#1084 The Adventurer Explores the Vast Land

And so, I, Corey, headed off to the area opened for development.

A lot happened before I got here. After the plan was set, a number of people came by, one after another, urging me to decline the quest.

They said that working on developing settlements wouldn’t add to my achievements or experience.

“Since you’ve climbed all the way up to S-rank, it’d be far more glorious to conquer famous dungeons or hunt for legendary treasure items. It’d boost your abilities too,” they insisted.

I knew they meant well, so I politely declined.

I am the second-generation Silver Wolf.

Since I’ve inherited that name, I want to embark on adventures that benefit all adventurers, rather than just chasing personal glory.

This pioneering quest I’ve accepted aligns perfectly with my ideals.

I’m going to give it my all.

Of course, I’m not tackling this pioneering quest alone.

Many others are joining me, and quite a few of them are former mercenaries who switched to adventuring, around E to C rank, just as we’d heard.

As Silver Wolf predicted, they were approached for this quest.

Maybe they thought they’d be kicked out of the adventurers’ guild if they refused. Not that there’s any system for firing adventurers.

However, contrary to Silver Wolf’s expectations, they didn’t seem disgruntled or have their pride wounded.

They didn’t show any signs of dissatisfaction; instead, they entered the frontier brimming with enthusiasm.

I wondered why they were so cheerful.

“Ha! Getting reassigned was common back in our mercenary days!”

“Bosses being whimsical is the same everywhere!”

“Still beats being told to charge a fortress under a rain of magic bullets! This place is like heaven!”

“Hahaha! Those who say that are the ones who let their guard down and kick the bucket first! No place is truly safe!”

They were as upbeat as could be.

Though they hadn’t quite fit into the adventuring world they switched to, their mercenary grit made them seem capable of surviving any harsh environment.

Even Silver Wolf couldn’t fully grasp the mindset of these former mercenaries, who came from a completely different background.

They didn’t rebel out of discontent; instead, they worked together in unity on the pioneering tasks. Maybe it’s thanks to their mercenary experience, but their teamwork was so smooth it was like watching a single living organism at work.

For us adventurers, who usually operate solo, this was quite a shock.

Many of the former mercenaries were older, and perhaps because they’d been devoted to the mercenary way for so long, they couldn’t adapt to the changes after becoming adventurers.

Pioneering work isn’t something you can do alone.

Everyone’s unity is essential.

Their skills truly shone here, and the work progressed at an astonishing speed.

Even though I was nominally in charge, I had a lot to learn from them not just in field coordination but also from their fascinating mercenary tales during breaks.

They told stories of winning and losing skirmishes against demons.

Of narrowly escaping death due to the nonsensical orders of incompetent commanders.

Of encountering one of the Demon King’s Heavenly Four and being blown away instantly.

Of legendary mercenaries like Gray Silver and Bill Bruson and their epic exploits...

These stories didn’t just broaden my knowledge; they also taught me valuable lessons about who survives on battlefields where life and death hang in the balance.

Probably, whether adventurers or mercenaries, the type of person who survives is the same.

After all, death is impartial.

I regularly sent progress reports to the guild, but our unexpectedly smooth progress seemed to surprise them, causing a bit of a stir.

I received a reply from Silver Wolf expressing his delight. Apparently, even the old-timers in the leadership who had vehemently opposed the pioneering were now silent, their expectations dashed.

It’s great that everything is going according to plan.

“But you know, captain, times when things are going this well often precede something bad. We must never let our guard down,” one of the former mercenaries beside me warns.

They must have faced many near-death experiences following similar patterns. I should heed the wisdom of my elders.

And sure enough, trouble came knocking.

***

“What? We’re having a dispute with another development village?!”

I wondered what they meant by another development village, but it turns out there’s another group conducting settlement work separate from us.

And they’re demons.

Come to think of it, I recall hearing somewhere that this land development project is to be conducted jointly with demons.

Where did I hear that?

“They’ve barged into the land we developed!”

“And then they’re saying, ‘This is our land! Get out!’ Can you believe that?”

“After all the hard work we put into taming this land, they want to snatch it away? That’s nothing short of highway robbery!!!”

My comrades are furious.

They’ve grown to love this land they’ve painstakingly cleared over such a long time.

I feel the same.

I rush off at once to the place where they’re quarreling.

Sure enough, demons were there.

They’re arguing heatedly with my pioneering comrades.

I can only catch bits of the conversation: “This is our land!” “No, it’s ours!”

“What on earth is going on?!”

When I arrived, our people visibly relaxed.

Over time, I’d earned their trust as a leader on the ground.

I face the opponents bristling with hostility and anger.

“I’m the representative on this side. I’ve heard the general situation.”

Realizing I was the representative, the demons seemed to flinch for a moment.

“All right, then I, the explorer Racha Leones, will represent us demons!”

“You’re the representative?!” “Why you?”

They seem a bit disorganized.

But setting that aside...

“Explorer? What’s that?”

I couldn’t help but ask.

As an adventurer, hearing a term that sounded similar piqued my interest.

“What, you’re curious? Of course you are! Sailing across the seven seas, discovering treasures no one has ever seen—that’s what an explorer does! There’s no other profession chasing such dreams!”

Hmm.

So there’s a profession similar to adventurers.

Well, adventurers also manage dungeons to maintain regional safety, so maybe it’s akin to part of our work.

“Captain, I’ve heard of them. There are explorers among the demons, but apparently, it’s a minor profession hardly anyone knows about.”

“In terms of scale and fame, they don’t even come close to adventurers. There’s an adventurers’ guild, but not even a shred of an explorers’ guild.”

These guys sure know a lot.

As expected of seasoned veterans.

Ignoring the other side’s grumbling, I say, “I understand that the demons are also pioneering. However, this area is being developed by us humans first. We’d like you to promptly pioneer elsewhere.”

“What are you talking about?! This is the land we planned to cultivate! Without this place, much of the work we’ve done so far becomes meaningless!”

That’s a serious issue, but it’s the same for us.

We can’t just back down and say, “Sure, no problem.”

If we do that, we’ll have to yield every time similar conflicts occur in the future.

That’s a lesson every adventurer knows.

“What?! The humans who lost the war are acting all high and mighty! Want us to make you lose again?”

“What was that?! The ones who won the war were the Demon King’s army soldiers! Not you guys!”

“We nearly died many times as mercenaries! If you’re offering to let us settle old scores, we’ll gladly take you up on it!”

“Grudges from the battlefield are settled on the battlefield!”

Oh no, our comrades are getting heated.

Though they’re usually laid-back, they have a past of surviving life-and-death situations as mercenaries. Perhaps there’s something unresolved there.

Now, that pent-up frustration is bubbling up, fueled by the anger of possibly having the land they worked so hard on taken away.

Even as a higher-ranked adventurer, I don’t think I can suppress their grief and indignation as someone younger.

“This is your final warning. This is land that we humans have cleared. Leave quietly.”

“Darn it...! We won’t lose to mere adventurers, not with our pride as explorers on the line! We’re the ones who can unravel the world’s mysteries!”

They won’t back down. It can’t be helped.

When we face unavoidable difficulties, we tackle them head-on.

That’s our way as adventurers!