Delicious in Dungeon vol. 7

This is a volume of “Delicious in Dungeon” where the emphasis is on the plot and characters rather than the dishes created from defeated monsters.  Sounds like kind of a mistake, doesn’t it? If you’re like me and the series has had you engrossed since the first volume then chances are you’ve got some investment in the story being told here.  So vol. 7 winds up being a great example of showing how the series has legs beyond its signature gimmick.

The first two chapters mostly come off as business as usual, however.  Our protagonists encounter an ice golem and then face off against some wolves who’ve been attracted by a Barometz.  (It’s a plant that grows in the shape of a sheep, and is a genuine mythological creature from Central Asia.) Even if they’re about as standard “Delicious in Dungeon” stories get, there’s another purpose behind them.

That would be to further the integration of Izutsumi into the main cast.  The core group was already settled by the time she joined up in the previous volume, so mangaka Ryoko Kui is having to put in some work to make sure the rebellious catgirl fits in with the rest of them as a proper character lest she come off as a Poochie.  You can see the strain showing as both stories are explicitly about Izutsumi forging some bonds with Chilchack and Marcille. I do think that Kui’s efforts are largely successful in that there are still plenty of funny bits in these stories and the target character does emerge from these stories as a more well-rounded one.

After that we take a brief trip back to the surface as Kabru and Toshiro’s groups find themselves under some unexpected pressure.  The Canaries — a group of elves who specialize in conquering dungeons — have arrived in town and are putting pressure on the town’s mayor to let them solve the problem of this dungeon.  Kabru realizes that if that happens then not only is it likely Falin will die, but the resulting chaos would be just like what happened when these elves sealed the dungeon near his town.

This leads the quick-thinking adventurer to crash the negotiations and try to convince the Canaries to leave the dungeon open.  Along the way we get to find out more regarding Kabru’s backstory and what makes him tick. We also get to see what organized, professionally trained elves can be like and they look like they’re going to be something of a problem for all of the explorers in the dungeon since they come off as just a hair short of villainous.

Afterwards, the perspective shifts back to our protagonists and we get a couple chapters devoted to the main plot involving the Lunatic Magician and his history.  Without giving too much away, I’ll just say that they find themselves in a place called “The Golden Land” where humans and monsters are living together. All of them (yes, even Marcille) are amazed by what they find here as it’s very close to paradise with good food, clothes, and beer to be had in abundance.

Laios is especially taken with this place, and that’s even before they let him milk a minotaur.  Yet this part of the story is arguably most about him as he’s, you guessed it, the chosen one. On one hand, this is the most cliched of fantasy storytelling elements.  On the other, it’s being applied to someone who really doesn’t fit the fantasy hero mold. Most of the cast doesn’t take it seriously, with Chilchack straight up telling his fellow party member to forget about it.  It’s still an open question as to whether Laios is going to buy into this talk by the time the party leaves. Overall, it’s a nice handling of this particular trope as you don’t often see the square peg simply shrugging and walking away from the round hole of destiny.

He, and the rest of the party wind up walking right into a Griffin that takes a particular liking to Senshi and hauls him back to his nest.  It then comes down to Marcille to cook up some help in the form of familiars to get him down. It’s not often that Marcille gets to drive the action in these stories, but this is another example that it’s usually a good time when she does.  Not only are her efforts to try and guide these familiars good for some well-meaning laughs, but it’s great to see her fully commit to the plan in the end.

Which brings us back to Izutsumi.  After Senshi is kidnapped, she openly wonders what his deal is and Laios and Chilchack don’t have a good answer for her.  That leads the latter to asks the dwarf point-blank after he’s had his post-rescue meal. What we get is something far grimmer than the usual tale of dungeon-derived delicacies.

Senshi was actually part of a group of dwarves who tunnelled into the dungeon before it reached the surface.  (Remember, dungeons are living things in this series.) While they were thrilled to find this gold-plated wonderland, they eventually found themselves trapped inside it.  With dwindling resources and trust among the group’s members, eventually the grimmest means of meal preparation begins to rear its head.

It’s something that has always haunted Senshi and it eventually comes down to Laios to help put that memory to rest.  In his own cheerfully tone-deaf way, of course. Some plot elements have to be wrangled into place, but it all holds together in the end.  Senshi’s past had almost become a non-issue by this point. It was ultimately a good thing that Kui addressed this now so we can move forward and have more culinary-inclined adventures.

That this story was prompted by Izutsumi is a good sign regarding her integration.  Admittedly I’d have preferred more little moments like that than the chapter-length stories we got earlier.  Still, the work paid off and she’s now a proper member of the group. With the character dynamics settled and the story elements focused after this volume, there’s no reason not to expect more great times in the next volume.