CH 88

Scavenger Hunt

After several competitions, including obstacle course racing, the next event was the scavenger hunt. Because she was unable to participate in the sword dance, which could be said to be the main event, Sheila covered most of the competitions that didn’t require magical power.

“I hope the scavenger hunt turns out to be a normal competition since the obstacle race was created by Jornwerner-sensei….”

At Sheila’s mutterings, Zechs also sat up and looked into the distance.

The obstacle race that Jornwerner was involved in creating turned out to be a hellish picture with a series of injured people rarely seen in history.

If you slipped and fell on the thick blue liquid that blocked your way, it would stick to you like a birdlime and you won’t be able to escape. In a setting in which a person ran while holding a bowl filled with a mysterious luminous liquid, anyone who got even a little bit of the liquid on their face would suddenly faint. In the danger zone, where poisonous needles came out of nowhere, most of the students stopped moving like corpses. As a result, only a few students, including Sheila, were able to finish the race properly.

“I heard the guy who got stung by that poisonous needle is still unconscious. They said he won’t be able to return to the competition anymore, I feel sorry for him…..”

“Really, I wonder what was coated on it….”

He said it was not poisonous.

But Sheila saw it as Jornwerner’s human experimentation. She could see him happily joining in the production when he learned he could openly use the drug he wanted to test on his opponents.

He wasn’t a very dedicated person to his student, so Sheila was sure that he just wanted to observe the progress of the experiment.

“I thought the morning session was full of childish and stupid competitions for the nobility, but now I sincerely want it to be a heartwarming competition….”

“If it’s just a scavenger hunt, surely it’s a decent competition….?”

“Well, if Jornwerner-sensei is not involved, I’d believe that….”

If he were involved in making the scavenger hunt, he would want to watch closely as his students suffered. Sheila would like to hope that he wasn’t here right now.

Four students from each grade would compete in the scavenger hunt. From the fourth grade, Sheila, Zechs, Cody, and Bert would be competing.

They lined up at the starting line in the running order.

At the end of the straight track sat several sheets of paper. The winner was the one who picked one of them, borrowed the subject written on it and completed the run the fastest.

After the competition preparations were complete, the first to run was Zechs.

He was fast on his feet, but since most of the contestants were special students, students from other grades were as fast as he was. They reached the paper with almost no difference. Zechs chose the paper in front of him without hesitation.

He seemed startled for a moment, but he immediately started moving. He turned back the way he came and headed to the starting point where the rest awaited.

“Come here!”

“Eh!?”

Zechs roughly pulled her hand, and Sheila ran as if caught up in it. The murmur of the young ladies in the seats grew louder.

She didn’t know why, but it seemed that Zechs had chosen her. Sheila, who had been dragged along, began voluntarily moving her feet toward the goal. The two of them ran to the finish line with plenty of time to spare.

When they were finally able to speak, Sheila looked up at Zechs, who was slightly out of breath.

“What was your subject?”

He silently held out a piece of paper. On it was written [Redhead]. So that’s it. Sheila certainly fit the bill.

“Isn’t this a good opportunity for commoners to have contact with aristocrats? Since you went all this way, why didn’t you just ask a red-headed aristocrat to join you?”

Looking at the nobles’ seats, redheads could be seen here and there, although they were few in number. As the son of a well-known merchant, there was no way he could have missed the opportunity. He must have had some reason.

Zechs replied dismissively, scratching his stiff hair.

“You idiot, you don’t get it at all. Most of the nobles have blonde or silver hair, right? Red hair, which is common among commoners, is nothing but a disgrace to them. In other words, if you ask for help from the nobles because they have red hair, you will surely be rejected. It’s just a minor trick question.”

“I see. It was a serious issue.”

If you hadn’t learned the common sense of the nobles properly, you would get into trouble when you tried to approach them carelessly. This was a good question to suggest the importance of learning on the part of commoners.

“Maybe it was Claushezade-sensei who made it. This feeling that you have to use your head unexpectedly.”

“Indeed. It feels insidious, doesn’t it?”

“…. I didn’t say that much.”

“No, no. The one who brought it up first is guilty.”

The two of them blamed each other.

In the meantime, Bert, the second runner, had finished the race. 

Sheila left Zechs behind and quickly returned to the starting point because it was almost her turn.

Cody had already started running. He picked up the paper and checked its contents. Surprised, he widened his eyes and looked around the guests’ seats in haste.

He caught sight of one person and started running towards them. He spoke while blushing, then took someone’s hand and started running back.

“…. Eh, Lulu!?”

It was Lulu, running with Cody, looking puzzled. Sheila didn’t know when she had arrived, but upon closer inspection, Richard was also in the guest of honor’s seat. However, she couldn’t see Felix, the most important person. Was he out of his seat?

Cody and Lulu made it to the finish line safely.

Unfortunately, he finished second, but it couldn’t be helped because Cody ran with a woman. The sixth grader in the first place brought a [Fan], so he could run as fast as he could after he borrowed it.

Cody’s subject probably was [A servant employed at a friend’s house].

It was surprisingly important to get acquainted with the servants of other people’s houses. If you could gain their trust, you could get a lot of information from them.

‘I’m glad I didn’t get this subject. I’ve never been to an aristocrat’s house before, and I’m not good at remembering the faces of people I’ve never spoken to….’

There might have been servants on Leidyrune’s and Regress’s side. However, Sheila couldn’t remember their faces at all. Even though it was their job to be discrete and reserved, she wondered if she wasn’t paying attention to them at all. From now on, Sheila decided to observe her surroundings more closely.

‘But why was Cody blushing so much?’

Tilting her head, Sheila got into position. Next, it was finally her turn.

With a high-pitched signal from the magical tool, she started running forward. She grabbed the piece of paper first. The subject written on it was…

“――[A young lady in a blue dress]?”

This, too, was challenging for Sheila.

There were many young ladies in blue dresses, as far as she could tell. But if she had to get permission from a noble’s daughter, she would have to talk to her. It was difficult enough to get permission from a noblewoman, but she also couldn’t force her to run with high heels on. It would be difficult even to reach the finish line.

Sheila wasn’t going to start lamenting the fact that she had drawn a bad subject. For now, she ran towards the VIP seats.

She ran up the stairs and knelt down in front of a young lady in a pale blue dress.

“Excuse me, my beautiful lady.”

Sheila didn’t know her name or her family name, so she had no choice but to call her that.

As expected, the young girl’s eyes widened and stiffened. Her mouth might have been open behind the shadow of her folding fan. Sheila continued regardless.

“My name is Sheila Danau. When I received the request for the [Young lady in a blue dress], you were the only one I could see, even though there are many who wear blue. Please grant me, this poor man, the good fortune to pick you.”

Sheila was careful to use the same tone of voice as when praying for the spirits. However, the young lady turned bright red and didn’t say a word.

Maybe she had misspoken something. Sheila wished she had learned the etiquette of the nobility properly as Zechs did. Her regrets welled up.

Still, she waited patiently, and eventually, the girl gave a small nod. Sheila’s shoulders relaxed with relief.

“May I ask your name, Lady?”

“….. Lilucielle Noailles.”

“Lilucielle-sama. That’s a lovely name.”

Sheila quickly approached Lilucielle and put her hand on her shoulder.

“Please excuse me.”

“Kyaa…!!”

When Sheila picked her up, the hem of her dress fluttered. Sheila knew she wouldn’t like it, so she started running with Lilucielle in her arms. She put her face close to her ear as the noise around her suddenly became noisy, probably due to the voices of reproach.

“If you run, you will hurt your legs. Please be patient for a while.”

Lilucielle stopped moving as soon as Sheila whispered this. Thankful for this, she ran quickly.

After seeing Cody and Lulu, Sheila knew that giving priority to women would slow her down. As a countermeasure, Sheila devised the “princess carry” strategy.

This strategy worked, and Sheila easily won first place.

When Sheila put Lilucielle down immediately and apologized, she muttered while hiding her face with a fan.

“I-I was heavy, wasn’t I?”

Truthfully, the weight of the dress added to her body weight, and Sheila almost reached the limit of her arm strength just before the finish line, but she held on desperately so that her cramps wouldn’t be felt.

However, the young lady, with her fragile waist and small wrists, was clearly thinner than Sheila. If it wasn’t for Sheila’s physical strength as a woman, she would have been able to carry Lilucielle with ease.

So, Sheila knelt down fluidly, imagining how a man would have responded.

“Eh…”

“That is outrageous. I was terrified that you, who is as light as a feather, would suddenly flap your wings. In order to prevent the beautiful Lilucielle-sama from returning to the sky just like her name, I, who crawls on the ground, am desperately trying to hold her back.”

“Ah….”

The eulogy spilled out smoothly, just as it did when she praised Wilfrecht.

Sheila was relieved to see that she wasn’t mistaken in her expectation that Lilucielle’s name was derived from the God of the Sky, Lifeshelk.

She looked up and smiled flirtatiously. Immediately, Lilucielle’s face turned bright red behind her fan.

Sheila, who hurriedly lowered her head, saying that she had again put her in a bad mood, was still unaware that she had completely charmed the young lady.

At this point, the fourth graders were in sole possession of the first place. They were ahead of the second place by an overwhelming point difference.