As Ayra walked, he manifested his quest window once more.
[Letâs open another stat category.]
*Accumulated Stat Window Use time (10/10 hours)
*Check two stat windows simultaneously (89/100)
Reward: Randomly open one stat category
After checking the values, he found that could finish the quest with a little more legwork. After a little contemplation, Ayra reached out a hand to Pebble, stroked it, and asked in a kind voice, âCanât you adjust the reward so that itâs a category of my choice rather than something random?â
Pebble flushed slightly, blinking cutely. A short while later, the quest content changed with the ring of a bell.
[Letâs open another stat category.]
*Accumulated Stat Window Use time (10/10 hours)
*Check two stat windows simultaneously (89/100)
*Check three stat windows simultaneously (0/90)
Reward: Open one stat category designated by the User.
Check three stat windows simultaneously for a total of 90 times?! 90! There was no way Ayra could finish that task today, even if he overworked himself to death.
Ayra squinted his eyes and glared at the artificial spirit that began to simulate cold sweat running down its back. âHonestly, even I think thatâs too much. You might say itâs random, but youâre the one whoâll decide whatâs revealed anyway. Youâre deliberately trying to rebel against me, right?â
When he grabbed the spirit that was as malleable as a glutinous rice cake and stretched it with his fingers, Pebble sent the young lord a series of hearts; it was clearly masochistic.
[Tip! Even the GM spirit has no idea what stat will open T_T The matter is decided by a subconscious algorithm!]
[Tip! If the User demands to access unreasonable quests, they are more likely to be overloaded due to lack of skill.]
[Tip! If the User demands unreasonable quest rewards, they #$*@ìëș?!?!%#!!!$#ëëł@]
On that matter, it seemed like Pebble was the one being overloaded. After being flattened like a hotteok 1 in Ayraâs hands, it finally sent a surrender message.
[Letâs open another stat category.]
*Accumulated Stat Window Use time (10/12 hours)
*Check two stat windows simultaneously (89/100)
*Check three stat windows simultaneously (0/30)
Reward: Open one stat category designated by the User.
âWhat kind of mage never experiences overload in their life, right?â Deeply satisfied, Ayra doted on Pebble, praising and calling it incredibly obedient and talented. Just as he doted on and bit at the spirit until it welled up dew-like tears, he felt a stinging gaze. Ayra slowly turned his head; his pounding heart leapt up and down in his chest.
The young lord had no idea when the mercenary had appeared, but Janus was watching him from a few steps away. Ayraâs heart clamored noisily, asserting its presence; he let go of Pebble, leaving two bite marks behind.
âIs it tasty?â Janus asked.
âNo, not reallyâŠâ Ayra was just playing with it using mana; in reality, it felt like biting into air.
As Janus approached with an expression of interest, Pebble, deathly frightened, disappeared into the back of its masterâs hand. At that moment, Ayra nervously yelpedâthe beast-like man snatched his hand in the blink of an eye and bit where the spirit hid. The sensation of his teeth sinking into skin hurt so much; the young lord teared up.
Ayra quickly pulled his hand away and retreated. Observing the back of his hand, one could see a clear, round tooth imprint in between his thumb and index finger.
Janus peeped at the marks he made and rubbed his finger on the imprint. âItâs alrightâyouâre not bleeding.â
âIâm the one who should be asking that!â 2 Ayra quickly hid his hand.
Janus apologized in a tone that clearly illustrated his lack of repentance; he retrieved the hand and placed a kiss on the back. Ayra opened his mouth wide, confused at the sudden action, but clamped his lips tightly shut once again. âHe might come to kiss me on the mouth this time,â the young lord thought.
Half a beat late, Ayra jumped back and retreated. âLetâs calm downâŠâ
He collected his senses and tried to recover from his bewilderment while the other man looked him up and down; Janus, in contrast, stood with a chic, relaxed atmosphere. It bothered him that the man had appeared as soon as Ayra left the castle. Rather than a fateful coincidence, it felt more like the man was waiting for him.
âIâm just askingâŠDid you come because you knew Iâd be here?â Ayra asked.
âYeah. I smelled someone familiar as I passed by.â
Was he a dog? For some reason, Ayra thought that it would not come as much of a shock if he heard that Janus was a hunting dogâŠ
While Janus smiled as if to say he was joking, Ayra suddenly remembered what Sir Bloom had told him. When one trains their body enough, all five senses become sensitive and one may attain something similar to a sixth sense. Ayra wondered if Janus was the same.
Now completely calm, Ayra asked, âBut, why did you kiss me all of a sudden?â
âBecause youâre my lover?â
Ayra looked at the stat window; the affection value was still at 2. Ayra recalled the conversation they had on the day of the earthquake. Was this what he meant by âaccepting his trickery?â The young lord stayed silent for a moment, rummaging through his memories.
Janus raised both hands,âWell, if you donât like it, I donât want to cling onto you.â His attitude seemed to indicate that this man could turn around without hesitation at any moment.
After a momentâs thought, Ayra smiled with all his might. âAh, no. Youâre right. Weâre lovers.â
âMhmm, right?â Janus smiled and raised his hand to pat Ayraâs cheekâas if he found the lord adorable and pretty. His hands were warm even in this cold weather, so Ayra honestly felt a little good.
âWhere were you going? Do you still need a guide around the territory?â Janus asked.
âNo. I was on my way to see the state of the collapsed walls.â Though Ayra answered the other quite calmly, his mind felt incredibly complicated.
The young lord really wanted to know how powerful Janus truly was, what he had done in the past, and if he was hiding another identity beneath his smiles. However, right now the only information he had on the man was âHeâs strangely scary,â âHe came to this fief 10 years ago to find a lover,â and âPebble warns me about bad endings associated with this man.â If Ayra wanted to get to know the man, it would be best to maintain this lover-like relationship.
Though this was a rational decision, Ayra could not help but feel unhappy about the situationâhe did not seem to mean much to the other man.
It was clear that the other didnât particularly like him all that much, nor was he invested in him; rather, he was simply crafting a relationship out of some momentary interest. To that man, he was nothing more than some temporary entertainmentâsomeone one could date and dump casually with no hard feelings involved.
Ayra felt fortunate that he hadnât fallen that hard for Janus yet. Rather than hurt, he simply felt bittersweet. If the other was going to take him so lightly, then the young lord would just have to respond in kind.
âIt looked like you were coming from the Lordâs castle.â It seemed that Janus had nothing much to do today; he naturally followed behind Ayraâs strides.
Ayra nodded at Janusâs question and explained, âI work at the castle. I have some connections with the governor thereâŠand some family connections as well.â
âŠâŠIt wasnât exactly a lie.
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Janus wasnât interested enough to press him on what exactly he was doing in the castle. Ayra tamped down his bitter expressions and peeked at the mercenary, âJanus, do you know anything about the new Lord?â
âDonât know; Iâm not interested in things like that.â The mercenary looked reluctant to speak further on this matter, as if he truly had no interest in this subject. No interest and no knowledgeâwhat luck
Ayraâs feet stopped when he came upon the collapsed walls. About half of the wall had collapsed, but the soldiers were hard at work, sweating heavily and setting up wooden posts in the collapsed regions. However, the woodwork was so sloppy that Ayra couldnât help but sigh. Wood would be a common commodity in most lands, but because of its mountainous ecology, trees were far more rare and precious than rocks in Solar.
âIt looks like itâll fall over with a single gale,â Ayra muttered.
âIt looks like itâll fall over if I just lightly pushed at it.â
In addition to Ayraâs lamentful sigh, Janus commented with a bitter evaluation of his own. âIf it hadnât been for that earthquakeâŠâ Ayra clenched his fists
When Ayra asked the chief servant that had lived in Solar since birth, he said that this land frequently saw earthquakes. Ever since the first strong earthquake that had occurred two years after Ayraâs birth, weak earthquakes constantly rumbled across the land. Since earthquakes strong enough to destroy the walls werenât so common, Ayra could only hope that no earthquakes of that magnitude would occur again.
âItâs fine to log down the forest on the hills behind the castle, so I should tell them to reinforce the wooden picket fences further.â
That place was designated as a rest area protected by the spirit of the dead dragon, so the dragon would be angered if the trees were logged recklessly. However, Ayra saw that as useless superstition. When one died, the soul would lose all its memories and would be reborn. If dragons had souls, the process wouldnât be much different.
The young lord sighed and turned around, almost stumbling as he did so. His clumsiness was due to the rubble from the broken walls that surrounded the ground. Janus, having done so many times, naturally supported Ayraâs waist with his arm. âYouâre not looking very well. Would you like me to buy you something delicious?â
âSomething delicious?â Ayra followed, curious. They arrived at the steamed meat bun store.
TL: I wanna bite pebble too~
Honestly, how strange~ Itâs quite interesting to see the MC and ML *date* each other while neither have particularly strong feelings for the other.
Janus: âWeâre lovers right?â
Ayra: *thinking that heâs kinda like a dog* *Also thinking of various bad ends* ââŠSure.â
Fried sweet pancakes êŽì°źì, which Janus used to be like âyouâre alrightâ can also be used to ask âAre you okay?â aka âAre you in your right mind. Ayraâs asking if Janus is crazy.