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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
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Chapter 46
It seems that it’s not a living being.
After finishing the unknown preparations, a grand banquet hall was revealed.
A fake banquet hall. It felt like a movie set.
Tables and food were placed all around, and delicious aromas filled the air, but I instinctively knew—
These are all fake.
Despite the luxurious setting, not a single person was in sight.
Instead, the numerous maids from before stood in a row along the walls, hands neatly folded, heads slightly bowed, and eyes closed.
—Please accept this.
The maid who had guided me handed me a small bundle of documents.
"Hm?"
It was none other than a script.
"A script?"
A piece of paper detailing how to act, what lines to say, and even what kind of expressions to make.
That kind of script.
"I refuse!!! I won’t do it!!!"
At that moment—
Just as Melissa’s furious outburst filled the hall and I instinctively turned around, a door on one side of the banquet hall swung open.
A delicate-looking girl with gray hair, dressed in a crimson dress, stepped inside.
"You expect me to do something this ridiculous with that bastard?! Are you insane?! He and I are siblings! Blood-related siblings! Take me to whoever is in charge here, now!!"
Sigh, that fool…
It’s the family head who brings disgrace to our name.
If only she kept her mouth shut, she would look like a pure and elegant young lady.
But with the way she acts and speaks, you’d never know if she was a noblewoman or a wild deer running through the fields.
Shaking my head in exasperation, I flipped to the first page of the script in my hand.
The contents were simple.
But—
"I refuse! I won’t do it! This is nonsense!"
Without hesitation, I threw the script onto the floor, my energy rising.
"That’s it. Forget the treasure, let’s just tear this place down."
—You must follow the rules.
"And if I don’t? What are you gonna do about it? Does this even make sense? You want me to do something like this with that deep-sea cuttlefish over there?"
"Are you insane? I’m a primate! Leon’s just a damn chimpanzee!"
Melissa, for once, seemed to be in complete agreement with me.
As both of us strongly objected, the maid remained silent for a moment—then clapped her hands.
Clap, clap!
The space around us distorted.
—We apologize. However, if you do not comply with our rules...
The maid’s atmosphere shifted into something unsettling.
Just as I was about to snap her neck—
—We will deem this treasure unnecessary.
From somewhere, she produced an extravagant necklace.
I tilted my head in confusion, but Melissa narrowed her eyes at it.
A moment later, she rubbed her eyes, then squinted at the necklace again.
"Wait a second… Why is that…? Hey, that thing… is it real?"
—I do not know the value of this item. However, I believe it is quite valuable.
Her shameless words made me wave dismissively.
"Do I look like a beggar to you? Forget it."
At the same time, Melissa strode forward.
Given her temperament, she’d probably—
Grab!
"Brother, let’s do it."
I scowled.
First, the fact that she deliberately used the word "brother" in this situation gave me hives.
"Are you insane? Why are you adding that nasal tone to your voice? You look like a twin-headed ogre."
Second, whenever she acted like this, it meant she had an ulterior motive.
"This is a direct order from the head of the family. Selling that one piece alone could cover our territory’s entire budget for a year!!"
Melissa still needed a lot of money.
* * *
The correct way to fully claim the treasure of this rift wasn’t brute force.
All we had to do was follow the script they had prepared.
It was simple enough—but not something I was pleased about.
Music from an orchestra began to play.
With a stiff expression, I placed my left hand on Melissa’s waist and gently held her left hand with my right, stepping into the dance.
"Keep your eyes decent. If you don’t want to die, that is."
Melissa spewed venomous remarks, but I was filled with displeasure.
"Does this situation seem normal to you?"
"What else do you suggest? Wreck everything? The rift’s rules are more binding than you think. If the rift suddenly collapses, do you think you’ll survive?"
The chances of that happening were low.
"Even so, you—"
"Leon, do you know what that is? That accessory is called Queen’s Twilight."
"Queen’s Twilight? What’s that?"
"It’s a famous piece among noblewomen. It once belonged to a queen of a kingdom that was destroyed because of it. They say a war broke out over that item, leading to the kingdom’s downfall. It disappeared 200 years ago, and I’ve only seen it in paintings. One of those paintings alone was sold for 2 billion sel."
She fell silent for a moment before looking at me again.
"If that’s the real thing and we put it up for auction, how much do you think it would go for? A year’s budget for a declining noble family like ours? Don’t be ridiculous. Even royals and imperial princes would scramble to get their hands on it. This is something we have to put up for auction."
An auction, huh?
Now that I think about it, I did hear rumors about a famous secret auction happening soon in a neighboring kingdom.
But why would an item like that appear in a dimensional rift?
If I think about it logically, rifts are mysterious spaces.
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HELHEIM SCANS
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It wouldn’t be strange if something got sucked in due to spatial distortions during a war.
Even so, the timing of this was too suspicious.
"Think about it carefully. The treasures you own could restore our family’s wealth, but... if we sell that, we could fund a search for Mother and Father’s remains, as well as Arsha’s. Plus, we could buy rare elixirs for ourselves..."
My mind raced.
And I reached a decision.
"My lady, under the moonlight, you are as radiant as a fairy. Though hardships stand in our way due to the opposition of our families... my heart will never waver."
Once a decision was made, there was no reason to hesitate.
As soon as I delivered my cringe-worthy line, Melissa's face paled, but she quickly displayed an almost superhuman level of patience, flashing a radiant smile.
"Oh, Romiel. Why must you be Romiel?"
She delivered her performance with an astonishing level of obsession.
Some of the maids lined up against the wall quickly jotted something down on their boards.
"I bet they're evaluating this ridiculous play we're putting on..."
Beep!!
It happened in an instant.
One of the maids suddenly blew a whistle-like object with great force.
At the same time, the music abruptly stopped.
—You have not met the required standard. Would you like to try again?
"......"
—If you do not wish to proceed, we will guide you on your way back.
Realizing that the balance of power had shifted, Melissa and I exchanged glances.
"Let's just drop this."
"Don't be ridiculous."
Determined not to give up the chance to obtain a great fortune, she flashed a dazzling smile.
"Alright. Let's do it again."
* * *
Perfect steps.
Perfect expressions.
Perfect lines.
And even the perfect gaze.
Only after meticulously controlling everything down to the tips of our nerves did we finally succeed in acting out this wretched ballroom scene.
—Well done. You have completed the task flawlessly.
"Urgh..."
"Ugh..."
The moment we heard those words, Melissa and I immediately grimaced and turned away, pretending to vomit.
But just how many failures had it taken to get here?
Each attempt had been nothing short of infuriating.
"Alright, we're done now, right?"
—Indeed. Thank you for providing us with such a splendid spectacle. Now, onto the next stage—
Clench. Crack.
As I struggled to contain my rising frustration, Melissa asked,
"What’s the point of all this?"
—All things require compensation. I proposed this challenge as a reward, and you accepted it.
The maid once again produced an ornament and presented it to us.
—The choice is yours.
She spoke as if she couldn't care less about whether we agreed or not.
"Is it even possible for a Rift to not involve combat?"
"I've never even heard of a Rift where communication was possible. Some Rifts do have rules, but most of them involve fulfilling certain conditions before the boss appears. I've never seen one that forces you to put on some childish play like this."
In other words, this Rift was vastly different from the ones we knew.
As we hesitated, uncertain of our next move, the silent maid finally opened her mouth.
—My master is sufficiently pleased. I will now guide you forward.
With that, she carefully placed Queen’s Twilight into a luxurious box brought over by another maid and handed it to us.
They’re really just giving it to us like this?
Melissa gleefully accepted it, but I couldn’t help feeling suspicious.
What is this place?
Is this really a Rift?
The maid, her footsteps eerily silent, led Melissa and me down a long, wide corridor.
"Hehehe. With this, I won’t have to worry about paying my servants, and I can take my time shopping for military supplies too."
Melissa chuckled to herself as we walked for quite some time.
Eventually, we arrived at a grand hall.
And there—
We saw an enormous throne.
However, the scene before us only deepened our confusion.
"What... is this?"
"What the hell..."
The throne was massive, its backrest alone exceeding five meters in height—large enough for a person to lounge on if they wanted to.
Yet, the one seated upon it was a petite figure, barely 150 centimeters tall, with a small frame to match.
Her long pink hair cascaded down to her calves, streaked with black as though she had added highlights.
She looked to be about the same age as Melissa.
Her eyes were closed, with faint dark circles visible beneath them.
Yet, despite having her eyes shut, her head was tilted slightly in our direction, as if she could see us clearly.
At first glance, she appeared to be a peculiar human.
But the strange halo floating above her head and her gray angelic wings proved otherwise.
I had never seen a species like hers before.
The aura she emitted did not feel like that of an ordinary living being.
[Verification: The lifeform detected within the box matches the entity before you.]
"What is she?"
[Unable to determine.]
So, the presence inside the box had been this mysterious girl all along.
Calling her a monster felt wrong.
I had seen plenty of humanoid monsters before, but never anything like this.
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HELHEIM SCANS
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