Chapter 20: Volume 1 - CH 4.2

Part 2

After telling Muse, who had a worried expression on her face, that “it’d be fine”, Seiya went ahead and brought Latifa around the park. Serving as an escort for a person who could not see, it was only natural that they ended up holding each other’s hand. The cast members were stunned upon watching the two, and the guests who did not know of the two were giving comments like “what a strange couple”.

For starters, they headed for Moffle’s Sweet House. Unsurprisingly, Latifa didn’t care for the game of shooting puppet mice with laser guns. After completion, they entered the final room where Moffle offered to take a commemorative photo for them. Upon closer inspection, however, it wasn’t really Moffle, but just someone wearing a similar looking costume.

“Mofu!”

The real Moffle was at the entrance square, so this one must have been a random suit actor.

“Ah, that really shocked me.”

The man inside the suit said, “We’re lacking in manpower in many departments, so I ended up helping out here…”

Oh, this must be the security officer I see a lot of.

“Thanks a lot for the help. I’ll consider offering you some overtime pay.”

“No worries; I’m enjoying my work, after all. The guests really like taking pictures with me, too.”

While saying that, the security guard took two pictures of Latifa and Seiya. Latifa tugged on Seiya’s arm on the abrupt noise of the shutter.

They proceeded to Tiramie’s Flower Adventure and Macaron’s Music Theatre, and thanked the covering cast members for their hard work.

After having fun at several other attractions, Seiya said, “That’s pretty much it for the famous attractions of this area. Is there anywhere else you’d like to go?”

Hearing that, Latifa replied, “Yes. I wish to ride on the large Ferris wheel.”

“The large Ferris wheel, huh…”

The large Ferris wheel was an extremely old attraction in Amaburi, constructed way earlier than the ‘80s economic bubble. Back then, this area called “Amagi Park” had been blossoming in popularity. Despite being called the large Ferris wheel, it was actually relatively small in size. One would probably be able to get a better view by climbing to the top of any nearby skyscraper.

Nonetheless, if given a choice, Seiya would not want to hop on board.

“Is there anything else you want to do? It’s not like we’d be able to see much in this anyway…ah…”

Seiya had completely forgotten about Latifa’s vision.

“No wait…my bad…”

“Don’t worry about it. Anyway, I still wish to ride it.”

“In that case, I won’t stop you…”

As Seiya spoke, he could feel sweat beginning to trickle down his back.

“Let’s go.”

Seiya held Latifa’s hand and got on the Ferris wheel. The park had already closed, and there were no longer any guests.

After the doors of the gondola closed, Seiya said, “Not to spoil the mood or anything, but why are you so eager to ride on the Ferris wheel when you can’t see the scenery?”

“It’s true that I’m blind, but I was once able to view it. That was really long ago, though.”

“?”

“Nonetheless, the sensations on this Ferris wheel always set me at ease. I’m able to feel the rocking and the hardness of the seat, and I can hear the creaks of the door. I wanted you to experience them, too.”

“I see…”

Seiya was unable to comprehend what Latifa was trying to get across. Under normal circumstances, Seiya would have asked for clarification on the matter, but—

“We’re pretty high up, huh?” Seiya remarked while clenching his chest.

The Ferris wheel wasn’t that big, but it was still about 4 stories high. The surrounding attractions had now been reduced to nothing but rooftops, and the “rocking” and “creaking” that Latifa spoke of became increasingly jarring. Similarly, his heart’s thumping had become louder.

“How’s it going?”

“Huh? A-Ah…if you’re referring to the time, it’s been about ten minutes, I guess?”

He couldn’t help but raise his voice in panic.

Shit! Hasn’t it reached the top yet? Are we still getting higher? Someone save me…

“Kanie-sama, are you alright?”

“W-What are you talking about?”

“Your voice sounds shaky…”

“I-I-It’s just your imagination.”

While the one they were riding on was nothing compared to modern Ferris wheels, there was a beautiful view waiting at the apex nonetheless. Seiya turned to watch the expanse of evening lights emitting from the streets of southern Tokyo. These lights were just like the glittering of jewelry, sparkling harmoniously throughout a vast distance far beyond his visible range. Perhaps he might even be able to enjoy it just by capturing a video or photo of this.

“How is the scenery, Kanie-sama?” Latifa inquired with her eyes still closed.

“Well…it certainly is pretty, though still nothing compared to the view of Hong Kong at night.”

“Kanie-sama? Your voice is trembling very badly…”

What should I do? We’re not even at the apex yet, only at the 11 o’clock position. I wanna get out of this place ASAP.

“Kanie-sama?”

How long am I going to have to stay cooped up in here?

Seiya was panting heavily, the back of his shirt drenched in sweat. Every rock of the gondola was weakening his mental strength in keeping his sanity in check. Of course, looking out at the scenery didn’t help.

I’ve had enough of this! Get me out of here!

“Erm, by any chance are you afraid of heights…?”

“T-There’s no way I’d be afraid of this…” he subconsciously raised his voice in response.

Slightly shocked at his answer, Latifa lowered her shoulders.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so insensitive…”

“Ah, that’s not it…But anyway…”

He loosened his necktie and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt. Not wanting to look down, Seiya closed his eyes and shook his head in denial. He had no choice but to continue the conversation to distract himself. Now wasn’t the time to be worried about his reputation or impressing others.

“I’m just…bad with high places…”

It was during middle school when Seiya realized he had developed acrophobia. During his elementary school days, he was completely fine. He’d even take part in tests of courage in 10-floor buildings with his neighbors. Yet, at some point during this time he became unable to handle heights.

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Perhaps this was related to his time when his parents had forced him to work for the talent agency. At any rate, he first noticed his fear for heights during the 6th year of elementary school when he did not dare touch the handrails on his school’s rooftop.

In fact, a similar experience had happened even before that. Whenever he got too high up, his pulse would skyrocket. And when he looked at the ground below, his legs would wobble, making him feel like he was losing his balance. Nonetheless, he only ever acknowledged his fear in the spring of his 6th year in elementary school.

And even when he quit the talent agency, his acrophobia never really went away. Since then, he’d been trying to avoid high places. In fact, he was also reluctant to ride on the pathetic Doki-Doki Coaster on his first day in Amaburi too.

Seiya looked at Latifa, and briefly explained his situation. And every once in a while, she would nod in response.

“…S-So that’s why I’m in a really tight spot right now in this Ferris wheel…Well, this isn’t something that would cause a panic attack, so I’m sure I’ll be fine if I close my eyes and carry on with our conversation…H-How high are we now?”

He probably couldn’t even bear to open his eyes now.

“Right now we’re…at the 2 o’clock position.”

“Is that so? How can you tell?”

“From the sound and our weight. Don’t worry, we’re descending.”

Her hands gently held on to Seiya’s fingers. For some reason, the smooth and cold sensation shocked him even more than the kiss back then.

“It’ll be fine,” Latifa repeated with a voice that echoed her gentle nature, and Seiya’s legs eventually stopped shivering. “Take a deep breath and open your eyes. We’re back down.”

“…”

Seiya followed her suggestion.

Just as Latifa had said, he no longer felt frightened. A glance out from the window revealed that their gondola had nearly reached the bottom.

“How are you feeling?”

“Ah, much better.”

Seiya was more relieved than he was humiliated. Nonetheless, the thought that he had just showed an embarrassing side of him to Latifa made him feel pathetic.

“I apologize for making you ride on the Ferris wheel without knowing your fear of heights.”

Latifa’s unusually low tone of speech made her sound apologetic.

“No, it was my fault for thinking that I could handle it.”

“Okay, but…”

“?”

“N-Never mind, it’s nothing.”

“Hey, now I’m curious. Just say it.”

“Okay. I hope this doesn’t make you mad or anything…”

Latifa waited for a brief moment, and her lips revealed a teasing smile.

“You were pretty cute back there.”

“…”

For some reason Seiya had an unpleasant feeling about this, just like being patted by a girl who was older than him.

And so after touring the remaining attractions in the park, Seiya split up with Latifa and returned to his own work. It appeared that Seiya’s changes to the park were taking effect. All the attractions were packed with many more guests than their old Sunday crowd.

The mascots’ service to the customers had improved as well, though from the guests’ standpoint, they might’ve not noticed the change. And that was a good thing, for it would be unsightly for an entertainer to give off an impression of being a try-hard. Throughout these few days, he could see vast improvements in the park’s service.

Then again, was that really the case?

Perhaps the only thing that had changed was his perception of things? Seiya recalled being terribly reluctant when he was first dragged into this mess by Isuzu, yet he came to work willingly and accepted his tasks in an optimistic light today. So maybe the harsh reality was just that his mindset had changed. Nonetheless, Seiya was no longer able to come to a conclusion.

Right when Seiya was about to leave after finishing the paperwork, Isuzu reported the day’s visitor count.

“2,928.”

“What?”

“We’ve got 2,928 guests today. That’s twice the number of yesterday’s.”

Today was Thursday, so the crowd should not have been as big compared to the weekends. It wouldn’t be unusual for the visitor count to be about the same as that of Wednesday. Yet, they had doubled their visitor count.

“By the way, this number is the largest we’ve ever had on a Thursday in years.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Seiya had already gone through the past records of the park. This was certainly a strange phenomenon.

“Looks like the 30 yen campaign is working.”

“You’re right, but then again…”

Seiya hesitated for a brief moment.

But then again, this number is still beyond expectations. I’d only predicted the campaign to increase our visitor counts by about 1.5x at max, so perhaps there’s something else at play here?

“But then again…?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Even though the mascots’ customer service had improved, it was too early for this to have any visible effect. After all, it would probably take months for guests to recommend their friends and for them to actually come and visit. It definitely wasn’t something that could happen in days.

So maybe it was right to say that everything was due to the surprising effectiveness of the 30 yen campaign. Nonetheless, there was something he had to clarify with Isuzu.

“Sento…”

“Hmm?”

“Do you notice any changes in that rat’s behavior during the past few days?”

After hearing that, Isuzu snorted as if she was just asked an obvious question.

“Of course. I’ve never seen him work this hard in ages. And…”

“And?”

Isuzu paused for a brief moment.

“I’m in no position to say this, but it feels like Moffle’s actually enjoying his work for once.”

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