Chapter 125 - Angel’s Trial
Chapter 125 – Angel’s Trial
「By the way」
After taking a bath and eating some food, Kierbit calmed down a bit.
「Wh-what?」
「Don’t be scared. You’re not an enemy, right?」
「O-of course. I’m not an enemy. Then, what do you want to say?」
「I’ll get straight to the point. Tell me about the angel’s trial.」
「…..what are you getting at?」
「If I clear the angel’s trial, isn’t my relationship with Tier be acknowledged?」
「Th-that’s right but I don’t think you can clear it.」
「Really?」
「Really.」
「Maa, tell me about it first. It is a tradition of your race, right?」
Gran Maria says that I’ll be okay but I’m still a bit uneasy.
「The angel’s trial is composed of five trials.」
「There are five?」
「Yes and they are really troublesome.」
「I already expected it to be troublesome. Tell me the first.」
「Fufu. The first is, financial power! You have to donate 777 gold to the angel race.」
「Money?」
「Since you are from around her, you can pay with Gullgald gold coins.」
「Does it has to be gold coins….? Or can I pay with anything with the same value?」
「That works too.」
「Gran Maria, bring something that worth from the warehouse….ah, here it is.」
「Gorgon stone? And this big? Eh? Isn’t this worth more than a thousand gold coins?」
It is one of the items Dors sent me as thanks before.
「Did I pass?」
「Eh, ah, y-yes. Then, the second one.」
「The second one is intellect. Can you please prepare and give me 20 pebbles?」
I prepared 20 pebbles as she requested.
「We’re going to play a game popular among angels. You and I will play and you’ll pass if you win.」
「I understand. What’s the rule?」
「We’re going to take pebbles in turns and the one who’ll take the last one loses. You can take one to three per turn. You must take and you can’t pass your turn. Got it?」
「Yeah.」
Is that it?
「Then, start. I’ll let you choose if you want to be the first.」
「Alright.」
There are twenty pebbles in the field.
The rule states that you must not be the one to take the last pebble.
In other words, there are 19 stones to take.
The maximum value that can be taken per turn is three.
I don’t know how many pebbles should we take…..
Ah, no.
I have to think of a different approach.
Let’s think that the one who’ll take the twentieth piece is not the loser, instead, the one who’ll take the 19th will win.
No matter how many pebbles will the other party take each turn, I’ll only have to adjust mine and I’ll be okay.
In other words…..
If the other party takes three, I’ll take one.
If the other party takes two, I’ll take two.
If the other party takes one, I’ll take three.
With this, we will be able to control the pieces take per turn into four.
Since I need to take the 19th, it will be four times four which is 16 and the remainder will be three.
I’ll win if I take the first turn and take three pebbles.
「I’ll go first. I’ll take three.」
「Then I’ll take one.」
「Three」
…..
I won!
「L-let’s do it again.」
「I don’t mind but let me choose again who’ll take first.」
「No problem. Let’s add one more pebble.」
The remainder will be….
「You can go first.」
….
I won.
「Again!」
「No, let’s move on to the next trial.」
A popular game to the angels.
In other words, I’ll have the opportunity to enjoy it with Tier and Gran Maria.
If I can choose when will be my turn, it is certain victory.
That reminds me, I know of a game similar to this one back in my previous world.
「The third trial is military power.」
「Military power? That’s troublesome….」
「Fufufu. It seems to be not your forte.」
「Then, how do you challenge my military prowess?」
「You only need to survive after fighting with the person I’ll name.」
「I don’t have to win?」
「Yeah」
「Mou….」
I look at Gran Maria.
As I expected, it seems impossible for me to fight someone.
Though I’m appealing to her, she raises her fist and puts out her thumbs up.
Will I really be okay?
「Alright. Who’ll be my opponent?」
「Fufufu. You’ll be really surprised after hearing who it is! The one who enliven the world, the bloodsucking princess, Lulushi!」
「……」
「It seems like you’re really surprised. That’s right, your opponent is someone Tier wasn’t even able to defeat. There is no way for you to fight her and survive!」
「Ah, no, that」
When I looked at Gran Maria, she’s already crouching down laughing.
「Ehto, this is my wife.」
「Hello. Is this alright?」
「Ah, my apologies.」
「Ah, no. Besides, you still have to work for the festival, right? If it’s only this much, I don’t mind doing this for you.」
「Alright, I’ll hurry things up.」
I call out for Loo and after saying hello to the stunned Kierbit, she left.
It took a while before she was able to respond again.
「…..wife?」
「Yes.」
「And the child your wife is holding?」
「Ah, though he is already big, he’s still our sweet little son.」
「Ehto….」
「I survived, right?」
「Eh-ehto……eh…..」
「What is the next trial?」
「Ah yes, next is diplomatic power.」
「Diplomatic power?」
「That right. Diplomatic power after the financial, intellectual and military power.」
「Who should I negotiate with?」
「Wait a second.」
Kierbit takes a deep breath and gets fired up again.
「The fourth trial! The test for your diplomatic power! You should negotiate with the impossible to speak with king of the Gullgrant Mountain….」
Kierbit even poses after saying that.
「So you’ll have a festival again. I’ll attend this year’s festival too.」
「We’re still talking about it.」
「Hahaha. I only came here to see my daughter. I’ll only stay for two days.」
I understand what he’s pointing out with his answer.
「By the way, Doraim, what is the name of the mountain you’re living in?」
「Hnn? The people who live nearby call it Gullgrant mountain.」
「I see. Thanks.」
Doraim came to this village in his dragon form and headed for the inn in human form.
Doraim probably thinks that she’s quite shy with strangers.
She didn’t even say a single word.
Maa, she’s probably scared when she saw him in his dragon form.
Now…..
「Are you okay?」
Kierbit fainted.
For some reason, Kierbit decided to take a bath again and posed in front of me again while blushing.
「The final test!」
「Oh.」
Financial, intellectual, military, and diplomatic power….what’s the last one?
「Luck」
「Luck?」
「Yes, luck. You’re going to flip a coin and the face should come out.」
「I see.」
「The coin you’ll use is this medal. One side is an angel and the other side is a shield and a sword. The angel is the face.」
「I understand but….」
I receive the coin and check the front and back.
There seem to be not unwanted setup and the balance of the front side and back side seem to be equal.
It will entirely be left to luck.
I look at Gran Maria.
Gran Maria sticks up her thumb again saying that it’s all right.
Now, I can’t do anything but leave it to luck.
I don’t think my luck is good….
How should I flip it? Should I have the face above in order for it to come out in the end?
「After flipping it, you should not touch it. Let it drop on the ground.」
「I know I know. I will not do something cowardly.」
It can’t be helped.
I obediently flip the coin and let it drop on the ground.
And it’s the face.
However, it was overturned by Kierbit in the last moment.
「Eh?」
「Fufufu. Fuhahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Sorry. You failed this trial!」
「Wait a minute, isn’t that unfair?」
「According to the rule, you are not allowed to touch it but the rule didn’t state that it can’t be touched by anyone else. In addition, I hit the coin before it completely stops.」
I felt offended by Kierbit and am sure that I’m making a scary face but I it dissipated immediately.
It is because Tier unexpectedly punches the back of Kierbit’s head with all her might.
「Wh-wh-what are you doing!」
「It’s because you’re doing something stupid.」
Tier turned the coin face up then stomped on it. The ground cave in.
「And thus, he passes the last trial. Kierbit must now acknowledge my relationship with the village chief.」
「What are you talking about!」
「It looks like it didn’t work the first time. Maybe I should hit your face next.」
「Hih」
「You acknowledge it now?」
「Yyyyy…..」
「Acknowledge it.」
「I-I acknowledge it.」
「Thank you. I’m happy to receive your blessing.」
「Mou……」
「Because the degree of difficulty changes along with the mood of our race, some of us no longer acknowledge this trial. You should think a little more.」
「Ugh」
In any case, I seem to have cleared the angel’s trial.
By the way, Kierbit looks a little lonely when she picks up the coin on the ground.
「Tier did not come out because of the trial?」
「Yes but I decided to come out since Kierbit has become a complete nuisance.」
「You don’t want me to see that you’re seeing my bad side?」
「There’s also that but….maa, it is because I bore a child before the trial.」
「If your race is the one who’s deciding on the difficulty of the trial, does that mean that you can’t choose your own partner?」
「That is…」
The current leader’s, Kierbit’s mother, partner is a man with only looks.
Kierbit’s mother fell in love with him so the difficulty is low and Kierbit was born.
Because his father only has his face, Kierbit had a complex.
「The other fathers were all excellent men who broke through the trials.」
「Ah」
「Though there is already Kierbit’s parents, it’s still impossible for taking trial to be stopped….. Recently, there was a noticeable number of marriage without sending marriage proposal and undergoing the trial. I would have been classified as the same as them if the man I had a child with will not take and pass the trial..」
「Because I’m….. because of my reputation, everyone is scared of me so no one has ever proposed to me…..」
「Even though you’re so cute?」
「M-mou. Please don’t tease me.」
When Tier and I are flirting, I suddenly felt someone staring at us.
The source of it is none other than Kierbit.
「Is there anything you need?」
Because there are too many angels and harpies, the inn won’t be able to accommodate them so I had them stay in Village One.
However, because there’s nothing on Village One, we had to gather necessary items such as beddings…
「I intended to officially apologize and to thank you. I also wanted to have a proper talk.」
「……」
「What?」
「Are you alright? Did something hit you in your head?」
「I’m fine!」
「Maa maa, do you mind that Tier is here?」
「No.」
I, Tier, and Kierbit sat around the table in the dining room of the inn.
It’s still early for dinner but we can have a light alcohol.
It is to push the conversation forward….
「Ahahahahahahaha」
But I never thought that Kierbit is weak to alcohol.
「Ehto.」
「Ooohhh, the alcohol here is tastier. Another cup! Ahahahahahahahaha」
「Ojou-chan, you seem to understand the taste of alcohol. Drink this.」
It seems like the dwarves are expecting to have a feast like what we’ve always been doing since there are guests. It is impossible to continue talking now.
「We can’t do it today……」
「Right.」
「Let’s just call the others.」
Tier and I gave up have a conversation with Kierbit and decided to have a feast like the dwarves were expecting.