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Chapter 1 - Chapter 1: The Coffin Bearer

Here is the English translation, maintaining the gritty, dark fantasy tone and sharp dialogue while strictly omitting all hyphens across the entire text:

"WAITER! WHERE IS THE WAITER!!"

Clatter.

"Yes, sir, I am right here. Is there something I can help you with, sir?"

"Bring up three bottles of fifty year old Maritine!"

"Yes... yes..."

"What? Can you not hear me clearly?!"

"Sir, that is not it, but I need to inform you that..."

"Money is not an issue, do as I say and bring three bottles up for me.

Besides... my daughter, what would you like?"

"A glass of orange juice, please."

"And bring three more glasses of orange juice."

"I am truly sorry, sir, but our establishment is a—"

"If you have no oranges then figure something out! Money is not an issue, now scram."

"Yes, sir."

...

"Do you intend to leave me paying the bill after ordering all of that?"

"What? You are rich, can you not afford to cover one meal?"

"Inviting a lady out to eat and leaving her to pay a bill equivalent to three years of an average salary is hardly a good idea."

"It is a completely normal thing if that lady possesses wealth equivalent to an entire city.

Honestly, no one genuinely dislikes being pampered."

"Very well, that was never the issue here.

So, why did you call me out?"

"Never the issue? Do you know that tens of thousands of people dream their entire lives just to catch a single glimpse of the label on that wine bottle?"

"Stop deflecting, that was never something you cared about, was it?"

"Correct, this time it concerns Ron Irus once again."

Tap.

"Ron?"

"What? Why the surprise again?"

"No, but every time the two of us meet to talk it is always about him, especially."

"After he was blown to pieces, by you, naturally, Dark Spring Empress.

I wonder who came up with a nickname that reeks so strongly of chuunibyou."

"Alright, that is not worth discussing, you are here because of Ron, so it must be something massive."

"Naturally, scheduling a private meeting with someone like you is by no means easy, obviously so."

"So what is it this time?"

"Patience, after all it concerns Ron Irus; if it involves his affairs then it is bound to be important, yet it will never be frantic."

"Cut the rambling."

"Look at you, after his passing, your mouth has become stiff as rubber.

Why not go play Monopoly alongside those old geezers instead?"

"You should count yourself fortunate that you are his disciple, otherwise your head would have long been severed from your body."

"What of it? Still harbor resentment because I am the heir? Hahaha, you ought to feel fortunate that you carry royal blood, which is why Ron favored you in the first place."

"..."

"Besides, killing me is hardly difficult; stepping out onto the street and grabbing any random vagrant would yield enough strength to end my life."

"You had best speak quickly, every passing second and minute is worth pure gold."

"Fine, fine, my emotionless lady; with that temperament of yours and those breasts, no prince on a white horse will ever come to rescue you in times of peril."

"..."

"You are aware I am currently executing the plan, correct?"

"The apocalypse draws closer with every passing day, and you are still carrying it out right now?"

"Do not speak in that tone, do not assume I remain ignorant of what you did, produce it at once."

"Do you mean the remnant of his corpse?"

"Indeed, I know you secretly retrieved a piece of his remains, the most essential part, his brain."

"So you attempted to pry open his coffin lid, and now wish for me to hand it back to you? What do you plan to achieve with it?"

"Are you familiar with John Locke's theory of personal identity? Never mind, I should not place expectations on you."

"..."

"In short, you understand the situation by now; at present, we require Ron Irus, whom you accidentally or intentionally killed."

"So what do you intend to do? Summon his ghost?"

"Ron is not dead yet."

"You were the very person who held his funeral."

"I know, yet he is not dead, in a sense."

"What do you mean by that?"

"We require Ron Irus, so I devised a few methods to simulate him, and I uncovered a truth that he does not die like an ordinary human being."

"Regardless of who he was, he has been dead for several years already."

"I know, yet why are you so quick to deny it?"

"..."

"Regardless, I shall be the one to execute it."

"Execute what?"

"I shall resurrect Ron Irus, using this very vessel."

"You have gone completely mad."

"Always have been, therefore, allow me to remain mad until my demise, lest no one knows what a lunatic will do next.

And now, allow this lunatic to take possession of his brain."

"I understand now.

You... intend to merge his memories into yourself? This is not a fictional novel."

"Half correct, half wrong; it becomes quite troublesome if I must lecture someone who comprehends nothing about the soul regarding its core concept.

Philosophy served as the bedrock for transitioning from feudal states to democracy, you ought to study far more."

"...

In short, you are merely constructing another Ron through his memories."

"A misconception, yet regardless, you are free to think so."

Thud~

"Perhaps those bottles of wine are arriving shortly, time to savor them at last; only, I have a daughter...

I want her to—"

"I shall protect that child for you."

"Very well, then consider all debts settled; thank you for this, perhaps we shall never cross paths again, so this will be the final time you and I share a drink together."

Clack~

"Leaving so soon? The wine has not even arrived yet?"

"My apologies, I have no leisure time to sit here drinking wine. Regardless, I was merely someone who wished to gaze at the label on that wine bottle.

Besides, the apocalypse has arrived, and the singular thing the end times require is narcotics, so we are exceptionally busy."

"Best of luck; perhaps next time you will no longer be yourself, therefore, farewell."

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