil stop her attack?”
“Did Theo perhaps say something to her?”
“Why is he with Commander Thorkell?”
“Isn’t the other person the neglected child of the Bacchus Clan? The one newly seated as their clan head?”
The crowd murmured at the combined appearance of three seemingly unrelated people.
「I want to speak not as a dragoon of the White-Armored Dragon Cavalry, but as Ray’s friend and brother who does not want Ray’s birthday celebration to be ruined.」
Theo’s words wavered Nele’s heart. A friend of her daughter. Words she never thought she would hear moved her.
“...You may speak. But I will not forgive you if you are trying to buy time by spouting nonsense.”
“Thank you, Lady Daffodil.”
Theo nodded towards Julius, who had eased his killing intent, and Evelyn to signal that he was fine. He completely disregarded Wolfgang’s gaze on him.
“What if you utilized this conflict as a show to fire up this banquet?” Theo asked.
“Show?” Nele narrowed her eyes, not following.
The crowd also tilted their heads in confusion.
Theo continued explaining with a faint smile, “In the ancient Northern traditions, banquets always ended with a bout of strength between participants. This tradition is still sometimes observed within our very own Ragnar Clan.”
The desolate North had long caused Northerners to revere the strong, eventually flourishing into the Ragnar Clan’s Rule of the Strong.
Nele finally picked up on what Theo was trying to say, “Are you suggesting we end this conflict as a show?”
“Yes. The White-Armored Dragon Cavalry and the Council can face off in a best of three or even a best of five to determine the victor.”
“And I presume the prize will be whatever the winner desires?”
“That would indeed follow the law of Ragnar.”
Nele smirked.
While it was certainly true that he was pulling a clever scheme, his solution would indeed save her and her daughter’s pride and reputation while also resolving the conflict between two factions she disliked.
‘No wonder Ray can’t stop talking about him.’
She then saw Ray waving her hand at Theo from the second floor terrace, a behavior very unlike her. Theo nonchalantly waved back even though everyone’s eyes were fixed on him.
‘He reminds me of a certain someone,’ thought Nele, thinking back to her youth.
“Though it still displeases me that the birthday celebration is not the center of attention, your suggestion sounds like the best course of action,” Nele said, looking back and forth between Julius and Wolfgang. “This will be the extent of my mercy. Speak up if you are against this decision so I can shove my sword down your throat.”
Julius shrugged his shoulders, “I have no reason to refuse a suggestion made by one of my children.”
Though Wolfgang and the councilors disliked the board going in their favor, they had no choice but to nod in agreement.
“We accept the proposal as well.”
Nele sheathed her sword and shouted, “Very well. The show will take place in thirty minutes right here. The council and the White-Armored Dragon Cavalry, select your three swordsmen by then.”
* * *
Reaper Scans
[Translator – Mr.Ghost]
[Proofreader – Harley]
Join our discord for updates on releases! https://dsc.gg/reapercomics
* * *
‘Phew! I’m glad that worked,’ Theo let out a sigh of relief.
He had managed to stop a large-scale conflict just in time. Navan and Thorkell were both impressed by Theo’s actions.
‘Like he showed me before, he really is adept at speaking through his ass. His tongue is far sharper than his sword,’ thought Navan.
‘Navan really wasn’t joking when he called Theo his liege,’ Thorkell was quickly reassessing his evaluation of Theo, marking him as a dangerous threat.
He had guts, and he was both eloquent and extremely talented. Who knew what kind of man he would turn into if he continued to grow like this?
“Theo!” someone suddenly jumped down from the second floor and ran toward them.
“It’s been a while, Ray,” Theo greeted her.
“Were you hurt?” Ray inspected Theo closely.
“I’m fine. I’m not hurt.”
“Mom is a meanie.”
“Why do you say that?”
“She yelled at you.”
“Lady Daffodil was only doing what was necessary to protect you.”
“Still...”
Theo chuckled, seeing Ray grumble. She had such a normal, teenage attitude toward her mom.
“I can’t even remember the last time I saw you, Ray. I heard you had finished your seclusion training. It’s nice seeing you after so long,” Thorkell waved at Ray with a smile.
She looked at him with a confused expression before turning her focus back toward Theo, “What are you going to do? The Head Councilor is scary.”
Completely brushed off, Thorkell looked dazed.
Seeing this, Navan smirked, “To see the great Thorkell get ignored.”
“Ha... Haha... Well, I know Ray can be pretty shy.”
“Is that so? She seems a little odd but not introverted.”
“Hahahaha. Of course Ray knows who I am. I’m her big brother. Whoa! Would you look at the time? I’m supposed to meet up with Ayan. It was nice seeing you, Navan. Let’s grab a drink next time.”
Navan waved goodbye to Thorkell, who quickly excused himself. He couldn’t believe there was someone even Thorkell struggled with.
Meanwhile, Julius, Evelyn, Cecilia, Remington, and the Lanke siblings all came to Theo and Ray’s side.
Evelyn looked displeased, thinking everything got out of hand because of her. “Commander, Theo. You two didn’t have to make a mountain out of a molehill...!”
“This matter isn’t between only you and that geezer. This also involves me and the White-Armored Dragon Cavalry. He wouldn’t have dared pull such a stunt again if he wasn’t looking down at us.”
“I agree with the commander. You did nothing wrong, Captain. It is our job to overcome this together.” Theo chimed in.
Julius’s gaze turned toward Theo. Though his lips were smiling, his eyes were not. “I presume you have a plan since you are the one who suggested the duel.”
“Yes. My first goal was to stop them from cornering us with greater numbers.”
“Why is that? Did you think I would have lost simply because I was outnumbered?”
“Of course not, sir. I merely wanted to stop more blood from being spilled at my friend’s birthday party.”
Julius broke out into laughter. Theo had a way with words, being considerate without hurting his pride. Truthfully, Julius was aware that even he would struggle in a direct confrontation alone with the entire council.
Win or lose, the political backlash would be intense.
Theo managed to stop the worst from happening with just a few words.
‘I made him work overtime due to my shortcomings as a leader,’ Julius thought to himself.
On one hand, he was genuinely grateful. But at the same time, he was curious about how this child would overcome this trial—or rather, turn this situation to his advantage. After all, he knew Theo always had a knack for turning crises into opportunities.
“Well, what should our lineup be?” asked Julius.
“Their final man will undoubtedly be the head councilor. He needs to recover his fallen honor.”
“Is there even any honor to recover?”
“As little as it may be, he needs to salvage what he can.”
“You do have a point. In that case, the final spot will be mine. Who should we send out for the first two spots?”
“I volunteer myself,” Theo answered.
Julius’s eyes widened at the unexpected answer.
Theo nonchalantly continued, “I will take both spots.”
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