Surviving a Hot Air Balloon-14（熱気球からの生還）

This work is a fiction designated R-18G and contains brutal language, but does not promote criminal acts.

The names of all characters and places in this work are fictitious and have no relation to any real person or place.

All characters are adults.

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She quickly put both arms through the holes in the lid and tried to unlock the lock that was securing the chains holding the door,

but she lost a little time because she couldn't find the position of the lock right away.

An ordinary person would panic, but the experienced her didn't.

She felt along the chain, found the lock, and began to unlock it.

This last lock attached to the door was even more difficult to unlock than the padlocks wrapped around her body.

It wasn't a lock that could be easily removed, but she remained calm.

Completely submerged in the tank, she continued to unlock the lock while holding her breath.

But even here, she seemed to be having trouble unlocking it.

"Mai-san, do your best!!"

The audience held their breath and watched Mai's progress. She didn't panic; she had absolute confidence in her skills.

There was only one trick to unlocking the lock: understanding the structure of the lock itself.

To open a lock, you need to understand its structure. If you challenge it with outstanding skill, you can unlock any lock.

But in the current situation, that might be the most difficult thing to do.

"Now, it's finally time to unlock the last lock. Will she succeed? I hear that this lock is the most difficult one. Mai-san, do your best!!" the emcee shouted through the microphone.

彼女は素早く蓋に空いた穴から両腕を出して扉を固定している鎖を縛っている鍵の解除の取り掛かろうとしたのだが、

鍵の位置を直ぐに見つけられずに少し時間をロスしてしまった。

普通の人間なら慌ててしまうところだが経験豊富な彼女は慌てない。

鎖を手繰りながら鍵を見つけると鍵の解除に取り掛かる。

この扉に付けられた最後の鍵は躰に巻き付けられていた南京錠よりも更に解除の難易度が高い物だった。

簡単に外れるような鍵では無いが、彼女はあくまも冷静である。

完全に水没してしまった水槽の中で彼女は息を止めたまま鍵の解除を続けた。

だが此処でもまた鍵の解除に手間取っているようだった。

「舞さん頑張って下さい！！」

観客たちも固唾を飲んで舞の様子を見守る。彼女は焦らない、彼女は自分の技術に絶対的な自信を持っていた。

鍵の解除のコツはただ1つだった。それは鍵そのものの構造を理解する事。

鍵を開けるためには鍵の構造を理解し。卓越した技術で挑めばどんな鍵であろうと解除する事は可能である。

だが今の状況ではそれが最も困難なのかもしれない。

「さあ、いよいよ最後の鍵の解除です。果たして成功するでしょうか？何でもこの鍵が一番難しい鍵だと伺っていますが。舞さん頑張って！！」司会者がマイクを通して叫んだ。