Magic Puzzle

Early next morning, Hikaru visited the museum again. The place opened a little early, at 9 a.m., and there were few visitors at that time.

Hikaru showed the commission slip to the same staff as yesterday.

「Oh, I see you want to give it a shot again today. Very well. I will tell you about all the adventurers I've seen who have failed at the task. I'm sure it'll be of use to you.」

「Oh, no, I'm good.」

「Some use brute strength to—」

The staff rubbed his eyes and saw that Hikaru was gone. Hikaru felt grateful for the man's kindness, but he was in a hurry. He wanted to get things done while there were still no people around. So he came here alone.

With Stealth on, he proceeded through the building. There were only guards patrolling around. In the stillness of the museum, Hikaru could feel the grand history of Vireocean. Soon, he arrived at where the chest was displayed.

「Hmm… It's amazing to think that this whole chest is a magic item.」

Although what kind of material used was unknown, the chest was clearly made of metal, 60 centimeters in length, 40 centimeters wide, and 50 centimeters high. On top of it was a round lid that looked like a cylinder cut in half.

The metal was painted red, still vivid even after centuries. Gems of various shapes were embedded on the chest—round, square, and triangular ones. They came in many kinds as wel —peridot, lapis lazuli, and tiger's eye. The most valuable one was the pingpong ball-sized diamond on top of the chest.

「This one diamond probably costs a fortune.」

One of the options for the reward was the contents of the chest, not the chest itself. Even the signboard said so. It was most likely because this diamond alone would fetch for at least a hundred million. In other words, “we're not giving you the chest” was what they were saying.

「The chest is the most expensive thing here, huh?」

The treasure chest glittered under the light of a magic spotlight.

「Hmm… It doesn't budge.」

It was as though the chest grew roots. The pedestal itself was stuck deep underground and seemed to be integrated with the chest.

Hikaru took out a knife and struck the lid with it, but it quickly repaired itself.

「Cutting it does nothing. I see. I guess it's a magic item that restores itself automatically. That's some incredibly high-tech sorcery.」

He could see a hinge behind that connected the lid and the chest. On the front was a keyhole.

「Tada!」Hikaru took out two wires.「I've always wanted to do this.」

He inserted the wires inside the hole. Hikaru actually had not learned anything about lockpicking. The skill was standard for rogue cla.s.ses in RPGs, but not in this world.

「Hmm? What's this?」

The wire didn't touch anything. I believe you use two wires for picking locks, one as a support that you spin around, the other to push pins up.

Of course, locks came in different shapes. Hikaru didn't think his meager knowledge could do the trick, but it was strange for the wire to not touch anything at all.

「Maybe it's like the Dimension Dragon Box that distorted s.p.a.ce. But those kinds of “inventory boxes” should be rare.」

Some monsters like the Dimension Dragon possessed that special characteristic, but no one should have replicated it as a form of sorcery. Maybe the keyhole itself used materials from a Dimension Dragon.

「Well, the intel's right.」

He just wanted to confirm the information he gathered beforehand. Brute force couldn't open the chest. Damage it and it would only return to normal. Using spells that could blow up the chest was forbidden, as it could destroy the gems as well, which would be a huge loss. All would be for nothing if the contents got destroyed too/

「I think the prevailing theory is you have to find the key that unlocks it.」

People believed that the fastest and the only way to open this immovable chest was to find the right key.

「It makes sense. Normally, that is.」

Hikaru felt something odd when he heard about the theory. Maybe there was no key in the first place.

After all, no key could possibly fit the expanded s.p.a.ce inside the small hole. Hikaru arrived at this conclusion because he had used the Dimension Dragon Box a lot. It twisted the laws of physics a bit, but otherwise it followed other existing laws—the weight of the contents remained the same and time pa.s.sed even inside the box. It was completely different from an inventory chest found in some games.

「In that case, I have no other choice but to use this.」

Hikaru opened his Soul Board.

【Soul Board】Hikaru

Age: 16 Rank: 54

2

【Vitality】

【Magical Power】

..【Mana】1

【Physical Strength】

..【Strength】3

..【Weapon Mastery】

….【Throwing】10 (MAX)

……【Heaven Shot】0

【Agility】

..【Power Burst】8

..【Balance】1

..【Stealth】

….【Life Obfuscation】5 (MAX)

….【Mana Obfuscation】5 (MAX)

….【Imperceptibility】5 (MAX)

……【a.s.sa.s.sination】3 (MAX)

……..【Snipe】3 (MAX)

……【Group Obfuscation】5 (MAX)

【Intuition】

..【Instinct】2

..【Detection】

….【Life Detection】1

….【Mana Detection】3->5 (MAX)

……【Detection Expansion】3 (MAX)

Killing huge monsters in Grand Dream had raised his Soul Rank by four. He used two points to max out his Mana Detection, increasing its range. But if range was what he was after, he could've chosen Detection Expansion. Indeed, what he wanted wasn't range, but the ability to see mana more clearly.

「Let's see… Whoa!」

The light's beauty took Hikaru's breath away.

「I can see the mana flowing through the chest…」

Seeing the magicules—grains of mana—sparkling was breathtaking. Each gem embedded on the chest had a purpose. Although it was hard to tell at a glance, even the pedestal had a magic formula written on it.

One gem absorbed magicule from the air to create a flow of mana. Another released mana that covered the whole chest. Another monitored the shape of the chest in real time. While another stored mana used for restoration.

「Wow. The whole thing's like an embodiment of sorcery tech. Mana covers the pedestal as well so it can't be destroyed. Ma.s.s producing it looks impossible though since it uses rare materials.」

Hikaru took out a notebook, a pen, and an inkwell from his bag.

「It is time for art. I'm kinda bad at sketching, though…」

He spent the next thirty minutes drawing a detailed sketch of the treasure chest.

The next morning, the same staff greeted Hikaru at opening hours.

「h.e.l.lo there. Giving it a shot again today? Do you want to hear about what I have to say now?」

「That sounds very interesting, but I'll pa.s.s. Who do I talk to if I open the chest?」

The boy should have failed to unlock the chest two days in a row now. Yet he wore an indifferent expression and didn't seem discouraged at all. In fact, he appeared to be confident. He looked like he didn't have much sleep, while the two girls smiling behind him were the very image of perfect health.

「Paula. Do you think there are gems inside?」Lavia said.

「I don't know. I hope it's a letter addressed to the owner's wife or something.」

「You really are a hopeless romantic.」

「You're just too pragmatic.」

It sounded like they believed they could open the chest. The staff was interested in what Hikaru was about to do.

「I shall accompany you, then.」he said.

「What?」

「I may not look it, but I'm in charge of showing visitors around. I can also contact the museum's manager, Ville Zentra's mayor, if anything happens.」

「Oh, I see. Okay, then.」

Interesting, the man thought. The boy's att.i.tude did not change even when he said he'd go with them. He has great confidence in himself. Oh, to be young.

King Allegro's Treasure Chest had a history of failures and setbacks.

「What's your name?」

「Hikaru.」

「I see. That's a nice name.」

His confidence would surely be shattered to pieces. Once the boy failed, he would tell him about the people who once tried to open the chest, only for their endeavor to end in failure. Some of them became famous adventurers and researchers.

It was the job of the elderly to help the young realize that even failure could lead to success. That is what the staff believed.

I suppose telling him about Huthanza is a good start. He's an ranked adventurer. I'm sure the boy knows him.

The senior staff did not expect for one bit that he would become a witness to a historical moment.