125.
“I can’t break… Is there any?”
I muttered as I poked at the door with my sword.
As the door was made of stone, its thickness seemed considerable.
Every time the sword touched it, the curse on the door tried to invade me.
The curse was even pushing away my sword itself.
It’s not just a curse… is it sealed?
It felt like the curse itself was locking the door.
“Careful! He said he was cursed.”
“I am fine. Rather… Do you know anything about this door?”
At my words, Song Yun-ju came to a place a little away from the door and looked at the pattern engraved on the door.
After staring at it for a long time, she opened her mouth slowly.
“This is Uku Pacha… To put it simply, it seems to symbolize the door leading to the underworld.”
“The other side?”
“is it so. There are three worlds in Inca mythology. Hana Pacha, the heavenly world of gods and stars, Kei Pacha, the middle world inhabited by humans, and Uku Pacha, the underworld of the dead and demons.”
Having said that, Song Yun-ju pointed to a pattern engraved at the top of the door.
“And that Uku Pacha is managed by the god of death and minerals called Supai. That pattern symbolizes that Supai, and that’s probably why the door faces the floor instead of horizontally.”
“So you’re saying that beyond that is the underworld?”
At my question, Song Yun-ju shook her head.
“No matter what, I can’t make a real underworld. However, only the shamanistic meaning is established. Judging by the fact that he even tried to make it into the realm of Uku Pacha, it seems that he used some very disturbing magic.”
“Can I open this?”
“We can’t open it.”
Song Yun-ju nailed it like that.
“Then what should I do?”
“We need help from a local exorcist. In fact, cursed doors are common in Inca ruins, even if you’ve never seen them heading to the underworld. So they are experts at opening things like this, experts.”
“Is this common?”
“sure. It was the people of the Inca Empire who made these ruins in the past. Do you know how the Inca Empire fell?”
I nodded.
Like the Aztecs in Mexico, the Inca Empire, which established and developed the foundation of the Inca myth, was destroyed by the Spanish Empire at the time and disappeared into history.
“At that time, what the Spaniards most desperately sought in the Incas was gold. That’s because there was a lot of gold in the Incas. Why, it often appears in movies. Something like a huge amount of gold hidden in ancient ruins.”
“Is there something like that here?”
“It’s not just there, but here is a representative area. You know El Dorado, right? Are those all stories from the Incas?”
Eldorado is a golden town that has so much gold that the city is covered with gold.
Originally, when the Spanish invaders tortured the South American natives and asked them to give up gold, the natives made up an excuse that all the gold was in Eldorado, but it was a fictional city.
Song Yun-joo explained that the Inca possessed so much gold that there was a theory that Eldorado might have existed in the Inca Empire.
“So actually, at the time of the fall of the Inca Empire, the Incas hid considerable gold throughout the empire. And the Incas, who knew how to use magic, put a curse on the door and sealed it.”
Hearing such a story, I became a little interested.
It meant that there might be a real treasure inside that stone gate.
“So this curse is very difficult for outsiders like us to break. It’s a seal specially created to ward off foreign invaders. That’s why we need help from the locals.”
Is that why we said we couldn’t open it?
There was some truth in Song Yun-ju’s words.
If the magic was created for that purpose, it wouldn’t be easy to destroy it.
But then there was no reason for us to be here any longer.
Doesn’t that mean we have to bring the exorcist named Carlos we met earlier?
“then… Shall we go out?”
“That’s right, what. Oh, before that… miss. Please take a picture of this door too.”
After taking a few pictures of the cursed door, we turned away from the ruins.
And back to the hotel.
“They are resting. I’ll talk to Carlos.”
After saying that, Song Yun-ju left me and Choi Eun-young in the hotel lobby and went to meet the locals.
The sun had already set outside, and it was dark.
Maybe there’s nothing to go out again today.
Then it wouldn’t be bad to rest in the room like this.
“… … ”
Choi Eun-young glanced at me with a strange expression.
Well, it was evening time.
This is a hotel that is suspicious of whether there is room service.
It would be better to eat outside.
“Police Choi, shall we go out to eat together?”
“… yes!”
As if waiting for my words, Choi Eun-young nodded.
So we went to a restaurant near the hotel.
Maybe it’s because it’s a tourist destination?
There was also a menu in English.
What I chose there was a chicken dish that looked okay.
And Choi Eun-young was a trout dish.
However, when the food is served, Choi Eun-young’s expression subtly hardens as she tastes it.
It’s not like the taste I was expecting.
“then… ”
So, I also tasted the dishes I ordered.
Its taste… It was fine on its own.
After all, it was the food of a country on the other side of the globe, so it had an exotic feel.
Still, compared to the food in another world, it was much better.
After finishing the meal, we bought a yellow Inca Cola, a specialty of Peru, and went back to our room.
the next morning.
Even though they moved a little earlier than the appointed time, Choi Eun-young and Song Yun-ju were already in the hotel lobby.
“You come now. Did you sleep well last night?”
“Oh, hello… ”
After a brief greeting, I immediately inquired about the incident.
According to Song Yun-joo, what was the problem?
It seemed that the meeting with the local exorcist continued until late last night.
“Now the story is over. It took a while because there were strange patterns on the door.”
“A strange pattern?”
“is it so. Why, there was something engraved on the altar yesterday, right?”
It was referring to the pattern that Song Yun-ju did not recognize.
“That wasn’t a pattern related to mythology.”
“You mean it has nothing to do with tradition?”
“Because it is. As it turned out, that was the pattern used by a certain general’s family during the Inca Empire. So I can’t help but recognize it.”
“… … ”
“So I still don’t know why it was engraved there. This is the first time the family crest has been engraved on a ruin. Isn’t it a historic site built by the people of the family, and the locals are only guessing that much now.”
I nodded.
“Can you still open the door?”
“Fortunately, it is. They say it has nothing to do with the structure of the sealing spell. He will set off with us today and unseal the door.”
If so, there was no problem in solving the case.
And after a while, as Song Yun-ju said, Carlos and three other exorcists appeared in the hotel lobby.
Seeing that, Song Yun-ju looked at me and asked.
“Shall we move now?”
“yes. Let’s go right away.”
Immediately we moved to the site, the ruins.
I entered the ruins first with Choi Eun-young to ensure safety.
But is it because it was swept clean once yesterday?
There were no new spirits or monsters.
“You may come in.”
So I told Song Yun-ju, who was waiting outside, and she guided the local exorcists to the inside of the ruins, in front of the cursed door.
“Is that a ceremonial tool?”
In the hands of the Peruvian exorcists, there was something like a mask.
At this, Song Yun-ju nodded.
“that’s right. To put it simply, it’s like a mask dance. That mask means Inti. In other words, he is the god of the sun, and that is his wife, Mamaquila. and-“
Song Yun-ju briefly explained the ceremony.
From what I’ve heard, it means wearing a mask that symbolizes various divinities and conducting a specific ritual.
It was a kind of ritual, claiming that they were not invaders but of Inca blood.
“So let us step back for a moment. It’s a difficult ritual when outsiders get involved.”
At Song Yun-ju’s words, we retreated to the entrance of the ruins.
After a while, an unknown voice came from inside the ruins.
The ceremony had begun.
“It will take about an hour.”
it’s an hour
I’m glad it wasn’t that long.
“hmm… ”
Having free time, I looked down the mountain from the entrance of the ruins.
The view of the huge mountain range spread out under the white snow.
Also the scenery was nice.
It would have been better if it hadn’t come up on my feet.
While looking at the surrounding scenery, Choi Eun-young’s voice was heard.
“Yeah, but… Is there really gold in there?”
Could it be because of the El Dorado story I heard yesterday?
Choi Eun-young asked in a cautious voice.
However, no matter how much gold was here, how could there be gold on a snowy mountain like this?
Although I thought so.
“There will be.”
Song Yun-ju said so unexpectedly.
Then Choi Eun-young’s eyes widened.
“Gee, really?”
“It’s strange that there aren’t any ruins of this size. It was definitely sealed there. Even the grave robbers couldn’t come this far.”
“oh… !”
“But even if there is gold, we can’t take it. It’s all a piece of cake.”
It was.
After all, whatever is in there is an artifact belonging to the Peruvian government.
We can’t get our hands on it.
However, Choi Eun-young added with a slightly flushed face.
“still… Aren’t you expecting something?”
Her mind was well enough.
At one time, I also had my heart pounding at the holy sword hidden deep in the dungeon.
now… can’t do that though
and after some time
The sound of the ritual that had been heard from inside died down, and the Peruvian exorcists came out.
Song Yun-ju, who talked with them, soon conveyed the contents to us.
“The consciousness seems to have gone well. The seal is gone. I didn’t open the door because it was dangerous, but they say it will probably open without difficulty?”
At her words, I headed straight into the ruins.
Then, the stone gate, which was really cursed, remained there with the black light gone.
So I grabbed it and threw it open.
Beyond that was a set of stairs leading down.
“Careful. As I said yesterday, it symbolizes the underworld from below.”
“I know.”
“first… I will call a summons.”
Hearing Song Yun-ju’s warning, I went down the stairs with Choi Eun-young’s summoned beast at the fore.
At the end of the stairs, which were not very long, there was a straight corridor again.
However, the appearance was clearly different from the ruins a moment ago.
“Here… ”
The corridor leading from the stairs was so wide and splendid that it was hard to believe it was underground.
For a long time, the floor, which had not been invaded by anyone, was still covered with brightly patterned cloth like a carpet.
On the left and right, golden ornaments in the shape of animals were hung on the walls.
I also saw rooms leading from the hallway, which were also lavishly decorated with all sorts of gold ornaments.
They say it symbolizes the underworld.
The inside was shining so brilliantly that it reminded me of the heavenly world.
“and… !”
“How are you here… ”
Choi Eun-young and Song Yun-joo’s astonishment overlaps.
Among them, Song Yun-ju, who was looking around sharply, looked at me.
“Is there anything around here?”
“yes. Clean.”
After receiving my confirmation, she carefully inspected the corridor and the rooms leading from it.
Even among those extravagant golden treasures, Song Yun-ju was trying to think of something.
“It is strange. here… I think I saw it somewhere… ”
“Let’s go inside first, then.”
I said that and went further inside.
Then, the splendor and extravagance intensified, and eventually a wide circular space appeared.
A space where part of the opposite side is covered with a white cloth.
After seeing that, Song Yun-ju clapped her hands.
“ah… ! I get it now.”
“What?”
“Here is the rescue. I wondered if it was similar to something, but it is similar to the royal palace here.”
“A royal palace?”
“that’s right. So here… In terms of magic, it’s a royal palace in the underworld.”
Having said that, Song Yun-ju pointed to a space covered by a white cloth.
“What’s behind me?”
“… You know that.”
It was as she said.
A level indicator was visible behind the white cloth.
67 levels.
Compared to the ghosts and spirits near the ruins, it was 20 levels or more strong.
“Do you know what that is?”
“maybe… He must be one of the former emperors of the Inca Empire.”
I knew the name of the monster or spirit would come out.
Surprisingly, the person over there seemed to be a person in history itself.
“The Emperor?”
“The Inca Empire kept the bodies of all emperors as mummies. It was believed that the Inca emperor was a descendant of Inti, the sun god, and a lineage of the gods. So, the Incas thought that they could communicate with them even after they died, and they brought out mummified emperors at every festival and asked them questions.”
A story about believing that the emperor, a descendant of a god, was immortal.
Song Yun-ju’s explanation continued.
“However, the mummies of successive emperors have gone missing after the Spanish invasion. That’s why it is known that they were all unilaterally disposed of by the invading army.”
“You mean one of them was here?”
“… I think so. And earlier, you said that the Inca general made this place, right?”
I nodded.
“It is highly likely that the general resisted the Spanish at the time of the fall of the Incas. So he stole the emperor’s mummy, built a palace for the emperor, filled it with gold, and sealed it. Hoping that the Emperor, who has regained his strength someday, will defeat the invaders.”
Did something like that happen?
I looked in the direction of the white cloth.
Is it because he is the emperor?
It must have been aware of our presence, but it hasn’t reacted in the slightest yet.
Instead, he sits arrogantly behind that white cloth.
If you want to come, do you want to come yourself?
“Then it must be a mummy over there?”
“If you look at it broadly, it is. But it’s no ordinary mummy. This is the space where the tradition of immortality, entangled with that emperor, can be most strongly realized.”
burn it
Unfortunately, that meant nothing to me.
Because I had a skill that ignored all immortality conditions.
But soon another worry came to my mind.
“however… Does that mummy count as a relic?”
“I was so worried. It would be nice if the shape was maintained, but if not, there is nothing I can do about it.”
At my words, Song Yun-ju waved her hand and said,
If so… fortunately it was
“All right. Stay back. Policewoman Choi too.”
I drew my sword and stepped forward.
As I approached the white cloth, the cloth pulled back by itself with a clicking sound.
Behind it was a golden throne shining like the sun.
And it was the mummy of the emperor who sat on it.