As Tatebayashi-san and Hino-san hung their heads and stared silently at the tabletop, a heavy, stifling atmosphere filled the room. I had shared the unvarnished truth to prevent them from underestimating the danger, but it seemed the reality was quite a shock. Even a licensed newcomer explorer would likely have been shaken and hesitant after hearing that, so it was undoubtedly a harsh blow for ordinary people who hadn't even begun the licensing process.
That said, it was the kind of thing they needed to know in advance to avoid regretting it later.
Silence stretched across the room for a long while.
Yuji, Hiiragi-san, and I waited patiently for their reaction, while Mika and Saori-chan watched the two girls with worried eyes. Even Hashimoto-sensei, despite looking like she had something to say, kept her mouth shut. Seeing that we—their seniors—were maintaining a quiet, observant stance, she likely felt that Tatebayashi-san and Hino-san needed to arrive at an answer on their own.
Eventually, Tatebayashi-san lifted her head with slow, deliberate movements.
"Um... did you all ever face that kind of danger yourselves?" she asked, her voice faint and trembling with anxiety. Her tone betrayed a faint glimmer of hope—that while we might have seen victims of these "worst-case scenarios," we hadn't actually been the ones in the crosshairs.
Unfortunately, we had been directly involved in one such incident.
"We have," I replied. "In general, we keep a very wide safety margin during our dungeon explorations, so we haven't faced much life-threatening peril from monsters. But..."
"But?"
I paused for a moment, glancing at Yuji and Hiiragi-san. Sensing what I was about to say, they both hesitated, their eyes shifting briefly before they nodded back with grim expressions.
"Just keep in mind that what I'm about to tell you happened during the very early days after the dungeon opened," I prefaced.
Mika, Saori-chan, and Hashimoto-sensei focused on me with tense faces, sensing something ominous. I steeled myself and began the story.
"It was less than a year ago, only a few months after the dungeon opened to the public. You remember the news about the overcrowding and the subsequent entry restrictions? It was around March. That was when we encountered a worst-case scenario."
"...Oh, right," Tatebayashi-san murmured.
"I know the restrictions were necessary, but explorers back then were in a state of chaos. You couldn't get an entry reservation even if you wanted to, and the frustration was boiling over. Everyone was on edge."
"Yeah, the atmosphere in the dungeon back then wasn't just a bit bad; it was terrible," Yuji added. "Everyone was acting like they were in a frantic rush."
Hiiragi-san nodded. "Inability to enter meant a sudden loss of income. Back then, even drop items from the surface floors fetched high prices, so many people were trying to make a living solely as explorers. When the entry restrictions hit, their livelihoods were cut off overnight. It was almost inevitable that things turned out that way."
As the three of us recalled those days, we felt deeply that all the elements for such an incident had been in place. People who had been coasting on dungeon income were suddenly cut off by the external factor of entry restrictions, driven into a corner until they turned to crime.
"I remember you complaining about not being able to get a reservation, too, Onii-chan," Mika said, recalling those days.
"Yeah. Reservations were flooded on weekends, so we barely set foot in the dungeon back then."
"Well, we used that time for other training, so it wasn't a total waste," Yuji said. "Most explorers were just rushing in on pure momentum at the time, so maybe it was a necessary cooling-off period to force people to reassess their situations."
"True," Hiiragi-san agreed. "The number of people taking a more grounded approach increased after that—well, for the most part."
Perhaps due to the influence of the team system being mandatory, I also had the impression that steady explorers increased. While it was easy to act recklessly when alone, a team usually provided someone to act as a stopper.
"Anyway," I said, bringing the focus back, "keep that social climate in mind as the backdrop."
"Though their circumstances don't excuse what they did," Yuji cut in.
"Exactly. To the victims, it's nothing more than a selfish excuse," Hiiragi-san declared, her expression darkening with irritation. Seeing our reactions, the others gasped slightly, their unease deepening.
I exhaled, trying to calm my nerves. "Sorry. I got a little worked up just thinking about it."
"It's okay," Tatebayashi-san said tentatively. "What actually happened?"
"To put it bluntly: we stumbled upon a scene where one explorer team had attacked another, and we got dragged into it."
"What?!" the girls exclaimed in unison.
Hashimoto-sensei nearly jumped out of her seat. "Wait just a minute! Is that true?!"
It was the expected reaction; a teacher hearing that her students had been attacked by criminals would naturally panic.
"It's the truth," I said. "But don't worry, we fought them off and they were arrested."
Yuji added, "We found a team that had been heavily injured by the assailants. They were lying there being robbed, and since we were in the way, they targeted us too."
Hiiragi-san explained, "At first, we thought they had just been defeated by monsters, but when we saw their wounds, we realized they weren't caused by creatures. While we were on guard, the attackers came for us."
As we explained the situation in flat tones, Hashimoto-sensei let out a long sigh and sat back down. "Could you give me a moment? I need a bit of time to process this."
"Of course. It's only natural to be confused when told something like this so suddenly."
"Thank you. Just a moment..."
Hashimoto-sensei pressed the backs of her hands against her eyes and leaned over the desk, while the four girls, including Mika, looked stunned. Gradually, the reality seemed to catch up to them, and their faces turned pale. They probably hadn't even considered the possibility of being attacked by fellow humans inside the dungeon.
"I'm sorry. I'm okay now. Could you continue?"
"Understood. Er, the rest of the story might be a bit graphic. Are you all okay with that?"
At Hashimoto-sensei's urging, I prepared to resume. I would be talking about the victims' injuries and their state afterward, so I wanted to give a final warning.
"Yes..." Tatebayashi-san and Hino-san nodded. Though they were pale, they met my gaze firmly. Mika and Saori-chan also nodded strongly, looking determined.
"The team we found had five members," I began. "They were all in a terrible state. The assailants used high-velocity slingshots—weapons that fire metal ball bearings. Everyone was bleeding out; the floor was a literal sea of blood."
"!"
"Slingshots... like the ones used for hunting?" Hashimoto-sensei asked.
"Exactly," I replied. "When used by an explorer with a level up, they're as deadly as a firearm. I can still see those wounds... if we'd been any later, some of them would have died. One guy had a depressed skull fracture. He definitely wouldn't have made it."
The girls winced at the description.
"So what happened? Explorers of your caliber must have had recovery potions, right?" Hashimoto-sensei asked.
"We did. We couldn't just leave them there. We stabilized them with what we had, but we could only heal their injuries. Their physical injuries."
"Just their wounds, you mean?"
"Yes. Just their physical wounds."
Hashimoto-sensei looked pained, glancing at the pale Tatebayashi-san and Hino-san. Mika and Saori-chan seemed to grasp the implication immediately, their expressions turning grim.
"After we treated them, we dragged the assailants back to the surface and handed them over to the DP," I continued. "The victims went to the hospital. That's where the incident ended for us, but the story has a sequel. I ran into one of the survivors, Miyano-san, at an event later and heard how they were doing."
"Afterward..."
"Almost all of them quit being explorers," I said quietly. "It's an understandable choice. One has mild trauma, two need regular counseling, and the last one... they had a total breakdown. They're in a psychiatric ward now because they're terrified of other people."
Silence fell again. Hashimoto-sensei closed her eyes as if in prayer. Mika and Saori-chan looked at me with stubborn, resilient gazes. Tatebayashi-san and Hino-san were on the verge of tears, their hands over their mouths.
"That's the reality. As long as you're an explorer, the risk of human malice is never zero. Keep that in the back of your mind....Let's stop here for today. I think that's enough for one sitting."
For now, this was enough for Tatebayashi-san and Hino-san to process. What mattered was what kind of decision they and their parents would make after hearing this.
But first, they needed time to think. Even when an incident is resolved, the scars don't always fade.