Show Me Your Stats! - Chapter 62

Chapter 62

“What?” Ayra, who had been thinking that it’d be hard to see Janus if the mercenary left the territory, snapped back to attention. The only thing on his mind was the steady countdown to D-Day–the fiefdom’s destruction. Did Janus, who had many friends everywhere, hear something about that?

“You said you work in the Lord’s castle, right? I have no idea how much salary you’re receiving, but I can give you more than that. What do you think? You’ve probably seen, but Sobleche and Bolney are much better places to live than Solar.”

“No, Wait a minute… Before all that, tell me why Solar is doomed!”

Janus rubbed his chin as if he found it a bit annoying or difficult to explain. His resulting answer was completely incomprehensible, “First of all, I’ve become a bit tired of the place. Since I’ve been looking for a lover for 10 years, I’m beginning to become frustrated…”

‘Why is he suddenly talking about wanting to find a true lover?’ His current lover, Ayra, was becoming anxious and annoyed as well; he was about to grab Janus by the collar when suddenly an urgent alert window popped up.

What? Why was that guy here all of a sudden?

As Ayra hurriedly looked around, a group of people were walking in their direction. When he opened the stat window of the most flamboyantly dressed person in the group, it truly was Nilma Argan.

The group, who paused for a moment and began to whisper amongst themselves, suddenly quickened their pace towards Ayra and his lover. It seemed that they had some business over here. Ayra, flustered by the sudden appearance of his enemies, whirled his body around. 

When Ayra drew his hood over his head until it reached the tips of his nose, Janus asked, finding Ayra’s actions quite dubious, “Ayra? What’s wrong?”

In that short moment, Ayra decided that Nilma Argan shouldn’t see his face. If Nilma Argan were to recognize him, Janus would then realize that he was the Lord of Solar. He had no intention of revealing his identity to Janus just yet…especially not at this moment when Janus was about to explain why Solar was going to collapse.

Unfortunately, this was a lonely night along a wide boulevard that lacked many pedestrians. It’d be suspicious no matter where the young lord hid. 

Ayra made some lame excuse while burying his face into Janus’s wide chest, “Be still for a moment; my face is cold…”

“Hmmm?”

As expected, the excuse didn’t work.

Janus was quick-witted and looked between the oncoming crowd and Ayra. He immediately laughed mischievously, “If your face is cold, do you want me to kiss you? Then, your lips definitely won’t be freezing.”

Clearly teasing, the Mercenary turned his body away, and Ayra hastily followed suit. 

Nilma Argan and his group stopped; they winced as they saw two men engaging in strange behavior in the middle of the streets at night. “No, that’s…”

‘He’s even talking about me! Why would a man who’s so arrogant about being a heir to a fiefdom even deign to speak to what seems to be a commoner?’ Ayra hugged Janus’s waist tightly and buried his face–enough to stop the mage from breathing–into the other’s body.

He wanted the group to see them as some crazy folks in love; perhaps that would drive them away. Janus became excited and twirled the young mage around several times; unable to endure, Ayra gasped for breath and punched the mercenary in the chest several times.

However, instead of getting angry at being ignored, Nilma Argan cleared his throat several times, wanting their attention. Only then did Janus stop teasing Ayra. Then, with an amused voice, he said to Nilma Argan, “What are you looking at?”

“What?”

“This is my lover. Turn your eyes away.”

The mercenary was completely unruly–his attitude was barbaric. Ayra was nervous; he was sure that this time Nilma Argan wouldn’t let this slight go. 

Unexpectedly, though, the man responded obediently, “Ah, yes. Yes yes. Of course, I’ll look away.”

As soon as he heard that, Ayra realized how strange and absurd this situation was. ‘Wait a minute… What’s going on?’

A low-born person was recklessly acting as they pleased, but the other was accepting Janus’s behavior as if it were natural? 

‘Why is Nilma Argan so polite to Janus? He’s just a mercenary…’

In this society where social status was so strongly emphasized, such a situation was just absurd. Though this world may not have a king, there were still slaves; peasants and those that were considered valuable were clearly distinguished. Although mercenaries mostly belonged to the latter group, Janus was still dealing with the heir to the feudal lord of Bolney.

In other words, that meant that Janus wasn’t a simple mercenary. Just what status did the man have for Nilma Argan to be cautious of him?

At that moment, memories passed by Ayra’s head in a flash.

The way he said he’s been searching for a lover for 10 years, his heartless sword that cut down a friend without any hesitation, his inhuman HP of 9,999,999, the rumors about a dragon that were in abundance in Sobleche and Bolney…

‘Perhaps…?’

No way…It can’t be true, right? There’s… no way. This hunch was ridiculous…

It was so unbelievable that Ayra couldn’t help but chortle. Still, he kept his ears wide open to eavesdrop on Nilma Argan and Janus’s conversation.

“Janus-nim, where did you go so early in the morning? I definitely heard you were staying at the villa, but you left without a word. I’ve been searching for you for a long time–“

“I’m with my lover right now, so you’d better keep things short.” Janus smiled as he nuzzled the mage that was still burying himself into the mercenary’s chest. Ayra could hear Nilma Argan swallow anxiously. 

“My father would like to see you, Janus-nim. When will you be available?”

“I’m free anytime,” Janus replied cheerfully. 

When Lord Bolney’s name was mentioned, Ayra tensed–there was a clear hierarchy displayed here. 

“But this time, if you call for me and try to saddle me with someone–whether they be a man or woman–I’ll get angry. You’ll face the same fate as the guy that tried to set me up with a child.”

“O-Of course not! W-We wouldn’t do that. It’s all a misunderstanding. We just wanted to help you find your mate… Because it seems you haven’t found them, even after such a long time.”

At this point, Ayra was convinced that his guess was correct, but he wanted to desperately cling onto any possibility of the opposite. Janus’s hand gripping at the hem of his clothes had cooled down.

“Then, I’ll…” Nilma Argan fell into a silence when he saw Janus’s death glare. 

Janus sighed, obviously annoyed, “You can make time for me tomorrow morning, hm?”

“Yes! Thank you. I’ll tell my father.”

“Ah, by the way, I’m going to use your villa. My lover is sensitive to the cold.”

“Of course–please use it as much as you please.” This time, Nilma Argan turned politely to Ayra who was ensconced in Janus’s arms and politely said, “I hope you can rest in peace. Bolney is a wonderful place to live thanks to Dragon-nim’s blessing.”

Ha. Ha. Ha–Nilma Argan forced out a boisterous laugh. Ayra, who could no longer escape from reality, swore every curse word he knew inside his mind. However, there was only one swear word–from both his current and previous life–that was most appropriate for this situation:

‘Fuck…’

“Don’t bother us and leave quickly, hm?”

“Yes! Then, I’ll be on my way. I’ll see you tomorrow morning!” Nilma Argan hastily walked away with his group after bending 90 degrees to give his parting greetings.

Based on his fearful actions, it seemed as if he had left behind a terrifying beast that could devour him at any moment. Meanwhile, Ayra still had his face buried in that terrifying beast’s chest.

When the man finally couldn’t be seen anymore, Janus amusedly peeled Ayra off his chest. “Why did you hide all of a sudden?”

After taking a few deep breaths, Ayra looked up. Not in the mood to make jokes, the Mage said bluntly, “My face is a little…distinctive. It’d be troublesome if I were to catch the eye of the particularly powerful and wealthy.”

He felt incredibly flustered to say such a narcissistic sentence. However, since Janus was his lover, the mercenary did agree that Ayra was indeed quite handsome. Ayra was embarrassed yet grateful. The fact that he was so grateful confused him, to be honest.

“You’ll like visiting the place. That guy is pretty rich, so he’s done a good job of decorating the villa.”

Ayra was well aware how rich Nilma Argan was as a child of a well-to-do family…

Janus wrapped his arms around Ayra with a contented expression; it felt like being constricted by a thick boa constrictor. As they walked, Ayra mulled over the conversation he had just overheard. The highest social strata one could achieve in this world: a lord; Among that strata, Nilma Argan belonged to a ducal family. How many folks could stand to oppose Nilma Argan, a Duke’s heir?

Is he really a dr… A dragon? Of course not…Right…?

‘Pebble, tell me it’s not true…’

As Ayra looked down eagerly, Pebble left the back of the Mage’s hand. Ayra looked closely at the letters that appeared on its translucent body.

[:D]

It’s smiling? Its owner is so serious, and the thing is laughing? Ayra narrowed his eyes and glared; the spirit crumpled, made some quiet typing noises, and floated a few more letters…

[:Dragon!]

TL: …Surprise?