Show Me Your Stats!-Chapter 87

“High Priest? What is the meaning of this?”

Wolf’s parents looked back and forth between Aterra and Ayra in confusion. Though they had just been branded with the priest’s disdainful glare, Hera didn’t even flinch. Aterra turned to Ayra with the expression of someone having caught a shameless criminal in the act. He let out a heavy sigh and turned back to explain to Wolf’s parents.

“As you know, I frequently volunteer in the slums. I often come across sinners. I thought she looked familiar... That woman, Hera, associates with thugs, delinquents, gangsters, and prostitutes. If your precious son were to marry someone like her, it would certainly bring calamity upon your household.”

“Oh my goodness!”

“Lord Ayra, is what the High Priest says true?”

The couple, pale with shock, pressed her for answers. Ayra bit her lip as if flustered, then replied in a stern voice.

“High Priest, what kind of rudeness is this?”

“I should be the one asking that question. Why would you present someone like her as a match unless there’s some kind of transaction involved? Besides, she is a nonbeliever who, like you, has never once set foot in the temple.”

“No matter if you’re the High Priest, you’d best watch your tongue! I am the lord of this land. Are you accusing me of being a nonbeliever?”

“I called her a nonbeliever, not you, my lord. Surely you’re not a nonbeliever. You must simply be too busy to visit the temple, yes?”

He twisted the words just right to grate on her nerves. Ayra °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° had only intended to pretend to get angry, but the more she listened, the more irritated she actually became. Then Aterra turned back to Hera, whose face, Ayra noticed, had grown visibly tense as well.

“If you aren’t a nonbeliever, surely you can recite the Lord’s Prayer. Can you not?”

“...High Priest, you are being inexcusably rude. To ruin a marriage proposal personally guaranteed by the lord like this—”

“Would I react this way if the proposal were normal and decent? Why won’t you answer the question? You do know the prayer, don’t you? Surely a follower of Morunka wouldn’t be ignorant of such a thing.”

“Even if I do know it, I have no intention of reciting it for someone as disrespectful as you!”

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Hera stood her ground and refused to recite the prayer. Aterra, triumphant, turned toward the couple. Their faces first turned ashen, then flushed with indignation. To them, a nonbeliever was even harder to accept than a foreigner. The two stood abruptly, flustered.

“Lord Ayra, our apologies, but something urgent has come up, so we must be going. Please consider today’s proposal... null and void.”

“What unbelievable rudeness!”

Ayra slammed her hand on the table, unable to contain her fury. Her blazing eyes made the table and teacups tremble. The teapot tipped, spilling tea, and the clattering of breaking porcelain echoed across the room.

Though rumors said the lord was a mage, the couple had always thought it unlikely—until now. They screamed in terror.

“I went out of my way to find you a wonderful match, and this is how you insult me?”

Even in the face of a visibly furious mage, their devotion made them blurt out words they should never have said.

“My lord! Morunka watches over all His children. Please, do not insult the divine. The wrath of the gods is not to be taken lightly!”

But that was their limit. Faces drained of color, the couple fled without even a proper farewell. Aterra, however, remained, looking utterly pleased with himself as he slowly strolled out, victorious.

Once they were all out of sight, Hera let out a low whistle over the wreckage of the ruined meeting.

And only then, Ayra’s face—tight with anger—relaxed into a faint smile.

❄

“Ayra, you look like you’re in a good mood.”

At Janus’s question, Ayra hummed to herself, lifting a well-ripened pumpkin. It would make for a sweet, delicious pumpkin soup.

“Mm-hm. There was something I’d been worried about, and it’s almost resolved now.”

She’d already seasoned everything—now all that remained was to let it simmer. The only decision left was when to lift the lid and enjoy the feast. The thought of how furious that insufferable High Priest would be when all this was over had been so delightful, Ayra had been sleeping better lately.

She beamed at Janus.

“If this goes well, I’ll finally have more time on my hands.”

“Yeah? That’s great news for me, too.”

Janus smiled back and snatched the pumpkin from her hands, picked up another, tapped it with his knuckles, sniffed it, then nodded and paid for it. Tucking it under his arm, he led the way.

After finishing their shopping, the two returned to Janus’s small, shabby house. Though it was old and drafty, it was still better than staying at the mercenary office or an inn.

As Ayra opened the door and stepped inside, her eyes widened. The mana stones in the fireplace and brazier were burning bright, warming the whole house.

“You lit the fire for me?”

“My poor darling’s so sensitive to the cold.”

Janus pressed a kiss to her cheek, which had turned rosy from the wind while they were out shopping. At moments like this, he really seemed like nothing more than a sweet, handsome lover.

Ayra shook her head, recalling how this same dragon had once, half out of amusement, filled the slums with skinheads just to “help her out.”

Since she hadn’t fully finalized the deal with Hera yet, the delinquents were still running wild. Just yesterday, her approval rating had dropped to 15%.

Janus set the ripe pumpkin on the table, then gently cupped Ayra’s cheek in his palm. He casually removed her tightly wrapped hood and kissed her. His hot lips pressed to her cracked lower lip, softened by the cold and fatigue. He kissed her upper lip next, sucking softly before murmuring with narrowed eyes:

“Did you eat an apple today?”

“Yeah. The castle kitchen served apple pie for dessert.”

“Your clothes and lips smell like apple.”

Ayra looked down at herself and indeed found a faint stain. She sniffed her sleeve suspiciously but couldn’t detect anything. Whenever Janus did this, Ayra was reminded that he was not human. She had eaten that pie in the morning—how could he still detect it in the afternoon? Even a bloodhound couldn’t compete.

And it wasn’t just his sense of smell. These days, Janus acted more and more like a massive dog. Every time they met, he’d pull her into his arms, then sniff and lick any exposed skin—her cheeks, ears, hair, nape, wrists.

“Mmng...”

Ayra let out a faint moan as his hot, steady breath brushed her ear. Janus nuzzled her cheek and ear with his nose before stopping at the pulsing vein in her neck. His chest rose and fell a few times, then he murmured softly and brushed his lips there.

His licks, nearly at the level of drinking her in, caused his red eyebrows to twitch. Whether from pleasure or something else, Ayra couldn’t tell.

Because of all this, she’d recently been putting more effort into washing every day. She caught herself burying her nose in her shoulder, sniffing her own body. She hadn’t used to be like this. She didn’t know why he had become so obsessed with her neck. Was he sniffing or... caressing?

“Hey... want to go on a trip before winter comes?”

“Hmm? Where?”

He was clearly getting worked up, gently nibbling her neck as he asked. His teeth lightly grazed her skin, and she felt a ticklish heat building in her lower belly.

“It’s nearby... ngh... I heard there’s an old ruin by a small lake...”

Even while overworking herself to maintain approval ratings, Ayra had been digging through ancient texts and maps to figure out why Bolni and Sobletz were targeting Solar. That led her to discover that this territory had more ruins than she thought—remnants of the kingdom that existed before Solar.

She figured it wouldn’t hurt to check one out, and it could double as a way to raise Janus’s favorability.

“Oh, the little lake. I think I know where you mean. Alright, I’ve never been there.”

Still mouthing her skin, Janus mumbled the answer. Then, his hot, soft tongue slowly licked down her neck. He was particularly fond of foreplay—though honestly, it felt less like foreplay and more like tasting every part of her. It was a little creepy sometimes... but Ayra liked it, too. The real problem came after the foreplay.

“Mm... so, when should we go? I’ll be busy for a bit, but, ah—how about in three or four days?”

“Three or four days?”

Janus had been enthusiastically sucking on her neck, but suddenly paused.

“I have to go to Bolni around then.”

What? Why Bolni all of a sudden? Until now, he’d been loafing around Solar like an unemployed slacker, and now he had urgent business in Bolni? That was suspicious and concerning. Ayra hesitated for a moment, then tried to probe casually.

“You’re going to Bolni? When will you be back?”

“About a week, probably.”

“What are you going there for?”

“Well, you know. This and that.”

That answer was as vague as could be. Ayra doubted he’d tell her even if she asked further, so she kept quiet and started scheming internally.

On second thought, this might work out perfectly. She’d been racking her brain trying to figure out how to handle things without Janus discovering her true identity. If he was away in Bolni, it was the perfect time to take care of business.

As she silently calculated her schedule, Janus suddenly bit her ear—hard.

“Don’t wander off in your thoughts. Focus.”

“Ah...!”

It wasn’t until after Janus had thoroughly devoured her in bed that Ayra finally got to eat the pumpkin she’d bought. Janus split it cleanly in half like breaking bread—half went into a warm soup, and the other was steamed.

After losing about 200 HP through sex with Janus and regaining only about 20 HP with pumpkin soup, Ayra dragged her sore body back to the castle.

After recharging her MP in the library by admiring her precious collection, she sat down at her desk. Pebble popped out with a pop! and settled atop a stack of documents like a paperweight.

Ayra stroked pebble once, then pulled out a sheet of stationery. The quill pen, gripped in fingers still bearing the faint marks of the dragon’s teeth, danced lightly across the page.

Her body felt like it would collapse at any moment, yet her ghost-pale face was lit up with a bright smile.