#1098 Retrospecting Pioneers

I’m Corey, an S-class adventurer.

This latest incident really put my inexperience as an S-class on full display for everyone to see.

I got puppeteered by some scheming bigwigs, ended up feuding with people who shared the same goals and was just a hair’s breadth away from a total group meltdown.

Though Lord Saint’s timely intervention saved us, the fact we needed his help at all was a massive blunder on my part.

After I reported everything, I got a letter of scolding from Silver Wolf over at Guild Headquarters.

Forty-four whole pages of it, front to back.

I thought I’d atone by handing in my S-class badge then and there, but I was stopped in my tracks.

“Don’t just give up; redeem yourself by completing this quest and clearing your name,” he said.

I ended up respecting Silver Wolf even more for giving a klutz like me a second chance.

Besides, he chewed me out mainly because I failed to keep order among my teammates on-site. The true villains were those sly bureaucrats pulling strings behind the scenes.

The guild even apologized for not sniffing out their schemes and preventing them from trickling down to us.

At any rate, now that all the troublemakers are out of the picture, everything’s running smoothly.

Shockingly smooth, even.

The biggest breakthrough is that we’ve finally cleared up the bad blood with the demons.

Now we can work together on the frontier development like civilized individuals.

Until now, half our resources had to be spent dealing with conflicts with the demon settlers.

After making peace, not only did we eliminate that negative drain, we gained the positive boost from their cooperation, resulting in more than double the efficiency.

It’s like a dam burst, and now the river of progress is gushing full force.

Our development work is speeding along.

Of course, just being able to cooperate doesn’t instantly grant infinite productivity. Truth is, most of this turnaround is thanks to Lord Saint.

He didn’t simply leave after but stuck around in the settlement, guiding us instead.

When human and demon interests clashed, he’d step in as a neutral party and judge fairly. We owe him big time for that.

If Lord Saint hadn’t stayed to keep the peace, we might’ve fallen back into petty rivalries as soon as something went wrong.

The fact that we’re still getting along is all thanks to his outstanding leadership.

But it’s not just his leadership or his personality. It’s also about him being Lord Saint in the first place.

What do I mean?

Well, the settlers here are basically adventurers from the human side and explorers from the demon side.

Both are similar professions focused on uncovering the world’s mysteries.

We’re all the type who chase after what’s still hidden, what no one’s found yet.

To us, Lord Saint is one of those big mysteries worth dedicating your whole life to discovering.

So when you actually meet him face-to-face, it’s overwhelming.

There’s no way to stay calm and collected about it.

Just seeing him in person is almost unbelievable, and if he actually speaks to you, you’d jump right out of your boots.

Obviously, defying his orders is unthinkable—when he says jump, you say “How high?”

I guess that’s the power of his legend.

It makes my S-class status seem like peanuts.

It’s not just us humans, either. The demon explorers are equally starry-eyed when they look at Lord Saint.

I’ve noticed their eyes practically sparkle when they’re watching him.

Before, I thought “explorers” were just cheap knock-offs of adventurers, but now I’m starting to wonder who they really are. What’s their deal?

After a day’s work, we often share meals and drinks together, so it wasn’t hard to strike up a conversation and ask them directly.

“...Explorers! We’re the brave souls on a quest to uncover the world's romance!!!”

I started chatting during a booze-fueled party, so his speech was pretty rough from the drinks.

The guy I’m talking to is Racha Leones, the one who always leads the charge during conflicts.

Because of that, I hold him in high esteem and trust whatever he says.

Being able to judge a person's worth at a glance is also a key skill for an S-class adventurer.

“Explorers are the ones who set sail across all seven seas to uncover the world’s grandest mysteries! We’ll sail anywhere and everywhere to find the unknown!”

The sea, huh?

Explorers ply the seas as their main stage.

Then what about the land?

Don’t they handle dungeons and stuff?

“Nah, that’s the Demon King’s army’s job.”

I get it now.

In the Demon Kingdom, the government takes charge of dungeon management, leaving these dreamers free to turn their gazes seaward.

In the Human Kingdom, the government’s sloppy oversight led to the birth of adventurers as a form of mutual self-help.

It’s fascinating how a nation’s approach shapes how its romantics chase their dreams.

Adventurers are fueled by two pillars: the romantic pursuit of never-before-seen treasures and the cooperative spirit of looking out for themselves since the state won’t.

These two ideals developed the adventurer community into what it is.

Explorers, on the other hand, are driven purely by romance, sailing off across the great oceans to find what no one else has seen.

Like, say, Lord Saint, for example.

“I, Racha Leones, am known in explorer circles as the top saint-chaser! After all, I’m the only man who’s truly laid eyes on the Saint before this whole settlement thing happened! Not just once, mind you, but before the Saint arrived here!”

Huh?

Is he referring to the recent turn of events?

“No! It was back on that day, floating on the big blue, cradled by my partner, the good ship San Imelda…”

He launched into a story.

“We were stuck in dead calm waters. Listen, the scariest thing at sea isn’t a storm or a tsunami, it’s a dead calm. Without wind or waves, you can’t move an inch. You’re just stranded, burning through rations and going nowhere. It slowly gnaws at your sanity.”

They drifted, wasting time, supplies dwindling. Nothing changed.

It wore them down mentally, waiting and praying for a single breeze.

“That day, the calm was so long and dire that we were at our wit’s end. Our food and water were almost gone. At this rate, we’d end up dried like jerky or lose our minds and dive overboard. Both ends spelled doom.”

Yikes.

That’s a whole different kind of despair.

Dying in a dungeon, lost and unarmed, or drifting hopelessly at sea, both sound equally grim.

“I got so desperate I even thought: if I die first, maybe my crew can eat my flesh and survive a bit longer. Then, at that bleakest moment, salvation arrived… in the form of the Saint.”

So Lord Saint appeared out in the middle of the ocean.

Of course, he wouldn’t just pop up swimming.

He was on a ship.

But this ship was…

“Made entirely of steel! Hull, interior, all of it shining like a mirror of white metal! And massive! Even stranger, it had no sails. Without sails, it can’t catch the wind, so how does it move? Yet the Saint’s steel ship sailed on, ignoring the wind entirely. There was no wind in our dead calm, so that proves it wasn’t relying on it at all!”

Racha Leones goes on a passionate ramble, looking like he was reliving the excitement from back then.

It must’ve been quite a shock for him.

Being so well-versed in maritime norms, he quickly realized that everything was off the charts, and it must’ve left him stunned.

“In the end, we got towed out of the no-wind zone by the Saint’s steel ship and made it back alive. If I hadn’t met him then, I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you today.”

The way he recounts the events...

I bet he’s shared this story countless times.

“From that day on, meeting the Saint again became my life’s goal! I scoured the seas searching for them, hoping to unravel the mystery of that steel ship!”

So he’s chasing romance and mysteries too, huh?

As a fellow adventurer who also loves a good mystery, I’m starting to feel a real kinship with him.

If that’s the case, why not just ask Lord Saint directly?

He’s Saint is right here, after all.

“U-Um… well, I’ve thought about it a thousand times, but now that the chance is real, I’m kind of nervous! Is it really okay to just ask? It feels too easy somehow…”

I get it. He’s worried it’ll spoil the grand mystery if he just blurts it out without any trials or hardships first.

I know that feeling!!!

But come on, Lord Saint is right there!

Treasure’s treasure, no matter how tough or easy it was to reach. Let’s go!

“W-wait just a second! I need to mentally prepare—awaaah!”

And so, dragging Racha Leones by the hand, I charge straight toward Lord Saint.

An adventurer always pushes forward, no matter what!

To be continued!!!