Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. - Chapter 105

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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 105: Guild War – Moonlight (2)
Eastern 3rd District.
A bustling plaza along the promenade where a festival was in full swing.
More than twice the usual crowd had gathered, and every face was tilted upward, eyes fixed on the sky.
– And so, the explorer Kar of the Ash Gray Wolf Guild has acquired the Heart of Skinparksi!
A golden-haired Half-Elf appeared on the floating screen, rolling across the ground.
It was the interior of the Battlefield of Sun and Moon, shown through the relay apparatus installed by the Dungeon Management Bureau, which oversaw the Guild War.
The broadcast from inside the Dungeon necessarily carried a slight delay—what was being shown had occurred tens of minutes prior.
– Children, please do not imitate.
Kar spoke, his gaze fixed precisely on the screen.
His entire body was singed, his lower half nearly charred away, yet his face betrayed no emotion whatsoever.
Fortunately, automatic censorship had kicked in to shield young sensibilities, but the sight was far from pleasant.
“…That Half-Elf has lost his mind.”
“Does he have some Divine Power that dulls pain?”
“A Socialite with that kind of high-performance Secret Art? No, he’s just gone mad.”
Explorers drinking draft beer from street vendors muttered in alarm.
Not only they—throughout the plaza came the murmur of onlookers shocked by Kar’s insane act of making bare contact with the solar deity.
“…I feel embarrassed.”
Merlin, sitting on a bench in the plaza, quietly set down the skewer he’d been eating and observed the crowd’s reaction.
“I thought he would restrain himself more, given that it’s a Guild War being broadcast live across the entire 3rd District.”
– Me too….
Astrímia, clinging to Pendrick’s back, exhaled a mental sigh.
Since the Guild War had begun, every word and deed Kar had shown was extraordinary.
Memorizing other people’s personal information like preferences and tastes.
Intermittent promotion of his faith.
And on top of that, treating his body with reckless abandon….
“He was already becoming known as a rising prodigy, but soon there won’t be a single person who doesn’t know of our patron.”
At Abel’s words, Merlin nodded vigorously in agreement.
“And the Moon Expedition Party will become well-known too, won’t it?”
Bartimir, who had been sipping a negatively-charged beverage designed for Demon-type Beings from behind the bench, spoke without inflection.
Pendrick, standing beside him, broke into a bright smile.
“Oh, then we’ll gain fame along with him?”
– But people shouldn’t misunderstand and think the members are similar to the leader…!
“Don’t worry, Astrímia. It’s unlikely anyone would easily believe there’s another person out there who shares the captain’s world of thought and manner of conduct.”
– Right? I mean, Kar is uniquely eccentric!
…….
Rosalia, who had been sitting silently, alternated her gaze between Pendrick and Astrímia, who were conversing warmly, then shook her head slowly.
At almost the same moment, Rachel, the faint shadow operative, let out a hollow laugh.
‘Honestly, they’re all pretty much the same….’
An assassin addicted to addiction, a swordsman fallen for the Ego Sword, a dark mage who collects curses and diseases.
They were people who should have been sent to a healing house before a Dungeon.
But none of the members bothered to voice aloud that every expedition member shared the same directional spirit as their expedition leader, Kar.
They were, after all, latent superiors in their own right.
– What exactly does the explorer Kar intend to do with the Heart of Skinparksi! Will this Half-Elf Socialite’s actions become the deciding factor in the direction of the Guild War, as he himself has promised? Please continue to watch with keen interest!
Rachel observed the Guild War with outward propriety before subtly shifting away from the bench.
‘Rachel, there is a task you must attend to.’
Kar had entrusted her with an additional mission the day before the Guild War.
‘While the Guild War is underway, everyone’s attention will be fixed on the broadcast. When that happens… the constraints placed on the activity of ownership-transfer specialists will become quite loose, won’t it?’
Moving without drawing the notice of others, Rachel grinned softly to herself.
To even guarantee the rights to her personal ‘covert artistic activities’!
‘I’ll execute the mission beautifully…!’
Kar was a far superior boss compared to the Black Sword Guild Master.
***
Targon exuded a ferocious intensity.
A murderous gaze that made the heart lurch merely from meeting it.
A killing intent so chilling that Verity had unconsciously projected a warning message before his eyes.
Tremors ran through his entire frame.
‘…So this is truly Targon.’
Targon’s wrath.
Experiencing it firsthand exceeded imagination.
When appreciating a slasher film where blood runs freely and muscles and bones crunch apart, my head tingles unnaturally.
That’s precisely why he couldn’t help but fall into the trap.
Even if our Emir had survived and grown robustly, he never would have matured into such a commanding berserker.
A thin smile crossed my face.
Sue’je would be horrified that I’d taken a shine to such an ugly brute.
It’s not attraction, really—more like admiration.
“Our objectives are twofold.”
Targon held up two thick fingers.
“Guild War victory and the elimination of the spy. We cannot afford to lose sight of either.”
“Understood.”
Lai, who had been contentedly watching the Naiadess bound back and forth over the heads of the guild members, spoke up.
“The problem is we have limited options. Both the conflict with the Guild Alliance and the wyvern subjugation are situations we cannot undertake lightly due to our numerical disadvantage.”
Lai’s gaze fixed on me.
“Meanwhile, the Guild Alliance will undoubtedly prioritize eliminating us before dealing with the wyvern. Kar, do you understand why?”
Why was he suddenly asking me?
Could he be subtly trying to shame me as a half-breed in front of a pureblooded elf?
“Because we’re a far easier target than the alpha creature. Our internal information has been completely compromised.”
In fact, despite Yallen’s lofty reputation as a schemer, he had been utterly helpless against the assaults of the other explorers.
“If no one manages to meet the conquest conditions, we could aim for the rule where the guild with the last surviving explorer claims victory, but….”
I surveyed the faces of the guild members and shook my head.
“Such a ‘dishonorable victory’ would bring us nothing but shame, and the royal court would withdraw support. That’s not a path our guild can choose. In other words, we effectively have no options.”
……
The guild members fell silent.
Everyone’s minds were likely churning with the thought that we might genuinely fail to win this Guild War.
“Kar.”
Targon, who had been standing with his arms crossed in grim silence, suddenly turned his gaze toward me.
“Do you have a way to break through this situation?”
……
I met the orc’s resolute eyes and nodded.
“Of course I do.”
The Guild Alliance, following the schemer’s plan, had backed the Ash Gray Wolf Guild into a corner.
It was a situation I had grown tired of experiencing.
But even for the Ash Gray Wolf Guild, overcoming a numerical disadvantage was not easy when our soul rank had been reduced to level five.
That being the case.
We needed to summon reinforcements to aid us.
“Dran.”
I called his name softly, and his eyes widened.
“What is it?”
“I have a question.”
I already knew what answer would come, but I asked anyway to ensure the matter was handled properly.
“Would you be able to locate all the ghouls hiding in the Deep Zone?”
“Yes, if I use the Divine Power of the Fiercely Struggling One, it’s possible.”
“Then we’ll proceed as planned.”
I rose from my seat, drawing everyone’s attention, and spoke again.
“The Schemer. The alias of the spy who leaked all our internal information. A mastermind who constructs sinister plots, advancing toward their goal slowly over time.”
This individual orchestrates everything from a comprehensive perspective, painting a grand picture.
While it takes time, the victims don’t grasp the situation until long after everything has concluded.
“Perhaps they hold a grudge against us? Otherwise, their actions cannot be explained.”
“I doubt they harbor any personal animosity.”
The Six Apostles do not act on private emotions.
“They merely desire control over the 3rd District.”
The Schemer infiltrated the Ash Gray Wolf Guild by impersonating vice-guild leader Rigoberto over approximately five years.
All for a single objective—Guild War victory.
A method that pursued safety with stubborn persistence.
I wouldn’t call it foolish, but there was one fatal weakness.
“Listen. To paint a picture, you must keep your artistic tools constantly in hand. If one were of the Painter Class, it might be different, but the Schemer is a Ninja, so that doesn’t apply here.”
No matter how perfectly the rest of the canvas was rendered, a work cannot become a masterpiece if its finishing touch falls short.
The final stroke was a completion ritual that only applied to painters who had mastered the art of drawing eyes.
“…I see.”
Yallen smiled with amusement.
“So you’re planning to throw everything into chaos to keep the spy’s schemes from succeeding?”
“Yes. From here on, what we need to do is simple.”
It really wasn’t difficult at all.
“We’re going to make as much of a mess as possible.”
***
“There’s something good about this feeling.”
The rooftop of one of the few intact buildings.
Brunelda, who stood guard beside the bipedal monk Dran with his eyes closed, opened her mouth.
“If things unfold the way Kar’s clansmen said, we could achieve both the championship and our revenge.”
“We won’t know until we try. I can’t be certain yet.”
The spirit archer Lai spoke with measured calm, but Brunelda didn’t even bother to respond.
It happened often enough.
The cold-water temperament of a Forest Elf was fundamentally incompatible with the fierce passion of a Northern barbarian.
“I agree with Brunelda.”
Yallen, who sat dangling his legs from the edge of the rooftop, turned to look at the silent Targon.
“But Guild Master, did you know that Kar is a follower of the Society of Destructive Apocalypse?”
“No.”
The gray orc, who had been spreading his perception through Detection-type Mystery, shook his head.
“I could sense the lingering impressions of multiple divine presences, so I roughly knew he possessed the constitution of a True Believer, but I didn’t know exactly which evil gods he served.”
“Honestly, I find it unreliable.”
Lai squinted, playing with Naiadess as she drifted around him.
“Those who worship Okail all pursue chaotic futures. The raven might be more interested in causing chaos than in our guild’s victory. He said himself they’d make a mess, didn’t he?”
— Chaos, chaos!!
Naiadess threw her arms about, cheerfully echoing the sentiment.
“And honestly, the trick of disguising your appearance to pose as a fellow guild member has become so old that it doesn’t work anymore, right? It’s stale now.”
Deception magic that altered one’s appearance had been a steady strategy since the early days of guild warfare.
In those days it had been powerful, but now that participants’ overall level had risen, it was regarded as mere parlor tricks.
Yallen turned to sit properly.
“But the Mystery Kar uses is Transformation, isn’t it? Since it’s a Mystery where even the self fluctuates fluidly, other explorers won’t easily catch on.”
There was a reason the followers of the Society of Destructive Apocalypse remained, even now, as evil god worshippers who subtly harmed people in the world’s eyes.
“And didn’t the spy who killed Rigoberto also use a high-performance Transformation-type Mystery?”
“…They did.”
“Then it’s possible he’s intentionally deploying the same strategy as a countermeasure.”
Now that Mordan had already exposed the existence of Transformation, distrust would inevitably spread among the allied guilds targeting the Ash Gray Wolf Guild.
“Then the spy’s actions and words will become quite restricted now.”
Targon, who had been listening quietly, let out a soft laugh.
“If you’ve accounted for all that, you’re quite skilled.”
“It’s no wonder he’s singled out as a promising explorer. Though to be honest, I’d rather not keep a Socialite close who abuses such a high-side-effect Mystery like Transformation so recklessly….”
Lai let out a quiet laugh.
For a Western Dwarf whose culture forbade direct speech, he was laying bare his true feelings remarkably.
Kar was an unusual Socialite in many ways.
“I’ve identified the locations of all the Ghouls.”
Dran, who had been detecting presences across the entire Deep Zone, slowly stood up.
The time had come.
“You’ve done well. All preparations are complete now.”
Targon slowly rose to his feet.
He was simply standing, yet the guild members felt as though a mountain was rising toward the sky.
“Everyone, you all know what you’re to do from here, right?”
Following Kar’s instructions, the guild members were now going to do something they’d never attempted in a guild war before.
“Let’s create pandemonium. Make that spy helpless before an overwhelming flood of chaos.”

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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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