Princess of the Silver Ocean - Chapter 83

“All right, team,” Laurelai said, fisting her hand in the air, “Let’s do this. We are aiming for the top three, okay? Though I would love to come out first. Anyway, let’s do our best…all of us.”

Everyone in the group nodded, including Laojin, the troll. Laurelai opened the map and checked the five locations highlighted on the map.

“Hmm, where should we go first?” the fairy asked her team members, scanning the locations from where they were.

Astoria and Laojin stared at the map, and Davitt cleared his throat after checking the locations on the map. His members looked at him as he had an idea.

“Well,” the gargoyle class president began, “The closest location right now is the Anthousai Museum, so logically that would be the best place to go to first…”

The gargoyle paused.

“However, that is what every other team is thinking as well, right?” Laojin asked, earning a nod from Davitt.

“Exactly,” Davitt said, tapping his foot, “So, to avoid having to wait for other teams to finish the challenge and guess the riddle, we should go to another location.”

“Like start somewhere in the middle? Like going to The Future Flower Garden of East Corrilt?” Astoria said, nodding her head.

“Bingo,” Davitt agreed, “Any objections to that?”

The team members shook their heads, ‘no.’

“Okay, Laojin,” Davitt said, causing the troll to look at him, “Since you have a watch, you can be our timekeeper. We should aim to finish each challenge and solve each riddle at every location in no more than thirty minutes.”

Laojin nodded, and everyone else agreed to Davitt, their team leader said.

“All right. Everyone,” Laurelai said, tugging some loose strands of her hair behind her ear, “Follow your beautiful map reader.”

With that, she began to walk out of the conference room. Astoria smiled at her remark and fixed the belt bag she had worn around her waist. They met Misty’s team when they stepped out of the conference room, out of the hotel area, and into the street. The ghost devilishly smirked at Astoria and her team members.

“May the best team win, losers,” the ghost girl said, twirling her hair and walking away from Astoria and her team members.

Misty’s team members smiled apologetically at Astoria and the other members and ran to Misty’s side.

“I am guessing she is their leader,” the fairy said with a pout, “And I bet you they had no choice but to agree to it.”

“Whether she is their leader or not has nothing to do with us,” Davitt said, tapping the fairy’s shoulder, “We should focus on our team.”

The fairy sighed and nodded.

“Yeah. You are right,” the fairy said, shrugging.

“Now then,” Astoria spoke, looking at the bustling street, “Which mode of transport should we take?”

Laojin looked at the map Laurelai was holding.

“Between a bus and a cab,” the troll said, tilting his head as he was busy evaluating which would be the best between the two, “I suggest a cab. When I came here, I saw a bus schedule. It showed that a bus arrives on this street every hour. It is quarter past ten right now, so the next bus will arrive at 11 AM. We cannot wait that long, which is why I am suggesting we take a cab.”

Everyone stared at the troll in shock. He looked back at them, bewildered.

“What?” he asked them, blinking several times in confusion.

“We did not know you paid attention to detail,” Laurelai said, causing the others to nod.

“Yeah,” Astoria agreed, “I think a cab is better.”

Davitt nodded and hailed a cab. It was a pink cab, and the driver was an elf. Laurelai suggested that she sit in front of the driver since she had the map and wanted to get the best view of the different buildings in the city. Everyone had no problem with her request. Astoria and Davitt sat by the windows at the back while Laojin sat in the middle.

“Are you ladies and gentlemen new here?” the elf cab driver asked, trying to make small talk, “I do not think I have seen your faces before, and your energy and aura are different from the citizens who live here.”

“Yes. We are,” Davitt said as Astoria handed him the transport card the teacher gave the teams to use for traveling from one location to another.

“Ah, I see,” the elf driver gave Davitt a machine to swipe using the transport card, “Well, I hope you will enjoy this place. It is quite a peaceful city. One of the most peaceful cities in the Ashen Kingdom.”

Davitt swiped the transport card on the machine, and the elf took the device away, putting it in a compartment.

“Ah!” the elf driver exclaimed, “Are you all students?”

“Huh?” Laojin tilted his head.

“I am asking that because of the transport card,” the elf driver said, nodding his tiny head, “Only students get access to this transport card with East Corrilt’s Coat of Arms printed on it.”

“Oh. We are students,” Astoria replied a few seconds after.

“Oh, how exciting!” the elf driver said, humming a tune.

It took them ten minutes to get to the Future Flower Garden of East Corrilt.

“Here we are,” the elf driver said, parking in front of the entrance to the garden.

The team stepped out of the car and thanked the elf for driving them here.

“No problem,” he told them with a grin, “Now you students have fun and stay safe. Bye!”

The students bowed, and the driver drove off.

“Looks like we are here,” Davitt said, turning around to face the third location of the Riddle Race.

“Yeah,” the fairy stared at the massive, beautiful logo that signaled the garden, a hyacinth held by two hands. The hyacinth was faced to an animated sun.

“All right. Let us not waste any time,” Astoria said, putting the transport card in her belt bag, “Let’s go.”

With that, they all walked to the entrance of the Future Flower Garden of East Corrilt. They were immediately blown away when they walked past it and into a wonderland of nature.

“Wow,” Astoria breathed out.

A well-kept field of grass was encircled by tall flower bushes. They saw an image of a pond built in the back left of the enchanting garden, with glistening water dropping from tier to tier. The flower beds were well kept, precisely cut, and meticulously looked after. They were highlighted with garden lights.

“Can anyone see the anthousai we are supposed to meet?” Davitt asked.

Astoria shook her head ‘no.’

“I just see other people,” Laojin said, looking around, “But no sign of our anthousai.”

Laurelai sighed.

“I guess we have to find him or her,” the fairy said.

Davitt nodded, and they all began to walk around. They came across flower bushes. These flower bushes reached 1.3m/4ft high, which happened because they were well cared for.

Here and there lay small boulders, directing visitors around the garden in a natural way. Plants and vines seemed to refuse to try and claim more land than they had been allocated, perhaps thanks to some intervention by green thumbs and magic.

“Still no sign of the anthousai?” Astoria sighed.

“Mhm,” Laurelai sighed as well.

They reached the pond they had seen earlier from afar. The pond was for all intents and purposes. It was the centerpiece of The Future Flower Garden of East Corrilt and, therefore, the most appealing part. Indeed a sight for the eyes.

“This pond,” Astoria breathed out, awe evident in her voice, “The water is crystal clear. I have never seen such clear water in my life.”

“Tell me about it,” Laurelai walked around the pond and came back to stand next to Astoria.

“The flower beds are also surely a sight to behold, and the flower bushes are nothing to sneeze at, too,” the fairy added.

“Yeah,” Laojin agreed, “But everything will always be overshadowed by this pond. It is really spectacular.”

They all nodded their heads.

“Ah!” Davitt exclaimed, “Found her.”

He pointed to a female anthousai who was wearing a white t-shirt with an image of a hyacinth flower in the front. She was seated on one of the benches with a green book in her hands. There was a cup of tea on the table. Davitt ushered them to go to her, and they all followed behind him.

“Excuse me,” Davitt said, causing the anthousai to look up from her book.

“Yes?” she said, gazing at the four people in front of her, “May I help you?”

“We are from Leararts Academy,” Astoria said.

“Ah!” the anthousai exclaimed, closing her book and immediately standing up, “Yes, you are doing the riddle race, am I right? I just need to make sure.”

Laojin and Laurelai nodded, and she smiled.

“Well then,” she faced her palm on the bench behind her, “Are you ready to begin your challenge before I give you your riddle?”