Maple Leaf Gold Coins

When Xia Yu saw the quest information, she had only meant to give it a half-hearted try. Now she was determined to find the treasure, no matter what. Complete a quest in this world, and she'd have enough Primogems saved up for another ten-pull — which meant another chance to draw characters.

She studied the note closely. Scattered across it were several irregular shapes — a crescent moon, a triangle, and more — along with three letters: ORO.

As for exactly how the cipher worked, Xia Yu couldn't remember for the life of her. The only thing that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had stuck with her was that it somehow involved the neon lights at night.

Seeing Xia Yu stare at the treasure map for a while, Genta grew impatient. "Xiayu-neechan, well? Are you getting anywhere?"

"Hmm... whoever set this puzzle for you kids is pretty sharp, huh? I've got nothing so far." Xia Yu played the part of an adult who assumed this was just a game some grown-up had cooked up for the children — then tossed them a hint. "But I do know what these letters mean."

At her words, Conan couldn't sit still. His head was already swimming with ciphers and riddles, and he pressed her eagerly. "What is it?"

"It's Italian for 'gold.'" Xia Yu had no intention of dangling the answer out of reach — she gave it up outright and smiled encouragingly. "Looks like the treasure you're hunting is actual gold, then. I'll be waiting for Genta to find it and treat me to dinner."

The very picture of an adult who didn't believe for a second that any real treasure existed but still wanted to cheer the little ones on — Xia Yu almost admired her own acting chops just then.

Conan would have looked up the word in a dictionary at the library later and figured it out anyway, so telling them a bit early didn't really change much.

"Gold?!" Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko erupted with excitement, and even Conan looked startled.

He took the map from Xia Yu's hand and studied the cipher closely, unable to shake the suspicion — could this treasure map actually be real?

No way. You pick up a random cipher off the street and it's a genuine treasure map? Yeah, right.

Seeing the kids absorbed in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠map, Xia Yu prepared to slip away ahead of them. "Well, have fun playing — ahem, treasure hunting. This big sis still has a cat to find, so I'm off."

Conan caught her slip of the tongue. What was that, huh? So she doesn't believe there's really gold either — she just thinks we're playing around.

Hearing that Xia Yu still had errands to run, Ayumi and the others politely decided not to hold her up and each said their goodbyes. "Okay! Bye-bye, Xiayu-neechan!"

"See you around." Xia Yu turned and left.

Once the kids were out of sight, Paimon piped up. "Traveler, do you know how to decode the cipher on that treasure map?"

'Nope.' Xia Yu answered with utter confidence.

The truth was, puzzle-solving had never been her strong suit. Back when she played Genshin Impact, she'd cleared almost every Inazuma map puzzle by following walkthrough guides. And the Detective Conan manga had been running for who knew how many years — there was no way she'd remember how an early-arc cipher like this one worked. Remembering that it involved neon lights at all already counted as a good memory.

But it didn't matter that she'd forgotten — because someone else was bound to remember. And even if he didn't remember, he could certainly crack the cipher on that note anyway. Xia Yu had complete faith in him.

She messaged Lisa first, asking her to help track down the cat in the meantime, and got her usual rounds of teasing for her trouble.

So this is what my own consciousness was like in a past life? Xia Yu had a sneaking feeling that Lisa genuinely delighted in teasing her. Perhaps it was best to keep her contact with Lisa to a minimum from now on.

Next, Xia Yu scrounged up some paper and a pen nearby and sketched out the cipher. Even though she'd only glanced at it briefly, her memory these days was far sharper than it used to be — a single sweep of her eyes was enough to memorize things. Probably one of the perks that came bundled with this Traveler's body.

Once she finished the sketch, she had Paimon snap a photo through the system and send it to Alhaitham, along with a rough explanation of the situation.

Yes — the person Xia Yu had been talking about was Alhaitham.

Alhaitham was busy when the message came in, and he didn't put down his work to read it.

He sifted through the memories in his mind — as part of Xia Yu's consciousness, every memory she possessed was his as well, however incomplete. Cross-referencing those fragments against the cipher, he was able to roughly deduce where the treasure lay. After sending the answer back to Xia Yu, Alhaitham simply returned to his experiment. From the outside, no one would ever guess he'd let his mind wander for a moment.

The reply from Alhaitham arrived less than ten minutes after Xia Yu had sent the sketch. She glanced up at the sky — the sun hadn't fully set yet, so there was plenty of time to spare.

Since she already knew roughly where the answer pointed, she didn't need to follow the clues step by step the way Conan and the others would. She was going straight to the finish line.

First, she needed a building with the characters "Demon Cherry" standing out on its roof. Once inside, she would look out the window and find a wave shape that, joined with its reflection on the water's surface, formed a "fish" — the street lamp at the water's edge serving as the fish's eye. And "ORO" would be hanging from the ceiling directly above the spot with the best view of it all.

Sure enough, the moment Xia Yu ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠reached the right spot and looked up, she spotted several bags of suspended gold coins — and one lonely coin that had slipped free and fallen to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠floor.

Using the surrounding walls for leverage, she leapt up onto the crossbeam overhead, where the hoard of coins sprawled out before her in plain view.

Paimon was beside herself with excitement. "Whoa! Traveler, we really found the gold coins! Look how many — think of all the yummy food that could buy!"

'Paimon, all you ever think about is food. You can't even eat right now. This is our organization's startup capital, you know.'

"Come on, can't a girl just dream about it?"

Gazing at the coins inside the bags, Xia Yu asked, 'Paimon, can the system scoop these coins straight into my inventory?' If items drawn from the system's gacha could be stored in the system inventory, then maybe things from the outside world could too.

"Hmm, no idea — but we can give it a try!" Paimon wasn't sure either, but it was worth a shot.

Before long, the coins inside the bags abruptly vanished. Xia Yu's heart stirred, and she opened her system inventory — and there it was: a slot displaying the Maple Leaf Gold Coins, fifteen thousand strong.

"Traveler, it actually worked! The stuff went right into your inventory!" Paimon said, a little breathless with excitement.

'Mm-hm.' Xia Yu acknowledged her with a soft hum.

And just like that, the Maple Leaf Gold Coins — worth some six hundred million yen — were hers.

She checked her world quest, and sure enough, it now showed as complete. The Primogems for her next ten-pull were officially in the bag.

Still, she had no intention of grabbing the goods and walking away. Instead, she rearranged the scene — tucking a few other things into the now-empty bags where the coins had been — and scrubbed away any trace of herself before slipping out.

Next came meeting up with Lisa, returning the cat she'd found to its owner, and finishing the daily commission. After that, all that was left was to go home, wash her hands, and get ready to pull.