WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 485: Room 207, Gate Room - First Trial - Eternal Life and Resurrection (3)

──────

- Mi-ro

“Introduce yourselves. Mi-ro, Taio. You’ve at least heard each other’s names, right? You’re two of my few friends, so get along.”

Unlike what Aedia said, today was the first time I’d heard Taio’s name.

Was he Aedia’s close aide?

“Miss Mi-ro, I’ve often heard Lady Aedia speak of you. My name is Taio.”

“... Yes.”

“Mi-ro, what kind of answer was that?”

“Hello. I’m Mi-ro.”

“Haha, not at all. It seems this beautiful young lady is simply shy around strangers.”

“Oh my! Taio, have you already fallen for Mi-ro? She has quite a sharp tongue, despite how she looks.”

“Do roses not naturally have thorns?”

‘Roses have thorns.’

That kind of cheesy line belonged in a drama from thirty years ago...

Then again, this was ancient times.

Maybe Taio had just used a sophisticated pickup line five thousand years ahead of its time?

Men in black clothes who seemed to be his subordinates were bringing in around fifteen children.

“Mi-ro, are you going to keep looking so sullen?”

“Lady Aedia. Who are those children over there?”

At that moment, Taio’s expression noticeably hardened.

“Miss Mi-ro, why don’t you go inside now?”

All of a sudden?

“No, it’s fine. Mi-ro should see this too.”

“Lady Aedia, Miss Mi-ro is still young-”

“She’s my friend. Friends shouldn’t keep secrets from each other.”

What was with this atmosphere?

I didn’t know anything, so what were the two of them talking about?

“If that is Lady Aedia’s wish, I understand. Miss Mi-ro, please keep what you are about to see confidential.”

“... Um, I don’t understand what either of you are talking about.”

Aedia answered.

“Mi-ro, I’m about to perform a miracle.”

“A miracle?”

“You could call it the great power passed down by my great ancestor, Menes.”

Menes, the great pharaoh who united Egypt and was said to be the son of a god.

The great power inherited by his descendants.

“See it for yourself. You would’ve had to see it eventually anyway. It just happens to be today.”

Aedia walked toward the children.

Despite the ominous situation, the children stood there with dazed expressions. They looked drugged.

Before I knew it, Aedia was kneeling on a soft cloth spread over the floor.

“Parent of all creation, beginning of all things, ruler of the distant star realm, great Menes.... Your daughter stands before you. Show me the future.”

Then...

Thud!

All the children began to collapse, their faces turning pale!

“Ah! Aah! What is this-”

“Please calm down. Lady Aedia will explain soon.”

“Calm down? She’s doing something to those children-”

Taio put a firm hand on my shoulder, preventing me from moving.

This was obviously some kind of evil black magic!

I’d never thought Aedia was a villain, but was this what she was really like?

Should I use the Time Lender and stop her right now?

But Teacher had told me not to do anything alone unless it was absolutely necessary!

While I froze, unable to decide what to do, the strange ritual ended and Aedia approached me.

“Mi-ro, were you surprised?”

“...”

“Calm down. I’ll explain everything.”

She carefully explained what had just happened.

It was true that she had drawn on the children’s life force, and the purpose was to see “fate.”

Children had more remaining lifespan than adults, so they would not die even if some of their life force was used.

She also said she never abused her power to see fate and had only used it for Egypt’s future.

“So, you used children as sacrifices for Egypt’s future?”

“Sacrifices? That’s a misunderstanding. I think of it as receiving these children’s help, not sacrificing them.”

“But if you keep taking their life force, they’ll eventually die-”

“Only three times! Never more than that. Afterward, I’ll take responsibility for their futures too.”

“... Take responsibility for their futures?”

“All these children were slaves. They came from poor families or were orphans. But that won’t be true anymore. Once they help me two more times, I’ll help them live happy lives.”

“...”

“I can arrange for them to be adopted by wealthy families, find them work at the palace, or have them work at my estate if necessary. Either way, they’ll never have to worry about making a living again.”

“...”

I understood what she meant.

All these children had only the miserable fate of slaves ahead of them.

Aedia periodically brought in children like them, drew out their life force three times, then looked after their futures.

It was confusing.

Even if twenty to thirty years were taken from their lives, wouldn’t living under Aedia’s care be far better than living as slaves?

If I looked at it that way, there were no victims here.

Aedia benefited because she could read fate and help the kingdom, while the children benefited because they escaped the fate of slavery.

“You understand now, right? If you don’t believe me, I can show you the children I take care of.”

“...”

I didn’t need to verify it. This seemed like the truth.

She was the pharaoh’s daughter, and she even had mysterious supernatural powers. Changing the lives of a few children would be easy for her.

“I, um, so...”

Just as I fell into confusion, unsure how to react, a familiar yet sharp voice rang out.

“What a ridiculous story.”

Everyone, including Aedia and even Taio, turned toward the voice in shock.

Two familiar people appeared: Seung-yeop and Yumi.

“I wondered why you took the children away. So this was it? Even in this era, there are all kinds of strange magic.”

“Gasp! Y-you! Did you come after me?”

“... Taio. Who is that woman?”

“I-I don’t know! She’s a magician who suddenly appeared when we rescued the children.”

“Ah, I should introduce myself. I am Yumi, daughter of the noble Sky God, Horus!”

“Horus?”

I let out an incredulous laugh.

Her status was obviously made up, but she had chosen to be Horus’s daughter?

Horus was a god from the Egyptian mythology of the reality we knew.

Yet the god of Egypt here was an unknown being called Malkab, whom we’d never heard of before.

The whole situation felt like a bizarre joke.

“Whether you are Horus’s daughter or not, this is not a place just anyone can enter-”

“Daughter of the pharaoh, I heard on my way here that the pharaoh is dying?”

Ah!

The moment I heard that, I understood why Yumi had stepped forward.

Teacher had lost the Blessing of Diligence, along with the supernatural healing ability it gave, so Teacher couldn’t cure the dying pharaoh.

Could Yumi be different?

She could still use her magic!

“... And what does that have to do with you?”

“I may be able to raise him from his sickbed.”

“Ha, even Egypt’s finest doctor was unable to do anything-”

I quickly stepped in.

“Aedia! Listen to me!”

“Miss Mi-ro, show Lady Aedia some respect-”

“Quiet. Mi-ro, speak.”

I insisted that I had met Yumi when I was young and that Yumi had cured people suffering from fever.

It was a hastily made lie, but Yumi immediately played along. Once we matched our stories, it quickly became believable.

“... What is this all of a sudden?”

Just as I had been earlier, Aedia was now confused.

Yumi made one final move.

“Watch this.”

She bared her pale forearm and raked it with her sharp fingernail.

Blood immediately flowed, enough to soak her wrist, and everyone present stared wide-eyed.

Then she lightly tapped the wounded area, and the bleeding stopped as if by magic.

“...”

“Not even a scar remains, does it?”

“... You do possess a mysterious ability.”

In the end, Aedia asked Yumi to go to the palace and heal the pharaoh.

“Gladly.”

“If you heal my father, treasures worth a thousand gold pieces-”

“I don’t need such things.”

“...”

“Instead, may I ask one question?”

“Go ahead.”

Yumi soon reminded everyone of the fact they had forgotten.

“You said you used the children’s life force to see the future?”

“...”

“I’ve been curious since earlier. So, what future did you see?”

“...”

“If you lie or conceal it....”

Yumi trailed off, but everyone understood what she meant.

She was saying she would only heal the pharaoh if Aedia told us the prophecy.

Come to think of it, I was curious too.

Let’s think like A-ri or Ga-in, who always acted so smart!

The Hotel wouldn’t have included a meaningless scene while putting together this, um, “scenario,” right?

What future had she seen after suddenly bringing in children and cutting down their lifespans?

“D-do I have to tell everyone?”

Aedia’s reaction was beyond my expectations.

I thought she would either try to hide it with a serious expression or calmly tell a lie.

Instead, her face suddenly turned red, and she looked terribly embarrassed.

Yumi chuckled.

“Then whisper it in my ear alone.”

“N-no, it’s not that.... Taio, take the children out! Prepare to leave for the palace. The boy who came with the daughter of Horus, please leave as well.”

She was telling only the men to leave?

Taio and Seung-yeop led the drugged children out, puzzled by the situation.

A short while later, Aedia told us about the future she had seen.

“I, um, in the future...”

“In the future?”

“... It says I will have a great many children.”

“...”

“It says I will have an enormous number of children.”

“...”

“I-I’m not lying! Really-”

“I understand. Let’s go.”

It was a strange prophecy.

The content was absurd, but more than anything, it seemed completely unrelated to the current situation, where the pharaoh was at death’s door.

There had to be meaning in it. It seemed very important...

I couldn’t understand it.

* * *

- Yoo Song-i

I was a low-ranking priest of the Malkab Cult, while Teacher was the pharaoh’s personal physician.

Since it was difficult for us to meet privately, we had to relay all important information whenever we did meet.

At times like this, Grandfather’s Chat Window felt especially precious.

“... Do you understand?”

“Mm, I understand.”

Two days ago, Omar had pressed Hespercia to hand over the Immortal Sarcophagus, and Hespercia had asked him to send everyone else away.

The guards then drove out everyone, including the low-ranking priest, before leaving themselves.

...

Did I obediently leave just because I was told to?

I had a bracelet.

Diverse Perspectives made it difficult to control several people at once.

That was why it had been awkward to use it when the pharaoh, Hespercia, the low-ranking priest, and guards were all present.

But when Hespercia and Omar kept only each other inside for security and sent everyone else away, it actually became much easier.

The pharaoh couldn’t even rise from his bed, so I only had to deceive Hespercia!

Of course, it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say I’d filmed an entire spy movie.

The problem was that nobody but me knew about that movie.

“You worked hard filming your spy movie.”

“...”

“Let’s organize what Miss Song-i overheard. Menes is sleeping inside the Immortal Sarcophagus?”

“Yes. They say that was the true nature of the eternal life the Malkab Cult offered Menes.”

“Then it would have been difficult for Omar to covet the sarcophagus any longer.”

Dig up the tomb of Menes, the Great Pharaoh and, in effect, Egypt’s founder, then open his coffin?

No matter how great the current pharaoh’s authority was, it wouldn’t be easy.

On top of that, a superhuman said to be closer to a god than a human slept inside the sarcophagus.

Putting aside legitimacy and morality, Menes, who had supposedly performed miracles as easily as breathing, might wake up and beat Omar to death.

“Omar gave up on the sarcophagus too. Instead, Hespercia made another proposal.”

Give up the sarcophagus where your ancestor sleeps.

Instead, accept the blessing of Malkab, god of the underworld, and become Malkab’s Apostle.

“An Apostle of Malkab. What do you think that means?”

“I don’t know. There’s no such story in the scriptures either.”

At this point, we had uncovered several keywords.

The dying current pharaoh, Omar.

Menes, the illustrious Great Pharaoh who was said to still be alive, sleeping in the Immortal Sarcophagus.

The Malkab Cult connected to both of them.

The Cult’s high-ranking priest, who had urged the current pharaoh to become Malkab’s Apostle instead of seeking the sarcophagus.

It felt like I almost understood, but I really didn’t.

So who was the boss?

“Teacher, who do you think the boss is?”

“I thought it might be Menes. I’m ashamed to say this, but an ordinary human king isn’t enough to be a boss for us now, is it?”

That wasn’t wrong.

Menes, said to be the son of a god and to have performed miracles as easily as breathing, was about the level needed to be called our boss.

“Menes?”

“I imagined a scenario where Menes resurrects for some reason and destroys ‘corrupted Egypt.’ Omar, who coveted the sarcophagus, would be the one to awaken Menes.”

“That sounds plausible.”

“I have another thought now.”

“Yes?”

“An Apostle of Malkab.... Miss Song-i, this may be a strange question to ask at this point, but what exactly is Malkab?”

What exactly was Malkab?

“It isn’t some fictional being imagined by ancient people. The sarcophagus, the Apostle, and other clear supernatural phenomena prove that Malkab truly exists.”

This strange, twisted Egypt had real gods.

“If it’s a being ancient people would worship as a god, wouldn’t it also qualify to be the boss?”

“...”

Footnotes:

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