The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 261

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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 261. One Man’s Love
Should I call it inevitable?
Or perhaps a stroke of extraordinary fortune?
By extraordinary fortune (?), the object of Adlern’s affection was not me.
It was a woman.
But not an ordinary woman.
She was rather special.
“You’ve fallen in love with an Elf?”
“Yes, that’s… correct…”
Adlern lowered his head in embarrassment.
Well, it wasn’t incomprehensible.
The Elves’ breathtaking beauty was inherently lethal.
Therefore, during the Allied Forces era, the one who received the second-most courtship after Isolde was—
“Could it be Rielin?”
It was her.
A beauty that rendered one unable to look away.
The most perfect harmony nature could craft.
Whenever Rielin and Isolde stood side by side, the soldiers of the Allied Forces lost their composure.
Recently, Rielin had been shouldering a critical position within the Predator Merchant Company.
She inevitably crossed paths frequently with Adlern, the company’s director, so losing his heart to her seemed hardly strange—
“…No, that’s not it.”
“Not her?”
Adlern sniffled once before answering.
“Of course, Rielin is also quite charming. Extraordinarily so. But…”
Adlern continued, hunching his shoulders like a frightened ferret.
“Sh-she terrifies me.”
“Terrifies you?”
“Yes, yes. She absolutely terrifies me.”
“Ah.”
I understood immediately.
I knew Rielin well.
True to her nature as a perfect harmony crafted by nature itself, Rielin’s personality was multifaceted.
When fulfilling her duties as forest guardian, she was as fierce as a raging wave.
Just beyond that window right now.
One could tell simply by watching her scold the Elves and spirits.
—Are you out of your minds?! If you fly around recklessly, what will happen to the Whitewolf Territory?!
—We’re sorry…
—I clearly warned you not to trouble the Forest Elder!
—We made a mistake…
—Sylph, if you’re going to act like this, break the contract right now and leave!
—Squeeeak….
Rielin caught spirits as easily as one might trap rats.
Her cold gaze and resolute tone made no exceptions for anyone.
But when it came to official duties?
She became as serene as an oasis.
As stern and solemn as the sea, treating everything with utmost gravity.
‘And yet she felt embarrassment in the strangest of places.’
Rielin’s temperament shifted depending on the role she assumed.
From Adlern’s perspective, Rielin could only be a frightening presence.
As it turned out, the elf Adlern had fallen in love with was not Rielin.
“Then who was it?”
“That would be….”
Adlern opened his mouth, fidgeting with his hands.
* * *
Before the World Tree had taken root in Whitewolf Territory.
The territory lay in ruins from the ravages of war.
Accordingly, Adlern spent his days distributing materials for reconstruction, coordinating personnel, and maintaining supply lines.
His schedule was impossibly demanding.
Working until dawn was the bare minimum.
Days of relentless labor piled upon him, exhaustion pressing down with crushing weight.
But everyone was suffering.
For the sake of those in Whitewolf Territory wounded by war.
“Schönne needs to keep her wits about her!”
“Right! Keep your wits about you!”
“Huh?!”
At the sudden voice, Adlern jumped to his feet.
Turning his gaze, there stood a female elf.
Hair the color of green, touched by nature itself.
Large, gleaming teal eyes—serene and without malice.
A flawless figure.
Pointed ears.
This elf of incomparable beauty bore the name—
“W-who might you be?”
“I’m Silmarien.”
“Silmarien…? Ah!”
He recognized her—an elf he knew of.
In human terms, a High Elf?
Roughly that caliber of elf.
If one were to classify by human standards, that is.
Yet she was not merely a High Elf by human reckoning.
High Elves are typically Elves of elevated status.
Or rather.
The upper echelons of Elven society.
So one imagines them as stern, solemn, and serious Elves.
Like Rielin, for instance.
But that was not the case.
High Elves are Elves more Elven than Elves themselves, one might say.
In the kindest terms, they were utterly untainted by worldly corruption.
In harsher terms—.
“But why do I need to keep my mind sharp?”
She was a High Elf who seemed to lack something essential.
“If you don’t keep your mind sharp, Schönne will become melancholy too.”
“And then?”
“That’s why I keep my mind sharp.”
“Is it bad to become melancholy?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Why?”
“…Pardon?”
“Why is melancholy bad?”
“Well, when one is melancholy, the heart grows dark, everything appears in a negative light, and ultimately, one ruins everything.”
“Hmm.”
Silmarien fell into deep contemplation.
But soon she tilted her head.
“Silmarien doesn’t quite understand.”
This was what a High Elf was.
An Elf even less comprehensible in conversation than ordinary Elves.
Silmarien straightened her tilted head and spoke.
“Have you ever tried drawing a picture?”
“…A picture?”
“Yes.”
“Um… no.”
“Silmarien will draw one for you!”
So suddenly?
Adlern had no chance to stop her.
Silmarien brought forth brush and pigments.
Where she procured the white paper from was anyone’s guess, but she painted swiftly and deftly.
…She was remarkably skilled.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she painted with genuine mastery.
Thus was completed a single work of art.
A radiant and vibrant painting of spirits at play.
“What do you think?”
“Hmm.”
Adlern examined the painting closely.
How should I put it.
It was well-drawn, certainly.
“Doesn’t it feel a bit bland?”
“Honestly, yes, it does.”
It was clearly a well-executed painting.
“After looking at it a few times, you get tired of it quickly.”
“That’s true.”
“Why do you think that is?”
“I’m not sure…?”
“It’s because you painted it using only overly bright colors. But look closely.”
Silmarien picked up her brush again.
This time, deep navy blue, dark brown, faded gray—
She layered the painting with predominantly dark and muted tones.
Her brushstrokes weren’t delicate.
They were rough and coarse.
Swish, swish.
“How about now?”
“Oh! Much better!”
For some reason, it was more pleasing to look at.
It had become more varied, perhaps.
Or maybe more soothing.
The painting itself hadn’t really changed, yet the entire feeling was transformed.
“See? Rough brushwork and dark colors like this create harmony in a painting.”
Silmarien continued with a bright smile.
“Melancholy works the same way.”
“….”
“When everything is only bright, it becomes bland and exhausting. Both paintings and hearts.”
“….”
“So it’s okay to feel melancholy.”
“….”
“It’s not a destruction—it’s a process of becoming even more beautiful!”
* * *
“…So.”
I turned over Adlern’s story in my mind once more.
“You fell for her then?”
“That’s not quite it….”
“Then what?”
“At that time, it was… merely that he appeared somewhat different, nothing more.”
In other words, there was a separate reason for her infatuation.
“When was it?”
“It was about three or four days after that incident.”
* * *
Adlern had once gone to Whitewolf Territory 2 to oversee damage recovery.
There, he happened to encounter Silmarien.
Adlern greeted her warmly.
“…Who were you again?”
But Silmarien didn’t remember him.
Adlern felt disappointed in his heart.
However, realizing that they had never been properly introduced, he called out with vigor.
“Allow me to introduce myself formally! I am Adlern, the head of the Bloodyhound Barony!”
“Wow! That’s so cool!”
“Huh?”
…It was a response he’d never heard before.
He expected mockery or disdain, but instead her face showed admiration.
“Are you… truly serious?”
“Yeah! Totally awesome!”
Silmarien spoke with genuine sincerity, her eyes sparkling.
“Your name is full of cool words! Lucius, Aquilinus, Bloodhound! They’re all amazing!”
“Ah, ah…!”
Adlern waved both hands frantically.
Yet the smile creeping to the tips of his ears was utterly impossible to conceal.
Adlern hastily changed the subject.
“S-Silmarien… what were you doing here?”
“I was shimzaing!”
“…Shimzaing?”
“Yeah!”
Wasn’t she just sitting quietly, gazing blankly up at the sky?
“Were you looking at the sky?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Shimzaing!”
“But that’s—”
…Never mind.
“Is it enjoyable?”
“Yeah! Today was great—the sky, the sunlight, the clouds were all so much fun!”
Fun?
Not beautiful?
Adlern lifted his head and gazed at the sky.
…It was ordinary.
Pleasantly clear, with a moderate amount of clouds.
The sunlight was pleasantly bright.
“It’s just the sky, sir.”
“Exactly!”
“You find that amusing, sir?”
“Yes! It’s so much fun! I hope the sky is fun tomorrow too!”
Silmarien broke into a radiant smile.
A purity more childlike than a child itself.
Adlern, already grown into adulthood, could not comprehend it.
“But it’s just an ordinary sky, isn’t it, sir?”
“That’s precisely what makes it fun.”
“What’s amusing about something ordinary, sir?”
“Because you can see it every day.”
Silmarien pointed at the sky.
There was pleasantly clear sunlight and a moderate amount of clouds.
“Morning has its own charm. Evening has its own. Clear days are delightful in their own way. Cloudy days are fun too!”
Silmarien smiled brightly once more.
It was a smile as if all the clarity in the world had been gathered into one.
Watching that smile, Adlern’s own heart felt cleansed as well.
Adlern spoke in a murmur.
“Silmarien… whatever you say always sounds like something wonderful, sir.”
Then Silmarien tilted her head and asked in return.
“Like the Forest Keeper?”
“Does the Forest Keeper say many wonderful things to you, sir?”
“Yes! The Forest Keeper always says only wonderful things to Silmarien!”
That was not what Adlern observed.
Rielin was always scolding and reprimanding her.
Could there be another side to Rielin that Adlern had never witnessed?
“What sort of wonderful things does she say to you, sir?”
“Well, there’s this—”
Don’t play pranks on spirits, that’s good advice.
Don’t eat mushrooms at random, that’s good advice.
Stop singing, that’s good advice.
“Silmarien loves the Forest Keeper so much because she only says wonderful things!”
* * *
“…So basically.”
I mulled over Adlern’s account before speaking.
“Which part of her did you fall for exactly?”
Whether there’s a point to fall for her is debatable.
From my perspective, there wasn’t one.
Adlern fell silent for a moment.
He twisted his body like a weasel, then slowly opened his mouth.
“Well, first of all, she’s the most beautiful person in the world, and she’s the cutest person in the world.”
…Is that so?
Silmarien?
From my perspective, she wasn’t.
It seemed his rose-tinted glasses were firmly affixed to his face.
“But that’s not all.”
“Then what?”
“In truth, I always believed Schönne had to constantly strive.”
Life doesn’t simply unfold on its own.
One must pay the price of effort just to barely maintain it.
“But no matter how much effort I put in, there wasn’t much that improved.”
In the end, I remained in the same place.
Yet the world continued to expand.
The more I compared myself, the more pathetic I appeared.
“Still, Schönne always looked upward and followed along.”
I couldn’t fall behind.
I had to catch up no matter what.
“But for the first time, I felt it was okay to stop. Silmarien taught me that resting isn’t laziness.”
“You fell for her because of that aspect?”
“…Yes.”
“I see.”
Well, I understand that much.
There was nothing for me to comment on anyway.
Just one thing, though.
“But why did you come looking for me?”
“Please help Schönne!”
“…?”
“Shamefully, I’ve never experienced love at this age!”
Adlern hung his head low.
I activated Predator’s Instinct [S] and checked Adlern’s information for the first time in a while.
==【Character Information】==
Name: Adlern Lucius Aquilinus Haofeng Raja Montagne Kim Fujiwara Bloodhound
Classification: Animalia, Mammalia, Hominidae, Human
Gender: Male
Age: 39 years old
Characteristics: Perceptiveness [R]
The name was oddly peculiar.
No, it had been changed anew.
…Anyway.
Adlern was thirty-nine years old.
That was no small age.
‘How old was Silmarien again?’
By appearance, she looked like she was in her late teens.
But that was merely an Elven trait.
Her actual age was far greater.
The age I’d seen her at in Sylvandir Forest back then….
‘Forty-three, I believe.’
That was probably it.
In other words, age-wise, there was nothing problematic between them.
“In fact, Schönne has been making all sorts of efforts to make a good impression on Silmarien!”
But it hadn’t been going well, apparently.
-Say, Adlern. Do you know how to fill out an attendance log?
-Of course! Do you think I’m such a blockhead that I wouldn’t know something that basic?!
-Silmarien didn’t know how.
-….
-So Silmarien was a blockhead.
“I simply cannot fathom the Elven mind!!”
That didn’t seem to have anything to do with being an Elf, really.
“Don’t you know quite a bit about Elves, Adrian?”
“….”
“Please, just help Schönne out!!”
Desperation colored Adlern’s voice.
I fell into thought for a moment.
‘Helping wouldn’t be difficult, but…’
There was a problem.
I was in the same boat.
Romance?
I’d never really tried it, nor did I have any interest in it.
And I know a lot about Elves?
‘I don’t really.’
I merely had experience encountering Elves frequently in my past life.
Therefore, I had no advice to offer.
Especially not if it concerned matters of the heart.
Particularly with Silmarien.
I had never encountered her in my past life.
She was a connection formed anew after Violess fell.
If only it had been Rielin instead?
I would have had so much to tell her.
But Silmarien truly knows nothing.
Yet Adlern’s desperation was so genuine.
It was difficult to simply turn away.
‘Hmm.’
I paused to consider, then spoke.
“Adlern, a difficult problem doesn’t always require a difficult solution.”
“Huh?”
“Go and confess your feelings openly.”
Adlern blinked his eyes in surprise.
“But wouldn’t a sudden confession be far too hasty, sir?”
“That’s the human way.”
“…?”
“Gradually expressing your feelings to naturally build the mood—that’s how humans approach romance, not how Elves do it.”
“Then…?”
“Elves don’t suppress their emotions or speak in roundabout ways. You’ve observed them enough to understand that, haven’t you?”
“Ah! That’s absolutely true, sir!”
“So Adlern, if you’re sincere, go and confess openly.”
But Adlern hesitated, swallowing his words.
“B-but someone as lowly as Schönne-.”
“Adlern, you are not lowly.”
“…!”
“Who developed and created the Night Ale that sells out in taverns across the Continent, and the Peanut Wine that never fails to appear at royal nobility banquets in the Kingdom?”
“That would be Adrian and the Dwarves-.”
“No.”
I cut off Adlern’s words.
“Adlern. You created it all.”
“…!!”
“Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Adlern bit his lip.
His eyes glistened with tears—moved by something unexpected.
He looked as though he might cry at the slightest touch.
At that moment.
Knock, knock.
-Adrian, sir. Kai and Iliana have regained consciousness.
Bernard’s voice came from beyond the door.
“Adlern, don’t hesitate. Go and share your true feelings with her.”
I patted Adlern’s back and shoulders firmly—
then headed toward where Kai was.

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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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