"Let us move on to the second puzzle which is 'protected by a floating bar'. This one is easy. It only requires a bit of thinking, but I'm guessing everyone had figure out what this is. Can anyone answer it with me?" The MC joyfully said and gestured to the crowds.
A high-pitched voice sounded from somewhere near Jai and Darrion.
"Your flower stage!" A little girl screamed.
Laughter erupted from the crowds. The MC laughed as well as he floated near Jai and Darrion.
"That's a very good try, young lady. Can anyone give that girl a pat on the head on my behalf? " The MC said with a wide smile.
"Already did!" A middle-aged man shouted from the crowds with a laugh.
"Thank you, kind sir. Now, little girl, I will give you the correct answer. Would you like to know? " The MC asked with a smile.
The little girl who had been swooped up by a middl
The screen was split into two sides. The left side showed the map of the kingdom while the right one was blank white.“Since we have wasted around 15 minutes explaining the answers and giving you time to rest, we will immediately start the second round as soon as my the instructions are done. So make sure you listen closely because I will not repeat it.”The participants braced themselves and focused.“The second round will be held inside the castle walls, right here. You will be given time to finish it until before sunset. That means the second the sun hits the horizon, the time is up. You will have to partner up in this round with another participant. So there will be fifty people against fifty people, and I’m sure you can already guess how many people will make it to the next round.“This round still revolves around puzzles,” that earned complaining noises in the background, but the MC continued, “But you have your partner
"Can you guys explain that?" Jai asked in confusion."So you know the second round is also a puzzle. What's with that?" Darrion crossed his hands.The left twin inched one step closer to both young men, "The minister approached us and give us each these."He took out two things that shined under the sunlight."Are those copper tokens?" Jai asked. He tried to touch it, but the bob haired twin pulled it back and immediately pocketed it."They are." Darrion trailed. And then he narrowed his eyes with a smile. "So I guess we have to get it from you.""This one is easy. And we will let you pass if you can finish our puzzle and come back to us." The bed haired twin said.Darrion nodded. "Sure. Though you have to know that my friend and I are good puzzle solver! So fire away!"Jai wanted to say something different, but this wasn't the tim
As Darrion took the last Rumble cookie, he tried wrecking his brain for the first and the second part of the puzzle."Three is your answer, oh but you only need two. Maybe it means that they are the answer?" Darrion asked.Jai sipped on his tea, "Because they're twins?"Darrion nodded, "Exactly. Either that, or we have to at least solve two puzzles before we can be considered passing the round."Jai put down his cup and looked at the street. "That is not entirely impossible. But I think we have to solve this in correlation of every line. What's the rest of the line sounds?"Darrion swallowed before putting up his fingers, counting, "Three is your answer, oh but you only need two. It goes very simple even hatchlings like it too. What am I?"Jai hummed, "They sound quite correlated with each other. But why do I feel something is missing? I just don't know what.""Hatc
Jai and Darrion arrived at a wide square. It was not as big as the Grand Square, but it was still bigger than Alta or Gumo Fountain they had visited before.The place was filled with colorful stalls and small shops. Every sorts of goods seemed to be sold here, and were grouped based on its type.Consumables like food, beverages, and medicine, we're on the left side of the market. Non-consumables like clothings, tools, etcetera were on the right side. There were also animal shops selling small creatures like birds, and... Cat bunny? Bunny cat? And what seemed like oversized house lizards.Jai could not figure out what those creatures were. His sight was probably messed because of the distance, but he definitely saw rabbit ears and obesed house lizards."So this is the Southern Market? It's very lively in here," Jai commented as he gazed around.Darrion nodded. Then he shifted the cake box in his other hand before explain
*Author’s note: A humble apology for the misstypings in the previous chapter. Life has been quite busy and we are trying to catch up with our update schedule, so there were few bogeys breaching our walls. But we will try better for future updates. Salam.-There was a slight tension in the air—an uncomfortable one. They had to convince Julio to get their answer to the puzzle, because his relationship with Darrion had to convince him somehow to help. Or at least, he hoped the man would help.Jai tried convincing, “In a good side, we are able to promote your shoes by bringing yours to the checking table.”Julio gave another hum and turned to him. His expression was painted with doubt, “I don’t know. Giving away my shoes like that doesn’t sit well with me.”Darrion looked at Jai, wanting to discuss whether they should change stores, bu
A short burly man with ash brown hair crossed his hands in front of his chest. He had a thick mustache and beard, and this unreadable expression on his face. He was wearing a head protector made of iron, a google slinging on his neck, and a grey tank top with black stains and sweat. His brown baggy pants that reached his ankle was held by black suspenders. His feet was bare, and it was noticably big."I don't like sweets."The man's voice was scratchy and deep. There's this sort of... Gravitas, in his voice, that would attract anyone within its vicinity to cower away slowly. It wasn't anger or irritation, just... A bit intimidating.Jai and Darrion would have gulped. Because this might prove to be more difficult than the situation with Papa Julio. But their surroundings were not very... Supportive.But before that, let us recap so you guys could get what the situation was.Jai and Darrion were
"They are those who have not solve the first puzzle, but are determined to finish it right away no matter what method they use."Jai was thinking what Diggle meant by that. He did not feel anything wrong with that sentence. The last phrase though, sounded similar to saying that there was egoistical or selfish emotion involved."I'm feeling something from the last sentence. Do you remember when Mr. Diggle said, 'no matter what method they use'? It was like, it's saying that, they will do anything to win. But they dismiss the consequences that might come up," Darrion said, doubtfully. The blonde was still not used to think hard over things like this, but he was determined to try."Yes, I'm thinking the same. It involves selfishness, and we had seen that happened a couple times in the first round," Jai responded. He put the show box down on the porch."It's clear as day that those people were visibly vi
"Welcome back!" The twins greeted. "You're almost late!"Jai and Darrion entered the restaurant in Atla Fountain. Despite the crowd in Atla Fountain, the guards looked pissed as well but their efforts in kicking the participants away was futile; the restaurant was not that crowded. Only few people were inside, enjoying their food.The twins were there too and enjoying their snacks. They greeted Jai and Darrion when they entered the restaurant.Darrion took the free seats near the twins table for Jai and him to sit. Jai immediately sat and bent over to the table, wheezing.The bob haired twin offered a plate of cookies while the bed hair twin took his fork. He started poking Jai on the head. "What is wrong with him?" He asked.Darrion took a cookie and munched, saying, "I dragged him while using speed run."The bob haired twin gave an apologetic look and patted
Jai felt something wrapped around his stomach from behind. He immediately looked down to his waist, spotting two smaller sized hands coiling on his waist.‘A kid, obviously. But who is it?’ Jai wondered. This was a baby shower event, so he wasn’t feeling weird if children attend too. The question is, who is this kid?He tried to turn around to look at the hugger, but the kid was hugging him tight. It wouldn’t be hard to push it, but he was reluctant because it’s a kid. He knew there’s nothing he could do but ask.“Oh? Hello? Is there anything you need?” Jai asked with a friendly tone.He could hear giggles, but the kid didn’t answer his question.“Oh are we playing guess?” Jai asked.More giggles.“It’s a boy.” Someone whispered from his left side. A familiar voice yet he could not name.“Hey!” The boy protested.But from that tone alone, Jai could already figure out who it is. So he said. “Hello, Ruta-kun.”The kid let him go and Jai could finally turn around. True, it was Ruta. The
On the day when the baby shower was held, Jai arrived at the place with Baji.The venue is in a mansion in the North Town. Jai hadn’t been in that certain neighbourhood, but he finally understood that the North Town is the place for the riches, and the neighbourhood they were in is probably among the richest. The mansion building is tall, and the garden is so wide. There’s a medium sized pond with two gazebos on the side, and then there’s also a small orchard on the right side of the mansion.Baji leaned in to whisper something. “The party is in the back garden. And keep your mouth shut, please. You’re a famous guy and I don’t want you looking stupid.” Then he leaned back.Jai immediately closed his unconsciously parted lips and recited the plan. He couldn’t, of course, confront an important figure of a clan in a crowded venue. So Baji and Gilbert had made a plan to help him talk alone with Fuuji Fu in the venue. He just have to make sure he could deal with the ‘fans’, though he hoped
It isn’t a doubt that Cynthia was reluctant to share that information with Harris because Jai was there. So Jai proposed to the brunette to re-visit the place later in the day to ask about it.Baji was there when they returned, and Jai immediately told him about the findings he got also to consult about the Fiery Lotus.Baji crossed his arms on his chest and nodded in acknowledgement. “It’s fortunate that a promising lead is finally here. We’re sorry for the late initiative from our part. We should’ve worked harder.”He didn’t think that he would receive an apology from Baji. But it showed that the man is a responsible person. Jai shook his head. “It’s alright. From the start, it was already a scavenger hunt. But do you know anything about either of those?”Baji fixed his seating before he explained. “Well about the Chief of Fuuji, he’s a strict person on males. He’s nice to females, and he’s really into babies. There’s only one male person he had shown his friendly side to in public,
“So uhh, this person whom you mentioned before with Tsubasa is a very important person. And you want to ask him about Alex?” Darrion asked when they were in the carriage, heading back.Jai narrowed his eyes. “Why aren’t you being straightforward?”“I’m a bit tired from today. There are so many deliveries like yesterday. But ahh… I’m more tired in trying to understand what they say.” Darrion said with nervous smile.Jai forgot that his friend is not adept in Shouha language, it must be hard to work without understanding what anyone is saying.“Sorry.” Jai apologized.Darrion nodded. “It’s fine. Let’s just stick to no name for now, if possible. I… Can’t really erect a barrier right now.”“Sure.” Jai nodded. “The… Family, you know, told me about him. Saying that he is the first person we can ask about Alex. But he has a very high standing, as you’ve listened to me and the father talked about him, so it won’t be easy to talk to him.”“I see. So that’s why you go to them. They can be consi
"Sorry if it's too much of me to ask." Jai said."Oh no, no. It's fine. But my mother is not at home though, is that alright?" Yuta asked as he turned to Jai and Darrion behind him."It's alright. It's very sudden after all." Jai said."Alright then. Would tea be alright?" Yuta asked."Yes. It's fine. Thank you." Jai answered.Fu Fuuji is the head chief of one of the notorious Ten Guardian Clans, the Fuuji clan. After leaving the Komatsu’s residence, he was thinking about how to get in touch with this person. And the Akamine clan is the first thing that came into Jai’s mind.While they don’t really owe him a favor, this family is the closest connection that he has to the Fuuji clan, because they’re also one of the Ten Guardian Clans.Also, he knew that it’s not guaranteed that he would get an audience with Fu Fuuji through the Akamine. There’s a possibility that they are enemies with each other. But he would at least try to ask. So here they were, in the Akamine clan’s residence.Yuta
Returning to the present.“Little Sparks. Fiery Lotus. What the hell are those?” Jai asked as they left the compound.“Quiet down. You’re gonna get us killed for that.” Claude remindedJai turned around and talked in slight whisper. “If it’s associated with the Queen, that means it’s very private. In the North Town, in a community place like thing. It doesn’t ring any bells from the previous search. Do you know anything about it?”He saw an empty horse mount coming in their direction and waved it.The mount stopped in front of them and they immediately climbed in the carriage. “Southeast Windlet Post Office.” He told the horse mount driver.Weaving the air barrier thicker, Claude replied. “I don’t. I’m a hunter, not a mercenary. How do you suppose I know these things?”Jai smiled shortly with a shrug. “Maybe? Ah… But this is a major progress in the case. At least we know he’s not dead, and it will take more effort to rescue him now.” Jai smiled.Claude stared at Jai suspiciously. “Why
They were led to a corridor which have several doors across from each other. Alex immediately knew they are resting rooms, because he could see a bed from one of the opened doors.One of the committees, the previous guy who shot the Cloud Viewing Rune in the ceremony, pulled his hood down, showing his blonde hair. Then he turned around while the other committees went past him, leaving him to deal with the new freshmen batch.“Good morning. My name is Liam. I am one of the guild members and I am one of the supervisors of the freshmen. Well, not really supervisor, but I’m the one they put in charge to look after you when the super seniors are out. Like right now. Oh and umm, I’m not alone. I have my friends with me to look after you. So please don’t do anything rash, because we outpower you by a lot. And we prefer not to hit you, because you’re a potential junior. Please be nice to each other, okay?”Alex didn’t really pay attention. He stopped listening when he uttered the fourth sente
That morning on the day when Jai went to the Komatsu’s house, Alex had already settled in ‘the place’.He wasn’t familiar with the kingdom, as such, he didn’t know where he was taken to.And since he was late, he was grouped with those who were also late. Many eyes stared at him when he entered the room—it was an average room with beds—reserved only for those who arrived late.Apparently, those who arrived first had attended the ceremony and the first phase—and those who were late had to attend on their own. But they would be gathered together after that, and he would be able to meet his roommate. That was what Master Fu said yesterday when he dropped him off. But the old man wasn’t lying.He went through a sleepless night—because there were many others here that he didn’t know and he wasn’t keen on getting surprise attacked in the middle of his sleep. But the night went by uneventfully, fortunately.He and the others were given a tray of scone and tea to start the day. He didn’t eat
“Don’t. Test. Me.”Jai’s eyes glowed brighter for a second as he emphasized the last words.The civilians, of course flinched at his threat. All of them knew him as a humble and righteous young man. Always smiling and looked very kind. They never knew this side of him. That’s why they were very surprised. The Kizuato group wasn’t included though, they were there exactly to prevent Jai doing what he planned to do.Akane, who had have enough of her parents’ plan, stood up.“Akane-chan!” Rio tried to stop her, but she went anyway and spoke.But instead of retaliating at the guest in their house like the rest of her family, she was looking at her mother instead. “Just tell him, mother!”Rio frowned deep at her. “What are you saying, Akane?”Akane gritted her teeth. “Just tell him!! If you tell him, no one will be hurt!”Rio shut her mouth and swallowed, but she didn’t say anything.Akane looked at her mother with bewildered expression. “If you don’t, then I will.” She turned to Jai. But