Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. - Chapter 38

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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 38 Growing by Leaps and Bounds
“Pendrick, please pick up the items I’ve designated.”
After thoroughly examining every product sold at the Dungeon shop, I’d finally decided what to buy.
“First, nine bottles of Mental Barrier Potion.”
A premium potion that protects against mental attacks and erosion.
Total: 90 gold.
“And see those Dark Robes over there? Just grab three sets. Oh, and I’ll also buy the ones designed for beasts or summons—one for Astrímia. Pick those up too.”
Garments that let you blend into shadow and darkness.
Total: 18 gold.
“And we need some iron as well.”
High-purity Iron Ingots for the blacksmith class.
They happened to be on sale—cheaper than cost at 4 gold.
On top of that, I bought a generous forty bottles of Stamina Recovery Potion to heal all health-related stats wholesale.
Altogether, that came to 15 gold.
Up to this point, it was mere trifling spending.
“Next is the Secret Art Tome.”
Pendrick blinked briefly as he brought over the tome I’d indicated.
“This one’s a bit pricey. And if it’s for the Warrior class….”
“That’s right. It’s a Secret Art you’ll learn later.”
《Tier 3 Secret Art Tome – Indomitable Will》
《Attack power increases the lower your health drops.》
Quite a useful Warrior-exclusive Secret Art Tome for a Tier 3 skill.
150 gold per copy—a steep price.
As my boyfriend’s eyes wavered at the burden of the cost, Astrímia let out a soft laugh.
– You’re bold, Kar.
“Without boldness, I can’t survive as a Socialite—the weakest class.”
– I’m looking forward to what comes next.
I’d only been reckless with someone else’s money, yet I seemed to have made a favorable impression on Astrímia.
“That’s all of it.”
As we moved toward the register, Rosalia quietly approached and set down the things she’d bought.
Extreme Poison for coating weapons, Beast Poison Fang, Toxic Plant, Poison Mushroom.
All worth 10 gold together.
“You’re certain you won’t regret what you bought?”
……
The poison-loving assassin pondered for a moment, then sheepishly brought over a relatively inexpensive Secret Art Tome.
《Tier 3 Secret Art Tome – Toxic Follower》
《You can extract a small amount of accumulated poison from your body and transform it into a small living creature. A useless Secret Art, one might say.》
It was the same Tier as Indomitable Will, yet priced at merely 10 gold.
It’s certainly not a useful Secret Art, but what does it matter?
If she likes it, she likes it.
Sometimes you have to indulge in small delinquencies to maintain a healthy mind.
I myself once preserved my mental health through the modest hobby of printing out my boss’s face and crafting an adorable series of voodoo dolls.
“Now that we’ve bought everything, shall we head back and do some worthwhile studying?”
A C-rank Dungeon.
Incomparably more dangerous than anything we’d faced before—how much would it torment, pain, and strain me?
My heart was already pounding just from preparing for the exploration.
***
A room at the Lambs’ Clamor Inn.
Rosalia set down the heavy luggage from our shopping trip with effortless grace.
Even now, due to the level difference, her Strength stat far exceeded Pendrick’s despite him being the Warrior.
“Wow, quite the display of strength! Elves are usually weak in that department, aren’t they?”
Rosalia waved off the genius swordsman’s praise—offered with no hidden intent whatsoever—as if it were nothing.
I, mindful of the shy elf’s nature, didn’t prolong the conversation and instead turned to Pendrick with a question.
“Did you manage to have a good conversation with the innkeeper?”
“Ah, yes. She asked me to keep working until she finds another employee. Since I’d been diligent before, she didn’t get upset when I suddenly resigned.”
Considering the professional kindness she’d shown us as customers, it seemed odd that we hadn’t left a good impression on the proprietor.
“I imagine you’ll need to keep working until a replacement is found.”
“That’s fine. We can’t enter the Dungeon right away anyway.”
The City of Indulgence we’d be exploring this time only opens its entrance once every ten days.
The next opening was four days away.
There was something I needed to do first.
“Why don’t we start a reading circle?”
It was concentrated study time to strengthen our overall capabilities.
“Now then, everyone please take out your Secret Art Tomes and place them on the table.”
I laid out my yellow Secret Art Tome on the round table.
Avatar of Earth.
Reading it whenever I had spare moments meant only half the pages remained.
“I’m supposed to learn this one, correct?”
Pendrick’s Secret Art Tome was Resisting Body, which he’d obtained from the Bloodtide Banquet Hall, and I’d just given it to him as a gift.
As a result, Astrímia’s affection toward me as a fellow expedition member had risen just a bit higher—something that hardly needed mentioning.
“Hehe… Thank you, Kar.”
“Now that we’ve become fellow members of the same expedition, please don’t address me so formally. Would it make you uncomfortable?”
“Of course not! Then what would you like me to call you?”
“Something plain and unremarkable would be best. Nothing burdensome.”
As it happened, I had just the right title in mind.
“The Wise Leader Kar. Ordinarily, just call me Leader.”
– What?
Astrímia cut into the conversation with a voice that trembled slightly.
– How is that plain and unremarkable in any way!?
Unfortunately, being an inanimate object, Astrímia seemed unable to grasp human sensibility.
I spoke without the slightest concern, my tone perfectly composed.
“What’s the problem with that, Beautiful Astrímia?”
– Oh, come to think of it, there’s nothing wrong with it at all!
While the blade spirit of the Narcissism Ego Sword swayed lightly side to side, Rosalia carefully drew out the Toxic Follower she’d bought from the expedition supply shop.
…
From the look in her eyes, she was genuinely delighted with it.
Then as a considerate older brother, shouldn’t I teach her how to use it properly?
“Now let’s observe proper study etiquette and focus quietly on our reading.”
And so the Moon Expedition Party’s first official reading circle began, huddled together in one corner of the room.
Silence settled over the guest room.
The voices of the few guests downstairs on the first floor became white noise.
With such a favorable atmosphere for studying, my progress through Avatar of Earth—which had been stalling before—began to accelerate sharply.
‘I still don’t quite understand the content, though.’
Yet I could glean the meaning dimly enough.
This was a kind of historical record.
A book describing why the innate Secret Art of the Earth Elf, Avatar of Earth, had been compiled into a Secret Art Tome.
The content was already difficult enough, but written in Elvish rather than the Common tongue made it even more opaque.
‘But I’m grasping the content well enough, even so.’
Back in the game, simply having “slow learning speed” as a stat was sufficient, but now things were different.
Socialite Kar.
How was I reading Elvish at all?
The answer likely lay in that dark appearance I’d shown just before entering the Hidden Ghoul Pack’s Lair, which Merlin had mentioned before.
Since it was still a difficult problem to reach a definite answer on, I simply continued focusing on reading until at last I could take in every sentence.
《Congratulations! The Secret Art Avatar of Earth now dwells within your body!》
I had finally mastered it.
A Secret Art that would steadily raise my Stamina stat from this point forward.
《By the effect of Avatar of Earth, your Strength has increased by 3.》
《By the effect of a tattered Secret Art belonging to Sueyet—[Whatevernot]—your Stamina has risen by 1.5!》
The rise in stats was something I could feel immediately.
The fatigue accumulated from the clash with Bloodtide slowly faded, and the dull ache in my chest vanished.
I clenched and unclenched both fists, then whispered softly.
“Status Window.”
《Socialite of Twisted Truth, Kar ???(Level 2)》
Strength – 1 | Dexterity – 2 | Faith – 16
Stamina – 6 | Perception – 3 | Wisdom – 19
Agility – 1 | Charm – 21 | Knowledge – ??
《Secret Arts Possessed》
– Eye That Pierces Truth (Tier 2) * Twisted Truth
– Web That Binds All Things * Twisted Truth
– Ghoul Mobility * Priest Class
– [Dark Brain Blooming (Tier 2)] * Unclean Merchant
– [Rumbling Dark Cloud] * Unclean Merchant
– [Insight into Chaos] * Twisted Truth
– [Avatar of Earth] * Universal
Things were becoming a bit easier to read now.
I stroked my right eye with praise as I took in the Status Window.
Truth be told, the only stat worth watching was Stamina.
‘Six now, it seems.’
Since a typical adult human had five, I could at least claim to be above average.
There was still a long way to go before reaching transcendent heights beyond the merely extraordinary, but at least I’d left the starting line behind.
“Phew, the content is dense.”
As I tried to shake the Status Window from my field of vision, Pendrick closed the Secret Art Tome.
“You’ve finished reading it?”
“Yes. It’s my first time with a Secret Art Tome—are they always this difficult to read?”
“Generally speaking, yes.”
“Since I’m not fond of reading, I nearly fell asleep before finishing.”
Even as he complained, Pendrick’s expression was all smiles.
Given that the only Secret Art he’d learned so far came from painstaking practice, of course he wore that grin naturally.
Watching him cradle Astrímia while beaming constantly, I ventured a question.
“Pendrick, do you happen to know an orc named Emir?”
I’d wanted to keep asking about him.
Emir, whom I could call either my extension or my child without being wrong, must have lived in some way all this time.
I couldn’t suppress my curiosity about whether he’d acted as I would have in the game, or moved according to his own will.
“Emir, you say….”
Pendrick squinted, tilting his head uncertainly.
If he hadn’t been active for long, like me, it would be no surprise if the name didn’t ring a bell.
– I’ve heard that name before.
While her lover sat lost in thought, Astrímia spoke up.
– Was it four days ago? An orc discovered a Hidden Piece in some E-rank Dungeon and caused quite the stir.
“Was that orc the first to find it?”
– I’m not entirely sure, but… since it was unconfirmed, wouldn’t rumors have spread?
An unknown Hidden Piece had been discovered.
The possibility that Emir acted of his own volition grew stronger, yet at the same time, a new question arose.
‘But he’s already dead.’
Emir had appeared in the Bloodtide Banquet Hall, ignorant of the mining shaft’s mechanism, and was reborn as the world’s ugliest lump of silver.
It was a blunder I would never have made.
Still, there was one thing that nagged at me.
‘…Did I not know the mechanism back then?’
When I was raising Emir, my playtime was roughly seven hundred hours.
I’d poured time into it bit by bit through the laptop donated during my orphanage days, but compared to veterans, I’d been nothing but a novice.
Naturally, I hadn’t fully grasped the Bloodtide Banquet Hall’s mechanics back then either.
“Captain? But why are you asking about that orc?”
At the bright genius swordsman’s voice, I closed both eyes and shook my head.
“Since that orc was offered as tribute at the Bloodtide Banquet Hall, I became curious about what kind of life he’d lived.”
“Ah, so that’s why you wondered.”
– Oh come on! You don’t have to empathize with every single thing Pendrick says!
“But I genuinely thought that?”
– Stop it! You just said the orc was sacrificed as a living offering!
“Strictly speaking, he wasn’t technically a ‘living’ offering….”
I watched the two lovers bicker, pursing my brow as I did.
‘There must be others too.’
A handful of five characters I’d raised as classes other than Socialite.
Perhaps the rest were somewhere in Platiqa as well.
If that were truly the case, the mage who appeared at the Earth Elf’s Tomb would be my alternate character as well.
Using the strategy to endure the fully-enhanced Corrupted Meterd Statue for thirty minutes and defeating it would yield a reward perfectly suited for my mage build.
‘Besides Emir, who else was there….’
As I recalled what the others had been like—excluding the deceased—my lips curled upward of their own accord.
Except for one, they were all dangerously aggressive individuals who would never form an alliance if encountered in a dungeon.
In other words.
The thought alone warmed my heart: I’d gained three formidable rival explorers.
‘Please grow strong and healthy, and obstruct our explorations.’
The more formidable rivals explorers faced, the better.

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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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