"How do you see it?" Great Scholar Socrates asked, looking at Richard.
Richard's gaze moved away from the title on the papyrus scroll, and with a sparkle in his eyes, he said, "22 days."
"Huh?" Great Scholar Socrates was startled. "What 22 days?"
"If you solve the problem the right way—finding the impostor scholar Sula's thief Rade hidden in the secret room—it would take a maximum of 22 days," Richard said.
Socrates stared at Richard for several long seconds before contemplating, then he nodded his head appreciatively, "Mhm, not bad, it aligns with one of my previous guesses, exactly, 22 days. Now, lad, explain your thought process, let's see if you've got anything different, or wrong, compared to mine."
"It's possible to approach the problem by numbering all thirteen rooms—from number 1 to number 13. In the scenario presented in the question, the thief Rade changes rooms, either from even to odd—for instance, from room 2 to room 1, or from odd to even—from room 1 to room 2."
