Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. - Chapter 172

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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 172: C-Rank Dungeon – The Giant’s Hunting Ground (2)
Brightfeather’s trait, Copycat Parrot, was far from perfect.
Unlike Secret Arts that replaced existing body parts—such as the Eye That Pierces Truth—it couldn’t copy those fundamental mysteries, nor could it continuously mimic the same Secret Art twice in succession.
Even so, it was undeniably remarkable.
It could ignore Class, Level, and Rank restrictions entirely.
“You’re truly impressive.”
As I flew toward our destination, I manifested ten thumbs up through Illusion and flashed them about.
Brightfeather shrugged, smiling sheepishly.
“It’s nothing special.”
“Understood. I’ll consider it nothing special, then.”
“…Oh.”
“Surely being impressive is better, no?”
“W-well, I suppose so….”
《As expected, what an incredible constitution! Though this isn’t the end of it.》
Truth’s assessment was right—Brightfeather’s true potential hadn’t yet revealed itself.
Had it merely been able to temporarily mimic an enemy’s Secret Art, he’d have been overshadowed by talents like Wonderbic, a fellow Heterodox Association member and hunter-class operative.
I surveyed the ground beneath us and spoke again.
“The giants should have their hands full with Silpren and Lepicul for a while, so there’s no immediate danger.”
“Phew….”
“Or so I’d like to say, but since the giants are intimately familiar with every law of the Endless Wasteland—which they use as both prison and hunting ground—we’ll be in real trouble if we don’t finish quickly.”
“Gasp….”
For some reason, this conversation was enjoyable.
No matter how I prodded, genuine and spirited reactions bubbled up, making me want to keep talking to him.
“I’ve never mentioned it, assuming you’d naturally know, but I’m actually a hundred-year-old orc.”
“W-what!?”
“Only joking.”
“You-you scared me….”
“But the hundred-year part is true.”
“Really!?”
“That’s a lie.”
“You startled me….”
With silver-tongued Magic, I teased those around me while offering my Faith to Lidni, soaring through the sky.
After traveling some distance, I came to a halt in mid-air.
Brightfeather, unable to stop in time, flew a little further before jerking to an abrupt stop.
“Why… are you stopping?”
“Let’s descend.”
《Exhausted fugitive Lilush, a lizardman, fifty-one years old. His body and spirit worn by long evasion.》
Truth had spotted a victim—prey of the giants.
I descended immediately to the barren earth, landing on what appeared to be an empty hillside.
“Please, help us.”
Speaking quietly into empty air, a desiccated lizardman’s upper half slowly emerged from the middle of the bare ground.
He’d been hiding his body using a Disguise Mystery Secret Art.
“…Are you newcomers?”
“Yes. We haven’t been in this hunting ground long.”
“A pity. You still look so young.”
His voice was hoarse, probably from thirst.
I drew out a water canteen and poured water slowly into the lizardman’s mouth.
After drinking for a while, the shadow of death that had been draped across his face gradually receded, and a faint glimmer of life returned.
“Thank you….”
“Think nothing of it. As fellow prey and reserve provisions, we must help one another.”
…….
The lizardman Lilush gazed at me in silence.
Finding it awkward to simply hold his gaze, I made a heart shape with both hands and spoke.
“If there is anything you need of me, please tell me. I am a Half-Elf who would gladly cast aside this slender frame for those in dire straits.”
“…Not necessary. Put your hands down.”
“How mean.”
I lowered my head in a pout, then quickly raised it again to meet Lilush’s gaze.
“Come with us. Together, we’ll escape this dreadful place.”
“No… I’m already too late.”
Lilush’s lower half, which had been hidden, was revealed.
One of its legs had been severed.
“Bitten off not long ago.”
“…Gasp.”
Brightfeather drew in a sharp breath.
“What’s more, the life force in the red earth that’s been healing my body all this time is beginning to taste like poison. I suppose I absorbed too much of the Evil Deity’s influence.”
Lilush spoke matter-of-factly, slowly raising his upper body.
“I’ll be dead soon.”
It was true.
Even if we’d brought an elixir—the finest life-restoring potion—and forced him to drink it, we couldn’t have saved him.
A non-believer who’d been exposed to the Silent One’s life force for far too long had his lifespan drastically cut away in exchange.
“I regret it deeply.”
I spoke the words softly, hand pressed to my chest.
To be honest, I didn’t regret it at all.
I’m broken—born with a nature that only suffers emotional shock at the deaths of those truly close to me.
Yet I wasn’t ignorant of the fact that the dying need comfort of the heart.
“At least, I will have your vengeance.”
And I was acutely aware that for some people, the promise of avenging their death brings greater solace than mourning ever could.
“…Even as mere words, thank you.”
Perhaps sensing that I felt no genuine sorrow, Lilush offered a faint smile.
Then his gaze shifted to the side.
“We will absolutely settle your grudge for you…!”
Though Brightfeather was a perfect stranger—a Dungeon Specter, no less—he was weeping as he gripped the weakened lizardman’s hand.
“No, don’t. Focus on survival. I was wrong.”
“That won’t do! We’ll survive together…!”
“…I’m telling you, I can barely live.”
“Even so…!”
Fat tears rolled down onto Lilush’s hand.
Droplets thick with emotion too genuine to be anything but sincere.
“…You’re too kind for your own good.”
Lilush spoke curtly, yet a true smile played at the corners of his mouth.
Brightfeather’s gentle heart had satisfied the prerequisite condition of the Hidden Piece—that this lizardman standing on the threshold of eternal rest must be moved by such softness.
‘I could never have done this alone.’
This world wasn’t a virtual space where you could get along with anyone just by memorizing dialogue options.
To truly commune with another, you had to exchange emotions—genuine, unfiltered emotions.
Something I, born defective from the start, could never accomplish.
This is why an expedition party’s members each needed different strengths and dispositions.
“Parrot, take this.”
Lilush removed a necklace from his withered neck and held it out.
It was a crudely yet intricately crafted ornament bearing a torch-shaped pendant woven from stone.
《Tool – Freedom and Resistance》
《A low-quality piece of jewelry that never reached the standard of fine goods, yet the will contained within it is more resolute than anything else.》
“Follow where the torch leads.”
Lilush’s voice grew fainter as the light of life gradually dimmed within him.
“I received it from someone who became prey before me. And that person received it from someone who became prey before them. It’s been passed down like that, through so many hands.”
A crystallization of will that had survived through the hands of countless strangers without ever breaking.
Because so many souls’ determination dwelt within it, Freedom and Resistance was no ordinary tool.
“I pray that a path of hope unfolds before you.”
“…Thank you so much!”
Brightfeather clutched Freedom and Resistance tightly to his chest, bowing his head respectfully.
He lifted it slightly, raising his wing.
“Um, I’m sorry, but could you offer me some warm words of encouragement too?”
“…You do your best.”
“Wah—thank you!”
“Before stepping onto the battlefield of one who fights so fiercely, I wish to spend a moment alone. Turn away from this wretched form and go your way. Before the giants arrive.”
With that, Lilush concealed himself once more in the Disguise Mystery.
I, who had exchanged emotions for what felt like ten years, gently touched the wing of Brightfeather, whose eyes dripped like chicken droppings with tears.
“Let’s go.”
“Waaahhhhh….”
Once I wiped the tears away with a handkerchief, the parrot with swollen eyes took flight toward the sky once more.
“Hold the necklace’s torch so its tip catches the sun’s light.”
“I, like this…?”
Whoosh!
As the sun’s image took form on the torch’s wick, the torch portion of Freedom and Resistance began to blaze like real flame.
Soon the heated light shot forth in a straight line toward some distant point.
“All you need do is follow that light. Shall we fly along together in harmony?”
“Do we really have to fly in harmony…?”
“Yes, we do.”
Not that I’d intended it as a joke, but I nodded my head without hesitation.
“Now then, let’s align our shoulders and take to the air.”
“Y-yes!”
It was while flying in formation with the surprisingly obedient Brightfeather.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
Suddenly, a thunderous roar split the air.
I immediately covered Brightfeather’s eyes.
“…What is that?”
The ground trembled and twisted beneath us.
Enormous rock formations surged upward, deep chasms tore open, and vast walls materialized from nothing.
A geological upheaval had swept across the sprawling Wasteland.
The giants had forcibly triggered the Dungeon’s mechanisms in the Endless Wasteland, transforming the terrain to suit their cruel hunt.
“What on earth is happening…?”
“That sound came from my stomach. I haven’t eaten anything in a month.”
“You should eat something at once!”
I hadn’t expected her to believe that, but she did.
Worry was beginning to outweigh amusement.
If I was managing like this, how much worse must Silpren be faring?
Thanks to that timely fabrication, I’d managed to prevent Brightfeather’s Unfamiliarity Phobia from manifesting.
I held my hand over her eyes a moment longer, then carefully lowered it away.
“Oh?”
Brightfeather’s eyes widened as she took in the drastically transformed world.
“Why did this happen?”
“This Dungeon occasionally undergoes sudden shifts in its terrain.”
“Dungeons really are fascinating…!”
“That’s precisely what makes a Dungeon so alluring.”
Though the terrain had shifted, the direction indicated by the torch’s light remained unchanged.
Bang!
Brightfeather shattered the massive boulders and walls blocking our path with Powerful Shots.
“Incredible! You’re amazing, Brightfeather!”
“Thank you!”
Surprisingly, praise didn’t make her shy away.
Like someone bedecked in dangling, colorful trinkets, Brightfeather seemed to enjoy adorning herself mentally as well.
Zing!
The light radiating from Freedom and Resistance grew more intense.
The straight beam of luminescence reached directly into the heart of a large cluster of boulders.
“That’s the place.”
I descended onto the rocks and examined where the light fell.
Just an ordinary stone.
Though its color and texture were slightly different from the surrounding rocks.
“Originally only this one was here, but other rocks must have appeared during the terrain shift.”
Brightfeather, examining the stone alongside me, displayed the keen observational skills of a seasoned hunter.
Since it was a subject close to her heart, even her naturally timid voice carried conviction.
“Then again, it could be something else entirely…”
Just as quickly, she shrank back into herself.
If she carried herself more boldly in ordinary circumstances, she’d no doubt earn higher marks as an explorer, but as a member of the Moon Expedition Party, I preferred her caution. It suited the group better.
One member brimming with confidence and composure was enough—and that was Pendrick.
“Your last remark just now—it was quite astute.”
“Really…?”
“Try attaching that torch-shaped ornament to the stone where the light falls.”
As I spoke, I carefully took hold of her ornate wings.
“I’ll try!”
Brightfeather lifted the stone and attached it to the torch portion of Freedom and Resistance.
Crash-!!
A brilliant light burst forth, and the stone suddenly expanded.
In a moment, an old treasure chest appeared before us.
“…What is this?”
Inside the treasure chest lay a heap of various objects.
A Red Hook emanating a subtle aura, a Discolored Silver Ring, a Blue Hat with a hole punched through it, a Rusted Longsword, the end of a Wooden Staff, a trap that had suffered some damage.
On the surface, they were tools with no coherent pattern.
But the hearts of those who left them behind were aligned.
“These are items left behind by the previous owners of Freedom and Resistance. They could not escape themselves, but they placed their will here, believing that someday it would prove useful.”
“……”
Brightfeather gazed silently into the chest.
Her eyes glistened again.
“…I know that everything happening in this Dungeon is merely a reenactment of reality, and yet it saddens me. Is there something wrong with me?”
“Not at all.”
Explorers with long careers tend to stop treating Dungeon Specters as people.
But I have no wish to do the same.
Simply because I don’t want to.
Without logical reason, guided by emotion alone, I will treat these specters as thinking beings equal to myself.
“Even if you are abnormal and the vast majority of other explorers are normal, it matters not. If treating creatures that think and speak just as we do as mere ‘convenient biological survey tools’ is considered normal, then I would rather be the abnormal one.”
“…You’re right.”
Brightfeather held the torch fragment carefully in both hands.
“…I will inherit your will, so rest peacefully now.”
In that moment, the kind-hearted parrot mourned in a small voice those whose lives had ended as prey to giants.
Whoosh—
All at once, the objects within the chest began to glow brilliantly, resonating in harmony with the crude necklace woven from stones, which too started to shine.
“…Huh?”
“Congratulations.”
One by one, the brightly luminous objects were being absorbed into the torch-shaped ornament.
I watched as Freedom and Resistance gleamed ever more brilliantly and spoke.
“You have fulfilled the final qualification.”
The decisive condition for obtaining the Hidden Piece of the Giant’s Hunting Grounds.
The resolve to inherit the will of your predecessors.
The necklace’s rank had risen.
《Artifact – Freedom and Resistance》
《When equipped, grants immunity to the Status Ailment of ‘Fear.’ Additionally, prevents up to eight instances of Mental Power loss per day.》
An Artifact that eliminates half the symptoms of Unfamiliarity Phobia.
While it cannot correct the timid and withdrawn nature itself, it will allow Brightfeather to exercise her true capabilities properly.
“Excellent.”
I preened my ornate wings idly, flashing a Socialite’s sinister smile.
“Now you’d best prepare yourself to be put to good use.”
After all, I intend to remake you into the ultimate hunter.

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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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