The quiz moved forward. With the twentieth question behind us, only five remained. I had managed to maintain a perfect score so far, though I had to admit I’d been aided by a bit of luck. At this rate, I actually had a shot at taking the top spot.
Still, I couldn't afford to let my guard down. Two of the final five questions were still designated as high-difficulty. Shiro-san’s question had been a stroke of luck since it touched on something I happened to be good at, but the real challenge lay ahead. Whether or not I could clear these remaining hurdles would be the deciding factor.
"Now then, with only five questions left, I’ll give you a quick update on the current standings," Alice announced. "At the moment, there are ten participants who have answered eighteen or more questions correctly. The race for the top ten has certainly narrowed down. Of course, if those ten all happen to miss every remaining question, someone could still make a comeback from the back of the pack."
"Wait, what?" I muttered. "You’re reporting those with eighteen or more, not just the perfect scorers?"
"I figured leaving a bit of a margin would be more entertaining," Alice replied with a grin. "It gives everyone room to speculate on who the real perfect scorers are."
Ten people with eighteen or more correct answers... The field had been thinned out more than I expected. This quiz really did demand a staggering breadth of knowledge—not necessarily deep, specialized expertise, but a wide-reaching familiarity with a variety of subjects. It was surprisingly tricky.
I had a feeling the questions about the otherworld had been the primary filter that weeded most people out.
"Next up is... Oh, it’s High Difficulty 3!"
"Whoa, here it comes," Fate chimed in. "This is one of the two remaining high-difficulty questions, and it’s going to have a massive impact on the rankings. For those of you with eighteen or more correct, your place in the top tier depends on this. Put your backs into it!"
It was certainly a pivotal moment, but these high-difficulty questions were notoriously brutal. I wondered what kind of curveball they were about to throw.
"Here is the question," Alice said, her voice booming through the venue. "The Dragon King, Magnawell-san, is famous for being the world's largest living being, boasting a total length of approximately thirty thousand meters. Now then, roughly how much does Magnawell-san weigh? 1: Approx. 150 billion tons. 2: Approx. 200 billion tons. 3: Approx. 250 billion tons. 4: Approx. 300 billion tons... As usual, you have three minutes to answer."
"That’s impossible!" someone shouted. "I bet even the Dragon King himself doesn't know the answer to that!"
"He didn't," Alice admitted cheerfully. "I measured him myself while I was putting the quiz together. For the sake of fairness, I haven't even told Magnawell-san the results yet."
This was another absurdly difficult one. None of those numbers felt impossible; it was a given that he was astronomically heavy, so the question came down to the specific figure. Was I really going to have to rely on a blind guess?
Wait. Hold on. A long time ago, when Alice first told me about Magnawell-san’s length, didn't she mention something else?
—Thirty thousand meters is thirty kilometers... at that scale, even just walking must be an ordeal. —Well, Magnawell-san is mindful of that, so he stays slightly buoyant. To begin with—though I haven't measured him precisely—his weight is estimated to be around two hundred billion tons. Without counter-magic formulas, the ground would be riddled with cracks wherever he went. —The scale is just mind-boggling.
I remembered! She’d said it—Alice had estimated it at about two hundred billion tons. Of course, she hadn't measured him accurately back then, but I couldn't imagine Alice being off by fifty billion tons, even for a casual estimate. In that case, option two had to be the winner.
"...The correct answer is 2: Approx. 200 billion tons. You might think that sounds incredibly heavy, but considering Magnawell-san’s physical dimensions, it wouldn't be strange for him to weigh several trillion tons. However, high-ranking dragon species have bodies composed mostly of special cells called Dragon Cells, which are made of high-density magic power. Because of this, they are actually quite light compared to their visual volume. That’s how super-large species and other massive dragons are able to fly through the sky with their wings."
Now that she mentioned it, two hundred billion tons sounded like an incredible figure, but relative to Magnawell-san’s actual size, it was practically feather-light.
Besides, Magnawell-san had apparently been capable of flight once upon a time, which technically made him a type of wyvern. Alice’s explanation made perfect sense.
At any rate, that brought me to twenty-one correct answers. Depending on the final high-difficulty question, I might actually pull off a perfect score.
???: "By the way, there is currently one person other than Kaito-san who holds a perfect score. It might be interesting to try and guess who they are. To be clear, those with omniscience like Machina are not participating. This perfect scorer isn't relying on luck; they've answered every single question through sheer knowledge."
Serious-senpai: "It’s not some kind of punchline where it turns out to be Alice, is it?"
???: "Alice-chan is also not a participant. Your hint lies in the high-difficulty questions we've had so far. To have answered them all correctly, this person must be well-versed in the Cruel race's magic crystal mining, stay updated on the latest Nagelist rankings, be able to distinguish Shallow Vernal-sama’s expressions, and possess a rough grasp of Magnawell-san’s weight."