THHAAWMF

Chapter 47

I thought I had misheard something. So I sat still, doubting my ears, and the old maid of honor said again solemnly,

"What is seven times seven?"

"Oh... 49?"

"Correct."

"Kyyaaaaaak!"

The lady who guessed the correct answer was so happy that she let out a crowing sound. The lady and the other girls around her, who were a step behind her, looked at her with envious eyes.

What's this?

I, who can memorize up to 19 steps due to the evils of higher education, felt my mind going away. Don't tell me this is the end of the Summer Star selection.

The Empress, who looked around at me and the ladies, who were confused with satisfaction, spoke proudly.

"The experts have directly selected the stars to test your knowledge. The person who guesses the most will be this year's summer star. That was a preliminary question."

A sigh of relief could be heard from the rest house. Meanwhile, the Empress's attendants placed something in front of each of the ladies.

"I want to give everyone a fair chance, so please write down the correct answers on the paper we are handing out now so they can all go in at once."

Is this challenge goal x bells?

I looked down at the paper and pen placed before me with mixed eyes.

Incidentally, no such event occurred in the original story. No one objected to Tyriel receiving the Summer Star for saving the Crown Prince.

Can we leave this story as it is?

No, before that, I can't believe that a problem carefully selected by experts is just that. Is this country good?

Don't we have to throw away all our money and everything else and go into exile somewhere else?

The complexity of the situation was so great that Reynos, who was hiding behind a vase, stuck his head out and clenched his fists as if to say, "Go for it, lady!"

***

"There are two answers. Count James had ten apples. He ate three of the apples and planted two in the ground. The two grew up to become an apple tree... producing a few dozen more apples... He gave five to a friend from a neighboring house who came to visit... how many apples are left in all?"

"Isn't that 23? Because he had 28 left before he gave them to his friend."

"No, thirty. I calculated them all."

What are you talking about - they said there were two right answers the first time.

I looked blankly at the ladies, who were getting upset.

This is not a math problem. It's a nonsense problem that gives you the answer at first and then tells you in a complicated way as if it was a math problem.

The questions prepared by the Empress were not only mathematical ones, as the words were carefully selected by experts.

There was also a question that asked them to guess the title of a piece of music, and another that asked them to write the full name of a past Emperor while holding out a portrait of him.

I thought my head would explode and I would die while ladies, members of famous aristocratic families, were writing down their answers with a lot of time to spare, but their position changed a hundred and eighty degrees for the math and nonsense questions.