"Hey, look, something strange is happening, they are fighting outside the dungeon."
While we were discussing which items we would put up for sale and how we would announce the news, Luna caught our attention.
"What do you think happened?"
"I don't know, but there are quite a few people inside the dungeon right now, and if you count the number of people outside, there are more than usual."
"It seems that invading a new world is much more complicated than we expected, even though they want to use the dungeon for recurring profit, not everyone seems to have the same idea."
"Quiet, the fight outside is getting interesting... I wish I could hear what they're saying and see further."
While Rick and I were trying to understand what was happening, the others seemed more interested in the ongoing fight, deciding that it's better to pay attention to what's happening now and think later; our focus turned to the battle outside the dungeon.
Even though we couldn't see very far from the entrance, it was enough to see what was happening.
The dungeon entrance was surrounded by people with weapons in their hands, as if they were defending something.
Right in front of them, we could see the guy who had fought against Omael. During the conversation with him, we found out that he is a former adventurer who decided to retire and became the leader of a village guard.
Unlike the calm expression he used to have, his face now bore a smile that looked more like that of a villain. This made us question a bit whether we can trust his words. However, considering the days that had passed, what he had said really made sense and seemed true due to the behavior of the other people.
He seemed to be battling a bald guy who appeared to have something like a scar on his face.
While his opponent seemed to be giving his all, attacking relentlessly and with incredible precision and lack of amateurism, he stood there, defending, dodging, and counterattacking with the least possible amount of movements.
With everything to be a battle between two professional fighters, it looked as if a child were trying to fight an adult, and the adult was playing around and not taking it seriously.
"Why isn't anyone interfering with the battle or helping one side?"
"Let's put the fight aside for a moment and look at the expressions of the others; they seem anxious, and I don't think he came alone."
Shortly afterward, as if to prove this, other people appeared in our view. While most were distracted by the fight, those who had just arrived decided to take advantage of the moment to attack.
Due to the element of surprise, despite appearing to have fewer people, they managed to gain the upper hand in the conflict.
"Look, look, he's getting serious."
The leader, who hadn't seemed to be making much effort, began to counterattack more seriously, no longer wasting time letting the enemy attack. He started to fight in a non-conventional way.
In addition to sword attacks, he seemed to be using his entire body to carry out his attacks. Along with the sword, unexpected kicks were starting to emerge. After the enemy dodged an attack that caused him to lose his sword, the fight became more physical, accompanied by punches, elbows, kicks, and knee strikes.
"It seems Omael wasn't lying when he said he had no confidence in a hand-to-hand fight."
Even with all the fights happening, the focus seems to be on incapacitating the enemies rather than eliminating them.
After about 30 minutes, the leader and the others managed to incapacitate everyone. After that, they seemed to have gathered them somewhere and detained them.
After checking everything, the leader was coming towards the dungeon. This time, his expression seemed to have returned to normal, and he seemed to radiate an aura of tranquility.
After entering the dungeon, he stopped on the first floor and seemed to be shouting something and making some strange gestures. After realizing that nothing happened, he entered a contemplative state.
As if he had had an epiphany, he started running to the next floor, where he began to attack all the monsters as if he wanted to cause the extinction of the monsters on that floor.
"My master, I think I understand what he's trying to do."
"What have you understood, Omael?"
"Well, I'm not sure, but I think he wants to talk to me or to you, because I talked that time we fought. Maybe he had the idea of trying to talk to me again."
Although it's nothing more than uncertainty, and Omael doesn't seem very confident, I can't completely deny the possibility.
"Can I go meet him, master?"
Since I had nothing to lose and no better ideas, I decided to let Omael go meet him.
-0-
"Master, he wants us to expel those who are currently challenging the dungeon."
"Well, we were going to do that sooner or later. Did you find out what's going on?"
Omael decided to recount everything he heard and discussed.
Apparently, some people were tempted to claim the rewards just for themselves. Normally, this isn't a problem; it's quite common with young or unaffiliated individuals. Those easily tempted by quick rewards are typically impatient and lack sufficient strength or skills.
The issue is their lack of action beforehand. This is a sign that they might be plotting something. Proof of this is the number of people they've gathered.
Given the village's way of life and the villages themselves, these types of people are more troublesome than monsters or known enemies. Because of this, the village decided to set a trap to get rid of them once and for all.
Due to the large number of people they brought, the traps and the original plan had to undergo some changes. To ensure everything goes smoothly, they allowed a portion to enter the dungeon before taking action.
However, as the dungeon typically separates people upon entry, they want to know if we can help by expelling those inside.
"I think it's best not to eliminate everyone at once but to space it out to avoid confusion."
I suggested how to handle them.
"Do we really need that? Most of them don't seem very strong, and they're taking a long time to progress through the floors."
But Oliver doesn't seem to think it's necessary.
"It's better to be safe; they might have some hidden tricks."
Rick seems to agree with me, or maybe it's just his cautious nature speaking.
In any case, we decided not to delay much. First, we started by eliminating the stronger ones who might pose a more significant challenge.
The disadvantage of having the dungeon reduce the number of people on each floor is that we can't use more than one hero on the same floor. It seems like a way to balance the dungeon's difficulty.
Some of them did indeed provide a challenge for our heroes. Among them was a person who seemed to have many tricks up their sleeve. Fortunately, none of them proved more challenging to face than Leo, the village guard leader.
When we finished, Leo seemed to have gathered everyone and took them to another place. Apparently, they will continue with the investigations and try to verify the truth of what they're saying.
-0-
After that, the dungeon returned to a moment of tranquility, with a few people remaining on guard until the time was up. Since they already called it the Adventurers' Guild, they are there just to ensure that nothing goes wrong.
"It seems like it will never end. I want to explore and talk to people from another world. Hehehe, I'll be able to brag about it for a long time."
Livia seems to be the most impatient among all of us, not that the rest of us aren't impatient as well. After all, we never expected something like this to be possible, especially after the monster invasion, which many believed to be the end of the world.
While we were watching the clock that shows the remaining time, time seems to pass incredibly slowly, and the final five minutes seem eternal.