Hyouka:Volume 3 Chapter 2-2

2-2 Quiz Trial

013 - ♣04

The Quiz Trial held by the Kamiyama High School Quiz Study Club...... That's like the biggest quiz tournament in Kamiyama City!

This is because I've yet to hear of any other quiz tournament being held elsewhere in this city.

To me, this Quiz Trial would be the highlight for Day 1. There's nothing bigger than this, no one else's database is more real than mine!

But I'm still surprised by this, as I never expected this many people to turn up, there's like 200 people here. While I could see quite a few outsiders amongst the participants, the majority were still Kami High students. So that's nearly 20% of the student body! Man, I'm envious, if only either the Handicraft Club and Classics Club could each summon 100 people like that, we could have sold the anthology in no time.

In one corner of the school ground before the podium, I could hear all sorts of mutterings.

"...... If it's over how about we go see the Brass Band? ......"

"...... What about the Movie Study Club? You don't need to be a movie buff in order to watch their show, but......"

"...... Really? Hahaha, now that's kind of mean......"

"...... But don't you think it sounds kind of ridiculous? ......"

To begin with, while I had already imagined a lot of people participating, but not even I, who had been looking forward to this since last night, could envision 200 people coming. Such was the effect of their publicity campaign.

It was just past 12.30 when the school PA broadcast went on air. It was the Broadcast Club's pseudo radio broadcast. With relaxing pop music being played in the background, the broadcast was used to relay the latest hot topics during the Kamiyama High School Cultural Festival to the listeners. About 15 minutes had passed when the broadcast went to interview the president of the Quiz Club, which went as follows:

"This year would be our 7th tournament. As usual we are offering very interesting prizes, but this time we've prepared questions that not just people who are good at quiz shows could answer. Naturally speaking, members of the Quiz Club are forbidden from participating, so we believe this is a golden opportunity for these people. So we welcome all to participate...... Basically, we'll be holding a true and false questions preliminary involving participants running between the circles with the right answer at the school grounds. It'll be some great exercise after lunch, no?"

He sure knows how to stir up the event. By advertising via a radio broadcast, I thought they could achieve a moderate success, but I was mistaken. Not counting the audience, there were already 200 participants. (This was just a guesstimate amount of course, as I have no idea exactly how many there were. Still, it was definitely more than a hundred people. )

And I must also mention that the Quiz Club had also got themselves mentioned by the Wall Newspaper Club. During the Cultural Festival, the Wall Newspaper Club would be publishing a Special Edition every two hours. And within the Day 1 12pm edition it was mentioned that the Quiz Club activity sounds interesting today. By pasting these Special Edition copies around the school's notice board, even a fool would be aware of their activity.

It seems the Classics Club would need the assistance of both the Broadcast Club and Wall Newspaper Club if it is to achieve its objective. I must inform Chitanda-san of this afterwards.

Anyway, that's for me to worry afterwards. For now, I must focus on this Quiz Trial, as it's crucial for me to get as high a ranking as possible. Since I'm not participating in my favourite event in a personal capacity, but on behalf of the Classics Club. No offense to the others, but the only one in the club capable of winning this would be me. So this would not be an easy task.

The Quiz Club president walked up towards the podium. It wasn't someone I knew. If it was a Kamiyama High School student that I knew, then he or she would have to be someone really special or eccentric. On his hand he carried a mic. A short static noise ensued as he tapped the mic and proceeded to speak.

"Welcome to the Quiz Trial. To be honest, we're surprised by the number of participants we have today. This year would be our 7th Quiz Trial, and it is the largest ever held so far..." Blah, blah, blah, followed by,

"Now let the tournament begin. First we will have the true and false questions preliminaries. On your left is the true box with a circle, while on your right is the false box with a cross. One of our members will hold up a placard with a question, and you must figure out whether it is true or false, and only those who answered correctly may advance. The preliminaries will continue until only five contestants remain. You have 15 seconds for each question. Now then, may the 7th Quiz Trial begin!"

As he finished, one of the female Quiz Club members stepped up onto the podium and received the mic from the president who stepped down. I was a bit relieved, as this president's words was rather unintelligible to the ears. The girl took the mic and looked at the cue card on one of her hands and said clearly,

"Question 1! If 'diamond' in Japanese is 'kongouseki' (diamond stone), then 'emerald' would be 'ryokuchuugyoku' (green pillar jade). True or false?"

Hmm, now how should I answer this?

Of course it's true. (Since unlike beryl, the chemical composition of emerald does not contain aquamarine, or it would be called 'ryokuchuuseki' (green pillar stone) instead! )