"Senshi! Chilchuck! Wake up!"
Marcille anxiously tried to rouse the illusion-bewitched Senshi and Chilchuck, shaking them repeatedly to no avail. Gritting her teeth, she raised her hand—and slapped Senshi across the face.
"Ow!!"
Marcille clutched her now-aching hand with a pained expression.
"No choice—I'll have to manually control them for now!"
Grabbing her staff, Marcille force-synced Senshi and Chilchuck's bodies with her own, then got up to get dressed. But turning around, she spotted Izutsumi crouched on the windowsill, staring out.
"Izutsumi, what are you looking at?!" Marcille called out in a panic.
Izutsumi pointed out the window. "Laios just walked off carrying two dark-skinned guys."
"WHAT?!"
Marcille dove to the windowsill in a flurry, and with her magically-synced Senshi and Chilchuck tumbling after her, she managed to glimpse the scene outside.
The elves were still fighting Kairo Retsu and Tanjiro.
Tanjiro danced among them gracefully, wielding a hammer that looked heavier than an average elf, trading blows.
Kairo Retsu, on the other hand, was taking on the werewolf-transformed elf all by himself.
Marcille decided to ignore that madness for now—she caught sight of what Izutsumi had mentioned: Laios, camouflaged with a cloak of leaves, was carrying two dark-skinned individuals over his shoulders…
One of them was the unconscious Thistle; the other was the adventurer they had met before, Kabru… Laios was lugging both of them single-handedly, and for some reason, none of the elves noticed as he disappeared into the forest.
"What is even happening anymore?!"
Marcille was completely lost. She had no idea what to do with the Winged Lion's Book clutched in her arms. But then—
"The battle might reach Falin's body!"
Marcille looked at the short distance between the battlefield and Falin's corpse and grew alarmed. "No good… I have to think of something. If anything happens to Falin, how will we resurrect her?!"
Just as she spoke, the Winged Lion's Book in her arms opened its eye—an infinite pupil stared out.
"Right! I'll use… a familiar!" Marcille suddenly had an idea. "The Hunters left a bunch of ingredients in the kitchen. I'll make a familiar capable of transporting Falin to safety!"
Her goal now clear, Marcille moved into action. Meanwhile, Laios ran deeper into the forest, still carrying Kabru and Thistle.
"!!"
Kabru's mouth was still sealed by illusion magic, so he couldn't speak—but he now realized something as he looked at the unconscious elf beside him.
Could this elf… be the dungeon master, Thistle?
Understanding the danger posed by the dungeon, Kabru wanted to eliminate Thistle right then and there. But knowing that might cause even greater problems, he decided to wait and see what Laios intended by bringing them out here.
But… he still couldn't talk. That damn illusion magic was still active.
After running a while, Laios stopped, ensuring no one was around. He gently set both Kabru and Thistle down.
"Sorry, Kabru, for dragging you out of there like that."
Laios apologized sincerely. "Even though the Guildmaster and the others are fighting the elves… I still wanted to talk to you properly."
Looking around, Laios spotted a fallen log and a few stones nearby. An idea popped into his head. "Let's eat while we talk. You came with the elves, right? You probably haven't had a meal…"
"!"
Kabru froze.
Eat?
Eat what?
Where did he get ingredients?!
Monsters again?! He's going to serve monster meat again, isn't he?!
Kabru screamed internally, desperate to avoid eating monster meat. But driven by his responsibility regarding the dungeon, he forced himself to stay put and see it through.
Laios drew a quick heating magic circle, placed a skillet over it, then pulled out two large marinated cuts of meat from who knows where, placing them on to fry.
Only after getting all that started did Laios turn around.
"Wait—Kabru, you still can't speak?"
"...?"
A question mark slowly appeared over Kabru's head.
Wait… Laios noticed that he couldn't talk?
Was he under a curse or something?
This was Laios, right? The same guy who didn't give a damn about people? Since when did he pay attention to things like this?
"Lemme see…"
Laios rummaged through his backpack, pulled out a Nulberry, and stuffed it into Kabru's mouth.
The moment Kabru swallowed, the elf's illusion magic was dispelled from his body.
What the heck…?
Kabru was confused.
He had never seen such an item before—something capable of canceling elf illusion magic.
"Oh, the meat's ready."
Laios turned back to grab the pan.
Kabru still couldn't understand why they were eating in the middle of a battle with the elves, but here they were, cooking and talking. Despite his reservations, he hesitated…
Was he really going to eat this? Monster meat?
"Here!"
Laios cheerfully brought the meat over and said to Kabru, "I wanted to talk with you about the dungeon. You saw it too—the elves are just impossible to communicate with…"
"Ah, wait! You hate eating monsters, right?" Laios added suddenly. "This isn't monster meat—it's a creature from the snowy plains called a Popo."
"!"
Kabru's pupils dilated at Laios' unexpected remark.
How did Laios know he hated eating monsters? When did he figure that out?!
Could he really observe that closely?! Oh no—did Laios realize he had been lying to him all along? Could this conversation even continue now…?
Kabru's expression turned complicated, but Laios didn't seem to notice in the slightest. He simply continued:
"Someone else told me."
"Well…"
Laios scratched his head awkwardly and looked at Kabru with genuine sympathy. "You've really… been through a lot, haven't you…"
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