Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. Chapter 142 - C-Rank Labyrinth – South Continent Expedition (3)

Chapter 142 — C-Rank Labyrinth – South Continent Expedition (3)

 

Whoooosh—!!

Rain poured relentlessly across the deck. A short dwarf hurried frantically across the ship as it rocked violently in the raging wind.

“What in the world is going onnn–?!”

Expedition leader Brinya grabbed the trousers of the nearest sailor and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“You said the sea route to the Southern Continent was a windless zoneee–!”

“…Please let go first.”

Avoiding the blazing glare of the furious dwarf, the sailors busily rushed about activating the various navigation devices installed throughout the ship.

Fwoosh!

A barrier of wind spread from the tallest mast, enveloping the vessel.

— Hehehe!

— Let’s help the humans!

— Everyone, concentrate!

The spirits, following the commands of the sailors contracted with them, began blocking the violent waves and wind. Only then did the constantly swaying ship barely regain its stability.

“Lady Solmiran…”

Standing on tiptoe to peer out at the sea, Brinya wiped the rain from his forehead with his arm. He had finally calmed down. But none of the sailors knew when he might explode again, so they quietly backed away.

“…Captaiiiin!”

Sure enough. Brinya immediately bellowed with the booming voice characteristic of dwarves.

A sturdy Sea Elf hurried over and bowed her head. She was the strongest sailor aboard, responsible for protecting the captain.

“Did you call for me, Expedition Leader?”

“Aira! Not you–the captain! The captain!”

“The captain is currently in the prayer room.”

“Why?! To pray that we’ll all go someplace nice when this ship sinks?!”

Although this had already been explained to him countless times before departure, the Sea Elf sailor Aira patiently repeated the explanation without complaint.

“He is offering prayers to the God of Great Seas and Purification. This region is normally a windless zone, but every so often, when the Deep Azure One becomes enraged, the weather turns violent.”

“…Was Sheht always this terrifying?”

“Only occasionally.”

Of course. That was a lie. Sheht, God of Great Seas and Purification, had always possessed an icy disposition. This was information they had intentionally concealed from their employer, Expedition Leader Brinya.

“Then you should’ve told me beforehand! We almost became food for sea monsters before even reaching the Southern Continent!”

“…My apologies.”

“Go call the captain right now! I’ve got a few things to say to him!”

“Yes…”

Aira picked up a communication device resembling a seashell.

“Captain. The expedition leader is asking for you. You should finish now.”

—I’m coming.

Just hearing that voice was enough to make one’s stomach churn. 

Captain Kiate. An apostle-class cultist serving the Loathsome Lord of the Abyss. In this day and age, most cultists were little more than ordinary citizens with somewhat unpleasant personalities. Kiate, however, was one of the rare truly depraved ones.

“Are you finished?”

—More accurately, it ended on its own.

Kiate clicked his tongue in irritation.

—Next time, don’t bring me delicate half-elves. They die before lasting very long.

“……”

The blond half-elf who had become a slave through crime, and who had behaved strangely polite despite his circumstances… was dead.

For a moment, Aira’s heart sank. But true to her Sea Elf nature, she quickly composed himself.

”Why are you pretending to feel guilty? You’re helping with these filthy deeds yourself…”

She had no right to suffer emotionally. Repentance could wait until after death, when she descended into hell.

“Please come to the bow. The expedition leader wishes to see you.”

—Very well.

Putting away the communication device, Aira frowned.

Whooooosh…

As she stood there motionless, the pounding rain echoed endlessly against the wind barrier.

“I’m sorry…”

Leaning weakly against the railing, Aira buried her head in both hands. Kiate was a fanatic who pursued an extreme form of worship far beyond what the churches of the righteous gods tolerated. Having secretly served aboard countless ships, he had quietly produced innumerable victims.

And… Aira worked beneath such a cultist for the sake of her daughter, who was slowly dying from a curse.

“Meterd… please do not forgive me…”

Cultists of the Loathsome Abyss, who specialized in pollution and corruption, possessed Mysteries capable of absorbing all manner of dreadful things… And curses also fell under the category of “dreadful things.”

That was why she had become the sailor of someone who committed such unspeakable acts. Even if following a cultist meant he could never enter the fields of the One Who Guided Great Nature… so long as his cursed daughter could live a new life in peace… that alone was enough.

RUMBLE—!!

A tremendous clap of thunder boomed overhead. Like the heavens rebuking him for surrendering to reality.

—A huge wave is coming!

At that moment, a wind spirit hanging from the mast cried out in warning. The ship lurched violently, nearly overturning.

“…I swear that cultist’s prayers just made Sheht even angrier!”

Clinging desperately to the railing, the expedition leader shouted.

“Aira!”

“Yes.”

“When we sail back to the Eastern Continent, make the first mate captain instead! Trusting a cultist was a mistake after all!”

“……”

There would never be a return voyage for Brinya. Nor for the expedition members. Nor for the slaves. From the very moment Kiate and his sailors had been hired and brought aboard this vessel… everyone’s fate had already become intertwined with the depths of the abyss.

Unable to meet anyone’s gaze, Aira instead watched the spirits desperately fighting the waves.

Then…

“I heard you were looking for me.”

The captain walked over.

As always… reeking of a foul stench.

“There you are! Get over here!”

“I’m already coming. No need to rush.”

Aira respectfully bowed to Kiate before preparing to head toward the prayer room to clean up after that revolting act of worship.

Then…

“……”

Aira suddenly froze. He grabbed the captain by the shoulder.

“Who are you?”

There was an unusual presence hidden within the captain’s shadow. Though concealed perfectly, it radiated a terrifying killing intent. Ordinary sailors would’ve failed to notice.

But Aira, having spent years serving as Kiate’s bodyguard and witnessing countless incidents… instinctively sensed it.

“What did you do to the captain?”

Water condensed into an arrow in one of Aira’s hands, ready to pierce a skull at a moment’s notice.

“As expected. You noticed immediately under normal circumstances.”

The “captain” spoke with strangely polite manners as he leaned close and whispered into Aira’s ear.

“I’m that cute and precious half-elf from earlier.”

“…You?”

It was a familiar manner of speaking. The blond half-elf who had been dragged away as the captain’s object of worship.

“If you’re going to stab me with that arrow anyway… please aim for my head. That’s the most exhilarating place.”

The half-elf wearing the captain’s appearance winked. Startled by the bizarre mixture of revulsion and inexplicable freshness, Aira quickly whispered back,

“Quiet. If the other sailors find out, it’ll be dangerous.”

“You’re worried about me? A mere slave? You truly are kind.”

He clearly wasn’t the captain.

Yet somehow… he also felt unmistakably like himself… only even more deranged than before.

Confused, Aira stepped backward with a frown.

“…Who exactly are you?”

“Me?”

The half-elf wearing the captain’s face approached Expedition Leader Brinya as he answered.

“I am the half-elf, Karr.”

Partway there, Karr glanced back and smiled. It was a smile that felt just a little unsettling.

“And I am a model cultist. Even Artein acknowledged that.”

The two Arteins… past and present, sent their intentions simultaneously.

”I certainly did acknowledge you…”

”Don’t use my name while pulling stunts like this.”

Though flustered and grumbling, deep down they were probably pleased. After all, I had disciplined a fanatic who had crossed the line.

“So why’d you call me?”

When I casually asked, Expedition Leader Brinya stamped his feet furiously.

“What do you mean why?! Why didn’t you tell us that this so-called windless zone occasionally turns into a death trap?!”

“Because it’s nothing difficult to overcome.”

“Don’t feed me that crap! Want me to smash you with my hammer?!”

His booming voice pierced through even the raging storm.

“If our mighty Solmiran’s Hammer hadn’t been such a magnificent ship, this expedition would’ve ended before ever reaching the Southern Continent!”

“But we’re all alive and well, aren’t we?”

Honestly… my acting wasn’t very satisfying.

Kiate possessed such an inappropriate personality that even I… the most upstanding cultist in District Six… found it difficult to imitate naturally.

Had it not been for Dark Clouds Rumble, Brinya probably would’ve realized much sooner that the man before him wasn’t the Kiate he knew.

“…You little–!”

Just as Brinya exploded in anger and drew his hammer…

—A huge monster’s approaching!

A wind spirit clinging to the mast shouted urgently. Brinya, who had been about to smash my knee, flinched violently.

“A monster?!”

—It’s… something huge! And disgusting!

Blinking blankly, the dwarf grabbed my trousers.

“You forgot to mention something else! You said there weren’t any monsters in the windless zone!”

“Heh-heh…”

“You’re laughing?!”

I simply grinned while allowing Brinya to shake me by the legs. Several nearby sailors quietly began laughing as well.

“…You. Wait a second.”

Brinya narrowed his eyes at me. Apparently he’d finally realized that Captain Kiate might actually be a suspicious cultist.

BOOOOM—!!

The ship lurched violently. Then, off the port side, an enormous monster emerged.

Countless writhing legs. A nauseating stench capable of clouding one’s mind merely by smelling it. Slime that polluted the surrounding sea.

And… three eyes set upon its monstrous face.

 

[Fallen Divine Beast Kraken (Level 5)]

[The divine beast once raised by that stinking Nadeu’saf. Long ago it descended upon the mortal world, but as its master’s faith steadily declined, so too did its own divinity, until it eventually fell into becoming nothing more than a monster.]

 

KWEEEEEEEH!!

The roar of the Kraken… once the divine beast of the Loathsome Lord of the Abyss… sent the spirits surrounding the ship scattering in terror.

Some brave little ones refused to flee. But the moment they touched the foul slime, they were all forcibly dismissed.

KWEHHHH!!

The triumphant Kraken wrapped Solmiran’s Hammer in its countless legs.

Creeeeak!

As the fallen divine beast tightened its grip, cracks began appearing throughout the wind barrier. The spirit hanging from the mast gasped before flying into the sky.

—I’ll hold it off! but only for five minutes at most!

KWEEEEEH!!

—Shut up, ugly monster!

While the wind spirit struggled desperately against the fallen divine beast… Brinya retreated toward the very front of the ship.

The sailors… having finally revealed their true colors… began surrounding the dwarf expedition leader.

“So we can finally stomp this noisy little dwarf now?”

“Hehehehe… I’ve been waiting forever!”

Grinding his teeth, Brinya grabbed the communication device and shouted,

“Expedition members! Everyone to the deck!”

Then he pointed accusingly at us… the sailors, myself included.

“You bastards! You betrayed me after everything I’ve done! I fed you! I housed you!”

“You’re the idiot who hired a cultist captain without suspecting a thing in the first place!”

The gull-man with the violent appearance snickered as he slapped a thick club against his palm.

First Mate Whitefeather. A savage berserker serving Nadeu’saf.

“What are you planning to do to me?!”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Whitefeather pointed toward the Kraken with his club.

“We’ll offer you all as sacrifices to restore our divine beast’s rank.”

The true objective of Kiate and his sailors. A sacrificial ritual for the Kraken. They had never cared about reaching the Southern Continent in the first place.

Then Whitefeather turned toward me.

“Captain. What are you doing? Start already.”

“Understood.”

I nodded before raising my right hand.

“I shall now commence… the ceremony of Punishing Naughty Sailors.”

“…What?”

Releasing Transformation, I casually swung my right arm.

CRACKLE—!!

Black lightning burst from my hand, instantly roasting every sailor surrounding Brinya.

“…Who are you?!”

Some of the sturdier sailors including Whitefeather survived and immediately turned hostile toward me.

Slash!

Rosalia burst from the shadows and cleanly severed the neck of the nearest sailor.

“……”

Even though he possessed more than enough strength to stop either Rosalia or me… Sea Elf Aira hesitated. Such was the power of true love.

Even the fervent courtship of a half-elf could cause the seed of destiny to sprout within the icy heart of a Sea Elf.

“Sailor… No. Lady Aira.”

Looking him directly in the eyes, I spoke.

“If you help me… I shall remove the curse binding your daughter’s body, Boiling Blood. I swear it upon Lord Lidni’s honor.”

“……”

[Don’t go making promises on my behalf….]

Rosalia disappeared into the shadows once more before emerging beneath another sailor and slashing her dagger upward. With sunlight hidden behind dark clouds, there were very few ways to stop the Brites family’s rampaging assassin.

“…What in the world’s happening?!”

“We don’t know either!”

While both Brinya and the first mate stood there utterly bewildered, I left the sailors to Rosalia and walked past Aira.

“I’ll tell you in advance. Boiling Blood can be completely cured through nothing more than proper herbal dietary treatment.”

Though I walked openly without any guard, Aira merely remained silent.

He didn’t stop me. The hand holding the water arrow trembled continuously… before finally lowering.

“Thank you.”

I bowed politely, then leisurely climbed onto the railing.

Crackle!

I unleashed black lightning at maximum output toward the enormous cephalopod. Only then did the Kraken, previously focused solely on destroying the wind barrier, turn its attention toward me.

Our eyes met.

 

[Due to the effects of Sin: Lust, you have become enchanted by the fallen divine beast! Furthermore, the Kraken’s attention has begun focusing entirely upon you.]

 

“Lord Kraken. Would you embrace me?”

What magnificent and majestic bearing! I wanted to be wrapped tightly within those countless legs. I wanted to lie atop that smooth head forever.

Kweeeeh…?

“I’ll come to you.”

Without the slightest hesitation, I threw myself into the sea. The countless legs wrapped around the ship paused for a brief instant… before rushing toward me all at once.

The true value of Sin: Lust, in my opinion: Drawing the enemy’s aggro and concentrating all attacks upon oneself.

CRRRACK!

The bones throughout my body shattered beneath the crushing embrace of those legs.

My entire body twisted, bent, and broke. Even as I sank beneath the water, I continued laughing without restraint.

‘Lord Demon King… Your meal has been fully prepared!’

Please… feast upon these overwhelming positive emotions.