CH 42

Unlike before, Argan’s tone had become significantly more polite. When the heir made a distorted expression and pointed with his chin, the messenger bent down and picked up the dirt-covered mana stone pouch.

Though Ayra had no intention of reporting the man to Prataris or the Labryinth, he still turned around, as if he needed to be convinced. Even if this news of this were to get out, the only outcome was that more vultures would flock to Solar to tear it apart. However, the young lord’s voice was still chilly due to his lingering, unquelled temper. “A prank? Why, then, have you brought so many troops to my territory?”

​​”Haven’t there been many demonic beasts around here lately? I just brought a few guards to help defeat those beasts for your understaffed fiefdom.”

Ayra couldn’t help but bow his head and snort. Though things hadn’t gone as planned, Argan, who was breathing deeply, looked as though he couldn’t go back empty-handed.  “I’m sure you can allow me to stay at your castle for a few days while we defeat the nearby beasts. After all, I’ll have to see for myself whether or not you have the means to pay interest… I worry that you won’t be able to pay back the principal before this winter passes.” Argan was emphasizing the fact that Ayra’s estate would be seized if they were unable to repay the debt by winter.

Even though Ayra wanted to tell him not to worry and to get the hell off his land, he couldn’t do that. Sure, they’d threatened mutual destruction, but, currently, Argan was secure in his position as the debtor.

On the other hand, he might be able to dig up more information if Argan was nearby. Ayra nodded docilely, “Alright. I’ll have Nilma Argan as my guest until I see Duke Nilma Arbalt.”

Argan’s smiling lips twitched. He seemed to have understood what Ayra had implied: ‘You’re nothing without your father.’

Just before leaving the barracks, Ayra looked back again. He’d almost forgotten.

“Arrgh!” The messenger, who had been exhaling a sigh of relief, grabbed his waist and collapsed to the ground. Taken aback by the sight, Argan jumped and retreated with ungainly steps. The messenger, who had been punished in place of his master with a burst disc, rolled around screaming for death. Argan’s face paled.  The escorting knight unsheathed his sword at the pandemonium and stepped before his master. Though everyone was wary of the young lord, Ayra simply expressed his surprise, innocent eyes wide open. “He must be in a lot of pain. Is his mouth hurt somewhere? It’d be best if you get him treated soon.”

Though the enemy suspected that Ayra had used magic, the escorting knight had no physical evidence of foul play. While they hesitated and floundered, Ayra snorted and stepped out of the barracks.

He had definitely warned the messenger to watch his mouth in front of a mage from the Labyrinth; it was that man’s choice to disregard that warning.

❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄

“Pebble, won’t you do your job properly?” Aggrieved from Ayra’s scolding, the artificial spirit sprayed a few dewy tears into the air. The bawling spirit looked so cute that the young lord couldn’t help but hold it in both hands and press down. It was clear that the little spirit was deliberately whining and acting cute, knowing that its master found its actions adorable. After doting on the spirit–long enough for Pebble to materialize a tiny heart in the air–Ayra sighed in frustration.

These last few days had been incredibly stressful for the mage.

A few days ago, Ayra had very reluctantly invited Nilma Argan into his castle as a guest in order to siphon extra information from the man. Argan couldn’t act out–after all, he had seen with his own eyes how the mage had smashed his messenger’s waist without even touching the man.

At first, when the heir had entered the castle, he had stated he would need his own defenses and managed to procure a mercenary mage from somewhere. However, when the mage noticed Ayra’s origins, their complexion changed and they became very docile.

However, just because Argan didn’t act like a bully or gangster didn’t mean that he didn’t commit all sorts of other misdeeds.

With more than 2,000 soldiers camped outside, the mood at the castle wasn’t very good; moreover, an outsider was causing all this mess. A territory’s poor situation would naturally be blamed on the Lord. As a result, the approval rating that Ayra had painstakingly increased with quests had begun to drop once more.

Despite this, Ayra still persevered in tailing Argan, hoping to glean some information. Unfortunately, his efforts were all for naught. All he discovered was that Argan had heard somewhere that Solar contained something that all other territories would covet. Eventually, all Ayra garnered was unpleasant flirtation from Argan, who had misunderstood the mage’s act of following him around.

In the end, Ayra couldn’t stand it anymore and cast hallucination magic on the young heir this morning. After seeing a couple of delusions here and there, Argan, frightened out of his wits, ran away on his own. As he left the castle, he spouted varous curses and insults as he hurried back to Bolney. Ayra hoped for a chance to one day ‘deal with’ Argan once more…

After Nilma Argan left, all that remained was a mountain of stress and fatigue… Ayra sighed and scrutinized the artificial spirit. “I think I’m starting to get a rough idea of how things work now.”

An alarm window, stat windows, and multiple-choice options. All three were carefully structured after compiling human psychology and his personal experience. Although Ayra did not major in psychology, he had a good guess of what the artificial spirit was doing when it was ‘Loading.’ Pebble could penetrate a human’s complex memories, even those mixed with one’s subconscious, and would mercilessly showcase the results to its master.

What a useful yet frightening ability. Though he did not know the exact mechanism behind the magic as his memory during that time was fuzzy, it was thrilling to imagine that he had performed such amazing feats. Ayra blushed; content, he began doting on the spirit. “Our cute, intelligent Pebble.”

While he was cheering for the adorably round and bubbly spirit, the young mage heard a knock on the door. Before he gave the person permission to enter, he summoned their stat window.

<Hess Ru Ginas>

HP: 1,087

The quest windows, which had been pinned to the sides for constant supervision, abruptly popped into the center of the mage’s view.

<Quest!>

[Let’s raise the level of our smart Pebble.]

*Cumulated Stat window manifestation time (5/12 hours)

*Check stat windows of NPCs hidden by obstacles (123/200)

*Achieved 15% approval rating (13/15%)

Reward: ‘See details,’ MP stat category open

Ayra clenched his fists. Haah, the approval rating… It had dropped by 1 percent during this fiasco.

As the spirit’s level increased, the quest difficulty went up as well; this time, the approval rating was included in the achievement conditions as well. Presumably, the more he gained the people’s favor, the easier it would be to read their minds. However, approval rating was a tricky stat to raise; it wasn’t something that could be increased through simple repetitive labor. Ayra, slightly tongue-tied, opened his territory window as he gave Ginas permission to enter the room.

Soon, the young governor came in with a mountain of documents in his arms.

Territory Name: Solar

Lord: Solar Xing Ayra

Area: Approximately 2,300 Genta

Citizen Population: 156,327 people

Debt: 10,000 cells (50 cells interest per month)

Military Strength:

– Knights: 84

– Soldiers: 1,354

Approval Rating: 14% (It seems that your approval rating in the Dallum Village Area is strong) 1

Special Note: 220 days until ruin.

Concise Summary: “All the useful, competent people are overworked. This territory is like a black company!” 2

+Additional Upgrate: Territory progression required 

It was possible that the settlement of the landslide incident in the Dallum region or the repayment of debt interest had led to the addition of new categories, such as the military strength and approval rating, to the territory management window…

‘That being said, using a word like ‘black company’ to describe this territory…’

Ayra felt incredibly sorry when he saw Ginas and his heavy eye bags. However, he himself, the Lord, was also an overworked, useful, and competent talent in this land. As Ginas dropped the heavy pile of documents with a thud on a table, Ayra held out a pouch full of mana stones. “Here, 24 cells. Use it for next month’s interest payment.”

While doing work, Ayra continued to refine mana stones from time to time. A mana stone was simply a lump–a rock–without a mage’s hand to process it. The process of refining one was difficult; it was similar to untangling a badly entangled threat without cutting it. It took 10 years of study within the Labyrinth for Ayra to reach the level of being able to refine one himself. Though it was a time-consuming and difficult task, Ayra wore down his own body in order to reduce the refining fee.

The refined mana stone could then be used as currency, fuel, or even as a battery for magic tools. In such a cold area, Mana stones, which burned until their mana was exhausted, were literally a life-changing resource. Ginas cherished and carefully received the mana stones that Ayra had spent all night to refine.

Now that his short break was over, Ayra mechanically placed a bunch of documents before him. As the young lord lifted the feather pen, Ginas gave Ayra a concerned look and asked, “My Lord… When was the last time you slept?”

“I don’t know–maybe two days ago?” Ayra answered nonchalantly. Mana stone refining, wall restoration, securing public sentiment, handling occasional demonic beast invasions, and compensating for injuries that occurred from his commands… On top of that, he had also read all sorts of old records in an attempt to uncover what made Sobleche and Bolney so interested in this land.

“Please get some rest. I’ll take care of the rest,” Ginas said.

“Sir, why don’t you take a break instead? I can see that your stamina is flagging.”

He wasn’t kidding; Ayra could literally see that. Two days ago, Ginas’ HP had been at 1,244. Now, it was down to 1,087.

TL: Hello guys >.< I’m back with this.

Also, currently looking for Proofreaders! If you’d like to apply, feel free to message me on discord. You can find me through the link to my server on the summary page of this novel!