The Map and the Faded Letter
It was an unusually gray thing, worn so thin at the edges that they crumbled at the slightest touch.
“This is a southern common map from exactly 8,700 years ago. The cartographer was Shimune, a geographer from Rekurataka. It was once distributed across the continent, but only a few dozen copies remain today. A truly precious artifact.”
“I see. Quick question—will this be on the test?”
When I raised my hand, Lox pretended not to hear me and kept talking.
“It’s the map we believe matches the indicator in our possession. Our last hope. If this one doesn’t align with the indicator either…”
“Then?”
“Our journey will lose its destination entirely. Allow me to demonstrate. Ash?”
Ash, who had been standing silently, drew a long cord from his pocket.
At first glance it resembled a necklace, but it clearly served a different purpose.
Lox accepted the gray cord and laid the lengthy string across the map, adjusting the angles with practiced ease. It looked like some strange game of cat’s cradle on paper.
“So that’s the indicator.”
“Correct. We have been searching for a map that matches it this entire time.”
The indicator was a tool used alongside maps to point toward a specific location. Instead of marking places directly on the map, people in ancient times created separate, specialized indicators. Most took the form of long cords like this one.
The cord had sections of different colors at regular intervals. When the matching colors overlapped and the cord was spread across the map, the intersection points would reveal a particular place.
Its greatest strength was also its weakness: because the cord was aligned to the map’s corners, using it with an incompatible map would point to an absurd, completely incorrect location.
In other words, the indicator was both a method of revealing an important place and a way of concealing it.
“We discovered this indicator together with a letter that recorded the cup’s hiding place. Since then we have collected every map from around the same era as the letter. We have failed many times. For example… when compared to this northern map, it points to the middle of the ocean.”
“So that one’s useless.”
“Precisely. Even accounting for the margin of error inherent in ancient maps, if it indicates an absurdly random location, we discard it.”
By design, each indicator had one specific map it was meant to be paired with. But in this distant age, there was no way of knowing which map that was, so the only option was to keep trying them one after another.
“At least this method lets us eliminate the wrong ones quickly. When we overlay the indicator on this full continental map published by the Kalkrak Kingdom, it points to a mountain peak… We went there, but it was empty. These are the things that truly torment us.”
Lox must have been thoroughly fed up; he swept the map off the table with a flick of his wrist.
Treasure hunting had no shortage of frustrations, but the worst offender was always the terrible maps. Regional proportions on old maps varied wildly depending on the publishing nation and cartographer. It was common to exaggerate one’s own country to ridiculous size, and places the mapmaker had never visited were often erased entirely.
Relying on such wildly inaccurate maps to find treasure naturally resulted in one wild goose chase after another.
“But this time I have a good feeling! We’ve found it for certain! The God of Tenacity has blessed us!”
“More like the victory of sheer stubbornness.”
“No! It is divine assistance!”
“…Fine. It’s annoying to argue, so let’s go with that.”
“According to the letter, the place where the cup is hidden is near water. It appears to be more of a personal treasure vault than a dungeon. Furthermore, the place name written in the letter is remarkably similar to the location indicated by this newly discovered map.”
As I listened in silence, several questions surfaced.
“Question. Where did this indicator come from, and what exactly is the letter? Is it trustworthy?”
Since I intended to follow them, I was concerned they might be chasing another dead end like all the previous times.
Chasing bad information wasn’t my style.
“You’re sharper than expected.”
“Did you just say ‘than expected’?”
Damn it. Want to find out just how unexpectedly short your lifespan can be?
While I ground my teeth, Lox pulled out a letter with obvious reluctance, his face radiating smug superiority.
“It’s a copy, but this letter is the very beginning of our journey. The indicator was found alongside it.”
“Let me see.”
“It’s written in ancient script. You wouldn’t be able to read it anyway.”
“I can read it. Mostly.”
He looked like he wanted to say “unexpected” again but swallowed it, probably because he didn’t want me grabbing him by the collar.
I took the letter from Lox, unfolded it, and Enk—who was standing nearby—chimed in. He was always strangely nice to me.
“I heard it’s a family heirloom that’s been passed down in Ash’s house for generations.”
“Ah.”
Well, it would be an imperial treasure. Since Ash was a prince, the statement wasn’t entirely wrong.
“What is this? Why are there so many blanks in this letter?”
“It can’t be helped. The original document had many damaged sections.”
Lox was clearly skeptical that I could actually read it. The way his eyes narrowed into slits made his thoughts obvious.
I wished I didn’t know ancient languages—after all, I hated studying—but unfortunately most texts related to spirit magic were based on ancient script. It had been a required subject.
“It’s not a simple letter. It reads more like a will. Something addressed to a very close friend…”
“Oh? It seems you really can read it.”
“That’s amazing, Jeanie! Only Ash and Lox could read it among us.”
Enk’s genuine admiration made my shoulders lift with a touch of pride.
Ash was a prince, so ancient languages would have been part of his basic education, and Lox clearly had advanced schooling. It would have been stranger if they couldn’t read it.
I looked back at the letter and read the important sections aloud.
I have hidden it…… beside the water, and where gold lies, the life that shall rule…… true? power beyond the human realm…… power that is not of humans. All of them lie within it. In a deep place…… in the deep place where light cannot reach, you shall find it by fate. The price of liberation is the lake’s destiny.
— A Saint’s Last Words —
“What does this even mean? The price is the lake’s destiny?”
“Interpretation is our responsibility. It could refer to the Lake of Fate, or since the ancients viewed lakes as swamps of the soul, it might mean you must be prepared to die.”
“Ugh, damn those ancient bastards. Why couldn’t they just say it plainly instead of always speaking in metaphors?”
I didn’t like it one bit. I tossed the letter back to Lox like I was throwing away trash. It was only a copy anyway—what was he so nervous about?
“H-how can you call them ancient bastards! You must not speak of the great saints that way!”
“What do I care about people who died thousands of years ago? Because of them the test material keeps getting longer! And this letter is so damaged it’s hard to even read it, let alone interpret! You need proper context to make sense of it!”
“We barely managed to restore the missing characters! Do you have any idea how long that took?”
“Yeah, yeah. It does seem to clearly refer to the Cup of the Golden Star. Can I lie down now?”
“Please… stop with that irreverent attitude. Approaching this with reverence is the bare minimum courtesy we owe the saints who left us this treasure!”
Yeah, yeah. Just let me sleep already.
Couldn’t he see me yawning?
I’d been fighting off sleep for a while, so I practically collapsed across the table. Meanwhile Lox’s scholarly passion seemed to have ignited in the middle of the night, and he launched into a full lecture.
I must have accidentally pressed the ancient-civilization-nerd button.
“How can you not find this astonishing? We are on the verge of an incredible discovery! Look here! It’s slightly smudged, but this section says the treasure was buried beneath the tears of Hirike… And when we cross-reference it with the map and indicator Enk and Gail brought back, it points to a village called Hirilyke in Heidricke! That village has a lake! There is no doubt the letter is pointing to that exact place!”
“Uh-huh… sure…”
Even Enk and Gail were slowly drifting away from the table.
I would bet money that Lox studied even when exams weren’t coming up. He was the type of professor who would deliver passionate lectures even if every single student had fallen asleep.
“This is the first time the letter’s hints and the indicator’s location have matched so perfectly. This time we may truly find the Cup of the Golden Star! It will be a monumental discovery for all humanity! Ah, what a magnificent achievement…”
Listening with one ear and letting everything flow out the other was one of my oldest specialties.
While I blinked heavy eyes and scanned the table, the indicator suddenly caught my attention. I reached for it because the thing kept nagging at me.
The sensation was similar to a phone on silent, flashing silently in the corner of your vision. It was that feeling of something demanding your notice from the edge of your sight. Since the indicator wasn’t actually glowing, it was purely a sensory matter.
I examined the cord portion carefully, then picked up the small triangular metal piece attached to it and turned it over in my fingers.
It didn’t take long to figure out what had been bothering me.
“This… has magic cast on it. On this metal piece.”
“Magic? There’s magic on it?”
“Let me see.”
Enk and Gail, who apparently hadn’t known, leaned in close with intrigued voices.
Magic wasn’t common, so people usually treated it as something novel.
“…How did you notice that!”
Lox had clearly already known, but he looked surprised that I had detected it.
“At this level, it’s obvious if you look. Just as swordsmen are sensitive to other people’s presence, we’re sensitive to other people’s magic. The trace of magic, you could call it.”
“Whoa, like I always say—a party needs at least one magic user!”
“Exactly!”
“But I can’t tell what kind of magic it is. Since it’s on the indicator, I’d guess… it reacts when we get close to the right location?”
I hadn’t shown them anything particularly impressive, yet Enk and Gail were marveling like I’d performed a miracle. The mood turned festive at the arrival of a precious magician. They really didn’t seem to distinguish between spirit masters and regular mages.
“Kuh, jackpot! Doesn’t this feel right this time?”
“I’m telling you! We might actually find it at this rate.”
“If we find it, all the suffering ends! Happiness begins! We can marry off our little siblings, build Mother a new house! The goddess of fortune has finally noticed us!”
“Just wait for us, Heidricke!”
After such a long search, the bright hope of finally obtaining the cup must have gotten to them. Enk and Gail were visibly excited now.
It was cute, but I had to ask.
“By the way, what do you plan to do once you find the cup?”
“Ah! We were thinking of presenting it to the imperial family and asking for a suitable position.”
“Extremely realistic.”
“If we kept it ourselves, we’d only invite threats to our lives. Handing it over to the imperial family and living comfortably for the rest of our days—that’s the real jackpot.”
“Admirable, I suppose…”
I nodded, having a pretty good idea whose idea it was, then rested my chin on my hand and looked at Ash.
It seemed the instinct to deliver any treasure straight to the imperial family was a continent-wide phenomenon. I acknowledged it was the safest method, but if one had any interest in politics, there were plenty of other options.
The way he avoided my eyes suggested Ash felt a twinge of conscience about it too. Calling them comrades while using them like this probably didn’t sit well with him.
Still, this course had been decided by the imperial family itself rather than Ash, so I had no intention of criticizing. Besides, it had nothing to do with me.
“Sorry to kill the mood when everyone’s so excited, but can I go to sleep now?”
“Are you possessed by a ghost who died from lack of sleep?”
“Don’t you know beauties are heavy sleepers?”
“…Go to sleep.”