"The Red Dragon..."
"So different from the green dragon we defeated before~"
The red hill lay toppled amidst the rubble. Its body was so massive that even a thousand tons of stone couldn't bury it. It had only one or two wounds, insignificant relative to its overall size, but the life within it had long since dissipated, and its cold, vertical pupils had lost their luster.
For a halfling like Chilchuck, just standing before such a behemoth was suffocating. It was hard to imagine how they would have subdued this monster if the battle plan had failed.
In fact, they had indeed underestimated the Red Dragon's defense, durability, and strength. They never expected that a trap sufficient to crush most creatures would only inconvenience it for a short time, not even causing any significant damage.
Fortunately, Ryu, as the surprise element, had perfectly executed his mission, forcefully compensating for the group's oversight with a sharp assassination.
Thinking of this, Chilchuck couldn't help but look at Ryu, who was examining the Red Dragon's corpse, his curiosity tinged with a hint of reverence.
Among the many demi-human races, halflings had the strongest senses—not just hearing and vision, but they could even perceive changes in the surrounding airflow, making them natural scouts. And his position just now allowed him to overlook the entire battle area; by all rights, he absolutely shouldn't have missed any anomalies.
But he hadn't detected Ryu in any way beforehand!
It wasn't until the young man launched his surprise attack from the dragon's back that Chilchuck was suddenly jolted to awareness. Just like the Red Dragon, the battle was over before he could even react~
This wasn't a skill an ordinary adventurer could possess, and that level of agility was indeed abnormally nimble... Forget it. He was going to retire after this job anyway; who Ryu was had nothing to do with him.
Speaking of which, many parts of a dragon could be sold for a high price on the surface. Earning such a windfall at the end of his career was an unexpected joy!
"Huff... everyone, don't just stand there! Let's find Falin first!"
Marcille took out a small knife and ran to the side of the corpse. Looking at the solid scales, each the size of her head, she was momentarily at a loss as to where to start.
Laios took a deep breath, held his longsword, and aimed for a gap between the scales. He inserted it like a stick, slowly prying it open, then thrust in with force.
"Ugh... so tough."
Although Laios didn't know what rubber was, he was now keenly experiencing the difficulty of cutting a truck tire with a dinner knife.
"If it weren't for Ryu, it's hard to imagine how we would have dealt with it... Hmm? Senshi?"
"Here, Laios." The dwarf cook handed him his precious kitchen knife. "I don't know where the dragon's stomach is. You use this blade."
"I'm very happy about your sentiment, but a kitchen knife is still..."
"This is no ordinary kitchen knife!"
Senshi said solemnly, "This is the one and only knife in the world that can slice through the bones of any monster, that won't wear down or rust—the [Mithril Kitchen Knife]!"
"Mithril?!"
Everyone was shocked, and Chilchuck even screamed, "Hey, you've got to be kidding, right?"
"No, you'll know once you use it."
"...Thank you!"
Laios didn't have a shred of doubt. He took it with great solemnity, and then the dragon's hide was cut open with ease, so smoothly it was frightening.
"So fast! And... such thin skin!"
"No way, is it really Mithril?"
Marcille was stunned. Although her family was wealthy and she had never lacked money since childhood, she had never seen such a "legendary cooking utensil."
As for Chilchuck, it went without saying. Halflings had always had a special attachment to wealth. He looked at the kitchen knife in Laios's hand, then at the black pot Senshi had put away.
"Could it be that the pot is really Adamantite... Oh my god!"
The thought that he had been eating meals cooked with Adamantite and Mithril utensils for the past few days made Chilchuck feel a dizzy sensation, as if he were floating on clouds.
"...This will incur heavenly wrath, won't it?"
Speaking of which, Senshi looked so shabby, yet he was hiding such treasures. Any single item he took out could feed someone for years!
"I'll help too."
Ryu wiped the back of his blade, and the crimson light instantly switched to orange. He walked to the other side of the dragon's abdomen and began cutting through the scales and fascia amidst sizzling sounds and smoke.
This heat blade was a high-end item even in Night City, the kind that in a game would be just one purple NPC away from becoming an orange weapon. It could even gain the upper hand against Sukuna's demon sword. Although the Red Dragon's body was tough, it could still be pierced.
After all, the Red Dragon could only breathe fire; it wasn't immune to fire itself. Under the high temperature of 2,500 degrees Celsius from the heat blade, it was too difficult for a carbon-based lifeform to resist—this was equivalent to a slash flying out of a steel-making furnace; even tank armor would be severely gashed!
Of course, the maximum power setting consumed a lot of energy and would run out after a few cuts. Usually, low power was sufficient to cut through general armor.
With the help of the Mithril kitchen knife and the "magic sword," the Red Dragon's ribs and abdominal muscles were quickly separated, as if carving a "passageway" through the corpse. Then, in the deep layers between the muscles, everyone saw organs of different textures and colors. Further searching finally led to the joyful discovery of the stomach.
However, when Laios and the others impatiently cut open the stomach, it was completely empty!
"Empty?"
"Could she have been digested... Falin?"
"Did its digestion speed up because it was constantly active..."
"No way! No!"
"Everyone!"
Ryu spoke up in time, "Calm down. Dragons don't have just one stomach... Laios?"
"Oh... right!"
Laios was jolted back to his senses, his spirits lifting. He reached directly into the organs and began searching for something again, his muffled voice coming from inside.
"A dragon's teeth are almost all for piercing and cutting, unlike humans who have specialized molars for chewing. So when they encounter small prey, they just swallow it whole like a snake!"
"That means..."
"That's right, they have an organ specifically for storing hard-to-digest parts, and the combustible gas produced is used as fuel for their dragon's breath, just like a cow's rumen—found it!"
Laios, Senshi, and Ryu worked together to drag the entire pouch out of the Red Dragon's body. Taking a deep breath, they sliced it open with force...
A reddish, sludge-like mince "flowed" out. Bones, hair, and matted tissues, even things like stones and iron pieces, were all mixed together, making it hard to distinguish anything.
"...Could Falin be in there?"
"I hope so..." Ryu scooped up a handful of long hair, somewhere between flaxen and gold. Although mixed with steaming blood and gore, he could still tell it primarily belonged to a human female.
"Ugh!"
Marcille covered her mouth. "It's Falin!"
"Her clothes seem to be completely mixed in with this stuff," Ryu quickly got into character, unconcerned as he began searching through the disgusting mince.
"It'll probably be hard to find a complete body like this, but at least we have to gather all the bones!"
"...Thank you!"`
Laios's expression was grim. He gave Ryu a deep look and joined the search—he, the older brother, wasn't even as decisive as an outsider like Ryu. It was truly shameful.
Next came Marcille and Senshi. Chilchuck was specifically responsible for collecting the human bones they found, arranging them neatly to the side to avoid mixing them with the remains of other creatures.
—
"This is truly... a tragic sight."
Ryu examined a human skeleton on the ground, holding a rather heavy staff (mace) in his hand.
Everyone was silent, their mood heavy. Ryu, however, was quite calm, even making a silent commentary.
Although it was a Japanese isekai work, Delicious in Dungeon was surprisingly "traditional," with its various settings adhering more to Western fantasy logic.
For example, Falin, as a healer-type mage, wasn't a frail and delicate saint, but a "cleric" who wielded a flanged mace as a staff. From this skeleton, one could also see that her height and build were quite "healthy."
She must be 1.7 meters tall!
—It wasn't like other works that would draw a female character with supermodel proportions and then force the setting on you that she's 1.5 meters tall.
Looking at the skeleton, you could tell the calcium was well absorbed. With this level of thickness, as long as she got enough nutrition, she wouldn't be weak!
Because she was an adventurer, she wouldn't lack exercise and wouldn't appear bulky, but her muscle mass would far exceed that of a delicate young lady, making her look quite plump.
This thing was probably heavier than Laios's sword—Ryu weighed the staff in his hand and couldn't help but smile.
He immediately sobered up and turned to Marcille, asking, "After all that searching, this is all that's left. Can we try using resurrection magic?"
Marcille didn't answer. Her eyes were fixed on the skeleton, unblinking. Her serious expression was something the others had never seen before.
Laios instantly became nervous, looking at the Elf girl with apprehension, afraid to hear a "no" from her.
Resurrection magic was a rare miracle, not something to be used casually, but the special environment and rules of the Dungeon made it possible. Even so, there were still many restrictions.
The most important one was that the body had to be intact!
You can think of the body as a container that binds the soul. The more damaged it is, the weaker the connection between the soul and the body.
Many past resurrection failures were due to this reason!
And now, Falin was left with only her hair and skeleton. The situation was as bad as it could be...
"To be honest, Falin's soul is on the verge of completely detaching from her body. It's only the Dungeon's power that's maintaining the last thread of connection. If we leave the Dungeon... no, even just leaving this floor, Falin will truly die!"
Marcille spoke, but her first words made everyone tense up.
Laios clenched his fists. "So, should we bring a resurrectionist into the Dungeon and resurrect her right here?"
"It's not just that... I don't think ordinary resurrection magic can work on Falin now, and we can't delay any longer!"
Marcille's brow was tightly furrowed. The hand holding her scarlet staff was stained with dragon's blood, making her look somewhat gloomy and dangerous.
"Also, to repair the skeleton to a complete human body, a large amount of fresh flesh and blood is needed as a material supplement. Normally, we would go to the surface to buy pork or lamb... but now we have to bring the meat to the site!"
"Impossible!"
Chilchuck immediately retorted, "This is the Fifth Floor! The meat would have rotted long ago!"
Laios pondered, "If we brought a live one down..."
"Are you going to bring a burden through the Dungeon?!"
"...Sorry." Laios grabbed his hair in anguish. "I wasn't thinking."
"Laios..."
"That's right. Whether buying flesh and blood on the surface or bringing a live animal, it's almost impossible to get it to the underground Fifth Floor.
In that case, we are left with only one choice..."
Marcille cast a gloomy gaze at the Red Dragon's corpse and fell silent.
Looking at her, Chilchuck and Senshi seemed to realize something as well. Shock appeared on their faces, clearly frightened by Marcille's bold idea.
"Are you planning to use the Red Dragon's..."
"I can figure something out for the flesh and blood."
Ryu suddenly spoke, breaking the heavy atmosphere and instantly becoming the focus of everyone's attention.
Laios looked up, stunned yet hopeful. "Is there another way? Ryu!"
Logically, he felt there was no other way besides using the Red Dragon's meat, but Ryu had already brought him many surprises on this journey. Even if he claimed to be a legendary grand mage in disguise, Laios was willing to believe him.
"Basically, as long as the meat hasn't spoiled, it's fine, right? Are there any special requirements?"
"No, it's best to use pork, beef, or lamb. Since they're all mammals, the success rate will be higher."
Marcille also looked at Ryu with anticipation. "Could it be that you have some ancient magic item that can solve this problem?"
"Something like that~"
Ryu brought his backpack over and placed it on the ground. Then he reached inside and took out battery-powered refrigerated boxes one by one, clearly exceeding the backpack's capacity, but everyone was already used to it.
Under everyone's curious gazes, he opened a box. A chilling mist immediately billowed out, and a piece of frozen meat appeared before them.
"This is..."
"Beef." Senshi's eyes flashed, making an accurate judgment. "The texture is very similar to a Minotaur's."
"That's right, it's A... that's meaningless here~"
Ryu smiled and shook his head, then opened the rest:
Beef, pork, lamb, chicken, whale meat, bear meat, deer meat...
"Using meat from a single type of livestock would give it too large a proportion in her new body, which could affect Falin's personality. It's best to use a little of each to ensure Falin's own personality remains dominant."
Hmm? Marcille... Marcille?"
"Ah... oh!!"
The Elf mage no longer looked gloomy, but instead nodded blankly. "You're right, that's true... Huh? Where did you get so much meat?"
Ryu retorted, "As a gourmet, it's quite normal to carry some precious meat ingredients with me, isn't it?"
"That's true... mm-hmm... Huh?"
Something feels off!
Marcille looked at the meat laid out in a row on the ground, then back at Ryu, her head tilted.
Ryu hadn't stopped. He continued taking things out of his backpack, but this time the refrigerated boxes contained bags of fresh blood held in some kind of transparent material.
"What's this?"
"Blood," Ryu said flatly. "Human blood."
"!"
"There's nothing more suitable than this, is there?"
Ryu smiled and explained, "Don't worry, it's from a legitimate source. The donors were willing, and they're all still alive and well. No need to worry about soul fragments getting mixed in."
"Oh..."
This time, it wasn't just Chilchuck; even Laios and Senshi felt something was off.
"Why do you have human blood in your backpack?"
"As a gourmet... a traveler, I was worried about getting injured and losing too much blood. I didn't know healing magic before, so it's quite normal to carry a couple of blood bags with me, isn't it?"
Is that normal?
The group exchanged glances. The medical science in this world was actually quite developed, having even created things like hallucinogens and anesthetics, but it wasn't something accessible to the average person, especially blood transfusions... Everyone usually used healing magic and then slowly recovered by eating well.
But this was Ryu's secret, so Laios decided not to inquire for his sister's sake.
Only Marcille clutched her lips with her fingers, looking completely baffled.
—She looked back and forth at the meat on the ground several times and finally couldn't help but ask.
"But, you clearly have normal ingredients, so why did you eat..."
"Monster cuisine is my hobby."
"Oh, oh~" Marcille touched her earlobe.
She didn't want to comment on other people's hobbies, but something still felt off...
"Huh? Then I... Since you had normal food, why didn't you tell me? I could have traded money or something else for it!"
"..."
"But I ate monsters the whole way... Huh?"
Marcille's eye twitched as images of the various monsters she had eaten over the past few days flashed through her mind.
"You forgot, didn't you? Ryu! Tell me you forgot!"
"Mm, sorry..."
Ryu suddenly turned his head and chuckled.
"I was looking forward to your reaction right now~"
"..."
"Marcille? Marcille!"
"Oh no! She lost consciousness just standing there!"
"MARCILLE!!!"
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