Sylphees was a young man born in a remote region of his country. He had no parents and lived with his old Uncle. His coastal village, although small, had all the essentials — from electricity to food and water. Their country being in the midst of an industrial revolution made it possible for them to easily carry out their occupation, fishery, with the advanced machinery making harvesting easier.

Although he fell into a debt trap, Sylphees’ life was spent rather peacefully, until he inherited his Uncle’s properties after he passed away. While going through his late Uncle’s old storage shed, he discovered something. He had initially stepped in to retrieve his Uncle’s old equipment to sell it and buy some machinery to harvest fish easier, like the people in his village did.

But in the dusty shed, among the tatty furnitures, he found two black chests, covered in cobwebs. One was made of wood, while the other seemed to be of metal. He noticed the locks on the chests and immediately began searching for its keys. He opened the cabinet to his right and there it was — a key. He tried the key on the metal chest first, but the lock wouldn’t budge, so he turned to the wooden chest, and surely, it unlocked. Inside, he found his Uncle’s fishing equipments. They were old, but in good condition.

His Uncle was a fish enthusiast, and the taxidermized exotic and extinct fishes in the surrounding glass cases was proof of that. These, combined with the fishing equipment should net a good amount to suffice purchase for four machines, he thought.

After he collected the equipments in his sac, he found a note stuck to the bottom of the chest. It read,

To my dear Sylphees,

If you ever come here for any reasons, I hope this note finds you.

Go inside the house and open the forbidden door. There, in the cupboard to the right, open it and you’ll find what you’re looking for.

You’ll understand it soon because I know you’re a smart kid.

The forbidden door. His Uncle had never allowed Sylphees, in his twenty-two years, to enter that room. He’d always come up with some or the other excuses or just flat out reject him from entering that room.

But why now? Why was such an important note buried deep underneath the chest and not in a more conspicuous spot?

He somehow felt he’d find the answers to his questions of he went inside the forbidden room. He had always been curious about it wanted to go in there. But now that he got a chance to go in with his Uncle’s permission, he somehow hesitated.

But he had to go in there because it seemed like his Uncle expected something out of him, and he needed to stand up to that.

Soon, he stood before the forbidden door and pushed the door handle. The room’s interior revealed itself when he did. Just as the note indicated, there was a cupboard to his right. But that wasn't the only thing there was — a ceiling lantern hung down, illuminating the room. There was also a bookshelf, filled to the nook and cranny with thick books, a study with a lamp on top. There seemed to be an open book on top of that as well.

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What was Uncle even doing in this place? he questioned.

He reached to the cupboard's doors and opened it. A lone, small box about the size of Sylphees’ hand could be found there. When he opened it, there was a tiny piece of paper with a number written on it.

57

There was also a left arrow pointing to a number attached to the number’s left.

5←

So it was something like this:

5←57

What is this supposed to mean?

He suddenly remembered his Uncle’s note. Open it and you’ll find what you’re looking for, it said. He thought of his current needs.

Money. Yes, that’s what he needed. He was in dire need of some quick cash. After facing numerous famines and no big yield, His savings were being melted like ice on a hot stove. It was only a matter of time until he’d run out of money completely. He thought long and hard of the numbers and the symbol drawn out on the piece of paper. Did his Uncle foresee this situation? Well, he almost always guessed Sylphees’ needs before even Sylphees knew it.

He sat down on the study and began thinking, his Uncle’s hopes fueling his determination.

Uncle loves to read mystery and thriller books, he inwardly murmured. He got glimpses of their time together reading books. Ahh… He tried to stay strong, and not cry, but how long can a person put up a facade? Sylphees’ once dry and smooth cheeks, were now wet and wrinkled with an unknown expression.

Okay, now is not the time. He straightened himself and formed conjectures. He remembered that his Uncle used to give him riddles and puzzles even while they went about their daily tasks. He always said that they’d help him get smarter and achieve greatness—that is, money.

Now, in this situation, this might be a riddle he had to solve based on only this information. With the available information, he connected the dots—books, riddles, money and came to a hypothetical conclusion that the numbers might be page numbers. But there was a problem, in this room, there were more than fifty books, so which one was the right one? The arrows weren’t for design. That is for sure.

He looked around at the room, but mainly at the bookshelf. They seemed to be marked with similar arrows like the note containing the riddle. But they only pointed to one direction — right to left.

I finally understand… If the number on the right of the arrow was the page number, then the number on the left was the book from the right side of the shelf. But there were seven rows in the shelf, so finding the right one might take a while.

He began selecting the fifth book from the right on each row and checked its fifty-seventh page. The first three books were not it, but the fourth book’s fifty-seventh page contained what was promised.

Is this… a treasure map?

He was shocked to find a treasure map initially, but soon brushed it off, because even if he did have a treasure map, pirates could have already looted it, or it might just be a fake or legend to attract people and teach them a moral lesson. He came up with all sorts of excuses until he saw the stamp on the bottom right corner — Goldhalm’s Riches. That name struck a chord on Sylphees’ mind. Isn’t that the famous pirate who was once the most feared and richest while he lived..? Why does Uncle have his treasure map?

Sylphees gradually uncovers his uncle’s secrets, driven by a desperate need for money to secure his livelihood.