The Map's Hidden Cipher
The bartender poured the liquor with hands that trembled visibly.
He worked as a currency exchanger at the front of the bar, yet handled many other duties. Normally nothing surprised him, but his reaction was still this extreme.
It meant the item’s value was immense. Only then would the effort of keeping it hidden be worthwhile.
“Ethylene gave it to me,” I said. “I’m not sure if he intended it for me from the start.”
“Really? Not some threat or blackmail?”
“I wouldn’t risk my life for something this old and worn-out.”
The map I showed the bartender was the one Ethylene had given me, wrapped with the note in his handwriting.
Even if it wasn’t a pirate’s treasure map, the fear in his eyes suggested the true value was buried somewhere on it.
I had an idea what the treasure might be, but I didn’t need to share that.
The note had nothing to do with the map anyway.
Revealing everything you carry to others is already foolish enough. Showing the note was out of the question.
“Amazing, huh? He was still alive. The map was sold near Flheim National University, where he studied, and the handwriting matches his almost perfectly.”
The bartender studied the map without asking more and kept talking.
People who live in the underworld as brokers and agents are never normal. If they truly enjoy the work, they’re even more so.
He had the instincts of a born adventurer.
“Where is he now? If a genius scientist like Ethylene is working for the Federation or the Corvo Family, it’s dangerous. It might even reach here.”
“No need to worry. Ethylene is already dead.”
“What? No way, you—”
“He was killed by one of the Corvo Family’s executioners. It wasn’t what they wanted.”
I didn’t want to drag the story out.
It was in the past, and I didn’t want to remember it.
“That’s a shame…”
“Even if he were alive, he wouldn’t have worked with people like us. Here, read this.”
The map was the most important thing.
I needed to crack the code hidden inside the old, worn-out map Ethylene had given me.
“He hid his life’s research results here. So the Federation and the Corvo Family couldn’t reach them.”
The bartender read the words on the map.
Descriptions of several locations were marked on the map, along with notes about them.
“Besides that… six locations in total. The university, the library, the embassy, the restaurant, the laundry, the ice cream shop?”
Each point had a short explanation.
“Korchma Taras is the restaurant Professor recommended. It’s cheap and sells delicious soup. I’ve taken my sister there often.”
Each point had a few lines of description.
“Flhevir is the shop that sells the ice cream my sister loves most… Wait. Did he have a family? He was an orphan, right?”
That was all the note said.
It had nothing special about the map. Those were the only hints Ethylene gave me.
The problem was they were too basic.
Just restaurant recommendations and shop names with no connection to any code.
The only thing I learned from all this was that Ethylene’s writing was terrible compared to his genius brain.
“Obviously he didn’t hide the research here. If the map fell into the Federation’s hands, they’d take it easily.”
The bartender tapped his head and stared at the map like it was alive.
“So the code is hidden in the notes? What kind of code is this?”
He spent ten minutes scribbling and searching. When he gave up, he asked me.
“If you solve it, why are you here?”
I had the same problem.
I still didn’t understand what the marks on the map meant.
Something had to be hidden. I’d been staring at it for days and still couldn’t see any code.
“Well, Ethylene won a Nobel Prize at a young age. He probably made the code impossible to solve easily.”
“You’re used to this kind of thing. Anything ring a bell?”
“Hmmm… Even with all the spies we have, we don’t have brains like his.”
That was why I came to this place run by the exchange and Van Helsing.
They operate on a global stage, controlling every kind of underworld deal. Of course they traded coded documents.
“Maybe he wrote something in the descriptions that would react to a special solution poured on the map, or to a mana wave of a certain wavelength…”
“Can you take this one? I’ll give you a copy, of course.”
“Sure. Dr. Ethylene’s research material would be very interesting to us.”
“…I never said I was handing it over.”
The man had been trying to eat for free the whole time.
It was obvious even without using any ability.
If the research was as valuable as I suspected, Van Helsing would want it. Nothing strange about that.
“Hey, what kind of friends are we?”
“Don’t pretend to be close. It’s gross.”
A middle-aged man being overly friendly felt disgusting.
He lived in this kind of place day and night. The alcohol smell clung to his clothes like a drunk uncle’s.
“W-well, I drove a transport for you last time. And you don’t even need that stuff. We’ll give you half again the going rate…”
He had me.
I didn’t know the field well enough to make the deal worth it.
But if it was a huge amount of money, everything changed.
A genius scientist who won two Nobels in his youth. Dr. Ethylene’s research would be priceless.
“Double the price. Two times the market rate. Deal.”
I made a V sign with my fingers.
The bartender blinked twice in disbelief.
“This isn’t some kind of robbery, is it?!”
“You sell everything for three to four times the price anyway. And if you can’t crack the code on the map, it’s useless.”
“Hmmm… I guess you’re right.”
It wasn’t a real hope, but it was the only one I had.
If I couldn’t find the treasure’s location on the map, this was just a faded old piece of paper.
Even if I found the spot, I still wouldn’t know how to reach the treasure.
If it was in the middle of Federation territory, the answer would be nothing.
The map had been prepared for when Ethylene recovered his sister, but that purpose was gone now.
“I’ll tell the information people. If they find anything, I’ll contact you. But don’t expect much. I’m completely out of ideas too.”
“Any small clue is fine. Tell me as soon as you find it.”
I checked the clock. Dawn was coming.
I should head back soon. Lena might wake up.
†††
I left the map with Van Helsing, but after several days I still had nothing special.
“Big sister, are you worried about something?”
“There’s nothing to worry about.”
The day before, I had asked them at Märchen’s Paradise if they could solve the code hidden on the map. They only said they couldn’t accept such a low-value payment.
Was the code actually that simple?
Or was it something even they couldn’t solve?
When I changed my request and asked for the meaning of the map, they demanded the right eye of the Golden Witch as payment.
“It’s just because the pork is too tough to cut.”
I tried using my ability to slice through the meat, but the Golden Witch was a different story.
She could cut my body into pieces with just a gesture. I had no desire to fight her.
Meeting her eye once was already a big mistake. Insisting on a fight was another level of crazy.
“…Big sister, you already sliced it up?”
“Ah, controlling the strength when I hold the knife is difficult.”
If that was all I had, I would still find a way.
Lena’s condition had improved thanks to Ethylene’s medicine, but it would only last a limited time.
Ethylene had survived with medication after becoming an adult. Lena had been ill since she was an infant.
Either way, the outcome wouldn’t change.
I needed Ethylene’s research to treat Lena. Especially if I could create something better than the treatment I already had.
That way I wouldn’t pass on the side effects.
Until now I had waited for a solution because none existed.
But now I had seen a ray of hope.
“I’ll make kimchi stew and come back. Eat well. If you’re short, order delivery. I have to go out for work.”
“Okay. Smells good.”
I took off the apron I didn’t need and prepared to leave again for Märchen’s Paradise.
Recently, Regulus’s movements had been strange. If I caught a good one and handed them over, I might get a small clue.
It wasn’t the awakener himself, and I didn’t even know what to do with his body parts.
“…Big sister.”
“Huh? Is the stew not to your taste?”
As I changed clothes to go out, Lena came into the room.
Maybe the stew I prepared wasn’t good?
It was a familiar dish, so I boldly tried it. Maybe it was a mistake.
“It’s still too hot. Besides, Big sister’s face has a big worry written all over it.”
“You don’t have to worry. If you really want to help, just grow up healthy.”
I brushed her white hair because she was too kind.
I should probably stop worrying about my expression so much.
Lena already worried because she thought I did dangerous things. I couldn’t add more to her burden.
“Big sister, if you have a hard problem, don’t overthink it. Sometimes the answer comes easier when you think simply instead of overcomplicating.”
Lena showed me a book.
“This book said that?”
“Yes. I borrowed it from the library last time.”
The title was “The Journey of Alexander the Great.”
Was it about Gordius’ Knot?
A famous story about how Alexander the Third cut through an incredibly complicated knot with a sword.
In my case, I couldn’t cut the map with a sword, and the code was Ethylene’s own creation.
It was a mess of meaningless scribbles. How could it be complicated?
Wait a second.
-Flheim National University-
-Flheim National Library-
-Flheim United Nations Embassy-
-Korchma Taras-
-Flheim Cleaning-
-Flhevir-
Was this messy scribble really a complicated code?
“…Easily and simply?”
“Yes. Precisely, it’s just a difference in perspective.”
Suddenly something clicked in my head.
Ethylene was undeniably a genius scientist who could not be ignored.
He had gone to enormous lengths just to take her from the Federation or the Corvo Family.
But could the code on the map really be that complicated?
“Easily and simply…”
I remembered the first time I met Ethylene.
He had slammed my head into a bottle, then immediately raised both hands in surrender when he realized I was fine.
“Lena.”
“Hm? Why are you calling me?”
“You are truly the best sister.”
I hugged her tightly.
“H-Huh? Why all of a sudden? I’m embarrassed…”
“If there’s something you want to eat or have, tell me. I’ll buy it for you on my way.”
That must have solved the code.
Maybe I had been taking the hard way all along.