Back to Volcamie Islands

One unfortunate pirate was caught by the cannonball, his entire body exploding as the cannonball ripped through his body like it wasn't even there.

The small boat was soon reduced to pieces, slowly sinking as the pirates around it continued to float around in despair.

Minos ignored them, instead pulling the ship's large sails down, allowing the wind to propel the boat back down his original path.

…

While the ship was traveling back towards Volcamie Island, Minos began a quick inspection, checking to see what exactly was on the boat.

Most of the rooms were empty, so Minos decided to head towards the captain's quarters since it was the place most likely to have anything worthwhile.

Arriving in the captain's quarters, Minos inspected the area quickly, soon noticing a suspicious portrait that hung off the wall.

Pulling the portrait down, Minos lightly tapped the wooden boards behind it. It didn't take many taps to find out a certain area that was hollow

Pulling out his dagger, he took down the wooden board, finding a small treasure chest behind it. The wooden treasure chest wasn't very big, only about the size of a head.

Minos put the wooden chest on the captain's bed. Using his tremendous strength, he ripped the rusty lock off, opening the chest and revealing the treasures underneath.

The chest was filled with golden coins, each coin had a large A with a crown surrounding it printed on. This was the seal of the Aleph Empire, indicating that these were Aleph Coins.

As the most powerful empire on the continent, it went without saying the value of its currency. Unlike the smaller kingdoms on the continent that also printed their own currency, Aleph Coins could be used anywhere, and were oftentimes worth more than the countries native currency,

1 gold coin was worth about 10 silver coins, which meant 50 gold coins was worth about a Nux Crystal. With a quick glance, Minos estimated there were about a thousand gold coins in the chest, alongside some other jewels and gems that were more valuable.

All in all, Minos guessed the chests value at about 30 to 50 Nux Crystals, which naturally was nothing to him, but to most people, this was a tremendous fortune.

While it wasn't quite the payoff Minos was expecting, it was better than nothing. Tucking the small wooden chest into his spatial ring, Minos headed back onto the deck.

The rest of the journey was fortunately uneventful, and Minos made it back to Volcamie Island with no problems. As per usual, he docked his large boat onto the port, but this time he ported in Tropical Tree City rather than Volcamie Ports.

Since his ship was larger and the area was considered more high-class, Minos had to pay much more than the first time, but he didn't haggle.

Jumping off the large boat, Minos headed into the city. The first thing he did was check in to make sure the Devim family was doing well.

Fortunately it seemed the Yulk family had mostly left them alone, but Minos decided to do one more thing before he left the island permanently.

First he dropped off the small treasure chest in front of the mansion, leaving a note tucked inside it. He knocked heavily on the mansion's door before vanishing, the old butler came out, looking around in confusion as he attempted to find who was knocking.

After failing to find anyone, he finally noticed the small treasure chest on the floor. He couldn't help but scratch his balding head as he picked up the treasure chest and headed back inside.

Minos watched the entire thing from a hidden corner. Only after he made sure the old butler got the treasure, did he leave.

After finishing that, Minos proceeded to aim towards the Yulk family. He soon found the large estate, and knocked heavily onto the gates a few times, causing a large man to walk towards Minos menacingly.

"Boy, what do you want?" He said with a loud voice.

"I'd like to speak to your master." Minos responded.

"My master?" The man couldn't help but laugh as he heard Minos's request, it was only after he finally caught his breath did he manage to finish what he was trying to say.

"Do you think my master has time to waste on a little boy like you? Kid, go away before you make me angry."

Minos didn't say anything, instead pulling out a talisman and activating it towards the sky. The man watched on as a thick lightning bolt burst into the sky, causing the area to flash for a moment.

It was only after the man regained his vision from the flashing light of the lightning bolt did he realize what Minos just did.

The man was naturally not ignorant, almost immediately realizing Minos had used a Lightning Bolt Talisman, which was a Three-Moon Talisman.

Even to the Yulk family, Three-Moon talisman were considered treasures, yet Minos had used one just to prove a point. The man couldn't help but slightly sweat at the brow as he realized he may have just offended the wrong person.

Fortunately for the man, Minos wasn't the type to hold a grudge, instead he ignored the despair on the man's face before asking the same question.

"I'd like to speak to your master."

"Uhhh, y-yes, right away!" The man said respectfully as he quickly ran into the mansion to avoid angering Minos any further.

It didn't take much time for the guard to come back out with an old butler by his side. The butler came up to Minos and bowed politely before speaking.

"My master is waiting for you. Please, follow me."

Minos nodded and began following the old butler into the estate. Making it past the large metal gate, one would be greeted by a long path that headed up towards the mansion.

The two quickly reached the door before entering inside the grand mansion. Unlike the Devim family whose home was mostly empty, the Yulk's mansion was drenched in a thick coat of luxury.

A large silver chandelier hung off the ceiling, with couches made of expensive leather sitting underneath. The floor was made of ceramic, which was an unaffordable material to most commoners, who would instead opt for basic wooden floors.

The old butler soon guided Minos towards a grand staircase. Walking up, the two soon reached the second floor, and under the old butler's lead, they came to a door at the end of the hall.

"Go ahead young master." The old butler said as he opened the door for Minos, clearly having no intention to go in himself.

Minos thanked the old butler before entering the large study. The first thing he noticed was naturally the middle-aged man who was sitting behind a desk, fully invested in his work.

He seemed to not even notice Minos, instead continuing to focus completely on his documents. Minos didn't care, and instead sat down patiently in the seat across the desk.

An hour soon passed, and the thick sheet of paper on the middle-aged man's desk was finally cleared. He put his quill away into a quill holder before leaning back comfortably in his chair, finally speaking.

"So young man, what do you need?"

This time however, it was Minos who didn't speak, instead he sat back in his chair with his eyes shut, as if he was sleeping.

"Young man, I'm not in the mood to play these games." The man said, slightly irritated.

Still, Minos didn't say anything, and even began snoring lightly. The veins on the man's face started to bulge, clearly not a fan of such treatment.

"Boy, you are here to talk to me, not vice versa. If you want to speak, speak now or leave." He said, losing patience rapidly, but still, Minos snored away peacefully.

"You little bastard, I'm not playing anymore!" The man finally couldn't hold back his anger anymore, and shouted out directly towards Minos's face.

Finally, Minos woke up, rubbing his eyes as he let out a loud yawn. He stretched slightly, getting comfortable again, before speaking.

"Seems your patience isn't as good as mine." Minos said with a slight smile.

"Boy, you're testing the wrong person." The man said with annoyance.

"Testing? It's no test, but rest assured, if it were one, you'd fail." Minos said with a slight laugh.

"Test or not, the ultimate answer will always be strength." The man said, as he slammed his fist onto the desk, leaving behind a small crater.

"Don't like dealing with things diplomatically, huh?" Minos smiled, before unleashing a similar attack on the desk, leaving behind a crater the exact same size.

The man couldn't help but sit back with slight consternation as he saw this. He was used to beating his opponents with strength, so seeing Minos use that same power, made things a little awkward for him.

"Strength may be the ultimate answer, but it's never the truth, only a pathetic attempt to avoid it. But I'm not here to talk philosophy, rather I want to talk about the Devim family." Minos spoke up, breaking the awkward silence.

"Devim family, who are they?" The man said with slight confusion, clearly not concerned about such a small family.

"You may not remember the Devim family but I'm sure you remember the fight your son got in a few days ago." Minos said.

"How do you know about that?"

"I know because the Devim family told me, and similarly I'm here because I'd like you to stop assaulting them." Minos spoke, finally revealing his true intentions.

"To be honest, I wasn't even aware of such a thing, but even if I was, why should I stop?" The man said with a grim smile, enjoying the satisfaction of finally putting Minos in his place.