Show Me Your Stats!

The now chilly breakfast atmosphere showed no sign of recovering even after some time passed. After being in the midst of that coldness, Ayra’s appetite disappeared. The young lord stood up and left the banquet hall early with the intention of allowing his retainers to eat comfortably. As he walked out, he summoned the quest window.

<Quest!>

[Let’s raise the level of this cute Pebble.]

*Check 10 people’s stats (10/10)

*Introduce this cute Pebble to 10 people (10/10)

Reward: Opening a new stat category.

When he confirmed that the quest was completed, the words ‘Level Up!’ appeared on Pebble’s body. Ayra’s eyes widened, “Level up? You can level up?”

Pebble began to shine brilliantly–enough to temporarily blind someone. Ayra waited, hands clasped together subconsciously.  At that moment, a certain ‘pocket monster’ or ‘digital monster’ manga passed through his mind. 1

Will it evolve? It’s probably undergoing evolution! He placed his hands over the heart beating within his chest; the light finally faded and Pebble’s new appearance could be seen.

A round, smooth, stone-like body the size of two adult fists; eyes like two dots pressed into the stone; mouth shaped like a ㅅ… Pebble was still just a Pebble even after it evolved. There was little difference from its earlier appearance.

Except now, it had small hands the size of a marble.

“W-wow.”

Pebble turned around very proudly, so Ayra clapped awkwardly almost involuntarily. “You…gained hands!”

It fluttered on Ayra’s shoulders and began doing something–whether that was patting or massaging the shoulders. Alright…Everything’s okay as long as it’s cute! When Ayra touched Pebble’s hands with his index finger, it felt a bit soft, as if he was touching jelly.

“Ayra-nim.”

Ayra was lost in thought, wondering if these ‘hands’ could even be called hands or if they should be considered secondary fragments–the new additions were separated from the body rather than being connected to it. After turning around at the sound of his name, Ayra saw Ginas walking this way, as if he rushed out of the room to follow him.

How fortuitous–Ayra was wondering what stat category was just revealed, so he curiously called up the stat window. After checking what was added, he reflexively wrinkled his forehead but, instantaneously, also noticed Ginas’ gaze. The young governor had good perception, so any strange movements may cause his wariness to rise.

“Sir Ginas,” Ayra said.

“There’s something I must tell you about the succession ceremony schedule.”

Ayra nodded, trying his hardest to tear his eyes away from the stat window next to Ginas’s head, and encouraged him to continue.

“Since the previous lord died in an unfortunate accident rather recently, it would be better to hold this coronation after some time has passed, in a lax manner.”

“Alright. It hasn’t been long since Father, Mother, and older brother passed away; furthermore, I don’t know anything, so I could learn more during mourning. We can relax for a month or two more.”

His words meant that Ginas shouldn’t feel pressured–he felt too burdened to become a lord immediately. However, at those words, Ginas’s gray eyes flashed and he adopted a serious expression, “Absolutely not. No matter what, we’ll proceed before a full month passes. Definitely!  I will have Ayra-nim sit in the Lord’s seat as soon as possible.”

“Ah, okay. Thanks…” Even after witnessing such a passionate attitude, Ayra could determine that the determination solidified in Ginas’ words couldn’t possibly be from loyalty to the young lord. From the atmosphere in today’s meal to Ginas’s current attitude, layers of uncomfortable feelings compounded on each other.

Ayra decided to press his luck, “Mm, then, should we start working on the territory matters before the coronation? Work must have piled up since the lord’s seat has been empty.”

“I’m very sorry, Ayra-nim. The seals required for the usual internal affairs and approving official documents are stored in the study, but, for generations, only the lord and his representative have been allowed to enter.”

Ginas had turned around and informed Ayra that he was barred from being involved in internal affairs until the succession ceremony was officially completed. Awkward points piled up between them yet again. He couldn’t tell whether or not Ginas was simply a conservative retainer who adhered strictly to tradition or if he had another reason. To be honest, Ayra thought it was the latter.

Ayra thought about being stubborn, but he gave up. There was no reason for him to have a conflict with a retainer in an important position from the very beginning of their relationship. Besides, it was far too burdensome to become a lord right now anyway. If there was a problem with the territory, none of that mattered.

He was determined to take over the lord’s position no matter what happens, anyway.

It wasn’t that he already felt some great sense of responsibility over the estate. For Ayra, who had lived much longer in the Labyrinth, the territory was simply a nostalgic place that lived within his childhood memories. He steeled his resolve to become a lord for other reasons.

How likely was it that the lord and his family died all at once in an accident?

The lord, the lord’s firstborn son, his wife. If at least one person was left alive, there wouldn’t be a big problem in governing the territory. But, all three inadvertently died at once. Even the knights that accompanied them had all died; there were no witnesses left.

What bothered Ayra the most was that his brother’s body was split into two, as if he had been torn apart. Even if the carriage had rolled off the cliff, how could his body be in such a dreadful state?

If all of this was the result of someone’s intentional meddling…

Ayra’s eyes narrowed chillingly. He would also be in danger by stepping into this territory, but he would never be taken in docilely. He would never let someone who had committed such an act live a good life. “Then, we’ll wait until the coronation.”

“Yes, we’ll try to be as swift as possible.”

“Alright. I’ll leave it to you, sir Ginas. Ah, that’s right,” Ayra paused when he recalled what he was going to ask Ginas a while back. He twirled his body around quickly and asked, politely, “If it’s all right, one brick… No, could I tear off a few bricks from the castle?”

The stern young general was about to answer but paused–he looked like he was buffering. With a face that seemed as if he couldn’t believe what he had just heard, Ginas asked, “….What?”

“If possible, I’d like to tear a piece from the central wall of the main corridor; there’s something I’d like to check.”

“What…did you want to check?”

“For a castle to stay so clean and immaculate for so long, it must be because of magic. If I could just roughly check the magical circuit–“

“Absolutely not!” Ginas, who looked as if he had heard something world-shatteringly horrible, cut Ayra off and flatly refused. Even before Ayra could begin to try and persuade him further, the young governor continued with a serious tone, “Even after you become the lord, it’ll be burdensome if you to open the walls of that historic main building.”

“If being seen by another’s gaze is the problem, I can secretly uncover the wall and neatly put it back together in the dead of the night. If you apply a little bit of resin made from the  well-boiled salivary glands of slimes it’ll be perfect.”

“Dear god! Just what did you say you were going to use?”

Ginas’s eyes seemed to shout, ‘How is such a crazy wizard our next Lord?!’ and Ayra’s spirit was slightly dampened. It seemed like, outside the labyrinth, slime salivary glands didn’t see common use.

‘…Have I gotten into a fight with an important retainer for no reason?’

“If the corridor is difficult, then perhaps another location…” Ayra asked again.

“Every other brick, every piece, is embedded with the history of the Solar territory, so it’s difficult to accept your proposition. Well then, I’ll leave for now since I’m busy with work.” The young general bowed his head hastily, not knowing what Ayra would say otherwise.

Ayra looked sadly at the other, before turning around and grabbing the floating Pebble with his hand. As he kneaded and stretched it, Pebble floundered its newly formed hands. “All I got was the full name? Isn’t that too much?” (It’s like isn’t that too cruel?”)

Ayra, eyebrows crooked, pointed with his chin to the stat window that remained behind even after Ginas had left.

<Hess Lu Ginas>

HP:???

MP:???

Physical Attack: ???

Magical Attack: ???

Affection: ????

That’s right. After completing the quest, a new category was revealed. All that happened was the name ‘Ginas’ had transformed into ‘Hess Ru Ginas.’ As he squeezed the artificial spirit this way and that way–strangely, it seemed to like that–Ayra traced his memory, “If it’s Hess, then he’s from a family that has served as the territory’s governor from generation to generation.”

Naming conventions in the solar territory were as follows. For nobles, the family name comes first, next was the shared generational name in the middle, and finally your given name. In Solar Xing Ayra’s case, his name would mean: ‘a person named Ayra from the Solar family, from the xing generation.’ 2

“If this ability works the way I think it does…this alone is very useful.”

While Ayra stood silently, immersed in his thoughts, Pebble turned as flat as a hotteok in his hands. 3 Worried, Ayra quickly let it go, but Pebble pretended to be dying, rubbing its hands together in prayer. Though it liked being squished, the spirit must not enjoy being squashed flat.

Soon after, a new quest window appeared.

<Quest!>

[Let’s raise the cute Pebble’s level.]

*Check the stats of 300 people (0/300)

Reward: Open 1 stat chosen by the User.

TL: I’m being so slow >.< But I’ll pick up during my breaks