The land of Aversr, an interesting land of its own, but on the bigger picture, it really is nothing different from ‘The Island’, the difference is just in the details. Anyway, in the actual royal family, the former king of the land had 6 children, 5 daughters and one son, the heir was considerably young when he took on the mantle, or should I say, the pleasure, of being the supreme ruler, he was in his mid-teens when he inherited the throne for his father had died then. It had been only a year since the coronation of the prince.

The royal family resides in the royal palace, at the centre of the capital, the town of the rise, Codi.

“Latossa! Pray gather our baggage! Our work here is done!”

“Alright! I guess we’re heading to the capital?”

“Yes! It would be another long travel; we’ll be passing by 3 towns, the first one would be Hals, the second would be Whale, the third would be Ghose.”

“But there’s a shorter way leading right to the capital through the-”

“I already know, but you heard of the major problems in those towns that just immerged a few days, didn’t you?”

“What’s your point?”

“I’m making a name for myself throughout this journey! That was the goal of this travel from the start!”

We got the gear necessary for the travel to the first station to that journey, Hals. Hals is a little town that is situated in the north-east of the seventh village. There, lies the mansion of Scorregion Vechio, one of the most notorious men of their riches in the land, he had been staggering over a mystery of the sort, and so he made a deal that the one to solve it for him is promised to be rewarded handsomely. I learned that many literate men tried to do so, but they failed miserably. I knew therefore that it would spread my name like fire in a haystack if I succeeded in that task.

We made it to the town safely, it was night at the time of our arrival so we decided to stay at a hotel, now this ‘hotel’ was just like one of those villagers’ houses if not worse, the only difference is that you needed to pay in order to stay. There, we met a very peculiar kid, from the looks of it, his apparence indicated clearly that he was of a somewhat very rich and noble family, he was a bit short, and he had one of the prettiest feminine faces I ever got to see in my life, he wore fierce blue eyes, blood-red lips, and a petite nose, his demeanour was all shy and womanlike, his build was slender, and his skin was very pale and smooth. “Now that’s a curious specimen.” I thought to myself “Why would such a rich heir visit these whereabouts? Who would he be?”. Latossa made good acquaintance with him, she introduced him to herself and to mine, he in his turn introduced himself as a son of a grand family indeed, he was accompanied by two trusty men of theirs, and it appeared that we had the same goal in mind, that is, to solve the mystery, night caught them, just as we, and they decided to stay at this hotel because it was the closest. She bonded a little with him, we dined, and then everyone went to their respective room to sleep.

We woke up, ate breakfast, and headed with our bags outside to the prominent mansion. Upon our arrival, we informed the messenger of our intentions, who in turn informed the owner, the guards then let us in. As I imagined, we were the only visitors to stand at this door, gate in this case, I figured that people, after so many tries from their smartest men, would at last give up. We were led by the butler to the owner’s office, and I must say, even for myself who isn’t fond of such trivia, that mansion was beautifully constructed.

In the office, we found the same kid we met at the hotel along with his men, facing the owner, who was a bald, fat, old man, that wore very seemingly expensive clothes, and had a very distinctive, high-pitched voice.

“Gentleman! Kind gentleman! It warms my heart to see that there are still people that would help me solve this mystery! please take a seat! I would now tell you now the whole story behind this problem! Perhaps you’ll be more fortunate than this youngster!”

We sat at the most comfortable seats I ever had sat on to that day.

“Pray proceed.”

“On your command, the tale goes back to the time of my own father, he was one of the few learned men in the land, just like yourselves, and he was the one to build all the magnificence you have laid your eyes upon since your entering to this mansion, he married and had one sole child, and that’s me as you see, I, unlike my father, didn’t care too much for words and knowledge the much I cared for play and money, my late father, however he had tried to have me to learn something, was always unsuccessful, the years had passed, and my father’s time was close to its end. In his death bed, my father revealed to me that he had hidden his most prized treasure since long ago, so of course, I asked about its whereabouts, he told me that he had forgotten, but knowing that such a situation could emerge, he told me to get this paper from inside a certain tile of the stairs, he told me that the clever one who could find it will read its message and would eventually know where that treasure would be, such were his words and I bet my honesty, I would have complained to my father that I didn’t know how to read, but at that time, he already passed away.”

“Would you hand me the paper?”

“Surely.”

He handed me the paper; it goes:

‘The man goes to buy bread

His treasure is safe and sound

For it is hidden safely and cleverly

Hidden smartly, goodly hidden

He buys the bread, under the sun he goes

So shining is the sun, the man thinks

So warm and bright, the sky? roof of all

Roof of earth, and roof of those that are upon it

And the earth, such beauty, upon it sun shines and moon

The man is glad and happy, for he was bright and right to get the bread’

“What do you make of it, gentleman?”

“It seems that the ability to read alone won’t do, this would require shrewdness and a little time, my dear sir, I am indeed a clever man, would you in your turn grant me some time?”

“Of course! Have as much time with it as you want! The mansion is wide and open for every kind soul that would help solve this puzzle!”

Thus, the butler showed us to a wide and decorated room, equipped with expensive furniture and delicious food.

“Sir Periergeia, was it?”

The effeminate boy spoke to me, I thought that he wanted to consult me about the problem, as it appeared to me that Latossa spoke to him about myself a little since all their time together.

“This is a competition kid, each one for his own side.”

“My name is Yume, Yume Kuromizo, I have no interest about the prize of solving this puzzle, my interest is in the solution only, so don’t worry! However, you really are aloof!”

Aloof, she thinks about me that way…

“Nonsense, not that it matters. You failed to solve this puzzle, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re interested about the solution, aren’t you?”

“That’s the purpose of my travel.”

“Here’s a good deal, I want you to answer some of my questions, and in exchange, I’ll tell you the solution to this riddle!”

“You don’t say!!”

“I already solved it. Now, do I have myself a deal?”

“Incredible... yes, yes you do.”

“Good. Now, hear what I say, upon reading this paper, you would realize that its superficial content is of no use, and from what was reported of the father of the owner, he implied that the ‘clever one’ who could find this paper would read its message, which would mean, that the place where that paper was is integral to the solution, and where was that paper? In a tile of some stairs, and that’s it! that’s the hint!”

“Would you elaborate some more, please?”

“Here is the paper, now, make a stairway of words starting from the first word in the first line being the first tile, the second word in the second line being the second tile, and continue downwards, you will get as follows:

‘The

      Treasure

                  Is

                     Hidden

                               Under

                                       The

                                              Roof

                                                     That

                                                            Shines

                                                                     Bright”

the treasure is hidden under the roof that shines bright! That’s the message!”

A silence of astonishment preceded the applause of my audience.

“Never had I thought of it to be this simple! And-”

“Don’t hasten, the riddle is still unsolved yet, that was only the first part, the second is about knowing what place does this message refer to.”

“Well, to what place does it refer to?”

“Well, I don’t know! but I know a guy who might know!”

“Who?”

“The owner!”

We headed back to the office, there, we found the owner nervously walking back and forth, with his hands rubbing off of each other, upon our entrance, he ceased his activity in disappointment.

“You didn’t manage, did you?”

“A false prejudice. I did manage, my good man.”

He lightened up fast.

“You did? Oh my, oh my! Where-”

I told him all about our discovery.

“Do you know what is ‘the roof that shines bright’?”

“Huh! How would I know?”

“You don’t know? Take your time and think, you should know something relatable at the least.”

After some time, he finally answered.

“I remember something about my father that might guide you. He always used to blabber about some ‘material’ he discovered in his young days at a cave that shone whenever the light had stroked it, I believe he used that material later on after he had exhausted it with experiments to decorate his study.”

“Which part of his study?”

“Of that, I’m ignorant. For I ignored that room.”

“Perhaps we’ll reach something if we find where it is.”

We headed downstairs to the father’s beloved room. Upon entering it, it seemed as if it were separate from the whole, it looked abandoned, dusty, it had holes in its walls, it was completely disagreeable, it wasn’t taken care of by any kind of means, I understood quickly that this was the owner’s form of revenge upon his own father for not giving him the treasure right away. I demanded from my crew to look for that material, so they did. After a while of searching and cleaning, they founded it. Among all the atrocity that the room presented in comparison to the mansion, there, a whole part the floor, was constructed from a weird matter, a shining emitter of light, hidden by all the dust and the dirt the room accumulated for the years, it was all the brightness this room had in all honesty since our discovery of it. It shone strongly.

“The floor, that’s no roof.”

“The upper part of it that is. But the lower part, it is a roof of what’s under.”

“You think there’s something under my father’s study? It’s on the lowest level of this mansion!”

I demanded the owner to order his men for digging under the spot of that we found. He gave the order, they therefore began to dig, it wasn’t long since they stumbled upon something, they took it out, it was a little wooden box, I advised them to keep digging while I, and the owner took that box in interest.

“Ooooh! Oh! Ho! Ho! You, sir, are a clever, clever man indeed!”

“Let’s open this box!”

The box was locked by a simple lock, I quickly dealt with it, and as we opened it, all it was, three books, tidily covered, whose titles were somewhat... intriguing.

“NO! NO DAMN WAY! THIS OLD MAN GOT ME THIS WORKED UP FOR NOTHING!!!”

Just when he was throwing his fit of rage, the workers have stumbled upon another box once again, they tried to take it up to the surface, but it was heavy, more men were joining gradually. Finally, they got it out to the surface. It was a gigantic box, upon opening it up by cracking its lock, they found a stacked load of silver and gold whose clear colours washed the anger of the owner away. In fact, I may swear that that moment was the happiest moment of his life. 

“Just wish! Just wish, dear sir!”

“Well then, I wish for the quarter of this treasure, you see, my dear sir, unlike you, I’m very, very poor. And there lies a long journey waiting for me.”

“Hum... no problem!”

“You don’t mind if I take this little box of wood with me? I’ll need some entertainment to calm my heart in my unforgivingly harsh journey. Those little stories will just do!”

“Have it! I wouldn’t have any use for it anyway! What a relief! Sir, in celebration of this achievement, I’ll fest in your name!”

“I’m afraid I can’t stay. I’m in hurry, in any case now, I’ll be going!”

“Then may you be lucky in your journey”