The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 73: Question (Part 2)

It became clear why a strange stillness had lingered once they left the mansion.

“Avarus perished—and with him, the source of their power vanished.”
“Then you mean…?”
“Just like the mansion guards, the residents weren’t human. Avarus turned the entire Viscountcy into homunculi, bending them to his will.”

Adrian wasn’t lying. The eyes of the villagers were lifeless. Their skin had turned a pallid, ashen gray—void of vitality.

Had they been stopped in the middle of their work?
Some stood still with tools still clutched in their hands.

In the streets, there were people frozen mid-conversation.
Children paused while eating fruit.
Fruits lay shattered on the ground where they had dropped.

The children’s innocent smiles were frozen on their faces, but behind them—no emotion could be felt.

What remained here were no longer living beings, only empty shells.

One by one, Adrian began to store away the motionless villagers.
Men, women, children, the elderly.
The process continued until dusk fell.

Adrian spent an entire day collecting all the residents of the Viscountcy.

One would expect him to return to the County, but instead—

He made his way beyond the Viscountcy, toward a desolate plain. And there, he laid out the villagers he had carefully stored, lining them up in a row.

Their bodies, dulled to a heavy shade of gray.

Kai knew they weren’t truly human anymore, but the weight on his heart remained.

Which is why he couldn’t understand Adrian’s intentions.

After a long time, Adrian finished laying out the villagers and bent his knees slightly to conjure the dragon’s flame.

Whoosh—!

The fire surged violently, melting the frozen earth—and engulfing the villagers in flames.

“Why are you…?”

Kai’s eyes filled with confusion.
Why take such pains to preserve them, only to burn them?

As though reading his thoughts—

“Homunculus transmutation requires human DNA.”

Adrian’s voice rang out.

His left arm had turned to ash.
And he made no attempt to regenerate it.

“It means every one of them… was once human.”

It was as if he was sharing in their pain and sorrow.

Only then did Kai understand why Adrian had collected the villagers.

It wasn’t to break them down into magical components.
It wasn’t to sell them for profit.

It was a funeral.

Adrian didn’t see them as mere homunculi.
He saw them as people—individuals who were wrongfully sacrificed.

The flame quickly devoured the entire field of villagers.
As the fire blazed behind him, Adrian spoke.

“Kai, what do you think a soldier is?”

A soldier.
One sanctioned to use force.
Someone who pledges loyalty and serves their nation.

Though soldiers are paid, it is their loyalty and devotion that define them.
Without it, one is merely a mercenary.

“To me, a soldier is someone who runs the other way.”

But Adrian’s definition was different.

“A knight or warrior who runs toward danger while others flee.”
“…”
“A mother who dives into fire to save her child. A father who leaves the comfort of home at dawn for his family.”
“…”
“An adventurer who turns away from treasure for the sake of a comrade’s survival. A mercenary who walks into a battlefield to protect his own life.”
“…”
“A king who steps down from the throne for his people. A clown who swallows his tears to make others smile.”
“…”
“Those who have something they must protect—or wish to protect—and are willing to throw away their lives or pride for it.”
“…”
“To me, they’re all soldiers.”
“…”
“And the pride of a soldier doesn’t come from winning a war. It comes from protecting. At least, that’s what I believe.”

And then—

“The ones I wanted to protect… were people like this. Innocent lives.”

Lives lost to Avarus.
Sacrificed residents of the Viscountcy, burning in the fire.

Adrian clenched his fist tightly.

The enemy commander, Avarus, had been destroyed.
The County had suffered no damage.
And they had gained immense wealth from the spoils of war.

If this ambush could be called a war, then it was an overwhelming victory.

Yet—

Crack—!

Adrian was angry.

They weren’t County residents. He hadn’t even known their names or faces.
And it wasn’t his fault.

Still, Adrian was angry.

He… wasn’t light.

Adrian, who often seemed brutal and unrestrained.
At times, careless or indifferent.

But his heart—and his convictions—were never light.

The funeral was small, quiet, and unadorned.

Adrian, standing at its head, wasn’t grand or majestic.

But—

Kai felt a shift in his emotions toward Adrian.

He recalled Adrian being the first to charge at the monster army that attacked the County.
The decisive moment he threw his body forward to protect the territory.

The unyielding determination Adrian showed in the Infinite Labyrinth.
His will that refused to surrender, no matter what.

And now, his sincerity and dedication for the fallen.

Unknowingly, Kai’s perception of Adrian was changing.

No longer hatred—but something closer to trust.
Though a faint trace of hatred still lingered like an echo.

The turmoil in his heart churned deep within.

Kai still couldn’t understand Adrian.
And perhaps… he never would.

But—

The Adrian standing before him now—

Elicited something beyond understanding:
A sense of awe and respect.

The fire only extinguished after it had cremated the villagers.

What remained was a powder-white ash, piling up like fresh snow.

That was all that was left to prove they had ever been there.

The sky had already turned to dusk.

A passing glacial wind lifted the ash into the air, scattering it like a silent farewell.

Adrian finally began to walk.

But he didn’t head toward the County.

“Where are you going?”

Kai asked—but Adrian didn’t look back.

He simply walked, one step at a time—

“To the outlaw city of Baoless.”

Kai saw, in that moment, the calm and resolute look in Adrian’s eyes—deeper than ever before.

Translatin_Otaku

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