Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. - Chapter 31

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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 31: D-Rank Labyrinth – Blood-Eating Banquet Hall (1)
Pendrick didn’t answer right away.
“…Could you give me a little time to think it over?”
It wasn’t the sort of decision one made on the spot, that much was fair.
Since I’d already made up my mind about what I’d choose anyway, I nodded readily enough.
“As I mentioned before, I’m planning to stay at this inn for about five days. Think it over carefully and give me your answer then. For what it’s worth, we’ll cover any penalty fee, so don’t worry about the cost.”
Rising from my seat, I demanded of the red-haired elf the sort of exemplary conduct an elder ought to show when meeting someone younger than themselves.
“Pay up, will you?”
…….
Rosalia produced ten Gold Coins.
Far too much to account for food and lodging alone.
Pendrick hurriedly waved his hand and accepted only two Gold Coins.
“I’d feel terrible taking eight Gold Coins as a tip—I’ll just take this much! Ahaha, if you find yourself with extra coin later, you’re welcome to leave more.”
Despite having just had his head filled with the proposal I’d thrown at him, he showed no sign of it, speaking lightly and smiling.
As an apology for burdening him with a dilemma during work hours, I drew out one more Gold Coin and pressed it into his hand.
“Thank you kindly!”
Pendrick bowed deeply and produced two keys.
“Simply use the room matching the number written on each key. If you need anything, just let me know.”
I took the keys and stepped outside the inn.
My belly was full, so it was time to get to work.
I took a leisurely walk through the bustling city, savoring the lively scenery like a post-meal stroll.
Crunch.
“They really say the best apples come from the 5th Ward?”
I’d purchased an apple at the eastern market I passed and was chewing on it as an after-meal treat while heading toward the district where my client awaited.
The northern quarter of the 3rd Ward.
The Path of Diligent Thorns—where the headquarters of countless guilds were clustered.
Making my way down a street where flags stuck in door frames fluttered wildly in the wind, I found the guild building I’d identified from the commission.
《The headquarters of the Jewel Owner Guild, a gem-crafting organization. They don’t prosper particularly, but they manage to scrape out a living. A gathering of unremarkable mediocrities with no reason to exist in this world—seize the opportunity and set it ablaze.》
The guild was marked by a distinctive sign: a bottle filled with jewels of various colors.
As I drew near, a sturdily built dwarf standing before the entrance, his expression anxious as he surveyed the street, suddenly turned his head.
“Are you perhaps the wanderer we were expecting today?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Oh, blessed be Solmi!”
My client called out the name of the goddess of sun and craftsmanship, hurriedly pounding his chest.
It was a dwarven salute, necessitated by their short arms making handshakes difficult.
“Welcome! I’m Tavirec, guild master of the Jewel Owner Guild!”
《Tavirec, guild master of the Jewel Owner Guild (Eastern Continent dwarf, 78 years old). Ever since a favored young guild member died in a Labyrinth recently, he’s been anxious every day. Watching the little fellow fret and fume is rather amusing—it wouldn’t be a bad choice to simply let him stew and do nothing.》
The dwarf Tavirec, who in human years would be a young man in his mid-twenties, extended his left hand forward.
His gloved palm faced upward, bearing a small emblem: a hammer nestled within a sun.
Whirrrr.
The image gleamed faintly, and from within it a photograph—imprinted as if by a Magical Tool—fluttered out.
“That ugly fellow—he was one of our guild members who died in a Labyrinth a few days ago.”
A young face beaming with innocent cheer.
An adventurer barely past his mid-teens, if even that.
“To be honest, he was utterly hopeless. Talent he had none, and whenever I asked him to do something, he’d bungle it. The boy was completely irredeemable—couldn’t do a single thing right.”
Tavirec stroked his thick beard and let out a sigh.
“Still, the lad had a good heart.”
“The most important virtue, held deep within.”
“Precisely. We dwarves of the Eastern Continent despise those without talent, but that boy was an exception. Even though everyone belittled him, he never lost spirit—always carried himself with such spirited determination. Remarkable, really….”
The dwarf, lost in memory for a moment, then shook his head and looked directly at me.
“I’m asking you this as a favor: find that boy’s body and bring it back by day’s end. Given the nature of the Labyrinth he entered, if we leave it be, it will deteriorate.”
“Understood. I shall move with the speed of the goddess of peace and war, she who rides upon winged steeds and traverses the world freely, and return swiftly.”
“Should you complete this task successfully, I’ll add one of our guild’s crafted tools to your commission payment.”
Items classified as ‘tools’ fell short of Artifacts and masterworks in rank, yet possessed a quality incomparable to ordinary goods.
Being a minor guild, I couldn’t expect to receive anything of tremendous value, but since they were offering to sweeten the payment with an extra gift, there was no reason to refuse.
“The Harmony Church mentioned that you’ve only recently become a Bronze-rank Adventurer—do you need someone to guide you?”
“That won’t be necessary. Ridni knows everything there is to know.”
Opening the leather bag that Marlin used to carry, I took the photograph and tucked it inside, then offered Tavirec a gesture of assurance that appeared trustworthy.
“I’ll complete this task safely and return, so rest easy until then.”
With my client’s earnest request weighing on me, I set off toward the Labyrinth that had swallowed a young adventurer whole.
Following the southern quarter with its thriving lodgings, the eastern district with its marketplace, and the northern avenue lined with guild headquarters, we came now to the western district—the Path of Challenging Ascent.
It was a street where Labyrinths had sprouted with unusual concentration.
‘Was it because of the Mana Resonance Phenomenon?’
I recalled hearing the explanation once, back when developer Kato Roger had uploaded all sorts of minor game lore to his video channel.
It had been a tedious, drawn-out ramble that I’d largely glossed over—probably just some arbitrary setting grafted on to support the concept of the 3rd Ward, where each street boasted its own distinct character.
‘Still, it’s quite a sight.’
Stepping into the Path of Challenging Ascent, I took my time surveying the surroundings as slowly as I could.
Doors suddenly placed between buildings, suspicious goblin statues standing rigidly along the street, an inn that wavered like a mirage in the light.
Though their forms and sizes varied, they were all Labyrinth entrances.
Just observing them stirred a rush of dopamine, stimulation, and exhilaration in my chest.
“Don’t be startled if I collapse while walking, sister. It’s only because I’m too happy.”
……
Rosalia fixed me with a long look, then shook her head slowly side to side.
Why did she look so exasperated?
“Is everyone prepared?”
“Let’s make a killing and head back!”
“Please, just let me find one artifact today…”
I headed toward the Labyrinth entrance in question, listening to the murmurs of Adventurers preparing for their explorations.
A back alley nestled between large buildings constructed in an exotic style.
What would normally have been a desolate, shadowy place beloved by ruffians had instead been claimed by the bright light of Magic Stone Lamps.
Adventurers were lined up in queue, confirming we’d found the right spot.
“One person at a time, please! Hey there, mister—no cutting in line!”
The queue was as long as an opening-day rush, but fortunately we didn’t have to wait long.
“Next.”
I handed both my Identification Badge and Rosalia’s to the uniformed Labyrinth management official, whose chest bore the emblem of a grey wolf’s face. He gave them a cursory glance and pointed to the space behind him.
The end of the alley.
On bare earth, without even paving stones, lay the corpse of a rotting animal head, reeking of decay.
《Entrance to the Blood-Eating Banquet Hall.》
“Yes, go ahead inside,” the official said offhandedly.
He called the next Adventurer in line.
Unlike the 6th Ward, which the Harmony Church managed with careful guidance on Clear Conditions, the Labyrinths of the 3rd Ward offered no such courteous services.
The operational philosophy was simple: if you hadn’t properly studied the conquest method beforehand, death was your own fault.
The Grey Wolf Guild, which managed the 3rd Ward, was notorious for its lax regulations.
‘That’s why all the newcomers end up dead.’
True, throwing yourself at problems headfirst without preparation could develop critical thinking and judgment.
But even so, the lack of safety measures was troubling.
Since the Labyrinths had become de facto havens for unofficial crime, I couldn’t help but disapprove of how the Grey Wolf Guild ran things in the 3rd Ward.
“Let’s go.”
I pressed down on the rotten earth near the decayed animal head, and suddenly the world shifted—I found myself standing in a vast, open meadow.
《D-Rank Labyrinth – Blood-Eating Banquet Hall》
《A popular Labyrinth thanks to its valuable rewards commanding high prices. There are considerable rivals, so eliminate each one discreetly, one by one.》
“Let’s all do our best today.”
“Let’s help each other out a little.”
“May we have a good competition!”
Because the rules openly permitted conflict and combat between Adventurers, the expedition teams that had entered before us exchanged hollow platitudes worthy of a public service announcement before dispersing.
One careless word could result in being silently buried in the earth of the Labyrinth, so everyone was taking care to watch their speech.
……
Watching them, Rosalia pointed at the Adventurers and gave a thumbs-down gesture.
“All cowards, aren’t they? But it can’t be helped. After all, Adventuring is just how people survive, isn’t it?”
Of course, I hadn’t come to this Labyrinth merely to earn money.
“Then let’s go have ourselves a fun exploration.”
Why waste time playing mind games when we could be out enjoying the Labyrinth?
***
The Blood-Eating Banquet Hall.
A Labyrinth recreating the era when the Valterium Empire, founded by humans, had launched conquest wars to subjugate the Northern Continent and Eastern Continent.
It contained a portion of a mountain range where multiple peaks seemed to compete for height as they thrust upward—as Labyrinths go, the Clear Condition itself isn’t particularly difficult.
Defeat the Boss Entity.
However, unlike the Tomb of the Land Elves under the same condition, only a single monster—the Boss Entity known as Hyeoljjo—appears here.
And it was that one creature that made it a D-Rank Labyrinth.
‘Where might it be right now?’
A plain at the foot of the mountain range.
I surveyed the sky from a secluded corner, the kind of place where I’d avoid running into other expedition parties.
By now, Sue had long since become a forgotten deity, and the crystalline blue sky steeped my eyes and heart in its colour.
The sun, burning as fiercely then as now, tilted slightly more toward the west than the east.
“He’ll be on the farthest mountain from here by now, I’d wager,” said the assassin standing quietly beside Rosalia.
She inclined her head with barely perceptible motion.
“How do I know? This Labyrinth is set in the time immediately after the war between the Empire’s forces and the Beast-human Alliance’s resistance. He’s likely spent these days traversing the entire range, feasting on the hearts of the fallen. It’s his staple, you see.”
That’s why the place bears the name Blood-Eating Banquet Hall.
The whole range had become an eco-friendly buffet, fully stocked for his appetite.
Hearing my explanation, Rosalia fell silent for a moment, then turned her body slightly toward the mountains.
“You’re saying we should hunt him down immediately? There’s no need to exhaust ourselves just yet.”
The creature’s level was identical to the Cloaked Ghouls—three.
But classified as a Boss Entity, it ranked among the strongest in its tier.
Rosalia could certainly topple it without much effort, but the real problem was the sheer number of competitors.
“The Blood Stone it carries is a gem worth considerable coin, which is why adventurers have been eyeing it hungrily. They’ve all come well-prepared, so even with your skill, you’ll have trouble claiming it first. Besides, there’s no urgency there—let’s not concern ourselves with it for now.”
There was something more pressing than hunting for him.
“First, let’s retrieve the young artisan we left behind in the Labyrinth. The sooner we can lay him to rest, the sooner he can find peace.”

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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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