The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 94: The Archmage of the Allied Forces (1) (Part 2)

After thoroughly praising Adelon—

“Adelon, can you look into the Chair Mage who took this commission?”

“Of course. What exactly would you like me to find out?”

“Past history, reputation in the Tower, recent activities—everything you can.”

“Yes! I’ll investigate swiftly and thoroughly!”

“Thanks.”

I made sure to give him a generous bonus for the task.

Though technically, Adelon wasn’t even one of my people.

That’s why the term “bonus” didn’t quite fit, but still.

“First, loyalty to money! Second, loyalty to Lord Adrian!!!”

Leaving Adelon behind—who had bent his waist in a perfect 180-degree bow—I stepped out of the shop.

And just then—

“What was that about?”

Kai, who had followed me out, suddenly asked.

“What now?”

“That woman from earlier.”

“You mean Commander Iliana—no, Lady Iliana?”

At that, Kai’s brow twitched.

“Your tone with her was completely different from usual.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“I’m not saying it’s a problem, but perhaps…”

Kai looked at me with a meaningful gaze—

“Do you like her?”

And started spouting nonsense.

“That’s your type?”

What the hell is he going on about?

“Then what about the Saintess?”
“…What?”
“I thought you were in a relationship with the Saintess?”

This guy wasn’t using imagination—he was using lunacy.

“That’s not it.”
“So the Saintess isn’t your type?”
“I said that’s not it! And since when are we talking about types?”
“It’s just… until now, you’ve flirted with all kinds of women. I thought as long as they were female, you were interested.”

“What the—”

…Ah. I suppose it hasn’t been long since he knew me during my debauched days.

“But come to think of it, you’ve never actually slept with any woman.”

Well, that’s true.

Honestly, I don’t remember much of my wayward days. So I had no memory of hitting on every woman like Kai claimed.

Even so, I did know the reason why I’d never slept with anyone.

It was because of my father.

As a count of noble lineage, my father placed great importance on bloodlines. In other words, he never permitted the heir to carelessly lie with just any woman.

Gambling and hedonism? That, he tolerated. Because it was “in the blood.”

But because it was “in the blood,” he absolutely could not accept the idea of mixing it with just anyone else.

Under his influence, I might have lived a life of indulgence—but I never once slept with a woman.

To avoid any unnecessary sexual entanglements, I even refused to be bathed by handmaidens.

“I always wondered why… so it was because none of them were your type?”

Unaware of my circumstances, Kai was drawing wild conclusions.

“Shy and introverted personality. Petite and small build. Cute appearance. I definitely haven’t seen a woman like that in the county.”

What nonsense is he spewing now?

He must not know Iliana well.

Iliana is not shy or introverted.

There’s no way the commander of the Mage Corps—the strongest force in the Allied Army—could be shy or introverted.

But…

The Iliana I saw earlier was quite shy and introverted.

‘It was strange.’

Completely different from the Iliana I remembered.

Considering how Isolde was exactly the same as in my past life, it was definitely odd.

“It’s not like that.”
“Are you sure?”
“Not every interest in a woman has to be romantic, you know.”
“Then what kind of interest is it?”
“You don’t need to know.”

Kai once again made that meaningful face.

“Normally, when a man shows interest in a woman—”
“By that logic, you and Serapia must be in that kind of relationship too, right?”
“…I misspoke.”

Kai apologized immediately, as if realizing his mistake.

But this guy really is something.

I still can’t figure him out.

Honestly, sometimes I wondered if he had feelings for Serapia.

How else could he be that loyal to her?

There’s no reason for him to be so obsessed otherwise.

So I figured maybe his loyalty stemmed from romantic feelings—

‘But maybe not.’

At least from what I could see now, that didn’t seem to be the case.

Unless, of course, Kai was hiding his feelings extremely well.

Or… he didn’t realize what he was feeling himself.

But who the hell can understand what goes on inside a crazy guy’s head?

If I could figure it out, wouldn’t that make me crazy too?

“Enough with the nonsense.”

I handed Kai the healing potion.

“As you saw, I’ve still got things to do here in Frecce. You take the potion to the County.”

Kai accepted the potion like it was more precious than life itself.

But honestly? He wouldn’t even treat his own life that preciously.

“And once you get to the County, you’ll see new recruits you don’t recognize.”
“New recruits…?”
“You’ll understand when you see them. No point explaining—you wouldn’t believe me anyway.”
“I’ll reserve judgment until I hear you out—”
“Just go. And you’re in charge of their basic military training.”

Kai was the chief knight of the House of Whitewolf.

Training soldiers and leading operations were also part of his job.

And with his loyalty and skill in chivalry, he was the most capable madman I had.

The excellent combat prowess the Frost Legion soldiers had in my past life?

All thanks to Kai’s training.

That’s why I could entrust him with the training of the Visters’ recruits.

‘Besides, it’s not like I can kill Kai anymore.’

Sure, [Undying Reliance (E)] was part of the reason—but more importantly, Serapia’s situation had become complicated.

If Ian was drawing aggro from the Emperor…?

It might be a long time before I could hear Ian’s regrets.

Of course, I could be wrong. It was all just a theory on my part.

In other words, things were currently “uncertain.”

So I might as well use Kai while I could.

Whether he’d obey or not was another matter, though.

Maybe because his favorability was at [Trust]?

“Understood.”

Kai didn’t complain at all.

The most popular Predator restaurant in Frecce.

Normally, it was always bustling with customers—but not today.

Because Adrian had closed it for the day and sent everyone away.

And the noble clientele had thrown a fit about it.

But Adrian didn’t budge.

As if today was a day meant only for Iliana, he kicked everyone else out.

‘Why… why is he doing all this…?’

Iliana hadn’t expected such a grand welcome.

She’d only created a healing potion as part of an alchemy commission—that was it.

And she’d been more than fairly compensated. Overpaid, really.

There was no need or reason for Adrian to treat her like this.

They were strangers, after all.

‘And how does he even know my name?’

She was sure she hadn’t introduced herself first.

Which raised another question—

‘Why does he keep looking at me…?’

Why was Adrian staring at her so much?

And why were his red eyes so intense?

‘I’m scared…’

Was he planning to eat her?

Or use her as a test subject?

Was she going to be kidnapped without a trace…?

Maybe…

Maybe Adrian used monster meat to lure people in and kidnap them.

Maybe the dungeons under the House of Whitewolf were filled with abducted victims, tortured and experimented on daily.

Like fusing humans and monsters to make grotesque creatures.

Or using forbidden potions to turn people into monsters.

Or swapping the souls of humans and monsters!

Maybe even the monster meat was a product of such experiments!

Now that she thought about it—wasn’t Adrian famous for being a “degenerate”?!!

Had she foolishly wandered into a dragon’s lair out of curiosity?!

‘C-Calm down. Calm…!’

Iliana placed her trembling hands on her chest, trying to steady her breathing.

They say even if you get caught by a dragon, you can survive if you stay sane.

Exhaling slowly—

She began calculating 63,455 escape scenarios in her head—

‘If push comes to shove, I’ll use teleportation magic—ah! I didn’t preset coordinates for Frecce…! Dimensional gates require too much mana, and if they get interrupted mid-cast it’s even more dangerous…!’

Every escape plan failed in Iliana’s mind.

Translatin_Otaku

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