al_squad
patreon
I Can See Your Stats Chapter 4
🕑 Added 2024-12-21 15:27:07 +0000 UTCChapter 4
Botello's gaze trembled with fear as he looked at the freshly awakened Pebble resting on Ayra's hand.
"C-cute."
Although it was the cutest looking artificial life form Ayra had ever created, with no tentacles, just two normal eyes, and only one mouth, Botello couldn't quite look at Pebble properly. He was clearly just agreeing out of respect for the soon-to-be lord.
'Is it because it doesn't have a nose? I think it's neater and cuter without one.'
Anyway, Ayra deliberately kept Pebble out so they could gradually get used to it. As Pebble floated around Ayra with vacant, bobbing movements, Botello's trembling hands slowly began to steady.
Lost in thought about how to manage the estate going forward while being attended to, Ayra raised an eyebrow. The clothes Botello had dressed him in were too thin.
"Aren't there any thicker clothes than this?"
"Thicker clothes, my lord? But you'll be too warm in this weather..."
"No, I definitely won't be warm."
As Ayra turned around while making this assertion, he knocked something over. A brass basin and comb clattered to the floor with a crash.
"Oh no, sorry."
When he reflexively and naturally used magic with just a gesture to return the fallen items to their original places, Botello's eyes widened. Though his long experience as grand chamberlain barely kept him from showing it, Ayra pretended not to notice his pupils darting back and forth. In any case, Ayra would be responsible for this estate from now on, and they needed to get used to having a mage as their lord.
Since Botello's hands were trembling even more than before after witnessing magic for the first time in his life, Ayra had to practically dress himself. Only after putting on a thicker coat did some warmth finally return to his body. When he mentioned being hungry, Botello came to his senses and guided Ayra.
This white castle symbolizing the Solar estate had barely changed since his childhood. Black cloths hung throughout the castle, fluttering in the cold wind, mourning the sudden tragedy that had befallen the Solar family.
Ayra's gaze turned to where the family portraits hung. Black veils covered all the portraits except his own. After staring blankly for a while, he moved on, with Botello following behind with a somewhat somber expression.
The banquet hall was located on the first floor, so Ayra had to walk down for quite a while. As they descended, Ayra ran his fingertips along the wall and fell into thought.
'This castle... seems to have been touched by a mage?'
That explained why the pure white walls had barely gathered any dirt despite the long years. He tried to recall when this castle had been built. It was well over five hundred years ago. His heart began racing with excitement at the thought of magic circuits from over five hundred years ago. It would be well worth researching. Perhaps he could ask the governor if he could just pry out one stone...
The things he could do with 500-year-old magic circuits would be endless. Ayra's lips curved up involuntarily at the happy thought.
Lost in deep thought as he walked, he had already reached the first floor. In front of the banquet hall doors, the young governor was talking with a knight wearing cold, chilling metal armor. Hurrying his steps while thinking about how to ask about removing just one brick—
But... it was a misstep.
Lost in his daydream, Ayra mistook it for level ground and misstepped into thin air, letting out a short "Wa!" as he fell forward. For a brief moment, he felt like he was falling through space. In an instant, he painfully hit his knee on the edge of a step and smacked his forehead against the stone railing with a thud, tumbling down a couple of steps.
Botello, who had been following behind Ayra, cried out in panic.
"Ayra-nim! Oh no, young master!"
"Ugh..."
As he rubbed his aching forehead and looked up, the knight, despite wearing heavy armor, had moved so quickly that he reached Ayra in the blink of an eye. Kneeling on the step below, he looked up at Ayra and asked seriously. Green eyes shone through the helmet.
"Are you alright?"
Ginas, who had been standing with his mouth agape at the sudden accident, finally rushed over.
"Ayra-nim!"
"Mm, I'm fine."
Apart from his head ringing slightly, it was nothing serious, so Ayra quickly got up while awkwardly waving his hand in dismissal. He felt somewhat embarrassed that everyone was making such a fuss over a mere fall—he wasn't a child, after all. Ginas narrowed his brows as he stared at Ayra's forehead.
"I'll call for a physician. You're still unwell, you shouldn't have pushed yourself."
"No, really, I'm fine. I'm perfectly alright."
Ayra protested again, as it wasn't because he was unwell but because he had been lost in thought. Then Botello started making a fuss about calling a physician because he had hit his head. When Ayra felt his forehead, it wasn't even bleeding, just a small bump.
Only after declaring his hunger several times was he finally able to dissuade them. He was too embarrassed to ask about examining the wall here.
"Please let us know anytime if you're not feeling well."
The knight insisted until the very end before finally opening the banquet hall doors. Though his neck was burning with embarrassment, Ayra entered the banquet hall with a deliberately composed face.
A long wooden table stood in the banquet hall. As Ayra, seated at the head position, looked over the attendees, most faces were familiar from the funeral. Shinjae, attending as a guest and occupying a seat, exchanged eye greetings.
'What am I supposed to say in a place like this?'
Ayra had rarely experienced standing before many people in his life. The most he had done was present research in front of senior mages and a few colleagues in the Labyrinth. He wished someone would speak first, but everyone maintained silence, apparently expecting Ayra, the highest-ranking person present, to speak first. Finally, he slowly opened his mouth.
"Good morning, everyone. What a strong and energetic morning it is..."
While saying whatever came to mind, Ayra tried to call up the stat windows of nine people in order of proximity to the head seat. However, for some reason, his magic power just kept draining away without any stat windows appearing.
"...?"
As he stared at the empty air where stat windows should have appeared, Ginas, sitting right next to him, carefully asked.
"Is your head hurting badly after all?"
At those words, everyone in the banquet hall turned their attention to the reddened bump on Ayra's forehead. His skin was so fair that the reddish bump stood out too much. Ayra quietly raised his hand to cover the injured area with his silver-white hair.
"I'm fine."
However, seeing the wound that had swollen even more than before, the retainers were already whispering among themselves. Even Ginas flinched, apparently finding the forehead swelling more serious when viewed from the side.
"I'm just not fully..."
As he was making excuses, a window suddenly appeared before his eyes, causing Ayra's words to slow. The young governor's furrowed brow deepened.
======================================================================
[Loading...]
======================================================================
"...awake yet."
Loading? What was this about? Just as he thought this, another window immediately appeared.
======================================================================
[Tip: Checking multiple stat windows simultaneously slows processing speed and increases magic power consumption exponentially.]
======================================================================
Ah, so that was it. It seemed his proficiency was still far too low for simultaneous activation. Ayra inwardly sighed as he finished his sentence.
"Anyway, I'm really fine. Shall we start eating?"
Ayra picked up his utensils before anyone could mention calling a physician again. Only after he took a spoonful of soup did others pick up their utensils. In the silence, broken only by the clinking of tableware, Ginas spoke up with "Ayra-nim."
"Since we couldn't properly introduce everyone during the funeral due to the circumstances, would it be alright to make introductions over breakfast?"
"Yes, that's fine."
When he nodded without much thought, the introductions began from those closest to the head seat. Governor, Knight Commander, Administrator, Scribe, Elder, and their son, daughter, daughter, son, and another daughter...
'Are there usually so few vassals?'
There seemed to be fewer than twenty retainers. Moreover, about half of them appeared to be the retainers' children, too young to be vassals themselves. Since it was from such a young age, Ayra barely remembered anything about the retainers, and now he knew nothing about the estate, so he tilted his head in confusion.
As he turned to ask the governor if this number of retainers was normal, Ginas cleared his throat pointedly. Then he glanced downward. Ayra followed his gaze in confusion.
"Hm? ...Ah."
While he had been distracted, his sleeve had dipped into the hot soup. Raising his arm, Ayra clicked his tongue lightly and used magic. As only the soup flowed out of the wet sleeve and formed a round droplet in the air, the eyes of those who had been pretending not to notice Ayra's mistake widened.
Though he had extracted only pure soup, it didn't feel right to eat it again. After letting the soup droplet flow onto a napkin, Ayra looked up to find everyone hurriedly averting their gazes. They all picked at their food with dark expressions.
In the heavy silence, the man who had introduced himself as the Administrator repeatedly jabbed his child sitting next to him in the ribs. The child's bright pink hair was quite striking. Finally unable to endure the pain in his side, the Administrator's son gathered his courage and asked.
"M-my lord. But what is that ghost-like thing?"
"Ah, you mean this."
Both to complete the quest and lighten the mood, Ayra brought over Pebble, who had been floating aimlessly around him.
"It's a cute spirit I created. Its name is Pebble, and it'll be with me from now on. Isn't it cuter without a nose?"
Ayra hadn't expected people to welcome or find the spirit cute. However, he hadn't anticipated such a chilling silence either. Some laughed awkwardly and averted their eyes, while others hurriedly made the sign of the cross under the table.
Ayra was taken aback by their reaction. These retainers who had worked under the lord for years were reacting like ordinary citizens who had never encountered magic in their lives. It was particularly shocking that some even made the sign of the cross as if they had encountered something evil.
Pebble, its ㅅ-shaped mouth more pointed than usual, displayed a new window.
======================================================================
[Tip: Most humans are ignorant, conservative, and xenophobic. :( ]
======================================================================
After this scathing assessment, Pebble slowly settled on Ayra's shoulder with a notably dejected air.
'Perhaps I've been in the Labyrinth too long and don't understand the outside world.'
Or maybe mages rarely visited this estate, and someone had done something terrible to cause such reactions. Something felt very strange and uncomfortable. Just then, as the loading finished and stat windows began appearing next to the retainers' faces one after another, Ayra wondered.
'Is it really alright for a lord like me with these kinds of retainers? This estate...'
