"Are they hiding something from us?"
The ground entrance was excavated, and the workers lined up, forming a human conveyor belt to transport the rubble blocking the way to the surface.
The team leader stood at the top of the entrance, beside him a local Ancient Egypt scholar clutching research materials—this middle-aged man, who considered himself a genius unrecognized by the world, had finally found a way to monetize his knowledge.
The American guy in front of him was the best benefactor.
"They listen to a woman's orders," the scholar clutched his materials and looked at Evelyn working not far away, his face full of disdain. "What does a woman know? Is she even literate?"
..."This is the statue of the God of Death."
Under the giant jackal stone sculpture (Sen: dog head), Evelyn directed two men to work back and forth, her mouth never stopping its chatter.
"The God of Death's legs go deep underground."
"According to archaeologists, there's a secret compartment in the statue's legs that hides the sun golden scripture."
Mori Tsukisa sat elegantly to the side eating grapes. There was no helping it; Evelyn was adamant about not letting Mori Tsukisa do any manual labor. After half a day, she could only watch the show from the sidelines out of boredom.
"Jonathan, you need to align it with the sunlight—O'Connell, pull hard, open this up!" A small opening in the rock wall revealed a hole wide enough for two people to pass through. Descending from here would also lead into the underground city... Compared to using explosives and brute force, Evelyn's method of entry was clearly more stable and correct.
"What use are these old mirrors?" O'Connell pushed a huge silver mirror that was nearly as tall as he was; the surface was already mottled and stained with mud. "Your brother just asked me if we could take these big plates out to sell."
"It's an Ancient Egypt trick." Evelyn waved her fist in a mix of amusement and annoyance. "Jonathan, hold your mirror steady and leave the camels alone, alright?"
Mori Tsukisa yawned. O'Connell walked over, nodded to Mori Tsukisa, then climbed up two more steps to stand beside Evelyn, hesitating as he scratched the top of his head.
"Um... Evelyn." The man spoke hesitantly as he pulled a tool bag slightly larger than a palm from his waist. "Take it, it's for you."
After Evelyn took it, he pointed foolishly at the leather of the tool bag. "Look, I 'borrowed' it from my American friend. I thought you might... might... like it?"
"You should be able to use it, it's just..." He couldn't quite explain himself after talking for a while, so he could only raise his left hand and tap the air a few times. "It's just... this kind of thing. I—I have to go pull the rope now..."
Scratching his head, he hurried down the steps. O'Connell glared in embarrassment and anger at the grinning Jonathan.
"What are you looking at?"
Only after the man climbed back up to the other side of the hole did Evelyn look down and open the rolled-up cowhide bag—inside was a row of brand-new basic tools: a hand trowel, brushes, a grid ruler, markers, and so on... everything was new and complete.
She remembered complaining that she couldn't buy these archaeological tools locally at all; she hadn't expected O'Connell to remember... Mori Tsukisa watched the whole thing from not far away until Evelyn started staring at the tool bag in her hand with a silly grin.
"Nagini, I like the way he borrows things."
The woman holding the umbrella beside her nodded in agreement. "Yes, Master, I was 'borrowed' back by you in just such a way."
Arrietty rolled her eyes.
—Finally, there was an accomplice who could indulge in whims along with Mori Tsukisa... "Can you believe we're the first visitors in three thousand years?"
Entering through a hole opened at the feet of the Anubis, Guardian of the Duat statue, the group descended into this ancient tomb buried for millennia using ropes.
Cold, damp, and dark.
Mori Tsukisa shivered and hugged the black cat. Before she could speak, Nagini produced a flint from her waist, struck it twice with a 'clack,' and lit the torches in Jonathan's and OConnell's hands.
The two men looked at each other, then at Nagini.
"See, these are our useless, foolish men of the Empire." Evelyn teased, also handing her torch to Nagini to be lit. "Come on, follow me. OConnell, Jonathan, let me show you an Ancient Egypt 'little trick.'"
Evelyn walked to a mirror stand where a circular mirror was fixed on a heavy stone base. The woman tore away the long-settled cobwebs, wiped the mirror surface a few times with her sleeve, and blew away the dust.
Then, she tilted it slightly towards the hole overhead.
Instantly, sunlight was drawn onto the mirror surface and reflected into the countless ordered mirrors within the underground tomb; the light reflected and crisscrossed continuously, and the cold, dark underground suddenly brightened up.
"Oh... hey."
"Quite a special trick."
With clear vision, the group finally discovered where they had arrived.
"My God... this is the mummification room, a preparation room..."
"Preparation for what?"
Evelyn thought for a moment. "Probably... preparation for entering the Afterlife."
"So, this is where they made the mummies?"
The corridor was extremely narrow and covered in cobwebs.
The group placed the ladies in the center of the line; OConnell was in front, and Jonathan was in the back, both men drawing their pistols and cautiously keeping a close eye on their surroundings.
Aside from the sound of their footsteps, there were occasional rustling crawling sounds constantly sliding past overhead.
"What... is that sound?"
"The sound of a swarm of insects crawling after forming a carpet." Mori Tsukisa looked up at the dark ceiling of the corridor, her voice echoing eerily. "I've heard it before."
OConnell turned his head from the front of the line and stared at her. "You've heard it before?"
"Mori Tsukisa?"
"Shh..." Mori Tsukisa raised her index finger—just as they were about to turn a corner, the girl heard several heavy breaths. She made a 'gun' gesture towards OConnell and Jonathan.
'There's someone behind.'
'I probably know who it is...'
The man pulled out a second gun from his waist and crept along quietly, creeping... and then... "Don't move!"
"Don't move!!"
The two groups of people pointed their guns at each other, eye to eye, the muzzles almost touching the other party's nose.
"I almost died of fright! OConnell!" About a dozen people from the other side had entered the burial ground. For some reason, even though the entrances were far apart, after wandering around underground, they still ended up meeting.
"Get out of my territory!" The leading scholar, backed by the crowd behind him, held his research materials with great confidence and glared at OConnell, wagging his finger repeatedly at the man's nose. "We have a dozen guns!"
OConnell looked at his own two guns, then at Jonathan's one.
"Don't bluff me, nerd."
"Gentlemen, can you stop acting like two groups of Children?" Evelyn pushed Jonathan's arm aside and walked into the center of the two parties. When facing OConnell, a faint look of worry appeared on her face.
"Forget it, we'll dig somewhere else." She whispered to soothe the man. "I know other places, OConnell."
She didn't want the man she liked to get hurt. Moreover, they had already reached their destination, and those histories were already within reach—if they kept fighting, God knows what these savages would do.
Nagini ignored the gun barrels in front of her; to her, they were no different from slingshots. She leaned in close to Mori Tsukisa in front of her. "I can take care of them for you."
Mori Tsukisa shook her head.
"There are benefits to having a lot of people. If they dig up something fun, we can just borrow it later."
Arrietty: What can I say, we're thinking the same thing.
Bastet: Look! Look! I told you your Attendants are a bunch of Bandits! You're the bandit leader!
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