Tentacles (Chapter 19)
Once the Touden Party reunite with Namari and her new crew, they ask for her gnome leader's help in healing Marcille. The leader, Mr. Tansu, agrees on the condition that they help him with researching some ruins next to some totally safe and non-living roots.
Stew (Chapter 20)
As Mr. Tansu's party prepares to leave for the surface, the boys insist that Marcille join them to regain her mana. And not wanting to abandon them on their quest, Marcille gets the big idea of drinking the undine using it's spiritual properties as mana fuel.
"Tentacles" contains the following tropes:
Tentacle dressed in vinegar
- Anger Born of Worry: Namari quickly criticizes Laios for having a new sword he didn't buy from an official store and later orders Senshi to take great care of his axe.
- Back from the Dead: The segment goes into more detail with how adventurers can come back from the dead: the dungeon itself seems to reject death, tethering a soul to a body when they die. As such, simple healing magic is enough to resurrect someone as long as they're in the dungeon. Senshi hates it because of how unnatural it is to bring the dead back to life, while Namari does not like how people get too reckless with adventuring believing they'll just be brought back to life, since if someone's corpse is inaccessible, they could be dead for good.
- Dirty Coward: As soon as the undine tries to attack, Mr. Tansu uses Namari as a human shield.
- Gag Lips: Laios ends up with these as the ivy tentacles touched his face.
- Human Shield: Apparently the reason Mr. Tansu hired Namari to join his party is to exploit her as a human shield. And since he can always revive her after she dies, he has no regrets about doing it over and over again.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Mr. Tansu boasts that he'll be able to tame the undine since undines and gnomes have a mutual understanding with each other. It only takes a few seconds before the undine tries to kill him.
- Multi-Melee Master: Namari is described as an expert when it comes to weapons. She is also able to snipe the Ivy Tentacle using a crossbow even though it was her first time using one.
- No Sympathy: Mr. Tansu doesn't feel the least bit sorry about Marcille's critical condition.
- One-Hit Kill: Using Kiki's crossbow, Namari lands a major hit on the Ivy Tentacle that forces it to free Kaki and Laios.
- Only in It for the Money: Namari is willing to lend her services to anyone as long as they can reward her handsomely. When she takes umbrage with Mr. Tansu using her as a human shield, he reminds her how much he is paying her to do so.
- Snarking Thanks: Marcille and Namari give passive-aggressive "thank you"s to each other, both failing to hide their bitterness about Namari leaving the group.
- Tentacled Terror: The Monster of the Segment is a root-themed tentacle monster. Along with entrapping their prey and suffocating them, they also can inject venomous barbs into the skin to paralyze them.
- What's In It For Me?: Mr. Tansu refuses to heal Marcille without proper compensation. It's only after Laios and Senshi save Kiki from the tentacles that he agrees to heal her.
"Stew" contains the following tropes:
Tentacles and kelpie meat stew simmered in undine
- Big Damn Heroes: Namari reneges from leaving with the Tansu Party to help the Touden Party capture and cook the undine.
- Everyone Can See It: When Namari remarks that Shuro harbored feelings for Falin, Laois is the only one shocked by this news.
- Fantastic Racism: After Marcille confesses that she angered the undine by pouring boiling water no it, Mr. Tansu chides her for making a mistake fit for an elf. The dwarves - Namari and Senshi - nod in agreement.
- Fantasy Metals: When Senshi brags about how his trusty pan has been used in his family and can endure the greatest of dents, Namari identifies the pan as being made of adamantine.
- Honor Before Reason: Chilchuck holds no grudge against Namari, justifying her decision as one in the benefit of her future adventuring career. He even states out loud that the only reason he is helping the party save Falin is that he was paid in advance and can't leave a job undone, lest he ruin his own reputation.
- Many Spirits Inside of One: Undines are made of tiny water spirits who share the same thoughts and energy.
