The Archipelago's Hidden Treasure (3)

"The Second Queen... asked for me."

When Karia finished her explanation, Heishan lowered her eyes and fidgeted with her fingers.

Unlike Karia, I couldn't read a person's emotions to save my life, but I could still make a decent guess at what she was feeling right now. After all, if you played through her side story in the game, you got to hear her speak her heart.

Longing for an old friend. Regret over a parting that couldn't be helped. The bitter resignation of knowing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that no wall in reality could ever be climbed.

Now that she'd heard the Second Queen's story — something that never existed in the game's script — a few more emotions had surely been layered on top. But the broad strokes wouldn't change.

"So? What are you going to do? If you want to meet her, I can arrange it."

"...Do I actually have a choice?"

"Think you do? You're an Academy graduate, so you should know better."

When Karia flashed a bright, guileless smile, Heishan's shoulders slumped.

"What? Too awkward to see her?"

"Things didn't end well between us. I'm not sure what I'd even say if we met again."

She chewed on her lip with a peculiar expression, as if picturing the reunion ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in her head.

"C-could you give me a moment to prepare myself?"

'Nope.'

"You're not seriously asking because you think I'll say yes, are you? I'd hope an Academy graduate isn't so socially illiterate."

Under normal circumstances I might have cut her some slack, but right now that wasn't an option. Because I needed to smuggle her out of here before Rasha arrived.

After Rasha had fed me that pack of favors just to pull a fast one on me, I'd racked my brain over how to pay her back in kind.

Look, I wanted to make Rasha miserable, but openly antagonizing her would leave me in an awkward position on several fronts. Whatever half-mad lunatic she might be, her raw power was far beyond what the current me could handle.

So I decided to do to her exactly what she'd done to me — sabotage her under the guise of pure goodwill.

The powerhouse Rasha is hunting? Never heard of her. I merely granted a humble request from Her Majesty the Second Queen of Soladin. If Rasha ends up making the trip for nothing, that has nothing whatsoever to do with me.

"Th-then should I move right away?"

When Heishan ventured the question carefully, Karia slid a sidelong glance at my face.

Hmm. Honestly, there was no need to rush. According to Karia and Cuz Newman, Rasha couldn't use teleportation circles.

She'd pulled so many destructive stunts in her hunt for strong opponents that the people who maintained the circles flatly refused to transport her.

Think about it. When Rasha wrecks a place to achieve her goals, who ends up footing the bill?

Not Rasha herself. She's a powerhouse at the level Benedict would acknowledge. Anyone who went after her with ordinary strength would simply die like a dog.

There had been fools who charged at her vowing to punish her for her crimes, but all they accomplished was donating their lives to the ground and establishing a new rule. Not one of them brought Rasha down.

Humans are creatures that learn from failure, so after witnessing such miserable sacrifices, people stopped attacking Rasha directly and started holding those who had helped her accountable instead.

The accused protested their innocence, but their opinions counted for nothing. All that mattered was that someone, anyone, had to answer for the damage Rasha left behind.

This played out so many times wherever Rasha passed that people naturally began refusing any ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cooperation with her.

A person of a more vicious temperament would have simply threatened others into compliance. Rasha didn't. She was a maniac who had devoted her entire existence to hunting the strong — not a slaughterer.

Once she realized cooperation wasn't coming, Rasha just handled everything with her own two hands and two feet. This time was no different. Having left the Tersha Empire, she was making her way to the Archipelago on foot.

Her body itself was so absurdly monstrous that she traveled faster than a carriage — but measured against miracles like a teleportation circle, it fell hopelessly short.

Karia had said it would take her at least two weeks to arrive.

'I'll give you about a week's grace.'

"Your dumb face is so entertaining that I'll generously grant you a week. Even the most moronic scrub should be able to wrap everything up by then, right?"

I said it planning to take her along once the Archipelago's dungeon run was over, and Heishan gave a noncommittal smile.

"C-could you perhaps show a little more mercy?"

'You want to leave right now?'

"So the dumb scrub adventurer wants to leave this instant, does she? Well, I'm a kind soul, so I suppose I can accommodate that much."

"My apologies. I overstepped."

But that smile of hers died the instant it met my ferocious grin. What could she do? She was an adventurer with no backing to speak of, and I was the one and only daughter of House Aln.

Unless she was that man — the object of Luka's jealousy — or a powerhouse on Rasha's level, escaping my tyranny was simply impossible.

"It doesn't seem like you're stalling just because the Second Queen is awkward, though. What are you actually doing here?"

As Heishan hesitated, lips working, Karia read her mind and cut in from the side.

Heishan tried to deny it at first, but every ounce of resistance was meaningless before Karia. What good was lying to a beastkin who could read emotions from a single twitch of your hand?

"W-well. You see, while exploring dungeons in other regions, I learned that something was hidden here in the Archipelago."

"Something's hidden here?"

"Yes. It's..."

While Karia focused intently on Heishan's story, I rested my chin in my hand and let the words wash over me.

I already knew what Heishan had come looking for. I knew how to find it, and I knew exactly what would happen once she did.

So instead of listening, I let my thoughts drift elsewhere.

By now Joy must have delivered the bunny ears to Arthur, right? I bet he trembled like a leaf and put them on anyway. He's secretly stubborn about things like that.

Joy must have been biting back laughter watching him. And Frey... yeah, no idea there. She's impossible to read. Shame. If I didn't have to come meet Heishan, I'd have gone to watch the whole thing.

"This is the map I found in a desert dungeon."

"Looks pretty unremarkable at a glance?"

"I thought so too, at first."

Once I get back to the inn, Arthur's going to demand to know what this is. And I'll tell him: you think the bet ends after one day? A new penalty gets added every single day.

And once I've got Arthur cornered, Joy will whine that I'm being too harsh — at which point I'll invoke joint liability. I'll teach her the dungeon clear route, so she'll have to take part in the bet too.

If you've figured it out by now, good — Arthur is nothing but bait. My real target is Joy! I want to see the scatterbrained young lady so mortified she doesn't know what to do with herself!

Heheheh. Just imagining it is fun. I'm beginning to understand the Face-Connoisseur Fox's heart a little...

"But if you channel divinity into it, the map's true worth reveals itself."

The moment I saw the divinity flowing from the map, I realized the thing in Heishan's hands was completely different from its in-game counterpart.

Well, naturally — the game version had no such gimmick. You never even tried, did you?

As if. Back when I was obsessed with Soul Academy, I repeated all manner of insane experiments to chase down every last dangling plot thread.

Nothing like this ever existed on the other side of the monitor. Which means this map is a variable unique to this world.

A variable.

The old me would have screamed at the very word. The variables that usually came knocking were after my neck.

But this variable was not that dangerous kind.

"There is, without a doubt, a magnificent treasure somewhere in this Archipelago."

Brand-new content that never existed in the game, and new rewards waiting beneath it. I could feel my Rotten Water blood boiling.

I pried the map out of adventure-hungry Heishan's grip, then frowned at how faint the markings were. Probably because Heishan — a woman far removed from the clergy — had infused it with divinity using a tool. No matter. The Chief God's Apostle was here.

The instant I poured my own divinity into the map, the markings sharpened into focus — and the notification chime flooded my ears.

The quest itself was hardly different from the one in the game. But with the map's contents changed, the route would change too — and so would the rewards.

For all I knew, beyond the treasure, the Scrub God might toss in something extra on the side.

I'd resolved to do this anyway, and now a bonus came attached — I grinned ear to ear and studied the newly clarified markings.

And then I realized: interpreting a treasure map was far too difficult for a dummy with 58 Intelligence.

...Uh. Okay. This is definitely some kind of map of the Archipelago, but what's the clue? And what are these letters written here supposed to be?

My eyeballs spun in circles — so fast it felt like my brain was spinning with them — and wiping my face, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I thrust the map back out in front of the two women.

Humans are animals that survived precisely because they don't live alone. When your own knowledge falls short, you ask others for help. That's the way of things!

Karia and Heishan's eyes lit up at the sight of the clarified map.

"Now this is a proper map. It was only half a map until a moment ago."

"It only reveals itself with divinity like our esteemed employer's. Now you've got me interested too."

"The first thing that stands out is this marker. The location looks to be around Asara Island..."

"And here too, not just that..."

Chin in hand, I let the two women's heated debate flow in one ear and out the other. It wasn't that I wasn't interested. It was just that their pace left me in the dust, unable to follow.

A true Rotten Water is supposed to show consideration for newbies, so why did these two do nothing but shut rookies out? No wonder fresh blood never entered the water — only the same old faces kept showing up.

Please, someone explain it so I can understand. I don't want to know only the outcome while skipping the process.

Oh. Right. Grandpa. If anyone can translate all that into terms I'd get, it's him. Grandpa's smart.

'Grandfather.'

<...>

'Grandfather? Asleep?'

<Ah. Ah. Yes. I'm here, child. What is it?>

'Something wrong? Why are you so flustered?'

I questioned his agitation — Grandpa, who so carefully maintained his doddering old-man airs, as if to advertise his own age — but he offered no answer. Great, this one's doing it again.

'Grandfather, I've told you how many times — cutting me off mid-sentence is really annoying.'

<No. No, that wasn't my intent this time. I merely needed to explain something, and was deciding how best to put it into words.>

'What could possibly be that serious? What's on that map?'

<Do you see the inscription in the lower right corner of the map?>

'You mean that scrawly writing nobody could possibly read?'

<That is the script once used by those who served the Chief God in ages past. Even in my day it was half-forgotten, employed as a cipher among those who held office.>

'You can read it, Grandfather?'

<Why ask what is obvious? I served as Grand Master of the Paladin Order even before I stood at the Hero's side.>

'What does it say?'