The next day.

　They said the transfer would happen today, so we brought supplies and descended into the dungeon.

　Today's exploration is just a formality, so we didn't hire Grapeflour and went straight to the third floor with just the three of us.

"It's helpful that they specify exactly how many hours until the transfer. About three hours left."

"Let's use a crystal to pull up the notebook."

　One crystal can exchange for a notebook, which comes with a free pencil—very convenient.

　This is the first time I've ever sharpened a pencil with my knife here.

"Let's test out the new weapons until time runs out. Waiting around is boring anyway."

We decided to fight some monsters for a little while in the largest plaza of the third layer, the Mist-Blurred Great Garden—commonly known as the Frog Square. This area sees the highest number of adventurers, and while it's not quite a free-for-all, monster encounters are frequent.

As a result, we rarely have to worry about being flanked, allowing us to fight at our own pace.

Probably the safest place to hunt in Meltya, aside from the first layer. If danger arises, we can always call for help from nearby adventurers.

I draw my new blade from its sheath.

As expected from a weapon forged by a seasoned dwarf elder—it feels as if I've held it for years. No issues at all.

The blade, made of dense, heavy core-flame steel, is solid and weighty. The red-brown pattern along the edge shimmers like flames, making it truly beautiful.

This is a characteristic of Hellfire Steel—it appears when the metal reacts with a fire spirit during the forging process.

(Though I'm a bit uneasy about its weight for actual combat. It's more like a weapon you'd stretch your arms for.)

Like the previous short sword, it has almost no curve. It's less a sword and more like a massive battle axe. The blade is thick and wide. Not as massive as Jeanne's sword or Refreia's greatsword, but for use in the dungeon, this ruggedness is actually preferable.

It's not meant for cutting down humans. It's a weapon designed to slay monsters.

The blade length is 60 centimeters—nearly double the 35-centimeter length of the black meteorite short sword.

The increased reach made it instinctively clear that my attacks could now strike farther than before. Previously, I’d fought monsters at close quarters, so this added distance brought a sense of reassurance.

(……But considering this an increase in reach might be dangerous. It’s not about reach per se, but about being able to strike at the life force of even massive monsters.)

Just because the weapon has grown larger doesn’t mean I should change my fighting style.

My way of combat remains simple: close in, sever the spirit’s core. That’s all.

With the weapon now larger, I can drive it in with greater force. That’s how I should think about it.

Conveniently, a troll and a gremlin appeared nearby.

Refreia covered our backs, Jeanne took on the troll, and I targeted the gremlin.

"Darkness Fog"

With my current speed, it's unsafe even to slip past the troll. I'll need some way to distract it, or Darkness Fog is essential. Of course, as long as Jeanne is successfully drawing its attention, there's a 99% chance of safety—but there's no point in taking that 1% risk right now.

There's no guarantee the enemy will always move as expected.

I charged straight into the gremlin and swept my sword sideways as I passed by.

Since the darkness hides my position, naturally I can't tell where the attack will come from. And since the gremlin, lacking any armor, has no way to defend itself, a hit to the arm means the arm will fly off, a hit to the neck means the head will fly off. There's no way to survive unharmed other than dodging, but this creature doesn't possess the judgment to do that.

My blade cut through the monster's neck with such effortless ease that I felt no particular emotion.

（It feels completely different.）

Even if I switched from a utility knife to a short blade, I’d likely have the same reaction.

That’s how different it is.

You can’t use a short blade this way—certainly not with my strength.

The new sword, while heavy enough to throw off my stance just from swinging it, delivers immense destructive power; the goblin’s head flew off with such suddenness it was almost comical.

Weight is power. Naturally, it would still be highly effective if used for thrusting, just as before.

　

Looking over at Jeanne, she had just blocked the troll’s massive club with her shield and was stepping forward, preparing to sever the creature’s arm in one clean slash.

He thrust upward diagonally at his opponent's chest in one continuous motion.

The troll, severed from its vital essence head-on, transformed into a spirit stone and crashed to the ground.

A flawless fighting style.

Having trained in combat and slain monsters for money over the past ten days, Jeanne's strength was truly as Reflair praised.

She had spent a full year exploring this labyrinth, so naturally she'd seen countless other explorers. If she herself was impressed, then Jeanne must be genuine.

"How was it?"

"Good. The power feels solid. How about you, Clo?"

"Same here. But unless my strength improves further, swinging this weapon around will be dangerous. Maybe it's better to use it differently from the previous one."

"Yeah. I feel that too. I'm still a bit outmatched by its weight."

Whether made slightly heavier to last longer or simply difficult to balance, Jeanne's weapon feels somewhat heavy.

This weight could be dangerous in close combat, but it also brings the advantage of greater striking power. Either way, it's better than something light. If we're aiming to clear the labyrinth, we'll need to reach a level where we can wield something as massive as Garnet's great axe from the 'Crimson Vial.'

In that sense, this weapon isn't even the final one.

We should approach it with the mindset of using it until it's worn out, preparing to move on to the next.

For a while, we continued hunting while testing out the new weapon, and when the second wave timer dropped below thirty minutes, we took a break at the Frog Square, preparing for what was to come.

"Let's just keep it light. I brought something you can grab."

I pulled out a mat from my Shadow Storage and laid out the lunch I'd prepared.

There's also a water bottle. Inside is that mysterious tea I bought at the market.

"Oh, you made this? Sorry, I always end up eating what Hikaru makes..."

"Kuro's good at cooking. She'll make a great wife."

"You're exaggerating. It's just a simple sandwich."

My family background was unusual, so I guess I ended up learning how to cook without even realizing it. By middle school, my older sister Serika had started helping out, so it wasn't too hard, and thanks to her being particular and eager to try all sorts of dishes, the variety of meals grew.

Other household chores were almost entirely my responsibility back at that house, so they're proving useful here at the current manor. Jeanne is completely useless, and Reflair is… well, she's a lady of noble upbringing.

"Mmm, delicious. It's just a simple sandwich."

"The bacon's homemade. I tried smoking it in the garden."

"Now that you mention it, I did see something going on in the garden… Is it true that all men love smoking meat?"

"Well, I don't think all men love smoking meat…"

I remembered how, when I was younger, I used to make smoked meat at home with my two younger sisters and Nanami, so I just happened to prepare some. Raw meat can't be preserved, but smoking it helps extend its shelf life a bit.

Incidentally, since I rented a house and bought a refrigerator at the spirit item shop, I can now store food a little better, though not as much as on Earth. The basics remain the same—most ingredients are still bought daily.

"Wow, this is really delicious! Hikaru really can do anything!"

"I can't do everything, but I'm glad it suits your taste."

Even though this world resembles a medieval fantasy setting, food here is strangely delicious, so making sandwiches turns out deliciously easy.

If this were truly a medieval-level world, things wouldn't work this way.

Soft bread, butter, meat, and vegetables would all be hard to come by.

I still don't understand exactly what kind of world this is—was it created by a god, or did it exist from the beginning?

Either way, food here is abundant and delicious.

Maybe I can be thankful to God for just that.

Perhaps because we Japanese are so greedy when it comes to food, I feel even more strongly about it.

"Still, this place is always crowded, and they should really put some benches here."

As I muttered while eating, noticing quite a few explorers around, Rifa replied.

"Huh? Didn't you know, Hikaru? If you leave stuff in the labyrinth, it disappears after about ten days?"

"Disappears? Why?"

"It supposedly breaks apart and returns to spirit form. I don't know the details myself."

I see. That's why everyone just tosses trash around here—since it eventually vanishes, it's not a problem, right? Then again, there are still incidents like Links getting hurt from discarded items, so littering isn't good.

"There's even a rumor that Lilimuf might be stealing things somewhere."

Rilimufu is said to be a divine beast that grants treasures.

Whether it actually exists or not is unclear. There's a story that if someone steals its treasure, this creature will come to exact revenge, but how true that is remains unknown.

"…Come to think of it, I've never received a treasure gem before. Even after being here for a year."

"Never at all?"

"Yes. That gauntlet of Hikaru's was a gift, right? Maybe I'm admired not just by spirits, but even by divine beasts."

"I don't know. I think it was just sheer luck."

Gifts from divine beasts are said to be extremely powerful, something every explorer would desire. I've personally been greatly helped by this gauntlet, so it would be even more valuable to a beginner explorer.

Plus, such gifts can be sold for a high price.

"Well then, it's about time. Kuro, please open the map. I'll check it too."

Jeanne, having quickly finished eating, double-checked the position of the blue dot on her notebook.

In this world, it seemed there was no way to move quickly, so the blue dots indicating the locations of the transmigrants didn't shift by much.

Of course, some travelers were undoubtedly on the move, but their progress was too minimal to be noticeable on the world map unless observed over a long span of time.

One blue dot was located slightly away from our position—probably Alex's.

It seemed Alex's escort mission was going smoothly.

With Alex having moved away, the only transmigrants currently in this town were me and Jeanne.

As for nearby transmigrants, there were none on the southern or eastern parts of the continent, but there were a fair number in the north and west.

According to Jeanne's research, there are almost no large cities on the eastern side of the continent. Reifrea's hometown is located on the eastern side, but she herself described it as a 'country town,' so it's perhaps not surprising that no transmigrants have appeared there.

The southern side is where the town Jeanne first arrived at is located.

It seems to be a fairly developed port town, yet strangely, no transmigrants were found there.

The Ringpil Continent... more precisely, the region we're in is the Northern Ringpil Continent, though that's a bit of an exaggeration. It has a shape resembling a croissant tilted diagonally—concave on the southern side and slightly tilted to the right.

Meltia is located near the center of the Ringpil continent, facing the southern sea. Across the sea lies another smaller continent—South Ringpil. Although there are reportedly ship connections, the frequency is significantly lower compared to those from the capital city, Stranoa, with almost no regular routes.

Further south lies the Western Roshechir continent, which is roughly the size of the Eurasian continent on Earth. Judging from the distribution of blue dots, most transmigrants appear to be located on this Roshechir continent.

It is likely that the second wave of transmigrants will also mostly end up on the Roshechir continent.

There are several other continents as well.

Beyond the distant western seas lies the Arawura continent, but it is completely isolated by sea, and its nature is entirely beyond imagination.

The transmigrants seem to be settling in reasonably well, so it's probably not a bad place...

East of Meltya, across the sea, lies the Ransimosa Continent. There appear to be transmigrants there as well.

"For now, the number of people on this continent and the Southern Ringpil Continent hasn't changed from yesterday. Now, we just need to see how many more will arrive from here..."

Jeanne said, staring at the map.

For now, we've decided to check all the locations where transmigrants are present—only those related to us, the Ringpil Continent—and calculate how many have arrived since the second wave of transmigrants came.

The number of new arrivals is 300. If you think about it normally, about 30 should come to the Ringpil Continent, and only a few would arrive around here...

"As I've said before, there's a chance the transfer location might be selectable. At first, no one knew about the other world, so choosing a destination was impossible. But this time, it's different. It wouldn't be surprising if the gods offered such a service."

That's exactly right, as Jeanne said.

Both Jeanne and I had high viewer counts, and there's also a labyrinth here.

So it wouldn't be surprising if quite a few people deliberately chose this place for their transfer.

　

"It's time."

Jeanne spoke sharply.

And then, the moment arrived.