A Regressor's Bucket List

Chapter 248 : Floating Territory (2)

Thump-

The entire camp grew noisy as they watched him suddenly appear in the center of the formation.

- What is that?

- …Magic should be unusable.

- Isn't that a Hero's medal?

It was only natural.

After all, while a giant rock was falling from the sky, a person had appeared next to a staff that had flown in suddenly without any warning.

In the first place, few people inside the camp had even properly seen the staff fall.

To most of the personnel who had been focused on the flying object falling from the sky, it was as if Kim Satgat had appeared through ‘teleportation’.

Of course, ‘teleportation’ itself wasn't entirely impossible.

The Order certainly possessed high-level magic that could bring about a change in phase, as long as several difficult conditions were met.

It wasn't impossible in principle.

But the problem was that the 'Curtain of the Black Sea' was currently spread over this place.

It might have been a different story if Divine Magic were usable.

In a situation where the very activation of Divine Magic was blocked, for a figure to deceive people's senses and appear in an instant was certainly a surprising event.

Moreover.

Grind-

- …It stopped.

With his landing, the unknown, giant flying object that had been falling from the sky halted its descent.

Since they couldn't even guess what that thing was in the first place, it was impossible to grasp the exact context.

However, from the perspective of those who witnessed his appearance, they couldn't help but think that this person who had appeared so naturally was related to the flying object in the sky.

Well, of course, that was correct.

“It's been a while. Let's see…”

Grin-

“My coincidental and lucky friend.”

The man who greeted U-jin with a grin was an old acquaintance whom U-jin had met once before.

Heh-

“…Indeed.”

A long staff that reached past his head. Reddish-brown rags patched up here and there. A sharply grown beard.

And.

“Hoho. Back then, I never dreamed I would see you here.”

“……”

“With a connection like this, we could boast about our powerful ties anywhere we go. Don't you think? Hoho.”

And, as always, the distinctive satgat perched on his head.

He looked exactly the same as when U-jin had seen him in Kunlun.

“…The Wandering Poet.”

Kanna Cartier's low voice, breaking the silence that had gripped the surroundings, revealed his identity.

Swoosh-

Turning his head to look at Kanna Cartier, Kim Satgat shrugged and replied.

“So the Commander-in-Chief knows of me.”

“……”

“Well, since I didn't come alone today, it's probably best I state my name myself.”

Shrug-

“A pleasure to meet you, Commander-in-Chief of the Subjugation Allied Forces, ‘Kanna Cartier’.”

“……”

“I am the guide of the Floating Territory ‘Joseon,’ and my name is Kim Satgat.”

* * *

The Wandering Poet.

In truth, it wasn't so strange that Kanna knew that title.

While not everyone knew the name Kim Satgat, his alias, the ‘Wandering Poet,’ was already famous throughout the Upper Plane.

Of course, since the position of ‘Hero’ wasn't something just anyone could obtain, they naturally drew attention on the battlefield, but the Wandering Poet's fame was not limited to merely gathering the attention of those around him.

It was literally ‘pan-continental’.

The alias ‘Wandering Poet’ was famous not only in his official area of activity, the ‘Murim Empire,’ but throughout the central continent of the Upper Plane.

…Well, one reason was that he had a disposition and temperament for wandering around rather than staying in one place, so he showed up here and there.

But his pan-continental fame couldn't be explained solely by his wide range of activities.

The reason he was famous throughout the Upper Plane was not because he was a 1-Star Hero.

No matter how great a Hero was, the medal the Order had bestowed upon him was only that of a 1-Star Hero, and while Heroes themselves might be a rare sight in the peaceful inland regions...

Frankly speaking, if you went near the Anti-Demon Front, 1-Star Heroes were a dime a dozen.

The reason for his fame, which surpassed his official rank, was...

‘…Isaac Einstein.’

The strategist of the Order, and the very person who had turned the current Northern Subjugation War into a complete mess.

It was because he was a Hero candidate from the same class as that man.

Of course, it wasn't simply because they were from the same class.

If fame were gained just by being from that class, then the other active Heroes from that class should have gained similar fame.

The reason he, unlike the other Heroes of his class, was widely known across the continent was because the most promising prospect of that class, the one who received the ‘The Chosen One’ Trait, was Isaac Einstein, now acting as the strategist for the Demon King's Army, and the next most promising prospect was none other than the ‘Wandering Poet’.

…Ironically, that was also the reason he was one of the most famous 1-Star Heroes.

No matter if he was a traitor, the fact that the man who had vied for the top spot with someone from the same class who became the Demon King's Army's strategist was now stuck as a mere 1-Star Hero doing menial tasks in a corner of the eastern continent—that strangeness was the reason for his fame.

In any case, due to that context.

Not just Kanna Cartier, but also Ludwig and Louis knew of the man before them, along with his alias, the ‘Wandering Poet’.

However.

Why Kim Satgat, a 1-Star Hero, had appeared here at this time.

How he had managed to reach the Subjugation Allied Forces' camp, which was blocked by the Curtain of the Black Sea.

And what exactly was his relationship with the flying object in the sky?

And above all.

“A pleasure.”

“……”

“I am the guide of the Floating Territory ‘Joseon,’ and my name is Kim Satgat.”

The guide of ‘Floating Territory Joseon’.

It was difficult to understand what he meant by those words, casting aside the title of 1-Star Hero as if it were nothing.

Of course, considering the context, they could guess that he was referring to the unidentified flying object in the sky as a ‘Floating Territory’.

But what that exactly meant, and why Kim Satgat called himself the guide of that ‘Floating Territory Joseon,’ was something even the high-ranking Priests of the Order did not know.

A 1-Star Hero under an exclusive contract with the Beggars' Sect, one of the Four Factions and One Sect that constituted the Murim Empire.

That was the official position of the ‘Wandering Poet, Kim Satgat’ in the Upper Plane.

“…I thought there was something more to him.”

Of course, the feeling wasn't simply one of 'bewilderment'.

Looking up at the flying object, Ludwig Allegro muttered as if he knew something.

“…What do you mean by that, Sir Ludwig? Isn't the Wandering Poet just a 1-Star Hero? One who gained fame for being in the same class as Isaac Einstein…”

Heart de Garçon asked him, and Ludwig, his gaze fixed, slowly began to explain.

“That's exactly the strange part. Why a man who was on par with Isaac Einstein is in the eastern fringe, dressed like a beggar.”

“……”

“So I did some digging on my own. I had a hunch there was something more.”

Cutting to the chase, when it came to abilities and experience related to information, Ludwig Allegro was unrivaled within the Order.

Even the respected Inquisitor ‘Leonardo Louis Button’ would defer to him in matters of information outside the Demonic Species.

So, for him to say he ‘had a hunch’ meant more than just a feeling; it meant he had seen something behind the visible surface, even if it wasn't yet tangible.

He didn't know what it was exactly, but he was certain that the Wandering Poet was hiding something.

“…Then I found two strange things.”

“Two things?”

Nod-

“One, that man shows up all over the continent, but there are no records of him ever using the Guardian Train. Not even once since receiving his Hero ordination.”

“……!”

The Guardian Train was an essential means of transportation for Heroes.

The Order's alliance didn't hold a small territory; it literally held territory across the entire continent.

To travel across it without using magical tools wasn't just foolish; it was physically impossible.

Of course, high-ranking Heroes could obtain movement-related Artifacts, and if one had a personal movement Artifact, it wasn't impossible to travel without the Guardian Train.

“…But he's a man without even a decent movement Artifact.”

There was no way Ludwig hadn't checked that.

In the Order's Seventh Door registry that Ludwig checked, no movement Artifacts were listed under Kim Satgat's name.

Moreover, if Ludwig's words were true, it was ‘not even once since receiving his Hero ordination’.

Even if he had an unregistered, privately obtained movement Artifact, acquiring one would inevitably require a certain amount of time.

The fact that he didn't use the Guardian Train even right after his ordination, a time when its use could be called 'essential,' was, just as Ludwig said, certainly suspicious.

“And the other thing is the record of that man's time in the Gateway Zone.”

“…Hoho. I didn't realize I was this popular.”

At Ludwig's explanation, Kim Satgat let out a low laugh and muttered.

It wouldn't have been strange for him to be angry at the thought of being investigated, but instead, as if he found it amusing, he nodded as if to encourage him to continue and silently crossed his arms.

“The Gateway Zone? Isn't that a well-known fact? That he lost out to Isaac Einstein and couldn't receive the title of ‘The Chosen One,’ but that he showed comparable skill.”

Naturally, Ludwig's story about Kim Satgat didn't end there.

No, in fact, that part was the main point.

Shake shake-

“No.”

Ludwig immediately shook his head, refuting Heart de Garçon's words.

“…Pardon?”

“I said no. That man didn't lose to Isaac Einstein during their time in the Gateway Zone.”

It was an incomprehensible statement.

In the first place, the alias ‘Wandering Poet’ had become famous based on that very tale, and now he was saying it wasn't true.

If Ludwig's brief statement was true, it meant the entire image of ‘Kim Satgat’ known within the Order until now was completely wrong.

And that, surprisingly...

“…What he says is true, Heart.”

was the truth.