Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. Chapter 72 - Sanctuary of Restful Purification – Resolve

Chapter 72: Sanctuary of Restful Purification – Resolve

 

“So you’re saying we shouldn’t leave…?”

Valentin tapped his lips with his index finger as he spoke.

Unlike usual, he wasn’t showing his dazzling white smile.

That alone made it easy to tell what he was thinking.

“Even coming from you, Sir Karr… I have to admit, I’m honestly a little taken aback.”

“I understand.”

The completion condition had been fulfilled.

The exit gate had appeared.

And yet we were going to stay inside the labyrinth?

It certainly wasn’t normal behavior.

If I had to compare it to something, it would be like declaring that you were going to stay at work and keep doing overtime even though you had nothing left to do.

I’d done exactly that before.

I knew from experience.

It was an action powerful enough to leave even Section Chief Choi an evil spirit among men, speechless.

“You do know that people who remain inside a labyrinth after the exit gate appears are usually nothing more than outlaws who stay behind to murder and rob other explorers, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“Once an expedition has completed a conquest, it is supposed to leave the labyrinth immediately. Those are the basic exploration regulations established by the Royal Labyrinth Administration Bureau. Just now, Sir Karr… you declared your intention to violate those regulations.”

The Holy Knight strode up until he was standing right in front of me.

“Sir Karr… You’ll need to explain yourself.”

Even though he personally liked me…

He was still interrogating me.

A strict man who clearly separated personal feelings from professional duty.

Exactly what one would expect from the Vice Commander of the Spear of Order, who oversaw cultists and the poor alike.

“Give us a reason why we must remain here. If it’s a reasonable one… I’ll accept it.”

Fortunately, all the effort I’d put into building goodwill with him hadn’t been wasted.

At least he was willing to hear me out.

Moments like this were precisely why I’d spent so much time talking with Valentin about Lady Artein’s generosity and boundless compassion.

If this white-toothed Holy Knight had regarded me as no different from any other cultist…

I’d probably already have both arms tied behind my back.

“Very well. Persuasion happens to be one of my specialties.”

Accepting the sharp gaze Valentin directed at me, I calmly continued.

“Lord Lidni told me. He said that only by not leaving through that gate could we obtain the Hidden Piece.”

The Ever-Reliable Prophet of Twisted Truth.

“Do you understand now?”

“…To be honest, citing that evil god alone doesn’t make your claim very convincing. Isn’t he a deity with fewer than fifty followers?”

[I ought to rip every single tooth out of this monkey!!]

‘Crackle. Crackle.’

The Exalted One applauded Valentin.

Apparently, they disliked how rough-looking he was, but admitted that what he’d just said was correct.

“It’s true. My deity’s prestige is admittedly somewhat lacking when it comes to proving my point.”

“…Sir Karr?”

Lucius blinked blankly.

He simply couldn’t believe I had just openly belittled the very deity I worshipped.

Clergy of the benevolent gods, raised comfortably in greenhouses…

Could never understand.

Cultists only survived because we occasionally gave our gods brutally honest criticism.

If all we ever did was shower them with praise…

We’d eventually enjoy the fascinating experience of degenerating into pseudo-monsters.

How could we whisper nothing but sweet words of adoration?

“I’ll provide another piece of evidence.”

Actually…

This was far more convincing than invoking the Wise One.

“As I mentioned before… I joined the expedition led by Young Master Odilon, second son of House Brites.”

Excuse Number Two.

Deploying Lord Odilon.

“You’re free to doubt the knowledge bestowed by the Wise One. But I trust you aren’t foolish enough to question the information network of House Brites… a family that rose to become one of the Milky Ways through nothing but information brokerage.”

“…You’re saying the Faint Shadows of House Brites discovered this labyrinth’s Hidden completion condition?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“……”

Valentin hadn’t budged at all when I invoked Lord Lidni.

But the moment House Brites entered the conversation…

He finally fell silent in thought.

That was the weight carried by the Brites’ name.

I couldn’t abuse it too often.

Otherwise, the main family might send the Crimson Shadows, their assassins, after me.

It was a card best reserved for moments that truly required absolute persuasion.

“…Very well. I won’t question either the source or authenticity of the information for now.”

After pondering for quite some time…

The white-toothed Holy Knight looked me in the eyes.

“So then… What exactly are we supposed to do now? Must we search for Lady Artein’s arrangements and fulfill this hidden completion condition?”

“I’d like to know that myself.”

The Saintess, who had continued maintaining [Artein’s Touch] while listening to our conversation with obvious interest, quietly spoke.

“Hidden Piece? You probably mean what we call a Labyrinth Treasure. For the past seven years… people from the future have entered this place countless times, yet none of them discovered anything. But it seems Brother Karr knows something.”

“I know exactly what must be done, Saintess. What do you intend to do now?”

“To be perfectly honest… I’d like all of you to leave immediately.”

The Saintess openly asked us to depart.

I pretended not to hear her.

After surveying the now peaceful ward, I quietly murmured,

“I suppose the world was deeply impressed by the sight of a noble Saintess healing the sick who gathered here from across the continent. And so… It turned this place into the labyrinth known as Sanctuary of Restful Purification.”

“……”

The Saintess smiled faintly.

“There’s a concept known as the Reset Cycle for labyrinths. Do you know what that is?”

“As the name suggests… It refers to the phenomenon where every element making up the labyrinth returns to its original state.”

“Exactly.”

A labyrinth’s reset cycle was something explorers absolutely had to check beforehand.

If you remained inside when the reset occurred…

You’d be cast into the cracks between time and space and left drifting forever.

“Sir Valentin. Do you happen to know this labyrinth’s reset cycle?”

Valentin, who had silently listened until now, suddenly frowned.

“…Approximately seven years.”

Sanctuary of Restful Purification had existed for exactly seven years.

“Ah…”

Pendrick’s complexion darkened.

He’d once said he’d read every fairy tale and biography about Saintess Seraphina until the pages fell apart.

“…No way.”

The Holy Knight who served the Goddess of Clear Wisdom seemed to realize exactly where I was going.

His face turned pale.

He glanced toward the Saintess before speaking haltingly.

“S-surely… Surely this labyrinth doesn’t recreate… that incident?”

Valentin looked at me desperately.

As though praying, I’d deny it.

“That’s correct. This labyrinth resets immediately after reproducing the great tragedy that truly occurred in the past.”

But I couldn’t give him the answer he wanted.

Sometimes…

Even painful truths had to be faced head-on.

Looking across all the patients… I met the Saintess’s eyes.

“In roughly one week… This sanctuary will be attacked by a horde of monsters. It will be destroyed. Every priest, every Holy Knight, every lay believer… And even every patient… They will all be brutally slaughtered.”

Time remaining until the annihilation of the Sanctuary of Restful Purification.

Seven days.

“…Dear heavens.”

Valentin bit down hard on his lip.

Lucius’s eyes became hollow.

The Saintess before us was merely a labyrinth ghost.

Every patient. Every priest. Every Holy Knight.

They were all only copies of people who had once truly existed.

But…

If one looked down on them because of that…

They could never have become clergy serving Artein, the goddess who protected all.

“Saintess?”

Bartimir, still quietly kneeling exactly as I’d shown him, suddenly spoke.

Unusually, he even added the honorific.

“You said you’ve got a Mystery that lets you hear sounds from far away, right? Then… You already knew. The monster army was coming.”

“……”

The Saintess slowly opened her eyes.

“Over the past seven years… At least one person from the Church of Harmony who entered this place must have whispered about the historical event. Didn’t they?”

“Yes. I overheard it six years ago. And since then… I’ve counted the days.”

The white-toothed Holy Knight looked toward the ceiling and sighed.

The Saintess gently stroked the cheek of a young beastkin child whose hair had been transformed into writhing worms by a curse.

“I’ve heard that I am destined to stand against the endless monster horde without fleeing… And die protecting my patients. More precisely… The real Seraphina did.”

Just as in actual history…

This Saintess would soon die.

Then, with the labyrinth’s reset… She would disappear.

And a new Seraphina would appear.

An unavoidable death. An inescapable fate.

“Even so… I truly am worthy of the praise future generations give me.”

She didn’t look afraid in the slightest.

A high-ranking priest like the Saintess possessed a spirit far too steadfast to fear her own death.

But… The tragedy one week from now wouldn’t claim only Seraphina.

Everyone within the Sanctuary of Restful Purification would be massacred.

Then the labyrinth would reset…

Returning seven years into the past…

Only for them all to be torn apart by monsters once more when the appointed time came again.

“…Still… The thought that I won’t be able to protect these people until the very end breaks my heart.”

She cared nothing for her own safety.

Yet suffered deeply over the pain of innocent people.

Most of these patients had nothing whatsoever to do with her.

Most weren’t even followers of Artein.

And yet… She sincerely grieved over the future in which she’d fail to protect them to the very end.

The Saintess of the Guardian Church.

There was a reason Artein had chosen her as her representative.

[Unlike her goddess, that Saintess isn’t a hypocrite. Their positions ought to be reversed!]

Ignoring the useless message…

I saw Valentin, who had been staring at the ceiling, step forward.

“…Saintess. Please… Run away. The labyrinth will reset anyway. You’ll just repeat the same thing forever. So at least this once… Please enjoy your freedom.”

On the surface…

It sounded like a perfectly reasonable proposal.

To put it bluntly… The patients and believers here were all copies.

Even if you saved them… They were doomed to suffer again.

So as Valentin suggested… Wouldn’t it be more rational to leave the sanctuary and rest, at least during this cycle?

“I refuse.”

But… As she’d already admitted herself…

The Saintess was a fool.

“In truth… Lady Artein gave me the very same oracle. She told me to abandon the sanctuary. To flee… To seek a brighter future, even if only within this labyrinth. But… How could I abandon those who came all this way relying only upon me?”

Standing… Seraphina slowly looked across every bed.

As she took every patient into her eyes…

The uncertainty that had clouded her expression vanished.

In its place stood unwavering resolve.

“Rather than betray my duty… I would gladly cast myself into an endless river of suffering. Even if my efforts amount to nothing more than futile struggling.”

Valentin’s trembling hand slowly fell.

At last… He lowered his head.

“I know… The me who remains after the labyrinth resets… The one after that… And the one after that as well… They’ll all make the exact same choice. Just as the original me remained beside my patients until the end instead of fleeing.”

Foolish.

Which was precisely why…

She shone so brilliantly.

“I am destined to struggle meaninglessly… And meet a meaningless death. Even knowing that… Will you still refuse to return to the future? Please… Go back. I don’t want your precious lives to be crushed for my sake.”

As expected…

Those in high positions never truly understood the hearts of those beneath them.

What follower of the Church of Harmony could simply answer… “Very well.” …and walk away?

After looking once at each member of the Moonlight Expedition and the Church of Harmony…

I spoke.

“Saintess. It seems… No one wishes to return just yet.”

We would throw ourselves into the jaws of death.

Following this foolish Saintess.

“We’re going to help you. We’ll stop the monster horde’s assault.”

Only now…

Did the true conquest of the Sanctuary of Restful Purification finally begin.