The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 90: The Stirring Continent (1) (Part 2)

The matter of Baoless was, at last, nearing its conclusion.

Roughly thirty million gold had been spent relocating the poor of Baoless and supplying them with aid—but that was fine.

Thirty million gold was a massive sum, even on the scale of a kingdom.
It was more than what had been stolen from Avarus’s secret vault.

In other words, even the Holy Kingdom would’ve hesitated to spend such a budget.
And yet, Isolde had boldly declared that she would personally secure a settlement for the poor within the Holy Kingdom.

I couldn’t burden her with the cost on top of everything else—so I covered it all myself.

Even so, I had plenty of gold in my inventory from the black market raid.
This amount was more than enough to establish a united army—more than enough.

‘I can just earn more later.’

Money could always be earned again.
That was why I intended to keep the Predator Merchant Group running.

Of course, if Ian was drawing the Emperor’s attention, then keeping the Predator Group active might not be wise.

But it wasn’t certain that was the case.

Ian might not even know I had regressed to the past.
Meaning—I had to account for both possibilities. So keeping the Predator Group going was the safer move.

More than anything, the Predator Group wasn’t just about finding Ian.

In fact—

The only reason I’d met Isolde in the first place was thanks to the Predator Group’s monster meat.

“When will the people from the Holy Kingdom arrive?”
“I’ve received word that the Azure Silver Knights will arrive soon.”

Came Isolde’s answer.
I tilted my head at that.

The Azure Silver Knights.
The Holy Kingdom’s most elite order of knights.

They were a special ops unit tasked with eliminating hostile threats to the Holy Kingdom—both internal and external.

Which meant they didn’t move lightly.
They only mobilized for matters as serious as external invasions or internal rebellion.

And strictly speaking, the Baoless incident didn’t warrant the mobilization of the Azure Silver Knights.

‘Did Isolde give the order herself?’

…That explained things well enough.

‘Then that means he might come.’

Erdan Spellhart.
Commander of the Azure Silver Knights.
To put it simply—he was the Paladin version of Kai.

If Kai was the lunatic obsessed with Serapia,
Then Erdan was the lunatic obsessed with Isolde.

If the Imperial Army had Kai, the Allied Forces had Erdan.

To be fair, there was a clear difference between them—loyalty vs. fanaticism.
But both were completely out of their minds, no doubt about that.

‘I should leave quickly.’

If I ran into him, who knew what kind of headache he’d bring?
He was the type to lose all reason the moment something involved Isolde.

The same lunatic who even defied Ian once.

Avoiding lunatics was always the best policy.

“Then I’ll leave the rest to you, Lady Isolde.”

At any rate, I had done all I could here.

Now, it was time to take the Visters back to the County, work them like dogs, rehabilitate them, and train them.
If I was going to lay the foundation of the Allied Forces in Ian’s place, I couldn’t afford to waste any more time in Baoless.

Just as I turned to say goodbye to Isolde—

“……”

She didn’t say a single word.

She simply stared at me without saying a word.

Even with [Find Weakness], I couldn’t read her emotions. Then and now, she remained a woman whose thoughts were impossible to grasp.

Not that I had planned to say goodbye anyway.
Getting more involved with Isolde here wouldn’t be wise.

By now, the incident in Baoless must have spread across the continent.

In other words, Isolde and the Holy Kingdom were under the spotlight—and if I were to get entangled with her now, my presence would inevitably be exposed.

Right now, I had to remain hidden and focus on growing my strength and influence.
Isolde was once the greatest asset I hoped to draw into the alliance—but no longer.

Besides, this wasn’t the end of our connection anyway.

With that thought, I turned away without hesitation—

“Wait.”

Isolde suddenly called out to stop me?

Adrian stopped in his tracks.
Slowly, he turned his head—

“I owe you my life.”

Isolde spoke without hesitation.

“If there’s anything I can do, I’ll do it.”

“You’ve already helped me more than enough.”

But Adrian showed no real reaction.
He didn’t seem to expect—or want—anything more from her.

Still, Isolde didn’t want to leave it at that.
Perhaps… she didn’t want things with Adrian to end here.

“My life alone isn’t enough to repay you.”

She spoke with firm resolve—
And finally, Adrian let out a small sigh, as if giving in.

“If you truly mean that… that you’ll do anything you can…”

“I do.”

“Then can I believe you?”

“I swear it, before the Lord.”

“In that case…”

Adrian stepped forward, closing the distance between them.

Seen up close, Adrian’s expression was deeply meaningful.
Was he about to ask something serious?

His red eyes locked onto hers—

“Sometimes… you need to think about yourself too, Lady Isolde.”

Her golden eyes widened in surprise.

“No matter how strong you are, if you keep trying to carry everything alone, you’ll eventually break.”

“……”

“If you keep forcing yourself to hold too many colors, you’ll end up stained in black.”

Adrian’s small hands gently tapped her shoulders.

“Sometimes, let go of the weight on these shoulders.”

For some reason, Isolde felt lighter.

“Sleep in. Laugh in the breeze. Stare at the birds flying through the sky and waste a bit of time doing nothing.
That’s not a waste of time at all.”

“……”

“I’ll check next time we meet. Don’t forget that promise.”

With that, Adrian turned and walked away.

Honestly?

‘I thought she was going to ask how I knew about Divine Ascension.’

I’d brushed it off at the black market, but I had no real excuse if pressed.
I was seriously nervous about it—but luckily, that wasn’t the issue.

Still, there’s no telling when Isolde might bring it up again.
So I was trying to get away quickly when—

“Wait.”

Once again, Isolde called out to me.

‘…Damn it.’

Should I pretend I didn’t hear her?
But my body had already flinched.

With no choice, I stopped and turned.
Isolde was staring at me intently.

She clearly had something to say.
I waited, uneasy, as her topaz-like eyes sparkled.

“When we meet again… may I call you Adrian?”

“Whatever feels comfortable.”

…Is that all?

I sighed in relief.

Now that she mentioned it, back when we were part of the Allied Forces, she’d just called me “you” or “hey.”

What did she say the first time we met again?
Ah, right. Something about being a beast.

She used to hate me for ripping out monster hearts and eating them.
So yeah, we didn’t exactly get along back then.

Anyway, just calling me by name isn’t a big deal.
I turned back around, thinking nothing of it—

◆ Isolde’s Affection toward you has increased!!

A system message popped up out of nowhere.

◆ Isolde’s Affection toward you has reached [Close] status!
◆ A [Close] status means the person holds basic affection toward you.

◆ The individual will begin prioritizing your needs over their own and show concern for your words and actions.
◆ However, this bond still requires consistent attention and care. If neglected, Affection can drop easily.

Out of nowhere, I’d reached [Close] status with Isolde.
It wasn’t that high—just above [Indifferent]—but still…

‘Isolde?’

But the fact that it was her changed everything.

She was someone who believed she had to embrace the entire world.
Even Ian, the Hero, was someone she felt she had to accept.
Precisely because of that, she never showed affection toward anyone.

Maybe that’s why…

◆ Hidden Quest [I Will Steal Her Away] has begun.

The conditions to unlock a Hidden Quest had been met.
But the title of the quest… felt ominous.

==[I Will Steal Her Away]==
[Objective] – Kiss Isolde!
[Reward] – Aaang~♥
[Failure Penalty] – None

…Is this quest insane?

Translatin_Otaku