Chapter 967: The Obsidian Safes
The tour of the chamber had left the group in a state of breathless, crystalline silence. For the last hour, they had moved through the space not as visitors, but as pilgrims traversing a landscape of pure genius. They had watched, mesmerized, as the very architecture around them dissolved; the floor wasn’t just wood, but a sculpted river of grain; the walls weren’t surfaces, but a roiling, wooden sea of myth and memory. Every time they turned, the ’anamorphic’ shards of undetermined wood rearranged themselves into impossible beauty. They had seen a forest grow from the floorboards and a pantheon of gods emerge from the shadows of the ceiling. It was a staggering, unified masterpiece—the architect hadn’t simply decorated a room; he had sculpted the very air and light into a symphony of wood.
"It’s like being inside a mind," Ayia whispered, her voice trembling as she looked back at a sprawling mural of a wooden fairy that seemed to pulse with life. "He didn’t just build this. He breathed it into existence."
"Look at the way the light catches the grain," Theo added, his voice hushed with a rare gravity as he circled a pillar that seemed to shift from a tree trunk into a soaring hawk. "From over here, that tangle of roots looks like a map... but if I move two inches to the left, it becomes a literal window into a forest. It’s almost impossible. No common human hand should be able to calculate this much depth without a computer, let alone a hundred years ago. Unless it is a mind not like any other, mere mortals."
Aurora reached out, her fingers hovering just a hair’s breadth from a jagged piece of mahogany that formed the eye of a wooden stag. "He wasn’t just hiding a treasure," she breathed. "He was hiding his soul. I can’t believe the artist has spent so much time on this room, pouring his heart and soul into this art piece, only to hide it from the world with a mystery protecting it."
Grandma Iko stood in the center, her hands clasped tightly. "I’ve lived in this inn for over seventy years," she murmured, "and I never realized I was sleeping next to a miracle. He took the very bones of the forest and taught them how to sing."
"It’s the ultimate anamorphic illusion," Shizuka said, her eyes tracking the way the shadows danced between the shards. "He sculpted the air itself. We’re not just looking at art; we’re walking through a hundred-year-old dream."
They stood now at the center of this sculpted world, the weight of the artistry pressing in on them with a reverent gravity. The sheer, obsessive labor required to carve and place every shard was a testament to a devotion that bordered on the holy. They felt a profound, humbling sense of honor—as if the room itself had been waiting a century just to tell them its story.
But as the echoes of their footsteps faded, their attention finally converged on the room’s silent anchors: the two obsidian-black safes. Nestled amidst the roots of the wooden giants, the safes were the only things that remained static and unyielding. They were the period at the end of the architect’s grand sentence.
"I’ve spent some time of my college years studying some archeological classes," Shizuka said softly, her voice thick with emotion, "but this... this is the very few times I see an artist purposely leave a legacy of this magnitude for future generations. I can’t even imagine what is hidden inside these safes."
Shizuka was heavily influenced by her mother, as she was one of the most respected archeological figures worldwide. That’s why she was somewhat humble when she said she studied some archeological classes in college. Actually, she graduated with a triple degree in Business Management, Computer Science, and Archaeology. Plus, she was the best student in her Archaeology graduate class.
"I don’t know what they keep," Sam said with shining eyes, "But I bet it is something that will shock the world."
The others nodded in agreement.
"What are we waiting for?" Max said with excitement, "Let’s open it!"
"Yeah!!" The others exclaimed with enthusiasm; they were dying to know what the safes were guarding.
But there was one discordant voice that shouted, "No!"
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice, and they saw Shizuka’s expression of seriousness.
"Why?" Max simply asked.
"If we open these safes now, we will destroy anything that we find inside them!" Shizuka said with a serious face.
The others were taken by surprise by these words, but they didn’t entertain the thought of Shizuka’s words being a lie. After knowing Shizuka for a while, they knew she was a calm and confident person, and she wouldn’t lie about something so serious.
"Why?" Lauren asked curiously.
"It’s kind of complicated." Shizuka said with a pensive expression, "But it starts from the fact that everything inside is a state of extreme delicate balance.
"After a century in total darkness, frozen in time within a cold climate and immersed in pure carbon dioxide, the materials inside are chemically stable but extremely brittle. If you open the doors and suddenly let modern, humid, warm air rush in, the paintings could crack instantly, and the paper of the books could tear due to the rapid expansion of the fibers."
It was only then that they remembered the items inside were over a 100 years old, and time was ruthless to everyone; They all heaved a sigh of relief when they realized that they almost destroyed priceless pieces.
"Thank goddess! Shizuka, you are a lifesaver!"
"Fortunately, we have Shizuka with us..."
"Otherwise, we would turn ourselves into history destroyers."
"..."
Everyone talked loudly with relief, as they showered Shizuka with compliments.
It was only after they calmed themselves that Ayia asked, "Then, what do we do, Shi-chan?"
"It will be a long process from assessing the conditions of the safes until the safes are opened and we can see what is inside. Plus, only a trained and experienced professional team is able to do this job." Shizuka said as she shook her head, "In the most ideal conditions, it would take at least 10 days, but if complications appear, this timeframe could extend into weeks."
The others clearly understood the amount of delicate and difficult work it would be to open these safes.
They couldn’t deny that they were a little disappointed, but they knew that it was for the best. No one in the room wanted to destroy the pieces inside the safe.
"Although it is a bummer, I can understand," Theo said with a helpless smile.
"Yeah, it is a bummer." The others agreed with him, with expressions of disappointment.
"Come on, guys!" Ayia exclaimed suddenly, "Although we can’t see what it is inside the safe now, eventually we will be able to see it. Plus, just this amazing room is already a phenomenal discovery for our mystery."
The others were convinced by her enthusiasm and let go of their excitement for the safes’ content.
"You’re right, Ayia!"
"This room is already awesome!"
"Just the discovery of this room is already worthy of all our efforts to solve this mystery."
"..."
"It’s just a pity that we can’t know for sure the answers to some of our puzzles," Ryoko commented.
The others nodded in agreement, as until now, they didn’t even know for sure the identity of the person who designed this whole scenario.
"Maybe we can find some answers in the room and not in the safes?" Aurora asked.
"It is worth a try!" Ayia exclaimed, "Come on, guys! Let’s search the room again!"
The others shouted in agreement and started searching the room again, but this time they weren’t merely admiring the art piece, but they were searching for answers.
Theo looked for a while before placing his eyes on the safes once again, ’What if?’ he thought. He quickly walked toward Shizuka before asking, "Shizuka-san, is it okay to get near the safes?"
Shizuka was taken aback by this question, but still answered, "It’s okay, just don’t try to move it. Why?"
"Great!" Theo exclaimed, "I was wondering if there might be something engraved on the outside surface. Look at it, from afar, there are all kinds of patterns on it."
Shizuka looked at the safes again, and indeed, Theo was right.
"You’re right!" She exclaimed with excitement.
So, the two of them didn’t waste time before quickly, but with soft steps approached the safes. And as soon as they were less than two meters from them, they noticed that there were indeed words engraved on them!
Without any hesitation, they started to read the inscription.
’To those who possessed the curiosity to follow the thread and the heart to see it through’, the inscription began in a sharp, elegant script. ’My name is Silas Woodwright, born Leonard DaVinti. I traveled the world to seek the beauty hidden from view , and here, hidden on these mountains, I found beauty so bountiful that it made my stay much longer than intended. Here I found the beauty of an untamed nature, but more importantly, I found the beauty of the heart. I found people who will stay in my heart until I leave this mundane world. That’s why I hid the whole extension of works that were produced in this place in these vaults. I left them here because their soul wouldn’t rest easy being anywhere else. Although I leave this place, as my heart yearns for the next scenery, I leave knowing I found a family among these mountains. To you, my family by blood or by spirit, I leave the truth. The treasure is not what I built, but what you can build next.’
