『 The two arrived in front of the gate, where a Pepeshi wearing sunglasses blocked their path.
"Hey, you two! This is a restricted area for meetings. No entry without an invitation."
Dr. Ratio sighed, then looked at the Pepeshi before him and said, "I have brought the suspect at the request of Mr. Sunday. Dr. Ratio, he should have mentioned that name."
"Oh, I remember you… Veritas Ratio. Your Punch Virtual Particle Clock is quite impressive," the Pepeshi realized after hearing this.
"What are you talking about?" Ratio asked, puzzled.
"The one on your head! Though it doesn't compare to mine—full pocket-dimensional annihilating power armor of the 'Mobile Knights.'" 』
『 ....』
〘Aventurine〙: I see why you didn't let me interrupt, haha.
〘Dr. Ratio〙: Did the Family drink too much SoulGlad? I really should have brought my plaster head.
....
『 "I warned you last time that fantasy battle suit of yours doesn't exist," Ratio said, expressionless.
"You just can't see it! I said, only Family can witness the glory of the Mobile Knight," the Pepeshi retorted loudly, hands on his hips, before waving them off. "Alright, go on through. Don't keep Mr. Sunday waiting."
The Pepeshi opened the door and gestured for them to enter.
"Sigh… the idiocy index here is no better than it is outside," Ratio sighed helplessly and entered the room with Aventurine.
After passing through the corridor, what appeared before Aventurine and Ratio was a wall. Ratio explained that the statue was a puzzle mechanism, and the clue was in the room to the side.
Aventurine nodded, went into that room, memorized the position of the statue in the painting, and returned to the previous mechanism.
With a few quick movements, he solved the puzzle, and the door appeared. The two passed through the door and arrived on the second floor of a luxurious hall, with a small Penacony sand table beneath them.
Aventurine scanned the decorations and sighed, "It's quite grand in here. Looks like Mr. Sunday has no intention of maintaining a lofty image for himself."
Ratio covered his head, speechless. "Do I need to remind you? This is a dream. No matter how luxurious the decor of this mansion is, it won't affect Penacony in the slightest. Stop picking on the Family over trivial matters."
"Hmm, you're right. The flaw of the Family can only be Death, and Sunday must be thinking the same. Let's head downstairs."
The two descended the stairs, their footsteps echoing in the empty hall, until they reached a tightly shut door. Ratio stopped and looked at the door.
"…Wait."
"What, took a wrong turn?" Aventurine asked, looking at the stopped Ratio, puzzled.
"Didn't take a wrong turn, but this door is locked," Ratio said calmly, pointing to the door in front of him.
Aventurine sighed helplessly and asked the doctor, "Friend, did you really make an appointment with him?"
"…This is a test. Before the official talk, you must first prove your worth to Sunday," Ratio explained. "If I'm not mistaken, we have to find a way to open the door in this hall; otherwise, this place will be a prison for both of us."
"Oh, an escape room. I like it," Aventurine smiled.
"Be serious; no one is playing with you. Let's look back first. The hint is likely in that conspicuous sand table." 』
『 ....』
〘Hanabi〙: No way~ why are there so many steps just to see the Chicken Wing Boy? What a hassle.
〘Kiana Kaslana〙: Exactly, can't they just start negotiating?
〘Aventurine〙: Just like the doctor said above, you have to prove you're worth negotiating with him first.
....
『 The two turned back to the sand table. Aventurine exclaimed, "Yo~ what a big sand table… When I've saved enough money, I want to build myself a tower this tall." 』
『 ....』
〘Topaz〙: Save enough money? Your current assets are enough to buy a planet.
〘Aventurine〙: Haha, just consider it a childhood dream of mine. As for the current me, there's no need to do that, nor is there any reason to.
〘Stelle〙: The story hasn't even started throwing knives yet, and you're already throwing them at me?
....
『 After circling the sand table, Aventurine seemed to have discovered something and pointed to a spot on the model, saying, "Look here, there's a very obvious gap in the model. I'll take a bold guess and say you're right."
"There wasn't this gap when I was here last time. Clearly, that man set it up intentionally."
Aventurine looked at Ratio with feigned flattery and said, "Then your genius brain must remember what was originally placed here, Doctor?"
Ratio nodded slightly. "Of course. If I saw it, I would recognize it."
With that, the two searched the hall. Through their carpet search, they found a strangely shaped toy door.
Written on it were the words: Gulliver's Arch.
Aventurine picked up this arch and walked to the gap in the sand table, inserting it.
"It's just like playing with blocks. I've never played with blocks before; I wonder which is more interesting, that or stacking chips…" 』
『 ....』
〘Stelle〙: Here we go again.
〘Hanabi〙: Get used to it. Given the little peacock's background, I bet he's never even looked in a mirror.
〘Aventurine〙: Though I really don't want to admit it, you're right, Fool.
....
『 After the arch was inserted into the gap, the blue Memoria in the middle began to activate, bubbling with blue bubbles.
"Look, a perfect fit, absolutely perfect—uh, what now?"
As he spoke, Aventurine reached his hand toward the arch glowing with blue light, hesitating whether to touch it. After thinking for a moment, he carefully extended a finger and touched the light gate.
Then, the unexpected happened. Aventurine's body was instantly enveloped by a powerful force, turning into a small blue ball, and he dove into the light gate.
As Aventurine's figure disappeared into the light gate, the perspective twisted along with him.
When the perspective cleared again, what met his eyes was a city as prosperous as the Penacony outside. But unlike the outside, Dr. Ratio, standing at the edge of the city, was like a towering giant, silently watching the shrunken Aventurine below.
"…My God, did I shrink? Am I dreaming?" Aventurine surveyed the city, which was identical to the outside world, and marveled at the giant doctor in the distance.
"Hmph, you certainly are," Ratio snorted.
"Doctor, you've become so tall! I actually ended up inside the sandbox and shrank so small…"
Aventurine looked at his shrunken body and had an idea. He said to Ratio, "Why don't we just leave like this? You find another chance to stuff me into Sunday's collar, and that's how we infiltrate the Family…" 』
『 ....』
〘Belle〙: That's literally infiltrating the inside.
〘Sunday〙: I feel like Aventurine is crawling on me…
〘Stelle〙: That's pretty creepy.
〘March 7th〙: That's pretty creepy.
〘Hanabi〙: That's pretty fun~
....
『 Ratio listened to Aventurine's whimsical idea and clicked his tongue in silence.
Seeing the doctor's look as if he were watching an idiot, Aventurine said sheepishly, "Fine, I was just joking."
After saying this, Aventurine began to explore the sand table. A picture missing two puzzle pieces appeared before him, with the two pieces floating nearby. After he approached, the two pieces flew off in different directions. He headed straight toward the pinball machine, where one of the pieces flew. 』
『 ....』
〘Dr. Ratio〙: A gambler is a gambler; the first thing he does is head to Aideen Park.
〘Aventurine〙: Haha, after all, that giant pinball machine above is indeed very attractive to me.
....
『 When Aventurine arrived at the pinball machine, a robot blocked his path. The robot spoke.
"Hello, welcome to the Golden Hour base model."
"I am the Oak Soldier, responsible for guiding your tour of the base model—at your service."
"Then tell me about the guide," Aventurine said, one hand on his hip.
"You are wel-wel-wel-wel-welcome to the Golden Hour ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-base model—"
"I am the Oak-Oak-Oak-Oak-Oak-Oak Soldier, responsible for guiding your tour of the base mo-mo-mo-mo-model—" 』
『 ....』
〘Stelle〙: My artificial idiot has crashed.
〘March 7th〙: For things like this, just pat it.
....
『 Aventurine kicked the soldier, and the soldier's speech immediately became fluent.
"—at your service." 』
『 ....』
〘March 7th〙: See, I told you.
〘Belle〙: That really is a simple but effective old method.
....
『 But the soldier's next sentence began to crash again.
"Generating guidance for you, please wait-wait-wait-wait-wait…"
"Wait… wait… wait… wait… wait…" 』
『 ....』
〘March 7th〙: …This artificial idiot is hopeless.
〘Stelle〙: Indeed hopeless. Even the patting method failed. Find a place to bury it.
〘Space Station Researcher A〙: Just like the program I rushed to make. It works, don't ask about anything else.
....
『 "Tell. Me. About. The. Tour." Aventurine said, enunciating each word. 』
『 ....』
〘Dr. Ratio〙: You're playing along?
〘Aventurine〙: Mmhmm~ You definitely need to do something to relax during tense moments.
〘Hanabi〙: As expected of someone who received an invitation from the tavern. Too bad you refused. If you had come, maybe we would have gotten along quite well~
〘Aventurine〙: Then I really did make a wise decision.
〘Hanabi〙: Tsk, annoying little peacock, wait to be taught a lesson by the Chicken Wing Boy.
....