Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. – Chapter 57 – I Don’t Want the Advantage

Author: Cireng

Chapter 57 – I Don’t Want the Advantage

The Library of Sin was a popular dungeon.

Even though entering it meant enduring several days of hardship, countless adventurers still flocked there in hopes of striking it rich.

“So, you wanted to have an expedition competition.”

Bartimir, the law-abiding demon quietly waiting in line, casually spoke.

“Honestly, I was surprised. That was the proposal I was going to make first.”

A gentle smile spread across his mouth, visible through his bandages.

“Oh? A demon.”

“Hey, hide your valuables. He’ll steal them.”

“I heard they can even steal things out of subspace storage…”

Even though adventurers who looked like they had come from the slums whispered while glancing at him, Bartimir paid them no mind and continued speaking.

“You said you’d decide the rules, right? I don’t mind. Go ahead and make them whatever you want.”

“Are you really okay with that? What if I make the rules overwhelmingly favorable to myself?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

The demon black mage looked genuinely puzzled, as though he truly didn’t understand why I was asking.

“Isn’t it common sense that the harder and more difficult an expedition is, the better?”

“Ah!”

Marlin, who had been standing close by listening to our conversation, suddenly let out an exclamation.

“What is it, Marlin?”

“It’s nothing. I just finally understood exactly what Butler Sergius meant when he said you two were similar.”

“I understand what he meant now too.”

Abel calmly agreed with his sister.

From the looks of it, Pendrick and Rosalia didn’t seem much different.

“What about those kids?”

While I patted the siblings on the shoulders, Bartimir showed interest.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t introduced them yet.

“They’re the siblings under my patronage. The older sister, Marlin, is a Thief. The younger brother, Abel, is a Chef.”

“Hm.”

After looking back and forth between the two children’s faces, the demon suddenly leaned toward Marlin.

“Kid. You’re in trouble.”

“…Huh?”

“Because of the Library of Sin’s special internal rules, any thief who enters immediately falls into a pitch-black abyss.”

“Really…?”

Marlin’s eyes widened as she looked up at me in alarm.

She had grown somewhat accustomed to me by now, but she was still innocent enough that I felt relieved.

If she became too used to me, wouldn’t she stop giving lively reactions and instead become as indifferent as Odilon?

Then Bartimir lightly tapped the top of Marlin’s head.

“I’m kidding.”

The tiger beastkin girl stared blankly at his calm expression before gesturing for me to lower my head.

When I obediently bent down, she whispered into my ear.

“Do you think… he might actually be your long-lost little brother?”

“I don’t think so. Biologically, elves and demons can’t have children together.”

“…Even so…”

While Marlin and Abel alternated between comparing Bartimir’s face and mine with serious concentration, I introduced the other two.

“This handsome gentleman is the swordsman Sir Pendrick, and the elf is the assassin, Lady Rosalia.”

“Nice lineup, though the siblings are still too young.”

After giving his concise assessment, Bartimir rested one hand on his waist.

“So, what rules did you decide on for the expedition?”

At this moment, I was certain our hearts weren’t very different.

I deliberately dragged things out before answering.

“A three-versus-three expedition match.”

There happened to be exactly six of us.

We could divide neatly into two teams.

“Each of us will serve as the captain of our own expedition party and lead our teammates. What do you think?”

“Not bad. But how do we decide the winner?”

“When it’s over, the loser should honestly admit defeat of their own accord.”

If neither side acknowledged defeat, the match would never end.

But worrying about loopholes like that was something only overly rational people who insisted on living logically would do.

A true adventurer should be capable of honestly acknowledging the difference in expedition ability through an appeal to the heart.

“Sounds good.”

“Right?”

“Then how are we dividing the teams?”

“Let’s do this.”

I placed both hands atop the tiger beastkin siblings’ heads.

“I’ll take these two. Sir Bartimir, you explore with the other two.”

Cultist Team Captain Karr, Marlin, and Abel.

Black Mage Team Captain Bartimir, Rosalia, and Pendrick.

Naturally, our side had the disadvantageous lineup.

“…I don’t like that.”

Bartimir narrowed his eyes.

“Why should our side have the advantage? The dungeon already favors me because I’m a demon. I’ll take the siblings.”

“No. Why would you take the children under my patronage?”

“Then split them evenly.”

“I refuse.”

As we stubbornly argued back and forth, Pendrick quietly spoke.

“…Asmi. Why do both of them hate having the advantage?”

“Exactly…”

At this rate, we’d never finish, so I finally proposed a compromise.

“Then how about this? Sir Bartimir’s expedition enters the dungeon three hours after ours.”

“Hm… That’s reasonable.”

“…Which part of that is reasonable?”

“You still don’t understand the profound joy of exploration. It’s only natural at your level.”

I patted the shoulder of the beginner adventurer, Marlin, before extending my hand toward Bartimir.

“Let’s have an expedition neither of us will regret.”

“Sure.”

As we shook hands, I examined Bartimir’s bandage-covered face.

I hadn’t realized it when Ymir died so meaninglessly, but now that I was seeing him up close…

‘He really does resemble me.’

Despite being an entirely different race, Bartimir even resembled me physically.

Was there another reason besides the out-of-universe fact that I had created him?

The more I learned, the more questions surrounded my own existence.

Though compared to dungeon exploration, it was probably nothing more than a trivial, unimportant issue.

“We’ll wait in the back. You guys go in first.”

“See you later, Captain!”

“…”

After Team Black Mage stepped out of the entrance line, a fairly long wait passed before our turn finally came.

When I presented my identification plate to the priest, his shoulders twitched.

“Sir Karr? So you’re the cultist Sir Valentin praised so highly.”

Apparently, the handsome Holy Knight Valentin had been telling people about both my abilities and my character.

This was exactly why it never hurt to become acquainted with high-ranking Harmony Church members.

“Would you like a brief explanation before entering?”

“I already know all the rules. Please explain them to these children instead.”

“Understood.”

“Children? Please pay attention for a moment.”

Smiling brightly, the priest pulled what looked like a storybook display board out of the subspace attached to his rosary with its tiny shield.

The front was decorated with cute paper cutouts of library shelves and books.

“What an adorable teaching tool. It suits you two perfectly.”

“…We’re not ‘that’ young.”

“My sister’s right…”

Children always said things like that.

“Now look here. As the name suggests, the Library of Sin is a dungeon that takes the form of a library. But doesn’t something feel strange?

“It has ‘Sin’ in its name after all! Does it only contain scary books?”

Marlin, who had been grumbling moments ago, now asked with complete attention.

“Exactly!”

The priest turned the board around.

Unlike the cheerful front, the back depicted a gloomy, sinister-looking library.

‘Rustle.’

The snake tattoo crawling onto the back of my hand smiled happily.

The Silent One sent me the feeling:

‘This is exactly the sort of atmosphere I like.’

“This library actually existed in the Demon Realm before the Great Holy War.”

It had been constructed during the golden age of the demons, once the wealthiest race.

It was destroyed during the gods’ large-scale invasion of the Demon Realm, and now only traces remain.

“Demons once fought wars across the entire continent to consume negative emotions. They even competed with one another over who could torment other intelligent races in the most horrifying and innovative ways.”

“…Good heavens.”

“Eventually, one demon even published a book recording his own atrocities. After that, everyone started publishing books of their own.”

The priest bent down to meet the siblings at eye level.

“The books created during that era were gathered together in what became the Library of Sin. It’s an enormous facility… even larger than Pletica itself!”

“Bigger than Pletica?”

Abel’s tail suddenly stiffened.

Marlin, equally startled, glanced toward Bartimir standing in the distant shade.

“…Demons were even worse than I thought.”

“Oh, my friend! Don’t be prejudiced! Only thirty percent of the books were actually written by demons.”

To be fair, that was still an enormous amount.

There was a reason cultists, black mages, and demons formed the infamous trio that everyone instinctively distrusted.

“The rest were created by a strange phenomenon. The dense demonic mana of the Demon Realm gathered together, causing the library itself to expand.”

“So the books were written automatically?”

“That’s right! If you read them, the grammar and sentence order are a little awkward… but they’re still faithfully filled with horrific torture methods and firsthand accounts. The flow of mana really is fascinating, isn’t it?”

“…Then why do adventurers come here? If it’s full of nothing but horrible books.”

While Marlin tilted her head, Abel answered first.

“Probably because the rewards are exceptional.”

“Exactly!”

The priest spread both arms wide.

“Prepare to be amazed. Every single book in this library is a Mystery Tome.”

“…What?”

The siblings both stared with wide eyes.

“Then if you go inside and read any random book… You can learn a Mystery?”

“That’s right!”

“No way…”

“I know, right? It sounds unbelievable.”

Abel, who had been standing there with his mouth hanging open, gradually narrowed his eyes.

“But I was taught that dungeons never operate in ways that purely benefit adventurers, Priest.”

“My, my. You’ve been taught very well.”

“Our patron taught us.”

I quietly flashed a V-sign with my right hand.

“Exactly. Dungeons never freely hand adventurers benefits.”

If you loved getting things for free, the hair on your head would migrate elsewhere to become your conscience.

There was no such thing as receiving priceless rewards from a dungeon without paying a price.

“Every book is indeed a Mystery Tome… but every single one has a serious defect.”

Apparently, this explanation was part of his usual routine.

The priest held up another display board, this one depicting a sinister-looking book with villainous eyes.

“For example… If it’s a Mystery that grants overwhelming physical strength… the price is death. It works by drawing all your remaining lifespan into power.”

“…Then are there any useful Mysteries at all?”

“If there weren’t so many, adventurers wouldn’t come here. If you search long enough… roughly one out of every hundred thousand books contains a Mystery with only a minor flaw. Though unfortunately… You only discover what the effect is after learning it.”

“…”

Marlin’s tail, which had shot straight up behind her, slowly drooped back down.

Abel, who seemed slightly less disappointed than his sister, thought for a moment before asking,

“What are the dungeon’s completion conditions?”

“Simple. Somewhere in this enormous library is a single librarian. You only have to find that person and make contact.”

Finding one librarian in a library larger than Pletica.

It was at least more realistic than searching for a needle in the desert.

Even so, anyone entering had to be prepared to camp inside for several days.

“Any other questions?”

“Mm… Nope! Thank you!”

“Then please head inside!”

Guided by the priest, who looked more like a kindergarten teacher than clergy, the three of us opened one of the books sitting on the gigantic bookshelf rising from the meadow and began reading together. It told the story of an evil demon forcibly tattooing horrific markings onto a goblin’s skin.

When we finished reading the first page, we suddenly found ourselves standing in the middle of a library whose sky itself was completely filled with books.

“Wow…”

Marlin looked around at the towering bookshelves stretching upward like trees in a forest, her mouth hanging open.

“It’s really huge. I’d get tired just walking around.”

“Want me to carry you?”

“Shouldn’t I be the one carrying you? You’re weaker than I am.”

“That’s a fair point.”

I straightened Marlin’s crooked hat, then began walking without hesitation.

The siblings quickly followed behind me.

“Karr. You don’t seriously know where the librarian is, do you?”

“Of course I do.”

The librarian who worked within the Library of Sin, yet despised the criminal excesses characteristic of demons during their golden age.

That individual was already within the search radius of Sky Invader, which loathed everything pure and noble.