Chapter 165: The Dark Clan “Golden Snake”
Within the Federal Capital of Herz, there existed a district known as Clan Street.
Along this bustling avenue stood clan houses of every shape and size—some modest, some grand and imposing. Their banners fluttered proudly in the cold air, each displaying the emblem of a different adventuring group. From dawn until well past dusk, the street was alive with movement. Adventurers came and went constantly—some returning from dangerous expeditions with battered armor and triumphant smiles, others heading out with fresh supplies and hopeful expressions.
Today was no different.
The street buzzed with activity, crowded with adventurers laughing loudly, negotiating quests, arguing over rewards, or boasting about their latest exploits.
Amidst this lively avenue stood the headquarters of a mid-sized clan, its building marked by a distinctive crest—a golden serpent coiled proudly upon a banner.
This was the clan house of Clan Gold Snake.
At first glance, it appeared to be nothing remarkable. Its exterior was neat but not extravagant, its members dressed much like any ordinary adventurers one might find in the capital. They chatted casually, accepted quests, and frequented taverns just like everyone else.
Because of this, the people of the capital generally regarded Gold Snake as nothing more than a typical mid-level clan—one among many.
Yet…
There were whispers.
A certain information broker once claimed in hushed tones that Gold Snake was, in truth, a shadow clan, earning the majority of its income from unsavory dealings carried out in the underworld.
Meanwhile, an adventurer from another group once swore that he had witnessed members of Gold Snake hunting beginners—preying upon inexperienced adventurers who had little power to defend themselves.
However…
Both individuals who had spoken such things disappeared not long afterward.
And just like that, the rumors quietly faded away—buried in darkness before they could spread any further.
Around midday on this particular day, the heavy doors of the Gold Snake clan house opened.
Two men emerged.
One wore a deep hood that concealed most of his face, giving him an unmistakably suspicious air. The other man beside him wore several pieces of flashy golden jewelry, their gaudy shine almost painful to look at.
The latter was the Clan Master.
His name was Orochi Python.
“Then I leave it to you, Orochi,” the hooded man said quietly.
“Yes, please entrust everything to me,” Orochi replied with a respectful bow. Then, after a moment’s hesitation, he added, “…Before you go, there is something I wish to ask. How exactly did you learn about our clan?”
His sharp eyes narrowed slightly.
“Gold Snake does not associate with ordinary underworld organizations. The only people aware of our existence are a handful of information brokers… and a small circle of high-ranking nobles who have conducted business with us for years.”
The hooded man chuckled faintly.
“I cannot explain the details,” he said. “But let me simply say this—the Empire’s information network is quite remarkable.”
“Hm… I see.”
Orochi slowly nodded.
Without another word, the hooded man turned on his heel and walked away, quickly vanishing into the dense crowd of Clan Street.
For a moment, Orochi stood there silently.
Then he frowned.
Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, he muttered to himself as he stepped back into the clan house.
(Considering it’s the Empire…)
(Most likely one of our clients turned out to be an overly devoted follower of the Eldorado faith… and that fool passed information about us to the Empire.)
His lips curled slightly in annoyance.
(Perhaps it’s time I conduct a thorough review of our clients. If information keeps leaking like this, it will become quite troublesome.)
Later that day, inside the Clan Master’s private room.
The door burst open.
One of the clan members rushed in, his face pale with panic.
“Orochi-sama! We have a problem!”
“Could you at least knock first?” Orochi sighed, clearly irritated. “…Well, never mind. What is it?”
“It’s about the new recruits who joined recently.”
“Ah, yes… those children.” Orochi leaned back in his chair, recalling them vaguely. “If I remember correctly, I gave them a small assignment to begin with—hunt a few beginner adventurers as practice.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“What about them?”
“Well… I was a little worried about them, so I decided to investigate the situation further.”
“And?”
“It turns out… the beginner clan they targeted apparently includes that man.”
The member swallowed nervously.
“Sakamoto Ryoma.”
“…What?”
For a brief moment—
Orochi’s thoughts completely stopped.
(I heard that Sakamoto Ryoma had arrived here in Herz…)
(But I never learned the name of the clan he joined.)
He slowly leaned forward, his expression darkening.
(From what I’ve heard, that clan is planning to duel the Hero’s Party to determine Ryoma’s future affiliation.)
(And if Sakamoto Ryoma is involved…)
(That means the clan must possess members capable of fighting on equal footing with the Hero.)
His fingers tightened against the desk.
(For those idiots to target such a clan…)
(Just how stupid can those recruits possibly be?)
“Dispatch a subjugation squad immediately,” Orochi ordered coldly.
“Yes, sir. Understood.”
The member hesitated.
“…Which target are we subjugating?”
Orochi looked at him as though the answer were obvious.
“The recruits, of course.”
“…Sir?”
“Send a squad to kill them.”
His voice was utterly devoid of mercy.
“Those useless fools are of no value to Gold Snake. If word spreads that our members attacked Sakamoto Ryoma, it would become a serious problem.”
He folded his hands calmly.
“Silence them before the information leaks.”
“Yes, sir!”
The member snapped to attention.
“Where are they now?” Orochi asked.
“They headed for the B-Rank dungeon, White Storm, this morning.”
“…Of all places.”
Orochi rubbed his temples.
“The most difficult B-Rank dungeon… How troublesome.”
After a moment of thought, the member spoke up.
“In that case, I’ll go personally.”
Orochi waved a hand dismissively.
“I leave it to you.”
“…Haah.”
He let out a long sigh.
On his finger, a golden serpent ring glinted faintly in the light.
Thus, the situation had become rather complicated.
The new recruits of Gold Snake were hunting Ryu’s party…
And now the veteran members of Gold Snake were hunting those recruits.
A truly chaotic chain of pursuers had begun.
◇◇◇
“HAAAAAAH!!!”
With a fierce shout—
Slash.
Stingray unleashed a blinding strike.
Her blade flashed through the freezing air, and in a single devastating motion, she severed the head of a C-Rank Snow Gorilla.
The enormous head tumbled through the air before sinking heavily into the snow, crimson blood staining the pure white ground.
Alice’s eyes widened in astonishment.
“So… this is Mantling.”
“Pretty amazing, right?” someone said beside her. “That’s a special technique only a handful of A-Rank adventurers can use.”
“Stingray-san is incredible…!”
(Her official rank might only be C…)
(But her real strength is far, far beyond that.)
“Of course she is,” another voice added proudly. “Our battalion commander is amazing.”
Alice had sparred with Stingray before.
There had even been one occasion where she managed to score a point against him.
But now she understood.
(Back then… she was still holding back.)
(She was hiding a technique like that…)
At that moment, for some reason, Esther suddenly became extremely interested in the Snow Gorilla’s corpse.
“Stingray! Before the body freezes solid—quickly remove its testicles!”
“Y-Yes, ma’am!”
Stingray had spent many years as an adventurer.
Monster dismantling and harvesting materials were second nature to her.
Without hesitation, she crouched beside the corpse, expertly extracting the requested item.
Holding it up awkwardly, she asked,
“Um… what exactly is this used for?”
Esther answered immediately, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“That should be obvious. It’s an ingredient for a night potion. The testes of primate-type monsters make excellent materials. Snow Gorillas in particular are quite valuable.”
“…A night potion?”
(A night potion…?)
(What kind of potion would make Esther-sama this eager…?)
(It can’t be a healing potion—we already have elixirs…)
Then—
“…Ah.”
Realization dawned.
Stingray’s face slowly turned bright red.
Moments later, it felt as though her brain had exploded.
Esther grinned knowingly.
“So you’ve figured it out. Generally speaking, women do not have a strict limit to their stamina… but men certainly do.”
She shrugged.
“That’s what it’s for.”
“Ah… I see…”
Flustered, Stingray slowly turned her head toward Ryu.
“…What?” Ryu asked flatly.
“N-Nothing.”
The harvested testicles were stored inside Esther’s item bag, while the rest of the corpse—still intact—was placed inside Stingray’s item bag.
They resumed their journey.
Strangely enough, despite the freezing environment of the snowfield, Stingray alone felt unusually warm.
They passed through the Blizzard Zone, carefully crossed a frozen river, and pushed through a dense conifer forest where visibility was poor.
Beyond the forest lay the foothills of a towering snowy mountain—the habitat of the fearsome Snow Great Bears.
By the time they arrived, the storm clouds above had begun to glow with the colors of sunset.
The sky was painted a brilliant crimson-purple, casting a magical light over the frozen landscape.
“Alright,” Ryu said cheerfully. “Since we’re already here, let’s build a kamakura and sleep inside it tonight.”
“Yes, yes! Ryu-sensei!”
Alice immediately raised her hand enthusiastically.
“What is it, Alice?”
“Well… since this is a special occasion, I think we should build two kamakura shelters.”
“Oh?”
“One for the Arden group, and one for the rest of us.”
“Good idea. Approved.”
“Ehehehe…”
Alice’s face broke into a shameless grin.
Everyone smiled warmly at her.
…Everyone except Ryoma.
“This is too sudden… far too sudden!” Ryoma groaned, clutching his head. “The developments are moving much too quickly!”
He had only met Alice ten days ago.
And now he was expected to sleep beside her?
Any normal man would be overwhelmed.
Seeing his distress, Ryu casually placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Sakamoto Ryoma… or should I say Ryoma Blanc.”
“Guh… I am forever dancing in the palm of your hand, Ryu.”
“Hey, this time I had nothing to do with it,” Ryu protested. “I only invited you because you looked bored. I wasn’t even planning to bring Alice.”
“So it was an inevitable coincidence…”
“Exactly. I had no idea Alice was such a hardcore Ryoma fan.”
Both men turned to look at Alice—
who was happily building a kamakura while drooling slightly.
“Honestly,” Ryu smirked, “you’re pretending to be exhausted, but you’re actually enjoying this a lot, aren’t you, Gran Federation?”
“…You saw right through me,” Ryoma admitted sheepishly.
In truth—
This perverted samurai was the one enjoying the situation the most.
Just then—
“Onii-sama! Let’s build one too!”
“Sure thing,” Ryu replied. “Alright, Ryoma, you handle your side.”
“If that’s the case, I shall enjoy this to the fullest!”
“Tomorrow we defeat the Snow King Bear and exit the dungeon before sunset. Understood?”
“Understood!”
Despite being targeted by beginner hunters and facing an upcoming duel with the Hero, Ryu’s party remained astonishingly carefree.
◇◇◇
Meanwhile—
The four new recruits of Gold Snake were having a very different experience.
They had not even reached the blizzard zone yet.
In fact, they had already stumbled at the very first area—the Snow Snake Zone.
“Damn it! Do we still have antidotes left?!”
“Here! This is the last bottle! Drink it carefully!”
“I know!”
“How the hell did those Dragon Road guys get past this place…?!”
In truth, when entering the dungeon earlier, the Gold Snake recruits had lined up only a few groups behind Ryu’s party.
But by the time they stepped inside—
Their targets were already far ahead.
“If we fail… Orochi-sama will lose faith in us… He’ll abandon us.”
“Being abandoned would be the best case scenario,” another muttered grimly. “We know too many guild secrets. If things go badly…”
The four men shuddered.
But despite their fear—
They refused to give up.
And so they continued forward, desperately chasing the distant figures far ahead of them.