Medurio was in deep trouble. He had been forced to come up with a lie and say that Mara Nebulo’s office had been locked when his shadow employer came back to ask him if he had found anything–The night watcher, knowing that there was no chance in Hell that he was going to be able get out of the his own office once he clocked into his shift, had to make something up… Thus, he claimed that he would have to find a way to open the owner’s office door without rousing suspicion, and that it would probably take a while to figure out.

  Especially since he would have to be mindful of the cameras in case anyone else were to review the footage and see him snooping around… The city guard bought the story quite easily. After all, someone locking the door to their private office wasn’t exactly abnormal. In fact, it might actually be locked. The night watcher had no idea.

  Regardless of it all, Medurio found himself standing before Glown’s Wonderland once more. He arrived in advance, being so nervous that he could barely take a rest. He watched as employees poured out of the building, tired from their long day of work, but clearly not in the same spot as he was. There was no one who knew that he might just be setting one foot in the grave by entering this accursed building…

  He couldn’t delay it, unfortunately. He greeted the day watcher once more, the man casually wishing him a good night. Medurio could only respond with a weak nod.

  This whole thing was a game to Mara Nebulo. He didn’t need to think too deeply to figure this out. If she just wanted to get rid of him, she would have already done so… Whether she was actually willing to let him go if he ‘won’ the game was unclear, but he wouldn’t know unless he actually did his best to survive the night.

  Once more, he stopped in front of the main stage. The trio of automatons was unmoving.

  “Please. I beg of you, don’t bring any more of your friends out tonight…”

  Aware that his prayer would fall on deaf ears, Medurio made his way to the office and plopped down in his seat. The screen of the computer lit up, flooded with a bright green glow as Zlown's face took up the entire screen–Having somehow been waiting for him even though the computer hadn’t been active.

  “Hey, hey~! I’m glad you came back, not that you had a choice in the matter, heheheh… Your second shift will be even more fun than the first, I can promise you that! Things can get a fair bit hectic, so I’ll do you a favour and tell you who you need to be wary of for tonight!”

  “Oh… That’s nice… Thanks”

  “You sound so fake, I swear! Be more cheerful. Do you know how many people would love to play games with us, clown gals? It is an honour! You should be more grateful!”

  “...Anyway, Blaunellie and Gelbimi will still be around, and additionally, you’ll have to be careful of–Suspense, please–Braunlili and Rosalind! Tada! Double the number of clown girls, isn’t it great? Actually, even more than double, Mimi is here as well…”

  “Mimi?”

  “I forget that you are an uneducated pig rolling in mud… Mimi is Rosalind’s quote on quote ‘Puppet’, but she is actually just a fun-sized automaton. I assume you don’t even know who any of the clown gals I mentioned are, heh?”

  “I do not”

  “You’re lucky I am so nice, Medurio–Braunlili can be found on this camera right here”

  Zlown took control of the computer, instantly opening the CS and showing what a specific camera was filming. Medurio was taken aback by what he saw. Braunlili was huge, even with the downward camera angle, it was obvious that she towered over her surroundings… It was a wonder how an automaton of such a tall height and rather slender build could stand while inactive.

  “This big girl is a contortionist. She can fit in unexpected places!”

  Zlown marked a pause, staring at Medurio with a small smile on her face.

  “...Alright, were you perhaps cradled a little bit too vigorously in your youth? You don’t seem to actually bother to think for yourself. I am alluding to the fact that she will try to get to you by crawling into the vents. With her long limbs and superior strength, she can climb the vertical portions of the huge VS without any problem”

  “Mmh… And… How am I supposed to do anything about this? There aren’t any cameras in the vents, are there?”

  “Of course, there aren’t cameras in the vents. But you don’t need to bother with the cameras at all with Braunlili. She can move fast through the vents, but even for a contortionist like her, with her great size, it is a tight fit. You’ll hear banging in the vents if she ever comes near the vent opening in your office”

  “When you hear her coming near, hide under your desks. From there, she won’t be able to see you at all–Don’t forget to power the computer down, though. She’s not stupid”

  “Does it mean that Gelbimi is stupid? I didn’t have to power the computer down for her…”

  “Oi. Be careful what you say about our ray of sunshine, alright? She’s just a bit of an airhead, alright? She’s only looking for a person. She doesn’t think much about anything else–Say something like that again, and I’ll do something you won’t like”

  “...My bad…”

  “Aherm, onto Rosalind… She’s a duo with Mimi. Our storyteller will simply wander the halls, looking around… You can actually just lock the door when she comes around. She isn’t curious like Gelbimi. She’ll just assume that it is a restricted zone and move on–That is, unless Mimi is involved”

  “The two of them are connected and can see what the other is seeing. Mimi will go into the vents, but since you can’t hear her like you can with Braunlili, this is something else you’ll have to keep track of on the cameras. Mimi will be with Rosalind when not inside a vent”

  Medurio blinked.

  “How am I supposed to stop her from getting into a vent?”

  Zlown shook her head.

  “You’ll have to eject her by using a function of the VS. Dispatch hot air on the maximum strength setting, and just force her out of the vent. Do note that you can only do so locally, so you can’t just do it across the entire building”

  “Alright, good luck, then!”

  Zlown went away, and like they had been waiting for this cue, Medurio saw Blaunellie and Gelbimi immediately stiffen up as they activated. The latter sped off the stage while the former casually cranked her neck up, waved at the camera, and started playing a little tune on her lute.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  At first, the two clown gals Zlown had mentioned as additions did not move at all, but it changed two hours into the night–After Medurio had had to fend off two ‘attacks’ from the cheerleader, and one from the bard. The contortionist’s eyes suddenly lit up as the night watcher did his frequent check.

  Braunlili glanced at the camera for only a second before looking upward. Medurio couldn’t see it without moving the camera, but he didn’t need to to understand that there was actually a vent directly above where she rested when not performing. He saw her hoist herself up and slither out of sight.

  It was a rather disturbing sight, but if what Zlown had said was to be trusted, then the giant clown girl was actually quite easy to deal with, only requiring that he bothered to pay attention to noises above his head.

  The problems arose when Rosalind sprang to life alongside her pint-sized fellow. She did not pay the camera any attention. Instead seemingly launched herself into a conversation with Mimi as she walked out of the camera’s line of sight. The pink clown gal got down from her stage area and simply started walking around, seemingly unbothered…

  At least, she didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry, which was good, as one speedy threat was already difficult enough to handle… Especially when Medurio needed to juggle his attention between three automatons, while making sure not to focus too much on the screen, lest he failed to hear the contortionist coming through.

  Things were still manageable. There were a few moments of panic as Blaunellie enjoyed hiding far too much, but he was able to catch her opening the grate of a vent and react accordingly before she could stick her head into it.

  Gelbimi was also far more active, forcing the night watcher to get up and hide behind the door three times… Meanwhile, the two new threats have not proved to be a problem at all, so far. He had no idea what the contortionist was up to inside the vents, and the storyteller had just been wandering around without even coming close to the office.

  Everything quickly changed as he heard something fast approaching in the vent above him–It wasn’t just quick, it was absolutely barrelling toward his location.

  Medurio scrambled to power the computer down, completely missing the button on his first try as he trembled in terror. For some reason, when the computer went black, the lights in the room also went out.

  Not thinking about this, Medurio tried to hide under the desk, hitting his head against it before making himself as small as possible, pressing his body against the wall, to be certain that he would be in the spot where he was least likely to be spotted.

  Merely a few seconds later, he heard the grate of the vent being opened with a bang, and a brown glow illuminated part of the room. He was able to make out Braunlili’s long hair as she hung upside down, scanning the room.

  The contortionist looked around for ten whole seconds before emitting a soft chuckle and slithering back up, closing the grate, before the sound of her leaving reached Medurio’s ears.

  He rubbed the spot where he had hit his head, and when the lights came back on, he realised that even the layout of this office was evil… If Braunlili and Gelbimi were to attack at the same time, it would be impossible to avoid them both.

  The underside of the desk was completely exposed territory for the cheerleader, and likewise, any other potential hiding spot which could help evade Gelbimi would do nothing to prevent him from being spotted by Braunlili.

  Medurio had no idea what he was supposed to do if he were to be unlucky and suffer from a double attack in this manner… Even as he muttered about it, Zlown did not appear. Was there really just a random chance that something he couldn’t do anything against would happen…?

  “This is messed up…”

  He cut himself off. The ventriloquist and her assistant suddenly made an unusual move. Rosalind looked up at the ceiling, where a vent grate most definitely was situated. It seemed difficult to imagine that Mimi would be able to get up there, but not for long… The bigger of the two clown gals made a rather subtle motion, but one that helped the little clown be launched upward with just enough strength to be able to grab on the grate.

  This level of precision was unreal. It was like they had rehearsed this in the past.

  Mimi was able to get the grate open and began climbing the wide vent by holding onto the ever-so slightly exposed bolts, demonstrating frankly frightening agility that a freaking automaton like her had no business being capable of.

  Meanwhile, Medurio hadn’t just been watching blankly. He had been fighting with the computer, trying to figure out how to activate the flow of hot air. Zlown had shown a demonstration earlier, but it was very different to do it himself…

  It took him longer than it should have, but when it was activated, he saw Mimi being ejected and subsequently caught by Rosalind.

  “Thank the gods…”

  He switched through the cameras–Only to see Gelbimi take off running toward the office’s door.

  “Shit!”

  He might have taken too long.

  Medurio basically threw himself out of his seat in a panic, hitting the ground before swiftly rising and rushing so quickly that he slammed his own shoulder into the wall, a mere second before the door opened.

  He covered his mouth to silence his breathing. Although Zlown hadn’t mentioned Gelbimi caring about sounds, it seemed obvious that heavy breathing would tip her off, no matter how much of an airhead she may be.

  The cheerleader stood at the door for a bit longer than usual.

  “Must have been my imagination, tee hee~”

  She had indeed heard something amidst the night watcher’s panic, but it had not been distinct enough for her to actually associate it with a human being.

  Medurio could only thank every single divinity that the yellow clown wasn’t the sort to think deeply about anything. Any of the other gals would have been suspicious and gone in to investigate.

  The door came shut, and Medurio moved back to his desk once he heard the cheerleader’s step retreating in the distance… He switched cameras, only for his heart to sink into his stomach.

  He found Blaunellie with her head already inside a vent, and as if she had been waiting for this, she stepped back from the vent and looked up at the camera. Laughing before walking away–Faster than usual.

  No doubt about it, she had heard him. He wasn’t required to, but he now understood that he should power down the computer and be as quiet as possible, even for Gelbimi, on the off chance that the bard would decide to attack at the same time.

  “I am dead… I am dead!”

  Blaunellie took a direct path to the office. Even if useless, Medurio locked the door and placed himself behind the side of a large closet–Unfortunately, it was filled to the brim, so he couldn’t hide inside of it, but from this angle, it should hide him.

  Who knows, maybe the bard will think he ran out of the office and hid elsewhere…

  Several bangs rang out before the door automatically opened, and the blue clown’s heavy steps rang out inside the office.

  He could see her shadow growing larger until she stopped in the middle of the room, softly laughing, before she suddenly accelerated, cornering the night watcher.

  Medurio hadn’t realised just how large she was. He had only seen her on stage and the cameras, while he had never actually looked at the cheerleader directly, so he had never had any proper point of reference in front of his face… But she towered over him. A hulking steel monster wrapped in skin-like material and dressed in nice clothes.

  Her eyes glowed.

  “Well, my friend, it seems that you have met a most terrible end! We shall see just how much you can bend!”

  He closed his eyes as she reached out for him.

  “A lucky fellow you are. For such a fortune–Must be pretty rare!”

  The bard stepped back and just flicked him in the forehead, laughing heartily before walking away as if nothing had happened.

  “Huh…?”

  “Hey, hey! Congrats on making it alive to the end of your shift! Quite a close call, wasn’t it?”

  Somehow, he survived.