CH 18

‘He’s fickle, unpredictable, and does as he pleases.’

Listening to the mercenary’s evaluations of Janus; Ayra recalled the first time he had seen the man. A beggar or a homeless man–he sat in one place all day holding an instrument that he’s picked up from who knows where; a normal person wouldn’t behave that way.

‘Jeez, I guess it’s just not meant to be.’

Ayra shook his head and shook off all thoughts of the mercenary. However, as he wandered around the city in order to proceed with the quest, he looked around at his surroundings, unable to see the familiar sight of his target.

However he couldn’t find Janus anywhere in this city, despite reaching its outskirts. Only at lunch did Ayra completely give up looking for the other.

‘Did he leave for another city to find a new lover?’

After thinking that, Ayra suddenly felt so empty and hungry; he rubbed his stomach and walked towards the steamed bun shop.

He bought a spicy, steamed meat bun, bit into it, and took up a friendly conversation with Wolf–53 affection points–the owner of this establishment. Ayra was seriously considering whether or not he could have these steamed buns sent to the castle, when someone in the process of rushing by, hit Ayra hard from behind. The young lord went tumbling back.

Ayra looked back to see who the rude guy could be; shortly afterwards someone loudly yelled ‘Thief!’ The man ran for dear life. Ayra reflexively fumbled at himself but soon remembered that all his belongings were kept inside his subspace.

“…Gasp, I protected the steamed bun.” Fortunately, even as he fell, Ayra instinctively held onto the bun.

The owner, startled by the sudden fall of his customer, hurried over. “Are you okay? You didn’t get hurt?”

“Ah, yes. I’m Okay. …Huh?”

Ayra waved his man to show that he was fine, but his view headed towards the steam bun’s store sign. This literacy rate wasn’t very high in this world; most stores had pictorial signs. Peculiarly, four-leaf clovers were painted on the steam bun store’s sign. The design had faded over the years; but, looking closely, Ayra could see eyes, nose, and smiling lips created with a clover leitmotif.

As Ayra stood up with the help of the owner, he frowned his brows. ‘That’s strange. That clover sign… I feel like I’ve seen it before.’

Where did he see that? Why did it look so familiar? The young lord tilted his head; coincidentally, he noticed the familiar, impactful red hair in the distance. He could recognize it from far away. That was Janus. Pushing all thoughts of the sign away, Ayra hurriedly stuffed the leftover steamed bun into his mouth and began to run.

“Gasp, gasp! Why is he…so fast!”

Ayra coughed while trying to swallow the bun. He barely managed to gulp it down while chasing, but Janus had disappeared from view. While breathing deeply, Ayra looked around; somehow, he had run near the castle walls.

“What? Where did he disappear?”

He walked a little further, but he could only see groups of three or four 1 denizens chattering while leaning against the castle walls. It would soon be time for the succession ceremony; would his connection with Janus end here? He sighed and turned around.

It was then.

A rumbling–a sound like thunder, the earth shook.

“Earthquake?”

Startled, Ayra looked around, but the young lord seemed to be the only one that was surprised. The other denizens nonchalantly continued their activities. It seemed as if this sort of thing happened frequently. Seeing the other people, Ayra calmed his anxious heart and patted down his chest.

“Now that I think about it, didn’t I experience quite a few earthquakes when I was younger?”

Fumbling through childhood memories, Ayra once again turned around on the road. It was time to return home. Soon there was another earthquake–incomparable to the previous one. This time, the denizens screamed in surprise and fell to the ground. The ground shook hard enough that it was impossible to walk properly.

“Ngh…!” It was also difficult for Ayra to balance, so he sat down and searched his surroundings for a safe place.

At that moment, something echoed from afar. It sounded like particles were crumbling off the walls. Soon, with a thump, a large boulder parted from the wall and fell to the floor. Once it started to collapse, like a chain reaction more began to fall.

Near the end, the denizens rested under the shade of the wall. Ayra’s eyes widened as he noticed the signs of the collapsing wall. He didn’t even have time to warn them, so he hurried and moved his mana. The shaking stones that were about to fall froze in place. Ayra’s face became a little pale due to excessive use of his magic.

Of course, Ayra’s location wasn’t particularly safe either. When he looked up at the sound of falling stone dust there was a shadow of a huge rock fragment looming over his head. When he reflexively called at his magic to defend himself, he recalled the citizens he had been protecting; he crouched with clenched teeth.

However, the expected impact nor pain arrived–thanks to someone hugging Ayra and distancing them from the wall. Only after confirming that the other citizens had definitely escaped to a safe place; Ayra collected his mana, gasped shortly, and raised his head.

A familiar face looked down at him against the backdrop of the collapsing wall. “What are you doing here?”

“Janus!” He shouted almost involuntarily because he was so glad from relief, but Ayra soon hardened his expression. Thankfully this area had avoided much damage due to the buildings’ low-rise structure and stone construction material.

There were screams here and there–everywhere. As the wall collapsed, soldiers on guard atop the wall shouted as they ran away; heavy boulders embedded into the ground with weighty thuds. However, even at this critical moment, Ayra could not tear his eyes away from Janus, let alone think of running away.

This wasn’t because other’s fiery red hair and crimson eyes were just too memorable. It wasn’t because of his nonchalantly smiling–without fear or anxiety in the face of danger–and attractive mouth either.

‘What…’

Something was strange.

At a surface glance, he didn’t seem different from usual, but why did the mercenary feel so frightening…

The young lord retreated a few steps; the other’s presence felt strangely weighty. In an instant, he approached closer like a snake and snatched Ayra’s arm painfully. Janus’s gaze on him sizzled and shined like a solar flare. “You’ll croak 2 if you go there,” the mercenary said.

Lightly, his calm voice dripped out, spearing Ayra to the ground. The young lord shouldn’t be doing this in this current situation, but Ayra checked Janus’s stat window as if he were possessed. Before he knew it, Pebble manifested and wandered around Ayra nervously.

Soon, a translucent window appeared next to Janus’s head.

<Janus Rehzedt>

The young lord suffered great shock–as if his head had been dealt a great blow.

‘Affection 1? Only 1?’

As Ayra’s gaze pierced through the stat window, Janus’s eyes moved to follow that gaze. He looked for something behind him before soon staring exactly at the hollow in the air that Ayra was staring at.

His crimson eyes narrowed. “Ayra.”

Ayra had finally returned to his senses at the sound of his name and raised his head. Even though the ground was severely shaking around them, Janus’s body had not faltered even once.

“Why did you chase me all the way here? Didn’t our business finish… Or, did you have something more for me?”

Now that Ayra had checked the other’s affection values, he heard a nuance of annoyance in the mercenary’s placid tone. Biting his lips, Ayra barely managed to stand up. Janus reached out his hand, but the young lord disregarded that to hold onto the nearby fence for stabilization.

Janus shrugged and took back his hand. Instead, he turned his smoldering gaze onto Pebble, which was helplessly floating around Ayra. Startled, Pebble flew to hide behind Ayra’s back. Because the young lord was in such a hurry to hold onto anything that would allow him to stand properly, Ayra didn’t even notice that Janus’s gaze was growing colder every minute–or that his artificial spirit was gesturing with its hands.

“…What kind of trickery did you cast on me, mage?”

“What?” Since his surroundings were so noisy, Ayra couldn’t properly understand Janus’s question. When he gave another furtive glance at Janus’s stat window, the mercenary followed his gaze yet again. Janus flexed his fingers. Suddenly, at that moment, the young lord’s mana poured out at a constant rate; something appeared before Ayra’s eyes.

“Huh?” Ayra said, blankly.

Something more concerning than the strong earthquake or the other’s affection value of 1 had manifested. It wasn’t a status window nor a notification alert.

This… This ability showed more than stat windows? Multiple choices?

Wait a minute, What ending?… Bad endings?

Recalling the pleasant times they had spent together, Ayra stared blankly at the man in front of him. Janus chuckled for a while–the sharp edges of his white teeth could be seen, and his eyes narrowed into slits. It felt strangely like a reptile’s gleaming gaze.

TL: We’re back at Ayra’s dreams and near the end of the prologue! Just a quick update in between office hours~