Part 8
—Outergate, before the Fountain Plaza.
"Mhm... where did everyone go?!!" [17]
KuroUsagi's ears drooped in dejection as she casually strolled in the Fountain Plaza. In her search for Izayoi and the others who broke into a run that left only a trail of dust in their wake from the main building of the Community, KuroUsagi was now wandering aimlessly with a lack of enthusiasm as she swayed unsteadily in the Free zone of the city. [18]
Leticia, with her blond hair that sparkled brilliantly, had accompanied KuroUsagi in her drifting walk around the minigame venue.
Wearing her maid costume, Leticia did not lose her stern look as she fell in step behind KuroUsagi. Just like a pretty servant who shadowed a step behind her master. For Leticia, who had been trained strictly as a knight, to mimic a servant would probably be very easy task.[19]
Leticia gave a wry smile as she looked at the droopy eared KuroUsagi.
"Although it would be nice if you could pull yourself together, but I would still suggest for you to be more optimistic about this. It is a rare sight to have a game of such scale in the East side. It is the best time chance for us to relax a little isn't it?"
"Indeed, it sure is as you said….."
The atmosphere of the streets have livened up under the hearty shouts of the stall keepers and the ornate decorations of the area. And although it was all too easy to enjoy oneself in this lively place, the situation that she was caught up in was something that prevented her from doing so.
According to the movements of the problem children trio, there was the possibility for herself to be teased around as they get to order her around as a maid.
Just the imagination of their possible treatment in stall for herself was enough to cause her rabbit ears to quiver.
"All KuroUsagi did was to act as the agent for the game... how it end up like this...?!"
"Mah, don't look at it that way. If you get used to it, it is actually not bad to be a maid. KuroUsagi would definitely look pretty in a maid costume and I will make sure to teach you the ways properly, so you needn't be so worried."
Leticia covered her mouth as she smiled.
KuroUsagi felt her rabbit ears drain in strength even further.
Just as they were wandering along the street in a casual stroll,— suddenly, the symbol of an uncommonly seen flag came into their field of sight.
"...KuroUsagi, look at that flag symbol emblazoned on that guy's chest."
"Aie?"
"That's the one. The design of a sceptre and a snake —- that is the symbol of the [Kerykion]s."
Slightly jutting her chin to motion towards the subject of the conversation.
Leticia was referring to the male who had the design of twin snakes, which intertwined around each other, emblazoned upon his chest.
KuroUsagi immediately perked her rabbit ears as she lowered her voice as she spoke.
"A [Kerykion]...?! Why would one of the Guardians of the Greek God Treasuries be down here in the East Side's lowest levels?!"
"I do not know either. It is a big possibility that they have come to participate in the game. But there is also the chance that they are sent here due to the incident with [Perseus]."
Just a month prior, [No Name] had accomplished the noteworthy deed of defeating a Community of [Perseus] that stood under the flag of the [ThousandEyes], and successfully wiped its flag from the starry heavens.
But that would also mean the destruction of a portion of the Greek gods' faith and associated followers. In that case, it was highly doubtful that the Greek gods would continue to sit by and do nothing.
"The game was also related to [ThousandEyes] for the other occasion. Hence, we did not think of any retributive acts... But looks like it would be best to have some caution. Let's go find Izayoi and the others immediately."
"YES!"
Clenching her fists, she mustered her enthusiasm. In this sort of situation, she could not afford to allow herself to be always burdened down by some setbacks and so she straightened her rabbit ears while straightening out her thoughts.
Just when they were about to split ways to conduct their search— a familiar voice floated over from a tent in a lane away from the alley.
"Well now, Asuka, this is not the time to be shy. If you do not make an effort to attract customers, we will never be able to win you know?"
"I, I can't do this! Using this sort of embarrassing appearance to appear before the crowds, I will never be able to do this!?"
"Don't worry. It fits you SUPER well. It's a SUPER GOOD JOB. A SUPER maid."
"SUPER maid?!"
"SUPER maid?!!"
"Heeh~ A SUPER maid?"
Leticia's eyes were sparkling as she heard those words.
Probably the flipping of a strange switch somewhere, Leticia who strode over to the tent flipped the tent flaps with a fierce intensity to her actions.
"EEEiiYaaaaa…..!?"
"Mhm?"
A small pitiful wail came from the inside as Leticia made a sound of being in thought as she evaluated the appearance of the voice's owner.
It was none other than Kudou Asuka and Kasukabe Yō within the tent and they were both wearing a white and black laced maid miniskirt. They were so surprised that they rested their hands on the cart filled with [Willo'wisp] produce such as the candle holders, glass lamps, dining cutlery and such which were assigned to them for their portion of the sales.
And especially for Asuka, whose cheeks had turned to a bright cherry red, she was shivering in cowardice.
"Le, Leticia...? Why would you be here?"
"Because I heard your voices from outside and was just wondering what it might be. But... Mhmmm."
Holding her chin as she appreciated the maid garb of the duo.
Contrasting to Asuka's usual dressing of the red formal dress and the other wide dresses, this maid costume was of a pretty high exposure value.
The tender white skin that has rarely seen the sun was eye catching, coupled with the contours of her sexy thighs and the low neckline of the costume that went down to the splits of her bossom. Although Asuka was still young, but this much was already enough to give off a feminine charm.
As for Yō, though she might lack the feminine charm, the tenderness of youth and the maid costume made a combination that accentuated an atmosphere of cuteness. If accompanied with a sincere smile, she would definitely be impeccable as a shop assistant.
Leticia looked at the duo in maid outfits for a moment before giving a light sigh.
"...Umu. Such a great impact from their youth. Is this what they call the ideal super maid?"
"No, if you were to talk about looking young, wouldn't Leticia-sama's appearance seem tender and much younger?"
KuroUsagi gave her tsukomi in a small voice.
That's not the point, was what Leticia wanted to retort, but retorting at this point would also be of no particular use.
Pointing at the cart beside the duo with her finger, Leticia continued her questions.
"Is this cart related to the reason for your dress up as maids?"
"Aie? Mhm. Actually—"
Asuka tried to cover as her bare skin that was revealed by the costume as she passed the [Geass Roll] of [Willo'wisp] over to them.
[–Name of Gift Game: "RaimundusLullus"—
Minigame: "Intelligence" and "Determination" and "Virtue".
Summary of the Rules: The winner shall be the one who sells the most goods of [Willo'wisp] within an hour.
But with respect to the above, all participants are required to wear the maid costume that has the [Willo'wisp] flag emblazoned on it while engaging in the sales.
As a side note, male participants are also required to wear the maid costume.
The losing parties would be forced to wear the maid costume and work for [Willo'wisp] for a full day without payment.]
Having read it with her focused attention, Leticia scrunched her brows as she got to the middle portion.
"... Wait a moment. Is this really the entirety of the game's contents?"
Leticia has furrowed her brows in suspicion. This game deviated from the norm of pitting the Host and the Participants against each other. Instead, it was created with the precondition that the Participants would be fighting each other for the reward. With that in mind, the [Willo'wisp] would lose all their Golden Plates and their participation qualification as well.
Facing Leticia who tilted her head ever so slightly, Yō smiled wryly as she replied.
"Jack and the others have lost interest in the game after learning about the participation of [Queen Halloween] and so they have offered up the three pieces for the winner of the minigame."
"If we follow their line of thought, it would mean that it wouldn't be of any use to them even if they did win the game."
What?! They exclaimed in surprise.
Although they were surprised that Jack and the others were disinterested in the game, but regarding [Queen Halloween]— one of the largest organizations from the three digit Communities in Little Garden to have joined a game of the lowest levels, that was something that truly elicited their cry of surprise.
"Not only [Kerykeion] but [Queen Halloween] have joined this sort of game of the lowest levels... it sure is situation that is hard to believe."
"But if it really promises the secret technique to transmute gold, the "Alchemy of Gold", one would think that the presence of these Communities in the participants would not be something unthinkable would it?"
KuroUsagi straightened her rabbit ears as she said it with confidence.
Regarding that point, Leticia held a contrasting attitude. [ThousandEyes] is indeed a large Community that is known to all, but it did not seem plausible for them to offer such a reward to the lowest levels.
"About that, could it be... something that is kept secret from the normal participants?"
"...that is possible as well. Let's tidy up the information that we have at hand currently.
—For the sake of understanding the situation, all the information that we have till date would be tidied up and presented here.
The Gift Game <RaimundusLullus> is one that uses the contents for the Gold transmutation technique, the "Alchemy of Gold". The victory will go to the person who gathers the seven pieces of Golden Plates. [Willo'wisp] seems to have figured out the rewards and deemed it to be of no use. The large scale Communities of [Kerykeion] and [Queen Halloween] have joined the fray. From the points of iii and iv, it would be plausible to speculate that the prize is something that will not matter unless it is given to a large scale Community. Listing out the important elements that they could think of, they racked their brains together.
But they were still unable to get close to the answer with just those clues. As she tilted her head while poring over the contents of the [Geass Roll] repeatedly, —*Ah*, Yō seemed to have stumbled upon something as she looked up.
"Could it be….. that this game is basically a competition between the "commercial forces"?"
"What?"
"And the meaning is?"
Asuka, Leticia and KuroUsagi asked simultaneously.
Yō squatted as she traced the contents of the [Geass Roll] on the floor.
[–Name of Gift Game: "RaimundusLullus"—
Participant qualification B: The Kind
Opponents: The Great.
The Heir
The Strength possessor.
The Intelligent
The Determined
The Virtuous
Conditions for defeat: Losing the [Geass Roll] is equivalent to losing the participation rights.
Conditions to win: Gather all the "Plates of Lullus" and you shall receive the glory of the truth.
Additional information: The Game will begin when all participants have finished their preparations.
The end time for the Game is when all other contestants have been defeated.
Oath: Respecting the above information, swearing upon our glory and flag, this Gift Game is hosted by [Thousand Eyes].
"Seal of [Thousand Eyes]"
Initially, we assumed that we would have to pass through seven minigames to clear the main game but it turned out that there isn't such a restriction. Having accepted the minigame of Jack and the others, we realise that we can also bet three pieces of [Geass Roll]s at once. "In other words, as long as we choose a common topic for the minigame in this Gift Game, it will also be permissible for us to bet with seven pieces of the Golden Plate at once. "And wouldn't that refer to the "commercial forces"? Yō made the speculation.
Kindness, wisdom, determination and virtune were terms that were used to describe the basics of commercial trust.
As for greatness, legacy and strength, those were nouns to describe the scale of the Community and the accompanying economic might.
As for the winning condition of "Gather all the "Plates of Lullus"", it would hint that one only needed to host a minigame to complete the task.
Then, that would also mean—
"Could it be that... the real participants are not us but the stalls?"
Asuka looked at stalls around them from left to right and back again.
Probably peeved to find herself to be a mere decorum on the stage of performance.
Yō nodded her head in affirmation as she proposed her last conjecture.
"Mhm. The last victor will surely gather the seven pieces of the Golden plates and will be picked from the Community which reaped the most profits. From the perspective that there are large scale commerce focused communities such as [Kerykion] participating in the game, I would guess that the reward would not be of a tangible tool or alchemical technique but an authority of sorts for the Commercial world— what are your thoughts?"
With regards to Yō's speculation, everyone folded their arms as they sank into deep thought.
If the speculation were to be right, this game would not be of any use for the [No Name]s. They did not have the foundation of engaging in commercial activities and it would be something that wouldn't serve any purpose even if it did land into their hands.
KuroUsagi could not hide her disappointment as her rabbit ears hung down dejectedly.
"If it is like that... the aim of KuroUsagi to fix the wastelands will not be coming true..."
After all, it was such a barren piece of land.
To regain the former glory of its beautiful view, talented individuals and wealth were necessary for the task. Merun and Deen were already having their hands full with the work in the farmlands and they were unable to help out with the barren ruins. And to provide for a hundred and twenty children, the [No Name]s just did not have the economic capabilities to bring about that sort of rebuilding effort.
"But to get the Gold plates as the consolation prize of being a participant, that would be good enough! If we were to exchange this gold piece—"
"—Wait. What's that about?"
Yō raised a hand as she directed the question at KuroUsagi. Her tone revealed her earnest query about the matter. Facing this situation of having created a confusion, KuroUsagi frantically supplied an additional explanation.
"Really, Really sorry about that. The explanations were incomplete. This Golden plate will be given to Participants who enter the game. So, even if we do not win the game, we will still be receiving a golden plate."
*Pak!* Came the sound of a fist landing on a palm as they finally understood the reasoning.
But with all that in place it would really connect the dots, if one were to think along the lines of the game stage being one that targeted for the participants to spend money. After all, the initial participants were all gathered to be the decorum of the stage.
Falling into deep thought after listening to KuroUsagi's words—- Yō suddenly smiled mischievously with the hint of a prank in mind.
"Then, let's just accept those gold pieces."
"—Aie?"
"If this is a competition for the gold plates where we engage each other with the fight for the highest earnings, the gold plates should go to the Community with the highest earnings. We might as well have a share in this market of theirs and give these bold and confident tradesmen a returning blow."
"Ara, that's a good idea. But do we stand a chance?"
With regards to Yō 's brazen proclamation of a strategy, Asuka replied with a smile.
Yō drew herself up to full height ass he knocked on the push cart piled full with the crafted items of [Willo'wisp] as she smiled mischievously.
"We have already heard the method from Jack and the others. There will be no problems. So, for that end—"
She pulled out a maid costume from the push cart.
"KuroUsagi will also be transforming into a SUPER maid."
"Aie?"
Revealing a look of dismay, KuroUsagi's rabbit ears jumped as she shouted "what?!".
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