Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. - Chapter 95

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

Episode 95: Praise the Confession of Conscience
Sector 6 has two markets in total.
One is located on the street where the tavern with the Hidden Ghoul Pack’s Lair entrance spawns.
The other is inside Apostate Town, the undisputed worst abomination facility in Pletica.
It was the Harmony Church’s thoughtful gesture toward Socialites who had to remain in residential zones—though when the market division plan was announced, other residents reportedly welcomed it all the more, saying it removed one excuse for those unsavory creatures to roam outside.
“Quiet as always.”
The market in Apostate Town, desolate even in broad daylight.
The only customers who appeared were the occasional Socialite or a holy knight from the Order’s Window.
Kori, a food merchant, sat listlessly scratching his back.
“Ah, I wish I could go to the markets in Sector 3 or Sector 5.”
“Then go, if you wish.”
The vegetable merchant across the way spoke with a gruff tone.
“But Sector 5 won’t take you at all—you’re human. Sector 3 requires some experience before they’ll permit you to do business, so you can’t go there either.”
“Give it a little time. The manager of Sector 3 might change soon enough.”
“True enough… I’ve heard the Ashen Wolf Guild is in real trouble this time. Something about all their internal information being leaked?”
The Ashen Wolf Guild had held the position of Sector manager for sixteen years now, thanks to Guild Master Targon’s formidable combat prowess and command ability—he was one of the Twelve Heroes.
But this time, the Secret Art information of all their key guild members had been completely exposed.
It was common knowledge that if other guilds prepared thorough countermeasures and deployed their forces, even Targon would struggle.
“Still, one never knows. There’s a rumor that Targon made contact with ‘that one.'”
“That one? Who?”
“…Who else would it be.”
The vegetable merchant wrinkled his nose while casually trimming the withered tips of green onions.
“The ‘Golden Raven,’ Kar.”
……
Kori knew that name far too well.
A rising-star explorer who had been unearthing Hidden Pieces from multiple dungeons in rapid succession, and had finally discovered even the hidden conquest conditions buried in the Sanctuary of Purification.
Since Order’s Window’s Vice Commander Valentin wouldn’t stop bragging about her accomplishments everywhere, hardly anyone in Sector 6 remained ignorant of what feats she had achieved.
“She really is remarkable, though…”
“Undoubtedly a prominent explorer…”
The two merchants laughed nervously almost in unison.
“Isn’t she just terrifying?”
“…Don’t even mention it. Every time that person passes by, my heart drops into my stomach.”
Her appearance was honestly beyond reproach.
She was a Half-Elf, after all—naturally so.
But her expressionless face that betrayed no emotion whatsoever, and the strange behavior she displayed with such a face, sent shivers down his spine every time.
It was the kind of revulsion one felt looking at a freshly revived undead.
“Come to think of it, she should be coming around about now…”
As he spoke, Kori’s gaze shifted to the street, and his shoulders flinched.
At the far end of the market road.
Two explorers with a murderous aura were walking side by side toward them.
The ‘Golden Raven,’ Kar, Sector 6’s most promising rising-star explorer—a Socialite.
And a demon with an uncanny appearance, her upper half completely wrapped in bandages.
“Merchant Kori.”
Kar walked up briskly and opened her mouth.
“…Uh, yes, yes!”
In his shock, Kori failed to even register how strange it was that she knew his name without introduction.
“What can I do for you, customer!”
“I have one question. It’s an important matter.”
What kind of question could set such a frightening tone?
What if she asked what he thought of the evil god he served!
As Kori was beginning to sway, feeling as though the world were spinning before his eyes, Kar asked in a cold voice that revealed no emotion whatsoever.
“Do you happen to know where cotton candy is sold?”
***
I was walking through the market with Bartimir, eating cotton candy.
“Delicious.”
Bartimir, who had tagged along because he had nothing better to do, spoke with his mouth moving eagerly.
“But this place is boring. I thought it would be a dangerous spot where you could become a sacrificial offering on the spot if you let your guard down.”
“That’s a baseless misunderstanding. It only happens occasionally.”
As we walked down the market street side by side, the few people present quietly stepped to the edges of the road.
“Why does everyone flinch and scatter whenever they see us?”
“I’m not entirely sure myself. Truth is, it’s been like this all along. I’ve lived here quite a while now, but I’ve never once exchanged a friendly greeting with any of the Socialites passing through.”
I always laugh cheerfully and wave my hand, so why does everyone ignore me?
Feeling a twinge of sorrow, I ventured deeper inside.
With each step forward, the number of customers gradually increased.
“Outlaw fingers for sale!”
“Oh. Perfect.”
“Perfect…?”
“Why are you looking at me with such a strange expression?”
“You’re not collecting fingers, are you?”
“Of course not. I’m going to add them to an offering for the Evil Gods.”
Even if I am a Socialite, I don’t have an obsession with human body parts.
I’ve collected heads of outlaws who attacked me during expeditions, but that was just a casual hobby—no different from collecting bottle caps.
“Thank you for your business, customer!”
After purchasing two pouches of fingers and continuing on, I arrived at my first destination.
A shop run by a vampire dressed entirely in black.
Beside the counter stood a sign with the shop’s name scrawled across it.
[Fresh Vampire Butcher (Totally Legal!)]
“Welcome….”
The vampire shopkeeper murmured in a cool voice.
I couldn’t quite hear it, but I decided to let it go.
After all, I couldn’t very well demand that a pitiful minority race like half-elves or demons speak up louder—that would be too tyrannical.
“You’ve come at a fortunate time….”
The proprietor quietly opened a coffin placed in the back.
Inside lay a pale-looking vampire with both hands crossed over his chest.
“Just lost consciousness yesterday, this one. Price is 800 gold. A tenth of the proceeds will go to the surviving family, you see. Hehehehe….”
Vampires are an immortal race that boasts overwhelming survival prowess.
Death comes only when they fall victim to one of their rare weaknesses: failure to quench their thirst for blood, sunlight, silver, fire, garlic, holy water, Holy Secret Arts, symbols of the Righteous God’s Church, stakes, flowing water, or entering a home without permission, among very few others.
But if they live too long, eventually their mind cannot endure, fades away, and they become nothing more than a living corpse.
In such cases, they could donate their bodies to Socialites like this, which would contribute to their family’s livelihood.
“I envy vampires. Even in death, they become money.”
“I don’t envy them. Half-elves can become taxidermied specimens for aesthetic appreciation, so in terms of corpse utility, we’re on roughly equal footing.”
“Wow!”
“…Ahem, I’ve gotten some strange customers here.”
I paid the waving proprietor 800 gold.
Most of the thousand gold I’d received from the Harmony Church was now gone, but it was worth every coin.
“Perform the ritual inside. The tent itself has a Holy Secret Art woven through it to suppress the Evil God’s aura, so keep it as brief as possible….”
“Thank you.”
Entering the cramped space inside the pitch-black tent, I quickly completed the pre-ritual preparations, fashioning a makeshift altar with the Full Moon Slayer.
“Thank you for this noble donation, Elder.”
I laid the mindless vampire’s body upon the altar.
I won’t prepare it the same way as before.
There isn’t even a recipe name for this.
They weren’t particularly evil-natured, and it would be disrespectful to the deceased who lived and departed with such diligence.
“An offering is now prepared for the One who gazes upon Twisted Truth and indulges in all the world’s Knowledge.”
It’s fine to offer it just as it is.
The Wise One particularly enjoys ancient vampires whose age stretches into the thousands of years.
So much so that the One who insisted on severing the head like a shrimp, claiming that crude knowledge would seep in, was content to accept ancient vampires whole.
“…Ah, wait just a moment, please.”
On second thought, if it was too plain, they’d surely start whining, so this wouldn’t quite do.
“Bartimir?”
“What?”
I asked Bartimir, who was watching from the side, to spare a bit of blood, which I poured into an empty vial.
Then I retrieved my own blood stored in a small bottle and divided the fingers I’d just bought in half.
Glug, glug, glug.
On one side, half-elf blood.
On the other, demon blood.
After carefully dyeing all the fingers a deep red, I placed them in a bowl woven from spider silk.
A finger tteokbokki complete—a dish offering two flavors in perfect balance.
“Liedniz.”
I set the finger tteokbokki beside the elderly vampire and clasped my hands together.

“Dinner is prepared.”
— Caw-caw-caw!
A blind raven burst from the eye socket and began to savor the vampire elder’s body and fingers with evident delight.
All courtesy toward the deceased and table manners were naturally absent; blood and flesh scattered in every direction.
【Kar, my child!】
As I wiped the soiled floor clean, the voice of a great divinity resonated through my mind.
I dropped to one knee without hesitation.
“You called for me.”
【How long it has been since such an ancient vampire! Everything this creature harbored—knowledge, emotion, memory—was utterly delectable!】
Liedniz, who was always prone to anger, delivered an oracle brimming with satisfaction.
He seemed genuinely pleased.
When a malevolent god received tribute and rejoiced, a Socialite could not help but feel as though he possessed the entire world.
Not because of deep Faith, but for another reason entirely.
“Truly a magnificent ‘special delicacy,’ was it not?”
【Of course! Ah, and the finger offering you personally prepared was even more savory than most!】
To turn such a thing into praise for me…!
Truly a wise being.
In truth, unlike in his golden age, the title “one possessed of considerable erudition” would now suit him better, yet he still held intellectual capacities that no mere thinking creature could match.
【You cannot sustain prolonged conversation from where you now stand. Speak at once—what is it you desire?】
I did not hesitate and uttered the name of a Secret Art.
“I seek the Eye Whispering Falsehood.”
The counterpart to the Eye That Pierces Truth.
Together, they formed an exquisite synergy—a Secret Art pairing.
The Rank always matched that of the Eye That Pierces Truth exactly.
《XD》
【Very well. Since the special offering was made, I cannot refuse. Take it!】
Crackle-crackle!
My left eye suddenly twisted and collapsed.
Destruction and reconstruction.
A pain far exceeding any Secret Art I had received before washed over me, and when my vision cleared again, words surfaced as if waiting for this moment.
《Welcome! The Eye Whispering Falsehood has replaced your left eye. At last my other half has arrived! Let us praise the wise one’s gracious blessing!》
Now both my eyes were Secret Arts.
While I was still rubbing my aching left eye with my hand, Bartimir leaned his face close to mine.
“…I heard something like a crackle-pop sound. Are you all right?”
“As you can see, I am fine. Let us move on.”
The next establishment we visited was a modest stall in the marketplace of Apostate Town—rather large by those standards.
[The Statue Shop Always of Many Faces]
Chitter-chitter!
Suez found the name so amusing that she giggled as we entered the shop.
A resting drake merchant hurried over and greeted us.
“Welcome! If you tell me what sort of statue you are seeking, I shall bring it at once.”
“May I browse for a moment first?”
“But of course! Do come in!”
I slowly examined the statues scattered throughout the tent’s interior.
The item I sought was easy to find.
A wolf’s head, horse’s legs, serpent’s tail, and an undead torso.
A stone figure wrung out like a dishrag with all these elements squeezed together into one grotesque form.
“…Are you truly certain about that one?”
The drake merchant scratched at the scales on his arm.
“Not that I care once I have the coin, but that one is really just placed here to be a price-gouging lure. You seem like quite a dignified customer, so I thought I should mention it—hehe….”
“I appreciate your honest confession.”
“But you won’t ask for a discount?”
“There is no need.”
I handed over 1 gold and 50 silver without hesitation.
This was not an easy item to obtain unless one visited this shop at precisely this moment.
I held the statue, purchased at three times its original price, and gazed into its face.
Truth grumbled in protest and then displayed text.
《A pathetic idol created to worship Ocail, the guide of calamitous beginning….》
The time approached for me to be reborn as a quadruple Socialite.

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