Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. - Chapter 66

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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 66 — All of This Must Be Thanks to Artein’s Grace
A bitter chill swept across the Snowy Field.
“Uugh….”
A cat-human warrior, his entire body tattered, clutched his remaining shoulder with one hand.
Blood gushed between his fingers, spilling onto the white snow below.
He’d thought he’d already lost enough blood, yet he was discovering anew just how much fluid ran through a human body.
“Pierr! You mad dog!”
“A cat, you say? You do keep uttering unpleasant things.”
Pierr, the hunter whose dull brown hair had all the luster of straw, brought the hand axe in his grip down lightly.
Crack!
His remaining arm was severed.
“Aaaaagh—!”
“Quiet.”
Pierr wrapped himself around the shrieking cat-human from behind and gagged him with the haft of the axe.
“Keep still, if you please. Before I begin flaying your skin away bit by bit.”
“……”
Whether chastened by the politeness of the request, the cat-human’s whimpering soon subsided.
Satisfied, the dog-human hunter turned his attention to the tufted cat ears poking through the yellow hair and began speaking in a measured tone.
“I understand your confusion. Just yesterday, you and I were happily plundering other expeditions together—kindred spirits, as it were. You must feel wronged, wondering why your comrade would suddenly turn on you. I’ve never felt it myself, but I’ve studied the emotions of others well enough to understand.”
“Th—”
“I told you to keep quiet.”
Snap!
As he tore away the ear he’d been stroking, the cat-human began thrashing again.
But when Pierr removed the other ear as well, he finally fell silent once more.
“Curious about why I’m killing you, are you?”
“…….”
Now, at last, he nodded quietly in answer.
Pierr wiped away the flowing blood and retrieved the axe he’d used as a gag.
“In truth, there’s no reason. I’ve simply grown tired of this outlaw work with you.”
“You…you madman!”
Perhaps he’d already accepted that survival was impossible.
The cat warrior’s jaw trembled as he spat out words seething with rage.
“The Claudy Guild. You’ve heard of it, haven’t you? I belong there!”
“Oh? So you had quite the backing after all.”
“Our guild members are assassination specialists. Kill me, and they’ll hunt you to the ends of the continent and tear you limb from limb!”
His sharp teeth bared, a vicious smile spread across his face.
Since death was certain anyway, perhaps he meant to sow what fear he could before the end.
It was not a poor strategy, but in the end, it was only empty bluster from someone who hadn’t yet grasped the true situation.
“And by ‘comrades,’ you mean them?”
Pierr seized the cat-human’s head and turned it slightly to one side.
In that direction stood a large, two-headed dog, each head clamping a corpse between its jaws.
The Claudy Guild’s cat warrior cried out in horror.
“The guild master…? And even the vice master!”
“They were following me in secret even before we entered the Dungeon. Since they seemed quite skilled at pursuit, I killed them both before they could become troublesome.”
Sector 4.
In this lawless paradise maintained by the Brethes Family, there was no place for amateur outlaws.
“Our brief but meaningful friendship and camaraderie, I shall treasure in my heart. Farewell.”
“Wait—”
Crunch!
The cat-human collapsed, the axe now embedded in his brow.
“Lulu, Riri. Come here.”
—Howl, howl!
The two-headed dog, which had been feasting on the corpse, approached its master with a wagging tail.
Pierr stroked each head of his cherished partner once, then nimbly vaulted onto its back.
“My business is finished here. Let’s search for a Hidden Piece. Head for Snow Mountain—that’s where it’s most likely to be.”
—Howl!
As Lulu and Riri bounded forward, their broad ears flying, Pierr draped across their body was just about to rest his eyes for a moment when—
—An urgent message has arrived.
A thin voice emanated from the Communication Tattoo etched into his palm.
It was the guild master of the Hyena Guild, to which Pierr now belonged.
— The Black Sword Guild has been annihilated.
“…….”
The exhaustion fogging his mind cleared instantly at the news.
“Who did it to them?”
— An anonymous informant says a half-elf named Kar, a Socialite of the Twisted Truth, sacrificed all of them as tribute.
“Is the tip credible?”
— Well, the informant’s identity is unclear, so credibility is low. Still, we can’t just dismiss the possibility.
Pierr nodded.
He’d never spoken directly with the Black Sword Guild master, but had seen him at Silent Alliance meetings.
The man’s character had struck him as notably inferior to the outlaw average—and now it seemed that first meeting would be the last.
“A pity.”
— There’s something almost amused in your voice, isn’t there?
“This amusement is separate from regret. It’s rather like an incurable illness.”
Pierr’s heart—that organ which always performed its dutiful rhythms without passion—now surged with sudden vitality.
‘Kar….’
Having toppled the Black Sword Guild, a component of the Silent Alliance, he would encounter this one frequently from now on.
How delightful.
The more adversity and hardship that lay ahead, the better.
— The Leader instructed us not to retaliate rashly. For now, you’re to strengthen internal forces decisively.
The true master of the Silent Alliance, the “Leader,” remained unknown to ordinary members like Pierr.
He felt no particular urge to discover their identity.
Clearly a coward who merely postures as cautious in all things.
— Return to the hideout for now. We need to discuss how to align with his intentions.
“Understood.”
His reply was docile, but the answer was already clear.
The Silent Alliance, in its present state, was incomplete.
Hopeless parasites without passion or will, grown bloated on steady patronage from their backer.
Outlaws content to accept the status quo inevitably fade away.
Look at the Black Sword Guild.
Satisfied with picking the pockets of the poor, they’d crumbled to ruin.
‘This won’t do.’
Pierr sought no mere “stable life.”
To achieve the ultimate goal, he first had to drain the stagnant water entirely and draw in fresh, clear streams.
‘…Start with our own guild first.’
After all, one always begins cleaning with the filthiest corner.
***
“Kar!”
Merlin and Abel, who’d been running ahead, bounced in place and turned back to me.
“Not far now. Keep going!”
“Patron, just a little further and we’ll be done.”
“…All right.”
I was running through the morning with the siblings.
My Stamina score is higher than theirs now, but due to a curse from some benevolent divinity, my other ability scores remain pitiful.
As a result, I’ve become nothing more than a slow runner with somewhat decent cardiorespiratory endurance.
Still, with the heart of a stubborn tortoise pressing forward, I suppose my physical condition isn’t altogether bad.
“…Wheew.”
It was only when my entire body was drenched in sweat that I could approach Odillon’s mansion.
Merlin, who’d rested her hands on her knees beside me while catching her breath, broke into a wide smile.
“Running every morning and evening, it keeps getting easier!”
“Same here.”
“It seems both your Stamina scores have risen.”
Ability scores can improve through consistent exercise alone.
I haven’t seen major gains myself due to being busy with Dungeon exploration, but Merlin and Abel had trained diligently and were clearly reaping the rewards of their effort.
“You’ve both done well.”
As I walked along ruffling the siblings’ hair, a visitor who’d arrived at the mansion early caught my eye.
“Good morning.”
Holy knights clad in armor where black and white achieved perfect harmony.
One would have to be remarkably ignorant not to recognize their allegiance from such a color scheme—such ignorance would make survival in Pletica nearly impossible.
“A pleasure to meet you. I am Valentine, small shield to Lady Artein.”
“Hello?”
Charlotte, who woke early as the one responsible for meals, rubbed her eyes and looked up at Valentine.
“Is something the matter, sir?”
“Well, you see, I’ve been receiving reports that terrible screams have been echoing from beneath this mansion’s basement lately.”
They must be the agonized cries that the Black Sword Guild thieves—now undergoing training with the steward Sergius—could no longer bear to suppress.
To the neighbors’ ears, it would have sounded rather unsettling.
If the screams had belonged to some noble class like a Paladin or Priest instead of a thief, they might have simply assumed a party was being held and moved on.
“I’m certain the young master wouldn’t involve himself in dealings even he’d find awkward to mention, but I’m afraid some clarification is in order.”
The tone was warm, but the atmosphere was not.
A presence so grave that a faint-hearted person would faint simply from standing nearby.
A well-trained Paladin’s very existence was a blade honed to razor sharpness.
In truth, had this not been a villa belonging to the Brethes Family, she would have brought the Guard down without bothering with polite explanations the moment the report came in, and arrested everyone inside.
“Hmm, I’m hardly some imbalanced transgressor of the Harmony, yet you’re looking at me quite terrifyingly, aren’t you?”
Charlotte the maid, when sober—unlike when she’d been drinking—possessed a rational and sharp-edged temperament.
“Forgive me. I’ve grown a bit too sharp with so many reports coming in lately.”
As she protested calmly, Valentine stepped back slightly, though his piercing gaze did not relent.
One hand rested on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
“Do all the Paladins of the Harmony Church apologize so ungraciously?”
Charlotte, unintimidated, prepared to draw the kitchen knife from her pocket.
Sensing that blades would be drawn against each other’s flesh in moments if no one intervened, I quickly stepped between them.
“Wait—who is this?”
As I drew near with a familiar air, Valentine turned his furrowed face toward me and widened his eyes.
“Oh! Kar, isn’t it!”
The seasoned Paladin approached as though greeting a brother, breaking into a delighted smile and embracing me warmly.
“I heard the news of your conquest at the Library of Sins. Finding not one but two Hidden Pieces, and making such a noble sacrifice for the other expeditions! Truly, a record worthy of earning Artein’s bright and warm smile!”
Was this the same person who’d just been pressing Charlotte moments ago?
His voice was suffused entirely with laughter.
“But what brings you here?”
“In truth, I’ve come to participate in the young master Odillon’s expedition team.”
“Is that so? How wonderful! You’ll be exploring alongside someone truly worthy of recognizing your talents!”
Valentine flashed a brilliant smile.
Charlotte, with whom he’d been exchanging hostile words mere moments before, was already beneath his notice, and every trace of his menacing presence had vanished entirely.
“Come to think of it, I once heard an unbelievable report that an expedition led by a Socialite of the Twisted Truth had cleared an unexplored Dungeon in Sector 3. Surely that wasn’t you, was it?”
“It was.”
“By Artein! It seems the Goddess’s gaze has touched upon your very soul!”
“Indeed. Thanks to the benevolence of She who shelters all mankind, I was able to safely grasp secrets that no other explorer had yet uncovered.”
Upon voicing the very thing he most wanted to hear, Valentine’s nostrils flared slightly.
His head nodded contentedly, so I seized the opportunity and continued without pause.
“Valentine, sir. In truth, a training ground for Shadow Training has been opened in the mansion’s basement.”
“Ah, is that so!”
“With Artein gazing down upon the earth to protect all the innocent, there are no secrets in this world, are there? Your Shadow Training endeavors—conducted to identify and analyze threats and calamities in advance for the protection of blameless citizens—surely align most perfectly with the Goddess’s will.”
《The hypocrite Goddess probably couldn’t care less what a bunch of thieving nobodies do.》
Though that might well be true, she wasn’t the sort to rain divine punishment simply because a Socialite had carelessly invoked her name, so I settled on offering moderate praise to Artein.
…….
For a moment Valentine’s gaze had been peculiar, but soon he broke into a bright smile, his teeth flashing.
“Kar, I see you’ve accumulated more Faith Ore on the Scale of Harmony than before. You’re now eligible to receive the armor of even more substantial Divine Protection.”
In other words, my credit score had been well managed, and I was now entitled to greater benefits.
Calculating the achievements and reputation I’d built through my Dungeon explorations thus far, it was indeed time to advance beyond corpse recovery contracts to the next tier.
What the Harmony Church would offer this time was something I could only welcome wholeheartedly.
“You may now participate in ‘Service’.”

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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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