17 I hate whoever invented red flags

[Shout outs for finding references to games, anime, light novels, songs, etc: Lorus03 for spotting the fluctlight from SAO]

Let's see here. We have yet to discuss what tiers actually are. Let me break it down into three different levels of danger. The first level that we shall call harmful is where the tier 0 and 1 monsters belong. These creatures are hardly a threat to trained dungeon delvers and soldiers. In fact, even the common villager can exterminate these fellows. If they have the courage and a weapon that is.

Now the second level we'll be calling hazardous is where we will put average and above average monsters in. In essence tier 2 and 3 monsters. Once a monster reaches this stage, they become the type of threat only those trained to hunt monsters can face. These monsters have levels of strength that overshadows normal animals like grizzlies. So much in fact that they can face off against an entire groups of hunters.

Hence why very few hunt alone and the guilds advise hunters to fight in groups of three to five strong. Not only this but this level of danger shows the first divergent monsters. Divergent monsters are those who are anomalies straying away from the typical norm of their evolution. Some straying so far, they change their species and achieve a strength level only heard of amongst the weakest of higher danger levels.

Now the final level of danger we will cover is the disaster rank. The monsters here are tier 4 and 5 monsters. You can think of these guys as the mini-bosses and bosses of dungeons. But unlike what the stories would lead you to believe one of these monsters is an actual disaster if they appear on the surface. The tier 4 monsters have stats in the 4 digits and tier 5 monsters is where things get really scary. They have the necessary power that would easily allow them to wipe out entire towns if left unchecked.

This makes even one of these monsters a match for dozens of skilled adventurers and soldiers. That's why so few teams dare to take on a boss monster all on their lonesome. Adventurers typically prefer to team up with four or five other teams to face these monsters and overwhelm them with numbers, tactics, and ingenuity. With this in mind, you should now have a basic grasp on how dangerous monsters are. Now as for if there is an actual tier above 5 no one can really say for sure. Those types of monsters only exist in myth. Although we still have yet to fully explore every dungeon. Especially the largest subterranean one spanning the world. So, who knows?

-Excerpt from the monster encyclopedia by Xander freerider

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(The commander POV)

"Have the troops finished pushing back the ants?"

"Yes, commander. We're in the clear for hunter and trading operations to begin again in this area. However, we've made a discovery that the ant swarm was only a hunting party sent out by the real swarm." A soldier in full black steel plate with an ant head with X dead eyes emblem on the chest plate.

I looked towards the cave entrance frowning. If that was really only a hunting party, then the swarm itself likely numbered into the tens of thousands. That's a serious threat to the kingdom. One I couldn't let exist. Unfortunately, they lacked the supplies to be able to launch an expedition deep enough into the dungeon to be able to reach the swarm. And even if they did, they only numbered a few hundred and already lost countless soldiers to the hunting party. If they tried taking on a swarm like that they'd be wiped out. There was no option but to guard the dungeon entrance against any ant hunting parties until a messenger can get reinforcements for an actual expedition into the dungeon.

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"You mentioned that hunter and trading operations are ready to begin again. Has anyone started any yet?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. There's recently been two trading caravans passing through the area as well as a hunter party who said they'd be hunting hamadryads that some villagers reported in the area." The soldier answered.

"Hmm. I see. We'll be staying here to guard the entrance of the dungeon. Send a messenger to headquarters for a request for an expeditionary force. Tell them there's a possible swarm numbering in the tens of thousands." I commanded him before returning back to my tent. There'd be a big battle coming that will keep the anti-hoard monster division busy for quite a while. But I doubt that anything would be able to threaten the kingdom during this time.

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(Joe's POV)

Haaaah…. I have a hate-love relationship with getting stronger… A hate-love relationship indeed. Leveling up is like a fickle lover who will backstab you and cut all your tendons with a serrated knife without any notice! What a cruel cruel reality this fact is. Alas, I must bear with it for the sake of power…. On a brighter note now I'm sure I'm becoming a decently strong monster (A/N poor poor MC…) with all these extra abilities and stat increases! I mean I'm in the double digits for crying out loud!

But nevertheless, I believe that with my newly upgraded translation skill I should be able to decipher important information from the villagers over at the village not too far from here. So, my plan is to go on a quick hunt to get some tasty XP and then head on over to actually gather information this time. I only got a translation skill last time and didn't even bring the vase. Maybe this time around I should take it with me for furniture…? I'll put that under consideration. Maybe I should get Amelia a jackalope on the way back. I'm getting more and more confident in my strength and my most recent upgrades might allow me to actually wrangle one to the ground if I hit it with a few drowsy pollens. I should level that up a bit. It would make hunting easier. More things to add to my list, I guess.

With that, I started heading out to the village for information gathering. I don't usually take much time to truly appreciate my surroundings. Especially in my previous life. I wasn't one for outdoors stuff but now in this life, I'm literally spending all of my time in a forest without even a bed to lay on! Not that I sleep but that's beside the point. Now that I'm out here I decided to take my time going to the village. It's not exactly as if there's any impending doom, right?

I should go stargazing or smell the flowers… Well, maybe not that last one. The other flowers might think I'm a pervert if I do that. They might just eat me if they're insulted enough! If they can be insulted. Probably not if other flowers are as dumb as the dryads would lead me to believe they are. Huh. That's odd.

I haven't seen a single monster yet… I mean the violence up here on the surface is probably much lower without things like giant scorpions and ant swarms but still, there's never been a time when I haven't seen a single monster during my time here in the forest. I'll need to ask Amelia about this when I get back from my espionage mission. I have a bad feeling about this silence. Like the old quote the calm before the storm. Other than that, though the forest was as pleasant and serene as always.

"Je to místo, kde vesničané řekli, že dryads bude?"

(A/N: Is this where the villagers said the dryads would be?)

What the!? That was a human voice! And my translation skill was able to actually decipher the meaning behind several of the words this time! That's much better! But what are they doing around here? I'm a bit of distance away from the dryad's grove which is good, but they mentioned something about villagers and dryads. I'm not sure I like the sound of this…

I activated my stealth skill and hid in the underbrush and started creeping along towards the source of the sound. When I arrived, I found there were three adventurers dressed in light gambeson armor. Two of them were male in their late teens while the other one was a female who looked to be in her early teens. One of the boys and the girl had matching colors of light grey and white edges hound emblems on their armor. The other just had a simple brown color for his armor without any fancy emblems to adorn it.

"Ne, ty idiote! Příšery jsou dál než tohle, pamatuješ? Proč jsme toho blázna museli tahat s sebou?" (A/N: No, you idiot! The monsters are farther away than this, remember? Why the hell did we have to drag this fool along?) The girl spoke in a harsh tone shooting a glare towards the man in brown.

The person she scolded looked away with an embarrassed look on his face as his shoulders sagged down in what I can only assume to be shame. I heard the words monsters, fool, and something being farther away. Looks like I was right to not like the sound of this. If what I believed to be true was true, then it means that the villagers might have hired adventurers to kill the dryads who are so graciously giving me shelter. Don't they have an ant outbreak to handle back at that one town!? Or did they already take care of them?

Doesn't matter. Either way, it doesn't change the fact that I need to at least warn them that the adventurers are coming. With that, I turned around and started to run as quietly as I could to warn the others of the approaching adventurers. I know humans and if they sent so few people that either means those guys are idiots, confident in their skills, or just the scouts. And based off of none of them having anything more than a short sword and daggers I'm more inclined to believe they're the scouts. Which means more hunters are coming for us.

It looks like I spoke too soon about impending doom and raised a red flag. What a rookie mistake to make in a world resembling an isekai novel. Damn whoever invented red flags!