Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 216 - 70 Calculation of Entrance_1

Chapter 216: Chapter 70 Calculation of Entrance_1

(263...084...458 ... reader group, feel free to join. Ps. Friends passing by, please add to your favourites and recommendations. Your support is my greatest motivation. Also, please share your comments, thanks. Ps2: The title has changed, please see the work-related details.)

"If that’s the case," Catherine mused while staring at the map, "perhaps there really is some hidden information contained within these three moons, otherwise, no one would bother to depict the moons at such precise angles and positions."

"Exactly, once we established that, I started to consider other possibilities," explained Pannis, "If the moons were drawn as they truly appear, then the intentions of the mapmaker surely would extend beyond the depiction of the moons and connect to other moon-related things. So I had two bold assumptions: first, although the shape and features of the holes were haphazardly drawn, could they also contain special information like the moons do? For instance, data on proportions. Therefore, I calculated the ratios of hole heights, hole opening radii, and hole bottom radii on the map, and then measured the incline angles of the rock walls on both sides of the cave on the map. Maybe with this, we might be able to determine the specific holes referred to on the map."

"And the second?" Catherine was slightly lost in Pannis’s explanation, "What’s the second assumption?"

"The second is to look outside from the hole opening," Pannis pointed to the sky overhead, "On that day, the positions of the three moons would remain the same. In a hundred-meter-deep hole, it is not easy to see all three moons clearly. Therefore, if we just estimate the positions of the three moons on that night, and then test if we can see them from different angles at the bottom of each hole as indicated on the map, we can confirm it."

"Alright, I have to admit, I didn’t understand a single word of your two assumptions," Catherine said, clutching her head in frustration, "The only thing I understood was that you want to estimate the position of the moon. Is that even possible? How could it possibly be estimated?"

"Err, this is just basic knowledge," Pannis couldn’t help but twitch at the corner of his mouth and held back his laughter while explaining, "At different times of the year, on different dates and at different times, the moon’s approximate position in the sky is known to anyone who has a slight understanding of astronomy. Vivian and I worked it out together."

"Who even has such common knowledge?" Catherine’s cheeks flushed and she protested loudly, "And when did astronomy become common knowledge? Different times of the year, different date, different time, who would even remember these academic theories? How can anyone remember such irrelevant knowledge to fighting and adventuring?"

"Well, you see, Vivian and I both remember, isn’t it? No matter how you put it, we do remember it, right, hehe," Pannis chuckled, covering his mouth, "Or could it be said that a certain knight, who portrays an image of being brave and resolute, is actually lacking in knowledge...?"

"Go to hell," Catherine glared angrily, but in the end, she could only sigh and droop her shoulders helplessly, sulking as she said, "I get it, so once you get to the bottom of a hole, you look up at the sky to estimate whether you can see the moon from this angle, right?"

"Kind of," Pannis nodded, "But it’s not about whether we can see the moon, but instead finding a view angle that matches with the proportions and angles on the map."

"I don’t get it," Catherine glared at Pannis suspiciously and affirmed, "Regardless of any proportions, angles, perspectives or whatever, in the end, we’re just looking at the moon."

"Yes, yes, yes," Pannis chuckled while raising his hand in surrender, "We’re just looking at the moon."

"So, you mean with your observations just now," Catherine averted her eyes from Pannis and changed the subject, "You have confirmed that these two holes aren’t the targets?"

"If my guess is correct," replied Pannis, "We can basically rule out these two holes."

"What if you are wrong?" Catherine pursued, "What if we don’t find a suitable location according to your method?"

"If that happens, it simply means my assumptions are flawed," shrugged Pannis, "In any case, we have seven days. If we’re wrong, we just have to study it again. What does it matter?"

"Makes sense," Catherine said, poker-faced, in a monotonous voice, "It would have been more convincing if you had better hidden that smirk on your face."

"Hahaha, that was just a misunderstanding," Pannis laughed as he clambered up the rock wall to escape, "I’m going first to watch the moon. You better hurry and catch up."

"Damn you, so what if I lack a little knowledge, what’s so funny about that," Catherine grumbled, but then she couldn’t help but chuckle, and with a sigh, she climbed out of the hole following Pannis.

——————————

When Vivian woke up, the first thing she saw was Catherine’s face.

It was just dinner time, Catherine was about to go into the tent to wake her up when Vivian woke up on her own. Vivian, who had just woken up, looked blankly about, her body immobile and her eyes moving around in confusion. After a while, her drowsy brain understood where she was and what she was doing. The now clear-headed Vivian lay there quietly for a while before slowly sitting up, stretching her arm experimentally and curling her fingers. Satisfied, she nodded, took Catherine’s outstretched hand, and stood up.

"It’s getting dark, time to prepare for dinner." Catherine’s voice was gentle, "How did you sleep? Is your head still hurting?"

"It’s getting a bit better now, not hurting at the moment." Vivian replied, "I just don’t know how long it will last."

"Since it’s improved, you could continue resting tonight," Catherine advised. "In these few days, aside from necessary tasks, try not to do much. Take advantage of the free time to replenish your vitality."

"Okay, thank you big sis." Vivian accepted Catherine’s kindness without any formalities. "How was the exploration today, did you find the entrance?"

"Hmm... we think we might have found it." Catherine responded uncertainly, "You should ask Pannis, he had just been explaining something, but Lina and I got distracted fetching water."

"Haha, you two never change." Vivian laughed until she started coughing and breathed, "This is truly a tragedy of lacking knowledge, haha."

"You better tone it down." Catherine messed up Vivian’s blue hair, "Go and discuss with him. We can’t stand it anymore, he’s gone mad."

As soon as she stepped out of the tent, she could spot the glow of the crystal energy lamp next to the bonfire and a ground covered with white papers. Pannis was sprawled on the ground, crawling around under the lamp light, recording things on different sheets of paper. Seeing Vivian step out, Pannis appeared like a man seeing a lifesaver, urgently pleaded, "Vivian, come quick. Help me with calculations. My computing ability is still lacking. These numbers are driving me crazy."

"Eat your meal properly!" Catherine roared, thoroughly dismissing Vivian’s eager spirit, "No one is allowed to write anything before they finish their meal."

"Yes, Captain." Pannis jumped in fright, quickly moving over to the fire. "I’ll eat now, won’t touch the pen."

"Serves you right." Lina, who had just returned from notifying Elrad about the meal, chuckled upon seeing Pannis’ distraught state. "You deserved to be scolded by big sis."

Vivian sat down and accepted the meal tray from Catherine. Her eyes, however, squinted at the papers on the ground. After glancing at them for a bit, she had a sudden realization. "It seems we have two potential locations?"

"Yeah, that’s the most troublesome part." Pannis spoke while mechanically munching on his food, his mind clearly elsewhere. "We found two pits. They both fulfill our hypotheses. Whether from the perspective of height and radius proportions, or from the position and angle of the moon, they totally meet our assumptions."

"So," Vivian mumbled with a fork in her mouth. "Either our hypothesis was wrong from the start, or there’s a third hidden condition in the map that we haven’t discovered."

"Yes, I’m inclined towards the hidden third condition theory." Pannis responded, "Considering that the first two conditions have been met, it’s too much of a stretch to call it mere coincidence. And it’s not like the mapmaker is crazy, creating such coincidences without reason. Unless, of course, this is a deliberate misdirection by the Naren Royal Family."

"Are you two done yet?" Catherine intervened unhappily, "Having one Vivian frequently obsessing over some matter is already enough of a headache, Pannis how did you end up becoming crazy like her too?"

"Big sis, you don’t understand." Vivian replied, full of enthusiasm. "The fascination of solving these puzzles lies in meticulously discovering the correct clues from limited conditions, and finding the answer through these clues. It’s unbelievably fun. Isn’t that so, Pannis?"

"Err... yes, yes." Pannis, merely seeing Catherine stare at him sent shivers down his spine. He almost buried his face into the plate as he mumbled, "It’s definitely fun."

"I truly don’t understand," Catherine turned her agitated gaze towards Vivian, "But I do know this much: if you two continue this prattle instead of eating, you’re not participating in this treasure hunt anymore. Don’t challenge my resolve. This is the last warning, there won’t be a next time. Eat your meal. Especially you, Vivian, if you keep this up, I won’t even bring you along for the next trip."

"Big sis, I was wrong." Vivian dutifully apologized and even sneakily kicked at a laughing Lina. She pouted and ceased talking, focusing on her meal instead.

"We still have plenty of time." Catherine sighed, explaining, "No need to rush. Once we finish our meal, everyone will listen to your discussion. And merely discussing won’t provide all the answers. Once the day breaks, we’ll all go and inspect the place physically. That’s much more reliable than random conjectures. As I mentioned, don’t be impatient, everything should be done step by step."

"Alright, big sis. I’ll listen to you," Vivian nodded and calmed down from her excited state of puzzle solving. "Promise you’ll let me go explore tomorrow. Besides, this riddle is truly interesting. Initially, I didn’t even realize there were three moons involved before Pannis pointed it out. I almost got fooled. Haha, big sis, I already have a hunch that we’re going to achieve something big this time."

"Let’s hope so." Catherine shrugged. "However, I should remind you that your ’hunches’ were never really accurate in the past, hehe."