Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 189 (Part 2):

“Onto the next challenge.”

Grinding her teeth, Alea followed Helmut into the next room.

Helmut was already examining the next challenge. This time, it was a problem Alea was confident in. Probably.

[3 5 (9)

5 7 32

28 30 (261)

3=1 when ()()]

“Think you know it?”

“Not at all.”

Helmut admitted frankly. When it said 3=1, he thought about dividing by three, but that just made the numbers more complicated.

The important thing was to figure out the four-digit number. It wasn’t supposed to be calculated in that way.

As Alea frowned at the problem, Helmut casually looked around. He quickly noticed something.

“There’s more like this below.”

Below the puzzle, there were markings that resembled a cross with horizontal and vertical lines intersecting, and a gear shape was engraved. Helmut carefully examined it.

“This intersected line. The left is longer than the right, and the top longer than the bottom. What does the gear mean?”

Alea saw the same thing. She alternated her gaze between the numbers and the two symbols. She soon found the answer.

“The answer is 5 and 32. 0532.”

Hearing this, Helmut looked back and forth between the numbers and the symbols. It took him a moment to realize why that was the answer.

“Ah, I see.”

While Alea adjusted the numbers, four metal plates turned and waited, and the door to the next room opened.

“We lingered in the previous room, let’s hurry.”

There was no time left for explanations. They quickly entered the next room.

Not that there were no more challenges, but having both of them think together definitely helped.

Even Helmut, who expected to just observe, was actively contributing.

Alea grumbled.

“This dungeon… it must remember that I’ve been here.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because there are fewer math problems than before! I solved up to 70 last time, and it took less than two hours.”

That meant the dungeon adjusted to present more challenging puzzles depending on the participant.

But even that had its limits, as the number of math problems was increasing.

Lampione had also built this dungeon facing death. There wasn’t enough time to create complex types of problems.

“But one thing’s for sure, not all the puzzles posed by Lampione need to be solved. Otherwise, there would be no need for the problems to change.”

If all the problems had to be solved anyway, there would be no point in varying them depending on who was attempting them.

This wasn’t an academy exam to see how far someone had progressed.

It was a test to distinguish between those who could solve all the problems and pass the dungeon and those who couldn’t.

“If I’m right, it’ll be the same after 70 challenges. I’ve never progressed past that stage.”

And that’s why Alea needed Helmut.

*

They took a break in the room with the 69th challenge.

The challenges had changed since Alea had last passed through alone, so it took a bit longer, but it had only been two and a half hours.

With three hours, the remaining 30 challenges were manageable. Alea calculated that.

“Want something to eat?”

Once again, Alea pulled out sandwiches. It was his job to prepare food from Baden.

While Alea could survive on just using his brain and consuming sugar, Helmut was different.

He was a muscular knight. His basal metabolic rate was different, so he needed to eat consistently.

‘He’ll be needed soon.’

The fact that Helmut had solved some puzzles that she hadn’t was a slight blow to her pride.

‘That puzzle… should I ask about it now?’

Alea glanced at Helmut.

Helmut was staring intently at the sandwiches. He usually didn’t mind any food from the human world.

But somehow, he felt like eating something different.

He had eaten sandwiches after arriving at the coast earlier, and had sandwiches again while eating lobster.

If he ate sandwiches again, it would be three meals in a row. He was slightly sick of them.

‘Does Alea like sandwiches?’

It seemed that’s all she ever ate.

“Anything else?”

“Ah, don’t like sandwiches? They’re the easiest for nutrient intake…”

Was that all she had bought? Alea seemed embarrassed.

When she had a significant goal, Alea forgot all the minor details. Her usual fussiness was nowhere to be found.

Skipping meals or eating the same kind of food for three days straight was routine for her.

“You ate it well before, right? I’ll buy you something tasty when we’re out.”

Alea felt like she was feeding a carrot to a tiger.

“Just give it to me.”

“Should I give you something sweet, too? I have some chocolate.”

Helmut devoured all the sandwiches and two pieces of chocolate Alea gave him.

Using his brain when it wasn’t even an exam period made him hungry.

Meanwhile, Alea ate just enough chocolate to stave off hunger. Her logic was that an empty stomach helped her think better.

At some point, Alea spoke up. She had been thinking during their rest, but she remained on the cusp of understanding.

“About that puzzle earlier. The one with the hill, star, deer, tree.”

Asking Helmut for the answer was a blow to her pride.

But her curiosity as a mage outweighed her pride.

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