Blue Switch, Red Switch

“Now then...... the preamble ran rather long, didn't it. Forgive me; from here on, I shall explain ‘how to use’ this secret laboratory. To make full use of this laboratory's functions...... you must first perform ‘owner registration’.”

“Mu!!”

Clearly, the important part had begun!

Fret and Darakerus, who had been squabbling, stopped instantly and leaned in to listen to Gyashikinu.

Being quick to hear anything that might benefit them was the one thing these two had in common.

“Conversely, if you do not, none of the built-in magic tools will work at all, nor will you be able to enter the underground laboratory where my works sleep. What is more, the defense system will not function properly either. Listen carefully, and be sure to register properly.”

“I see.”

Emi had had some time on her hands since arriving at this hideout, and had actually been trying out all sorts of things.

She'd seen magic tools that wouldn't work and figured they were broken...... but it turned out they needed owner registration.

“That said, the method is simple. The representative need only press and hold the blue switch on the controller outputting this image, for 3 seconds.”

......The very instant the smiling Gyashikinu announced this!

The first to move was Darakerus.

He thrust his arm out toward the iron box now sitting on the table...... the controller, from diagonally behind Emi, on her right!

Where he stood was Emi's blind spot.

His movement, his demonic expression...... she could see none of it!

But, alas.

His presence, gave him away completely.

The faint movement of air, the change in the amount of magic power being emitted, the quickening of his heartbeat.

And also, faint but there, a rise in body temperature, that kind of thing.

Emi sensed his presence through tiny details like these, and read Darakerus's reckless move like an open book.

She didn't even need to deploy 【Magic Sensing Threads】.

“Ngu!?”

Without a word, she lightly stuck out her right elbow and “left it there.”

And so the elbow “landed” in the chest of the lunging Darakerus, who crumpled to the floor, his face twisted in pain.

And right then, it happened.

Kachin, a small, hard sound rang out by the window.

Emi's eyes were drawn that way despite herself, and she found where the sound had come from.

It was a coin.

A dully gleaming copper coin was spinning round and round by the window.

It must have been thrown, hit the wall or window, and made that kachin sound.

Thrown.

What for?

To draw her attention.

Who?

......By the time Emi had thought that far, Fret's arm had already extended to within a hair's breadth of the iron box's blue switch!

“......GOT IIIIIT!!”

Eyes bloodshot, mouth twitching up at the corners, Fret jabbed out his index finger and pressed the blue switch......

Or so, it seemed, but, no!

“Rah.”

Emi's monstrous physical abilities would not allow it!

Just as Fret's finger was about to reach the switch, in that, truly last instant!

Emi's arm moved faster than the eye could follow, grabbed the iron box, and hugged it to her chest!

Fret's finger, thrust forward at high speed, swung uselessly through the air!

Carried by its own momentum, it went on into the table......

“GYAAAAAAAH!?”

Fret jammed his finger!

Gugi, went an obviously very bad sound!

“............”

Emi casually swatted away Fret, who was writhing with his hurt finger clutched in his other hand, sending him flying, then set the iron box back down on the table.

Then, she leisurely pressed the blue switch.

All it needed was a 3-second long press.

1, 2, 3......

That time passed in a flash, and Emi released the switch.

“Oh, and.”

And right on cue, the image of Gyashikinu spoke up again, grinning.

“All operations, including owner registration, can only be performed after my message...... this image, has vanished. Jumping the gun will do you no good, so first, do listen to the end.”

“............”

Without a word, Emi stamped her foot, dan.

Beneath the wooden boards at her feet...... some sort of metal plate seemed to have been built in, but.

Easily, the floor got a hole in it.

“Kukuku...... That said, there is only one more thing I need to explain. The red switch fitted on that controller.”

Gyashikinu had clearly foreseen how his irritated viewers would react, and he chuckled quietly as he began his final explanation.

“That is the start button for this secret laboratory's defense system, the last thread to cling to should you ever be attacked by someone.”

Having said this much, Gyashikinu let his smile fade.

“But what you must be careful of is the order. This switch must always be pressed after you have performed owner registration with the blue switch. Otherwise, you yourselves will be deemed enemies by the defense system, and eliminated.”

His brow was furrowed, his expression truly bitter.

“By rights, a switch like this should never be put on the controller for owner registration. Naturally, I am well aware of that. It is a structural flaw one could fairly call fatal. But...... I ran out of time. I had no choice but to do it this way. I am truly sorry. Is this what they mean by ‘sully my final years’? I am so ashamed of myself I could sigh...... and yet, as a genius, I have made a mountain of works for the good of the human world over my lifetime, so a blot like this is diluted a hundred thousand times over, and may as well not be there at all! Hahaha!”

Gyashikinu seemed to deeply regret the red switch's design and grumbled on about it...... but he promptly reminded himself of his own achievements and talked his mood right back up all by himself.

That self-management was impressive, Emi thought, respecting Gyashikinu for a strange reason.

“Now, to repeat myself, you are free to use the works sleeping in this secret laboratory as you please. But I do pray you will contribute to the progress of the human world! That concludes this message from the genius magic tool craftsman born ‘too late’, Gyashikinu!”

With those last words, Gyashikinu's hologram...... vanished, putsun.

“““............”””

Silence filled the room.

The iron box, the controller, was on the table.

Standing before it was Emi.

And Darakerus and Fret stood surrounding the table, rubbing their aching bodies.

“Myoogo, myoogo, shugoshugooo! Myoogo, shugoshugooo! Shu, shu!”

......Far off, a Myogomyogoshugo was crying.

The sunlight streaming through the window and drawing a square on the sweet-smelling wooden floor was warm, cozy and peaceful.

【Magic Sensing Threads】

A special ability (magecraft) Emi developed in Arc 7.

It was created as a stationary detection technique, stringing out threads of magic power like noisy clapper alarms to catch approaching enemies, but by brute-forcing it with her vast magic power and spreading many threads around her, Emi can grasp her surroundings without relying on sight.