Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. Chapter 111 - Guild War – Sunlight (4)

Chapter 111 — Guild War – Sunlight (4)

 

“Karr, what kind of elf are you?”

It was some time after clearing [Earth Elves Tombs], while I was lounging around the house.

On an unusually sunny day, Marlin suddenly asked me a question.

“Why are you asking that all of a sudden? Half-elves are all equally incompetent anyway.”

“I’m just curious. Your hair and eyes are golden… are you a Golden Elf?”

It was the kind of creative deduction that only someone lacking knowledge could make.

Lying sprawled across the sofa, I answered,

“Marlin, elves are divided into seven bloodlines. There’s no such thing as a ‘Golden Elf.’”

Elves were a race created by the touch of Metherd, the God of Nature and Abundance.

Fire, Sea, Forest, Jewel, and Earth.

The five elven races were created from the five natural attributes.

Then, immediately after the Sun Deity Solmiran and the Moon Deity Selvaran split into two separate divine beings, each created one more race.

“That’s how the Sun Elves and Full Moon Elves, collectively called the ‘High Elves’, came into existence.”

High Elves.

Among elves, they were the equivalent of human nobility.

Perhaps because the term had become obsolete in the present day, Abel, who had just brought over some tea, tilted his head.

“I’ve never heard that term before.”

“That’s understandable. The High Elves have essentially been wiped out.”

The Sun Elves disappeared from the world after being massacred during the Valterium Empire’s conquest of the Three Continents.

Meanwhile, due to a certain incident, the Full Moon Elves were cursed by Selvaran, and most of them degenerated into monsters.

Undead monsters known as ghouls are vulnerable to moonlight.

The tiny handful who survived barely managed to preserve their lineage as Half-Moon Elves.

“Now then, question. What kind of elf’s bloodline do you think I have?”

The siblings pondered for a moment before answering simultaneously.

“The Sun?”

“I believe it’s the Sun.”

Placing a hand atop each of their heads, I asked again,

“And why do you think that?”

“When you carried me in the [Fire Ant Nest], your body felt really warm!”

“To us, you’re like the sun.”

“Abel’s Shop: one point. Marlin: ten penalty points.”

“Whyyy?!”

As I pressed down on the protesting Marlin’s head, I looked out the window.

Today, Solmiran’s sun, drawn across the sky by a divine beast pulling its chariot, shone with dazzling brilliance and scorching warmth.

‘Why did I choose a Sun Elf again?’

When creating a character, half-elves could personally choose their bloodline.

There was absolutely no performance difference.

It was essentially just a customization option.

Yet, at some point, I had become fixated on choosing Sun Elves.

Perhaps becoming “Cultist Karr” had changed my body.

I couldn’t remember the reason at all.

“……”

What had my past self been thinking?

Why did it have to be a Sun Elf?

Though I couldn’t remember the reason, I had no desire to force myself to find out.

After all, bloodline wasn’t particularly important for a half-elf.

“The weather’s especially clear today. Is Lady Solmiran in a good mood?”

“Seems like it. It certainly feels warm today.”

I wanted to devote myself to the present and the future rather than the past.

Most ordinary half-elves probably lived each day thinking the same thing.

 

***

 

Half-elves were a race of sorrow and misfortune. Abandoned by heaven itself.

They possessed neither the innate Mysteries of elves nor the diverse talents and intelligence of humans.

Even those fortunate enough not to be killed during childhood usually ended up living pitiful lives, forced to rely on the one thing they possessed: their beauty.

“So it truly is quite a fateful coincidence.”

One of the Six Apostles.

The half-elf ninja Kyras Selune, the Conspirator, spoke quietly.

“A half-elf with golden hair and golden eyes… yet I couldn’t be sure until now. How could I? It’s practically impossible for people like us to meet each other as explorers.”

“That’s generally true.”

The High Elves of the Sun and Half-Moon bloodlines had been driven to the brink of extinction in the past.

As a result, they were obsessively concerned with maintaining the purity of their bloodlines.

Thus, even now, if a filthy mongrel like a half-elf was born, they would never allow the child to live.

“At the very least, those of us who were sold as ‘merchandise’ could be considered incredibly, incredibly lucky, couldn’t we?”

“Not at all.”

Kyras snorted.

“You were probably sold as a living sacrifice to some evil god’s cult. I was dragged into a ninja organization. From the age of five, I underwent horrifying training where children my own age slaughtered and trampled one another. Honestly, it would’ve been better to die before understanding any of it.”

Livestock raised as future sacrifices. Disposable ninja molded into murder weapons.

We had both grown up in equally horrific environments.

Perhaps that was why. The Conspirator’s gaze, which had practically cursed me until moments ago, softened noticeably.

“…To be honest, I wanted to kill you. But all my killing intent has vanished.”

Kyras let out a chuckle.

The smile was so clear and genuine that it hardly resembled the same ninja who had been glaring murderously at me.

“Golden Crow Karr. How much were you sold for?”

“Well, I did have High Elf blood. So… around one gold coin?”

“I was probably worth about the same. I’ve heard the market price of half-elves has barely changed since the days of the Valterium Empire.”

“I even heard a story about a famous North Continent mercenary who was captured as a slave and sold for almost nothing…”

The atmosphere suddenly became remarkably friendly.

A leisurely conversation shared between enemies.

The shared bitterness and misfortune of being half-elves somehow created an unexpected warmth.

“I have a proposal.”

Kyras spoke again, his demeanor much gentler than before.

“I have absolutely no idea where your knowledge comes from. But you seem to know a great deal about ‘us’, don’t you?”

“That’s correct. I could even list every single member of the Six Apostles.”

“…Then no lengthy explanation is necessary.”

The Conspirator slowly raised his hand.

Resting in his pale hand, the blood of a Half-Moon Elf, making it almost ghostly white, was an idol that hadn’t been there moments before.

A fish statue possessing ten eyes of an unknown species.

[A statue crafted by the foolish followers of Onishiv, the Ascetic of Equal Balance. For your own sake, stop looking at it and take no interest in it.]

“Golden Crow Karr. Devote yourself to Onishiv. And together with me, let us wield the authority of the Great Monster.”

“……”

An invitation to join both his faith and his organization.

A hidden event that occurred when a High Elf-blooded half-elf with sufficient fame encountered the Conspirator.

“To be honest, even Mind Usurper was a masterpiece another member of the Six Apostles created using the Great Monster’s power.”

The Conspirator curled one corner of his lips upward.

“Frankly speaking, the creature dwelling atop the Nightmare Dungeon is utterly disgusting. But the power it possesses… is genuine.”

[Utter nonsense not worth hearing. Cover your ears immediately! >:(]

“Oh. Come to think of it, you probably already knew.”

Crackle!

Black lightning erupted violently from the tattoo near my collarbone.

It failed, however, to drown out the Conspirator’s voice.

“The Great Monster possesses the power… to pull ‘future possibilities’ into the present.”

Kyras gazed at Onishiv’s idol with ecstatic reverence.

“In my case, I obtained a Mystery capable of realizing the Maintainer’s ideals. One that originated from a future where Onishiv ruled the world.”

The Six Apostles did not worship the Great Monster dwelling atop the Nightmare Dungeon.

Yet whenever it issued an order, they obeyed with all their strength.

Its authority was simply that miraculous.

“What about you? You’re an exceptionally promising half-elf. You could become an extraordinary explorer overnight.”

“That’s probably true.”

“Then there’s nothing more to discuss. Golden Crow… Join me. Together, let us fundamentally remake this world, which is absurdly cruel to half-elves!”

As he continued speaking, his voice gradually gained strength.

His emotions were rising.

“Honestly, don’t you resent it too? That some people enjoy blessed lives… while others crawl through cursed existences… simply because of circumstances of ‘birth’ they never chose?”

BOOM!

Kyras stomped hard upon the cavern floor.

“Why does Meterd stand idly by while countless half-elf infants die?”

The handsome face of the half-elf ninja twisted with fierce emotion.

“Why does Solmiran care only for creators while refusing to shine her sunlight upon the weak who truly need protection? Why does Selvaran care more about prey than the worshippers who serve her?”

Resentment. Hatred. Disillusionment. A thirst for revenge.

Every negative emotion that half-elves were prone to harbor poured forth through Kyras’s speech.

“As for those evil gods who lack divine power yet still refuse to come to their senses… They aren’t even worth mentioning. Heaven and earth are overflowing with absurdity. The world is buried beneath irrationality.”

After passionately delivering his speech, Kyras looked directly into my eyes.

“But the Maintainer… is different from those gods who care only for themselves. You already know that, don’t you?”

His silver eyes now contained emotions unlike anything before.

Fanatic devotion. Excitement. His face flushed red, unable to contain his overwhelming joy.

“The Maintainer longs for harmony among all intelligent beings! The Maintainer desires a true order where everyone stands upon equal footing! How could anyone ‘not’ worship such a being?!”

Harmony. Order. Its ideals resembled Artein’s… At least on the surface.

But while the destination was the same, the means of reaching it were completely different.

“Golden Crow Karr. Stand upon the earth, carried by the Maintainer. You can worship another evil god as well, can’t you? You seem to possess the [True Believer] constitution.”

“Well. In theory, nothing prevents it.”

[The Wise One urgently tries to stop you! Any other deity is one thing… but absolutely not Onishiv!]

Crackle!

‘Twitch…!’

Every evil god except Okail, who almost never paid attention to me… simultaneously expressed intense rejection and tried to stop me.

Nor were the evil gods alone.

A soft warmth spread. The two Arteins also conveyed their wills.

“…Do not listen any further, child.”

“That tongue of his ought to be ripped right out!”

For once, both the righteous gods and the evil gods transcended the divide between their factions and expressed the exact same opinion.

Under no circumstances should I become a follower of Equal Balance.

“I’m already a cultist serving four deities simultaneously. There’s hardly any reason to object to adding one more.”

“Excellent choice!”

“But…”

Looking quietly at the fish-shaped idol, I continued,

“I have no desire to see the world destroyed.”

Onishiv’s ideal was the end.

Or more accurately, a living hell equivalent to the extinction of all intelligent life.

A dream nearly identical to the objective of the Great Monster dwelling atop the Nightmare Dungeon.

That was precisely why the Conspirator, a follower of Onishiv, had willingly accepted recruitment into the Six Apostles.

“……”

The warmth that had filled Kyras’s expression disappeared, replaced once again by icy coldness.

“It is not destruction. It is a harmonious paradise for all.”

“It absolutely is not.”

I shook my head firmly.

“How can a world where every intelligent being suffers equally and endlessly be called a paradise? The great gods of Heaven and the Underworld reached a unanimous agreement. They decided such a place should be called… Hell.”

Some people, including Astrimia, among them, occasionally misunderstood me, but I never enjoyed pain itself.

Only the inevitable hardship and adversity endured while racing toward a goal… the pain that ultimately made the achievement shine brighter… held any value.

“I’m sorry. But if the qualification for becoming that deity’s cultist is to enjoy endless suffering inflicted without reason… then I’ve already failed.”

There was no place whatsoever for Onishiv’s Mysteries within my Immortal Cultist build.

“And I have no desire to serve beneath the Great Monster either. To me… a future that has already been revealed… isn’t worth even a single fairy tale.”

Prophecy. Precognition.

They were the most worthless abilities in existence.

They robbed tomorrow of its uncertainty… the excitement of stepping into an unknown future with a pounding heart.

“I’ll carve out my own future.”

“…Even if that means failing to overcome a crisis and dying?”

“That would actually be one of my ideal futures. Especially if it happened in an A-rank or higher labyrinth…”

Unable to suppress the excitement coursing through both my mind and my heart, I paused briefly before continuing.

“…I can hardly imagine a better ending. Just picturing it makes my heart flutter.”

“……”

Kyras stared silently at me with wavering eyes, then let out a long sigh.

“…In that case. It can’t be helped.”

Muttering quietly, he withdrew a scroll from his robes and unfurled it.

Various objects were painted across the long sheet of yellowed paper.

A paper-type subspace artifact.

Flap.

With a casual shake, the painted objects burst out into reality.

Dozens of shuriken floated around their master.

A giant ninja hound golem.

A dagger etched with strange markings.

The Conspirator picked up the dagger.

[Masterpiece – Lord’s Companion]

[The higher its owner’s Agility, the sharper it becomes.]

The Conspirator’s primary weapon.

Its raw performance wasn’t particularly exceptional, but it perfectly complemented the combat style of a ninja, whose greatest strength was speed.

Whoooooosh—!

A dense azure aura began swirling around Kyras.

“Onishiv. I shall spread your order across this world.”

Will That Devours Malice. The Conspirator’s unique Mystery, brought from the future through the Great Monster’s authority.

Upon activation, it temporarily removes all negative status effects while dramatically increasing the user’s Agility.

In exchange, the user’s entire body was wracked with unbearable pain.

[The Conspirator’s presence has become extremely dangerous. Be careful!]

Suddenly, the blue aura vanished.

In that instant, every affliction tormenting the Conspirator’s body and mind disappeared.

The Rootsprout that came from serving an evil god.

The countless restraints placed upon him to limit a disposable ninja.

Everything.

“I’ve decided. You have to die.”

The greater and more numerous the disasters removed by Will That Devours Malice, the stronger its effect became.

In other words, by devouring every calamity afflicting him… both in quality and quantity… the Conspirator’s Agility had reached a transcendent level.

“At the very least… I’ll make it quick.”

The moment he finished speaking…

[Danger: He’s aiming for your neck from behind!]

Kyras had already reached my back.

Thrust!

Before I could even react, his dagger pierced into my neck.

A pain surged through me, as though my head were about to be severed.

Had it not been for Truthy’s [Veil That Defers Wounds ], created through Insight That Foresees Chaos after foreseeing the danger, I would already be dead.

“You’re fast…”

Until now, the Conspirator had fought while his body remained slowed by the Rootsprout, relying solely upon his own skill and mastery of Mysteries.

Now, for the first time, he was fighting at full power.

Had Will That Devours Malice not required such a lengthy recharge time, he would have eliminated me the very first time we met.

“You’re already dead.”

The blade dug even deeper. Blood dripped steadily to the ground. An overwhelmingly powerful foe far beyond my current ability.

A mortal crisis.

“…Haha…”

I really had intended to hold it in, considering the atmosphere.

But I couldn’t stop myself from smiling.

Crackle!

The Exalted One sent me a powerful surge of intent.

‘My pretty one, stomp that handsome thing’s face into a miserable pulp!’

Quite the violent request.

Though that was probably due to personal preference rather than the fact that he served Onishiv, an evil god feared by all the others… I had no intention of refusing.

“Lord Su’eje. Please trust me.”

I shall grant your request.

Using the Conspirator’s preferred method… the slow, thorough, and certain one.