2.24 The Remaining Trials - Part 2

"Nara, Wake up."

'No!'

I opened my eyes and hurriedly looked towards the hourglass while raising myself up. Fortunately, there was still some sand left in the upper bulb, so I probably hadn't slept for too long.

"Thanks, Princess Anna. I fell asleep without realizing it."

"Naa, I just woke up too."

I looked around and saw that Princess Eliane and Arica were still asleep. The baby faces they were making while asleep was cute, but the upper bulb was almost about to be empty.

"Let's wake them up as well," I said while standing up.

My body felt a bit lighter than before and I was feeling a bit calmer. The impatience and irritation that I felt before was probably because of the fatigue.

While Princess Anna was waking Princess Eliane up, I went near Arica and tried waking her up by gently touching her shoulder and saying, "Arica, wake up. We need to leave soon."

"Just a little longer," she said while pulling my hand and hugging it like a pillow.

'Ha! this soft sensation will no longer work on me. I have leveled up.'

"No, you see, we still have 3 more trials left. After that, we will need to reach where Marina is," I said while touching her black dog ear. There wasn't any ulterior motive in doing this, I just felt like doing that when I saw her act like that.

She slowly rose herself up, her eyes were still closed. She came closer to my face, and before I could figure out what she was trying to do, she kissed me on my cheek.

My eyes widened when I realized what happened. This happened so suddenly that I wasn't even sure how to react. And in the end, I just stayed there like a statue.

"Wh-what are you guys doing?" Princess Anna asked. She looked somewhat confused and shocked at the same time.

"This is his reward. For waking me up," Arica said with a smile.

"B-But that's?"

"You aren't jealous that I kissed him, are you?" Arica said in a teasing tone.

"O-of course not. W-why would I be jealous of a K-K-kiss."

"Oh, then it's fine I guess."

"Looks like Arica is on the lead," Princess Eliane said while putting her hand on her chin.

'There's nothing that requires that intense level of thinking here.'

Right when the vibe around us was getting weird, the hourglass made a turn automatically, and with it, the door on the other side slid open.

"Okay, let's go," I said while getting up.

Arica also got up after me, and we all got inside the next room through the door that just opened. Right after we got in, the door behind us slid close automatically.

"Welcome to the Trial of Moderation!" The voice of the Labyrinth said after we entered.

It was a big room with a golden table filled with a variety of fruits and dishes. There were donuts, cakes, sweets, meat and fish dishes, and so on. There was enough food to feed almost 10 hungry people who haven't eaten for days but only 4 chairs.

'Well, I guess the name of the test and the venue makes it pretty clear what we need to do.'

"Finish the food within an hour."

'What! a time limit.'

All of us sat on the chairs as soon as we heard the time limit. Princess Anna sat right next to me while Arica sat right in front.

At first, I thought there was a slim chance we would be able to do it. But as I kept on eating, I realized that I only felt that way because I was hungry.

'No matter how you look at it, we will never be able to finish the food,' is what I thought after I became full.

When I reached the point where I couldn't even eat one more bite, I stopped eating and looked at others.

'Man! What's with them? They are still not full?'

They were eating as if they have been hungry for days. The look on their face was telling me that they were not forcing the food, they were enjoying it.

"Princess Anna, will your tummy be alright with this much sweets?" I asked while trying to be as indirect as possible.

"Oh, don't worry, nothing will happen. I burned a lot of energy today so I can eat a little more," said Princess Anna and took a bite of another Donut.

'Guess what they used to say about girls having two-fold hunger compared to men is true.'

I tried my best, but I could only eat a little more than what I could usually eat. But the girls, they surprisingly ate almost thrice of what they usually ate. And because of that, we were able to complete the trial in time.

"Man, you guys can seriously eat a lot," I said while leaning back on the chair. I ate too much so I was trying to relax for a while.

"Darling, you shouldn't say something like that to a lady, you know," Arica said with a teasing smile.

'Oops!'

"Sorry, my bad."

Princess Eliane and Arica were still composed even after eating that much, but Princess Anna wasn't looking very well.

"Princess Anna, are you alright?" I asked looking towards her.

"No, my stomach. It's hurting. I feel like I will throw up. I need water," said Princess Anna while holding her head with her hand.

'Oh boy.'

I quickly used my holy magic to ease her pain. Princess Eliane poured some water into a glass from the jug that was on the table and gave it to her.

After drinking the glass of water, she leaned back on her chair and rested for a while.

"You have cleared the Trial of Moderation," The voice of the Labriynth said after which the door on the opposite side of the door that we came from opened automatically.

"Princess Anna, will you be able to continue? We can rest a little longer if you want."

"No, I think I will be fine. I am feeling better."

After she said that, we walked to the next room. It was a big empty room with irregular walls, floor, and ceiling, much like the one from the trial of strength.

Right after we entered, the door behind us slid close automatically with a heavy metallic sound.

"Welcome to the Trial of Dedication."

Next Chapter: The Remaining Trials - Part 3