We proceeded down the passageway, keeping a wary eye out for demons, just in case they jumped out at us.
There were no rooms or windows on the side, only yellowish white walls. We had no choice but to follow the path straight ahead.

At the end of the passageway--

'It's an iron door. ...... Hmm... It's no good. It won't open.'

Aleria reached for the door, but it seemed to be locked and would not open.
There were two keyholes under the handle.

'Maybe there's a key in there somewhere.

'Hmm, that's a possibility, but--'

In a game sense, you go through the rooms one by one, collecting clues, and finally insert the key to open the door. That's the theory, and it sounds like a royal road, but it's too much trouble.

If I go back now and go through the rooms one by one, it will be late at night.
I mean, there's no guarantee that the key is hidden somewhere.

'Where I'm from, there was a way to pry open a lock using a wire. I'm going to see if I can't do that.'

'You can do that?

'The meaning of the key is like ......, isn't it?

'I've never done it before, so I can't guarantee it'll work. I'll give it a try.

It's called picking.
I don't expect an amateur to succeed on the first try either.
Pour magic power into the keyhole to understand the structure of the key, insert a wire according to it, and turn the key.
That should do it.

'Well, first things first.

First of all, try to open the door normally, and determine the approximate position where the lock is stuck.
Since this is a detailed task, the more hints you have, the more time you'll save.

It's not that we're pressed for time, but it's always better to make short work of it, since there's no guarantee that a demon won't jump out at us.

Try to push the sliding steel door to the left.

You will hear a cracking ...... and creaking ...... sound.

Crack!

'Hmm? ...... opened normally, didn't it? Was there a lock on it?'

It was the steel door that Alelia had been trying to open with all her weight, but it opened when she pushed it normally.
There was no mistake in opening it, and from the looks of it, it really was locked.

Aleria was not the kind of person who would lie, so there must have been some other factor.

'I just heard a great noise!

'I can't believe she just used all her strength to open the steel door. ......'

Something's wrong.
By the way, there was a strange cracking sound, but I wonder if it's real.

'How can such a sturdy-looking lock be broken by force? You'd have to be a monster to be able to break something like that.

'............ I'm screwed.'

'............ You're seriously injured.'

What's with the cold reaction from the two of them? ......?

Maybe the lock was never really locked in the first place, and it was rusty or something.
Oh well, it's not nice to be misunderstood, but let's get back on track and explore the inside.

That's when I led the way into the room.

Clang.

The sound of metal parts falling to the floor reverberated.
It was coming from behind me.

I checked to see what was going on--

'Oh, the keyhole part fell out!

What?
Does that mean--

'Did I break ......?

'Yes, you did! I told you so!

'You realized it too late!

No matter how high your status is, I didn't think you'd break the door without realizing it. .......
It's a good thing that you're not the only one who has a problem with this.

'...... Well, the result is good. I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I was able to get inside, regardless of the process.