Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. - Chapter 94

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 94 The Hunter, Pierre
Odillon’s Estate Basement—a space that had never served as a torture chamber.
In the center, bound to a chair by all four limbs, the dog-faced beastkin fixed me with a lazy, half-lidded gaze.
“How’s the back of your head feeling?”
As I settled into the Young Master’s Luxurious Cushioned Chair that Rosalia had brought, Pierre gave a small shake of his head.
“Still stinging a bit. But an unexpected blow always makes for an intense spice that sets the heart racing.”
“True enough. A shock one never saw coming never fails to thrill the chest.”
“So you know that exquisite taste of perfect clarity that comes in the aftermath.”
We held each other’s gaze for a moment, then opened our mouths almost in unison.
“You’re more perceptive than most, I see.”
“It seems we’re cut from rather similar cloth.”
‘Both of them do seem to be the same sort of unhinged,’ I thought.
“Just so you know, I’d advise against planning any ambush while we talk. I’ve blocked the activation of Secret Arts entirely.”
Rosalia’s Fresh Companion—the Red Death Rose’s Mystic Toxin.
So little of it could be produced that using it in actual combat was difficult, but for suppressing the thrashing of a pinned enemy, it proved invaluable.
“I had no such intention anyway.”
Pierre gazed lazily up at the ceiling.
“I don’t mind being on the receiving end of a surprise attack, but I won’t be the one executing it. That would mean we weren’t meeting as equals.”
“So that’s why you showed yourself openly instead of striking while we slept?”
“Exactly. The others wanted to wait until darker, but I led them all away with a timely excuse.”
A tingle ran through me.
Sue-je was sending me the thought: ‘This one and the pretty one really do get along well, don’t they?’
The conversation was indeed flowing with remarkable smoothness.
Though with our opposing positions, we could never be close companions.
“Even if you’d attacked at night, the outcome wouldn’t have changed. I don’t sleep much.”
I continued speaking as I sipped Abel’s Special Tea.
“Let’s negotiate then. What exactly do you want?”
Pierre turned his head slightly, his brow furrowing at the fragrant aroma.
“I’ll hand over all the Garbage Outlaws belonging to the Silent Alliance to you. You offer them up as live sacrifices. A proposal that benefits us both.”
‘Question: Doesn’t this benefit only you?’
It might seem that way at first glance, but the truth was different.
It was genuinely a win-win arrangement.
Assuming the dog-faced beastkin before me had inherited the nature of the “Hunter, Pierre” I had once directly controlled.
“I grasp the general meaning, but I’d like confirmation. What exactly are the ‘Garbage Outlaws’?”
“No hidden meaning. Garbage pure and simple.”
Pierre’s tail, bound to the leg of the chair, writhed roughly.
“I can tolerate an outlaw who lacks skill. If I sense genuine desperation, I’m even willing to teach them. But…”
The beastkin’s jaw clenched.
His eyes burned with hatred.
“Skilled outlaws who target only weak expeditions because it’s safe—they’re utterly despicable. Revolting.”
Sharp fangs gleamed as a low, bestial sound rumbled from his throat.
“An outlaw only shows his worth when he preys on strong explorers. Yet these cowards hunt only the weak because they value their own hides! I cannot abide such savagery.”
Pierre’s entire frame trembled.
His face burned with barely contained murder-lust.
Fury.
The dog-faced hunter’s body blazed with rage—rage at outlaws who didn’t conduct their thievery with confidence and courage.
‘Why do all your companions lack sense? Or are you the one drawing in the mad ones?’
Whoosh.
I cleared the thought and spoke.
“So you plan to eliminate all those pathetic outlaws in the Silent Alliance and leave only the brave and honorable ones standing.”
“Precisely. Since we’re cleaning house anyway, if you offer them up as live sacrifices, we both get what we want.”
“Certainly… an irresistible proposal, I must admit.”
Free sacrifices flowing in effortlessly?
Such an opportunity truly didn’t come around often.
Living as a Model Social Broker, I couldn’t easily hold sacrificial rites otherwise.
“The offer is tempting, but there’s one problem.”
Yet there remained a fatal flaw preventing me from shaking hands.
“If we do such a thing, the ‘Leader’ who founded the Silent Alliance will mark us both for death.”
“True enough. But what exactly does this leader do?”
“You don’t know?”
“I’m still a low-ranking member of the Hyena Guild. I’ve managed a few impressive feats, which is why the Guild Master supports me fully, but I’ve no idea who sits above the Silent Alliance. Truth be told, I don’t care to know.”
The leader’s identity was a top-secret matter known only to those of Guild Master rank, so ignorance at this point was natural.
He doesn’t know, but I do.
One rung higher in the negotiation—that’s my advantage.
I took a sip of tea and flicked my fingers.
“Then I won’t reveal their identity just yet. You understand?”
“A rational choice.”
“What I can tell you now is this: our leader would never leave impurities like Pierre within the Alliance unmolested. Naturally, I’m a target for removal as well.”
Because I was the one who disposed of the Black Sword Guild Master.
And most of the Black Sword Guild’s outlaws were eliminated on Odillon’s orders through Rosalia—so when the truth comes out, he’ll be hunted too.
“An unexpected obstacle, indeed….”
Pierre, suddenly calm as though he’d never been agitated, murmured quietly before turning his gaze toward me.
“All the better. Plans that expect smooth sailing are nothing but foolish and pathetic. My mind hasn’t changed.”
…….
I watched the orange eyes of the canine demi-human, his bound tail swishing softly, then clapped my hands loudly.
“Excellent. Let’s proceed with the plan.”
I’d found it.
My true partner—transcending friend or foe.
***
Pierre doesn’t play the outlaw to slaughter explorers and plunder their expensive goods and coin.
The purpose is plunder itself.
Even if his target is a poor wretch, if they possess a respectable level and a decent Mystic Art combination, he gladly hunts them.
You might say he was a hunter who loved that moment—two lives wagered against each other.
‘Though that’s what I was, exactly.’
Back when I existed as a character alone.
But the real Pierre seemed little different.
His ultimate goal aligned perfectly with what I’d pursued in my newbie days at 9,000 playtime hours.
“Someday I want to rob one of the Twelve Heroes within the Dungeon.”
As I handed him Abel’s special tea—which he drank reluctantly—Pierre’s mouth curled into a grin.
“I don’t need the renown of having beaten the Twelve Heroes. I don’t mind meeting death in the process of the theft. As long as I can claim a technical victory in the end.”
“How resolute of you.”
A far cry from small-time rabble who raid decent expedition teams just to line their pockets.
Is it because he’s like a creation of mine?
“And your goal is to conquer the Nightmare Dungeon?”
“Compared to yours, it’s rather mundane, isn’t it?”
“Not at all. A sufficiently worthy aim. Though I confess the odds of realization are marginally higher on my end.”
Both of us were dreaming dreams that seemed utterly impossible at present.
Fantasy.
Absurd delusion.
But in a year’s time, these idle wishes would become real enough to brush our fingertips against, no longer locked away in dreams.
“Then let me set our cooperation’s terms like this.”
Using the Full Moon Assassin, I severed the rope binding Pierre’s left leg.
“I wish to completely neutralize the Silent Alliance, and you wish to eliminate a large number of the garbage outlaws within it. Our aims, at least in direction, are aligned.”
Snip.
I freed his right arm.
“Going forward, we shall remain in a cooperative relationship until all the garbage outlaws are dealt with and your leader abandons any thought of retaliation.”
“Wouldn’t it be faster to just kill the leader?”
As I cut the rope from his left leg, I shook my head.
“Asking a question as though confused, fishing subtly for details about their identity? It won’t work.”
“Ah, sharp as ever, I see.”
“Still, by setting ‘surrender’ rather than ‘death’ as the condition, I’ve given you enough room to speculate.”
“I understand that much.”
I freed his last arm and stepped back.
“For as long as our alliance holds, I ask for your cooperation.”
“Of course.”
We shook hands slowly.
A Socialite named Kar and a Caretaker named Pierre.
The so-called “Copy Alliance”—which everyone thought impossible—had been born.
Of course, our ending would never be a good one.
In the final moment, we would meet again within the Dungeon as outlaw and explorer, each hunting the other’s life.
“Now I can actually breathe.”
Pierre withdrew his tail deftly and rose to his feet, extending his right hand.
A Communication Magic Tattoo was inscribed on his right palm.
It was cheap enough that the Tamdeok Magic Tower raked in substantial profits from it.
“Contact me through this.”
Inside the ear-shaped tattoo, I could make out a ten-digit code combining letters and numbers.
A sort of telephone number.
Keeping it memorized let you contact someone anytime using the Magic Tower’s communication device.
“I’ll return now and testify definitively that you were the one who brought down the Black Sword Guild.”
“But the leader of the Silent Alliance won’t act on mere testimony alone.”
“So that’s why the Guild Master kept getting irritated….”
“The Black Sword Guild Master’s Weapon is likely here in this estate. I’ll have you take it to what used to be the Black Sword Guild’s hideout, so gather it yourselves.”
The first operation would take place after the Guild War, which would commence soon enough.
The leader of the Silent Alliance was the type who exhaustively verified evidence and testimony before finally moving to action.
“Until we meet again, do try not to fall victim to another outlaw.”
“And you, Pierre, do mind you don’t get caught in your plundering.”
After exchanging warm wishes, Pierre departed as swiftly as he’d come.
Ting!
The Exalted One praises me today as well, grateful for my faithful devotion.
I’d only been looking at the face the whole time.
“All done?”
When Bartimir came out of the dining hall after seeing Pierre off, he waved his hand.
“What did you talk about with that mutt?”
“We’ve decided to form a temporary alliance.”
“So it did come to that….”
“You anticipated this?”
“The moment I first saw him, I had a sense that we’d be able to talk. There was something about wanting to strike up a conversation, you know?”
The two of them were practically my children — there was nothing strange about feeling that way.
“But I don’t want to shake his hand. He’s just some outlaw, after all.”
“It’s merely a temporary alliance. The opposition proved exceptional enough to warrant it.”
The leader of the Silent Alliance is no ordinary person.
One might call him a villain at the level just below the Six Apostles.
Even if he hadn’t gone after the Black Sword Guild Master, I’d have eventually clashed with him anyway.
“Trust me for now. Though we may find ourselves at each other’s throats in the Dungeon someday, he is a beast worth cooperating with.”
“…That’s pretty cool, actually.”
Bartimir laughed and drew close, draping an arm across my shoulders.
“The Guild War’s coming up soon, right? Mother, is there anything else you need to prepare?”
The Guild War.
Along with the Silent Alliance, this too was a thorny problem.
If the Ashgray Wolf Guild failed to win, it would create major obstacles for conquering the Nightmare Dungeon.
But who was I?
A socialite who was more confident than anyone at causing or preventing all manner of serious incidents.
“Yes. Secret Arts optimized for Guild War.”
“Do we really need something like that?”
“Of course.”
I lowered Bartimir’s arm from my shoulder and placed my hand on his instead.
“We’ll prepare thoroughly. I intend for us to win overwhelmingly.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————