I Was Caught up in a Hero Summoning, but That World Is at Peace

The quiz competition progressed, and over half the questions had already been covered by the time question 15 ended. The questions had clearly been well thought out, diverse in genre, and often prompted reactions like “Ah, I see!” after hearing the answer. It was genuinely entertaining.

In the Human Realm category, when Hydra Kingdom came up, the question was about tourist spots, and it felt like a bit of a promotional effort for the country. The correct answer turned out to be that private beach I had once visited with my lovers, but all the other options were also tourist destinations within the Hydra Kingdom that I hadn’t heard of before. It made me want to visit them sometime.

So far, I’ve gotten every question right, a very strong performance. Other than the high-difficulty ones, I’ve been answering correctly with careful thought, and even with the tougher questions, I’ve narrowed things down enough that I’m minimizing how much I rely on luck. I’d say I’m doing really well.

Ideally, I’d like to get a perfect score all the way through…… but the high-difficulty questions are seriously tough. Who knows how things will turn out……

“Next is…… Question 4 of the Otherworld category.”

“Alright, here’s the question. In Trinia, there is a fruit called “ripple”. What is this fruit called in the Otherworld? 1. Apple, 2. Dragon Fruit, 3. Lycopene, 4. Durian.”

Questions related to the Otherworld tend to be pretty easy for us Otherworlders. But looking around the venue, it seemed like more people were struggling with these than with other questions.

Even for this one, there are probably quite a few people who know that ripple hasn’t had its name changed in the Otherworld, but when asked what it is called over there, not many seem to know the correct answer.

Still, if you know it’s a similar-sounding name, or guess that it might start with “ri” as well, you can narrow the choices down. That part felt well-designed, too.

“……And now, the correct answer. It’s number 1: Apple. Generally, most ingredients have their names changed in the Otherworld to avoid confusing the Hero Actors, but ripple is an exception. In some regions, it’s used in rituals, and there are races in the Demon Realm who revere the Ripple Tree as their Sacred Tree. Because of that, the name hasn’t been changed.”

“Ahh, I think I remember hearing something like that. Wasn’t it a race that lives in a desert, where ripple grows in a miraculous oasis they call their sacred grounds?”

“Yes, they’re a race known as the “Illusory People”, the Fernarts. Incidentally, there’s even one here in this venue, Frau-san. The assistant of Akane-san, who performed in the talent show earlier, is a Fernart. I imagine she also eats ripple on certain fixed days of the year, following her tribe’s customs.”

Now that I think about it, during the Maid Olympia, didn’t Lilia-san say that Frau-san might be from a tribe living in the deserts of the Demon Realm? At the time, Lilia-san didn’t seem to know much about them, but that tribe is the Fernarts huh…… It’s really informative and interesting that Alice adds these little supplementary explanations.

“Alright, let’s move on.”

“Yep yep…… Next is High Difficulty, Question 1.”

“Ah, here we go. This high-difficulty question, from my perspective as the question creator…… is the hardest. It’s ridiculously tough. Honestly, if I hadn’t made it myself, I’d probably get it wrong too.”

“Ehhh, even Shall-tan might get it wrong……? Well, I guess with four choices, there’s still a one-in-four chance, at least……”

Whoa there, if Alice says even she might get it wrong, this must be no joke. The other high-difficulty questions were already really hard, and now it feels like we’ve finally hit a question where the answer might come down to pure luck.

“Now then, this question’s format is a little different. Please look at the large monitor on the stage. A series of pictures labeled 1 through 4 will be displayed using the Recorder Magic Tool, and you’ll select your answer from those.”

“Ahh, so there’s a format like that too. You really put a lot of thought into this.”

So it’s that so-called panel-choice style question…… Sounds like it’s going to be seriously hard. Maybe it’s one where you have to guess the place just from part of a photo?

Thinking that, I looked up at the monitor on stage…… and saw close-up photos of Shiro-san’s face, labeled with numbers.

“Alright then, which one of these is depicting Shallow Vernal-sama smiling? You have three minutes to answer.”

“T- Thank goodnessssss…… I’m seriously, seriously glad I’m not participating in the quiz. I mean, as Shall-tan said, this one is insanely hard. The difficulty’s off the charts…… and if I answered it and got it wrong, the psychological damage, or more like, the self-loathing I’d feel would be devastating……”

“If you’d like, you can participate in just this one question, you know?”

“No way! Absolutely not!!! If I got it wrong, I wouldn’t recover for the rest of the quiz…… Look, just look at the faces of the other Gods and Olirin…… They’re desperate. Bloodshot eyes and everything…… Well, I get it. Not only is this beyond just difficult, they also have to get it right, so they’re racking their brains with everything they’ve got.”

Prompted by Fate-san’s words, I glanced over at Chronois-san and Life-san, and yeah…… their intensity was something else. It was like they were determined not to miss even a single clue from the photos, no matter how small.

……Well, it’s just that…… while the atmosphere in the venue was, for better or worse, pretty hyped up over this unprecedentedly difficult question…… But since it was “too easy of a question”, for me, who had answered it immediately after hearing the question, the mood they’re feeling isn’t quite something I can match with.

<Afterword>

Serious-senpai : [As always, the protagonist gives off strong MC energy at the most inexplicable moments.]

? ? ? : [Well, in all fairness, Kaito-san really is probably the best in the world at reading Shallow Vernal-sama’s expressions. Even when his monologue says something like “Shiro-san looks like she’s having fun”, from an outside perspective, her expression hasn’t changed at all.]

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