The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 153

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 153. Encounter (2)
Iliana had recently become a full-fledged mage.
Unlike her days as an apprentice, a full-fledged mage was permitted contact with the outside world.
Above all, since she had been sponsored under the name of the Predator Merchant Company from the start, maintaining contact with Iliana was entirely possible.
So once I finished all my business in Frecce—.
A full day had passed.
Greeting the rising morning sun, I waited for Adlern, ready to return to Whitewolf Territory once more….
“I’ve heard that Whitewolf Territory is terribly cold!”
Adlern appeared bundled up in several layers of clothing.
…For a moment, I mistook him for a bear.
He looked so round and puffy that I doubted he could get up if he fell over.
“But this Schönne has made thorough preparations, so there’s nothing to worry about!”
…That was excessive.
Of course, the cold persisted year-round.
But winter had already passed.
There was no need to bundle up that much.
It seemed he had truly never visited Whitewolf Territory before.
“Adlern, didn’t you say you had contracted for wine bottles from the Territory?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Yet you’ve never been to the Territory?”
“…Ah, well, you see, I made that contract through the Predator Merchant Company branch in Frecce. I never actually went to the Territory itself.”
So that was how it was.
* * *
The biting wind of Whitewolf Territory swept across.
The gray hood I had pulled low shifted slightly, revealing my concealed face.
Pale pink lips.
Exquisite ivory skin.
Between my gleaming platinum hair, my topaz-like eyes slowly traced across the landscape of Whitewolf Territory.
Houses woven together from gray stone and steel.
Roads smoothly paved with solid stone.
…It was remarkable.
No, it was magnificent.
Not merely in the sense of being aesthetically pleasing.
Castle Gate Plaza.
“This silk came from the new weaving mill. It’s a color that’s just been released!”
“…This has an incredible sheen to it, doesn’t it?”
“We also have ceramics from the obsidian kilns!”
The merchants exchanged goods with vibrant energy.
“Take this! It’s my ultimate technique!”
“Kyaaaagh! Magnificent…!”
“You children! Watch out for the carriage!”
Plump-cheeked children were playing and running through the streets of the Town Square.
Most striking of all was that dwarf walking through the very heart of Whitewolf Territory’s streets.
‘A Dwarf?’
…This was unbelievable.
Dwarves were a race that did not trust humans.
Never, absolutely never—.
“Thanks to the weaving loom that Boldin made for us, my back doesn’t hurt anymore, and it’s truly wonderful!”
“Think nothing of it. The people of Violess are no different from our friends! If there are any more problems, just let me know!”
They did not offer such kindness.
Dwarves were a race that shunned not only helping humans but even interacting with them.
‘How is this possible….’
Isolde’s pupils trembled.
Everywhere her gaze fell, vitality and energy overflowed abundantly.
Most notably, the Snowy Training Ground.
“Who are we!”
“The soldiers of Adrian!”
“Today’s training is Adrian-class, so be prepared!”
The Vister she had seen in Violess were undergoing training.
But they were ‘criminals.’
And people could not change.
They could only pretend to change, but people did not truly change.
That had been Isolde’s long-held belief.
But Adrian was different.
Gods could not change, but people could.
—After all, was I not a ruffian myself?
Even if it were difficult.
…It was hard to believe.
Yet now she could not help but believe.
Because the madness and violence she had seen in Violess were no longer visible in them.
The sight before her eyes… was undeniably genuine.
Isolde’s pupils sank into deep contemplation.
And at that very moment.
…A strange gaze was felt from behind.
Turning her head to look back—.
“Eek!”
A cat-like girl let out a startled cry and hid away into an alley.
Silver hair that she had failed to conceal shimmered as if cradling moonlight.
The eyes peering at her from hiding were crimson.
The owner of those beautiful eyes, as if rubies had been set within them, was Seraphia Whitewolf.
When Isolde’s eyes met hers, Seraphia hesitantly revealed herself.
“I… um… well….”
Seraphia’s shoulders tensed like a frightened cat.
But only for a moment.
“Thank you so much for healing me!”
Seraphia bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle.
Isolde approached her.
“Eek!”
Seraphia stepped back, her face taut with anxiety.
Isolde offered her a small, reassuring smile and spoke gently.
“Are you feeling well?”
“…Yes? Oh, yes! Thanks to you, I’m completely fine!”
Seraphia lifted her slender arm to show me.
She certainly looked to be in good condition.
“Um, about that….”
“Isolde.”
“Yes?”
“It’s Isolde.”
“…Oh, then… Sister Isolde.”
Isolde blinked.
Sister…?
It was a title I had never heard before in my life.
Usually, when I revealed my name, people called me the Saint Isolde or Cardinal Isolde.
Most referred to me as Isolde the Subordinate.
But sister…
I had no idea how to respond to such an unfamiliar title.
“If I may ask, what is your relationship with your brother?”
Isolde fell silent for a moment.
I myself could not define what Adrian and I were to each other.
We had met only once.
There was no clear way to define our relationship.
Yet if I had to say something….
“We’re friends.”
But even this felt awkward.
Were we close enough to be called friends?
Or were we too distant to deserve such a title?
When I thought about it, our first meeting had been when I tried to kill Adrian.
But everything that happened afterward in Violess.
The moments when we entrusted our lives to each other and fought for the people around us.
Perhaps that was why calling Adrian a friend felt strange and yet somehow right—
“A girlfriend?!!”
Seraphia cried out in surprise.
Her ruby-like eyes trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
“That’s not it.”
“Eh…?”
“Just a friend.”
“…Ah! Yes, that’s right.”
Seraphia offered an awkward smile.
She scratched her cheek with her hand—
“Brother does exchange correspondence with another woman, after all.”
“…Correspondence?”
That was precisely when it happened.
“Count.”
A calm voice reached us from one side.
When I turned my head, a man with slicked-back hair was walking toward us—
“Baron Bernard?”
Seraphia tilted her head in confusion.
Bernard approached us.
Upon seeing Isolde, he flinched slightly.
But he quickly composed himself and spoke.
“A visitor has just arrived at Whitewolf Territory, sir.”
* * *
Several days had passed since departing from Frecce.
The journey had taken considerably longer than anticipated.
I couldn’t make good time traveling with Adlern unexpectedly in tow.
Yet the familiar landscape told me we were nearly at Whitewolf Territory.
Looking back, Adlern was following along, panting heavily.
If I pushed any harder, he’d likely tumble all the way back to Frecce.
As I watched him struggling—
“By the way, Adlern.”
“Ha-ha…! Huh? Ah, yes! Please speak, sir!”
“Have you decided on a surname?”
“A surname, sir?”
“You’ve received a barony, so you need to establish one now.”
“…Ah, I see.”
Adlern nodded as if understanding.
“Actually, about that…”
“Haven’t you decided yet?”
“I’m not sure how to go about it, sir.”
“Hmm?”
“I’m aware that naming conventions differ from kingdom to kingdom.”
“And?”
“If Schönne carelessly names the child without any thought, we might end up with something like ‘John Sakamoto.'”
“Ah.”
John Sakamoto.
A figure from a famous legend across the Continent.
He was born in a small rural village.
Moreover, a village where ‘only women lived.’
Naturally, an environment where children shouldn’t have been possible.
People whispered that his mother must have been intimate with a foreigner.
But his mother vehemently denied it.
And the surname Sakamoto itself was decidedly peculiar.
She only repeated that she ‘heard it in a dream.’
After that, as fairy tales tend to go.
John Sakamoto was persecuted in the village and such.
He and his mother relied on each other and so forth.
When the village fell into crisis, he provided aid and whatnot.
When war broke out and the kingdom faced peril, he performed great deeds and such.
After the war ended, he married a beautiful princess and lived happily ever after.
Yet remarkably, he is believed to have been a ‘real person.’
His mysterious birth and extraordinary abilities.
Scholars unanimously declare that he was the illegitimate child of a nightmare and a human.
A Cambion.
John Sakamoto was the ‘first Cambion.’
…In any case.
“You don’t need to worry about it.”
“Huh? But—”
“Considering naming conventions was something I did long ago. I don’t particularly concern myself with it now.”
There were three major reasons for this.
The first was that barons and viscounts had been included among the nobility.
In truth, barons and viscounts were not nobility.
They were ‘administrative positions’ appointed by high-ranking nobles of count rank and above to handle territorial affairs.
In other words, I had brought together talented individuals from various kingdoms.
And among them, the majority were nobles.
Bernard of Whitewolf Territory was also a noble from another kingdom—the second son of the Neville Family.
Then, for certain reasons, if a count suddenly died.
Or if they left no heir.
Whenever a count’s position became vacant in a territory for any reason, the allocated land would simply be absorbed.
That was what came to be called ‘baronies’ and ‘viscountcies’ in modern times.
As such history accumulated over hundreds of years, eventually even the Royal Court came to include barons and viscounts among the nobility.
And in the process, things had become completely chaotic.
Naming conventions from different kingdoms had begun to overlap.
This led to the second reason.
As exchange between kingdoms became more active, the natural blending of various naming traditions was accepted without resistance.
And finally, the third and most decisive reason.
“In the end, when viewed through the Continental Common Tongue, they’re merely differences in pronunciation.”
After all, they used the same written characters.
Thus, the kingdom’s nobility placed little significance on naming conventions.
Queen Marceline was a prime example.
Her full name was—.
Marceline Charlotte de Battenberg.
Frankly speaking, it’s a hodgepodge.
If one were to follow purely Battenberg conventions—.
Marcelina Charlotta von Battenberg.
That would be the proper form.
But as I said, multiple bloodlines had long since intermingled.
More importantly, in this current age where the Continental Common Tongue has become standardized.
The formality of names—mere pronunciation differences—held no further significance.
“Then may I choose a name I like?!”
“Go ahead. Did you have something in mind?”
“Lucius Aquilinus Haofeng de Raza Montagne Kim Fujiwara Bloodhound. How is it?”
“…?”
“Is it not acceptable…?”
“It’s not that it’s unacceptable, but this will become your family name. Isn’t it a bit too long?”
“Then how about Lucius Aquilinus Haofeng Raza Montagne Kim Fujiwara Bloodhound?”
…What exactly changed?
Just dropped the “de”?
“Schönne is absolutely delighted!”
“…Do as you wish. Adlern Lucius Aquilinus Haofeng Raza Montagne….”
“Kim Fujiwara Bloodhound, sir!”
Adlern laughed with unbridled glee.
Just like that crow droppings incident from before.
“Hehehehe, hehehehe!”
…It seemed I should never entrust naming duties to this fellow again.
And so.
As Adlern and I conversed about this and that.
We soon arrived at Whitewolf Territory.
The territory, developed through the technological prowess of the Dwarves.
Revealed its magnificent form even from a distance.
“Kyaaaah!! Is that Whitewolf Territory?!”
Adlern looked as though he might faint from shock.
I felt much the same way.
Not quite as severely as Adlern, but I was genuinely astonished.
‘It seems to have developed even further.’
The Castle Wall had grown noticeably taller than before.
The gaps between the bricks were packed far more densely.
Reinforcement work had clearly been carried out in my absence.
From my past life’s experience, I knew the capabilities of the Engineering Corps well enough….
“It’s incredible…! Absolutely incredible!!”
The Whitewolf Territory truly advanced by leaps and bounds with each passing day.
“To think this is actually Adrian’s domain…!
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t entirely my domain.
…In any case.
“Adrian has returned!!”
The soldiers atop the Castle Wall sprang to their feet with a bound.
Clang!
The iron gate shrieked open with a tremendous roar, and Bernard came rushing out first, breathless and frantic.
The way he bolted out suggested he’d been standing guard on the Castle Wall with the soldiers, just as before.
It seemed likely.
“Bernard, what happened?”
Something had clearly occurred in the territory during my absence.
Sure enough, Bernard’s expression was far from ordinary….
“W-well, you see….”
Bernard seemed at a complete loss for how to explain the situation.
* * *
Even in my past life, such a thing had been rare.
Isolde, Commander of the Holy Command.
Iliana, Commander of the Mage Corps.
Broombar, Commander of the Engineering Corps.
The sight of three heroes gathered in one place was extraordinary.
And moreover, The Frost Lord, Seraphia.
That is, three heroes and one lord assembled together—something I had never witnessed in my entire past life….
“You defeated an Ogre?”
“Yes! …Oh, not me. The Ogre was defeated by my brother, Kai, and Chief Broombar over there.”
“The Eye of The Pilgrim called it a thunder hamster wreathed in flames, but I suppose that wasn’t accurate.”
“…A hamster?”
They seemed to be getting along quite well.
Isolde and Seraphia.
“In any case, the Ogre was absolutely massive, but my brother didn’t give an inch!”
“Adrian faced the Ogre head-on?”
“Yes! Even with that scatterbrained Ogre charging in—.”
The two of them were engrossed in conversation, completely unaware of my arrival.
And then there was Iliana and Broombar.
“…But that’s a design that transcends engineering! Didn’t you feel something was off while designing it?!”
“If you look at it from the perspective of human magic theory, perhaps. But not for us Dwarves.”
They were absorbed in their headache-inducing discussion, equally oblivious to my presence.
It seemed various things had transpired in Whitewolf Territory while I was in Frecce….
‘Hmm.’
…Fate and destiny—truly, they remain mysteries even when you think you understand them.

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