The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 36: Love and Hate (1) (Part 2)

Therefore, he couldn’t wield either aura or mana force.

Meaning Adrian shouldn’t be able to use magic.
Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that he can’t use it.

‘Then what the hell was that…?’

Of course, it wasn’t certain that Adrian had actually used magic.
To the soldiers, it merely looked like magic. Whether it truly was or not remained unclear.

But what was undeniable was that Adrian had performed something miraculous—
something akin to magic.

Just like…

Back when he subdued the Ice Drake.

Adrian, who had blocked the Ice Breath head-on.
By doing so, he baited the Ice Drake into letting its guard down and landed the final blow.

‘There’s something…’

There was definitely something special about Adrian.
What exactly that was, no one knew.

But something magical had awakened within Adrian.

In the one week since Adrian left the House of Whitewolf,
he must have awakened something that had been dormant within him.

That would also explain how he removed the madness embedded in monster meat.

Something no one else in the history of the continent had ever accomplished.
Humanity had discovered how to convert mana into usable energy through countless years of research—

—but they had never found a way to remove the madness dwelling in monsters.
They had definitively concluded: “It’s impossible.”

‘A power that turns the impossible into possible…’

That’s how Kai defined the force lying dormant within Adrian.
Just look.

Look at the County’s lands, now full of vitality and life.

The chimney smoke rising from every home.
The savory scent gently wafting through the air.
And the children who no longer went hungry.

What if—

What if Adrian had never existed?
What if Serapia had accepted Viscount Benneron’s proposal instead?

Would the soldiers, the people of the territory—no, the entire County—have ever come to know what “hope” looked like?
Would we have seen Serapia’s tears of happiness?

……No.

Quite the opposite.

The County would have been overflowing with despair, not hope.
Tears of sorrow would have stained Serapia’s cheeks—not joy.

It was Adrian who made all of this happen.
He was the one who protected it.
Serapia, and the entirety of the House of Whitewolf.

Kai quietly closed his eyes.

Roughly a month and a half remained until the royal decree would be issued.

Kai had planned to kill Adrian after that.
Once Serapia was officially granted the title of Lord, he would eliminate Adrian.

But now…

He found himself wondering if that might no longer be necessary.
Maybe the County needed Adrian after all.

Moreover—if it was for Serapia’s protection…
Perhaps the one who could truly protect her wasn’t Kai.

But Adrian.

And so, even if only for a fleeting moment—

—Kai! Look at this! Aren’t I amazing?!
—Please be careful! You might hurt yourself like that!

He allowed himself to wonder if things could return to how they used to be with Adrian—
even just for a moment.

“……”

Kai couldn’t help but think that.

A translucent notification suddenly floated up in front of me.

◆ Kai’s Favorability toward you has entered a [Conflict] state!
◆ A person in [Conflict] status frequently clashes with your opinions, actions, emotions, and goals.
◆ This individual is highly likely to create friction during interactions with you.

◆ But don’t worry!
◆ Love and hate are two sides of the same coin!

◆ If you resolve the conflict smoothly, the relational bond with that person will deepen, potentially evolving into a more dynamic and growth-oriented relationship!
◆ Remember: a relationship without conflict is static, bland, and conservative!

Now even Kai’s favorability had risen, following Serapia.
Granted, Kai’s was still stuck at [Conflict]—

—but considering he had previously been at [Hatred], it was a jump of two whole levels.

In other words—

“Have they lost it?”

Something must have snapped in their heads while I was off doing business with the Frecce Merchant Group.
That was the only explanation.

“Wait… was there something wrong with the Ice Drake meat?”

Given that the beast’s genetic makeup was heavily imprinted with dragon DNA, it wasn’t out of the question.

Either way.

“Useless.”

I waved my hand to dismiss the message and scattered it.

My own favorability toward Kai was still at [Hatred].
I had a clear and unshakable will: I would kill and destroy Kai, no matter what.
So I didn’t give a damn about his favorability.

If anything, I’d care about the favorability of the people in the territory.
Kai’s or Serapia’s? Not my problem.

It’s more accurate to say I didn’t have time to care.

“Time to go hunting.”

I had to evolve my abilities and grow stronger, fast.
I needed to rack up EXP and make full use of Ian’s powers.

And stock up on merchandise for the next merchant run.

I didn’t have time to worry about favorability.
Nor did I have time to dawdle.

The longer I dawdled, the longer it would take for the name of the Predator Merchant Group to spread.
And that would delay Ian from finding out I was in the County of Whitewolf.
That, in turn, would delay the Emperor’s reaction.

Ten years.
Everything needed to be ready within that window.

On that note—

“They say the monster population is declining…”

The decreasing number of monsters in the Snowy Mountains was a bit concerning.

No species has infinite numbers.
Monsters in the Snowy Mountains survived harsh conditions, but that didn’t mean their population was large.

It wasn’t a major issue yet—

“But the fact that I have to hunt them myself is the real problem.”

This kind of supply method had clear limits.

The Predator Merchant Group wasn’t just a tool for finding Ian.
It was meant to become the primary financial backbone of the Allied Forces.
My plan was to turn it into the greatest merchant guild on the continent.

That’s why I thought hard—and found a potential solution.

Ironically, the clue came from my past life.
From none other than the Emperor.

“If it’s Ice Trolls…”

Using the regeneration ability of Ice Trolls.

Ice Trolls could regrow their limbs in no time. Not just their arms and legs—even belly fat or whatever part you hacked off would regenerate immediately.

If I could make good use of that ability—

I could have an infinite supply of monster meat.

“Let’s go catch one.”

I headed straight for the Snowy Mountains.