Fuming and stamping her feet, Lucy noticed the special mechanism attached to the landmark tablet.
Éclair walked over dejectedly and sincerely apologized to Lucy. "I'm sorry, Lucy. My combat ability is really quite weak..."
"It's okay, it's okay! Without you, Éclair, I wouldn't have even made it past Gildarts!" Lucy said with a wave and a smile. She certainly wouldn't blame her partner.
"So, Lucy, what do we do now?" Momon's face was filled with worry.
The first landmark tablet was the easiest to obtain. Losing that head start meant they would have to forcibly take it from other teams.
Hearing this, Lucy didn't panic as expected. Instead, she fell silent, quietly watching the distant moving pillar of light. After thinking for a while, she finally spoke. "Éclair, Momon, don't you think there's something strange about the second round?"
"Strange?" Éclair asked, confused.
"Yeah. Ever since the master announced the rules, I've been thinking. Everyone's strength is about the same, and we all know each other's abilities. If there were no time limit, that would be one thing," Lucy said, frowning, voicing her doubts. "But collecting all four landmarks and defeating all the other competitors within three hours... isn't that difficulty way too high?"
It was based on this analysis that she had chosen to form a temporary alliance with Cana to share the pressure. Though it had already fallen apart.
And now, the added setting that the landmark tablets would expose the holder's location and quantity in real time would undoubtedly make an already super-difficult trial even more intense.
Without the strength to overwhelm all the other teams, there was no way to collect all four landmarks in just three hours!
Was the S-Class Trial always this hellishly difficult? Or was there some key information hidden here that she had missed?
Lucy propped her cheek on her hand, racking her brains.
Suddenly, the image of the master's casual, sinister smile while explaining the trial rules appeared before her.
"That's it! There's definitely, absolutely something we overlooked!"
But what was it?
Lucy felt like she was on the verge of grasping the true content of the S-Class Trial. But she was still too conventional. No matter how much she racked her brains, she couldn't figure it out.
"Hey, Éclair, Momon. If Chase-nii were taking this trial, what do you think he would do in this situation?" Lucy asked on a whim.
Éclair didn't even need a moment to think. She immediately answered, "At the very start of the trial, he would decisively and cleanly beat everyone else down."
"...We don't have that kind of ability. What if we suppose his competitors were evenly matched with him?" Lucy said, sweating.
Momon's eyes darted around. He raised his paw and said seriously, "Maybe he would beat up the examiners and force them to tell him where the first master's grave is?"
Well, that was actually what a certain Fire Dragon idiot was doing right now. Though Natsu's idea was much simpler and more direct.
"Ahaha. Though he would probably be immediately disqualified for breaking the rules, that really does sound like Chase-nii's style..." Lucy couldn't help but laugh bitterly.
Go beat up those four monsters and force them to reveal the first master's grave location?
He would die. He would definitely die on the spot!
Wait!
Breaking the rules? Rules!
Lucy's smile froze. Then, a brilliant light burst from deep within her beautiful eyes. She excitedly hugged Éclair and cheered. "I've got it! I know how to finish the trial faster than everyone else within the time limit!"
Feeling the tight, wide pressure against her chest, Éclair blinked in confusion.
"Hey, hey, Lucy! What's the way?" Momon asked directly.
Lucy didn't hold back. She laid out her guess.
"Think about it carefully. When the master announced the rules, he said, 'Collect all four landmarks, and the path leading to the first master's grave will appear.' He didn't say, 'Collect the landmarks, and the first master's grave will appear.' That means—"
"The first master's grave can already be found. Whether or not we can collect all the landmarks was never a strict requirement. As long as you reach the grave first within the time limit, you advance. This..."
"...is the decisive factor of the second round that we overlooked!"
After hearing Lucy's analysis, Éclair and Momon both had a look of sudden realization.
That actually made a lot of sense!
That said, this understanding was a bit "opportunistic."
Lucy didn't know if her speculation was within the bounds of the "rules." But compared to going back and forth fighting Cana, Elfman, and the others for the landmarks until the limited time ran out, she thought it was still worth a try!
As for the approximate location of the first master's grave, the southeast-northwest arrangement of the four landmarks actually provided a hint. The tree trunk of the Tenrou Tree was the meeting point after the first test. So, the only place left was the smaller second-level island above!
Deciding to act, Lucy and her team immediately set off, quickly heading toward the second-level island.
However, what Lucy never expected was that the moment they left, two lurking opportunists slowly walked out from a nearby bush.
"Bypassing the landmarks and going straight for the first master's grave... we completely overlooked such an important detail!" Gray slapped his forehead in sudden realization.
"Hehe. See? I told you tailing Lucy would lead to an unexpected find~" Loke said proudly, adjusting his glasses.
As the only team without an alliance, like Natsu's, they had directly abandoned the unwanted western landmark and chosen to follow Lucy.
Their original plan had been to hide in an unnoticed dark corner the entire time, waiting for Lucy, Cana, and the others to collect the landmarks, then play the "mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind" game.
But unexpectedly, they had accidentally overheard the correct way to win the trial from Lucy!
In truth, this core goal is hidden within the rules wasn't that hard to find. Under normal circumstances, aside from Natsu and Happy's team, everyone else would have realized it.
It was just that everyone's attention had been led astray by Makarov's emphasized "landmark tablets." They had assumed, that being slow to grab a landmark would lose them the early advantage.
Add to that the sense of urgency of the time limit, the invisible pressure from competitors, and other external factors, they had all overlooked this key information.
And that was precisely the fundamental reason Makarov couldn't help but chuckled when announcing the rules.
He knew them all too well. They were all impulsive, competitive idiots!
***
Dive deeper into the story with 30+ advance chapters, available now on Patreon!
patreon.com/CNBLUE
If you're enjoying the novel, please consider leaving a review. Your support is crucial and helps the story grow immensely. Thank you!