"It seems we'll need to find a key before we can get out," Amamiya remarked.
"Or maybe you're just weak?" Umi chimed in, stepping forward while rubbing her hands together. "I'm pretty strong. Let me give it a shot."
Umi grabbed the door handle, took a deep breath, and puffed up her cheeks.
"Hmm—"
A few moments later...
"Nope, I can't open it," Umi admitted, letting go of the handle in frustration.
Meanwhile, Amamiya had already begun searching for the key. "Come on, help me look for it."
Hayasaka, who had been observing quietly, softly whispered, "I'll help too."
…
The three of them started searching for the key.
The captain's quarters wasn't particularly large, with only a few items inside: a chair and a long rectangular table.
As a trained spy, Hayasaka's instincts immediately led her attention to the table.
Logbook.
Sextant.
Compass.
Parchment...
"The table doesn't have any drawers," Hayasaka thought. "If it were me, I'd hide something important..."
Her intuition kicked in as she calmly slid her hand behind the table and felt a slight bulge.
"Just as I thought, there's something here."
Still, playing the part of a timid novice, Hayasaka decided to stay in character. Her eyes shifted toward Umi.
"Um, I remember seeing in a pirate movie once... someone hid something behind a table," Hayasaka hinted quietly.
"Under the table? Let me check!" Umi, ever the practical one, wasted no time. She dropped to her knees and started examining the area behind the table.
Amamiya glanced over, his gaze trailing downward.
All of them were still wearing their regular clothes, and Umi's outfit—a typical summer ensemble of a short skirt and blouse—offered a clear view of her figure from behind as she knelt on the floor.
"There's something here!" Umi exclaimed, her energy renewed as she began to search more thoroughly. After a brief moment, she stood up, triumphantly holding something in her hand. "I found the key!"
Amamiya looked at her, unimpressed. "Are you sure it's a key?"
"Huh?" Umi blinked, taking a closer look at what she was holding. It wasn't a key, but rather an odd piece of paper.
"This feels strange..." Umi remarked, inspecting the object. "It doesn't feel like regular paper."
"That's because it isn't," Amamiya said as he touched the material. It was soft, almost luxurious. "This is parchment."
"Wait, like actual parchment made from animal skin?" Umi asked, astonished.
"Exactly," Amamiya confirmed.
Umi couldn't help but mutter, "First, there's no crab in crab sticks, and now I find out parchment isn't some fancy type of paper—it's actual animal skin!"
As the name implies, parchment is a material made from sheepskin. It's soft, delicate, and easy to fold. If preserved properly, it can last for thousands of years.
The only downside? It's incredibly expensive.
"The key might be wrapped inside the parchment," Umi suggested, still holding onto hope. She unfolded the parchment eagerly but was soon deflated. "There's nothing inside."
"There are pictures on it, though."
Amamiya took the parchment from her and studied it closely.
Curious, Hayasaka moved closer, squinting at the parchment under the dim moonlight. "...It looks like a ship."
"It's likely the very ship we're on," Amamiya replied.
"The name beside the drawing must be the name of the ship, right?" Umi mused, placing her hand on her hip with a peculiar expression. "The 'Flying Dutchman'... That name feels off. Isn't this Blackbeard's ship from 'One Piece'?!"
The hell are you talking about? It clearly a reference to Davy Jones, not Blackbeard. In both reality and fiction, the 'Flying Dutchman' has no connection to Blackbeard.
"It looks like a treasure map."
A symbol of a treasure chest was prominently drawn in one part of the parchment.
"Treasure map or not, it's still not the key," Umi sighed, glancing around the room. "Where could the key be?"
Hearing this, Hayasaka frowned slightly.
She had initially assumed the key would be hidden behind the table, but since it wasn't there, where else could it possibly be?
"I think I know," Amamiya suddenly said. Folding up the parchment, he pointed to the floor. "Did you notice those two marks on the ground?"
Umi widened her eyes as she looked down at the floor. As expected, two faintly concave marks were etched into the surface, as though something heavy had repeatedly dragged across it. "I see the scratches. But what do they have to do with the key?"
Amamiya reached out and attempted to push the table, only to find it incredibly heavy. "Could you help me push this?"
"On it."
"Follow the path of the scratches."
"…"
With all three of them working together, the large wooden table slowly shifted. The solid weight began to slide along the grooves in the floor, and before long, it came to a stop against the wall.
[After careful observation, you notice something unusual about the wooden board above you.]
Amamiya climbed onto the table and reached up, his hand exploring the surface overhead. Soon enough, he found a small gap at the edge of a wooden panel, just wide enough to fit his fingers into.
With a light push, the panel slid inward, revealing a hidden compartment about the size of a fist.
Reaching into the dark space, Amamiya's hand soon closed around something metallic. Pulling it out, he revealed a key.
"Got it," he announced.
Along with the key, he found a rough piece of paper. It wasn't parchment, but the texture was coarse. Unfolding the paper, Amamiya stared at the strange image it held: a drawing of a monster.
"Huh?" Umi blurted. "Is that… a kobold?"
Indeed, the creature on the paper resembled a dog-headed man, though its body was unusually slender.
"There's a staff next to it…" Hayasaka mused, biting her lip in thought. "Could it be Anubis? The ancient Egyptian god of death?"
Amamiya nodded in agreement. "From its outfit and the scales—definitely Anubis."
Anubis, the ancient Egyptian deity, also known as the "Guardian of Scales," was known for weighing the hearts of the dead. He'd place the heart on one side of a scale and a feather on the other. If the heart was heavier, it would be devoured, and the soul would suffer in the afterlife. But if the heart was lighter, the soul could pass into paradise.
Though the significance of this clue remained unclear, the message it conveyed was unmistakable.
[You have uncovered a hidden clue.]
Unfortunately, no further details appeared.
Pocketing the paper, Amamiya walked to the door, inserted the key, and successfully unlocked it.
"Alright, let's head out."
Just as they were about to leave, Umi had a sudden, mischievous idea. "Wait a sec—what if we play hide-and-seek? We could block the door, hide in the room, and pretend there's no one inside. Wouldn't that be fun?"
Amamiya sighed, shaking his head. "If it were a ghost, there'd be no need for them to open the door to get inside."
"Oh, right." Kitagawa slapped her forehead. "Ghosts can pass through walls, can't they? So hiding in here would be a total death trap!"
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[A-N: Hey everyone! I need your support for my new book! If you're on the hunt for something fresh to dive into, check it out—it's an 'APOCALYPSE' theme! Your feedback and love would mean the world!]
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