Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. Chapter 19 - The Taciturn Assassin Big Sister

Chapter 19 – The Taciturn Assassin Big Sister

 

“Abel, watch the house while we’re gone.”

Since Abel still didn’t have a class yet, I left him behind and took only Marlin to the meeting place.

Before that, however, we stopped by the adventuring supply shop, “Sinister Glance.”

“Welcome! You’re back again?”

Welcomed by the shopkeeper with his trademark golden-retriever-like smiling eyes, I browsed the potion display.

Unfortunately, nothing particularly caught my eye this time, so I only bought a few empty vials for storing blood to be used for masking the unpleasant odor of offerings.

After that, I picked up another set of candles and a few vitality recovery potions, both of which had proven quite useful during our last expedition, along with a mask to cover the nose and mouth.

That concluded today’s shopping.

As we stepped outside, Marlin tilted her head.

“Don’t we need to bring a pickaxe or anything like that?”

“The Hidden Piece in the dungeon we’re entering today can be found without using any troublesome methods like we did in the Fire Mist Ant Cave.”

“So it’ll be a lot less work then.”

“…”

“…Wait, does that mean we’ll still have to work hard anyway?”

Clinging to me while demanding an explanation for my silence, Marlin followed me to our destination.

The southwestern part of District 6.

Its landmark was a massive building built directly against the enormous outer wall.

Since it bordered the cultist district considered an undesirable area this neighborhood was usually rather deserted.

Yet this place was bustling with people, and business was thriving.

“Why are there so many people here?”

“Because of the dungeon.”

[Earth Elf’s Tomb] was the most popular E-rank dungeon.

“Because the completion conditions are easy…?”

“So you finally managed to get something into that head of yours. Correct. You only have to defeat the monster known as the Boss Individual.”

A simple clear condition, kill the boss.

That was the biggest reason it had only been classified as E-rank.

“But that’s not the only reason.”

I bought her a candied fruit snack from a street vendor and continued while handing it over.

“The dungeon we’re entering today is filled with valuable loot. Mysteries, jewels, artifacts, strange relics, equipment, tools. If you judge it by overall value alone, it’s practically on par with a D-rank dungeon.”

“Oh…”

As Marlin chewed on the sugar-coated fruit, her eyes sparkled as she looked toward the building housing the dungeon entrance.

“And there’s more. The layout is simple and straightforward. There aren’t any complicated traps, no annoying maze to navigate, and nothing that deceives your eyes or ears. It’s just an ordinary ruin.”

“That sounds like an ideal dungeon.”

“It is.”

“But I doubt it’s all advantages, right? Dungeons are never completely favorable to explorers.”

After only a few days of studying dungeonology, she was already starting to sound like a proper explorer.

As praise, I bought her a wide-brimmed hat and placed it on her head.

“The downside… The monsters that appear there aren’t exactly weak.”

“Are their levels high?”

“Most are Level 1. But Level 2 monsters also appear.”

“So they’re weaker than the Hidden Ghoul?”

“And stronger than you. They’re formidable opponents for explorers who aren’t yet ready for D-rank dungeons.”

You could call it the gatekeeper dungeon for low-level explorers.

Conversely, if you could comfortably clear Earth Elf’s Tomb, it meant you were ready to move on to D-rank dungeons.

“Let’s go.”

Entering the building built into the city wall, we found ourselves inside a practical interior devoid of decorations or furnishings.

As expected of such a popular dungeon, explorers looking for temporary teammates were shouting all over the place, boasting loudly about how impressive they were.

[Those with the loudest voices are invariably the weakest. What a noisy bunch of empty shells!]

Indeed, the companions recruitable here weren’t even worth giving a Tier 4 rating.

It perfectly reflected the developers’ determination to never let players profit too easily without hardship.

“This somehow reminds me of when I first met you, Kar.”

Watching the self-promoting explorers, Marlin suddenly spoke.

“When we entered the Hidden Ghoul dungeon?”

“No. Before that. When that orc who died so pathetically was gathering a temporary party.”

“…”

That had happened before the tutorial.

“Honestly… Back then, you were really scary. What was so frightening about me? I was as refined as always.”

Pretending nothing was wrong, I joked.

Marlin snickered.

“You were quietly scary. You silently gave off this terrifying atmosphere, kept staring at Abel and me with those gloomy eyes, and on top of that you worshipped an evil god…”

“Could you leave out that last part?”

“But then I got to know you. You make silly jokes all the time, but you’re actually kind and generous. I guess you really shouldn’t judge people by appearances.”

“I deliberately glared at you with a sinister aura to teach you exactly that lesson.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Don’t be sarcastic. How dare you speak to your patron that way.”

Pulling her hat down to cover her face, I fell into thought for a moment.

‘What kind of person had the original Kar been before I possessed this body?’

I had absolutely no information.

Even I had no way of knowing what had happened before the tutorial.

At best, as the game progressed, it became possible to roughly infer the surname of the cultist character, something even Eyes That Perceive the Truth  couldn’t reveal.

Even then, surnames were randomly assigned depending on race.

There wasn’t much meaning to be found in them.

“Kar? Why do you suddenly look so scary…?”

“I was thinking about how to raise you into an exceptional thief.”

Returning from my thoughts, I pressed down lightly on Marlin’s head.

If there was no answer to be found anyway, it was far better to spend my time researching ways to enjoy conquering dungeons than wasting energy on pointless speculation.

Tap.

As we waited inside, someone quietly approached and lightly tapped my shoulder.

It was Rosalia, the elf with crimson hair and crimson eyes.

“Whoa!”

Marlin, who had been examining her dagger without noticing the assassin’s approach, jumped in surprise and hid behind me.

I patted her shoulder to calm her before gently nudging her back to the front.

“Greetings. Lady Rosalia, this is my ward, Marlin. She’s a Thief. She’s still lacking in many areas, so for the time being she’ll only be serving as an assistant.”

“…”

The taciturn elf silently lowered her gaze toward the tiger beastkin thief.

Marlin shrank back once more, trembling slightly before awkwardly bowing.

“H-Hello…”

Naturally, no reply came.

But this was already our third meeting.

By now, I could roughly read even the slightest change in her expression.

“The lady assassin says she’s happy to meet you as well.”

“…You just made that up.”

“I didn’t. Isn’t that right?”

Rosalia stared straight at me before giving a small nod.

“See?”

“How in the world can you tell…?”

Anyone who had survived under the demon department manager Choi naturally developed this level of perception.

Whenever he was even slightly displeased, he’d spend an entire hour nitpicking every tiny mistake made by his subordinates.

Skills like this became unavoidable.

Of course, there was no way Marlin would understand that explanation.

So I blamed someone else instead.

“Lord Lidni is extremely fickle. If you’re one of His cultists, you absolutely have to develop this kind of awareness. Otherwise, He might decide you’re too dense to understand Him and simply take your soul away.”

[??? Stop slandering the Wise One. Unlike that petty God of Nature, Lidni is gentle!]

“That evil god really is difficult to please. He can be childish at times. But He’s wiser than anyone else, which makes serving Him worthwhile.”

As expected, Lord Lidni was truly magnificent.

He could even serve as the perfect excuse in situations like this.

Ignoring the indignant messages appearing before my eyes, I extended my hand.

“Lady Rosalia. We haven’t decided whether we’ll continue working together after this. But for today’s expedition, let’s do our best together.”

“…”

The silent elf gazed steadily into my eyes before accepting my handshake.

“I don’t really want to address a teammate so formally… Would it be alright if I called you Big Sister instead?”

“…”

“I’ll take your silence as tacit agreement. Thank you, Big Sister.”

The corners of Rosalia’s eyes rose ever so slightly.

Clearly, she was so happy to have me as a companion that her spirits were soaring into the heavens.

“Shall we get going?”

With my two companions each lacking in their own unique way I headed deeper inside.

Ahead stood a completely undecorated wall of exposed stone.

At its base lay a staircase made of fine sand, utterly out of place with its surroundings.

[Entrance leading to [Earth Elf’s Tomb].]

“Welcome, members of the expedition.”

A priest responsible for dungeon administration, waiting near the entrance, began checking our identities.

After Marlin’s and my turn, Rosalia silently produced an identification plate bearing a silver emblem.

“A Silver Badge explorer. And your level would be?”

The assassin silently held up all five fingers of her right hand.

“Level 5. Confirmed.”

The waiting explorers immediately began murmuring among themselves.

“A Level 5 in an E-rank dungeon? And a Silver Badge explorer? So there really are monsters who’ve passed that impossible exam…”

Glancing nervously at Rosalia, the explorers quietly edged farther away from us.

Marlin looked around in confusion, blinking repeatedly.

“What’s wrong with everyone?”

“The dungeons managed by the Harmony Church in District 6 generally don’t hold anyone responsible for whatever happens inside. They believe restricting people’s freedom to enter would go against the ideals of harmony and unity.”

“So… They’re staying away because if they went in with us, they might disappear without anyone ever finding out?”

“Exactly.”

Normally, someone at Level 5 would be exploring C-rank dungeons.

Even if every explorer gathered here rushed her at once, they wouldn’t be able to touch a single hair on her head.

“They’ve wisely decided to wait until we’ve safely finished the dungeon.”

“I agree completely.”

The priest, who had been listening to our conversation, casually chimed in.

“So then. Will you be entering immediately? Or would you like to hear the dungeon briefing? I’ve already memorized everything. We’ll head in.”

“Very well. I wish you a safe and peaceful expedition.”

To me, that farewell sounded utterly absurd.

What was the point of dungeon exploration if it was peaceful?

A true expedition meant narrowly escaping death…

Standing on the verge of suffering fatal injuries…

Being relentlessly pursued by crazed monsters…

Suppressing my urge to object, I climbed the ascending staircase.

Crunch. Crunch.

Each step upon the soft sand left faint footprints that quickly vanished.

After climbing for some time, my vision distorted… and the scenery around us completely changed.

“…A wasteland?”

Before we knew it, we were standing upon a vast plain stretching all the way to the horizon.

There was nothing in sight but barren earth.

And a lone set of ancient ruins standing in the middle of the endless landscape.

 

[E-Rank Dungeon — Earth Elf’s Tomb]

[Level 2 monsters frequently appear here. At your current level, this dungeon may prove difficult to handle. It is recommended that you actively rely on the assistance of the red-haired elf.]

 

If I relied on Rosalia, we’d undoubtedly clear the dungeon with ease.

But if I did that…

I wouldn’t be able to firmly bring Odilon, the companion who made future progression dramatically easier, over to my side.

To win over that troublesome young master with his broken personality, I’d have to demonstrate abilities far beyond anything he could possibly anticipate.

“Big Sister. Before we set off… There’s something I’d like you to do.”

Before beginning the dungeon, I made an important request to Rosalia.

“Please cut me with your dagger.”