TLWD 52

Chapter : 52. Change

A morning when pure white snow covered the entire land.

Though it was still early for a day to begin in the Whitewolf Count’s territory, people were already starting to move about throughout the village.

“Jason! Where are you off to so early?”

“Hmm? Ah, I’m going to the snow forest area to get some wood!”

“Snow forest? Alone? That’s dangerous!”

In the Whitewolf Count’s territory, the ‘snow forest area’ meant a deep and dark ‘snow-covered forest’ located in the snowy region.

True to its name, it was a forest densely packed with trees covered in snow all year round.

In other words, despite the harsh cold, a certain ecosystem existed there, though a harsh one.

“Just what will you do if you run into monsters?”

It was not uncommon for monsters from the snowy mountains to come down into the forest looking for prey.

The shortage of food in the extreme cold was not just a problem for humans.

Especially in the winter season like now, monsters also faced a severe lack of food.

Therefore, it was almost certain that the snowy mountain monsters would come down to the snow forest area.

“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

Jason waved his hand as if to dismiss worries.

“This time, Lord Adrian wiped out all the monsters!”

The monster army that had invaded the county—

Like an avalanche, the army brought with it all the monsters from the snowy mountains.

Adrian fought that army alone.

And by wiping them out entirely, he eradicated the monster population.

Also, with the leader of the army, the Lycanthrope, defeated, the remaining monsters scattered in all directions.

“There’s nothing to worry about!”

Currently, the snow forest area was essentially free of threats.

Jason tightened the straps on his backpack.

And he was not the only one doing so.

“I’ll make sure to catch a big one!”

“I’ll also gather some snow herb leaves while I’m at it.”

There were those going hunting in the snow forest and those gathering herbs.

“At this time of year, snow carp gather under the ice. Let’s hurry before it’s too late.”

Others were going down to the frozen land to set fishing nets.

People were able to carry out their productive activities without worry.

“Really, everyone’s changed these days.”

“Yeah, back then, people would keep their doors tightly shut on days like this and not come out.”

The current situation in the county had completely changed, just like the residents’ views of Adrian.

And with the supplies Adrian had brought from Freche added to the mix—

“At this rate, this winter won’t be scary at all.”

“I never thought in my life I’d have a winter where I can eat full and stay warm.”

“When was the last time our kids weren’t hungry…”

The harsh winter was fast approaching, but the county was not frozen over.

Warmth spread through the village, and the healthy laughter of children could be heard everywhere.

“I can’t believe all this is thanks to Lord Adrian, the black sheep of the Count’s family! I just can’t!”

Once a troublemaker who was always drunk and causing a scene.

But now, the perception of Adrian among the residents had completely changed.

“Hey, you! Don’t call him a black sheep!”

“Watch your mouth!”

“Yes, without Lord Adrian, we would have all frozen to death!”

“More than frozen, we would have been food for the vicious monsters!”

Adrian was no longer the black sheep in the eyes of the residents.

“Lord Adrian is the county’s savior, its savior!”

And so—

In front of the name of a man no longer called a black sheep—

“The square was really crowded today.”

“Yeah, everyone’s gotten busy lately.”

“It’s not like before. It feels like people are really living!”

The county was slowly but surely regaining its rightful form as a domain.

◆ Your favorability with the residents has increased!!

Suddenly, a dazzling message appeared.

At the same time, additional messages appeared in sequence.

◆ Your favorability with the residents is now at [Friendly] status!

◆ Residents in the [Friendly] status show you familiarity and positive attitudes.

◆ Residents will actively offer help or cooperation, and you can receive support in battles or certain situations, or call for help in crises.

It seemed this was the reward from a sudden quest.

Unfortunately—

‘Not yet at the Trust status.’

It hadn’t reached the [Trust] status, which was the quest clear condition.

So the quest wasn’t cleared, but that was fine.

Given the current situation, reaching [Trust] within the time limit wouldn’t be difficult.

And that wasn’t the important thing right now.

“Is it still far?”

“Almost done!”

At my words, the maids carrying baskets hurried over.

They took out items one by one and explained—

“This is medicated cotton. When Seraphia’s lips dry, you can wet them with this.”

“Change the bed sheets with these. Just leave the dirty sheets outside; we will take them and wash them.”

“Here’s a new pillow stuffing. It’s fluffy.”

“This is a herbal sachet, and that is a herbal wet towel. Also…”

It was like an inventory.

Items kept coming out of the basket.

“This is a pad to prevent bedsores. If you place it on Seraphia’s back, it will reduce pressure. If you lie down too long, poor circulation can hurt the back.”

“This is a handkerchief. This is a microfiber blanket that’s gentle on the skin.”

“By the way, all these were saved thanks to Lord Adrian!”

…There were a lot.

“A bit much, isn’t it…?”

“Sorry, it’s actually our job to do this…”

The maids, now noticing my expression, glanced at me carefully.

Some even closed their eyes tightly, expecting me to scold them.

Though I didn’t really want to nurse Seraphia…

“Enough.”

“Eh…?”

“It’s unavoidable, so don’t worry about it.”

“Ah, ahh…”

“Thank you very much for understanding.”

The maids all bowed to me.

“Is that everything you need?”

“Yes, for now.”

…For now?

“If she lies down too long, she might need massage oil or compresses.”

I could feel once again how absurdly powerful the Regeneration [B+] skill was.

…Anyway.

I stored the basket into my inventory.

The maids’ eyes widened for a moment.

“Good job, everyone.”

I turned my steps toward Seraphia’s room.

Adrian left, moving away.

Once he disappeared completely from sight—

“Did you hear that?”

One maid murmured.

“Of course! I heard it perfectly!”

“‘Good job’—I nearly lost it at that!”

“I thought he was going to snap at us at ‘Don’t worry about it’!”

“He’s so kind now!”

Other maids jumped up and down on the spot.

“Hey, I even talked to Lord Adrian first earlier!”

“What?! Really?!”

“Yeah.”

“No way! Amazing!”

“What did you say?”

“Just asked if training is hard.”

“Oh my.”

“And?”

“Did he slap you?”

“No, not at all! He even answered!”

“Really? Lord Adrian answered you?”

“Yeah! In a super friendly voice—.”

—Training is naturally hard.

“That’s what he said?!”

“Awesome!!!”

“Super awesome!!!”

“Oh! Then maybe I’ll talk to him first later…?”

“Eh? Rena, you’re in charge of him today?”

Back then, no one wanted to be in charge of Adrian.

But now it was the opposite.

“Well, I’m in charge of the warehouse this afternoon.”

“Warehouse duty is easy.”

“So can you switch with me?”

“What? No.”

“Ah, why…!”

“This one? Throwing a tantrum.”

“Just once, please? I want to talk to Lord Adrian first toooo…!”

Thus—

“No. Absolutely not.”

“That’s unfair!”

“Still no.”

“Then switch with me! Today I—.”

“No way!”

Adrian’s caretaker duty was extremely popular among the maids.

Seraphia’s room was like a giant furnace, intensely hot.

In the center stood a huge brazier that continuously blazed, heating the entire room.

To maintain this heat, firewood was almost being poured in endlessly.

About 30% of the firewood I purchased from Freche was being used here.

Checking the room temperature with Predator’s Instinct [S]:

◆ Room temperature is [253°C].

At this level, it was a miracle the room wasn’t on fire.

Yet, Seraphia lying in bed was cold.

Hmm…

I quietly watched Seraphia’s breath, as still as if dead.

It had already been five days.

Since Seraphia collapsed, five days had passed.

She still hadn’t regained consciousness and was hovering between life and death.

More precisely, she was slowly dying.

I had no choice but to take drastic measures, resulting in this room heated to nearly 253°C.

So here I was, nursing Seraphia.

I wasn’t eager to do it.

But there was no other way.

The maids couldn’t last even ten seconds in this furnace-like room and had passed out.

Only Kai and I could endure it.

Thanks to my Reinforced Skin [B] temperature control, I could endure it, and Kai’s aura-based immortality allowed him to as well.

But Kai had suffered a fatal wound from the Lycanthrope.

He didn’t die due to immortality, but needed time to recover his aura.

So I had no choice but to care for Seraphia.

Hmm…

I pondered what to do for Seraphia over the past five days.

There was no need to kill her immediately.

But that didn’t mean I had to save her either.

Even if she didn’t awaken as the Lord of the Frozen Cold now, who knew when she might again?

I didn’t know when, where, how, or why Seraphia would become corrupted.

If she awakened as the Lord of the Frozen Cold and corrupted at the same time, then it would be truly unstoppable.

The newly displayed another level of power—

Having seen it personally, I knew.

It was a guaranteed defeat.

“Maybe I should just consume Seraphia now…”

Then I could use the Frozen Cold power.

No need to worry about falling into the frenzy of Devourer [S+], as in my previous life.

I could surpass the Predator of my past life and leap straight to becoming a lord.

Seraphia was unconscious.

Kai was unable to move.

Now was the perfect chance to consume the Lord of the Frozen Cold [S+]…

But—

◆ Seraphia is affected by [Curse Effect].

The Frozen Cold Curse [P].

It was literally a curse.

According to Predator’s Instinct [S], it caused [Physical Weakness], [Induced Freezing], [Mental Confusion], and [Sensory Paralysis], curses so severe death wouldn’t be surprising.

If I consumed Seraphia with Devour [S+],

By the Devour [S+] mechanism, I would ‘absorb’ her curse.

Consuming her now was a bad idea.

Above all—

‘I don’t want to deal with whatever Ian will throw a fit about.’

I was not confident I could handle Ian’s tantrum.

Judging from Ian’s personality, it wouldn’t be just any tantrum.

‘It’ll be a huge tantrum.’

I still hadn’t heard Ian’s answer.

The reason Ian regretted killing Seraphia must be rational, so until I heard it—

‘I have to save her.’

In the end, I couldn’t just leave Seraphia to die.

If she had awakened as the Lord of the Frozen Cold already, I would have killed her immediately.

But—

‘It doesn’t seem like she’s awakened yet.’

In many ways, I couldn’t just let her die.

For now, it was better to keep her alive.

After hearing Ian’s regrets, it wouldn’t be too late to kill her.

The problem was how to save her…

The first thing that came to mind was to warm Seraphia’s body.

My gaze naturally fell on the roaring fire pit burning in the center of the room.

◆ The furnace temperature is [1,012°C].

Should I throw her in there?

It was a very good idea.

If I threw ice-cold Seraphia into the blazing furnace, her body would heat up quickly.

I gently lifted Seraphia.

She was as dry and light as a dead leaf.

I almost threw her into the fire pit, but stopped.

“…That won’t work, will it?”

I thought it probably wouldn’t.

Predator’s Instinct [S] showed that the heat loss was happening inside Seraphia’s body, not on the outside.

So throwing her into the furnace was out.

Hmm…

I quietly thought hard about how to save Seraphia.

I realized for the first time that she was under the Frozen Cold Curse [P].

I knew her body was fragile.

But I didn’t know it was the Frozen Cold Curse [P].

I knew she used the Frozen Cold power.

But not that it was a curse [P].

In other words, I had no information on Seraphia’s state.

And unknown information could not be known.

How to heal or save Seraphia—

None of it was in my mind.

But now I had Predator’s Instinct [S].

The ability to know a priori even information not learned.

Human language is experiential and learned.

A child learns language by listening to parents.

But breathing isn’t learned.

A newborn breathes without being taught.

No one teaches a child how to walk; it happens naturally over time.

This is innate, a priori knowledge.

Because in the mother’s womb, the baby already acquired millions of years of evolutionary knowledge.

That is the instinct and a priori knowledge of humans.

Predator’s Instinct [S], a power granted by the Beast Lord, contains the instincts and a priori knowledge of all living things in this world.

Herbivores like deer, goats, and sheep eat various plants but instinctively know which are poisonous.

Rats run from snakes instinctively upon seeing them.

Some animals smell wet earth to find streams.

The Beast Lord is a chimera combining all these living beings.

Therefore, Predator’s Instinct [S] is the sum of all instinct and a priori knowledge of every living thing.

When I activated Predator’s Instinct [S]—

The accumulated genetic information of countless creatures analyzed and assessed Seraphia’s condition.

My past life memories also contributed.

Knowledge and experience as a special forces captain.

All that knowledge and experience combined, revealing every detail of Seraphia’s condition.

Countless pieces of information unfolded and recombined repeatedly.

After some time—

‘I think I roughly understand.’

I recalled several medicinal herbs that could ease Seraphia’s symptoms.

Precious medicinal herbs often called “miracle drugs.”

Among them, a few distinctive herbs were identified, just like how herbivores identify poisonous plants.

But they were quite difficult to obtain.

‘I’ll have to go to the commercial city, Freche, to get them.’

I was planning to go on my second trip anyway.

Though the monster army led by the Lycanthrope was unavoidable, I had devoured every single monster that had invaded the county.

So I had an enormous stockpile of monster meat, which meant plenty of money.

‘I can get the herbs while I’m at it.’

Just then, as I was about to go to Freche—

◆ You have acquired the derived skill ‘Find Weakness [U]’!

Suddenly, a message popped up before my eyes that I had acquired a new skill.