"Is that... a key?"
Just like Kaori said, it was a key.
There is a small regular dodecahedron on the key handle, which is translucent bright red in color, and golden particles that sparkle like stars are scattered throughout the interior.
In other words, it is a divine artifact made of red jade and reaching artistic level.
Hajime and Yue, who had kept their eyes closed, finally opened them quietly.
The slightly opened eyes seemed to see nothing, yet seemed to be staring at something visible only to the two of them. In the solemn and mysterious atmosphere, the sound of someone swallowing saliva was heard.
Then, their lips trembled.
The words that flowed from those slightly parted lips were...
“—‘Open the door to the desired place.’”
The overlapping sounds echoed with a clear tone like the sound of a benediction bell.
At that moment, a flash of light like a star erupted from the two of them.
The magical energy flow, which had once stabilized, suddenly exploded like a supernova, stained the entire room with a layer of red and gold light, and wiped out the consciousness of everyone present.
The explosive light seemed to contain a powerful will.
Xia and the others endured the aftermath, their minds drifting away for a moment as they fell into unconsciousness. However, they managed to regain consciousness before collapsing.
It should be said that it was because the flash of light itself had dissipated that the people present woke up.
Shia and the others, still a little unsteady, regained their composure and saw a beautiful light in their newly opened vision.
A translucent key shimmering in red and gold.
This is exactly what Hajime has been searching for.
──Crystal Key, a magical artifact for concept transfer
"Ah, Hajime-san! Yue-san! Are you all right?"
After Xia came to her senses, she rushed forward.
Hajime and Yue held each other's hands and fell beside the Crystal Key. Kaori and the others followed Shia and rushed over.
"Ms. Kaori, how are you two doing now?"
Shia asked worriedly to Kaori who had caught up with her the next second.
After a while, Kaori's expression, which had been stern, softened.
"...Yeah, it's okay. I think I just fainted. It's because I ran out of mana."
After hearing Kaori's diagnosis, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, their tense shoulders relaxing. At the same time, Kaori used magic to transfer magic power to divide it between the two.
After only a few seconds, Hajime and Yue groaned and woke up.
“Huh? …What happened?”
"...Hmm. Where's the divine weapon?"
Hajime and Yue shook their heads and stood up. Kaori explained the situation to them and handed them the crystal key.
"You two collapsed due to exhaustion of magic power. I just distributed magic power to you, so it's okay now. As for the divine weapon, I don't know..."
"I see. Thank you, Kaori. It's been a while since I collapsed from running out of mana. I didn't know the correct ratio, so I just gave it my all without thinking... Can you adjust from next time?"
"...Yeah. No problem. I feel like I've grasped the key. The only question is whether I can manifest the will to sublimate it into a concept."
As Hajime and Yue exchanged these words, he examined the Crystal Key in his hand with the Magic Eye Stone. The Crystal Key held immense magical power, unmatched by any artifact ever created. If viewed through the Magic Eye Stone alone, it was as if he were holding a ball of light.
"...This is truly a masterpiece. The immense power I feel from it gives me a feeling very similar to the Guiding Compass."
Hajime smiled with satisfaction.
His eyes, staring at the Crystal Key, seemed filled with infinite emotion, and even Yue could not fathom how deep that emotion was.
His hands seemed to be trembling slightly, and that was definitely not an illusion.
Because Hajime had been traveling until now just to obtain the 'key' in his hand.
The Crystal Key is the crystallization of the concept of a key shape, which is also the crystallization of Hajime's idea.
Yue's eyes narrowed softly, and she placed her hand gently on Hajime's.
"Thank you, Yue."
"……Um!"
That word "thank you" seemed to be filled with all the emotions.
Thank you, Yue, for meeting me in the abyss. Thank you, Yue, for helping me maintain a connection to my human identity. Thank you, Yue, for accompanying me along the way. Thank you, Yue, for loving me deeply. And thank you, Yue, for creating this crystallization of thought with me now.
All this is thanks to Youyue.
Hajime came back to his senses and found that Shia and the others, like Yue beside him, had their eyes narrowed gently.
Hajime couldn't help but feel embarrassed. He cleared his throat and spoke to change the atmosphere around him.
"Let's try it for a bit."
He whispered this deliberately, then took out the "Guidance Compass".
The Crystal Key can "open the door to a desired place" according to the concepts infused into it, but it does not have a starting point for connecting spaces like a door key or a doorway. Therefore, it is necessary to use powerful telekinesis to imagine the destination and distance in order to connect spaces.
Conversely, as long as there is a compass, space can be connected anywhere.
The place was designated.
After charging the crystal key with magic power, the red key glowed brightly, and the golden particles contained within it danced as if they had come to life.
Feeling a breathtaking surge of power, Hajime nervously inserted the crystal key into the space before him.
The crystal key slipped smoothly into the space. The next moment, beautiful ripples of shimmering red and gold spread out.
As expected of concept magic, the amount of mana consumed was truly remarkable. The draining of mana felt like water draining from a broken bucket.
Despite a frown, Hajime stared at the fluctuations in the space before him, then turned the crystal key with all his might. Instantly, the ripples shone brighter, forming a vortex. In less than a second, an oval-shaped hole opened up.
Successful.
A look of joy appeared on Hajime's face, and just as he was about to say this—
“Ahh!”
From the other side of the spatial gate, a woman's moans echoed. Startled by this sudden change, Hajime stopped moving. Then, for some reason, he heard the cracking of a whip.
Everyone looked into the depths of the fully opened space door as if they were peering into a terrifying abyss.
I saw──
"This shameless sow!"
“Ahh! Kamu-sama! As expected of Shia’s father! Wonderful!”
Eltina endured the beating with an intoxicated expression, leaning back weakly, while Cam swung the whip at her.
“Woo-hoo!”
A white mist flew out of Shia's mouth. Perhaps it was her soul. Kaori saw it and quickly stuffed it back in. While not as serious as Shia's, everyone was stunned by the shocking scene, which had a completely different meaning than the previous video.
Then, Kam, who seemed to have noticed something, let out an "Oh?" sound, turned around, and opened his eyes wide in shock.
“Boss!? Why, why is your space gate in a place like this!?”
"Eh? Shia! Everyone's here!"
Hajime and Yue looked at the utterly embarrassed Cam and the stunned yet happy Eltina, and after finally regaining their composure, they spoke in a cold tone:
"Hey, Cam. Sorry to interrupt your fun."
"...Hmm. I had no idea you two had this kind of relationship. Shia, cheer up."
"Haha, it seems Comrade Eltina has found a good master."
Ignoring Tio, who seemed inexplicably cheerful, Cam was terrified by what Hajime and Yue said. He frantically argued in the same tone as his daughter, “This is a misunderstanding!” But…
One rabbit came to his senses and was shaking with anger.
The boiling excitement in his body erupted as pale bluish-white magic power.
Shia took a step forward and silently picked up the Drukken. Then, with her dull eyes fixed on Cam and Eltina on the other side of the space gate, she switched the Drukken to bombardment mode with a click.
Exploding shrapnel, ready~!
"Wait, wait, Shia! You've completely misunderstood! Father absolutely—!"
"Shia! Mr. Kamu is truly outstanding! You truly deserve to be Shia's father! I just wanted to see Shia's personal belongings for a moment, and yet he was so intense! And the strength was just right!"
Cam frantically tried to defend himself, but Eltina, smiling broadly, thwarted his attempt. He gave her a look that said, "Shut up, you bastard!" But Eltina just trembled with excitement. It looked like she was seriously ill.
The whole thing seemed to be because Eltina, wanting to recall the past, couldn't help but rummage through Shia's personal belongings without permission, which then led to Cam scolding her. However...
Hajime spoke frankly.
"Kamu, you whip really hard..."
"Boss!"
Hajime's words became the last straw that broke the camel's back.
"Go die, you two perverts!"
The angry Xia pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Exploding shotgun chunks are fired.
Hajime closed his eyes with the intention of praying for enlightenment, and immediately closed the door to space after the bullet passed.
Before the space door was completely closed, there seemed to be an explosion sound and screams of "Gahhhh!" and "Ah ...
“…Shia, cheer up.”
"It's okay, Shia. That was... yes, just a momentary distraction. The blow just now must have brought your father back to his senses."
"Wuwu... Miss Yue, Miss Kaori, thank you for your concern. But judging by that, my father must not be dead. I have to get rid of him before going to Mr. Hajime's world... Wuwu, I'm going to beat him to a pulp."
Perhaps because she witnessed the abnormal relationship between a girl of the same age who was once her friend and her biological father, the wound in the daughter's heart was quite deep.
Regardless, despite the unexpected shock everyone suffered, the experiments proved that the Crystal Key's performance was indeed true. Hajime stroked Shia's rabbit ears, feeling both relieved and sympathetic.
"What should I say... Anyway, Shia, stop crying. I'll correct Kamu."
“Uuuu, Hajime-san~!”
Shia threw herself into Hajime's arms. Her rabbit ears thrashed violently, as if whispering, "I don't want to admit this!" They poked Hajime in the eye, but Hajime could only endure it. Furthermore, from behind, Rin whispered, "The relationship between Nagumo-san and Tio-san isn't that different, is it?" Hajime could only endure and ignore it.
The touching atmosphere was shattered, and everyone wore indescribable expressions. However, everyone returned to the living room, and before Shia stopped crying, their moods were restored.
Hajime sat on the sofa and let out a breath. Then, he looked around at everyone present and raised the corners of his mouth.
"Well, although this is a first attempt and there are many obvious mistakes..."
Hajime raised the Crystal Key.
Then, with a feeling of deep emotion, he spoke loudly those words that brought hope.
"We have found a way to get back."
The moment Hajime said that, Suzu jumped up first to express her inner joy, Ryuutarou followed suit, clenching his fist in celebration and roaring with joy. Shizuku and Kaori smiled and hugged each other, and even Kuang-hui, whose expression had been gloomy, smiled.
Hajime also smiled with a refreshing smile filled with joy and a sense of accomplishment. Seeing that smile, Yue, Shia, and Tio also became happy.
The room was filled with a boisterous, party-like atmosphere. After a full thirty minutes of this joyful atmosphere, Hajime finally spoke again, bringing everyone back to the point.
"As for the anti-summoning magic... it seems to be taking longer than expected."
It is said that when performing concept magic, Hajime and Yue felt a fatigue as if the strength had been uprooted from the depths of their souls.
The extraction and materialization of concepts mostly belong to the realm of God, so the fatigue it brings to the practitioner seems to be difficult to heal even with soul magic or regeneration magic.
As the two had said, simply engraving the knowledge would require a level of endurance sufficient to conquer all the great labyrinths, so it wasn't surprising that the loss was so enormous.
The best way to recover is to heal naturally, so it takes some time.
Furthermore, although he had already understood the "Limit Will", it was only with Hajime's strong desire that he finally achieved the conditions for success.
The desire to return home, and the desire to avoid being summoned. As for which desire is stronger, the answer is self-evident.
The desire to prevent the summoning must be elevated to an "ultimate will" of the same strength as the desire to return home, and it feels like something more specific and clear is needed.
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