Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. - Chapter 162
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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 162: D-rank Dungeon – Mansion of Murderous Rain (1)
The 6th District Western Area bordered the 5th District, where diverse races mingled.
Perhaps for that reason, it was the busiest and most vibrant neighborhood in the otherwise quiet 6th District overall.
“It’s this way.”
Entirely opposite to the gloomy Sociato Town, conversation echoed from every corner here, and laughter bloomed without pause—a bustling thoroughfare.
I was strolling through the crowded street with the Demon King in my care.
“Joy and delight ripple from all sides. A splendid street indeed.”
The Unnamed Demon King smiled faintly and drew a light breath.
Demon-style Street Consumption.
It wasn’t precisely forbidden, but since what ordinary Demon-type Beings typically consumed was a Negative Concept, it was hardly viewed with favor.
Yet the residents never dared regard the ruler commanding the Newly Established Demon Realm with uncomfortable eyes.
“Wow! A lion!”
A human child came running over and gazed at the lion cub nestled in my arms with sparkling eyes.
“Mister, what’s its name?”
“It doesn’t have one yet.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’ve only recently come to know it.”
“Can I touch it?”
As I lowered my head slightly, the Unnamed Demon King’s gaze flickered with obvious consent.
It didn’t seem to bother him at all.
Of course—a child’s pure interest and curiosity were unmistakably positive concepts.
“Would you gently stroke just its head?”
“Yes!”
The child slowly caressed the turbid green lion cub’s head.
“Wow! The fur is so soft!”
“…Milo! Come here!”
A human youth hurried over and seized his sibling’s hand, pulling back in alarm.
“Brother, what’s wrong?”
“…That person is the ‘Golden Crow’!”
“Eeek!”
The child, who moments before had gazed at me with kind eyes, shrieked and clutched his brother’s leg.
“Great One, you wouldn’t happen to be the notorious Socialite, would you?”
“That’s hardly the case. Where would you find a model Socialite like me…”
It seemed they practiced an outdated parental pedagogy—something like “If you don’t listen, the Socialite will take you and use you as a living sacrifice!”
“…….”
“…….”
As I resumed walking, strangely, the passersby along the street uniformly refused to meet my gaze.
“Hmm.”
The Demon King, who had been grinning and feeding, furrowed his brow.
“Great One, as we progress, negative emotions bloom ever more thickly.”
“Perhaps your Majesty’s overwhelming presence is simply too much for ordinary folk to bear?”
“It seems we should make for the Dungeon with greater haste.”
I quickened my pace and arrived at the entrance to the Dungeon.
A residential area in the 6th District Western region where narrow houses stood crammed together.
An ordinary-looking residence appeared before us, with nothing remarkable about its exterior.
《Entrance to the Mansion of Murderous Rain》
“Ah, you must be Kar, the Socialite of Twisted Truth.”
The Dungeon Administrator Priest standing rigidly beside the door bowed his head.
“Have you come to explore?”
“Yes.”
“Since you are an honored guest of our Harmony Cult, you need not present an Identity Badge and may enter directly.”
“Thank you. But please, bear with me a moment.”
I set the lion cub down on the ground.
Crunch-crack-pop!
As muscle and bone twisted, the small lion transformed into a Demon-type Being whose frame possessed the most ideally proportioned musculature.
I quickly withdrew clothes from the Subspace for him.
“…So you were human.”
The priest flinched, apparently having failed entirely to discern that the lion cub was a Demon-type Being using Transformation Mystery.
“The Demon-type Being who came with you must undergo identity verification. Please present your Identity Badge.”
The Unnamed Demon King was a Demon-type Being who had emerged from a Dungeon set during the Age of the Great Cathedral.
Of course he wouldn’t have such a thing.
Fortunately, Pletika was a city of harmony, so it wasn’t overly strict about such matters.
“You haven’t been in Pletika long, and it seems you’ve lost an Identity Badge issued from another city recently.”
“I see.”
The Unnamed Demon King, dressed in somewhat shabby clothes, nodded vigorously with his arms folded.
Since he stood out in every way, including his appearance, I’d decided to leave all communication with others entirely to myself, the Grand Duke of the Newly Established Demon Realm.
“To issue a new Identity Badge, you’ll need to visit Artea Monastery and file a resident registration application with an administrative priest from the Joyful Bell. By the way, are you planning to work as an Explorer in the future?”
“That’s my intention.”
“In that case, if you sincerely clear this Dungeon and exit, I can issue you an Explorer Badge.”
It was a flexible policy befitting the Harmony Cult.
“The Harmony Cult, guided by Artein’s kind will, is indeed generous to the weak. I’m deeply moved.”
“The weak…?”
The priest looked the Demon-type Being, whose body was flawless, up and down.
Then he smiled kindly, placing a hand over his heart.
“The social perception toward Demon-type Beings is still not favorable. It’s an awareness that needs rapid improvement.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. Your body is weak.”
……
The kind priest’s benevolent smile nearly cracked, but he quickly regained his composure.
“It seems you’ve been cursed or afflicted with disease.”
“That would be accurate.”
The Sealing Ceremony’s aftermath had severely diminished his physical abilities, and his original power was sealed away—so it was roughly the same situation.
“How unfortunate. You should visit Artea Monastery later and receive healing.”
“It cannot be cured by ordinary treatment. Still, I’m grateful for the suggestion.”
“You may begin your exploration now.”
The priest slowly opened the door to the house.
“Though I’m sure it’s unnecessary, do you need any explanation about the Dungeon?”
“Of course I know everything. It’s a Dungeon where only a two-person exploration party can enter, and all physical abilities are fixed at the level of an ordinary adult human, correct? The Secret Arts are also extremely weakened in performance.”
It was a Dungeon with a mechanic like the Battlefield of Sun and Moon that forcibly adjusted an Explorer’s full strength.
On top of that, there was also a head-count restriction where the maximum capacity was merely two people, so I couldn’t bring Pendrick along.
“I suppose you’re hoping to uncover Artein’s arrangements this time as well. I’m looking forward to it.”
Leaving the priest’s remarks filled with anticipation behind, I entered with the Demon King.
The interior was ordinary.
A modest house with structure and décor that reflected no particular racial characteristics, the kind you could find in any district of Pletika.
“This is the entrance?”
“Let’s head to the upper floor.”
We climbed to the second floor.
As expected, a bedroom with nothing particularly different.
But unlike the first floor, something was clearly wrong struck my eyes immediately.
Whoooosh—!
Rain was pouring heavily outside the window.
Even though the sky had been perfectly clear just moments before.
“Intriguing….”
The Unnamed Demon King, apparently uncomfortable, ripped his shirt to shreds and tore it into a sleeveless garment, then approached the window.
I jingled along after him and peered outside.
A vast courtyard being battered by the torrential downpour.
A few garden trees, stripped bare of everything but their skeletal branches, stood in forlorn stillness, while tall weeds that had grown wild swayed back and forth in the wind.
“The scenery outside has changed. Did we enter the Dungeon as we climbed to the second floor?”
“No.”
Whoooosh—!
“We entered the moment you looked out the window.”
The Demon King’s eyes widened slightly as he turned his head toward me.
The plain bedroom of a house had somehow become a guest room where dust lay thickly, yet which revealed that it had once been luxurious.
《D-rank Dungeon – Mansion of Murderous Rain》
《An ill-fated grand mansion abandoned after an entire family was killed in a rampage by a Magical Beast. Beyond this point, the Dungeon’s rules prevent me from knowing more.》
“My lord, the clearing condition for this Dungeon is to survive for twenty-four hours while avoiding the serial killer ‘Bloodstained Rain Trident Slaughterer.'”
Like the Hidden Ghoul Pack’s Lair, it was a straightforward condition—merely endure for a set duration—but the time given was a full day.
And in a state where combat capability had been reduced to that of an ordinary civilian, we had to evade a bloodthirsty serial killer.
“Your body has certainly become extremely sluggish.”
The Unnamed Demon King’s expression, brightening as he loosened his limbs in place, became nothing short of radiant.
“Excellent! Since the Sealing Ceremony damaged my Spirit Rank anyway, I needed to learn the sensation of starting anew from the very bottom.”
“For your reference, the Bloodstained Rain Trident Slaughterer’s Spirit Rank is Level 4.”
“Just the right opponent!”
{‘If I don’t lower my voice, that Slaughterer will be upon us in moments!’}
A companion with no caution whatsoever.
In a horror film, he’d be dead within minutes—slaughtered in gruesome fashion, sowing terror in both protagonist and audience alike.
Yet I couldn’t very well ask the lord of the Newly Established Demon Realm to speak more quietly. Such rudeness was unthinkable.
“Your Grace, what shall we do now?”
The Mansion of Murderous Rain is classified as a “horror” Dungeon.
But for a Demon King, it would be nothing more than a courage test for children.
No matter how much we ran and hid, we’d generate no positive emotions of any consequence.
“Make noise in the corridor, sir. The Slaughterer will find us at once.”
So I’d devised an exploration route that didn’t skulk about pathetically, but met the creature head-on with confidence.
“Surely Your Majesty needn’t trouble himself to wander about personally just to encounter a mere murderer?”
“A fair point. Very well, shall we go?”
Thud!
The Unnamed Demon King, lightly rolling his shoulders, strode forward and flung open the guest room door with a sharp pull.
The corridor lay submerged in darkness.
Rustle.
A quiet, unsettling silence—the kind Leria would delight in—pervaded the dingy space.
At any moment, the murderer seemed poised to pierce that darkness and unleash a slaughter show: blood spraying everywhere, screams rending the air.
“The Slaughterer should be hunting for victims somewhere in this mansion by now. By Dungeon Law, we are merely ordinary people who’ve wandered into an abandoned….”
“Spare me the exposition. I have no wish to linger in a place so saturated with Negative Concepts.”
The Demon King tapped my head lightly, then wrapped Magical Energy around his fist.
“Show yourself at once, you mad butcher!”
Crack—!
The fist, wreathed in Magical Energy, struck the wall with tremendous force.
Because of the Dungeon’s mechanics, I possessed only civilian-level physical capability, so the wall bore no visible damage—but the sound was deafening.
And after a moment had passed.
Plop.
Suddenly, from down the corridor came the sound of water dripping.
Drip, plop.
The faint noise grew steadily closer.
Plop, drip, plop.
Abruptly, water began to seep from the ceiling.
The corridor’s ceiling was already drenched; the floor below was transforming into a deluge.
The humidity rose sharply.
Water poured down like rain itself.
“…….”
At last, a masked figure—its face adorned with cryptic patterns—approached, dragging a blood-soaked Trident behind him.
{‘The Bloodstained Rain Trident Slaughterer (Level 4, I’d wager?)’}
{‘In any case, he looks incredibly strong—stay alert!’}
The absolute threat of the Mansion of Murderous Rain.
Designed so that direct confrontation meant certain defeat, normally one would flee the moment water started falling from the ceiling.
“A reasonably capable specimen, I’d say.”
The Unnamed Demon King walked steadily toward the approaching Trident Slaughterer.
“I’ll forgo the first strike. Come at me.”
“…….”
The murderer gripped the Trident in both hands without a sound.
Then the rain cascading from above swirled and surged, coalescing into dozens of Water Blade Rains.
Whoosh-crash!
The water blades streaked toward us.
I nearly lunged forward instinctively to shield him with my body—then froze.
The Demon King stood motionless, no thought of evasion in his posture.
“Your Majesty…?”
Could he have been the same type as I was?
One specialist at receiving damage, the other at pressing forward—that’s how a true pairing should function.
Bang-bang-bang!
Yet the charging Water Blade Rains all veered around the Demon King, embedding themselves instead in walls and floor.
As if they dared not so much as scratch his sacred form.
“…….”
The killer showed no panic, driving the trident straight forward in a direct thrust.
Honest in its trajectory, but fast enough to make dodging nearly impossible.
Thwack!
The three-pronged blade pierced the Demon King’s body.
“Khahahh!”
No—wait.
It had clearly struck, yet in the next instant, the shaft was gripped and held firm.
A miraculous defense that altered the very outcome itself, negating the attack.
Despite the Secret Art’s power being dreadfully weakened, it was still producing impossible feats.
《What in the world just happened? Even the Wise One cannot help but marvel!》
“I misjudged because of the Dungeon Law,” the Demon King said.
A thin smile spread across his face.
Innocent and pure as a child’s.
“This water-wielding spear user possesses no small skill.”
It was palpable.
The Demon King’s heart filling with positive emotion.
“Show me your true strength! Bring me joy! Push me to my limits, thrust me to the brink of death, drown me in the delicious fear of defeat!”
Elation.
The mental exhilaration that comes when one anticipates something beloved.
An inward relief washed over him.
‘There will be no disappointment.’
The Demon King was a wholesome Demon-type Being who viewed combat as a positive pursuit.
Therefore, there was no chance he would flee from the killer and abandon the fight.
“Now then, come at me again!”
From this moment forward, the genre of this Dungeon is ‘action.’
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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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