The Karasuri Federation

The Karasuri Peninsula, also known as the Karasuri Subcontinent, is a vast region. On Earth's world map, it would correspond to India, though it's slightly larger than India on Earth.

And existing on this Karasuri Peninsula is the Karasuri Federation. To put it bluntly, it's an alliance of nations that get along far worse than the city-states union of the continent's southeast.

When I asked Carla-sensei why that was, it apparently had to do with various events from three thousand years ago.

"More than half… no, almost all of what happened in that era was Ars's fault."

Ars Garhart. The person said to be the greatest figure in world history, who civilized the semi-wild demon race and achieved coexistence between humans and demi-humans.

According to Ria, he was an evildoer who destroyed an entire world.

Carla said his merits and demerits were equal, but when it came to the current state of the Karasuri Peninsula, she said it was definitely Ars's responsibility.

Three thousand years ago, the demon army that had advanced from what is now the Garhart Empire ended up fighting against the Lemdria Kingdom, which was said to be the strongest at the time.

Since Ars's goal was human-demon coexistence, he didn't want a full-scale battle to the death with Lemdria.

How could he win without engaging in major battles or siege warfare?

The answer was simple: destroy their supply lines.

He needed to strike not only the Lemdria Kingdom but also the Karasuri Kingdom, which was supporting them.

So Ars, over a long period of time, won over the nobles of Karasuri… or so it goes.

The noble rebellion threw the Karasuri Kingdom into civil war, and after the Great Collapse, the Karasuri Kingdom was destroyed.

The Karasuri region split into territories of small and medium nobles, each of which generally declared themselves a duchy.

Since the only kingdoms were the five appointed by the old empire, they were probably deferring to that at the time.

For three thousand years, plots and wars continued unabated, and the inland areas of the Karasuri region became utterly devastated.

The only nations prospering now are either trading nations facing the sea or the limited countries that have labyrinths in their territories.

"It's getting hot already…"

Laila, who had begun to sweat, opened the carriage window.

"We're getting close to the equator. It'll get even hotter."

"What's the equator?"

"Ah, the detailed explanation is a bit difficult…"

In response to Laila's question, Sei desperately tried to explain about planets, but it's hard to explain something you don't fully understand yourself.

"Basically, the closer you get to this line, the hotter it generally gets. Though there are exceptions due to ocean currents."

Spreading out a detailed map, Sei explained.

"Huh, where's the Great Forest?"

"Around here."

"Eh! It's that small!?"

"It looks small on the map, but it's actually enormous. Well, it can't compare to the Garhart Empire though…"

Since that place is almost entirely forest, that's a different matter.

"Shall we teleport again soon?"

While checking the map, Sei suggested. Lavi nodded and stopped the carriage.

"I wish I could use teleportation magic," said Bungol.

Teleportation magic is difficult. Even Ria and Carla apparently needed over ten years of training to reliably perform long-distance teleportation.

For an ordinary human, even one quite skilled in magic, it would probably take twice as long.

Through Lavi's short-range teleportations, the group drew closer to the Hero's location.

"It seems like this city of Toya is the place."

The population was two hundred thousand. And despite being inland, there was considerable foot traffic.

The reason was simple: there was a labyrinth.

"A labyrinth, huh. I've always wanted to try challenging one."

When Bungol said this excitedly, Gantz was also breathing heavily with anticipation.

"A labyrinth… we might need to go in."

Sei's Map showed that the target Hero was in the labyrinth.

"Ane-deshi, are we going to fight the Hero?"

Bungol asked with great interest, and Sei sighed in response.

"Well, it would be best if we didn't have to fight."

This Hero's Gift was "Transformation."

According to Mako's information, it was a leveled Gift, and the higher the level, the more the body could change, with abilities becoming closer to the actual creature.

Incidentally, there was no time limit, but apparently the transformation would revert if concentration broke.

"Level 8, huh… You don't think at level 10 you could transform into a dragon, do you?"

"Who knows? But it's not exactly a user-friendly ability to begin with."

If you transformed into a minotaur or something, you could probably dominate ordinary humans.

"You see, unlike Lavi's dragon transformation, when you get bigger, your clothes get torn."

Ah… That would be rather inconvenient to use.

Moreover, the one with this Gift was a girl.

Having your clothes tear every time you transform to fight - what is this, Devilman Lady?

"Well, she probably uses it as a trump card. Her base level has risen to 55, so she's probably fighting normally most of the time."

While having such a conversation as they secured lodging, entrusted the horses to the stable, and registered at the Explorer's Guild, the receptionist confirmed something.

"Um, are you seven going to explore together? The recommended level for this labyrinth is 50…"

The labyrinth probably had thirty floors total. The monsters on the shallow floors were roughly level 40.

The monster levels were considerably higher than the Trial Labyrinth.

Looking at Sei and Mako's appearances, it was understandable she'd be worried.

"No problem. Our average level is over 100."

"Oh, is that so… You do seem to have a scout. Please be careful of traps, and if you face strong enemies, make sure to run."

"We appreciate the advice."

The receptionist had been looking at Bungol, who appeared strong both racially and physically.

But if she knew he was actually one of the weaker members of the group, she'd probably be quite surprised.

Just outside the city's west gate was the entrance to the labyrinth, surrounded by walls.

The walls were made of iron, not stone. Unlike the Trial Labyrinth, this was probably due to the danger of monsters overflowing.

It was unusual to have the military deployed around it. That showed just how valuable this labyrinth was as a magic stone mining site.

"Now for the formation - Bungol and Kukuri in front, me and Mako behind them, Laila and Lavi after that, and Gantz bringing up the rear… fine, I get it. I'll take the rear, so Gantz, swap with Kukuri when enemies are spotted."

The blood of a battle maniac, still not calmed. At Gantz's demand, Sei placed him in the vanguard alongside Bungol.

Well, it wasn't a bad thing. Having Sei with his detection abilities take the rear was reasonable anyway.

And so the group set out to explore the labyrinth.

What Sei considered common sense for labyrinth conquest was to break walls and draw enemies to them, but they wouldn't use that method this time.

First, unlike the Trial Labyrinth, they didn't know if this labyrinth had auto-repair functionality, and the average enemy level was a bit high.

Setting Kukuri aside, there was a possibility that Bungol, who was actually weak among them, couldn't hold off enemies completely.

And then there was Laila's spirit arts.

The wind spirit arts she excelled at were difficult to use inside a labyrinth.

Sei could certainly force his way through with magic power alone, but at this level of enemy, he no longer gained proper experience points.

Therefore, they would explore the labyrinth steadily while encouraging the growth of Bungol and Gantz.

They whittled down enemies from a distance with Magic Arrows.

Then Bungol and Gantz would finish off the enemies that had closed in. And before the defeated enemies could block the corridor, Mako would store the entire monsters in her Item Box.

When Bungol got tired, Mako would take over the vanguard.

Bungol's eyes went wide at her tremendous spear handling.

"The world is vast… To think such a young girl could be this strong…"

"Well, Mako is a Hero after all."

"Eh? A Hero?"

Heroes were beings that had once been the natural enemies of the demon race.

Of course, after the Hero Ars took the seat of Demon Lord, there had been no instances of demons and Heroes fighting, but it was still somehow frightening.

After getting used to the labyrinth, the group made camp.

Though it was called camping, the food was already prepared, and they created a bath with bath magic. Since they also put up a barrier to sleep, there was no danger.

"This is quite different from the labyrinths I'd heard about…"

Bungol tilted his head in confusion, but that was mostly Ria's fault.

While having Kukuri teach them how to dismantle, they collected magic stones. Some had already crystallized into magic crystals, showing the strength of this labyrinth's enemies.

And finally they would soak in the reheated bath - orcs apparently liked baths.

From the next day onward, exploration continued smoothly.

Since they were using Sei's Map to search for monsters, humans, traps, and such, there was almost no danger. The only risk was when they had to physically disarm traps that Kukuri couldn't disarm.

"Labyrinth exploration is easier than I thought, Ane-deshi!"

Since it was nothing but combat, Bungol seemed to be in high spirits. Well, since he was steadily leveling up, that made sense.

Then, partway through, Mako suddenly spoke up.

"What's wrong?"

Sei had been careful about safety, but had he overlooked something? Mako shook her head and grinned.

"I got the Identify skill!"

"… You could already use Identify through Principle Magic."

"But being able to use it without MP consumption is great!"

Identify was a useful skill. But since Sei had Omni-Identify, he didn't quite grasp its value. Of course, he understood it was essential.

Kukuri's Identify actually came with the Insight skill, and Lavi could use Dragon Eyes too. It was a party with unusually high capability for assessing enemy strength.

"Oh, the Identify skill. Doesn't really matter to me."

According to Laila, a certain percentage of elves had a Gift called "Fairy Eyes."

Since Laila herself was saying so, it must be true. It didn't match Dragon Eyes or Divine Eyes, but it had nearly the same capability as Omni-Identify.

"Ane-deshi, is Identify really that necessary?"

"Let me see… for example, there's a group of explorers coming from ahead right now, so everyone stay in combat readiness."

The group proceeded somewhat slowly.

In the labyrinth's faint light, figures appeared.

It was a party of about ten, all humans. Heavy on front-liners, with one mage in the back.

"Faces I don't recognize."

A man who appeared to be a scout called out to them.

"Yeah, this is our first time in this labyrinth."

When Bungol said this, the scout's face twisted slightly.

He was probably thinking: an orc, a dwarf, and an elf aside, the rest were just children.

When the scout went back, the party Sei had mentioned approached.

"Hey, just heading in?"

"Yeah, you guys heading back?"

"That's right. Well, be careful."

The moment the man who said that tried to pass by Sei's group, he drew a dagger from his waist.

His target was Lavi. The other men also tried to ready their weapons all at once, but…

"Wha…"

The dagger was caught bare-handed by Lavi, and most of the men had their legs and arms slashed by Sei and Mako in an instant.

Then in the next instant, they dealt with the remaining men. The only one left was the mage.

"How… can this…"

"Your Disguise Concealment level is too low. Murderous bandit-san."

Yes, what Sei's Map had shown was men with murder on their records.

And the mage had high-level Principle Magic. In other words, high enough to use Disguise Concealment.

"Impossible… my magic, by children…"

At those words, Sei sighed.

"You should have used Identify first. Then you never would have thought of attacking us."

"Ane-deshi, what just happened…?"

To Bungol, who still didn't understand the situation, Sei gave a simple explanation.

"These guys are bandits pretending to be explorers. When I checked their records with Identify, they all had murder listed."

As far as Sei could see, this labyrinth's management was sloppy. The fact that they could get plates made without having their records checked with an identification stone was proof of that.

They didn't check at the entrance either. That meant whatever happened inside the labyrinth would go largely unnoticed.

"Looks like we'll have to head back outside for now."

Easily restraining the mage, Sei muttered with complete annoyance.