The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 283
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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 283. An Unresolved Knot from the Past
Kai’s sudden words.
An abrupt question—why I had killed his sibling.
“What was… the reason?”
Kai asked, his lips trembling.
Multiple emotions swirled in Kai’s blue eyes as he stared at me.
“What possible reason could there have been to kill my sibling?”
I could not answer.
I did not know what to say.
“Was there truly a necessity for it?”
“….”
“Did my sibling show disrespect to Adrian?”
“….”
“Or had they committed some crime I was unaware of?”
“….”
“Was there a reason that child had to die?”
“….”
“Was the Adrian who came through that blizzard that day… all a lie?”
Kai’s emotions erupted.
From his bloodshot eyes poured a torrent of rage, resentment, betrayal, and despair.
“Say something—anything!!!”
Kai’s voice shattered the air.
The surrounding atmosphere trembled.
Just as the elevation of one’s realm was no deception, Kai’s unleashed fury pierced my skin and sent shivers across my entire body.
But why?
Beneath that erupting rage, I sensed Kai’s profound pain.
He wished now to forgive me.
He wished now to release the memory of that day.
Yet he could not.
In a reality where he must not.
Kai’s anguish—forced to condemn himself, to hate himself, to despise me.
“Tell me there was an inevitable reason, that it had to be done.”
Kai’s anguish, demanding an excuse or anything, fractured his voice.
“Why do you say nothing?”
“….”
“Why do you deny nothing?”
I remained silent.
I could not speak.
I did not know what words to offer.
The confusion was simply too overwhelming.
‘Did I… kill Kai’s sibling?’
This is the first I’m hearing that Kai even has a sibling.
Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that Kai does have a sibling.
Let’s say I simply don’t remember.
But I have never killed Kai’s sibling.
Not just Kai’s sibling.
I have never killed anyone in my past.
My past self was certainly a reckless fool.
But I have never committed murder.
I may have mocked and ridiculed others, but I have never once taken a life.
‘Was I consumed by madness…?’
If so, it would have been possible.
When I was younger, I lacked the will of a successor.
Whenever I consumed a monster’s heart, I became no different from a beast.
‘…No.’
Yet something felt wrong.
Yet the logic that this made no sense was more accurate.
‘I first consumed a monster’s heart after I left the family.’
The day my father passed away.
The day the will was made public.
In other words, roughly four years ago from now.
After leaving the family, I lived a wretched existence.
I was nothing but a reckless young noble from a prestigious house.
When I was cast into the wilderness of reality, I was a powerless weakling who could barely survive.
I was ravaged by hunger.
Unable to endure it any longer, I laid hands upon a monster’s corpse.
I was consumed by madness.
I lost my reason and descended into frenzy.
And then.
I met Ian.
In other words.
‘I never consumed a heart while I was with the family.’
Naturally, I was never consumed by madness either.
Therefore, I cannot lack the memory of killing Kai’s sibling.
Could it be that memories from my time with the Allied Forces are contaminated, causing me to forget those events entirely?
‘…That’s not it either.’
There are limits to such things.
No matter how corrupted my memories are, I couldn’t have forgotten something like that.
‘That’s impossible.’
If I could forget something like that, I wouldn’t even remember my own name.
That level of psychological trauma should be normal.
And having nightmares and such.
The memory should have seeped into my subconscious.
But there was nothing at all.
No memory whatsoever.
‘Why is this…?’
Could he be lying?
Was Kai lying to me?
I activated Weakness Hunting to gauge Kai’s emotions.
‘…No.’
Absolutely not.
Kai wasn’t lying in the slightest.
…It was strange.
And yet something was there too.
‘Wait.’
A thought pierced through my mind in an instant.
It was a fragment of memory that had been misaligned all this time.
A puzzle piece that had never fit, but now that single piece aligned ever so slightly.
Kai was gazing at me with complicated eyes.
Eyes that asked without words.
As if seeking some excuse, or perhaps within that excuse, finally willing to forgive me now.
Somewhere in those eyes lay Kai’s desire to forget the past and move forward together from this moment on.
And so I found myself unable to speak.
Yet I opened my mouth anyway.
But I closed it again.
‘It’s meaningless.’
At a point where I couldn’t even remember my own brother’s existence, any explanation or justification was merely salt poured upon a wound.
Whatever I said now.
It would hold no meaning, no comfort for Kai.
After long deliberation, I opened my mouth.
“…Rest now.”
Kai’s pupils trembled.
A torrent of emotions—whether anger or despair, I could not discern.
Leaving Kai behind, I rose and departed.
* * *
Bernard walked through the corridors of Count’s Castle.
Beyond the windows lay not the peaceful Whitewolf Territory, but rather a somewhat ravaged landscape.
Fractured earth and vanished structures.
In the center of the Town Square, smoke still rose from the ruins.
“….”
Bernard fell momentarily speechless.
He simply couldn’t believe it.
Adrian and Kai.
That this catastrophe was caused by nothing more than a sparring match between two people.
Fortunately, thanks to the aid of Yggdrasil, there were no casualties, or it would have been far worse.
Bernard exhaled softly and resumed walking.
“Good evening, Baron Bernard.”
The maids I encountered along the way greeted me brightly with respectful bows.
Bernard smiled and returned their greeting.
“Thank you for always maintaining your posts.”
Bernard continued forward.
My destination was Adrian’s chambers.
Seraphia had not yet awakened.
Consequently, Adrian was shouldering all administrative duties of the Territory in her absence.
Upon reaching Adrian’s door, Bernard knocked carefully.
Knock, knock.
“It’s Bernard, sir.”
-Come in.
Bernard carefully opened the door.
Within the heavy, meticulously ordered atmosphere.
Adrian, who had been reviewing documents at his desk, looked up.
“How extensive is the damage?”
Bernard closed the door as he answered.
“Fortunately, there were no casualties.”
“…That’s a relief, at least.”
Adrian exhaled sharply.
“What about the facilities?”
“They sustained damage, but thanks to the Dwarves, they’re stabilizing rapidly.”
“When can we resume operations?”
“At the current pace, normal operations should be possible in three to four days.”
“…It seems they really demolished everything.”
They simply couldn’t control their strength.
Adrian muttered quietly, exhaling a sigh.
“What’s the situation in Whitewolf Territory 2?”
“Much of the farmland has been devastated, but the spirits are recovering it rapidly.”
Adrian nodded, seeming relieved.
“Are administrative operations proceeding smoothly?”
Bernard showed Adrian the documents in his hand.
Adrian carefully reviewed each page one by one.
“Why has progress stalled here?”
Adrian pointed to a section of the documents with his finger.
Bernard examined that section and responded.
“Currently, without Count Seraphia’s approval, the administrative management integration system isn’t functioning, so we’re transitioning to manual operations.”
“Hmm.”
Adrian set the documents down.
“It seems Yggdrasil can’t provide real-time support to the administrative sector after all.”
He fell into thought.
Adrian gazed into empty space for a moment.
Soon after, he retrieved a quill pen from beside him and dipped it in ink.
“I’ll create a new one right now, so recalibrate according to these standards.”
“…Pardon?”
Bernard tilted his head in confusion.
He was going to create it right here, right now?
The administrative management integration system had countless considerations.
Document processing, tax assessment, personnel allocation, and more.
At minimum, dozens of departments were interconnected.
Creating all those workflows would take months at the fastest.
And that was assuming multiple scholars worked together through sleepless nights.
Yet Adrian was moving his hand effortlessly.
Scratch, scratch—without hesitation.
Except for the occasional glance into empty space, there wasn’t a moment of doubt.
And just like that.
The administrative management integration system was complete.
Bernard unconsciously reviewed its contents.
And without realizing it, he held his breath.
Resource weighting, material distribution ratios, personnel efficiency allocation—everything.
Every single item was perfectly organized within a single chart.
“Following these standards, essential operations will continue even without Seraphia.”
“….”
“Efficiency will improve by at least 2.7 times compared to now.”
“….”
“However, for exceptional circumstances, make your own judgment and adjust on-site.”
“…Understood.”
It was astonishing.
No—it was miraculous.
Creating a system instantaneously from mere data transcended human capability.
Frankly, even the genius mages of Langritd Magic Tower couldn’t accomplish this.
“Are there any other irregularities?”
“None, sir.”
“Then adjust according to my instructions and submit the results in a report.”
“Understood.”
Bernard bowed his head and stepped back.
Just as he was about to leave the room.
“…Ah, right. Bernard.”
Adrian suddenly called him back.
“There’s something I’d like to ask you.”
“Please, speak.”
“Where did you first meet my father?”
It was an abrupt question from Adrian.
I wondered why he was asking that all of a sudden.
But Bernard paused to recall, then answered.
“At the Bellaheim County in the Karceon Kingdom.”
“That was grandmother’s family, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. The Count of two generations prior—your grandfather—sent him there.”
Adrian’s father, Cedric Whitewolf.
It was because they feared he might become a target for his other brothers.
“Then Bernard, was your family, the Neville Family, a vassal house of Bellaheim County?”
“Yes, that was the case for a long time.”
Bernard was the second son of the Neville Family.
In other words, he was destined to be overshadowed by the firstborn and receive no significant inheritance.
Staying with the family would yield nothing, and he would merely be an ambiguous threat to the firstborn’s rights.
So the younger sons of noble families would leave on their own when the time came.
“And so you came to Whitewolf Territory following my father.”
“Yes.”
Bernard nodded.
“How many years ago was that?”
“If I recall correctly, it was 27 years ago.”
“And when you first met my father at Bellaheim County?”
“When I first met the previous Count… it was 33 years ago.”
“So you and my father have been together for 33 years?”
“Yes. I have remained by his side ever since that first meeting.”
It would be no exaggeration to say I have witnessed the entire history of House Whitewolf.
“Do you remember things from my childhood?”
“Of course. I have been with the House since the day you were born until now.”
“Then perhaps…”
“Yes?”
“Have there been times when I lost my mind?”
Bernard tilted his head, puzzled.
“What specifically are you referring to?”
“Like my eyes rolling back, or my mind going blank.”
“If we’re limiting it to his childhood… there was none.”
“Right?”
Adrian nodded and continued speaking.
“My serious descent into depravity didn’t begin until after Seraphia was adopted into the family.”
“…That’s correct.”
Bernard nodded with evident reluctance.
The point at which Adrian’s nature as a wastrel truly crystallized was, as he said, after Seraphia entered House Whitewolf.
About eight years ago? Nine years ago?
It hadn’t been much longer than that.
And even then, there had been no instances of his eyes rolling back or his mind becoming unhinged.
“Then Bernard, do you know about this?”
“What are you referring to, sir?”
“That Kai had a younger sibling.”
Bernard tilted his head in confusion.
“This is the first I’ve heard of such a thing.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, sir.”
“When Father brought Kai here, there was no mention of a sibling?”
“There was not.”
“Bernard, you might not have known either. Perhaps Father simply didn’t mention it.”
“That may be possible.”
Bernard paused to gather his thoughts, then continued.
“As the head butler, I have managed all records and personnel matters for House Whitewolf.”
“That’s true.”
“I find it difficult to accept that I would have overlooked such information.”
“Hmm.”
“Even if Kai had possessed a sibling, the Territory’s residents could not have been unaware of it.”
They were living witnesses to Kai’s childhood.
If Kai had a younger sibling?
The Territory’s residents could not have failed to know of his existence.
“That’s a fair point.”
Adrian nodded as if convinced.
Bernard posed a question to Adrian.
“But why are you suddenly asking about that?”
“He mentioned something like that.”
“You mean Kai mentioned it?”
“Yes, apparently he had a younger sibling.”
Bernard’s face went rigid in an instant.
His eyebrows trembled faintly.
Tension crept unknowingly into Bernard’s hands.
“What exactly did Sir Kai say?”
“He said I killed his sister.”
Bernard’s eyes widened visibly.
“…Did Sir Kai say that directly?”
“Yes.”
Adrian continued, his gaze fixed on Bernard.
“He was certain about it. He wasn’t fabricating lies.”
“…”
“Yet I have no memory of such a thing whatsoever.”
“…”
“In fact, I’m hearing for the first time that Kai even had a sister.”
“…”
“And Bernard, you don’t know anything about Kai’s sister either.”
“…”
“Moreover, just as you said, the people of the Territory haven’t mentioned anything like that either.”
“…”
“Doesn’t something feel wrong to you, Bernard?”
Bernard pressed his lips firmly together.
Yet that silence.
Already answered everything.
Adrian stepped closer to Bernard with measured strides.
“When did it start.”
“…”
“When did you find out.”
“…”
“Tell me, Bernard!”
Adrian’s voice cut through the air like a predator’s growl.
“When did you start tampering with Kai’s memories!!”
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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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