Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. - Chapter 88

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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 88 — The Safe Dungeon Where Danger Never Strikes
“Greetings, members of the expedition.”
As we approached the entrance of the Dungeon we were about to enter, a bipedal beastfolk employee opened his mouth with a gentle lilt.
“I am Skiff, a Dungeon guide with the Interracial Association. I ask that you listen carefully to my words, and I sincerely hope your exploration will be safe.”
The Interracial Association was the most considerate of Pletica’s six major organizations, paying meticulous attention to explorer safety.
They even dispatched rescue teams if an expedition’s progress through a Dungeon seemed to be taking too long.
“The Dungeon you wish to enter now, the Cherry Cherry Orchard, is rated D-Rank. Though it is D-Rank, the actual difficulty felt in practice is considered to be essentially E-Rank. This is because there exists a guide within.”
“A guide?”
“Yes. Once you enter the Dungeon, a Paper Fairy will fly toward you from somewhere. The clear condition is to follow that Paper Fairy’s guidance and complete all seven tasks in total.”
For a D-Rank Dungeon, it was not an especially difficult condition.
The employee’s eyes glimmered faintly as he looked over each member of our expedition in turn, then continued.
“Given your spiritual caliber and presence, you should be able to clear this with ease. However, you must not be careless. The Cherry Cherry Orchard’s natural environment is rather alien.”
“What do you mean by that? Is it a Dungeon from some future where the world has become strangely transformed?”
Abel’s sharp question made the employee’s eyes widen slightly, and he answered with an earnest smile.
“Explorer. It may seem an abrupt question, but have you ever encountered a Fairy before?”
“Hmm… Never, not once. Perhaps it’s because I’ve only ever lived in the slums of the 6th District.”
“Even I, as an employee of the Interracial Association, have rarely met a Fairy. They don’t interact with other races.”
One encounters them only very occasionally while adventuring in a Dungeon, and on those days, one must refrain from spending money on anything involving luck—lottery tickets and the like.
You’ve already used up your fortune by then.
“Even in a place like Pletica, where all manner of races gather, they are a rare sight. Even Fairies rarely get along with their own kind. They live only as ‘communities’ of a handful of Fairies centered around a leader.”
Their nature is profoundly, deeply insular—they use sorcerous Secret Arts to create isolated spaces severed from the outside world, within which they pass their entire lives.
Understanding now why the employee had brought up Fairies so suddenly, Abel’s ears pricked up.
“The Cherry Cherry Orchard is a recreation of an isolated space belonging to some Fairy community, isn’t it?”
“Exactly.”
The Dungeon guide smiled with satisfaction.
I helped out the employee, running a hand over my head.
“Fairies, by and large, possess childlike natures. That’s why the Cherry Cherry Orchard is quaint and adorable.”
“Then it shouldn’t be very dangerous, should it?”
This time, the question came from Merlin.
Though Merlin isn’t my Ward per se, the questions these siblings posed were sharp as spears.
“It’s quite dangerous.”
“Why?”
“Because of the very childlike nature of Fairies I just mentioned.”
A child’s innocence carries two contradictory faces.
Clarity and cruelty.
Fairies were a race that possessed both in abundance.
“In conclusion, the Cherry Cherry Orchard is cute and cheerful, but danger lurks scattered throughout. However, if you follow the guidance of the Paper Fairy I mentioned earlier, you will be able to conduct a pleasant and straightforward exploration. Rest assured.”
The gentle beastfolk employee, offering a docile smile, even handed over an instruction sheet containing emergency protocols.
Merlin, taking the paper, whispered to me.
“Are Interracial Association employees always this kind?”
“Of course. They bestow warm favor and goodwill upon non-human races.”
“They hate humans?”
“They despise and abhor them.”
……
Merlin, who had asked the question, and Abel, whose ears had been perked up beside her, both grimaced in unison, then looked back at Lucius—the only “human” among us, since Pendrick wasn’t here.
The priest, possessed of a sound mind, smiled warmly at the siblings, reassuring them it was fine.
“I am a Harmony Faith priest, so there is no problem. If it were the plain human Pendrick who was here, things might have become a bit awkward. Is that perhaps why you sent him away for training?”
“Precisely. I had been planning martial training toward mastering Martial Mystery from before, but now proved to be the ideal time.”
The 5th District had much to recommend it, but there were certain inconveniences to moving about there as a human.
Posing as a Half-Elf made things somewhat more comfortable, but it was a method only usable by someone with striking looks like Pendrick’s.
In this world, excessively beautiful humans were often taken for Half-Elves.
“Do you have any further questions?”
The warmhearted beastfolk employee, kind even to a mixed elf, asked with a gentle smile.
“None. The Interracial Association truly is the best, as I’ve heard.”
“Thank you, Half-Elf explorer. Now, you may enter.”
Just as I stepped forward as leader and reached out to touch the melted chocolate clinging to the grass, Rosalia approached and tapped my shoulder.
“…Tail.”
Though barely audible even standing right beside her, her meaning was unmistakable.
A suspicious group had been following our expedition.
I wasn’t particularly alarmed.
“Thank you for telling us. I’d say it’s about time.”
Bandits.
The Dungeon’s greatest nuisance—those who treated it as a place of plunder and mocked the sacred act of exploration.
It seemed a bandit expedition had caught wind of us and was trailing our group through the Dungeon.
Ever since I’d cleared the Hidden Piece in the Sanctuary of Purification, my name had become so well-known in the 6th District that hardly a soul didn’t recognize it.
I spoke in the softest voice I could manage, barely moving my lips.
“Just trust this clever Half-Elf, Kar. There’s no need to worry. I chose this Dungeon specifically with the possibility of bandit attacks in mind, after all.”
“…….”
Rosalia stared at me intently.
Those eyes, full of suspicion now—I’d grown far too familiar with that look.
“Don’t let on that you’ve noticed. Act naturally, if you would.”
The assassin, ever obedient to instruction, nodded softly in agreement.
“Let’s move out.”
I touched the chocolate entrance, and we slipped into the Cherry Cherry Orchard.
Whoosh.
The moment we stepped inside, a crisp wind tinged with cherry blossom scent washed over us.
Beneath a soft pink sky dotted with clouds, a colorful meadow spread before us—a devastatingly beautiful hillside to welcome any explorer.
《D-Rank Dungeon – Cherry Cherry Orchard》
《As the name suggests, nothing but whimsical, childlike scenery awaits. I explained the details before, so I’ll spare you the repetition. Besides, you’d already know everything there is to know about this place anyway, right? :)》
Ping!
A sheet of pink paper suddenly appeared in the air, folding itself with practiced efficiency in response to the cheerful chime.
Abel opened his mouth with a careful expression.
“That must be the Paper Fairy the staff member mentioned.”
“Indeed it is.”
Flutter-flutter!
The paper formed itself into the shape of a diminutive fairy, and soon it was fluttering about in the air, circling us before breaking into an excited chatter.
“Friends! Help me, please! The bad children have come to Cherry Cherry Orchard!”
The conquest conditions for Cherry Cherry Orchard.
Seven stages total: defeating the ‘bad children.’
Before we began the proper exploration, I rallied the group.
“I want you all to understand that this Dungeon is less about exploration and more about rest and leisure. As long as you follow that Paper Fairy’s guidance closely, there’s absolutely no danger.”
“What happens if we act carelessly?”
“You’ll be killed by the ferocious snack animal friends.”
“That sounds fine.”
“…What do you mean, ‘that sounds fine’?”
Merlin looked at Barthimer in disbelief, then seemed to reach an understanding on his own.
“Ah, that’s right. You’re quite similar to Kar, aren’t you?”
“Why are you agreeing with him so easily?”
I patted Merlin’s shoulder as he furrowed his brow, and spoke up.
“Then let’s proceed. I’ll take the lead, so Barthimer, please follow from the rear. Rosalia, you take the middle position.”
Once we’d arranged ourselves into a rough formation, I turned back to the Paper Fairy.
“Oh my! Well, how wonderful! We’d be happy to help! Which way should we go?”
“Follow me, friends!”
Flap-flap.
The paper fairy began flying off energetically in some direction.
As we trampled through the rainbow-colored grass and ascended the hillside, a cute, cheerful melody drifted toward us from somewhere.
Swaying along to the tune without quite meaning to, I found myself walking alongside a cat with a gelatinous body, padding daintily forward.
– Meow.
“Come here.”
I like cats.
There’s something charming about their aloofness—the way they approach only when they feel like it.
Soon after, a cat made entirely of chocolate came striding toward us.
– Hisss-screech!
“Can’t you just go away?”
I don’t like that cat.
Dogs are humanity’s eternal companion, after all.
– Hisss-screeeech!
The chocolate cat suddenly swelled to the size of a rhinoceros and lashed out with its claws.
Swipe.
Rosalia cleanly severed its front paw, then drove an upward kick straight into its jaw.
The massive chocolate beast’s head exploded in a single blow.
“…You startled me.”
“Merlin, what happens if a tiger starts fearing a cat?”
All manner of cute and charming creatures continued to greet us as we pressed deeper.
Even the sun itself seemed to grin down at us.
Merlin, who had been following dutifully at my back, tapped me on the shoulder.
“Kar, this Dungeon doesn’t seem very dangerous?”
“Right. The staff mentioned it too—the effective difficulty is E-Rank.”
By the current standards of the Moon Expedition Party, Cherry Cherry Orchard was no formidable Dungeon at all.
Even novices like Merlin or Abel could explore it safely.
“Friends, please keep following me!”
Of course, that was only true as long as we followed the Paper Fairy’s guidance properly.
Tap.
Rosalia suddenly appeared beside us and glanced back down the path we’d come.
“…They’re here.”
“Understood. Thank you.”
I immediately withdrew my right eye from its socket.
– Caw!
A blind raven shot through the air.
Not long after, a startled cry of “What is that crazy raven doing?!” echoed from beyond the hillside.
“Kar, what did you just do…?”
“Bandits followed us into the Dungeon hoping to prey on us. I’ve arranged a little welcome event for them.”
Before long, the blind raven returned swiftly and placed the now-motionless Paper Fairy into my palm.
Merlin’s eyes went wide.
“Wait—didn’t you say it would become incredibly dangerous without this?”
“That’s right. You were paying attention.”
I turned to face the direction from which curses and shouts still echoed, nodding grimly.
“Without proper guidance, Cherry Cherry Orchard’s effective difficulty rises to C-Rank.”
***
Rising young adventurers are the bandits’ favorite prey.
Inexperienced and easy to rob, yet laden with valuables—prime targets.
Those with ties to the Milky Way or major guilds climb safely, but independent explorers with nothing to their name are merely treasure chests with legs.
‘Even with the Harmony Faith’s endorsement, he’s still a novice in the end.’
A Half-Elf named Kar.
The weakest of Classes—a Socialite.
And worse yet, bearing the Elven bloodline that brings curses if one serves any god but Meterd!
Despite shouldering such heavy handicaps, the Socialite adventurer had accumulated expedition achievements at an alarming pace, becoming famous even in the slums.
‘Kar! Remember this name. One day, you will surely become one of the Twelve Heroes!’
How could anyone not know, when Valentin—that loudmouth—prattled on endlessly about his bright future and brilliant promise?
Friendship with the “Heresy Crusher” had proven burdensome even for veteran bandits.
Yet the Half-Elf Kar remained worthwhile prey, dangers notwithstanding.
He’d unearthed Hidden Pieces multiple times—surely he carried valuable goods.
“You may enter now.”
The hastily assembled bandit party, united only by greed, entered Cherry Cherry Orchard the moment the staff member finished speaking.
Marsent, a demon bandit from the slums, believed this robbery would end as easily as all the rest.
– Caw-caw!
“What?”
A raven appeared out of nowhere, snatching the fluttering Paper Fairy and flying off before anyone could react.
…….
Most bandits are quick judges of situation; the slow and dull ones culled themselves long ago.
So Marsent reached his conclusion in an instant.
“…We’re doomed, aren’t we?”

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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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