Chapter 1
Part 1
“The Edge of the World”, Tritonis Falls.
Pa pu! Water splashed all around as Izayoi made his way to the river bank.
While holding onto small flaxen buds in his hand, he went to retrieve his headphones and school uniform, which he had taken off before diving into the river, and wore them magnificently. Izayoi then shook his head to get rid of the water stuck in his hair, turned and sat on the shore while asking Kuro Usagi.
“Kuro Usagi, are you sure this is the Aqua Fran?”
“Yes! This most definitely is the Aqua Fran!”
Kuro Usagi put up her index finger and responded cutely while Izayoi nods.
"Is that so? Looks like locking on to the most clustered thriving region of the river was the right choice. So what's left is to make this thing bloom and the game will be cleared......but, this game really does not have any specified method for its clearing conditions?"
A (rarely) troubled look came over Izayoi as he sat upon a huge rock while lightly tossing the flax colored flower buds on top of his head.
What he had meant by the method for its clearing conditions, refers to the current Gift Game that he was currently participating in.
Taking out the goatskin parchment from his school jacket's pocket--- the [Geass Roll] was written as follows:
<<GIFT GAME: “FLOWERS OVER THE LAKE”>>
Participant(s): Sakamaki Izayoi of the “No Names”
Game Master: “The Lord of the Tritonis Falls”, Shirayuki-hime
Clearing Condition(s):
*Obtain the Aqua Fran and make it bloom.
Defeat Condition(s):
*The player can’t satisfy the clearing conditions until noon.
*The player doesn’t have more conditions to clear the game.
Stage details:
*The players can’t leave the radius of one kilometer from the Tritonis Falls.
*The host has confirmed that the Aqua Fran can be bloomed in the Game territory.
Oath: Based on the rules, the participants of the Gift Game will be willing to bet their pride and flag of their respective community
Scanning through the contents of the [Geass Roll] once more, Izayoi tilted his head once more.
“Requesting for me to make the Aqua Fran bloom......Since the Aqua Fran is a flower exclusive to Little Garden, I can’t say that I have sufficient knowledge on this.”
“Ah...... although Kuro Usagi had come along with Izayoi-san to the game, but she cannot tell you as the referee about the details...... but Kuro Usagi can guarantee that this game is definitely legit. So, the rest is up to you, Izayoi-san!”
“Fight on!!!”—Ignoring Kuro Usagi's shout of encouragement that he took for a mere breeze brushing past his ears, Izayoi combed his hair back and lay down on the huge rock.
The water was gradually seeping into his school jacket from his already wet and soaking T-shirt as he leaned his back upon the slab of rock and that was a feeling that felt indescribably terrible for Izayoi. It was so bad that the soak in the river was much more comfortable than this.
Besides, today’s sunny weather was perfect for swimming.
Although the current was strong, it was also enjoyable in a sense as well.
In the swampy part of the river where the rate of flow in the river was much slower, Izayoi had spotted many other queer creatures and plants besides the Aqua Fran, which had thrived in clusters, that he had not seen before. And that caused him to be curious as it tickled his thirst for knowledge. If it were not for the gift game, passing the day by listening to the tranquil sounds of the water flow while inspecting specimens that he picked up from the river might just be relaxing and nice too.
(…….If Ojou-sama and Kasukabe saw it, they’ll definitely say “Just like an old man.”)
Continuing to look up at the sky, he gave a short throaty laugh. In the eyes of others, this might be a hobby of the old but Izayoi did not agree with that line of thought.
It would always be a pleasure to explore the unknown, no matter which realm it might lead to.
To be able to experience things that you have not come across before, that too held a special allure.
Izayoi always felt that those people who couldn't be touched by that sort of beauty might just be the ones who have aged.
But his current curiosity had all been focused upon the flaxen buds of the Aqua Fran that were in his hands.
(According to O-Chibi-sama, the flowers are able to purify and cleanse water. Looking at the waters from the streets to the (water) fountains, it flows on continuously. Although from here, I can immediately guess that the thriving grounds would be beside the river, but......)
His thoughts broke off.
—Being a gift game made by a Demon Lord, it is not a requirement to consider if the participants are not knowledgeable enough on the subject.
---Gift games were games made for the Gods and Demons and the participants' knowledge or power had never been a factor of consideration during the creation of the game. Moreover, the origins of Gift Games had been [Various Trials Issued to the Human Race by Asura Gods] that have been modified. In other words, even if the Participant's ability or knowledge aren't of a sufficient level, it would just count as the Participant's loss for being inexperienced and or having gone through insufficient training.
Due to reasons above, it was legitimate to use a plant unique to the world of Little Garden to set as a trial for Sakamaki Izayoi who had come from another world. And Izayoi had simply concluded that he wasn't knowledgeable enough about this world.
(To even let the flowers bloom in such a short period of time…it’s not even possible.)
Indeed, this was where the problem arises.
The rules specifically states that the Aqua Fran must bloom but there was a time limit. To win the game, one must make the flower bloom within the time limit.
Although individual plants have their own unique time and place to bloom according to the seasonal change, but most flower buds would require at least three to four hours to bloom and the total time available to the game was one hour, to expect the flower to bloom should have been impossible.
(Hmmm this would be a violation of the game but Kuro Usagi assured that there was no problem. So that means there will be special ways to make the flower bloom.)
However if it required a method that was unique to this flowers' blooming behavioral pattern, Izayoi would have insufficient knowledge on how to clear the game.
Okay, so what should I do now? Izayoi continued to look at the sky as he lay upon the rock while wracking his brains.
Kuro Usagi bounded over with a *Doing* and bent over Izayoi's face as she spoke:
“What’s the matter? Are you going to give up?”
“Don’t be absurd, if I surrender here, that’ll mean admitting defeat to Ojou-sama and Kasukabe. And that is something that I will not give way about.”
Izayoi responded without hesitation with a harrumph.
"Yea, not likely at all right~" Kuro Usagi can only smile wryly.
Come to think about it, why did Izayoi come to participate in this Gift game?
As for the full reason, it dates back a few days ago.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login