Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. - Chapter 124

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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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Chapter 124: Demon-type Beings Are Demon-type Beings
The Trial Tower is a demanding dungeon, but deeply rewarding.
You can grow your skills considerably while pushing yourself through grueling exploration, and the rewards are quite generous too.
Could there be a more ideal dungeon than this?
The most satisfying part was that even a fourth-level explorer like me could experience firsthand the terrors of a B-Rank Dungeon.
《What on earth happened to you in the past that left you so broken? I’m starting to get genuinely frightened. :(》
Yet surprisingly, the Trial Tower’s popularity was remarkably low.
The fact that a B-Rank Dungeon was difficult to clear couldn’t account for it—that was only natural.
There was a different, decisive reason.
“Here we are.”
Southwest of Sociato Town.
Our Exploration Expedition had arrived at a gloomy, chilly neighborhood sunk in the shadow cast by the outer walls of Pletika.
“It’s really quiet….”
Pendrick surveyed the town, silent as the Nightmare World itself, and furrowed his brow.
“I mean, even the neighborhood where you live has some atmosphere of people actually living there, but why is this place like this?”
“I was waiting for that question.”
I rubbed my palms together in a manner befitting a Socialite, and Pendrick mirrored the gesture.
“Hehe, I actually threw that question out knowing you’d like it.”
“As expected, you are the spiritual pillar of the Moon Expedition Party.”
“Uh… isn’t that you, captain?”
“How could a frail Socialite ever become the pillar that sustains a heart?”
Pendrick was destined to become the core force of the Moon Expedition Party going forward.
“The reason this place is quiet is due to the nature of the Socialites who reside here.”
“What kind of people live here?”
I covered Bartimir’s eyes, visible through the gaps in the bandages, with my palm as I answered.
“Spies of the Turbid Rainbow. They are Socialites under Radmier’s command.”
– …Ahhh!
Astrímia twisted her sword sharply.
– Then surely, right now….
“Precisely.”
I turned slowly in place, surveying the silent neighborhood.
“From the moment we entered this district until now, they’ve been carefully observing everything about us—our expressions, our gait, our habits. Of course, they’ve also been quietly listening to every word of our conversation.”
The specialty of the Turbid Rainbow’s Socialites was to hide and quietly watch people—in other words, espionage.
It wasn’t for the sake of collecting and selling information like the Brithes Family did.
They were devout individuals who had chosen a life of secretly observing others simply because the Evil God desired such a faith practice.
“It’s simply unpleasant. And that, precisely, is the decisive reason the Trial Tower is unpopular.”
…….
The expedition members began surveying the surrounding houses with wary eyes.
“What? It’s not a big deal.”
Only Bartimir strolled leisurely down the quiet street.
“When I was an experimental subject at the Black Mage Guild, they monitored every word and action I made. If all they’re doing is spying, I can just take it in stride.”
“I feel the same way. Should we exchange some secrets as we go?”
“Go ahead, tell us first.”
“I’m actually a Half-Elf.”
“Gasp!”
As I continued our intimate conversation with the kindhearted demon-type being, we drew closer to an increasingly peculiar sight.
On the road near the outer walls.
The upper portion of an inverted tower suddenly jutted forth from empty air.
《The entrance to the Trial Tower.》
Despite being near the entrance, there wasn’t a single explorer in the vicinity attempting to enter the dungeon.
As we approached a bit closer, a dungeon administrator priest sitting in a chair by the roadside came into view, her expression vacant.
“Oh?”
Merlin’s eyes widened.
It was a priest we’d seen before.
“The priestess we saw at the Flame Anthill?”
“…Huh? Tiger friend!”
Reina, the priest who had overseen the Flame Anthill, brimming with abundant vitality, jumped to her feet and waved both hands vigorously at Merlin.
Then, catching sight of me, she greeted me with equal cheer.
“My goodness! Isn’t that Kar, the honored guest of the Harmony Cult!”
“It’s good to see you again.”
“Are you here to clear the Trial Tower?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Finally!”
Merlin watched the delighted priest throw both arms up in the air, then asked carefully.
“Weren’t you assigned to the Flame Anthill? How did you end up transferring?”
“I was disciplined!”
At Reina’s unnecessarily cheerful answer, Lucius—who belonged to the same Lantern Guild—furrowed his brow.
“…What did you do to get disciplined?”
“I got swept up in the fervor to escort the saintess Seraphina, who was about to write another history, so I skipped my duties and entered a dungeon! Now I’m getting what I deserve!”
Lucius, listening to the exchange from beside her, let out a very small sigh.
Reina caught it perfectly and threw her hand up.
“Wow, Lucius! Hello there!”
“…A pleasure to see you, sister.”
“Since Kar is here and you’re here too, I suppose we can skip the detailed strategy explanation?”
When I nodded, Reina immediately picked up the ladder lying on the ground and set it upright.
The entrance was in mid-air, so we’d have to climb the ladder to reach it.
“The reset will happen in about one hundred days. So please hurry!”
“Isn’t that ample time?”
Reina showed her right index finger to Pendrick, who’d asked, and wagged it.
“Not at all. The longest it’s taken anyone to clear the Trial Tower is three years?”
“…It can take three years?”
“If you feel you can’t climb any further, you can give up partway through. Then you have to start over from the beginning, but at least you’ll keep your life—remember that!”
As the spirited priest stepped aside with her explanation, she suddenly turned her head toward me.
“But there are seven of you? I don’t need to say it, but you know, right? An exploration expedition has a maximum of six members! Seven or more is an Exploration Law Violation.”
“So we’re planning to split into groups of four and three. Is that alright?”
Reina didn’t hesitate and grinned.
“Of course it is!”
“Thank you. You’re as generous as Artein’s broad generosity itself.”
“Flattery won’t get you anything!”
I exchanged pleasantries with Reina for a while, then summoned the first team of the Moon Expedition Party.
A prodigy swordsman, a virtuous demon-type being, a future phenomenal thief, a thorough and prepared priest.
I handed the notes I’d jotted down last night to Bartimir, who had the most extensive expedition knowledge—the Trial Tower strategy guide, various tips, and homework assignments for each member.
“Just do as written there. If you don’t complete the homework, you’ll get what’s coming, so do your best.”
“Yes!”
“Bartimir, you’ll take temporary command. Lead the expedition with due diligence.”
“Don’t worry!”
Bartimir, a bit restless with the expedition ahead, sent the other team members in first, then entered the dungeon himself.
I watched him go, my hand resting on Abel’s shoulder.
“Patron, when do we enter?”
“The Trial Tower requires careful composition of the exploration party. If we enter at too short an interval, we might get bound together. So let’s wait a little longer and take our time.”
“Understood.”
Abel nodded and pulled two water bottles from his pack.
“Please try this. It’s a tea made with a new blend.”
“Thank you. Is the other one for Rosalia?”
“Yes. I added some poison herb specially.”
“Since you say so, let me try it.”
……
The assassin pulled down the cloth covering her mouth slightly and took a small sip of Abel’s special poison tea.
Her eyes widened a little.
“How is it?”
Rosalia regarded Abel silently for a moment, then shook her head slightly.
“It’s decent, but I wish the poison were stronger. Is that what you mean?”
Nod, nod.
“…It was poison that would be fatal if a normal person even put it to their lips. Understood, then.”
Spending the wait in the fragrant air thanks to Abel, Reina suddenly waved her hand.
“You may enter now!”
“Understood. Let’s go in now.”
After sending Abel and Rosalia up the ladder, I spoke to Reina.
“Priest, in a little while, some outlaws disguised as ordinary adventurers will follow us in.”
“…Hmm. I’m sorry, but the Harmony Cult doesn’t regulate explorers’ dungeon entry.”
“I understand. I’m not asking you to stop anyone. Rather, quite the opposite.”
As he climbed the ladder, he gazed out at the quiet town for a moment.
“Please, whoever comes, don’t block them—don’t let them stray onto some other path. Guide them into the Dungeon.”
These days, opportunities to acquire large quantities of living sacrifices were truly rare.
***
Bartimir and his expedition members stood before the entrance of the Trial Tower, which rose so high it seemed to touch the heavens.
The Trial Tower.
Once they entered, a facility that would visit endless hardship and suffering upon them loomed arrogantly above the Exploration Expedition.
“You’ve all memorized everything your mother wrote, right?”
Bartimir, the interim commander, spoke with a voice tinged with amusement.
“Only one enemy appears per floor. Even if we combine our strength, we’ll face only foes that aren’t easy to defeat, so don’t overreach and injure yourselves needlessly. Even with a priest on hand, serious wounds aren’t simple to heal.”
Merlin glanced at Bartimir’s face, which was hidden behind bandages.
In those two slightly sinister eyes—the ones Kar insisted were kind—anticipation and excitement gleamed abundantly.
‘…Are they really not family?’
No matter how much she thought about it, Kar and Bartimir seemed to share the same blood.
Otherwise, how could two people exist simultaneously, both greeting hardship and adversity with such joy?
“The clear condition is to defeat the enemy on the final tenth floor without giving up midway, one after another….”
While Merlin seriously questioned whether the two Demon-type Beings were blood relatives, his words continued.
“Mother wrote on the hidden clear condition section: ‘Learn for yourselves and discover it.'”
“To be honest, we have no idea.”
Pendrick smiled gently.
“Do you happen to know what it is, Bartimir?”
“I have a rough sense of it. I reviewed the research records conducted at the Demon Tower. I wanted to come here and suffer through it myself, at least once.”
– So what do you suspect the hidden clear condition might be?
Bartimir fell into thought for a moment, as if organizing his ideas, before responding.
“I suspect it’s setting a fastest clear record.”
“A record? That does make sense…?”
Pendrick continued, touching the hilt of Astrímia, which was lodged in the Artifact known as the Hall of Swords.
“The Sovereign established the Trial Tower to elevate the average strength of the Northern Continent, didn’t he? He would have been delighted if someone appeared who reached the tenth floor within the shortest time.”
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
The sinister-looking Demon-type Being pointed sharply toward the tower’s peak.
“So we’ll clear it faster than the current best record of sixteen days!”
“…Won’t that be terribly difficult?”
Even as she spoke, Merlin sensed that her concern would likely be meaningless.
After all, pointing out that something would be difficult to someone like Kar would never register.
“Of course it’ll be absurdly grueling?”
Exactly as expected.
Bartimir grinned, baring his teeth.
“That’s what makes it fun! Let’s go!”
…….
Merlin obediently followed the interim commander—the Demon-type Being—and gripped her tail with both hands.
‘…At least this is reassuring. Because she’s a sister like Kar.’
The same disposition as Kar.
And similarly abundant knowledge of the Dungeon.
Bartimir would never abandon her expedition members to death.
It was a conclusion drawn from experience so far.
Still, a faint hint of unease managed to poke its head through.
‘Just how much harder could it get…?’
Her curiosity was answered soon enough.
“Ahhhhhhhhh!”
First floor of the Trial Tower.
Merlin, tasked with luring the massive pig Demon-type Being that emerged as the enemy, learned the truth through her body.
“Merlin—! Run while screaming even more pitifully! That way the beast will mistake you for safe prey and pay no attention to us!”
“Ahhhhhhhhhhh—!!”
Even in a different age, a Demon-type Being was still a Demon-type Being.

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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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