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No one knew how this would turn out.
But since they were already here, it wouldn't make sense to leave without bringing back a few local specialties.
And in this world of Dungeon Meshi, there was really only one kind of "specialty"—monsters.
Unlike in Danmachi, where slain monsters disappear instantly without leaving so much as a scrap for firewood, here the creatures stuck around.
If Laios and his crew ever got dropped into Orario, they probably wouldn't die to monsters at all. They'd die of despair because they couldn't eat them.
Just then—
Marcille and the others, who had been chatting casually, suddenly let out a startled cry.
Rosen turned his head.
Laios was hanging upside down from the window, a huge palm-shaped dent stamped into his armor.
"Another monster attack?"
Gabriel rushed over.
"N-no… not that. Actually, it was me…"
Falin stammered, flustered.
She stared blankly at her hands.
They were still smeared with dragon blood, but the sensation in her palms was unmistakably her own. Still—why had just one slap sent her brother flying like that?
"Most likely because when Marcille revived you, she had to use dragon flesh to patch up your body."
Rosen recalled the story and explained.
Normally, even if a corpse was missing chunks of flesh, resurrection magic could restore it just fine.
But Falin's body had been too badly digested, and Marcille wasn't exactly an expert in resurrection spells. She'd had no choice but to use dragon meat to replace what was gone.
"So now your body's been fused with dragon blood and dragon flesh. Physically, you're way stronger than an ordinary human."
Hearing this, Marcille and Frieren both blinked in realization.
Oh right—back in the anime, Marcille's resurrection had come with that side effect.
Well… "side effect" might not be the best word. Enhanced physique and boosted magic from dragon meat wasn't exactly a drawback.
"Wait a second! Doesn't that mean it's still the same as in the anime? If that crazy labyrinth sorcerer shows up, won't he be able to turn Falin into a griffin?"
Gabriel's face tightened.
"Oh no! How could I have forgotten something that important?!"
Marcille panicked.
She'd seen the anime—episode twelve was when she resurrected Falin.
But thanks to that insane labyrinth sorcerer, Falin was transformed into a griffin, stripped of her human memories.
The party dove deeper into the labyrinth to rescue her, but even after twenty-four episodes, she was never saved.
"The mad sorcerer, huh? If I remember right, he's supposed to be the labyrinth's master."
Senshi muttered thoughtfully.
Meanwhile, Falin looked at her brother, whose head was now sporting a giant bump, feeling horribly guilty.
Laios, on the other hand, wasn't worried about the sorcerer stealing Falin.
He was thinking about something else.
"Turning into a griffin… doesn't that sound kinda cool?"
Gabriel was speechless. She wanted to scold him, but where would she even start?
Then again, this was so Laios.
After all, his obsession with monsters was so over-the-top that, later in the manga, he actually chopped up and ate Falin's griffin body in order to save her.
Sure, it worked in the end, but seriously—what kind of person thinks that way?
Eating your sister's corpse? No normal human being could accept that.
"Is there any way to remove the dragon soul from Falin's body?"
Marcille turned to Frieren and Rosen.
As an elf over a thousand years old, Frieren was practically her ancestor in a way.
"Anything involving the soul is extremely advanced magic," Frieren said gravely. "Not even my master or my master's master, Serie, could separate two souls once they've merged."
She paused, then added, "But I can research soul magic further. Maybe someday I'll find a way."
"That's wonderful!"
Marcille's face lit up with joy.
But Gabriel quickly poured cold water on it. "And how long would that take?"
"Ten years… no, probably fifty."
After all, it had taken her thirty to forty years just to modify a demon-killing spell.
"Uh… if we're able to live peacefully for fifty years, then maybe separating the dragon soul won't even matter anymore."
Gabriel sighed, exasperated. Of course—leave it to a long-lived elf to have zero sense of time.
By then, any normal human would already be at the end of their lifespan.
"Actually, we don't need to make it that complicated," Rosen interjected.
"We just have to deal with the mad sorcerer."
He did have another idea, though.
If he made Falin his retainer through a divine contract, his World Tree had already shown signs of reacting to both Marcille and the newly revived Falin.
If he could sanctify her as his servant, he'd be able to carve divine sigils into her and purge the taint of the dragon soul.
"But can we even take out the mad sorcerer? Isn't he the labyrinth's master?"
Marcille frowned.
"From the anime, he looked really strong. We fought him several times and never had the upper hand."
"They call him the labyrinth master, but at the core he's just an elf who spent centuries studying ancient magic. If you lived a few thousand years, you'd be just as strong."
Rosen chuckled.
And honestly, the guy wasn't that impressive in the manga.
After the anime ended, the story continued. The sorcerer tried to wipe out all the adventurers by driving a horde of walking mushrooms to the upper floors.
But a group of elves called the Canary Squad ran into him, and their captain absolutely flattened him.
Sure, they caught him at a bad time—he was low on mana and had lost his grimoire—but still, it showed his strength wasn't anything unbeatable.
Just as Rosen made his suggestion, everyone's chat group lit up with a new notification.
[Group Notice: Detected strong desire from member Marcille. A new group commission has been issued.]
[Mission Objective: Marcille's friend Falin has fused with dragon blood, flesh, and soul, becoming half-human, half-dragon. This makes her vulnerable to being controlled by the labyrinth's master.]
[Mission Requirement: "Resolve Falin's condition and defeat the labyrinth's final boss."]
[Mission Reward: 10,000 points.]
"..."
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