Still, even now, a day later, Magda stood by her decision to do exactly that. For many reasons.


    She had needed the time to think. To write reports. To double check certain legal documents. To mourn the loss of some good people who needlessly died in the line of duty.


    And to care for the survivors.


    That those survivors had retrieved a rare class orb also didn’t make things easier.


    Adding to all that the presence of the last remaining group that had accompanied her from the Hanvian branch, and, given how otherwise shorthanded they were, Magda couldn’t have proceeded with business as usual, even if she wanted to.


    With how incessantly those reckless fools had been pestering her and her staff ever since the sudden emergence of the new dungeon, she feared ignoring the crowd of foolish adventurers any longer would only further escalate the situation.


    But the anticipated scene didn’t appear.


    Even after an entire minute of waiting, there was no sign of the usual shoving and shouting.


    Was it still too early?


    ‘What nonsense,’ she dismissed the thought. ‘For those people, it was never too early. Or too late, for that matter.’ If it was up to them, the branch would remain open all around the clock; as some of the larger branches actually did.


    Failing to come up with a satisfactory explanation for this abnormal scene, Magda finally lost her patience and let her curiosity take over.


    Again she approached the door, firmly placed her hands, and pushed them open herself.


    The sight that greeted her was unsettling.


    Where was everyone?


    ‘Did those idiots finally cross the line and storm the dungeon? Couldn’t they wait any longer and decided to collectively throw away their lives?’


    Magda refused to believe that was the case. It didn’t make much sense.


    But what else could be going on? After a moment of apprehension, she decided to find out. She stepped outside to inspect her surroundings.


    What she saw stopped her right in her tracks. Though what she saw immediately answered all of her lingering doubts and question, in turn several new ones were raised.


    This observation, on a personal level, was maybe the most important to Magda. As per their contractual agreement, this change meant that she was now fully authorized to similarly expand her own facilities; back then, it had been a major concern for Severin that the Society might try to outdo and overshadow the Emporium.


    ‘As if I don’t already have enough on my plate.’


    Like for example the changes to the building on store’s right.


    It, too, had expanded in size. But on a much greater scale. In fact, the change to the actual store, at least in terms of its visual impact, was by far the least significant one.


    “And why was there a second building of the same dimensions also standing there?


    Nothing of this made much sense to Magda.


    Was he hiring more people? But why? Even if Severin required more personnel to man the store’s new floor, just how many people could he possibly need? What for?


    And yet. Despite its dimensions, Magda felt the building gave off a certain inviting warmth. She felt herself drawn to it.


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    By now, it was all too apparent where the majority of her usual clients had disappeared to.


    Magda had half a mind to join them to investigate. She craned her neck.


    Just an expansion of the cafe? That seemed unlikely, given its size.


    ‘Then maybe a restaurant?’ Magda mused, but was unconvinced.


    Curiously, she couldn’t see any signs that could provide some clarity, either.


    With that, she headed towards a different destination. One that was similarly packed with people ever since its sudden emergence.


    It also confirmed that coming here was the right decision.


    In these people’s eyes, she was the one ultimately responsible for the current situation. Meaning it was Magda who had ordered the dungeon to be off-limits.


    Because of that, it didn’t take long for everyone’s eyes to be focused solely on her.


    She was faced with an impatient, almost hostile crowd of people, which now loudly demanded answers.


    ““It’s her!”


    “Don’t you think you owe us some answers?”


    “Are you finally willing to let us in?”


    “That has to be it, yeah? I mean, it’s been half an eternity. At this point, anything else would just be malicious.”


    “If she doesn’t, we should just file a complaint with the Society.”


    “I say we should do so either way. To let an amateur like her take charge of maybe the most important newly established Society Authorization District in recent times. It’s a fucking joke.”


    “That’s exactly right! We have all seen the footage. The dungeon is obviously a joke. There. Your evaluation.”


    Magda wasn’t flustered or even intimidated by those shouts and maintained her stoic smile; she was confident her status and the authority that came with it protected her against even the most foolish adventurer. Also, she understood quite well how all of this must look from the outside.


    So, instead of issuing a lifetime dungeoneering ban to the more insulting loudmouths in the crowd, she did the most inconceivable thing.


    “


    ‘


    “I understand you are getting impatient,” she began. “Well, let me assure you, these last couple of days, we have worked our hardest to accurately determine the dungeon’s danger levels. However, we encountered some complications. We lost some good people-”


    As such, a situation in which a branch manager directly addressed their delayed progress with an active investigation was pretty much unheard of and made everyone hesitate.


    That was until this point.


    ““Who do you think you are fooling? Lost some people? Do you think we are idiots?”


    “Who’s gonna believe that?!”


    “That’s right! We all saw the footage. Even the group of newbies made it out alive.”


    “Have you guys become that much of a joke? Is that what you are telling us?”


    “What a fraud!”


    Luckily, some more reasonable and experienced groups were also present and seemed to understand that there had to be more to this matter than initially met the eye; otherwise, there was no way anyone representing the Adventurers’ Society-much less a full-fledged manager-would put themselves out there like this.


    ““Agreed. At least have her finish. Surely no one in their right mind thinks she came here just to tell us some fabricated stories and make us go away. Or do you?”


    “It is true that we lost people. From our own branch. But also some reinforcements. From Hanvia’s main branch,” she put special emphasis on that last part. Not because these people deserved more grief and attention than her own staff, but to make even the last person understand that this had not been an issue of qualification, skill or level.


    “Let me be clear: What our people have faced in there is not the same as you guys have seen during the recent event. It has changed.”


    “What do you mean, it’s not the same?”


    “Changed? What’s that supposed to mean?”


    “Is it evolving that rapidly?” someone caught on.


    “


    “The more attentive ones, however, didn’t miss the significance of Magda’s words.


    “And what’s the other theory?”