The Demon Nation

"Huh…"

Sei let out a sound of surprise.

On the demon nation's shinkansen, most of the passengers were demons.

There were also a fair number of beastkin, whose classification as demi-humans or demons was ambiguous. Incidentally, beastkin were originally demi-humans by origin.

These people gave curious looks when they saw Sei, Mako, and Lavi's group.

Even when they were in the dwarven village, other races weren't particularly rare.

But he hadn't expected the population ratio to be this skewed toward non-humans.

"Garhart is supposed to be a cutting-edge nation, right? Shouldn't more humans be gathering here then?"

Sei asked casually, and Bungol answered.

"If you just want to go to an advanced nation, you'd head to Ogress, Nihon, or Lemdria. Especially for humans, Lemdria is a human-centric country after all."

Come to think of it, they had only passed through Southern Lemdria near the border. They hadn't even set foot in Nihon.

As for Ogress, setting aside the settlements of various races, what they'd seen in the imperial capital and on trains was mostly humans.

The departure time arrived, and the shinkansen set off.

Its speed was tremendous… no, this wasn't actually a shinkansen. Though perhaps it wasn't wrong by definition.

"This is a maglev train…"

When Sei analyzed it with magic, that was the answer he got.

"It's really more advanced than Earth…"

The two Earthlings, Sei and Mako, felt somewhat conflicted.

A food cart passed through the cabin, and the group bought drinks and boxed lunches.

The scenery outside the window changed constantly, never becoming boring.

To the south stretched an endless mountain range that had once separated humans' living territory, while to the north there were fields and forests, as well as impressive cities.

"Hey, hey Lavi, isn't this faster than when dragons fly?"

When Laila said that, Lavi became slightly displeased.

"An excellent dragon can fly at over fifty times the speed of sound when it wants to, and teleportation is even faster than that."

Dragons could exceed Mach 50?

Wouldn't the shockwave alone be enough to devastate the ground below?

That day, they ended up just riding the shinkansen all day, moving to a sleeper car at night.

By noon the next day, they arrived at a station near their destination, where the group changed their mode of transportation.

This time it was a regular train. They rode an express train running through mountainous areas for another day or more.

The Garhart Empire was truly a vast nation.

"Even so, it's not that cold despite being at such a high latitude," Mako voiced an obvious question. It was early spring, and this northern land should still be cold. Nearly a year had passed since they set out on their journey.

"The Garhart Empire covers its vast plains with a magical barrier to regulate the environment to some extent. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to produce enough food to support the population."

Kukuri explained, but manipulating the environment of this vast empire, even if only the plains…

The one who had done that was apparently Ars, the Great Demon King who was originally human.

"Master told me to stop by the Demon King's Castle at least once, but…"

The current ruler of the empire, the Great Demon King, was not Ars.

He was in complete retirement, his whereabouts uncertain. The current Great Demon King was apparently a human woman named Fernasa.

It was strange that two consecutive demon kings were human, but demons were apparently quite tolerant of accepting humans.

Generally speaking, humans were physically inferior to most demons, except for weak races like goblins.

The demons' tolerance apparently stemmed from the fact that they felt no threat from such humans, given their superior physical abilities and magical power.

Yet humans had many exceptional heroes.

Carla, and both the previous and current Demon Kings. Even if their average values were low, perhaps humans were a race that tended to produce monsters. All the heroes had been human too.

Having grown up on Earth where there were no intelligent life forms besides humans, Sei somehow felt the distortedness of this world.

Following the map, the group arrived at a city called Muank.

According to a pamphlet at the station's tourist information center, it was a city with many adventurers due to the nearby demon territory and labyrinth.

"Apparently there are armored vehicles that let you safely tour the demon territory."

Kukuri's expectations were rising a bit, but unfortunately it seemed they wouldn't be able to accommodate his wishes this time either.

The hero was currently not in this city. They were probably conquering the labyrinth a bit to the north.

In other words, this hero could fight and had adapted to this world.

Well, a city of this size might be more livable than a regional city in Japan.

Sei's group also ended up taking the dedicated round-trip train to the labyrinth in the north.

The northern labyrinth produced many magic stones and magic crystals, so there was a rail line for explorers and transporting magic stones.

Incidentally, they were able to get provisional explorer certificates quickly by presenting the adventurer certificates they'd made in Ogress.

They were plastic, and apparently would be replaced with metal ones if they continued their activities properly.

The receptionist at the counter was a Dark Elf onee-san, and true to her race, she didn't judge Sei's group by their appearance.

Apparently, the current Great Demon King appeared as a woman in her prime. She didn't look that strong, but in reality she was a magic warrior who had survived the Great Collapse three thousand years ago.

"Explorer certificates, huh. But we're only going to use these this once, right?"

Mako murmured as they left the guild facility.

"Not necessarily. If the target has a dangerous Gift, we might need to launch a surprise attack."

While saying this, the group boarded the round-trip train.

As expected, most of the surrounding explorers were demons, and Sei's group stood out.

"You guys are humans, right?"

The man who spoke to them appeared to be an adventurer. He looked human, but according to Identify, he was actually a werewolf.

"Yes, that's right. This is our first time exploring this labyrinth."

"Hmm, well, even among humans, the strong ones are strong."

It seemed to have just been idle curiosity, as he didn't pester them strangely. The werewolf man lost interest after that, but Sei spoke up from his side.

"Have you met such a human recently?"

"Hm? Ah, about the same age as you guys. Was incredibly strong for a human. That one's definitely over Level 70."

Level walls did exist.

For humans, even those specialized in combat generally hit their first wall around Level 50.

The next was said to be the Level 100 wall, and there was said to be another wall before reaching 200.

Level 70 meant having considerable strength even for physically fragile humans.

"That's probably someone I know."

At Mako's words, the werewolf man let out a surprised "heh."

"That one's been making a name for themselves recently. Apparently teamed up with a vampire and Dark Elf, earning pretty well."

While listening to these little bits of information, the existence became clear on Sei's Map.

Level 95. And the Gift they possessed was Ability Theft.

It was a significantly degraded version of the Skill Steal that Sei had wanted. Though it was certainly suited for combat.

And there were companions nearby. A party of six at roughly the same level.

An ogre, a kobold, a vampire, a Dark Elf, and a weretiger made up the party composition. As if by design, they were all different races.

The diversity of races was no less than Sei's own group.

That party of six was inside the labyrinth.

"A labyrinth, huh… Well, it should be better than the Golden Corridor."

The group stayed for the time being at a large post town adjacent to the labyrinth. There was a branch of the Explorer's Guild here, which apparently bought monster magic stones and materials.

The collected magic stones and materials were transported by train.

That labyrinth was called Aleshid's Labyrinth.

Apparently because the master of the labyrinth was a vampire by that name.

The labyrinth's history was ancient, its existence already recorded in documents from five thousand years ago.

Though this time, Sei's group's objective wasn't exploring the labyrinth.

"It says the progenitor of vampires, the Undying King."

Mako said, looking at the pamphlet. Higher than the vampire in the Trial Labyrinth, and racially on par with Augustria of the Demon King's domain.

"Well, they're probably still weaker than the Demon King-sama who's accumulated real combat experience."

Kukuri turned an expectant gaze his way, but Sei had no intention of conquering the labyrinth.

For now, if they could deal with the hero's party exhausted from returning from the labyrinth, that would be the easiest approach.

Most importantly, the vampire in their party would be almost useless in combat during the day.

From what he knew about vampires from Jean of the Trial Labyrinth and Rui of the Dragon Fang Continent, they were a ridiculous race—physically strong, skilled in magic, and nearly immortal.

If they were going to fight, they should do it outside the labyrinth during the day.

According to Sei's Map, the hero's group was apparently returning to the upper levels of the labyrinth.

Judging by their exhaustion level, it would be perfect timing for a surprise attack, but they should probably start with persuasion.

… By the way, except for the kobold, all the other races in the hero's party were female.

Sei became somewhat displeased at the cheat harem member composition.

"Aaah, my body is burning…"

A vampire girl who emerged from the labyrinth was saying that while sprawled out.

The time was just past noon. The time when sunlight was strongest. Even in this northern land, there was naturally sunlight.

"Come on, hang in there. For today, let's just stay at the lodging."

Supporting her was an ordinary-looking boy—the hero.

"Even if vampires are weak to sunlight, it shouldn't be that bad. You're just being spoiled."

A Dark Elf woman said this, and an ogre girl and weretiger girl nodded along.

"I wish Teru would lend me his shoulder."

"Stop being spoiled."

The Dark Elf remained cold, or perhaps she just didn't get along with the vampire.

Well, they couldn't keep watching these exchanges forever.

With Mako at the front, the group blocked the path of the party. The ones directing sharp gazes at them were the combat races—the ogre and weretiger.

"… Huh? Wait? Tsubaki-san?"

The moment the hero uttered Mako's name, killing intent overflowed from everyone except the kobold.

This was probably a full-on cheat harem development.

"You can return to Earth. This person here is Kojima Sei-kun, who was asked by Earth's god."

"Nice to meet you."

"Oh, nice to meet you too… Wait, huh? I can go back?"

At that moment, unmistakable murderous intent flew from the women surrounding the hero.

It seemed things weren't going to be straightforward here either.