“That’s really impressive……! You really make me see you in a new light, Yō! No, my master!”
“That…that way of addressing me doesn’t feel right with me, so please do not call me that……and the reason for me being able to solve this riddle is all thanks to Garol-san, Jack and the others who have chipped in their help. And most importantly, I had followed Izayoi’s lead having seen him in the process of solving of the riddle in [The PIED PIPER of HAMELIN].”
“That’s not something you should be modest about! Learning from your comrade’s achievements to pave the way to yours, that’s the most ideal way for the Community to progress!” Leticia was in a rare fervour as she showered praises on Yō.
Yō who always had a lonely shadow about her to be able cooperate with others to solve a Game and acknowledge having learnt from her comrade’s previous success...
As the oldest member of the Community, there was nothing that could be more heart-warming than that.
(I’d only thought of them as just some problem children all this time…… but it seems that they are still growing and developing in their own ways……)
And as Leticia continued to stare at Yō, she leaned back on her throne seeming to have shed her burden from her shoulders as she felt comforted at the thought that the impression which she had on the first meeting with them wasn’t wrong after all. For as long as these three were around, she could safely leave the Community to them. Leticia tilted her head up as she let out a long breath.
Seeming to be embarrassed by the praises, Yō scratched her head before reaching out with the twelfth fragment.
“And this is the last piece.”
“Yahoho! With that, the game will be cleared!”
Yō nodded her head as she slotted the fragment into the mechanism in the wall. With a sound of *Kazhak* that echoed in the room, it clicked into place before silence greeted them---
“……”
“……”
“……?”
But, nothing happened.
“……………………………………….eh?”
Yō’s face was pale as blood seemed to drain out of it. Could it be that the reasoning that she had confidently came up with……is incorrect? That’s surely a possibility that she didn’t want to entertain. And just as everyone were tilting their heads and looking at each other in puzzlement, Leticia suddenly broke the silence---
“…It’s starting.”
“Eh?”
“The Game has resumed! Take the opportunity while I’m still able to hold back the huge dragon to completely clear the winning condition! Otherwise I ……might cause [Underwood]……!”
“---GYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
The sound of a dragon’s screech reverberated throughout the Ancient Citadel and lightning forked the skies overcast with thunderclouds, lighting up the room’s interior.
The huge dragon that had almost destroyed [Underwood] a few days ago had made its reappearance.
Kirino who had been waiting in the cloisters was out of breath as she ran into the room with terror written all over her face.
“Every…Everyone! The screech just now…could it be…..”
“The …the game has really resumed?”
“But why did it resume? Isn’t it still in the midst of ceasefire? Could it be that the Host has overstepped her……”
Yō froze up at those words and the others had also held their breaths as they seemed to have reached the same conclusion.
“……Could it be……that because of my actions of trying to clear the game……that the ceasefire has been forcefully terminated…..? All because of my mistake in reasoning that the dragon has……”
“No! Yō’s not wrong! It’s precisely because it was the correct answer that the game has resumed!”
“Eh?” Yō looked at Leticia with a frantic expression. Leticia was similarly shaken but her eyes were still calm as she spoke in a steady voice to try to influence Yō to be calm and rational:
“Yō, look at me. Your conjecture is surely in the right direction and that’s why the Game has resumed…… Do you get it? It’s because the Game is almost cleared that the ceasefire has come to an end.”
“Uu…? Eh? But what does that mean?”
“In other words, you still lack something that would lead you to clear the game completely.”
Leticia had calmly informed Yō that she was just a step away from clearing the game and Yō had also realised that this wasn’t the time for her to feel depressed as she slapped her cheeks to refocus her thoughts.
“……Garol-san, may I have another look at the Geass Roll? I might have missed out something just now.”
“Okay, here.”
Answering in a short and crisp manner, Garol immediately took out the goatskin parchment.