The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 204

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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 204. Reverse Scale (2)
Now Mungu had even intruded into the Quest content itself.
The refusal penalty with ‘Why would I care if it gets cleared anyway?’ essentially meant he’d washed his hands of it.
Somehow, it seemed his earlier claim about doing nothing had been genuine.
“I never intended to refuse the Quest.”
Still, shouldn’t he at least explain what the penalty was?
He didn’t even seem inclined to reveal the function of the 【Optimization Monitoring Tool】.
…I’d touched a reverse scale.
Mungu was thoroughly sulking.
But fortunately, another(?) message appeared before my eyes.
====
The 【Optimization Monitoring Tool】 operates in conjunction with 「Management Mode」 to analyze and reflect production, demand, workforce, and profit within the domain in real-time.
It provides indicators and data for optimal conditions immediately.
====
The explanation was somewhat bland.
But there was no major difficulty in understanding it.
“So it analyzes the most efficient structure and tells me about it?”
How many workers should be stationed at production facilities to optimize resource output.
What distribution method would maximize production efficiency.
And all the wasteful elements in that process as well.
Until now, I’d checked everything one by one, compiled indicators, and racked my brains.
But now it seemed 「Management Mode」 would analyze inefficient allocations and resource waste in real-time, providing optimal indicators immediately.
“…How is such a function even possible?”
The more I learned, the less I could understand the mechanism.
Too unrealistic to be magic.
Too systematic in structure to be aura.
…Regardless, it was an extraordinarily useful function.
A Quest I absolutely had to clear.
◆Territory Quest, [One Well-Developed Territory Rivals Ten Cities] has begun.
Without much deliberation, I accepted the Quest.
But contrary to Mungu’s sulking, the Quest didn’t clear immediately.
“The conditions for a Castle Town are certainly demanding.”
Castle Town.
The administrative center of the territory.
Perhaps for that reason, development across diverse sectors was necessary.
Beyond population, construction, military, and administration.
Culture, sanitation, welfare, public order, leisure, medical care, and more.
Balanced development across the entire territory was required.
“Until now, I’d focused solely on developing population, construction, military, and administration.”
I’d barely touched the other sectors.
“The cultural level is particularly dismal.”
They had been too preoccupied with mere survival in such harsh conditions.
But that was no longer the case.
The Whitewolf Territory now possessed sufficient resources and infrastructure to consider quality of life itself.
* * *
The snow-covered landscape faded away, revealing an expanse of gray plains.
Isolde’s footsteps halted abruptly as she made her way back to the Holy Kingdom.
“…I didn’t say goodbye.”
Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t offered a proper farewell.
I had told Adrian that I was leaving.
But I hadn’t actually said goodbye to him.
More importantly, I had given Seraphia no indication whatsoever.
Isolde glanced back over her shoulder.
The distance was too great to return.
There was no real reason to go back.
But if I left like this… when would I see them again?
The thought of Seraphia feeling disappointed weighed on my heart.
After much deliberation, Isolde turned her steps back toward the Whitewolf Territory.
Thus, after several days of travel, I arrived at the Snowy Mountain.
My footsteps through the snow felt heavy.
Yet my heart, for some reason, felt light.
A blizzard swept past, and my vision suddenly cleared.
“…!”
And Isolde’s eyes widened in astonishment.
The Whitewolf Territory… had transformed beyond recognition.
Various public facilities dotted the landscape.
Musical performances echoed from the Town Square.
Children participated in street plays and puppet shows.
Howling blizzards and snow-laden Castle Walls.
Viewed from the Snowy Mountain, the Whitewolf Territory was a monochromatic landscape.
Yet within that grayscale vista, the picture painted was breathtakingly vibrant.
-Mister! Take this!
-Kid, your strength is already at Guardian rank?
-Of course! When I grow up, I’m going to be a Guardian soldier too!
The streets brimmed with vitality and energy.
The Town Square and markets bustled with activity.
-You’re silly, mister! Nyah! Catch me if you can!
-You little rascal!
-S-stop! That tickles! Ahahaha!
A miracle.
Isn’t this what a true miracle really is?
Parting the sea in two—that’s not a miracle.
It’s merely a ‘phenomenon’.
A true miracle is—
—Dad! They’re having some kind of competition in the Town Square right now!
—Want to go with Dad?
—Dear, are you sure? You worked late into the night yesterday too.
—I’m tired, but… how could I not go when they’re looking at me like that?
Dragging a weary body to spend time with a child—that is a miracle.
—Lucia! I told you to rest now!
—Just this one more thing.
Sewing clothes even as fingertips crack and bleed—that is a miracle.
—Brother. If I had known such a life existed, wouldn’t things have been different back in Violess?
—You bastard. …Sigh, forget it.
The courage to acknowledge past sins and repent, and the genuine effort to atone—that is a miracle.
They were no longer the criminals of Violess.
In Isolde’s eyes, they no longer appeared as criminals.
How could those striving to live together rather than merely to survive be called criminals?
God cannot change, but people can.
Even if it were—
—a feat as difficult as a miracle.
Isolde’s conviction had been wrong.
People don’t change, she had believed.
And so the world doesn’t transform, she had believed.
That hasty certainty she had held so firmly was now being completely refuted before the landscape of Whitewolf Territory that unfolded before her eyes.
Miracle.
An event so impossible that its occurrence defies all probability.
In truth, Isolde had never believed in miracles.
That’s why she believed in God.
She prayed to God for miracles.
Because she believed only God could perform miracles.
But the people of Whitewolf Territory were different.
They were creating miracles through their own strength, not through God’s.
Witnessing this miraculous landscape—
Isolde could arrive at a certain conviction.
No matter what trials come, Whitewolf Territory will not be shaken.
No, perhaps it could be shaken.
Reality was cruelly harsh, after all.
But if all the people of the Territory shared the same sentiment Isolde felt now, then one thing would be certain.
Whitewolf Territory may sway, but it will never fall.
They already know how to create miracles.
What made such a thing possible—.
“Adrian.”
A man once called a madman.
But now, a man who had become the starlight of Whitewolf Territory.
And precisely because of that—.
“A strange man.”
And now, a name that had taken root deep within Isolde’s heart.
* * *
◆Your favorability with Isolde is increasing!!
Text suddenly materializing before my eyes.
◆Your favorability with Isolde has reached [Friendly] status!
◆Characters in [Friendly] status display a warm and positive attitude toward you.
◆Such individuals are actively willing to provide assistance or cooperate with you, allowing you to receive support from them in combat or specific situations, or to seek their aid in times of crisis.
‘Suddenly?’
It was not merely unexpected—it was entirely unpredictable.
But I could certainly predict that the text would soon have a fit.
◆Go to the Holy Kingdom right now—!
I scattered the text before me as though swatting away gnats.
But the text, as if anticipating this, continued to clutter my vision.
◆The flag is standing sharply—!
◆The mood is already set—!
◆Act your age—!
◆Be honest with your feelings for once—!
Looking at it carefully, this text.
‘It deliberately charges in whenever anything involves Isolde.’
Of course, it was ordinarily excessive enough as it was.
But whenever Isolde was involved, it didn’t just go overboard—it went completely berserk.
As though touching a dragon’s reverse scale….
Or rather, as though struck by a dragon’s blood torrent, the hysteria reached a temporary state of transcendence.
‘Has it been influenced by Ian?’
That seemed quite possible.
In my past life, the text had belonged to Ian.
◆Seriously—!
◆—Complete the hidden quest, [Steal her—!
◆—Now!!
…It was utterly identical to Ian, the way it monopolized my vision and caused such a commotion.
In any case.
I brushed aside the text and gazed upon the panorama of Whitewolf Territory.
Massive castle walls and orderly streets.
The Town Square and marketplace bustled with people.
“It’s grown considerably.”
Even by my assessment, the small, shabby backwater territory of the past no longer existed.
Nearly two years had passed since I returned to the past.
Yet the Whitewolf Territory’s development had progressed at a level equivalent to nearly twenty years.
“The Dwarves are the reason the pace of advancement is so extraordinary.”
Facilities that would normally take months were constructed in mere days.
At this rate, it rivaled the capital of a small kingdom.
However, it had not yet achieved Castle Town status.
There were many deficiencies, and addressing them required constant effort.
“Shall we take a look.”
I headed toward the Industrial District located in the north of the Whitewolf Territory.
* * *
The Industrial District, situated at the northern edge of the Whitewolf Territory.
It bordered the Snowy Mountain and was a region where humans could not survive—the absolute limit of habitability.
As expected, a biting cold wind swept across, cutting like a blade against bare skin.
A severe frost so intense that even roaring flames would freeze.
But the Dwarves were unaffected.
Rather, they seemed delighted.
—Such a magnificent natural cooling system exists!!
They bounced about as if they had discovered treasure itself.
—Good heavens!! The core cools itself?!
—Look at this freezing air! There’s no overheating whatsoever!!
—This is the greatest blacksmith workshop on The Continent!!
For this reason, the Industrial District was established at the northern edge.
It was also why the Dwarves had not returned to Feractrum and instead remained rooted in the Whitewolf Territory.
Though to be precise, they were commuting back and forth.
In any case.
Upon entering the Industrial District, dozens of blacksmith workshops lined the streets.
In each workshop, master craftsmen from the Royal Court were receiving technical instruction from the Dwarves.
“You fool! If you strike that with a hammer, you’ll fracture the grain!!”
“Your senses are as dull as those leaf-eared humans!!”
…Somehow, it seemed less like technical instruction and more like rigorous training.
Yet thanks to this, the craftsmen were rapidly acquiring skills, and the quality of their work improved with each passing day.
I traversed the workshop floor where heat and cold mingled in an peculiar harmony.
Upon entering the central workshop.
Complex devices of unknown purpose greeted me first.
And atop the central workbench sat an Ether Carriage.
The prototype distributed throughout the Whitewolf Territory could only operate along predetermined routes.
But this one was second-generation, capable of functioning in battlefields, urban areas, unexplored territories, and more.
We could traverse any treacherous terrain without following established routes.
And from that point onward, we would roam across The Continent selling goods.
Collecting information from various regions.
Even handling diplomatic mediation between major kingdoms.
My intention was to transform the Merchant Guild into far more than a simple trading organization—to make it the eyes and ears, the hands and feet of Whitewolf Territory.
‘I should start looking for the Special Task Force members soon.’
It was precisely then, as I traced through those memories.
“What’s going on here?”
A voice suddenly reached my ears.
Broombar approached me with his short legs in long strides.
I shook off my thoughts and spoke.
“It’s nothing serious. I came because there’s something I wanted to ask you about.”
“What is it?”
“It concerns Runesteel mining.”
“…Has something happened?”
“Nothing like that. I was wondering if we could possibly increase the mining output.”
“Increase the output?”
I nodded.
Currently, the weapons for Whitewolf Territory’s soldiers were nearly fully supplied.
But armor.
In other words, the distribution of Runesteel armor had scarcely begun.
First, the refining speed of Runesteel was slow.
It demanded high purity and meticulous smelting.
Thus, only the Dwarves could refine it—
‘But as more craftsmen capable of refining Runesteel emerge.’
The craftsmen receiving technical instruction at the Blacksmith Workshop.
With time, ‘human craftsmen’ capable of handling Runesteel would emerge.
Then the refining speed would accelerate far beyond its current pace.
But the ‘mining output’ of Runesteel was another matter entirely.
Runesteel mining was solely the domain of the Dwarves.
More precisely, we depended entirely on Arcanoheart.
Of course, it wasn’t critically insufficient even now—
‘To reinforce the entire Castle Wall with Runesteel, current mining output falls short.’
The Empire, having deployed Wearbeasts.
There was no telling what schemes might be directed at Whitewolf Territory in the future.
Fortunately, I had bought considerable time.
I needed to seize this opportunity to fortify the Territory’s defenses more thoroughly.
Therefore, my plan was to encircle the outer walls of buildings with Runesteel, transforming the very concept of siege warfare itself into an impregnable fortress.
“Hmm.”
Broombar stroked his chin thoughtfully.
I fell into deep thought, muttering softly to myself.
“There is a way, though….”
But I didn’t open my mouth easily.
For some reason, I seemed hesitant.
There was even a hint of reluctance in my expression.
It was as if merely speaking that method aloud would mean acknowledging something—.
“…We would need to borrow the power of the leaf-dwellers.”
Broombar opened his mouth carefully.
But leaf-dwellers….
“Are you referring to the elves?”
Broombar nodded heavily.

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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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