The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 52

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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 52. Change
A morning when pristine snow blanketed the entire land.
Though it was still early for Whitewolf Territory to begin its day, people were already stirring throughout the town.
“Jason! Where are you headed so early in the morning?”
“…Hm? Oh, I’m going to the Snowy Forest to gather some wood!”
“The Snowy Forest? Alone? That’s dangerous!”
In Whitewolf Territory, the Snowy Forest referred to a deep and dark woodland situated within the Snowy Plains Zone.
True to its name, it was a forest where trees stood densely packed, blanketed in snow throughout all four seasons.
In other words, it was a unique region where vegetation persisted even amid the bitter cold, forming a precarious but functional ecosystem.
“What if you encounter a monster out there!”
It was not uncommon for monsters from Snowy Mountain to descend into the forest in search of prey.
The scarcity of food in the frozen environment was not a problem that afflicted only humans.
Especially during winter like now, monsters too faced a sharp decline in available sustenance.
Therefore, it was virtually certain that monsters from Snowy Mountain would descend into the Snowy Forest.
“It’s fine, really.”
Jason waved his hand dismissively, unconcerned.
“Adrian took care of all the monsters for us!”
The horde of monsters that had assaulted the territory.
The avalanche-like swarm had brought with it virtually every monster dwelling on Snowy Mountain.
Adrian had faced that entire horde alone.
And by annihilating them completely, he had cut off the very root of the monster threat.
Moreover, with the elimination of Lycanthrope, the commander leading the horde, the remaining monsters scattered in all directions.
“There’s nothing to worry about!”
Currently, the Snowy Forest could be considered free of any threat.
Jason tightened the straps of his A-frame carrier.
And it was not only Jason who felt this way.
“I’ll bring back a nice sturdy tree!”
“While I’m at it, I should gather some snow herb leaves too.”
Those heading into the Snowy Forest to hunt and those venturing in to collect medicinal herbs.
“This time of year, frost fish gather beneath the ice. Let’s go before it gets late.”
And those descending into the Frozen Tundra Zone to cast their nets.
People could now engage in productive activities without fear.
“Really, everyone’s changed these days.”
“Tell me about it. In the old days, people wouldn’t even step outside on days like this—they’d lock their doors tight.”
The current state of Whitewolf Territory had transformed completely, mirroring the changed perception of Adrian.
And with the supplies Adrian had brought back from Frecce added to the mix—
“At this rate, we won’t fear this winter at all, will we?”
“I never thought I’d live to see a winter where I could eat my fill and stay warm.”
“When was the last time our children didn’t go hungry….”
Though the season of bitter cold drew near, Whitewolf Territory remained unfrozen.
Warmth spread throughout the village, and the healthy laughter of children echoed from every corner.
“I can’t believe all of this is thanks to Adrian, the Count Whitewolf’s House scoundrel! I really can’t!”
The Count Whitewolf’s House scoundrel who was always quick to drink and cause trouble.
But now, the territory’s residents’ perception of Adrian had completely changed.
“Hey, you there! A scoundrel, you say!”
“Watch your tongue, won’t you!”
“That’s right, you fool. If it weren’t for Adrian, we’d all have frozen to death!”
“Frozen to death? We’d have become food for those vicious monsters!”
Adrian was no longer a scoundrel in the eyes of the territory’s residents.
“Adrian is the benefactor of Whitewolf Territory, a true benefactor!”
Thus.
Before the name of a man who was no longer called a scoundrel.
“The Town Square was really crowded today.”
“Right? Everyone’s been busy lately.”
“It’s not like before. It feels like… people are actually living!”
Whitewolf Territory was slowly yet surely beginning to reclaim its true appearance as a proper domain.
* * *
◆Your favorability with the territory’s residents is increasing!!
Suddenly, a message flashed before my eyes.
At the same time, additional text scrolled across my vision.
◆Your favorability with the territory’s residents has reached [Favorable] status!
◆Residents in [Favorable] status display a friendly and positive attitude toward you.
◆The residents are actively willing to provide assistance or cooperate with you, and you can receive support in combat or specific situations, or seek help in crisis situations.
It seems the rewards from the sudden Quest are being applied now.
And unfortunately.
‘It’s not [Trust] status yet.’
I hadn’t reached the [Trust] status, which was the clear condition for the territory Quest.
So the Quest wasn’t cleared, but… it was fine.
In a situation like this, achieving [Trust] status within the timeframe wouldn’t be too difficult.
And what mattered right now wasn’t that.
“Is it ready yet?”
“All done!”
At my words, the handmaidens carrying baskets rushed forward and began removing items one by one, continuing their explanation—
“This is medicinal cotton. If Seraphia’s lips become dry, you can moisten them with this cotton.”
“Change the bed sheets with these, and just leave the soiled ones outside. We’ll take them and wash them clean.”
“Here are fresh pillowcase fillings too. The soft kind.”
“This is an herbal sachet, and that’s a medicinal herb-infused cloth. And also…”
It was like an inventory.
Items kept emerging endlessly from the basket.
“This is a pressure ulcer prevention pad. If you place it under Seraphia’s back, it will reduce the pressure. If she lies down for too long, her blood won’t circulate properly and her back could be damaged.”
“This is a handkerchief, and this is a microfiber blanket. It’s gentler on the skin.”
“By the way, Adrian gathered all of these for you!”
There was quite a lot of it.
“That’s quite a bit, isn’t it…?”
“I’m sorry. This should have been our responsibility….”
Only now noticing my expression, the handmaidens began to read my mood.
And apparently thinking I would definitely complain this time, one of them squeezed her eyes shut.
Of course, I wasn’t particularly eager to nurse Seraphia….
“That’s enough.”
“Eh…?”
“The circumstances are unavoidable, so don’t worry about it.”
“Ah, ah….”
“Thank you so much for understanding.”
The handmaidens all bowed their heads to me.
“Is that everything we need?”
“Yes. For now.”
…For now?
“If she lies down for extended periods, blood circulation can suffer, so we may need massage oils or warm compresses later.”
I could truly appreciate how absurdly broken Regeneration [B+] was as an ability.
…Well, anyway.
I stored the basket the handmaidens had prepared into my inventory.
The handmaidens’ eyes widened for just a moment.
“You’ve all worked hard.”
I turned my steps toward the room where Seraphia was.
* * *
Adrian left, moving away from his place.
And the moment Adrian’s figure completely disappeared from view—
“…Did you hear?”
One handmaiden murmured the question—
“I heard! I totally heard!”
“‘You’ve all worked hard’…!!”
“I thought I was going to lose it at ‘don’t worry about it’ before that!”
“He’s become so much kinder!!”
The other handmaidens bounced up and down in place.
“Hey, hey, I actually spoke to Adrian first earlier?”
“What?! Really?!”
“Yeah.”
“No way! That’s amazing!”
“What did you say to him?”
“I just… asked if training was difficult for you.”
“My goodness, my goodness.”
“Really?”
“He didn’t hit you?”
“No, not at all! He even answered me!”
“Seriously? Adrian actually responded to you?”
“Yes! In such a kind voice too—”
Training was always grueling by nature.
“He said that?!”
“Incredible!!!”
“Absolutely amazing!!!”
“Oh! Then should I try talking to Adrian first later too…?”
“Huh? Lena, are you assigned to Adrian today?”
In the past, being assigned to Adrian was something everyone avoided and dreaded.
But now it was the opposite.
“Well, you see, I’m on afternoon watch duty instead?”
“Afternoon watch is way easier.”
“So can’t you just swap with me?”
“What? No way.”
“Ugh, why not…!”
“You? Where’s this attitude coming from?”
“Just swap with me once, okay? I want to try talking to Adrian first too…!”
And so.
“No. Absolutely not.”
“You’re so mean!”
“Mean or not, the answer is no.”
“Then swap with me! I’m on today—”
“That’s enough!”
Among the attendants, assignment to Adrian had become the most coveted position.
* * *
Seraphia’s chamber burned like an enormous furnace.
From the massive hearth positioned in the center of the room, fierce flames erupted ceaselessly, heating the entire space to an infernal temperature.
To maintain such heat, firewood was being consumed in staggering quantities.
Thirty percent of the fuel I had purchased from Frecce was being used here alone.
Using the Predator’s instinct [S], I checked the room’s temperature.
◆The room’s temperature is [253 degrees Celsius].
…At this point, it was a miracle the room hadn’t caught fire.
Yet Seraphia’s body, lying on the bed, remained cold.
‘Hmm….’
I gazed quietly at Seraphia, whose breathing was as still as death.
‘It’s already been five days.’
Five days had passed since Seraphia collapsed.
She still hadn’t regained consciousness, still hovering between life and death.
To be precise, she was slowly dying.
In the end, I had no choice but to take drastic measures, and the result was this chamber now approaching 253 degrees Celsius.
So here I was, nursing Seraphia in this inferno.
I wasn’t thrilled about it.
But there was no helping it.
The handmaidens couldn’t last even ten seconds in this room before collapsing.
Only Kai and I could endure this furnace of a chamber.
I could manage through the thermoregulation ability of my Enhanced Skin [B], and Kai could endure through his immortality based on aura.
But Kai had suffered a fatal wound from the Lycanthrope.
His immortality kept him from dying, but he needed time to recover his aura.
Therefore, I had no choice but to care for Seraphia myself.
‘Hmm…’
Over the past five days, I’d been deliberating what to do about Seraphia.
There was no need to kill Seraphia right now.
But that didn’t mean I needed to save her either.
Even if she hadn’t awakened as The Frost Lord yet, I had no idea when this might happen again.
I don’t know when, where, how, or why Seraphia might fall into corruption.
If Seraphia awakens as The Frost Lord and simultaneously falls into corruption, then there’s truly no stopping her.
The otherworldly-level power she displayed this time.
Seeing it firsthand made it clear.
It’s a certain defeat.
‘If I just devoured Seraphia right now…’
Then I could use The Frost Lord’s powers.
I wouldn’t have to worry about being consumed by the madness of Predation [S+] like in my past life.
I could leap beyond the Predator of my previous life and reach the rank of Lord in one bound.
And Seraphia would be unconscious anyway.
Kai would be immobilized.
This was the perfect opportunity to devour The Frost Lord through Predation [S+]… but.
◆Seraphia is under the effect of [Curse].
The Frost Curse [P].
This was, as the name suggested, a ‘curse.’
According to my Predator’s Instinct [S], it was a curse with effects like [Physical Weakening], [Frost Induction], [Mental Confusion], and [Sensory Numbness]—a curse so severe that death wouldn’t be surprising.
If I devoured Seraphia through Predation [S+]?
According to the mechanism of Predation [S+], I would ‘absorb’ the curse.
Devouring Seraphia right now through Predation [S+] wasn’t a sound decision.
Above all else.
‘I have no idea what nonsense Ian might pull.’
I had no confidence in handling whatever nonsense Ian would unleash when we eventually met.
Based on Ian’s character, his tantrum wouldn’t be an ordinary one.
‘He’d throw an absolute fit.’
I still hadn’t heard Ian’s answer to the situation.
The reason Ian regretted killing Seraphia.
There had to be a rational explanation, and until I heard it—
‘I need to save her.’
In the end, I couldn’t simply let Seraphia die as she was.
Of course, if Seraphia had immediately awakened as The Frost Lord, I would have killed her on the spot.
‘It doesn’t seem like she’s awakened, though.’
For multiple reasons, I couldn’t leave her to die.
It was better to keep her alive for now.
I could always kill Seraphia after hearing Ian’s regrets.
‘The problem is how to save her….’
The first thing that came to mind was warming Seraphia’s body.
My gaze naturally drifted toward the roaring furnace blazing in the center of the room.
◆The temperature inside the furnace is [1,012 degrees Celsius].
‘Should I throw her in there?’
That was an excellent idea.
If I tossed the ice-cold Seraphia into that scorching, blazing furnace pit, her body would warm up quickly.
I gently lifted Seraphia into my arms.
She weighed as little as a withered leaf.
I was about to throw her into the pit when I hesitated.
“…That won’t work, will it?”
Sensing it wouldn’t work, I laid Seraphia back on the bed.
According to the Predator’s Instinct [S], the thermal energy deficit was occurring within Seraphia’s ‘interior,’ not her ‘exterior.’
So throwing Seraphia into the furnace was out of the question.
“Hmm….”
I fell into thought, pondering how to save Seraphia.
I realized it for the first time.
That Seraphia was afflicted with the Curse of Frost [P].
I had known Seraphia’s body was fragile.
But I hadn’t known it was the Curse of Frost [P].
I had known Seraphia wielded the authority of frost.
But I hadn’t known it was the Curse of Frost [P].
In other words, I had no knowledge of Seraphia’s condition. And information I hadn’t learned couldn’t be known.
A way to restore Seraphia.
Or a way to save her.
Neither existed in my mind.
But now I possessed the Predator’s Instinct [S].
An ability that allowed me to know even unlearned information ‘a priori.’
Human language ability is empirical and learned.
In childhood, one must hear and learn the language of their parents to use language at all.
But breathing is not like that.
A newborn baby, fresh into the world, can breathe without anyone teaching them.
Without learning how to walk from someone, as time passes, one naturally begins to take steps.
This is because such knowledge and information are known a priori.
Within the mother’s womb for ten months, one already acquires and learns the evolutionary process of millions of years.
That is the instinct of the human race and priori knowledge.
The Predator’s Instinct [S], through the authority granted by the Beast Lord, possesses the instinctive knowledge of all life in this world, transcending human instinctive knowledge.
Herbivores like deer, goats, and sheep consume various plants, but they instinctively possess the ability to distinguish poisonous plants.
A mouse seeing a snake for the first time instinctively tries to flee from it.
Some creatures perceive the scent of wet earth and locate the position of streams.
The Beast Lord is a chimera that combines all these living creatures into one.
Therefore, the Predator’s Instinct [S] could be said to be the totality of instinct and priori knowledge possessed by all living beings in this world.
Let me activate the Predator’s Instinct [S].
The genetic information accumulated by countless living creatures analyzed and assessed Seraphia’s condition.
Added to that were my memories from my previous life.
The knowledge and experience I gained while serving as Special Forces Duke Commander.
All that knowledge, information, and experience connected as one, and Seraphia’s condition became clear to me.
Countless pieces of information unfolded, combined, and repeated.
How much time had passed like this?
‘I think I roughly understand now.’
Several medicinal ingredients that could alleviate Seraphia’s symptoms came to mind.
Rare medicinal ingredients commonly called ‘elixirs.’
Among them, distinctive ingredients became apparent—much like how herbivores identify poisonous plants.
But they were quite difficult to obtain.
‘I’ll need to go to the commercial city of Frecce and acquire them.’
I was planning to go on a second expedition anyway.
Though I couldn’t help the legion that Lycanthrope had led, I had devoured [S+] every single monster from the legion that attacked Whitewolf Territory.
That meant an enormous amount of monster meat had accumulated, and all of it was money.
‘I can acquire them while I’m at it.’
It was right then, just as I was about to head to Frecce immediately.
◆You have acquired the derivative skill ‘Find Weakness [U]’!
A notification of acquiring a new skill suddenly appeared before my eyes.

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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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