Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. Chapter 195 - The Grand Gathering of Interracial Harmony – Total Chaos (2)

Chapter 195 – The Grand Gathering of Interracial Harmony – Total Chaos (2)

 

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Loud footsteps steadily approached from beyond the lush forest.

Astrimia instinctively looked up into empty space.

[↖ This way.]

Though somewhat unfriendly, Eyes That Perceive the Truth was never lazy. It immediately displayed a helpful message.

As the captain, Astrimia instantly pointed in the direction indicated by the floating text.

“…Everyone, prepare for battle!”

Perhaps because this was her first time possessing a physical body, her voice trembled slightly. Even her outstretched finger quivered.

“Calm down.”

The blond wolf Beastman, Pendrick, gently squeezed his lover’s shoulders as he whispered,

“Asmi, inside everyone else’s memories, you’re a true captain… an explorer with immense knowledge and leadership that never falters under any circumstances.”

“If you lose your composure, the brainwashing could come undone.”

Mind Seizure wouldn’t be usable again until its power had recovered.

There was no way to alter everyone’s memories again during this tournament.

If things fell apart, they would have to discard everything and devise an entirely new strategy.

“…I know.”

The beautiful Half-Elf captain shook her head.

“I know… but I can’t help trembling.”

She clearly understood that her own role was the most important. But the violent pounding of a heart she’d never experienced before made it impossible to collect herself.

“It feels completely different from when I was just an artifact’s ego!”

“You’ll be fine… You can do this.”

Pendrick, using hands far thicker than in his original body, gently massaged the slender Half-Elf’s shoulders.

“…They’re here!”

Perrin, who had flown onto a tree branch, shouted loudly.

At the same time, roughly fifteen humans slowly emerged from between the trees.

Soldiers clad head-to-toe in Bluesteel armor. Every one of them had vacant pupils… Their eyes held no focus whatsoever.

 

[Valterium Imperial Soldier — Human Blank Soldier (Level 3)]

[To resist the mind-swapping effects of [Chaos Disturbance Field], these soldiers erased their very minds. They blindly obey the single order to kill every person they see.]

 

“Treat them like monsters driven only by instinct, not people!”

Quickly reading the explanation, Astrimia immediately issued orders suited to the enemy.

At the same time, she realized once again just how vast Karr’s exploration knowledge truly was.

‘Sir Karr never needed to explain things after reading Eyes That Perceive the Truth….’

The peerless genius swordsman Marlin, holding Joyful Rosalia… transformed by Transformation into a beautiful longsword blending crimson and emerald, spoke.

 

“Even so… their movements themselves shouldn’t exceed human limits, right?”

“That’s right!”

“…Hm? What is it?”

“Nothing! I’ll focus on the battle first!”

The Blank Soldiers immediately charged, moving in perfect unison.

“Rosalia! Let’s go!”

“…….”

The taciturn artifact sword gave no reply…. As always.

Shhhhhh!

Even so, the Aura of Starlight faithfully enveloped its blade.

Marlin charged forward, swinging Rosalia.

“…Huh?!”

For some reason, Raging Gale Swordsmanship, which should’ve been swift and razor-sharp, was executed with clumsy, sluggish movements.

A mistake utterly unlike the peerless genius swordsman.

One Blank Soldier lightly dodged the strike, then thrust the blade protruding from his gauntlet.

“Marlin!”

The wolf Beastman Pendrick rushed over, throwing a punch.

An overwhelmingly heavy blow, launched at a speed even its owner struggled to control.

CRAAASH!!

The sturdy Bluesteel armor caved inward.

The Blank Soldier flew backward, rolling across the ground together with several comrades.

“…Whoa.”

Apparently surprised by his own strength, Pendrick’s eyes widened. Perhaps because he’d only recently been born.

Whoooom!

Next, Perrin, still perched atop a branch… rapidly loosed arrows.

He seemed to be aiming for their faces, the only parts left unprotected by armor.

Yet somehow, every arrow missed by an absurd margin.

Even the best shot merely struck the body before bouncing harmlessly away.

“…U-Uaaah!”

Brightfeather also desperately threw hidden blades.

Brites Hidden Blade Art.

His accuracy was somewhat better than Perrin’s archery, but he likewise failed to hit any vital points, wasting every opportunity.

“…I guess everyone’s in poor condition today!”

While Marlin floundered, the Blank Soldiers quickly reformed their ranks and closed in once more.

Watching the battlefield, Astrimia hurriedly shouted,

“Pendrick! Charge in and hold them all off! They’re only Level 3! You can handle them yourself!”

“Got it!”

Pendrick, carelessly addressing his Master in casual speech, immediately charged straight into the enemy formation.

“……”

Most of the Blank Soldiers were drawn toward his fearless assault and rushed him simultaneously.

However, three Blank Soldiers who hadn’t noticed him continued charging toward the others.

‘In situations like this…!’

Astrimia immediately determined the correct course of action through calm reasoning.

“Come after me—!”

She simply charged forward.

The Blank Soldiers, their minds completely bleached, instantly stabbed at the nearest enemy… the Half-Elf, with their gauntlet blades.

Crackle!

Their arms passed harmlessly through a body transformed into black lightning, and they themselves became engulfed in electricity.

[There’s no need to deliberately take attacks head-on as I do. You can simply redirect everything using [Black Lightning Blossom]. Please love this body of Karr’s very much, everyone.]

This was the boring but safe combat method Karr himself had explained during tournament preparations… one that avoided unnecessary pain.

“I won’t make the same mistake this time!”

“M-Me neither…!”

“……”

Taking advantage of the opening, the other members each attacked one Blank Soldier.

Even though everyone still fought considerably worse than usual, Astrimia continuously kept drawing the enemies’ attention.

Fwoosh!

Whenever a Blank Soldier attempted to turn away, a weak [Death · Flame · Transformation]  shot toward them.

Thanks to the captain’s desperate efforts, the others could focus entirely on attacking.

‘I have to help Pendrick too!’

Astrimia hurriedly turned her head… and witnessed an unbelievable sight.

Thunk.

A red-haired assassin burst from the shadow of a Blank Soldier, preparing to attack Pendrick from behind, accurately driving a dagger straight into its face.

Immediately afterward, the assassin delivered a spinning kick to another Blank Soldier charging from the side, then vanished back into the shadows.

Slash!

An instant later, the assassin reappeared, cleanly severing another Blank Soldier’s neck.

Smooth. Swift. Every movement is free of unnecessary motion.

While Pendrick still struggled to adapt to his body, Karr calmly slaughtered enemy after enemy.

“…No way.”

The beautiful Half-Elf’s mouth slowly fell open.

[:O]

Even Eyes That Perceive the Truth reacted the same way.

“For a second… I thought that was actually Rosalia. Is it because of the memory manipulation…?”

[Even with altered memories, he should still feel the disconnect between mind and body like everyone else. Fighting as though he’d been an assassin from the very beginning is clearly abnormal!]

“…But… he’s always been seriously abnormal. Now that I think about it… only his Class has changed. He’s still doing something completely characteristic of Sir Karr.”

[The Wise One greatly admired your sharp observation!]

Thanks to Karr’s overwhelming performance, the battle ended before long.

“…My body really isn’t cooperating today! I must’ve been too nervous….”

Marlin rested both hands on her knees, catching her breath.

Perrin drooped sadly, covering himself with his wings.

Brightfeather had long since become dejected, sitting down on the ground.

“……”

Meanwhile, Karr slowly stabbed the heart of a Blank Soldier who still clung to life.

His eyes remained completely emotionless.

“…Asmi.”

“…Yeah.”

Watching Assassin Karr together, the two lovers spoke simultaneously, without either one meaning to.

“Without all his jokes… he’s terrifying. And without his constant teasing… I don’t even know how to talk to him.”

Only now did they finally understand. Karr’s absurd, ridiculous, and often nonsensical words and actions had actually been consideration for everyone else.

“Everyone else’s personalities stayed the same… So why is Captain the only one like this?”

“Did we erase the wrong memories?”

“I only emphasized the parts connected to Lady Rosalia’s past… and hid the memories of him being a cultist.”

“Oh. I also hid… his oldest memories.”

Pendrick frowned.

“But… Most of his memories… were covered by fluttering wings? Some sort of incomprehensible, mysterious power. So… even I don’t really know which memories I ended up hiding.”

“Could that be why he has amnesia?”

“…Who knows.”

“Ah. Wait… ” 

As Astrimia gently rubbed her lover’s back, she suddenly frowned.

“…Could that actually be Sir Karr’s true personality? A calm person… who quietly goes about doing his work without speaking?”

“……”

Pendrick silently watched the red-haired assassin.

Slice. Slice.

Those emotionless eyes and mechanical movements, methodically gathering the freshly butchered corpses into one place.

His movements were so light they almost seemed capable of flight. Completely unlike his usual self.

Watching him sent chills down Pendrick’s spine.

“…I’m already exhausted.”

Just as Astrimia quietly sighed…

“Little Sister.”

Karr suddenly strode over. Startled, Astrimia flinched, then answered as naturally as she could.

“W-What is it, Big Sister?”

“I prepared it.”

“Prepared what?”

Those crimson eyes quietly rested upon the neatly arranged Blank Soldiers.

Corpses… Cleanly killed, with surprisingly little damage.

Only then did Astrimia understand.

“…You want me to perform a sacrificial ritual?”

 

***

 

Cultists living in Pletica could survive only by obeying the Harmony Church’s regulations.

As such, they were always searching for offerings they could legally present to the Evil Gods.

Astrimia, who served multiple Evil Gods simultaneously thanks to her Fanatic constitution, required particularly large numbers of offerings.

“…Thank you.”

She gave a small nod, then started walking toward the shade… only to suddenly stop in front of me, raising an arm.

“Um… Big Sister….”

“…?”

“Please help me. There are too many!”

I silently stared at Perrin’s body… currently occupied by Pendrick, standing beside the Half-Elf captain.

A heavily muscled physique, perfectly suited for physical labor.

“…He’s not delicate enough. He’s unsuitable for sacrificial rituals!”

“……”

Certainly. Since she was both his lover and his child, she naturally understood flaws invisible to everyone else.

As I nodded, a strange thought suddenly crossed my mind.

‘Lover…?’

Wasn’t Pendrick simply my child? Why had such an improper thought occurred to me just now?

Tilting my head in confusion, I nevertheless followed the captain toward the pile of corpses.

“We’ll perform a sacrificial ritual only this once. While we’re taking our time… the other expedition teams are surely moving ahead.”

Nod.

“Ah… R-Right! L-Let’s begin….”

Rumble…

The Half-Elf captain summoned an altar using Full Moon Executioner.

For some reason, however, she immediately broke into a cold sweat, deep in thought.

“Kuu!”

“Kii!”

Since she was probably just thinking up another outrageous idea, as usual, I ignored it and waited while scratching Mangmang and Silsil.

Clink!

While we waited, the chains of the Evil God Okail continued ringing.

“U-Um… Big Sister?”

Astrimia suddenly called to me.

When I looked up, the clear, brilliant eyes unique to Half-Elves were trembling violently.

What was wrong with her?

The captain, just like the others, seemed strangely off today… of all days, during the tournament finals.

“Which Evil God… should receive the offering?”

“…?”

“No… I mean… They’re all asking so intensely! You have the constitution Rapid Judgment… So… please choose one.”

There she went again.

Astrimia occasionally made these completely unnecessary requests, making life difficult.

And if I refused, she’d undoubtedly continue pestering me until I gave in.

“…Alright.”

Unable to refuse, I nodded, thought for a moment, then chose one Evil God.

“Su’eje.”

“Eh? Why?”

“Well…”

Crackle!

“Because… He keeps doing this.”

“…Ah.”

The promiscuous Evil God Su’eje had been crackling with lightning ever since Astrimia came close.

Crackle…

I had no idea what the lightning actually meant. But somehow, it sounded like cheerful laughter.

“But… Wouldn’t it be better to offer them to Lord Lidni instead… Oh, you don’t like that because our memories were erased?”

The Half-Elf captain stared into empty space, muttering to herself.

“I suppose that’s true. We do need a simple offensive technique… that doesn’t require undergoing a Trial…. Alright. I understand.”

Then she turned toward me.

“Please bring all of them… and place them on the altar.”

“Are you sure?”

Pendrick, who’d somehow stopped speaking politely to his own Master, asked cautiously.

“She says it’s alright.”

“No… It’s alright.”

Astrimia brightly smiled, pointing toward the offerings with Full Moon Executioner.

“I’ll show you. A beautiful sacrificial ritual.”