Show Me Your Stats!-Chapter 80

When Ayra regained consciousness, her first thought was one of doom.

"How long... how much time has passed?"

She attempted to sit up, but the pain halted her motion, causing her to groan. Every part of her body ached—from her waist to her limbs—after the relentless activities of the night. Although she wasn't sleepy, her body felt devoid of strength.

Lifting her heavy eyelids, the first thing she saw was last night's choice window:

Bed ending? Ayra startled for a moment before reading more carefully and realizing it said 'Bed' not 'Bad'. That dragon... even now! Attempting to grasp the stone stuck to her cheek, she sighed in exhaustion, lacking the energy to do much else.

After moaning in pain for a while, she finally managed to lift her head. Thanks to several magic stones placed there, the fireplace was roaring with life, warming the air. Despite only a thin blanket covering her, it wasn’t too cold. Stretching languidly, Ayra then snapped to attention.

"My powder!"

She hastily looked around, eventually spotting a rolling glass bottle on the floor. Picking it up, she discovered that half of the Exemplarion powder had vanished overnight. Distressed by the waste of such precious substance, she quickly adjusted her mindset. Well, considering she had secretly fed the powder to a dragon, and both she and the city were still intact—and half of the powder was still there—it wasn’t so bad. She quickly stored the bottle in a subspace.

Her research journal lay on the opposite side. Picking it up, she quickly flipped through to ensure no pages had fallen out. Her fingers paused at a blotchy, soot-smudged entry.

Observation 3: Powder sprinkled lover. Highly preferred.

Ayra snorted in disbelief, amused, and closed the notebook, storing it as well. Then she stared blankly at the dust floating in the air, her mind drifting to the backlog of work piling up. However, she decided to indulge in a bit more rest; these were the times when it was crucial to take a proper break.

As she watched the flickering flames in the fireplace, pondering the composition of magic stones and complete combustion processes, she suddenly snapped back to reality and began rummaging through the bed.

“There should be some of Janus’s hair fallen around here...”

She flapped the duvet vigorously and leaned over to inspect the floor for red hairs when the door opened, and Janus entered. Draped with a cloth over his shoulder, he carried buckets of water freshly drawn from the river, one in each hand. Placing the buckets on the stove, he flashed a grin.

New novel 𝓬hapters are published on ƒreewebɳovel.com.

“Are you doing that for me?”

Only then did Ayra realize she was naked and sprawled face-down on the bed. Despite the indecency of the situation after a night of tumult, she felt slightly embarrassed and quickly pulled the blanket over her body. She wasn't keen on starting another round in bed so early in the day.

Janus set down a bucket of comfortably warm water near the bed with a heavy thud. The bucket looked crudely hand-carved, more hacked than shaped. After placing another bucket on the stove, he soaked the cloth he carried in the warm water.

“Here, let me clean you up.”

His mannerism toward his lover was impeccable. Ayra, born into nobility and fairly successful as a labyrinth mage, was accustomed to being served. Yet, something about receiving such care from her lover made her hesitate slightly before she dropped the blanket a bit.

Janus began by gently wiping her face, then meticulously cleaned her entire body, moving slowly downward. As the water cooled, he switched it with the other bucket from the stove. It felt as though she was submerged in a warm bath, naturally relaxing her body. Likely, Janus had hastily washed himself with the cold river water.

“Thank you.”

Feeling clean and refreshed, a smile spread across Ayra's face. The steam treatment also eased the aches across her body, though the aftermath of their vigorous activities lingered, causing her to groan as she dressed. Janus clicked his tongue.

“You really need to work on your stamina.”

Ayra chose to ignore the comment. How could a man with a stamina of 9,999,999 understand the struggles of a mage who barely surpassed 800? And that was after she had been quite active lately...

As her lover busily picked up his wrinkled clothes to get dressed, Janus spoke up from where he sat by the bed.

“About that strange research or experiment of yours, you can keep doing it.”

Ayra nearly tripped over a garment in surprise.

“...Really?”

Her voice was skeptical, but her face quickly brightened, and her eyes sparkled like morning sunlight. She had never before encountered a high-intelligence lifeform, let alone a test subject... no, a partner who willingly agreed to participate in experiments.

“Yeah, it sounds like it could be fun.”

Ayra hesitated for a moment, but any slight pangs of conscience were swiftly overwhelmed by her determined mage's ego.

“Thank you so much! I'll make sure it doesn't hurt!”

Worried that Janus might change his mind, Ayra quickly expressed her gratitude. There was no way she was going to pass up such an opportunity, even if it was just out of politeness. Although she was quite serious, Janus laughed softly and gently caressed her flushed cheek with the back of his hand.

“Hungry? Let’s go get some breakfast. It’s on me.”

A blissfully dressed Ayra opened the door first, then stopped short as a message popped up.

[Janus Rehzedet’s favorability has increased by 1.]

Current Favorability: 6

Ayra’s face was a mix of pleasure and perplexity. She was happy, but it also felt strange. What exactly raised his favorability? It was good to have experiments and increased favorability, but something was off... Maybe he really enjoyed last night?

Regardless, the two favorability points she gained in nearly a day made the exhausting ordeal somewhat worthwhile.

Stepping out into the chilly morning, Ayra braced herself against the cold. She wanted to return to the warmth of the house, but she forced herself to walk. Overnight, a thin layer of melting snow had covered the streets, and soon, a full winter would envelop Solar.

Craving something hot, they headed to a steamed bun shop. The owner, Wolf, greeted his regular customers with a sunshine-bright smile.

"Welcome! Good morning. What can I get for you today?"

"Um..."

While Ayra pondered the menu, another customer entered. It was Hera, a regular who seemed to adore the steamed buns almost as much as Ayra did. Whether it was due to her generous contributions to the sales or a personal fondness, Wolf greeted her with a wide grin.

"Hello, Hera. How was the hunt?"

"Wolf, doing well? Oh, I’m always fine. Just swept up a few hundred beasts this time. It was a sight to behold, carving through Cabolos and Traturas that were bursting from the ground. You should have seen it!"

As usual, Hera boasted extravagantly.

Ayra drifted into thought. Cabolos and Traturas forming a group? That sounded like the multi-species swarming phenomenon she'd only read about in records. How nice it would have been to see it... But cutting them down with a single stroke seemed far-fetched. Hmm, what steamed bun should I get? These two really seem to like each other, don't they? Are they an item or just close friends? I want both # Nоvеlight # meat and soup buns. After a long and tangled train of thought, Ayra finally decided on her order.

"Four meat buns, three soup buns, and three spicy buns, please."

"Right away!"

After placing her order, Ayra engaged in conversation with Hera while Wolf busied himself with the buns.

"Where did you see the Cabolos and Traturas?"

"Huh? Oh, it was near that mountain peak. Lots of beasts there. Maybe it's the soil? Dig a little, and they pop up like ants. Last time, I stepped on the ground, and out burst a Cordion as big as a house. Its legs were like logs! Took me quite the effort to catch it. See this scar? Got it from its horn. Nearly missed my head by a hair!"

As Janus listened to the steam rising from the steamer, he raised his head and stared at Hera. Caught by his gaze, she responded with a puzzled, "Huh?" and then flashed a good-natured smile, which Janus returned.

The atmosphere seemed to tense oddly at that moment. Suddenly, a stone shot from Ayra's hand and slowly moved towards Janus's face, eventually sticking to his cheek with a slap.