The infiltration from the exhaust port was progressing smoothly. Harumi was controlling the magical power from Signaltin and protected Koutarou and the others from the scorching hot wind. As a result, the group could casually take a walk through the winds over 100 degrees Celsius. After walking through the exhaust vent for a while, the group found a maintenance hatch that they managed to pry open and infiltrated the factory. As expected, the heat exhaust was poorly guarded, and nobody had detected them.
“Koutarou, your hand.”
Koutarou was the last to pass through the maintenance, and in front of him was a ladder going up. Above him was Kiriha's hand, waiting to pull him up.
“Thanks. But that's no good, Kiriha-san. The armor is still heated up a little.”
“I don't mind.”
“I do.”
Koutarou regrettably smiled wryly and shook his head.
The maintenance hatch was heated by the exhaust, so Koutarou who was wearing an armor was in charge of opening and shutting it, but the heat from the hatch transmitted to Koutarou's armor. While the armor had a cooling function, it still hadn't fully cooled. If Koutarou grabbed her hand, she probably wouldn't get burnt, but her hand would most likely turn red from the heat. That's why Koutarou climbed up the ladder on his own.
“... Onii-chan doesn't understand the feelings of a girl who wants to be of help to the person she loves.”
Kiriha whispered so only Koutarou could hear and pouted. Kiriha, or rather Kii, wanted to be of help to Koutarou. She didn't mind if her hand heated up a little.
“... What can I do, you're important, Kii.”
“... Ahaha, then I guess it can't be helped.”
However, she was only able to remain childlike for a few seconds. They were in the middle of a battle, and tension soon returned to her expression. The same went for Koutarou, and when he opened his mouth again, he had the face of a knight.
“By the way, Kiriha-san, what kind of place is this?”
“This is an area with blast furnaces and pressing machines. An area filled with equipment that emit a large amount of heat. There should be another area where armor is attached to the weapons. I want to take a look at that first.”
Koutarou couldn't even imagine what kind of machinery was around him, but they were for large-scale metalwork. The metal was melted in the blast furnaces and molded into rough shapes. The shapes were processed in the press and cut into parts. To Kiriha, it looked like armor for the weapons being made here.
While armor was being made, since several parts were being produced it would be hard to get a grasp of the overall shape by examining this area. They would be better off heading for the area where the armor was put together. And if possible, she wanted to head to the control room where the production was overseen.
“Clan-san, where should we head?”
Harumi felt like this was an incredibly odd place, even more so than Koutarou. That was only obvious for a girl who wasn't good with technology. Troubled by this, she sought Clan's help.
“Well, if this factory's layout is logical then we should head in the direction of the front gate.”
Clan answered without hesitation. Since she wasn't a normal girl, she had the most accurate grasp of this place. A functionally-arranged factory was a world she was more in line of her kind of world than the city was.
“Why?”
“Because transporting in and out would be easier that way. It's the most logical to place the start and finish of the production line there.”
“I see. Then they'd be able to produce as efficiently as possible.”
A transport would drop off the material and leave after being loaded up with the finished product. In that case, it was natural for production to start and end by the entrance. While there were some exceptions, a well-placed production line had its start and finish at the same place.
“Which means that we only need to head that way.”
“Let's hurry. The battle outside is still ongoing.”
Koutarou and the others headed in the direction Clan had pointed out to examine the factory.
Everyone, stay safe...
Despite having entered the factory, they could still hear the sounds of battle. Koutarou prayed for the girls' safety while pumping himself up to complete his mission as quickly as possible.