Izutsumi/Synopsis

Overview
Synopsis
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## History

At some point before she can recall, Izutsumi had a curse placed on her that fused her body with that of a cat-like beast. In her youth, she was paraded as a circus freak, caged and only given food on occasion. Eventually, Izutsumi was bought by Shuro's father to be raised as a retainer, primarily by Maizuru.

After being bought, a second curse was placed over Izutsumi by Maizuru, which involved a knife-wielding hag spirit attacking Izutsumi unless the brand of the curse was touched by Maizuru on a regular basis.

## Plot

### Senshi's Retainer, Asebi

Asebi first appears as a member of Shuro's party after they help Kabru's party defeat a Sea Serpent. She is next seen with Shuro's other retainers spying on the Touden party before they capture them.

When an exhausted Shuro agrees to let Maizuru prepare a meal for him, Maizuru orders Asebi to instead go and protect Shuro, not trusting her to not put strange things in the young master's food. Asebi sits in on the talk between Laios, Shuro and Kabru, but leaves with Kabru when Laios asks for some privacy. However, she is able to overhear their conversation, and when Maizuru and Senshi arrive to see Shuro fighting with Laios, she reports the reason for their fight: Falin was actually revived using monster flesh and the dark arts. She stands witness as Shuro and Laios argue, but their argument is cut short by the attack of the group by some harpies. Asebi, along with Hien and Benichidori, are ordered by Maizuru to dispatch the monsters from the rooftops, which they do fairly successfully until the arrival of the chimerized Falin. She goes missing after the battle, and the rest of Shuro's party leaves the dungeon without her.

### Asebi and the Touden Party

Later, Asebi follows Laios' group deeper into the dungeon, under the impression that Marcille as a wielder of the 'dark arts' can dispel the two curses put on her. After Laios' party defeat the shapeshifter, she captures Marcille and orders the others to stay back. Asebi continues to hold Marcille hostage in order to get her to lift both curses: the one around her neck and the one causing her to be a tall-man/beast hybrid.

As she waits for Marcille to dispel her neck curse, she orders 'the kid' (actually Chilchuck) to bring her some food, so he brings her their ration bag. She rifles through it and finds a ration ball, which she shoves in her mouth. When Senshi moves to prepare a meal for her, she tries to tell him to remain where he is but chokes on the powdered ball in the process. She begrudgingly allows Senshi to make her a meal on the condition no monsters are used, so he prepares for her from their limited non-monster ingredients a mushroom risotto. While she initially scorns the meal, the smell tempts her enough to try it, and soon she is licking the bowl clean and demanding more.

As she eats her second bowl, she scoops out all the mushrooms and drops them on the floor, angering Senshi. He orders her to hold her spoon properly and to pick up what she'd dropped, but she threatens him, moving towards him in response. Unfortunately, moving during the removal of a curse appears to activate it, and as Marcille tries to warn her of the danger, a hag spawns and strikes down towards her with its knife, with Senshi shoving her out of the way just in time. In the midst of the battle, he tries to demonstrate to her the value of using tools like spoons correctly when he exploits the weakness of the hag's knife, causing it to break. The rest of the group swiftly defeat the hag by lighting it on fire, and Senshi and Marcille gently scold Asebi for her actions.

When the group ask why she was following them, Asebi explains her desire to remove the dark arts-based curse causing her to be a tall-man/beast hybrid. Seeing as Marcille was the first person Asebi encountered who knew how to use them (mistakenly believing that Marcille both made and knows how to remove the curse on the chimera-Falin), Asebi believed Marcille could therefore dispel the curse on her. As the group inform her gently that this is not the case, she is immediately dejected and thinks she is to be a beast hybrid forever. However, Laios and the others welcome her into their group to further understand her curse as well as Falin's. Although she is reluctant to join them, she does tell them her real name: Izutsumi.

While the rest of the party deals with Marcille's nightmares, Izutsumi sits away from the group and tries to figure out a way to escape from them. She and the rest of the party are entertained by Marcille's dream shown in the steam of the cooked nightmares.

### Learning to Get Along

As the party journeys onward on the snowy sixth floor, Izutsumi is impatient to move forward and pushes at them from behind, causing the party to fall into the room where they first fought the Red Dragon. She stands to the side as the party collect their old belongings and tries to secretly pocket a coin, but is noticed by Chilchuck who forces her to take it out. The two of them take digs at their respective beast and Half-foot heritages but are quickly stopped by Marcille.

When the party accidentally activate an Ice Golem in the process of trying to extract a fish from the ice, Izutsumi is instrumental in taking it down, with a little assistance from Chilchuck in locating its core. After the battle, she criticizes their lack of agility but sneezes due to the cold, so they all retreat into a cave and Marcille starts a heating magic circle. When Marcille tells everyone to remove their wet clothes to dry, she tries to help Izutsumi by covering her up, but Izutsumi comments that there's nothing to block - and shows the party for the first time the extent of the beast curse on her whole body. However, Marcille quickly covers her up and the others block the eyesight of Laios, the one person who would be very interested in seeing a naked beast hybrid.

As Senshi prepares a meal, Izutsumi initially waits in eagerness but quickly loses patience, diving in as soon as Senshi says it is done. He stops her and tells her to wait until everyone is ready, but she insists that she earned the right to eat first by defeating the golem by herself. She is forced to wait, however, which she thinks is a waste of time. While she eats, Chilchuck comes up to her with a repaired knapsack, an apology and a lesson in learning to work with others. She thinks about this for a second, then quietly expresses her thanks for the meal.

Before the party move forward, Marcille tailors Namari's old clothing to Izutsumi. As they set off, Senshi hands out marinated mandrakes to everyone. Izutsumi does not want hers and gives it to Laios, scratching his face when he tries to convince her to eat it. When he asks why, she tells him she doesn't want to eat monsters because it will cause her to become a monster herself. Marcille asks what Izutsumi did in the past when she didn't like something she was served and Izutsumi lies, saying it never happened before (despite thinking about a time when she foisted her unwanted spring onion onto Tade).

After a while, the party are stopped by a blizzard, so they set up camp and start to prepare a meal. Izutsumi asks about 'decent food' like fish or rice but is informed by Laios there is none left, who explains that they cannot be picky with food supplies in the dungeon. This angers Izutsumi, who says she will only eat the things she wants to. Laios tries to explain to her using analogies that eating monsters will not turn her into a monster but she tells him to shut up, asking him to explain what the thing she is pointing to is (a barometz). When he tries to tell her about the barometz, she doesn't want to hear it, telling him to shut up again as she goes after the 'sheep'.

When Laios warns her to be on her guard, she is initially dismissive but quickly notices the scent of a pack of dire wolves. While Laios attacks the wolves, Izutsumi escapes into a cave system but is followed by Marcille, who asks where she is going without saying anything to the group. Izutsumi says she doesn't like dogs and quotes back Chilchuck's lesson of "letting others do what you cannot". Marcille tries to explain that was not what Chilchuck meant, but Izutsumi retorts that Marcille didn't contribute to the golem fight.

Izutsumi heads further into the cave system and chooses the path that she wants to despite the scent of the fire being stronger down another path. As Marcille follows and questions if this is the right way back, Izutsumi tells Marcille that she picks the path she wants and throws back a question at Marcille, not understanding why Marcille still eats monsters despite not wanting to.

Marcille's answer is interrupted by the sound of wolves coming after the two. She immediately starts planning how to fight them here, but Izutsumi chooses to run away to lose them, leaving behind a confused Marcille. As Izutsumi continues down the path, she hears a loud explosion, the force from which blowing back her fur. This triggers a flashback to when Asebi was at the Nakamoto household, getting scolded by Hien for leaving her chore of cleaning the roof to the less agile Tade to finish. She dismisses the memory of asking Tade why she did that and runs off further into the caves, but is taken by surprise by a waiting dire wolf. As she tries to free her arm from its bite, an injured Marcille totters out from the cave, yelling at Izutsumi to close her eyes before casting a bright light. This stuns the dire wolf long enough for Izutsumi to stab it through the neck, killing it.

As the two walk back to the rest of the part, with Izutsumi cradling her broken arm, Marcille explains to Izutsumi that in moving towards her goals, she runs into things she doesn't like (including eating monsters), but avoiding all the things she doesn't like would move her farther from her goals. She then reminds Izutsumi of her goal to reach the Lunatic Magician to lift her curse, and that some shortcuts may be needed along the way.

When they reach the rest of the party, Marcille performs her patented quick but painful healing spell to fix Izutsumi's arm (which apparently hurts more than the broken arm, according to Izutsumi). The party then examine what's left of the barometz plants: an unripe fruit, which to Izutsumi's amazement has a sheep inside. After Senshi prepares the barometz fruit, he hands Izutsumi her portion. She is initially suspicious, disliking the 'weird' stuff mixed in with the meat and thinking roasting the meat would be enough, but gives it a sniff and a tentative bite. The barometz turns out to be delicious and she devours the rest of her bowl. As she licks her fingers, she recalls the rest of the situation with Tade, who came to a similar conclusion to Marcille: "Don't be so focused on avoiding what you hate that you lose sight of everything else." Izutsumi acknowledges Tade's point as she licks her bowl clean, thinking that sometimes you end up with something that was worth all the trouble. Laios, Senshi and Marcille look on with pride and patting Izutsumi on the head for trying so hard. In response, she scratches their faces and tells them she ate it because she had no choice and still refuses to eat any yucky vegetables or monsters.

Izutsumi is next seen yawning as she sits apart from the other members of the party while they wait for Senshi to finish cooking. As the rest of the party eat, she is oddly alert, sensing something around, which unnerves Chilchuck. This turns out to be the spirit that Laios thought he had been hallucinating, relieving him as it is no longer just his imagination (although Izutsumi confirms she cannot actually see it). After Laios and the spirit converse for a while, the spirit asks to introduce them to someone. When they agree, it drags the others along with Izutsumi into the wall, dropping them on the ground on the outskirts of the Golden Country.

### Adventure in the Golden Country

During the unicorn-drawn cart ride into the village, Izutsumi is unusually quiet, sitting with her head down next to Marcille. Unexpectedly, Izutsumi meows then slumps down with her head on Marcille's lap, contentedly snuggling down. This confuses the others, thinking it due to teleportation sickness or exhaustion.

When they are informed they need to wait till the lord returns, Marcille volunteers to take care of the oddly behaving Izutsumi (who at the time was licking her hand) while Senshi and Laios take tours around the village. As the two rest in a room, Marcille asks if Izutsumi is okay, but she just purrs on being patted on the head. She seems to watch contentedly as Marcille becomes a model for the dressmakers of the village.

As the party reunites, a dressed-up Marcille arrives last with Izutsumi in tow. Laios comments on how unusually affectionate Izutsumi is, who at the time is asking Marcille for more pats. After Marcille takes a seat, Izutsumi immediately sits down heavily on her lap and rejects being patted by Laios, deeply offending him. When they are then called to have a meal, Marcille brings the sleepy Izutsumi with her.

At the table, Izutsumi sits with Marcille, resting her head on the table. As she does, she looks particularly eagerly in direction of the rack of Minotaur ribs and the bladefish loaf. While the rest of the party listen to Yaad tell the story of the cursed people of the Golden Castle, Izutsumi eats her way through the entire conversation (at one point ending up underneath the table) and is seemingly satisfied by the meal.

As the others discuss the implications of Laios' promise to defeat the Lunatic Magician in their lodgings, Izutsumi sleeps at the foot of one of the beds. She wakes briefly when Marcille requests to stay in the same room as the others, citing Izutsumi's odd behavior as the reason. The others appear to allow this, with Izutsumi sleeping on top of the covers.

The next morning, Izutsumi eats breakfast with the other members of her party and Yaad. When they finish eating, Marcille cleans Izutsumi's face with a napkin. After a brief conversation, Yaad leads the party back to the entrance of the dungeon. They are transported back into the dungeon by spirits which drop them unceremoniously onto the ground of an ancient dwarven-built cistern, with Izutsumi landing on top of the pile.

### A Tale of Senshi's Past

After a few moments, Izutsumi returns to her senses. On recalling her actions in the Golden Land, she is completely mortified and sits with a teleportation-sick Senshi to recuperate while Laios and Marcille look around to figure out where they are. She continues to sit grumpily as Senshi and Chilchuck co-operate to note down some dwarven glyphs around the pillars nearby, which Senshi uses to determine where they are.

At this point, Laios and Marcille return to the rest of the party, with Marcille particularly excited. She believes they have found Falin, while Laios believes it could be a griffin, which appears to spook Senshi a little. Izutsumi and Chilchuck are given feathers dropped by the monster by Marcille, who asks them if they recognize the scent, which Izutsumi determines just reeks of animal.

While Senshi expresses his reluctance to go after the griffin, Izutsumi alerts the party to something approaching from above - the griffin! It lands heavily, forcing Laios, Senshi and Izutsumi to dodge out of the way, then takes off again. As Laios and Marcille prepare to attack, Senshi tries to run away but is captured by the griffin. The others give chase, but the griffin is too fast and disappears into the gloom.

As they all try to figure out how to rescue the unarmed Senshi, Izutsumi asks if they plan to climb each pillar to look for him, refusing to be the one to do it as an aside. While Marcille prepares the materials to make a familiar, Izutsumi asks the others about Senshi's history. When they give no reply, Izutsumi is shocked as the party appeared to be good friends with him.

Since Marcille is unable to follow the party while controlling her familiar, Laios offers to carry her while Izutsumi and Chilchuck carry the rest of his gear. As Marcille stabilizes herself, Izutsumi finds her final balancing position weird. Izutsumi is then equally judgmental of all of Marcille's behaviors as she controls the different forms of her familiars, but is amazed by how fast the skyfish is. Due to Marcille's efforts, the party is then able to rescue Senshi and kill the griffin.

As they eat the meal Laios prepared from the skyfish familiar, Izutsumi reacts to Laios' remark that the skyfish tastes like the meat and vegetables are blended by noting that they are literally blended to form the skyfish's body. She then only eats the wings and refuses to stop doing so when told to.

As she and the rest of the party continue to eat, they listen to Senshi tell the tale of his past, reacting in pity and concern, especially at his not knowing whether what he ate was griffin meat or worse. Izutsumi and the others are then appalled by Laios' suggestion that they eat the griffin, with Izutsumi asking angrily what is wrong with him. The party is equally unimpressed when Laios excitedly plans out how to recreate the meal by trying both the top and bottom halves of the griffin. While Laios continues to muse and cook, Izutsumi glares at him, watching as he investigates a curious group of mushrooms.

After Senshi finishes cooking the soup, the party watches as he tries it and states it to be completely different to the one he had in the past, with Izutsumi's realization trailing off. She and the rest of the party angrily whale on Laios for what he did, but stop when he reveals that what Senshi ate in the past was not a griffin but a hippogriff, which relieves Senshi a little even though there is no way to test this theory. The party are then confused when Laios proposes they compare the two meats, thinking it best that he leave it as a situation where they can live in hope, but Laios reveals the other culprit: changelings, which had transformed the hippogriff into a griffin.

When Laios places the griffin meat in the fairy ring, it changes appearances, with Izutsumi reacting in amazement. After the soup is prepared from the changed meat, she and the rest of the party watch as Senshi cries on taking the first bite, which he tells them tastes like the soup he had so many years ago. She then watches on as the others hug Senshi.

As the party prepare to leave, Senshi tells them of the dangers of desiring things in the dungeon and asks if they would be willing to take him along. They agree, but as they move forward, they unwittingly step in a fairy ring of changelings.

### Changed by Changeling

Izutsumi and the party venture onward, but before they can explore parts unknown, they all get high fevers and are forced to rest. As they wake from their troubled sleep, they realize they have all been transformed into other species, with Izutsumi turning into a kobold (but still having cat ears). The party decide to try to transform back by going back to step through the fairy ring, but first they switch clothes. As they all adapt to their new bodies, Izutsumi teases Chilchuck, saying he should be glad of his tall-man form since others won't treat him as a child now given he looks like a thug, but he does not hear her. She comments that his sense of hearing has dulled too.

The party keep going forward, with everyone using their newfound racial abilities to keep them all out of trouble and going in the right direction. Laios is particularly impressed with the speedy adaptation of the group, but the others are not so sure. At this point, instead of coming across the cistern, the party come across the door to the deepest part of the dungeon (which the Touden party had been searching for before their encounter with the Red Dragon). They also find the remains of a camp, which they conclude was left by adventurers who did not make it past the door.

As they decide what to do next, Laios proposes they keep going in the new bodies they have for the moment, to the shock and annoyance of Chilchuck and Izutsumi. While Marcille and Senshi do not see any issues with their current forms, Chilchuck and Izutsumi are not convinced. Izutsumi follows this up by asking how they will open the door, with Marcille and Laios resulting to banging on it asking for Yaad's assistance. Izutsumi, watching the proceedings, suddenly alerts Laios to something coming out of his sword, Kensuke. She and the rest of the party are a little disgusted by it seeming to grow multiple tendrils out of the sword, but it slithers into the door and appears to unlock it. Chilchuck and Izutsumi then look on as Marcille and Laios attribute the opening to the Winged Lion and Yaad.

Before the party is able to move through the door, they are attacked by a group of gargoyles. As the others prepares to fight, Chilchuck tries to run away but draws the attention of the gargoyles due to his height, with Izutsumi angrily calling him out to fight as well as a 'tall person'. They are saved momentarily by Marcille casting an explosive spell, but she passes out from mana sickness with a nosebleed from the effort. Izutsumi is then called by Laios to back up Senshi, but her expression has glazed over in a state of agitation from the noise and smell of blood. so he tell her to 'stay' instead.

Laios soon realizes the party is unable to fight in their current state, so he throws the bell given to him by Shuro through the opening in the door and tells Izutsumi to chase after it. The others follow after her then together push the door closed. The party is forced to come to terms with the inconveniences of their new bodies. In response, Laios begins to prepare a meal. They then all sit together to fold dumplings, and as the time passes, they begin to calm down. (Marcille praises Izutsumi's dumpling folding, which has picked up some of her fur.)

After the dumplings have been cooked, the group talk about the different ways dumplings were prepared where they came from, with Izutsumi noting that they look similar but smell different to the ones she knows. As she bites down on a dumpling, it burns her mouth, with Senshi's warning coming too late for her.

While the party finishes up the meal, they have a brief discussion on dumpling variety as a metaphor for their current situation, as well as the history of their current location: an ancient dwarvish defensive point. Eventually, with the reminder of the currently elven Senshi, they come to the conclusion that they need to return to their original selves as soon as possible.

When the party moves onward, Izutsumi and Chilchuck in their Tall-man-sized bodies stride ahead of the others, who struggle to keep up. As a result, Laios suggests the party take a short break. Izutsumi is unimpressed by this, thinking them 'a group of old people on a walk', but rests with them while they discuss the issue of aging in their current bodies and using changelings to assist with Falin's chimera situation.

As the conversation comes to a close, Marcille suddenly notices the sound of approaching gargoyles. Izutsumi yells at Laios for not closing the door properly but Laios responds that he was not sure how to lock it. The party decide to face down the gargoyles instead of running,
with Laios organizing their fight plan, instructing Izutsumi to get behind the gargoyles. The planning is cut short by the arrival of the gargoyles, one of which immediately dive-bombs Laios, knocking his sword out of his hand and stealing it.

When Izutsumi and the rest of the party try to run away, Marcille bumps into her and Senshi, in the way due to her small stature. During the battle, Marcille and Chilchuck figure out that they were able to make a fairy ring with their arms which changed Kensuke's form, while Izutsumi, Senshi and Laios all get attacked by the swooping gargoyles which stay frustratingly out of reach. Marcille tells the others to all link hands to form a ring, to which Izutsumi responds to suggest something that will be actually useful. Despite this, the party do link hands, with Izutsumi asking what they will do now. Marcille then explains her full plan: to have the gargoyles pass through the ring of their arms, which she theorizes will change their forms.

As a gargoyle begins to swoop down towards the party, Laios pulls Marcille one direction to get her out of its path, while Izutsumi yanks her the opposite direction since that would move them too close to the wall. Marcille is unable to hang on to both of them and lets go of Laios' hand, landing heavily onto Izutsumi. The gargoyle takes the opportunity to swoop Marcille, who narrowly escapes by rolling away - however, the gargoyle has somehow trapped itself in a grate. The party quickly link hands - Izutsumi grabbing Chilchuck's and Senshi's - and surround the trapped gargoyle, which transforms into a stone disk face. Through some ingenuity and synchronized footwork, the party are able to also defeat the other elusive gargoyle, transforming it into a urinating statue.

Laios tells the party to bathe, explaining that washing the spores off their body and clothes should return them to normal. Izutsumi is ordered by someone to wash her clothes as well as they will become covered in mushrooms, which she responds to by yelling that they are lying. However, she does start to change out of her clothes, at the same time asking Senshi what they will be eating today. When she hears that they are having dumplings, however, she becomes disinterested, telling him that she is tired of eating them, which greatly shocks him. He tries his best to accommodate Izutsumi's picky, small appetite by frying the dumplings. When he presents them to her after her bath, however, she gives an apathetic response, saying all he did was fry them. She then shakes herself dry like a dog, irritating Chilchuck in the process.

Senshi then notices the transformed gargoyle disc, and uses its mouth as a fairy ring to transform a dumpling. While the others are interested, Izutsumi is suspicious that the dumplings will cause the changelings to grow in their stomachs. Senshi tries to assuage her concerns by reminding her this did not happen with the hippogriff meat, but she still looks unconvinced as he asks her to arrange the plates for their meal. As they sit down to eat, Izutsumi looks over the large variety of dumplings and selects one, taking a bite. She happily announces that it contains barometz meat, and the others begin to eat as well, discovering the many different fillings they have.

The next time the party wakes, they have returned to their original bodies. Izutsumi, however, remains in bed as the rest of the party pack and prepare to move on, resisting Chilchuck's attempts to pull her blanket away. With the party ready to go, Marcille notices Laios' suspiciously wrapped sword and reveals Kensuke to be completely covered in changelings. Izutsumi suggests they surround him and beat him up for this, but Marcille just tells him to go wash it.

As the party moves forward, the path they are on ends at a strange building, which Senshi identifies as an automated trolley. Izutsumi and the party enter the trolley warily, which to their surprise starts moving as soon as the last person - Chilchuck - steps in. After Senshi alleviates their concerns, the party take their seats as the trolley travels onward, Izutsumi lying down with her head in Marcille's lap.

While Senshi boils some tea with Laios' assistance, he asks Laios about his and his sister's lives. As Laios talks, Izutsumi in her head wishes that they would shut up, but is startled into opening her eyes by tears dropping from Marcille's face onto hers. Izutsumi quickly sits up, a little disgusted. With a grossed out Izutsumi watching, Marcille tearfully talks about her academy days when Falin used to bring small snacks to show her. When Laios reveals it was probably that Falin wanted to share them with Marcille, Marcille starts crying more, deeply bothering Izutsumi sitting next to her. Not knowing what to do, Izutsumi reaches out to pat Marcille, who suddenly launches forward to hug her. While she is briefly disturbed, Izutsumi eventually does comfort Marcille by rubbing her back. Izutsumi then puts up with Marcille leaning on her after she finishes crying.

The conversation drifts once more to a discussion of eggs as a metaphor for souls, with Falin's chimerized soul described as the separable 'bacon and eggs' versus the more difficult to separate 'mixed omelet'-like soul of Izutsumi. Senshi proposes that since the dragon meat they consumed did not return to the its body, consumption of the dragon half of Falin might be able to force the dragon's soul out of her, which Izutsumi responds to by poking her tongue out. Laios, however, appears to consider this seriously.

When Laios voices aloud his worry about how many meals it would take, an incensed trio of Chilchuck, Izutsumi and Marcille shout at him that he is missing the point. Laios responds equally passionately that it is exactly the point and the best plan they've had yet, startling the others into submission. As he considers this mammoth eating task and the allies he has to do so, he concludes with this plan: free the Winged Lion, get it to help defeat the Lunatic Magician and find allies to help eat the dragon part of Falin. He is optimistic about the chance of success, but the others are not so certain, with Izutsumi commenting that it sounds like an extremely large party.

Some time after the party leaves the trolley, they come across a group of Giant Changeling Walking Mushrooms. While the party is able to defeat them, they are unfortunately transformed in the process, with Izutsumi turning into an orc. Marcille, fed up by them changing on every encounter, prepares medicine to cure the party, which Senshi co-opts for use in a sauce for their meal. When Marcille reacts angrily, lifting the half-foot Senshi into the air, Izutsumi is startled. As Senshi tries to explain that he didn't think Izutsumi would drink the medicine she was preparing, Marcille responds that the medicine was intended as an ointment (with a confused Izutsumi in the background). The party sit down to eat it anyway, partially and slightly painfully transforming back as they eat. Izutsumi only uses a fork to eat and later licks the plate clean, declaring mushrooms great.

### Search for the Lunatic Magician

Later, the party find themselves in the ruins of an ancient dwarven civilization. As Senshi and Laios discuss their need to hunt for more meat, Laios thinks aloud about the types of monsters they could find in this as yet unexplored area. When he says rats, Izutsumi reacts in disgust, saying they taste gross. She suggests they hunt for 'the goat thing' in the distance instead, which Laios identifies as a bicorn.

In order to get the corruption-loving bicorn to approach them, Laios proposes that the party corrupt themselves. The party then go through a series of sinful actions, with Izutsumi's decision to instead go and sleep interpreted by Laios as 'sloth'. She is then picked up and carried the rest of the way towards the bicorn by Laios and Senshi, making her very grumpy as she tries to struggle out of their grasp. Laios drops her suddenly to demonstrate greed, with her falling to the ground face first. Senshi then appears to sling her over his shoulders to keep her with the party.

Their final sinful action and approach of the bicorn with a lasso falls on Chilchuck, being the only one who has demonstrated infidelity (by his own words having cheated on his wife). When he fails and instead has his hand bitten off by the bicorn, Izutsumi comes to his rescue, throwing a knife at the bicorn's head and hurting it enough to drop him. As Laios takes on the bicorn, Senshi tells Izutsumi to tie the lasso's end around his waist. After a tense moment (with a worried Senshi thinking Izutsumi did not do as asked and her confirming she did), the bicorn is subdued and killed.

As his hand is being healed by Marcille, Chilchuck informs them that he did not cheat on his wife - just that he does not know why she left. Marcille then launches into her guess of the explanation of the potential events leading to this, Izutsumi and the others listen in, a little dazed. By the end of the tale, Izutsumi, Laios and Senshi are convinced, with Izutsumi commenting that it seems like Marcille saw it all. When Laios tries to figure out what a 'virtuous' really means in the context of bicorns, Marcille suggests he and Chilchuck read a particular series of books, with a skeptical Izutsumi watching on.

Izutsumi continues to listen in as Marcille and Chilchuck finish their conversation. When Chilchuck reveals the one wrong part of Marcille's guess, frustrating Marcille as she believes he is still hiding something, Izutsumi appears more interested in the pot that Senshi is showing them.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 58, p. 11
2. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 41, p. 4
3. ↑ Miscellaneous Monster Tales -6-
4. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 41, p. 5
5. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 32
6. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 35
7. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 36
8. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 37
9. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 38
10. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 40
11. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 41
12. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 42
13. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 43
14. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 44
15. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 45
16. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 46
17. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 47
18. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 48
19. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 49
20. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 50
21. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 51
22. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 52
23. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 55
24. ↑ *Delicious in Dungeon* Manga: Chapter 56