Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

He usually acts like a younger brother who needs to be taken care of, but sometimes he shows a reliable side like an older brother.

That's the charm of rabbis.

Nina could no longer take her eyes off him.

Now she can't help but look for Rabbi, and whenever she finds him, she beams with joy and immediately runs in his direction.

(I'm almost losing track of whether I'm Rabbi's older or younger sister now.)

After reflecting on her recent actions, Nina couldn't help but smile wryly.

(...I couldn't even speak to my own sister.)

At the same time, he was so self-deprecating.

With a shadow over her face, she bumped into other friends as she stepped out of the school building.

"Nina! Are you going to do an internship next?"

"Ah... um, Betty, are you going to school?"

"Yeah, right! We need to cram for the exams now!"

These three female students were the dog-person, raccoon-person, and cow-person that the rabbi had met before.

They looked exhausted on the eve of the "big exam," and were holding several textbooks in their arms.

At this moment, the three of them suddenly exchanged glances and made up their minds to ask the question.

"Nina, why don't you join us for the guild's recruitment test?"

"..."

"You worked so hard back then, it would be such a waste not to take the exam. I think you should go back to the Liberal Arts Department?"

"...But I only got a C grade in the guild recruitment mock exam..."

"My grades are even worse than yours! Besides, five years ago there was the 'Flot Miracle' where someone got into the guild with a Z-rank score, so Nina, you'll definitely be fine!"

The dog-man, the female cow-man, and the tanuki-man friends all spoke up, urging him on.

Nina lowered her eyes and forced a smile as she apologized.

"...Everyone, I'm sorry, I've decided to give up, and I'm now under the Combat Technology Department... Goodbye for now."

After Nina finished speaking, she turned and left.

She felt the forlorn looks from her friends behind her, and then turned into the corner ahead.

After arriving at a deserted alley, she leaned against the wall, desperately fighting against the "emotions" surging in her heart.

"...Lavi must have already decided on his future path."

Nina murmured to herself.

Having entered the "school district" later than himself, he already had so-called "goals" or "dreams".

Now, this fact makes her feel deeply empty and pathetic.

"..."

Nina looked up at the blue sky that seemed to draw people in.

But the beautiful sky did not respond to her.

Since I returned to the "School District" from the Hestia Familia, every day I've spent with the "Third Squad" has been quite smooth.

Thanks to the hardships and sense of accomplishment gained from the dungeon, the team members have become very motivated. During their time in the "school district," they practiced teamwork, and during their dungeon internship, they overcame all obstacles and have now safely reached the 14th floor. Although Professor Leon entrusted me with helping to deal with Nina's problems, I decided to focus on the "team" matters for now and work hard with Iglin and the others.

As the tenth day of my "school district" arrived, marking the seventh day since the start of my "special internship"—

"Let's head to the 15th floor today!"

The "Third Squad" was eager to conquer the deepest floor of the dungeon designated by the "School District".

No one objected to Eglin's orders. We gathered early in the morning in front of the "school district," which had been moved to the giant shipyard for a full overhaul. After nodding to each other, we set off for Orario.

As usual, we passed through the southwest gate of the city and arrived at the guild headquarters to complete our internship procedures.

No one pressed Nina for her reason for refusing to enter the guild headquarters and preferring to stay in the outer courtyard. Everyone decided to patiently wait for her to confess one day, and they all went to the service window today to complete their internship procedures. Although I noticed that Miss Eina was always looking for someone among the "school district" students visiting the lobby, I couldn't talk to her right now, so I could only walk towards the guild's large notice board with a heavy heart.

"Is there any usable intelligence?"

"No, almost all of them are requests from adventurers."

Iglin leaned against the backpack I was carrying and asked a question.

Lavi Flamsch is currently a supporter and dungeon enthusiast in the "Third Squad"—essentially a "useful strategist despite having no combat abilities." To put it more elegantly, he's similar to Lily's advisor. But even if I were torn to shreds, I would never dare claim to be comparable to Lily.

In short, the others seemed to accept the dungeon enthusiast's habit of gathering information every time, so even if they were in a hurry to go to the dungeon, they would still give me some time to look at the notice board.

“…Huh?”

In addition to exploring the target floor, you should also gather information about at least the three floors above and below.

As a supporter of the "Third Squad," I took Lily's daily routine as a model and couldn't help but fix my gaze on a certain piece of information, tilting my head to the side.

"What’s wrong with you?"

"It's nothing, it's just that the information about 'Monster Rex' is a bit troubling..."

Even though the production interval of the "middle-level" floor master "Goliath" is about two weeks, I always feel that this information is a bit strange.

The notice board says the next time the floor owner will appear is "two days later"...

(I remember the last banquet after finishing the war game was fourteen days ago...)

After the banquet, Mr. Perth and the others returned to the 18th floor.

Since the safe floor is located here, Goliath is mostly defeated by the residents of the labyrinthine inn town (Rivera Town), and it is believed that Mr. Perth and his group also dealt with it this time. During the "Faction War," almost all the Familias left the dungeon and came to the surface to wait for orders, so Goliath, which was born on the 17th floor, should be temporarily left unattended.

In other words, the most recent death of the floor owner should have been at the hands of Mr. Perth and his group fourteen days ago, so I find the information on the notice board that "Goliath was attacked twelve days ago" rather strange.

If it is specified that the floor owner will respawn "one day later", it can still be considered within the margin of error due to the production interval.

However, if it's "two days later," it becomes a delicate line where accidents can't be guaranteed for adventurers exploring the "middle level."

"Why are you focusing on the floor owner information that appears on the 17th floor? Our destination is the 15th floor, right? Even if there's a big error, it won't affect us, will it?"

"Yes, that's correct in principle..."

But just in case—my last words didn't reach Iglin's ears, who had already left behind me. I glanced briefly at my companions' receding figures, then turned my gaze back to the large notice board.

(I've heard that after the residents of the labyrinthine inn town (Rivera) defeated "Goliath," they were too lazy to report the news to the surface, which led to errors in the intelligence...)

I've heard that some people thought "Goliath" had appeared on the 17th floor, only to find out when they went to defeat it that it had been taken down three days earlier by the residents of the Labyrinth Inn town (Rivera Town). Such cases (errors) are quite common. Perhaps this "error"—or rather, my concern—may also fall into this category.

I vaguely remember a job called "liaison," where people were hired by the guild to travel between the surface and the 18th floor, reporting the exact time of Goliath's defeat to the guild...

(Maybe I'm remembering wrong... but I'll keep this "strange feeling" in mind anyway.)

"ha!"

After the rabbit-person student in front of the notice board left, a group of men let out a cold laugh.

This group consists of the humans and orcs who are acting as "liaisons" in this operation.

These are also the high-level adventurers who recently had a dispute with the students of the "school district" and later harbored resentment because they were interfered with by the first-level adventurer (Bell Crane).

"After hearing that horrible roar, may you all be so scared that you wet your pants."

The adventurers looked down on the "good kids" in red and white combat suits who were moving around in the hall, and sneered maliciously.

"Roar! Ro ...

"Nina, a 'Hellhound' has appeared on another path!"

"Rachel, Chris, please don't let the enemy use their breath attack!"

"Understood." "Leave it to me—!"

After I, who was focused on searching for enemies behind Nina, gave a warning, the "Third Squad" quickly spread out.

While disrupting the movement between the ceiling and walls, the dark elf Rachel launched an attack on the black hounds (hellhounds) rapidly approaching from the three o'clock position. Just as she forced them to reveal an opening, the dwarf Chris, who was running at high speed close to the ground, rushed forward and swung a horizontal sweeping attack with his two-handed sword, which was almost as tall as him.

At the same time as the monsters were slain with a series of explosive sounds, Iglin, on the main battlefield, launched an attack with the support of Nina's magic sword.

"Ughh ...

"Gah!?"

The hammer swung down at high speed, blasting the three mantis monsters with crystal bodies, the "Crystal Mantises," into pieces in one go.

The battle ended without incident, just as Iglin's roar as he transformed into "Warrior Form" was still echoing in the "Cave Labyrinth".

"Great! Even the 15th floor is no problem!"

"Hurry up... and retrieve... the loot."

"Rabi, I'll help collect the 'magic stones' too."

"Thank you, Nina."

Iglin raised his hammer high and cheered excitedly, while Rachel and Chris, who had been grumbling under their breath, quickly went to retrieve the "dropped items." Nina, who had sheathed her short sword-shaped "magic sword" at her waist, came to help retrieve the "magic stone." The finishing touches were all done flawlessly.

The "Third Squad," whose individual combat abilities are all outstanding, is indeed remarkable.

This is how I felt when I reached the 15th floor.

They easily defeated the "middle-level" enemies, also known as the "first line," and continued to advance deeper into the floors.

Although we haven't encountered a large species like the Minotaur yet, even without my advice, the Third Squad's gradually improving teamwork is enough to handle it.

I feel like I'll be able to get to the other floors earlier than the other "teams" today.

"I feel like I'm invincible right now! Maybe I can even make it all the way to the 18th floor?"

"You could easily... go alone, right?"

"Thanks to everyone, we're only two 'credits' away now! Where is the Minotaur?!"

Everyone was quite satisfied with their performance, exuding confidence and high morale without becoming complacent—they were in their most ideal state. Based on the current performance of the "Third Squad," they were virtually invincible within the "Cave Labyrinth."

“…………”

"Rabbi? What's wrong?"

However──

Unlike the team's overall condition, I always felt that "something was not right".

(Should I say that today's dungeon is different from the past...? It gives me a "bad feeling"...)

I felt quite frustrated with myself for not being able to answer the question even though I knew the situation was different.

As I kept looking around, even confusing Nina—

"Chirp chirp! Aa ...

"Whoa!? You scared me to death!"

The monster's piercing cries echoed throughout the scene.

Surprisingly, a large number of "evil bats" sprouted from the ceiling, enough to make Chris jump on the spot in fright.

"────────"

Just as the "Third Squad" breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing that the opponent was merely a bat monster they had fought in the "Upper Level," the "alarm bells" in my mind had already rung to their limit.

Next—

"Chirp, chi ...

"Chirp chirp!"

"Chirp! Chi ...

As if a chaotic chorus of off-key notes had begun, this deafening "dissonance" echoed throughout the floor.

"W-What's going on!?"

"There are so many... strange sonic waves from 'evil bats'...!"

"Could it be mass production!?"

The sharp cries of numerous monsters overlapped, causing Nina and Rachel to cover their ears, while Iglin began to observe their surroundings.

The main attack method of the bat monster "Evil Bat" is "sonic waves" that can hinder the movement of its target.