The answer was peculiar. Nigel looked down at the student who seemed much shorter than himself. He had a faint smile on his lips to try to dispel even a little of the intimidating atmosphere.
“Well? Is the specific type of animal important?”
“Not exactly, but…”
Lisa said “Hmm,” and put her hand to her mouth as if tracing through her thoughts. Because of that, soot that had been on her thick gloves got on her cheek, but she didn’t seem to notice.
Nigel planned to hide the frog clue as much as possible. After all, artifacts show their effects as long as the exact activation requirements are met, so there was no need to specifically look for a magical device that turns people into frogs.
“There are definitely a few types of magical devices that swap objects or remotely change positions.”
Lisa, who had been thinking deeply, muttered. Interest flickered in Nigel’s purple eyes. Though they had met by chance, it seemed they had found the right person to ask.
Nigel swiftly pulled out a handkerchief from the inner pocket of his uniform and held it out in front of Lisa, who was still pondering.
“…Hm?”
“Just a moment.”
Nigel brought the end of the handkerchief to Lisa’s cheek. Then, without knowing what was happening, Lisa obediently turned her head as Nigel’s hand moved.
“…Why, why?”
Her round brown eyes, matching her small stature, widened as if they would pop out. Swish, swish. Nigel moved his hand while carefully examining only the soot on Lisa’s cheek.
“……”
At the fact that the Crown Prince was looking closely at her face, Lisa froze in place as if frozen. Lisa didn’t even know why Nigel was wiping her face with a handkerchief right now.
Nigel smiled slightly and showed her the inside of the handkerchief. There was a black stain on it.
“You had something on your cheek.”
Lisa moved her lips as if entranced. The Crown Prince’s face was too close. With her thought processes stopped, she could only nod her head, saying “Ah…”
“So, a magical device that transforms into animals. Do you have something like that here?”
I’ll be able to get a proper answer. Nigel smiled with his eyes narrowed, seemingly satisfied with Lisa’s reaction.
“……”
Lisa’s brown eyes stared blankly at Nigel like that. But soon life returned to those eyes.
“A magical device?”
Hm? This isn’t the reaction I wanted. Nigel’s smile cracked slightly.
“What exactly is the magical device you’re looking for? What’s this about transformation? Explain a bit more.”
As if she had heard a very interesting question during class, Lisa continued speaking.
“Most people confuse artifacts and magical devices, but they’re completely different things. Our Magical Engineering Department isn’t a department that creates miraculous things from scratch with magic, but one that integrates magic into mechanical devices. Of course, the goal is to implement functions that seem impossible, but most magical devices can be reproduced by anyone if they understand the principle. Like a clockwork mechanism that runs on a power device.”
“……”
Nigel tilted his head slightly. He hadn’t expected to receive a lecture on the definition of academic fields here.
Lisa’s eyes sparkled as she tilted her head.
“How about it. Did you understand my explanation that transformation in magical engineering is different from the general concept?”
One of Nigel’s eyebrows rose sharply.
“No. What exactly is transformation as magical engineering defines it?”
Hmm, Lisa seemed to ponder for a moment to give a more plausible answer to a layperson, then chose her words.
“It’s closer to boarding or wearing.”
Lisa raised her index finger.
“For example, if you want to become a bear, you wear a bear-shaped mechanical suit. The appearance would be a bear and the strength would be as strong as a bear’s, but the core is still human, right?”
After explaining her field, Lisa seemed quite pleased with her own explanation and nodded her head.
“But like you said, bones and flesh twisting to become a completely different creature… that’s not technology, it’s a miracle or a curse. That’s not something we make as magical devices, but something only possible with ancient artifacts.”
“……”
Nigel nodded very shallowly.
Lisa’s explanation was clear. That’s why he realized coming here had been a wasted trip.
A few days ago, Nigel had really transformed into a frog. A real frog that could breathe, drink water, and truly hop around like a frog.
‘This place isn’t it either.’
Nigel came to a conclusion without regret. He had hoped, but the Magical Engineering Department was also far from the culprit.
“Got it. Thanks for the explanation.”
He placed the handkerchief he’d been using in Lisa’s hand. He had no intention of putting the soot-stained handkerchief back in his pocket.
“This is a gift. Since I’m done using it.”
Nigel turned around without hesitation. Huh? Um… Lisa stood there still unable to grasp the situation, alternately looking at the highest-quality silk handkerchief in her hand and the Crown Prince’s retreating back.
“Wow… you really.”
Rowen, who had been watching from the side, followed with a disgusted expression.
“What was that just now? A honey trap?”
Nigel glanced at Rowen as if he was talking nonsense, then focused only on walking.
“Huh? Rowen, leaving already?”
Lisa shouted from behind.
“Since you’re already here, why don’t you at least look at our festival project before you go! The entrance is inside over there…”
Lisa pointed her finger inside the practice area regretfully. It was where a huge steel arch stood.
Rowen Ashfield looked at that arch, curious. Thinking Nigel might also be curious about what the Magical Engineering Department had made, he glanced to the side just in case.
“Not interested. I absolutely hate noisy things.”
Nigel refused flatly.
But that was when it happened.
Hisssss—!
With a sharp sound like a pipe leaking somewhere, cloudy steam began to fill the corridor. Vision instantly became blurred white.
“Cough! What’s this?”
Rowen coughed and waved his hand in front.
“Ah, sorry! It’s steam exhaust time! This passage doesn’t ventilate well… It’d be faster to go out through the main passage over there!”
Lisa shouted through the steam.
Nigel frowned and moved his steps in the direction she pointed (or was assumed to have pointed). He couldn’t see ahead well because of the steam, but he could faintly see a huge arched doorway.
He naturally assumed that was the corridor leading to the exit.
But the Magical Engineering Department building was itself like a huge mechanical device. Steam was thick and vision was blurred, making it difficult to distinguish where the corridor was and where the walls were.
“Is it this way?”
Nigel saw a sign that read ‘Practice Room 3’ and entered inside the huge steel arch. The entrance looked wide, so he naturally thought it was the main corridor.
Rowen followed behind without much suspicion. The moment the two passed through the steel arch.
KWANG—!
A heavy steel door fell behind them. The entrance was blocked in an instant.
“……?!”
Pitch-black darkness arrived. At the same time, the floor began to vibrate with a rumbling sound.
[Welcome. Challenger entry. <Infinite Clocktower Maze> activation commencing.]
A mechanical voice echoed through the air.
“…Ha.”
Nigel let out an incredulous laugh. What he thought was a corridor was, of all things, inside the maze set installed for this festival. It was like accidentally entering an ogre’s den.
“What is this! The door won’t open!”
Rowen pounded on the closed door, but it didn’t budge.
“Nigel, are you okay? We need to call Lisa back first…”
The moment Rowen turned around, his expression hardened.
Hisssss—.
Hot steam was spewing from the walls on all sides. An enclosed space, rising humidity, and a pungent smell of oil that stung the nose.
The world was turning upside down.
Kugugugu— Kigigik!
The floor beneath their feet began to rotate like a huge disk.
While Nigel and Rowen staggered trying to keep their balance, the steel walls on both sides meshed like gears and turned, creating new paths. The entrance they had just come through disappeared without a trace, and only narrow and complex metal passages with no end in sight remained before their eyes.
Rowen looked around in confusion.
Huge clockwork mechanisms were ticking and turning on the ceiling, and the walls on all sides moved at regular intervals, blocking and opening passages repeatedly. It wasn’t a simple maze. This was no different from being inside the belly of a huge mechanical monster.
“Hey! Lisa! Stop it! There are people in here!”
Rowen shouted, but his voice didn’t seem to reach beyond the thick iron plates and mechanical noise.
Instead of Lisa, the maze responded.
[Challengers, please begin.]
The mechanical voice sounded again.
Nigel gulped, moving his Adam’s apple. He broke out in cold sweat and moved his fingers slightly. Fortunately, they were still human hands. But Nigel knew his body’s condition well by now.
He couldn’t breathe. The hot steam seemed to be melting his skin’s mucous membranes. If this continued… I feel like I’m going to die.
Throb.
His head hurt again as if it would split. His entire vision turned red.
