CH 25

Coincidentally, the owner took the steamed buns out of the steamer as soon as they arrived. The two stood there for a moment, swallowing their saliva and watching steam waft from the fresh, white steamed buns that were served on the plate.

A few minutes later, both of them had hot meat buns in their hands.

“Ah! Hot…” Ayra mumbled.

The bun was so hot that he could barely hold it in his hands, much less eat immediately; Janus took it from Ayra’s hand and brought it to Ayra’s mouth to make it easier for the young lord to eat. Eyes widening, the young lord took a bite after blowing gently at it. It was still hot, but it was also undeniably tasty…and Janus’s actions were unexpected as well.

‘What is this?’

Even though the bun had cooled down enough for Ayra to hold, Janus still fed him personally, bite after bite. As the young lord ate clumsily, Janus even shook off the crumbs and pieces that had dropped onto Ayra’s clothes.

‘I looked melancholic; so you buy me delicious food, feed me by hand, and look after me? You’re a more sincere lover than I imagined?’

“Are you always this good to your lovers?” Ayra asked.

“Yeah. It’s tiresome if I don’t.”

“Tiresome?”

His answer was so unexpected. Wasn’t it more tiresome to take care of others?

“There were a few people that made a fuss, saying I was heartless and that I didn’t love them. Still, it was a bit bothersome to kill them because they were my lovers. Tch…” Janus smiled.

From this answer, Ayra found out three truths about his companion: 1) He was really only ever ‘interested’ in his lovers, 2) He sounded quite ‘sincere’ as he talked about killing people, and 3) He was quite generous to those he thought belonged to his inner circle.

‘If he was serious about wanting to kill them, then he’s definitely a psycho;1 if he was joking, what a dirty personality…’

After weighing the likelihood of the two possibilities in his mind and contemplating briefly, Ayra asked, “Do you perhaps hate magic?”

“I don’t particularly dislike it.”

“Then, why were you like that on the day of the earthquake?” The 3 bad ending options were too impactful. Ayra felt like he had to understand the man before moving on.

Janus, who had been contemplating whether or not he should buy another steamed bun, shook his head. “I’m actually more fond of magic and mages than most. I just thought that you cast a spell in order to fight with me–I’m not the type to avoid an incoming fight.”

After observing Ayra’s expression, the mercenary curled up the corners of his handsome mouth. “Why, were you upset?”

It was true that Ayra was a bit upset because the young lord had thought they had gotten quite intimate. Though his pride made him reluctant to reveal those emotions, Ayra wanted to know how lenient the mercenary would be with him. With a deliberately curt voice, Ayra said, “…A little.”

Janus immediately let out a strange chuckle, called Ayra cute, and dragged the young lord into his embrace. Ayra wondered if Janus thought of lovers as a pet-like existence. He pushed at the boundaries one step further, “Then, I’m free to use my magic?”

​​”As much as you want. You used it just earlier, right?” Janus smiled with his eyes.

What extraordinary sensitivity. Earlier, Ayra had tried to deliberately open Janus’s stat window in a different location a distance away from his head… Ayra wondered if the other was sensing the existence of the stat window or if he was sensing the movement of his awakened mana. So, Ayra asked boldy, “Then, can I try casting a different spell on you?”

“This is the first time I’ve been asked that–I guess that comes with the territory of your lover being a mage. Alright–give it a try.”

Ayra made substanceless propositions to gauge the other’s reaction, but Janus generously gave him permission to try anything. How indulgent–not even the mages in the Labyrinth actively sought to be each other’s test subject.

Wondering how far the other would allow him to go, Ayra cast a spell. He drew cold water from the atmosphere and, like a water gun, sprayed the droplets on the mercenary’s forearm. Janus, who waited with bated breaths, suddenly lost all interest. Then, in an insincere voice, he complimented, “Wow. So cool.”

Well, it’s true that this was more like a child’s prank. Ayra decided to raise the level. The soil underneath Janus’s feet blasted away. Usually, the victim would stumble and fall over, but Janus didn’t even falter; he simply retreated a few steps. Ayra had created slippery ice behind the mercenary, but Janus never lost his balance. Then, he smirked as if he found this all so laughable.

‘Really? He’s alright with something like this?’

Even before his magic awakened, mages often had a field they were known for or had particular talent in. Ayra was the same–he was stronger in intangible magic than he was in tangible magic.

When the third spell was cast, Janus immediately reacted. “Mmm?”

Janus’s eyes followed something midair. He flicked at something with his hand and immediately saw through the magic. “It’s a hallucination.”

He then grasped Ayra’s hand tightly–enough to hurt–and disrupted the illusion spell. The ease at which he dismantled the illusion–a ferocious dog barking and rushing at him–indicated that the mercenary had dealt with mages more than once or twice in the past. On the other hand, Ayra felt his irritation rise–the mercenary was dealing with his spells as though they were adorable pranks.

Then, what about this?

In the next moment, Janus’s hand–the one that held Ayra’s–suddenly relaxed. Instead, the mercenary clenched his other hand.   Taking this opportunity, the young lord quickly drew back his own hand. Janus brows furrowed as if he were agitated; he looked down at his hands, slowly clenching and releasing his fists. Once with his right hand, and then with his left.

Then, he immediately grinned, “Ah, this is definitely interesting. The sense of touch in my hands has swapped. It’d definitely be troublesome if my sense of touch were to change during a fight.”

“Right?” Ayra smiled triumphantly before pausing. Ah! This was magic that he had been saving as a hidden ace… Blaming himself for being so easily led around, Ayra released his magic from Janus, though the mercenary was already slowly adapting to his changed senses.

“Just a bit longer and I would have gotten used to that effect completely.” Janus stated.

Janus seemed disappointed that the magic was not maintained for longer; Ayra broke into cold sweat. ‘He’s kidding right…?’

While playing around with Janus and joyfully raising the quest achievement values, Ayra abruptly stopped and hurried back to the castle. He had received a sudden notification.

<Territory Notification>

Knight Commander Bloom wants to deliver a report on the merchant.

‘It really feels like I’m playing a territory management game.’

On the way back, Ayra briefly checked over the quest he received from Pebble; it was almost completed. The young lord had deliberately left the quest unfulfilled.

As soon as he arrived at the castle, he could see Bloom, holding his helmet against his side, talking to Ginas. The two bowed their heads lightly and murmured, “My Lord,” paying their respects as Ayra drew closer to them. As the young lord expected, Bloom’s expression wasn’t exactly uplifting.

“What’s the matter?”

“Ayra-nim, the soldier who had gone to procure rumors of the merchant has found a group of demonic beasts moving towards this castle from the entrance of the Dalum Gorge.”

The dispatched soldier had returned faster than expected–far shorter than the expected two or three days roundtrip–with awful news.

“I’m sorry. He couldn’t find anything on the merchant,” Bloom said.

“Think nothing of it. That soldier must have judged that it would be riskier to ferret out more information about the merchant. How bad is the situation?”

Magic Beasts attacking human settlements were a problem in all fiefs. It was also one of the main reasons why mages were dispatched outside the Labyrinth. Beasts normally did not dare approach territories that were protected by dragons, but for others, this horde was like an annual event. Territories that couldn’t properly handle this invasion would eventually collapse.

“It’s not so strange for [magic beasts] to attack just before autumn arrives. According to the soldier, a swarm of dozens of Ramams will arrive in a day or two. If the wooden fence was completely built, we would be able to easily handle them,” Bloom said.

Ginas simply looked haggard and stayed silent. He seemed almost resigned. Even if the pack of beasts were stopped, if the merchant didn’t return, the Solar fief was done for. Ayra fell into deep contemplation.

“Ramams certainly aren’t hard to kill. They’re closer to a mountain beast than a proper demonic beast. From what Bloom said, I can assume that the soldiers are used to fighting Ramams…’

Since there weren’t many options available to him, Ayra quickly laid down his decision. “Alright, then Sir Bloom will supervise the woodwork and prepare for battle against the Ramam horde. If there’s not enough wood, cut down the trees from the mountains in the back. Sir Ginas will act in my stead while I’m away from the castle.”

“You’re going to leave the castle…in this sort of situation?” The shadows on Ginas’ face grew darker; perhaps he took Ayra’s words to mean that the young lord was abandoning this territory.

But Ayra had no intention of giving up without doing anything. “No, I’ll personally go and find out information on the merchant. Even if we drive back the Ramam, the land is lost without 300 cells.”

“Eh? No, it’s far too dangerous for my Lord to go there!” Frightened, Ginas immediately tried to dissuade Ayra. His eyes went blank–reminiscing on the abrupt and tragic death of his former lord.

Even Bloom, who was unaware of the 300 cells worth of interest-debt nor the circumstances that may have befallen the former lord, tried to stop Ayra. “It is as Ginas said, my Lord. That canyon would only be safe to cross with at least 10 soldiers as escorts. If this matter is that urgent, I shall go.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. We will have to fight the horde of demonic beasts soon. How can we leave the knight commander position vacant? And what will we do about the wooden fence?”

“Then, I’ll send you off with knights and soldiers.”

“We’re already short on troops, we can’t afford to delegate any of them to escort duty.” Ayra was only able to leave the castle due to Ginas and Bloom’s presence. In other words, he only had two trusted retainers within this estate; the castle had in its employ few–ridiculously few–competent people.