Chapter 73 Entrance Examination ② Entrance Examination Part Two, now...
"Very good, so the mission this time is to deliver this thing to its destination?"
Tim looked at the letter in Enid's hand and fell silent for a moment. Enid also looked down at it, then sighed and nodded. The task was simple, but the more troublesome part was finding the way. Because the structure had been disrupted, their direction of progress had become unclear. It was quite obvious that they needed to ask others for directions.
"Mr. John, the guard of Lamoa Castle, this castle looks like the place where we need to ask the NPC. Isn't this so RPG-like?"
Enid nodded in agreement upon hearing Barbara's words. It was the kind of routine commonly used in Japanese RPG games, and this time, the use of attack magic was not prohibited, which was a good thing, or rather, a completely good thing.
They were supposed to follow the original map, but Tim clearly stopped them. The road was supposed to be a main road, but Tim insisted they take a side path. This path was surrounded by forest and fluorescent wildflowers, covered with loose gravel, and even faint traces of wheel and hoof prints on the ground, indicating they had only recently left.
“There are people ahead of us, but there are no signs of footsteps on the other road.”
"good."
Enid clearly sensed the malfunction of the detection magic, primarily targeting humans. It was obvious that everyone here had been cursed with a spell preventing detection, a discovery that made Enid wrinkle her nose. After learning about this spell from Enid, Tim thought of the content of her and Damian's first entrance exam.
"Can that magic detect signs of life?"
"Yes, but not here. This place is based on the rules of the secret realm that forbid exploration, so no magic will work. This is to prevent cheating. It's a pity, although I know many spells might be able to bypass it, but..."
She was reluctant to break the rule, and Tim simply nodded, not asking her to circumvent it. Instead, he released small reconnaissance drones—within permitted use, including any alchemical products. Barbara nodded approvingly.
"It's alright. Actually, we're not at our wits' end. Good. According to the rules, we can't use any means of transportation, but we can ride a vehicle, and we can't bring our own. Based on the drone's reconnaissance results, we need to walk for about half an hour to reach the first location."
Enid also went over to take a look. The drone showed a campsite over there, clearly belonging to the owner of the wheel tracks they had just discovered. It indicated that they had just returned from hunting and would be staying there for lunch. They needed to get there as soon as possible.
In fact, the conversation just now wasn't static, but continued as they walked. Enid could barely keep up with them, although Tim and Barbara had slowed down. It was at this moment that Lyra was released and hovered high in the sky. Although Lyra's magic was also restricted by the rules, her eyes were not.
Those who were moving forward were relatively fast, and they were the first to arrive. Enid had originally tried to volunteer to go up and talk to them, but as they got closer, she became a little hesitant to communicate with strangers. She looked at Tim and then at Barbara, pursed her lips, and decided to speak first. Tim spoke first.
"I'll go then. Actually, there's no rush to learn interpersonal skills here."
"Sorry, Timmy, I..."
“There’s nothing to apologize for, Fia.”
Tim didn't take it seriously and quickly stepped forward to chat with those people. Under Enid's shocked gaze, Tim had successfully learned part of the route ahead, as well as specific information about Lamoia Castle, and even the other party's destination.
"I'll go next time," Barbara said softly, arms crossed, noticing Enid's obvious adoration for Tim. Upon hearing Barbara's words, Tim, who had just returned, said, "Great! We'll take turns, one go each, and see who gets more information!"
For some reason, Enid sensed a burning competitive spirit emanating from her, which was strangely endearing, wasn't it? She raised her hand.
"Am I the recorder?"
"Okay, you can take the lead and see who finds the most information between Tim and me."
Enid nodded vigorously, somewhat excited. Then she looked expectantly at Tim, who nodded to indicate that now was not the time to talk. After consulting the latest news and combining it with the findings of Lyra and the drone reconnaissance, Tim led the way according to the merchant's instructions. Tim only spoke halfway through the journey.
“Lamoia Castle is a lost place. The last rumor is that it’s in the east, right where we are now. There’s a village there where a prophet lives. She might know something.” Tim paused. “They are a group of merchants. Their route is currently blocked from ours, but we’ve already noted down the nearby locations from them.”
After saying that, Tim took out a copy of the map from before, on which some information was already clearly drawn.
“What a pity. If our journeys were the same, we could have had him take us all the way.” Enid looked clearly disappointed, while Tim shook his head. “Actually, I don’t recommend it because their goods are problematic, and besides, we don’t have the local currency right now.”
The latter was an excuse, the former was the truth. Even if Enid hadn't said anything, Tim wasn't going to let her go, because when they got close, Tim had seen some of the truth from their guarded state. Fortunately, his skills in getting information and his disguise were enough to get the correct information, otherwise they might have ended up like the other candidates who came here and boarded that carriage.
Clearly, this is the first test: a dangerous merchant, or perhaps the correct escape route, but Tim doesn't intend to consider this, because it's unnecessary.
"Unbelievable...!"
Enid hadn't yet grasped the deeper meaning behind their words; she simply understood that their goods came from an illegitimate source, perhaps even something akin to smuggling, and that it wasn't convenient for them to get involved. Sensing her misunderstanding, the two didn't bother to explain.
"The journey to the village will be long, Fia, can you still hold on?"
Barbara was more worried about Enid's stamina than this. Enid's stamina wasn't particularly outstanding; if an average person was a B, Enid's stamina would be roughly an A- (though it's currently an A+). As for them, they were probably somewhere between SS and SSS. Enid shook her head. Although her stamina wasn't great, walking through the forest didn't take much effort.
“I’ll be much better in the forest, after all, I am… I am the child of the Moon Witch!” Enid had just finished speaking when she suddenly became happy and winked at them excitedly. Tim and Barbara immediately understood and stopped, watching Enid run to an excessively tall and old tree and start chattering away.
Her hand brushed against the somewhat aged branches of the tree, and guided by the pale green light, she seemed to hear the tree's voice.
“We need to stay put for 10 minutes to adjust before continuing. That path is problematic because this forest moves around; the trees seem to move according to their own whims. Only the path we take 10 minutes later will get us to the prophet's house the fastest.” After saying this, Enid met Barbara and Tim's approving gazes and pursed her lips somewhat shyly. “These are just very basic wood-based perception magic!”
She deliberately avoided any topic that could mention druids, and Tim and Barbara naturally had no intention of bringing it up either. Just now, when Enid was speaking, Barbara even wanted to remind her, but seeing that Enid had realized it herself, she didn't continue.
“Great, then we should modify the map next.”
Barbara took out the map 2.0 that Tim had just drawn, and drew the 3.0 version map without any mistakes based on the information Enid dictated. Enid also began to try to restrain herself and reduce the number of words that made mistakes in her description. Fortunately, Tim and Barbara were indeed quite clever.
In just a few words, they had already constructed the entire pattern of movement and methods of entering and exiting the forest. Although Grandpa Tree's revelation was incoherent, it was the only truly accurate answer, based on their affirmation of Enid's great druidic abilities.
"Alright, we can get ready to go. If you really can't walk anymore, just say so. Barbara and I can carry you, or we can ask the animals in the neighborhood for help. Hopefully, there are some friendly animals nearby."
As a last resort, Enid couldn't reveal her animalistic charm too much. Hearing Tim's words, Enid nodded sheepishly. Physical strength was indeed the most difficult part of this test, and also her biggest weakness. The reason it was relatively better with Damian was that the journey was actually quite short, and there was enough time to rest.
"I will try my best. In fact, my physical strength has improved a lot. I think I should be able to go all the way."
"Don't worry about Fia, she's actually more than capable of carrying you on her back."
Barbara showed no sign of resistance and appeared very relaxed. Enid nodded in agreement, and the atmosphere remained light and pleasant, at least until they reached the maze's entrance. What prevented this was a massive door blocking the maze's exit, with a note affixed to it.
The girl died, but she is alive again.
The girl's father died, but her mother lived.
But the girl eventually died.
Who was the girl? What was the cause of her death...?
Current number of questions remaining: 10
When Enid looked at the note, she suddenly fell silent. She took a step back to make way for Barbara and Tim. Seeing Enid's obvious action, they couldn't help but laugh.
“This is a turtle soup game. They will only answer yes, no, yes and no, etc., and we have to deduce the puzzle.” Tim succinctly revealed the essence of the game, while Barbara patted Enid’s head and said, “Don’t worry, leave it to us.”
Enid nodded happily upon hearing their answer, then quietly watched the two of them begin their discussion, one after the other. With five attempts remaining, they were almost certain of the answer. Then, Tim asked Enid a few questions about plants, and Barbara smiled confidently and gave the correct answer.
"The girl was Moonlight Rose. She died because she was uprooted and boiled into a potion to save her father."
"Correct answer"
The next second, the door opened.
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The author's note: This turtle soup is actually very simple. The girl is actually a moon rose. The couple found a dead moon rose, but the father revived it and used it to make a potion to revive the mother. However, the father still died because there was only one potion. Fortunately, the rose was not completely consumed, so the mother used her last life to make a second potion.
This is it. Actually, it's not very difficult, since it's just an entrance exam.
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