Chapter Seventy-eight: Real Idea, You Are My Only Hope!
‘Upon entering the room, you explorers see a large pedestal with four statues on it in the center of the room and a door on each of the four surrounding walls. One of those is the door you came through. If you want more information, keep an eye out for…’
…
…Huh? What was that? I thought I just heard a Keeper’s voice in my mind… A hallucination!?
But, in reality, that’s exactly what I see. The statues on the pedestal, the walls, and the closed doors on those walls.
“…For now, I guess I’ll take a look at the sculptures, yup…”
While Mr. Ville, Mr. Ed, and Ms. Aria each investigate one of the doors, and Mr. Xenon examines the text inscribed on the pedestal, I’ll take a look at the sculptures. It’s not like me to just laze around while everyone’s working!
Let’s see… Facing the entrance we came through is Dieter, the god of death. Going clockwise from there is the god of agriculture Schmerzer, the Goddess of Commerce Vernetta, and the Goddess of Compassion Fortunate…
Dieter… The old man has a sharp-eyed look with his robe’s hood pulled down low, and the statue depicts him carrying a sword.
Next to him is Schmerzer, the god of agriculture, a muscular man, which makes sense given his domain. Farming must take a lot of strength.
Ms. Vernetta has a cheerful girl’s form with long hair tied in a ponytail, an energetic expression, and an aura of liveliness like she’s about to spring into motion at any moment.
Ms. Fortunate has a motherly, compassionate look and an ample bosom that would surely be comfortable to embrace… yes, quite motherly.
By the way, Mr. Ed is investigating the door facing Schmerzer, Mr. Ville the door facing Ms. Vernetta, and Ms. Aria the door facing Ms. Fortunate.
…Huh? Oh, what’s that…? There are indentations at the statues’ feet… Oh! Now that I think about it, is the inside of this temple treated as indoors or outdoors? I just had a thought while examining the statues—if this counts as indoors, wouldn’t I not be able to manifest Campy? I hurriedly tried manifesting the Camping Car… and it worked seamlessly.
Inside the temple… I guess since this is fundamentally a dungeon, even though it looks like indoors, manifesting isn’t an issue here. That’s a bit of a relief!
The others finish exploring and gather around Mr. Xenon, who is reading the inscription. Looks like it’s time to share information.
“The door don’t seem to be locked. This is all I found inside.”
“Same for mine! What is this, some kind of cat plushie?”
“For me, it was… a dragon brooch. And there don’t seem to be any enemies…”
“By the way, did any of the small rooms you checked have any secret passages leading elsewhere?”
“…Searched around… but doesn’t seem… like it.”
Mr. Ville, with a serious expression, handed over a scarf pin made of a translucent black stone… with a smooth shell and fin-like flippers… maybe a sea turtle? Following that, Mr. Ed and Ms. Aria also presented items they said they found in their respective rooms. Mr. Ed found a white kitten, while Ms. Aria’s was a dragon-motif brooch with a bluish transparent stone embedded in it.
I asked Ms. Aria about checking the doors, but it seems there’s nothing beyond them except empty rooms. Hmm… looks like we really do need to solve a puzzle to proceed.
“The inscription on the pedestal reads ‘The gods with their attendants come and go with the seasons.’”
“Speaking of which, there were indentations at the base of the statues where something could be placed! But do those gods have attendants?”
“Well… I believe there are gods closely related or companions to them, but attendants…?”
The information Mr. Xenon and I provided led us all to ponder with furrowed brows, gathered around the pedestal discussing possibilities. My TRPG mind is whispering to me. I think the idea is to place something representing the gods’ "attendants" in the indentations at their feet, which will probably open a hidden door or let us proceed further. And those "attendants" are probably the items we found beyond each door… The problem is figuring out which "attendant" belongs to which god. So, the items found in the rooms that each god is facing… are those their attendants…? Hmm… I hope it’s not a trap where we die instantly if we get it wrong…
“That reminds me, the door facing where Dieter is looking… we came in that way but didn’t find anything there, right?”
“Ah, right! I did find this over there!”
“A little bird, eh… Dieter is usually accompanied by the Subalu’s Maidens, small bird incarnations who announce deaths.”
“Bird Maidens… Little bird, huh…”
Hearing Mr. Ed’s puzzled tone made me remember the small red feathered bird figure I had brought from the front courtyard. Though delicate-looking, it had maintained its shape well despite being tucked away in my body bag’s remaining space.
I place the seemingly important red bird with the other items and start thinking again. The seasonal gods’ attendants… If I think simply, the items found in the rooms each god’s face is pointing toward are probably their attendants, but… it just doesn’t quite click somehow…
The gods of the four seasons… Spring, summer, fall, winter… Blue, red, white, black… Oh, something clicked!
In a vocational school class… um… Eastern Medicine Overview…? Didn’t we learn something like this during the Five Elements Theory? I think it was: Spring is wood, liver, blue, east. Summer is fire, heart, red, south. Fall is metal, lungs, white, west. Winter is water, kidneys, black, north.
…East, west, south, north, blue, red, white, black… And the dragon, cat, bird, turtle…!
“I’ve got it! The directions! Can I borrow these for a second?”
“Hey Rin! Did you notice something?”
“I think, maybe, that this is the right solution!”
The gods of the seasons represent cardinal directions, and their “attendants” are the corresponding guardian beasts… the Four Gods that often appear in manga and novels—Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise…!
A bit chuunibyou, right? Anyone who went through that phase would be quite familiar with them. Now, I have no idea if this world’s mythology matches up, but somehow… it just clicked, you know?
……Well, if this does turn out to be the solution, going from Greek mythology to ancient Chinese celestial creatures would be quite the narrative jump. And there’s an odd commonality with my original world.
I place the dragon brooch by the Spring God Schmerzer.
The red bird by the Summer Goddess Vernetta.
The white kitten by the Fall Goddess Fortunate.
And the black turtle by the Winter God Dieter.
I put the items found in each small room into the indentations at the gods’ feet. And since the pedestal inscription’s remainder is "come and go with the seasons"…
I look closely at the floor around the base of the pedestal with the statues… Bingo! There are scrape marks like something has moved there!
“Mr. Ville, which way is north?”
“Huh? North? North would be… that way, where Vernetta is facing…”
“Yup, as I thought. If my hunch is right, we need to turn the gods’ faces toward the directions they govern. If my guess is right, Schmerzer to the east, Vernetta south, Fortunate west, and Dieter north…”
“A hunch, you say. Still, it’s a welcome idea given how stuck we are. Shall we give it a try, Ville?”
“Yeah. I’m getting a bit tired of just thinking about it. Let’s give it a shot! If it doesn’t work, we can think of something else then.”
The men placed their hands on the pedestal and exerted force. The massive pedestal didn’t move at first, but gradually, it started to shift slowly. As it moved, the statues’ faces began to turn in different directions. After taking more time than expected, the pedestal turned about halfway around… with a clunk, something clicked into place, and suddenly, part of the pedestal emitted a dazzling light. It was similar to the magical springs seen on the upper floor, radiating as if inviting us inside.
“…Amazing, Rin! That’s probably the door leading further!”
“Rin, that’s awesome! You figured it out!”
“I’d like to hear later what the deciding factor was. Rin, you seem to possess some fascinating knowledge, and I’m excited to learn more.”
“Rin! Rin! Amazing! Excellent!! You did a great job!”
Hands reached out from all directions and ruffled my hair.
Seriously…! This was the correct answer!!! Thank goodness…! I was so worried about being wrong!
Did I… did I manage to be a little helpful?
Filled with overflowing joy and relief, I too leaped into the light, not wanting to be left behind by everyone rushing in.
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