Ultimus Thesaurus: The last Treasure (Era of Change Book 1) by Maximilian Warden Page A
Authors: Maximilian Warden
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could keep the old man quiet for as long as the trip lasted. His presence made the task, Jasper gave us, not easier and I doubted strongly that it was possible at all.
“We should go home. It is not possible to enter Megura and leave it afterwards. An army can’t storm the complex, why should we?” I asked Lucia, who was still examining the compass, her father had sent her.
“This is the only piece of the puzzle that we cannot solve. We have to trust my father, if we are to progress further. There must be a way in and also a way out. Why has he made it so difficult? Who was onto him?”
I stood up and lit a candle, because the dim light gave me a headache.
“Your father is suspected of having personally conspired against the king. They say that he was a swindler, a failure like I. I have always believed in him, I really have. But what if all this was just a figment of his imagination? We race to our death. Your father has already paid with his life for this madness. Why should we follow him? Do not misunderstand me, I will help you, if you so desire. But if you come to your senses, I wouldn’t mind it either.”
It was hard for her, which of course was understandable, but she still knew what I meant. This time my fear was not entirely unfounded, as even if this compass could help us solve this next piece of the puzzle, of what help could it be, as long as we couldn’t even understand the puzzle itself. I joined Lucia and took the compass from her hand. At first glance it did nothing special. It was a sun compass; I had never seen one myself, but often heard about them from seafarers. You hold the compass horizontally in the direction of the sun and then turn it until the shadow rests on the right mark. This will tell you, where north is located. And if you then point to the north, the shadow will tell you the time of day.
“It is heavy. I mean, I do not think that such a simple compass should be this heavy. Maybe you’re really right with your claim,” I said, and verified my theory.
I opened the glass of the compass and noticed that the cone in the middle of the apparatus was movable. I tipped it to the side and heard a mechanical click in the interior.
“Okay. Left up to 8, then on to 11 to 23 and then 32 back to 11 and then go to 8. Done!” I said and the disc on the inside of the compass opened up.
Inside I found a metallic plate with the face of an entity unknown to me. Whatever it was, we would surely need it.
“You did it! Very good, Iago! I had almost doubted my father. We must not give up, it is not a fantasy.”
I was glad to see her so happy again, but I myself still had no clue what it was, that I was actually doing all this for. Did I do it for her happiness in search of a treasure that in the end could just not exist at all or my own happiness by exploiting her? It felt so wrong to help her, because I myself questioned this journey so much, but maybe it was just that I felt, that I was losing time. I wouldn’t have waited as long for Jasper as she did. For me all of this only meant something because of Lucia.
“The drink is done, the drink is here, now onto drink this wondrous beer!” sang the old man and entered the room.
Finally it was ready and we could involve Isaac in our findings. It did not take long for Magnus to collapse and Isaac brought himself up from the ground and fixed his tie and the rest of his clothes.
“Give me just a minute, then we can get going,” he said, and fell completely exhausted into the chair.
“While you take a short rest, I will begin to load up the carriage, both of you can follow, as soon as you are ready,” said Lucia and went outside.
Isaac could see it in my eyes now, what I thought, and he knew that I didn’t trust him as much as before.
“I will tell you the whole truth. My father has been paying the price for his research for a long time, even before our fusion. You have probably already noticed that he is not afraid to try to out
“We should go home. It is not possible to enter Megura and leave it afterwards. An army can’t storm the complex, why should we?” I asked Lucia, who was still examining the compass, her father had sent her.
“This is the only piece of the puzzle that we cannot solve. We have to trust my father, if we are to progress further. There must be a way in and also a way out. Why has he made it so difficult? Who was onto him?”
I stood up and lit a candle, because the dim light gave me a headache.
“Your father is suspected of having personally conspired against the king. They say that he was a swindler, a failure like I. I have always believed in him, I really have. But what if all this was just a figment of his imagination? We race to our death. Your father has already paid with his life for this madness. Why should we follow him? Do not misunderstand me, I will help you, if you so desire. But if you come to your senses, I wouldn’t mind it either.”
It was hard for her, which of course was understandable, but she still knew what I meant. This time my fear was not entirely unfounded, as even if this compass could help us solve this next piece of the puzzle, of what help could it be, as long as we couldn’t even understand the puzzle itself. I joined Lucia and took the compass from her hand. At first glance it did nothing special. It was a sun compass; I had never seen one myself, but often heard about them from seafarers. You hold the compass horizontally in the direction of the sun and then turn it until the shadow rests on the right mark. This will tell you, where north is located. And if you then point to the north, the shadow will tell you the time of day.
“It is heavy. I mean, I do not think that such a simple compass should be this heavy. Maybe you’re really right with your claim,” I said, and verified my theory.
I opened the glass of the compass and noticed that the cone in the middle of the apparatus was movable. I tipped it to the side and heard a mechanical click in the interior.
“Okay. Left up to 8, then on to 11 to 23 and then 32 back to 11 and then go to 8. Done!” I said and the disc on the inside of the compass opened up.
Inside I found a metallic plate with the face of an entity unknown to me. Whatever it was, we would surely need it.
“You did it! Very good, Iago! I had almost doubted my father. We must not give up, it is not a fantasy.”
I was glad to see her so happy again, but I myself still had no clue what it was, that I was actually doing all this for. Did I do it for her happiness in search of a treasure that in the end could just not exist at all or my own happiness by exploiting her? It felt so wrong to help her, because I myself questioned this journey so much, but maybe it was just that I felt, that I was losing time. I wouldn’t have waited as long for Jasper as she did. For me all of this only meant something because of Lucia.
“The drink is done, the drink is here, now onto drink this wondrous beer!” sang the old man and entered the room.
Finally it was ready and we could involve Isaac in our findings. It did not take long for Magnus to collapse and Isaac brought himself up from the ground and fixed his tie and the rest of his clothes.
“Give me just a minute, then we can get going,” he said, and fell completely exhausted into the chair.
“While you take a short rest, I will begin to load up the carriage, both of you can follow, as soon as you are ready,” said Lucia and went outside.
Isaac could see it in my eyes now, what I thought, and he knew that I didn’t trust him as much as before.
“I will tell you the whole truth. My father has been paying the price for his research for a long time, even before our fusion. You have probably already noticed that he is not afraid to try to out
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