As Ayra and Janus tumbled together until the spiderweb stretched and finally snapped, the ti seed to slip away into the night. At one point, unable to bear the cold, Ayra pulled a tent from her subspace storage, setting it up for shelter where they lounged until their HP had dropped by half. After satisfying their built-up desires, they slept deeply and sweetly.
Upon waking, Ayra rubbed her forehead in frustration—it was never her intention to spend so much ti like this.
Luckily, the humans sent from Sobletz were still scouring the forest of silk spiders. Ayra pulled out so stead buns stored in her subspace and shared them with Janus as a brunch. Wolf's stead buns were tasty and perfectly convenient for eating outdoors.
After their al, Ayra, feeling the need to make up for the lost ti, hurried their pace. However, she was so sore from Janus's relentless activities that every step made her wince in pain, and her legs trembled so much that she groaned after just a few minutes of walking. Seeing her discomfort, Janus, who was walking with a particularly smug look on his face, offered a solution.
“Should I carry you?”
Without any hesitation, Ayra slipped onto Janus's back. He easily lifted her with one arm while holding the remnants of yesterday's spiderweb adventure in the other, and strode forward. The pace was so much quicker that she regretted not doing this sooner.
Despite the romp with Janus which consud the night, Ayra was able to collect all the silk spiders and their webs faster than planned. She ticulously checked the map window to ensure no spider fell into the hands of Sobletz.
“Are we heading back to Solar now?”
“...Wait a mont.”
A sudden idea struck her, and Ayra delved into thought. She then opened her subspace, took out five silk spiders, fed them sothing, and released them. Recognizing Ayra and Janus as dominant predators, the spiders scurried away quickly.
“That's done. Let’s head back to Solar.”
Janus looked puzzled but lost interest quickly and once again lifted Ayra. They passed by so horses they had set free a few days earlier, which had joined a herd of wild horses. Janus’s speed outmatched any horse, especially since those he had released had already integrated with the wild herds.
Back at the lord’s manor, Ayra was greeted warmly by Hess and Gretel, who looked exhausted, likely having barely slept in her absence. She imdiately discarded her web-covered robes, feeling grimy, and took a long, hot bath. After cleaning up, she headed straight to her study. Janus, following casually, settled onto what had beco his usual spot on the sofa. Ayra briefly glanced at him before starting to work through the backlog, listening to reports from Gretel and Hess.
“Thanks to the early warning you gave, we were able to prepare temporary accommodations for the refugees. It looks like about a thousand have co in so far.”
Checking the domain window, Ayra saw that indeed 1,255 refugees had arrived, with possibly a hundred more expected. Due to a shortage of housing, they were temporarily living in huts outside the manor or sleeping wherever they could within the city walls.
“We should split them, half staying in the city and the rest distributed among various villages. We have enough stockpiled food and essentials to send along with them.”
“Yes, my lord.”
As Gretel and Hess continued their reports, Ayra felt a slight sense of pride seeing the division of responsibilities she had established working well.
“Prince Nilma Argan seems to be greatly shocked by the news of the earthquake that destroyed the central city of Bolni. He’s stopped eating and speaking; how shall we proceed?”
Ayra thought the shock Argan experienced must have been significant—seeing his father brutally murdered and his domain destroyed overnight. However, what he needed was not consolation but ti to gather himself. As she pondered, Ayra pulled out a pebble from her pocket, squeezing it thoughtfully.
“My dear pebble, do you see any refugees from Bolni who remained loyal yet had personal ties with Argan?”
The pebble perked up, showing a [Loading.......] sign. After a few minutes, it displayed information and holographic images of two individuals. Ayra quickly jotted down the details and handed the paper to Hess.
“Tell Sir Bloom or Lady Hera to bring these two here imdiately. If they don’t co willingly, kidnap them and lock them in the room with Argan. Make sure ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) they can’t go anywhere else.”
What Argan needed now were friends who could share his grief and loyalists who could whisper of vengeance against those who had destroyed Bolni. Hess nodded with a sparkle in his eye, not questioning the sudden order to kidnap. Ayra smiled, reassured by Hess’s unwavering trust.
“And there’s one more important thing... Is the dungeon under the castle empty right now?”
“Yes, it’s available anyti.”
Hess responded without hesitation. Thanks to their recent efforts to distribute stored supplies to the refugees, the castle's dungeon was empty. The domain window confird that the space was perfect for Ayra’s plans.
“Good. Then clear out everything from the dungeon imdiately and make sure no one can access it starting today.”
It took a few hours to clear the dungeon and restrict access. During that ti, Ayra worked diligently until dinner, when she called in Bloom and Hera, who had successfully apprehended the two individuals and confined them in Argan’s room. Reportedly, this had so effect, as Argan began to eat so broth.
Concerning the silk spiders, Ayra felt it necessary to share the information with her vassals, so they all headed to the dungeon together. As they descended the stairs, Janus subtly moved closer to Ayra, his hot breath on her nape making her react sensitively.
“What’s wrong?”
“What would you like to eat tomorrow?”
Recently accustod to high-quality at, Ayra rubbed her nape and licked her lips. It seed that her return to the manor would restart Janus’s at deliveries. Not really wanting to refuse, Ayra pondered for a mont before responding.
“The black-horned deer we had on the first day?”
“You know your stuff. That was tasty. So, we’ll go with that?”
Pleased by his persistent nudging to do sothing for her, Ayra’s voice softened. It seed that their forest escapade had particularly pleased her.
“That’s fine. I couldn’t eat all the at you caught every day by myself, so I shared it with others. Don’t let the black-horned deer breed run out...”
“Well, whatever’s left, we can eat together.”
As they exchanged these words, Ayra sensed so sharp glances and turned around to see the vassals quickly looking away. Hera suddenly coughed as she stared at the mossy ceiling, and Bloom stood rigidly, straightening up.
“Everyone knows I went to Bolni recently. I managed to make quite a haul there.”
“Oh, I heard there was a terrible earthquake in Bolni. Was there really anything worth harvesting?”
Hera asked with curiosity. Bloom frowned, hinting that she should show more respect, but no one took him seriously.
Finally reaching the desired location, Ayra chuckled ominously and flung open the door to the dungeon’s largest room. The usual storage space for food supplies was satisfyingly spacious.
Ayra pulled out the collected silk spiders from her subspace. As the spiders cascaded out, Hera was the first to draw her sword. Bloom followed a beat later, trying to pull Ayra behind him, but Janus grabbed his wrist, causing him to yelp. Ayra was too busy releasing the spiders to notice Janus twisting Bloom’s arm.
“Not the hand for holding a sword, so stop the drama.”
“Huh?”
At Ayra’s strange comnt, Bloom glared fiercely at Janus. Ayra glanced suspiciously as she finished releasing the last silk spider. She quickly realized what had happened; the pebble was indicating Bloom’s left wrist with an arrow visible only to her.
“Don’t bother my vassals.”
“I haven’t bothered anyone.”
Janus feigned innocence as Ayra looked at Bloom, who twitched his eyebrows and then snapped to attention.
“No, my lord. Nothing happened.”
Nothing happened, despite Janus twisting his wrist... But considering Janus was a dragon, not breaking his bones might be seen as restraint. Before Ayra could warn him again, Gretel scread from behind Hess as she peeked over his shoulder at the mass of gigantic spiders.
“These are... surely not all silk spiders?!”
“Yep. I gathered all the silk spiders that fled from the forest due to the earthquake. And this too.”
Hoping she might develop an interest in magical beasts like him, Ayra was a bit disappointed when Gretel gasped for breath, visibly terrified. Ayra, slightly let down, pulled out a huge bundle of spider silk from her subspace that looked like a giant cotton candy. This ti, Hess’s eyes widened.
“This isn’t all silk spider web, is it?”
“Why wouldn’t it be? It is!”
He preened a bit, lifting his chin proudly. Janus reached to tickle him under the chin, but Ayra pushed his hand away and pointed at the silk spider as one tried to dash forward but was repelled by a barrier she had set at the door.
“Sirs, this is literally... money!”
Standing there, receiving the admiration, cheers, and applause of his four vassals, all the stress that had accumulated lted away. Especially since before Ayra’s arrival, the domain had been on the brink of ruin due to debt, and Hess had been suffering from severe stress and depression.
“So,
we can finally pay off the domain’s debts...! And you know how to breed silk spiders too.”
“Right, about that.”
Ayra gazed affectionately at the silk spiders before turning around, her face passing a cool shadow before a sly smile ford.
“How about we trick Junie Orléans and make a big score this ti?”
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