Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. - Chapter 159

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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 159 — A Life’s Companion, Always Watching Only Us By Our Side
I sat at our family’s dining table.
The other three of the four chairs were occupied by Merlin, Abel, and Rachel respectively.
After glancing at each of my family members’ faces in turn, I opened my mouth solemnly.
“I hereby commence the first Kar Family meeting.”
“Yaaaaay!”
Rachel swung both arms wildly in enthusiastic cheers.
As the moderator, I couldn’t have asked for a more satisfying response.
“…….”
“…….”
The siblings, meanwhile, didn’t so much as clap—they merely sat with stubborn expressions on their faces.
Even Aequirrel did nothing but twitch his nose as he nestled quietly in Merlin’s arms.
“Apart from Rachel, everyone’s attitude toward this meeting is dreadful. If you don’t concentrate, I’ll subject you to a truly dreadful punishment.
“…What kind of punishment?”
“Curious?”
I rubbed my hands together with a malevolent expression worthy of a Socialite.
“I’ll buy pork from the market in Sociato Town and make you eat it. Ehehehehe….”
The mere thought sent chills down my spine—a truly ghastly punishment—but such sacrifices were necessary to establish a healthy meeting culture.
After all, didn’t every great ideal require some small price to achieve?
Merlin scratched Aequirrel’s head and furrowed her brow.
“…I’ve been wondering this for a while now, but what exactly is that pork sold in the market of the Socialite residential district that even Kar refuses it?”
“Why are you using my name as if it refers to some creature dwelling in the very depths of hell?”
“Merlin, ignorance is bliss!”
Rachel suddenly waved her hands rapidly, her face gone rigid.
“Don’t try to learn—just pretend it’s a matter from some distant eastern land and pay it no mind! That’s the right way!”
“…But what is it?”
“No! You must never even think of it, and if you so much as speak its name—!”
Her whole body trembled violently.
I gave Abel a subtle wink.
The quick-witted young cook promptly brought a calming tea.
Gulp, gulp.
Rachel downed the hot tea like water, then spoke with perfect composure as though she hadn’t just been in a panic.
“Abel’s tea is delicious indeed. Shall I bring out some refreshments, Socialite?”
“I would be most grateful.”
“Think nothing of it. Glory to the Twisted Truth!”
While Rachel opened the kitchen cupboard for refreshments, I, as the meeting’s moderator, spoke once more.
“There was some commotion, but thanks to it, everyone now carries themselves with the dignity befitting a meeting attendant.”
“Personally, I’m more curious about that pork….”
“Now then, I shall announce the first item on our agenda!”
I wrote words in empty space using Illusion.
[How should we treat Acar?]
Merlin raised her hand immediately.
“Yes, Merlin?”
“Who is Acar?”
“This one.”
I pointed to the magical beast beside the dining table.
A snow-furred Kar bearing a Frozen Artifact attached to its chest—something procured from Odillon’s mansion—knelt gently on the floor.
“Ice Kar. Shortened to Acar. Not a bad name, don’t you think?”
“It’s not bad.”
Acar bobbed his head.
“Though I did manage to think of something slightly better.”
“Do tell.”
“Magical Beast Assistant Fellow. Shortened to Ma—”
“…No! Don’t shorten it!”
Merlin finally burst out aloud.
Rachel, who had just brought the refreshments, swiftly popped Merlin’s favorite chocolate pastry into her mouth.
Crunch-crunch. Merlin chewed busily as she looked at Acar.
“At minimum, since you imitate Kar, it’s confirmed you’re a bizarre magical beast—but isn’t it too dangerous? Even now, whenever I recall seeing those snow-furred Kars rushing toward us on Snow Mountain, I can’t sleep at night.”
“Could it be because you stubbornly rejected my soft and sweet lullaby?”
“…….”
Before he could tease further, he hurried on, threatening another jab to the ribs if provoked.
“Don’t worry. The Acar here lost his mindless hostility toward intruders the moment he left Snow Mountain.”
“That’s correct.”
Acar nodded and held up two fingers, making a V-sign beside his face.
“I’m now merely a magical beast, retaining perhaps half of the original Kar’s charm at best.”
“My apologies, but this is a sacred family meeting. The pet magical beast should kindly keep silent from now on.”
Acar let out a small laugh.
Defeated by his enemy and reduced to a pet.
It was undoubtedly a trial of the highest order.
Had our positions been reversed, wouldn’t I be wearing a similar expression?
“Shall I add some mockery for you?”
“Please make it the crude sort, dripping with personal insult.”
“I’d rather not go too far with adult content—there are children present.”
“Then whisper it in my ear.”
“Should I?”
“No! Don’t you dare!”
—Grrrr!
Merlin raised both arms with Aequirrel and huffed indignantly.
Beside her, Abel wore an enigmatic smile.
“Two patrons? It’s like a dream where only impossible things happen.”
“More like a nightmare, if you ask me.”
“Just enjoy it, sister. The patrons will be considerate this time too, but they’ll act on impulse without logical deliberation, as always.”
“Abel, what am I in your mind, exactly?”
《Admiration—Abel is so remarkably insightful for his age!》
Whoosh, whoosh.
I erased the text and resumed the meeting.
“In any case, let’s hear from each of you on how best to treat Acar. Merlin, please begin.”
“…Just let Kar do whatever he wants.”
An abstention right from the start.
“I agree.”
“Whatever the Master prefers is fine with me!”
The other two family members relinquished their rightful voice in the decision.
That left only me—the initiator and conductor of this family meeting.
“Well, I suppose I have no choice but to decide myself.”
I rose from my seat and bent down to meet Acar’s gaze.
Eyes made of ice stared back at me intently.
“From today forward, you shall serve as the Kar Family’s mascot pet.”
“I refuse!”
“I’m not pleased either….”
The siblings immediately exercised their veto rights.
Rachel hesitated for a moment, blinking rapidly, then suddenly shot her hand up.
“Y-yes! I’ll handle all the walks personally…!”
“That won’t do. Since Acar’s body is made of snow and ice, he’ll melt if exposed to the elements.”
“That’s the reason it won’t work?”
“Now then, let the appointment ceremony begin.”
I retrieved a document from the subspace.
A Research Monster Registration Form.
Registering a humanoid magical beast as a pet required quite involved procedures, so following Luxerion’s advice, I’d decided to use a perfectly legitimate loophole in the law.
“Fill this out with your own hands.”
“Oh….”
Acar’s expression brightened considerably.
“Now I vaguely understand why you responded with ‘oh.’ Not that I wanted to understand it.”
Abel chuckled quietly while munching on a biscuit.
“From now on, please dedicate yourself to your role.”
“Thank you. I’ll work hard as a new member of the Kar Family.”
Acar knelt on the ground and waved his hands like a politician during election season.
“I’ll handle all the cuteness and charm this household needs.”
“…Couldn’t we just send him to Odillon’s estate instead? They’re always short-handed there.”
The butler Sergius and the maid-cum-cook Charlotte did manage nearly all the housework and chores at the mansion.
But there was no longer any need to worry about their overwork.
“It’s as I said before—Brownmain, who possessed his own will despite being undead, entered your household as a servant. It seems you wish to fill your manor exclusively with undead retainers who won’t tire no matter how much work you assign them, and who won’t complain either.”
“…It would be too much to claim you just made that up, but it’s certainly a thought that fits you perfectly.”
Merlin’s expression darkened visibly at the words.
As a patron who endeavored to accommodate my ward’s opinions as much as possible, I couldn’t simply dismiss his concern.
“The phrasing must have troubled you. Acar is a life companion—one who follows us in any circumstance, who always stands by our side and watches only us.”
“Patron, isn’t that precisely the definition of a pet?”
“It differs. One needn’t provide meals, after all.”
“I still don’t like it…!”
I caught Merlin’s head as he shook it vigorously and stilled him.
“Settle yourself and listen. Merlin, this is for your sake.”
“How could it possibly be?”
“Have you forgotten what sort of artifact the Glacier of Freezing is?”
“…Eh?”
The Glacier of Freezing—a masterwork of the Extreme Ice Royal Family.
An absurdly powerful artifact that grants the wearer the ability to generate weapons of any form they desire, and furthermore permits them to borrow the power of a “Frosty Ally” bound to them by soul.
A Frosty Ally could only be a spirit being or elemental connected to snow or ice.
And.
Acar, as it happened, was a being composed entirely of snow and ice.
“My plan is this.”
I knelt before Acar and patted the crown of his head.
“I’m going to elevate Acar into a spirit being, and make him your Frosty Ally through the Glacier of Freezing. Just like Aequirrel.”
Chirp!
Aequirrel cried out with spirited confidence.
“Is… that even possible?”
“Aequirrel was originally a magical beast until she gained spirituality and became a spirit being. There’s no reason the same cannot apply to Acar, who is likewise a magical beast.”
I had brought her into reality precisely because it was possible.
“…Just a moment.”
Rachel’s brow furrowed as understanding dawned.
“If Acar becomes a Frosty Ally, could Merlin then use the Socialite’s Secret Art?”
“Precisely. She would be able to freely use my Secret Art, which is Acar’s mimicry target. Though she may only borrow one at a time.”
It was no accident that the Extreme Ice Royal Family had created the Snow Recreation Monster—a beast that allowed them to make the fullest use of the Glacier of Freezing’s effects.
“…Goodness.”
The maid’s eyes widened, and she placed a hand on Merlin’s shoulder.
“Now I see just how much the Socialite cares for you. That’s why she took the trouble to capture and bring this ‘magical beast helper’ here.”
“…….”
Merlin activated the Glacier of Freezing in her hand and put it on, staring at it in awe.
A form as beautiful as a work of art.
“It’s far more remarkable than I imagined….”
“That’s why I told you—it’s the finest tool in the Southern Continent Expedition.”
The Extreme Ice series items are openly broken.
Unlike the emotion series, which are good to use straight away, they require tiresome preparatory work, but any explorer worth their salt had to accept such a burden.
“But becoming a spirit being doesn’t sound easy at all.”
“You’re right.”
There are three ways a magical beast or animal gains spirituality.
“First, one simply stumbles into it by accident—caught up in some bizarre flow of mana.”
“That method would be difficult to rely upon.”
“Exactly. Talendros does not grant good fortune to lazy folk who sit idle waiting for luck to roll into their laps.”
Chirp-chirp!
The small snow squirrel nodded, as if in agreement.
“Then what is the second method?”
“One conducts a special ritual of sorcery.”
“That sounds promising! We could ask Baldora.”
“Only sorcerers of at least Level 9 can perform it.”
“Hmm….”
One method remained.
“Third, one receives a Secret Art bestowed by a celestial divinity.”
I gently caressed the region near my chest.
“How fortunate it would be if a deity so noble deigned to extend their hand in aid at such a moment….”
Whoooosh—
The moment the words left my lips, Acar’s chest, composed of snow and ice, suddenly blazed with light, and a gray shield-shaped mark was inscribed upon him like a tattoo.
Artein of the present age bestowed upon me a Secret Art.
“…….”
I placed my hand over my heart and offered up a fervent prayer.
“Thank you for the Secret Art, Artein!”

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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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