The Mesh’s words hovered before Arwin’s face as if to taunt him. “Godspit,” Lillia said, breaking the moment of still silence. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” The Mesh was not kidding. Before she’d even finished speaking, more sentences swirled out before Arwin. Achievement: [From the Cradle] has been earned. [From the Cradle] – Awarded for clearing a Journeyman Ranked Dungeon within ten minutes of its establishment. Talk about efficiency. Effects: One skill in your next Skill Selection has been upgraded. This achievement will be consumed upon choosing your next skill. “How did this get qualified as a properly ranked dungeon?” Rodrick demanded, waving invisible words away from his face. “It was just a normal Journeyman tier dungeon when we went in!” “What exactly does this mean? I thought it was already Journeyman ranked,” Reya said with a confused frown. “Why is the Mesh suddenly telling people that we completed it?” “It was probably Journeyman tier, but it wasn’t officially recognized as that by the Mesh,” Anna explained. “There are different kinds of dungeons. The most common ones are just the ones that we’ve cleared before. They just… exist, I guess. They come in and out of existence and can have almost any kind of monster in them. Ranked dungeons are ones that have been recognized by the Mesh. They tend to be rarer and often have powerful monsters that don’t stay dead, even after you kill them.” They all cast their gazes down to the flesh golem. “Oh, yeah. Thanks,” Reya said, hurrying to obscure her face once more. The darkness around Lillia intensified and she walked beside Reya, partially obscuring the other girl. Then they were off, heading back for the exit and the crowd of Adventurers likely waiting for them at the outside of the dungeon. The not-so-dull roar of a crowd greeted the Menagerie as they emerged from the dungeon. Arwin winced at the bright daylight pouring through the entrance of the cave and exchanged glances with the rest of his team. It didn’t look like people had dispersed much since they’d entered. They’d made good time through the dungeon, fortunately avoiding any other adventurers or monsters that remained within it, but it looked like that luck could only stretch so far. There was nothing to do but head out. Arwin took the lead, dismissing Verdant Blaze and stepping out into the daylight to see what awaited them. He blinked the bright sun away, squinting as he took in his bearings. Almost instantly, his gaze was drawn to a tall black pillar rising up a foot above him at the entrance of the dungeon. A name glowed at its top, written in familiar flowing golden script. It wasn’t even slightly subtle. Anyone who ever went into the dungeon from this point onward would be faced with their name and would know immediately who had managed the first clear of the dungeon. He could feel the heart in his bag still thumping away, but it was impossible to actually hear over the crowd. There were a lot of adventurers staring at them as it became abundantly clear just who the Menagerie were. Rodrick was definitely right. This is one way to make a name for ourselves. Can’t take back the past, so I might as well lean into it. “Ifrit. Of all the things I was expecting to result from allowing you into the dungeon, I can honestly say that this wasn’t one of them.” Arwin looked to the side as Selen, the Secret Eye representative, pushed herself away from where she’d been leaning by the cave entrance and walked toward him. “And of all the things I was expecting to find in there, an imminent Dungeon Break wasn’t one of them,” Arwin replied, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Why didn’t you call for an evacuation of the city? If it went off—” “It didn’t,” Selen said. “The Secret Eye had things under control.” “That’s a lie and we both know it. We personally stopped several adventurers from dying. If we hadn’t, everyone here and a good chunk of Milten could have been swallowed.” “What makes you believe that you were not acting on the Secret Eye’s behalf?” Selen tilted her head to the side. “We did allow you in after all.” Arwin didn’t even bother sighing. The Secret Eye only had one goal, and the safety of a random city in the middle of nowhere wasn’t it. She probably did actually believe things had been handled, as she definitely wouldn’t have been standing within range of the dungeon if she’d believed a Dungeon Break was going to occur. The Ardent Guild definitely didn’t let her know just how close they came to getting killed, then. No way for us to prove anything in that regard, as it would just be a bunch of finger pointing. Getting caught up in that would just make us look petty. “How’d you do it?” Selen asked bluntly. “The only way you could have cleared the dungeon would be passing through the locked door.” “Did anyone ever try actually making a key?” Arwin asked, tilting his head to the side to gauge Selen’s response. She blinked. “…making a key? You didn’t have it?” That tells me all I need to know. “How would I? I’m a smith. Why would I have some magical key that lets me into a dungeon this important? I just made a key and opened the door myself,” Arwin said with a shrug. The clamor from the crowd grew louder. “What did you get out of it?” A man yelled. “What was in the fifth room?” “A giant flesh golem,” Arwin called back, taking advantage of the distraction to let himself slip out of the conversation with Selen. He didn’t want to outright snub the Secret Eye, but the less he had to talk to them, the better. “Of the Overloading variety.” “Aren’t you a smith?” a female adventurer near the front of the crowd asked. “How did your group manage to clear the dungeon when nobody else could? Did you really just make a key on the spot? I find that hard to believe.” Before Arwin could respond, another person pushed to the front of the crowd. Arwin recognized them. It was Leon, Ted’s brother and one of the earliest people he’d sold his armor to. “It doesn’t surprise me at all,” Leon said. “My guild has bought a ton of stuff from him, and everything he’s sold us has been great quality. If anyone could make a key in the middle of a dungeon, it’s Ifrit.” “Do you have any gear for sale?” another adventurer asked. “What about the loot from the dungeon?” asked yet another. “What did you get? Are you going to be auctioning any of it?” The crowd grew louder and louder. Leon sent Arwin a wink, showing that he hadn’t made himself known purely out of chance. He’d spoken to lend more credence to Arwin’s story. Arwin inclined his head slightly in appreciation. “We aren’t selling anything at this time, but I’ve got some gear in my smithy, the Infernal Armory,” Arwin called. “We got a fair amount of material from this dungeon and I’ll be making new sets of gear quite soon. If you’re interested in purchasing anything from us, please come by the Devil’s Den or my smithy tomorrow. Someone will be able to help you then.” Selen could do nothing but watch from the side as he and the rest of the Menagerie started off, pushing through the crowd. There was just too much attention on them for her to get the details she wanted. Adventurers parted, still pelting Arwin and the others with questions as they pressed back toward Milten. He didn’t even bother answering any more of them — he’d said what he wanted to and it wasn’t like anyone would have been able to hear him now anyway. They finally broke free of the crowd and accelerated, heading back toward Milten as fast as they could. A few adventurers trailed after them, but the vast majority of the others remained at the entrance of the dungeon.