Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. – Chapter 84 – It’s More Inconvenient Than I Expected

Author: Cireng

Chapter 84: It’s More Inconvenient Than I Expected

Originally, the Sanctuary of Restful Purification had two hidden rewards.

Continuous free treatment from the Saintess.

And an identification badge proving one’s status as an honorary Harmony Church member.

Naturally, the precious Mystery contained within Artein’s mark was never something one would normally receive merely for clearing a C-rank labyrinth.

‘Yet I received it… from both of them.’

As I stared at the two slightly different white shield emblems nestled side by side on my chest, Truthy… who had been slacking off for a moment, slowly displayed information before my eyes.

[Artein Priest 8th-Tier Mystery — Guardian of Radiance]

[Greatly reduces all forms of mental suffering.]

[Artein Holy Knight 8th-Tier Mystery — Guardian of Brilliant Light]

[Greatly reduces all forms of physical suffering.]

[Since both your class and the dignity of your soul are mismatched, they currently only function at a level sufficient for you to work normally. To think someone could do something this absurd. Just how vast is Her divine power?!]

Granting Mystery without matching class and level.

It required an outrageous amount of faith, and unless there was an appropriate causal connection, it wasn’t even something most gods could attempt.

Cases where a deity bestowed Mystery upon a cultist who wasn’t even their own believer could be counted on one hand throughout all of history.

After all, why would a higher celestial being perform something so inefficient and meaningless?

”What exactly is going to happen from here on?”

A cultist bearing the marks bestowed by two different Arteins.

That alone was enough to become a major incident capable of igniting fierce conflict between the Harmony Church’s three sects.

Naturally, I had no idea what kinds of incidents and accidents would arise as I became entangled with the Harmony Church from now on.

Of course…

That was exactly why I had to continue down this path.

“Thank you. It seems I’ll be getting caught up in all kinds of major incidents and disasters for a very long time.”

An unpredictable future hidden within the fog?

Conflicts between the three sects centered around me?

How could anyone resist making such an exciting decision?

[That loathsome hypocrite goddess’s aura is suffocating! The Wise One is wearing an expression of utter disgust!]

‘Crackle. Crackle-crackle.’

‘Wriggle!’

The Evil Gods all reacted with obvious irritation.

From the perspective of the current Evil Gods, Artein who had accomplished a miracle that would remain impossible even if they steadily accumulated faith for another fifty years or more had suddenly acquired nearly twenty percent of Karr Corporation’s shares.

Naturally, they felt anxious.

“Please don’t worry so much. They’re merely Mysterys bestowed so They can observe my future activities more conveniently.”

At present, Artein had simply subscribed to the most expensive premium plan of Karrflix.

No matter how overflowing her faith reserves were, she couldn’t forcibly convert someone whose soul already bore the class of ‘cultist’.

Of course…

Things would be different if the person themselves declared apostasy.

“I shall forever remain your adorable little cultist.”

I gazed into empty space for a moment before continuing.

“That said… I am merely one foolish intelligent being. If you treat me too coldly, perhaps my heart may change.”

As though it had been waiting for those words, a gentle, immaculate aura flowed from the grayish-white shield emblem.

“You will always be welcome with Me.”

Along with it came a vivid will that clearly demonstrated the vastness of her accumulated faith.

Compared to the rough, blunt intentions of the Evil Gods which required no small amount of deciphering it was truly like heaven and earth.

It was practically no different from receiving a divine oracle.

[Death to that hypocrite goddess!!]

‘Crackle-crackle-crackle!’

Chaos erupted again.

Truthfully, Artein hadn’t even been coveting me.

She had merely shown a slight curiosity.

But there was no reason to mention that.

Wouldn’t the anxiety of potentially losing a capable cultist become an excellent driving force for the growth of those great divine beings?

“Ah… Lady Artein’s will is so warm. So this is what a benevolent god is…?”

I closed my eyes while resting my right hand atop the shield emblem.

As though gently embracing the One Who Protects All.

A pair of impossibly handsome twin second male leads had suddenly appeared to embrace the beautiful heroine Karr.

Naturally, the Evil Gods displayed great fury.

‘Whoooosh…’

At that moment, another will flowed through the shield emblem.

Both versions of the same deity simultaneously.

“The antics of those Evil Gods are utterly laughable! I’m glad I “subscribed” to you.”

“Do not use me like some handsome man hired merely to provoke your lover’s jealousy….”

Though they were unquestionably the same person…

Their manners of speaking were distinctly different.

For the sake of preserving the dignity of the One Who Protects All, I decided not to think too deeply about why that was.

Some secrets deserve to remain forever buried from public knowledge.

[I never imagined the hypocrite goddess manifested inside the labyrinth’s world would actually be able to communicate with you. Even the Wise One finds this particular point interesting.]

Such a miracle was only possible because they had engraved the highest-grade marks upon me.

It was rather like accidentally discovering a channel through the algorithm, then subscribing so it would be easier to find again later.

By a similar principle, if one’s Charm stat grew high enough, even one of the labyrinth’s higher-ranking obsessive yandere protagonists might attach themselves to you.

But even that sounded like an interesting experience in its own way.

I absentmindedly rested a hand against my chest while staring at the ceiling before speaking.

“To the One Who Protects All of the present age… If I may ask…”

Carefully considering my wording as much as possible, I continued.

“Was it… You who brought me to Pletica?”

The deity who had brought me a mere player of Nightmare Dungeon into this world.

As a devout believer, I intended to continue believing that Lidni had guided me here regardless of the objective truth.

Still…

I wanted to understand the actual chain of causality.

Only then could I reconstruct the facts into something that fit the setting even more perfectly.

“……”

For some reason, Artein fell silent for quite a while before finally sending her answer.

“I understand what you mean. But no… it wasn’t Me. Though I believe it was likely a deity very close to me.”

Someone close to Artein?

Immediately, the second- and third-ranked gods among the benevolent deities came to mind.

But Meterd the third-ranked one would never have summoned an elven-blooded cultist into this world.

”Talendros?”

The God of Fortune Won Through Struggle and Precious Rewards.

The Seizer of Luxurious Treasures.

Talendros the deity governing luck and wealth, worshipped by countless explorers.

If it were that absurdly wealthy, benevolent god…

Bringing a being from an entirely different world into this one wouldn’t be impossible.

[I fail to understand the purpose behind such a question.]

A line tinged with puzzlement suddenly appeared before my eyes as I pondered.

[You undoubtedly entered Pletica of your own will after pledging yourself to the Pioneer of Twisted Truth. Was there truly any opportunity for another deity’s intentions other than the Wise One’s to intervene during that process?]

“…”

It felt as though a narrow passage inside my mind had suddenly widened.

Marlin’s words from before resurfaced.

“Honestly, Kar was really scary back then. Quietly scary. You kept silently giving off that terrifying atmosphere, staring at Abel and me with those gloomy eyes… and you were an Evil God worshipper…”

The point when I began acting as ‘the cultist Kar’ was immediately after entering the tutorial dungeon, Hideout of the Hidden Ghoul Pack.

Yet Marlin vividly remembered how I had looked and behaved ‘before’ that.

”Could it be…?”

The cultist player’s primary background setting was amnesia.

They forgot everything before the tutorial.

Only much later would they gradually recover memories of an unpleasant past.

Back when this world had merely been a source of dopamine exchanged for time…

I’d accepted that setting without much thought.

Now… That was impossible.

[The cause of your memory loss is presumed to be what happened within ‘that cult.’ It was hidden too thoroughly for Me to perceive before, but now that My tier has risen, I can discern at least this much!]

Eyes That Perceive the Truth , which never uttered falsehoods, had confirmed it.

There truly was something wrong with my memories.

If that was the case…

Then perhaps it hadn’t merely been a background setting.

Perhaps I had genuinely forgotten my own past.

“…Hah.”

The hallucinated boy and girl who had appeared inside the gigantic golem behaved as though they knew me.

Had they truly been close to me in the past?

Were they people who had once been as precious to me as Yoonji herself?

I still didn’t know.

But there was one thing I could determine with certainty.

”So I really was an orphan squared.”

It seemed I’d truly been abandoned by my parents in this world as well.

Still…

Being a half-elf was a perfectly understandable reason for child abandonment that practically everyone acknowledged.

At least, unlike certain people, they hadn’t simply dumped children somewhere because they became too troublesome to raise.

As parents…

Perhaps they only deserved to fail halfway.

[Wouldn’t it be best if you slept now? Your Vitality stat has risen considerably, but you are still far from the point where rest becomes unnecessary!]

Had I become too absorbed in my thoughts?

My mind was already nearing overload.

I immediately closed my eyes and drifted into sleep.

After enjoying my first truly refreshing afternoon nap in quite some time…

The instant I opened my eyes, I froze.

“……”

At some point, the tiger beastkin siblings had quietly seated themselves beside my bed.

Even after our eyes met…

Marlin said nothing.

Abel merely continued gazing steadily into mine.

Because I’d trained diligently since childhood to become properly socialized, I could immediately guess what they were thinking.

”Mm… they’re angry.”

[You are in serious trouble now.]

I know.

After continuing to glare at me for quite a while, Abel finally spoke.

“Didn’t we specifically ask you not to fight so recklessly?”

Cold.

His voice was so icy it felt as though my ears might freeze.

“Well… I…”

Just as I hurriedly tried explaining that I hadn’t had any choice…

I noticed tears welling up in Marlin’s eyes.

At that moment, I understood.

What I needed to do now wasn’t make excuses.

“I’m sorry. This is how things turned out.”

When you’d done something wrong… You apologized.

It was one of life’s important principles I’d learned through fists and kicks from the other children at the orphanage.

“…So you ‘do’ realize you’re sorry.”

Wiping the corners of her eyes, Marlin glared at me before poking my waist repeatedly with a fingernail.

‘Poke. Poke. Poke.’

“Do you have any idea how our hearts felt?”

“I don’t know.”

“…It honestly felt like they were being torn apart. The kind old man from the slums who treated us siblings so well… He looked exactly like this when he died.”

After continuing to poke my side, Marlin lightly punched my thigh.

It hurt.

Enough to make my body flinch on its own.

“Karr.”

“…Yes?”

“I’m not going to tell you to change your way of fighting. That would be overstepping.”

“But… Please don’t ever fight until you end up looking this horrible again.”

“…All right.”

“Thank you.”

I was glad they’d matured enough to consider my position.

“Then is it acceptable if I fight until I’m nearly dead while I’m alone, recover safely, and only appear before you afterward?”

“……”

Thump!

Another punch landed squarely on my thigh.

Being thoroughly scolded by the children under my care certainly woke me up.

Usually…

Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around?

“Even if we tried stopping you, you’d still throw your whole body into danger if the situation demanded it. So do whatever you want. Just… don’t let your life be in danger.”

“…As long as you don’t act ‘too’ recklessly, I’ll accept it as well.”

In the end…

I obtained the siblings’ approval.

I reached out to roughly ruffle both their heads at once…

Then stopped.

Being one-armed was, unexpectedly, far more inconvenient than I’d anticipated.

“Hm… Until my prosthetic is finished, I suppose I’ll have to do one at a time. Or perhaps I could touch foreheads with you instead. I also have a smile as warm as sunlight. What do you think?”

“…No thanks!”

“I’ll pass as well.”

The siblings rejected both suggestions simultaneously.

Only then did they finally smile before embracing me.

Even though I’d just been thoroughly scolded…

For some reason, my heart felt clearer than before.

I wasn’t completely certain yet… But I wanted to say it.

“This makes it feel… as though we’ve finally become a little closer to being a family.”

People who worried about one another’s safety.

People who felt distressed when the other was hurt.

Somewhere along the way…

That was what we had become to each other.