Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. - Chapter 13

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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 13: From Now On, We’ll Ask Permission First
Reina, a priestess of the Harmony Church, kept her gaze fixed on the hole cut through the floor beneath her.
‘When will they come out?’
The Flame Ant Nest had an entrance formed in the middle of the road, and an exit structure that led through a hole made in this building’s floor.
It was a dungeon with simple conquest conditions and little risk of death, yet it remained unpopular.
For one, the strategy was nothing more than simple navigation, which made it tedious, and the rewards weren’t particularly lucrative.
Besides, its location in the Heretic Sect Residential District probably didn’t help its popularity either.
As a result, even if adventuring parties came, there were at most three teams per month.
That’s why she’d been pleased to see adventurers after such a long time—
‘But they’re taking forever.’
The two-person party of a Heretic and a Tiger-human hadn’t emerged no matter how long she waited.
Three hours had already passed.
Considering that the average conquest time was at most two hours, they were taking significantly longer than normal.
‘Could they have died?’
Had they really fallen in the Flame Ant Nest, which was one of the easier E-rank dungeons to conquer?
It wasn’t an unreasonable assumption.
The strategy was simply to read a map and find your way, but if you delayed too long, swarms of flame ants would come from all over the dungeon, and low-level adventurers couldn’t handle that.
Reina stared at the hole in silence for a while, then finally rummaged through a drawer and gathered some documents.
[Dead Adventuring Party Report]
When an adventurer died inside a dungeon, the dungeon-managing priestess had the duty to report and announce it.
From the circumstances, it was almost certain that the two-person party had been swept away by a swarm of flame ants.
‘What a pity…’
The face of the young Tiger-human girl, whose ears had perked up as she listened carefully to the conquest explanation, came to mind, and Reina felt a bitter taste.
So young, yet dying so meaninglessly.
Soon composing herself, Reina began writing the report.
The first thing taught when trained as a dungeon-managing priestess was to ‘grow accustomed to the deaths of adventurers.’
If one continued worrying and fretting over the misfortune of it all, one’s mental health would suffer, so it was necessary to learn how to quickly recover one’s emotions like this.
“Artein, I beseech you—guide this young soul to the sanctuary under your protection. As for the Heretic… the evil god can handle that one, I suppose?”
After offering the prayer respectfully, she rose from her seat to submit the report.
‘…Huh?’
As Reina emerged from the house assigned for her work and stepped toward the Temple, she froze in place without realizing it, her mouth falling open wide.
A gate of crimson light flickered ominously in the empty air.
“Aaaah!”
“Oh.”
Moments later, the Blonde Heretic and the Tiger-human girl tumbled out of the gate.
Both of them were soaking wet.
“…Why didn’t you tell me we’d fall the moment we exit!”
“I didn’t know either.”
“You’re lying!”
“True.”
“Why would you do that!”
“There’s a reason for everything. You think I’d trick you on purpose?”
Reina listened blankly to the quarreling adventurers’ exchange before suddenly coming to her senses.
They’d exited from somewhere other than the designated exit?
This was no ordinary situation.
Artein’s providence.
It was certain that a Hidden Piece—what the Heretic Doctrine called the treasure the dungeon concealed—had been uncovered.
“Welcome back, adventurers! I’m so glad you’ve returned safely!”
In any case, the report had to be submitted.
But instead of a report concerning dead adventurers, it would be a report covering the newly prominent adventurers.
Her Mystical Intuition, a third-rank Mystery bestowed by Artein, was telling her this.
‘They’re going to be a great adventurer!’
After a long time, a promising new star had appeared who would shake the entire adventuring industry.
***
Having sold information about the Flame Ant Nest’s Hidden Piece to the priestess, they received fifty Gold as an advance.
“Here you are!”
“Thank you…”
Marlin held the Money Pouch carefully in both hands, gazing down at the gold coins visible through the tightly bound opening.
Her eyes sparkled like stars.
“Let’s go.”
I gave the assistant’s back a push as he stood mesmerized by the gold coins, and we headed toward the market.
I’d planned to buy ingredients before heading home.
“Fifty Gold….”
“You like it that much?”
Marlin looked up from the money, her gaze meeting mine.
“Of course I do!”
“Get used to it. Once you start coming around with me, you’ll handle so many gold coins you’ll be sick of them.”
For someone raised in the Slums, there could be no sweeter words than those.
Marlin nodded her head vigorously.
“If I just follow what you say, I could become rich too?”
“In Pletica, famous Adventurer and wealthy are treated as synonymous.”
“Then I’ll become a great Adventurer!”
“Obviously. I’m backing you—there’s no way you won’t become a famous Adventurer.”
This wasn’t baseless confidence.
I had clear memories from past playthroughs: Marlin and her brother had grown into excellent Adventurers.
Though given the Heretic Class’s nature, we’d met as enemies rather than allies.
“We’ve reached the market.”
As I took the Money Pouch and began mapping out my shopping list, we arrived at the market within Heretic Town.
《The sole market in the Heretic Sect Residential District. Even at high noon, when people should be bustling about, only silence flows here. The stench of blood hangs far more heavily than elsewhere, and meat of questionable origin sells readily.》
Delicious aromas wafted from every direction.
I bought skewered chicken from a street vendor and fed it to Marlin’s mouth.
“Tell me anything you want to eat. I’ll buy it all for you.”
“Pork for me!”
“I wouldn’t recommend the pork… but if you want it, so be it.”
“Why wouldn’t you recommend it?”
“Never mind. You won’t be able to eat it if you know.”
“…I’ll get a different meat then.”
I bought everything Marlin asked for.
The total came to less than a single Gold coin—dirt cheap.
There was always a reason for prices that low, but Marlin was grinning from ear to ear at the thought of gorging herself, so I didn’t bother mentioning it.
“Back when I’d search abandoned houses, I’d be happy for a whole week if I found even a single silver coin. But today I bought all this and it didn’t even cost one Gold coin—I can’t believe it!”
I understood the sentiment, but it was a decidedly inappropriate example.
She herself seemed to realize her lack of morality, offering a sheepish smile.
“A week was an exaggeration. Maybe three days?”
…….
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Never mind. On second thought, I was wrong. You’re a Thief Class, so that tracks.”
A petty thief has their own way of living.
I couldn’t force the morality of ordinary citizens onto her.
Still, as her sponsor, I decided to address the matter clearly.
“Marlin, don’t go around stealing without my permission from now on.”
“Why not?”
“You’ll get caught by a Holy Knight from Order’s Spear.”
Order’s Spear was the holy knight order under the Harmony Church responsible for managing Heretics and the Slums.
It was no exaggeration to say they virtually maintained the peace of District 6.
“Then I’d just rot in the Temple dungeon for a few months and come back out.”
《Your ward, Marlin—Tiger-human, fourteen years old. At such a young age, she’s already pawned off every scrap of morality and conscience she possessed. A promising child indeed.》
“…It seems you still need considerable instruction.”
Kids will be kids after all.
Growing up in the Slums, she wouldn’t be entirely ignorant of how the world worked, but her common sense was definitely lacking.
It was hardly surprising—acquiring knowledge while living a life devoid of even the basics like food, clothing, and shelter wasn’t easy.
“Marlin, do you know what happens to you if you commit a serious crime and get caught by a Holy Knight from Order’s Spear?”
“Writing reflection essays every day?”
“They’ll use Mystery to forcibly inject order directly into your mind. Then you won’t be the Marlin you were before—not anymore.”
“…Like brainwashing?”
“Something like that. Remember those people who sometimes vanish silently from the slums? By now they’re completely ‘reformed’ and working as low-ranking members of Order’s Spear.”
In the game, it was an event that triggered when you committed serious crimes in the city.
Becoming part of Order’s Spear was interesting in its own way, but since you lost your freedom, I didn’t particularly favor that route.
There was no reason to deliberately force myself down a path where I couldn’t freely tackle Dungeons.
“I understand. I’ll only search abandoned houses when you give permission.”
“No… all right.”
By the time I’d finished soothing the slightly dejected Marlin, banned from her livelihood, we’d arrived at the house.
“Abel, good to see y—”
Marlin stepped inside with eager footsteps, then froze mid-stride.
The interior, which should have been filthy with dust and scattered garbage strewn about carelessly, was immaculate and orderly.
Abel, who had been sweeping the floor with a broom, turned her head.
“Welcome back. I was cleaning since I had some free time.”
“Well done.”
We Heretics who use this system all carry around a truth like a mantra.
Theft belongs to Marlin.
Household management belongs to Abel.
“And what are all those things?”
“Groceries.”
“Then might I take care of those for you?”
Cleaning, cooking, laundry.
And everything else that came with household chores.
Abel was an all-purpose domestic manager, skilled in all manner of housework after taking on the responsibility of supporting the household while her older sister bore the burden of earning their living at such a young age.
Marlin, watching her younger sister’s retreating figure as she carried the groceries toward the kitchen, suddenly looked up at me.
“I never thought she’d work so hard. She didn’t seem to like you much, Kar. And speaking so politely with formal language…?”
“She’s perceptive. She recognized this is an uncommon opportunity. She knows better than to rub a patron the wrong way, like you do.”
“If you want respect, stop playing pranks.”
“I don’t want to be like this either. But I have no choice.”
“What do you mean?”
I pointed to my right eye, which held the Eye That Pierces Truth.
“Lidni desires it.”
“…Pranks and jokes?”
“Heretics of the twisted truth must periodically fool those around them.”
Priest-type classes are obligated to periodically perform tasks and duties that the deity they serve demands.
The formal term is Religious Practice.
Some deities only ask their believers to “live morally,” but evil gods typically demand nuisances and heinous crimes that harm others, which is the problem.
It was one of many reasons the Heretic class was treated as a disreputable profession.
《Objection: Lidni desires that you trick those around you through ‘trickery’! Not wordplay pranks like you do!》
“So you’ll have to help me out for a while. You two are the only people I’m close to.”
“Understood. It’s not difficult anyway…”
《Woof! You’re a fraud!》
I waved away the text casually with my hand and settled Marlin onto the sofa in the living room, opposite the kitchen.
“Rest here while Abel prepares dinner. I have something important to attend to.”
Now I had to do something very important.
I descended into the ritual basement that all dwellings provided to Heretics had in common.
A narrow room with a dark, gloomy atmosphere.
Except for a modest altar at the far end, there was no furniture—just emptiness.
A faint Mana Stone Lantern hung from the ceiling, flickering precariously to match the Heretics’ peculiar tastes.
《A basement in a house provided by the Hypocrite Goddess Sect. The floor is made of material that absorbs blood well, and it’s designed so that screams and sounds of torture don’t leak out.》
《However, surveillance devices are installed to prevent anyone from just dragging people in for human sacrifice, so privacy isn’t guaranteed.》
A room where the refined benefits bestowed by the Harmony Church were evident.
I walked to the end of the basement, placed the Hidden Piece I’d salvaged from the Flame Ant Nest—an idol of Sue’je—on the floor, and knelt on both knees.
“I beseech you, who cast down the violent lightning to the earth, who symbolizes filthy authority. Please, I implore you, answer my call.”
It was time to become a double Heretic.
【…My.】
Zzzt.
As the heavy voice of an evil god rang in my mind, a faint current began coursing through my entire body.
Sue’je.
The presence of an evil god who commanded lightning formed solely for the purpose of slaughter.
“Greetings, Sue’je.”
I lifted my head and smiled brightly.
The current suddenly surged violently, then subsided.
“Strike this lowly flesh with your dark lightning, I beseech you.”
The qualifications to become a Heretic in service to Sue’je were simple.
There was only one criterion.
Appearance.
【Congratulations. Welcome to becoming a Heretic like me!】
Sue’je was a severe case of face blindness.

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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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