Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. - Chapter 74

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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 74 Sanctuary of Rest: Resolution (2)
“…Golems?”
Seraphina flinched, having just been tapping idly at the armor lying on the floor with her boot.
“I’ve heard that mages sometimes create golems and abandon them carelessly, whereupon they often become demon beasts exhibiting rampant violence and aggression.”
Though “often” was an understatement—it happened constantly, without warning.
It was one of the many reasons mages were such an unscrupulous class.
“But even so, there’s no way over a hundred thousand individuals could gather in one place.”
“Indeed. It sounds preposterous.”
An absurd possibility.
There lay the cause of the catastrophe that destroyed the Sanctuary of Rest.
“A Dungeon from a future point in time.”
I leaned my back lightly against the wooden board serving as a wall and spoke.
“If you travel northeast from the Sanctuary of Rest, past the mountain range that eventually appears, there exists an Undiscovered Dungeon where a grim future of dire possibility has been made manifest.”
Its name is Golemopia.
It is rated Class A.
“The dungeon’s setting is a world where golems have risen in rebellion, reducing intelligent beings to mere biological fuel.”
A dystopia ruled by combat golems, colossal artificial demon beasts, various self-propelled automatons and the like—all under the command of an Ego Staff created for research by some grand mage.
To be fair to the enemy’s perspective, it might be called a utopia liberated from the absurd tyranny of intelligent beings.
“Certain dungeons, if left unconquered for a set period, spill their internal demon beasts outside and cause them to run wild. In the original history, the Sanctuary of Rest happened to lie unluckily directly in the path of the golem legion’s fierce advance, and so it was devastated.”
The supreme demon beast is a wooden staff of formidable self-awareness created by the grand mage in question.
Of course, it became a powerful demon beast that, through superior magic from the future, had obtained a new non-biological body.
If things went as scheduled, we would not need to face it.
“It’s a far more troublesome enemy than I anticipated….”
Apparently feeling the heat, the holy maiden had finally removed her helmet and absently stroked her chin between forefinger and thumb.
“In the true history, how were those overwhelming hordes of demon beasts dealt with? I couldn’t hold them back either.”
“It was stopped by the mightiest champions of the Lumess Kingdom, who mobilized in full force.”
By the time of the great war, the Lumess Kingdom had somewhat declined from its ancient glory as the hegemonic power of the Western Continent with its resplendent culture, yet its military might remained formidable.
If a ninth-level holy maiden had fallen before it, then tenth-level transcendent masters deploying would have been sufficient.
“The pride of the Lumess Kingdom—the Drake Cavalry commander and her elite dragon knights. And the commander of the Skypierce Knights, said to have pierced the heavens with a single spear, and his knights, all of whom are seventh-level or higher. And even the Lumess Elite Infantry, where even a common soldier receives magical equipment….”
From an opponent’s perspective, it was a lineup that could take one’s breath away.
“To stand against strong force, one must bring an even stronger force to bear, Your Holiness.”
The Sanctuary of Rest is merely a C-ranked Dungeon, even accounting for the method to clear its Hidden Piece.
At my current level, it was by no means an impossible Dungeon to clear.
“…Now I understand what you intend to do to change history, Kar.”
The holy maiden of Artein, a brilliant detective capable of grasping the larger truth from mere fragments of clue, quickly saw through my plan.
“If we request the Lumess Kingdom’s assistance, we can protect the temple and the patients. We need only hold back the advance somehow until the reinforcements arrive, isn’t that so?”
“Precisely my meaning.”
We don’t need to defeat the enemy ourselves.
By focusing purely on defense, even with our small numbers we could hold out for several days.
Seraphina began speaking rapidly, her face noticeably brighter.
“If I take with me items inscribed with my cultivation and Secret Arts, the kingdom will probably send troops—counting it as being fooled once. I am, after all, an exceedingly renowned holy maiden.”
Such keen self-awareness, such active exploitation of one’s strengths.
Those who left their names in history truly moved differently from ordinary people.
“Even if we dispatch a messenger today, Your Holiness, the reinforcements won’t arrive immediately. Considerable time will be wasted waiting for the King’s approval.”
Especially tenth-level powerhouses, who serve as walking strategic weapons, cannot be dispatched arbitrarily.
Just as a nuclear missile cannot be fired by the American President’s will alone, it must pass through countless complex procedures.
“Only once the demon beast forces’ movements are definitively detected will the dispatch process accelerate. So we must fight on our own for at least three days.”
“Three days….”
Seraphina tossed her helmet up and caught it repeatedly, speaking quietly.
“This Dungeon undergoes a Reset after one week, doesn’t it? How could we possibly hold for three more days there?”
“It won’t Reset.”
I met the holy maiden’s eyes directly.
“Not while Your Holiness lives.”
The Hidden Piece clearing condition of the Sanctuary of Rest.
The holy maiden’s survival.
“You may think of it this way: the holy maiden’s death is the end of this world.”
“My insignificant life carries too heavy a burden.”
“Will you flee even now? If you do, we can safely return to the future, and Your Holiness can continue living.”
“I will not. Did I not say I was a slow-witted fool?”
“Knowing that, I made no concrete escape plan.”
I don’t waste my time on worthless matters.
It only kindled my enthusiasm when the task was important enough—like trimming both eyebrows to exactly the same shape.
“I understand all the countermeasures now.”
Seraphina approached me and tapped my shoulder.
“I’ll prepare the Holy Knights Order and send messengers, so please look after the other explorers.”
“Yes, I’ll take my leave now.”
I turned around, rubbing my stiff body from standing and talking, when Seraphina suddenly added something more.
“Thank you. For lending your strength to a fool like me.”
“If you’re grateful, repay me generously later.”
“I’ll speak with Artein and prepare as thoroughly as I can.”
“I’ll remember that promise.”
Leaving the temple, I made my way to the parasol where my companions had gathered.
They were all fast asleep, worn down by the fatigue that had accumulated over these days.
Only Pendrick, looking somewhat weary, was conversing with Astrímia.
“Commander, have you finished your discussion with the Saint?”
“You must be envious?”
“Of course—”
—Hmm~?
“Not at all.”
The prodigious swordsman produced an appropriately corrective answer with superhuman reflexes.
“Ugh….”
Barthimir groaned, apparently caught in another nightmare.
“Wake up.”
I gently shook the demon’s body, which huddled pitifully with both arms wrapped around itself.
“…Uhhhhh.”
Barthimir rose with a pained expression and hung from my shoulder, wrapping his arms around me.
“I want this Secret Art gone…!”
“Then from now on, accept only the refined calamities of body and mind that I designate.”
“I will!”
“Let’s go at once. I’ve picked out two delectable calamities for you. Will you come along, Pendrick?”
“Why not?”
I brought Barthimir, who walked clinging to me, to the critical care ward where we had suffered for the last five days.
“Kar?”
Elion the priest, apparently stopping by to distribute bread, widened his eyes.
Of the volunteers who had rotated with us, only four remained—several must have died in the interim.
“Priest, I have a request.”
“I’ve heard the story from the Saint. Please tell me anything. I’ll do whatever I can with utmost sincerity.”
“Thank you. Then….”
I spoke the names of the two calamities I had noted and pushed Barthimir forward.
“This child wishes to take those two calamities of body and mind into himself.”
…….
The middle-aged priest stared at the demon whose face was hidden by the Priestly Veil, then opened his mouth.
“Could it be… that a disorder of the heart has spread into a disorder of the mind?”
It was a plausible deduction.
***
Barthimir had been cursed.
And infected with sickness too.
“Hehehehe.”
Despite accepting two calamities that bound his body and mind, he merely grinned incessantly.
He seemed delighted with them.
“Artein.”
Elion the priest, who had been following and assisting us, placed his hand on his chest and closed his eyes.
“Please, in your mercy, soothe this wretched child of the Demon Realm with your gentle touch….”
It seemed the framing—that he had been abused by a wicked mage for being a demon—was working far too effectively.
Indeed, once I had invoked the mage as a malicious and vile agent of evil, he couldn’t help but empathize deeply.
“Priest, thank you for your cooperation. Then we’ll be going.”
“May Artein protect you. We’ll meet again.”
I seized Barthimir’s wrist as he remained preoccupied with examining his physical condition.
The demon, meekly dragged along as we walked, only began pummeling my back after we’d come some distance from the temple.
“You really are the best! My body doesn’t feel uncomfortable at all now!”
“It hurts.”
“Excellent!”
“Your life force is deteriorating.”
I tried reasoning with him gently, but when he wouldn’t listen, I had to cover his mouth before he finally settled down.
“You do understand what symptoms are supposed to manifest, don’t you? Just like with the Sudden Nightmare before, don’t go weeping about it later—confirm once more that you’re prepared.”
“What, you think I’m some kind of fool?”
“…….”
“Why won’t you answer me!?”
I couldn’t exactly deny it.
Barthimir was proficient in dungeon exploration, black magic, and calamities, but in other areas of knowledge he was roughly equal to Merlin.
It would actually be strange if a demon who’d been sold as a test subject to the Black Magic Guild as a child were learned across all fields.
“This curse, anyway.”
Barthimir suddenly thrust out his hand.
At the fingertips not covered by bandages, grotesque eyeballs sprouted densely like cockroach eggs.
The Ugly Eye Mark—a curse created by the now-extinct Evil God Cult.
Each finger gained its own self-awareness and would resist the master’s will, a true calamity.
“So now my fingers have developed the self-consciousness of a five-year-old?”
“Correct.”
Clack-clack-clack!
Barthimir’s fingers suddenly began thrashing about.
The movements were terribly sluggish—the Petrifying Body, a disease of gradual petrification, was restricting his motion.
“But it’s getting annoying. Hold still for a moment!”
Bang! Bang!
He slammed his two fists together and stone-formed fingers crumbled away.
The curse called Malicious Friend, which treated this as an act of healing the Petrifying Body, swiftly restored his hand.
“Oh, it’s calmed down a bit.”
“As more of your hand petrifies, it will move far more slowly than this.”
“Is that so?”
Barthimir laughed contentedly and summoned a turbid green aura in his palm.
Demonic mana.
Corrupted mana that lurked only in the demon realm.
Normally a mage’s mystical resource was mana, but in the body of a black mage who’d learned the Secret Art of Demon Realm’s Rampage, demonic mana flowed instead.
“…Ugh.”
What should have rippled like waves instead surged up in rigid, solid form before crashing to the floor.
“How does it feel—that Flow Coagulation Syndrome you’ve been so eager for?”
Flow Coagulation Syndrome.
A disease that hardened all manner of energy emanating from the body into brittleness.
For an ordinary mage, it would normally mean taking up retirement, a serious affliction—but Barthimir showed little enthusiasm for it.
He barely used activation-type black magic Secret Arts anyway.
“It doesn’t hurt as much as I expected?”
“The disease hasn’t fully settled yet. Please don’t strain yourself too much.”
“Got it.”
“How does your body feel overall?”
“A bit lighter, maybe?”
Demons gained a permanent increase of one point to Strength, Stamina, and Agility each time they consumed a certain threshold of negative concepts, their staple diet.
In terms of negative Status Ailments alone, one could say it happened for every three kinds they accepted into their body.
While it was an easy way to raise stats, they’d fall back down if he starved or the ailments were cured for a while, but with proper management it amounted to near-permanent growth.
“Since you’ve acquired a new calamity, you’ll need to fight hard.”
“Understood!”
Now that I’d developed Barthimir, all preparations were complete.
“Pendrick?”
“Yes, Commander?”
Pendrick, who’d been watching the bouncing Barthimir with fascination, answered briskly.
“For the next week, spar with Barthimir. Both of you need combat experience. I’ll observe and point out where you’re falling short and what habits should be corrected.”
There was no need to worry about them getting injured during sparring.
“Fight as realistically as possible—wound each other, let blood flow freely. We’re never short of priests and Holy Knights anyway.”
– …No matter how fast you can heal, isn’t that instruction a bit too heartless?
“Ah, you’re right about that. In that case, I’ll grant the winner each day the right to do whatever they wish with my body for twenty-four hours.”
– Aaaah! Stop that right now!
I gave a thumbs-up to Astrímia, who was flailing about frantically, and spoke.
“Let us train with patience and wait. For the coming of the demon beast horde.”
Trials far more terrible than any affliction were bearing down upon them.

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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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