some people think writers are so eloquent and good with words, but the reality is that we can sit there with our fingers on the keyboard going, “what’s the word for non-sunlight lighting? Like, fake lighting?” and for ten minutes, all our brain will supply is “unofficial”, and we know that’s not the right word, but it’s the only word we can come up with…until finally it’s like our face got smashed into a brick wall and we remember the word we want is “artificial”.
So this is just my take, but the key to understanding Kabru Dungeon Meshi is understanding that the Touden's party was one of the top parties in the dungeon.
You eventually learn the mission they were on when they encountered the red dragon, and it involved going as far into the dungeon as anybody had gone before. Their party lineup was two top-level mages, Marcille and Falin (okay, Marcille's practical magic skills are kind of questionable, but we're told that Falin was extremely talented within her areas of specialty) Two excellent fighters: Shuro and Namari, and Chilchuck, who considering that he runs the guild, is likely one of the most experienced half-foot trapsmiths working on the island. Laios is party leader, and while he's not the greatest fighter, he's quite good, and his obsessive knowledge of monsters means that he can guide the others. You see how Laois's knowledge helps the party already, now imagine if they had a support caster, a dwarf whose almost certainly a much better fighter than Senshi, and another tallman who is almost certainly a much better fighter than Laois all working on that knowledge.
So with that in mind, lets revisit Kabru and his obsession. Kabru knows people, and can read them very well. He's also got a wider perspective on the nature and danger of dungeons due to his backstory. Kabru isn't here to get rich delving the dungeon, he's here to Solve A Problem. He's a relatively recent arrival to the island, that or his mismatched skillset means that he and his party are much slower to progress through it than the Touden's party. Either way, he spots the Touden party as The Party To Watch when it comes to conquering the dungeon. Laois, as party leader, is obviously of particular concern.
So, Kabru turns all his insight onto Laois and he gets...nothing. Laois cares about money from a pragmatic standpoint, but isn't especially concerned with it. He's easily conned. He's not driven by hatred, greed, or ambition. There's some curiosity there, but it's not the driving curiosity of an obsessive academic, Laois is an enthusiastic hobbyist who has figured out how to make his particular interest into a valuable skillset.
Kabru is looking for the protagonist of an epic fantasy tale, and he finds...just a guy. A guy who didn't feel at home anywhere, and found a place and a life where he was welcome and valued. A guy whose skillset and companions puts him first in a race he doesn't even know he's running. And if you're Kabru, that's infuriating and fascinating in equal measure.
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i don't think folks realize this, just because it's all fantasy worldbuilding, but dungeon meshi is absolutely a work of speculative evolution. the only major difference is the addition of a semi-sentient wish granting force called magic. (not unlike @dimespin's worldbuilding)
it takes a variety of fake creatures with biology that doesn't quite add up usually, and places it in the context of "while creatures are evolving, their wishes shape them" and manages to explain every monster from there.
dragons are a type of salamander that wished it could eat larger prey (just make it bigger, unintended consequence of sedentary lifestyle) wished they could make food could sustain them for longer (fire breath derived from the gizzard cooks food, makes it provide more nutrition)
it also manages to explain the different fantasy races pretty handily with this (one king wished for his people to be immortal -> folks wanted their life to end at some point, say 1000 years -> everyone wants to live for different lengths of time eg. some folks think 50 years is plenty while others feel they need around 500)
elves have a higher mana capacity because somewhere along their lineage, they wanted to use magic, but this leaves little energy for much else
dwarves are incredibly strong because they wished for it, but that strength comes from the same nutritional budget as everyone else, so they get exhausted quickly
someone wished dogs could talk and they eventually got kobolds
but the most common of those desires was some rephrasing of "i'm hungry, i wish i wasn't"