The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 11

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 11. The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing (2)
Inside the dining hall of Count’s Castle, furnished with fur-covered wooden chairs and constructed from sturdy timber.
The walls were adorned with hides and horns from creatures of the Snowy Mountain, while a massive hearth at the center blazed with warm flames, casting a soft glow throughout the space.
Thick-barred windows with frost clinging to their panes.
Beyond the glass stretched an unobstructed view of the snow-blanketed Snowy Mountain and Snowy Plain.
This contrast between the frigid landscape outside and the intimate warmth of the dining hall only heightened the coziness of the space.
“You’re saying you want to eat… entrails?”
The Head Chef’s face, already flushed with bewilderment, grew increasingly flustered.
And for good reason—entrails were organs responsible for digestion.
They weren’t meant to be eaten.
Of course, with proper preparation, they could technically be consumed, but—
“The remaining entrails aren’t edible portions, sir.”
The sections contaminated with secretions could hardly be considered food.
If even the beasts of the Northern Snowfield discarded them, they were truly inedible.
“They’re left behind to drive away animals, you understand…”
In other words, even beasts wouldn’t eat them.
But I didn’t particularly care.
I tore into monster hearts—what couldn’t I eat?
Besides, setting taste aside and considering purely nutritional value, there was no better source of protein than entrails.
“Never mind. Just bring them out.”
“…Pardon?”
“What are you waiting for? Go get them.”
“You truly intend to eat the entrails, sir?”
“Why would I ask for them if I didn’t plan to eat them?”
“…”
“Don’t cook them. Bring them raw. Heat destroys the nutrients.”
I waved my hand dismissively, and after studying my expression for a moment, the Head Chef quietly retreated to the kitchen.
He returned within minutes.
Given my instruction to serve them uncooked, it was inevitable.
“Here you are, sir.”
Entrails arranged neatly on a plate.
Blood dripped steadily from them.
When I pierced them with a fork, a pungent aroma wafted up—it was intoxicating.
They were clearly saturated with secretions.
Regardless, I brought them to my mouth without hesitation and chewed.
And as expected.
‘This tastes absolutely vile.’
Literally, disgustingly vile.
Without exaggeration, I could only describe it as “chewing on a sewer.”
The Head Chef’s warning that they weren’t fit for consumption had been entirely justified.
But I paid no mind, spearing another chunk of organ meat with my fork and shoving it into my mouth.
“No…! Not like that…!!”
The Head Chef let out a shriek and leaped to his feet.
The attendants around us widened their eyes in shock.
They recoiled at the sight of me consuming organ meat.
When I thought about it, it made perfect sense—the spoiled brat of Count Whitewolf’s House, notorious for his finicky palate, was now eating intestines that reeked of filth.
Several attendants clapped their hands over their mouths as they gagged.
“Ugh…!”
“I can’t take this anymore— Ugh, blegh…!!”
One attendant who could no longer hold back bolted from the dining hall.
Others followed in her wake, and the dining hall descended into chaos in an instant.
Yet I remained unmoved.
I continued stuffing the organ meat, secretions and all, into my mouth.
‘Compared to my days in the Special Task Force, this is nothing.’
What I was eating now was practically a delicacy by those standards.
During the war with The Empire, The Continent’s environment was utterly desolate.
The Emperor’s merciless slaughter.
It was not limited to the Allied Forces or humanity alone.
As if The Emperor despised life itself, he annihilated every living creature on The Continent—animals, plants, insects, vermin.
If they were useful, he bred them.
If they were not, he slaughtered them.
Thus, The Continent at that time was far more barren than the Northern Snowfield is now.
A continent of death, devoid of all life.
Going without a single meal a day was not merely common—it was the norm, with days of starvation stretching on.
There was no food, no water. We drank our own urine to survive.
When even that ran dry, we squeezed out feces to quench our thirst.
Eventually, nothing remained to expel, and we suffered from both hunger and thirst.
Finding even an insect during a mission was cause for celebration.
They were excellent sources of protein, after all.
This food shortage was not merely a problem for the Special Task Force—it plagued the entire Allied Forces.
As the saying goes, an upright heart springs from unchanging wealth, and there is no man who does not turn to thievery after three days of hunger.
The Allied Forces starved and slowly crumbled.
The food crisis was a problem even Ian could not solve.
Though Ian could split mountains and overturn seas with ease, even he could not command the natural ecosystem.
It was the Spirit Summoner, the Allied Forces’ hero, who solved this fundamental problem.
The Spirit Summoner wielded the forces of nature to breathe new life into The Continent’s ruined landscape.
The restoration of The Continent’s shattered ecosystem.
Life and vitality were poured into a land that had known only death.
Afterward, The Spirit Summoner became commander of the Supply Command, freeing the Allied Forces entirely from food and supply shortages.
We called the Supply Command by another name: [The Force That Fills the Beginning and End of Battle].
Without The Spirit Summoner, without the Supply Command of the Allied Forces, the Allied Forces would have starved to death before ever facing The Emperor.
Though we suffered a complete defeat in that final confrontation with The Emperor…
‘This time will be different.’
A second chance had been placed in my hands.
I had returned to the past, and Ian had returned with me.
I could form the Allied Forces more swiftly, bind them together more firmly, and cultivate greater strength and influence to stand against The Emperor.
Time was abundantly on my side.
Ten years.
Not merely feasible—this was a battle overflowing with possibility.
And the beginning of it all rested upon the Hero, Ian.
Everything would begin anew the moment I joined forces with Ian.
Therefore, I had to complete all preparations before Ian’s arrival. There was no time to waste on raising Kai’s affection or lying about idle matters.
“Are there any more organs left?”
“Yes, four?! Ah, well… we do have some, but…”
“You were going to discard them anyway, weren’t you?”
“Yes, yes.”
“Then I’ll eat them. Pack them all into lunch boxes for me.”
“L-lunch boxes…?”
“That’s right.”
Crunch, crunch.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you heading to the kitchen?”
“Oh, yes, yes! I’m going right now!”
The Head Chef bolted away in a fluster.
And the maids following him—or rather, those hurrying away with their hands clamped over their mouths.
I watched their retreating figures as I stuffed another organ into my mouth.
With it came a soft, squishy texture and a pungent, acrid taste that spread across my palate.
‘Not bad.’
…As I continued eating, it was surprisingly palatable.
* * *
A day had passed since Adrian returned to Whitewolf Territory.
And Adrian had not left the Frost Trial Grounds. He even took his meals within the grounds.
Aside from sleep, he spent the entire day training his body in the Frost Trial Grounds.
Today as well, Adrian was breathing heavily within the Frost Trial Grounds.
He was lifting heavy barbells and dumbbells.
It was ordinary physical training.
However, the weight was extraordinary.
Dozens of weight plates hanging from both ends of the barbell’s iron rod were bending the rod into an almost C-shape.
“W-what… am I even looking at right now?”
“Is that even possible for a human…?”
“Could it be that Adrian is using aura—”
—will you do?”
“Right, right? There’s no way Adrian could use aura, is there?”
“Then what exactly are we looking at right now?”
Adrian’s bare torso was far more defined than it had been yesterday.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Each time Adrian lifted the barbell with measured breathing, his taut, densely packed muscles rippled without mercy.
“Is he… actually human?”
“I’m starting to think he might be an ogre….”
Adrian had become the hottest topic of conversation among the soldiers of Count’s Castle.
And it wasn’t just the soldiers there.
Among the handmaidens of the Lord’s Residence, Adrian was the juiciest gossip.
“You know, you know—Adrian seems a bit different, doesn’t he?”
“Completely! Actually, I cleaned his room yesterday.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“After I finished cleaning everything and left, I started thinking—when I organized his wardrobe, I didn’t align the hangers properly.”
“What?! Adrian would never just let that slide!”
“Exactly!”
The handmaiden shuddered at the memory.
“So I was panicking, thinking it’s better to take the punishment first, and I confessed everything honestly.”
“And then?”
“He said it was fine!”
“Ehhh…?”
“And he even thanked me for working so hard to clean his room every time!”
“Whaaat?! He didn’t hit you?!”
“Right! I was genuinely moved!”
Once the gossip had started, it continued without end.
“So that rumor is actually true?”
“What rumor?”
“About Adrian’s meals. Lately he’s been eating only organ meat? And only the parts most people won’t eat.”
“What? Adrian, who’s so fastidious? Why on earth?”
“According to the Head Chef, it’s to conserve ingredients? He said there aren’t enough provisions for the territory’s people.”
“Ehh…?”
“Honestly, I find that hard to believe too.”
“No, it’s true.”
Another voice suddenly cut through.
“Huh? Lena…?”
“When did you get here?”
“Just now.”
“But it’s really true? You saw it yourself?”
“Yes. I was there when Adrian was in the dining hall. That’s when he said he was eating organ meat because there weren’t enough provisions.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. And then he just casually popped the organs into his mouth….”
“Oh my goodness!”
“Ugh, let’s not talk about that anymore. Just thinking about it makes me feel… blech!”
And so it went.
The soldiers of Count’s Castle and the handmaidens of Lord’s Residence alike were abuzz with talk of Adrian.
But it didn’t last long.
“When do you think he’ll go back to normal?”
“He’ll probably give up by tomorrow, won’t he?”
“I say today.”
“I’ll wager a gold coin he makes it three days this time.”
Not a soul believed Adrian would truly change.
Right now, he was merely pretending to make an effort, shocked by the will left behind by the previous Count.
Merely pretending to change.
People never truly change.
Least of all Adrian, who had never known effort in his entire life.
A wastrel for over a decade.
Such a thing could not be transformed by a single runaway and one day of effort.
The wastrel of Count Whitewolf’s House would remain the wastrel of Count Whitewolf’s House.
The soldiers of Count’s Castle and the handmaidens of Lord’s Residence all reached the same conclusion.
“He’ll give up soon enough.”
But regardless of their doubts.
Adrian silently lifted barbells and dumbbells at the Frost Trial Grounds.
Huff! Huff! Huff!
Adrian’s ragged breathing and the heat radiating from his body.
No more frost fell within the Frost Trial Grounds.
Thus.
Time passed swiftly.
* * *
In the early hours before dawn broke.
Beneath a sky still cloaked in darkness and over the snow-blanketed landscape of Whitewolf Territory, cold moonlight cast a faint silver glow.
Ice crystals that sparkled like the Milky Way beneath the moon’s light.
The distant ridgeline of the Snowy Mountain.
A silence flowed through the frozen world as if it held its breath—
Kai moved with diligent steps, contemplating his training regimen.
Sword practice to start, followed by sparring, soldier instruction, tactical drills, archery, formation breaching and defense training, night ambush drills, tracking, survival training, and physical conditioning.
A grueling schedule stretching from before dawn until late night.
Each day was a process of testing his limits—
Yet it was merely Kai’s ordinary routine.
With each step forward, the cold bite of frost-laden air struck his cheeks.
With each breath I drew, my lungs froze solid.
Chimney smoke billowed from scattered rooftops throughout the village.
It felt as though the smoke itself was beckoning me to linger and warm my body.
But Kai pressed forward without hesitation.
There was no time to dawdle if I intended to complete today’s entire training regimen.
Hurrying onward, I arrived at the Frost Trial Grounds.
Deep within the Frost Trial Grounds.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Someone was already there, training before I could begin.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————