The Grand Magic Games (1)

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the four hundred and fifty seventh annual grand magic games!" A voice shouted into the open air. In front of the fountain stood two rows of people.

"Today we have the boring pre-scouts on the left and the most awesome, amazing group ever on the right, The Liitttleee Dreamerssss!!!" The announcer shouted passionately, his stomach jiggling up and down from the sheer weight of his voice.

Not a trace of bias from the announcer, and of course, it had to be him of all people…

"Good afternoon folks I'm your announcer for today, Bill, and I will be your host for this entire event!" He held the stem of a plant in his hand which folded into a ball at the top. It was a Sonus flower. So they really do work just like microphones.

"My co-hosts today will be Finn or Phill depending on the event. Any words co-hosts?"

Finn stepped forth and walked towards the table before grabbing a spare Sonus flower.

"If the people are of one heart, even losses can become gold." Finn said, his scarf now covering his mouth once again.

Finn just doesn't miss.

"What?" Rosette said.

"Amazing! Finn is offering advice for the losing team which will obviously be the pre-scouts! Anything from co-host #2?"

Phill followed Finn’s example, grabbing one of the spare Sonus flowers.

"G-good luck everyone!" Phill said hesitantly. He clearly wasn't as PR trained as Bill or Finn, but he was trying in his own Phill way. Once he'd said his piece, he sat down on the table, placing the flower back down gently.

“Today we have many veterans joining us, like Rosette and Finn, however there’s a special guest here today that I’d like to introduce.” Bill said with a smirk as he took a glance at me. Oh no.

“Joining us for the first time is the latecomer himself who made us wait one whole hour before starting, it’s the little rookie, Renooooo Frostworthhhhh!” Bill shouted his words drawing attention from the people shopping in the central district.

“Wait, I was an hour late?” I said sheepishly. Jamie and Finn nodded. I knew I was late, but an hour? Really?

“So without further ado let’s get this competition on the road! Co-host #1?” Bill looked to his left. “Bring me the hat.”

“On it!” Phill fished out a hat from under the table. What is that?

Bill dipped his hand into the hat like a fisherman casting a line, then yanked it back up as if reeling in a big catch. In his hand was a sheet of paper.

“As you all know today’s games will be a best-of-three competition consisting of random childhood games. To ensure fairness we have randomised which games will be chosen.” Bill explained calmly before smirking “And the first game is… enhanced hide and seek!”

“Huh?” I blurted. “What’s that?”

“Fufu.” His belly jiggled knowingly. “I’m glad you asked, latecomer. The rules are simple, you must avoid being detected by the pre-scouts at all costs. You are tasked with finding an object and bringing it back without being seen by the pre scouts. If you can make it back to the fountain you win.”

Simple enough.

“However,” his eyes gleamed. “If a pre-scout sees your item and correctly identifies it, you lose! There’s also a time limit of thirty minutes!”

Phill’s eyes widened. “H-how many people will play at one time?”

“I believe… three. You may discuss with your teams which players you want to participate. Keep in mind, majority wins. If the pre-scouts correctly identify two of the player’s objects they win. If the Little Dreamers bring back two of their objects without being seen or noticed then they win.”

“Everyone listen up.” Rosette said to her group. My ears perked up.

“Hey, wait, Rosette. Someone’s being nosy.” Zyra said pointed to me in disgust.

“Ah sorry, sorry.” Guess that tactic didn’t work, though there probably wasn’t a need to go as far as cheating anyway. Jamie beckoned me over.

“I think, Finn is a definite for this one.” Jamie said confidently. “He’d never lose a game like this.” We all nodded in agreement. Even Bill. Hey isn’t a bit unfair if we have the announcer with us? Eh, I’m sure it’s fine.

“So the other two members…” Jamie scratched his head. “We’ll leave Bill where he is, that leaves Reno, me and Phill.”

“I don’t think I can do this one.” Phill scratched his head.

“Well,” Jamie wore on a strange look. “Reno, are you up for this?”

Wait… me? All I had to do was a stealth mission right? That shouldn’t be too bad.

“Sure, I can do it.” I nodded. Jamie nodded back.

“The Little Dreamers are the first to decide on their team! We’re alre—I mean the Little Dreamers are already faster than the pre-scouts, is this a sign?”

“We’ve decided.” Rosette said. “It’s me, Polia and Keira.” She pointed to herself, two of Zyra’s henchwomen. So the brown haired one is Keira and the other black haired one is Polia.

“The Little Dreamers have decided on, their leader Jamie, their ninja Finn and their rookie, Reno. We can start now if there’s no more problems.”

“I have a problem.” Zyra raised her hand. “How come the announcer is so biased?”

A good point, actually.

“B-biased? What do you mean?” Bill stuttered.

“Two of the Little Dreamers or whatever you call yourselves are now on the panel. Couldn’t you guys be cheating?” She continued.

“T-that’s…” Bill stuttered struggling to find the correct words.

“What are you suggesting then?” Jamie spoke up.

“Simple, I’m joining the announcers table. And I’ll check that the games you choose and the judging is actually fair.” She harrumphed.

“That’s ridiculous we would never—“

“Fine. You can join.”

“But, Boss…” sorry Bill, Jamie was right on this one, and I’m afraid Zyra was too.

“That’s much better.” Zyra said, smiling now she was sat beside Bill and Phill. “Let’s start now.”

“F-fine… the runners will get a three-minute grace period to go and find their object. Then the seekers will be released and will have thirty minutes to find them and identify their object. You must buy only one object so as to not make the game too hard for the seekers. Everybody got it?”

I nodded and so did everyone else.

“Then come and get your object.” Bill said with a smile.

“Let me decide on it.” Zyra said with a smirk.

Bill clenched his fist. “Are you suspecting me of cheating already?”

“No, but it’s only fair that way.”

“Fine.” Bill agreed. Surprising, I never thought I’d see the day when these two agreed to something. With the pen and paper on the table Zyra wrote down each of our objects. I looked down at the notes:

Jamie – toothbrush

Reno—feeling lily.

Finn—Mereon fruit

Bill nodded upon seeing they weren’t that outlandish. “As per the rules the seekers will be told the categories of the objects. The first is a toiletry. The second is a plant and the third is a food. Since your member decided on the objects this is also a test of how well you know your member. You can guess at the end what Zyra chose and perhaps you might get lucky.” Bill explained. Not a bad attempt at impartiality.

“This game is supposed to test your knowledge of Butter Town, knowing the most niche and efficient routes to places will help greatly.” So in that sense I was at a huge disadvantage. “Then without further ado, runners, go!”

We all fist bumped. “Good luck.” Jamie said. He was going in the opposite direction to me but perhaps that was to confuse them.

“Hm.” Finn nodded and vanished like the wind.

I took off for the inner district. Feeling lilies, feeling lilies, just where could I find them? I remember I first saw them in the outer district when I first arrived in Butter Town but those weren’t for sale, they were completely ornamental.

Maybe there was some other place I could—wait, the stall lady. If anyone had feeling lilies in the inner district it’d be her. My plan was simple. Get my object as fast as possible, ideally before the runners got going, and then walk back stress-free.

How? Wouldn’t that mean they’d instantly see me with my object? No, no, no, because I have a special trick up my sleeve. And her name is Daphne.

“Oh it’s you.” The stall lady said softly. “How have you been?” She smiled.

“I’ve been great. I planted the seeds you gave me.”

“Really, already?” She said surprised. I nodded. “Did you water them too?”

“Of course!” I said with a smile. “I promised after all.” She smiled.

“I don’t see any of your parents or friends, are you shopping by yourself?”

“Well, kind of. I was wondering if you had any feeling lilies for sale?” I changed the subject.

“I do, I’ve got two for twenty Teaves, is that okay?” I nodded. Wait, twenty teaves? Teaves? I forgot to bring any money...

My eyes widened as sweat slowly dripped down my brow. “Uhm…” I hesitated. Was there some other way of getting a feeling lily? Maybe outside of Butter Town in the wilds but I’d never properly explored those areas and I’d heard they were quite flora dense. But could I do that and return in less than thirty minutes? It was unlikely but…

“Is that too expensive?” the stall lady said, concerned. “Is fifteen teaves better for you?”

Too expensive? That’s already really cheap, but I guess plants like these really don’t go for too much.

“Honesty,” I looked her straight in the eye. I couldn’t lie to her. “I forgot to ask my parents for money.”

“Oh.” She said in shock. “That’s unfortunate. Are they nearby?”

“Well… not really.” I scratched my head.

“Why do you need it?”

“It’s a gift for a friend.” In a way, at least.

“Just a friend?” She continued.

“Yeah she’s just a friend.” Zyra was the one who asked for these, it was for her in a sense.

“She?” her eyes lit up. Something told me she was getting the wrong idea. “You can have one, just pay me back some other time okay?” She smiled.

“Really?” Just like that? She nodded.

“If it goes well, you have to introduce me to her okay?” The stall lady winked.

W-what? What did she seriously think… no way. It must be a cultural thing. Were feeling lilies like roses in my old world? So if I said I was gifting it to a female friend then she thought I was… so embarrassing.

My face flushed red and as I accepted the lily and made a mental note of the ten teaves I owed her. Now it was time to enact my master plan. Some of my mana had recovered since earlier after all.

Come forth, Daphne.

“Kyaaa.”

“Welcome back.” My earth spirit was back. “Is it okay if you store this?” She nodded. Just like that, the feeling lily was stored and nowhere to be found. “Thanks, Daphne.” I smiled. “You can return now.”

“Kyuuu…” I’m sorry, but you can’t stay. My mana can’t take it. Plus, if anyone recognised you I think it might be a problem. Even without knowing your species they could tell you’re a rare and exotic creature.

With that out of the way it was time to return. Piece of cake. If my object had been the toothbrush or something like that I would’ve been screwed, luckily enough it was a plant. And I’d beelined it all the way here so there was no way they’d saw me buy it.

I hummed my way back, walking nonchalantly. This was almost too easy. I wondered how the others were doing. Finn was Finn so he wouldn’t struggle, Jamie on the other hand was given a toothbrush which was significantly harder than either of what me or Finn got.

Wait, that brown hair… it’s Polia? She’s here already? Should I avoid her just to be safe? She would never be able to tell because the lilies are with Daphne but it’s probably for the best. I slid into a familiar back alley, taking a long way around until I got to the main street.

This should do it.

“Wait, what’s this?” A shout came from in front of the fountain. “The first contestant has arrived and, who could’ve seen this coming! Believe it or not the first one back is the little rookie!”

“Seriously?” the co-host from the pre-scouts called out too. “There’s still fifteen minutes left.

I’m the first one back? Seriously? It wasn’t Finn?

“But Reno has nothing in his hands? Could he have failed to find his item and has come back waddling in defeat?”

I chose to say nothing. Now I just had to wait until everyone got back and they began guessing our items.

“Ten minutes left.” Zyra said still counting down.

“And here comes another one, it’s the one and only elusive ninja of the pre-scouts group! Here comes Finn!”

“Hm.” He flicked his scarf, the Mereon fruit he was supposed to bring also nowhere in sight. How is he hiding it?

“Three minutes left.” Zyra said, a smile starting to show on her face.

“W-where’s the boss?” Phill said from the other side of the announcing table.

“You must’ve done something didn’t you?” Bill suddenly realised something, his eyes widening. “A toothbrush? There’s only one place to find a toothbrush in Butter Town, only one store! You tricked us! He won’t make it back in time.”

Oh, so that was her play. She gave me something I would struggle with since I was new, feeling lilies. They’re everywhere but still incredibly difficult to find if you don’t know your way around Butter Town. Finn was guaranteed to succeed so she likely didn’t put much thought into that. So then she gave Jamie something on the opposite end of the outer district so he couldn’t make it back. Not a bad play, if I wasn’t here.

She ignored Bill. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, oh look. It’s Polia and Keira.” She waved them over. Keira had a bright smile on her face while Polia was avoiding eye contact. Why is she so happy? Did she figure out Finn’s object? No way, right? Unless she found out Jamie’s?

“Uh-oh, it’s getting late. Only one minute left.” Zyra said as she looked at Phill and Bill.

“W-what are we going to do? The boss he’s, he’s… here.”

From the front of the entrance to the central fountain walked in the leader of the Little Dreamers, and with him, the pre-scouts leader, too. That’s not good.

“He made it, thank goodness.” Bill released a sigh of relief.

“It’s a little early to celebrate don’t you think?” Zyra smirked. Bill looked uncomfortable for a moment but he quickly recovered. “All of the seekers and runners have returned in time! So now it’s time for the moment of truth, seekers, identify the objects of the runners.”

“I-I’ll go first!” Polia spoke up. She looked me dead in the eye. Did she see me earlier?

“Do we get to discuss first?” Keira said speaking up.

“Yes.” Bill confirmed.

“Then wait one second.” They whispered amongst each other. “Okay, ready.”

Polia spoke up again. “Reno’s category is… plants.” My heart clenched. A lucky guess or had they realised my item? As long as she doesn’t—“His plant is, Melodia grass.”

Phew. That was a close one.

“The first seeker has guessed Reno’s object but unfortunately, it is incorrect. One point to the Little Dreamers!” Bill said excitedly. “Reveal your object Reno.”

Just then a feeling lily materialised in my hand as I placed it down onto the judging table. “M-magic?” Polia cried out.

“It’s not against the rules. This is the four hundred and fifty seventh grand magic games,” I shrugged. “Right, judges?”

Zyra’s eyebrows twitched but she didn’t deny it.

Jamie shot me a thumbs up. “Nice one.”

“The judges—us—have officially confirmed that this is indeed a feeling liliy. Then that means the score is one to zero in favour of the Little Dreamers!”

“Woohoo!” Phill cried. This essentially guaranteed our victory, with Finn here and all.

“Would the second seeker like to go next?” Bill said with a big smile.

“I will.” Rosette huh? “Jamie’s category was—toiletry.”

Correct, but just because she knew the category didn’t mean anything.

“Toothbrush.” The air stilled. “His object is a toothbrush.”

“B-boss, you can now reveal your object.” He rolled up his sleeved and out came, a toothbrush. He placed it on the judges table.

“This is indeed a toothbrush, so the new score is one to one, a tie! It’s looking desperate for the Little Dreamers but not all hope is lost, they still have their ninja to rely on!”

That’s right, Finn was here quite early so we should be good. Keira stepped forwards.

“Finn’s category is of course the only one left, food. And his object is…” I looked away, Bill clutched his stomach. Finn looked calm as if he wasn’t fazed at all.

“A Mereon fruit.”