Seeing his team still in heavy discussion, Gary decided to get their attention with an exaggerated *Cough*.
That did little, only earning him a dismissive side-eye before they continued on.
But Gary wasn't having any of that. Not when he had the solution. One so simple that they should have come across it by now.
They probably would figure it out at some point, which made it imperative that he suggested it first!
He continued to cough, and with every second they ignored him, the louder he got, until the point they could barely hear each other with him hacking up his lungs in the background.
"YOU GOT SOMETHING YOU WANT TO ADD, HUH, GARY?!?"
It was Edwin who finally snapped at his childish actions as he snarled in frustration.
"*Cough*, funny that you ask, my dear Edwin," Gary rubbed his dry throat as he stepped forward. It was good that someone finally said something, his little act had begun to hurt his throat. It would be a shame if he couldn't deliver his speech in full glory.
"It's rather obvious if you think about it." Gary began, starting to pace back and forth like a teacher mentoring his students.
"Sure, supplies are a teensy-weensy issue at the moment, but the big problem is those little critters outside. They are strong and clever enough to give us a run for our money, and they aren't exactly coming at us one at a time. But that problem will go away if we find a way to deal with them. At the very least, it will make our trip back less of a pain in the ass."
"No fucking shit," Shasa grumbled, her arms tightly crossed. "Are you telling me you found a way to deal with them? If so, I am all ears."
"Tut-tut. Patience, Shasa," Gary leaned forward and smugly wagged his finger at her, ignoring the aggressive stare she gave him. "I may not know how to deal with them at this moment, but I sure as hell know how to find out," He turned around, leaving only his back visible to the others.
"After all, we do happen to have a book that contains information on literally every subject on the continent." He dramatically exclaimed, waving his outstretched arm towards the Compendium that had been ignored for the past few hours.
The team froze for a split second, as they realized that for once, Gary's words held meaning behind them.
"And I'm sure the book once owned by the Demon King himself has something to say about his own kind."
Brandus rubbed his smooth chin in thought as he eyed the oversized book. They may have not found a way back yet, but hope had bloomed within his heart. They had exhausted every other idea within the past three hours. The book could contain nothing of value, or rare materials were needed to make use of the methods described, but at least now they knew what to do next.
"What are we waiting for? Let's start reading!" Shasa was the first to snap out of her daze and grabbed the book, heaving it over her shoulder with difficulty before moving it onto the top of a broken pillar that was now used as a makeshift table for the group.
For the second time today, all the members squished themselves together around this ancient document. With a little shoving and a few curse words thrown amongst them, they settled down and prepared to go through the book once again.
But this time, no one marveled at its contents or engaged in pointless conversation. They needed to figure out how to get out of there alive, and could only pray to their Goddess that the Devil's Compendium had the answer.