Chapter 140: Chapter 140 - Meet
It was getting late and the time to return to Lootwell has come.
Lucien waited at the rendezvous point for his Division Representatives.
The first to arrive was Cecil.
"My Lord, I’m sorry to have kept you waiting," Cecil said as he hurried toward him.
Lucien nodded. "No worries. Did you enjoy the capital?" He noticed the cluster of Spatial Bags hanging from Cecil’s shoulders.
Cecil’s eyes lit up. "My Lord, the capital is enormous. I’ve always dreamed of seeing it. I bought many things for the others back at the borders." He eagerly rummaged through one bag and pulled out several objects.
Lucien blinked in surprise.
"Books?"
Cecil smiled.
"I realized many of our brothers and sisters back home still don’t know how to read. I brought these so they can start learning their letters."
The words struck Lucien, stirring something deep inside. Cecil had grown into his role as Administrative Division representative. He was now thinking not of himself but of what the people truly needed.
Lucien smiled to himself.
’Perhaps I should build a school for my people, too.’
But not like the schools of the modern world that wasted time on lessons no one used.
’A school focused on practical knowledge. Administration, governance, skills that matter. And maybe how to pay taxes?’
He tucked the thought away. He was already making mental notes as the idea began to take shape.
Lucien placed a hand on Cecil’s shoulder and gave him a firm thumbs-up. It’s a genuine acknowledgment of his effort.
Cecil didn’t confess that many of the books were part of a series he’d been eager to binge. Legends, novels, stories he’d longed to read.
But his reason for buying them wasn’t a lie. He truly wanted to help others learn... And perhaps find a few reading companions along the way.
The next to arrive was Green.
"Young Lord, I’m here," he called out with his usual bright energy.
Lucien asked about his day and Green’s face lit up. He’d spent his share of the funds on a mountain of seeds and exotic plants gathered from far-flung regions. His Spatial Bags now bulged with potential harvests. He had also collected countless food recipes from foreign merchants.
"I can’t wait to see what grows," Green said. "And the food... I just can’t imagine the flavors we’ll discover."
Soon after...
Stone appeared, hauling several heavy Spatial Bags of his own.
Inside were construction materials and carefully rolled blueprints. The blueprints contain designs for aqueducts, irrigation canals, homes and other infrastructure their growing territory would need to thrive.
Just then...
Elk arrived and the group collectively stared.
Ten people followed close behind her..
Her eyes brightened when she spotted Lucien. She hurried over and lowered her voice.
"Young Lord, please forgive me but... is it alright if I bring a few more people? The capital’s tailors insisted on apprenticing under me after I showed them a bit of my craft. They were so eager I couldn’t shake them off."
Lucien blinked. He was speechless for a moment. Then he smiled. Extra workforce was hardly a problem. It was a blessing.
’Formidable. Elk is formidable.’
He gave an approving nod.
"Please don’t worry, Young Lord." Elk added quickly. "They have their own unique skills. They just never had the opportunities I was given."
Lucien gave a small nod.
"If you say so then they must be good."
Before the group could settle, another surprise arrived.
Lukas approached and... a crowd of people trailed behind him.
They looked frail and malnourished but their eyes were burning with resolve.
Lukas strode forward and bowed deeply.
"Young Lord, forgive me. I was delayed... dealing with a few thugs. May I bring these twenty children back to the territory? I found them in the slums... abandoned by their own parents. I want to train them as soldiers."
The words hit Lucien hard. Just like that... the number of potential soldiers and citizens had grown.
Warmth spread through him. His representatives could have wasted their coin on pleasures yet each had chosen instead to invest in the territory’s future. He had given them money for themselves and they had returned with treasures for the people.
Pride swelled in his chest.
He turned toward Lukas and the children. At Lukas’s command, the youngsters bowed together.
Lucien smiled faintly and nodded. "Good. You’ve all done well. Next time, I’ll bring you here to play for real."
But just then... a dangerous idea struck him.
’What if I brought more people from the slums and orphanages back to Lootwell? Would the king see it as theft of his subjects? That’s...borderline illegal, isn’t it?’
Yet the idea refused to leave.
’We could adopt orphans as apprentices. We could hire the slum people and give them work. Yes, it may provoke hatred from the other nobles... perhaps even accusations of treason.’
Lucien’s gaze swept across his gathered companions.
’Well... who cares?’
One by one, they boarded the airship.
Gasps echoed from the new recruits as they stepped inside. They can’t help but marvel at the sight. It dawned on them... They had become part of something far greater than the lives they left behind.
Lucien turned back to watch them as his determination deepened. ’I can give the suffering of the capital a real home. More people. More hands to work. And as my subjects, I will treat them well. Win–win.’
As the airship carried them away from the capital, Lucien’s mind churned with possibilities. Ways to spirit away the suffering from the city and give them a future in Lootwell.
Legally, if possible.
•••
After dinner...
Lucien descended to the dungeon’s fourth level once more.
’Just one life,’ he told himself. ’I need to see what comes next.’
The familiar broken world greeted him.
Soon, familiar shapes bounced toward him. The Life and Death Slimes. Their bodies pulsed with opposing hues.
Lucien summoned his sword in a smooth motion and struck. One decisive slash then another. Their gelatinous forms split apart with a hiss.
After they die, twin streams of soul essence spiraled upward. They flowed into the floating mural that hovered at the air. The shard flared as if suddenly charged with power.
Drops materialized and were auto-collected... but Lucien’s attention stayed on the mural.
Before Lucien’s eyes, the slimes re-formed instantly. Their bodies knitted together in perfect rebirth.
Then they struck.
In a single breath, black and white energies burst from their cores. The white aura wrapped around Lucien, preserving his body in a protective light. The black aura pierced through him, tugging at his very soul.
His soul tore free and pulled toward the glowing mural... into the world beyond its surface.
•••
Huff... huff...
Lucien exhaled slowly. His chest rose and fell as his senses sharpened. His vision stretched unnaturally far. It cut across the battlefield horizon with predatory clarity.
He looked down at his hands.
Fur. Claws. Muscles taut with power.
In this life, he was neither human nor monster.
He was... a beastman.
Then...
Memories crashed into him like a tide. His own identity as Lucien blurred and pushed aside as the beastman’s life took root in his mind.
But before his consciousness slipped fully, one truth crystallized.
"A time skip..." he muttered.
Decades had passed since his third life as a slime. And still, the battlefield raged on.
"Damn it," he muttered. His words were rough in an unfamiliar throat. "How long does this war drag on? I’m still on a freaking battlefield."
A spike of pain split through his head as the host body’s will overtook him.
Images unfolded. Fragments of history.
Decades ago... Humanity and their monster allies had done the unthinkable. They found a way to crossbreed.
The offspring of those unions became the new races of the world. They carried the intelligence of humans and the raw power of monsters.
It changed everything.
Every race carried strengths... and flaws.
Dwarves possessed explosive strength... yet their small stature forever limited them.
Elves enjoyed lifespans that stretched for centuries and unrivaled control of mana... but their growth was bound by natural talent.
Beastmen, like the body he now inhabited, held unmatched battle instincts... yet their primal urges dulled their reason.
And these were only a few. Countless other races had risen... perhaps hundreds. Each has their own blend of brilliance and flaw.
These new races had turned the tide of war. With their strengths carefully harnessed, the endless conflict had ground to a stalemate.
Now... both sides pulled back, summoning their forces to regroup.
A massive clash would come soon.
Lucien’s beastman body moved on instinct as though some unseen narrator guided his steps.
Through the haze of smoke and blood, he spotted figures stumbling toward him. Wounded allies from other races.
A man with glowing wings and a shining halo supported a woman who bore the same radiant traits.
They came from the Celestial Race or simply...
Celestials.
With radiant wings and halos of light, they looked almost identical to the angels Lucien had once seen in movies and shows from the modern world.
Lucien hurried to them. "Celestial brother, let me help you."
The winged man managed a tired smile. "How kind of you, Beastman brother."
But then Lucien saw it...
The instant the Celestial male looked over him, Lucien’s entire body locked in place.
A flash of lightning seemed to tear through his mind. His thoughts fractured. Memories... his original memories... came flooding back in a painful rush.
The Celestials blinked at him, worried. "Beastman brother, are you all right?"
Lucien just stared, unable to breathe. His heart pounded heavily. Tears welled and spilled before he could stop them.
Because the faces before him were unmistakable.
"Father... Mother... you’re alive!"
The man and woman looked exactly like the ones who had raised him with such gentle strength.
Baron Virel Lootwell.
Baroness Aniel Lootwell.
The couple who had raised him without a trace of bias. The parents of his heart if not his blood.
Lucien’s gaze locked on theirs. Time itself seemed to halt. The battlefield, the war, even the world... everything fell silent around them.