Show Me Your Stats!-Chapter 172

The Final Vassal

“Lord Ayra, I’ll go file the report now.”

“Mm, alright.”

Under Janus’s penetrating gaze, Gretel hunched his shoulders and looked like he wanted to bolt, but began reading the report nonetheless—a summary of the negotiations with Sobletz regarding prisoner processing. He stammered slightly, likely due to Janus’s presence, but spoke in a clear, steady voice.

As Ayra listened, she opened up Gretel’s stat window—more precisely, the Related Characters section.

...

Related Characters: [Click!]

Ran Household: 37 [Click!]

Friends: 29 [Click!]

Lord’s Castle: 21 [Click!]

Others: 19 [Click!]

Being listed under Related Characters didn’t just mean you knew someone. Only people who held a certain degree of personal significance to the individual would appear here. And yet, Gretel had so many that the number easily broke into double digits. Ayra clicked on the Lord’s Castle category, impressed by the sheer volume.

Solar Sing Ayra: Let’s work hard for the lord! Let’s do our best! ٩(•̤̀ᵕ•̤́๑)૭✧ ‖ 82♡

Hess Lu Jinas: A colleague I admire and rely on (๑•‿•๑) ‖ 74♡

Hera: Such a cool person (◍•ᴗ•◍)❤ ‖ 71♡

Bloom: A bit difficult and awkward, but we’re getting closer (≡^∇^≡) ‖ 69♡

...

Janus: P-please spare me. I taste terrible, I swear! ( ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅ ) ‖ -5♡

Still in his early twenties, Gretel’s stat messages even came with emoticons—brash and cute. But unlike Gretel, Janus...

Related Characters: [Click!]

Solar Sing Ayra: Mine. Curious about her flavor. ‖ 87♡

Pebble: No flavor. ‖ 0♡

Just as Ayra had thought when she first unlocked Related Characters, the list was depressingly sparse. She’d been curious to see how Janus felt about those around him, but only two names appeared. And one of them wasn’t even a person. In other words, Janus had no meaningful attachments to anyone other than Ayra. The line about wondering how she tasted was a bit unsettling, but overall it made Ayra smile in satisfaction.

Gretel, who had been diligently reading the report, interpreted Ayra’s smile as a compliment and chuckled sheepishly in response. Janus, who’d been narrowing his eyes at him, suddenly opened his mouth in a frigid tone.

“The stench is unbearable.”

Gretel froze mid-laugh. He dropped the report he’d been holding, nearly stopped breathing, and didn’t even dare look at Janus. Hiccupping in terror, he stammered backward toward the door, then squeaked that he’d bathe better next time and bolted.

Watching her vassal flee mid-report, Ayra sighed and gathered the scattered papers with magic.

“Stop tormenting my vassals.”

“The one spreading the stench is at fault.”

Janus yawned leisurely and snorted, entirely unapologetic.

As he’d warned, the aftereffects of giving him that mana stone fragment were showing. His appetite had grown, and his personality had become noticeably more irritable and sensitive. Anyone who came too close got glared at and driven away under the pretext of “smelling bad.”

Ayra started to scold him again, but paused as she glanced once more at his Related Characters window.

“...Yeah, I guess the one who smells is at fault.”

He was a dragon who could level a city with a flick of his claw—he was allowed to glare at people. Even if a tempting ant hill appeared right in front of him, he was doing his best to hold back. Surely he was entitled to a little temper. With such a biased and forgiving mindset, Ayra handed him a heaping pile of his current favorite: bone-in dried meat.

As Janus noisily crunched through the bones—almost like ASMR—Ayra began reviewing her upcoming plans.

“First, I’ll deal with some backlogged tasks, then head out for the Main Quest.”

Once she completed this Main Quest, she would finally have all five of her loyal vassals. From there, she could focus on maintaining approval and leveling up Pebble to its final stage. Just as she was thinking that, Pebble popped up with a cheerful chime and a system window.

[Final Level Quest not yet ready! Please wait a little longer :D]

What kind of quest required extra preparation? Ayra frowned slightly in unease.

“And then, we «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» meet D-Day...”

With a mind-reading AI spirit, five loyal vassals (soon), and a dragon on her side, Ayra felt a vague, baseless confidence that she could take on Sobletz’s dragon.

“First, I’ll have the vassals prioritize evacuating the residents. If Janus and I team up against the dragon... maybe we can protect the estate.”

She was curious how much Janus’s stats had dropped due to the mana stone aftereffects, but even now, his HP still displayed the same figure: 9,999,999. Even when showing decimal points, it remained 9,999,999.999...

Just thinking about fighting another dragon made her anxious. But truthfully... a small part of her was excited. Human greed had no end. After all, she still had only one dragon sample so far...

“Still... why does that dragon want to destroy my estate?”

The most plausible reason was some grudge against Janus, but Ayra’s eyes lit up with realization. There was still one unanswered question hanging over this territory. Why had Sobletz and Bolni teamed up and gone as far as putting Solar into debt just to seize it? The motive remained unclear.

“Maybe if I level up Pebble and unlock the ‘Current Thoughts’ stat, I can interrogate Orseng... Or should I just kidnap him now and force a confession with a truth serum?”

Deep in thought, Ayra suddenly noticed the ASMR chewing had changed. The sharp, dry crunch of bone had shifted into a crackle crack crunch.

What the hell was he eating now?

She turned to look—and saw Janus had dragged over a sack of mana stones and was munching on them.

Hard mana stones that only seasoned labyrinth mages could handle were crumbling between his fangs like snack chips. Multiple stones—worth one to three Cell each—disappeared into his mouth, and Ayra’s eyes twitched faintly.

“You’re... eating mana stones?”

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freewebnσvel.cøm.

“Mm. I don’t usually, but I’m craving them today.”

If this already gluttonous dragon started treating mana stones as snacks, her finances would never recover. But hearing that it wasn’t a daily habit calmed her somewhat.

“Alright, eat as much as you want. Let me know if you run out, I’ll get more.”

Without the booming Skit Silk business, her stomach would’ve twisted in protest. But now that she was a proper lord of a wealthy estate, Ayra generously scribbled down notes about Janus’s new dietary preference. If eating mana stones helped him recover, she’d give him as many as he wanted.

With the sound of an expensive dragon mukbang echoing in the background, Ayra busied herself preparing for her trip—clearing things up so the castle wouldn’t be unattended during the Main Quest.

Once everything was ready, she jumped up and called to the lethargic dragon.

“Janus, I’m heading out for a bit. Want to come with me?”

Lately, Janus had accompanied her everywhere. Without a word, he brushed off the mana dust and stood up. While Ayra busied herself putting on fur boots, gloves, a thick coat, scarf, and earmuffs, Janus yawned sleepily. Seeing him like that was rare, so Ayra said while wrapping herself in her heavy robe:

“You can stay and nap if you’re tired.”

“I’ll sleep after we come back.”

Even now, there was no change in Janus’s HP. Still concerned, Ayra gently helped him into his gloves and wrapped his scarf tight. Janus let her do it with a faint, amused smile.

Fully geared up, Ayra stopped by to let Jinas know before departing. He was in the administrative office, assisting Gretel.

“Jinas, I’m heading to the nearby forest to do some beast research.”

Jinas, who had once exhausted himself trying to handle every castle duty alone, had finally returned to his proper role as steward. His HP had increased, his complexion looked better, and he’d even gained some weight. Looking up from the documents, he smiled.

“Yes, my lord. Please take care.”

On the way out, Ayra spotted Bloom—now much recovered—overseeing knight training. His expression was still stoic, but his face looked far healthier than before. It was a welcome sight.

Ayra let out a long breath, like exhaling cold cotton. When she’d first come to this estate, everything had felt hopeless. Back then, she’d had to go to Dalum herself just to bring merchants to pay the interest...

“No matter what happens, I’ll protect this territory.”

As the bitter winter wind pressed in, Ayra climbed atop her horse, vowing silently to herself.

❄

The Main Quest: The Woman Wandering the Forest had changed locations. At first, it had been in the woods near Sobletz, but now it was much closer to Solar. Given the fast pace, she assumed the woman was traveling by horse. With D-Day rapidly approaching, Ayra was thankful she wouldn’t have to travel far for this quest.

“So, what kind of magical beast are we looking for?”

Janus’s mood seemed better than back at the castle—maybe it was the crisp forest air. He turned to ask her.

“I’ve already catalogued most of the magical beast population in Solar. I wanted to check this area next. Magical beasts usually vary depending on geological conditions, so I’m trying to compare.”

Ayra answered sincerely as she studied the ground for surface traces. Though it was a cover story—she couldn’t tell Janus she was on a Main Quest—it wasn’t a total lie either. She did intend to gather some research while she was out here.