Setting Off

(Ceruno)

After taking my mother home, Miluno and I returned to the Wormhole Laboratory.

Given the importance of this operation, SpiCa and Sirius are already in place, and Miss Metal is testing the Wormhole Device to ensure it can be opened at any time and will not be occupied by the City School or other Wormhole Device.

Because it was a secret operation, all the researchers who were originally here were given leave, and the remaining staff were also temporarily stripped of their access to the Wormhole Laboratory area.

Miss SpiCa's arrangement was deliberate; it was a smokescreen for her father's informants, essentially announcing that this experiment was still centered around the Wormhole Laboratory.

"Ceruno, go to the guest room and wake Hefi."

"Huh? Aunt Hefi isn't awake yet?"

"She's been up for four days straight. If you don't wake her, she'll sleep forever. Hurry up, we'll get started once she arrives."

"Ah, yes!"

The branch has guest rooms for VIPs. SpiCa said there aren't many rooms in total, so there's no need to ask for room numbers; they always know which one they're Past.

But I've never been there before, so I can't use teleportation magic and can only take the elevator down.

As soon as they arrived at the guest room department, they saw Sister Luer coming out of one of the rooms.

"Hmm? Sister Luer?"

She asked in a panic:

"Ceruno? What are you doing here?"

"That's the question I wanted to ask too."

I was ordered to wake Sleeping Beauty, so what is she here for? Isn't that room Aunt Hefi's?

"I'm here to bring Minister Hephaestus food; she hasn't eaten anything for almost a day."

I asked, "Oh, so is she awake?"

She replied, "No, he's still snoring."

Just as Miss SpiCa said, Aunt Hefi is preparing to sleep until the end of the world.

"Then I'll go wake her up. Miss SpiCa needs to Past her."

Sister Luer asked again, "I heard you booked the entire Wormhole Laboratory. Are you planning something big?"

"It's a classified operation, but it's not a big deal; at least it won't cause a huge stir."

The best outcome would be nothing happening, Miluno would go for a walk on the Other Side and then return without anyone noticing.

Pushing open the guest room door, a bento box was placed on the table. A red-haired girl wearing only a black tank top and panties was lying sprawled on the bed, dressed rather lightly. The blanket had been kicked to the floor. Although it was summer, the Association had air conditioning. If a non-magical girl were to sleep like that, she would easily catch a cold.

Then came the deafening snoring.

My goodness, her sleeping posture is almost as bad as mine.

Sister Luer stood at the door without moving. I hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and gently shook Aunt Hefi's naked shoulders.

"Ahem, Aunt Hefi, wake up, it's time to get started."

Her bangs were askew to one side, and her left eye, hidden by her hairstyle, had a small beauty mark at the corner, but she showed no sign of opening her eye.

Luer then reminded him, "Ceruno, you need to use a little more force when waking someone up!"

So I increased the force of the shaking.

Aunt Hefi finally reacted. Although she didn't open her eyes, she frowned unhappily, then rolled over and pulled me into her arms.

"Huh?!"

I'm used to being used as a body pillow all the time, but why do sleeping people react to this?

It seems as if some unseen force is manipulating everything, and no matter what I do, I can't escape the reality of being embraced.

"Sister Luer, help!"

Aunt Hefi seemed to really enjoy the feel of my touch; she had clung to me like an octopus!

"Sigh, I just can't do anything with you."

She rummaged through her handbag and pulled out a small, tube-shaped object that looked like a lipstick.

What is that?

"Peppermint nasal spray is very useful when you have a cold or want to refresh yourself."

As she answered, she inserted the small tube into Aunt Hefi's nostril.

"We're back."

"Oh, it's him... um."

SpiCa noticed the bump on my forehead and asked instead, "What happened to this injury?"

I said with a hint of resentment:

"You didn't tell me that Aunt Hefi is a bit grumpy in the morning."

"I didn't know about this either!"

SpiCa looked at Aunt Hefi was still wearing a black vest behind me.

"Hefi, since you consider yourself an adult, why are you so harsh on children?"

Sirius and Miluno also gathered around. Miluno looked a little unhappy, so I quickly explained, "Actually, it's not Aunt Hefi's fault. It's just that the way Luer and I woke her up was a bit too much."

Taking a sudden, unexpected sip of mint while asleep is just as stimulating as the Ice Bucket Challenge.

"Luer went with you too? What did you two do?"

Aunt Hefi didn't hide anything and said bluntly, "Those two girls actually stuffed peppermint nasal inhalers up my nostrils!"

"Puff--"

Even Miluno couldn't help but laugh.

"Stop laughing, I'm here, let's get started."

Aunt Hefi sneezed, wiped her nose, and asked, "Metal, how's the Wormhole Device being debugged?"

"No problem, it can be activated at any time, and other Wormhole Device link requests will be rejected."

"Listen carefully, Miluno, we will activate the Wormhole Device two hours after you go in. The coordinates are directly above the gate of the factory we visited before. If you can't open the return portal yourself by then, you'll have to come back through that wormhole no matter what!"

This is Miluno's escape route.

If her presence is discovered, "The Other Side" certainly won't open the door and let her back.

Miluno asked:

"How long is two hours on this side compared to the Other Side?"

Miss Metal answered the question.

"About half an hour? The time difference between the two worlds isn't constant, so there's no precise figure."

"Half an hour?"

Miluno muttered to herself, head down.

"Half an hour... time is tight, so what is my goal?"

SpiCa replied, "Your primary objective is to return alive. You are not allowed to do anything risky, avoid any unnecessary combat, or rashly contact any enemy individuals!"

"So you're saying I Past just to go shopping?"

Of course not.

SpiCa shook his head and said again:

"Given the above prerequisites, you need to find a way to separate Anjie's two personalities. According to the clues provided by the Achernar, there is a device for personality injection and extraction at the end of the Monster Production Line. If that thing isn't too big, you could even steal one back."

Miluno.

"I've seen that Monster production line in the factory. I know where to find what you're talking about. Anything else?"

SpiCa said:

"Get a map; I want to know the full picture of the Other Side."

Miluno shook her head this time.

"Difficult. I've never seen a paper map before, and given the technological level on the Other Side, it's unlikely they even have one."

Aunt Hefi waved her hand and said:

"It's okay! Even a holographic map is fine. I'll install a 360° panoramic camera on your helmet, so we can review everything, whether you see it or not."

In other words, the helmet can see more than Miluno herself.

"That's all for the first reconnaissance."

After SpiCa finished speaking, she took Miluno's hand again.

"This is your home. You must come back alive, no matter what."