When we go back to the inn, I see someone I wasn’t expecting.
“It’s been a while.”
“Yup, sure has.”
It’s Ryuryu, who I heard has been tirelessly working with the beast king ever since we came back from the Fuxto village.
“What brings you here today?”
“The demon king asked me. He suddenly said he wants to invite your party… Everyone, to a dinner party.”
She says with a tired sigh.
She said everyone, which means it includes Siphon’s, Argo’s, and Naoto’s parties. And apparently someone else went to talk to them.
“Master, let’s go!”
Hikari’s on board with it, but that’s because she heard they serve tasty food.
Ryuryu says this will take place in the castle, but it won’t be a formal affair or anything.
I’m curious about their food too, and since it’s not like we’ll be doing mock battles there, there’s no reason to say no.
Also, the beast king is a king, but he doesn’t really feel like one, and it feels like it’s easy to talk to him. That might be a rude thing to think.
We are taken to the castle by Ryuryu, and find the others are already there.
Despite this being a dinner party, it’s not like there’s a table with everyone sitting around it. There are multiple tables. After all, there are close to thirty people here.
Siphon and others are red-faced and happy, so I assume they’re already drinking. I see some beast people among them, but are they from the castle?
Apparently they’re talking about the tournament.
“They’re havin’ fun over there. Are you gonna drink too?”
I decline Ryuryu’s offer, and she takes us to a table.
There are three people here already, one of them being the beast king. The others are his wife Nene, who is also Ryuryu’s older sister, and someone named Figel.
“Let’s eat first. You’re hungry, right?”
Hikari’s eyes are glued to the food that’s on the table.
While we eat, the beast king asks questions about our dungeon exploration, and talks about how he’s finally done with the work that was piled up during the tournament.
And then, when most of the food is gone, the beast king turns to us with a serious expression.
“Is what you reported about the eightieth floor today true?”
“No doubt about it.”
“…I see… Sora, are you going to keep advancing?”
“Of course.”
“…The seven of you?”
He asks while looking around the table, and I nod.
“Do you need my, our power?”
He asks. Come to think of it, was it the eighty-first floor he was on? But he shouldn’t have to come with us, he has his own party.
And as I’m thinking that…
“…No, will you let the three of us go with you?”
Asks the beast king, and he explains what’s going on.
The reason they gave for why their exploration of the dungeon stopped, was that there was a lot of work to do after the tournament.
Of course, it is true that they’ve been busy, but the real reason was that three of their party members died in the dungeon.
There’s a mechanism in place that makes it so if someone dies in the dungeon, they are sent to a room where they recover, so their lives aren’t actually in danger. But they still haven’t woken up.
“Nene says that the ones that are still sleeping will wake up if we beat the dungeon.”
The beast king looks at her, and she quietly nods.
How does she know that? Actually, she’s powerful enough that she was a miko in the Fuxto village. Maybe she saw an oracle or something.
In any case, their proposal actually works for us. It will be the beast king, Nene, and Figel. The beast king fights on the vanguard, Nene uses magic rather than fight in front most of the time, and Figel fights with a bow and magic.
“I don’t mind. What about you?”
I turn to the others, and no one objects.
“I see, then we need to prepare… Actually, how about we get together and do some mock battles, so you can see how Nene and Figel fight?”
He sounds happy.
“I don’t think you need to fight.”
Says Nene, and the beast king looks sad, but if I help him out here, that’s just going to mean more trouble for me later, so I stay quiet.
Rurika and the others don’t seem to mind, so I’ll leave the beast king with them.
And so, the next day, we show each other what we can do, and prepare to head to the eighty-first floor.
And since the beast king’s party already conquered it, we get some advice from them.
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Thanks for the treat.