Show Me Your Stats!-Chapter 187

As the Favorability alerts popped up one after another, Ayra looked up. Multiple system windows were reporting that Act’s Favorability toward her was increasing.

[Attera te Act’s Favorability has increased by 6!]

Current Favorability: -22

[Attera te Act’s Favorability has increased by 12!]

Current Favorability: -10

[Attera te Act’s Favorability has increased by 16!]

Current Favorability: 6

[Attera te Act’s Favorability has increased by 3!]

Current Favorability: 9

The corners of Ayra’s lips lifted in a subtle smile. It looked like the High Priest had met with his family by now. It had paid off to show consideration by telling him to focus on temple duties while Ayra sent knights to retrieve them safely—his Favorability was rising fast. Even though it was only at 9, it was still a vast improvement from before.

Not long after, a new main quest completion window appeared.

[The Woman Wandering the Forest (3)]

*Rescue Solar’s High Priest from danger. (Completed)

*Reward: Hint about the fifth retainer, the Ghost Spy.

[Congratulations on recruiting your final retainer! XD]

[You have fulfilled all conditions for the main quest ‘Estate Survival: How to Prepare for Catastrophe’ – Recruit 5 Loyal Retainers!]

Pebble hopped around in the air like a rabbit, excitedly firing off celebratory fireworks. Small but vivid bursts of light exploded in Ayra’s palm. The warmth disturbed Janus, who had been dozing nearby, pressed up against Ayra and radiating heat. Blinking one eye open, he watched Pebble’s antics and then began poking Ayra’s waist.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Did everything go okay at the temple? You look pleased."

"It went well enough."

Just thinking that religious affairs in Solar would no longer be a thorn in her side made Ayra feel happy. That’s when Pebble popped up a final level-up quest.

<Quest!>

[Let’s Raise the Final Level of the Competent Pebble!]

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*Uncover the identity of the Ghost Spy (Unfulfilled)

*Discover the mysterious power source of the castle (Unfulfilled)

*Learn why the lords of Sobletz and Bolni are targeting the estate (Unfulfilled)

*Identify the unknown enemy threatening the estate (Unfulfilled)

Until now, the level-up quests had mostly been about increasing proficiency by checking other people’s Stat Windows. But this final quest was different. Ayra slowly read through the list of objectives.

‘This... it looks like all the tasks are connected by the same core theme.’

Then something suddenly occurred to her, and she turned to Pebble in protest.

‘Wait a minute. Didn’t you say I’d get a hint about the Ghost Spy as a reward?’

[Tip. To receive your reward, try speaking to Attera te Act about the Karcal incident!]

This little... Ayra gave Pebble a brief squeeze of affection. Then again, she was planning to gather all the retainers soon for a strategy meeting anyway. She let herself enjoy Janus’s warm body for a moment longer, before a new thought popped into her head.

‘Come to think of it... will the concealment magic on the quarry really work against a dragon?’

Ayra abruptly stood. Janus, who had drifted back to sleep, stirred as she shook him awake. Smacking his lips, he forced his eyes open, clearly irritated. As if to say he’d let this slide because it was her, Janus threateningly kneaded her thigh like it was a lump of dough. Ayra, distracted by her experiment, didn’t even notice.

"I want to test something. Just give me a minute."

"Oh? Then should I strip first?"

Janus’s eyes sparkled as he grinned mischievously. He pulled up his thin shirt—far too thin for winter—to reveal his chiseled abs. Ayra, still sore from last night’s aftermath, gasped and grabbed his shirt.

"Why are you suddenly undressing?"

"You said you want to test something. Whether it’s cutting open my stomach or whatever, shouldn’t I take off my clothes first?"

"No, that’s not—"

Janus clearly thought Ayra’s experiment was some kind of roleplay. But no matter how curious Ayra was about dragons, she had no intention of dissecting her lover like some random creature she found on the roadside. Just as Janus saw Ayra as a meaningful human among all others, Ayra saw Janus as a meaningful dragon.

So when she firmly refused, Janus gently stroked the hand that was desperately clinging to his shirt, then pulled it toward his chest and placed it over his solar plexus.

"No? Then do you want to hit me?"

What the hell...? What kind of image did Janus have of her? I thought I’d been living a pretty normal life...

After a moment of inner crisis, Ayra concluded that Janus was the strange one. She helped him back into his clothes, wrapped a scarf around his neck, and pushed him out of the castle. Still drowsy, Janus dragged his feet reluctantly.

When Ayra checked his estate upgrade progress, it was at 19%. It seemed to be slowing down. At this rate, the countdown might end before the upgrades finished, which was worrying. Janus yawned several times, clearly planning to finish this quickly and return to sleep. He suddenly scooped Ayra into his arms.

"Where are we going?"

"There’s a quarry to the east..."

She almost bit her tongue when Janus took off running mid-sentence. The cold wind stung her eyes, and when she opened them again, they were already in front of the quarry. Honestly, it was convenient—Ayra gave Janus a light pat on the arm in thanks.

"So what do we do here?"

"I’ve placed concealment magic on this quarry. I’ll activate it from inside, and you tell me if you can find me or not."

"Hmm, sounds simple."

Ayra stepped into the quarry, while Janus stood outside with his arms crossed, watching like it was some kind of game. She slotted the component into the wall groove and activated the magic. A soft vmmm sound resonated, and the spell successfully activated.

This concealment magic caused memory interference upon activation—people wouldn’t even be able to remember where the entrance to the quarry was. All that remained in sight was a sheer rock wall.

At first, Janus watched without much thought. But the moment the spell activated, his body flinched.

He furrowed his brow and began pacing near the quarry entrance. Confirming that even dragons were affected made Ayra smile with satisfaction. She continued to observe.

Janus sniffed the air, searching for scents, then tapped the cliff face with his hand. He loitered around the entrance, head tilted in a blank expression, before suddenly plopping down on the ground.

What’s he up to now?

Curious, Ayra watched as he raised one arm high. With his hand formed into a sharp blade, he thrust it straight into the earth. The frozen winter soil gave way as if it were freshly baked bread. Just then, Pebble shot out from her hand in a panic.

[Alert! Landslide in 5 seconds!]

The word [Alert!] flashed red across Pebble’s body. Almost simultaneously, Janus’s arm began sprouting scales. A low rumble rose from deep underground—the earth’s cry, the herald of an oncoming quake. Horrified, Ayra screamed and bolted from the quarry.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Seeing Ayra rush out, Janus pulled his arm from the ground and grinned. The scales receded, dirt falling from his hand. Fortunately, the shaking stopped quickly—as if nothing had happened.

"You told me to find you, didn’t you?"

"I said tell me if you can find me, not cause an earthquake!"

Ayra had protection spells on the emergency shelters and plenty of food stored inside, so she wouldn’t have died from a collapse—but still, she’d almost been buried alive. Her heart pounded wildly. With a sigh, she asked:

"So? Do you think you could find me?"

"Nope. The scent, the sound, your presence—all vanished in an instant. It was... a very interesting spell."

Janus spoke with a grin, but he clearly wasn’t happy. His clenched fists cracked ominously, and Ayra quickly disabled the concealment spell. The tension in the air eased slightly as Janus stepped inside the quarry, inspecting the interior.

"You plug this in the wall and it activates?"

"Yeah, even someone without magic can use it easily."

"Really? I wanna try."

Without much thought, Ayra handed over a component. Janus inserted it into the wall, activated the spell from inside, then deactivated it again. As he pulled it out, a loud crack was heard—the component had # Nоvеlight # snapped.

"Oops. Misjudged my strength."

"It’s okay. I have plenty more in my subspace..."

Ayra reached to retrieve another component—but stopped. That wasn’t an accident. Narrowing her eyes, she looked at Janus, who offered a charming smile.

"Can I break one?"

She immediately understood the missing subject was the shelter.

"No."

"C’mon, wouldn’t it be fun? You like stress-testing things."

"You mean you want to destroy it. And no! That place is for saving the estate citizens."

"Haha... But if I wanted to destroy it, could you stop me?"

Janus laughed with an attitude that said he didn’t care whether the citizens lived or died. As he tapped the quarry walls with the back of his hand, Ayra broke out in a cold sweat. What about the concealment spell had upset him so much?

Did he really hate the feeling of me disappearing that much...? Even though it was just for a moment? Really? It was such a brief moment...