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“Ugh… Where am I…?” Luna clutched her head, slowly rising from the ground, and instinctively began to survey her surroundings.

The first thing that caught Luna’s eye was a straight corridor, its walls crafted from some kind of metal. Though she could discern faint seams between each panel, they were nearly seamless, lacking visible rivets.

The metal surfaces were impeccably smooth, save for the parts covered with intricate patterns that were engraved on them, shimmering in various colors and pulsating rhythmically as if alive.

Neatly bundled tubes of unknown purpose traced along the walls and ceilings. Luna attempted to trace their path, but they vanished into a round aperture about the size of an arm in the wall.

“All this light, yet no trace of magic,” Luna mused, perplexed by the bright illumination emanating from round white objects embedded in the ceiling. Despite detecting no magical power or burning flames within them, they radiated a brilliance surpassing even the most expensive bright stones.

These lights illuminated the long corridor from the ceiling, occasionally flickering and emitting faint buzzing noises.

“This must be a hint for me to follow this path, right?” Luna pondered aloud, surveying her surroundings.

Despite numerous branching paths, only one was brightly lit. As she took a closer look at the darker passages, she noticed they had been sealed off.

“Interesting.”

Glancing back, Luna realized there was no turning back. With a fearless chuckle, she proceeded down the well-lit corridor.

A few minutes later, Luna arrived at what appeared to be a large, tightly sealed door.

“Umm… this is a door, right…?” Luna mumbled uncertainly.

The door before her was unlike any she had encountered—it lacked a frame and bolts, blending seamlessly with the metal walls. She searched for a handle but found none.

“There isn’t even a handle. How am I supposed to open this door? Smash it open?” Luna frowned, contemplating her options.

“Keywords recognized: Open door. Intelligent door lock system activated. Please enter the voice password.”

“Who’s speaking!” The sudden voice startled Luna; her pupils shrank as she instinctively stepped back from the door, scanning her surroundings with vigilance. “Who’s playing games? Show yourself!”

Unease gripped Luna, realizing she hadn’t detected anyone approaching—an oversight that could have been disastrous if it were an enemy ambush.

“Wrong password. Please re-enter.”

Huh?

It was then that Luna realized the voice wasn’t coming from a person, but from a device embedded beside the door. Approaching cautiously, she tentatively poked the smooth black surface, which resembled a mirror but lacked any reflective qualities.

“A recording device like a Spectrum Stone?”

“Wrong password. Please re-enter.”

After confirming no one could be hiding behind the wall, Luna let out a sigh of relief and finally began to try understanding the recorded voice.

“Password? So as long as I get the password right, the door will open, right?” she mumbled to herself.

Luna pondered aloud, “But how would I know the password? It can’t be ‘open sesame’, right?”

“Wrong password. Please re-enter.”
“Hah, who am I kidding? How about ‘open watermelon’?”
“Wrong password. Please re-enter.”
“Open pumpkin?”
“Wrong password. Please re-enter.”
“Open melon?”
“Wrong password. Please re-enter.”

Luna began to grow impatient and said, “Master Lilith is the best.”
“Wrong password. Please re-enter. By the way, Lady Ciel Hesse is the best.”
“Who is Lady Ciel Hesse?”

Luna was stunned into silence for a moment before quickly retorting angrily, “Wait, you’re not a recorded voice!”
“Wrong password. Please re-enter.”
“Don’t play games with me! Open the door!”
“Wrong password. Please re-…”
“Open! The! Damn! Door!”

Luna’s patience had worn out, and she began punching the door, leaving a bowl-sized dent with each strike.

“I’ll wreck you if you don’t open this door now!” she threatened furiously.

There was a brief silence before a soft click was heard, followed by a low rumble as if some sort of mechanism had been activated.

“Congratulations, the password is correct.”

The metal door lifted slowly, revealing a blinding light beyond. Luna squinted, focusing on what lay ahead to avoid any surprises. But just as her attention was fixed forward, a hand appeared silently behind her and pushed her gently forward.

“Just go in already.”

It was still the same voice from the wall, but it sounded even more annoying now.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Mr. Card?” Ballmer looked at the figure shrouded in the black robe before him in surprise and asked, “You’re here too?”

“Yes. I’ve heard about the situation from the other members of the Anti-Princess Alliance,” Mr. Card replied casually, his voice hoarse and androgynous.

“So what do you think…?”

“Ness’ theory seems likely, but I can’t be certain.” Mr. Card gazed toward the distant lake and the peculiar, rectangular mountain rising at its center.

The target of their mission, the enigmatic Lady Erica, sat serenely atop the peak, eyes closed in meditation. She paid no heed to the curious onlookers, projecting the calm demeanor of a seasoned expert awaiting her challengers.

“But we must act on the slightest chance. It’s our only shot at defeating those monsters,” Mr. Card said, clenching his fists beneath his robes.

“Agreed.” Ballmer smiled self-depracatingly and said, “Back home, I’m hailed as a genius, idolized by countless. I’ve no idea how many parents held me up as a role model for their children. Yet here, I find myself shamefully ganging up with others against a woman. If those children knew about this, they’d be devastated.”

Mr. Card gave him a meaningful glance and consoled him. “It’s an unavoidable truth, even geniuses have their shortcomings.”