7 – Trial of Wisdom

We continued in that slightly awkward atmosphere before naturally parting ways.

 

Everyone knew the way back home in their heads, and since we had spent a week in this place, returning home wasn’t a problem at all.

 

After that, we traveled around this world for quite a long time, seeing it with our own eyes.

 

Although it wasn’t the world we originally lived in, it felt like a new experience for me, and for Aria, it was a world she never thought she would see with her own eyes.

 

Even though it was a different world, it was a joy to see Aria happy just seeing the real thing with her own eyes.

 

Aria seemed happy as well.

 

One day, as we were spending our days like that… “An amusement park?”

“What do you think? It’s perfect for all of us to go together!”

 

“Well… I thought it would be nice to go. Do you guys want to come along?” Stella’s sudden suggestion to go to an amusement park made me hesitate.

It might sound strange to say this after having fun for two weeks, but while living in this Trial world, I kept thinking that things couldn’t go on like this.

 

Of course, I’m not saying that receiving this Trial is wrong.

 

I don’t know what happened to Stella and Uriel, but Aria said that there’s no need to worry about them, so I don’t need to worry for now. Anyway, it’s a bit different from back then, but we’re still in a dungeon receiving a Trial.

 

But it was hard to believe that the Trial we are receiving now is fake.

 

If it’s possible to create a world like this, it must be due to the ancient technology that Aria mentioned, and the necklace I received from the Trial of Strength eventually helped me unleash the power of the Hero.

 

I’m sure that if we successfully pass this Trial of Wisdom, things will turn out well.

 

Even so, the reason I feel so uneasy is probably… because I haven’t found anything about this Trial, or how to pass it.

 

It’s already been two weeks since we entered this world, and I haven’t found any clues.

 

I thought it was okay for the first week.

 

Rather, I focused on the word “wisdom” in a situation where I didn’t know anything, and I thought I had a grasp of it to some extent.

 

This world was suspiciously fulfilling things that we didn’t have… things that we wanted, so I thought that the Trial dungeon was giving us a Trial in that direction.

 

But that was it.

 

I only knew that it was asking for something related to wisdom, and perhaps I had abandoned everything else to find that out.

 

If I only look at the words “Trial of Wisdom,” I should prove something related to wisdom to pass the Trial… but without any explanation, I was just dropped here, so I couldn’t figure out what it was.

 

After saying that we would start the Trial, we were dropped somewhere and brought to this world, and then nothing has been said since then, right?

 

They don’t even tell us what to do, so isn’t it stranger to find clues in such a situation?

 

Moreover, it’s been half the time since we first set the time limit, and I haven’t found anything yet, so I, who think I need to get out of here as soon as possible, can’t help but feel impatient.

 

“…”

 

I turned to look at Aria.

 

I wanted to ask Aria about this dungeon again.

 

Of course, there’s no point in asking Aria about this dungeon.

 

Just recently, when I asked Aria if she knew about this dungeon, she said that the ancient texts only mentioned where the Trial of Wisdom existed, but it didn’t say exactly what kind of Trial the dungeon would give.

 

In other words, Aria only knew that there was a Trial dungeon here, but she didn’t know the details about it.

 

There’s no reason for her to lie as someone who is receiving the Trial with me, and even if that wasn’t the case, there’s no way I could doubt Aria.

 

‘It’s difficult.’

 

With the Trial of Strength, I could just push all my strength, but I have no idea what to do with this Trial.

 

I even started to have negative thoughts about whether I could pass this Trial.

 

I looked at Aria with a troubled expression. I know things can’t go on like this.

There’s only half the time left until the semester starts, and if I’m still not finding any proper clues, I can’t just keep playing around.

 

Now is the time to do something, but even if I try to do everything I can, I don’t know where to start, so I can’t do anything.

 

Even if I try to find information, I don’t know where to get it. It’s a frustrating situation.

I’m sure that’s the case, but why…

 

‘I want to see Aria’s happy face even a little more.’

 

Right now, more than anything, I wanted to go to the amusement park with Aria.

 

Aria has lived with a disability since she was young.

 

She probably never got to play properly since she was a child.

 

Not only that, but she was chosen as the Saintess and has been sacrificing herself for the world ever since.

 

Hasn’t she had to live her whole life with the duty of being chosen by the Goddess and defeating the Demon King to save this world?

 

She’s only rested for two weeks.

 

It’s only been two weeks since she was able to see and hear with her eyes and ears, which she thought would be impossible.

 

Even if it’s not the original world, I wanted to show her more things, more beautiful things.

 

There are still two weeks left, so it should be okay to go out for a day or two.

 

…

 

…

 

I knew what I had to say. I smiled and asked Aria.

“Aria, what do you think?”

 

“Are you talking about the amusement park?”

 

Aria, who flinched at my question, turned to look at me and asked. I nodded.

“Yeah… the amusement park. Do you want to go?” She’s not showing it, but I could tell.

I could tell that Aria wanted to go to the amusement park. ‘… Huh?’

The expression on Aria’s face at that moment was strange. She looked like she was longing for something.

What could she be longing for in a place like this? I thought it was just my imagination, but…

 

‘What was that expression just now…’

 

It was an expression that I couldn’t just ignore… an expression that Aria had never made before.

 

“… Yes.”

 

In the meantime, Aria, who had been lost in thought for a while, quietly nodded and answered.

 

Uriel smiled brightly at that.

 

“Then let’s leave right away~!”

 

Aria, who was happily watching Uriel shouting happily and Stella next to her saying that we should go on the weekend because school hasn’t ended yet, laughed softly.

 

Listening to their conversation, I finally remembered an important fact.

 

Come to think of it, if we want to go to the amusement park, we need time, so we have to go on the weekend after all.

 

I had forgotten that school was similar to the academy.

 

No, it’s more free than the academy, but anyway, you can’t just go out whenever you want for a certain amount of time.

 

…

 

My vision went dark…

 

We were finally able to leave for the amusement park after spending another day.

 

I didn’t expect another day to be added, but since we all decided to go together, I can’t back out now.

 

Not that I have any intention of backing out in the first place. “Wow~ There are so many people~!”

“There are bound to be a lot of people during this time. It’s peak season.”

 

Amusement parks usually have so many people on weekends that they are called peak season, so naturally the lines are long.

 

I was surprised by the number of people around me, but Stella looked at me with a dissatisfied expression.

 

“You guys… aren’t you too close?” “…”

“What can I do? The space is like this…”

 

There were so many people that I was being pushed around and ended up sticking close to Aria.

 

Aria doesn’t seem to think much of it… no, maybe she’s feeling hot because there are too many people.

 

Stella was looking at me with a dissatisfied look, as if she didn’t like it.

 

Of course, I don’t mind being with her, and I’m actually happy, but I’m getting this kind of look even though I didn’t intend to, so I might be a little wronged.

 

More than that, why does Stella keep giving me that look… I really don’t know.