Show Me Your Stats!-Chapter 161

However, due to Solar's isolated and mountainous terrain, the retainers—long removed from the threat of war—were gripped by fear and began to object. They argued that Bloom wasn’t just a former slave but a murderer of innocent civilians, and that’s why he wasn’t even trying to defend himself. They suggested turning him over to Sobletz along with monetary compensation.

Honestly, it was a natural response. The retainers had no idea that Ayra had already decided that a full-on conflict with Sobletz was unavoidable. All they knew was that Solar, in terms of power and scale, was no match for Sobletz.

So how long did that aimless, stagnant meeting drag on? Just as public sentiment toward Bloom was rapidly deteriorating and Jinas was debating whether to reveal the truth about the dragon, Bloom appeared—stripped of the armor and sword he’d never once separated from. With a blank expression, he simply said:

“I will go to Sobletz.”

“Sir Bloom! Don’t act so rashly!”

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Jinas shouted, cutting him off, certain that Ayra would never hand Bloom over. Bloom looked silently at Jinas with his sunken, dark eyes, then opened his mouth.

“This all happened because of me.”

“Even if not you, Sobletz would’ve found another excuse! They’re just trying to pick a fight!”

“Do you really believe that’s all it is?”

At those words, even Jinas wavered. Bloom didn’t seem to be lying. But even so, after all the years they’d worked together, Jinas couldn’t stand by and let him walk into certain death.

Jinas and Gretel tried desperately to persuade him, but Bloom kept his mouth shut and didn’t explain anything. Hera remained silent as well. From her perspective, Bloom was in no state to be reasoned with—and the only one who might’ve been able to sway him was currently unconscious.

“I figured... this day would come, eventually. Thank you for everything up to now.”

And with those parting words, Bloom ignored their protests and allowed himself to be shackled by the knights from Sobletz, leaving Solar behind.

Only several days later did Ayra finally awaken. After hearing the full story from Jinas, she slowly surveyed her retainers, whose faces looked like they’d aged several years in mere days. When she checked the estate status window, she saw that the approval rating—painstakingly raised through the festival—had plummeted. It was disheartening how easy it was to lose something that took so much to gain.

‘That ridiculous title, “the Righteous Butcher,” had been bothering me from the start.’

She’d meant to investigate it properly but kept putting it off due to being so busy with estate affairs. Now she deeply regretted not paying more attention to Bloom.

Jinas and Gretel both apologized for not being able to stop him, but Ayra shook her head. It wasn’t their fault—especially since she’d been unconscious through the whole ordeal. She didn’t even blame Janus. He must have thought the timing was right to complete the bonding process with his mate.

It was just bad timing, pure coincidence. Ayra shrugged off any lingering regrets or thoughts of what-ifs. What she needed now was swift action. She began by waking up the retainers who still thought it was possible to negotiate with Sobletz.

“Let me make this clear—Sobletz would’ve picked a fight with Solar, Bloom or no Bloom. After all, it was Sobletz that orchestrated the murder of my parents, the former Lord and Lady of Solar, and my elder brother, the heir.”

“W-what?! You mean the late Lord didn’t die in an accident? He was murdered?!”

The retainers’ faces turned pale with shock. Only now did they realize that this wasn’t about a runaway slave who became Knight Commander—it was something much deeper.

“I’m going to bring Sir Bloom back myself. In the meantime, I want you all to prepare for the worst.”

“Th-the worst, as in...?”

“A war. Obviously.”

A collective gasp rippled through the room. Ayra didn’t even wait for them to recover from the shock before standing up.

She’d expected her closest aides to strongly oppose her decision to retrieve Bloom personally. But surprisingly, Jinas only opened his mouth as if to speak, glanced at Janus—who had silently stood beside Ayra throughout the entire meeting—and then closed it again. Hera and Gretel showed no objections either.

“What are you doing, Chief Administrator! Administrator! Say something! The Lord just declared she’s going to Sobletz herself to retrieve a criminal!”

As the other retainers, panicked at the thought of Solar’s last heir dying and dooming the entire estate, began buzzing like an angry swarm, Hera finally stepped in. She raised her hand to quiet them.

“Alright, calm down, all of you. And let me make something clear—Sir Bloom isn’t a slave. He’s the Knight Commander. The story about him being a fugitive slave who murdered civilians? That’s just Sobletz’s claim. There’s no proof.”

“B-but... didn’t he say something before he left, something that sounded like a confession...?”

“Hm? I couldn’t hear you. You’ll have to speak louder.”

Hera deliberately raised the pressure in her voice, and the retainers recoiled. The aura of someone who’d spent a lifetime hunting magical beasts wasn’t something ordinary people could withstand. And since it was true there was no hard evidence, the retainers reluctantly fell silent—but Ayra understood.

‘Even if I bring Bloom back safely, there’ll be huge backlash if I reinstate him as Knight Commander.’

Ayra had no intention of keeping a mass murderer of innocent civilians in such a position. But from everything she’d seen, Bloom didn’t seem like that kind of man. And that title he bore—“the Righteous Butcher”—clearly indicated that many people saw him as righteous. Until she heard the full truth from Bloom himself, she would not cast him aside.

Just as Hera said, Bloom was still her Knight Commander.

“And besides, our lord is an exceptionally skilled Labyrinth Mage. You’re not doubting her abilities, are you?”

Even as she said that, Hera’s gaze shifted to Janus. Ayra realized that her closest aides—Hera included—weren’t putting their faith in her magic, but in the dragon. It seemed their attitude toward Janus had shifted while she was unconscious. He no longer struck them purely as something to be feared—but ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) more like a terrifyingly dependable guardian.

After finishing the meeting with the retainers—more like a unilateral declaration, really—Ayra called her top aides together.

“Jinas, if I’m ever absent again for unavoidable reasons, I want you to act as the Lord in my stead. I’m granting you authority to use the seal.”

“Yes, my Lady. Thank you.”

Jinas bowed deeply, clearly relieved. Perhaps he’d felt helpless while Ayra was unconscious. His face brightened with pride at being trusted with the seal.

“And Sir Gretel, can you manage to steer the retainers’ and landowners’ opinions while I’m gone?”

Ayra recalled a skill she’d gained—one that evolved from mediation to diplomacy. In the stat window, it was labeled a “skill,” but in truth, it was a talent. Gretel had the innate ability to read people and guide them in the direction he wanted.

And above all, the connections held by the Ran household were his greatest asset. Graffni was hopeless in administration, but socially? He had unusual talent. Gretel, who had inherited only his father’s strengths, widened his eyes, then nodded with determination.

“I’ll do my best to ensure Sir Bloom can return to his rightful place. I’m sure he has a reason for what happened.”

Even Ayra couldn’t be certain of Bloom’s past, but Gretel looked like he genuinely believed it. Ayra patted the young man’s shoulder a couple of times and turned to Hera.

“Hera, I want you to take command of the soldiers while I’m away.”

“Alright. Don’t worry and go. I’ll do my best.”

Hera was not exactly a natural-born military commander, but of those remaining, she was the most suitable to fill Bloom’s shoes. She’d at least led a militia before. Watching the three of them, Ayra felt reassured despite having to leave the estate behind.

And so, after entrusting Solar to her reliable, capable retainers, Ayra set out for Sobletz—with Janus at her side.

❄

“Ugh, ngh...”

Ayra heaved, then took a deep breath to settle her churning stomach. As she finally looked up again, Janus stopped patting her back and clicked his tongue.

“You’re too weak.”

“Hey... could you not judge me by dragon standards...?”

“What are you talking about? I meant by human standards.”

With her HP sitting at barely 700—far below the average 1,000 of a typical estate resident—there wasn’t much a mage like Ayra could say to that. Instead, she glanced bitterly at the source of her motion sickness: the carriage. The tiny vehicle, which had been carrying her nonstop from Solar to Sobletz, had no horse hitched to it. That was because the one pulling it... was none other than a dragon.

Despite having sprinted night and day without rest, Janus showed not a trace of exhaustion.

The distance from Solar to Sobletz was by no means short. But time was tight before Bloom’s execution, and so Ayra had asked Janus if he could carry her there. Janus had looked up at the sky, snow pouring down in thick flakes, and then at Ayra—whose nose and cheeks were already red from the cold despite barely being outside—and returned with a small carriage.

‘Get in. I’ll pull it.’

‘What? But...’

Even if he was a dragon, he looked like a man. And he was her lover. She hesitated, unsure if it was okay to ask him to run like a beast of burden. But Janus had simply scooped her up and stuffed her into the carriage, then casually strapped the harness to himself and, just before departing, said:

‘Oh, right. If you’ve got any protection magic, cast it now.’

‘Okay, I just did. But are you really...’

Ayra had tried to ask Are you really okay with this?—but before she could finish, the carriage took off like a rocket. It rattled so violently that Ayra had to cast protection magic on herself as well as the carriage.