#76 Awakening (4)
Sasha knew exactly what traps were here and how to get past them—
“Listen carefully and remember this.”
—because she had heard it all directly from the person who created them.
She recalled Tabarishi’s chatter from her previous life—
“The first trap will be just a warning. If you’ve come in by mistake, run away quickly. If you came here on purpose, then get lost! Hahaha.”
She didn’t know how long they had been walking, but suddenly the darkness brightened.
Small, round beads were embedded in the walls, glowing to light the way.
They were magical items used like light bulbs, except they used mana as their power source instead of electricity.
‘Those still work?’
The ones farther back had probably run out of stored mana and gone dark.
But these ones ahead were still working even after a thousand years.
She knew expensive ones could give light for years with only a little mana, but she hadn’t expected anything that could last over a millennium.
One of those alone would fetch a fortune—
and here they were, lined up along the path to the vault, not even inside it.
‘What could she possibly have put inside?’
The sheer scale of her friend from her previous life made Sasha feel a little uneasy.
Her gaze dropped to the floor where the light fell.
A few steps ahead, the ground was laid with white and black tiles in a grid pattern.
Up until now, the path had been packed earth.
Why was the floor different here?
Anyone could guess there was some kind of mechanism under it.
And indeed, she remembered—
‘If you step on the wrong tile, the trap triggers.’
It could be anything: spears dropping from the ceiling, arrows shooting from the walls, or the floor splitting open to drop you down.
Tabarishi had said she had installed a variety of traps here, and they should be avoided.
Of course, for Sasha, they posed no danger.
“We can’t just walk through here. Wait a moment.”
Warning Pavel, Sasha drew on her mana to summon elementals.
Shaaaa—
In the enclosed space, a breeze stirred, and tiny, cute creatures popped into existence.
“You called~?” they chirped.
“Can you carry us just over there?” Sasha asked, pointing to the bare ground beyond the tiled area.
The elementals puffed out their chests.
“Don’t worry~ We’ve got this~”
“Thanks.”
Her contracted elementals were wind spirits.
Individually they weren’t strong, but after years of practice she could summon many at once, so there was no problem.
“Heave~ ho! Heave~ ho!”
They swarmed together, lifting Sasha and Pavel into the air, and carried them over without letting them touch the tiles.
“That’s amazing,” Pavel said.
“Right? I think so too every time I fly like this.”
They were relaxed enough to chat as they crossed.
The second obstacle came soon after, and it too was easy for Sasha.
“The second trap… That’s a secret. But I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
It was a massive golem blocking the way—
a rock giant animated by magic, standing guard.
It glared at them and swung its huge stone fists, ready to crush anyone who came close.
“Should I take it down?” Pavel asked quietly.
“No. That would take too long and waste your strength. And if it’s the wrong solution, another trap might trigger.”
She shook her head. That wasn’t the answer Tabarishi had in mind.
‘If it were her…’
Sasha’s gaze turned to something that had been catching her attention—
an organ-like instrument standing against the wall, oddly out of place.
It wouldn’t have been put here without a reason.
‘She must want us to use it.’
On closer inspection, words had been scratched into the stone wall above the instrument in an ancient language—
“A golem made from stones worn smooth by long years of wind and rain. Created by a magi-engineer, it longs for the embrace of a mother it never had.”
Pavel read them aloud in a low voice.
“What does that mean?” he frowned.
Sasha didn’t get it right away either, but she quickly thought it through.
‘A mother’s embrace… an organ… a song… a lullaby?’
Piecing together hints Tabarishi had once given her, she soon had the answer.
She stepped up to the instrument and opened its lid.
“I think playing a song will do it.”
“A song? What song?”
“Pavel, remember the lullaby I used to sing for you?”
“Yes.”
“That’s actually a song I heard often in another world.”
“I see.”
He wasn’t surprised—he’d already learned from her confession that the beautiful melody didn’t exist in this world.
But when she added—
“In my previous life, I sang it for Tabarishi too…”
—Pavel’s brow twitched before he could stop himself.
Sasha didn’t notice and went on,
“Since it was a song only we knew, she probably made this so it would be played here.”
She pressed a dust-free key.
Ding—
A clear tone rang out.
“It still works.”
Smiling in satisfaction, she began to play the lullaby with practiced fingers.
The gentle, soothing melody echoed along the stone walls.
When the short performance ended, she turned—
and saw the golem lying on the floor, as if asleep.
“Let’s go.”
As they walked past, Sasha glanced at its closed eyes.
Perhaps it was just her imagination, but it seemed peaceful.
She hoped the golem could finally rest after a thousand years.
Their footsteps echoed in the darkness until they stopped before a massive wall.
“The third and last one. Honestly, you’ll do better than me here.”
Sasha stared up at the large relief carved into the wall—
“This picture…” Pavel murmured.
“Her Day.”
“Yes.”
“It was a gift from Tabarishi to me. The model was… me, in my previous life.”
“…!”
Pavel looked at it in surprise.
A woman reading under a tree, carved in stone instead of painted, lacking the detail and color of the original—yet still holding the same dreamy, calm air Sasha had.
“It was part of a pair. She kept Her Night and gave me Her Day. I hung it in my lab until… before I died…”
She trailed off.
“…I stored it in my own secret vault.”
It had never left the vault until, as Sasha in this life, she came to expose a fraudulent merchant.
Rumors had spread that it had been burned with its owner at death.
Pavel frowned.
“Why is it here? Looks like we have to get past it.”
“Yes.”
“Break it?” he asked, lifting a fist.
“No. It’s made of metal so strong that even if you hit it with mana-infused strength, you’d just hurt your hand.”
“…Hm.”
“And if you touch the wrong spot, a trap will trigger.”
She flicked her gaze at the ceiling—probably spears or boiling oil would fall.
“Then what do we do?”
“It’s easy. Spot the differences.”
It was a puzzle only someone who had seen the original Her Day could solve.
Which meant only Tabarishi and Sasha could.
‘She made it so only I could enter.’
Drenched in nostalgia, Sasha slowly pointed out each of the seven differences from the original.
Rumble!
The wall split open.
“…We’re finally here,” Pavel murmured.
The end of their journey was in sight—
—and light blazed from the open doorway.
“…Tabarishi, you were really rich.”
Seeing the vault stuffed with treasures, Pavel was speechless.
He’d known she was a famous painter with wealth, but not to this extent.
And it wasn’t just gold and jewels—
Sasha’s eyes widened at the magical items on display.
“This is enchanted armor, and this is an ointment that heals wounds instantly…”
These had been rare even a thousand years ago.
Now they were priceless relics, beyond buying even with mountains of gold.
“Just taking these alone…”
…would make her richer than the Emperor.
