Delicious in Dungeon vol. 10
This volume starts off with a couple of stories that are as good as anything we’ve seen in this series to date. The first tale involves our protagonists finally coming to Sissel’s – the Lunatic Sorcerer – home and having to deal with its guardian. They may think it’s easy to deal with, until they realize just what kind of mythical monster it is, and that the only way they’ll be able to take it down is by observing some previously established worldbuilding logic. Next comes their plan to deal with Falin, who is still under Sissel’s control. Laios’ solution for this is very on-brand for him: Fix his sister/chimera a big enough meal (with some alcohol mixed in for good measure) and she’ll fall asleep. The problem is that the only monsters around to make a meal out of are some Dungeon Rabbits, and these rabbits are clearly descended from the one who made so much trouble for King Arthur and his crew in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” Fortunately, the party has the next best thing to dealing with this kind of threat: Marcille!
While these opening stories are great, the rest of the volume puts the fantasy-based cooking business on the back burner – save for some recipes that are comedic in a pitch-black kind of way in the final chapter. Taking the place of the series’ central conceit is a lot of setting up and paying off of things all around the dungeon. Aside from seeing how Falin reacts to the rabbit dish, we also get to see Kabrun and the Canaries work their way further into the dungeon to deal with our protagonists. More important is that we finally get to see Sissel’s backstory and understand how he went from being a loyal court magician to a lunatic one. It involves the things that the road to Hell is paved with, and it’s clear that the Winged Lion knows how to exploit them once he starts talking to Marcille. We’re left with another great volume as a result, which ends on a cliffhanger that understands these things can actually offer some hope and still be very compelling.