The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 165

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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 165. Leap (1)
Screams echoed throughout Count’s Castle.
Seraphia clutched her head in both hands.
But memories from yesterday kept surfacing in her mind.
—Huff… Brother’s angry… You have to give me a kiss to make it better….
The people around her, grasping the severity of the situation, rushed over in panic.
They managed to peel Seraphia away from Adrian.
—Wahhhhh…! I want to stay in Brother’s arms… I’m going to live like this forever…!
‘I’ve lost my mind…! I’ve completely lost it!!’
She couldn’t regain her composure no matter what.
Seraphia pulled the blanket over her head and curled herself into a tight ball.
…She wanted to hide in a mouse hole and never emerge.
No, she simply wanted to die right then and there.
She was so embarrassed she wanted to cease existing.
If she could erase everything, she wanted to erase her name, her face, her memories—all of it.
…Ah, that’s it!
The power of oblivion she’d witnessed at the Royal Social Society.
If she could borrow that power that had erased the Cult’s memories entirely, wouldn’t that solve everything?
But how could she borrow such power…?
Wait, now that she thought about it.
Adrian was completely unaffected by the power of oblivion anyway, wasn’t he?
“─AHHHHHHHHHHH!!”
Seraphia kicked off the blanket and screamed again.
After another round of screaming and commotion—.
“Um, I’m asking just in case….”
Seraphia asked from within the blanket, still curled up.
“This is a d-dream, right? Not a nightmare… it isn’t real, is it?”
“Unfortunately not.”
But the Maid’s response came like a death sentence.
“Waaahhhhhhh!! What am I supposed to do now…!!”
What indeed could she do?
“How am I supposed to face Brother from now on…!!”
Her mind went completely blank.
She had no idea what to do or how to proceed.
“Still, Adrian forgave you.”
“Really, truly?!”
Seraphia threw off the blanket and sat bolt upright.
“What did Brother say?!”
“Well….”
The Maid trailed off for a moment.
And as Adrian would say—
“This time I’ll overlook it because of the alcohol I permitted….”
—but if something like this happens even once more, I will absolutely kill you.
“—that’s what he said.”
Seraphia pulled the blanket back over her head.
Then, with a trembling voice, she cried out.
“I’d rather die again…!!!”
She rolled herself up tightly in the blanket like a cocoon, writhing as if she intended to bury herself completely.
“Really! I mean it! I’m going to suffocate to death in this blanket!!”
“…Count. That’s just a cotton blanket, so it has plenty of air holes.”
“Then bring me a down comforter! So I can’t breathe! Let me suffocate to death!!”
Seraphia rolled back and forth on the bed, still wrapped up like a cocoon.
Though I suppose that was something to be grateful for.
“Adrian is not currently in the Whitewolf Territory.”
“So perhaps you could postpone your death for a bit and try this to ease your mind.”
Adrian had left the Whitewolf Territory.
* * *
The streets of Frecce bathed in morning sunlight.
Though it was still quite early, the streets of Frecce were crowded with people eager to eat monster meat.
“Wow… is all of that a line?”
“Still, today seems relatively quiet.”
“It’s incredible, really.”
“It wasn’t usually this bad, but lately they’re only selling limited quantities.”
The reason was a shortage of stock.
Supply couldn’t keep up with demand.
So what could be done about it?
A thirsty man seeks the well.
“Now you can’t eat unless you wait in line.”
But to give up that exquisite taste, one might as well end their life.
“And I bet anyone joining the line now won’t get any?”
“…Huh? Then why are we in line right now?”
“This is the line for tomorrow’s meal.”
“…?”
“Everyone standing ahead of us has been in line since yesterday.”
“No way, is it really that delicious?”
“Don’t even ask. The moment you take one bite, all the meat you’ve eaten before will taste like rubber.”
“Everyone who’s tried it says the same thing. …I’m actually looking forward to it now.”
That was precisely when it happened.
—It’s opeeeeened!!!!
A loud cry erupted from the front of the line.
Soon after, the sign at the entrance of the Predator Restaurant flipped to [Open], and today’s menu board was hung—.
“Let’s see… what do we have?”
“Why?”
“There’s no monster meat on the menu?”
“What?”
For some reason, monster meat was absent from the menu board.
Instead, there was a single unfamiliar dish listed.
[Chestnut Beer]
…A beer with a name I’d never heard before was hanging there.
“What, there’s no monster meat today?”
“No! It can’t be…! They must have hidden it somewhere…! This can’t be happening!”
The people who had been waiting in line since yesterday fell into despair—.
“Chestnut Beer?”
“What is that?”
Some began to stir with curiosity.
“Could it be beer you drink at night?”
“That doesn’t quite fit….”
It wasn’t Night Beer.
Chestnut Beer.
In other words, beer made from chestnuts.
After all, it was morning, not night.
“It seems to be beer made from chestnuts.”
Beer, by definition, is made by grinding grain into starch, converting it to sugar, then fermenting it with a spice called hops.
The grain typically used as starch is barley.
But wheat, corn, and oats.
Beer could be made from other grains as well.
“Can you even make beer from chestnuts?”
But I’d never heard of chestnuts being used before.
“Were chestnuts considered a grain?”
“Isn’t it a fruit?”
“But aren’t grains technically fruits when you think about it?”
“…I suppose?”
The streets of Frecce were caught between despair over the missing monster meat and curiosity about the chestnut beer.
Yet amid the prevailing despair over the lack of monster meat—.
“Welcome!”
The Predator Restaurant began its service.
But the response was decidedly lackluster.
“If there’s no monster meat, there’s no reason to come here.”
“I’d rather just go to another restaurant.”
People began to leave the line one by one.
Some people were growing irritated by the waiting that had stretched since yesterday.
But not everyone shared that sentiment.
“That… Night Beer? Give me a glass of that.”
There were those who, having come this far, decided to at least taste what was being offered.
A server retrieved a beer mug from a wooden barrel positioned at one corner of the Predator Restaurant.
A beautifully golden beer cascaded out with a splash—
“One Night Beer, coming right up!”
Before long, a shimmering golden wave of foam spread before their eyes.
In other words, the presentation passed with flying colors.
The customer who picked up the glass caught the aroma with a sniff—
and without hesitation, raised the glass.
Gulp, gulp.
They downed the entire mug in one continuous shot without removing it from their lips.
In an instant, the beer glass emptied.
The empty mug crashed down onto the table with a bang—
“This is insane!!!!”
Their expression had transformed like that of a primitive human discovering fire for the first time.
* * *
The Predator Restaurant, beyond merely crowded—it was in absolute pandemonium.
Just as I had predicted.
“How is it? Incredible, right? No joke?”
“Ah…! Ahhh…!”
The reaction to Night Beer was explosive.
No—it was more than explosive; it rivaled the rampant energy of Arcanoheart itself.
It couldn’t be otherwise, because the taste of Night Beer, infused with Dwarven technology, defied all reasonable expectation.
“It’s as if heaven itself has been poured onto my tongue…!!”
They truly meant it.
It was genuinely like ‘drinking paradise itself’.
‘I don’t need to verify market response any further.’
Now came the moment to use this foundation and leap forward.
But there was a problem.
‘Is there no way to check production volume and such information at a glance?’
…beyond this point, I had reached my limits.
Supply chain management, workforce operations.
Distribution channels, warehouse logistics adjustments, and so forth.
With Night Beer’s response being so explosive, there were countless matters demanding attention.
‘How did The Spirit Summoner manage all of this?’
…it was a question that arose anew.
The Allied Forces, gathering all the power of The Continent.
The resources, equipment, provisions—everything needed for that enormous military force.
The Spirit Summoner, hero of the Allied Forces, had managed logistics at an absurd scale.
This was precisely why the Supply Command’s motto was [The Power That Fills the Beginning and End of the Battlefield].
Therefore, it would be ideal if I could receive The Spirit Summoner’s assistance….
‘But that’s impossible at this point in time.’
The Spirit Summoner was an elf.
More precisely, a forest guardian of the elves.
And the elves had ‘absolutely’ no contact with humans.
The Dwarves, at least, engaged in trade with human society when necessary. If I scattered rune iron, word would reach the Dwarves’ ears.
But the elves were different.
They had completely rejected all exchange and communication with humans.
First, there was no bait like rune iron to lure out the elves, and even if there were, there was no way to make contact with them.
So for now, I had to do it myself.
‘It seems like I should be able to check production volumes at a glance.’
Therefore, I needed an additional function for [Management Mode].
This was because when [Management Mode] first opened, the description stated:
====
A [Player] with [Management Mode] unlocked can use the following functions.
1. A [Player] can acquire ‘Territory Experience’ to raise the ‘Territory Level’.
As the Territory Level rises, you can unlock and apply various Territory Activity research and effects beneficial to the entire Territory.
2. A [Player] can check the status of material and human resources, including the financial condition of the Territory they own.
3. A [Player] can check whether there are hidden resources within the Territory they own.
Additionally, you can check the progress and information of ongoing research, production, commerce, and dispatch operations.
====
…That’s what it said.
In other words, there was a function to check the status of various resources, including financial condition.
I could also check the progress and information of commerce and dispatch operations.
In other words, it seemed there were additional functions that hadn’t been unlocked yet….
◆You, who’s accelerating genuine Territory growth!
Is this the moment? I thought.
As if reading my thoughts, text scrolled across my vision.
◆But what can you do about it?
◆Production volumes? Logistics? Optimizing distribution routes?
◆These headache-inducing problems are blocking your path, aren’t they?!
…Certainly, the text had evolved in its theatricality.
◆And with your lacking intellect, you can’t handle it anymore, can you!
The mockery had evolved considerably as well.
◆But did you know this?!
◆If you utilize the additional functions of [Management Mode], you can solve these complex problems with a single click!
Yet the text still offered a solution.
◆But did you also know this?!
◆Originally, it would have been an additional feature I’d simply grant you, but now that’s impossible, you see!
◆Why?
◆Because you ultimately refused to inherit the Count’s title!
…Huh?
◆Officially, you’re just a reckless fool!
◆Nothing more than a petty administrator spouting complaints!
◆You lack the final authority to decide matters of critical importance to the Territory!
◆Therefore, the additional features of “Management Mode” are restricted!
…Ah, so that’s what it was?
◆Do you understand now what you’ve done?
◆Starting to regret it?!
◆But it’s already too late!
So the additional features were unavailable after all.
This complicates matters considerably.
I couldn’t reclaim the Count’s title now even if I wanted to.
◆But don’t worry!
◆For a stubborn one like you, a special! exclusive! bonus! opportunity!
◆A big chance to obtain the additional features of “Management Mode” right away!
Fortunately, it seemed there was still a way.
◆Of course, I won’t simply hand it over!
◆Tremendous hardship will follow!
◆Why, you ask?
◆Because you’re a stubborn, reckless fool!
◆You need to be thoroughly beaten so you never act so headstrong again!
The moment that half-crazed message ended.
◆Territory Quest received: [Whitewolf Territory Vault—Time to Normalize It, Right?]
◆Territory Quest received: [Whitewolf Territory Construction—Time to Normalize It, Right?]
◆Territory Quest received: [Whitewolf Territory Roads—Time to Normalize It, Right?]
Quests flooded my vision.
“Sigh.”
…A groan escaped unbidden.
The message hadn’t been wrong about “tremendous hardship” following.
The previous two Territory Quests alone—
[Accept the New Recruits!] and [Unemployment Crisis! Damn! Normalize Whitewolf Territory Immediately!]—had consumed enormous time and effort to complete.
So what of these three new Territory Quests?
I already had mountains of work.
With the Ogre situation demanding attention, juggling Territory Quests only deepened my sighs.
…Yet it had to be done.
I swallowed my frustration and examined the completion conditions for each of the three Territory Quests one by one.
The Vault Quest required [Securing at least 5 million gold in liquid reserves].
The Construction Quest was [completing residential, barracks, and administrative facilities within Whitewolf Territory].
The Road Quest was [connecting major villages and facilities within Whitewolf Territory and paving all sections into roads].
Unsurprisingly, it was an extraordinarily difficult and complex Quest.
The completion conditions were the kind that would take years of grueling work to achieve—or perhaps never at all, leaving nothing but sighs in their wake….
‘Hasn’t this already been completed?’
And for good reason.
My current inventory contained approximately 67.5 million gold.
The buildings of Whitewolf Territory had been completely transformed by the Dwarves.
The roads of Whitewolf Territory had likewise been entirely rebuilt by the Dwarves.
In other words, they had already completed everything.
◆Territory Quest, [Whitewolf Treasury, shall we normalize it?] has begun.
◆Territory Quest, [Whitewolf Construction, shall we normalize it?] has begun.
◆Territory Quest, [Whitewolf Roads, shall we normalize it?] has begun.
And so the Quest start messages appeared before my eyes—.
◆Territory Quest, [Whitewolf Treasury, shall we normalize it?] has been cleared?
◆Territory Quest, [Whitewolf Construction, shall we normalize it?] has been cleared?!
◆Territory Quest, [Whitewolf Roads, shall we normalize it?] has been cleared?!
The moment they began, all three were cleared simultaneously.
◆Stop messing with me!!!!
…The message suddenly erupted in fury.

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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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