The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 57: Rumors (Part 2)

‘It must’ve been too few individuals to significantly affect the average.’

Still, judging by their faces, they looked like they’d blow all their money in a day.

But that likely wouldn’t happen.
As the saying goes, only those who’ve eaten meat know how to eat meat.

These kids had probably never held that much money in their lives. At best, they’d spend it buying a few things they’d wanted, or gifts they’d wanted to give.

“Lepin, what are you going to do with the money?”
“I’m going to buy a gold ring.”
“A gold ring? Wait, don’t tell me you’re going to propose to Rena?”
“Yup! Once we go back to the County, I’m going to confess to her!”

…Well, so he says.

In any case, I just left them to it.
It was money I’d handed out with no strings attached, and above all, I wasn’t free enough to be worrying over such things.

I still had about 900,000 Gold on hand.

Even just breathing and goofing off from now on, it was enough money to support three generations.

‘Should I try spending a little?’

Naturally, I had no intention of lazing around.

The Free Cities had no absolute rulers like Lords or Monarchs, allowing for a coexistence of many different classes and factions.

From ordinary citizens to merchants, adventurers, mercenaries, mages, and more.
Without a strict class hierarchy, a broad spectrum of social strata existed.

And with them, came a web of complex vested interests.

The City Congress.

The City Congress was the central body governing each Free City, coordinating the tangled interests between them.

It managed the cities’ overall administration, legislation, and budgeting.
In short, it was the heart and brain of the Free Cities.

Which meant that in order to establish a ‘branch office’ in any Free City, one needed the approval of the City Congress.

And among the Free Cities, Frecce was known for its thriving commerce.
It maintained extensive networks with countless kingdoms, cities, and organizations across the continent.

That’s why merchant groups across the land desired a branch in Frecce.

But as usual, the administrative process was extremely demanding.
And on top of that, one couldn’t ignore the territorial pride of the existing Frecce Merchant Guild.

Like plucking stars from the sky.

…Maybe not quite that hard, but establishing a branch in Frecce was still a formidable task.

However—

That wasn’t much of a problem for me.

“Our Merchant Guild has unanimously agreed to support the Predator Merchant Group’s branch proposal.”

This came from Adelon, an executive of the Merchant Guild.
In other words, the same Merchant Guild known for gatekeeping was now in support.
Passing it through the Congress was now just a matter of time.

And to top it off—

“As instructed, we’ve stuffed the mouths of the Councilmen with gold!”

Those esteemed members of the Congress.
I’d distributed “lobbying funds” under the table, and even tossed in some Rex meat as a bonus.

“Authorization should come through any day now!”

Everything was proceeding flawlessly.
The spending had been considerable, but I could always earn more.

With this, I now held influence not just in Frecce, but in any of the Free Cities.

Effectively, I had the entire Free Cities at my back.
Except for one place—Baorès, the Lawless City.

“You did well. This was a great help.”
“Oh, I’m honored to be of service, milord!”

Adelon bowed his head as if it were no big deal.
With the Merchant Guild behind me, there were no obstacles.

But getting branch approval wasn’t the end.
This was just the beginning.

‘I’ll need to appoint a Branch Manager.’

As the top figure of the branch, I had to place someone I could trust.
Skill was important, but trust was everything.

‘I was originally going to choose someone from the Special Ops Unit…’

Those were agents who had carried out special warfare missions alongside me—handling intel gathering, report writing, dissemination, and even spy work.
Any of them would be reliable in a role like Branch Manager.

But then there was Adelon, who now stood before me, bowing deeply.

As I watched him…

‘His work is better than expected.’

A sudden curiosity arose.
I activated Predatory Instincts [S] on Adelon, and a stream of data appeared before me.

====

Name: Adelon
Category: Mammalia, Human
Gender: Male
Age: 36
Trait: Awareness [R]

He was older than he looked.
Almost twice my age—but when factoring in my past life, we were about even.

And just as I suspected, one trait stood out.

‘Awareness?’

I activated Predatory Instincts [S] again, and detailed info on [Awareness] appeared.

◆ Awareness [R]
: The user can rapidly and accurately discern emotions, intentions, atmospheres, and situations, and respond accordingly.
This allows them to detect subtle changes in mood, unspoken information, facial expressions, gestures, tone of voice, etc., and take appropriate action in real time.

Based on the description, it was an excellent ability.
The grade was [R]—Rare.

Just one step below the Unique [U] grade.
Not low by any means.

As the name suggested, [R] abilities were genuinely rare.

Maybe not a genius, but definitely gifted.

It only seemed ordinary because I’d recently dealt with absurd monsters like Serapia and Kai.
But even [R] rank talents were uncommon.

And he had decades of experience managing a merchant group in Frecce.

With proper grooming, he could become a highly useful asset.
More importantly, Adelon’s Affinity toward me was at [Close].

‘If I can raise that to [Trust], he’d be the perfect candidate.’

If I could push his Affinity up one more level, betrayal would be unlikely.

Just as I was seriously considering Adelon—

◆ Sub Quest [I Object to This Marriage!] has arrived. ◆

A translucent prompt suddenly appeared.

As usual, it was sudden—borderline nonsensical.
But this time, it wasn’t a “Random” quest.

More importantly—

‘“I Object to This Marriage!”?’

What kind of quest name was that?

Marriage? What marriage?

Wait, was this about Adelon…?

“Just asking, but are you married?”
“…Huh? Oh, no. I’ve been too busy making ends meet—I’ve never even dated….”

Adelon scratched his head awkwardly.

So it wasn’t about Adelon’s marriage.

Fortunately (or unfortunately?), the quest details popped up to clear my confusion.

== [I Object to This Marriage!] ==
[Objective] – Stop Serapia’s marriage
[Reward] – Increase in Kai’s Affinity
[Failure Penalty] – Awakening of the

…What the hell is this now?

Translatin_Otaku

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