NOVEL NEXT "Ah, if it isn't Zephyr-kun's team. Yo, Sachi, Nicocchi, Sierrachi!"
"Yay, Emi! Yaho!"
"Team D, eh. How are you all doing, Mert?"
In our exploration, we encountered Team D right in the middle of the passageway, whose team members were Karua, Mert and Emi.
The leader was Karua, as she had the highest level among them, though the substantial instructions were given by Mert.
Emi and Sachi ran up to each other at the encounter and did a high-five like action cheerfully, except it wasn't clapping but them holding their both hands,
Speaking of hands, Sierra and I or Sachi and Nico let go of the hands we had been holding when we noticed Team D.
"Did you find something, Zephyr?"
"Nope, we have just started our exploration after all, so we didn’t find anything yet. What about you?"
"Hn, V~."
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Karua took a victory pose when I asked. So they have already found a treasure chest huh. I didn't expect that to happen. Team D had left neither late nor earlier, but it should have been only 20 minutes since they'd started their exploration.
"Way to go."
"We just happened to be lucky. And you can say Karua's presence helped out more than anything, we didn't have to fight with her scouting and managed to focus only on exploration."
"Hn, not much~."
"Karua is truly amazing."
"I know right, Karuacchi was so cool! She would go poof like a smoke and then come back almost immediately with the information about the enemy's position and room's details! Even treasure chest was just a matter of seconds for her to find!"
Oh, so it seemed Karua had been pulling the weight for Team D huh. Both Emi and Mert looked thoroughly impressed.
Karua, on the other hand, flashed a smug face, her cat ears were flapping up and down. Damn, cute. Can I touch them? Ack, that's some intense gaze you're giving me, Miss Sierra......
"Uh-huh, it wouldn't do if we don't hurry as well. I guess time to dial up our gear or else we wouldn't even have crumbs left for us!"
"We're returning back to the shore first."
"Sure~, be careful of monsters on the way."
"Can't I return with them as well?"
"We still need you~, Nicocchi."
Given the time, we resumed our exploration and parted with Team D. Nico looked at their departing figure with a longing gaze, though Sachi got a tight grip on her with a smile, basically sealing her route to escape from this test of courage.
"Well, let's go, Sierra."
"Yeah."
I took her hand and started walking. Was it just me or it was becoming obvious for us to hold our hand so naturally?
"Hey, Zephyr. I know you seemed to be moving with a certain plan but where in fact are we going?"
"Well, I am just wondering if there's a way to the bottom floor from the rear of the ship. Mert and team also came from the same direction earlier, right?"
"But doesn't that mean they already found all the treasure chest out there?"
"Nope, Karua's quick on her feet, but the time doesn't match. They were done with their search quite soon. I am presuming Team D has only gone around the upper rooms in their search. In that case, the lower floor is basically untouched. Besides, they should have already cleared most of the monsters so we wouldn't have to take care of them."
"I see, that does make sense."
I explained to Sierra while treading on our path.
As a matter of fact, the internal layout of the ghost ship randomly changes around each time it appears so even I don't have any concrete map of it in my mind. Well, though I do have some inkling so I was following my guess, which was at least better than randomly looking around.
"Wait, but didn't they say they avoided fighting with monsters due to Karua's reconnaissance? I don't think they should have cleared that many mon......huh, there's no monster?"
"They must have avoided them while exploring, but probably didn't have any constraint when returning back so they cleared them out then."
"Ah, it indeed did seem so from their conversation."
As Sierra mentioned, we didn't find a single monster. Monsters were basically walking EXP and loot, so if there's the time, it makes sense to slay them. And I know Mert is someone with that type of logic.
"Hmm, the door here is slightly open."
"Inside is... an empty treasure chest."
"Perhaps this is the treasure chest they found."
There was a small room behind the door at the edge of the passageway. Sierra very quietly looked inside the room from the crevice of the room and only saw a gleaming silver treasure chest amidst the dim-lit room.
Now that I think about it, I think this was probably the first time I have walked up to an opened chest.
"I see, a ?Silver Chest? huh. They had quite the luck to spot it. I wonder what or how many drops must be inside it. Kuh, I should have just asked what they found when we met them earlier. Now I can't abate this curiosity."
"Woah, Nicocchi's energy gauge is suddenly replenished!?"
Nico, whose legs were trembling so badly as if she was tossed into cold storage, immediately turned bubbly the instant she spotted ?Silver Chest?. Just what I would expect from my beloved treasure chests.
"Zephyr, it's a bit far from here but apparently there is a dead end ahead, and there doesn't seem to be any entrance below."
"Huh? Woah, that's I guess is new for Zephyr-kun's guess to fall off."
"Hold on guys, look there carefully, doesn't it look like a door?"
"What? Ahh, what the heck! It's covered in moss and all so it's not obviously clear but it truly is a door!"
Sachi let out a surprised gasp when I pointed out my finding.
The section was overgrown with moss at a glance, acting like a wall, but from a closer look, it appeared to be a sliding door. It was quite a rudimentary gimmick. Let's put a shining ?Silver Chest? so that it takes away all of the player's attention so that they wouldn't be able to notice that door.
And considering a treasure chest of silver rarity had been used as a decoy, then it means behind that door should be another, and even more rare, treasure chest!
But the question was, can that door be...opened? I recall one needed ?Open Sesame? skill in the game. But... alright, let's just believe reality correction!
"Leave it to me! There's no way I would miss out if a treasure is lying just behind it!"
"Oh, go for it, Nico."
Nico, back in her usual bearing, jumped at the gate. She grabbed hold of a wooden projection and tried to open the door with all her might.
"Grrr! Grrrrrrrr~!"
"It's not opening?"
"It seems so."
"Wh-what the heck!? Damn! Don't tell me it has been stuck in this spot after decaying!?"
"No, this is most likely fake. There's no trace that explains it uses a door rail."
This door was another gimmick.
The only way to open them typically was using scout's skill; ?Glazing Gaze?, ?Riddle Solver? or ?Open Sesame?. Unfortunately, Kairi wasn't with us, so one would normally be headbutting the situation from the wrong angle.
Of course, I do know the way though, so I step up to try. Well, I guess I would consider a cheat move, so...don't take it to heart guys.
'Alright, I'm going to resolve this riddle,' I tapped here and there on the door showing an 'I'm trying' attitude.
"Ohh..." (Ze[hyr)
"B-Brave-kun, did you find something!?" (Nico)
"I think this is it. Nico, back down." (Zephyr)
"Rogerrrr!" (Nico)
Though before I acted, I asked Nico to stand down first since she had been looking at my action from an extremely close-up angle. After seeing her backing down, I slide my hand beneath the door and...slide it up.
" " Whaaa!!" "
Sachi and Emi released a flabbergasted gasp when they saw that.
Well, yes. It may seem like the door was designed to slide horizontally, but in truth, it was to be open from below. You know, the shutter in the shop etc.
The only reason to use such a gimmick was if there was something extremely valuable hidden. Fufu, I was also getting pumped in excitement. Was it because we're on a ghost ship?
Behind the door was the stairs leading downward. The stairway was a bit dark.
Though regardless of that, Nico zipped up her astonished expression and charged alone.
"Yahoo, here I come, my lovely treasure chest!"
"Huuhhh, hold up, Nicocchi! Also, that's not yours!!"
"Geh, was the monster supposed to appear here?"
"Uh-huh, there she stormed off. Let's give her a chase."
It was truly unexpected that Nico would actually mount a head start. Talk about spirit. But that meant my treasure chest was in danger too!
Sachi chased after her immediately, so did I and Sierra.