第１１２９堀：調査というのは準備が大事 (Part2)

"Popuri! I shall appeal to the world that this Lancer Magic Academy is absolutely essential, and I shall further guarantee support from Zurabl! Is that not so, Show?"

"Indeed. That goes without saying."

...It seems they have completely devolved into political discourse. My brother once mentioned that such talk inevitably arises whenever he is in the company of high-ranking figures, so I suppose this is merely the natural order of things...

"Eupia-chan, Show-onee-sama, Popuri-san. Let us focus on our work now."

Aslin stated this without a hint of hesitation.

" " "My apologies." " "

The three of them apologized immediately.

Yes, Aslin remains as she always is; she is never intimidated by the status of those she addresses. Whether it is my brother, Seraria-sama, or even Eupia-chan, she never falters. And seeing those three apologize so readily confirms that Aslin is, in fact, in the right. To be able to do what is correct without hesitation—it is a truly difficult feat.

While I was lost in such thoughts, the installation of the cameras we were responsible for was completed.

"Right, that’s that. All that’s left is to connect the wiring to the power source. Vilia, pass this cord to Hiiro."

"Understood. Hiiro, take this over to the power supply."

"Roger that."

Hiiro, having received the cord from me while I steadied the stepladder, headed toward the generator. Meanwhile, Dressa climbed down from the ladder.

"Phew. Being short makes installing things on the ceiling quite the chore."

"I suppose so. Though, to be fair, being tall enough to install cameras on a hallway ceiling without a ladder would be a bit beyond the standard definition of 'tall,' wouldn't you say?"

"...True. I suppose being that massive would be inconvenient for daily life. Mino-chan mentioned that his size was a burden, too. That’s why he usually stays in a smaller form."

Yes, I have heard that as well. Mino-chan is a kind soul who often visits the school, but he frequently bumps his head on the entrances to school buildings and classrooms. Since the school was built with human proportions in mind, it was quite difficult for Mino-chan, who stands nearly four meters tall, to enter without hunching over. When he consulted my brother about it, they decided he should temporarily shrink his height; he now takes medicine to maintain a stature of about two meters for his daily life.

However, this is not the time to discuss Mino-chan.

"How is it? Was the installation successful?"

"Yes. It’s firmly secured with the mounting hardware. Now we just need to see if the video is feeding to this monitor..."

Dressa checked the tablet placed alongside the equipment we had brought, but it seemed the power had not yet been routed, as only the words "NO SIGNAL" appeared on the pitch-black screen.

Just as I thought that, the screen flickered to life. It displayed us, peering intently at the tablet.

"Power's on! Can you see it?"

"Yes, we can see it clearly."

"Perfect. Now, for the others."

As I looked around, Aslin and the others down the hallway turned toward us.

"Everything is okay here!"

"It’s perfect!"

"Yes, it’s all fine!"

Everyone is accustomed to handling machinery, so it seems there are no issues. And finally...

"Eupia-chan, did you finish installing the central camera and the sensor systems?"

"I-I apologize. I have never handled such tools before."

"...I have been reading the manual, but I am at a loss."

"Yeah, I’m a magic-user type, so I’m not very good at this sort of thing."

The Principal is being somewhat brazen about her incompetence, but that can wait. The priority is to finish the preparations properly. Above all, my brother instructed us to provide support, as there was no way Eupia-chan or Show-san could be expected to handle these unfamiliar tools on their own.

"Alright, everyone, let’s lend a hand and clear out of here quickly. Today was strictly for the installation of the monitoring equipment, after all."

" " "Yes!" " "

At Dressa’s prompt, everyone moved in unison to install the equipment that had been left to Eupia-chan and the others, successfully finishing right on schedule.

"Hmm. So, the surveillance begins now."

"Yes. We plan to observe this location remotely."

"I take it you have judged that remaining here is too dangerous?"

"That cannot be helped. There is a possibility of supernatural entities; it would be disastrous if we were to be consumed by them."

Discussing such matters, we departed the hallway as the sun began to set. As we left, I glanced back once more at the infamous corridor...

"A school building with no one in it... it really does feel like something is different, doesn't it?"

**Installation Team Roster**

See? Perfectly normal.