Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. - Chapter 27

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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 27: You’ll Shine Like a Star
“I’m sorry?”
Marlin stared at me blankly for a moment before opening her mouth.
“Special training, you said?”
“You’re not mentally prepared yet?”
“That’s not quite it…”
Marlin shook her head and glanced toward the bound thieves.
“What do those people have to do with training? And why do they look like that?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
I met Marlin’s eyes directly—she’d changed her hairstyle and looked quite striking now.
“I brought them here as practice dummies for killing.”
I spoke with all warmth stripped from my face, like a cold and merciless adult.
“If you’re a Thief Class, you need to grow accustomed to taking lives better than anyone else. I’m sorry, but you have no authority to refuse.”
The faces of the bound thieves went pale simultaneously.
But Marlin simply raised her nails as if to scratch my shoulder without a trace of worry.
“Stop joking around and explain properly!”
“I shall explain, Miss Marlin.”
Sergius, the butler who had been standing in the corner of the room, approached slowly and spoke gently.
“Last time, Kar asked Rosalia to incapacitate and bring the Black Sword Guild master Macken, did he not?”
“Yes, that happened…”
“At that time, my young master gave Rosalia an additional order. To dispose of the Black Sword Guild.”
Thieves involved in heinous crimes were killed outright.
The relatively less wicked guild members were merely beaten thoroughly and then captured and imprisoned here.
“Marlin, what do you think? Are the ones over there at least better than dead men?”
At my words, the swollen-faced thieves all turned their eyes toward Marlin.
With a gaze that was somehow desperate and earnest.
Marlin met each of their eyes in turn, then nodded.
“None of them have actually committed murder or tormented people. They only dedicated themselves to thievery…”
The workaholics who had been sincere in their craft heaved sighs of relief and slouched.
Marlin pointed to one guild member with a rather harsh expression.
“That’s the vice-captain, and he took very good care of Abel and me.”
“Marlin…!”
The vice-captain’s expression became almost tearful.
There was no guarantee he wouldn’t be a villain capable of lightly deceiving innocent children and even fooling the judgment of an assassination-specialist elf, so I checked his character myself.
《Black Sword Guild Vice-Captain Andre (Human, 33 years old). Unlike his menacing appearance, he is a somewhat righteous thief who only targets the homes of those who torment residents. His skills are vastly inferior to the guild master, but still considerably superior to your ward Marlin.》
It was questionable whether thief was a profession that suited the adjective “righteous,” but in any case, he was closer to the concept of a good person than the dead guild master had been.
Besides the vice-captain, I examined five other guild members as well, and they were all Thieves with no interest whatsoever apart from the illegal art of secretly taking others’ belongings.
“They certainly won’t stab us in the back.”
Having passed the triple-layered character inspection, they would be safe enough to employ going forward.
“Butler, proceed as planned.”
“Very good.”
Sergius, who had been stroking his chin, now held a Short Dagger he had produced and approached the thieves.
Thinking he was about to conduct an impromptu execution, Marlin flinched, so I pressed the top of her head reassuringly.
“Listen carefully.”
At the low voice of the elderly butler, the thieves cowered, unable to match his composed bearing and stature.
“Do you wish to live?”
Nod-nod-nod-nod!
In their desperate up-and-down head movements, there was not a shred of resignation to death.
“Then prove your worth.”
Snick.
The rope binding the vice-captain’s hands was severed.
“I offer you a special opportunity.”
As he freed the other thieves from their bonds, Sergius continued coldly.
“From today forward, you are to become intelligence operatives serving Odillon, the second son of House Bretes. In other words, I am offering you the chance to become the Pale Shadow.”
Bretes.
At the mention of the name of a leading information merchant family managing the four districts of Pletica, the thieves trembled.
“Your primary duties will be information gathering and infiltration operations. This is normally what the Pale Shadow of House Bretes handles, but given our current circumstances—with the Lady and young master having been driven out of the main estate—I have borne all such responsibilities alone.”
All the thieves had been freed from their bonds, but none of them made any move.
They had heard something entirely unexpected.
“Prove you have the ability to share these duties with me. You have one month to give your utmost effort.”
“…What happens if I fail to meet your standards?”
The sub-guild master mustered the courage to ask, and Sergius answered without hesitation.
“Since they haven’t committed any heinous crimes, I’ll simply cut off both their hands so they can’t steal again, then send them back to the slums.”
……
The elderly butler, who’d produced a Short Dagger at some point, stood with hands clasped behind his back.
“Steel yourselves. After all, I’ll be the one conducting your examinations.”
A professional butler serving two people simultaneously—an unhinged mother and her self-centered sociopath son.
A long-serving retainer of House Bretes.
And.
A Level 7 Thief-Lurker.
《Sergius, butler of House Bretes (Human, 73 years old). Suddenly I can’t read his information. It seems he normally keeps the Soul Grade Concealment Mystery active. He’s quite an accomplished Thief.》
Sergius swept his gaze across the now-silent thieves with stern eyes, then turned his head toward Marlin.
The icy atmosphere from moments before dissolved, replaced by a smile as warm as spring.
“Marlin, I’d like you to participate in the training as well. Within a month, I’ll lay down the foundational skills to help you grow into an excellent Thief.”
“Hold on a moment….”
Marlin, who’d been quietly observing, cautiously raised her hand.
“Why is that, sir?”
“You’re going to teach me, butler?”
“Yes. Kar made a request. Since you’ll be leading the Pale Shadow operatives under the young master, he asked me to train you very rigorously.”
“…Excuse me?”
Marlin’s tail shot upright for a moment, then drooped.
“Did I mishear something just now?”
“No. You heard correctly. Kar recommended you for the position of leader of the Pale Shadow.”
The head of operatives who would become Odillon’s eyes and ears.
Marlin, a future extraordinary Thief.
No one had asked for her consent, but since Marlin herself never asked permission when robbing homes, there wasn’t really a problem.
“Could it be that the butler seems a bit too sinister, and you don’t want to receive his teachings?”
“I see. How disappointing.”
Sergius let the corners of his eyes droop dramatically.
“I’m sorry, butler. I’ll apologize instead.”
“It’s quite painful, you know.”
“I’ll make sure to educate her properly from now on so this doesn’t happen again.”
“But what good will that do? A heart that’s already been wounded cannot heal….”
With two adults bearing down on her in concert, the tiger-eared teenager couldn’t get her bearings.
“No, wait! It’s just that being suddenly told I have to become a leader is so sudden!”
“It’s fine. That’s a matter for much later.”
“Still….”
Still clearly reluctant, she just kept hesitating.
It was probably because she lacked confidence in taking on such a large role as the head of an organization.
Fortunately, I already knew how to replenish her confidence.
“I told you before, didn’t I?”
I bent down to meet Marlin at eye level.
“If you follow your patron’s teachings well, your future will shine as brightly as the stars.”
I have no doubt about it.
That Marlin will grow wonderfully according to my expectations.
“I’ll find the constellations in the night sky that will one day be yours, and even lay out a path for you.”
I placed my hand on the shoulders of the young Ward who’d worked hard while caring for her sister, and gave them a couple of gentle pats.
“You just have to walk along the path. Simple, right?”
“…That sounds too easy, though.”
At last, Marlin’s expression softened.
“Got it. I’ll do my best!”
“Well done. From now on, you’ll learn all the Thief Class Common Basic Mysteries from the butler, and receive hand-technique training from those thieves.”
Once all the training was complete, she would reach a level of fundamental Thief abilities that none of her peers could match.
Sergius, who’d been watching us with satisfied eyes, extended his hand to Marlin with graceful poise.
“Shall we begin, Marlin?
“Yes! What should I start with?”
“Let’s begin with Dagger Technique. The rest of you will participate as well. Prepare yourselves.”
“Yes, sir!”
I observed the thieves scrambling to their feet for a moment, then quietly slipped out of the room.
I had something else to do next.
‘Is it Abel’s turn now?’
I’d assigned a mentor to my sister; now it was my brother’s turn.
***
The kitchen at Odillon’s Estate.
Beside the Magical Refrigerator—that marvel of magical engineering that had brought tremendous wealth to the mage who invented it in the tower—an array of cooking tools gleamed on the shelves.
Abel, who had followed me without complaint, gazed around the kitchen with wide eyes before turning to ask me a question.
“Why have we come here?”
“To decide your path forward.”
I reached into the refrigerator, pulled out something that looked like a sausage, and pressed it into Abel’s hand.
“Abel. What were you thinking about during dinner today?”
I could guess the answer well enough just by looking at his slightly fuller belly than usual.
“It was delicious beyond words. Everything I’ve eaten until now seemed like mere raw ingredients in comparison.”
“Just that?”
“I’m being sincere.”
If that was the case, then perhaps the decision would be easier than I’d thought.
“Have you been studying Dungeons diligently?”
“To be honest, I’ve spent far more time with books than my sister, who can barely manage an hour a day.”
“That’s impressive.”
I ruffled Abel’s hair as he chewed on the sausage, making little satisfied sounds.
The enthusiasm toward the profession of explorer burned far hotter in my younger brother than in my sister.
If Marlin saw dungeon exploration as a means to an end—money—then Abel saw the exploration itself as the goal.
Neither approach was inherently wrong, but I couldn’t help finding the one closer to my own nature slightly more endearing.
“Abel, it’s time to choose your path toward becoming a great explorer. Give it serious thought.”
I had two options to present.
“First, you could become a Berserker of the Warrior Class.”
A Berserker wields a simple yet formidable combat style, pouring everything into raw strength.
It’s a class suited primarily to beast-kin and orcs.
Given Abel’s tiger heritage and powerful physique, if I were still a player in the Nightmare Dungeon, I would have pushed him toward this choice.
But.
I was no longer in the stage of a mere game. This was reality.
“Second, you could become a Chef of the Craftsman Class.”
A proposal tailored to Abel’s aptitude and inclination.
As not merely a player but as a patron and an adult, I wanted to champion this path.
I leaned toward this option all the more because I had once abandoned the dream of becoming a chef in the face of reality’s harsh walls.
“What do you think?”
……
Really, it was no different from asking a child in soccer class whether they preferred soccer or baseball.
Abel glanced around the kitchen once more, then, without much deliberation, looked me in the eye and spoke.
“I want to become a Chef.”
It seemed both Abel and I had already made up our minds long ago.
“Are you certain you won’t regret it? Once a Class is chosen, it can’t be changed.”
“I decided on this Class dozens of times while studying Dungeons.”
“I see.”
Then there was no reason to hesitate. Let’s proceed with the matter at once.
“Chef?”
“Yes, sir!”
The guest I’d left waiting outside entered the kitchen.
A maid with a somewhat careless appearance and freckles dotting her face.
She was the one responsible for delighting the siblings’ palates with exquisite cuisine.
A wine bottle hung from one hand, and her cheeks were already flushed from a drink or two.
《Charlotte, a maid at House Bretes Villa (human, 25 years old). Though her station is merely that of a maid, she took up work in the kitchen due to a shortage of hands and became a Craftsman Class Chef. When Odillon’s mother was cast out from the family, she made such a fuss insisting this one must be brought along that her exceptional skill became known—surely she is ideal as an educator for your Ward, Abel!》
“So I’m to teach this adorable little one?”
“Yes, if you would.”
“Hehe! Of course I will!”
Abel, who had listened silently to our exchange, approached the maid Charlotte and bowed deeply at the waist.
“I place myself under your guidance. Master.”
It was a respectful bow befitting his years, yet displaying unexpected maturity.

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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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