Red Ocean (4)

The Ten Great Clans, the Five Great Clans, the Four Great Clans…

In the past, the major and well-known clans were often grouped together, but that kind of categorization has quietly faded away.

Years of chaos led to countless clans disappearing or merging, and naturally, those old distinctions were lost along the way.

In any case, even amid that turbulent era, there was a clan that rose to prominence and began carving out a name for itself: the Golden Tree Clan.

Just a few years ago, their only real claim to fame was their captain. However, after demonstrating remarkable capability during the war, they absorbed several clans into their ranks, resulting in explosive growth within their organisation.

Raven’s assessment of the clan was as follows:

“The Golden Tree Clan? Well, I heard they were quite active during the war, but in my opinion, it feels like they only picked the easy battlefields. Still, they seem to have built up a solid force… If I had to rank them, they’d probably rank at the bottom of the old Ten Great Clans.”

“What about you, Adnus?”

“They’re a clan surrounded by all kinds of rumors, but there’s no denying their strength. Ah, I’ve also heard they have strong ties with political and business figures. Apparently, they even have some connection to Count Alminus… and with our guild’s Third Branch Manager, they’re practically soulmates.”

“I see…”

According to the guild master, a total of ninety members from the Golden Tree Clan had entered the labyrinth, making them the fourth-largest clan currently inside.

This meant that they had strong backing from both the royal family and the guild.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been allocated that many members.

“But what do you mean by ‘a lot of rumors’?”

“There are occasional whispers of internal issues. They say the members are worked extremely hard… though there haven’t been any insiders openly testifying or exposing anything. Which probably means they keep a very tight lid on things.”

“Worked extremely hard, huh…”

Was that why Mr Bear looked so troubled when he talked about his clan?

“Still, it’s not all bad. In fact, more so than most. The pay is good, and the essences are shared among the members instead of being sold. It seems they focus on nurturing the clan’s growth.”

Hmm, I suppose so…

The Guild Master’s words seemed to be true. The last time I saw Mr. Bear, he had absorbed numerous new Essences and had apparently advanced to Rank 3 as a result.

“Abman… he’ll be okay, right…?”

While Misha shared my concerns, Aynar was simply excited at the thought of meeting Mr Bear on this island.

“Come on, let’s head in already! Running into Urikfried here is a good omen!”

Well, it didn’t exactly feel like a good omen to me, but…

“So, what will you do, Jandel?”

“What do you mean? Of course we’re going in.”

“…Alright. Got it.” Amelia broke in.

As I made my decision, Amelia showed a slightly strange expression. It felt like she had something to say but was holding back.

“Just say it. What is it?”

“Well… if we run into the Golden Ghost, don’t take him too lightly.”

Her words made me tilt my head. She was giving me that warning even though she knew how cautious I was before making any move.

“Do you know something about him?”

I pressed further, but she admitted she had never met him personally. All she could tell me were rumours and snippets about his past, which only deepened my curiosity about this ‘Golden Ghost.’

Just what kind of guy is he?

Well, I’d find out when I met him.

***

Opinions among later generations about the Great Navigator Pikma were sharply divided. Some argued that, contrary to the tales, he hadn’t uncovered the secrets of every island and had merely visited them to complete a map of the Great Ocean.

Well, that’s not entirely wrong. Pikma hadn’t uncovered every hidden secret across all the islands in his lifetime.

But how could anyone do that?

I don’t think that diminishes his legacy at all.

The labyrinth opened only once a month, and its world would collapse after a certain amount of time. With a single, finite lifespan to work with, it was physically impossible to uncover every secret hidden across all the islands. Unless, perhaps, you could run dozens of games at once through a medium like a computer.

Nevertheless, he seemed to know the secret of Skull Island.

Skull Island: Catacoma.

It lies in the far eastern sea, within the Grand Rock region. The Great Navigator Pikma described the island as follows:

“Either easy, or harder than any other island.”

It was a truly accurate assessment. The superficial difficulty of Skull Island is very low, but the story changes 180 degrees once you dig deeper. In fact, it was this very quote he left behind that made the island’s hidden pieces widely known.

Though, it seems no one knows about ‘that’ yet.

Back when I sold information about Skull Island to Ghost Busters, even that woman only knew about the main boss—

“What’s with these weaklings?!”

Aynar suddenly shouted in frustration. . Based on the context, it seemed the monsters appearing on Skull Island were not to her liking.

Understandable

The average monster rank here was only around level 6.

“Uugh…! When exactly is the strong one coming out…?”

“What’s wrong, Aynar? Isn’t it better if it’s easy?”

“Misha! I want an enemy who’s strong enough to feature in my autobiography!”

“Ah… I-I see. I don’t really know much, so you should ask Bjorn.”

“…No.”

“Why?”

“If I ask Bjorn something like that, Emily Raines will scold me.”

“Ah…”

I felt a twinge of pity for Ainar as her mood quickly sank, even as she looked at me with pleading eyes. Still, Amelia had trained her well.

If she ever became a mother, she’d probably raise her children well.

“Jandel.”

“…I wasn’t thinking anything weird.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Ahem… so, why did you call me?” I cleared my throat and asked

“I think we’ve entered the Golden Tree Clan’s territory.”

“Are they nearby?”

“I don’t sense anyone, but there are traces of frequent movement around here.”

Well, that was only natural. We were close to the island’s center.

“Since we’ll be on the same island for a few days, we should probably start by saying hello.”

We continued toward the center without changing direction. And finally, when we arrived at the entrance to the cave at the center of the island,

“…No one’s here.”

The only thing that greeted us was an empty campsite, scattered with signs that people had once been there.

Still, our confusion lasted only for a moment.

“My, my, we’ve run into some very distinguished guests.”

Dozens of presences appeared behind us, and Amelia, our human radar, spoke at the same time.

“…Jandel. We’re surrounded.”

I didn’t need her to tell me.

***

Even though we were surrounded by ninety explorers, I only hesitated for a brief moment.

“I apologize if we startled you, Viscount Jandel.”

A man in his mid-thirties spoke in the same soft tone, and when a blond man emerged from the direction of the voice, Amelia leaned in and quietly said, “That’s dyed hair, by the way. His natural color is black.”

Huh, I figured it’d be something important.

I mean, it does look pretty natural for dyed hair, but whatever.

“I am Bill Ironred, the leader of the Golden Tree Clan. Please, just call me Bill.”

He greeted us with a radiant smile as he introduced himself. Perhaps it was that very smile that helped him blend so effortlessly with the political and financial elite.

Hard to say, but one thing was certain: he wasn’t someone to be taken lightly.

“Nice to meet you, Ironred. I didn’t expect such a grand welcome.”

“Haha, if it startled you, allow me to apologize once more. We truly didn’t expect the Viscount to be here.”

Look at him, such a smooth liar.

“I see.”

I nodded while scanning the ninety figures emerging from hiding. It was clear they had detected us before we noticed them, meaning their detection abilities surpassed ours.

“And they even managed to set up an ambush with this many people…”

Did he really not know it was us?

No, he knew.

Despite that, he had gathered all his members and used his stealth skills to set up an ambush around the campsite for one simple reason.

He was trying to crush us.

In the city, explorers were the kind who spent money freely, drank themselves into laughter, and joked around.

But the moment they stepped into the labyrinth, they became beasts.

They became part of nature, carrying poison within to survive, puffing themselves up to appear as large as possible, and adorning themselves with intimidating displays.

Because if you looked weak, you got torn apart.

“By the way, this is quite a predicament… Is ‘that guy’ your objective as well, Viscount Jandel?”

I wasn’t sure exactly which ‘guy’ he was referring to, but I responded with a question while affirming.

“And if it is?”

I spoke with a slightly aggressive tone, but he merely laughed without showing any discomfort.

“Haha, then it can’t be helped.”

“You’re saying you’ll give up?”

“The situation is unfortunate, but I cannot do that. I, too, have people I’m responsible for.”

“So you’re suggesting we compete.”

“There is no owner to the treasures of the labyrinth. Whoever claims it first becomes its master.”

It felt a bit unsettling, but I couldn’t disagree with what he said. The real problem was with those who couldn’t accept defeat, or who got blinded by greed and rushed in recklessly.

Competition itself wasn’t wrong.

Judging by his behavior, he doesn’t seem like the type to do that, but…

He was being unusually agreeable.

Was it because of my status and reputation?

Probably.

If we were a no-name clan, we would’ve been treated very differently.

“How about we agree on just two conditions for fair competition?”

“Let’s hear it.”

“We won’t interfere with each other. And whoever opens the door to that cave first earns the right to challenge it… what do you think?”

“Fine.”

“Then, since we’re in agreement, there’s no need to discuss further. Let’s both do our best.”

“‘Do our best’ is too casual for you to say to me.”

“…Haha. You’re quite an interesting man, my lord.”

Hmm, I wasn’t joking. I meant that sincerely.

“Well then, since this has turned into a competition, we’ll be heading out first.”

With that, he politely withdrew. Watching him go, Raven let out an irritated snort.

“Hmph. He’s just as unpleasant as I’d heard.”

“What exactly don’t you like about him?”

“He didn’t even mention the possibility of cooperating or sharing the loot. He’s obviously confident that they’ll be the ones to win.”

Well, she wasn’t wrong about that.

“But is that a bad thing?”

“…Huh? Well, no, not really… but when a teammate says something like that, shouldn’t you at least agree? You’re the captain.”

What is she even saying?

At times like this, what a captain should provide isn’t emotional validation.

“Don’t worry. We’ll be the ones to enter the cave first.”

Victory.

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