"?"
Kabru grew more bewildered.
Sympathy? Why was he seeing sympathy on Laios' face?
Was it because of whoever had told Laios about him? What exactly had they told him?
No—why was Laios acting like he trusted him now?
Why…? Why?
For the first time, Kabru began to doubt his own negotiation skills.
"Hmm…"
Laios continued, "Thanks to the Guildmaster's reminder, I remembered—we actually already met back when we ran into that treasure bug."
"And with the fishmen after that…" Laios said to Kabru, "Seems like we're pretty fated to cross paths, huh."
Now that he knew Kabru's past actions and thoughts, Laios couldn't help but feel a good deal of fondness toward him.
Especially considering that, had he not become a Hunter, if he'd ended up as king instead… all the affairs of an entire nation would've fallen on Kabru's shoulders…
Just imagining that made Laios feel like Kabru was someone worth trusting.
Even if he didn't like eating monsters, at the end of the day, he was still a good guy!
"…Wait. You really don't remember?" Kabru quickly connected the dots between what Laios said and their previous encounters. "So that was your thinking… No, wait, why are we talking about this now?!"
Things were already in chaos—the battle was in full swing—why start this topic now of all times?
Kabru couldn't comprehend Laios' mindset at all, but he did catch something: "You said the Guildmaster told you? That Hunter leader?"
"Yeah."
Laios nodded. "We're planning to become the dungeon master."
"Wait a second!"
Kabru suddenly noticed something off.
Laios didn't look surprised by Kairo Retsu's earlier rants. In fact, Kairo Retsu had said, "We will become the dungeon master."
"You knew about his goal to become the dungeon master?!" Kabru clenched his fists.
"Of course. We decided beforehand—doesn't matter who becomes the dungeon master, as long as it helps solve everything."
"..."
It's over.
Kabru winced internally.
The world was truly doomed now.
These people… they were conspiring to destroy the world!
He didn't know why Laios was revealing all this to him—but this was bad. Really bad.
"Do you… really want to become the dungeon master?"
Kabru asked with some difficulty.
"Nope!" Laios' answer lit a small spark of hope in Kabru—until he added: "But becoming the dungeon master is the key to solving everything!"
"Kabru," Laios said, "If possible, we hope you'll try negotiating with the elves—for what comes next."
"And besides…"
Laios clenched his fist. "The dungeon's power… might not be a good thing at all!!!"
"WHY ARE YOU ONLY REALIZING THAT NOW!!!" Kabru couldn't hold it in anymore—he sprang up and punched Laios square in the face.
…Only to twist his own wrist in the process.
"???"
Laios, knocked down, looked up with question marks in his eyes. He had no idea why Kabru was angry.
Kabru's face contorted in pain.
How the hell did Laios get so sturdy? He had punched him full force, and yet Laios looked fine while he ended up with a sprained wrist.
Still, Kabru realized there was at least still room for dialogue.
He grabbed a fork, stabbed one of the two cuts of meat in the pan, and took a big, angry bite.
"Tell me what you Hunters are really after," Kabru finally said. "Are you friends or foes to this world…? We need to settle that—right now."
Seeing Kabru dig into the food, Laios looked slightly relieved.
Kabru was willing to eat—it meant he really was the best candidate for this negotiation.
Laios gripped the Winged Lion's Sword on his belt.
Now came the matter of solving the Winged Lion…
As Laios thought that, the Winged Lion's face engraved on the sword shifted ever so slightly, as if watching him.
Meanwhile, Kairo Retsu—
Had utterly burned the word "overpowered" into the elves' memories.
The elves realized that this guy—possibly one of the "Tallfolk"—didn't use magic, didn't seem to understand magic… but his strength, damage output, and regeneration were all monstrous.
Rather than a Tallfolk, he was more like a monster disguised in humanoid form.
Misrun had already dealt several fatal wounds to him. He'd even used a log to swap into Kairo Retsu's chest, removing his heart. And yet—Kairo Retsu showed no signs of dying.
Even when Misrun used teleportation magic to send away the swapped body parts, the man simply regenerated entirely new limbs.
It was as if… his regeneration came at no cost whatsoever.
If the dungeon hadn't shown any changes so far, the elves would've sworn he had already become the dungeon master.
But Kairo Retsu knew the truth.
His strength—his survival—was all thanks to his comrade's tireless effort: Kazuma.
"Oh! Behold—the friendship and bonds of us Hunters!!"
Kairo Retsu struck another combat pose, planting his sword into his shield to charge his phials, then morphing it into a massive axe. "Can you even keep up with a Hunter's Spirit Slash?!"
"Oh, my dear friend Kazuma! I sing your praises!"
He shouted incomprehensible words and charged at the elves again.
Back in the warehouse—
"SHOVE IT IN!! SHOVE IT IN!!"
Joseph Joestar and Naofumi Iwatani were desperately cramming various consumables into Kazuma's mouth. "He's almost dead again! Hurry! New Potion! Another Nulberry!"
"His mouth's full! We can't fit anything else in!" Naofumi was starting to panic.
"Yaha! Ripple!" Joseph delivered a Ripple blast straight to Kazuma's neck, forcing him to swallow the meds. "Hurry! Get a stick! Ram it down his throat!"
"MmmmmMGHHHH!!"
Kazuma struggled for a moment—but eventually…
He gave up. A few tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.
As expected…
None of his teammates were remotely normal or reliable!!!!!!!!!
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