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June 5, 1799.
Jin, dressed in a brown robe, disguised as an ordinary traveler, walked along a forest path in the southern border region of the Kingdom of Zhan.
'I think I've memorized this route as well.'
Even though summer had begun, the forest path remained pleasantly cool. The thought of meeting cute and simple friends after a long time put Jin in a cheerful mood.
As Jin leisurely strolled, he suddenly stopped and smiled mischievously.
Once again, the scent of grilled fish filled the air. The aroma of freshly cooked fish wafting from the forest in the southern part of Zhan Kingdom meant that the nearby Watertail Tribe was preparing their meal.
Thump, thump.
The sounds of the Watertails' excited chatter grew closer. Just as always, they were dancing and celebrating around the freshly grilled fish, completely unaware of Jin's approach.
There were three Watertails, and Jin recognized all of their faces.
"Darkflame."
"Huh? This, voice, is..."
The dancing Watertails abruptly turned to face Jin.
"So, you're the Bignose and Bigeyes."
"Jin, Runcandel. Ah, always. Find us. How?"
"Well, I've received your help quite often. This time, I also have a gift. It's not like I'm a fugitive in need this time."
When Jin took out a premium dried eel from his bag, the eyes of the three Watertails sparkled.
"This is eel. Dried. A precious fish."
"Is it for us? Really?"
"Are you serious?"
The Watertails salivated.
"Not just serious, but really. Didn't those stingy Golden Snow never share any money? It's a high-quality dish, and with your wealth, you can eat it three times a day without any problems."
The Watertails were too busy devouring the dried eel to even respond. Jin extended the eel towards them, and they eagerly pounced on it, devouring it hungrily.
Chomp, chomp, yum!
Jin patiently waited for them to finish their meal, and realized that he needed to speak with Golden Snow tribesmen when he met them.
"Oh, sorry, I ate too much. It's delicious."
The Watertails, their mouths full, nodded enthusiastically.
"It's okay."
"Going, to the cave?"
"Yeah."
Following the Watertails, Jin headed towards their secret cave.
'Every time I come here, I realize that this cave is truly like a maze.'
No matter how good someone's memory was, it was easy to get confused within the structure.
The entrance to the area where the Golden Snow tribe and Watertail tribe lived could not be found without a guide, and the abode of the Felinoids tribe was completely inaccessible. There was not a single guide in the world who knew their locations.
If someone were to look for the Felinoids tribe in this cave, they can only find them by destroying the entire cave.
Even then, they wouldn't be able to meet the Felinoids tribe. The destroyers would only be able to glimpse traces of their presence. The Felinoids tribe would retreat deeper into the cave.
As they reached the space occupied by the Watertail tribe and the Golden snow tribe, a faint yellow glow emanated from within.
"Oh, you've arrived! Our strong and mighty partner!"
"Do you know how many letters we receive at each of our branches addressed to you? It's so strange how humans, regardless of age or gender, write love letters and send them. It's hard to understand, even when we know."
"But still, they are all lovely customers, aren't they? You should expect great things, Jin Runcandel. Since we started advertising with your face, our sales have literally exploded. Noble customers are lining up, willing to pay ten times the value for the premium cosmetics, even though production is delayed!"
Upon seeing Jin, Soony, Dori, and Song poured out their words with a delighted expression.
"...What is all this? Gold? Are you kidding me? Did you decorate the entire cave with gold?"
The interior of the cave where the Golden Snow tribe members were sitting was completely adorned with gold. The faint yellow glow that Jin had been sensed from afar now had a clear source.
"Well then! We tried gold plating for once. How does it look? Impressive, isn't it?"
Peng, who was perched on gold coins, smiled at Jin, his front teeth glinting in the light emanating from the gold.
Swoosh!
Peng descended and extended a hand towards Jin.
"Thanks to the promotion we did using you, our Golden Peng business is soaring, Jin Runcandel. I should provide you with a business report. We have some matters to discuss."
"Discuss?"
"Our researchers recently developed an incredible cosmetic product. But the ingredients are quite unique, making the supply difficult."
"How unique are the ingredients?"
"There are flowers that only grow in the Hidden Palace's Forest. Their whitening effect is tremendous, so it had to be done. So, we thought about establishing trade relations with the Hidden Palace, but... I heard rumors that you, um... became the Hideen palace's son-in-law?"
"Where did you hear such rumors?"
"We encounter quite a few humans in our business. Is that story true?"
"It's just baseless rumors."
"Hmm, but smoke wouldn't rise from the chimney for no reason. Is it possible to establish a line of communication with the Hidden Palace?"
The word "line" made Jin remember about Lucas's hotline, and he let out a wry laugh.
"I can't guarantee that. I'm still a human with some sense of shame."
"Sense of shame?"
"I owe a lot to the Hidden Palace, so what's the point of owing them even more? For now, write a report about the business and send it to Tikan."
"I do not know why they are calling you Runcandel's flagbearer. You seem to enjoy reports."
"But, Peng, you have money piled up with golden nuggets inside the cave, yet you don't even buy dried eels for the Watertails?"
"Why are you suddenly saying that?"
"When I gave them dried eels as a gift, they devoured it like they hadn't eaten for days. I hope you didn't withhold the money from selling Bradamante and didn't share it with the Watertails."
When Jin asked in a low voice, the Golden snow tribe members shook their heads vigorously.
"No, we shared. Definitely."
"But why are those guys still living in poverty?"
"Do you know? We gave them money, but they didn't know how to use it. They roughly piled it up in one corner of the cave, so I got frustrated and entrusted it to the bank myself. I even told them that they could buy plenty of dried eels every day. Yet, they seem to be perfectly happy now. What can I do?"
Jin turned to look at the Watertails.
"...And this is all just gilding. It's not real gold nuggets we placed. This is the time for aggressive investments, and there's no room for unnecessary wastage of money. Do you think we would dare to swindle those pitiful guys? We have some compassion."
"There seems to have been a misunderstanding. I apologize."
"No need to apologize. You're the one who brought us to this position. Well, at a glance, we might look like materialistic beings. No, it's true that we are materialistic. But our calculations are more precise than anyone else's."
Peng looked at the Watertails with a proud gaze as he spoke.
"Anyway, what brings you here today? Without any prior notice. It doesn't seem to be related to business problems based on the atmosphere."
"I came to meet the felinoids tribe."
Upon Jin's response, not only the upper echelons of the Golden Peng but also the small beastmen in the cave pricked up their ears.
"Suddenly the felinoids tribe? Do you have to meet them?"
"Yes."
"Well, this is going to be difficult. The felinoids tribe deemed you as the person who would protect small beastmen, but aside from that... They're not the type you can meet just because you want to."
"Right. You would need incredible luck to come across them... Ah, there's no need to say something painful."
Song pointed his finger behind Jin.
"Oh! What, wha-what?"
"Ha! It's interesting. This reminds me of a similar situation we had before."
"Yeah, it was just like this when Jin Runcandel was a wanted fugitive and being chased."
A mysterious race with purple eyes shining amidst their snow-white fur.
The felinoids tribesmen had silently moved about twenty steps away from Jin and the small beastmen, observing them.
"...It seems like you're truly special after all. Could it be that you made some kind of promise?"
Peng alternated his gaze between Jin and the felinoids tribesmen.
In truth, Jin was also inwardly surprised by the appearance of the felinoids tribesmen.
-But, Olmango.
-Yes?
-Do you happen to know who possesses the key to the third tomb?
The conversation Jin had with Olmango while leaving the second tomb.
At that time, Olmango had answered that the felinoids tribe held the key to the third tomb.
'When I asked what to do if the felinoids tribe didn't meet me, he said he didn't know either... Is it really that easy?'
As Jin cautiously approached the felinoids tribesmen, a sudden worry crossed his mind that they might disappear in front of him, just like when he had fled to Laprarosa during his time as a reserve flagbearer.
But soon, Jin could see the felinoids tribesmen making a gesture as if inviting him to follow.
"Hurry! Felinoids can be quite capricious. If you hesitate even for a moment, they might just vanish."
Carefully approaching the felinoids tribesmen, Jin maintained a certain distance between them.
Just before the felinoids tribesmen turned around to walk away, Jin was certain that it was the same person he had seen before. Furthermore, he had a strangely dark expression on its face.
'What could be happening? It feels completely different from the last time I saw them.'
The felinoids tribesmen walked while keeping a certain distance from Jin.
Just following them made Jin's mind hazy. It was impossible to know if it was some kind of device or a spell they had cast. It felt as if he were wandering through a dream, gradually losing touch with reality. However, it didn't feel unpleasant or dangerous.
Amidst this seemingly endless walk, suddenly the view expanded, revealing a beach filled with violet stars.
'A beach!? And the starlight is purple.'
The nearest sea from the southern border of the Zhan Kingdom was located at a distance that couldn't be traversed on foot in a short time.
'I only walked for about five minutes. It felt similar to when I first traveled through the snow garden on the back of the Snow toad, Mort.'
Looking around, Jin spotted the Felinoids who were drawing something on the sandy beach from a distance.
[My name is Neru. The thousand-year contractor, Jin Runcandel. We've met once before, haven't we?]
"Yes, thank you for helping me back then. It's only now that I'm properly greeting you."
[This is our own space connected to the caves. You're the first human to enter here.]
"Thank you for inviting me."
[You won't be able to see this beautiful scenery with your eyes again, so make sure to take a good look. It will take some time until we open the Tomb of Temar.]
Jin naturally understood that it was because the felinoids tribe would not invite him to this space again.
But in the next moment, Neru added something else.
[Soon, your enemies will come here to destroy this place and massacre the small beastmen.]