The Challenge and a Night Under the Stars

Having enjoyed the splendid fireworks, it was time to return to the matter at hand. Since we had cleared ‘The Playground,’ we should now be able to obtain the item we needed from Grinning Darby, shouldn’t we?

I looked towards Grinning Darby, yet he made no move to retrieve anything.

Instead, he bent at the waist and bowed deeply to us.

“I trust you all enjoyed yourselves thoroughly today? To have earned your smiles is my greatest honor!”

“…?”

‘Why did this sound like a closing speech?’

“And so… your journey through ‘The Playground’ concludes today! Please, everyone, exit in an orderly and safe manner—”

“Wait a moment!”

I interrupted him before he could utter the words ‘exit now.’

It was rude, certainly, but I had a distinct feeling that if he finished his sentence, we would be instantly teleported out of ‘The Playground,’ just as we had been upon entering.

“Oh? My dear little lady, do you have any further questions?”

‘Little lady? Aren’t you the one who transformed me into this state? …No matter, I’ll let it slide for now.’

“Since we’ve completed all the challenges, shouldn’t there be some sort of… reward?” I prompted, thinking of the ‘Sealed Casket.’

To my surprise, Grinning Darby tilted his head.

“Did you not gain smiles and happiness? What more could you possibly desire?”

“Uh…”

‘He had a point.’

After all, we had enjoyed so many amusing attractions without paying a single coin. For any visitor, it was already a massive windfall.

“Alright, then… I’ll rephrase my question.”

‘At this point, directness was best.’

“How do we acquire the ‘Sealed Casket’?”

‘…So that’s what you were after.’

Grinning Darby’s tone shifted for a fleeting moment, but swiftly returned to its usual cheerful cadence.

“It’s quite simple, actually~ You have all collected the ‘Joyful Stickers.’ Now, you only need to face the ‘Challenge’ to obtain the item you desire~”

‘A Challenge?’

The Young Miss voiced her query.

“Precisely~ But there’s no need to worry~ The challenge itself isn’t difficult. You merely need to win more games than I do across several contests~”

“Then there’s no time to lose. Let’s begin the challenge,” the Young Miss declared, without a hint of hesitation, cutting straight to the chase.

‘After all, we hadn’t come here just for fun; our objective had yet to be fully achieved.’

“Hehehe~ My dear lady, please don’t be so hasty~ The park has reached its closing hours and can no longer provide services~”

Grinning Darby shimmered into the air, speaking with a playful tone.

“Besides, you must all be quite exhausted by now, aren’t you? Games are meant to be enjoyed to their fullest~ It would be far better for you to face the challenge when you are in your peak condition, wouldn’t it~?”

‘I hadn’t expected him to be concerned about our condition.’

“Hmm… I think he has a point.”

After a moment of thought, Margaret offered her opinion.

“It’s getting late. For tonight, we should rest, recover our strength, and then discuss our strategy before facing the challenge. That would be the wisest course of action… To be honest, I can’t move another step right now. I don’t even want to walk one more inch~”

‘…That last part was her true sentiment, wasn’t it?’

As she spoke, her gaze suddenly fell upon me.

“And in your current state, you definitely can’t use your full strength, can you?”

“Mhm…”

‘She was right. In my infantile state, I was restricted in many ways. Even my magical power felt significantly weaker, with a much lower upper limit than usual.’

‘And another thing… my tear ducts seemed to have loosened considerably, which was quite bothersome.’

‘…Come to think of it, why wasn’t she curious about my current state? Luomei and Aelora were the same… they’d only shown slight surprise upon seeing me, but hadn’t pressed for details.’

‘Could it be that they had also encountered rooms that altered one’s form? That was the only explanation I could think of.’

“Does anyone else have an opinion?”

Ignoring my deep contemplation, Margaret glanced around, directing the question to the others. Not a single person offered an objection.

Grinning Darby chuckled. “It seems you’ve all made up your minds then~ Indeed, returning tomorrow for the ‘Challenge’ is the optimal choice!”

‘…You won’t run away, will you?’

The Young Miss stared at him, questioning him with suspicion.

“Hehehe~ Of course not~ ‘The Playground’ will always be open to those in need~”

‘I hope so…’

“Hehehe~ Then allow me to escort our esteemed guests out~”

He brought his fingers together and snapped them.

*Snap!*

After experiencing a familiar sense of disorientation, identical to our initial arrival, we found ourselves back outside ‘The Playground.’

Looking in from the outside, everything within ‘The Playground’ appeared exactly as it had that morning. The only difference was that day had turned to night.

Simultaneously, I checked my own body. Just as Grinning Darby had implied, I had reverted to my normal state after leaving ‘The Playground.’

‘By the way, why did the Young Miss seem a little disappointed?’

‘Hmm… putting those thoughts aside for now, how should we spend tonight?’

“…So, should we return to a nearby town and rent lodging?” Adam was the first to speak, to my surprise.

“No! Absolutely not! Impossible!”

…But Margaret vehemently rejected the idea.

“Just as I said earlier, I can’t walk another step! One more step and I’ll collapse!”

“This…”

Adam found himself in a difficult position, caught between the ‘little black seaweed’s’ dramatic antics.

“…If we were to return to town, we’d first have to cross the forest. That might make time quite tight,” the ‘little squirrel’ offered her own insight.

“Mhm…”

The Young Miss nodded, indicating her agreement.

“Besides, I’m worried Grinning Darby might flee. I wouldn’t feel at ease if we were too far from here.”

“Hehe~ Then it’s decided! We’ll camp out right here tonight!”

After listening to our discussion, Margaret suddenly burst into laughter, then pulled out a stack of familiar-looking fabric items from Elizabeth’s bag.

“Ta-da~ Instant tents! There are only three of them! I just knew this situation might arise, so I made sure to bring them along!”

‘…How had something like this even been invented?’

“As for how to set them up, there’s an instruction manual here that even an idiot could understand… The rest is up to you guys. I’m truly too tired to move.”

After handing us the instructions, Margaret lay flat on her back, sprawled out in a wide ‘X’ shape.

Elizabeth, ever so considerate, moved closer and offered Margaret her lap as a pillow.

With no other option, it fell to the four of us to set up the tents.

Fortunately, Margaret’s designs were always incredibly convenient, and we easily erected the three tents.

“Hmm… so, next is the issue of food.”

“Ah… about that…”

Luomei opened her satchel and poured out a pile of berries.

“These… we obtained these while completing a task. At the very least, they can fill our stomachs…”

“I’ll go catch some wild animals or something,” Adam volunteered. Before we could even react, he vanished into the forest.

“Is that guy an idiot? It’s already dark; what kind of animals does he expect to catch?”

‘Shouldn’t our primary concern be his safety? …Then again, if it’s Adam, we probably don’t need to worry.’

‘Most wild beasts would only be good for a beating from him.’

“Then I’ll go gather some firewood.”

‘When camping outdoors at night, making a fire was quite important.’

Just as I was about to enter the forest, the Young Miss followed.

“I’ll go with you.”

‘Asking the Princess to gather firewood… Ugh, fine. It’s not like she’d listen if I told her not to, anyway.’

By the time we returned with the firewood, Adam had just reappeared.

In his hands, he carried several rabbits with horns… Weren’t those creatures considered magical beasts?

Were we really going to eat them tonight?