REAPER SCANS
Regressing as the Reincarnated Bastard of the Sword Clan
[Translator – Mr.Ghost]
[Proofreader – Harley]
Chapter 71 - Lone Plum Blossom (1)
“Wh-what do we do, sis?”
“How would I know? Damn it!”
Not far from the collapsed fort stood Erika, who was gritting her teeth. As soon as she was finished evacuating the hostages to a safe area as Theo ordered, the enemy artillery started raining down. Eventually, the fort completely collapsed, and the status of Platoon 5 was a mystery.
The siblings naturally wanted to go help their platoon, but they had no idea how to approach the situation. Going in blind could simply lead to more casualties.
In the end, there was nothing that a new recruit with only three days of experience could do.
‘Damn it, damn it, damn it! The battlefield I envisioned wasn’t anything like this…!’ thought Erika.
She thought she’d get to shine brilliantly the moment she was deployed into action, but instead she was met with a harsh reality check.
“Wh-what will happen to us?”
“Where are the other dragoons? The terrorists are counter-attacking, right? Don’t we need to hurry out of here?”
“Why haven’t we left yet?”
“What are you doing? If you came to rescue us, do your damn jobs!”
To add fuel to the fire, the hostages started getting rowdy from panic.
Grit!
As Erika grit her teeth and her eyes became bloodshot from anger…
Crash!
Hulkus pounded the ground hard with his sword.
“All you motherfuckers, shut the hell up!”
“......!”
“......!”
“......!”
“You all are the reason we’re in this mess in the first place. None of this would have happened if you weren’t stupid enough to become hostages!” Hulkus shouted, glaring over the rowdy crowd.
The hostages all went quiet and turned their gaze away.
“Bitch one more time, and we’ll abandon you without a second thought. Got it?”
The hostages were merchants. Most of them only knew the bare minimum swordsmanship required for self-defense.
None of them dared to talk back.
Hulkus then turned his gaze towards Erika. The grin on his face was clearly goading her for approval. Erika was baffled, but at the same time, his actions helped clear her head a little.
‘What would Theo do in this situation?’
She thought about her friend. The person who, despite also being a newbie, always managed to figure out what he should do without panicking. Tackling the problem with him in mind, she managed to find a potential way out.
“Let’s go,” she said.
“What’s the plan? Rescuing them doesn’t seem like it’ll be easy,” Hulkus asked.
“There’s no need to rescue them. They're the White-Armored Dragon Cavalry, the greatest warriors of the north. They won’t go down so easy.”
“Then what? Are we going to attack the enemy camp?”
“No. They were smart enough to set up a trap like this. They probably have measures prepared against wyverns.”
“Then tell me already. What’s our plan?”
“We will aim for when they think it’s all over and let down their guards.”
“......?”
Hulkus couldn’t understand what his sister was saying, but Erika was already jumping on her wyvern.
She told the hostages, “This place is hard to find from the outside, so wait here. No matter what, you must not leave.”
The hostages were shocked by her orders, but before they could stop her…
Flap flap!
Erika was already soaring into the sky on her wyvern.
* * *
Reaper Scans
[Translator – Mr.Ghost]
[Proofreader – Harley]
Join our discord for updates on releases! https://dsc.gg/reapercomics
* * *
Inside the safe room, Platoon 5 of the White-Armored Dragon Cavalry was having an unexpected reunion.
“Captain?”
“You’re… Evelyn?”
The safe room had people already inside.
It was the original captain of Platoon 5, Trainor Isven, and four other dragoons. People who were presumed dead. Along with them were the remaining hostages they had failed to find.
The safe room seemed to have been used as a secondary location for locking up hostages.
“It’s the captain!”
“The captain is alive!”
The dragoons were all excited to see that Trainor was still alive.
Shing—
Trying to take advantage of the opening caused by the excitement, the black skulls present tried to make a move.
However…
“You don’t even have your boss anymore. Know your place, small fry!”
Slash! Slice!
Their sudden attack was no legitimate threat to Platoon 5.
“You all look like a mess. Seriously.” Selford grumbled.
However, contradictory to his words, his lips were trembling with worry.
Trainor and the other survivors weren’t in good condition. They all were missing at least an arm or a leg, and few of them were barely conscious with a high fever.
“You’re right… I am a mess. Hahaha. But since we survived, we’re able to be reunited. I even get to see Evelyn back in action,” said Trainor.
While massaging his amputated left leg, he smiled at Evelyn, “That arm. Is it a prosthetic?”
“Yes, it is,” Evelyn answered, taking off her glove to reveal a left arm made from metal.
“Oh my. It looked so real, you almost fooled me.”
“The Demon Craftsman made it for me.”
“The Demon Craftsman…? I knew she had a lot of hidden abilities, but to think she was even capable of making something like that.”
Among the ways to restore an amputated limb, there was medical surgery, healing magic, and holy arts. However, those methods were limited to reattaching the cut off limb and regenerating the cells.
There was no known way of creating a moving, life-like prosthetic.
If this could be implemented into the military, it would be a revolutionary treatment that could restore much of the manpower that had been lost over the years. Soldiers with fatal injuries could once again stand on the battlefield.
“I’ll personally make a request to the Demon Craftsman later,” said Evelyn.
“Simply hearing you’ll try makes me feel better. Ohohoho!” Trainor laughed.
He then quickly wiped away his smile and put on a serious face, “But in order for that, we need to escape first… However, is that possible? I could tell from in here that things are bad outside.”
Evelyn answered while nodding her head, “It appears the Black Skull was merely a bait. The identity of our real enemy is unknown.”
“Real enemy, you say…”
“Does something come to mind, sir?”
“There is something.”
“Please tell me.”
“However, I’m not certain of it since I didn’t get a good look. To tell you the truth, we were also ambushed.”
Evelyn’s eyes lit up, “Are you saying you also fell into a trap?”
“Correct. Not only did they know what time we would show up, but even the location of our descent.”
“…Do you think there was an intel leak?”
“It would be impossible to explain otherwise.”
Evelyn clammed up.
Trainor was implying that there was a spy within the clan—and that spy had likely planted themselves somewhere high up.
For security reasons, the details of a mission were usually kept secret even to the participating dragoons until the day before the mission.
“Most importantly, they knew us well. Too well. They knew how to optimally take us down, down to how well equipped we’d be.”
“......”
This was undeniable proof.
‘To think we were running head-first into a den of tigers,’ Evelyn grit her teeth.
She was furious that her subordinates almost got hurt because of subhuman trash.
“I’m certain that it wasn’t the Black Skull. From my observation while imprisoned, though they’re well organized for a new organization, they didn’t seem to know that much about Ragnar.”
“So you think that it was a third party that defeated and handed you over to the Black Skull.”
“I can’t be 100% certain, but most likely.”
“Hmm…”
“But judging from what you told me, it appears that the third party no longer finds Black Skull useful and wants to bury them with us,” Trainor smirked while looking up at the ceiling.
Rumble—
The artillery barrage continued even after the collapse of the fort, causing the ceiling to drop dust.
“Though it seems the enemy had no idea this place existed in the fort,” Trainor commented.
However, it wouldn’t take long for this place to be discovered. The enemy was sure to come to confirm their deaths.
“But how did you find this place? It shouldn’t have been easy to find this place all the way in the basement, especially amidst the chaos,” Trainor inquired.
Though they needed to prepare a counteroffensive, Evelyn and her soldiers looked desperately in need of a break first. So Trainor had changed the topic to give Evelyn a moment to clear her head.
But the response he got was completely unexpected.
“It was thanks to our new recruit,” Evelyn answered.
“Huh? New recruit?” Trainor was confused at seeing the smile on Evelyn’s face.
It wasn’t just her. Selford, Erin, and multiple other dragoons were smiling.
Trainor turned his gaze to match Evelyn’s.
What he saw was a baby-faced teenage boy. A fledgling that likely recently earned the title of Trainee Swordsman.
What could this kid possibly have done?
While looking at the boy in confusion, he suddenly noticed that Theo was not in good condition, his face pale. But before he could say something…
Thud!
Theo suddenly wobbled and collapsed to his side.
“Theo!”
“Hey! Newbie, wake up!”
Evelyn and the fellow dragoons all rushed towards Theo.
* * *
“Haa… Haa…!” Theo panted while drenched in cold sweat.
The dragoons quickly secured a place for Theo to lay comfortably, removing his armor so he could breathe more comfortably.
“…So you’re saying this kid not only defeated Hammer Baldy, but he even noticed the surprise attack and led everyone to the safe room? Amidst all the chaos?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“And he also broke Thorkell’s record during the most recent Awakening Ceremony?”
“Yes.”
“How is that even possible?”
“I don’t know, but he did it.”
“What a monster.”
“He is indeed.”
Trainor couldn’t believe the story behind Theo.
Because he was out on a mission during the awakening ceremony, he had not heard anything related to Theo.
Monster. There was no better word to describe this kid.
Which seemed like an oxymoron, looking at this handsome kid who looked better suited to be a model.
“Being the monster he is, it’s especially important that we get him out alive. He’s a blessing for the White-Armored Dragon Cavalry,” Trainor said while pulling up his sleeves. “Let me check his condition.”
“That’ll be of great help, sir.”
Trainor had the best medical skills within the White-Armored Dragon Cavalry, having completed a medical course at an academy.
A few moments later.
“Hmm…” Trainor murmured.
“Is something wrong, sir?” Evelyn asked.
“Captain, you have to save him. He saved both me and Erin,” Selford pleaded.
Trainor calmly responded, “No need to fret. He simply exhausted himself. He’ll be back to normal after some rest.”
The news brought relief to the platoon. It wasn’t a surprise he was drained, having faced Slo and then running around to find the safe room. They all had similar experiences of being drained after tense encounters.
“However…” Trainor continued.
“......?”
“Actually, never mind. It’ll be best if we talk once he’s awake.”
Evelyn felt nervous, as she could tell Trainor was hiding something. Thankfully, Theo soon regained consciousness.
“Are you okay, Theo?” Evelyn asked.
“Yes, I’m fine. I apologize for causing a scene,” Theo lowered his head.
He could tell his body wasn’t in good condition from the moment he stepped foot into the safe room. However, having hit his limit, he couldn’t help but faint.
Even now, his body still ached all over. It was thanks to the reaction of the Demon Shadow Toxin that he was able to last as long as he did, but it felt as if it cost him all of his vitality.
His headache was especially bad.
‘The Demon Shadow Toxin encroaching into my brain expanded my logical faculties… but the aftereffects are far too severe,’ thought Theo.
He definitely felt that he had become ‘smarter’ than before. He wasn’t sure how such a thing was possible, but it was likely due to Hatchling Synchro advancing after forming a direct connection with his brain.
The problem was that he was now starting to take in too much information from his surroundings, causing a massive headache. If things remained as is, rather than the pain subsiding, the headache would only get worse.
‘What do I do?’
He had to find a way, or he wouldn’t be able to escape Ed’s next offensive.
“Hey, kid,” Trainor suddenly interrupted his thinking with a serious tone. “How did you open up your mind gate, a feat that only the highest masters are capable of?”
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