DELICIOUS IN DUNGEON
I'm so tired.
All these stairs…
doesn't it feel like you're twice as tired?
A moderate amount of fatigue makes your meal taste better.
In moderation, sure.
Give me your sword.
Sure.
There should be a trick door around here.
I almost forgot that the door led here.
It saved us quite a bit of time.
Huh?
What is it?
The decoration on my sword guard is gone.
It's because you were reckless with it.
Was it my fault?
No, it was coming loose for a while now.
I was trying to hold it together with string or glue,
but I guess it was time.
Is there a problem if it's gone?
Nope. Not at all.
Was it a memento or something?
A memento… I suppose you could say that.
Three years ago, when I was just a beginner,
I joined a gold-peeling crew to get some experience.
Gold-peeling?
A long time ago, this castle was completely covered in gold,
and peeling it made quite a profit.
This place has been mostly peeled already.
Let's see if there's anything inside the castle.
-Yes, sir. -Yes, sir.
Laios, isn't it dangerous for us to enter the castle with our current abilities?
Yeah, but the two of us can't turn back on our own.
What the hell?
How awful.
It's completely rotten away.
I guess that's what happens if you die in here.
No one finds you.
Hey! Come over here!
You could probably sell these.
They're better than what we saw earlier,
but you can only melt them down and sell them for ingredients…
T-The armor moved!
It's a monster! Run!
We're no match for it. Run!
You…!
D-Dammit!
My sword…
Come on…!
I did it!
-Laios! -Huh?
Something like that happened.
And this is the sword I got then.
So you lost…
It was my first death, so for a while, simply seeing an armor terrified me.
I read a lot of documents, but none of them described how they taste.
I wonder what they taste like.
Senshi, how would you cook them?
Armor isn't edible.
Living Armor is simply controlled by magic, and it's not some creature.
I-I know that, but…
What about the leather clasps?
It's difficult to eat tanned hide,
and it's far easier to catch other monsters.
If you're that hungry for armor, cook and eat your own.
I see.
I guess we can't eat Living Armor.
Come on, let's go.
I'd rather not fight them now.
How about running our way past them?
They're slow, so we could easily shake them off.
True.
Are you all okay with that?
Sure.
We don't know which set of armor might move.
Everyone, be careful.
Ready?
H-Here comes!
Run!
Our way is completely blocked!
What the heck?
H-Hey! This is bad!
Let's turn back for now and regroup!
Pull back!
They're especially persistent today.
I wonder if something put them in a bad mood.
No way!
They don't have physical conditions or feelings.
That's why it should be easy if we can defeat whoever is controlling them.
Are you sure there's someone?
I've never seen them.
USUALLY
Usually, they only attack anyone who gets close to them.
But today, they clearly blocked our path.
In other words, maybe they're guarding something that's farther ahead.
Whoever is controlling them is close by?
You're right. That might be possible.
What? Is it a monster?
I don't know.
But a magic-user with such power can't be anyone decent!
Anyway, we have to find a way to get past that barrier of armor and…
So, if we can reach the magic-user who is controlling the Living Armor,
we might be able to stop them.
But how?
For example…
Three of us act as bait to draw their attention
while one of us goes past the door.
Good luck.
I thought you might be the most fitting for the role
since you're good at going unnoticed.
I'm no good in combat.
Besides, Living Armor doesn't have eyes or ears,
so going unnoticed doesn't help much against something that's not alive.
Doesn't have eyes or ears…
Are you ready?
All right! Let's go!
Come on!
Gather around us, you sets of armor!
They're all coming!
Don't panic!
Aslam!
What? There's another Living Armor here?
I've never seen this type of armor move.
I don't see anyone who's controlling it, though.
It looks stronger than the armor back there.
I can't call for backup, though.
Anyway, I have to figure out on my own what they're guarding.
I'll cut off its arm or leg
and render it immobile!
Dammit! You…!
Why did it guard its shield?
What's that?
There's something on its shield.
Somehow, it seems very familiar.
Right.
It's…
An egg case!
It's an egg of some creature.
That's what it shielded!
But what egg could it be?
Is it the egg of whoever is controlling the armor?
Besides, Living Armor doesn't have eyes or ears.
That's not it!
It's been bugging me all this time.
They're inorganic, without eyes or ears.
The way they pick up their head and put it back on.
The way they turn their head and follow our movements.
And the egg…
There's no doubt about it! They're living creatures!
No one is giving them orders.
They're simply acting on their instincts and trying to protect the egg.
In that case, there are many ways to defeat them!
And…
they're edible!
This is endless!
Are you serious?!
Don't pause! It's dangerous if you freeze!
Senshi! Behind you!
Aslam!
Huh? Hey!
Do they share parts?
What?!
Is that even possible?!
Hey, Laios!
Do something about these armors quickly!
These Living Armors don't die even when you cut off their heads.
But if they're creatures, they must be killable.
Either by internal injury, outflow of body fluid, suffocation, or starvation.
It's not realistic to try a method that takes time.
First, I need to determine the form of the creature that is inside.
For an amorphous creature like a Slime, its movements are too rigid.
Is it possible that they're swarms of tiny creatures?
But they don't make any sound, so that seems unlikely.
Or maybe creatures with long limbs are controlling them from inside.
They could be other creatures,
but it's probably easier to see for myself.
It doesn't seem like I can match it in strength.
In that case,
I only have one option!
Go for the shield with the egg attached, and make it drop its guard!
Got it!
What's inside? Huh?
There's nothing!
It's empty.
Could it have been a camouflage tactic when it retrieved its head?
This is bad.
I need… I need to think of my next move!
What?
Couldn't it see which pillar I hid behind?
There must be something in its head, then.
A gap?
I see. It was a mollusk!
It was clinging to the inside.
Could it have survived amputation
because it was a colony of many creatures to begin with?
Is it looking for its head?
Maybe in its current state…
Hmm, how interesting!
Just how many are there?
They mimic muscle movements
by expanding and contracting at the joints.
I wonder if they're hermaphrodites.
I wonder which creature laid the egg.
I forgot I don't have time for this right now!
Excuse me!
You…! Just let go!
Everyone! Come over here now!
-Now's not the time! -Now's not the time!
Huh?
What was that? How did you do that?!
So there was a magic-user?!
There were no magic-users.
The Living Armors weren't controlled.
They were creatures.
Huh?
Look at the inside of this armor.
There are two layers, and something is clinging between them.
This is the identity of the Living Armor.
By clasping hands inside the armor,
they were acting as muscles of different parts.
Even though each creature is weak,
by dividing the body parts and utilizing the armor's structure,
they can imitate human movements.
Unluckily for us,
it seems we encountered them during the spawning season this time.
Spawning?! These things hatch from eggs?!
That's right! They hatch from eggs!
No one realized this until now!
Everyone thought they were simply Living Armor controlled by magic!
If I were to reveal this fact, it would cause a huge stir in our circle!
You know how he talks fast
when it comes to monsters?
It creeps me out.
Hush! Stop that.
Senshi!
We might not be able to eat armor, but what about the stuff inside?
Looks pretty nutritious, doesn't it?
There's no way we can eat something so mysterious!
Now, now, Marcille.
Every food is a mystery until that first bite.
Now's not the time to be trying it!
Let's give it a shot.
I'm using this ingredient for the first time,
so I'm not confident, though.
Thanks, Senshi.
No way!
What if it's extremely poisonous?
I doubt a creature with potent poison would hide itself inside a shell.
But how should I cook it?
This underside…
didn't budge when I tried to pry it open with my hands.
But when I cut this part with a blade, it couldn't close the gap.
Maybe it was an adductor muscle that it uses to close the gap,
like a scallop.
I see. So it's a shellfish.
All right, I've decided.
Pry the meat from the armor, will you?
It drowned.
I guess you can't purge the sand with water.
I don't know if they even need to be purged of sand.
I'm a bit worried about their internal organs,
so I'll remove them.
The sliced meat will go inside a soup.
Oil, meat from the Living Armor, herbs, and seasoning.
And the head…
will be steamed.
And finally, we might as well make the classic dish.
It's ready!
DWARF-STYLE LIVING ARMOR STIR-FRY LIVING ARMOR SOUP
GRILLED LIVING ARMOR
STEAM-BAKED LIVING ARMOR
Marcille, which do you want to have first?
What?
I-I'll have the soup, then…
Wait, do antidotes work against food poisoning as well?
It doesn't smell bad.
It smells faintly of iron.
Laios,
here.
It's hot!
Why are you all looking at me like that?
You've been craving Living Armor for a long time now, right?
We shouldn't eat it before you do.
I see…
If he dies, let's leave him here.
Yeah.
-Did he die? -Did he die?
It's delicious!
What on earth? It's so delicious!
At first, it tasted bland, but the flavor kicks in later!
How long does it take before you start having symptoms of food poisoning?
It depends on the food.
So that's what it tastes like.
Not bad, but I think I could've cooked it better.
How about the dish you have?
Well, I suppose this one should be safe because it was stir-fried with herbs.
H-How is it?
It's not bad.
What do you think, Marcille?
It tastes a bit like mushrooms.
Right?
The steam-baked one looks ready and tasty, too.
It has to taste great!
It tastes like mold.
The odor of the helmet must've gotten trapped in it.
Here.
You know, I've been in the dungeon for a long time now,
but I never thought they were edible.
Nobody would expect Living Armor to be a sort of shellfish
that hatch from eggs.
Maybe when they're newborns and juveniles, they're very small,
and no one suspects them to be Living Armor.
They probably form shells as they grow.
Then, they start forming colonies.
And when they can move, they travel looking for other colonies.
Maybe the armor standing in rows were looking for partners.
They are likely hermaphrodites and the biggest colony lays an egg.
Oh! That means…
The armor I occasionally see holding hands
might not have been adventurers fooling around.
Maybe they were actually mating!
You can drop it now.
To think the thing I was so scared of for a time
was such a tasty and feeble monster.
Your sword broke, huh?
Why don't you take that one?
Laios!
If you're going to use that sword, shall I test it to see if it's not cursed?
No need!
I'm absolutely sure it's not cursed!
I can tell!
You seem awfully confident.
Don't come to me if you end up with some weird curse.
Everyone, wait for me!
Armed with a new sword,
their journey continues.
The other three had no way of knowing
that they had a new companion.
Subtitle translation by: Ai Matsuoka