The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 98: End of a Long Winter (2) (Part 1)

Adelon was seething with rage at Craven’s tyranny.

His heavy, angry breaths showed no sign of calming down.

“The Magic Tower is supposed to be a sanctuary for learning and researching magic! Especially the Langrid Magic Tower!”

The Langrid Magic Tower, founded by the first mage, Arcanis Lilseyn,
was originally built to provide an environment where anyone could freely study and create magic.

But with the passage of time,
Arcanis’s pure aspiration had been forgotten.

Those who were meant to dedicate themselves to the truth of the world now monopolized knowledge for personal gain.
They colluded with power.
They formed an exclusive privileged class and deprived other mages of opportunities.

It’s not like I didn’t know all that.

‘Still, I didn’t expect it to be this bad.’

I hadn’t expected the corruption to run this deep.
The only Magic Tower I’d experienced firsthand was the Allied Army’s Mage Command.
The one where Iliana Segretus served as Commander—it was practically the only Magic Tower on the continent at the time.

Anyone in the Allied Army who had the will to learn could enlist, and knowledge about the truth was open to all.

That’s why the Mage Command’s slogan had been: “Seeking truth at the edge of the battlefield.”

So I had assumed that all the Magic Towers on the continent were like that.
But I was wrong.
Langrid was deeply corrupt now.

Maybe that’s why Iliana had exercised such tight control over the Mage Command—so as not to repeat the corruption of Langrid.

“Still… it seems they didn’t touch Lady Iliana.”

Adelon spoke as if Craven were trash, albeit salvageable trash.
But trash was still trash.

‘I’ll have to take out the garbage.’

Craven, the Tower’s chair Mage, had to be dealt with.
I couldn’t allow Iliana to remain under someone like him.

But—

‘It’s too risky for me to do it directly.’

Unlike Viscount Benneron’s territory, the Langrid Magic Tower was hard to strike.
To be blunt, assassinating Craven was practically impossible.

The security of the continent’s greatest Magic Tower was no joke.
Nor was the authority of a Chair Mage something to be taken lightly.

Even if he was a piece of trash, he was still a Chair Mage.
That title alone meant he couldn’t be underestimated.

Let’s say I somehow managed to assassinate him.

There was no guarantee my identity would remain hidden.

And if it were revealed, I wouldn’t be able to just sweep it under the rug like I did with Viscount Benneron.
Not that Benneron’s case had been swept away—
He was still being thoroughly investigated by the royal family.

Langrid would be no different.
They’d investigate the assassination of a Chair Mage thoroughly.
And mages conduct investigations more thoroughly than one might think.

So, direct assassination was out of the question.

Which meant—

There was only one option.

Thud—!

I pulled out a large chest from my inventory and placed it on the counter.

“5,000 platinum coins. That’s five million gold.”

“H-Hiiiiieeek?!”

Adelon jumped in shock like he’d seen a ghost.
The value of five million gold…
There was no way a merchant guild executive like Adelon didn’t understand what that meant.

“Use this money to establish a ghost merchant group and make contact with Craven.”

“A backdoor operation…?!”

“Exactly. Start gathering evidence—anything tied to Craven’s corruption.”

But that alone wouldn’t be enough.

Rotten men always cover for each other, and there were likely plenty of such men surrounding Craven within the Tower.
Just the evidence of corruption wouldn’t be enough to bring him down.

Thunk—!

I took out another chest filled with 10,000 platinum coins—
Ten million gold.

“Use this to collaborate with the Mage Association and bribe Langrid’s elder council.”

“Y-You mean…!”

“First, politically isolate Craven from within the Tower. Then—”

I wasn’t planning to stop there.

The root problem was Langrid’s corruption.
It wasn’t just about Craven.

To let Iliana live in peace, free of stress, the entire Langrid Magic Tower had to be changed.

“Alongside the elders you’ve bribed, collect as much information as possible on the Tower’s operations—its dealings, exchanges, external relations, meetings, everything.”

“You mean… the entire Tower…?”

“Yes. Don’t forget to keep detailed ledgers, too.”

“B-But why…?”

“When the time comes, we’ll blow up the ghost group—and take the Tower’s corruption with it in one fell swoop.”

Gulp…
Adelon swallowed hard, eyes trembling.

He hadn’t expected me to go this far.

But I was the same man who erased Baoless, the lawless city, off the map.
Langrid might be a far greater power than Baoless, but—
It wasn’t impossible.

“B-But still…”

Adelon glanced at me nervously, raising one finger.
His gaze flicked toward the chests of gold on the counter—
A total of fifteen million gold.
It’d be stranger if he didn’t hesitate.

“Even after carrying out all your orders, this is still way too much…”

“What’s left is your payment. Use it wisely.”

“Eeeeeek?!”

Adelon trembled like he’d been struck by lightning magic.

“This job’ll be too much for one man—work with the Mercenary Guild and hire some reliable mercs to help.”

For some reason, Adelon didn’t reply.

And sure enough—

“GrararararaGAGH?!”

…He foamed at the mouth and fainted on the spot.

After a whole ordeal, I managed to explain all the mission details to Adelon.

Once I exited the shop—

The sun was already setting, bathing all of Frecce in a quiet twilight.

The sky blazed red-gold.

I walked through the streets of Frecce, gathering my thoughts.

‘Adelon can handle everything related to the Tower.’

The real problem was the pressure from the Marquessate of Segretus.
I had shouted confidently, but it wasn’t going to be easy.

Marquess Segretus, Chancellor of the Battenberg Kingdom.
His authority and political presence were immense.

A mere County—
Especially a remote County like the House of Whitewolf—
Had no way of going up against that kind of force.

‘I need to strengthen not just myself, but the County as well.’

I needed to focus on building up the Whitewolf County’s military and political power in all aspects.

‘And I was planning to form the Allied Army anyway.’

I pulled up the information on a Territory Quest.

==[Recruit New Soldiers!]==

[Objective] – Train the Visters into a standing army.
[Reward] – Large EXP gain
[Failure Penalty] – “Management Mode” function will be locked.

Standing armies are military units trained for combat, even in peacetime.

Unlike conscripts, who are forcibly drafted and disbanded during peacetime,
standing forces are permanently trained and prepared.

Translatin_Otaku

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