The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 35: Connection (Part 2)

The distribution of supplies across the entire County was a massive task.
But the operation wrapped up after several hours.

And once everything had been delivered—

◆ The favorability of the territory’s residents toward you has increased significantly! ◆

A translucent message appeared, confirming the rise in resident favorability.

◆ The favorability of the territory’s residents toward you has changed to [Indifferent]!
◆ Individuals in the [Indifferent] state feel neither affection nor animosity toward you.
◆ These individuals won’t care what you do, and unless you take noteworthy action, you won’t earn their favor either.
◆ But be careful! Excessive indifference can turn into ‘disregard’ and breed resentment!

‘Indifferent, huh…’

Favorability has levels:
Hatred < Disgust/Loathing < Anger < Conflict < Indifference < Familiarity < Amicable < Trust < Affection

In other words…

‘Didn’t reach [Trust], huh.’

Then again, that was to be expected.
He hadn’t thought he’d reach [Trust] in one go anyway.

As the quest’s sarcasm showed, his past self had behaved like a real degenerate toward the residents.
But considering they had once been at [Loathing], jumping up three levels was no small feat.
Not to mention, this was only the first distribution.

There were still second and third rounds of distribution to go.
If done right, he might reach [Familiarity]—
With some luck, even [Amicable].

And honestly, he couldn’t have pulled this off alone.

Sure, he had an inventory, but there were still weight limits.
Inventory helped with logistics but couldn’t do the manual labor for him.
In that sense, the help from the merchant group members had been invaluable.

‘They did even better than I expected.’

And it wasn’t just the merchant members.
Even the soldiers dispatched from Castle Whitewolf as escort troops played their roles admirably.

Especially in Frecce—they cleaned up the thugs without being told and quickly carried out orders like extensions of his own limbs.
Whether Kai’s training had been excellent or they were just naturally sharp, the soldiers were nearly elite-level.

‘Well, even in my past life, the Frost troops were a tough bunch.’

The thought brought a sudden surge of anger… but he swallowed it.

It wasn’t their fault.
They only “cut” because they were ordered to from above.

“You guys.”

At his sudden words, the soldiers froze.
Ever since the Ice-Drake subjugation, their attitudes toward him had changed completely.

“Answer me.”
“…Y-You mean us, sir?”
“Who else could I possibly mean?”

The soldiers glanced around, confirmed they were alone, and snapped to attention.

“Sir!!”

Their earlier daze vanished, and they were now tense with discipline.

“Here.”

He held out a plate piled high with perfectly grilled Rex meat.
He’d prepared it in advance while the soldiers were distributing the goods.

Gulp. Slurp.

He could hear their drool from here.
Rex meat was a premium good, sold only to nobles.
Its flavor couldn’t even be compared to regular monster meat.

“You eat it.”

Their eyes went wide. Then came the blinking.

“A-Are you serious…?”
“Of course. After all your hard work, you deserve at least this much.”

Admittedly, there wasn’t a lot of it.
There hadn’t been many Rex in the first place, and most had been sold to nobles.

Still, not all of it had sold yet due to lack of word-of-mouth.
There was enough left to at least satisfy some hunger.

“Ah, um…”
“W-We…”

Yet the soldiers didn’t move.
It looked like they thought this was a test.

Apparently, he’d pulled stunts like that in the past—
Telling them to eat, then flipping out when they did.

Back when he was the notorious disgrace of the House of Whitewolf…
What wouldn’t he have done?

Of course—

…He remembered none of it.

“If you won’t eat it, I’ll throw it all away.”

He picked up the plate as if to toss it, and the soldiers panicked, rushing in.

“N-No, sir!!”
“That’s way too valuable to waste!”
“We’ll eat it! Right now!”

They swarmed the Rex meat, tearing chunks off and stuffing their mouths.

“Whoa!! What is this?!”
“This chewy texture—insane…!”
“It just melts in your mouth!!”

They ate with unwashed hands, dirt under their fingernails, licking every last scrap off their fingers.

‘Anyone watching would think they’d gone without food for days.’

Not for days, maybe, but surely they’d skipped meals.
They’d been that busy.

“Now I get why nobles go crazy for this…”
“This must be what the central region means by ‘rain in a drought’…!!”

Soldiers losing their minds over a single meal.
Watching them like this…

‘Just like the Special Unit guys.’

Memories of his old subordinates came rushing back.

They’d suffered under a lousy commander, most had died in missions, and even the survivors fell in the final battle against the Emperor.

But now that he was back in the past…
The Special Unit members were all still alive.

‘I wonder if they’re doing okay.’

He already planned to reform the Special Unit when the allied forces came together.

‘Might be worth visiting them ahead of time.’

Recruiting them early wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Thankfully, unlike Ian, he had a rough idea of where they were now.

Just as he was lost in thought—

A translucent message suddenly popped up before his eyes.

◆ Serapia’s favorability toward you has reached its maximum!
◆ Favorability level [Trust] has changed!

◆ Error: Serapia cannot reach [Affection] status.
◆ Favorability Block—Older Brother, Family, Taboo.
◆ Unless the block is removed, [Affection] cannot be attained.
◆ Serapia’s favorability remains at [Trust].

‘…What the hell is this now?’

Translatin_Otaku

•