We were making excellent progress through Forest Castle, and I suspected that either the next room or the one after it would be the final stage.
Ten rooms in total felt like a balanced length. While I had wondered if the challenge in the Rest Room counted as one of the trials after the route branched, I figured it didn't. More accurately, while the Rest Room itself counted as a room, the puzzle within it probably wasn't considered one of the trials.
Since the other routes had four rooms following their respective Rest Rooms, I assumed this route would follow suit. The Rest Room challenge was likely just a means to unlock the Hidden Route, with every path designed to total ten rooms including the Rest Room.
"...This route is probably the hardest one, isn't it?"
"Likely so. Kai-chan cleared it with ease, but that Rubik’s Cube—what was it called? Clearing that within five minutes on your first try without any magic like Thought Acceleration is actually quite a feat, don't you think?"
"Even the Slide Puzzle I worked on would have been difficult if there were five of them. With only one minute per puzzle, the time limit would be incredibly tight," Cornelia-san added.
『Indeed. Considering this facility is intended for the general public, the difficulty level may be quite high.』
True. I just happened to be good at the Rubik’s Cube, which in turn lowered the difficulty of the Slide Puzzle... but even the puzzle Fate-san had solved at the very beginning was considerably harder than anything we’d faced until then.
If that was the case, the upcoming challenges were bound to be just as demanding. With that thought in mind, we reached the next room, where several board games resembling chess sets were laid out.
Ah, if I’d come here alone, I might have been eliminated right then and there.
『Defeat all boards. *Refer to the sign for rule details.』
Was it something like a Tsume Shogi challenge? I checked the sign for the detailed rules. While the game looked like chess, the movements were more complex and the pieces were different, suggesting it was an entirely different game.
It might have been an original board game created for this place. The sign explained the movement patterns and the victory conditions. Touching the Magic Crystal on each board would automatically generate a problem that had to be solved within five minutes. We needed to clear all five boards to pass. If we failed, the board would reset and generate a completely new problem.
...Wait, that’s brutal. Since the problem changed every time you timed out or failed, you couldn't learn from your mistakes to clear it on the next attempt.
There didn't seem to be a penalty for failing, so we could try as many times as we wanted, but the piece movements were intricate and looked incredibly difficult.
『...I have grasped the rules, but I won't know for certain until I try.』
"Lilliwood-san, do you play board games?"
『No, I have almost no experience with this sort of entertainment. That said, it seems to be a matter of reading the correct sequence of moves, much like a puzzle. I believe I can manage.』
"I see. I’m sure you’ll be fine, Lilliwood-san, but please don't overexert yourself."
『Yes, thank you.』
According to Fate-san, magic like Thought Acceleration was basically disabled on the Hidden Route. While someone of Lilliwood-san’s caliber could likely ignore that restriction, her personality wouldn't allow her to do such a thing.
I was completely hopeless at board games, so I couldn't help her at all. All I could do was cheer from the sidelines.
Lilliwood-san smiled at my words and touched the Magic Crystal. The pieces on the board moved on their own to set up the challenge.
I hadn't even memorized how the pieces moved yet, so I didn't really understand what was happening, but Lilliwood-san... without even appearing to stop and think, reached out and moved her pieces through a sequence of about ten moves.
A chime signaled a correct answer, and the board she had just played on vanished. She had cleared it. If she did that four more times, we’d be through.
"...Lilliwood-san, you solved that so effortlessly."
『Yes, with a problem of that level... the piece movements are simple enough. It doesn't seem to be a particularly difficult pastime. Perhaps this room is lower in difficulty than the others?』
No, it looked plenty complex to me. There were about twenty different types of pieces... I was fairly certain this was much harder than chess or shogi.
Lilliwood-san proceeded to solve the remaining four boards without any deep deliberation, breezing through them as if she truly believed it was a simple game.
"...Cornelia-san, did you follow that?"
"I might have been able to solve it if I had time to sit and think, but it seemed quite complex. Especially that last one—it took about thirty moves. Solving that in five minutes would require a stroke of genius and a bit of luck on top of mental speed."
Thank goodness. I wasn't the only one who thought it was hard. Lilliwood-san was just on another level; there was no doubt this was a high-difficulty trial.
Lilliwood-san herself was smiling with satisfaction. She likely felt refreshed, having "experienced the entertainment of the common people."
...This route really is tough. We’re only fine because Lilliwood-san and Fate-san are here, but I wonder what the final challenge will look like...
Serious-senpai: "I knew it, but Lilliwood’s specs are incredibly high..."
???: "As Kuro-san mentioned before, she’s only seen six others with talent rivaling Lilia-san’s in all of history. Lilliwood-san is a genius on that same level-ssu. She understands rules the moment she sees them and clears things smoothly even on her first try-ssu!"