Makabe-san entered the room, offering a brief apology for keeping us waiting. Thinking it would be rude to remain seated, we started to rise, but he held up a hand to stop us.
"Ah, please, stay seated."
"Oh, er, right. Yes."
We froze in an awkward half-crouch for a second before sitting back down, looking at him with a mix of confusion and embarrassment. Whether he noticed our discomfort or not, Makabe-san simply began setting out his laptop and several documents with businesslike efficiency.
The silence that followed was a bit heavy.
"Well then, first of all, thank you for taking the time to meet with me despite your busy schedules."
"Ah, no problem. So... what exactly is this about?"
After the obligatory pleasantries, I asked him to get straight to the point.
I wasn't used to these kinds of formal meetings. If we spent too much time on polite back-and-forth, I was bound to make a mistake eventually. I’d rather hear the main topic directly—even if it seemed a bit blunt—and get things over with quickly.
"...I understand. I'll provide a bit of background before we dive into the core of the matter. Please, take these."
Makabe-san knit his brows slightly before handing each of us a small bundle of papers. They looked like the official materials for the discussion.
The title read: Interim Report on the Actual Conditions of Explorer Injuries within This Dungeon.
"The documents I’ve just handed you contain information managed by the Association, so please do not disclose their contents to anyone else."
"...Is this confidential?"
"Not strictly. We can provide this data if someone makes a formal inquiry. However, this hasn't gone through the final editing and proofreading stage for public release, so it lacks the precision required for an official Association publication. We intend to release it properly eventually, so the level of secrecy isn't that high. It’s simply that we don't want inaccurate information spreading. Leaked data often undergoes irresponsible alterations until the original meaning is lost."
"Ah, I see. Inaccurate information spreading would definitely be a problem."
The internet was already full of stories that had been distorted through a game of telephone until they were unrecognizable. Unless the accurate source was public, a distorted leak could easily be accepted as fact. It was one thing when something was just a rumor, but once people started asserting that a falsehood was the truth, the rumor became the reality.
When you looked at it that way, the accuracy of official information was vital.
"Then, let us begin. Please turn to the first page. As a preliminary point, given that the explorer profession involves fighting monsters, injuries are an inescapable part of the job. Naturally, the Association doesn't want to see casualties increase, so we provide explorers with data on monsters and traps."
"..."
While some data was restricted or required payment, the Association generally provided information on the monsters and traps appearing in the dungeon free of charge. As long as an explorer had the initiative to look it up, the information was there.
Of course, we had made use of it ourselves.
"However, there are still explorers who suffer injuries, both major and minor. Therefore, with the goal of reducing those numbers, we conducted interviews with explorers who have been injured in the dungeon. We investigated where, how, and against what kind of monsters these injuries occurred. Excerpts of their responses are listed in your documents."
"..."
Following Makabe-san’s lead, we looked down at the papers and scanned the explorers' accounts.
- Triggered a trap on the 5th floor and sprained an ankle.
- Failed to block an attack while fighting a monster on the 8th floor, resulting in a broken arm.
- A trap triggered during combat on the 14th floor; the moment my attention was diverted, a monster’s claws slashed my side, causing heavy bleeding.
- Engaged a monster on the 19th floor while already injured; it bit my left hand and tore off three fingers.
There were various other accounts describing how explorers had sustained injuries. Seeing it laid out like this reinforced the reality that injuries really were an occupational hazard. The fact that we had made it this far without any major incidents was largely thanks to the nature of the Slime Dungeon and the guidance we received from Juzo-san and Genya-san.
Under slightly different circumstances, any one of us could have been a line in this report.
"As you can see, the circumstances vary. However, our investigation revealed a certain trend among the injured."
"A trend...?"
"Yes. Please look at the next page. This data shows injuries categorized by explorer rank."
We turned the page and scanned the charts. When the casualties were arranged by rank, a pattern was indeed visible.
"...It’s true that lower-rank explorers tend to get injured more often than high-rank ones."
"But if you look at the population distribution, there are more low-rank explorers than high-rank ones. It’s only natural for the raw numbers to be higher, right?"
"Wait, but then it's weird that E-rank explorers have more injuries than F-ranks," Hiiragi-san pointed out. "In terms of total numbers, there should be more F-rankers."
The difference wasn't double or triple, but she was right—E-ranks were producing more casualties than F-ranks. It looked to be about 1.5 times the amount.
As the three of us whispered among ourselves, Makabe-san spoke up.
"Yes. We found that point concerning as well, so we questioned the subjects. We found that many of the injured E-rank explorers gave a similar answer: 'I’d gotten used to the explorer profession, so I thought it would be fine to have a bit of an adventure.'"
Hearing those words, we all let out a small sigh.
"...So, a lack of focus due to overconfidence is the cause."
"It's true that once you get the hang of it, you start thinking things are easy or that fighting monsters is a cinch. It’s no wonder people start getting reckless."
"Especially since the party system is the standard now," Hiiragi-san added. "Even if an individual isn't up to par, they can manage as a group. That creates a breeding ground for complacency."
"The Association shares your views. Because of this, there have been suggestions that we should hold a mandatory seminar when an explorer moves from F-rank to E-rank."
That seemed like a sensible countermeasure. Splashing a bit of cold water on someone just as they were getting cocky about their rank-up could be an effective wake-up call. Even if a few people ignored the warning, it would surely reduce the total number of injuries. A complete amateur at F-rank might not take a seminar seriously, but an E-rank who has seen some real combat might actually listen.
Of course, if they still couldn't get it together, they’d eventually just disappear—whether through retirement or an "accident," I didn't want to know.
"I see... but that makes me even more confused about why we were called here. If you want to lower the injury rate for low-rank explorers, it sounds like that rank-up seminar would do the trick. I don't see why you’d need to go through the trouble of calling us in just to hear our thoughts..."
"Everything we've discussed so far was just the preamble. The data that concerns you starts with the D-rank explorers."
"D-rank?"
Looking over the papers again at his prompting, I saw that the number of injuries among D-rank explorers was also quite high.
Was this the reason for our summons?
"I'd like you to pay close attention to the specific comments from the injured D-rank explorers."
"Comments..."
Written at the bottom of the page were the reasons why these D-rankers had attempted the dives that led to their injuries. Many were the same as the E-rankers: "I’d gotten used to the profession and thought it would be fine to have a bit of an adventure." However, some gave different reasons entirely.
- Recently, the purchase price for drop items has gone down and my earnings have decreased, so I went deeper than usual and encountered a powerful enemy.
- My talented juniors were catching up so fast that I tried to dive to a deeper floor to save face as a senior and rank up, but the enemies were too strong and I failed.
- Another D-rank explorer party is among the frontline explorers on the deepest floors, so I thought we could do it too.
When I read that last reason, my eyes widened. I looked up and stared at Makabe-san.
"Is this last one... about us?"
"...Yes. While I haven't confirmed it with every subject, it is likely exactly what you're thinking."
"..."
The three of us exchanged looks, our expressions twitching with a mix of awkwardness and guilt.
This "D-rank party on the frontlines" was absolutely us.
We tried to maintain our composure as we addressed Makabe-san. We basically knew the answer, but we had to ask.
"So, um, the main topic is..."
"Yes. It's about your explorer rank promotion."
"...I figured."
Given Makabe-san’s flat, professional tone, we all let out a sigh of resignation. This was the kind of request you really couldn't say "no" to.
Sensing our feelings, Makabe-san offered a wry, slightly apologetic smile.
"Normally, an explorer who wants to rank up submits an application, and the Association evaluates their achievements to decide. Our policy is not to suggest a rank-up unless the explorer applies first, but..."
"But after these interviews, you've decided that our rank is actually causing more injuries?"
"...Yes."
When I asked for confirmation, Makabe-san straightened his posture and looked at me with a serious expression.
He continued.
"It's difficult for me to say this, but we have investigated your achievements. The quality of the drop items you've submitted, the total value of your sales, your record of capturing criminal explorers... These are achievements that would justify an immediate S-rank if you applied. To be perfectly honest, it looks like rank falsification."
"..."
I felt my cheeks twitch at his blunt assessment. I couldn't blame him for thinking that way. Honestly, it was stranger that the Association hadn't approached us before now. Maybe they’d been hesitant because we were high school students, but now that they had data showing our rank was contributing to a higher injury rate, they’d finally been forced to act.
"Ahem... excuse me, that was uncalled for. To get back to the point: as the report shows, there are people embarking on reckless dives because of you. We believe that by raising your rank, we can discourage those people from attempting to emulate you."
"And that’s why you called us in..."
If our rank went up, the explorers acting recklessly might back off. From the Association’s side, it was a low-cost way to reduce injuries.
It wasn't like they were fabricating a reason, either; they were just finally giving a higher rank to people who already deserved it. The only sticking point was whether we’d agree...
"..."
Makabe-san watched us in silence. The atmosphere in the room made it nearly impossible to say "no." Not after hearing a story like that.
Still, it felt a little frustrating to just roll over and say "yes." So...
"Look, we really don't want to stand out. We were hoping to keep our current rank until we graduated high school..."
"!? But... ranking up comes with all sorts of benefits, you know?"
"...Like what?"
Makabe-san hadn't expected a refusal and began hurriedly listing the perks of a higher rank. However, they were all things we had already considered, and none of them were particularly appealing to us. Furthermore, I could tell from his explanation that he was secretly trying to push us all the way to A-rank. If we had just agreed blindly, we would have ended up becoming famous for no reason.
After a long negotiation, we finally agreed to the promotion—but only to C-rank. Makabe-san looked a bit disappointed, but since the rank was going up regardless, he accepted it.
"Very well. Then, I’ll start the paperwork. Please go to the counter downstairs to update your Explorer Cards."
"Sure. How long will that take?"
"It’s just a data update, so it should take less than five minutes."
"Understood. We'll head down then."
"Yes. Thank you again for your time."
Makabe-san gave a polite bow as he saw us out of the conference room.
Phew. Well, we were planning to head into the dungeon after this... what now?
When they tell you it’s for the safety of all explorers, you can’t exactly refuse. We reluctantly moved up a single rank.