Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. Chapter 151 - South Continent Expedition — Land of Frozen Ice (1)

Chapter 151 — South Continent Expedition — Land of Frozen Ice (1)

 

The Nunun Bear Love Guild was climbing the snowy mountain.

Together with the expedition leader, a dwarf who could run off in any direction at any moment.

“Oh, my goodness!”

Brinya beamed brightly and hurried over with quick little steps.

“You are…”

The snow-and-ice replica in the shape of a dwarf flinched for a moment before speaking again.

“Brinya, you are a miserable failure. An incompetent loser who rushes in full of enthusiasm only to ruin everything you touch.”

“Amazing!”

Even as those icy insults poured down on him, Brinya simply floated a recording artifact into the air and excitedly rambled on.

“A monster reflecting memories from the past has appeared. It seems to possess some kind of mysterious ability that reads people’s minds!”

“You’ll spend your entire life repeating failure in loneliness like an abandoned dog.”

“Should I call this mountain the White Slanderer? Or perhaps Factory of Frustration would be a good name too!”

“Brinya! You’ll spend your whole life chasing ideals and die alone!”

“Hahaha! Those words really sting the heart!”

Not the slightest bit shaken. Whether it hurled insults or not, he remained completely absorbed in recording his observations.

Dwarves were naturally a mentally resilient race to begin with, but Brinya, an archaeologist who wandered all three continents, constantly throwing himself into danger, possessed an especially steadfast personality.

“You idiot! Trash! Degenerate…”

Slash.

Veldora appeared behind the snow replica and cut down the monster that had continued showering Brinya with abuse. The passionate dwarf reluctantly stopped writing in his records.

“So Expedition Member Karr reported this beforehand, did he? This mountain truly is no ordinary place!”

“But… are you really alright? That monster should have taken the form of someone who left a painful scar in your memories.”

“I’m perfectly fine! It doesn’t seem capable of reading memories in great detail!”

“What makes you think that?”

Brinya cheerfully stroked his beard.

“If it could peer deeply into my mind, it would’ve exploited my weaknesses far more cleverly. Instead of resorting to such superficial insults like ‘failure’ and the like!”

“…Ah. Right.”

Veldora forced a smile. Behind her, her younger sister Tilda whispered to the other guild members.

“At that rate, wouldn’t he just shrug it off even if someone peed on his face?”

“Perhaps.”

“Lael, want to try?”

“If anyone’s doing it, you do it.”

“…Everyone, quiet.”

After silencing the guild members, Veldora coaxed Brinya away from the monster whose bisected body he was enthusiastically examining while lying flat on the ground.

“Expedition Leader, let’s keep moving. If the foothills are already like this, stranger phenomena will surely appear higher up.”

“A very reasonable point!”

Thus, the Nunun Bear Love Guild continued their ascent. Following the arrows the Moonlight Exploration Team had left behind in the snow. As they advanced, snow replicas appeared without end.

“Another snow monster!”

“Ah! That’s one of Sis’s memories! Be careful!”

“That insane, murderous seal again…!”

“Tilda! Just how many people do you hate?!”

“It’s because I’m so adorable that jealous people keep flocking to me!”

An exceedingly noisy expedition. Even though high-level snow replicas kept appearing one after another, the guild’s average level was much higher, so they climbed noticeably faster than the Moonlight Exploration Team had. Moreover, not a single person fell behind.

“…Without the strategy guide Golden Crow gave us, this could’ve been dangerous.”

Taking out the stack of papers Karr had given her, Veldora couldn’t help admiring it again.

The pages were densely packed with strategies. Occasionally, there were cheerful but completely irrelevant comments like ‘I really love bear-loving too ♡’, but overall, it was extremely useful.

“The marker is over here.”

Aira, the Sea-Origin Elf assigned to guard Brinya, raised her hand.

“We should head this way.”

“Let’s go!”

Just as Brinya was striding ahead with his short legs…

“…Huh?”

Suddenly, the surrounding scenery changed. A massive forge echoed with the clang of a hammer striking metal. Countless blacksmiths surrounded a single dwarf.

“…Expedition Leader, from here on you must be careful!”

This was the especially dangerous section Karr had devoted numerous pages to explaining. A place where memories of the past were projected directly into reality.

“You truly are the worst—”

“Oh! Good heavens! Such incredibly vivid hallucinations!”

Before the mountain’s mental assault had even properly begun, Brinya excitedly wandered about while enthusiastically speaking into his recording artifact.

Tap. Tap.

“The furnace, the hammers… even every object feels completely solid, not like mere illusions!”

Press. Press.

“Brinya, you’re the worst failure…”

“They speak and behave as though they possess genuine intelligence! Even their skin feels real!”

Instead of worrying or becoming anxious, Brinya was wholly immersed in research. The Nunun Bear Love Guild members, who had all been bracing themselves, exchanged awkward looks.

“That completely drained the tension.”

“Should we really try peeing on his face now?”

“…Don’t let your guard down. We’re not immune to mental attacks like he is.”

The real crisis was only beginning now. Gripping her grotesque scythe tightly, Veldora steeled herself.

“Alright, everyone. Let’s keep moving–”

“Hahaha! I want to live here forever!”

“……”

Perhaps because of Brinya’s endlessly cheerful demeanor, the Nunun Bear Love Guild found themselves able to face the mountain’s delirium with considerably lighter hearts.

Whoooo…

The blizzard howled mournfully, almost like it was crying.

 

***

 

“We’re almost there.”

A snowy mountain where the blizzard had ceased, leaving only the bitter cold. Our expedition climbed while taking occasional breaks.

The summit was just ahead.

“At last, this exhausting climb is finally over.”

Chew, chew.

Marlin happily gnawed on some jerky as she spoke.

“I want to finish exploring already and get some rest.”

“My goodness, Marlin. Apologize.”

“For what?”

“For whatever it is.”

“Yesh. Sowy.”

Marlin casually bowed her head to the side while speaking in the most disrespectful tone imaginable. As someone who valued manners above all else, it was difficult for me to endure such rudeness.

“Big Sister, as the elder, please give Marlin a proper scolding.”

“……”

Shake. Shake.

“You’re so merciless that you’ve wounded my feelings. Hmph.”

Puffing out my cheeks, I turned away dramatically. For some reason, Astrimia let out a quiet chuckle.

“This feels strange…”

“What do you mean?”

“Karr, your bizarre behavior is gradually starting to feel normal. This isn’t good!”

Bartimir, who was walking with a boulder strapped to his back because he’d decided to train now that things had become more relaxed, turned his head.

“What’s so bad about that?”

“Just imagine it. Suppose an enemy uses some bizarre trick, but because it’s the sort of thing Karr normally does every day, nobody realizes it’s hostile. What happens then?”

“Well, that’d just be unfortunate. ‘Died after falling into the enemy’s scheme’ is a common cause of death for explorers. Sleepy, isn’t that right?”

Lucius, who had taken the boulder out of his rosary’s subspace for Bartimir, nodded.

“That’s certainly true. However, such a thing is unlikely to happen in reality.”

“Why?”

“Because there couldn’t possibly be another person like Lord Karr.”

“…I can’t deny that!”

Surely he meant that I possessed uniquely charming qualities. To repay that faith, I gave our good priest a refreshing wink.

“Ah, I’m jealous! Do it to me too!”

“Pay the proper price.”

“How much?!”

“Simply grow up healthy.”

“Mmmm… That’s not easy for me. How frustrating!”

“……”

Astrimia fell silent for a moment before sighing.

“Well… somehow it’ll work out.”

“That’s right. It’ll all work out somehow. As long as everyone works together.”

Pendrick gently hugged Astrimia to his chest.

“We’re almost there!”

The mountaintop lay directly before us. After one twitch of her ears, Marlin dashed ahead.

“I’m going to be first!”

She was shamelessly trying to monopolize the moment of reaching the end of every trial we’d endured on the climb. Such villainy was difficult for me to tolerate.

“Big Sister, please go catch her!”

“……”

Rosalia once again firmly shook her head. How cruel.

“I made it!”

A moment later, Marlin jumped up and down from above, cheering loudly.

“My daughter, would you carry me?”

“Okay.”

After returning the boulder to Father Priest, Bartimir carried me on his back and hurried over.

Thus, we finally conquered the snowy mountain.

The magnificent panorama of the snow-covered mountain range spread out before our eyes.

“This view is incredible!”

Marlin, who had arrived first and was already admiring the scenery, wagged her tail enthusiastically from side to side.

“If I hadn’t become an explorer, I’d never have seen scenery like this in my entire life!”

“Now you’ve truly learned the real joy of exploration.”

Experiences impossible to enjoy in everyday life. Dopamine surges without restraint.

That was the true reason explorers continued seeking expeditions even after earning more than enough wealth and fame.

“Should our next labyrinth be somewhere even harder than this, but even more fun? Sir Bartimir, what do you think?”

“Oh! I’d love that!”

“…I’m not particularly interested.”

Marlin wrinkled her nose but continued admiring the scenery.

“But what are we supposed to do here now?”

Resting my chin atop Bartimir’s head, I pointed behind us.

“If we walk over there, you’ll naturally find out.”

I led the expedition members toward the center of the summit.

“…Huh?”

Marlin’s eyes widened. Her shoulders jerked in surprise. The others couldn’t hide their amazement either.

In the middle of the snow-covered summit, space suddenly expanded, revealing transparent ruins that resembled crystal.

 

[Ruins — ????]

[The exact information cannot be read, but this is presumed to be the mountain city once inhabited by the Ultimate Frost Battle Emperor Clan. It was built through pure technology rather than Mystery. Its technological level is absolutely astonishing!]

 

A city made entirely of ice, like something straight out of a fairy tale. An ancient city visible only from the summit.

“Those ruins are the place required to fulfill the strategy condition.”

The completion condition for the South Continent Expedition. The expedition leader, Brinya, must study the ruins and obtain historically significant results.

Climbing down from the back of my dependable demon daughter, I walked toward the entrance to the ruins.

“The atmosphere doesn’t seem ordinary.”

Pendrick started to follow, but I raised a hand to stop him.

“I’ll go alone. The ruins are filled with every kind of mystery mechanism designed to eliminate intruders.”

From here onward, this was the ‘Throw Karr In’ section.

“Sir Bartimir?”

Receiving my gaze, my demon daughter nodded, grabbed the chain connected to my collar, and pointed toward the entrance.

“Go, Karr-Karr! Disable all the anti-intruder devices!”

“Karr-Karr!”

Using Wealth That Transcends Space to equip Demon Suppressor on my hand, I leaped forward. The moment I entered the ancient ruins filled with icy energy, every mechanism activated and began bombarding me.

Wooooooo—!

A freezing aura that instantly encased my entire body in ice.

Ratatatatat!

Ice spikes erupted from the ground, piercing countless holes through my body.

— Want to build a snowman with me?

Even a snow spirit that tried to turn me into a snowman. A comprehensive deluxe gift set of ice-element hardships. Being able to experience what frozen food trapped inside a refrigerator feels like… what a wonderfully rare experience.

Crack…

[Life · Reverse · Cycle.] endlessly regenerated my body as it froze solid and shattered over and over. Occasionally using Evil Freezing Wind to remove the accumulated corruption, I continued advancing without hesitation.

Crack… crack…

The moment a freezing beam from the ceiling completely froze and shattered everything below my waist before I regenerated once more…

[Congratulations! Or not! — [Life · Reverse · Cycle.] has reached Tier 5!]

My growth-type Mystery had reached Tier 5, the point where it improved dramatically.

A Mystery that had already been quite good so long as one had a way to deal with its side effects… [Life · Reverse · Cycle.] had now become incomparably stronger. 

Laughter naturally burst from my lips.

“Hahahahaha!”

Exploring ruins is the best!