"And there was one more reason that pushed everyone to form these exploration teams!" After his moment of emotion, the middle-aged man suddenly sat up straight and leaned closer to Bianka, his eyes shining as he spoke.
"What reason?" Bianka pricked up her ears.
"That's because... the original name of the City Exploration Teams was—the MOTHs' Pioneer Squad!" the man said, his eyes gleaming. It was clear the name made him very excited. (TL:I want change it to Trailblaze...)
Bianka just tilted her head in confusion. "The MOTHs... Pioneer Squad?"
She had never heard of it. Theresa had never mentioned the name...
Does this name have some special meaning?
The middle-aged man suddenly froze, like a fanboy excitedly sharing stories about his favorite idol, only to be met with a "Who?" He looked Bianka over with a slightly suspicious gaze.
But on second thought, it made sense that some newcomers wouldn't know about the MOTHs' Pioneer Squad. After all, since arriving at this base, Otto had implemented drastic reforms, and the name now only existed in the memories of a few.
"Time really flies. To think it's already been three months..." The man sighed wistfully. He hadn't expected to feel how much things had changed in just three short months.
However, a story about that person couldn't be allowed to remain just a memory!
"Come on, then, I have to tell you all about the people who were in the MOTHs' Pioneer Squad!" The middle-aged man was instantly re-energized. He leaned forward, eager to tell Bianka the story.
Seeing his enthusiasm... Bianka wasn't sure who the young person was in this conversation.
"The members of this MOTHs' Pioneer Squad, you definitely know them! They are—"
"One of the last knights of the Kaslana family, and the youngest one at that! The Finality, who carries the honor of a great family at such a young age!"
"Having struggled and grown up amidst the chaos of war, the fourteen-year-old Ural mercenary who once struck fear into the entire criminal underworld—Silver Wolf!"
"Born into a prestigious noble family with vast resources and an infinite future to choose from, yet resolutely embarked on the most arduous path of salvation—The Acheron!"
"And—!!" The man's voice suddenly shot up, startling Bianka, who had been listening intently.
Looking up, she saw the man's face was flushed red, and he seemed incredibly excited, much like some kind of frenzied, irrational fan.
However, the man was clearly still rational, just having a bit of trouble controlling his expression.
"And their captain, the strongest of them all, the leader capable of commanding these three!—Shu!"
Shu?
The first image that came to Bianka's mind upon hearing the name wasn't that of a tall, imposing, and valiant warrior, nor that of a commanding leader, but of a dorm room...
[The Former Residence of Shu]
She couldn't help it. It was the only tourist attraction inside the MOTHs' base, and it had left a rather deep impression on her...
The next thing she remembered was the massive [Sword Valley] in ARC City. Theresa's comment that "Shu created the Sword Valley with a single slash" had also been a huge shock to Bianka.
If Theresa hadn't said that, Bianka might have stuck to her routine of waking up at six and training by the book.
But after learning from Theresa just how vast the gap was between herself and the very best, Bianka had found the motivation to push herself so hard.
I have to at least try hard enough to see his back, right?
In truth, Bianka had always been intensely curious about "Shu," the MOTHs' officially designated strongest member. But over the past few days, she had constantly felt she wasn't strong enough, that she hadn't yet earned the right to learn about such a powerful individual, so she suppressed her curiosity.
I don't even have the ability to go head-to-head with Senior Quinn. I'm just too weak!
But now, she had received Senior Theresa's preliminary approval, allowing her to leave the ivory tower of the training grounds and head to the front lines to participate in real combat. So...
Learning just a little bit... should be okay, right?
Having suppressed her curiosity for a full seven days, Bianka finally gave in to the temptation right in front of her. She leaned in closer, listening intently.
"I don't know the other stories about Lord Shu, but I know everything about what he did in Sapphire City!" the middle-aged man said excitedly, and immediately began to recount his memories.
"Back then, the Honkai had just broken out. I was at a concert with my wife. In the blink of an eye, everyone turned into terrifying zombies, crawling and lunging, trying to bite us to death. Luckily, my wife had said her stomach hurt, so we weren't inside the venue at the time.
"So we went into the concert hall's basement. There were over a hundred people there, but not much food. Outside, there were those monsters, Honkai Beasts. The leader of our shelter, Director Yun, was worried sick..."
The man paused for a moment. He remembered the person who had led them through a difficult month but hadn't left with them in the end.
He had always held that person in high regard. When the MOTHs first appeared, he thought Director Yun might become an important figure here as well.
But for someone like that to...
Shaking his head to cast off the sad thoughts, the man continued his story for Bianka, though the passion in his voice had clearly diminished.
"Just when we were all about to starve to death, and Director Yun's friend was about to go out and fight to the death for us, Captain Shu and his squad suddenly appeared!
"Do you have any idea how cool he was when he said those words to all of us?!"
The man's enthusiasm flared up again from his own words. He theatrically raised a hand, lowered his voice, and put on a serious expression.
"'I am the acting captain of the First Pioneer Squad of the (Fire) MOTHs, the official anti-Honkai organization. My personal callsign is—Captain. You may also call me by my real name, Shu.' Sigh, no good. I just can't capture the same feeling as Captain Shu..."
He shook his head with regret and continued.
"We were so thrilled back then! We all thought we were going to starve to death in that cold basement. We thought there was no one left in the outside world! We thought we were beyond saving...
"Thank goodness... Captain Shu appeared. The very next day, he took his squad and left the shelter, saying he was going to take care of the Honkai Beast that had been trapping us outside.
"That Honkai Beast was probably a Chariot-class. Anyway, it was easily eliminated. But then, they said another, much stronger Honkai Beast appeared, called an Emperor-class! And it was a mutated one at that!"
Bianka froze.
These past few days, aside from training, the thing she had done most was study everything she could about the Honkai.
So she knew exactly how powerful a mutated Emperor-class Honkai Beast was...