Surviving a Hot Air Balloon-10（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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The audience watched with bated breath, worried that she might fail to escape.

The water level finally passed Mai's waist and rose close to her chest.

At that moment, she finally succeeded in unlocking the handcuffs restraining her arms.

Now she could use both arms freely.

Immediately, Mai began to remove the chains that were fixing her body to the floor of the tank.

These were also secured with padlocks, so she needed to unlock them with the wire in the same way.

Mai confirmed the position of the keyholes and immediately began to unlock them, but those locks were quickly hidden beneath the rising water.

The padlocks hidden underwater were obscured from Mai's sight, making the work extremely difficult.

"Ughhhhhhhh..."

Even so, she somehow managed to unlock one of the padlocks submerged in the water with just the wire.

But the water level in the tank continued to rise, finally passing Mai's chest.

There were still many padlocks that needed to be unlocked.

At this rate, she was in real danger of drowning.

"Mai-san, what's wrong? Are you okay?" the emcee called out, but there was no reply.

All she could hear was the sound of the water filling the tank.

And finally, the water reached her neck, and if the water level rose any further, it would become truly dangerous.

観客たちは彼女が脱出に失敗してしまうのではないかとハラハラしながら固唾をのんで見ていた。

水面は遂に舞の腰の部分を過ぎ胸の近くまで上昇してきた。

その時やっと舞の両腕を拘束している手錠を外すことに成功した。

これで彼女は両腕を自由に使えるようになった。

早速舞は自分の躰を水槽の床に固定している鎖を取り外しに掛かった。

これもやはり南京錠が掛けられれいるので同じように針金で鍵を解除する必要がある。

舞は鍵穴の位置を確認して直ぐに解除に取り掛かったが、その鍵も直ぐに上昇してきた水面下に隠れてしまった。

水中に隠れてしまった南京錠は舞の視覚に隠れてしまい作業は困難を究めた。

「うぅぅぅぅぅぅぅぅ……」

それでも何とか水中に沈んでいる南京錠の１つを針金だけで解除する事に成功した。

だが水槽内の水位が上昇を続けついに舞の胸の高さを過ぎていく。

まだまだ解除しなければいけない南京錠は沢山あるのだ

このままだと彼女は本当に溺死する恐れがあった。

「舞さぁ～ん、どうしたんですか？大丈夫ですか？」司会者が声を掛けるが返事は無い。

彼女の耳に聞こえるのは水槽を満たしていく水の音だけだった。

そしてとうとう彼女の首元まで水が満ちてきて、これ以上水位が上昇すると本当に危険な状態になっていった。