Surviving a Hot Air Balloon-09（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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Mai was trying to pick the handcuffs fastened behind her back with just a single piece of wire, relying solely on her intuition.

The water level was rising from Mai's feet, further up towards her waist.

However, Mai was still struggling to unlock the handcuffs behind her back, unable to even open a single lock.

After all, she was working by sticking a wire into the keyhole of the handcuffs.

Moreover, since the work was being done behind her back, she couldn't see what she was doing, so everything depended on the feeling in her hands, her experience, and her intuition.

The tank wasn't that big, so once the water level rose, the air for breathing would be lost.

Failure of the magic trick could lead directly to drowning, making it a dangerous act.

It was only now that a slight change appeared on Mai's face.

Her struggling voice echoed from outside the tank.

"Ughhh!! Unn!! Unn!!! Ughhhh-nn!! Ughh-nn!! Ughh-!!"

Anxiety and unease began to appear on Mai's face.

The audience watching her also began to murmur.

"What's going on? There's no sign of her getting out! If she doesn't hurry, she'll really drown!"

The water level inside the tank had already risen to around Mai's waist.

The emcee turned to the staff, but they didn't interfere at all, silently watching her escape.

Which meant that they believed she was still capable of escaping on her own.

The emcee picked up the microphone and called out to Mai in the tank.

"Mai-san, what's wrong!? Are you okay? You don't have much time left!"

Before she knew it, the composure Mai had shown earlier had vanished.

舞は背面に嵌められた手錠を針金１本だけでを勘を頼りに外すそうとしていた。

水面が舞の足元から更に腰の部分へと上昇してくる。

しかし舞はまだ背面の手錠の解除に手間取っており、手錠一つさえ外す事も出来ないでいた。

なにしろ手錠の鍵穴に針金を突っ込んでの作業である。

又背面での作業なので目視する事も出来ないため全ては手の感覚と経験と感だけが頼りである。

さほど大きな水槽でもないので水面が上昇してしまえば呼吸ための空気は失われてしまうだろう。

マジックの失敗は即ち溺死に繋がり兼ねない危険なマジックである。

ここに来て初めて舞の表情に少し変化が現れた。

水槽の外にも彼女が格闘している声が響いてくる

「んんんん！！んーん！！んーん！！！んんんーーーーーん！！んーーーーーん！！んーーーーー！！」

舞の表情に焦りと不安が現れ始めてきた。

それを見ている会場の観客達からも

（何だ？全然外れる気配が無いぞ！早くしないと本当に溺死してしまうぞ）

という声が漏れ始めた。

既に水槽内には舞の腰辺りまでの水嵩が上がってきている。

司会者の男がスタッフ達の方を振り向いたが、彼らは一切手を出さず黙って彼女の脱出を見守っている。

という事はつまり彼らの判断ではまだ彼女が自力で脱出する事は可能だと思っているのだろう。

司会者の男はマイクを手に取ると水槽の中の舞に呼びかけた。

「舞さーんどうしました！？大丈夫ですか？早くしないと時間がありませんよ！」

いつの間にかに舞の表情からは先程までの余裕は消え失せていた。