Chapter 37: Hide-and-Seek – 2
Aina spoke.
“Don’t move.”
“……”
“No matter how talented you are, once you’re buried this deep, you’re no different from an ordinary person. I learned sothing useful today.”
“Who are you?”
“The daughter of the man who hated you most in the world.”
“Noel… Aina Noel, I see.”
After a mont’s hesitation, Ian quietly took his hand off the sword.
Then Aina, too, put away her needle.
Ian spoke.
“What an interesting combination. Judging by the looks of it, that old man of yours isn’t an ordinary person either.”
“I’m rely a gardener.”
“You sure talk big. That face of yours is fake—I can tell just by looking.”
“They said it was top-grade, but I keep getting caught these days. I feel cheated.”
“Whatever. Edgar only told not to provoke him recklessly and to bring information to him….”
He grinned sharply and continued.
“But I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to remove so of his obstacles while I’m at it. That would directly affect my own survival, after all.”
“I can’t understand you. What could he have possibly told you to make you trust him in just five minutes?”
“No need to know. You’ll all die in this quest anyway.”
At that mont—
Five people cautiously approached us.
They seed to be those who had been pushed out of the other team.
“Uh… there are five of us. Would you consider teaming up with us?”
“Hmph. I’m not part of this team.”
“Pardon? But the other side’s already full with ten people.”
“Fools. Didn’t I say I’m not with them?”
Ian said that and began walking straight toward the opposite team.
And then—
Thud!
He suddenly drove his fist into one participant’s stomach.
The man, caught completely off guard, collapsed forward with a gasp.
Ian grabbed him by the collar—
Whoosh.
“Urgh!”
—And threw him at us.
Arlia frowned deeply.
“What a violent man. I disliked him ever since he smirked and asked for a dance at the banquet.”
“I thought you said I was smirky too.”
“Your kind of smirk isn’t like his.”
“Well, anyway, we’ve got ten mbers now. That works out fine.”
“Hmm?”
“Let’s take this chance to eliminate that guy. Then the flimsy sandcastle of connections Edgar just built will crumble.”
Everyone nodded.
At that mont—
“Done! Team division complete!”
Magireta’s cheerful voice rang out.
The fourth quest had begun.
With a relaxed tone, Magireta spoke.
“Each team, send out your representative.”
From the opposite team, Ian strode forward without hesitation.
I could bet he hadn’t even consulted his team.
I looked back at our teammates and asked,
“Who should go for us?”
The six ordinary participants, excluding the four of us, quickly averted their eyes.
This wasn’t so social club election—they were being asked to be the representative in Magireta’s ga.
No one in their right mind would volunteer.
In the end, the representative had to co from the four of us.
Then Arlia said,
“I’d prefer if you beca the representative.”
“? Shouldn’t soone with the most legitimacy take this role? Like the Princess, perhaps?”
“Legitimacy from our world is aningless in a ga like this. What matters is who has the ability to actually save everyone. Soone like Mason, for instance.”
We exchanged glances and chuckled quietly.
It wasn’t new, but it was clear—the Princess’s way of thinking was fundantally different from any of the nobles I’d t.
Anyway, since Aina and Berseum both nodded, I strolled lazily toward Magireta.
She held up a coin.
Then flicked it into the air and caught it in her palm.
“Heads or tails?”
“Heads.”
Before I could answer, Ian said it first.
I shrugged.
“ too, heads.”
“What nonsense. I said heads first.”
“You’re supposed to be one of the most skilled people on the continent, right? And swordmasters usually have sharp eyes. That ans you might’ve seen with those impressive reflexes which side of the coin landed facing up.”
“So what?”
“So what do you an, so what? If you said heads, then it must be heads. I’ll just go along with you.”
Ian growled.
“I’ll overlook your insolent tone for now. But I won’t forgive you for trying to overturn the rules of the ga.”
“Huh?”
“I said heads first. So why—”
“Since when does saying it first an you own the choice? Where’s that rule written, that you get exclusive rights to heads just because you spoke first?”
Grit.
Ian ground his teeth fiercely.
Magireta giggled.
“Quite the ntal sparring right from the start, huh?”
“……”
“Then how shall I satisfy you, little brother?”
“Please let us choose heads or tails before you toss it.”
Ian imdiately objected.
“Don’t make arbitrary requests like that. Magireta, I object. We should pick after you toss.”
“Mm. To be honest, I don’t need either of your opinions. I prefer it that way too—choosing after the toss.”
“……”
“I’ll toss again. But this ti, both of you turn around.”
She placed the coin on her finger.
At that mont, the coin was showing heads on top.
We glared at each other briefly, then turned our backs to Magireta.
Soon, the sound of the coin being tossed reached us.
Whish. Tap.
“All right. Guess.”
“Tails.”
Once again, Ian answered first.
And in that instant, sothing flashed in my mind.
That guy—he’s certain!
That wasn’t a one-in-two gamble.
Ian knew that the coin Magireta caught had landed on its tail side.
Without even looking—how is that possible? Ah, could it be…?
I faintly recalled sothing an old retired rcenary once told when I was working as a waiter.
A true master who stood at the top of the continent didn’t fight with just his eyes.
He perceived everything—the enemy’s killing intent, their presence, their breathing—
—and analyzed all that information to move his sword.
“Little brother. You need to choose too.”
“……”
“Going with him again? Tails?”
Ignoring Magireta’s prompting, I focused on organizing my thoughts.
Ian had precisely sensed the number of rotations the coin made as it spun through the air.
Since the coin on Magireta’s fingertip had clearly shown its front side at the start, he must have calculated its rotations and deduced the correct answer from that.
Did he figure it out by sound?
Or perhaps by the faint flow of air stirred by the spinning coin?
Either way, with such a cheating-level ability, he’d have an overwhelming advantage in a ga like “Hide-and-Seek.”
Suppressing my racing heartbeat, I spoke calmly.
“Heads.”
The next mont, Ian smirked.
If he had that kind of ability, then even if we flipped the coin a thousand tis, my chance of winning would be zero.
Right now, what mattered more was not letting Ian realize that I’d seen through him.
Magireta asked in a subtle tone,
“Hmm. You sure about that?”
“Yes. This ti, both of us had our backs turned.”
“Good. Then, shall we check?”
We slowly turned our bodies toward Magireta.
With a bright, expectant smile, she opened the palm that had been covering the coin.
“It’s tails.”
As expected.
Magireta turned to Ian.
“You won, so you get to choose. Do you want to be the seeker or the hider first?”
“I’ll take the seeker’s role.”
“All right. Then the little brother’s team automatically becos the hiding team.”
With a cheerful grin, she continued,
“As written on the bulletin board, your team will have the first six hours to find a hiding spot. Once that ti’s up, I’ll send the seekers into the ga area.”
“……”
“Then they’ll have eighteen hours to search. That makes twenty-four hours total before the roles switch.”
“Where’s the ga area?”
“That would be…”
Snap.
She flicked her fingers.
“Go see for yourselves.”
The next mont, our bodies were transported sowhere else.
“W–what is this place?!”
“My goodness. It’s so magnificent.”
“This isn’t… where I think it is, right?”
“Co on. No way.”
Our hiding team had arrived six hours earlier than the seekers.
My mouth hung open as I failed to hide my awe.
Even Aina and Berseum, who were usually composed, looked equally astonished.
“Ha. To think I’d ever set foot in this place.”
“How in the world did Magireta get access to a location like this? No—‘access’ might not even be the right word.”
“Haven’t you been here before, old man? Back when you were famous across the continent?”
“Mm. Indeed. When I was awarded a dal for my academic contributions to the Empire. That was before you were even born.”
anwhile, Arlia had a strangely nostalgic expression.
We were standing in the very heart of the Empire—the capital itself.
And not just anywhere within it.
We were inside the Imperial Palace, the very throne hall where the Emperor’s seat stood high and distant.
—The Emperor’s Audience Chamber.
That was the setting of the fourth quest.
And we weren’t the only ones there.
Arlia murmured softly, almost to herself.
“Father…”
“……”
“No—His Majesty, the Emperor.”
“You don’t have to correct yourself, you know.”
“Ahem.”
Indeed.
The chamber was filled with people—those who normally occupied this place.
Upon the throne, the Emperor sat with a stern expression, speaking sothing.
Officials lined the hall, bowing their heads as they listened reverently to his words.
Countless knights clad in full plate armor guarded the entrance and surrounded the Emperor.
The problem was—
—all of them were frozen in place.
“This is incredible. This person’s completely stiff.”
Aina tapped the armor of a nearby knight as she spoke.
Of course, there was no response.
Berseum, his face full of curiosity, said,
“I still can’t sense any trace of mana. Judging by what we saw with Kanesella, Magireta can indeed use magic, but… to stop this many knights? Even magic shouldn’t be enough.”
“Could it be that ti itself has stopped? For everyone but us?”
“I’d prefer to think they’re just really well-made dolls. Otherwise, my head might explode.”
“No, old man. These people are all alive. Their hearts are beating.”
What on earth was going on?
Anyway, I clapped my hands lightly to gather attention.
“Everyone, please focus. It looks like this Audience Chamber is our ga area. Rule number three said the hide-and-seek zone must be within a five-hundred-ter radius, and this place fits that perfectly.”
“Hmm.”
“First, let introduce myself. My na is Mason Gear.”
Since I’d made quite a scene during the first quest, many already recognized .
So even said—
“I know you. You were amazing during the third quest, right?”
“Huh? How do you know ? I don’t recall you.”
“Wasn’t it the Tower of Knowledge? One of my friends was among the survivors.”
“Oh.”
“He advised —if I ever end up in the sa ga as soone nad Mason, I should stick to him no matter what.”
I scratched my head.
Arlia nodded in satisfaction and said,
“As I thought, Cecil was right. Kindness always cos back to you.”
“No, it hasn’t co back yet, has it? That guy hasn’t even done anything for us.”
“You’re as cynical as ever. Don’t suddenly act nice now—it would only an you’re about to die.”
“You’ve gotten pretty sharp with words lately, Princess.”
“I learned it from Mason.”
Anyway, I slowly began to speak.
“Since we’ll be acting as one team this ti, let’s co up with a strategy together.”
“D–do you already have sothing in mind?”
“Not so much a plan as information we need to share. In this ga, we’re at an overwhelming disadvantage.”
Everyone’s expressions stiffened.
I could feel my own face darkening slightly.
“Back during the coin toss…”
Reviews
All reviews (0)