Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. - Chapter 19

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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 19: The Taciturn Assassin Sister
“Abel, mind the house for me, will you?”
I left Abel behind—he still had no Class—and took only Marlin with me toward our meeting place.
But first, I stopped by the Explorer supply shop called Sinister Gaze.
“Welcome! You’re back again?”
I inspected the reagent counter while receiving a warm greeting from the shopkeeper, whose eyes crinkled with the warmth of a Golden Retriever.
Unfortunately, there were no desirable items this time, so I purchased only a Medicine Bottle to hold blood for masking the stench of corpses.
Next, I bought a Candle Set and Stamina Recovery Potion—both had proven useful on my last expedition—and picked up a Mask to cover my nose and mouth.
That finished today’s shopping.
As I stepped out of the shop, Marlin tilted her head.
“Don’t you need to bring a pickaxe or other tools?”
“The Dungeon we’re entering today won’t require the tedious methods we used in the Fireant Burrow—we’ll be able to locate the Hidden Piece without them.”
“Then we won’t have to suffer as much.”
……
“…So we’re still going to suffer, aren’t we?”
Marlin persisted with her question about my silence, and together we arrived at our destination.
Southwest District 6.
A neighborhood where a large building shaped like it’s pressing against the grand outer wall serves as its landmark.
Adjoining the detestable Cult District, this area was normally sparse of foot traffic, yet here the streets teemed with people and commerce bustled.
“Why are there so many people?”
“Because of the Dungeon. The Tomb of the Earth Elves is the most popular E-Rank Dungeon.”
“Is it because the Clear conditions are easy…?”
“You’re finally putting something in that head of yours. Correct. You just need to kill the Boss Entity and you clear it.”
Simplicity itself—defeat the boss and you’re done.
It was the decisive reason the Dungeon received an E-Rank classification.
“But it’s not just the simplicity. There are other factors.”
I bought a sugared fruit snack from a street vendor and handed it to her, continuing my thought.
“This Dungeon yields plenty of things worth money. Mystery Items, gems, Artifacts, rare relics, equipment, tools. Overall value-wise, it rivals almost D-Rank Dungeons.”
“Oh…”
Marlin, who had been chewing on the sugar-coated fruit, gazed at the building housing the Dungeon entrance with eyes that sparkled like jewels.
“And there’s more. The layout is simple and intuitive. No complex traps, no annoying navigation, no devices to confound the senses. Just an ordinary ruin.”
“Truly an ideal Dungeon.”
“Quite so.”
“Of course it doesn’t have only advantages? Dungeons never turn out to favor Explorers alone.”
After a few days of teaching her Dungeon lore, she’d begun speaking like a proper Explorer herself.
I bought her a wide-brimmed Hat to acknowledge her progress and placed it on her head.
“The drawback is… the Monsters that appear are no small matter.”
“Are they high Level?”
“Most are Level 1, but Level 2 appear as well.”
“Weaker than the Hollow Ghoul, then?”
“But stronger than you. They’re formidable foes for Explorers who can’t hold their own in D-Rank or higher.”
In other words, this Dungeon served as a gatekeeper for the lower Level bracket.
Conversely, once an Explorer could clear the Tomb of the Earth Elves with ease, it meant they were ready to move on to D-Rank Dungeons.
“Let’s go in.”
Upon entering the building attached to the fortress wall, I took in at a glance the utilitarian interior—bare of decoration or furniture.
True to its popularity, Explorers scattered throughout were recruiting temporary comrades with loud voices, each boasting of their own prowess.
《Those speaking loudest are invariably the weakest. All noise and no substance!》
Indeed, any companions available for hire here were Explorers of such mediocre quality that even four-tier compensation would be too generous.
This was a perfect reflection of the Designer’s will—never allowing users to profit effortlessly and unearned.
“It reminds me of when I first met Kar.”
Marlin spoke suddenly as she surveyed the Explorers absorbed in self-promotion.
“When we entered the Hollow Ghoul Dungeon?”
“No. Before we went in—when that pitifully dead Orc was gathering a temporary expedition.”
……
That was before the Tutorial.
“Honestly, I found you terrifying back then.”
“What did I do to make you feel that way? I was as composed as always, surely.”
I spoke with playful nonchalance, and Marlin let out a soft laugh.
“You were quietly frightening. Radiating a grim, wordless atmosphere, staring at Abel and me with dark, sunken eyes, and you worshipped an Evil God…”
“Could we perhaps leave out that last part?”
“But it turned out you’re actually someone with a kind heart, despite all the pointless jokes! I guess you really can’t judge people by appearances alone.”
“I did that on purpose—the gloomy aura, the scrutiny—to teach you that lesson.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Don’t be cheeky. Not to your patron.”
I pulled Marlin’s hat down over her face and fell into thought for a moment.
What sort of person was Kar before the possession?
‘I have no information at all.’
There was no way for me to know what had happened before the Tutorial.
As I progressed through the game, the Eye of Truth Piercing could help me guess, more or less, the family names of cult character types that I knew nothing about.
But even that was just a randomized element depending on race, so it was ambiguous to assign any real meaning to it.
“Kar? Why do you suddenly have such a scary expression…?”
“I was thinking about how to train you into a remarkable Thief.”
I pulled myself out of my thoughts and pressed down firmly on Marlin’s head.
Since there was no answer to be found in an impossible question anyway, it was far better to research strategies for clearing the Dungeon with joy than to waste more time and mental energy on it.
Tap.
As I waited briefly indoors, someone approached quietly and suddenly tapped my shoulder.
It was Rosalia, an elf with hair and eyes entirely red.
“Whoa, what the—!”
Marlin, who had been examining her dagger without noticing the assassin’s approach, flinched in surprise and hid behind me.
I patted her shoulder to calm her and gently stepped her forward.
“Greetings. This is Marlin, my ward. Her Class is Thief, and since she still has much to learn, for now she’ll be assisting only.”
“…….”
The taciturn elf quietly lowered her head and began observing the tiger-human Thief.
Marlin’s shoulders hunched again, and she trembled before offering an awkward smile and bowing stiffly.
“Ah, hello?”
Naturally, there was no reply.
But since this was our third meeting, I could make out subtle shifts in her gaze well enough.
“The assassin is saying she’s happy to meet you too.”
“…You just made that up.”
“No, I didn’t. Isn’t that right?”
Rosalia fixed me with a steady gaze, then nodded.
“See?”
“How on earth did you tell…?”
Surviving under Evil God Chief Choi’s command was the baseline qualification for an employee like me.
If one’s mood darkened even slightly, subordinates would naturally develop this kind of skill through being nitpicked for every small mistake and lectured for hours without relief.
But since speaking the plain truth wouldn’t make myself understood, I wheeled out a suitable excuse instead.
“Lidni is so temperamental that any follower of his must cultivate this kind of keen perception. Otherwise, you might fail to understand his intent, and out of frustration, he could steal your very soul.”
《??? Do not slander the wise. Lidni is far gentler than those obstinate nature deities!》
“That Evil God is awfully particular, isn’t he.”
“Sometimes he acts like a child, but he’s wiser than anyone else, which makes serving him worthwhile.”
Truly, Lidni is great.
He makes for a universal excuse that fits anywhere, does he not.
I ignored the words protesting in the margins and extended my hand.
“Rosalia. I don’t know yet whether we’ll continue together beyond this, but let’s give this expedition our full effort.”
“…….”
The taciturn elf studied my eyes for a moment, then accepted the handshake.
“I don’t want us to call each other by titles so formally… Would it be all right if I called you sister?”
“…….”
“If you don’t say anything, I’ll take that as tacit consent, shall I? Thank you, sister.”
Rosalia’s eyes narrowed minutely upward.
It was probably her way of saying that her joy at having us join her was ascending toward the heavens.
“Shall we head out then?”
I led my two allies, each lacking in different ways, toward the inner chamber.
An unadorned wall face with the stone rampart left bare.
At the lower section, a staircase of fine sand, entirely incongruous with the surrounding landscape, came into view.
《[Entrance leading to the Tomb of the Earth Elves.]》
“Welcome, members of the exploration party.”
A Dungeon priest waiting near the entrance proceeded with identity verification.
After my turn and Marlin’s, Rosalia quietly produced an Identity Badge with silver trim.
“A Silver Badge Explorer, I see. May I ask what your Level is?”
The assassin spread his right hand fully open.
“Level 5, I see. Confirmed.”
At the priest’s words, the Explorers who had been waiting began to murmur among themselves.
“Level 5 in an E-Rank Dungeon? What’s going on?”
“And they said she’s a Silver Badge Explorer?”
“Though I suppose there was that monster who passed that grueling exam…”
The Explorers whispered and cast sidelong glances at Rosalia, then gradually edged away from us.
Marlin glanced around uncertainly, her eyes blinking vacantly.
“Why is everyone acting like that?”
“The Dungeon in District 6, which the Harmony Church administers, rarely holds anyone accountable for what happens inside. They believe restricting people’s freedom of entry contradicts the spirit of harmony and unity.”
“So they’re keeping their distance because they might get disposed of quietly if they go in with us?”
“Exactly.”
Usually, a Level 5 expert operates in C-Rank Dungeons.
All the E-Rank Dungeon Explorers gathered here, even if they rushed us together, wouldn’t touch a hair on our heads.
“They’ve chosen to wait safely until we finish clearing the Dungeon and come back out. A wise choice.”
“I agree.”
The priest, who had been listening to our conversation, nodded in agreement as he casually interjected.
“Then shall you proceed? Or would you like an explanation of the Dungeon’s strategy?”
“I’ve already memorized everything. We’ll just go in.”
“Yes, I pray your expedition proves peaceful and safe.”
To me, it was nothing but a ridiculous farewell.
What would it mean if a Dungeon expedition were comfortable and safe?
A true exploration meant facing situations where your life hung by a thread, bracing yourself against critical injury, or fleeing from the pursuit of maddened Monsters.
Silently rejecting his encouragement, I climbed the stairs leading upward.
Soft crunching, soft scraping.
With each step on the fine sand, faint footprints appeared and vanished.
After climbing for a while, my vision swam, and the landscape around us shifted.
“…The Barren Wasteland?”
We stood in a wide-open wasteland stretching to the distant horizon.
All that met the eye was desolate terrain.
And lonely ruins standing solitary across the vast expanse.
《E-Rank Dungeon — Tomb of the Earth Elves》
《Monsters of Level 2 and above frequent this Dungeon. At your current level, it may prove difficult to handle. I recommend you actively receive the aid of the red-haired Elf.》
If I relied on Rosalia, I could certainly clear it easily.
But if I did that, I couldn’t solidly secure Odilon as my ally—he would become a companion, which would make everything proceed more smoothly, but I needed more.
To win over that troublesome personality-disordered young master, I needed to demonstrate an ability that shattered all expectations.
“Before we set out, there is something I need you to do for me.”
Before heading in to clear the Dungeon, I made an important request of Rosalia.
“Please cut me with your Dagger.”

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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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