Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. Chapter 141 - C-Rank Labyrinth – South Continent Expedition (2)

Chapter 141 — C-Rank Labyrinth – South Continent Expedition (2)

 

I couldn’t see anything. My eyes were covered with a blindfold as I was being led somewhere. My hands were cuffed behind my back, and my ankles were connected by chains just long enough for me to barely walk.

“Move it. Hurry up.”

Yank!

The sailor leading me pulled on the chain attached to my iron collar. Far too much force for a frail half-elf cultist to resist.

“Oh my.”

My body lurched forward, leaving me no choice but to lean against the sailor’s muscular back. With both my arms and legs restrained, I had no choice but to remain like that for a moment.

“…Get off.”

“Why must you be so cold? That hurts my feelings.”

“Would you shut up already? You’re just a slave, yet you never stop talking.”

She grumbled, but she didn’t hit me. Such a strong appearance… Yet such a gentle disposition. I couldn’t help but become captivated by a charm that completely defied my expectations.

“Ma’am, if I survive this safely, I’ll establish an association devoted to admiring you. I’ll serve as its president and carefully preserve every single strand of your hair, your fingernails, toenails, sweat, tears, and saliva.”

“……”

The sailor, who apparently knew how to remain silently dignified when necessary, continued walking without a word.

Splash!

The sound of waves violently crashing against the hull rang in my ears. I could also faintly hear fierce rain and raging winds.

“Sailor.”

“No.”

“How do you know what I was about to ask before I even said it?”

“Because it’s the same request you’ve already repeated eight times.”

“I’ve already given up on that. You rejected me much too coldly.”

Using my bound hands, I awkwardly thumped my aching lower back before asking,

“Do other ships also have their prayer rooms down in the bottom of the ship?”

“……”

The sailor suddenly stopped walking.

“…Your eyes are covered. How do you know we’re heading to the prayer room?”

“There are things in this world that can be seen even without sight.”

[Behold, the excellence of me, Eyes That Perceive Truth, has once again been proven! Though admittedly, this is only possible from Tier 4 onward. :)]

The sailor fell silent before resuming her steps.

“You’re a cultist, right?”

She tried to sound indifferent, but she was subtly attempting a bit of small talk. Love wasn’t a one-way street. Once one person crossed the bridge, the other had no choice but to respond, whether willingly or not. 

That was why Sin: Lust didn’t seduce others. Instead, it placed me into a state of Enchantment, forcing the other person’s attention onto me.

— She’ll no longer be able to notice my presence at all now.

Using [Yay Yay, Friends Forever!], I sent a telepathic message to my quietly hidden companion before speaking.

“That’s right. A cute little half-elf cultist.”

“…Cute? Hardly.”

The voice that had kept its distance until now gained just a trace of warmth. It couldn’t simply be wishful thinking brought on by love.

I might be terrible at reading people’s hearts, but years spent working under Manager Choi had made me extraordinarily sensitive to the subtle emotions hidden within people’s words and actions.

“I can more or less understand why a half-elf like you ended up serving an evil god. You probably grew up surrounded by those lunatic ‘Purists,’ leaving you with little choice but to become a cultist.”

The Sea Elf sailor’s voice carried a cold contempt.

“My own child was a half-elf. My husband was human.”

“If she resembled you, then she must’ve had a healthy constitution that rarely got sick.”

“…Probably. If those bastards from the Impurity Extermination Corps hadn’t cursed her.”

Rumble—!

Thunder worthy of Su’eje’s approval boomed so loudly that it pierced straight through the sturdy, soundproof hull and reached my ears.

“I’d do anything if it meant bringing my daughter back. I’m sorry.”

“……”

I’m remarkably bad at understanding other people’s inner thoughts.

Yoonji had once seriously advised me, “If you don’t understand someone, just don’t say anything. And definitely don’t smile. You might come across as frightening.”

But… When everything was this obvious, even I could become an empathy machine capable of understanding someone else’s feelings.

“I understand.”

Carefully waddling along because of my shackles, I smiled.

“I’m fine. You don’t need to feel guilty. I’m used to being treated roughly.”

“…No. You’re not.”

Her voice reached me weakly, tangled together with countless complicated emotions.

“You’re about to go through something so horrible… that you’ll wish death had come instead.”

“Sailor. I serve Lord Liidni.”

“Who?”

“The one who swallowed World Tree Number Seven whole long ago.”

“Oh. That evil god. So he’s still around.”

[:(]

“My head contains nearly all the information in this world. That includes the reason why this ship is currently passing through seas plagued by violent waves and storms.”

“……”

The sea route from the Eastern Continent to the Southern Continent was originally a windless zone. Its problem was that it was too calm.

Or rather… It normally was.

Whoooosh!

As the rain and wind rampaged about in anger, the ship tilted slightly. The sailor caught me before I fell.

“Thank you. You’re very kind.”

“…Let me ask you one thing.”

“Would you like me to tell you the secret I’m most ashamed of?”

“Why? You knew what was going to happen. So why volunteer for this? Why…?”

Her voice now carried pity as well. Perhaps she was seeing her own half-elf daughter in me. Lightly rattling my handcuffs and shackles, I answered.

“If I hadn’t volunteered… Someone else would’ve become the sacrifice. They may all be terrible criminals… But even they deserve the right to die with at least a little dignity.”

“…Why suffer in place of that human trash?”

“Because Saint Seraphina would’ve done the same.”

[Seraphina would certainly have made the same choice as you… though her reasons would’ve been completely different….]

“…Ha. Haha.”

The sailor let out a weary laugh. The walls around her heart were beginning to crumble.

Not missing the opportunity, I immediately spoke.

“Please marry me.”

“I told you. I already have a child.”

“I’ve long dreamed of living in a one-wife, multiple-husbands household.”

“……”

Ignoring my remark, the sailor hesitated before continuing onward. After walking for who knew how long…

“We’re here.”

Once we reached a place filled with a strange smell, the sailor stopped me.

Tap. Tap.

“I’ve brought him, Captain.”

No reply came. Apparently accustomed to this, the sailor simply opened the door without waiting and led me inside. A foul stench immediately invaded my nostrils.

“…I’ll be going.”

“N-no… don’t leave me.”

“G-get off.”

After the Sea Elf sailor coldly shook off my grasp, her presence disappeared…

“Raise your head.”

A voice cold enough to make my ears ache issued its command.

Truesy projected words that pierced through even my blindfold.

 

[Captain Kiate (Human, 42), captain of Solmiran’s Hammer. So he isn’t just an ordinary captain after all! He’s a cultist serving Nadeu’saf, the Loathsome Lord of the Abyss. Filthy Su’eje is probably going to hate this.]

 

Crackle!

Sure enough, Su’eje expressed utter disgust and immediately ordered me to burn him with lightning. 

But I couldn’t exactly turn the captain hired by Expedition Leader Brinya into a nicely roasted cultist. Since he was effectively the ruler of this vessel, I obediently did as instructed.

“…Now that’s an interesting catch. A half-elf? Which elven bloodline?”

“Sun Elf.”

“A High Elf descendant who’s become a cultist? Now that’s amusing. Meterd must be watching you while biting his lip.”

Chuckling to himself, Captain Kiate dragged me forward before roughly forcing me down to my knees. A revolting stench wafted from directly in front of my face.

“…Are you pressing my face toward a toilet? Could it be… that’s your preference?”

“Don’t play dumb. You’re a cultist too. You already know roughly what’s going on. I didn’t pick out a slave just to satisfy mere lust.”

Bzzzt!

Ignoring such passionate desire earned him an even greater outburst of fury from Su’eje than before.

“I have worship to offer Lord Nadeu’saf. So stay still and don’t resist.”

The Loathsome Lord of the Abyss. The evil god of corrupted tides and filthy storms.

Nadeu’saf.

The Deep One’s preferred form of worship was drowning outwardly clean people in sewage.

In this era, with so few remaining followers, merely covering someone in filth was enough. But cultists afflicted with the status condition Fanatic weren’t exactly the sort to settle for “good enough. I hope you endure for a very… very long time.”

Captain Kiate’s icy breath brushed against my face.

“If you die too quickly… The Deep One will be disappointed.”

Splash!

Kiate plunged my head into the sewage.

The instant the filthy water engulfed me… the sounds of rain, thunder, waves, everything outside disappeared. In their place, an indescribably bizarre voice echoed beside my ears.

【Accept corruption.】

【Hope shall sink. Dreams shall drown.】

【The abyss awaits you.】

Filthy seawater was filling my heart. The voice of the being dwelling in those unimaginably deep waters. The one who wished to defile the entire world. Its voice slowly invaded my mind.

“……!”

Then… overwhelming suffocation struck. Along with an unbearable stench. Unable to breathe, yet somehow forced to smell every bit of the foul odor. An utterly unreasonable torment.

Splash!

After what felt like nearly ten minutes of desperately struggling, I was finally pulled back out.

“How does it feel?”

Still gripping my hair, Kiate snickered.

But a moment later, his voice became foolishly confused.

“…You’re smiling?”

“Whew. That was exhilarating. What a novel experience.”

“And your mind’s still intact…?”

Remaining submerged in sewage created by a cultist of the Loathsome Abyss normally contaminated one’s mind. Unlike during Nadeu’saf’s prime, complete corruption now required three full days of immersion. But even a few minutes underwater should’ve produced at least some degree of mental contamination… assuming the victim possessed no mental-defense Mystery.

“Hahahaha! Do you still not understand?”

Panting for breath, I laughed freely without trying to hold it back.

“I am someone cherished and adored by the Exalted One.”

Rigid Crackle. A Tier 5 Mystery belonging to the Filthy Sky.

At its core, it caused lightning to constantly flow through one’s body, granting moderate resistance against direct mental attacks that weren’t status ailments.

“No matter how filthy the sea becomes… It can never contaminate the heavens.”

“…If once isn’t enough… I’ll simply do it again.”

Kiate shoved my head back into the sewage. Long afterward, he pulled me back out.

He repeated the process five times. Again and again, assaulting me with mental contamination, suffocation, and unbearable stench.

 

“Hahaha!”

 

“Hahahahaha!”

 

Every single time, laughter burst from my mouth like roaring thunder.

This… was life.

This… was joy.

No wonder I could never quit exploring.

“…Perhaps I didn’t choose well. I chose the wrong one.”

Kiate muttered in disbelief. Apparently realizing I was an unsuitable target for worshipping the Deep One, his grip on my hair gradually loosened.

“Lord Kiate. Can you still not feel it?”

“…Feel what?”

Truthfully, even without Rigid Crackle, my mind likely wouldn’t have been corrupted.

【…Would you be willing to serve the Deep One?】

At some point, the voice inviting me into corruption through the sewage had become noticeably cautious.

“Nadeu’saf already considers me… a more precious intelligent being than you.”

Possessing the trait True Believer, I could never be broken by a cultist’s mental attacks. After all, I was beloved by every evil god.

“…Ridiculous!”

Kiate violently threw me to the floor. 

Was the little diving game already over? Perhaps happiness really was nothing more than an illusion that could never be grasped.

“You’re saying… The Deep One likes you more than me?”

Shing!

The unmistakable metallic sound of a drawn blade.

“Then offering you as a living sacrifice… should please Him greatly.”

“It certainly would.”

In fact, True Believer possessed a hidden effect: when offered as a sacrifice, the evil god’s satisfaction reached its absolute maximum.

Becoming an offering wouldn’t be such a bad experience. But while I wouldn’t mind offering myself to the real Nadeu’saf, I had no desire to throw myself away for the imitation recreated inside a labyrinth.

“Don’t resent your fate too much. The others will soon follow you.”

Kiate climbed on top of me. It was such an embarrassingly compromising position that my face flushed as I quietly spoke.

“…Big Sis. You can come out now.”

CRACK!

The instant the words left my mouth, a heavy impact exploded directly overhead. A series of crashes followed as things shattered and broke apart.

“……”

Rosalia removed the blindfold covering my eyes and silently stared down at me. Meeting her crimson gaze, I hurriedly explained.

“I wasn’t enjoying it. I was simply waiting until Nadeu’saf noticed my existence.”

“……”

“Yes. I understand. I’ll admit… There were also just a tiny bit of personal desires involved.”

BOOM!

Rosalia shook her head slightly before smashing apart my handcuffs and shackles. Then she handed me my golden spirit belt, retrieved from within her shadow.

“Thank you. You’re the best, Big Sis.”

As I changed out of the slave’s clothing and into Sky Invader, stored within Radiant Faith, Kiate was dragged in front of me.

His face had swollen beyond recognition.

“Lord Kiate. Thanks to me… You were able to perform quite a fulfilling act of worship, weren’t you?”

I leisurely bent down until our eyes met.

“So now… It’s my turn to perform a little worship.”

In the manner preferred by the Confused One… Okail.