A transfer gate had been installed at Tasan's villa — in other words, at the Torquetam hideout.
So we all headed back to my place, which had effectively become a gate relay hub.
I figured we'd go right back, but apparently we were taking a bath at the witch's house first before returning.
I had to admit, things had gotten pretty convenient.
That was when I suddenly realized I hadn't seen Haiyarn in a while.
Well, it had only been about two weeks. Though I hadn't seen her yesterday, the day before, or today either.
"She's not dead, is she?"
I was a little worried. If she was dead, I could always serve her up for dinner. Something like that.
Mulling over that joke, I stepped through the transfer gate to the lab.
At first you needed a gate key to get in, but lately it had been left wide open.
That really did seem like a bad idea — hmm?
On the other side of the transfer gate, I was rendered speechless.
The path to the lab had been turned into a corridor. Four doors lined the walls, two on each side.
At the far end stood the large entrance — the door — to the main lab.
Technically, there were stairs right below the entrance, but debris blocked the way.
One of the four doors was open.
And not the one on the right where the training room was. It was the front-left door. Wide open, at that.
"I managed to open it up..."
Just then, the door at the far end swung open.
A maid with golden hair, black ox horns, and blue skin was carrying a wooden crate with ease.
She was heading into the front-left room.
"Is that a Minosdore...?"
Her long blonde hair was braided. She looked younger than Munieka did now, somehow.
She disappeared behind the door, then emerged again carrying another crate.
Halfway through, she noticed me. Gave a slight bow. I bowed back. She kept going.
What was she doing? I approached, wondering.
Past the door left wide open was a small room. Or was it even a room?
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
A stark white room, with square dividing lines on the floor... Wait, could it be—
The Minosdore maid came out with the wooden crate.
Making sure not to get in the way, she set the crate down on the dividing lines.
The section outlined by the lines dropped with a heavy clunk.
"Figured as much."
It was a lift. A freight one, at that.
"Um, excuse me."
I called out to the Minosdore maid, and she stopped.
"Yes?"
"Where's Hiyarn?"
The Minosdore maid pointed at the lift. Right, of course.
I thanked her and — ah, right. I showed her the bracelet.
A bracelet with a blue band set with a black gemstone.
"……"
She looked completely mystified.
"Um, could you hold out your arm?"
"……"
She extended her arm in one smooth motion. I put the bracelet on her.
"It's a token of gratitude. Thank you for everything you do."
Minosdore.
They were dolls reconstructed from Minos Units, modeled after Mounieka.
Since Mounieka was a maid, they were maids too.
And since I had ended up becoming Mounieka's master, they took care of my daily needs.
They also cleaned the house whenever I was away.
Right now they were supposed to be serving the Tassan family.
"……"
She kept tilting her head, staring at the bracelet on her wrist.
Maybe she liked it. She looked at me. Bowed her head. I bowed mine too.
Then she went back to looking at the bracelet.
Wondering whether she needed me to carry her, I took the lift down.
On the floor below there was a belt conveyor. Wooden boxes were being transported along it at even intervals.
What's inside these wooden boxes? And why are there so many of them?
"Where are they being taken?"
What's that rabbit up to? Following the conveyor belt.
We emerged into a large, all-white space. It looked like a warehouse.
Shiro would probably be thrilled, but looking more closely, countless black lines were drawn across the walls.
So mechanical. I already knew, but still.
Wooden boxes carried in from the conveyor belt were stacked throughout the warehouse.
Another Minos-doll maid was unloading them from the belt.
And in what looked like a control room at the back, there was a rabbit in a white coat.
It was Haiyarn.
"Haiyarn."
"Wof? How did you get here?"
"I used the lift. More importantly, what are you doing? What's in those boxes?"
"Have you forgotten? Those boxes are full of those light orbs."
"Don't tell me all of them..."
I'd been consulted about wanting to use the lab to mass-produce some kind of product.
Back then, I'd suggested using the light orbs I'd received from Riv.
"That's right. There are over ten thousand of them in total."
"Ten thousand?!"
"For now."
"No, no, isn't that way too many?"
"Wof. I thought so too. But Dova insisted."
"Dova, as in Tasan's? Huh? Are they working with the Tasan family?"
"Lupinus from Torquetam made the introduction."
"I see..."
"She said, 'Oh yeah. It'll sell. This will absolutely sell.'"
"Well, yeah, I guess so."
Any explorer would absolutely want one.
"So she wanted ten thousand to make sure there was enough stock."
"That's what all these wooden crates are?"
"That's right. But there's been a problem."
"A problem? Don't tell me it's the quality—"
"No. Quality's not an issue."
Haiyarn pulled a sphere out of one of the wooden crates.
It floated gently upward, glowing.
"...A light orb."
A light orb, sure enough. Haiyarn goes on.
"It was in the lab's oldest database. Easy to make."
"So what's the problem?"
"She messed up the order quantity and put in a hundred thousand instead."
"What? Say that again?"
"I accidentally set the order quantity to 100,000 instead of 10,000."
"............"
I was speechless. That's the kind of mistake a rookie would make.
But at this scale, it was practically unheard of. Heyarn gave a wry smile.
"Fortunately, whether it's 100,000 or a million, we have the space."
"More importantly, can you actually manufacture 100,000 of them?"
"Since they don't use rare materials, we can produce them with the lab's infinite matter."
"In-infinite matter...?"
"A substance the lab can generate. Nothing special."
Still, the fact that it could be produced endlessly...
This lab was truly off the charts. If you used it wrong, you could probably end the world.
"Can't you stop production?"
"I don't know how to shut down the line. It wasn't listed in the database either. So the lab can't be used until it finishes."
"Had you never done automated production before?"
"No, this is the first time doing mass production."
Heyarn laughed self-deprecatingly and picked up a cup. His rabbit-like hands were remarkably dexterous.
"What's that?"
"Coffee. Want some?"
"Sorry, but black coffee isn't really my thing."
"The unsweetened bitterness really clears your head."
Caffeine addict. This rabbit.
Are we really starting out like this?
"Oh right. Can I borrow the training room?"
"Sure, but what are you going to do?"
"I was thinking of practicing with this."
I showed her Woodflash.
"Oh. A spear."
"I haven't really handled one before, so I'd like to get some practice in."
"Fine. I believe there's spear techniques in the program."
"Really? Then please."
"Good. Let's head upstairs."
When I took the lift upstairs, there was quite a commotion.
A group of Minosdolls had gathered in the hallway. What now.
Then the Minosdoll maid who'd received the bracelet slipped over to me.
And in one perfectly natural motion, she gently kissed my cheek.
"Wha—"
"Hey!?"
The others stirred, buzzing with murmurs.
Once the kiss landed, she pulled away briskly, all smiles.
"......"
"What's the meaning of this, Wof!?"
"Master!"
One Minotaur with skin-colored hide and distinctive black horns roared.
Shaldina. The only one who carried a cutlass at her hip.
She looked furious.