"This situation is getting worse with each passing day! I ran into a swarm of Blood Devouring Wolves the other day, a group of monsters that normally never act in groups! Just what is the guild doing? Aren't they afraid that all these rampaging monsters will end up driving everyone away from the dungeon!?"

"You don't say… I went hunting for a few Shimmer Squids yesterday and ended up having to use all my strength to swim to safety after encountering a swarm of them numbering in the thousands! I have been hunting those squids for the past three years without any problems and the largest number of them I have seen gathered was a few dozen! Never anywhere near the thousands I saw yesterday!"

"Yeah, I experienced something similar when hunting for Nut Thrower Squirrels. Only to find myself almost dying to those squirrels…"

At the same time Scaly fell into a deep slumber and began undergoing her fifth evolution, up on the third floor of the dungeon inside one of the many human towns scattered throughout the third floor of the dungeon, a group of adventurers were casually chatting with each other about the current state of the dungeon and their recent experiences.

Although… One of those experiences was a bit more unique than the rest of them, earning a slightly surprised glance from the other two.

"Dying to… Nut thrower squirrels? Aren't those one of the weakest monsters on this floor of the dungeon? The one normally reserved for the newbies to handle? You are a C Rank Adventurer. How in the world did you-"

"Stop! Don't remind me! There were thousands of those damnable pests. All pelting me with their damnable nuts! Ah!! I swear, if I see another one of those nuts again, I will go crazy!

"O… Okay…"

"…"

Hearing their companion suddenly raising his voice with an expression that made them both understand not to ask any further even if they were curious, the conversation came to an abrupt awkward pause.

"Hey… I heard that the branch leader has already asked for assistance with the situation from the capital branch. Given how much value the Howling Caverns Dungeon brings, they are bound to send someone to help deal with the situation and solve whatever is causing the monsters to multiply and rampage like they are doing." Unable to endure this awkward silence, the one who had not mentioned anything regarding the nut thrower squirrels spoke up to lighten the mood.

"Hmph! I don't think that will happen! Knowing those arrogant bastards, I doubt they will waste any money dispatching someone capable of handling this kind of situation. Instead, they are far more likely to just watch how the situation plays out from the side until it becomes desperate enough that the branch guild leader in charge of the Howling Caverns Dungeon decides to give up some of his control over the commercial sector of the Howling Cave City."

"Hm?" As two of three each guessed on how the situation would play out, the third could not help showing a somewhat surprised expression on his face before opening his mouth. "You two haven't heard?"

"Heard?"

"What is it? Did the capital branch perhaps become generous and decided to send over the required manpower?"

Not understanding what their companion was talking about, the two stared curiously towards him, eager to hear what it was he had to say.

"The Hollow Rat's Nest was breached, and it's said that the area ten kilometers around it is swarming with those rats. Rumor even has it that some terrifying ones at the S Rank emerged from the depths of that rat filled hell hole. Heard a friend of mine say that those rats were already the size of a noble mansion!"

"What!? The Hollow Rat's Nest was breached!? How in the world did that dungeon get breached!? Wasn't it kept under extra tight security because of the youngest princess's direct order to ensure that place was never breached due to her fear of rats?"

"Yeah, even if that dungeon was breached, it shouldn't have resulted in the surrounding 10 kilometers being overwhelmed like that…"

Hearing what their friend said, the two companions didn't directly choose to believe him. After all, it was well known amongst adventures like them that the Hollow Rat's Nest, the most famous dungeon in the Great Sky Kingdom because of its unique quality of only having rat type monsters inside it and the most well-guarded, with at least one S Rank Adventurer being stationed there at all times to ensure nothing went wrong with the dungeon.

For that kind of well-guarded dungeon that had direct oversight from an S Rank Adventurer to be breached that easily and sweep up the surrounding 10 kilometers before a perimeter could be established to prevent the rats from swarming out into the rest of the Great Sky Kingdom was nothing short of unbelievable.

"Hehe, that is under normal circumstances! This time around, I heard from a friend of mine, who heard from a uncle of his who worked in the Hollow Rat's Nest Dungeon and managed to get away in time, that the Holy Flower Sect was involved. Apparently, they managed to somehow cause the dungeon breach after discreetly dealing with the S Rank Adventurer guarding the dungeon!"

"Holy Flower Sect!?"

"Deal with the S Rank Adventurer!? How!?

"I don't know, all I know is that the Holy Flower Sect should be the ones behind everything and the main reason why what happened ended up happening. As for that S Rank Adventurer, he didn't die but seems to have suffered injuries too great for him to return to battle in the foreseeable future. I even heard rumors about him being transferred to the Free States to find somewhere to get treatment."

"That…"

"…"

Seeing the speechless expression on the face of his two companions, the third adventurer felt happy that he had seemingly managed to show off his knowledge in front of his two friends. Chuckling silently to himself as he remembered just how difficult it had been for him to get his hands on this information in the first place.

Finding out through a friend whose uncle happened to be there? All made up! He had paid a hefty sum to learn this information before it would start to spread through ordinary information channels within the adventures' guild, all so he could show off in front of these two old friends of his.

And to be honest… He felt it was all worth it upon seeing their surprised expression.

As for the potential danger that this information hinted at, he was all too aware and so was his two friends after they had some time to ponder over what they had just learnt.

From this information, it was clear that the situation inside the Howling Caverns would likely only become worse in the upcoming days or weeks before reaching the point where a dungeon breach would also start to become a worry for the Howling Cave City above.

But… At the same time, this chaotic situation was also a clear opportunity for adventures like them to harvest a lot of monster materials and get rich- or if they really put their lives on the line, challenge stronger monsters that wouldn't be lacking with the current state of the third floor and attempt to use the opportunity to reach a higher level.

In fact, this kind of chaos taking place inside a dungeon was the main ways for bold adventures to forge a new path forward and potentially improve their rank rapidly.

Well… Rapid advancement through several ranks were mostly for those F Rank Adventurers who in some case could jump all the way to C Rank in this kind of environment. For seasoned C Rank Adventurers like themselves, being able to improve by a single rank and reach B Rank was already a monumental thing that would directly improve their living situation and immediately place them amidst what could be considered the upper tier of adventurers. Reaching a level where even nobles would have to treat them with great care.

As for becoming A Rank Adventures during this chaos… None of them even dared to think about this, as they understood full well that for something like that to be possible, the situation would have to grow chaotic and deadly to a point where even S rank Adventurers could fall.

After all, only such a deadly environment filled with countless powerful monsters and the chance to potentially kill injured monsters far above one's own level would allow that kind of rapid growth. Tempted as these three were in the face of this kind of rapid growth, they also understood that they would most likely just end up dead in that kind of deadly environment.

Instead of that, they preferred the current state of the Howling Caverns, as it was still good enough for C Rank Adventures like themselves to attempt a rapid increase in level, while not being too deadly. Making the group of three willing to take the risk in an attempt to reach the B Rank.

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