第３５５堀：初心を忘れるべからず (Part1)
### Chapter 355: Never Forget Your Roots
**Side: Mauve**
An adventurer.
It is a profession that walks hand-in-hand with death.
Yet, there is no end to those who aspire to become one.
That is because the life of an adventurer holds such immense potential. If one desires to discover treasures, fell great monsters, or simply lead a life of excitement, there is no profession more stimulating than this.
However, only a handful ever truly achieve greatness.
Today, let us talk about one of those few.
**Project Ω: The Challengers – The Path to Adventurer Rank 8**
In the country of Nogosh, known as the Land of Swords, a life was born in a rural village where everything revolved around the blade.
His name was Mauve.
His family was not particularly wealthy, but even in the countryside, they never went hungry. He was born into a place that could truly be called happy.
He was the third son, with an older sister and brother above him. Watched over warmly by his parents and siblings, he grew up healthy and strong.
Then, one day, an event occurred that would change young Mauve’s destiny forever.
“...What is everyone doing?”
That day, Mauve had woken up unusually early. Wanting to brag about getting up on his own, he went to find his family, but no one was in the house.
Assuming they were outside, he opened the door. As expected, they were all there, but the sight before him made him speak before he could even offer a morning greeting.
“Ah, Mauve. You’re up already? Good morning.”
“Yeah. Good morning. Hey, big brother. What are you holding?”
“Uh... Dad, what should we do?”
“Hmm. I suppose this is the fate of being born in this country. Mother, you have the child-sized one, don’t you?”
“I think it’s still a bit too early, but... here.”
Handed to him by his mother was a wooden sword designed for children.
“Whoa.”
But it was still too heavy for little Mauve, and he dropped it.
“Hahaha. Still too heavy for you, huh? Here, hold it like this.”
Guided by his brother, that was the day Mauve first gripped a sword.
That was the beginning of Mauve’s encounter with the blade.
From then on, Mauve began sword training with his family as if it were just a part of daily life. Without being forced, and without complaint, he simply went through the motions, and his swordsmanship improved by leaps and bounds.
One day, while living those peaceful days, monsters descended upon the village.
His father, mother, sister, and brother all took up their swords to fight.
Mauve was told to stay inside, but thinking he might be able to do something, he grabbed his wooden sword and dashed out of the house.
“Big broth—”
“Mauve!? Why did you come out?!”
“One got past us!”
“Mauve!! Run away!!”
“Eh?”
Before he knew it, a wolf-type monster was standing right in front of him, its jaws wide open...
“Wait, what is this?!”
I reflexively pulled the plug on the machine projecting this footage.
All machines like this need a power source, after all. If I hadn’t grown accustomed to life in Weed, I wouldn’t have been able to react so precisely.
“Aw, you stopped it.”
“Of course I stopped it!! What was that just now?!”
“Uhh... let’s see...”
As Yuki pondered, the conference room door opened, and Eris appeared, carrying a stack of documents.
“Judging by Mauve-san’s reaction, should I assume it was close to the truth?”
“No, ‘truth’ or not, stop making such weird recreations. And why did you make this in the first place?”
“Yes. Actually, the Adventurer’s Guild suggested that the stories of high-ranking individuals would be educational for those who follow. With Weed’s full cooperation, we investigated your past, Mauve-san, to create that footage.”
“A request from the Guild... and you two are the collaborators?”
I looked at my two companions who had entered the room with me. Indeed, they seemed less rattled than I was.
“No, we didn’t have any malicious intent. We understood the reasoning that it would be for the sake of future generations.”
“Yes. Though, I didn’t expect it to be made into a movie-style production.”
“Well, that’s the reason. Don’t worry, we made sure to leave out the parts where you attacked the city or turned Elju into a slave.”
“You already made versions that went that far?!”
Yuki really is a man you can never let your guard down around.
“The reaction seems positive. I’ll leave the rest to the judgment of the Guild members.”
“Yes, understood. I will send it to the Adventurer’s Guild.”
“Hey, wait a minute!? You didn’t just call me here to mess with me, did you?!”
“No, I wouldn’t go that far. It was just a little opening act, as usual.”
That’s a hell of a big production for an “opening act.”
I’m definitely going to the Adventurer’s Guild later to have them put a stop to it. If they broadcast such embarrassing footage, I won’t be able to show my face in Weed anymore.
“How much do you know about our movements?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“The situation on the New Continent.”
“Ah, where should I start?”
“Well, it’s going to be a long story, so let’s sit down.”
“Yeah.”
At that, we sat down and waited for tea to be served before Yuki spoke again.
“So, how much do you know?”
“If you’re talking about progress, you guys have finished your business in White Forest, right?”
“That’s right. All that’s left is the Ex Kingdom.”
“You said that might be the enemy’s main stronghold, right?”
“Yes. And it’s become a bit difficult to move.”
“Difficult?”
“Until now, using the names of various countries was very effective, but if it’s the enemy’s base, we might be targeted instead, and our actions will be monitored. Even if we try to sneak in, there’s a high chance our names and faces are already known.”
“Yeah, that would make moving difficult.”
When I suddenly became famous, for some reason, even when I went to other cities, people often knew my name and face. It made it impossible to go to bars normally. My wife would get the information and I’d end up getting scolded. That was a real pain.
As I recalled those days, Raiya, sitting next to me, nodded as if convinced.
“Ah, so that’s why you want us to go to the Ex Kingdom. Because we are, quite literally, nobodies.”
“Exactly.”
“Is that so? Indeed, there would be no problem with us going to the Ex Kingdom. We’ve been living in the demi-human village, and we only acted with you and your group at the very beginning on the New Continent. There’s little reason for us to be suspected.”
“Yeah. I see.”
I was convinced.
Indeed, we are just the coordinators of the demi-human village. As Curse said, the “adventurers” who are nobodies are the ones from Weed, or rather, mercenaries on the New Continent.
“So, can I count on you? According to the reports, the demi-human village doesn’t seem to have any major problems.”
“Hmm? Oh, well, there are some hot-headed guys, but that’s about it. We haven’t walked around the New Continent much either, so this works out for us.”
“That’s right.”
“No problem here.”
“Good. Then I’d like to ask you to investigate the Ex Kingdom. Don’t worry about the demi-human village; we’ll send a replacement.”
“Understood. So, we go to the Ex Kingdom—what are we supposed to do? Should we just conquer the royal castle or something?”
“If you guys want to be kings, I won’t stop you.”
“I refuse.”
“No thanks.”
“An immediate answer? You two...”
For some reason, Raiya and Curse refused immediately.
“You’d be the masters of a kingdom. Can’t you at least hesitate a little?”
“If you want, Mauve can do it.”
“That’s true.”
“No. I refuse, too.”
Anyone could see how much of a hassle it would be just by looking at Curse’s stories or how busy Yuki is. It might be easy if you were a tyrant, but if I did that, I’d just get assassinated—or more likely, Yuki would take me out himself.