Sylvia seems to be out of commission. So, it's all on me now.

I glanced at the seemingly endless, vast expanse of water and the countless, scattered apples, then decisively turned to the watching nun.
"Wait! Pause! Bring us a basin suitable for our height!"
The nun smiled considerately and said,
"Sorry, but no."
"Then at least give us a brick to stand on? Or let us use construction magic to make one!"
"Sorry, but no."
Immovable...! I'll write "Do not worship the Star God and the God of Memory" into the family rules!
The nun said,
"You have 4 minutes and 47 seconds left."
Sylvia said,
"It's okay, Adam! I'll teach you enhancement runes right now! With your talent, you'll see results in just two months!"
...Sylvia seems a bit out of her mind.

Alright, calm down. Observe carefully! Can't just give up like this!
The basin isn't actually that big, about 1.5 meters in diameter.
The apples float evenly on the water's surface, neither too sparse nor too dense.
The water surface is very close to the rim, only about five centimeters away. Reachable by hand... or head.
In other words, the two outer rings of apples near the edge, about 25 in total, are small fry. Deal with them first, then figure out how to get the ones in the middle to the edge!

As I made up my mind, an apple drifted right in front of me with the current.
Great, I'll start with this one!
I held my breath, widened my eyes, opened my mouth, leaned down, plunged my face into the cool water, and bit towards the apple.

The cool, wet skin of the apple touched my lips precisely, then slipped away like a loach.
Ha, expected that. I promptly chased it, opened my mouth to bite... and again, it slipped away like a loach.
A wave of laughter came from the crowd. Darn it!

Sylvia's eyes could, for the moment, at least see over the basin's rim. Seeing this, she asked the nun,
"What was that just now! He clearly bit it!"
The nun elegantly tapped her cheek with a finger, smiling as she explained,
"Ohoh, that's right. If it were a normal apple, this guest would indeed have succeeded just now."
"However, to increase the fun of the activity, we specially chose the kind of hard apples intended for brewing—ones with exceptionally smooth skins."
"Moreover, before placing them in the basin, we carefully coated their surfaces with a thin layer of colorless, odorless oil."
"Add to that the cold water in this basin, which further contracts, crisps, and smooths the apples..."
"After all these treatments, the smoothness of these apple surfaces now rivals that of carefully polished, waxed glass!"
"Hey! That's too much! Is that necessary?!"
"Heheh, love is just that hard to obtain. Also, Mr. Boyfriend, you have 4 minutes and 32 seconds left."

Ha... I actually felt a bit burdened before. Since you started it, don't blame me!
I aimed for the apple again and leaned in for another attempt.
The skin touched my lips again and slid away with the water again. This time, I used more force; the sliding apple knocked several other apples away from the basin's edge.
The crowd laughed again. The nun said,
"Miss Girlfriend, your partner seems a bit impatient~"
Sylvia laughed on my behalf.
"Ha! You'd better watch the apples' positions carefully first! Adam is a powerful mage!"

The apples that slid and were knocked away did indeed move a few centimeters further—but that was all. They then remained fixed in their new positions, unmoving despite the water's flow.

Sylvia's first rune, the Frost-Binding Rune, stops an object's motion.
And her second rune, the Everfrost Rune, fixes an object's state of motion.
I effortlessly bit each apple one by one and tossed it into the collection basin.

I repeated the process, circling the wooden basin, solidifying and retrieving all the apples along the edge.
Cheers erupted from the crowd. Sylvia applauded.
"24! Keep going! Sister Nun, how much time left?"
"3 minutes and 3 seconds. Your partner has effortlessly broken the record. Truly remarkable."
"Right... but he's not my partner!"
The nun suddenly let out an eerie, low chuckle.
"Heheh, I suggest you save the tsundere act for after he retrieves all the apples. The real trouble is just beginning~"

Still acting tough? Time is ample. Although floating in the center, only half the apples remain.
Just need to stir the water and force them to the edge, and the game is over!
"Adam, I'll help you. Get ready!"
Sylvia quickly ran to the other side of the basin and lightly bumped it with her head. The basin itself didn't budge, but a surge of turbulent waves rose from the water, rushing straight toward the central apples!
Under the rushing current, the apples immediately drifted towards me, arriving right in front of me in an instant.
Great, they're almost within my spellcasting range.
I focused my magic, staring intently at the apples, determined to fix them the moment they entered range.
However, the apples swirled at the edge, drifted against the current, and returned to their original positions at the basin's center.

Faced with this phenomenon blatantly defying physical laws, the spectators who had unconsciously gathered let out a collective gasp of excited surprise. Sylvia and I immediately understood the trick.
Sylvia asked for me,
"This is a barrier, right? You cast a barrier on the apples?"
The nun nodded in admission, smiling.
"So sharp. Though it's slightly different. We placed barriers on certain 'positions' in the 'water,' not on the 'apples' themselves."
"When the apples drift too far from their original positions, the barriers pull them back."
"I see... Simple! Adam, although I can't do it, you can easily handle it!"

She's right.
Sylvia's third rune, the Frost-Devouring Rune, can silence all barriers and magic, rendering them ineffective.
Because its casting time is slow and mana consumption high, this move might be hard to use in reactive combat. But in this situation, it's perfect.
...But wait.
"Sylvia, no. Think of another way."
"Why? Is the spell range insufficient?"
"No. I understand now. The 'positions' with barriers attached might be the answer pointing to the 'Star God's Eye.'"
"Fifty is still too few. If we could add more... if we could add many more, these 'positions' might connect to form text or a pattern! We can't destroy these barriers here!"

Hearing the keyword "Star God's Eye," the watching crowd clearly grew more excited, erupting into even noisier discussion, casting curious and expectant looks my way. The nun also revealed a meaningful smile and promptly reminded,
"You have 2 minutes and 43 seconds left."
Sylvia asked,
"Can we still add apples now?"
"Of course. As long as you pay the difference afterward. Go ahead, don't be shy. Help yourself."
The nun made an "as you wish" gesture.
A burly man brought over a crate full of apples.
Without another word, Sylvia lifted a foot and lightly kicked the bottom of the crate. The entire crate of apples was instantly sent flying into the air.
The next second, all the apples were magically suspended in mid-air. Sylvia's hands danced like butterflies through flowers, accurately tossing the apples one by one into the water basin.
40... 50... 60...
As if drawn by magnetism, the apples quickly adhered to those invisible "positions" on the water's surface.

When the apples in the basin reached 70, I finally recognized the text they formed.
"Sylvia! 'Beneath the purple basin!'"
"Got it!"
Sylvia immediately located the purple wooden basin. The young couple beside it cooperatively stepped aside. Sylvia bent down, lifted the basin, and indeed found a slip of paper underneath.
She said excitedly,
"'Dance among the first ears of grain, seize victory to obtain the crystal'... This is the third, and should be the final, clue! Adam, we did it!"
The nun looked at me and said,
"You seem to have achieved your goal. So, will you give up? Seventy apples is rather too many."
"...No. I will finish the game. Sylvia, what do you say?"
Sylvia crossed through the crowd in two or three steps, leaped back to the basin's edge, and gave me a radiant smile.
"What do you think?! Of course, we continue!"
A mountain-toppling, sea-roaring wave of cheers surged over us. The nun said,
"Then, you have 2 minutes and 32 seconds left."

Time was tight, but my heart surged with excitement.
We'll win this!
While focusing my magic, I put on the pendant Grey had given me and released the Frost-Devouring Rune.
An invisible wave spread out. The barriers on the water surface used to position the apples dissolved like ice and snow.
Without pause, I circled the basin again, continuously casting the two runes, biting and retrieving apples.
Gradually, only the nun's timekeeping voice remained in my ears.
10 apples.
"1 minute, 59 seconds."
30 apples.
"1 minute, 16 seconds."
50 apples.
"37 seconds."
65 apples...!
"6 seconds."
Five, four, three, two. Just one more! Almost there!
I bit towards the final apple suspended in the air.
"Adam, go for it!"
In the midst of Sylvia's cheering, the "Blessing of the Twin Stars," because of my leaning motion, touched the apple first.
The protective magic attached to it slightly neutralized my own magic, causing the apple to drop an inch lower.
—And so, I failed to catch the apple in my teeth.
"Time's up."

The nun's voice reached my ears as the apple fell to the ground.