Yes, it is, again, the polite thing to do

Roi thought that her sister, a knight in training, was probably better suited to handle herself at this strange parade than Guyld was. For starters, Guyld seemed to have no martial training and was not flanked by the procession of monks who had followed her at the chapel. Furthermore, Guyld was very rich and still wore those riches on her sleeve... well, the dress was sleeveless, but she wore it plenty of other places. Point being: if thieves were taking advantage of the high spirits and chaos of the parade, they'd find Guyld both an easy mark for theft and perhaps an attractive target for other, even less savory intentions. It would make sense to watch over her.

The knight's apprentice had fully talked herself into being sympathetic towards the air-headed noble when that noble started laughing again, turning her nose up at her opponent. "I've caught you in my trap! So easy, Ro-ee Wulder! So easy it will be to humiliate you!" she scoffed. Roi was feeling her empathy for the other girl draining, but crossed her arms and focused on the host.

"Welcome everyone to my Trivia Competition! By day, I'm just a history teacher at the town's college. By night, I am the fabulous trivia buff, Postucles!" the man began, whipping out a pair of round spectacles and placing them upon the bridge of his nose.

Roi rolled her eyes, giving an indication that she really couldn't care less. A lot of the crowd did the same. There were a lot of opportunities for entertainment all over the Night Parade and nobody was going to stay here and watch a trivia contest... knowing it was hosted by a professor only made it less appealing for them.

The man scratched his bald head and continued. "Enough about me! Let's meet our contestants! My, aren't they cute girls! They're very cute! And both at least eighteen, right? Please answer loudly."

"Yes," they both spoke in unison, looking suspicious at the question.

"Splendid! Your names?"

"Roi Wulder, knight's apprentice," the first girl spoke simply, brushing at the back of her short ponytail as she swore she felt someone stroke it creepily when passing by.

"Roy Wulder, fantastic-!"

"Ro-ee."

"... Okay! And who are you, young lady-?"

The man could barely ask before Guyld jumped to her feet again, pressed her hand again to her chest, tilted her nose up, and began her chant. "I am Guyld St. Vendigeld IV, daughter of Guyld III, heir to the vast St. Vendigeld fortune, and a patron of the church! I represent the Holy Church of Merridan in this competition! I hope you are all prepared to align your cheers and praise with that fine institution, which, it must be said, has carried us through so many hard times in Merridan's history!" she explained at length, before giving a small curtsy and returning to her seat next to Roi.

Postucles smiled and clapped, along with just a few other church faithful. "Splendid! You sound like a history buff yourself!" he praised her, causing her to straighten her back even more and tilt her nose up even higher, beaming like a spoiled child. "The rules, then! It's very simple. I'll ask a trivia question and you two try to answer it. Slap your hand down on the table to indicate you're ready to answer! You'll have five seconds to consider whether you want to slap it or not. First to slap gets the floor. Whoever loses the round, even if it's both of you, will have to take off an article of your clothing. The questions are all about our fine city's history, of course. If you-"

"U-Um, excuse me, Mister Postucles, Sir," Guyld spoke up, raising her hand like a schoolgirl. "Could you back up juuuust a bit? I feel like you sped past something important."

"Hm? Oh, yes. When I say our city's history, I refer exclusively to its time under the name of Merridan-"

"No, no, you dolt! The part about taking off our clothes!"

"Aaaah," he murmured, adjusting his spectacles once again. "Listen, I'm really just a trivia buff, but in order to make this work for the crowd, I'm **** to put in that sort of condition. Oh, and to clarify: if neither of you get the right answer, you both strip."

Roi wasn't pleased, but she wasn't surprised either. After all, this was the Night Parade. "What does the winner get?" she questioned, seeing nothing particularly valuable looking anywhere on the man's person or upon the table.

"Besides affirmation of intellectual superiority? Hmmmmmm... I don't know. I guess you can have all the things the loser took off?"

"Wuh... Why would I want that?" both girls asked at once, becoming slightly red-faced. The crowd seemed to like this dynamic somewhat and began clapping inexplicably. Roi sighed deeply once more, then crossed her arms. "Look, if I win, Guyld, I'll simply give your things back to you. There's no need to be nervous-"

"Ho ho ho ho! This is a battle between the church and the knights! Don't think I'll be so generous if I win, Ro-ee Wulder! Your garments- meager as they are- will become donations to the Holy Church of Merridan!" Guyld shot back, placing one hand at her cheek to hide a haughty smile. She was the type who just couldn't resist upping the ante.

"F-Fine! Then maybe I won't return yours either!" Roi snapped.

Guyld recoiled as though she'd been struck. "Th-That isn't fair! My things are worth one-hundred times the cost of your rags! A-And besides, your halfling captain said you all have to be naked anyways, didn't she?!"

"The captain didn't... quite... say that," the knight's apprentice gulped.

The crowd was enjoying the exchange, but Postucles was impatient and ready for an exciting thirty minutes to an hour of blessed public speaking... and seeing college-age girls take their clothes off, of course, but more importantly, oration! He curled his mustache between two fingers and began to read off the cards he'd prepared.