The Blind Saint Who Can See - Chapter 58
Only Noblemtl
#58. The Labyrinth of Culture (3)
It’s been three hours since I entered the labyrinth.
Cedric thought seriously.
‘Am I stupid?’
The trigger was the remaining three.
[What is the ten-th decimal place of the natural constant?]
“It’s 8.”
[What is the chemical formula of methoxide?]
“CH3O-!”
[What is a numerical frequency meter that measures the period instead of the frequency and then calculates the reciprocal of the period to measure the frequency?]
“Numeric instantaneous value frequency meter.”
[Write the Knoevenagel condensation process and the reaction formula for 2-chlorobenzaldehyde.]
“ClC6H4CHO + Malononitrile|H2C(CN)2 → ClC6H4CHC(CN)2 + H2O… … Hmm, if we write it like this – oh. It opens. Let’s go to the next gate.”
“Liliana, your handwriting is good.”
“It’s normal.”
Before Cedric could understand, the three of them were taking turns solving the quiz as if they were competing.
There was even one time when I tried to challenge myself with a true or false quiz that I thought I knew the answer to.
[Under the same conditions, hot water freezes faster than cold water.]
[ O / X ]
“This is definitely X.”
“…Huh? What are you saying, Cedric?”
Even the kind Justinas looked at him with slightly strange eyes.
“Of course hot water freezes quickly… … This is a problem of the Mpemba effect.”
“Haha, I guess Cedric was just joking.”
“That’s a boring joke. It’s typical of you to have no sense at all. Anyway, the correct answer is O.”
Cedric, who was verbally beaten by three people, was completely beaten up.
“How on earth do you know that?” I wanted to ask, but then I said, “Oh, Cedric. This is common knowledge.”
Or something like that.
“Huh? If you’re going to be at a warrior party, shouldn’t you be able to answer questions like this in 0.5 seconds? I really don’t know.”
Or something like that.
“Isn’t it just a common knowledge that people around the age of 10 can master? Isn’t it a concept that they can’t solve it? Is it really possible for a person to not be able to solve this problem?”
I stopped because I thought the same things would come back.
“… … .”
Anyway, Cedric was a bastard with no manners, common sense, or manners by the standards of the warrior party.
Of course, he usually pursued a life that was somewhat distant from common sense and etiquette.
But that… …when it comes in like this, the impact is different.
For the first time since meeting Justinas, Cedric felt the urge to just swing his sword wildly.
The impulse grew stronger as the three of them huddled together and pondered the crossroads.
“Based on the maze drawing engraved near the door – this way, right?”
“No, this way. I remember everything clearly.”
“I’m on this side… … .”
As the two were bickering, Justinas, who was being held by Cedric, patted Liliana.
“Liliana, draw the maze diagram you remember.”
“Ah. That would be better if we watched it together.”
Draw a maze diagram?
Did you memorize that thing you just glanced at at the entrance?
Before Cedric could even react, Liliana actually drew it.
Even that maze drawing wasn’t just one. It was divided into several floors, and there were more than twenty drawings. I just glanced at them and memorized them.
“Hmm. Liliana is right!”
“Then, at the next fork in the road, turn right and proceed in a direction that avoids the trap here.”
“I checked the next floor too. Liliana, please remember the path I drew.”
“You found it so quickly.”
“It was a bit difficult to calculate them one by one. It would be faster if it could be calculated automatically using the A* algorithm.”
“A* algorithm?”
“Ah! By the way, there are no computers in the Eastern Continent yet. The A* algorithm is a path-finding algorithm that was created by extending and supplementing the existing Dijkstra algorithm.
This is a method of first searching for the point where the evaluation function f(x) = g(x) + h(x) is minimized, by setting the path weight from the origin to the vertex x as g(x) and the estimated path weight from the origin to the target location as h(x).
Here, when f(x)=g(x), it becomes the same as Dijkstra’s algorithm.”
“Hey, I have a question! What exactly is Dijkstra’s algorithm?”
“Ah, Izumi. That’s a good question. This part… … That’s right. I’ll explain it to you in a way that even Cedric can understand.”
Cedric, who had been listening blankly, suddenly came to his senses when his own name appeared at the end.
‘Youth will explain for me…!’
But it was clear that, unlike those two ruthless bastards, the good Justinas cared about him.
Cedric deliberately ignored her intuition that ‘so even Cedric could understand’ had a similar nuance to ‘so even a baby who had just learned to read could understand’.
Surely, Justinas could not have thought such a wicked thing.
Cedric pricked up his ears as much as he could, trying to understand what the woman he liked was saying to him.
“Imagine setting the starting point to 0, the other points to infinity, and then moving by splitting all the paths that branch off from the starting point.”
Hmm. I see.
“You can eliminate clones that have reached a dead end, and if there is a clone that has found the exit, you can figure out the travel path and delete the clones that have taken a longer route than that.”
Uh, uh, um.
“So, if you get through all the way to the last exit, the shortest path is the correct answer to the maze.”
Understand… … Understand… … .
“However, Dijkstra’s algorithm is difficult to apply in reality, so in real life, such as car navigation, the A* algorithm that I just explained is mainly used.”
“Hoo.”
“Wow, I don’t know much about computers, but is that how navigation is used? That’s interesting.”
“… … .”
What are you talking about?
Why do they understand that?
“Youth.”
“yes?”
“Is it common sense to memorize a maze diagram after seeing it once?”
“Huh? What does that mean?”
Youth blinked.
“How can a person, who is not a copy machine, just glance at something so complicated and memorize it? It doesn’t make sense.”
“… … That’s true, though.”
Does it make sense to answer that quiz just now like a spinal reflex?
No, I said it didn’t make sense, but I did it anyway. What is that drawing?
There are so many things to tackle that I don’t know where to start or what to say.
… … In a world where everyone is one-eyed, being two-eyed is considered an outsider.
Even when Cedric, who had fallen into deep loneliness, was reduced to a mere stroller for Justinas, the three of them continued to explore the maze without stopping.
After five hours had passed like that.
“Yahoo, it’s outside!”
“It’s the first sunshine I’ve seen in hours.”
“I was glad that the maze was easier than I thought. I guess the difficulty was low because Liliana, who is a royal, was there.”
“… … .”
The warrior party safely passed through the Kharif Mountains terrain.
The side effect was that Cedric, who was usually quiet, became even more silent.
That was about it.
***
“Cough, cough.”
After escaping the labyrinth.
The problem was easy and came out much faster than expected, but it seems that Justinas had accumulated considerable fatigue.
To put it simply-
“I’m sorry, Kolok. I’m sorry for causing you such trouble… … .”
I got a cold.
To be honest, I let my guard down a lot.
My ‘Keep Clean’ skill is so convenient that it can nullify all kinds of infectious diseases.
‘I didn’t know I would collapse from overwork… … ‘
Somehow, I felt a little cold as soon as I entered the maze.
“What are you talking about? Honestly, he was much more useful than Cedric.”
“Yes. Isn’t that common sense incomparable to that of a commoner?”
“… … I guess I’ll have to get some medicine. Yus, can you hold out for a little longer?”
The three kind people understood me, but inside I was furious.
‘It was a chance to get the elixir!’
A cold this bad needs to be treated quickly. Given my body’s endurance, there was a risk that it could easily develop into pneumonia.
“I need to hurry and visit a nearby hospital. If I continue like this, my immune system will weaken and I could be in more danger.”
Our unofficial doctor (the warrior) also said this.
In the end, I had no choice but to go to a nearby desert country while crying. Fortunately, on the map, the exit on the other side of the Kharif Labyrinth was very close to a kingdom.
“I see a village over there!”
Buy some medicine as quickly as possible, then rest at any inn. Then, when you’ve recovered, convince your party members to visit the nearby elf village.
It was a sound plan.
“Hold on a second. There’s going to be a security check.”
“Yes! Here is your ID,”
“You don’t need an ID. This country only allows people with black hair to enter.”
“-What did you say?”
… That is, at least until I was kicked out at the entrance.