Helping with Adventurer Party Management - Chapter 130

The adventurers seem to be improving their financial situation little by little. It would be nice if the number of injured could decrease a bit more…

I suddenly remembered the signs for the traffic fatality campaign that were attached to police stations in my original world. The ones that say something like “23 traffic accident deaths this year in the city in big letters. I wondered if we could set up something like that here. 

I casually brought it up to Sara, and she immediately refused with a strong “Absolutely not!”

When I asked Sara why, she looked at me with a slightly sad expression.

“Kenji, you’ve really lost touch with how adventurers feel.” She went on to explain: “Listen, Kenji. Except for true beginners, adventurers understand that they might die during their quests someday. Today, it was just a matter of a goblin’s sword missing you by chance, a spell arriving just in time, or an arrow hitting your shield. Everyone has experienced such coincidences saving their lives. You’ve been through it too, haven’t you? You fought a hobgoblin one-on-one and almost died.

Today you might have been lucky. But eventually, those coincidences won’t happen, your luck runs out and you’ll die. Even if you die like that, you won’t get a proper burial. You see, it’s impossible to transport a body from a monster-filled cave to a city with a church. Moreover, since we adventurers without roots aren’t listed in the birth registry, getting a burial in a church would require an enormous amount of money.

So, adventurers end up dying alone in fields or dark caves without being seen off by gods or family, and their bodies are left where they fall. That’s the reality we face. It’s something every adventurer has known since we left the village for our families. Even so, it’s still better than starving or dealing with taxes—things we can’t fight with a sword or bow.”

You fight, fight, fight, and die without anyone to see you off. That’s the life of an adventurer.

That’s why everyone behaves brightly and energetically. They head out on adventures, telling themselves that it’s not their turn to die today. But how would you feel when death becomes just a number? Won’t you think it’s sad that your death would be reduced to a mere statistic?

Sara’s words, though not spoken loudly, resonated darkly and heavily in my chest. I realized I truly didn’t understand anything.

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After that, I couldn’t bring myself to talk further with Sara. I went alone to the Sword Fangs Legion’s office to show my face, and by chance, I found Jilboa there. 

I asked him,  “Weren’t you afraid of death when you became an adventurer?”

His answer was, “I’ve never thought about it. It’s the same whether you’re facing monsters or fighting in the military. You observe your opponent, your surroundings, and your comrades. You step in and strike their vital points in one breath. You fight together without abandoning your allies. That’s all there is to it. There’s nothing difficult about it, and there’s no reason to fear death.”

No good, this guy is of no help at all. He isn’t providing any useful insight. I wondered if there might be a more ordinary person around here. 

I looked around, but I realized that people in top-tier clans like Sword Fangs Legion are special individuals who make up a small percentage of high-level adventurers.

Maybe by associating with these exceptional people all the time, I had forgotten the perspective of an average person. I needed to remember the feelings of when I was just starting out as an adventurer. I still needed to reflect on my time as an adventurer.

As I thought about this, I suddenly remembered the party that kicked me out. I wondered how they were doing. It had been a while since I last thought about them. It seemed that Sara, after I left, had occasionally gone on adventures with them, but recently, she hadn’t been taking on any new quests.

Immediately after being kicked out, I was so angry that I didn’t even want to see their faces. But now, I have a bit more emotional space.

I thought about flipping through the reports and doing a bit of research once I returned to the workshop. However, I was also bothered by the fact that I hadn’t seen them around the guild recently.