Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume26 Chapter3 2

Ahh, Tea Party. Part 2

"Now it's time to start the Future Roses' Treasure Hunt."

Mami-san announced through a megaphone.

At the same time, the three future Roses – Shimako-san, Yoshino-san and Yumi – made their appearance, and the cheer from the assembled students echoed into the cloudy winter sky.

"We'll begin by sealing off the second–chance draw."

That phrase was the signal for Noriko-chan to appear holding the box that had been set up in the Rose Mansion for second–chance entries.

Mami-san sealed the entry slot with masking tape, then used a thick marker pen to write "Not to be opened until after the cards have been returned" so that it covered both the box and the tape. This way, neither Mami-san nor the future Roses would be able to tamper with the contents.

The students that were about to participate in the treasure hunt weren't eligible for the second–chance draw, so they had no stake in that entry box. Even so, they were lured in by Mami-san's performance and let out an "Oooh."

"Now, I trust all you participants have your entry forms with you? Anyone that doesn't, please raise your hand."

After checking the smattering of raised hands, Noriko-chan set down the second–chance entry box and ran about handing out entry forms. Watching this unfold, a portion of the students made an "Oh?" expression.

Why was Rosa Gigantea en bouton doing this? Other than Mami-san, where were all the newspaper club members?

Actually, while these questions seemed the same, there were subtly different answers to the two.

"Would all the sœurs of the future Roses come over here, please. You will be given a five minute handicap again this year."

Sachiko-sama was the only person that followed these directions. Noriko-chan didn't move towards the indicated spot beside Mami-san.

"Thank you, Fukuzawa Yumi-san's onee-sama, Ogasawara Sachiko-sama. I can confirm that Shimazu Yoshino-san's onee-sama, Hasekura Rei-sama, has already made an entry in the second–chance draw. And finally —"

Mami-san looked at Noriko-chan as she spoke.

"Toudou Shimako-san's petite sœur, Nijou Noriko-san, has chosen to assist with today's event as part of the staff instead of participating – for which she has our gratitude."

The students that had been watching Noriko-chan in confusion, and those that hadn't noticed, all had expressions that said, "Why?" When the treasure hunt was first announced, the Lillian Kawaraban had printed an article stating that the future Roses' sœurs would be participating. Accordingly, Sachiko-sama was standing ready to accept her five minute handicap. Rei-sama couldn't be present today because she had exams, so she'd placed her hope in the repechage round for losers (meaning someone who couldn't be present on the day) called the "second–chance draw." But, Noriko-chan.

"I was happy just to hear that my onee-sama wanted to search for my card. So I'll stay by my onee-sama's side and assist where I can."

Was what she'd said when she decided not to participate. There wasn't even a trace of resignation or self-denial about it. Rather than spending the intervening time away from Shimako-san for a chance to search for her card, Noriko-chan had chosen to experience those hardships together with her onee-sama. Perhaps Noriko-chan felt that even if she didn't search for it, she already had Shimako-san's card in her heart.

So that explained why Noriko-chan was assisting, but it still left the mystery of where all the newspaper club members were. The answer was that, at present, they were distributing the cards and hints throughout the school.

Last year had been the first year for this event, and both the organizers and the participants hadn't really known what they were doing, so a certain amount of bumbling was acceptable. But having seen how it turned out, certain ragged edges became apparent based on things they'd noticed and predictions about how the next one would go. So, in the lead up to this year's event, they'd made certain improvements.

One of those was that the cards weren't hidden until just before the event.

Last year, Sachiko-sama had buried her crimson card in the old greenhouse early in the morning, and Rei-sama's yellow card had remained hidden in a book in the library for quite a while too.

Shimako-san's white card had been hidden just before the event, but that was only possible because the spot she'd chosen: the committee notice board made it easy since it looked like she was just posting a notice.

But this year was different. Things were a bit more complicated. The newspaper club members had to cover the area of the treasure hunt in a very short period of time.

It was more complicated because it would be a complete waste if they hid the cards at their leisure and they were discovered ahead of time. So they'd decided to hide the cards when all the participants were gathered in the courtyard, just prior to the start. The repeated warnings that anyone not in the courtyard at 3:40pm would not be able to participate were so that the participants wouldn't be able to see them hide the cards.

The registration forms had been distributed a couple of days ahead of time, rather than immediately before the start like last year, to reduce the number of people required (in fact, it had all been left up to Noriko-chan to deal with).

The registration form was more or less the same as last year. It was split into two parts by a line to cut along, with the top part containing the treasure hunt rules and the bottom part a statement that the participants would sign saying they'd abide by the rules. On the back, the top part contained a map of the school building and surrounds, with a dashed line showing the bounds of the treasure hunt. Basically, anything within the dotted line was in-bounds, and everything outside was out-of-bounds.

This year, the bounds were extended along the gingko-tree path to just before the school entrance. Naturally, it didn't extend into the neighboring university, nor into the security guard's hut near the door.

"There are three cards that look like this: one red, one white, and one yellow. The first person to find them will be awarded the half-day date with the respective future Rose. Any ties will be decided by scissors-paper-rock."

Mami-san held up an example card as she continued her explanation.

"But it's not just the cards that are hidden. There's also hints and advice, so take care when you're searching."

This was also a new experiment this year.

They wanted to make it as fun as possible while also avoiding inconveniencing any of the staff and non-high school students – as much as they could for an event that was held on school grounds. But if they wrote down all of the things to be mindful of, the rules would have to be written in such a small font that people would get bored and just skip over them. So, they decided to put up warnings at places where the students would have to take extra care, and since it would be boring just to have warnings, they decided to mix some hints in too.

"Now if you could all check that you've filled out your name, grade, class, and student number correctly on the entry form."

After answering all the participant's questions, Mami-san surveyed the courtyard and lazily nodded. The participants were all focused on Mami-san so they probably hadn't noticed, but the newspaper club members had been slowly trickling back and the last one had just returned.

"The event ends at 4:40pm. You can start once you've handed in your form."

With that, the curtain was raised on the Future Roses' Treasure Hunt.