The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 233

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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 233. Ashes on Finished Rice (2)
The effect of the title 【Fallow-Field Lord】.
With a 5x multiplier on Quest experience, I obtained a staggering 350 million experience points.
It shattered all previous records for experience gain.
◆Your level has increased!
◆Your level has increased!
◆Your level has increased!
.
.
.
The level-up notifications flooded my vision in a pitch-black cascade.
I couldn’t even begin to count how many messages appeared.
Only after a considerable time had passed did the notifications finally cease.
I instinctively summoned my 「Player Information」 before my eyes.
==「Player Information」==
[Name] = Adrian Whitewolf
[Title] = The Continent’s Mightiest Predator
[Level] = 385
[HP] = 33,700
[MP] = -23,160
[Sanity] = 10,987/ℵ0
[Attributes] = Strength: 383 Agility: 233 Stamina: 337 Mana: -231.6(x-1.2)
[Experience] = 1.9%
【Additional Attributes +89】
“….”
I was speechless.
A staggering +89 level increase—an overwhelming number.
Even Mongma’s combat experience amplified by the Growth Acceleration Factor [EX] couldn’t compare.
I’d been utterly devoured by a single Quest.
Of course, it wasn’t truly a single Quest.
It was the cumulative result of roughly a dozen chained Quests combined.
But even accounting for that, the growth was explosive.
◆What is this…?
Even the system message seemed bewildered by the numbers.
I invested all my level-up attribute points into mana.
This brought my mana attribute to -338.4
surpassing both agility and stamina in pure stat value.
My inverse mana capacity reached 33,840—equivalent to the mana of 338 adult men.
It was enough to easily consume the total mana reserves of roughly 100 competent mages.
I now possessed the power to obliterate the Mage Corps’ entire magical battalion in an instant.
All of this stemmed from the title 【Fallow-Field Lord】.
Though that wasn’t the only reason.
But it was undoubtedly the decisive catalyst for growth.
And for good reason—it was a passive effect.
Just like the Growth Acceleration Factor [EX], all Quest experience I cleared from now on would be amplified five-fold.
And that wasn’t all.
Diplomatic negotiations: Influence +30%
Public sentiment decline rate: -40%
When discontent arises, affinity values apply
【Optimization Monitoring Tool】 function enhancement
Automatic collection of public sentiment change logs after policy implementation, and so on.
All of this was a passive effect.
In other words, I could benefit from it automatically.
“If I hadn’t built that bathhouse, things would’ve gone badly.”
In exchange, there were those now pointing fingers at me.
My reputation as the Saint of Caravana was beginning to tarnish.
But what did a few insults matter?
What harm was there in hearing a few words?
“Reputation is nothing.”
What if it did tarnish?
I’d always been called a rogue anyway.
In that sense.
“Maybe I should build several bathhouses while I’m at it.”
Like a proper rogue.
It seemed fitting to make a loud, open spectacle of it and completely shift people’s perception of bathhouses.
The reason bathhouses had become viewed negatively.
It was because common people couldn’t easily access them.
Reserved exclusively for the nobility and used only for prostitution, they’d become entrenched as symbols of greed and corruption.
◆Just like you were before!
…I won’t deny it, but one thing.
I never engaged in prostitution.
◆A “relatively better” rogue who at least maintained minimal noble dignity!
…Anyway.
“If I create bathhouses that my territory’s people can use, perceptions will change.”
Thus restoring the bathhouse’s original purpose.
If I could reframe it as a facility for hygiene and health?
“Bathhouses offer tremendous benefits.”
First of all.
They can completely prevent disease and plague.
“Since they not only relieve fatigue but also prevent infection.”
Accordingly, the Allied Forces made it mandatory to install bathhouses in every military barracks.
They also added soap to the essential supply list, treating it with the same importance as food rations.
“We can even elevate the living standards of the residents significantly.”
And there were Broombar and Rielin.
A Dwarf and an Elf.
The two races’ relationship had improved as a result.
“It wouldn’t be a bad idea to install bathhouses throughout the entire Whitewolf Territory.”
Just as Ian had experienced, the finger-pointing directed at me now would soon transform into applause.
* * *
Massive structures rose throughout the Whitewolf Territory.
As the Dwarves swung hammers as thick as their forearms, the buildings took shape and shot upward in an instant.
The residents who witnessed this spectacle stopped in their tracks and tilted their heads in confusion.
“What are all those supposed to be?”
“Bathhouses, they say.”
“…Pardon?”
The residents’ eyes suddenly filled with suspicion.
“Bathhouses? Aren’t those brothels?”
“Places where you sell your body, not wash it?”
“Good heavens, how shameless.”
“Aren’t we risking trouble if we go there carelessly?”
The eyes of those who saw the bathhouses were filled with contempt.
But as time passed, the atmosphere gradually shifted.
“Soaking in that warm water would certainly feel nice.”
“I heard Adrian built it himself.”
“What? Adrian built it personally?”
“Could his reckless days from before be returning…?”
The residents’ eyes filled with contempt and doubt, but only for a moment.
“Hey, you fool! What do you take Adrian for?”
“That’s right! Adrian wouldn’t do something so frivolous!”
“Yeah, if you don’t know anything, why are you running your mouth?”
Absolute trust in Adrian.
Unlike outsiders’ opinions, the residents harbored no suspicion whatsoever.
“Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to try it once…?”
“Since Adrian built it, what could possibly go wrong?”
One by one, more residents began making their way to the bathhouses.
And the change in their reactions was instantaneous.
“Is this really that good?!”
“All the fatigue from the day just melts away!”
“This is truly miraculous!”
“After bathing, my skin feels as soft as a baby’s, doesn’t it?”
An elderly man over seventy extended his wrinkled arm.
The young man beside him widened his eyes in astonishment.
“Elder! Your skin isn’t just smooth—it’s glowing, actually glowing!”
“Heh, I never thought I’d experience such luxury before I passed.”
“Is it really that wonderful?”
“Don’t even mention it! This is a completely different world from just washing with water!”
Word of mouth spread through the crowds in an instant.
Even the hesitant ones soon found themselves lingering at the bathhouse entrance.
“Ahhh! Stepping into this water makes me feel human again, truly!”
“My wife can’t do what this bathhouse does!”
“Now I finally understand why the nobles are so obsessed with bathhouses!”
The bathhouse was no longer a place of ill repute.
The bathhouse had become the ultimate sanctuary for healing.
“Excuse me! When will the bathhouse in the eastern district be completed?”
“Please build one in Whitewolf Territory 2 as well!”
“If I don’t bathe even for a day now, my body itches unbearably!”
The rumors reached the pointed ears of the Elves in no time.
“The humans are giving off a wonderful fragrance!”
“It’s because of that place called a bathhouse!”
“It’s absolutely amazing!”
The Elves began taking interest in the bathhouse as well.
“By the way.”
An Elf soaking in the bath spoke casually, almost offhandedly.
“This bathhouse facility. You Dwarves built it, didn’t you?”
“We only constructed it.”
“…?”
“Without Gwesuau, we couldn’t have even designed it.”
“Gwesuau?”
“A monstrous human of this Territory. Someone who fought the Ogre head-on, and someone who accomplishes everything.”
“Ah, you mean the Forest Elder.”
The Dwarf tilted his head in confusion.
“Forest Elder? You Elves call Gwesuau that?”
“He is the great elder of the forest who saved our Elves.”
“Well, I’ve lived long enough to see Elves show respect to a human.”
The Dwarf let out a scoff.
The Elf shrugged lightly.
“I never dreamed you Dwarves would acknowledge a human as a brother either.”
Soon the Elf glanced away and added a remark.
“And I never knew you Dwarves were a race that could bathe…”
“We are simply a race that grows with the earth. It’s not that we don’t know water.”
The Dwarf added a blunt remark, a beat late.
“I don’t know much about fragrant flower water like you lot use.”
Silence settled between them.
Steam rose thick and heavy, filling the bathhouse.
The Dwarf picked up the soap without a word.
He stretched his arm and scrubbed at his back with the soap, fumbling awkwardly.
But his short arms couldn’t quite reach.
The Dwarf twisted and struggled with his shoulders for a while, and then.
“I’ll do it for you.”
“…What?”
“Your back.”
The Elf approached quietly.
“I’ve already got soap on my hands anyway.”
The Elf began lathering the Dwarf’s back.
“Do you Dwarves grow moss on your backs? Why is there so much hair?”
“Do spirits move your Elf hands for you? Why are they so limp?”
The Elf and Dwarf bickered back and forth.
But the accumulated resentment was gradually being washed away by the soap bubbles.
* * *
The Whitewolf Territory’s perception of bathhouses had completely transformed.
Through this, the quality of life for the Territory’s residents improved dramatically.
◆Residents’ health consciousness and community trust increase significantly!!
◆Labor efficiency +15%
◆Life satisfaction +200%
◆Dissatisfaction index -80%
◆Hygiene index +300%
◆Epidemic outbreak rate -99%
The effects were nearly equivalent to a 【Territory Buff】.
Especially the epidemic outbreak rate.
Combined with the existing 【Territory Buff】 effects, it was approaching 0%.
And trust among the residents had risen dramatically.
The Elves and Dwarves were even recovering their relationship.
“It was worth constructing bathhouses throughout the entire Territory.”
But there was one thing.
“Broombar and Rielin still haven’t.”
Perhaps because of their titles as clan chief and forest keeper, they still maintained distance.
Their relationship affinity remained at [Intimate].
The Quest objective of [Friendly] status had not yet been reached.
“Hmm.”
It seemed I needed to create an environment where they could encounter each other more frequently.
“I think I’ll entrust the Predator Merchant Company to Rielin this time.”
Running a merchant guild inevitably means frequent interactions with the Dwarves.
When you see the same faces day after day like that?
Bonds naturally form.
And that’s not all.
“With Rielin handling the merchant operations, she’ll naturally establish the foundation for the Supply Command.”
Then the Engineering Corps and Supply Command.
Two pillars of the Allied Forces would naturally be established.
“Somehow, the Whitewolf Territory is becoming an Operations Command.”
Without intending it, both commands were organizing themselves around the Whitewolf Territory as their center.
“…I need to find Ian and get him seated soon.”
I can’t handle any more of this.
I’m the Special Forces Duke Commander, not the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces.
I don’t have the caliber or capacity for that.
“I’ll leave the rest to Seraphia.”
…I can’t take on any more.
My mind is already overloaded.
My eyelids felt as heavy as an Ogre’s.
But my thoughts continued to spiral.
Ian’s whereabouts remained frustratingly unclear.
Two command structures of the Allied Forces were already taking shape.
Yet Ian hadn’t even sent word, let alone shown his face.
“Could he not know I’m in the Whitewolf Territory?”
…That’s what I wanted to believe, but it was impossible.
The Whitewolf Territory was making waves across the entire Continent.
Even if Ian were in The Empire, news would surely reach him.
And yet Ian sent me no word whatsoever.
There were only two possibilities.
First, Ian didn’t have the leisure to send word.
Drawing The Emperor’s attention was something I couldn’t even fathom.
If he carelessly sent me a message and his location was pinpointed, he’d risk falling directly into The Emperor’s pursuit network.
In that case, silence was the safer choice.
And the second possibility was.
“That Ian had been caught by The Emperor.”
The worst-case scenario I didn’t even want to imagine.
The mere thought made my chest freeze over.
I bit my lip and shook my head.
“…The odds are low.”
After all, the main Quest [Find the Hero!] is still in progress.
That’s definitive proof Ian is still alive.
“But….”
The unease was real enough.
The very reason Rielin had no choice but to borrow Mongma’s power.
“So the Emperor’s hand was involved after all.”
According to Rielin’s testimony, behind the bizarre phenomena threatening Sylvandir Forest lay the Emperor’s machinations.
“Though the Emperor didn’t intervene directly.”
Marcel Grove.
One of the Special Operations Bureau’s agents and a specialist in covert operations.
In the past—in my previous life—someone who had brought an entire nation to ruin.
Rielin had been forced to borrow Mongma’s power while confronting Marcel Grove’s schemes.
“Then that means Marcel Grove was the one who awakened the Death Lord earlier…??”
…Wait.
Now that I thought about it, something felt off.
“How do I even know this?”
Currently, the Death Lord hadn’t awakened.
More precisely, it had been interpreted as a ‘cycle reset’.
With that, my causality of entering the Valley of Kardun had been erased as well.
In other words, I had never entered the Valley of Kardun.
“So why… do my memories remain intact?”
Unlike the erased causality, why did I retain vivid memories of those events?
“Iliana lost her memories.”
Iliana, who couldn’t remember creating the black hole at all.
It made sense.
It was a causality that had never existed.
Therefore, I too should have lost all memories of entering the Valley of Kardun.
“…Yet I remember everything.”
Even traces remained.
The experience points and Sanity values I’d gained in the Valley of Kardun were still intact.
As if I stood outside the cycle itself.
All traces and memories were perfectly preserved.
Why did the causality that should have been erased remain only for me?
Because I regressed to the past?
Did Ian’s ability play a role?
Or was there something else I didn’t know about?
‘Hmm.’
Perhaps the answer lay in the reward from the hidden linked Quest [The Death Lord is Loading].
◆Would you like to view 【The Infinite Journey】?
I had a feeling the answer was contained within 【The Infinite Journey】.

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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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