The Treasure in the Study

The expression on the painted figure changed, its plea growing more intense, as though trying desperately to convey something, yet unable to utter a single word.

"Forget it, let's call it satisfying my curiosity," Freyr shrugged. Climbing the ladder back to the bookshelf, he followed the hints given by the figure during the chimes, meticulously inspecting the third painting on the wall.

The third portrait, like the others, depicted an ancestor, this one in a naval admiral's uniform, wearing a stern expression, his gaze leveled, as if staring into the distance.

Freyr meticulously inspected the painting for a while but found no clues. He even tried moving the painting to check behind it, but his efforts yielded nothing.

Standing on the ladder, he pondered for a moment, not feeling rushed but instead patiently examining every detail. After three thorough inspections with no results, he had a sudden realization and started to closely observe the person depicted in the painting.

The eyes of the figure in the painting were looking straight ahead.

Freyr followed the direction of the painted figure's gaze and discovered it was aimed at a knight's sword hanging on the opposite wall. Immediately, he moved the ladder to that side. The physical exertion was quite tiring for a thirteen-year-old boy, but his intense curiosity drove him forward.

Upon inspecting the knight's sword on the wall, he found nothing special about it. However, he noticed that the blade of the sword pointed towards a nearby bookshelf. He continued his search in that direction.

Finally, he found something! On the crossbeam of the bookshelf, he felt a series of uneven markings. Calming his mind, he realized it was a line of text, but the words were written in reverse! To the untrained eye, these reversed characters might appear as mere decorative patterns.

Freyr carefully read the reversed text: "The beautiful night sky, Shining Wagon guides the way."

He couldn't help but smile wryly.

"What is this? A riddle?" he mused.

Sighing, he slid down the ladder and sat cross-legged on the floor, racking his brain to solve the riddle.

"Night sky... Shining Wagon..."

Suddenly, Freyr stood up, a hopeful expression lighting up his face.

"What's in the night sky... stars! Shining Wagon? It must refer to the Big Dipper! The shape of the Big Dipper in the sky resembles a large wagon!"

Having figured this out, Freyr swiftly began searching through the bookshelves in the study.

Stars... stars...

In the study, anything related to stars would surely be in the section dedicated to astrology. Using the index, he quickly found the bookshelf housing books on astrology. Climbing up, he searched meticulously, and in the seventh row, guided by the "wagon" clue, he felt around.

He examined each book carefully until finally...

When he pulled one particular book, it felt noticeably heavier. It was made of metal! As he pulled it, he heard the sound of gears turning within the wall.

The entire bookshelf slowly rotated, revealing a dark entrance behind it.

### Chapter 15: The Greatest Female Astrologer

Freyr picked up a candlestick. After a moment's thought, he took down a weapon hanging on the wall—a short sword, considering his current lack of strength. He paused briefly before also grabbing a few fresh candles and tucking them into his coat.

With measured steps, Freyr entered the secret chamber in the wall.

The dim candlelight illuminated only a space two or three steps ahead and behind. Fortunately, Freyr's innate spiritual sensitivity was stronger than most, allowing him to sense his surroundings more keenly.

This was a secret passage within stone walls, cold and hard on both sides, filled with dust accumulated over countless years. Despite Freyr's efforts to move quietly, he couldn't avoid stirring up the dust, making him sneeze repeatedly.

His feet occasionally stepped on small stones, causing the candlelight to flicker as he carefully advanced.

Luckily, the place seemed to have some ventilation. Although the candlelight flickered, it didn't extinguish due to lack of oxygen.

After walking through the secret passage for a while, he came upon a staircase spiraling downwards. The narrow stairs were roughly constructed from stones but were solid enough. As Freyr descended, he estimated he had gone down about thirty levels before finally seeing a small door.

The metal door handle was rusty. Freyr grasped it and tried to turn it, but the door was locked and wouldn't budge. He sighed, suddenly recalling the phrase engraved backwards on the bookshelf...

"The carriage is the key..."

Freyr pondered, raising his candle to inspect the area around the door. Finally, he saw a pattern on the ceiling above the door.

It was an engraved design, resembling a star chart. Freyr, not particularly knowledgeable about astronomy, recognized the shape of the Big Dipper, which looked like a carriage, due to the phrase about the carriage.

"The carriage is the key..." Freyr muttered. The ceiling was too high for his thirteen-year-old self; even standing on tiptoe, he couldn't reach it. By the faint candlelight, Freyr studied the pattern closely.

As the first candle was nearly spent, Freyr lit a second one, and an idea struck him.

A key? Ridiculous! If someone discovered this secret passage, they could easily use tools to force open the door without a key. If such brute force could work, then the key wouldn't be emphasized so prominently in the clue. Hence, the key must have a deeper meaning.

This meant that any attempt to break or pry the door open without the key would be futile. The "key" likely wasn't literal.

Freyr sat down, thinking. When he stood again, he jumped as high as he could, using the short sword to tap on the ceiling pattern of the Big Dipper.

Thud!

Freyr's eyes lit up; the sound was hollow.

Abandoning his attempt on the door, he searched the floor, finding a gap between the stones. He wedged the short sword into the gap and stood on it, balancing precariously but now able to reach the ceiling.

Thick dust covered the ceiling. Freyr felt around, noticing the distinct texture of the star chart. He tried various methods—tapping, twisting, turning.

Finally, something clicked. He twisted a part of the star chart, and with a grinding noise, a section of the floor suddenly caved in.