Chapter 86: French Knowledge Quiz!
"Team Eikou, thanks to the overwhelming thrust from their Noble Phantasm, has completely dominated and reclaimed first place!"
"The Twelve Paladins team was stunned by that move and tried to imitate it, but the amount of magical energy they could unleash was nowhere near Gawain's Sword of Revolving Victory, and they were quickly left far behind!"
"So strong… truly too strong—let's all give a round of applause to congratulate Team Eikou for returning to first place!
"Even after dropping out of the top 5, they could return as fast as lightning!
"As the homeroom teacher of the Britain Class, I truly feel proud of them from the bottom of my heart!"
Homeroom teacher Finn spoke into the microphone with a joyful tone.
"I hope my students can maintain their first-place lead and not suffer a defeat like the Battle of Waterloo…"
Napoleon, having finished his cigar, muttered, "Finn-sensei, you brought up Waterloo on purpose to mock me, didn't you?"
Finn only smiled.
"Ha ha ha, let's continue watching the performance of the leading competitors.
"The Twelve Paladins team is using a Noble Phantasm to accelerate, but the gap with Team Eikou is still quite large."
"Among the encirclement of the French students, there's still an elite group from Britain breaking through—led by Baobhan Sith, with Baobhan Sith, Barghest, and Mordred. Truly, the daughters are no less than the sons—could they become a serious contender for first place?"
"Oh oh, let's set that aside for now—Team Eikou has reached a new checkpoint. What unexpected event will they draw here?"
...
[You have reached a new checkpoint.]
[The magical energy of Sun Knight Gawain has been reduced by more than half, making it difficult to produce the same thrust as before in a short time.]
[You have reached a new checkpoint—please draw a random event.]
[You have passed through a checkpoint—please perform a Luck check.]
[The one to be checked is… Gawain!]
Seeing that the Luck check target was Gawain, Eikou let out a sigh of relief.
Unlike the unlucky Tristan, Gawain's Luck stat was surely A-rank.
As for himself, Eikou, due to temporarily reduced attributes, his Luck was only B-rank.
In other words, drawing Gawain was already quite a lucky start.
Unless it turned out to be a great failure.
[Check result is EX, great failure!]
Thud!
Eikou was so shocked that he dropped to his knees, slamming down on the ground.
"Damn it—just as I feared, this is even worse than having that unlucky Tristan draw!"
...
From inside the Simulation Room came Finn's regretful voice:
"What a pity—it seems lady luck isn't smiling on Team Eikou. Just as they took the lead, they've drawn the most despair-inducing negative event. Now, let's see what misfortune Mochizuki Eikou and his teammates have drawn.
"It turns out to be the French Knowledge Quiz program hosted by Shakespeare!"
...
[You have drawn a penalty game.]
[You see the road ahead blocked once again, and the literary giant Shakespeare, in a London accent, appears before you, issuing the challenge of the French Knowledge Quiz round.]
[If you fail to answer, you will not be able to advance…]
"My gentlemen, I am most honored to make your acquaintance!"
Shakespeare, dressed in a gentleman's formal suit, appeared before the three of them, speaking with blazing creative passion:
"I had prepared a grand, heroic introduction, but since you are in a hurry, I will skip it. Let's get straight to the point—if you can answer three questions correctly, I will allow you to pass."
"Why is a French quiz show being hosted by some English old man? Don't you French have anyone else?"
Eikou couldn't help blurting out.
But Shakespeare ignored that question and continued:
"If you can answer three questions about France correctly, I will give you a mysterious gift. But on the other hand…"
The great writer's eyes suddenly sharpened:
"If you answer incorrectly, you will be punished by drinking a cup of Water of Life—until you've answered three questions correctly!"
"?!" ×3
Damn it, why does a perfectly legitimate speed race have so many alcohol punishment games?! It's clearly meant to get people drunk and then cause an accident while driving!
Or maybe it's intentional on the organizers' part? The more you drink, the worse your condition becomes, making both answering and driving harder.
"Ha ha ha, don't be afraid, the questions I'll give are very simple, just basic knowledge." Shakespeare reassured.
"In that case, there's no other way, let's just get this over with!"
Though reluctant, Eikou and the two Knights of the Round Table obediently sat down at the desk.
They took out paper and pens from the drawer, waiting for Teacher Shakespeare to give the first question.
"The first question, listen carefully—"
Shakespeare said:
"Please spell out in full the name of the Maiden of Orléans from the Hundred Years' War between England and France."
"Jeanne d'Arc?"
The three men understood each other, exchanged glances, then immediately bent over and scribbled rapidly on the blank paper.
...
"Oh oh, spelling out Jeanne d'Arc's full name—this is definitely a free point."
In the Simulation Room, the two teachers were also watching the Q&A session through the screen.
"Not necessarily," Napoleon said. "For those unfamiliar with French, the name Jeanne d'Arc isn't so easy to spell correctly. Finn-sensei, do you think those three students can actually get the French spelling right?"
Not just Napoleon—even Jeanne Alter in the waiting area shared the same doubt.
The correct answer was Jeanne d'Arc… but with those three idiots, there was no guarantee their brains would produce the correct spelling.
"Alright then, time to reveal the answer—"
The three quickly finished writing their answers on the blank paper.
"I shall now announce it—this was just a simple common knowledge question, so I hope you all got it right—
"The Maiden of Orléans Jeanne d'Arc, her name is spelled…"
Shakespeare wrote the "correct" answer on the board.
"Idiot."
This was neither the correct answer nor common knowledge—it was obviously a personal attack directed at Jeanne!
In the waiting area, Jeanne Alter was already fuming.
Shakespeare then seriously explained:
"Of course, the answer is not limited to 'Idiot.' Things like 'Rate up is a lie,' 'Onee-san is a confusing character setting,' 'Illiterate,' 'Archer shoots dolphins'… I will also exceptionally accept as correct!"
Not even pretending anymore—it was blatantly targeting Jeanne!
Jeanne Alter thought to herself, even if you broaden the acceptable answers, who here could possibly keep up with your idiotic train of thought?
"How wonderful, that means we got it right!"
Gawain and Tristan beamed with joy and high-fived each other.
These two idiots… they actually got it right?!
Jeanne—just what kind of image do you two usually have of her in your heads?!
Not just Jeanne Alter—everyone in the waiting area and both homeroom teachers were stunned.
"I knew it, Shakespeare really hates Jeanne, so he'd definitely write some slanderous nickname. As expected."
"Oh dear, to slander a lady like this, it truly pains me."
The two Knights of the Round Table looked smug, as if they'd been incredibly clever.
"Damn it, so this was a trick question…"
Eikou slammed the table in regret.
"I've been fooled again!"
"What? Sir Eikou, don't tell me you were the only one who honestly wrote Jeanne's name?"
Everyone turned to look at his paper.
On it was written:
"Sakamoto Maaya"
While the question was indeed a trap, Eikou's answer seemed completely unrelated to it.
Who was Sakamoto Maaya? No one could make sense of his reasoning!
...
(Note: Sakamoto Maaya is the seiyuu of Jeanne d'Arc.)