Kurt?　Did you hear the lowest level earlier?

　Marise's voice quivered as she asked that question.

'You didn't mishear me,'
Are you out of your mind?　The lowest level of the Treasure Labyrinth is a place that no one has ever reached yet. To go to such a place...

　Marise tried to stop me by talking fast and winding up, but she realized something in the middle of the conversation.

Well, Kurt could do that.

　He exhaled.

'That's right, Marise. Because it's Kurt, right?
Nothing is impossible with Kurt.

　Lara and Cynthia have an attitude that they knew from the beginning.

''Well no matter how impossible it seems, it's Kurt. I have a feeling we'll be able to manage it.
'Hmmm. Nothing is impossible for me, and it's good to know that Marise understands...but what is it?　This feeling of incomprehension.
Of course we'll be there for you.
'Of course. Besides ... the experience of going to the lowest levels of the underground labyrinth, albeit on a fairly small scale, will be invaluable.
The Treasure Labyrinth on such a small scale...

　Marise is crunching her mouth.

　As far as I can see, Lara and Marise, and Cynthia are already at a level where they are no enemies in the upper levels of the Treasure Labyrinth.
　As for Lara and Marise, they have reached the point where they can join forces and defeat the Dark Demon together.

　The Pu(⋅)tsu(⋅)pathway would not be enough experience.
　If that's the case, asking them to follow me to the lowest level would be a reasonable decision considering the two of us.

''So ... when do you plan to go?　I'd better get ready...
Today.
Today...?

　Marise's expression hardens.

'So, more to the point, I think we'll make it to the bottom level today.
''Are you serious about that?''
I'm serious.

　Crossing my arms, I assure Marise that I'm not.

　Again, "It's reckless! What will they say and disagree with me?
　

''........I understand. If Kurt says you can do it, then you can do it.
I'm glad you believe in me.

　But what is it?
　I've been feeling this incomprehensible feeling for a while now.

　◆ ◆

　I took Lara, Marise and Cynthia and promptly dove into the Treasure Maze after school.

''I knew it was weird from the beginning,''

　After arriving smoothly to the third level, I looked back at the three of them with a twirl, and I began to talk with such a cutting edge.

''Strange...?　You mean these three layers?

　Lara nods her head.

''Ah. 'Three tiers, I mean, it was even in the scope of the exchange war with the Empire. I think the danger is less than that of the lower levels, and I've had a number of students set foot in them now.'

　Honestly, until I got here, there were no decent traps set up, and only quite weak demons such as Lizardmen and others.
　It's the same thing with the third tier.

　But........there was only one entity that was clearly different on the third level.

''And yet... why would a demon like Behemoth appear?''

　That's right.
　When we first set foot in the third level of the Treasure Labyrinth.
We encountered a behemoth that was said to be designated as Disaster Class.

　A thousand years ago, behemoths were weak monsters that children would hunt for practice, so we didn't notice them until it was too late.
　In this day and age, even a single behemoth could wreak havoc on a village or town.
　That's why it was designated as a "disaster grade" behemoth.

I thought it was a coincidence. To begin with, to me, the low grade demons Evil Bird and Behemoth were just like that, so I didn't pay much attention to them.

　But when I had dived into the Treasure Labyrinth many times since then.
　Although it was quite infrequent.......he had encountered the Behemoth several times.
　If you think about it, this is strange.

　How can a demon that is feared as a Disaster Grade appear on just three levels?

　Judging from the demons that appear on the third level, the behemoths are clearly a deviant existence.
　This is where I read that there is a hint to the "Treasure Labyrinth" strategy.

I'm sure you know that the three of you know that the labyrinth is a kind of hidden passage that can be shortcutted through?
""What?"

　The three of them speak in unison.

'Hidden passageways........when I say hidden passageways you might think of paths. But it's not like that, there's something like a transitional device that connects dimensions to dimensions. That's how you can transfer between different layers in an instant.
Kurt!　Is it true?

　Lara rolls her eyes, as if she's never heard of it before.

　Well, it can't be helped.
　A thousand years ago, I discovered that this hidden passage existed in what is called the world's underground labyrinth.
　It was revolutionary for adventurers, but few were able to use it effectively.
　Because.

'We must show the labyrinth our power.
What do you mean?
Let's say we want to find a place that can transfer from one layer to the next, let's say 30 layers. Then you need to show the labyrinth that you're capable of crossing 30 layers with ease.
It's as if the labyrinth is testing the adventurers.
'Marys. That's an odd thing to say.

　In fact, I knew of the existence of hidden passages, but I don't know why something like this is prepared.
　

　It's not that the labyrinth doesn't require anyone to aim for the lowest level.
　To get there, you can pick up materials from demons and other items that have fallen down.
　However.........if you want to reach the lowest level as soon as possible, you have no choice but to take advantage of this.

I call this hidden pathway the 'secret pathway'. This time I would like to take this "secret passage" to shortcut the labyrinth in a big way.
'I see what Kurt is trying to say. But ... where is it?
I'm going to try that now.

　As I said that, I took out a certain magic tool from my chest.

''Ah,''

　Cynthia is the first to speak up when she sees it.

''Cynthia seems to have noticed. That's right, this is the magic tool that Maynard of the 《Four Great Sages》 had.

　Maynard was using this to lure demons to the royal capital.
　Since then, I picked up this magic tool and continued analyzing it to see if I could somehow use it.

''But if it's how to use it, I've figured out how to use it in 1(-)0(-)minutes.

　At first glance, I toyed with a magical tool that looked like a necklace and activated the device.
　Then, magic power that resembled an ultrasonic wave from the magic tool spread throughout the labyrinth.

''Did you really use it?''
Yeah. Lara and the others may not be able to detect it yet.

　For a thousand years now, it's been a problem for me that I can't fight them easily because the really strong demons run away from me the more they run away from me.
　But with this device.........

''Whoa!　The behemoths are coming this way!
And one ... two ... no, three of them!

　The ground rumbled and I could see the behemoths rushing in from over the horizon.

''Alright we're going to hunt the behemoth now with four men.
Wow, did we?

　Marise's expression intensified.

'Yes. Our target is thirty bodies for now.'
Thirty?　Are you insane?
Yeah. Yeah, we'll be fine. I'll help you this time, but with the strength of the three of you, you should be able to defeat twenty or thirty behemoths.
And yet... against a disaster class.
I'm the only one who can vouch for the Marys' abilities. Can't you trust me?

　The three of them were scared at first, but their eyes changed color when I said that.

'I suppose so. If you say you can do it, then it must be possible.
''Me and Marise, we defeated a hundred demons before!　When I think about it, thirty bodies is starting to seem like a piece of cake.
Cynthia will do her best.

　Hmm. That's encouraging.
　As for Lara and Marise, they're growing quite fast.
　Cynthia still doesn't fully understand how to use the falling magic power....................but with us, her abilities should have caught up with us soon.

Okay....!　We're going to fold in at once!

　Then we joined forces and hunted the behemoths.
　As we watched, the behemoths were defeated and their numbers dwindled.
　But the behemoths came in one after another, caught by the magic tools.
　To be honest, I could manage a behemoth on my own, but I thought it was just a way for the three of us to gain experience, so I didn't actively deal with it.


　And in thirty minutes.........


''Haha, haha. We really have defeated 30 behemoths........!

　The bodies of thirty behemoths were piled up in front of us.

''Well here's the thing.

　If it was as I thought, this should have triggered the 《Secret Path (Secret)》.

　Just as I thought that.

''Be, the Behemoth's corpse began to glow!

　Just as Marise had said, a dazzling light began to emit from the pile of behemoths that had been piled up like a mountain.

　Okay!　
　Just as I thought, it seems I was right.

''After all.......Defeating a large number of behemoths was the key to the Secret Path.

　I uttered.
　The light from the behemoth gradually turned into a large ball size.
　Analyzing the magic power it seemed that if I jumped in here, I could transfer to the fifty-seventh layer in an instant.

''But why would something like this appear just by defeating the behemoth?''
'I told you, this was a test from the labyrinth. We showed the labyrinth our power by defeating a bunch of behemoths.

　Depending on the labyrinths and layers, there are various conditions for the emergence of the Secret Path.
　In order to find it, one must not only have power, but also wisdom.
　This time, there was a behemoth that clearly deviated from the other demons. Whether or not they could notice that was the key to the appearance of the Hidden Path (Secret).

''Alright... let's go in here as soon as possible and get to the fifty-seventh layer.

　And from what I've read, there is a high possibility that there is another "secret path" at the fifty-seventh level.
　The underground maze is designed to allow you to reach the lowest level of the maze quickly through the "secret path" if you are reasonably competent.
　You have to keep your head in the clouds so that you can find it again.

"Are we going to be okay? We don't know what's on the fifty-seventh layer...''
Hey, Lara. It's all right. The fact that this appears is like a seal of approval from the labyrinth that you can easily capture the fifty-seventh layer. You can be confident of that.

　When I said that, the three of them nodded vigorously.