An ordinary profession creates the world's strongest

"weak?"

"That's right. The legendary Great Labyrinth monsters are all a bunch of monsters, at least that's the case with the abyss of the [Orcus Great Labyrinth], and..."

"how?"

"The so-called Great Labyrinth is a trial left behind by the 'Liberators'. Can demihumans easily reach its depths? If that's the case, it wouldn't be a trial. Therefore, it's strange to call the Sea of ​​Trees itself a Great Labyrinth."

"..."

After hearing Hajime's words, the tiger demi-human's face was filled with unconcealed confusion. He couldn't comprehend what he was saying at all. Whether it was the idea that the forest monsters were weak, the abyss of the Great Labyrinth of Orcus, the liberator, or the labyrinth trial... these were all terms he had never heard of before.

Normally, he would have dismissed it as a "joke" and scoffed at it, right? However, in this situation, there was no need for Hajime to make up his mind. After all, he was in an absolute advantage and didn't need to come up with any excuses.

And his confident words somehow held power. If he truly had no interest in the demihumans and Feyalbergen, and his goal was the tree itself, then rather than letting his men die in vain, it would be better for him to complete his goal quickly and leave sooner rather than later.

The tiger tribe demihuman immediately made such a judgment. However, he couldn't let a threat like Hajime run around in the woods just because of his personal opinion. Moreover, he knew that this matter was beyond his ability, so he proposed to Hajime:

"...Since you won't pose any threat to our country or our compatriots, then it's fine to let you go to the tree. After all, I can't let my men die in vain."

This sentence caused an atmosphere of uncertainty to spread among the surrounding demihumans. This was probably because letting humans who had entered the sea of ​​trees go was an unprecedented exception.

"But as a mere captain of the district security force, I have no right to make such a judgment. I must obey the orders of the nation. The elders may also know what you are talking about. If you truly have no ill will towards us, wait with us to avoid missing any instructions."

Although the tiger tribe demi-human was sweating, he still glared at Shi with eyes filled with strong determination, and Shi also began to consider his proposal.

From the perspective of the tiger demi-humans, this should be the ultimate concession, right? After all, they would have indiscriminately executed any other species that invaded the forest, and now they must be very eager to execute Hajime and the others, right? However, doing so would undoubtedly cost his subordinates their lives. He wanted to avoid such a situation, but he didn't want to let a dangerous person like Hajime run loose, so he made the ultimate concession and offered this suggestion.

Seeing him still make rational decisions in such a situation, Hajime couldn't help but admire him. Furthermore, between the two options of "annihilating the enemy on the spot and forcing their way in" and "risking being completely surrounded by the Feyalbergen and obtaining their permission," he chose the latter.

If the tree wasn't the entrance to the Great Labyrinth, he would have to explore further into the forest. This would have been easier with Fjallbergen's prior consent. Of course, there was still a strong possibility of a fight, but there was no other way around it. Therefore, his decision wasn't based on morality; it simply felt too much trouble to explore while annihilating the enemy.

“…Alright, but please convey what I just said carefully and don’t distort my meaning, okay?”

"Of course, Zam! You heard it, didn't you? Report the truth to the elders!"

"learn!"

Following the tiger demi-human's command, a presence gradually faded away. After confirming this, Hajime sheathed his twin pistols into their thigh holsters and released the "pressure."

The atmosphere suddenly relaxed, and the tiger demihumans breathed a sigh of relief, yet they also looked at Hajime with surprise at how easily he had let down his guard. Some demihumans, on the other hand, took battle-ready stances, with an attitude of "now is the time!", to which Hajime gave a scornful smile.

"I can draw my gun much faster than you can attack... Want to try?"

"...No, but don't do anything unnecessary, or we'll be forced to take action."

"I know."

Although still surrounded, Kam and the others breathed a sigh of relief, knowing the situation was temporarily over. However, the gazes the other demihumans cast upon them were far more stern than when they had looked at Hajime, and this still made them feel uneasy.

For a while, a gloomy atmosphere permeated the surroundings, but Yue seemed to grow tired of it and gradually began teasing Hajime, trying to get him to stay with her. Seeing this, Shia, whether trying to lighten the mood or simply unable to bear it, shouted, "I want to join the fight too!" Hajime could only deal with them with a wry smile, trying to lighten the mood a bit. Seeing them suddenly engage in affectionate playfulness amidst the enemy (as seen through the eyes of the demihumans), many stunned eyes turned to Hajime.

About an hour later, the complacent Shia was twisted by Yue, and she desperately slapped Yue, shouting, "Surrender! I surrender!" The surrounding demihumans stared at them with a mixture of dumbfounded and heartwarming eyes. In an instant, several auras approached rapidly—

The atmosphere at the scene became tense again, and Xia's joints were in great pain.

Several unfamiliar demihumans emerged from the mist. A middle-aged to elderly man stood out in the center, his figure particularly striking. He possessed beautiful, flowing blond hair and intelligent blue eyes. His slender figure seemed so light it could fly away with the wind. A few wrinkles etched his dignified features, lending him a calming presence and significantly enhancing his overall beauty. His most striking feature was his long, pointed ears. He seemed to be a Mori-human (the so-called elves).

Hajime guessed that he was the "elder" mentioned by the tiger demi-humans, and this guess seemed to be correct.

"Oh~ Are you the human in question? What's your name?"

"Hajime, Nagumo Hajime, what about you?"

Hajime's words filled the surrounding demihumans with righteous indignation, and they shouted, "How dare you treat an elder like that!" However, the Mori man stopped them with one hand, announcing himself:

"My name is Ælfrelik Haepist, one of the elders of Feyalbergen. I already know your request... But before that, I have something to ask you - where did you hear the term 'Liberator'?"

"Hmm? I learned about it from the secret base of Oscar Orcus, the Liberator, located in the abyss of the Orcus Great Labyrinth."

Hajime answered in surprise, not realizing that Alfred Habister was interested in the term "Liberator" rather than his goal.

Meanwhile, although Alfred remained silent, he was secretly shocked. The term "Liberator" and the full name "Oscar Orcus" were known only to the elders and a handful of his closest associates.

"Oh~ You mean the abyss? I've never heard of this place... Do you have any evidence?"

Thinking it might be a leak from a high-ranking demihuman, Alfrerick inquired again. Hajime looked embarrassed. If asked to prove anything, the only thing he could immediately offer was his own strength. Yue suggested to Hajime, who tilted his head in thought:

"...Hajime, how about taking out the magic stone or Oscar's relic?"

"Oh, I see. In that case..."

He clapped his hands and took out a high-quality magic stone from the "treasure house" that the monsters on the ground could not possibly possess, and handed it to Alfrelik.

"This, this is... I've never seen a magic stone of such high purity..."

The tiger demi-human raised his voice in astonishment, and even Alfred's trembling brows revealed his surprise.

"And this, the ring Oscar Orcus once wore..."

Hajime said this as he showed Orcus's ring. Ælfrelic looked at the emblem on the ring, unable to contain his surprise any longer. His eyes widened, and then, as if trying to calm himself, he took a deep breath.

"I see... It seems you've indeed been to Oscar Orcus's secret base. I'm still curious about many things, but... well, anyway. I'll allow you to enter Fjallbergen and stay here in my name. Of course, the Hauria tribe can come along, too."

Hearing Elfrelic's words, the surrounding demihumans, as well as Kamu and other Horiyah people, were filled with shock. The tiger demihumans led a fierce protest. This was understandable, after all, Feyalbergen had never entertained humans.

"We have to treat them as honored guests because they are qualified. This is a rule known only to the elders."

Alfrelic looked around at the demihumans with a serious expression, trying to calm them down, but this time, they started to protest:

"Wait a minute, who are you to decide my itinerary without my permission? I need to go to the tree for something, and I have no interest in Feyalbergen at all. If that's all right, let me go directly to the tree."

"No, that's impossible."

"What did you say?"

"You're not going to stop me, are you?" Hajime thought, and when he took a stance, Alfred replied with a troubled look.

"The fog surrounding the tree is so thick that even a demihuman could get lost. We have to wait a certain period for the fog to thin out, and only then can we reach the tree. The next suitable date to travel is in ten days... I think every demihuman should know this..."

Alfred looked at Hajime with an expression that said, "What's the point of going there now?" He then glanced at Cam, who was leading the way. Hajime's mind went blank at the sudden realization, and he looked at Cam with the same expression Alfred had. Cam, however...

"what!"

He gave a look that said, "I just remembered this now," and a vein popped out on Hajime's forehead.

"Kamu?"

"Ah, no, how should I put it... so much happened during this time that I accidentally forgot... Actually, I only went there once when I was a child, so I didn't even think about the cycle..."

Cam was at a loss and tried desperately to find an excuse. In the end, perhaps unable to bear the disapproving looks from Hajime and Yue, he actually became angry and embarrassed:

"Hey, Shia, and all of you! Why didn't you warn me along the way? You should know about the cycles too!"

“What! Father, are you so angry?! Seeing how confident you are, I thought it must be the right time to enter… In other words, this is all your fault!”

“Well, we all thought, ‘Huh? That’s strange?’, but when we saw the clan leader’s confident look, we thought we might have misremembered…”

"It's all because the clan leader seems so confident..."

After being angered by Cam, Xia became even angrier. The other rabbit people also looked away and tried to shirk responsibility as if nothing had happened.

“Y-you guys! Is this still considered a family?! This, that, yes! Joint responsibility! You’re all jointly responsible! Mr. Hajime, if you want to punish someone, don’t just punish me, punish our entire clan at the same time!”

"Ah, so cunning! Father is so cunning! You must be dragging us into this because you're afraid of being punished alone!"

"Chief! Please don't implicate us!"

"Idiots! You've all seen how ruthless Hajime-san is along the way! I absolutely don't want to be punished alone!"

"How can you still be called a clan leader like this?"

The Bunnymen were said to be the most closely knit of the demihumans, but now they're bickering and blaming each other. Where has all that closeness gone? As expected of Shia's family, they're full of apologies, Bunny.

Veins popped out of his body as Hajime murmured:

"……moon."

"Um."

After hearing Shi's call, Yue immediately stepped forward and raised his right hand. The people of the Haolia tribe who noticed this action immediately twitched their faces.

"Wait, please wait a moment, Miss Yue! If you want to attack, please target father!"

"Hahaha! We, the people of this tribe, must be closely connected throughout our lives!"

"What do you mean by tied together? Stop kidding!"

"Ms. Yue, please just target the clan leader!"

"I'm not wrong, I'm not wrong, the one who's wrong is the clan leader!"

Facing the noisy Haolia tribe, Yue smiled and murmured quietly:

"—'Landi'."

--ah------!!

I saw that the people with rabbit ears were blown up halfway into the sky.

Their screams echoed through the sea of ​​trees. Seeing their compatriots being attacked, the demihumans, including Elfrelic, showed no hostility. Rather, everyone stared up at the sky in stunned silence, their faces filled with lamentations about the Hauriyas' apologies.

A moment later, the Hauriyas collapsed to the ground, a scene that looked like corpses strewn across the ground. Each one trembled convulsively, a sight that evoked pity. Hajime mercilessly attacked them with rubber bullets, coldly urging these Hauriyas, who seemed to have no attachment to the world, to get up quickly.

With an indescribable expression on his face, Alfrelik signaled with his eyes to the tiger demihuman—Kiru. With a sigh of exhaustion, Kiru led the group through the thick fog.

Along the way, the demihuman guards surrounded Hajime, Yue, the Hauriya tribe, and Elfrelic, and they walked for about an hour. After all that time, they still hadn't reached the demihuman kingdom, and Hajime couldn't help but admire the speed of the male demihuman "Zam" who had been in charge of the messenger.

After walking for a while, an open space with a clear view suddenly appeared in front of us.

While the view was clear, the fog hadn't entirely dissipated. Instead, a straight path emerged, like a tunnel through the fog. A closer look revealed a fist-sized crystal half-exposed in the ground beside the road. The crystal glowed blue like a guide light, marking the boundary and completely blocking out the fog.

Noticing that Hajime was focusing on the blue crystal, Alfrelic took the initiative to explain:

"That's a Fjallian crystal. It's somehow able to block out fog and monsters. That's why Fjallbergen and the neighboring settlements use it to create a perimeter. However, compared to the fog's ability to completely isolate, it's only somewhat effective at blocking monsters."

"I see. If you were to stay in the fog all day and night, you'd probably get really depressed. At least you'd want to live somewhere that wasn't covered in fog."

It seems that even though the town is located in the forest, there won't be any fog. After all, they'll be staying in the forest for eleven days, so this is good news for Hajime. Yue, who was feeling depressed by the fog, also cheered up because of their conversation.

As they spoke, a massive gate came into view. Within an archway formed by the intertwining of stout trees, a pair of wooden doors, approximately ten meters high, stood. This protective wall, formed from intertwined natural trees, must have been at least thirty meters high, exuding a majestic presence that perfectly suited the name of the demihuman nation.

Kiru gestured to the demihuman who was supposed to be the gatekeeper. With a resounding, heavy rumble, the wooden door opened a fraction. Hajime could sense many eyes darting in from the trees. The demihumans couldn't hide their agitation at the sight of the elders bringing humans in. If only Kiru had been present without Ælfrelic, there would likely have been a quarrel. Perhaps the elders had anticipated this situation and had personally intervened?

After passing through the door, you will see a unique view.

Gigantic trees, tens of meters in diameter, stood in a random pattern, seemingly inhabited by demihumans. Lights streamed from hollows in the trunks that resembled windows. Looking up, one could see the enormous branches entwined to form a suspended corridor, large enough for dozens of people to walk simultaneously. Tendrils intertwined with the corridors were connected by pulleys, creating an elevator-like transportation system. Furthermore, as if bridging the gaps between the trees, vast wooden waterways stretched overhead. Each tree was roughly the height of a twenty-story building.

Hajime and Yue were stunned with surprise, absorbed in admiring the beautiful cityscape, when they suddenly heard the sound of clearing throats. They then realized that they had stopped without realizing it, which was why Alfred signaled them to come back to their senses.

"Haha, it seems like you guys really like our hometown—Feabergen!"

Elfrelic's expression softened with joy, and the other demihumans and the Hauriya tribe also showed smug expressions. Hajime looked at their expressions and said frankly:

"Yes, this is the first time I've seen such a beautiful town. The air is so fresh. This city, which blends perfectly with nature, is truly remarkable."

"Hmm... beautiful."

Hearing his straightforward, unpretentious praise, the demihumans looked a bit surprised, having not expected such a level of praise. But they were still happy to hear their hometown praised, right? Though they snorted in disapproval and glanced elsewhere, their animal ears and tails shook vigorously.

Hajime and Yue didn't care about their attitudes, nor did they care about the residents' curious, rejecting, helpless and disgusted gazes. They enjoyed the cheerful street scene of Feyalbergen to their heart's content while walking towards the place arranged by Alfrelik.

“…I see. You received the magic of the Age of Gods after undergoing the trials, and it was arranged by God…”

Hajime and Yue, led by Alfrelick, entered the meeting place and were engaged in a face-to-face conversation with Alfrelick. Hajime discussed the stories of the "Liberators" he had heard from Oscar Orcus, the magic of the Age of Gods, and his belief that, as someone from another world, conquering the seven labyrinths might give him a chance to obtain the magic of the Age of Gods and return home.

Even after hearing about the deeds of this world's gods, Alfrelic's expression remained unchanged. Puzzled, Hajime questioned him, and he replied, "This world is not friendly to demihumans, and even more so now." So, regardless of whether the gods were madmen or not, the demihumans' plight remained unchanged. In this place, where the authority of the Holy Church was irrelevant, people had no faith in gods, and even if they did, it was limited to gratitude towards nature.

After listening to what Hajime and Yue said, Alfred talked about the rules that only the elders of Feyalbergen knew about.

It was an unclear verbal instruction—as long as anyone holding the emblems representing the seven major labyrinths came to the forest, no matter who they were, they would not be an enemy. Furthermore, if they were pleased with the person, they could be taken anywhere they desired.

It seems that the creator of the Great Labyrinth of the Hartrina Forest, Luthiris Hartrina, revealed his identity as a "liberator" (though he didn't specify what a liberator meant) and the names of his companions. At that time, the tribesmen who had existed there before the founding of Feyalbergen passed this down from generation to generation. The warning against making enemies of these people was based on the understanding that those who passed the Great Labyrinth Trial possessed extraordinary strength.

Moreover, Ælfrelic recognized Orcus's ring because there were seven stone tablets with coats of arms at the base of the tree, and Orcus's coat of arms was one of them.

"So this means I'm qualified to come in..."

After Alfrerick's explanation, Hajime and Yue finally understood why they, despite being humans, had been brought into the demihuman base. However, not all demihumans knew this, so they had to discuss future strategies.

Just as Hajime and Ælfrelic were about to discuss further, a commotion erupted downstairs. Hajime and the others were on the top floor, while Shia and the other members of the Hauriya tribe were waiting downstairs. It seemed they had gotten into an argument with someone. Hajime and Ælfrelic exchanged a glance and stood up simultaneously.

Downstairs, burly demihumans from the bear tribe, tiger tribe, fox tribe, wings on their backs, and dwarf-like demihumans covered in thick hair glared fiercely at the Hauriya tribe. Huddled in a corner, Kamu desperately protected Shia. The red and swollen cheeks of both Shia and Kamu showed that they had already taken a beating.

As Hajime and Yue descended the stairs, their sharp gazes were immediately directed at them. The bear demihuman spoke in a fierce voice:

"Alfrelic... what are your intentions? Why did you bring humans here? And these bunnymen! You actually let the forbidden child set foot on this land... If your answer does not satisfy me, I will punish you in the elders' meeting."

He was desperately trying to contain his anger, wasn't he? His clenched fists were shaking uncontrollably. As expected, to the demihumans, humans were their sworn enemies. Furthermore, this time, the intruders included the Forbidden Child and the Hauriyas, who had committed the crime of hiding. Not only the bear demihumans, but the other demihumans glared at Ælfrelic as well.