Reisen Gorge:

Shea Haulia: When will they appear? I'm tired of waiting already.

From nearby, something like a two-headed T-Rex with much bigger forelimbs spotted Shea and gave chase. Hearing its roar, she ran away and climbed higher, with the dinosaur closely behind. From above, a magic circle was activated, causing both of them to lose footing. From it beamed a pillar of light, revealing Arthur, Hajime and Yue when it dissipated. The dinosaur promptly ran away. 

Shea: *gets up* I finally get to meet you!

Hajime: We've finally get back to the surface!

Yue: Yes!

Arthur: How much I have missed the sun.

Shea: *running like a bull* I've been waiting for you!

Arthur: *points at Shea* What the hell?

Yue: Seems to be a rabbitman

Hajime: She's spouting nonsense like "finally meeting us" and "waiting for us".

Arthur: Do we even know her?

Yue: What a worthless rabbit. I say we leave her.

Hajime: Aye.

Shea: Wait! Don't leave me here!

Hajime: Not happening.

Shea: *hugging Hajime's legs* I'm begging you! Please save my family!

Hajime: Why should we help someone we know nothing about? And get off of me

Shea: If I do so, you will just toss me away! Would you really turn your back against a damsel in distress? Would you really abandon a busty rabbit for a chopping board?

Arthur: (You just dig your own grave)

Yue: Hey, rabbit.

Shea: *sensing Yue's malicious aura* Y-Yes?

Yue: Any rabbit words.

Shea: P-p-please calm down! You're scaring me!

Yue: [Thunder Dragons]

Shea: *running away* I'M SORRY!!!!!!

Two minutes later:

Arthur: If you want our help, then better explain everything.

Shea: Oh...okay.

The two-headed dinosaur returned

Arthur: Oh. Another dinosaur

Hajime: You kill it, or me?

Arthur: Well...the answer is...

Shae: Wait! It's extremely violent! Run away while you can

Arthur/Hajime: Double shot, as always. *headshot x 2*

Shea: You killed that Dilhedoar so easily.

Hajime: Now get off of me and explain everything like Arthur-sama said.

Shea: R-Right! I'm Shea Haulia, the eldest daughter of the Haulia tribe. I was exiled because I am able to manipulate mana even though Beastmen aren't supposed to be able to do so. On top of that, I am able to use special magic that only Beastmen can use.

Hajime: Special magic?

Shea: Yes. It's called Future Sight. It let me see possible future. However, I cannot see that blonde man in your party with my abilities. 

Arthur: That is because I am way out of your league.

Shea: Please save my tribe! If you don't, my family, no, the entire Haulia race will be doomed!

Hajime: Let we have a discussion.

Hajime: Should we save her tribe or not. I personally don't want to.

Arthur: But if we save her tribe, we could have potential allies. Besides, Beastmen know the ins and outs of the Haltina Sea of Trees. Having a navigator will help us greatly.

Yue: Sir Arthur is right. Let's take her

Hajime: We have made our decision.

Arthur: For now you shall lead us the way to the Haltina Sea of Trees so we can see what's happening there.

Shea leaped as us in sheer happiness, and was encased in ice by Yue.

Shea: So cold....

Arthur: Okay. Ready the bikes.

Somewhere near the Sea of Trees, several Haulia tribespeople were hiding from a pack of wyverns roaming above. One Haulia child return with some fruit in hand, inadvertently exposing their hding place in the process. One wyverns quickly dived below to get a mouthful of prey, but was shot down in front of the tribespeople's astonished eyes.

Shae: I brought help!

Haulia tribespeople: Shea!

Hajime took aim at the rest of the wyvern pack, but Shea's large bust pinned him down. Hajime, out of irritation, threw Shea as live bait. He and I each killed half of the pack while on ride, Hajime caught a falling Shea at the last moment and casually dropped her on the ground. After that, we fight our way through the monsters lurking inside the forest while the rabbitmen followed behind. About halfway to their home, we went out to the gorge again but then the tribesmen told us to stop.

Arthur: Why do you lot want to stop at this moment?

Cam Haulia: We heard soldiers from Hoelscher Empire nearby. They often come here to get new slaves.

Arthur: Then my party will go take a look. You guys stay behind. Hajime, guns.

Hajime: Lock'n'Load. 

Yue: Do you hesitate to kill humans, Hajime-san?

Hajime: Not anymore, though I have no intention in becoming an indiscriminate murderer.

From a place slightly above ours, some Imperial soldiers are chit-chatting while others are hauling rabbitmen on caravans. They heard our footsteps and looked at us.

Imperial soldier 1: Oi, there's still some freaks alive.

Imperial soldier 2: And what the fuck is wrong with that blondie and the boy next to him? Tagging along demihumans like that...

Imperial soldier 3: Maybe they are slave traders

Imperial soldier 4: You two can leave them here for us bigwigs. We will pay you nicely.

Arthur: I refuse.

Hajime: So am I

Imperial soldiers: The fuck you just said, you shits?

Arthur: Are you deaf? You heard us.

Imperial soldier: Messing with us, aren't cha? We will cut all your limbs and gang-rape that young girl in front of your face? How's that sound.

Hajime: What are your orders.

Arthur: You know it. Slaughter them all, of course. Give them a quick death.

The raiding soldier were soon drop dead with bullet holes and fist-sized-dents on their bodies. Hajime broke the chains binding the captured demihumans afterwards. The demihumans ran away, back to the Sea of Trees afterwards. We moved again, encountering other beastmen. They were enraged when seeing us and Shea among the tribe, and threatened to kill off the tribe. At least their elders have enough reason & common sense, so with some discussion, they let us go when we present Orcus's ring. The Haulia tribe problem way more complicated. They were sentenced to execution, but due to Hajime's insistence on protecting them until reaching the Labyrinth, they switched to exile instead. The other half of the problem is they are too wimpy.

It's nighttime, and everyone were relaxing.

Shea: I never thought I would see a day when everyone would relax like this. Thanks you very much!

Hajime: No need to thank me

Arthur: We are just honoring our deal

Yue: Why are you dangling upside down on a tree?

Arthur: I like.

Shea: You two are the first people I've met who could use monsters' powers, so it's hard for me to consider you two as strangers. What are you guys trying to accomplish?

Hajime/Arthur: We want to get out of here with our friends.

Shea: Can you tell me the story of yourselves.

Arthur: [Sound Containment Field] Yes.

*One story later*

Shea: It's so sad.....*sniff*....My life story is nothing compared to yours.....

Hajime: Hardships make us strong, so as you.

Shea: By the way, is Arthur-sama really another god?

Arthur: Yes. Need a demonstration?

Shea: Can you show me what you can do? Please!!!!

Arthur: Open your eyes wide and focus, for I will perform what a tiny speck of my power can do.

I casted a dome around the four of us and stopped time, then flicked my finger upward. Soon enough, the entire Grand Tree Uralt was uprooted. I put the tree back in place then restored the earth around it.

Shea: THAT'S INSANE! Can you do that again?

Arthur: No, sorry. I prefer holding myself back.

Hajime: Holy shit.....That just erased any of my skepticism about your claim.

Yue: May I have a question, Arthur-sama? Have you ever met my kind before?

Arthur: Hmm.....I do meet vampires before. Some of them are different from normal vampires. You could follow me meet them after Hajime find a way home that he could use by himself. (Should I let her meet Duke of York?)

Shea: Can I travel with you too?

Yue: You will only hold us back.

Shea: So cruel!

Next morning:

Shea: Please train us! We want to get stronger!

Other Haulias: We don't want to be weak anymore

Cam Haulia: Please, Arthur-dono, Hajime-dono! We beseech you!

Arthur: Okay. Hajime will train the Haulia tribespeople and Yue will supervise Shea.

Hajime: What about you?

Arthur: I will train you and Yue.

Hajime/Yue: Eh?

 Thus began the hellish training course. While training the rabbitmen, Hajime was frustrated by the overly pacifistic attitude and go all-out on them when he saw Cam Haulia cuddling a flower. As for Yue and Shea, Shea kept losing to Yue during combat, yet the rabbitgirl did not give up and keep rising after each and every defeat. After lunch, I taught the other two "Thought Acceleration" and drillied Hajime on marksmanship and melee combat, and Yue on improving mana usage efficiency while expanding her mana reserve. To make things harder, I created a field where magic was suppressed to one-tenth of their power and gravity was amplified and put on the facade of a military drill officer.

10 days later, the Haulia tribe has totally changed. Gone were the weak & wimpy rabbits, now there's only vicious warrior bunnies (would be borderline berserk if Arthur hadn't monitored Hajime), most notably Shea. According to Yue, she could strengthen her body to a monstrous degree, to about 60% of Hajime's stats pre-training. Yue also said that on the tenth day, Shea finally managed to scratch her, which mean she fulfilled the requirement to join the party.

Yue: Hajime-san. Arthur-sama. Let's take this rabbit with us.

Hajime: Wait what?

Shea: Hajime-san. Yue-san. How did your training go?

Hajime: That man was freaking ruthless. There were times we thought we were actually dead.

Yue: I don't want to talk about it.

Shea: Is this training really that horrible?

Arthur: How about you personally find it out?

Shea: Eek! N-No thanks!

Arthur: Too late ~*took Shea into a pocket dimension*

Hajime/Yue: *We will remember you, Shea*

10 minutes later (10 days in the pocket dimension):

Shea: I have...learned the truth.....the hard way..

Hajime: Still want to join the gang or no?

Shea: You think a mere hellish training course would deter my wish to join you? Of course I still want to travel with you guys!

Hajime/Yue/Arthur: (Damn, this girl must have balls of diamond)

Hajime: May I know why you want to join us?

Shea: It's.....it's because.....It's because I want to be with you, Hajime-san!

Hajime: Huh?

Arthur: I see a harem in the making. Bet that the otaku spirit in pre-Orcus you would like this very much, hehe. 

Hajime: *embarassed* Please, don't talk about my hobby so open like that......

Arthur: You have me - a fellow weeb, here. You don't have to hide it, y'know. By the way, Yue, come here.

Yue: *walks closely*

Arthur: [Growth]

Yue's body transformed into that of an adult woman. I pulled out a changing room with a wardrobe for Yue. After changing clothes, Yue looked at herself in the mirror, then look at her new "assets", then looks smugly at Shea. Shea pouted in frustration. And Hajime.exe has unexpectedly crashed.

Yue: Hajime? Are you okay?

(Yue chooses the same kind of outfit she previously wore, but bigger)

After Hajime was done rebooting himself, the Haulia tribe lead us to the Great Tree Uralt.
Hajime: So this is the Great Tree.

Cam Haulia: It has been dead ever since Verbegen was established. But it's never rotted away and remain unchanged for ages.

Hajime: *looks at heptagon with seven crests & holes engraved on a stele* This is like the one in Orcus Labyrinth.

Yue: Yes, it's the same design.

Hajime: This could be the entrance to another labyrinth.

Hajime put Orcus's ring into one of the holes. A message appeared inside the heptagon. It said: "Only those with four symbols, the power of regeneration, and beacon formed of bonds, will this door open once more."

Arthur: This mean....we have to acquire relics from three more labyrinths to make this one accessible.

Shea: If I am not mistaken, there's one in Reisen Gorge.

Hajime: Alright. That will our next destination. Our deal is done, and this is where we part ways with the rabbitmen. You guys should be able to survive by now

Cam Haulia: Boss Hajime! We beseech you! Let us travel with you on your journey.

Arthur: I appreciated your loyalty, but you should stay here and keep training. Perhaps one day we will be the ones need your helps.

Cam Haulia: You hear that, people! We shall get even stronger so we can be more useful to our bosses!

At night, before departure:

Shea was sleeping inside her tent. Right now she was dreaming about her mother

Little Shea: Mother, am I a monster? Am I a beast?

Mona Haulia: *caressing a crying Shea* "A white shadow lurks in the Sea of Trees, always shying away, vanishing before anyone know it. Is it a new type of monster, or a beast dwelling within the Sea of Trees since time immemorial?" Are those the type of stories you've heard these days with those big bunny ears that can hear so well?

Mona Haulia: Don't you want to be a monster?

Little Shea: Of course I don't want to be a monster?

Mona Haulia: Why not?

Little Shea: W-Why not?

Mona Haulia: It doesn't feel good to be different. It's scary, lonely and sad. But you know something, Shea. There are things you can do because you are different. I believe one day you will meet wonderful people outside the Sea of Trees. I bet they will be just like you.

Little Shea: Just like me?

Mona Haulia: There's no way you are the only unique one, right? There's others outside, I know it.

Mona Haulia: Shea. It doesn't matter if you're a beastman, or a monster, or even a freak. They're all just words. Only you can decide what kind of person you want to become. And all that matters is you become that person. It's precisely because you're different from a normal rabbitman that you can become anything your heart desires. 

Arthur: You okay Shea? I heard you're crying.

Shea: *wiping tears* I'm okay....I'm just...dreaming about my mother.

Arthur: Can you tell me about your mother?

Shea: My mother was a kind and gentle woman, but she had a very strong spirit. Even though she's a rabbitman, she was a very brave and aspired to achieve heroic feats in her life. 

Arthur: i could tell that she was quite admirable

Shea: But she never could achieve her dreams. She was always sick and passed away when I was six. Now with the strength I've earned with Yue-san's and your help, I will achieve her dreams in her name.

Arthur: She would have been very proud of you, had she remained alive.

Shea: I hope so. When I was a child, she always told me that I should only care what I think of myself and I will meet people with unique abilities like me outside the Sea of Trees. And now such people are right next to me. I wish my mother could meet Hajime-san, Yue-san and you.

Arthur: I'm sure she's watching over us from high above.

Arthur: You know, you and your mother.....you two really have a strong courage and determination. 

Shea: I always believe that I could change the future by hard work, no matter how horrible the present is

Arthur: Then I suggest you keep that belief firm in your heart.

Next morning, we prepared our supplies and vehicles, and bid farewell to the Haulia tribe before heading to the labyrinth that lie within Reisen Gorge