Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. - Chapter 17

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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 17: Offering Recipe
“Lay him out straight.”
Abel set the Black Sword Guild master down on the altar prepared at the far end of the Basement, easing him off his shoulders.
The man was tall, and his feet stuck out awkwardly at first, so I had Abel bend his knees slightly—it looked much neater that way.
“Ungh… unhh…”
Did he understand what was coming?
The battered thief began to writhe, groaning softly.
It was intolerable.
“Please be quiet. An Offering shouldn’t make such a racket, should it?”
“Ugh!”
“Abel.”
“Yes.”
Thud!
Quick-witted Abel immediately drove his fist into the guild master’s abdomen.
A blow that packed the force of any grown man’s punch.
The thief—a brute who would normally have weathered such a strike with ease—had already taken such a beating from Rosalia that even this single hit rolled his eyes back.
Thud!
“He’s docile enough now. No need for another one.”
“Understood.”
Abel still drove one more blow into his chest before stepping back, satisfied.
“Car, shall I carve him up?”
Marlin drew the Ritual Dagger I’d given her, speaking carefully.
“No need to remove the head today. This sacrifice isn’t an Offering for Ridni.”
《Ridni trembles with distress!》
《I, with eyes that pierce all truth, hereby formally declare my displeasure toward you.》
I’d anticipated this and spent considerable time at the Library performing faith observances, but it seemed he’d still sulked anyway.
It was a shame, but there was no need to offer excuses.
Under the effect of the Fanatic trait, he would forgive me for anything short of a formal renunciation declaring myself a priest of the righteous god.
“I promise to offer a true delicacy next time. Please set aside your feelings.”
After appeasing him with vague promises, I placed a hand on Abel’s shoulder just as he was about to strike the guild master’s belly again.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes, there are new supplies at the Mansion.”
Abel drew out a Notebook and pen, one in each hand.
I could see the Notebook’s cover bore neat, dense handwriting exactly as I’d instructed.
[Offering Recipe for the Evil Gods]
“Record the cooking process in detail, just as you’ve been doing.”
Evil Gods are finicky eaters.
Even after the Great Cathedral collapse left them utterly weakened, they remained sensitive to the quantity and quality of their Offerings, a headache for countless Cult Believers.
That’s why I intend to compile a comprehensive cookbook of Offerings—cataloging the preferred ingredients and methods of preparation for the Divine Secrets we serve.
Once complete, it should substantially improve conditions for our fellow worshippers of the Evil Gods.
“Marlin, cut the ropes for now.”
“Won’t he struggle?”
“The assassin’s already prepared him thoroughly, so his strength is spent. No trouble at all.”
“…I suppose it’s fine since it’s the guild master this time, but please don’t keep treating people like ingredients.”
Marlin approached the altar and sliced through the ropes binding the Black Sword Guild master’s body with her dagger.
When she finally untied the cloth gagging his mouth, the thief fixed the young siblings with a calm, penetrating stare.
“Marlin, Abel. Surely you haven’t forgotten. If I hadn’t helped you, you’d be dead in the gutter by now.”
“…”
The color drained from both their faces.
“I taught you skills with genuine care and even accepted you as guild members so you could survive. I loved you like blood siblings. And you repay me by falling into foolishness and disappointing me again.”
Gaslighting worthy of a textbook.
He must have worked that subtle rhetoric on them countless times before, layering psychological weight on their hearts.
I’d considered plucking out his tongue to preserve the Offering’s quality, but I stopped myself.
The wavering light in the siblings’ eyes was already beginning to steady.
“By now, my guild members are surely searching for me. Come back to me before it’s too late.”
Marlin and Abel exchanged a brief glance, then answered in unison.
“Get lost.”
“I hate you.”
I couldn’t help but nod approvingly at the unwavering resolve in their voices.
“Well done.”
I tapped the siblings’ shoulders once each, then lowered my posture to meet the Black Sword Guild master’s gaze.
He glared at me, grinding his teeth.
“You’d better release me at once. Do you have any idea which guilds I have backing me?”
“The Red Star Guild, the Hyena Guild, the Golden Flower Guild, the Young Lamb Guild, the Bloody Star Guild. Are there others?”
……
They were all notorious in the underworld, certainly, but none of them struck me as particularly threatening.
“Did you happen to know something?”
I wiped away the sticky blood that had pooled on the guild master’s forehead with my index finger, then slowly drew up the corners of my mouth.
“Black Sword Guild master Maken. The assassin who beat you into submission and brought you to me belongs to the Brithes family. In fact, he’s the youngest young master’s personal secretary.”
……!
Maken’s eyes widened as he caught the drift of what I was about to say.
“Congratulations. The Black Sword Guild you founded will soon become one of the most renowned thief guilds throughout Pletica.”
Though you won’t be around to see it.
“…Damn it!”
“How dare you use such vulgar language?”
At a flick of my hand, Abel struck forward as if he’d been waiting for the signal, driving his fist hard into Maken’s solar plexus.
The thief lost consciousness on the spot.
“Marlin.”
Now it was time to prepare the materials for the ceremony.
“First, strip him completely.”
“…What?”
Marlin, who had been regarding me with obvious reluctance, flinched and her shoulders trembled.
“Why the clothes…?”
“The esteemed one requires a view worth savoring.”
The Black Sword Guild master was possessed of a beauty that stood in stark contrast to his filthy nature.
His face was quite handsome, and his physique, which he’d clearly maintained with care, was appropriately lean with well-defined muscle.
Zing!
The jet-black lightning sigil etched near his collarbone meant he was precisely the type of sacrifice preferred by the bearer of that mark.
“First, we remove all his clothing…”
Unlike her sister, the younger one asked no questions and dutifully noted it in her notebook.
Watching this unfold with her mouth agape, Marlin soon tore the guild master’s clothes to shreds.
We’d converted him to a nude model without his consent, but the unconscious Maken simply hung limp.
“…Kar, is that enough now?”
Marlin averted her eyes from the naked form that would hardly be good for a young person’s sensibilities and asked.
“Now we begin. Could you drag him down to the floor for me?”
Once we’d laid the guild master on the bare ground, I had her spread Magic Stones densely across the empty altar—stones I’d collected from the ant den the previous night.
These could fetch a price if sold, but since the payment for the Hidden Piece information would be substantial enough, there was no need to be stingy.
“Done.”
“Place him back on top.”
The Offering was repositioned on the altar now covered with Magic Stones.
What came next was crucial. I stepped back at a distance to verify the composition, then personally adjusted Maken’s posture.
Chin resting on the ground, sprawled in an easy, languid pose.
He looked like a mythic figure plucked straight from a medieval religious painting.
“Is that enough now?”
“Not yet… could you scratch the back of my hand just a little?”
I let a small amount of my blood drip onto the pile of Magic Stones between the Black Sword Guild master and me.
The key was adding only a minimal quantity so as not to unbalance the flavor.
“Perfect.”
The Offering preparation was complete.
The recipe’s name was Beauty Vinegar Stone.
A custom Offering prepared for that filthy ruler of the wasteland who enjoyed consuming handsome men in their raw state.
Beneath the sacrifice, I’d layered Magic Stones that burst with mana when bitten, so that even a hearty meal wouldn’t grow dull.
Additionally, since the Evil God shows such inclusive taste as to favor both sexes without discrimination, I’d been careful to use gender-neutral terminology throughout the preparation.
“Abel, have you written everything down?”
“All recorded, sir. Along with some improvements I was considering.”
“Excellent work.”
“…Is this actually something to praise?”
“Marlin, take your brother and step back.”
Once the siblings had withdrawn, I placed my hand on Maken’s waist.
“To you who wield the jet-black tempest and twist the earth beneath it, granting the blessing of darkness and dominion, we present this offering in proper form.”
The original prayer would have continued much longer, but I cut it short and brought it to a close.
“Sue’je, dinner is ready.”
The moment the words left my lips, black lightning erupted from the tattoo near my collarbone.
The crackling bolts writhed like a living thing, then flowed down my arm and into the Offering.
Crackle-crackle-crack!
The Black Sword Guild leader and the Magic Stone vanished in an instant.
The menacing black lightning scattered in all directions, greedily consuming the sacrifice for one more exalted than any other.
As I drew the siblings further back for safety, my entire body began to tingle and spark.
【Ahahahaha! Thank you, pretty one!】
Laughter dripped thickly from that voice—the Offering had clearly pleased him.
Thanks to that, I was being reborn as a well-done electrical cult believer.
By channeling the lightning through the foundational Divine Secret of Black Thunder Blooming—a basic mystery granted to an unclean cult believer—I barely managed to endure it.
“Sue’je, isn’t that a bit too intense?”
【My apologies! I got a little too excited and wasn’t thinking straight.】
Soon the lightning, which had been crackling and consuming the Offering explosively, settled down and returned to the tattoo on my collarbone.
The altar had already been cleaned up without a trace.
【Ah! It’s been ages since I received such a satisfying Offering! You just became a cult believer recently, right? You’re not some surveillance priest sent by the Harmony Church, are you?】
“No, sir. I’m simply a gifted cult believer.”
【How adorable you are!】
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’ll prepare another for you next time. Was there anything you found lacking?”
【The human had a decent appearance, but next time bring me someone better-looking, a real charmer!】
“Understood. Next time, I’ll find a living sacrifice with a neater, more polished appearance.”
I glanced back to see Abel nodding eagerly as he jotted down my words in his notebook.
【What does our pretty one want? No, never mind—I’ll give you everything!】
If I accepted too readily and thanked him profusely, I might become a human-shaped bolt of lightning myself.
I’d receive the same judgment as a magical beast and could end up targeted for subjugation.
For Sue’je, this wasn’t a malicious scheme but a blessing bestowed upon a favored cult believer—so I had to decline respectfully.
“Your generosity is deeply appreciated, but my body, though small and precious, remains far too fragile yet to receive the grace of Sue’je.”
【Ah, I see. Your physique is quite well-balanced, but your body’s training level is still pitiful.】
Unlike some knowledge-hungry Evil God, Sue’je possessed a rational temperament and quickly came to understand.
【Then is there something else you’d like? Should I grant you a portrait showing off my charming smile? Or perhaps a Divine Secret?】
“Would it be possible to receive a Tier 2 Divine Secret?”
The Divine Secrets received through worship rituals are limited to the cult believer’s level or below.
However, there were exceptional methods available.
“Surely an Offering of that caliber qualifies as a ‘delicacy,’ does it not?”
A delicacy.
If one presents an Offering that perfectly matches an Evil God’s taste and brings them complete satisfaction, they may receive a Divine Secret of a higher Tier than their own level.
Granting Divine Secrets requires consuming faith channeled up from the mortal world—a burden for impoverished Evil Gods in terms of believers—but once satisfied, they rarely hesitate to be generous.
【That taste was truly delightful to my palate, wasn’t it? Very well, pretty one. I’ll grant you a Tier 2 Divine Secret. Is there a specific Divine Secret you desire?】
“Yes, there is.”
I lifted my upper garment and showed him the seed that had pushed through my solar plexus.
A small sprout had already begun to grow from it.
《Foul Sprout》
《A curse bestowed by the God of Nature. A curse inflicted upon the pathetic creatures who serve an Evil God—born from a divine will as petty as they come. It gravely deteriorates the host’s physical capabilities.》
“I ask for a Divine Secret that will resolve this.”

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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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