The next morning, Lucien headed straight for the Cartography Room, where he had promised to meet Rowan and Lyra. He brought two items connected to the symbol he had found: a copy of the Travel Records from the Northern Region and the old map that had been leading him to more clues for the past several days.
Rowan had arrived ahead of them. He was examining a large map when Lucien set both items down in front of him.
“This is what we showed you yesterday, and this...” Lucien held up the Seventh Revised Map he had brought. “This provided the first clue about that mysterious place through the symbol we found here,” he said.
Rowan picked up the copy of the travel records first. An image of a stone gate appeared in the center of the page. Beneath it was the same symbol they had found on Lucien’s map, complete with a small mark resembling a directional indicator.
Rowan then opened the old map, his eyes stopping at the symbol hidden in one of its sections.
“So this is the symbol?”
“Yes,” replied Lyra, who had just arrived in the Cartography Room.
“And you found the same symbol in the manuscript?” Rowan asked.
“Yes, in these travel records.”
Rowan looked at the two items in turn. “Then let’s not separate them.”
Lucien frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Until now, we’ve been treating the map and the manuscript as two different clues.” Rowan pulled both items closer. “There’s a chance they’re pointing to the same thing.”
Lyra leaned closer. “Do you see something?”
“Not yet.” Rowan picked up a pencil. “But we have three things we can compare.”
He pointed to the symbol on the map. “First, the symbol.” Then he pointed to the small mark beneath the image of the gate. “This.” Finally, he opened the section of the travel records describing the route to the gate. “And this description.”
Lucien nodded slowly. “So where do we start?”
“We start with the easiest thing.” He pulled the Seventh Revised Map closer.
“If this map was made to show a particular place, the clues in the travel records might help us read the parts that aren’t clear.”
Rowan traced the lines on the Seventh Revised Map.
“The map is detailed enough to show the region.”
Lucien watched him, waiting for Rowan to continue.
“But the final section isn’t clear,” Rowan continued.
Lyra reopened the copy of the travel records. “Maybe these can help with that.”
Rowan nodded. “There’s an image of a gate, the same symbol, and a directional mark. If we can understand the relationship between the three, we might be able to figure out which part of this map we’re supposed to follow.”
Lucien looked over the map again.
“So we’re not looking for another map.”
“No,” Rowan replied. “We’re trying to read the map we already have.”
“If we find a region with all three,” he continued, “we can narrow down the search.”
Lucien looked at the old map. “And the symbol?”
Rowan studied it again. “The symbol helps make sure we aren’t looking for the wrong place.”
He pointed to the small mark beneath the symbol. “This might be more important.”
“The directional mark?” Lyra asked.
“It looks that way.”
“Looks that way?”
Rowan nodded. “I don’t want to assume something is a clue before I know how to use it.”
Lucien gave a faint smile.
“Makes sense.”
They began to work.
Rowan moved several old maps he had gathered that morning, before Lucien and Lyra arrived, onto the table, but he continued to use the Seventh Revised Map as his primary reference. He was not looking for another map to replace it. He only wanted to see whether the lines on it could still be matched to the travel records.
Lyra reopened the page with the image of the gate. “There’s a clue here about the route.”
Rowan leaned closer. “Which part?”
Lyra pointed to several lines beneath the image.
“The writer mentions a route that branches off from the main road. After that, there’s a mark that seems to point toward the gate.”
Rowan compared it with the lines on the map. “Then let’s look for a route that most closely matches this description.”
They began tracing the lines across the map. They found several possibilities, but none of them truly matched.
Rowan crossed out one section. “Not this.”
“Why?” Lucien asked.
“The route is too obvious. If this is the same place, the writer wouldn’t have described it as a route that was difficult to find.”
He moved to another section. “This one isn’t it either.”
Lyra looked over the travel records once more. “What about this mark?”
Rowan examined it. “The directional mark?”
“Yeah.”
Rowan thought for a moment. “I don’t know.”
He took a pencil and copied the mark onto a blank sheet of paper. “If this really is a directional indicator, we need to know its reference point.”
Lucien stared at the symbol. “And we don’t know its reference point yet?”
“Not yet.”
He looked back at the Seventh Revised Map. “But maybe it’s here.”
Rowan pointed to the symbol hidden on the map. “This symbol, perhaps.”
Lyra leaned closer. “You think this symbol is the reference point?”
“It could be.”
“Why?”
“Because this symbol appears in both sources. If it were just an ordinary marker, it wouldn’t make sense for someone to draw it again in the travel records.”
Lucien began to understand what he meant.
Rowan moved his finger from the symbol toward the route drawn on the map. “We need to find the connection between this symbol and the route.”
They went back to tracing the map. This time, they examined it more carefully, and no one spoke for several minutes. The only sounds were the rustle of shifting paper and the occasional tap of Rowan’s pencil against the table.
Then Rowan stopped and pointed at something. “Here.”
Lucien and Lyra immediately leaned closer. “What is it?”
Rowan pointed to a faded section of the map. “There’s a route that isn’t recorded on modern maps.”
Lucien studied it. The line was barely visible. “So this is the route they meant?”
“Not necessarily.” Rowan shook his head. “But for now, it’s our best candidate.”
Lyra reopened the travel records. “Then we have one possibility.”
Lucien nodded. “But we still don’t know where it ends.”
“Not yet.” Rowan carefully folded the map back up. “We need to find out what the region is like now.”
Lucien immediately thought of someone.
“Elara.”
Lyra turned to him. “You think she’ll know?”
“If she doesn’t, she might at least have access to records about the region.”
They found Elara not far from the faculty building. Lucien immediately showed her the copy of the map.
“I have.”
Lucien stared at her.
“You know the place?”
“Not the place itself. I’ve read research about this region.”
She pointed to the section Rowan had circled.
“This area is fairly remote. Several botanical studies have been conducted there.”
Rowan nodded. “So our estimated location isn’t far off.”
“If we’re going by the old map, maybe,” Lucien said with a nod.
Lyra asked at once, “Are there still new studies being conducted there?”
“There might be.” Elara thought for a moment. “Why are you looking for this place?”
Lucien and Lyra exchanged a glance. “We’re trying to confirm something,” Lucien finally replied.
Elara did not press him. She simply looked back at the map.
“If you really want to enter that region, don’t rely only on the old map.”
Rowan nodded. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”
Elara pointed to the faded section of the route. “A route like this could have changed by now.”
“Then we need to find more recent records.”
“Or someone who’s been there.”
Lucien put the map away.
“All right.”
They still had not found the gate.
They still did not understand the directional mark.
They were not even sure the route they had found was the right one.
But perhaps the map really was leading them somewhere, and now all they had to do was find out where.