First, we went to the shops in the city to get our equipment in order.

　Of course, using the 'display', it's shopping to check the good and bad of things. However, there are not many bargains in the shops for ordinary customers. This is because there are only mass-produced goods lined up in disorder.

　Also, I asked the owner about expensive weapons, but he said you have to go to the auction house or a special store related to the Hoosiers to find such items.

　However, since I am using a first-class item called the "Treasured Sword of the Areis Family", I didn't want to travel far to get an expensive weapon. I bought Maria an easy-to-handle dagger and some light and strong armor to protect herself, and then the shopping is over.

''Um, even the knife is heavy: ......
You'll get used to it, you'll be fine.

　Maria was dressed in leather armor and held a dagger in both hands.
　That was all it took to make me wobble.

　I'm going to get used to it - or rather, my muscle strength is going to increase by leveling up.

　Thus, having finished our preparations, we are now standing in front of the labyrinth in perfect condition.

　I think back to Maria's leveling plan that I've been thinking about this morning and put it into action.

So, Maria. Let's go for a ride.

　I bend down and turn my back to Maria.
　By the way, the sword's sheath is designed to be used as a chair.

''Huh?''

　Maria sounds dumbfounded.

　I can understand that feeling. I'm going to risk my life to go into the labyrinth, and if my master wanted to give me a piggyback ride, I would doubt my sanity too.

I'm serious. Trust me, and ride on my back.
What about ......?

　To show that I'm serious, I ask again to ride on my back in a dignified voice to show that I'm serious.
　But still, Maria only gave a curt reply.

'For now, I'm going to fly all the way to about five layers at once. And since it's faster for me to run than for Maria to run, she wants you to ride. Also, it would be easier to protect you if you were on my back.
'Oh. I see. ...... No!　No, no!　I've never heard of anyone walking into a labyrinth with a piggyback!

　By the way, the target level of 5 is the one where Maria won't die instantly. My shallow combat experience is a guide, so I'm not confident.

　Maria understood the story and almost nodded her head ...... and immediately shook her head.

　It's a shame.
　But this is one of the top ideas of what I want to try.
　I'm not going to back down cheaply.

'I've never heard of it either. 'But I'd like to try it. Just a little bit of ....... Just a little bit. Please.

　If my calculations are correct, it's possible.

　A skilled seeker's - and a big man's swordsman's - muscle strength is about 5.
　Their physical strength is also about the same. Compared to that, my status muscle strength and physical strength has reached 6. That means I have the same muscle strength and stamina as a well-trained two-meter tall man.

　I'd like to experiment with how much effort it would take to carry a girl who weighs about forty kilos with this status, and I'm guessing that I can lightly carry her for about five layers.

''Shh, it can't be helped: ......

　Maria reluctantly and shyly got on my back.
　I felt Maria's weight on the sheath of my sword and stood up.

　The weight on my hands is unusually light, though it is a physical sensation.
　It's a response that would be impossible for me in my former world.
　The lightness of the situation convinces me that my guess is correct.

Okay. Okay, I'm going to take a run at it, so hold on tight.
Yes ......

　After confirming that Maria had a firm grip on my shoulders, I deployed my magic 《Dimension》 and started to run.

''--Hi!

　With Maria's screams, I run through the labyrinth's 'positive path'.

　My status speed is 10.
　I don't even know how fast it is in this world.
　After all, there's no one to compare it to.

"--Wait a minute!　Wait!

　Immediately, Maria put a stop to it.
　I slowed down and spoke to her.

...... still can't do it?

　Maria wasn't even running and she was out of breath. Apparently, it takes a lot of energy just to hold on to it.

''No, no ....... I was just surprised at how monstrous my master was. That was a bad position to be in right now, so ...... next time, I'll be fine.

　With that, Maria puts her arms around my neck in earnest and clings to me.

　We are so close together that I can feel my face growing redder and redder. I don't look back to make sure she doesn't see that.

'Let's run then, okay?'
Yeah, come on in.

　I start running without hesitation.
　The more I run, the stronger Maria's clinging arms become.

　On the way, I pass another explorer.
　I'm surprised by the excessive events, but I leave it all behind.

　Since they are running through at an unusual speed, they won't be easily identified. But we are sure that we are conspicuous, and there is no guarantee that our faces will not be seen.

　But it doesn't stop me.
　It's a good idea to have a good time with them.
　But after selling Tida's magic stone to Valt, I've given up on it. It's partly because I've become so strong that I can't hide it, but it's also because that strength allows me to escape from most problems.

'Great!　It's fast!　It's like riding a riding horse (Al-Ana)!

　Maria is getting used to it and seems to be enjoying herself.
　I wonder if Al-Auna is the name of some animal. Maybe it was because of her experience riding that animal, but even at this speed, Maria had plenty of time to spare.

　As I recall, Maria's skill was called 'hunting'. Before she became a slave, she might have run a hunt on an animal like a horse.

'You shouldn't talk too much. You might bite your tongue.
'Oh, yes. Okay.

　I nail Maria, and we pick up more speed.

　Then we reach the fifth level.
　It took about thirty minutes.

'S-awesome!　Master, we're really here!
'Zeez, zeez, ......!　Hah, hah, hah, hah ......!

　But the cost was great.
　My plan was that it shouldn't even be painful in about thirty minutes.

　It seems that even if I had a physical strength of 6, I wouldn't be able to endure a thirty-minute sprint.
　The physical strength in this world may not be directly related to what is called "endurance" in my world.
　The nuances of the words are close, but they are definitely not the same.

'Oh, are you okay ......?'
'Ha, ha ....... Yeah, it's all good now. ......

　Maria sees that I'm out of breath with my hands on my knees, and she worries about me.
　I nod back emphatically in response.

　Some of the results were as predicted, and some of them didn't go as I had hoped. However, it is a harvest to know that I can run with Maria in my arms. This gave me the assurance that I could evacuate with Maria in the event of an emergency.

　I caught my breath and put Maria down. Then I draw my sword with both of my free arms and start walking out of the 'straight path'.

'You're leaving now?　Can't you just rest a little longer before you do that?
''No, it's a waste of time. I'm not going to fall behind a monster of about five layers when I'm out of breath.
''Huh. As far as I know, the fifth layer is a realm where even mid-level explorers can lose their lives: ......
Yeah. But I'll be fine.
'No, I'm just saying that I'm dangerous: ......

　Maria's voice begins to tremble.
　She was excited to ride the roller coaster that is me earlier, but she seems to have remembered that she has come to a terrible place.

　I understand my own abilities and the search ability of the magic 《Dimension》, so I'm confident that there's no way I'd let Maria get injured in about five layers.
　However, Maria, who doesn't know me well, would be in a situation where she could die at any time.

I'm not going to bring you here unless I'm sure of it. I will definitely protect you.
...... Mm, I see. But I'm worried about my master, because he seems to be a man who seems to make mistakes in important places.

　Maria clammed up at my argument with conviction, but quickly regained her composure and admonished me.

　Maybe it's because of her skills, but Maria says something that seems to get to the heart of the matter plainly.
　I nodded, warning Maria's admonition.

'All right. I'll pay close attention.'

　I deploy the magic Dimension over a wide area.
　I'm not worried about my MP.
　After all, at level 10, my MP is nearly double what it was when I searched at the 5th level before.

　And then I memorized the 'area where there are likely to be a high concentration of monsters' and 'areas where there are boss monsters with high levels of experience' - in other words, the 'area with high efficiency for leveling up', one after another.

　The direction to the northeast.
　A few hundred meters away.
　There was a dense area of monsters.

　It turned out to be the closest area that matched the conditions, and I urged Maria to move.

'Alright, let's go this way.'

　We move a few dozen meters and take up a position in a space with a good view.

　Next, we re-check the target monsters within a few hundred meters around us. It's also a confirmation that Maria won't be attacked by the monster while I'm hunting it.

　Now I'm ready.
　Finally, the experiment is ready.

"Stay here, Maria. I'll just go hunt for a few more monsters.
Huh?　No, no, no, no, no, wait. Are you going to leave me here alone?
It's okay. I have the skills to detect the location of monsters, so if Maria is about to be in danger, I'll be right back. ...... well, but if you happen to run into a monster, run in the opposite direction.
'No, that's right, I'll run away, but ....... If you get caught in the middle, it's over.
If they pinch you, ......, then you'll have to give up.
Oh, please don't give up!
'Giving up is a joke. It's okay, I really do know the location of the creatures in the maze.

　Maria disagreed out loud, but I pushed my opinion and forcefully convinced her.

　However, although I said I was convinced, Maria said, "Huh ....... I'm going to die after all, aren't I? It was also eaten by a monster. Thanks to being picked up by a stupid master, it's a predatory death. It's the second most disgusting way of dying after torture and burning to death,'' he complained endlessly, so 'I gave up' might be more correct.

'Well, I'm off then.'
Okay, okay, go ahead and ditch him.

　Maria waves her hand in dismay and looks away from me.

　I hurry and run to the area where the monsters are likely to be densely packed.
　The possibility that Maria was talking about earlier is not zero.
　Even though the "right-of-way" is located behind Maria, there is still a chance that my help may not be able to arrive in time due to the monsters. As fast as I can think of, I'm going to set about annihilating the monster as fast as I can.

''Hmph--!

　He slashes through the enemies with the sword he was entrusted with by Dia.

　Basically, these areas are all beast and insect-type monsters.
　Occasionally, special monsters such as Hang Shadow, which are hard to pass physical attacks on, will appear, but they can be solidified with freezing magic like in the Tida battle and smashed.

　Basically, it's a single strike.
　My attack power combined with the "Treasure Sword of the Aleiss Family", it's reaching a substandard level at the fifth level. As easily as cutting paper, all kinds of monsters will be sliced into pieces.

　By the way, it's my policy not to pick up any drop items other than the boss monster's magic stones.
　As long as I still had nearly ten gold coins in my bank account, I should prioritize saving time and gaining experience rather than picking up magical stones that would only amount to a copper coin.

　Above all, this hunt was more of an experiment than a practice.

　First of all, how easy is it to raise Maria's level--
　Depending on the outcome, we might have to concentrate on leveling others instead of exploring the labyrinth.
　It wouldn't be impossible to find a way to send the people you've raised to the labyrinth one by one.

　The other important thing is to measure the distance that the party can function.
　If that distance is long enough, we can have Maria wait on the 'right-of-way' all the time.
　It's certainly not possible if they are as far away as the ground. That would mean that Dia, who is sleeping in the hospital, would have experience in the hospital.

"--Okay. ...... fwiw. That's about as good as it gets.

　After a few minutes of hunting, I think about going back to Maria for a while.

　I walk, regulating my disordered breathing.
　When Maria sees me returning home, she shouts, "Please dash there!

You have to dash there!　Let's dash back in!
I'm home.

　Maria, who looks exhausted, desperately complains to me.
　I seem to have lost a lot of room in the past few minutes.

　If you think about it, when I was at level 1, I would have gone crazy just walking through the labyrinth too. It wasn't that long ago, but for some reason it feels like an old memory.

'Hahaha, haha ....... To be honest, I'm pretty scared. This is still .......
'Hmmm, I guess so. I underestimated that Maria would be okay with it.
'Heh, there's no way I'm fine ....... What did you think I was, I'm just a frail child ......

　After presenting me with so many complaints, Maria is disheartened and weak.

　Although I feel bad, I don't want to stop the experiment.
　Immediately, I 'display' Maria's status to see if her experience has increased.


[Status]
　Experience: 1521/400


　Even though the battle was about 100 meters away, the experience was still firmly added to the experience.

''Well then, wait for me on the 'main road' next time.
What?　"Orthodoxy"?　That's better than this place, though. What's the point of me being with you?
I have. You've been very helpful.
I don't know what you're doing here.

　Maria complains, but follows my instructions.
　I guess she knows that the "path of righteousness" is warded against monsters. She seems somewhat relieved and starts walking.

　Maria and I stay close to the "path of righteousness" and search for the monster's position again.

　What is important is the distance from the "path" to the monster's territory.
　This time, let's try a distance of 300 meters from the "Main Path". If you can gain experience even at that distance, then you can leave your friends on the "right path" and level it.

''Let's resume the experiment--''

　-- Thus, today's morning hours are crushed by the experiment alone.

　Although Maria, who was left in various places, was teary-eyed, the complaint was passed over because she was confident in her protection by magic 《Dimension》.

　And the results of the investigation of a few hours.

　1. the distribution of experience is divided equally regardless of the level difference.
　2. the limit distance of distribution is around 100 meters.
　3．A special condition is that the marginal distance fluctuates in places where there are wards like the "right path".

　I've confirmed such information.