DELICIOUS IN DUNGEON
Laios and crew are returning to the surface.
I just don't wanna lose any of you.
Me neither.
While their bonds are growing ever stronger…
Let's go back in time a bit…
You're finally conscious.
Are you feeling all right?
Your injuries weren't too severe.
I had to use goat's blood to replace what you'd lost.
It'll do for now,
but you should return to town soon.
It's good you weren't still in the water, or you'd have been fish food.
You should be thankful to whoever pulled you out.
Are you thinking what I am?
Kuro!
I know this scent.
Elf, tall-man, half-foot, dwarf.
The ones who stole our treasure.
I had a feeling it was those guys!
Huh?
The revival fee, please.
Enough for the goat's blood is fine.
That's right, we were…
assaulted by some fish-men.
I guess we must have died again.
This is plenty, thank you.
They're adventurers?
-Aren't you… -Hmm?
Need something?
No.
Let's go, Namari.
Oh, right.
-Got a soft spot for dwarves? -Hmm?
You have no integrity.
Hey, I don't use someone's height to determine
whether or not I hang out with them.
That so?
Huh?
Our food is gone!
It got stolen by those guys again!
Food.
Are you kidding me?
It's so weird.
They always take all our food but none of our money.
Maybe they keep running out of it?
So annoying.
We really should teach them a lesson.
What's the plan, Kabru?
Hmm…
There's no choice.
Let's go back.
Wait. You're joking, right?
Shouldn't we go after them?
We don't have any food though, so we shouldn't go any further.
How about we admit defeat for now?
Like that guy said before he left,
we have to be thankful that we're alive at all.
If that's what you wanna do, I guess I'll stick with you.
I will too.
If you promise you won't give up on finding those filthy criminals,
then I'm fine to return.
I promise, Rin. Thanks.
Kuro will do what Mickbell does.
Oh, man.
I can't believe we're not making any profit this time.
Hmm…
There's so much fog.
Hey, be careful, everyone--
This fog didn't occur naturally.
This is from a monster.
A fish-man?
There are so many of them.
I guess there's no choice.
Come on!
The way it uses that axe seems familiar.
This swinging motion.
I know it all too well.
That's right.
This is…
Shh!
Everything's fine.
Just calm down.
Daya.
It's me.
This fog is illusion magic.
The confused one with their weapon drawn is Kuro.
And the one zoning out across from him is Holm.
He has a habit of freezing up when things get a bit crazy.
The one who ran off is probably Mick.
So, the one that poses the most danger is…
Rin.
She's already in mid-chant.
She has the power to turn us all to ashes instantly.
The only peaceful way to stop a chanting magic-user is…
Rin.
You get it, right?
This is all an illusion.
It's too bad she looks like a monster.
Now then…
in order to stop this fog that was conjured…
This isn't the right one.
Those who attack with weapons aren't casters.
They're always observing things from afar.
That one!
Oh, no!
All right, all right.
We surrender!
So would you mind letting go of my mage friend?
Wait a minute…
They are the corpse retrievers from upstairs!
I don't think this reunion is just a coincidence.
You guys followed us, right?
What… What do you mean?
It's more profitable to retrieve corpses from a deeper floor
'cause the Island pays more for it.
We were angry about our stuff being stolen,
and while we were trying to get back,
we went to a floor that was above our skill level.
So all they had to do was follow us
and they would find more profitable corpses.
Oh.
So annoying.
But you were a little too late.
When you found us, we'd already been revived by someone else
and we were heading back to the surface.
It made you panic, so you decided to use illusion magic
to turn us all against each other.
You're a little off base.
What we wanted was for you to catch up to the thieves.
Having you kill each other would have been the best scenario.
But it's really a shame.
We didn't think you'd die so quickly from being attacked by mere monsters.
You little…
In-fighting and stealing between adventurers is a crime.
I'm reporting you to the Island Lord.
How about we make a deal?
It'll be wasteful for you to go back empty-handed.
Two of my party members were unfortunately taken out.
Deliver them to the resurrection office.
You should earn a decent amount of money for doing that.
Those two are just unconscious.
We'll testify that they got attacked by fish-men.
As for splitting the reward,
we're gonna take 40.
No, 30 percent of it.
How's that?
It's a pretty good deal, isn't it?
All right. I'll do it.
Kabru…
Damn you…
Yeah, that makes more sense.
I'm glad he did the right thing.
Humanoids are so easy to deal with.
Every single dwarf, gnome, and tall-man,
they all tend to have identical weak points.
They move their bodies in the same way too.
It's too bad monsters aren't like that.
Kuro, go find Mick and bring him back, will you?
-Kabru. -Hm?
What about him?
Please let me go. I swear to you.
I didn't know about any of this!
Hmph.
You don't aim to lift the dungeon's curse,
nor eradicate the monsters in here.
The number of people who make a living by stealing from others keeps growing.
Good people from this Island will leave if this continues.
That's why I can't forgive people like you.
Have mercy.
-Kabru. -Hm?
Oh. Sorry about earlier.
It was the first solution I could think of.
What are you saying?
You know what? Never mind.
Okay, if you say so.
I feel like we're messing up and not actually making any progress.
You're right.
And this is the result of all of that.
It's really the worst.
You could stand to be a bit more encouraging?
There's no point in sugarcoating it.
This is just the best we can do for right now.
The Island Lord only sees this dungeon as a profitable tunnel.
If the gold runs dry,
he thinks that monster leather and bones would be enough.
But no one's gonna dive into a dungeon
that's been thoroughly searched through.
Maybe 'cause the get-rich-quick dream disappears,
or the spirit of adventure isn't being met.
The population starts to decline and then…
dangerous monsters pour out of the dungeon.
That's how a countless number of towns have been destroyed.
We have to lift this place's curse and fast.
The world doesn't need monsters and dungeons.
Yeah.
I'm starving.
Being revived does make you hungry, huh?
-Kabru! Check it out! -Hm?
Those guys were carrying some pretty valuable things on them.
All right.
Let's only take their food and then sink the rest of it.
What? Why sink it?
If we take just everything, it means we're no better than they are.
Once we're all finished, how about we eat a little something?
Let's do it.
ADVENTURERS' RATIONS SALTED MEAT
BREAD, WINE, NUTS AND DRIED FRUITS
It's time for us to dig in!
Whoa!
Those guys were eating good.
I guess corpse retrievers get paid a lot.
Yeah, when you're making your own corpses to take back.
And the Island Lord hasn't caught on to that?
There are actually inspections when it comes to payments from the Island.
But it seems like those guys were getting around it.
It's honestly more likely that there are a lot of people working together
behind the scenes.
Sounds like corruption.
They're digging their own graves by doing that.
Should we try to report this?
I wouldn't expect the Island Lord to come up with a good solution.
Only rookies like Doni will be affected by it.
If the Island Lord bursts after stuffing himself,
I wouldn't mind at all.
I'm pretty sure the elves would step in and take his place.
Yeah, so we still need him to act as sort of a middleman.
We're dealing with a dwarf and a tall-man, and an elf and a half-foot…
What are you muttering?
Those are the people in the party that put the ghost-warding spell on us.
Ugh, the ones who stole our treasure.
The ones who stole our food.
There aren't very many parties with an elf in them.
We might figure it out if we narrow things down.
Maybe it's Doni and Fionil?
It's hard to believe that those two were able to make it to the third floor.
Having only four party members is odd.
It's more reckless than anything.
Hey, Holm, or Rin.
Look closer at this ghost-repelling spell.
Wait, you still have that thing on?
Oh, yeah, it's evidence.
That magic's not in my area of expertise.
Let me see.
Hmm…
"Honor student."
It's like something right out of a textbook.
The spell is pretty weak.
A magic school student probably.
Everyone from there all read spells in the same way.
I'm confident it was an elf specifically.
I see. Is that so?
Wait. "Magic school student"?
This all makes sense now.
Huh? What does?
Oh, sorry, I just realized something.
It's only a speculation, but if I'm right,
it would make me really happy.
Come on, Kabru. Stop beating around the bush.
All right. Well…
It's gotta be the Touden siblings' party.
Those two, huh? Really?
They didn't seem like the type to wanna do crime.
So, why them?
First, the younger sister of the duo used to be a student at a magic school.
Didn't an elf put the ghost-ward on us though?
And those siblings were tall-men, weren't they?
Whoa, I'm not done yet. Just keep listening.
The elf and the younger sister in that party
looked like they got along well.
They seemed like they were maybe childhood friends or something.
I'm guessing that they were at least classmates at the same magic school.
It's rare here for someone to be from a magic school.
Not to mention an elf.
Hmm, it isn't that it's impossible.
But to only base it off that…
And besides, Kuro said he only smelled one tall-man, didn't he?
Siblings would have had two different scents. Ah…
Could that be the reason they're recklessly exploring
-with such a small party? -Exactly!
They lost either the brother or the sister,
and wanted to go save them.
But the party had a dispute about it.
That's what I gathered,
considering we saw one of them in a new party.
It seems like they'd been having disputes about goals and income.
And because of this, it's highly possible that people left the group at some point.
And that put them in a bind, so they took our stuff.
You're finally starting to sound convincing.
Told you.
Wait.
Kuro said he also smelled a dwarf.
Isn't that right, buddy?
I did. Definitely did.
So isn't it weird that they apparently
still have a dwarf with them?
They must have a new dwarf tagging along.
Do we know exactly who this party consists of?
Let's see.
The tall-men are Laios and Falin.
And there's the Eastern man named Shuro.
The dwarf we saw earlier is Namari.
And the elf is Marcille.
I'm not positive, but I think the half-foot is Chilchuck.
If it is the Touden party,
then that means Shuro, Namari, and one of the siblings aren't there anymore.
And the new dwarf may have joined their ranks.
I see. So that woman from earlier was Namari.
Oh.
Do you know anything, Daya?
Only her name. Since she's famous.
She's the child of someone called "Weapons Dealer."
What a name!
He's who dealt with all the weapon and armor exchange on this Island.
One day, he disappeared after he was found embezzling money.
It was that incident that ruined the Island Lord's image of us dwarves.
Ever since that happened, a lot of us dwarves faced hardships.
Including myself.
I doubt any sane dwarf would choose to take her spot in a party.
Whoever it is is insane then.
Mickbell is right.
They smell dangerous.
I know a couple of details about that Chilchuck guy too.
He's delusional in his old age.
And seems to think he's the representative of the half-foots on this Island.
When he makes a contract with someone, he's like,
"Go through the guild and pay me a broker's fee!"
He's a greedy little bastard.
I'm not stupid enough to join under terms like that.
If the guild found out I hired a kobold, they'd definitely say something to me.
You wouldn't want that.
You like working for me, right, Kuro?
Mick feeds me.
He's the best boss I could ask for.
I bet he is working the poor thing to the bone for peanuts.
You shouldn't say things like that just based on speculation.
Hey, the Eastern tall-man is from the same place as Rin, isn't he?
Does that mean you know him?
Listen.
Don't lump us together 'cause we're both "Eastern".
Not all towns speak the same language, you know?
Besides the name Shuro isn't even from my island.
Then let me share what I know about him.
Even there, he always managed to stand out.
He came to the Island with some people from his town
but decided to join the Touden party.
He didn't seem like he was a mere peasant
and wanted to use the dungeon to test his strength.
So he eventually left the party, huh?
Don't think he'd be concerned about money or danger.
What if it was actually both siblings that left and him who stayed?
No, that's not right.
It's pretty creepy how well you remember things about people, Kabru.
Why do you look so excited?
'Cause I am excited. This is so fun.
There are lots of people on this Island
and everyone acts with completely different motives.
But when all those separate actions eventually come together,
it becomes a historical moment involving a large group.
I thought it was a boring case of theft,
but I think things are gonna get real interesting.
So I really hope it's the Touden's party.
Because one of my greatest wishes
is to be there for the moment when their mask finally comes off.
You got some kind of grudge against them?
They'd done nothing to me personally.
But in the past, they made quite a bit of money from gold stripping.
But most of their earnings were given to their party members
who were too injured to explore.
Wow.
A happy ending.
It's a moving story
if I didn't tell you all the rest of it.
They weren't actually still injured
and just pocketed the money.
They never went back to adventuring.
Now they sell illegally manufactured goods on the Island.
"I shall bestow my kingdom to whoever defeats the mage."
Those were the words of a man who claimed to be King of this country.
But whether or not you're actually given everything,
this dungeon itself is a relic left behind long ago by the ancient elves.
There's no doubt you would gain a great amount of influence.
That's why…
I really don't think those siblings should be the ones to inherit it.
They don't seem to care about that.
They're not leaders.
Just like the Island Lord.
We completely get it, Kabru.
We already know you're the only one fit to lead.
And you'll drive out that stupid Island Lord too.
Well, if we're still having trouble with random monsters in here,
we've clearly got a long ways to go.
Yeah, you're right.
We should probably start heading out now.
I hope that we can return without any more incidents.
Whoa! What the…
It's blade fish!
Don't let the fish distract you!
The real danger is right under our--
A Kraken? No, a Sea Serpent!
Rin! Get away!
I can't…
Holm!
I can't summon her in a situation like this!
Weird stuff could get mixed in!
Stay calm.
You've got to do something, Kabru.
It's not moving in a complicated way.
Discern its movements, find its carotid artery.
Where even is that artery?
Excuse me.
Tade!
Aye-aye!
My Lord, if you please!
-My Lord! -Huh?
That was simply incredible.
Are there any stains on your garment?
No.
You must be tired.
Shall we rest here for a meal?
No. We press on.
Our Lord's being quite bullheaded.
It's only because he's head over heels with that Northern woman.
Ah, Tade is feeling extremely hungry.
Are you hurt anywhere, Kabru?
-I've changed my mind. -Huh?
I think if we boiled this, it might be delicious!
-Disgusting. -Excuse me.
I would like to thank you for saving us.
We would have been goners.
I'm Kabru.
May I ask your names?
You may not.
We're just passing through here.
Sorry for eavesdropping.
But I think you were looking for a woman?
Do… Do you have any info?
Just as I thought.
I was right about that.
You're in luck.
We may be able to help you out
in your search for Falin Touden.
Kuro, cut it out!
I told you to stop making that face because it's scary!
What the heck's gotten into you, huh?
And with that, Kabru and his party
will be continuing into the dungeon.
NOW
Back to the present with Laios's group,
two days after deciding to return home.
We hit a dead-end?
Another dead-end.
I'm so hungry.
I'm tired.
So thirsty…
They are currently lost and on the verge of death.