Volume 1 - CH 2.6

Part 6

Truth be told, Seiya was having a dilemma when he arrived at the garden.

Is there anything that I can do? No, I’m being too rash. I should stop pretending to be a hero and go home.

After facing his own internal arguments, Seiya caved in to himself and ended up listening to the whole conversation in the shadows.

But he might as well have gone back home, for nobody had taken notice of his presence. Despite that, Seiya walked up to the grieving crowd. Even though he didn’t know what his own intentions were, he stepped out anyway, accepting the tremendous responsibility he would be bearing in her stead.

There was only one reason for this; just one: he couldn’t stand seeing the young girl about to cry in front of everyone.

Man, this isn’t my thing at all, Seiya thought, as he raised his voice.

“How pathetic! If you’re going to sigh like that, do that after the park closes!”

He was well aware of the attention he would receive when he said that. There were all sorts of creatures around him, including those with fur, scales, feathers, and frightening fangs, along with those that did not resemble human beings at all apart from their costumes. Everyone had his or her eyes on Seiya.

“Kanie-kun…?”

Isuzu’s eyes widened as she looked down from the terrace. Along with that, Latifa stood beside her and gave a little sigh of relief.

“Who’s that, mi? He’s just a normal person, but why is he here?” said the Pomeranian mascot and fairy of flowers, Tiramie.

“So this is the oracle’s chosen one, ron? Didn’t he go home? What’s the meaning of this?” added Macaron, the sheep-like mascot and fairy of music.

Having scanned through the pamphlet, Seiya had a good grasp of who each of them were based on their appearances. Along with that, he had accepted the fact that these were not suit actors, but actual cast members from the realm of magic. Considering all the absurd things that had happened so far, it was hard to believe that these were ordinary people.

It appeared Isuzu had meant it when she said there was “nobody inside”. Indeed, there were no humans within these mascots. Each and every one of them were legitimate fairies sent from the realm of magic.

Putting this matter aside, there was something Seiya had to do. But as he was heading towards the terrace, somebody stood in his path. He was Moffle, the fairy of sweets and the mascot of the attraction he visited. Moffle glared at Seiya in suspicion. The scenario somewhat reminded him of a showdown scene in a western cowboy flick.

“Hey, kid, why are you here, fumo?”

So this guy can speak too? Back then, all he could say was “mofu”.

“Out of my way. I want to speak with her.”

“There’s nothing to talk about, fumo. The exit’s behind you.”

“I can’t do that. I’ve already decided to help her out.”

Moffle scowled and looked at Seiya with a pair of dangerous eyes.

“This is our problem, fumo. We don’t need help from people of the land like you.”

“Oh yeah? Doing just fine on your own, huh?”

“What…?”

Seiya gave a condescending look at everyone in the garden.

“Just take a look! You people couldn’t do anything! You guys couldn’t gather enough visitors and rake in enough cash, and now you’re on the verge of losing the entire park. This is what happened! Still denying your failures and saying that you ‘don’t need help’? …The guy from Amagi Development said something interesting today. Wanna hear it?”

Seiya cleared his throat.

“‘Your guests are all idiots!’“

The mood among them darkened.

“You’re damn right they are! There’s no thrill and excitement here; the experience isn’t even worth any space in a diary! Only fools incapable of logic would bother to come here, anyway. Even I can’t deny that!”

The heat of anger could be felt within the garden; silent, yet deadly.

“And what did I see when I stepped in here? Staff members mourning their own downfall! Sure, only idiots would pay you people any money!”

“If that’s all you’re going to say…”

Moffle was shaking in anger.

“Then keep quiet, human. What do you know about our park…?”

“I can tell just by spending a day here! You’re all incompetent losers!”

“How dare you, I’ll shut that foul mouth of yours—”

Moffle lunged at him, but Latifa shouted, “Please stop this!”

With that, Moffle stopped in his tracks.

“Mofu……”

“Moffle-san. I am the one who first invited Kanie Seiya-sama here. On top of Isuzu’s mistake, are you intending to embarrass me once more despite his kindness in coming back to the garden?”

“No…I didn’t mean to…”

Moffle reluctantly gave way.

“I understand, fumo. You may pass.”

Still slightly surprised by Latifa’s continued resolve, Seiya walked past Moffle and climbed the stairs up to the terrace.

From behind, Macaron nudged Moffle, asking, “why were you using the word ‘human’ so derogatorily despite frequenting the bars at the station?”

Moffle retorted with a “keep quiet, fumo.”

“I sincerely apologize on behalf of everyone,“ Latifa said as Seiya reached the terrace.

“Don’t worry about it…”

“I always believed that you’d return.”

She spoke in a gentle voice.

“Ah, yeah…”

Seiya stuttered, as he was at a sudden loss for words. Normally, he’d be able to speak in a shameless and insolent manner, but for some reason he’d always waver when speaking with Latifa.

“Also, Kanie-kun. Am I right to say you’ve changed your mind?” asked Isuzu.

Seiya made up his mind and replied, “I guess you could say that…”

However, seeing how he’d stirred up a commotion below, he couldn’t allow it to end on a low note like that.

“It seems I’ve yet to introduce myself. I’m Kanie Seiya!”

He cupped his ears in a dramatic manner, and pretended to be listening to the crowd.

“I see…I can hear all your thoughts from here. First off, you guys hate me, don’t you?”

Of course, he wasn’t using any special ability. This was something even the most insensitive of people could tell just by looking at the stares, full of killing intent.

“It’s not just hatred I’m getting, but other things like ‘insolent brat’, ‘who on earth are you?’, ‘entrust the park to you?’, and ‘how can you save the park in two weeks?’ as well. Oh wait, there’s more. ‘Tch, this sucks! He’s taken away our idol, Latifa-sama!’”

Seiya watched them and smirked. Nobody was laughing.

“It hurts, doesn’t it? Not that it matters, I won’t be entertaining any of your pleas. I’m gonna be the authoritarian here!”

He slammed his fist on the handrails.

“If you’re against me, then quit! You’re all going to follow my orders without question! Since this place’s going down anyway, might as well do it my way! But one thing’s for sure, I’ll show it to all of you…this ‘insolent brat’ here will create a miracle in 2 weeks. In other words, I’ll bring in 100,000 visitors!”

For a brief moment, the park became silent. Then, it started to sizzle with commotion. A good half of the people were mocking him, complaining about the treatment they were going to get, whereas others were contemplating his promises in doubt.

Come on, any person will do. Someone just say something to me! Quit wasting time! The best possible question I could get is—

“Erm…why are you so confident about this?”

That’s it!

The one who tossed the question at him was a girl in a fantasy-like dress. If memory served, she was Muse, the fairy of water and a performer for the musical.

“The oracle’s on my side, and I’ve got a plan. I’m certain this will work out, and it’s going to get busy for you guys. Prepare yourselves!”

The commotion became larger. More people were starting to doubt his words. From the conversations among them, most of their words were “the oracle”, “no way”, and “could it be?”

He didn’t care about the rest. He was able to bring it this far; that in itself was an achievement.

“I’ll leave the details for next time. Tomorrow’s shift will be as per usual, but don’t be late! You hear that!?”

Seiya glanced at Isuzu. After recovering from a brief shock, she shouted, “Dismissed!”

*

After the cast members left, only three people remained: Seiya, Isuzu, and Latifa. Moffle had walked out together with the others, pretending to have heard nothing of it.

“Moffle must be troubled.” Isuzu muttered.

“Is that rat always like this?”

“No. He’s usually the mediator—what the army would call a non-commissioned officer. He’s also pretty popular.”

“I get it, so he’s one of those grumpy drill sergeants, huh…”

“That was why I hooked you up with him on Sunday.”

If that were the case, it would be tough to manage the cast without his help. There was a need for someone who could mix well with the rest that would help to make the group work. Someone like a supervisor at an office or a leader among the part-timers would be invaluable.

“Uncl-…I mean Moffle has a lot of pride. Even if you were the oracle’s chosen one, he would probably refuse to help you in all ways,” Latifa said in a weak tone.

“I understand. An outsider like me is bound to be frowned upon.”

“I hope you’re prepared for the consequences of your actions…?”

It was clear what Isuzu was referring to. Seemingly in agreement, Latifa added, “Kanie-sama, you made some pretty hurtful remarks just now. Could it be that…”

“Yeah, it was an act. I’m aggravating them on purpose.”

“On purpose…you say?”

Seiya felt bad, so he scratched his head and explained.

“I mentioned that their guests are idiots, didn’t I? If they were to respond in apathy, they would have been losers beyond help and I’d leave on the spot. But they didn’t; on the contrary, the cast members were really mad.”

“…What does that mean?”

“To put it simply, if they are angry, then there’s hope.”

“Some occupations are meant to bring happiness to their customers, like singer, artist, and chef. The professionals in these fields need to be able to accept mockery from others. Well, there might be pros who can’t, but the ones to stay the longest are always those who can. And there’s a certain type of insult that even these people cannot stand. Do you know what I’m referring to?”

“…Insults to their customers.”

“That’s right. If they were to get laughed at because of their own weakness, they could ignore it. However, an insult to the customers who enjoyed their service is a completely different thing, akin to having a precious friend or family member being made fun of. It’s a strange mentality.”

“…”

“In any case, the fact that they’re angry when their guests are insulted means that they still treat their jobs seriously. And that in turn means there’s still hope.”

“I see. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Latifa’s voice quivered slightly.

Did she really understand what I just said? Seiya wondered.

“So, will you lend us your strength?” Isuzu confirmed.

Having come to this theme park populated by mascots like those and getting asked to be a manager despite still being a student had already made Seiya lose his sense of reality. Furthermore, he had just professed his ability to tame what seemed like a hideout for beasts. There was no turning back now.

“I’ll accept your request. But only for 2 weeks.”

“2 weeks…?”

“I’m a high school student, after all. Studying’s my main job.”

He had his games as well. Seiya was not going to allow this troublesome issue to steal any more of his precious time. The final tests were coming soon, and spring break would come right after. He wanted to spend his whole break playing games, so he probably wouldn’t have the time to work.

“Studies, huh?”

Isuzu shifted her gaze away in suspicion, and Seiya continued.

“Anyway, all you need is to overcome this problem, right? This park’s fate will be decided in two weeks. Whatever the outcome might be, my job ends there. Deal?”

“…Alright. We are eternally grateful.” Latifa smiled.

“You don’t need to be so thankful about this,” Seiya sighed deeply and sat on a nearby garden chair.

For some reason he suddenly felt awfully tired. He wondered to himself what he should say that to them, and spoke.

“Just so you know, my grades are top notch and my intellect is superior. On top of that, I am good-looking and possess expertise in many fields.”

“Why are you spewing out arrogance all of a sudden?” Isuzu kneaded her eyebrows.

“…Keep quiet and listen. …And then, perhaps due to the oracle, my strange powers or simply through fate, I ended up getting caught up in this. It might seem like I can create a miracle, but unfortunately the target of 100,000 visitors in 2 weeks is hard to achieve.”

Just by looking at the crowd yesterday, Seiya had a good idea of the visitor count, which was about 2,500 to 3,500, since it was a Sunday and definitely the peak of the season, which was around early March. There would be significantly fewer visitors during weekdays.

Assuming they’d get 1,500 visitors every weekday, that would only amount to 21,000 in total. The aim was 100,000, yet his estimates were that low.

It was thus unsurprising that the cast members were so desperate.

“In other words?”

“I’ll do what I can, but chances are the outcome will not change. What I want to say is that you guys should prepare for the worst.”

“Then, what about the things you said to them…?”

“That was obviously a lie. Of course, I don’t have any secret strategy in mind either.”

Following that, Seiya managed a cunning smile.

“…”

“I don’t have a choice. If I’m to make something happen, I need to start by getting their hopes up.”

Isuzu became sullen. However, Latifa was still smiling and gazing emptily at a distance.

“I understand. But Kanie-sama, I believe you’ll create a miracle for us.”

Seiya was stunned. Could it be that she actually understood the whole situation?

“Hmph, are you saying that because I’m the chosen one?”

“No. The oracle does not guide far. Nobody knows what is going to happen in the near future.”

“Then why are you able to say that?”

“I simply know it, just like how I knew you’d come back for us. I am sure you’ll save us with your miracle.”

Plain ridiculous. I’m not so useless to have to rely on things like miracles.

Seiya wanted to click his tongue in disapproval. Yet for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

*

Seiya began work that very night.

He’d given up on going home and told Aisu that he’d be “staying out overnight”.

The office Isuzu prepared was on the fourth floor of an old administrative building backstage.

It was a desolate room with many bookshelves, a desk, and a pipe chair. Rather than an office, it felt more like a detective’s room from a mystery film.

“Here are all the documents I talked about,” said Isuzu as she placed stacks of thick documents onto the table. Seiya picked up an accounting document and started to focus on it.

“Okay.”

“Is there anything else you need?”

“No.”

“Should you ever feel like taking a rest—”

“There should be a sofa down in the lobby outside. Leave a blanket there, would you?”

After saying that, Seiya went right back to reading the documents. He hoped to understand the park’s situation, the condition of its facilities, and the effectiveness of each attraction and mascot in detail by morning. And hopefully, after doing that, he might be able to devise a strategy.

The visitor count was pretty much as he had guessed. During this fairly cold season in early March, an average of 1,400 guests visited the park every weekday. Extrapolating data from annual reports, he’d be able to squeeze out 25,000 guests at most within 2 weeks.

That’s nowhere near the 100,000 we need!

He couldn’t think of a viable plan. Nonetheless, there should be a silver lining hidden somewhere, if he searched hard enough…

Right before Isuzu left the room, she called out, “Kanie-kun.”

“What’s up?”

“…Thank you.”

“Sure.”

He gave an inattentive reply. Being absorbed in the analysis of data, Seiya didn’t even look at her face.