Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 10: E-Rank Labyrinth Dungeon – Fire Ant Nest (2)
The Fire Ant Nest is a maze unto itself.
A structure as intricate as some modernist artwork.
You could escape if you simply found the path connecting entrance to exit, but the vast three-dimensional maze sprawled so intricately, so endlessly, that few bothered to attempt it.
Coupled with meager rewards, hardly anyone ventured into this labyrinth anymore.
“And that’s when Kar insisted we absolutely had to clear this dungeon.”
“I didn’t insist that hard.”
“You only escaped from the dungeon yesterday, exhausted and barely alive, and yet here we are, diving back in. Even the Dungeon Cleaner doesn’t make runs this frequently….”
Marlin, who’d been griping the whole way, hurled the object she’d been holding backward.
Thunk!
—A low, grinding screech echoed behind us.
A long white spine lodged deep into the skull of the fire ant bearing down on us from behind.
A spike I’d crafted from the Web That Binds All Things.
A throwing weapon, reinforced for maximum thickness and durability.
I’d stockpiled plenty while Marlin handled the first wave of ants.
“Wow, I didn’t think I’d actually bring one down in a single shot.”
Marlin’s tail wagged with delight as she looted the Fire Spring and Mana Stone from the collapsed creature.
“These skills you gave me, Kar—they’re so much better than I expected.”
Basic Short Sword Technique and Basic Throwing Technique.
For a low-level thief, both were as essential as bread and water.
Marlin’s inferior dexterity and agility meant she couldn’t unlock their full potential, but they’d serve her well enough for now.
At least she’d prove more competent than those cult members.
I reached over and patted the proud novice thief on the back.
“Glad you like them. You were wailing earlier about how you didn’t want garbage-tier skills, so I was worried.”
“Are you feeling alright?”
“This way.”
I picked my way carefully down a steep downward slope.
The tiger-human assistant showed real presence of mind, using her tail to steady me around the waist and keep me from tumbling.
At the bottom lay a vast cavern.
“That direction.”
Now it was an uphill climb.
Marlin pushed against my back as she spoke.
“Do you know the entire path? We wouldn’t even need a map.”
“The map isn’t useless.”
No matter how much I could pride myself on being a veteran player with thousands of hours logged, I hadn’t memorized the geography of a mere E-Rank dungeon.
I was too busy committing S and A-Rank mechanics to memory to waste my brain on every corner of low-tier layouts.
That said, thanks to multiple playthroughs, I knew the paths well enough that a map transformed me into a serviceable half-elf navigator.
“Up we go.”
Whenever an ant appeared sporadically, my assistant dealt with it—launching a spike and bringing it down cleanly—so our exploration proceeded uninterrupted and comfortable.
“A dungeon… it’s really not that bad, is it?”
She’d been terrified at the start, but now she was brimming with confidence.
Remarkable growth for a novice.
“That’s right. A dungeon isn’t something to fear. It’s a joyful paradise overflowing with happiness.”
Honestly, I was enjoying myself.
If an E-Rank dungeon run could be this much fun, what kind of dopamine rush would a Nightmare Dungeon clear bring?
“Kar, there are enemies nearby.”
Marlin, ears pricked forward, stopped me short.
“Two of them… or three? They’re just sitting still, not moving.”
“Then we’re almost there.”
I unfolded the map and held it up clearly for us to see.
The Garbage Dump lay at the far bottom-right corner of the ant nest.
“Our current position should be right here.”
Near a corner that angles sharply away.
Once we rounded that bend, the entrance to the Garbage Dump would come into view, but the corridor leading there was rigged with traps.
“Ants setting traps? Really?”
“Instinctive behavior. Nothing sophisticated—just devices that detonate and obliterate whoever steps on them.”
“That sounds incredibly dangerous….”
Trap disarming was technically a thief’s job, but I held no illusions about asking much from someone who hadn’t even mastered the basics of self-preservation.
Right now, she’d be plenty impressive if she simply managed to walk straight.
“I’ll handle the disarming. Just wait here.”
I generated webbing from my right index finger and gathered it into a tight sphere.
A simple trap-disarming bead, you might call it.
With no high-tech detection systems that respond to biosignatures or techniques—just primitive traps—this little trick was more than enough to clear them.
I merely extended my hand down the corridor leading to the Garbage Dump and tossed the thread sphere.
Tap.
The round webbing fell to the floor.
Boom!
An explosion erupted with a deafening roar.
The half-elf’s protective barrier shielded Marlin from the searing blast of heat that came rushing down the passage, and soon the corridor fell silent.
Snarl!
The Fire Ants guarding the Garbage Dump came charging, desperate to seize whoever had set off the trap.
Marlin bounded backward nimbly and carved through three ants with identical precision—head, thorax, abdomen.
“Well done.”
I wiped the blood splattered across her face.
“Your sword work is getting cleaner by the minute.”
“You think I have the makings of an adventurer, then?”
I placed a hand on her shoulder, which was riding high with confidence, and turned the corner.
A corridor stretched straight ahead, terminating in a wooden door.
Well, something that resembled a door.
Calling it a “door” felt like a generous stretch—it was more accurately described as a scrap of wood.
Still, it bore a crude locking mechanism, so by technical standards, it qualified as a door.
“Time for a professional burglar to work.”
“Mm.”
Marlin examined the door from every angle and shook her head.
“There’s no lock, no handle—how am I supposed to open it?”
“I’ll show you.”
I took her right arm and extended it behind her, then twisted her waist slightly into position.
“Now just drive your fist forward like that.”
……
Crack!
Using the blunt-force unlocking method, the door swung cleanly open.
Inside was a spacious cavity.
《The Fire Ant Nest’s Garbage Dump. A place where dim-witted vermin discard what they classify as ‘rubbish’ by their own standards.》
I wondered what the real thing would look like.
I stepped in with mounting excitement, and found the space cluttered with broken and decaying objects.
“Ugh, the stench.”
Marlin merely plugged her nose, unmoved, but I could not bring myself to stand still.
I wandered about, examining every object that caught my eye.
《Ancient Silver Bracelet. A poor-quality discarded item.》
《An unsightly doll, filthy and hideous to behold. Immediate disposal is strongly recommended.》
《The remains of a dead dog-human. Now this is genuine refuse!》
I picked up a small bone fragment and examined it, then slowly steadied my breathing.
‘…It’s all the same.’
It matched perfectly with the composition of the Garbage Dump in my memory.
It was almost overwhelming.
Was this a dream?
“Kar, why is this supposed to be a treasure trove? Everything I see is garbage.”
“Garbage? Watch your tongue.”
It was a rebuke fitting for an amateur.
If she was to survive as an adventurer, she needed at least a minimum of proper knowledge—so I decided to conduct an impromptu lesson in Labyrinth Dungeon fundamentals.
“Marlin. Do you know how Labyrinth Dungeons form?”
“By… magic?”
“Labyrinth Dungeons are generated by excessive Mana Concentration. Mana pooled in one place materializes an isolated world that mirrors a specific region from the past, present, or future. Do you follow so far?”
“Perfectly.”
Despite her confident answer, her eyes flickered with uncertainty.
“To put it simply, a Labyrinth Dungeon is ultimately a false world that copies reality. Simple, isn’t it?”
Now that she grasped the meaning, Marlin nodded along vigorously.
“So this ant colony, even if it’s fake, exists somewhere in the real world. Probably from long, long ago.”
“Exactly.”
The girl lacked knowledge but possessed decent wisdom—a reasoning capacity befitting her years.
I clenched my right fist.
“This is where the true nature of the Fire Ant Nest reveals itself.”
Every object was world-building material—how could I not fall for it?
Part of me wanted to take everything and store it separately, but without Subspace Equipment, there was simply too much to carry.
Swallowing my regret, I decided to take only what was immediately necessary.
‘This first.’
I took the Mana Stone from Marlin and gently rubbed it against the dead puppy’s leg bone I’d been holding.
Scritch, scritch.
After a dozen or so passes, the Mana Stone shifted from blue to a dull gray, and all the mana it contained flowed smoothly into the bone.
I carefully brought the mana-infused remains of the young canine to my nose, and they suddenly vaporized, seeping into my body through my respiratory system.
“What was that just now…?”
“An excellent question. In the distant past, during the era of the Ryumes Kingdom that unified the Western Continent, magical beasts had far more habitats and displayed unique behaviors we don’t see anymore. The creature whose remains I just picked up had every biological characteristic identical to an ordinary dog—save for one crucial difference: when infused with mana, it could vaporize like this. It seems they primarily used this ability to escape predators, and if you know how to harness it properly…”
My assistant’s gaze was growing increasingly unfocused, so I had no choice but to cut the lecture short and jump straight to the conclusion.
“With this method, your recovery improves somewhat.”
《Your physical recovery ability has risen slightly…》
In game terms, my health stat had increased by 1.
Next, I picked up the discarded doll and the silver bracelet.
“Come here a moment and hold out your hands.”
“Why?”
My bewildered assistant approached, and I placed the doll in her two hands, then slipped the bracelet around the doll’s neck.
“It fits perfectly, doesn’t it? Like a custom necklace.”
“Exactly. Now, would you try meeting its gaze?”
Marlin tilted her head uncertainly and did as instructed—then suddenly flinched and dropped the doll.
“…Kar, this thing is glaring at me.”
“That’s just how it is.”
“Don’t say that like it’s normal. What in the world is this?”
“I’ve been waiting for that question!”
“No, this is too much…!”
I recounted every detail of the Blessed Doll’s origin—a tale never recorded in history books—then asked how her body felt.
“Now that you mention it, my hand movements feel lighter.”
“It’s working well.”
《Your assistant Marlin’s physical abilities have increased!》
Dexterity raised by 1.
Since it was a stat that held no value for me, I cleanly channeled it into her development.
“Is this knowledge also something the evil god you serve told you?”
“Of course it is.”
《How does he even know such things?! The wise one is thoroughly bewildered!》
I then picked up the most precious ancient relic from this ‘treasure house.’
It was a rectangular piece of black metal, small in size but extraordinarily heavy.
“Is that valuable too?”
“What can I say?”
《Such an artifact of those who serve that filthy god must be discarded at once. Cast it away! If you possess even a shred of righteous thought, you must!》
The Eye That Sees Through Truth was desperately demanding I discard the very relic I’d just obtained.
I’m sorry, but that’s impossible.
This is something that cannot be obtained anywhere outside.
I placed the relic in Marlin’s bag and ventured deeper into the Garbage Dump.
Unlike the entrance, which had been lined with beautiful ancient artifacts, the interior was genuinely piled high with refuse.
“…Ugh.”
Marlin paused for a moment, her expression crumpling in disgust.
“Isn’t that a goblin corpse? And I think I see human remains too…”
“You’ve got a good eye.”
To magical beasts, an adventurer’s corpse is nothing more than refuse that needs disposing of.
Before the half-year cycle of this Labyrinth Dungeon’s reset arrives, they will continue to decompose here in the Garbage Dump, forgotten and alone.
“Does that bother you?”
“A little.”
“Then as fellow adventurers, let’s show them proper respect.”
I led Marlin toward the pile of bodies and gave her an order.
“Assistant, prepare an Offering Ritual.”
“…Respect, you say?”
“Normally, when an adventurer dies in a Labyrinth Dungeon, their remains are retrieved later by acquaintances or fellow party members. Alternatively, adventurers who make their living recovering bodies are sometimes sent in. So then—why are these corpses still here?”
Marlin nodded, understanding the answer.
“The Cult are scavengers. They feast on the corpses of dead adventurers rotting away in solitude, forsaken by everyone.”
“You could just say Dungeon Cleaner, you know. Why introduce such crude terminology?”
Still, there was no denying that the bodies the Cult favored as offerings were those of adventurers who had died in the Labyrinth Dungeon.
One couldn’t exactly drag innocent citizens off the streets and make them living sacrifices in some fit of madness.
All of that was outdated. The modern Cult conducts its Offering Rituals through proper, legal channels only.
“Assistant, you saw the ritual last time, didn’t you? I need you to set things up.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Hand me the short sword for now.”
I wasn’t ready to have our assistant prepare the offering yet.
It was too brutal a task for a young person still growing.
I picked out a suitable candidate from among the heap of dead adventurers.
《Deceased warrior Mirgon (human, twenty-seven years old). An idiot who drove his companions into the Garbage Dump, attempted to exterminate the Fire Ant swarm by provoking it, and was destroyed instead.》
A steady seller in the sacrifice market—humans.
And this one came with a rotten personality to boot.
Offering such a creature left no bitter aftertaste.
Using the Eye That Sees Through Truth to confirm the fool’s identity, I cleanly removed his head and smeared his torso evenly with Volcanic Troll Blood purchased from the adventurer supply shop.
A pungent seasoning.
Next, I added Fire Spring that my assistant had gathered in various spots.
An ingredient for heat.
It would add a natural spice—not the artificial burn conjured by technique, but genuine warmth.
‘Something’s missing.’
After a moment’s thought, I scattered Dog-Human Teeth I’d picked up cheaply across the body.
Like sausage in a stew, it would play a vital role. Now it looked presentable.
This offering seemed rather fine.
Satisfied, I murmured the prayer and spoke with reverence.
“Lidni, you may eat now.”
Nothing happened.
My assistant, who had helped set up the makeshift idol and altar and stood watching beside me, blinked silently for a long moment before looking at me.
“…Kar?”
“Actually, I haven’t performed the ritual yet.”
“Please! You’re supposed to smile when you joke!”
I pulled my mouth into a grin as requested.
“I actually did perform it properly.”
“…Then why is it quiet?”
The reason wasn’t hard to identify.
I’d been following this twisted faith for years now—how could I not know my patron deity’s taste?
“Lidni is being picky about the side dish right now.”
“An evil god…?”
Fortunately, fixing the picky deity’s bad eating habits wasn’t that difficult.
I spoke as though I understood nothing at all.
“Lidni… surely you’re not unable to eat spicy things?”
Are you perhaps sensitive to heat?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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