The labyrinth country is a fortified city surrounded by an incredibly long wall.

　I don't know how it came to contain countless entrances to the labyrinth, but at any rate, there are walls at the ends of the north, south, east, west and north, and it is believed that it is not possible to go outside through these walls.

　It's divided into eight districts clockwise from the north, and we're in the eighth district. There are several one-star beginner's labyrinths here, and I aimed for the entrance to the labyrinth called 'Akebono's Field', which is the closest of them.

　Louisa drew a map of the mercenary agency on my license, so I stopped on my way to the labyrinth. It was located next to facilities such as a demolition shop and a slave market, and when I tried to enter, I was greeted by a red-haired woman wearing an eye patch.

You're a novice (Novice), aren't you? You're a novice, aren't you? You seem to have quite a bone in your body for coming here alone,
Is this neighborhood really that dangerous?
'No, not really. Sometimes the reincarnation that sees a demon dismantler's shop, for example, is so frightened that it doesn't head for the labyrinth.

　The woman with the eye patch says with a wry smile. She looks like a brawny amazoness in any way, and although she's wearing some sort of tight leather armor, you can see the area that is her abdominal muscles, and you can see that they are reasonably toned.

You can see how good these muscles are. It seems to be quite promising. The last thing a searcher can rely on is muscle. You should remember that.
Haha....I'm not a vanguard, but it's true that you need to train your body. The desk job makes me slow.
''Well, it's true, with your current level of training, even the attacks of the small animal-type monsters that appear in the shallow layers of the Elementary Labyrinth would be a threat. I'll tell you one thing, avoid taking a blow until you get up to level 3 or so. One hit will kill you if you lick it.

　The word "death" came up so easily that it made me cringe. I flipped to the license page and saw the page with the occupation and the level also displayed, with a red and blue bar below it. Further down, ten small black circles were displayed in a row. Red was strength, blue was magic power, and the black circle was probably experience.

'What, you didn't get an explanation at the guild? Who is the officer in charge?''
'Oh, no, I forgot to ask you and I'm in charge of Louisa.
'Ho, I see. You can rely on Louisa, who has been the officer in charge for five years, to help you. There are a lot of new officers in charge who are useless.
'This copper ticket was given to me by Louisa. It's a special deal, so I can't keep spoiling it for you.

　I showed her my ticket and the woman handed me a board she was holding. The board was like a binder, with a few sheets of paper with some string of letters written in a row between them.

'I'm late to introduce myself, but I'm Leila, the deputy director of this mercenary agency. The Guild is our client who buys our mercenary tickets, so I know the guys in the Guild as well.
'So you knew about Miss Louisa.
'Mm, yes. She was a former explorer, too, and retired and became a supporter of the explorers. The sub-humans here can be said to be like that in a way, but... well, that's okay. Now, what kind of mercenaries do you need?
'I'm a lizardman and I'd like to be a vanguard. You're also on this list.

　Leila-san looks a little apologetic. Could it be that they've already been hired and don't have any left or something like that?

The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you have the right equipment. I'm not sure if it's a good fit for the vanguard, but the equipment they have is also different.
Are you a warrior type?
'A 'rogue' position. Not the vanguard or rear guard, but the middle guard to be exact. They can handle a certain amount of armor, but they are not as good as specialized warriors. His manual dexterity is also inferior to that of a Thief, but he can also use a bow, and in that sense, it's a versatile job. This position is rare among lizardmen, but it's not very popular with beginner explorers, since it's more stable to gather those with specialized skills.

　So that's what you're left with. That said, if there were a limited number of tickets, he would first choose a male lizardman warrior who would clearly be a force to be reckoned with.

Can that rogue lizardman use his shield?
''Hmm, it's equipped with a leather buckler. Although its performance is not very high, it should be good enough for the first layer of 'Akebono's Field' that lies ahead. However, what you need to be careful about is that the blows will depend on your physical abilities and how well your shield can withstand them.

　In light of that lizardman's ability, I'll have him take a low-risk hit and try 'Support Defense 1'. Then we won't have to waste time waiting our turn.

''There are other sub-human races that can be hired, but when the levels are far apart, they won't listen to instructions, although they won't defect, but they won't listen to instructions. With that in mind, this young lizardman might be a good choice. Since he's level 3, he'll do what he's told.
'Thank you. Then let me hire this lizardman.
All right, I'll get him. I'll go get him and wait here.

　There are other people in the mediation office who have come to hire mercenaries, but they were being handled by other office staff. I guess I was lucky in a way that I was able to get the deputy warden to deal with them sooner rather than later.

　After waiting for a little while, Leila-san and - someone who looked something different from the lizardman I had imagined came out of the mediation office building.

(.........lizard costume?)

　A lizardman is a literal translation of a lizard man, so a lizard based on a lizard in human form would be the usual imagined figure.

　But what Leila-san brought with her was a 'person' no matter how you look at it - it looked like a human woman wearing a skull (lizard) head mask and equipment made of lizard leather.

'It would still be a surprise at first. A sub-human is a human who has been defeated by a demon in the labyrinth and is now a changed form. That's also why it's basically impossible to revive the dead in the labyrinth country. If I can undo this subhumanization, I can return to my life-form...
But you're treating him as a lizardman?
'We're not forbidden to use the 'Slave Seal' against sub-humans. It would be nice if we could communicate with them, but basically the only way to do that is to move at the orders of others. When it comes to battle, though, we fight voluntarily based on our instincts.

(...I wasn't expecting this development. They say it's not human, but that's legal, and the figure is not what it looks like...)

You can't take off the snakehead mask and other equipment unless you want to take it off. There are some people who think bad things judging by their appearance, but they will defend themselves even if they are using the mark of servitude. That said, though, there are those who try to mess with the sub-humans they've hired and get turned back, every now and then. I've asked them to write a pledge not to do that kind of thing,

　I certainly can't tell what's underneath the snakehead's mask, but the lizard-leather equipment clearly shows the lines of his body, and for some reason there's a large cut between his chest and his lower abdomen. The hand and foot equipment also doesn't completely cover the skin, and if I stare at it, I have to say that it's sensational - although the emotionless eyes of the snakehead's mask make me feel less weird.

　I sign the pledge and promise not to harm the sub-human. Then the license screen switches on its own and the 'Party' page opens up.

　◆Current Party ◆

　1: Aricht *◆$□ Level 1　
　2: Theresia, Rogue, Level 3, Mercenary.

(I still can't read my occupation but I'm guessing this one says 'rear guard' in some language. And this lizardman's name, it's a normal female name... and I wonder if Theresa is of European descent.)

'Leila, if you switch the numbers in this party, does it change the ranks as well?
'No, on that page you'll just check your party members. There'll be a section on the other page called Formation, where you'll determine the position of each member individually. If you're a mercenary, that's how you'll work to keep your ranks in line. In flesh and blood, though, it would take some training.

Well yeah, they're all in the front row. Here, let me fix this...

　Battle formation.

　1: Aricht, rear guard.
　2: Theresa, vanguard to mid-range.

　I didn't specify a single point of vanguard in order to avoid being too forward, for one thing. I'd like to have her stand in front of me first, and see the 'Support Defense 1' working up close.

　Lizardman - or rather, Teresia with her lizard equipment, I wonder if it's safe to say that she's now my friend. She's staring at me silently - I don't know where her eyes are looking - but I'm not sure where she's looking.

'Well my name is Alito. It's nice to meet you, Theresa.
..........

　I held out my right hand, and Theresa held out her hand quite late. When I shook her hand, she squeezed it back, and she has quite a bit of strength - I think I can rely on this one.

''By the way, the mercenaries are automatically transferred to the mercenary agency when they find themselves in danger. Some seekers who are troublesome to return will do so on purpose, but avoid such actions as it will increase your karma.
'Yes, I understand. We'll return Theresa safely to you when we're done searching.
'Hmm, you're quite a pleasant young man. There was a woman who went into the labyrinth by herself a while ago, is she your acquaintance?　If you find him in the labyrinth, give him a shout if you can, because any position is dangerous at level one.

(Could that be Chief Igarashi...?　You said you were going to join another party, so it's different. (Well, we're both in trouble, and if I see someone in danger, I want to help them.

　First and foremost, you have to know how strong your party is.

　As I start to walk away, Theresa follows a bit behind me. I can only see the human's mouth through the mask and we've been emotionlessly tied together for a long time, but she's the only companion I have right now. I continued on my way to my first dungeon, thinking that I would somehow get us both back unharmed.