Chapter 24: Volume 1 - CH 4.6

Part 6

The match ended in a tie of 2-2. People were saying that it was a spectacular match.

The spectators left the venue in satisfaction before the park finally closed. By the time they cleared up the stadium, it was already past midnight.

Although everyone was tired, a large proportion of the cast members had not returned. That was to be expected—there was no way they could sleep without knowing the visitor count. The staff canteen had been converted to a temporary meeting venue. All of the cast members gathered there, including Latifa.

After a brief moment of tense atmosphere, Seiya entered the canteen.

“We’ve got the results.”

With that said, he glanced at his memo where he wrote the visitor count.

“53,449 visitors. In other words, we just need another 5,688 visitors on Sunday and we’re set. Chance of rain for tomorrow: 0%. Extrapolating data from the past week…we’ve pretty much succeeded.”

The group remained silent even after they heard that. They were probably still in the middle of processing what they’d just heard.

“What’s wrong? I just confirmed that your park’s going to remain afloat, you know?”

It was only a few seconds later when all the cast members stood up and cheered in delight.

“We did it! We did it!”

Muse and Latifa held hands and jumped about, seemingly in tears.

“It’s a miracle, ron! A miracle has occurred, ron!”

Macaron began crying out manly tears.

“Now I don’t have to bid farewell to my babes, mi!” Tiramie shouted while typing furiously on his smartphone.

“Kanie-san! You have my utmost respect! My tears go out to you!”

Tricen had his head down and was crying in relief.

Wanipi was looking up at the sky weeping and Wrench-kun patted his back and comforted him. The other cast members were all losing their sense of control, banging the chairs, clapping their hands, jumping on the tables, and even doing backflips.

“By the way, to be more specific about today’s visitor count, 43,217 of these visitors were spectators, meaning you guys had 10,231 legitimate guests. It might seem mediocre in comparison, but we hit the 10,000 milestone. I’d say this is a huge achievement for a pathetic theme park like this.”

The canteen was filled with applause and cheers once again.

Perhaps out of euphoria, the cast members offered to toss Seiya into the air, but Seiya declined and said, “Come on, that’s enough. Everyone’s dismissed! We still have one more day to go, so go back and rest!”

Before leaving the canteen, Seiya went over to Latifa. She was holding on to Isuzu’s hand for support and gave a pleasant smile.

“Kanie-sama, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

“You flatter me. It was really just a coincidence.”

“No, this is definitely—”

“A miracle? I guess you could put it that way.”

What he just said came out rather rude, and Seiya regretted it right away. For a brief moment there, Latifa’s smile disappeared. And as if she just noticed something, a hint of sadness spread throughout her expression before returning to a smile.

“Yes, you’re right.”

“I’m exhausted, so I’ll be on my way.”

“All right. Thank you for all you’ve done.”

Seiya’s and Isuzu’s eyes met. She appeared to have something to say, but there was no need to talk about it now.

“Hey, go back and get some some rest, you hear me!?” he shouted at the cast members and left the canteen that was still bustling with activity.

As he walked down the dark alley, he saw Moffle leaning against the wall with a gloomy expression.

“So it’s finally over, fumo.”

“Yeah. The rest is all up to you guys. Do whatever you want.”

“We owe you one.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Throughout these two days, the two of them could not set their minds at ease. They simply weren’t in the mood to dance around and praise the heavens for the miracle that occurred. And the two of them were currently meeting up to check on each other in a dim alley with nobody around. If they got spotted by anyone, they’d certainly discover the truth—

That what had just happened was no miracle. Seiya recalled the event 3 days ago.

*

No matter what strategy he used, there was no way they could have reached the goal in time.

Seiya had arrived at that conclusion the morning after he accepted the task. Anything he tried would have been pointless. Even if he had made everything free and posted advertisements throughout the country, the number of visitors would still be insufficient. It was virtually impossible to attract such a huge number of visitors in such a short span of time.

They might be able to put up a good fight, but that was it. He might have to use some form of magic to be able to achieve such a feat. After all, he had considered all options available to him, but could not find a way. Seiya was on the verge of giving up.

Yet when he had found the stadium while exploring the 2nd park with Muse, an idea struck him. The stadium was the remnant of the bubble economy; a huge monument from the park’s glory days. He had no idea what the previous managers were thinking back then, but he sensed that something was amiss about the fact that this stadium was preserved until today.

And so he checked on the past records when he got back to the office and discovered an old contract signed between the Amaburi and Kajinomoto Stadium. There was a line of text in the contract that was easy to miss without thorough examination.

(In the event that Kajinomoto Stadium was unable to be used, Amagi Brilliant Park’s stadium will be used instead.)

What month is it?

March.

What event is Kajinomoto Stadium planning?

The J League’s opening match.

It was the highly anticipated face-off between the first-time competitor Melody Shibazaki and previous champion Kurawa Metz. That match itself should get at least 40,000 spectators. There was no other way of saving the park apart from getting hold of this chance. And so Seiya had ordered Wrench-kun and his crew to maintain and clean the place up. He even turned a deaf ear to all of their complaints, for he secretly knew that it could potentially be the game changer.

The only thing left was to make Kajinomoto Stadium ‘unusable’. And of course, the fire that broke out was not out of coincidence. For a whole week, Seiya had been having an internal conflict over whether or not to do it. He only came to a decision during the conversation with Latifa when she was making the croquettes in her kitchen.

On Wednesday night, after Seiya returned home from work, he packed his rucksack and headed out towards Kajinomoto Stadium. He had carved a detailed layout of the stadium into his memory long beforehand and his route of intrusion had been fine-tuned and rehearsed from a week back. Most of the equipment and rooms should have been locked up, but Seiya knew they were all pickable with the lock-picking tool he’d brought with him.

All he had to do was rewire the electrical circuit and a spark would eventually start a fire by itself. He had to wager on the fact that it would be enough to deceive the professional investigators after the incident.

Another problem was that in order to get into the stadium, he’d have to walk a 50-meter-long tightrope over their 8-meter-tall fence. To do that, he would have to overcome his acrophobia. It was late at night and nobody was in sight. It took a whole hour for Seiya to muster the courage to walk across it. That was probably the longest hour of Seiya’s life.

When he finally got across after clinging desperately to dear life, he arrived at the door of the electric control room. It was then that Moffle called out to him from behind.

(Looks like you’ve got quite some trouble in your hands, fumo.)

Seiya considered himself lucky to be too frightened to scream.

(Why are you here? What are you trying to do and how did you even…)

In response to Seiya’s whisper-shouts, Moffle pointed his paws at him.

(I followed you here, fumo. I was once a member of the Recon-Assault Forces in Maple Land, so this is nothing to me, fumo.)

(Another one of your stories, huh…)

Did such a unit even exist?

(Wrench-kun told me that you’ve secretly ordered a clean-up and maintenance of the 2nd park’s stadium, fumo. It was only then I recalled the details of the old contract, fumo. But to think that you’d actually be so stupid…)

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(Say whatever you want.)

He whipped out his lock-picking tool from his rucksack and began working on the door to the control room. He had practiced picking cylinder padlocks for several days in preparation for this. He was only a few clicks away from opening the lock.

(Stop it. What you’re doing is against the law, fumo.)

(I know.)

(Not just the stadium, but many organizations will be involved. There might even be casualties. You’re committing an unforgivable sin, fumo.)

(I know.)

He stopped for a moment and snickered, (Are you really going to resort to such cunning means to save the park? There’s no way we’d be happy with this. I’d rather become homeless than benefit from something like this, fumo…!)

(Then what’s gonna happen to her…!?), Seiya asked as he grabbed on to Moffle’s bowtie.

Moffle was somewhat shocked at Seiya’s menacing aura.

(If it were just the closure of a lame theme park, I wouldn’t even bat an eye in sympathy. But I heard that she won’t be able to live on if this park closes. And yes, I’ve pondered over this too many times, yet there’s no other way. There’s no other way, you hear me!?)

(Mofu…)

(All you could say was “stop”. Is there anything else to add? You treasure her, don’t you? What were you doing before following me? Polishing your skills? Hard at work entertaining our guests? Those are useless, I tell you. Those are all useless…!)

Both parties were equally in pain. Seiya eventually loosened his grip and took a step back, avoiding eye contact.

(I’m going to have to use underhanded tactics here.)

Having said that conclusive statement, Seiya proceeded with the lock picking.

(I’m doing this out of my own free will, and not under the request of anybody.)

(Why would you go that far for her, fumo…)

(…Because I finally remembered.)

Seiya had visited Amagi Brilliant Park more than a decade ago.

He was about 5 or 6 years old when he came with his parents whom he was still fond of back then. He visited each attraction and thoroughly enjoyed every single one of them. He did not have any memory of Moffle, but there was one particular cast member who Seiya did have a vivid recollection of.

And that person was Latifa. She looked like a 14 to 15 year old girl, just like the present.

While playing around, Seiya split up with his parents and somehow ended up backstage. There, he stumbled upon the sky garden and found her sitting in a corner crying. He remembered asking why she was crying, though he could no longer recall her answer. It was probably something along the lines of some curse and loneliness.

Seiya remembered performing a dance he had just memorized to cheer her up, and reassured her.

I’ll always be by your side. Someday, I’ll definitely save you—

(I once met Latifa many years ago.), Seiya continued while picking the lock.

(That was when I was really small. For some reason Latifa looked exactly like she is right now, but anyway, I definitely met her back then. And there, I promised that I’d definitely save her.)

(I see, fumo…), Moffle muttered.

(If memory serves, there was indeed a case of a young boy wandering into the sky garden by accident, fumo. We’ve stepped up our security since then…)

(So that means I wasn’t mistaken, huh?)

Just a little longer and this lock will be busted.

He flicked the pick several times and tugged. The lock gave a click and opened.

(…Okay.)

He put the lock pick back in his rucksack and pulled out a flashlight and some wires. The electric circuit board in this room should have been an old model. All he needed to do was get in and rewire it—

And just as he was about to enter the room, Moffle punched Seiya in the back, knocking him to the floor.

(Kanie Seiya. I can’t allow you to do this, fumo.)

(Tch…)

Stupid fleabag. So you plan to abandon Latifa and let the park die?

Seiya wanted to shout those words, but nothing came out. His limbs were numb and he could not move at will.

(Let me tell you something, fumo. The curse on Latifa isn’t just one that weakens her, but something far worse, fumo.)

Something far worse? Just what could possibly—

(It’s a curse that also resets her growth and memories every year, fumo. That girl has been living as a 14-year-old child for more than 10 years. She loses her memories accumulated throughout the year at the start of spring each year. So all your hard work in helping her would just be forgotten when the time comes, fumo.)

(Wha…)

So that was the reason why she looks exactly the same like she was back then.

Moffle sighed, (Even if the park closes for good, I intended to take Latifa out to the streets and live a simple life. I don’t know how long we can last out there, but if it comes down to it, it’ll be all up to fate to decide, fumo.)

(…)

(But I’ve changed my mind. I don’t mind resigning to fate…but I might as well get my hands dirty too. Just now…you asked back then if I had anything else to bring to the table, fumo. And you’re right. There’s something that I…no, we have to do, fumo.)

Moffle picked up Seiya’s flashlight and tools from the floor.

(Kanie Seiya, you shouldn’t be the only one doing the work for both of us, fumo. Since we really have to resort to underhanded tactics after all, I’ll be the one to do it.)

Moffle entered the control room. The actual task wasn’t difficult per se. He just had to connect the wires in the crossed out area and overload the circuit. The rubber coating of the wires started to glow and heat up. Sparks began to fly and a foul burning smell came from the room.

(Time to go, fumo.)

Picking up Seiya, who was still unable to move, Moffle fled with remarkable agility.

*

Despite telling the cast members to go home, most of them remained in the canteen and created havoc inside.

Though thanks to that, nobody had noticed that the two culprits, Seiya and Moffle, were rendezvousing in the dark alley.

“I’d never thought I’d do such dirty things, fumo. Even I am afraid of myself.”

“I get what you mean.”

“Then again, we didn’t have a choice, fumo. I’m going to have to step up my game from now on,” Moffle shrugged his guilt away.

“Anyway, I take it that this concludes your stint here, fumo?”

He was probably referring to Seiya’s job as an acting manager. Seiya had done whatever he could, and chances were that they would succeed without his supervision tomorrow. His job was essentially complete.

“Yeah. I can finally start clearing my backlog of games when I get home. Wait, actually…I might as well see this to the very end.”

“Indeed. I’m sure the cast members would like to see you for the very last time too, fumo.”

Seiya revealed a bitter smile.

“I’ll be leaving, then.”

“Mofu. Thank you, Seiya.”

And as they waved with backs facing each other, Moffle and Seiya parted ways.

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