When the party arrived at the settlement, they bumped into another party, similar to theirs. It was a party composed of students from the academy. Cecil saw this particular party at the dungeon entrance earlier.
He didn't put them in mind though since it was only in passing. However when this party saw theirs, a couple of the students in the party smirked and blocked their way.
The leader, a tiger-kin and 2 others who were also tiger-kin walked in front of the rest. They were somewhat surprised seeing that Cecil was the one leading the party.
"Well, what an honor. To meet the first ranked." The leader said with a clear tinge of sarcasm in his tone.
Cecil tilted his head and began thinking, 'Did I offend this dude somewhere?'
"But, even with you in this party, I'm guessing it's nothing
