As a society, we quickly praise those who tackle the things that are seen as big problems. However, the people we should be exalting are those who address smaller issues. Because it’s those people who keep those problems small. Delicious in Dungeon episode 4 shows us this first hand as we get an insight into the life of Senshi before he joined the party and see how his life is pretty much the reason why adventurers can do what they do.
As Marcille points out in several instances over the past few episodes, “normal” food is hard to come by in the dungeon. Senshi, however, in his quest to study and master dungeon cuisine, figured out that one can grow vegetables on golems, as well as how he can dispatch and raise them rather quickly. For those who do not know, golems are a part of Jewish folklore. Here mud or clay is given life through mystical means. Well, due to their magical and esoteric nature, golems, as it turns out, make great greenhouses. Their magic keeps humidity at just the right levels. Their combative nature keeps both insects and humans at bay, thus protecting the vegetables being grown on them, and the richness of their soil (possibly due to manure and fertilizers) increases the taste of the vegetables.
As Delicious in Dungeon episode 4 progresses, the group learns more about Senshi. Laios can’t help but be amazed at all he does. In his pursuit of dungeon cuisine mastery, he collects waste to use as fertilizer for the vegetables (thus keeping bathrooms clean), and in creating and tending to the golems that act as his personal garden, he keeps larger monsters away. This, in turn, allows adventurers to explore in a much safer dungeon and prevents habitat and species displacement, which often happens when foreign predators are introduced to new biomes in which they have no natural checks and balances.
After a proper meal (minus some basilisk bacon), the group sets out and tries to barter the excess vegetables that they are carrying. Senshi mentions that he has friends he often barters within lower dungeon levels. But at the moment, this is not a possibility. So, instead, they make their way to a dungeon bar but are turned away as their offerings are irrelevant to the owner. However, as they’re being forced out, a band of orcs attack the establishment, razing its interior and murdering everyone there except for Senshi and the group. It turns out that they’re some of the friends that Senshi had previously mentioned.
It’s explained that their actions are out of desperation; the Red Dragon that killed Laios’ sister has been active around their settlement, and because of this, they’ve been displaced and are raiding for supplies. They forcefully ask Senshi to surrender his vegetables, and he agrees with a few conditions. Firstly, the orcs must let them stay at their camp overnight, and secondly, they must carry a jar of fermented milk that was at the bar along with them. As the group marches towards the orcs’ campsite, the Delicious in Dungeon group asks Senshi what his plan is, and teehee, he’s only going to a potentially dangerous area to make bread. It’s a revelation that causes a lot of grief in the party, but hey, they’re already heading there– turning back is no longer an option.
As the group is led into the orc’s encampment, they’re placed in livestock pens. While the rest of the Delicious in Dungeon group worries about their future, Senshi is having a freak-out over the ingredients for the bread. The orcs, tired of his noise, throw the ingredients his way, and he begins preparing the fluffy morsels. As they do this, an orc youngling comes to the group and asks if they’re playing with mud. Its father gives it and the group an impromptu history lesson in which he states how his species once lived above ground but was driven off by humans and more humanoid species such as elves. As Marcille and the head orc butt head over who’s to blame for the sins of the past, he ends up kneading bread alongside them as a way to vent his frustrations.
As Delicious in Dungeon episode 4 continues, one can notice that during the exchange, Laios in particular seems to shy away from the discussion, indicating that there’s a decent chunk of truth in what he’s hearing. The head orc, picking up on his silence, confronts him about his intentions. Laios initially says that he has never given them any real thought. As Senshi completes baking the bread (you can make bread over a campfire, or if you’re feeling frisky, in geothermally heated soil or even in heated sand), the head orc informs them that they’re not allowed to eat it.
While the party is initially shocked, his offspring protests, saying it’s unfair. The media likes to portray children as the voice of purity, but honestly, everyone does it when the conditions are right. Back in the meat grinders that were the trenches of WW1, something interesting happened one Christmas Eve. In fact, it’s one of the oddest but warmest occurrences in written history. As Christmas rolled around, the German trenches (after brutal fighting) started lighting candles and placing Christmas trees on the outskirts of their perimeters. The British and French forces, who had been trying to kill them for hours, joined in, and for that day, a truce was called. Both sides stopped firing at each other and allowed each other to collect their dead from no-man’s land. They just stopped fighting, shared food and drinks, and supposedly even played a football (soccer to the Americans) match. But, we guess we need to present kids as pure.
As Delicious in Dungeon episode 4 concludes, the group manages to coerce the head orc into sharing a meal. While doing so, Laios open-heartedly mentions that they’re on a rescue mission to save his sister. He mentions that if they’re told where the Red Dragon is, they’ll defeat it without endangering the orcs. With this, the head orc relents gives them a map, and wishes them well.
Screenshots via Netflix
© Ryoko Kui, KADOKAWA/Delicious in Dungeon PARTNERS