Chapter 87: The Wise Lancelot
[You did not answer correctly, you are penalized with one glass of Water of Life.]
[Please perform a hard Endurance check.]
[Check successful.]
[The pungent, burning Water of Life flows down your throat, but you still rely on extraordinary willpower to remain calm. You are still sober.]
[However, on your next drink, your Endurance check will become extremely difficult.]
After drinking a glass of Water of Life, Eikou only felt his head growing more and more dizzy.
He estimated he could still hold out for another one or two rounds.
If he got a few more questions wrong, he might drink until he lost his mind and be directly eliminated from the race!
Absolutely cannot make any more mistakes…
He must win this race, otherwise Jeanne Alter would be expelled from school!
"Hurry to the next question, the teams behind are about to catch up to us."
Eikou urged anxiously.
"Very well, please listen to the next question…"
Shakespeare said:
"Please tell me, in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, which general defeated Napoleon Bonaparte?"
The three of them immediately fell silent.
This question, at first glance, did indeed sound like a proper general knowledge question, but it was so serious it went far beyond the scope of all three's knowledge.
The scene stayed silent for half a minute.
Unable to bear the awkward atmosphere, Eikou quietly asked:
"Can we skip this question?"
"Skipping is not allowed. If you cannot answer, you can only stay here until this bicycle race ends."
"What?!"
There's no way to answer this!
"…Wouldn't that mean we'll drop from first place to dead last?"
The three of them all wore expressions as if the sky was about to collapse.
"How tragic…" Tristan said painfully, "If this were a question about married women, I could definitely answer it!"
Gawain also looked full of disappointment; the modern history of France was beyond his curriculum.
As for Eikou, he had completely given up thinking and asked: "Is there any chance it's Sakamoto Maaya?"
...
In the Simulation Room, homeroom teacher Finn, seeing this scene, became a little anxious.
"This is bad, Team Eikou has fallen into a deadlock. All three of them basically aren't good with questions that require brainwork!"
"If Team Eikou doesn't give the correct answer, they'll be stuck here forever, but they don't understand the history of French warfare at all. How can they possibly answer…"
"Napoleon-sensei, you're better at this question, after all, it was the person who defeated you. I'll give you 5QP, can you, for my sake — the leader of the Knights of Fiona — temporarily join their team and help them give the correct answer?"
Napoleon no longer even wanted to complain about Finn-sensei next to him. "Are you in your right mind?"
"Damn it, I've failed miserably at negotiating! Mochizuki Eikou, you guys are on your own now!"
...
At the quiz scene, the three still could not think of the correct answer.
"How about we ask for outside help, let Jeanne Alter… let Sir Lancelot answer this one?"
Gawain suddenly suggested.
After all, they were both French; surely they'd know at least a little, right?
"Even if she knew, it wouldn't be convenient for her to tell us," Eikou shook his head and spoke in a low voice, "Jeanne Alter still has to pretend to be Lancelot Berserker, she can't open her mouth to talk to us."
"Let's just try, even just a small gesture would be fine."
"…That's the only thing we can do."
Eikou raised his hand to signal for outside assistance, letting the substitute player answer the question.
...
Commentator Finn continued narrating the current situation:
"Oh oh, Team Eikou has requested outside assistance, letting Lancelot-kun from the team answer this question."
"But they seem to have forgotten, Lancelot-kun is in Berserker Spirit Origin state, without even basic communication ability — can he really participate in answering a knowledge question…"
"In any case, let's switch the camera over to Lancelot-kun and see what his answer will be!"
In an instant, all cameras turned toward Jeanne Alter in heavy black armor.
Countless flashes shone before her eyes.
Jeanne Alter: "?"
"Lancelot-kun, please answer… in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, which general defeated Napoleon Bonaparte?"
Jeanne Alter thought to herself, just where did you people short-circuit? Can't you tell what Class and form I am right now? You're expecting a Berserker who can't speak human language to answer a question like this? Have you all drunk too much alcohol?!
Not to mention that even Lancelot after going Berserk — she herself had absolutely no idea of the answer to this question!
'Even if I did know, I couldn't say it like this, because Lancelot Berserker can't speak human language…'
Jeanne Alter decisively gave up.
As usual, she would just use Berserker Lancelot's catchphrase to deal with it.
Winning or losing, there was nothing she could do now.
"Arrrrrthur…"
"As expected, Lancelot-kun clearly has no intention of answering…"
Before Finn-sensei could finish speaking, Shakespeare's eyes suddenly lit up:
"Congratulations, Lancelot, correct answer!"
"???"
"That year, the general who defeated Napoleon was none other than Duke Wellington AKA Arthur Wellesley! Which is indeed Arrrthur!"
The entire audience fell silent.
But right after, Eikou, the two Knights of the Round Table, and Finn-sensei outside the field suddenly erupted in near-maniacal cheers.
"Victory!!!"
Jeanne Alter: "???"
What kind of situation was this? How could she randomly blurt something out and end up correct?
Moreover, wasn't this supposed to be a quiz show about France? Why did it end up being all one-sided "smear France" questions?
The two Knights of the Round Table, upon hearing this answer, already had tears welling in their eyes.
"To think that Our King, in places we never knew, had once even defeated Napoleon… You are truly too great, we will follow You for life!!"
Jeanne Alter thought to herself, those were two historical figures completely unrelated to each other, okay? Don't go attributing every good thing to your 'Our King'!
"Well then, here is the final question. Answer correctly and you may continue your journey,"
"And this last question is still a little challenging, so be mentally prepared…"
Shakespeare cleared his throat and began:
"During the Peninsular War, there was a famous heroine who resisted the French cavalry. She was a Spanish guerrilla fighter. Please state her name."
The three young men at the scene stayed silent for ten seconds.
These idiots still didn't know the answer…
Finally, Eikou, looking slightly embarrassed, raised his hand.
"Re… request outside help, let my team's Lancelot come on stage…"
Jeanne Alter thought, why don't you just answer Sakamoto Maaya, why are you asking me? I don't know this one either, okay?
Why did they wait until the last moment to beg for help from a Berserker who can't speak? This team was now dumber than a Berserker, and that luck falling from the sky earlier wasn't going to happen a second time, you know?
This definitely couldn't possibly be "Arrrthurr" again…
No way, a quiz wouldn't have two consecutive questions with the same answer.
Forget it, she'd just growl a few lines to brush it off.
After all, no one really expected her to get it right.
"Gaaaaaa… (Berserker Lancelot's battle-opening line)"
"Oh, congratulations Lancelot, two correct answers in a row!"
Shakespeare clapped loudly.
"???"
Jeanne Alter froze.
"Lancelot, just as you said, that heroine's name was Juana Gaaaaaalan,"
Shakespeare elegantly corrected her pronunciation,
"Although your pronunciation was a little muffled, still… Lancelot, who would have thought you were actually the brain strategist of this team!"