A riddle is a kind of riddle, a riddle, and riddle quests in games are quests where the story progresses by correctly answering questions posed by the game.
For example, when it comes to what kind of questions are asked, I often see “What creature has four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs at night?” in games.
The answer to this is human.
It is said that humans have four legs when they are babies, stand on two legs when they grow up, and finally walk on three legs with a cane.
This is a problem that is often joked about, such as “Humans don’t grow that much in a day, idiot,” or “A cane is not a leg.” However, this should give you a general idea.
Of course, there are also problems that involve deciphering ciphers, questions that ask for knowledge about people and places that appear in the game, and questions that ask you to guess your own play time or enemy kill count. In games, a wide variety of problems are presented that go beyond the scope of simple riddles.
And it is a common pattern in such quests that you cannot proceed unless you can solve the problem.
You might think, “What obvious thing,” but this is quite important. If you don’t come up with the answer to these riddles at first, you often won’t be able to reach the correct answer even if you think about it for hours.
It is possible to give up on clearing the game because you couldn’t solve just one riddle.
However, that is only if you do it entirely on your own.
In this day and age, if you look at the internet, you can find the answers somewhere, so getting stuck on this kind of quiz and not being able to advance in the game is impossible.
…Unless the game is “Nekoneko.”
Fearing strategy guides based on online information, the “Nekoneko” staff decided on a system where they prepared a total of 2,000 questions for this riddle quest, and players had to clear 50 randomly appearing questions.
And this misguided diligence probably resulted in the creation of a quest of super-difficulty that even the creators could not clear, a monster known as “Chiru Mono.”
However, that does not directly lead to our disadvantage.
“…I see. You’re saying that the ‘Chiru Mono’ quest might become a barrier against the Magician’s Guild?”
When I talked about the ‘Chiru Mono’ quest, omitting the game aspect, Mitsuki, who is quick to catch on, asked me that right away.
“It’s helpful that you’re quick to understand. That’s right. Our goal is to stop the Magician’s Guild’s ritual.
We don’t need to clear ‘Chiru Mono’ ourselves, and there’s the option of not solving the puzzle at all.”
“Then, then, you’re not going to do that quest?”
I shook my head and answered Ena, who politely raised her hand and asked.
“No, considering what’s to come, it’s better to clear that quest.
Of course, I intend to try it today as well.
However, to be blunt, that quest probably can’t be cleared by conventional means.
There is a way to clear it effectively, but…”
I glanced at Layla there.
I haven’t told Layla that this is a game world yet.
Based on Layla’s attitude so far, I think she’ll accept it if I explain properly, but for now, it’s probably best to refrain from discussing game-like strategies in front of Layla.
I chose my words carefully and concluded the conversation.
“…There are various troublesome things involved.
So, this time, our goal is to confirm the Necronomicon, and clearing the quest is secondary.”
I might be worrying too much, but from my recollection of the Guild Quests of the Magician’s Guild, only three things are necessary to perform the ritual.
A large amount of magic power needed to activate the magic, i.e., Elements, a large amount of Mithril needed to construct the magic, and the grimoire to control them, the Necronomicon.
Guild quests also included various violent tasks such as eliminating spies sent by the kingdom, destroying houses occupied by hostile factions, and executing traitors within factions, but these were probably not directly related to the success of the ritual.
The other two, Element and Mithril, can be collected given enough time, so to reliably stop the ritual, we have no choice but to secure the Necronomicon.
In any case, the priority now is to leave quickly and get to the library.
I turned back to Layla and asked her to take care of the house.
“Well then, Layla. We’re going out for a bit, so could you stay and guard the house…”
“W-wait! …C-can I come too?”
“Huh?”
I asked her to stay, but Layla made an unexpected request instead.
“No, but, well…”
I had Layla come over for cooking purposes, and she wasn’t much of a fighter.
Moreover, if “To the Disloyal, Death!!” were to misfire in a public place, regardless of whether it caused actual damage, it would be bad for our reputation.
As I hesitated, Layla’s face sank visibly.
“Oh, I-I’m sorry. If Soma doesn’t want me to, I won’t force it.
So, so, don’t abandon me, don’t abandon me…”
She suddenly burst into tears.
I was stunned for a moment, but quickly went to Layla.
“No, you’re jumping to conclusions!
I never said I would abandon you!”
I patted her on the back to comfort her, and Layla finally calmed down.
Clearly forcing herself, she gave me a smile.
“I-I’m sorry for being selfish.
If Soma says so, I’ll never leave this mansion again.
I’ll wait for Soma to return for ten years, or a hundred years.
So, so, don’t abandon me, don’t abandon me–”
“I said I won’t abandon you!”
Why does the conversation always jump from one extreme to another and loop back?
Even though she’s supposed to be in the third stage, her attitude is still timid. It feels like her yandere tendencies inherited from the game’s Layla are blossoming in a different direction.
If I handle this wrong, it’s going to be troublesome.
Sensing this, I chose my words even more carefully to persuade Layla.
“You don’t have to go that far.
It’s not that I find it bothersome for Layla to come.
But there’s nothing interesting at the library, so you don’t have to come with us if you don’t want to…”
As I tried to escape, Layla pressed on.
“I-I’m not bothered at all!!
See, I’m researching ancient ruins, so I’m very interested in solving puzzles at the library!
S-so I’d like to try…!”
“Ah. I-I see.”
Come to think of it, Layla was also proactively solving ancient ruin mechanisms when we went to the ruins together.
It makes sense that she likes that sort of thing.
However…
“That’s not such a good thing, you know?”
The riddles in the “Chiru Mono” quest are not at all ordinary.
In fact, it’s a terrible gimmick that is guaranteed to increase stress the more you do it.
“I’m telling you for your own good, you should stay away from it…”
“B-but, I really want to try!
B-because, y-solving puzzles is my life’s work… no, my very life!”
She said something amazing.
I never knew she had dedicated her life to solving puzzles to such an extent.
— Riddles are life.
Depending on how you hear it, it sounds profound.
I have a strong premonition that this will become a famous quote, but that’s beside the point.
I’m still hesitant about taking Layla with me…
“Isn’t it fine?”
As I was still hesitating, Mitsuki interjected from the side.
“No, but…”
“We’re not going outside town this time, so it won’t be dangerous.
Besides, her knowledge might be useful.”
It’s hard to object when she says it like that.
As I learned during the time I acted as a false prince charming, Layla’s knowledge of ruins and old legends is not to be underestimated.
Of course, the “Chiru Mono” quest is not so easy that it can be cleared just by being a little good at solving puzzles, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be useful.
In the game, I cleared the “Chiru Mono” quest once.
However, at that time, I used a cheat-like technique, and when I got stuck on a quiz, I immediately looked it up on a wiki and answered accordingly.
Now that I can’t access the wiki, clearing “Chiru Mono” depends on my memory. However, I don’t have the confidence to remember all 50 quiz questions.
“…Can you promise not to act on your own and move mechanisms there, and just follow my instructions?”
“O-okay! Leave it to me! I’ll obey everything Soma says!
If Soma tells me to die, I’ll die, and if Soma says he doesn’t need me anymore, then if he says…”
She started trembling, perhaps scared by her own thoughts.
I hate to say it, but she’s incredibly troublesome.
At this point, it feels less troublesome to just take her with me.
“I won’t say either of those things.
Understood. Just this once, Layla, you can come with us.”
“Th-thank you, Soma!”
And so, with Layla, who seemed to be deeply moved, we headed to the library as a large party of seven.
The mansion and the library are quite close.
I waved goodbye to Kuma, who had offered to stay home in Layla’s place, and left the house. As we walked, I explained the plan.
“—There’s a mechanism on the bookshelf at the very back of the library. If you rearrange the books there, the bookshelf will move and a sphinx will appear from behind it.
You can enter the basement by correctly answering the questions the sphinx asks, but it’s difficult to clear it properly.”
“But Mr. Soma can clear it, right?”
While feeling a bit embarrassed by Ena’s trust-filled gaze, I nodded.
“It’s not certain, but I know a way to lower the difficulty of the questions.”
With that, Ena and Layla looked at me as if to say, “Amazing!”.
In contrast, Maki interjected in a slightly jaded tone.
“Knowing you, Soma, it’s probably some ridiculous method, isn’t it?”
Don’t say “ridiculous.” It’s normal, normal.
Although I said that, this is a strategy that is closely related to the nature of the game.
How can I explain it to someone who doesn’t know games?
“Well, the guardian of the basement, the ‘Beckoning Sphinx,’ has a certain regularity in determining the questions it asks.
It’s stored in a separate location from the normal ones, so-called fortune-telling omikuji… ah?”
While I was struggling to explain, I saw a man in a black robe walking towards us from the direction of the library.
“…Soma?”
To Ringo, who looked up at me anxiously, I signaled caution with my eyes.
(…It’s him. It can’t be wrong.)
The man in the black robe gradually approached.
That’s definitely a magician from the Magician’s Guild.
And not just any guild member.
It was Salmon, one of the Guild Master’s trusted aides.
Despite having a fish-like name, he is high in the guild’s hierarchy and possesses considerable combat ability.
Of course, he’s not an opponent I can’t defeat in a fight, but the problem is the direction he’s coming from.
(Could he be…?)
I desperately suppressed my urge to look at Salmon and continued to observe him sideways while facing forward.
His face was hidden by his hooded robe, so his expression was unreadable.
He seemed to be wearing nothing but a staff and a bag at his waist.
However, if the bag at his waist is an Adventurer’s Bag, then he could be carrying anything.
“—Hmph!”
A tense moment.
Salmon and our paths crossed—and he passed by us immediately.
“…Haa.”
I exhaled the breath I had been holding.
Objectively speaking, our group of seven is a remarkably conspicuous one, but it seems Salmon was not interested in us.
Or perhaps it was because he had obtained results that were of no concern to us.
“Was that someone from the Magician’s Guild?”
After Salmon had passed and was out of sight, Mitsuki approached and asked.
As expected, Mitsuki had noticed.
“Yeah. It was Salmon from the Magician’s Guild.
He might have come from the library.
…Can you track his location?”
“It’s possible. We just passed him, and I heard his name.”
Mitsuki’s cat ears twitched, signaling a “combat ready!” posture and reporting her tension.
Meanwhile, even while saying that to Mitsuki, I was undecided.
There are no buildings other than the library that wizards would likely visit in this direction.
Still, I don’t believe “Chiru Mono” has been broken, but there’s a slim possibility.
“No, there’s no point thinking about it here. The plan has changed.”
The entrance to the library was already in sight.
However, instead of heading there, I turned around and went towards the alley next to the library.
“Soma!? Where are you going!?”
Maki cried out in surprise at my sudden action.
I turned back and shouted.
“Sorry! Everyone, go in from the entrance and proceed straight to the opposite wall!
I’m going around to the back from here!”
“B-back alley? But the library only has an entrance here…”
I didn’t have time to speak.
While chanting and reserving the activation of Petit Explosion in my mind, I replied roughly.
“I said the basement is at the very back of the library!
Skills can’t be used inside the library!
It’s a hundred times faster to go around the back and use skills to get in!”
“Soma!!”
Maki was still saying something, but I deliberately ignored her.
I felt like rushing now wouldn’t make a difference, but for some reason, I had a bad feeling.
(Step, High Step, Shukuchi!)
My long-awaited movement skill combo.
Leaving even Maki’s voice behind, I ran down the alley along the outer wall of the library.
(Step Horizontal Slash Step Horizontal Slash Step, High Step, Shukuchi, Petit Explosion… Step, Shuntou, Step, High Step, Tenha Mukyu Hisho Ken, Air Hammer Shuntou, Air Hammer, Shuntou, Step, High Step, Shukuchi!)
I dodged obstacles with Godspeed Cancel Movement, jumping over people’s heads with Tenha, landing in front of them with Air Hammer and Shuntou, and sprinting through the alley at maximum speed with extreme concentration. During that time…
“Ah, huh?! Did something just pass—”
“It’s a Tengu, a Tengu appeared—”
“Was that Turbo Prince?! I thought it was an urban legend—”
I thought I heard the people I overtook saying something, but leaving their voices behind, I emerged at the back of the library.
“…Hah!”
I finished my last movement with Petit Explosion and finally caught my breath.
However, I didn’t have much time to spare, or the point of rushing here would be lost.
While chanting, I adjusted the distance to the library and immediately activated the next skill.
“—’Illusionary Mirage’!”
“…They’re here.”
Sensing multiple footsteps approaching, I muttered coolly and closed the book I was reading.
As for the result of my rushed journey, to put it simply, the Necronomicon was safe.
Moreover, the mechanism on the bookshelf at the very back of the library had not been triggered, and the Beckoning Sphinx had not even appeared.
I say so myself, but I had forgotten that my premonitions were unreliable.
At that point, I thought I shouldn’t have rushed through the wall.
Incidentally, although I thought I couldn’t enter the library using wall-breaking bugs because skills and magic are unusable inside, it was actually easier to enter once inside because the skill effects wore off as soon as I entered.
After entering the library with ‘Illusionary Mirage’ for the umpteenth time, I confirmed that my companions had not yet arrived and immediately began manipulating the mechanism on the bookshelf.
I remember this mechanism well.
If you switch a few blue-spined books on the shelf, a low rumbling sound will occur, the bookshelf will move, and a strange statue will appear from behind it.
The guardian of the Necronomicon, and “Chiru Mono.”
Commonly known as the “Beckoning Sphinx.”
It is a statue with a human face, a lion’s body, and sharp ears like a cat, standing on two legs with one hand bent and holding a koban (a type of Japanese gold coin). Simply put, it looks like a beckoning cat and a sphinx combined, multiplied by about 1.8.
Naturally, the “Chiru Mono” quest had not started, and the Beckoning Sphinx remained silent.
In this case, there was no need to rush.
So, I was elegantly enjoying my reading while waiting.
“…Mr. Soma!”
To the unusually quiet calling, I turned around majestically, as if I hadn’t rushed out in a panic.
“Ah, Ena. You’re late. Here, this is the… huh?”
As I turned around, I noticed.
My companions approaching me all had tense expressions, and at the head of the group, I saw an unfamiliar woman wearing glasses.
Her attire, hairstyle, and glasses were all sharp, and she seemed to be glaring at me.
(Who is this person…? No, I feel like I’ve seen her before, but…)
I couldn’t remember.
However, judging by her stern expression, she likely didn’t bring any good news for us.
(At this timing, is it related to the Magician’s Guild?
But was there anyone like her in the Magician’s Guild?
Besides, if the other party is the Magician’s Guild, then the reason for Ringo and Mitsuki’s silence is…)
I couldn’t put my thoughts together due to the suddenness of the situation.
As if to accelerate my confusion, the woman with glasses exuded a sharp aura that made people tense.
Affected by that atmosphere, I hastily put away the book I was reading in my bag and subconsciously straightened my posture.
As she watched my actions with a frown, she finally arrived in front of me.
“…I’ll get straight to the point.”
There was no greeting.
The woman with glasses stopped in front of me, extended her right hand towards me, and as I instinctively tensed, she said with a great deal of intimidation:
“—If you’re going to enter the library, pay your entrance fee properly!!”
No trespassing, absolutely.
