No Closure.
After leaving the captain’s quarters, Sules finally began looking for Aiden.
In truth, there was no need to search—Aiden was still in his own room, the door wide open.
Seeing the door ajar, Sules immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
If he were truly angry, he wouldn’t have left the door open.
The open door was proof that Aiden was willing to hear her explanation.
“Aiden, young master?”
Sules smiled politely as she stepped in quietly.
The moment Aiden heard her voice, he immediately stopped peeking out and turned his back to the door, letting out a heavy grunt.
Sules sat down beside him and remained silent for a moment before saying, “You know I can’t be content living under someone else’s roof.”
Though they hadn’t known each other long, the three of them had covered a wide range of topics during their conversations.
Sules never liked hiding her ambitions, so Aiden should understand what she meant.
Upon hearing this, Aiden quickly turned around, his tone defensive and agitated.
“It’s not like you have to live under someone else forever! Your current situation is dangerous; staying here for a while won’t hurt. Worst case, I’ll beg my father to let you leave after a year.”
Sules felt a mix of helplessness and warmth.
This young master wasn’t perfect in every way, but he was genuinely kind to his friends.
Although she was a merchant, Sules always lived by the principle of empathy—treating others as she wished to be treated.
Since he was so good to her, she didn’t want to brush him off with empty words.
“You see, you’re already saying you’d have to beg for it—doesn’t that mean I’d owe you a favor?”
Sules smiled.
“I don’t like owing favors to anyone.”
“But…”
Aiden was about to speak when Sules cut him off firmly.
“Besides, there’s another important reason. People’s potential is easiest to unlock while they’re young. I don’t want to waste at least an entire year.”
There were two main reasons she had resolved to head to the Western Sea despite the difficulties.
One was that she refused to hand over the secret treasure so easily.
The other was this very reason she just mentioned.
This was knowledge she had only learned on Mercury: for a captain, the younger you are, the greater your development potential.
This was true on Earth as well, but in an environment like Mercury’s, it was even more unforgiving.
According to the analysis from those in the South Sea, a captain’s fastest growth period was before the age of thirty.
In those ten years, a captain’s level was most easily increased.
After that, even if they tried to force it with rare treasures or materials, they likely wouldn’t improve much.
In other words, leveling up before thirty; accumulating experience after thirty.
But the level determined a captain’s ceiling— a level three captain couldn’t command a level four ship.
Therefore, level was crucial for a captain.
This meant captains had to constantly explore new seas while young to level up; waiting until older and more experienced to explore wouldn’t raise their level.
One year wasn’t very long, but it wasn’t short either.
Moreover, it coincided exactly with her second year as captain—the year with the greatest potential for growth.
Sulace simply couldn’t give it up.
If she chose to join the Alvis family, there was a high chance she’d be stuck.
Important adventurers certainly wouldn’t entrust a newcomer like her to undertake a major mission.
And minor adventures rarely contributed much to leveling up a captain.
Because, to some extent, a captain’s level depended on the difficulty of the secret realm they participated in.
The harder and more precious the realm, the faster the captain leveled up.
Technically, the recent ghost ship adventure Sules participated in was enough for an upgrade.
But unfortunately, much of her captain level had been gained through the system, and the experience from those adventures merely made up for the system’s shortcomings.
So she naturally couldn’t level up.
By this point, Aiden had also understood Sules’s meaning.
He was silent for a moment before awkwardly saying, “Then go. I don’t want to see you.”
Though he believed Sules’s journey to the Western Sea would be tough, and that her ambition might even lead to her death there,
He came from a great family and understood the importance of strength and respecting others.
He wouldn’t stop someone from seeking progress just because of his own worries.
Now that he knew Sules’s decision to leave wasn’t impulsive, he truly had nothing more to say.
However, Sules didn’t leave as he told her to—she laughed.
At a moment like this, leaving now, did she even want to keep this friend?
“I’m going to the Western Sea to find a guild. Once the heat dies down, I’ll come back. You don’t need to worry so much.”
“Who? Who’s worried about you!”
Aiden stubbornly retorted like a defiant duck.
“I’m not worried about anyone so heartless.”
Sulace chuckled, “Alright, alright, you’re not worried. Then give me your contact info—I’m afraid that if I go out, I won’t be able to find you when I come back.”
“How could you not find me?”
Aiden mumbled, but honestly handed over a chip.
Placing it in the cockpit would allow communication with Aiden’s main ship.
After the exchange, Sules stood up.
“I won’t chat any longer. I still haven’t found Cardin yet. If he decides to stay, you as the host better take good care of him.”
Aiden snorted coldly and got up to see her off.
“Do I need you to tell me?”
***
After searching the ship, Sules finally found Cardin on the deck.
This guy couldn’t sit still—unable to stand idle, he was actively helping the sailors move cargo.
When he saw Sules, he casually wiped sweat from his brow and smiled brightly.
“Captain, what brings you here?”
Sulace cut straight to the point.
“I’m planning to go to the Western Sea, wanted to ask your thoughts.”
Cardin was momentarily stunned; his smile instinctively faded.
“Already decided so soon?”
Sulace nodded.
“You know I’m a captain. I have to make the most of my youth. The Western Sea is a great place to grow—I can’t miss an opportunity like this.”
“When are you leaving?”
Cardin asked.
“The day after tomorrow. Are you coming with me? If you stay, Aiden will definitely arrange things well for you—you know how he is.”
Cardin scratched his head and laughed.
“I’m coming with you!”
Sules was a little surprised.
“Why? I thought you’d stay. You don’t have the same restrictions as me—I need to take advantage of my youth to level up, but you don’t, so there’s no need for you to go to the Western Sea.”
Cardin replied straightforwardly, “I’m fine going anywhere, but I think you really need me.”
Sules did need Cardin—a cheap captain saved her some wages.
Besides, Cardin’s personality was trustworthy, so she didn’t worry about betrayal, which was a relief.
But…
“Aiden needs you too,” Sules said.
“That guy acts tough, but if both of us leave, he’ll definitely be sad. After all, there’s no one his age around him. He finally made two friends, and they’re both going on adventures he can’t join.”
Cardin always got particularly clever at times like this.
“But you need me more. I’m not afraid of danger.”
He lowered his head and smiled.
“I’m just a little cook—really, they don’t need me anywhere. So naturally, I want to be as useful to my friends as possible.”
Ah, friendship… truly a complicated thing.
Sules looked at Cardin for a long moment, then embraced him without saying more.
Some things didn’t need words—they were just felt.
***
Charles, the Alvis family’s first mate, was incredibly efficient.
The day after learning that Sules would leave the day after tomorrow, he returned with twenty men—all male.
“Among these twenty, there are two gunners, one doctor, ten sailors, two martial artists, and five fishermen—all willing to develop in the Western Continent.
I’ve briefly explained your situation to them. Take a look and see who you want to take with you.”
Sules’s eyes lit up.
She first thanked Charles.
“Thank you so much, Mr. Charles. Without you, I really wouldn’t know what to do.”
Charles shook his head.
“No need for formalities, just pick quickly.”
Before signing a contract, Sules’s system couldn’t check others’ levels, so she only knew the martial artists’ ranks.
Of the two martial artists, one was level four, the other level three.
The level four required a daily wage of twenty copper coins, which matched his strength.
Though expensive, having a strong martial artist aboard increased her sense of security.
In the end, Sules chose the thirty-year-old level four martial artist, Lauren, despite the cost.
For fishermen, she needed two, and Charles offered five options.
Sules didn’t pick randomly but asked Adolf for help.
As a senior fisherman, Adolf’s judgment on fishermen was better than hers.
For sailors, Sules quickly questioned and selected six.
She had her own method of judging ordinary sailors.
After all, what mattered most was diligence.
Other qualities were secondary.
Diligence was easy to spot in the details, and Sules was well versed in this.
Thanks to her previous experiments on the Jean ship, Sules knew she didn’t need highly skilled gunners at present—just ones who could shoot.
One gunner was pricier, the other cheaper, so she naturally chose the cheaper one.
There was only one doctor, so no choice there.
In just ten minutes, Sules had reassembled her crew.
Charles didn’t say much and took the others who weren’t selected away.
Sules led the new members to inspect the ship’s environment and then signed half-year contracts with them.
This had been agreed upon beforehand—after all, they were heading to a new continent, and longer contracts gave everyone more peace of mind.
After signing, Sules quickly reviewed their details.
Among the sailors, the highest levels were two level fours—Konrad and Heiliel.
Both were around thirty years old, the prime age for crew members.
The rest of the sailors were mostly level three, except for one level two—Rem, who was only twenty-seven or twenty-eight, making Sules feel she had misjudged him.
The fishermen Adolf selected were all reliable—two level three fishermen in their mid-twenties.
But when Sules saw the doctor’s stats, she was shocked.
He was a level six doctor in his early forties!
Similar to martial artists, doctors had their own guild called the Medical Association.
Once a doctor committed to this profession, it was as if they automatically joined the guild and were bound by the principles of healing and saving lives.
The Medical Association also ranked doctors by level.