The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 28: Variable (1) (Part 2)

“A territory quest?”

…What the hell is this?

“Territory funds… Is that what you’re asking for?”

Chief Steward Bernard blinked in disbelief.

And no wonder—
Adrian had just suddenly shown up, asking for the territory’s funds.

“Right. I think 10,000 gold should do it.”

(T/N: Bernard’s POV)

I had no idea how to respond to Adrian’s bold demand for ten thousand gold.

10,000 gold was a massive sum.
Considering that a family of four in the County of Whitewolf lived off about 200 gold a month, it was a fortune.

“That’s impossible.”

No matter what, I couldn’t allow it.

Winter was coming soon.
And 10,000 gold was money as precious as the lives of the people of the County. It wasn’t something that could be spent lightly—nor should it.

“What if I order it under the authority of the Young Lord?”
“Even so, I must refuse.”

Of course, by royal decree, land inheritance defaulted to the eldest legitimate child.
In cases where a will stated otherwise, a formal petition had to be filed with the royal court.

Only after the court verified the will’s authenticity would it take legal effect.

Until then, the rightful heir of the family retained the title of Young Lord.

But Bernard was the Chief Steward of the House of Whitewolf.
A role of critical importance—managing finances, governing the territory, and acting as regent in the lord’s absence.

“As regent, I hereby override the Young Lord’s authority.”

Even if Adrian technically held the title, Bernard had the power to ignore it.

Bernard’s unyielding stance.

‘I figured this might happen…’

It was because the image of the house’s disgraceful brat hadn’t fully worn off yet.
A decade of playing the fool wasn’t going to be erased in a month.

Still, Bernard was even more unrelenting than I expected.

Honestly, I wanted to ignore him completely.
If it were up to me, I’d have used force to squeeze the funds out.

Even if I put the newly triggered territory quest aside, I had to establish a merchant Group to find Ian.

But violence wasn’t an option.

If I tried?

That damned Kai wouldn’t sit still.
And it wasn’t just Kai.

The biggest problem was the royal family. They wouldn’t overlook it.

The Chief Steward held the second-highest authority after the lord.
Especially in emergencies like this, after my father’s death, he actually had more power than I did.

Because of the significance of this role, most stewards were of noble birth—
Specifically, younger sons who couldn’t inherit family land due to being born after the heir.

There was nothing left for them in their family estates.
The land would inevitably go to the eldest, and staying would only make them a threat.

So, they left when the time came.

The talented ones rose through the royal knights.
Others served as stewards for other noble houses.

Though weak in body, nobles were well-educated.

And if they were lucky enough to serve a Grand Lord—especially one at a count’s level or higher—they could earn a title themselves.
For many younger noble sons, becoming a Chief Steward was the road to success.

Serve like a servant—but serve under a Grand Lord.
That saying didn’t come from nowhere.

In that sense, Bernard was rather unlucky.

Despite decades of loyalty to a Count’s house, he hadn’t even been granted the title of Baron.
Yet he stayed.

So maybe unlucky wasn’t the right word—maybe “foolish” was more accurate.

Anyway, if I tried to intimidate Bernard, now the acting lord, the royal court would brand me a traitor and issue a kill order.

And honestly, I didn’t really care about a kill order…

‘But it’d throw a wrench in founding the Group.’

Being labeled as a “traitorous merchant Group” would be a serious problem.

Above all…

‘I can’t afford to draw the royal family’s ire.’

There was someone in the royal court I had to recruit into the Allied Forces.

Leon.
The one who would later be known as the “Lion of the Allied Forces.”
He stood shoulder-to-shoulder with me—Predator of the Allied Forces—on the battlefield.

He may not have been called a hero, but Leon was every bit as vital to the war effort.

So I couldn’t threaten Bernard. I had to persuade him.

And in a way, Bernard was just like Kai.
Stubborn to the bone.

But unlike Kai, Bernard’s loyalty wasn’t the reason he stayed.
He was a man of principle—one who followed rules above all else.

Which meant, if I cited the proper legal basis—

“Inheritance of personal assets isn’t under the Chief Steward’s jurisdiction, is it?”

—I could turn Bernard into a pawn.

As far as I knew, my father had quite a bit in personal assets.
And he left all of it to Serapia.

There was a reason I stormed out of the house in my past life.
Father didn’t leave me a single coin.

But since it was all the lord’s personal wealth, Bernard had no say in the matter.

This was a dispute between me and Serapia.

And that dispute… was already resolved.

“Serapia entrusted all of Father’s personal assets to me.”

I took a neatly folded sheet of paper from my coat and handed it to Bernard. He accepted it with care—

“Th-this is…!!”

And moments later, his eyes widened in shock.

Of course they did—it was the signed document Serapia gave me earlier.

It included a formal declaration renouncing her claim to both the title of lord and head of the house, and all inheritance rights.

‘Good thing I held onto it.’

Even though I had no desire to be lord or family head, this was exactly why I kept the document.

“Are you saying… Lady Serapia truly renounced all claims…?”
“It’s written right there, isn’t it?”

Bernard remained silent.
There was no way he could misread what was written.

Naturally, I hadn’t forged it.

Serapia had written the document herself, and even stamped it with her own seal.

“As the rightful heir, I’ll be claiming Father’s personal assets.”

Naturally—

“……”

Bernard could neither refute nor stop me.

Translatin_Otaku

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