The riding practice went fairly well, perhaps because the instructor was good.

The instructor is Reflair.

She truly comes from an esteemed family. It seems she was rigorously trained in horseback riding from a young age.

In fact, she doesn't just ride at a normal pace—she can even jump, showing considerable skill.

Janne, surprisingly, was actually fond of animals and had a positive attitude toward riding, but she struggled with one particular horse that clearly disliked her and refused to carry her.

Probably—no, certainly—because she's a "pariah."

Pariahs are shunned by spirits, unable to use spirit magic, and even spirit magic fails to affect them. Janne deliberately chose this unique constitution during her transfer.

According to Reflair, those who are disliked tend to be more disliked by creatures with lower chaos levels. Among the borrowed horses, the one that could carry Jeanne without issue was a black-maned horse with a white and brown speckled coat, said to possess a strong blend of the elemental spirits of darkness, light, and earth—thus, it makes sense that higher chaos levels correlate with greater resistance toward those who are disliked. Conversely, a pure white horse refused even to approach Jeanne. I was liked by all the horses. …Well, I suppose that’s to be expected, given that I’m also disliked in a certain way by the Demon King. After all, the name “Beloved One” isn’t given lightly—it’s genuinely embarrassing. Incidentally, humans are supposedly inherently chaotic beings, so Jeanne’s debuff has almost no effect on them.

Linkus, a cat-human, is the prime example, and even Grapflour is unfazed by Jeanne, recently even showing signs of enjoying being petted.

"Horses are cute."

Jeanne strokes the white and brown spotted neck of her horse, gently guiding it at a slightly faster pace through the suburban square.

Though the journey isn't exactly urgent, remaining technically unskilled could still be dangerous. It was necessary to become accustomed to sprinting at full speed, just in case.

"Shall we start practicing quick strides from tomorrow? You can't run fast yet, right, Hikaru?"

"Yeah, when I learned back there they called it 'fast walk,' but that's about it. I've never properly trained to run."

"Understood. I'd like to get you to the point where you can sprint, so let's work hard."

I only took a brief riding lesson with Serika, and though I've managed to get the horse moving in the right direction at a walk—roughly a brisk pace—I'm nowhere near the level of galloping. I assume that's what they mean by "gallop" in horseback riding, but I'm definitely not there yet.

When traveling, there might be times when we're chased by dangerous monsters or bandits.

Whether or not I can escape by sprinting at full speed could be crucial.

If it's a monster, I might have no choice, but if it's a thief or mountain bandit, I don't think I could bring myself to kill them. In that case, running away would be better.

"But, Refrea. How long will it take? Until we can gallop like that?"

"Hikaru and Madam Jeanne could probably do it in ten days or less, if they practice intensely every single day."

"Every day? The horse might give out before I do..."

"I've rented a few horses for both morning and afternoon, so we're all set. After all, we've got money—money, I tell you!"

Refleia had become someone who let money do the talking, but in truth, she really did have funds.

Working as a spirit stone miner in the dungeon was dangerous, but highly profitable.

Back in the old days, mining coal in Japan could make you incredibly rich—this job might be similar. The downside, though, was that higher rank meant higher food expenses.

"By the way, are we buying a horse for the journey?"

"Of course! If you prefer, we could get a carriage instead."

"No, I've been training to ride a horse—using a carriage seems kind of pointless. Besides, carriages are slow, aren't they?"

It's not exactly slow, but it might get boring. Plus, we'll need to cross the sea, so a horse would be better. Still, if we're putting a horse on a ship, that'll cost a bit more. Maybe it'd be better to walk to the port and rent a horse there instead... But since we've got the money, we don't need to worry about saving on that, right?"

"You're really thinking things through, huh."

"Hikaru and Madam Jeanne aren't used to this place, so I figured I should handle it."

"That's a big help."

In truth, both Hikaru and I are complete outsiders here.

We don't fully understand the rules of this world yet.

According to Reflair, even outside the labyrinth city, a "Gold-class rank insignia" carries quite a bit of weight, and having one should make our journey much smoother.

"Rhea, we'll wrap up practice in at least seven more days. Messages will be returning soon, and something dangerous is approaching this town. Working backward, I'd like to have everything ready for departure around eight days from now."

Jeanne, who had been pacing around the plaza, returned and said.

She's unusually perceptive—her hearing must have been enhanced somehow.

"No problem. I don't need much preparation. Hikaru will carry my belongings."

"We should at least prepare a spare weapon. Anything will do—better than nothing."

"Yes. And I'd also like a spirit item that can provide water."

Reflair and Jeanne discussed various travel preparations.

The convenience of Shadow Storage during a journey is unparalleled.

Food, sleeping bags, dishes, pots, even tents—everything can be stored inside.

There's no need to carry valuables around, so the likelihood of being targeted by mountain bandits seems low. When staying in a post town, there's no need to worry about thieves.

Carrying money around would be heavy, but if stored within shadows, it becomes weightless. Or perhaps it's the most practical and convenient spell among the shadow spirit arts.

◇◆◆◆◇

We haven't ventured into the labyrinth, instead practicing horse riding daily—day six.

With our departure set for the day after tomorrow, both Jeanne and I have improved significantly.

It's due to our enhanced physical abilities, prior experience, and above all, the cooperation of the horses. We can now gallop in a straight line.

The fact that we wouldn't die from a fall—unless we hit a particularly bad spot (thanks to the effect of rank advancement)—also helped ease our fears.

"...Huh? Someone's coming."

It was Refleia who noticed it first.

The field where we've been practicing horseback riding was completely barren, and people had rarely passed through it before.

Even if someone did come, they were clearly local, so we didn't pay much attention.

"That one... was the guy with the mask, wasn't it? Ferdinand or something like that?"

Though still far away, there was no doubt—it was the second-wave transmigrant we'd seen before.

"Is that really him?"

"Yeah. Looks like he's alone."

He's not with the masked man today.

But why would he come alone?

"Jeanne... do you think he'll attack us?"

"Hard to say... It's not popular out in the suburbs. Even if we use a loud firearm, there shouldn't be any issues, so it'd be a pretty solid setup for a perfect crime... But we've got three people here, and we're already on guard against them. You think you can kill one without getting your own head blown off?"

"So, no attack then?"

"Well, logically speaking, yes... But we can't judge whether the other side is normal just by looking. Me and Kuro... we have no idea what kind of grudges we've accumulated. That's what happens when you hit over a billion viewers. John and Darel were both killed by fans, after all."

I've heard that just standing out on social media can bring a flood of replies from weirdos.

We're the global version of that. Even if 99.9% are normal, that still means 0.1% of a billion people—over a million—could be crazy.

It couldn't be ruled out that the second wave transmigrant was among them.

There had been the option to flee, but they were also riding borrowed horses.

Besides, there was a slight curiosity about the person who had come alone.

Ferdinand had arrived on foot, walking slowly.

Whether to lower our guard or simply because that was his usual way, he appeared completely unarmed.

It was dangerous to let our guard down, considering he might be hiding a firearm.

I summoned Dark Knight as a shield in case of emergency.

"Hey, Hikaru, Madame Jeanne, why are you both so on edge? I mean... every time I hear about the second wave, I can't help but think—aren't they just ordinary humans?"

"Leia. That's a huge misunderstanding. We have no idea what abilities they're hiding, what they possess, or what they're capable of doing. Most importantly, we don't know what they're thinking toward us or how they feel about us... That's the situation. Naturally, we have to be on guard."

Jeanne spoke quickly, rushing through her words. I mostly agreed.

Moreover, given the incident with Nanami, I think there's a high chance they want me dead.

Nanami came back to life, but we don't know whether she remembers the truth behind the murder or if she can testify properly.

"Hmm... Should I go chase them off then?"

"No, that's not a good idea. It's dangerous. Even Refrea isn't safe, you know? As I've said before, just like I'm being watched, you're being watched too."

"So, what are we going to do?"

"……I'll handle it."

I'm the only one who's ever made eye contact with Ferdinand.

Incidentally, Jeanne keeps stepping back further every time someone approaches.

I completely understand why she's uncomfortable around strangers.

Especially when it's a guy from another world who's pushing in so aggressively.

Ferdinand approached without hesitation and spoke up.

"I see, it's Hikaru Kurose. Do you remember me? I'm Ferdinand, the one introduced to you by Origami. Hehe, no need to be so on guard, it's perfectly safe."

He stopped just a little distance away and said this.

As always, the epitome of a nobleman.

Even in a place like this, a wanderer's town, her blonde hair was neatly groomed and her clothes were clean and well-kept.

"……What do you want? Why are you here?"

"No, I was just looking at a map when I noticed that a transfer creature has recently appeared in a place away from the town. I wondered what they might be doing, you know—curiosity, that's all. So, what are you doing? It looks like horseback riding?"

"……Yes."

There was no hostility.

No, perhaps I'd never truly experienced genuine "hostility" from a human before.

But after battling countless monsters every day, I instinctively understood that this one wasn't a threat.

Of course, if they had a gun, that would be a different story—but even then, it wouldn't be impossible to restrain them before they could draw and fire.

Thinking this way, I felt just a little more at ease.

The target is just one person.

It doesn't seem like a lie that they've been intrigued after looking at the map.

On a world map, all the transference points concentrated in Meltya should overlap completely, appearing as a single dot. This is a suburban area, but not significantly distant, so it's no exception.

This one must have access to high-performance peripheral maps.