— Refrea joined us, and we became a four-person party.

The four of us were me, Jeanne, Refrea, and Grapeflew.

Even though we only added one person, I think our combat power has increased significantly.

All of us — me, Jeanne, and Refrea — can fight effectively on our own. The ability to take down multiple monsters one by one becomes much more feasible.

Personally, I can limit my use of spirit magic to key moments, such as using Shadow Bind or Darkness Fog only when needed, which will save a lot of resources.

That way, I can afford to use stronger spells — like Summon Dark Knight or Dark Coffin — more frequently, or focus on using lower-level techniques like Shade Shift to boost my proficiency.

In short, having more people definitely gives us greater flexibility and ease.

　

So I immediately dove into a two-layer operation—

"I knew it, but Layla's fighting style isn't suited for coordination."

After a few battles, Jeanne said decisively.

"Indeed... I've been told that before by the teammates I worked with."

"Can Clo really adapt to this?"

"No, it's more like she's adapting to Refrea."

"Yeah... Hmm..."

In reality, Refrea's attacks were like a small storm sweeping everything aside with her large weapon—she didn't fight in a way that carefully distinguished friend from foe.

Our coordination was simply about syncing attack timing, not coordinating to attack a single target together.

Well, in the first place, in a three-person formation, the monsters are mostly ones that die instantly from a clean hit by Refraya's attack, so there wasn't even a need for coordinated assaults.

"I don't mesh well with Clo. Laya isn't suited for coordinated attacks. So maybe at first, we should just fight individually, without focusing on coordination—let each of us get used to our own fighting styles... Against one-on-one matchups, we shouldn't be outmatched by most monsters... Clo can handle combat command and leadership. If there's spare capacity, perhaps use her as a mobile unit, or focus her on support magic."

Jeanne murmurs to herself, hand on her chin, as if speaking to no one in particular, but honestly, my thoughts exactly.

Each of us is strong, but if we fight together, it feels like an accident might happen.

"Then, let's have me and Hikaru fight together, while you, Jeanne, fight alone..."

"No, wait."

Jeanne stops Refrea from reaching a conclusion with a hand gesture.

"I'm not saying coordination is impossible. I'm just saying it's not feasible right now. If we're forming a party, would anyone give up on syncing up from the very beginning? We'll keep trying until we can do it."

"Until we can do it..."

"Lea's combo attacks are strong, but they're not endless. Even in that last duel, after swinging her sword five times, she left a big opening. For now, we should focus on covering that gap."

Jeanne is impressive. Her ambitions are high.

Most people would probably give in to realism at this point, but she's always aiming to be the strongest version of herself.

"If you're aiming to conquer the fourth or fifth layer and venture further down, relying solely on individual strength won't get you far—it's inevitable that you'll hit a limit. The goal should be to be strong individually, yet even stronger when united. You must be able to dismantle enemies one by one or break through a single point at will. Otherwise, there's no way you could overcome a labyrinth with just one life. In my opinion, as things stand now, you'd have no chance against foes like Scylla, Basilisk, or even worse, Pit Fiend."

"Then, what should we do?"

"Well... there's plenty we can do, but first and foremost, I think we need to establish a clear 'strategy.' That's exactly what the职业 explorers here are doing—proof that it's effective."

"A strategy?"

"Exactly. Decide on a battle method for each type of monster. Some explorers specialize in the third layer and live off nothing but that alone."

I'd heard before that most parties tend to specialize in the third layer.

The second layer is dark and accidents happen more often there, but since the third layer is spacious and well-lit, accidents are rare.

Only when the Garden Panther appears might someone not escape well enough to end up getting killed, but otherwise, the fighting strategies against other monsters are already well-established.

"To be honest, this dungeon has a fixed set of monsters that appear, and there aren't that many different types. The monsters don't seem to grow stronger over time either. In a game, you could probably clear it completely in just a few dozen hours."

"Hey, it's not a game, so you can't just underestimate it like that. The monsters in the fourth layer are seriously scary."

"Fear doesn't matter much right now, Kuro. My approach is actually the one that shows the least contempt for the enemy. Did you thoroughly research the monsters before descending to the fourth layer, Kuro? Fighting without knowing what you're up against? And losing to that—now that's the kind of foolish thing only a fool would do. Unlike a game, there's no room for play here."

"That's true."

So, since the monsters that appear are predetermined, it's actually safer to just follow a set pattern.

In this world, where rank is similar to a 'level,' what matters most is accumulating combat experience—simply put, how many strong monsters you've killed.

So it makes sense to keep raising your efficiency and level as quickly as possible.

And on top of that, improving your individual skills is the way to go.

"Still, if we're just smoldering around the third layer, there's nothing we can do about it. We want to keep pushing deeper, adjusting to the opponent's strength as we go... For now, we'll focus on leveling up while practicing coordination. Once we're sufficiently leveled, we'll move on to the next layer, explore, and establish combat strategies against the monsters there. After that, we'll level up again... and repeat the process like that."

Jeanne's approach to the dungeon was remarkably systematic, but it's not so different from how games work. Pushing forward too quickly would be suicide, and the game is designed so that you don't lose to familiar enemies—what you'd call standard minor foes—once you've gotten used to them.

Perhaps because of the nature of this world's labyrinth, where chaos increases the deeper you go, monsters near the surface tend to be weaker, resulting in a balance of enemy strength similar to that in games.

Breaking the game balance would be something only a demon lord could do. And demon lords rarely appear, and lower-tier ones are supposedly weak, so there's really no need to worry about it.

"Kuro, Reya. Our goal is to become the strongest—individually and as a party. We'll raise every level to the maximum, defeat every monster we can, gather the strongest equipment, and conquer the labyrinth."

Jeanne's eyes gleamed fiercely, radiating a madness worthy of her reputation as a battle junkie.

In truth, I believe even someone with Jeanne's intense motivation would find the labyrinth incredibly difficult to overcome.

Though we've set a five-year deadline, no one knows how far we'll get in that time—or whether we'll even survive long enough to reach it.

But that doesn't mean five years feel long at all.

After all, we don't even know how many layers there are.

◇◆◆◆◇

So, it was decided to wait until basic "uncoordinated" hunting at three layers was somewhat established before starting coordinated practice.

Two layers are too dark for coordination practice, and they're also too narrow. There aren't many monsters strong enough to justify coordination practice, aside from mantises. For these reasons, three layers were chosen.

At three layers, we should be able to practice coordination with trolls.

Of course, this also doubles as level-up training.

Since both I and Reflaria will be simultaneously increasing our proficiency in spirit magic, it might be quite busy.

　

We spent a few hours exploring the second layer to help Reflaria get accustomed, then headed out around evening time.When I entered the guild, it was fairly crowded with adventurers who had just emerged from the labyrinth.

Needless to say, there's no concept of time inside the labyrinth. Monsters appear just as they always do, and they never sleep.

...Well, maybe monsters do sleep sometimes, but I just don't know about it. At least, I've never seen it.

But humans who explore the labyrinth are different.

We wake in the morning and sleep at night. That's the kind of life we want, so even though we spend the daytime in the dim light of the labyrinth, we come back by evening, eat dinner, and go to sleep. That's how most people live.

And that's exactly how we live too, which inevitably means the guild gets packed during this time of day, especially with people selling their spirit stones.

"Shall I go take care of it?"

Maybe because I was making a grimace, Refreia offered to help.

When I was paired with Reflair, she used to handle the cashing-in alone. Thanks to that, I never noticed I'd been given such a ridiculous party name as "Loving Twin Birds," but that's beside the point—

"I'm fine. I've done this many times before."

Saying that, I headed toward the counter.

Whether it was a change of heart from realizing I couldn't afford to complain when working with Jeanne, or simply getting used to it, the guild-level stares no longer bothered me much. In fact, people weren't really paying attention to me at all—more likely, their attention was drawn to Reflair or Jeanne.

The Adventurer's Guild was a notably large building in this area, and because of the large-equipped adventurers wandering around, the ceiling was high, giving it a lobby-like feel similar to a small hotel.

In a way, this place isn't just where the wealth of the Maze Street is gathered—it's also heavily guarded, and I remember hearing from Refleia before that all the staff except the receptionists are former explorers.

"Oh,"

"Welcome! It's been a while, Hikaru. How've you been?"

Standing in line, I noticed Alex and the others had just joined the line next to us.

It had been since the last demon king slaying party.

"Long time. I'm doing okay, just keeping things normal."

"Yeah? I was worried when I last saw you—you looked like you were about to keel over."

"Things were rough back then. Thanks for worrying."

In this town, Alex and his group are among the few people I recognize by face.

Since we're both transmigrants, there's an easygoing atmosphere between us—though I'm sure Alex's friendly nature plays a big part in that too.

　

"Alex, it's been a while."

"Refreia-san! You're back! I thought you said you were returning to your hometown?"

"I did come back once. But I've taken care of everything at my family's place now."

"And uh… that guy over there… wait, is that Jeanne Collet?"

"H-hello."

She quickly shyly replies and ducks behind me.

It's unlike her usual confident self.

"…I'm not good with big guys. Clo, do something about it."

Jeanne whispers in my ear.

True, there's about a 20-centimeter height difference between Alex and me. Jeanne's a bookworm at heart, and maybe she's uncomfortable around someone like Alex—someone at the top of the school's social hierarchy.

"Huh? Why is Jeanne Collet with Hikaru?"

"It's a bit long to explain, but due to various circumstances, we ended up exploring the labyrinth together,"

"S-so... really? Together...? Just the two of us...? You and Reflaira?"

"That's right... but..."

Alex stared at me, then at Reflaira, and finally at Jeanne, who was hiding behind me, his eyes wide like he'd just seen a ghost.

Then he glanced at his own party members, Canibelle and Jajardan.

"No way! This is unfair! I demand a trade!"

"Yeah, yeah! If we swap Alex and Reflaira, everything'll be fine!"

"Wait, what? So I'm the one going?!"

Alex, and surprisingly even Canibelle, followed along.

Jajardan looked eager to join in, his cheeks flushed, but seemed unable to jump in with any real initiative.

"No way am I trading,"

"That's right. Hikaru and I are as one?"

"……I hate guys who talk too much."

Everyone else is rejecting it.

Well, I guess Alex was just joking around...

"Damn it... Why is Hikaru the one who always gets all the attention? I just don't get it..."

"That's right! I should be the one with the charm!"

"Maybe it's because you keep saying stuff like that..."

The last comment came from Jajardan. He seems to have a more detached perspective.

Honestly, when it comes to being popular, Alex or Kanibar seems like they'd be the ones who'd attract more attention.

My relationship with Reflair is just because I happened to save her life by chance, and I'm just teammates with Jeanne.

There's no way I'm the one getting attention. I'm just an average, unremarkable Japanese guy.

"Anyway, Hikaru. We're heading out of this town for a while. While the labyrinth is closed, we've been trying all kinds of jobs besides exploration, and we've taken on a long-term escort mission. Can you believe it? We're escorting someone all the way to Stranoya. The pay's pretty good, and they're covering all our lodging expenses."

"Stranoya?"

"No way! It's the capital city! Even I know that, and you're surprisingly clueless for someone so serious."

"I've been isolated for too long..."

Alex's group is a party aiming for a quick fortune by delving into the labyrinth, not specifically targeting the deepest levels, nor obsessing over becoming stronger.

The other two members are Silver-ranked, and have even defeated a demon king. That makes sense—since they can handle outside jobs, there's no need to risk their lives deep inside the gloomy labyrinth.

"Stranor's thinking of staying with Jael's family for a while. Maybe they'll have better work over there."

"Is that so? Be careful, though. Guards aren't just going to face mountain bandits, are they? Can you handle them?"

"Huh? Well... I think I can. It should be fine, probably."

"Won't it turn into a killing fight? ...No, if you already understand that, then it's fine."

I could feel Jeanne's fingers tightening on my sleeve.

Jeanne had traveled all the way here alone, so she might have been through a lot.

To kill another human being—such a thing takes real resolve. It would wear down your spirit. At least, I couldn't do it.

Inside the labyrinth, neither people nor monsters leave corpses behind, making it feel unreal, but out there, bodies remain. You have to face the consequences of your actions

head-on. For us, who came from a peaceful world, that’s probably

difficult. Alex, being an isekai transfer with little sense of urgency, seems a bit worrying, but I’ll trust that Canibell and Jajardan will handle things well. "If things get bad, we’ve

got barrier stones too… Anyway, be careful." "Will Hikaru and the others

keep exploring the labyrinth? What about Jeanne Collet?" "Yeah. That’s

actually the goal. We’ve decided to aim for clearing this place." "Clearing it—so

you’re aiming for the lowest floor? That’s impressive…"

　

From the perspective of an ordinary adventurer, conquering the labyrinth would be considered a rare pursuit. In truth, I never even thought about such a thing.

It was our turn, and we cashed in the spirit stones.

Alex and the others are leaving the city tomorrow.

There are five days left until the next batch of interdimensional travelers arrives—