Parto 3: La Enigmo. 31: La Ikso

It felt like cheating. I always did everything right. I calculated every step carefully. Learned Kanako’s rhythms and preferences, anticipated their needs, offered solutions to their problems. We became a great team in the strategic challenges, our minds in perfect sync. I even let them have the puzzle challenge, knowing how much they enjoyed the spotlight.

Fine. If Kanako wouldn’t let me in, I would get ahead of them.

I scanned the diary: sketches, phrases, symbols. Riddles were indistinguishable from red herrings. I tried to memorize a few.

Three prominent circles appeared on nearly every page. I assumed they were just a recurring motif, but I made a mental note.

The map was full of X’s. Too many to check. I needed to prioritize. The puzzles could narrow down the search, maybe even reveal the real objective.

Kanako’s voice approached, trying to talk some reason into Abrajm. Before slipping back into my room, I put everything back in the bag, exactly as I had found it. I pulled out a blank sheet of paper and started writing the riddles from memory.

I looked at the first one.

jaeikn
orrmej
ctesso
uniant
roktje
kmssar

A few minutes of word searching revealed “krucoj” starting from the bottom left. I just rotated the whole thing clockwise.

“Krucoj montras kie restas miajn sekretojn.”

Crosses show where my secrets lie.

Easy. It confirmed the X’s on the map.

But the others I remembered… Riddles. I hated riddles. That was Kanako’s strength. I spent a full three days with the one that seemed most important:

“Dancas la nombroj, kaj gracie kreskas.
Sed kio se ili dancas de fino ĝis komenco?
Tempo venos por uzi la ŝlosilo. Unue estas sekuro.”

The numbers dance, and gracefully grow.
But what if they dance from end to beginning?
Time will come to use the key. First is safety.

A reversed number series. But what about the key? Was it “safety”? I tried everything, but nothing worked.

Then it clicked. I was overthinking. Just the reversed Fibonacci sequence. The third line held the message: “tuŝu ses,” touch six. But six what?

I needed more information to continue. And for that, I needed the map and the diary.

There was only one problem: Kanako always closed their door when they weren’t in their room. I needed them to leave in a hurry and forget to close it.

I couldn’t use Abrajm again, though. It would be too suspicious. I needed a different distraction. I went out to the common area and found Serena, working on some math related project. Perfect. Kanako would never leave Serena struggling.

“Hi, Serena,” I said.

Serena looked up, their eyes shining

“Medusa! Help me!” they cried.

“What’s the problem?” I asked, sliding closer.

Serena groaned dramatically, collapsing onto the table, arms sprawled across their books.

“I don’t get it. None of it!”

“Sure, I will help you!” I lowered my voice. “Oh, wait, I can’t…”

Serena tilted their head, and I asked them to come with me outside.

“I need my special math pencil.” I pointed toward the densest part of the forest. “It should be there, near the wall.”

Serena looked at the trees, their eyes widening. They stepped back.

“I will wait here, okay?” they said, fidgeting.

“Actually… I can’t go right now… so I need you to go get it.”

They glanced at the forest, then back at me, shaking their head.

“I don’t think I can… I have never gone alone…”

“Please, Serena, help me,” I pleaded.

Serena’s lip trembled. They looked at me, their eyes full of unshed tears. I felt bad for them, but I knew I just needed one more push.

“You’ll be fine, Serena. Just go straight until you find a small tree, then turn right and walk a little more. It’ll be right there!”

Serena nodded, tears already rolling down their cheeks. Then they turned and ran towards the forest. As soon as they were out of sight, I sprinted back to Ĉelo Kvar.

“Kanako! Serena went into the forest. I can’t find them!” I burst into their room.

Kanako shot out of their chair, alarm flashing in their eyes.

“What? Why?”

“I think they were looking for something, but now they’re gone!”

Kanako didn’t hesitate, grabbing their shoes and rushing past me, leaving the door wide open.

Perfect.

I retrieved the bag from Kanako’s desk. The map was there, but not the diary. Where had they taken it? I would have to manage without it. I took the map out and stared at it. A different pen had circled five X’s. Maybe Kanako’s. I ran my finger over one.

The mark was indented! I tested both circled and uncircled X’s, confirming my guess… It also explained Kanako’s reaction the moment I mentioned decoys. Five X’s. Five treasures…

And then I remembered. Tuŝu ses! There were not five but six real X’s!

I traced the map until I found it. The sixth X. It marked a bookshelf in the library. Now I was ahead of them! I even left a small marking next to the X, to help them a little. Then I returned the map to the bag and went back to the common room.

Moments later, Kanako returned, Serena trailing behind them, sobbing.

“See? It’s not scary anymore!” said Kanako, caressing Serena’s cheek. Then, to me. “Can you help them, Medusa? I need to finish my project.”

I nodded and Kanako went back to their room.

Serena stepped in front of me, sniffling. Then showed me their hands.

“I found it…” they said.

My stomach sank. The lost pencil I fabricated was in Serena’s hands.

“Thank… you,” I said.

Then I spent the rest of the night helping them with math.

The next morning, as soon as I could slip away unnoticed, I headed to the library.

I found a hole in the back of the lower shelf and reached inside, feeling around until I grasped something. I pulled it out.

It was a small package. A piece of wood wrapped in paper. The paper had a message from Arakil.

I couldn’t decipher this. Maybe you can. I found it near the wall, by the stream. I had to move it from the tree, sorry.

And engraved in the wood:

Vento ne sonas, silento portas mesaĝon.
Pensu kiel papili, PROFUNDA maro kaŝas.
SES×SES
-Kimiti

A puzzle that had stumped Arakil. If I could decipher it… I copied the inscription and returned the package, confident Kanako would find it.

I spent the next week obsessing over the message. I tried every method I knew, even researching new ones in the library. Nothing worked. Frustration mounted.

I paced, replaying everything in my mind. The map, the diary, the message. Then I thought about Kanako. They would leave soon. I considered telling them everything, revealing what I knew, offering my help to decipher the message. We could work on it together.

I was about to make a decision when Kanako came to my room. My heart leaped. They had found the message. They were finally going to confide in me. I could feel it.

“Medusa,” they started, then paused, their gaze shifting away. I held my breath, waiting.

“Serena told me it was you who sent them into the forest.”

Serena? That’s what they wanted to talk about?

“It was just a game,” I mumbled.

“It wasn’t, Medusa! Serena was terrified!”

“I…”

“You can’t do stuff like that. Please don’t do it again, okay?”

Kanako’s voice wasn’t angry anymore, just tired. Disappointed. They left.

Rage bubbled inside me. They didn’t trust me. They didn’t think I was good enough. Well, fine. I would solve that message myself. I would solve everything.

And then Kanako would see. Medusa would prove their genius once and for all.