Magician in Type-Moon

Page 205

"Great, it's no different from seeing it. But we still have to wait three more minutes before we can walk over."

He held up his watch, calculating the next time the security personnel would be distracted.

The power supply room is located on the basement level, which is quite far from the main passageway of the mall.

Few people come here on weekdays; only maintenance personnel occasionally come to check the equipment.

"The timing is perfect," he murmured.

Then, without any hindrance, they passed through the security system and slid into the entrance to the power supply room.

He reached into his pocket, pulled out a small device, and pressed it gently.

The device flickered a few times, then emitted a soft "tick" sound.

Then, the lights in the entire department store flickered a few times, as if there had been a brief interruption in the electricity.

However, no one noticed what was unusual at that moment.

......

As evening approached, a dramatic change in the weather shattered the tranquility of the day.

The once clear sky was quickly covered by dark clouds, and heavy rain poured down from the sky.

Raindrops splashed countless water droplets on the street, the streetlights' beams were blurred in the rain, and the whole city was shrouded in a gray mist.

"Orange, put away that smirk of yours." Matou Ike glanced helplessly at the person beside him, who was wearing a purple evening dress and smiling smugly.

Orange maintained her playful expression, her eyes slightly raised, and lazily raised her hand to fiddle with the red hair that fell over her shoulder.

"Well, really, Matou, you look exceptionally—boring in this outfit."

Matou Ike shook her head and continued walking forward, "You really never have a serious moment."

“Serious? This is my job, you know that.” Orange’s lips curled up slightly, her voice tinged with amusement. “Besides, those emotional changes are the most interesting part. Without them, life wouldn’t be very interesting.”

Matou Ike frowned, glanced down at the suit he was wearing, and retorted sarcastically:

"Compared to someone dressed like they're going to a noble dinner party, I think I fit in pretty well."

Orange twirled dramatically, her skirt billowing slightly, and revealed a teasing smile. "What's wrong? I think it suits me perfectly. Or do you have a problem with my taste?"

"Fine, fine, whatever." Matou Ike waved his hand, clearly no longer wanting to dwell on the topic.

Orange smiled easily, then adjusted her clothes and continued to walk ahead with an "elegant" demeanor.

The banquet wasn't particularly "high-end," so Orange's outfit stood out among the crowd.

In just half an hour, fewer than a dozen people came up to chat with him.

Whenever the other person brought up exchanging contact information, Aozaki Touko would pull Matou Ike, who was busy eating, over and show him an attitude of "I have a boyfriend."

Matou Ike, who acted as a shield, was helpless in the face of this.

The people at the banquet were people he had absolutely no connection with, so the most important social aspect of the banquet had long been forgotten by Matou Ike.

Fortunately, the food at the banquet was quite good.

After receiving a warning from Kanbuko's mother, Matouchi...

He kept thinking about "eating," which made him have a big appetite.

However, this eccentric behavior also saved him from the trouble of attracting unwanted attention because of his appearance.

After all, in any banquet that can be considered high-class, appearance is just one of the bonuses; family background is more important.

Of course, this excludes banquets in Mary Sue romance novels.

As time went on, the banquet gradually reached its climax.

As a designer, Orange uses her charm and eloquence to actively communicate and negotiate with the business people around her.

She's so poor she can't even afford to eat, which is unacceptable for a woman who loves to shop.

It was precisely for this reason that she attended the banquet she would normally avoid at all costs.

Meanwhile, Matou Ike stood to the side, focused on "eating," her attention almost entirely on the food on her plate.

His task was simple: wait for the bomber to arrive while enjoying the dinner as much as possible.

The atmosphere in the hall gradually became lively, with people's laughter and music blending together, making the whole scene both festive and lively.

sizzle-

Card wipe!

Chapter 264 Chaos

A sudden, violent crackling of electricity rang out, plunging the entire banquet hall into darkness.

All the lights, sound systems, and even the emergency lights went out, and the surroundings became pitch black, like an abyss.

The gasps and hurried footsteps mingled together as some guests frantically searched for an exit, while others tried to calm those around them.

Immediately afterwards, several loud explosions rang out from outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of the lobby, which was more than seventy stories high. The glass shattered under the violent impact, followed by large shards of glass falling like raindrops.

Several streaks of light, like fireworks, burst forth amidst the shockwave of the explosion, their bright rays tracing dazzling paths across the hall.

The violent explosion exacerbated the panic among the people.

But there are still a few "gentlemen" who stay by Aozaki Touko's side.

Seeing Orange's predicament, Matou Ike simply stepped aside silently, waiting for the bomb demon's next move.

These are just child's playthings, but they do show the other party's attitude.

If they truly wanted to kill Matou Ike by any means necessary, this banquet wouldn't have been filled with such fleeting, fireworks-like events.

What we're seeing now is just a demonstration.

Sure enough, the large screen in the center of the banquet hall stage lit up.

"Moshi Moshi, can you hear me?"

The image shows a man wearing a mask shaped like a white bird, with black accents around his eyes.

It's a bit like cosplaying Ren Amamiya from Phantom Thieves, but the game in this series won't be released for another year, so it seems to be just a coincidence.

Everyone was still reeling from the shock they had just experienced, so no one answered.

"Seriously, you guys have no manners at all. I'll count to three, and if no one responds, I'm going to detonate a bomb."

"Three, two, one."

He speaks very fast; a normal person simply doesn't have time to react.

Immediately following was a loud bang, with a wave-like explosion originating from the southwest corner.

With this loud bang, a piercing roar echoed through the hall, instantly making the atmosphere in the banquet hall even more chaotic.

A huge gap appeared in the ground in the southwest corner, and smoke and fire filled the air. Guests and staff around screamed and scattered in all directions.

The masked man on the big screen continued to watch all of this coldly, as if he were watching a performance he had meticulously planned.

"Quiet!" the masked man on the screen shouted, then turned to look at the banquet host below the screen and said loudly:

"That bald guy with the wig, holding a microphone and about to call the police, that's you!"

The host was startled when he heard his name called, and when he lowered his head, his wig slipped to the ground.

"Don't try to call the police, I can see everything you do clearly."

This statement was extremely intimidating, and many people who were about to call the police put down their phones.

However, within the human race, there are always some restless beings who hide in unseen corners, trying to secretly pass on messages.

But then, another loud bang.

This time, the explosion occurred in the southeast corner. Amidst the smoke and dust, and the impact of the explosion, a flip phone with an alarm text message being edited on its screen flew out.

Matou Ike walked over slowly and saw that the "gentleman" who had just chatted up Touko was now unconscious.

Fortunately, his life was not in danger, but a foul, fishy smell was emanating from his genitals, clearly...

"I've already told you, don't try anything funny. Everything you do is being watched by my eyes."

Aozaki Touko had quietly moved to Matou Ike's side at some point and whispered to him:

"It seems this place is full of that guy's spies. This poor guy who fainted from fright was in a blind spot, but he was still seen."

Matou Ike nodded noncommittally, without making any further reaction.

"But I have some good news," Orange continued in a low voice.

Hearing this, Matou Ike turned to look at her, wanting to know what she was keeping in suspense. "What good news?"

"I'm the designer of this building, you haven't forgotten that, have you?"

"Of course, you're not trying to say that you've figured out where this guy on the screen is, are you?" Matou Ike said with a smile.

"Of course, everything I designed is engraved in my mind, even though this guy is smart and chose a place with basically no reference points."

Aozaki Touko chuckled, "But I can tell where he is at a glance, he's right there..."

Before she could finish speaking, Matou Ike interrupted her, "Don't even think about it. That guy is probably drinking milk at home right now."

"Hmm?" Orange asked, somewhat puzzled.

From her perspective, the guy who was threatening everyone with a bomb should be in front of countless surveillance cameras right now, observing everyone's every move.

It's not hard to see from the conversation and the interaction on site that Matou Ike's firm denial made her hesitate.

"You didn't realize this, did you? This isn't a live stream, it's a recording."

Matou Ike smiled as she looked at Aozaki Touko, who was momentarily confused. She hadn't expected that even the renowned Grand Puppeteer could be so absent-minded.

This illustrates the importance of having a lot of information. No matter how talented you are, it's practically impossible to find the truth in a ball of yarn with no loose ends.

"How could that be?" Orange asked, somewhat puzzled.

Matou Ike didn't intend to tease her anymore.

"Didn't you notice that the content on the screen is too clear and too smooth? Especially when it's raining so hard outside... Can the signal be this good for a live stream?"

This was, after all, an era in which mobile communication technology had only just become widespread, and even official television streaming couldn't maintain such smoothness and clarity in a downpour.