Delicious in Dungeon vol. 5

The dragon was slain, Falin was rescued, and everyone got a great meal out of the ordeal.  All that’s left is for our party to head back to the surface and call it a day, right? NOPE!  It turns out that the party’s dragon-slaying attracted the attention of none other than the Lunatic Magician who lords over the dungeon they’ve been exploring.  That the party survives the encounter shouldn’t surprise you, but the real question is will they listen to Chilchuck who’s had enough of this and wants them to give up their quest and head back to the surface?  Meanwhile, the other party that our protagonists have encountered twice before (and both times post-mortem) also finds itself in some trouble when they awake from their most recent resurrection minus most of their supplies.  They’re planning to head back to the surface too, only they’ll have to go through some fish-men and a sea serpent in order to do so. That’s a tall order for a party that’s been wiped twice, but it’s possible they might be able to pull it off with some help from one of our protagonists’ former party members.

After the epic dragon-slaying action of the previous volume it was inevitable that things would calm down quite a bit for this volume.  So while vol. 4 isn’t as exciting as the previous volumes, it feels like that was done by design. I do regret the fact that we don’t get as many creative dungeon dishes in this volume, though the ones we do get are fun.  Particularly in how a petrified Marcille is used as a pickling weight. What still makes vol. 5 a very worthwhile read is how we’re starting to get some real payoff for the plot and character details that mangaka Ryoko Kui has been setting up for a while now.  Chilchuk’s actions regarding his fear of continuing further into the dungeon do come off as a little craven, yet it’s easy to understand where he’s coming from and the way he works things out with the orc leader is pretty cool. Then you’ve got the work being done with the other party, particularly their leader Kabru who is shown to be a rational, clever thinker who is without pity when it comes to dealing with evildoers.  In that regard, he’s not sure what to make of Laios based on what he’s heard. But I’m sure they’ll overcome their differences and become best friends by the end of the next volume.

Why yes, I will take your bet against that…