Show Me Your Stats!-Chapter 57

Merchants who had visited Solar before looked around, astonished at the familiar scenery. They had really done it—they had crossed the mountain range through the cave and arrived in Solar. Memories of all the grueling hardships they had suffered while climbing the mountains flashed through their minds.

Hess waited patiently until the merchants and mercenaries were done marveling, then clapped her hands to draw their attention. Once all eyes were on her, she smiled faintly, her face pale with fatigue.

“Now that you’ve seen for yourselves that the route is safe, I’d like to propose a trade.”

“I’ll sell food and cloth to Solar!”

Ronya shouted at the top of his lungs, raising his hand. But his voice was drowned out as others began shouting offers from all sides. Watching them undercut each other in a frenzy, Hess wore an unreadable expression before speaking again. Her clear voice rang out, silencing the crowd.

“We can talk about food and cloth later. For now, I’d like to propose a different kind of trade.”

As she said this, the mage—Ayra, Lord of Solar—gave a radiant smile.

“This cave is flat, isn’t it?”

The merchants nodded.

With the same soft voice she used to coax innocent juniors into volunteering for experiments back in the Labyrinth, Ayra continued.

“It’s warmer than outside, right? Easy to pull carts through? Wide enough for not just horses, but even larger beasts to pass? And since it’s a cave, no risk of getting ambushed?”

Seeing them nodding endlessly, Ayra suddenly shifted the topic.

“As a devout follower of Morunka-nim, I’ve always thought this: Morunka-nim is the mountain god—the one who rules over the snowy white peaks. Surely pure white suits Her best, don’t you think?”

Many tilted their heads at the seemingly random statement, but the shrewd ones were already catching on.

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Her sacred relics or temples were white as well? Just imagine—an immaculate, dazzling temple carved from snow-white stone. Three eternal white flowers placed upon the household altar.”

With her elegant features at full display, Ayra closed her eyes as if urging them to picture the scene together.

“Paint the petals delicately with a soft, beautiful red. Like flowers blooming in snow. So much more precious than a wooden idol, don’t you think? A pure white divine statue? A snow-white structure? Pious nobles with deep pockets would open their wallets for such treasures without hesitation.”

Ayra, who had seen the perfectly carved tunnel and instantly begun listing things to sell, continued smoothly.

Solar had barely a few palm-sized plots of flat land, and not a single mine in the mountainous terrain that made up most of the territory. Growing # Nоvеlight # crops was difficult, and the climate was so bitterly cold that raising livestock was a struggle. People lived by barely scraping by—hunting ma-beasts and animals just to survive. Even so, there was one thing that had left a deep impression on Ayra from the moment she first arrived:

The white lord’s manor, and the houses built with the same pure white stone.

In Solar, what lay scattered everywhere were rocks, rocks, and more rocks. The stone was so white and clean that it was sometimes hard to distinguish it from snow. It made perfect sense why there was a legend about Morunka, the mountain god, laying Her body to rest here. The region was encircled by sharp, jagged mountain ranges like knives.

There was so much stone that even the lord’s manor and villagers’ homes were made of it. Ayra had even been grateful that the broken walls of the manor didn’t cost anything to repair—because stone was free.

Most people didn’t think of rocks or stones as valuable. But stone was expensive. To be precise, good quality stone was a valuable material—especially if it was the kind used in castles and fortresses.

Solar’s white rocks were firm enough to endure erosion and weathering, forming entire basins, yet soft enough to be carved. And they were so abundant that every household’s Morunka icon was made from stone—stone flowers. Yet no one seemed to think about selling them.

Which was natural.

‘Who’s going to haul rocks through mountain paths that make the Himalayas look tame?’

You’d die before you got them anywhere. Even carrying just cloth and straw was dangerous enough to take a full month for a round trip—lugging heavy rocks through slopes covered in snow and ice year-round, constantly under threat of ma-beast attacks, rockslides, and collapsed roads?

Meanwhile, in Sobletz and Bolni—regions rich in forest resources—wooden buildings were the norm. Pure white stone buildings didn’t exist. Even the main temple in Sobletz was built from dark, rough granite. Only the sacred statue of the mountain god by the entrance was white, and even that was streaked with lines and impurities.

And most people preferred either pure white or pitch black. In games or in reality, #ffffff and #000000 were always popular colors.

“Wouldn’t the mountain god be more pleased with things made from Her mountains themselves?”

Saying this, Ayra conjured illusions—sacred objects, divine statues, and the lord’s manor made from pure white stone. Just like retouching a photo, the magic gave everything a glowing luster, making it even more beautiful than in reality. The effect was especially strong on those who were believers of Morunka. Ayra took note of a few merchants fidgeting with their old, wooden religious icons.

“To those who sell food and cloth at a fair price, I will grant exclusive trading rights for stone quarried from the holy land where Morunka-nim laid Her body to rest.”

And Solar stone even came with the holy and highly marketable brand name of Morunka. As the merchants’ eyes began gleaming red with greed, she pulled out a set of contracts she had prepared in advance and waved them in the air.

“Present this certificate directly to Chief Administrator Hess Lu Jinas at the lord’s manor. Now, bidding begins—first come, first served, three winners only!”

❄

“The carrier fee for a message to Solar is 1 Cell. For Sobletz, it's 40 half-Cells.”

Without hesitation, Ayra pulled out 140 half-Cells and handed it to the message-tamer. One message was for Hess in Solar, explaining today’s events. The other was for Dalrok Logia, the chief elder in Sobletz. It read as follows:

To the Esteemed Chief Elder, Dalrok Logia,

I hope this message finds you well.

I trust that, under Morunka-nim’s love, your body has healed from the great suffering of the previous incident.

The reason I write is that a fortunate opportunity has come my way...

(abridged)

...Thus, I believe all of this is thanks to Morunka-nim’s grace. I intend to donate a portion of the profits from the sale of sacred items, statues, and stone to the temple.

Also, given that the cave path was previously a dangerous site occupied by ma-beasts, perhaps the priests of Bolni could bless travelers who pass through it. Would that not ease their worries?

The long, courteous letter—like one Ayra might have once written to a far senior scholar in the Labyrinth begging for a thesis review—could be summarized as follows:

“Solar is now exporting sacred stone with Morunka’s holy branding. Bolni might try to interfere. I’ll share the profits—so please mediate, bless the cave, and maybe let Bolni's priests charge a small fee too?”

The soldiers who had imprisoned Dalrok Logia wore armor with the Sobletz insignia. That meant the lord of Sobletz had likely tried to use the chief elder as leverage—evidence that Morunka’s influence was strong enough to threaten them.

“And since the culprits were linked to the Joban household, that means the Jobans are probably in tight cooperation with Sobletz too...”

Marking the Joban family as a target of caution, Ayra continued her thoughts.

Though Sobletz was where the central temple was located, its status as a commercial port city had made its religious atmosphere rather secular. In contrast, Bolni—bordering the mountains—had an even stronger presence of the Morunka faith than the temple’s own territory. If Morunka’s clergy agreed to manage the cave path, it would help deter Bolni’s interference.

The commission was a bitter cost, but there was no better option. Solar still wasn’t capable of standing up to Bolni directly.

“If I sell some stone, I won’t have to worry about loan interest for a while.”

The biggest gain of all was that Solar now had a safe, accessible route. Even without resources, money gathers wherever people move. They were no longer a closed-off territory—now they could make use of the powerful resource that was religion.

“Once I raise enough funds from the stone trade, I’ll lobby the temple to have Solar designated as an official holy site. That’ll bring in a flood of pilgrims. I’ll build inns, restaurants, souvenir shops. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even discover a vein while digging out rocks...”

Caught up in the happiness of these fantasies, Ayra sighed and summoned the Territory Window. A new category—Commerce—had been added.

Territory Name: Solar

Lord: Solar Sing Ayra

Area: ~2,300 Zenta

Population: 156,312

Debt: 10,000 Cell (50 Cell monthly interest)

Military: Level 1

(Dalum Village shows strong support.)

Notable Details: 198 days remaining until collapse.

One-line Review: Well done. If you’ve got nothing else to sell, then at least sell rocks!

+ Additional Feature Unlocked: Territory Development Required

This damn window felt more like it was mocking her every time she looked at it...

Still, no matter how much Ayra flailed around trying to keep the territory afloat, if she didn’t gather 10,000 Cells before winter ended—or if the territory collapsed in 198 days—it would all be for nothing. That said, the cave path could at least serve as a perfect evacuation route if it came to that.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

Ayra was thoroughly proud of herself. If she’d sent Jinas or Bloom, nothing would have come of it. But she had gone—and just look how she’d solved everything.

This was why labyrinth mages were so expensive.