Show Me Your Stats!-Chapter 35

How much had they dug? From the end of the shovel that kept sinking into the ground, a dull sound of crying echoed. Ayra, who had been shivering from the cold but kept her Stat Window active just in case, approached the deepening pit. The ground, frozen solid, prevented the shovel from going any deeper, and only a series of sharp clang! clang! sounds echoed several times.

"Ah! Ah!"

"The ground is collapsing! Get back!"

As the ground beneath them suddenly caved in, the estate’s inhabitants scrambled to climb out of the pit. Only Ayra remained calm, watching the dark pile of rubble collapse before her.

Soon, voices of the living could be heard coming from inside. They were all people, covered in black dust, who looked miserable. These were the merchants who had been buried when the landslide first occurred.

"Ah! We're alive! We're alive!"

"Thank you, gods!"

The villagers were stunned to see the merchants, whom they had thought dead, alive and well. Those who had been trapped underground for so long crawled out of the hole, tears streaming down their faces. Inside the pit, a couple of wagons were nearly intact, indicating that there was plenty of space.

The merchants, once their eyes met anyone’s, expressed their gratitude endlessly.

"Thank you so much for saving us. We thought we were done for."

"To be alive and see the sun again..."

Though they were dirty, they appeared to be in good health, able to get out by themselves. But that wasn’t the only surprising thing. Ayra, while counting how many people had come out of the hole, tilted her head.

‘Huh? There are five more people.’

Wondering why these individuals didn’t show up on her Stat Window, Ayra glanced at the stone sticking out of her hand and sheepishly opened an alert window. She didn’t forget to bring up the Stat Windows of the remaining five.

[Tip: The five NPCs are not villagers of Solar, according to the ‘Save the Villagers in Danger’ quest.]

Wow. So these five weren’t even part of Solar, and that's why they weren’t considered targets for rescue and didn’t appear in the Stat Window... Ayra was left speechless, but before she could say anything, another alert popped up.

[Tip: There is a significant difference in mana consumption between displaying 8 Stat Windows at once versus displaying 13 Stat Windows.]

It seemed to imply that this was done for her benefit. It was correct and more efficient, but Ayra felt like there was an underlying thought of "Let the other villagers die or not~" hidden in it. Squinting at the stone, Ayra saw it wink playfully, as if pretending to be cute, then it quickly hid back inside her body.

‘My artificial spirit’s personality...’

Ayra briefly lamented. Meanwhile, the villagers, who couldn’t understand how the traders had survived, began to ask questions.

"No, how did you survive all this time? How did you create this space?"

The villagers from Dalum were all locals, well aware that when caught in a landslide, survival was nearly impossible. But Ayra had a good idea of how the merchants had made it.

She gave a brief glance to one of them. A man, who had been sighing in relief, met her gaze and looked surprised. The merchant, who had narrowly survived, smiled brightly and patted the man on the shoulder.

"It’s all thanks to this person. A mage we hired as a guard for the caravan. When the landslide happened, he used his magic to help us survive."

These locals, then, were fervent followers of the mountain god Morunka. When they heard that the merchants had survived thanks to a mage’s magic, murmurs began to spread among the villagers.

"A mage?"

"Apparently, when the landslide happened, that mage used magic!"

As expected, these were the reactions Ayra had anticipated... She clicked her tongue softly as she observed their growing hostility toward the mage.

"So, you’re saying that this mage is the cause of all this?"

"Isn’t it because of that mage that we’ve had two consecutive snowstorms?"

"This disaster happened because of the mage! Morunka’s wrath for his impurity!"

The mountain god Morunka.

In the northern regions, where rugged mountain ranges dominated the landscape, Morunka was often depicted as a mountain god. The locals believed that avalanches and landslides were divine punishments from the gods. The merchants, who had barely survived the landslide, were now bewildered by the villagers' intense reactions. Among them, the three who were from Solar seemed unsurprised, perhaps having expected such a response. They only sent apologetic glances toward the mage who had saved their lives over the past few days.

The mage himself was taken aback and angry.

"What are you talking about? Didn’t you see I almost died too? And now you say my magic caused impurity?! If you’re going to blame someone, blame..."

Before the man could point at her, Ayra cast a spell. Suddenly, the man’s words became muffled, and he staggered forward, trembling, as his feet gave way. The sensation of moving his tongue and feet was mixed up because of the spell. Ayra stepped forward to calm the growing tension.

"Alright, everyone. Let’s first get these people into a warm building, shall we? We still don’t know the exact cause of the snowstorm."

The villagers, who had been murmuring, paused. Ayra added a few more words to calm them down.

"And we should probably take the carts out as well. There may be some goods we can distribute to those who’ve been injured..."

Ayra let her sentence trail off, hinting that she might offer some of the goods from the merchant’s cart. Some of the villagers, eyeing each other, reluctantly stepped back. But when they glanced at the mage again, it seemed one of them hesitated, their suspicion creeping in as they asked Ayra.

"By the way... you mentioned you’re from the lord’s estate, right? Who are you? And... how did you find the people buried in the snow?"

Since Ayra was the benefactor and came from the lord’s estate, the villagers were cautious, unable to confront her as they had with the merchant’s mage. The villagers, who had lost family and friends in the landslide, looked at Ayra with a mix of anger and sorrow.

Hmm, as expected, this is how it’s going to unfold. Ayra, who had expected this, took a step forward, pulling the hood of her robe that had been tightly wrapped around her head due to the cold.

When she removed the hood, her long, silver hair swirled in the light, revealing her face. Her striking gray eyes, silver hair, and sharp features were common characteristics among the locals. With a slight tilt of her head, Ayra opened her coral-colored lips. Her pale face filled with a deep concern as her silver eyelashes trembled.

"As you all know, recently, due to an unfortunate accident, our lord passed away."

At this, some of the villagers sighed and shook their heads, making the sign of the cross. Ayra observed them carefully as she continued in her melodious and graceful voice.

"Therefore, the second son of the late lord, who had been in the south, has now returned here and recently became our new lord."

The villagers, who had been isolated due to the snowstorm and landslide, were startled by this news. Ayra, who had been seeing this symbol frequently since arriving in Solar, slowly made the sign of the cross herself. More of the villagers followed her lead.

"Our new lord is a devout follower of the Morunka faith..."

This, however, was a lie. He wasn’t a devout believer at all. But Ayra continued without batting an eye, never mentioning the mage at all.

"Recently, he had a troubling dream where the lands beyond Dalum Gorge were covered in snow. In his dream, a silver-haired woman holding three red flowers appeared and personally cleared the snow."

"Ah..."

Several villagers gasped in awe and clasped their hands together. The silver-haired woman holding three red flowers was the typical depiction of Morunka’s manifestation. The once-tense atmosphere slowly began to settle.

"When our lord, thinking something had happened beyond Dalum Gorge, believed that Morunka would guide us, he sent me here in haste."

Ayra subtly took out a red flower symbol from her spatial pocket, which she had previously prepared through Botello, just in case she might need it. She held the flower in a prayer-like gesture and slightly lowered her head. The villagers, seeing this, quickly took out their own small symbols and adopted a prayer posture.

A heavy, reverent silence filled the air.

Ayra, who only had a vague understanding of the Morunka faith, mentally urged the stone to act quickly.

Come on, little spirit, do something!

A moment later, as mana was quickly drained, an option appeared.

Let’s all thank our lord and pray. (Support in Dalum area increases by 0.3%)

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Everything is thanks to Morunka’s grace. Let’s # Nоvеlight # pray in gratitude. (Support in Dalum area increases by 5.6%)

As it is written in the holy scriptures, "When the harsh snow covers the world, you will seek me..." (Information gathering from the village elders and devout believers in progress. Support in Dalum area increases by ??%)

There was no need for further consideration. The thoroughness and content of option 3 shouted at Ayra to choose it.