The next day, Ayra left the lord’s castle early in the morning. Since her approval rating had plumted, she planned to stroll around various parts of the city to gauge public sentint. And all throughout her walk, Janus persistently trailed behind her.
In the end, Ayra couldn’t hold back and finally asked him.
“You don’t have anything to do?”
“Nope.”
“Like, I don’t know... a tavern? A rcenary guild, maybe...?”
“Not interested.”
Even though her question was a polite way of asking him to go sowhere else for a bit—since he was obviously bothering her and invading her private life 24/7—Janus only replied with disinterest. Ayra abruptly gave up and closed her mouth. If a living catastrophe like a dragon decided to do sothing, what could she possibly do to stop him?
‘Still... sothing about him is... different than before.’
The way he treated her hadn’t changed much from when they’d been lovers. On the contrary, the gaze chasing after her had grown even more obsessive. It felt like he was still weighing whether she was his fated partner or not, so she doubted he would suddenly try to kill her. And yet, even just today, he had already harbored murderous intent toward her twice over the dumbest reasons, which made her uneasy.
‘Wait a second. No way... right? There’s no way that’s his standard for judgnt... Is it? Seriously?’
Suddenly chilled by that thought, Ayra ca to ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) a stop mid-step. The pebble clinging to her shoulder projected a system window.
[Bloom is approaching. 3 seconds to rendezvous!]
Only then did she glance around and spot the knight commander standing on top of the outer wall. In the blink of an eye, Bloom jumped down from the high ramparts. Despite the height, he landed with a soft thump and rushed forward, removing his helt and dropping to one knee before her.
“I greet the Lord!”
“Mm, yes. Sir Bloom. Has the estate been well-guarded?”
Though she asked calmly, Ayra was secretly tense. She’d already seen firsthand what happened to the last knight who had bravely attacked the dragon right inside her bedroom. Fortunately, Bloom only glared daggers at Janus with fierce eyes and didn’t attack. Still, his hand had crept to the hilt of his sword, and worryingly, Janus caught sight of that and let out a sly smirk.
“Yes, my lord! As it happens, the wall repairs were just completed, so I ca to inform you.”
“Oh? The wall’s finished already?”
Ayra brightened at the welco news. The wall had collapsed not long after she’d arrived in the territory, and now it was finally repaired. Though they still couldn’t stop a dragon, at least they’d be better protected against monsters from now on.
“Then let’s go see it right away.”
“Yes, I’ll lead the way.”
Ayra was a little surprised that the repairs had finished so quickly. Bloom explained that thanks to the expansion of the quarry business and an influx of stonemasons, the work had progressed at a much faster pace. When they arrived, each section that had previously collapsed was now neatly filled with pristine, snow-white stones that hadn’t yet been weathered. Pleased by the good news, Ayra murmured with satisfaction.
“Now we just need to apply a maintenance spell and it'll be perfect.”
It might not be strong enough to withstand siege weapons, but at least it wouldn’t collapse during an earthquake like last ti. Ayra pulled several magic tools and materials from subspace. As previously requested, the masons had drilled small holes into the lowermost bricks.
Ayra personally inserted magic devices engraved with circuits into each of the neat little holes, sealing them in place with additional materials. She was so imrsed in her work that she failed to notice the dragon watching her with gleaming, ominous eyes.
[Janus Rehzedet harbors murderous intent toward the user!]
Startled by the system window, Ayra jerked her head up—and t his gaze. His eyes were redder than blood, staring straight through her. Sharp fangs glinted between his slightly parted lips. Then, the pebble projected another window right in front of her.
Continue working. (Bad Ending)
Stop working. (Bad Ending)
Look at your loyal knight commander. (Bad Ending)
Stare at the aroused dragon. (Bad Ending)
Why the hell were all four options bad endings?! Reflexively, she stepped back—and instantly realized that she had made the wrong choice. It was just as foolish as turning your back on an excited dog.
Janus took one step forward without thinking, simply following her. On the second step, his brow twitched. On the third, his eyes sparkled.
So far, even when bad ending options popped up, nothing really happened, so Ayra had assud it would be the sa this ti... But a cold sweat broke out anyway, just in case. Trying to stay composed, she slowly backed away—then vaulted clean over the wall. Her instinct was to avoid populated areas as much as possible.
“My lord?”
Bloom’s puzzled voice trailed after her as Ayra swiftly distanced herself from the wall. There was no point in running from a dragon, so she used physical magic to reduce friction and skated across the ground like a bullet. After gaining so distance, she glanced behind her—only to find no one there. With the wall far enough away, she cautiously slowed her pace.
“...What?”
Did I just embarrass myself for no reason? Just as that thought crossed her mind, a [↑] arrow appeared in front of her eyes. Without even looking up, Ayra flung herself to the side.
With a heavy thud, Janus landed exactly where she’d been standing. The grin stretching across his lips was dangerously wide.
“My lord!”
Behind them, Bloom had finally caught up and drew his sword with a tallic shing, but Ayra couldn’t spare him any attention. Janus, tricked by her illusion magic, montarily clawed at the wrong patch of ground before quickly scooping up a handful of sand and scattering it.
Ayra scread—“Ack!”—as dirt flew into her eyes and she tripped on a rock. At the sa ti, she yanked sothing from subspace, smashed it to the ground, and whipped up a thick fog of snowy mist using the nearby snow.
“Ugh!”
Rarely, Janus let out a grunt of discomfort—and so did Bloom. Ayra had released a thick concentration of lemon scent, knowing how sensitive a dragon’s senses were. Even she, a regular human, was tearing up from the pungency, so how bad must it be for a knight with heightened senses, or a dragon whose every nerve was honed to extres?
Covering her nose with her sleeve and crawling through the chaos, Ayra heard Janus cursing behind her. And yet, despite everything, he still managed to pinpoint her location. His fingers grazed her ankle, and Ayra panicked, twisting away—but it was already too late. Even through the fog, his blood-red eyes locked onto her.
“Ah!”
Just in ti, Ayra hastily threw up a defensive barrier. Janus’s hand, about to seize her ankle, tapped against the barrier like he was knocking.
She braced for him to smash through it—but instead, he lifted his foot.
With a thunderous crash, he stomped the ground.
“...!”
Whatever technique he used, the ground exploded like a bomb, sending snow and dirt blasting into the air. Still wrapped in her barrier, Ayra tumbled with a thunk as her spell shattered and she hit the ground. By the ti she ca to, Janus was on top of her.
Ayra reached for another spell—but hesitated. The expectant look in his eyes made her realize sothing.
When she did nothing, Janus’s eyes dimd, then he openly sulked. Like a dog who’d had a tasty bone taken away, he actually looked dejected. Brushing dust off her robe, he muttered,
“Watching you cast magic really gets going...”
As she’d suspected. No wonder the pebble hadn’t flagged it as particularly dangerous—he’d just wanted to play. And yet, despite Janus clearly being disappointed, the system cheerfully inford her that his Favorability had gone up by 5. It was now 43. An unbelievable rise, considering where they started.
While Bloom coughed and called out desperately through the lemon-scented fog, Ayra found herself wondering:
‘Now that I think about it... a bad ending doesn’t necessarily an death, does it...?’
Furrowing her brow at the late realization, Ayra pondered the true definition of a bad ending—only to find Janus’s fingers toying with the inner hem of her robe.
“But sohow, I think I’m getting excited even when you don’t use magic...”
Sothing in that lazy tone made Ayra flinch and twist her body. Janus rely watched with relaxed interest as she squird out from under him.
Irritated by everything that had happened, Ayra roughly shook out her robe.
“So what if you’re excited?”
They weren’t lovers anymore—surely he wasn’t expecting her to take care of it? She looked at him with a pointed expression. Janus let out a soft grunt and tugged at his collar.
He didn’t even seem to put in much effort, but his clothes ripped with a loud shrrk, exposing his well-sculpted torso down to the sternum.
Ayra sneered inwardly. Did he think she’d fall for so flashy pecs? Sure, he had a handso face and a body like a sculpture—but she had pride. She wouldn’t give in so easily...
Janus slowly ran a hand down his chest, but his face was oddly uninterested, almost indifferent for soone trying to seduce. Then he said—
“You like this, right?”
—and where his hand passed, a cluster of dark ruby-colored scales appeared.
Ayra froze.
With a flick of his claw, Janus scraped the scaled patch. The sharp sound cut through the air—and Ayra’s razor-sharp clarity crumbled in an instant.
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