The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 270

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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 270. The Runesteel Transaction (2)
Barelto had suddenly produced a blank check.
To be honest.
‘I didn’t expect him to pull out a blank check.’
I was somewhat taken aback.
But it was a different kind of bewilderment.
‘What kind of nonsense is this bastard trying?’
Who did he take me for—some fool to be duped?
A blank check.
An absolute temptation promising any amount of money.
But the reality?
It was no different from sleight of hand.
Because first of all, it wasn’t physical currency.
A bill of exchange.
In simple terms, a promissory note saying, ‘Take the goods now, and I’ll pay you later!’
In other words, credit.
Until the money was received, it was just a scrap of paper.
Of course, if it were a bill from The Empire, it would theoretically be as good as currency—or so they’d have you believe.
‘Did you think I wouldn’t know you’re all shameless crooks?’
Trusting The Empire, merchants handed over their goods.
Then payment dragged on for months.
Eventually, they’d cite ‘administrative delays’ and toss a few more bills at you.
Later, they’d declare the debt uncollectible.
And any merchants who dared protest? They’d disappear without a trace.
I knew of thousands—tens of thousands—of such atrocities from this regime.
‘Where does he think he’s going with this?’
I let out an internal scoff and raised my gaze.
Barelto remained expressionless.
Not a single twitch of muscle, not the faintest flicker across his face.
His pale blue eyes were as still as a lake.
I couldn’t discern what he was thinking at all.
◆Fusion Skill, Weakness Hunting [M] activated!
Text materialized before my eyes.
At the same moment, I perceived various hormones surging through Barelto’s nervous system.
Adrenaline, cortisol.
And norepinephrine.
All stress-response hormones that elevated heart rate and blood pressure—
‘He’s panicked.’
These were hormones primarily secreted when someone was flustered.
Through this, I could discern Barelto’s true thoughts in their entirety.
‘This guy really doesn’t know the price of Runesteel, does he?’
Runesteel had never truly had a market price to begin with.
The supply was absurdly scarce.
Even across the entire Continent?
There was virtually none.
Therefore, no standard price had ever been established.
In essence, whatever you asked for was the price.
So Barelto was trying to pressure me using The Empire as his backing, hoping to catch me off guard.
“3.1 trillion gold. All in physical form.”
Not a chance, you bastard.
Barelto’s expression hardened.
Marzen, standing beside him.
His breath caught in his throat, and he began to sputter.
“Huh…!”
He was literally losing consciousness in real time.
“Kh, ack! Kh-ack!”
…What’s wrong with him?
I gave him a subtle look telling him to calm down.
Fortunately, Marzen understood and swallowed his breath.
Though he still looked on the verge of fainting, I understood why.
3.1 trillion gold.
A sum so astronomically large that even the unit felt foreign.
To put it bluntly, if you pooled the entire annual budget of every Kingdom on the Continent except The Empire—
‘Would it even come close?’
With some exaggeration, of course.
In any case, it was simply an incomprehensible amount.
Yet remarkably.
‘The Empire has the ability to pay it.’
Not exactly effortlessly…
But they could pay it.
That was precisely what The Empire—the nation I had entered—was.
The absolute hegemon of the Continent.
The apex predator at the top of the food chain.
And the ultimate target I had to bring down.
‘Wait for me, Emperor.’
In this life, I will tear out your heart without fail.
* * *
Barelto found himself unable to speak.
If he opened his mouth, something would—
A string of curses would spill out.
And not just any cursing—it was the kind of foul-mouthed tirade laced with every vulgar epithet imaginable.
“….”
Barelto clamped his mouth shut.
Yet his lips kept threatening to part.
Part of me wanted to bite down on my own lips.
Hard enough to draw blood.
But I couldn’t afford to.
The moment I did, Barelto’s agitation would be exposed.
The instant my teeth clenched.
The second my jaw tightened visibly, I’d lose the upper hand in this negotiation.
Barelto summoned every ounce of willpower to keep my mouth sealed.
“….”
But there were limits to restraint.
Words boiled up inside my mouth, rising to the tip of my tongue.
Three trillion, one hundred billion.
…Was he serious?
Did he really just quote that figure as the asking price?
I wasn’t ignorant of Runesteel’s value.
I understood it was rare, precious, and a strategic resource that no alchemy could replicate.
But three trillion, one hundred billion?
This was absurd.
This was treating me like a fool.
Of course.
It wasn’t an amount I couldn’t pay.
Three trillion, one hundred billion was certainly an astronomical sum.
But the Empire’s economic scale transcended even that imagination.
However.
“All of it in physical assets, then.”
If it had to be physical assets, that changed everything.
Even the Empire didn’t keep three trillion, one hundred billion in liquid cash reserves.
In other words, ‘having the money’ and ‘being able to hand it over right now’ were entirely different propositions.
‘…He knows that too, doesn’t he?’
There was no way he didn’t.
Which meant Kim Fujiwara Bloodhound was deliberately provoking me.
I opened my mouth with deliberate calm.
“That’s impossible.”
“Then there’s no deal.”
“….”
“I have no intention of selling at a discount either.
But this bastard really—
You’ve been asking to see it since earlier.
“Are you trying to play games with me?”
Barelto raised his momentum.
His upper body, which had been leaning against the backrest, lurched forward.
“What kind of place do you think this is to say such things?”
Barelto laid bare his killing intent without filter.
But Kim Fujiwara didn’t even flinch.
“Is that a threat?”
“What if it is?”
“I thought we were in the middle of negotiations.”
Kim Fujiwara’s eyes gleamed.
In that instant.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaa─!!
The air ruptured somewhere in the room.
The walls trembled violently.
Barelto understood immediately.
‘Indeed, he’s no ordinary man.’
The Inspection Bureau Chief, Arce.
He could now comprehend why Arce had been unable to overcome him.
But he did not retreat.
Barelto instead raised his momentum further and met him head-on.
“You seem to be under a misunderstanding.”
With those words.
Kwajjik─!!
Space warped around Barelto as its center.
“Eliminating you right here and now is far simpler than you might think.”
Kim Fujiwara’s eyes trembled ever so slightly.
And then.
Kim Fujiwara withdrew his momentum.
“…I concede.”
Kim Fujiwara took a step back.
But he did not lower his gaze.
“If you insist on cutting open the belly of the goose that lays golden eggs, then so be it.”
“…What are you talking about?”
“I meant that you’re welcome to kill me here if fifty thousand tons of Runesteel ingots satisfy you.”
Barelto’s eyebrow twitched.
He paused to gather his thoughts before asking.
“Don’t tell me there’s more Runesteel?”
“There is.”
“That’s absurd.”
Fifty thousand tons of Runesteel ingots—an astronomical quantity in itself.
A volume that could barely be obtained by ransacking the entire Continent.
And yet there’s more than that?
“The currently secured quantity alone amounts to seventy-three thousand tons. An additional ten thousand tons are scheduled to be secured within the next two months.”
“…You’re spinning fiction.”
“I don’t conjure up three trillion one hundred billion for fiction.”
Barelto’s eyes narrowed.
“Then perhaps it would be more advantageous for me to simply kill you here and seize your Runesteel production sites myself?”
“Do you truly believe you could seize the production sites by killing just me?”
“You think I couldn’t?”
“The moment I die, every production site becomes a ruin.”
Kim Fujiwara spoke without so much as blinking.
“The locations are classified. All workers operate under my communications network, and the distribution channels change with every transaction.”
Barelto laughed briefly.
It was a scoff.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“If you don’t believe me, feel free to cut open my belly yourself. See if there’s a golden egg inside.”
Barelto’s brow twitched.
His gaze gradually settled into composure.
Truthfully, it was difficult to believe.
Escaping the Empire’s information network should have been impossible.
‘Yet the Information Bureau has gleaned nothing about this man.’
That meant his boasting wasn’t mere bluster.
Barelto studied Kim Fujiwara anew.
A beauty that clashed entirely with that ridiculous name.
His manner of speech, his posture, his breathing, his eyes.
‘Excessively seasoned.’
This was no man sitting here on conjecture or empty pride.
“In that regard, I have a proposal for you.”
“…A proposal?”
“I would prefer to conduct all future transactions directly with you, Chancellor.”
Barelto’s eyes widened.
Securing additional Runesteel quantities.
That was a definitive seal of approval.
An exceptional opportunity to leave a strong impression on the current regime and gain access to his inner circle…but.
“…Why?”
The reason for suddenly changing suppliers.
The reason for switching from Marzen to Barelto.
Kim Fujiwara answered with a smile.
“To hunt an Ogre, one must use a blade forged to hunt Ogres, wouldn’t you agree?”
Barelto naturally turned his gaze toward Marzen.
Marzen was flustered.
No, rather than flustered, he was seething with rage.
Betrayal.
That single word seemed to fill Marzen’s entire mind.
As I shifted my gaze, Kim Fujiwara spoke.
“Why would we continue using a goblin-slaying blade to hunt an Ogre?”
“….”
“Perhaps it could scratch an Ogre’s hide once or twice. But anything beyond that? I’m skeptical.”
In other words, Marzen was nothing more than a disposable tool to forge a connection with The Empire.
Marzen’s fingertips trembled.
He bit his lips firmly, suppressing his emotions.
Barelto smiled inwardly.
In that moment.
“But here’s the thing.”
Kim Fujiwara opened his mouth as if troubled.
“I honestly cannot judge whether you are a blade for slaying Ogres, or merely one for hunting Trolls and Orcs.”
“So, what do you want?”
“It’s simple. Let’s verify it.”
“Verify?”
“This 3.1 trillion.”
Kim Fujiwara continued, as if testing Barelto.
“Can you provide it all in physical assets?”
As if to say that a true Ogre-slaying blade should naturally be capable of such a thing.
* * *
I laid out the 3.1 trillion and observed Barelto carefully.
He appeared quite troubled.
I did not press him.
Time passed in silence.
Barelto slowly rose from his seat.
He fiddled with some kind of device.
The Attendant Secretary I had seen earlier entered the room.
“Here is the requested budget execution plan, asset inventory, and emergency reserve fund details.”
“That’s enough. Leave it and go.”
Once the Attendant Secretary withdrew, Barelto unfolded the documents and showed them to me.
“If I convert all the assets contained here into physical form, it comes to 2.3 trillion.”
…What? What did he just say?
How much?
I didn’t mishear that, did I?
“It will take about half a day to process.”
“….”
“The remaining 800 million will be prepared within seven days.”
Good heavens.
I barely managed to keep my jaw from dropping.
“Will this be enough to forge a blade for slaying an Ogre?”
“Somehow, it feels as though you’re holding a legendary sword meant for dragon slaying.”
Barelto let out a laugh.
This time, it wasn’t a scornful one.
“How do you intend to carry the payment?”
“Don’t worry about that. I’m a mage, after all.”
“…You’re saying you’ll store all that money in a pocket dimension?”
“I should at least look the part of an Ogre hunter, shouldn’t I?”
Barelto laughed once more.
This time, his laughter carried a note of admiration.
“I’ll leave the Runesteel ingots here as they are. We can discuss any additional transactions once the remaining 800 million reaches my hands.”
“Very well.”
“Then I look forward to our continued partnership.”
I bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle and stepped out of the room.
* * *
In the space where Kim Fujiwara had departed.
Two people remained in the room.
Barelto.
And Marzen.
A brief silence fell.
Barelto leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers against the armrest.
“Are you angry?”
“…No, sir.”
Marzen’s answer was curt.
Yet it carried a suppressed fury.
Barelto spoke without concern.
“I’ll be the one to report this to His Majesty.”
“….”
“Still, I’ll have this transaction concluded under your name—at least formally.”
Marzen clenched his fists.
With his lips pressed shut, he answered in a strained voice.
“…Thank you.”
“Now go.”
Marzen rose from his seat and bowed his head.
But even as the door closed, Barelto did not turn to look at him.
Marzen walked quietly down the corridor.
Goosebumps erupted across my entire body.
An inexplicable chill coursed through me.
…Once again.
I could grasp the truth anew.
-So Marzen should pretend to be betrayed there. Get struck by lightning magic and shudder like a frozen fish! That’s all you need to do.
It was about understanding who Marzen was truly sailing with.

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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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