The air was as silent as death, thick with embarrassment and shock.
"Ahem."
Ed coughed and walked over to the wall where the noise had come from, acting as if nothing had happened. His smug expression and his plan to teach Jason a lesson for looking down on young people had gone up in smoke.
It was from this wall that the dust had shaken loose. He raised his hand and touched the surface, his fingers brushing across clear unevenness. He found a gap; sliding along it revealed a stone gate about two meters wide.
"There's a stone door here. The lever I turned before must have been the switch, but perhaps it's been too long without maintenance. The mechanism is broken or jammed with junk, making it useless... We have to open it the old-fashioned way."
Jason had already figured things out from Ed's previous actions. He came over and stood beside him, then began to tap the wall gently. A solid, dull sound echoed.
Ed also leaned in close, listening to the knocks. Meanwhile, poor Sigurd stood there with a confused look, stretching his neck to see. He could only watch quietly, his eyes full of the desire to learn, like a nursery kid watching teenagers play basketball.
Suddenly, Jason's gestures changed. His tapping became slightly different, and the echoing sound shifted. He knocked around the stone gate and its surroundings, then raised his head and brushed the dust from his ears.
"This should be a push-in stone door. It's a bit difficult to deal with."
"Huh? Why do you say that?" Ed asked, confused. After all, he was a treasure hunter who started out as a newcomer.
There were many things he didn't know, but the man in front of him claimed to be a professional, and his behavior, like collecting information in advance, gave that impression. If there was any problem, it was that he was a bit of an idiot with a weird fondness for girlish things, which was hard for a pure guy like Ed to understand. So, it was only natural for him to ask.
Jason placed both hands on the stone door and pushed with all his strength, but it didn't move at all.
"Because with this kind of stone door, you have to push the entire slab in to find the entrance on one or both sides. This secret space should have entrances on both sides. If it were a rotating type, we'd only need to push one side hard, and it would spin to let us in. That would take much less effort."
Ed nodded in understanding. No wonder the difficulty level was [Hercules]. In other words, they had to push the entire heavy stone door to create a passage. This was truly a Herculean task, something only someone with freakish strength could manage.
"Let's push together. Maybe we can do it," Sigurd suggested, rolling up his sleeves, eager to contribute. Otherwise, he always felt like he was being treated as invisible; literally no one cared about him or took him seriously.
"Okay, let's give it a try then." Jason nodded, adjusting his hat.
The three of them leaned against the wall, using their shoulders and elbows to push against the stone door.
"I'll count to three. Let's push together. Three! PUSH!!"
Following Ed's illogical order—though both Jason and Sigurd wanted to curse him, they considered the gravity of the situation and their own poor morale, they began to push with all their strength. Their faces turned red, and their legs began to slide backward. The stone door only shook slightly and refused to budge.
"No, the power isn't enough," Jason said, leaning on his knees and panting.
Ed was also panting as he stared at the door. He had underestimated the [Hercules] difficulty level. But it would be a pity to give up after coming this far. They couldn't involve others, as it would arouse jealousy and cause unnecessary trouble. They might even have to give up a large share or, in the worst-case scenario, follow in his mother's footsteps and pay her a century-early visit.
Naturally, everyone was unwilling. One more person meant one less share. Ed began to look around for anything he could use. His eyes fell to the floor beneath his feet, and he touched his chin thoughtfully.
"Let's knock a few dents into the floor for better leverage. The stone door shook a bit, which means we're just a little short on strength."
"Okay, let's do it," Sigurd nodded without thinking.
With two votes on their side, Jason had no choice but to agree, pinching his nose. "Fine."
He took a small hammer, as long as his forearm, and a shovel from his bag. They started working hard, and soon, three pits appeared on the ground.
"Let's try again."
Ed placed his legs in the pit and leaned his shoulders against the wall. The others did the same.
"I'll count to one this time, alright?"
You bastard, no jokes this time, Sigurd thought angrily, remembering how Ed's cheap joke had almost made him lose his balance last time.
"I understand. Then, one! PUSH!!"
You little bastard! Both Sigurd and Jason cursed Ed inwardly but gave it their all.
This time, with the pits for leverage, they pushed with everything they had. Finally, the stone slab in front of them loosened noticeably.
"F*ck! It's moving! More strength, don't hold back. PUSH!!"
Sensing the slab shifting, Ed roared and pushed forward hard. The other two did the same. The stone door slowly moved forward, finally revealing two passable side openings.
"Hah, hah, finally done."
Everyone fell to their knees, panting heavily. But soon, filled with unknown energy, they rushed impatiently through the side openings. It was pitch black. Sigurd was about to go back for the torch he had set down when Jason took a palm-sized lantern from his backpack, spinning it until it lit up.
Cool! I want a few of those. This is definitely more useful than a candle, Ed thought, his eyes shining as he looked at the lantern in Jason's hand.
After turning a corner, they entered a small room about three meters wide and six or seven meters long. On a large table were various incomprehensible tools, long rusted and unusable. There were also hand-drawn drawings, but they were dirty and greasy, their contents indiscernible.
Ed had already spotted the treasure he was looking for in the dim light, a blue outline glowing above it. Seeing the treasure within his grasp, Ed suddenly stopped everyone and said seriously, "According to our agreement, the three of us share equally, and contribution determines who picks first. If we encounter multiple trophies later, the order of selection will be me, Jason, and then Sigurd. Clear?"
Ed looked at Jason and asked, "Do you have any objections? Let's discuss it now to avoid disputes later."
Jason nodded happily, making an "okay" gesture with his hand. "Of course, just follow the order you said. No problem here."
Although he already knew the answer, for the sake of Sigurd's poor heart—so he wouldn't complain later—Ed turned to him as well. "Do you have any problem with that?"
"Of course, I have no problem with that either." Finally feeling the respect he deserved, Sigurd replied with a satisfied smile. It was too easy to make this guy happy.
"Since nobody has any problems, then let's do this."
The three of them worked together to search the space for spoils. Among the items was the weapon Ed had seen. Finally, all the items were placed on the table: they were all stone-shaking guns—four pistols and two stone-shaking guns that looked like short spray guns.
With all the spoils gathered, the other two looked at Ed, clearly waiting for him to choose first.
Ed didn't shy away and shamelessly picked the protagonist of the treasure hunt—the short spray gun with the blue outline he had seen earlier. None of the guns looked alike; all were distinct in style.
They appeared delicate and luxurious, more like decorations than weapons. It made sense for Ed to choose the short gun that was obviously different, thinking it more valuable. No one could guess he had a system helping him identify the real treasure among the junk.
After Ed chose, Jason picked up one of the pistols. Seeing this, Sigurd took the remaining short gun without hesitation. Jason ended up with two pistols, while Ed and Sigurd each had a short-range spray gun and a pistol.
"Then this cooperation ends here?" Jason said with a satisfied smile, moving to give Ed a hug, but the other party moved away with a look of disgust, though his eyes unconsciously drifted to Jason's hat.
"Let's go," Ed said and hurried out of the secret room as if fleeing from Jason.
Jason shrugged indifferently and turned to hug Sigurd, but he also moved away. "All right, whatever you want."
Ed and Sigurd walked out the way they had come. Taking advantage of the fact that the sky was not yet completely dark, they left the manor. When they reached the exit, they saw Jason waving goodbye at the building's door.
"It's getting late. Let's hurry back," Ed said with a hint of impatience, clearly fearing the clichéd nonsense from countless novels—that Jason would bring his friends to rob them, or that someone else would be waiting outside the manor to surround them.
Sigurd seemed to have heard of such things, too, and nodded hurriedly, looking around vigilantly. They quickly hid their guns in their clothes and walked across the dirt road back to the port city.