Show Me Your Stats! - Chapter 56
Chapter 56
“Well, since I’m already here, shall I enjoy myself a little before leaving?”
Since a shortcut tunnel had already been established, Ayra decided to enjoy sightseeing in Bolney for a little while. He tapped Pebble on the back of his hand, “Recommend me a place that’s worth seeing?”
The pixellated Pebble shook a small fist as it floated a speech bubble that said, ‘Loading…’ Moments later, a guide window manifested.
Ayra followed his spirit’s navigation and walked at a leisurely pace. As he walked, he looked around Bolney’s upper district, where there were quite a few things to see, even if the area wasn’t as vibrant or fancy as Sobleche.
For some reason, as he walked according to Pebble’s instructions, the street became less attractive. As the road narrowed, the people milling about disappeared and only old buildings came into view. After following the navigation for a long while, Ayra entered a poor alleyway, akin to Harlem in his previous life. He asked dubiously, “This is the place that’s worth seeing?”
“You’re kidding me, right? There’s really something worth seeing over there?”
However, even after walking for a while, Ayra thought there wasn’t much to see. On the contrary, the atmosphere became more and more dreary, until, at last, some ruffian approached him to start a quarrel. “Hand over everything you have!”
The mage sighed as he looked at the whining troublemaker lying there, forcefully subdued by his magic. A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over him. Come to think of it, he hadn’t had a proper rest since leaving his estate.
“Enough–forget sightseeing. I’ll just go and rest.”
When he returned, he’ll face a mountain of work again. Ginas was probably overworked as well. Though mining stones and selling them wouldn’t make the estate super rich, wouldn’t he still be able to hire another competent retainer? With that in mind, Ayra turned around and snatched Pebble, which had been bobbing in the air in front of him.
“Navigation, cancel.” The mage began to move, but Pebble shook its small hands, squirming though it was crumpled in Ayra’s hand.
“Pebble, are you not listening to your Master anymore? Are you broken? Is there a bug?” Despite tapping and poking at it, causing it to scatter small hearts into the air, Pebble stubbornly refused to end the navigation. Suddenly realizing something was odd, Ayra stopped in his tracks.
For some reason, the distance to his destination gradually decreased even though he stood still. Ayra’s face slightly hardened. Pebble crept out from between the mage’s now loosened fingers.
Anxious, Ayra prepared to either fight or flee–just in case. At the same time, the unknown target approaching him narrowed the distance.
Looking around, there was only a homeless person laying intoxicated on the street and a single dog drinking from a dirty puddle. Ayra gave Pebble a skeptical glance. Since the spirit was so malleable and soft, it didn’t seem like an emergency.
‘Don’t tell me…?’
“Hello, my lover.”
A thick arm slithered across Ayra’s shoulders like a boa constrictor. When he turned his head, startled, the Mage’s lips brushed past a cheek. Janus was smiling as he stood askew, leaning on Ayra’s shoulders. He playfully touched his lips to Ayra’s unwittingly wide-open mouth, and pulled the mage into his embrace. “To think I’d see you here. Didn’t you say you were on a business trip to Sobleche?”
“I did, but things didn’t work out in Sobleche, so I came to Bolney…”
Pebble swelled proudly, like a properly fermented and proofed bread dough, and clung to Ayra’s cheek. Janus suddenly pushed a finger through the spirit; Pebble was startled and ran away to the mage’s opposite shoulder.
‘So, the destination was Janus.’
The fact that Janus was in Bolney was surprising, but Ayra was more surprised at his own joyful emotions upon seeing the mercenary. While Ayra was working, he rarely thought of Janus because he was busy, but he supposed his subconscious was different.
‘So, I had a strange dream starring a Janus-shaped demonic beast… Wait a minute. I thought I saw a glutinous-rice-cake-like-rabbit in that dream.’
Immediately after dreaming of detaining Janus while treating him like an imprisoned monster, Janus’s affection suddenly increased. Something was strange about this. Ayra glanced at Pebble. It seemed to be innocently frolicking on the mage’s shoulder but, at his glance, it suddenly sank into Ayra’s body. Looking at Janus, the mage found that the mercenary was also giving a puzzled look to Pebble.
…It seemed that Pebble was playing tricks in their sleep. Ayra vowed never to mention the suspicious dream to Janus. “But, how did you know where I was?” he asked instead.
“I was walking along the road when I smelled a familiar scent, so I followed it–just in case.”
Following the navigation, Ayra must have entered Janus’s scent detection range. Didn’t that mean the mercenary had a better sense of smell than a dog?
Before the mage could react, Janus smoothly had Ayra walking beside him, like a delinquent swaggering about with a beauty on his arm. The milder climate in Bolney probably played a part in this impression–his shirt straps were all untied, exposing half his chest. The mercenary kept tossing a mana stone in the air and catching it with one hand; the expression on his face was reminiscent of a shameless ruffian.
“I heard you were going to work a bit while I was gone on my business trip–was that work here in Bolney?”
“Yeah, I have a long-time business associate here. He complains that, if I leave things here unattended for too long, the business won’t flow properly,” Janus grumbled before starting to flirt with Ayra. With a contented look on his face, the mercenary began to kiss that pretty face, ears, cheeks, before traveling to the back of his neck.
Stroking the silver hair with his finger, Janus asked, “We haven’t seen each other in a long while, so shall we go on a date? There’s much more to enjoy here than in Solar.”
“I suppose there is…” Ayra was slightly offended by the comparison with Solar, but he was in favor of going on the date anyway. It had already been more than 15 days since he departed on the business trip to Sobleche and he hadn’t seen Janus since he left. Just as the mercenary knew Solar inside out, Janus seemed to be familiar with Bolney as well. Ayra obediently followed Janus’s lead.
“Where do you want to go? Let’s have a meal. Or…is there something you want to buy?”
“Mmm, first of all…” As soon as Ayra was about to say ‘let’s eat something,’ another thought came to him. In an instant, a huge exclamation point popped up in his mind.
‘Will my awakened magic work there?’
❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄
Ayra pretended to look at his cards while reading the options that popped up above.
1. First card: 30 half-cells loss
- Second card: 530 half-cells loss
- Third card: 24 cells gain.{/msg_box]
Smiling inwardly, he reached out and picked the first card. After he chose the card, and the others revealed their own, Ayra sighed and dropped his selected card on the table with a thud. The person with the highest total gleefully scooped up the mana stones from the table. Ayra’s 30 half-cells loss was included in that pile.
Ayra let out a deep sigh as if he was disappointed and stood up. But, when he turned around, there was a faint smile on his face.
‘I made 15 cells and 20 half-cells in one day.’
Ayra stroked the mana-stone pouch in his arms.
Two hours ago, he started his date with his lover at a nearby gambling house. However, unlike casinos in his past life, the atmosphere here was less crowded and less seedy, which was surprising.
As Ayra stared at the gambling den, Janus asked, curious, “Why? Do you want to go and play?”
“Yeah. But this place seems quite big and prosperous for a gambling den. Aren’t these places usually regulated by the territory?”
“How could that be? This is where the Bolney household secretly lines their back pockets.”
“…Really?”
Then, the money flows into Nilma Argan’s pockets?
When Ayra immediately turned towards the gambling house without any hesitation, Janus obediently followed along. As in Solar, Janus had quite a few acquaintances at the den. It appeared that he had frequently visited gambling houses as he travelled here and there.
“Have you ever done this before? You should know the rules at least.”
“How do you play?”
With just a simple combination of wooden tiles and dice, a variety of gambling games thrived here. Different games were being played in specific areas, and, seeing the number of guards and employees around, this den felt like a substantial operation. Janus took Ayra, a gambling novice, by his side and explained the various mechanics. He chose a table, sat down, and then, whether or not they were paying attention to the gambling happening, continued to hug and be lovey-dovey with his lover.
“You flip two wooden tiles. The person with the highest combined sum wins.” He placed his chin on Ayra’s shoulder, grabbed the mage’s hand, and led Ayra to touch the wooden tiles, one by one. Though Ayra was a little embarrassed, the touch felt nice, so he let it slide. Ayra liked the mercenary’s smooth crimson eyes, his warm body temperature like a human radiator, and the occasional touch of his lips to Ayra’s ears and cheeks.
“It’s easy,” The mage remarked.
“That’s right. It’s not as hard as it seems.”
Ayra had a sweet time Janus, buying and sharing a drink that was sold in the gambling den. Even though he had entered this place for a specific purpose, a date was a date, after all.
When Ayra seemed to have roughly mastered the rules, Janus shook out his pouch; six cells tumbled out. He split the amount in half, placed three cells in Ayra’s hand, and left, saying that he would go play some games.
Ayra looked around with this precious seed money clasped in his hands.
‘In any case, these games are all mere probability calculation.’
And, as a mage, he was able to do more than just calculate probabilities.
Support This Site
If you like what I do please support me on Ko-fi
RandomAce
WAIT SO IN THE NOVEL THE BEAST IS JANUS SHAPED?? TF DID THEY MAKE IT AN ACTUAL DRAGON IN THE WEBCOMIC???????