"Where on earth have Laios and Izutsumi gone?"
Right now, Marcille was in the treehouse she had created herself, busily crafting monsters—but even amidst that, she remained deeply worried about her missing companions.
The interior of the treehouse where Marcille currently resided was modeled after the home she had lived in as a child.
"I've already sent out some Walking Mushrooms to look for them, but probably because their movement is limited, they haven't found anything yet," said the Winged Lion, handing a glass of wine to the restless Marcille who was pacing anxiously. "The dungeon is now swarming with the Canaries' familiars. The elves are searching for you. They've already learned about what happened between you and Laios."
The Winged Lion placed the wine glass on the table before her. "Even if Laios and Izutsumi are found, they might be killed before they ever make it here."
Hearing that, Marcille could practically see it—Laios captured and executed, Izutsumi mistaken for a chimera and slain.
"Th-then I…" Marcille grew more agitated by the second, until the Winged Lion spoke again, "I can grant your wish. So… what will you do?"
Meanwhile, Laios was trudging along, carrying Thistle and Kabru while searching for a path forward.
"I have to get to Marcille!" Laios told Kabru with conviction. "Marcille is smart, but the Winged Lion will lie to her!"
"If this keeps up… Marcille's going to end up leading a horde of monsters into battle against everyone else in the dungeon!"
"Because Marcille's dream is so hard to realize, the Winged Lion is definitely going to trick her into taking it outside the barrier!"
Hearing this, Kabru couldn't help but ask—now that he and Laios had started speaking more openly, their communication had become smoother.
"What exactly is Marcille's desire?"
"She wants to eliminate the lifespan gap between races," Laios said, still shouldering Thistle. "Because of us… she's rushing things too much!"
"!" Kabru ran that dream through his head and realized—
How is it that every member of Laios's party has dreams more dangerous than the last?!
If Falin hadn't been turned into a chimera, would she also have declared, "I have a dream too"?
"So what are you planning to do?" Kabru asked, unable to hold back. "You said the dungeon master can't be reasoned with because of the Winged Lion—does seeing your companion now even matter?"
"Even if it doesn't work, I have to see Marcille," Laios replied. "Even if I can't talk her down right now, at least I can leave a mark on her heart."
"After that, we'll have to figure out a way to get someone else to become the dungeon master…"
Laios didn't turn around as he spoke, which left Kabru somewhat suspicious—was Laios in a rush to save his companion, or just desperate to become the dungeon master himself?
But if everything Laios had said so far was true, then…
He had no choice but to follow.
It was the only solution left within the dungeon now.
"There it is!"
Once they reached higher ground, Laios spotted a region in the distance that clearly bore Marcille's touch. He turned and handed Thistle over to Kabru.
"I'll go alone. If you run into any of the other Hunters, be sure to tell them what's happening here…"
"Besides the Guildmaster and Tanjiro, Joseph, Kazuma, and Naofumi are all reliable too!" Laios rattled off their names quickly before dashing toward Marcille with a determined expression.
"?"
Kabru was stunned.
He hadn't met anyone besides Kairo Retsu and Tanjiro! Couldn't Laios at least give him a description of what the others looked like?!
Meanwhile, Marcille—still fretting over how to find people and realize her dream—heard a commotion outside.
When she stepped out, she saw Laios being blocked by monsters, shouting desperately toward the house, his face red from yelling.
"Laios!!!"
Marcille's eyes widened in surprise, then quickly lit up with joy.
She didn't even bother changing her clothes and ran out from the house she had created to get to him.
The Winged Lion, watching Laios from the doorway, smiled faintly.
"Laios! How did you find this place?!" Marcille shouted excitedly as she chased away the monsters around him. "Where's Izutsumi?! Have you seen her?!"
"Izutsumi is with Tanjiro now," Laios replied, then grabbed Marcille's hand. "Marcille! I have something really important to tell you!"
"Huh?" Marcille blinked, thinking he was about to reveal something significant. But then Laios held up a wilted, flowering Walking Mushroom and exclaimed:
"Walking Mushrooms shouldn't have flowers on them! Look at this one—the flower sucked up all the nutrients! It's completely withered!"
As he flipped the mushroom over and pointed things out, he continued, "But luckily, it looked a little different from the usual Walking Mushrooms. That's how I figured it was your creation and managed to find this place… If you're going to modify them, I think it should be like this instead…"
"You came all the way here just to tell me this?!" Marcille glared at him, a bit irritated.
"Ah!" Laios jumped. "Right! This isn't the time for that!"
"Marcille, are you hurt anywhere?" he asked quickly. "And Senshi, Chilchuck, and Falin—are they here with you?"
"I'm not hurt…" Marcille said bashfully, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. "Senshi and Chilchuck are still unconscious. They must've fainted when the monsters chased the elves away…"
"Laios! Listen to me!" Marcille said, her face beaming as she began to share excitedly. "I found a way to make my dream come true!"
"The power of the dungeon can do it… It can… Oh! I haven't told you what my dream is, have I?" Marcille looked like an excited little girl.
"I want to eliminate the lifespan gap between races!"
"I've already found a way to do it!" she declared, her pupils faintly forming the shape of an ∞ symbol. "Even though the power of the dungeon only works within the dungeon, if we simply... reverse it and use the dungeon to wrap around the world, then it'll work!"
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