Part 5
“Kanie-kun. I…hope you didn’t believe what Moffle and the rest said yesterday…” Isuzu asked Seiya the following day while they were traversing a footpath in the 2nd park.
It was slightly past noon. The mild sunlight of spring and the chirping of birds made this the perfect picnic area for those who strolled into the woods.
“Not exactly…but the money was real, wasn’t it?”
“You’re right. I am no connoisseur, but even I know that was legal tender.”
“I highly doubt the existence of such a treasure box, but I’m certainly concerned about the existence of these coins. The thought of having an M.I.A. cast member disturbs me too, so I’d like to at the very least check that cave out.”
Isuzu stared at Seiya from the side intently, as if trying to discover his true motives. There were also traces of anticipation in her eyes.
“Hey, quit staring at me.”
“This isn’t the first time you’ve used vague reasons to come to the park, the previous one being a ‘preliminary check on the stadium’.”
“Don’t get your hopes too high. We’re not going to be able to reverse our situation with a trip to a cave.”
“…I know.”
“And right after that, we’ll check the whole park. We won’t succeed in our negotiations if there are problems with it, after all. We ought to confirm its state before the meeting later.”
Seiya and Isuzu had an important business meeting to attend at 4 today. The meeting was kept in absolute secrecy, so very few staff members were aware of it, including Ashe. Even then, Ashe was only told about this a day before the meeting. Seiya had taken more than 2 weeks off from school in order to make rounds checking every inch of the 2nd park and to prepare for the meeting.
“You think they’ll really accept this?”
“We can never be too careful. Who knows, there might be a fatal problem here that we’ve yet to discover. You might want to focus on our work instead of questioning me.”
“…Understood.”
With that, the two continued their walk through the woods without saying anything further.
Seiya was wearing a pair of jeans and a thick shirt, coupled with some hiking shoes and work gloves. He had changed into this rugged outfit before coming here, given that they might be stepping into mud and encountering obstacles. Likewise, Isuzu wore a safari shirt, some hot pants and jungle boots. They certainly looked like they were visiting something far more treacherous than a park, perhaps an unexplored territory in Africa or South America.
Throughout the journey, Seiya could not set his mind at ease. After all, he was together with Isuzu deep in an uninhabited forest.
Putting the awkward interview drama aside, the fact that Isuzu’s hot pants had let Seiya notice her beautiful thighs did not help either. He had originally said he was going alone, but Isuzu insisted they go together because she was his secretary.
“Say, Sento…”
“Yes?”
“Could it be that…”
Could it be that you actually wanted to go with me, just the two of us?
Seiya visualized himself asking that in various ways. With a straight face? In a teasing manner? Or maybe in a ‘what do you think tomorrow’s weather will be?’ tone? Nonetheless, he could not imagine himself doing any of those properly.
“…Never mind, forget I said anything.”
“I see. Would you mind not talking to me if you have nothing to say?”
This. I don’t even…
“We should be reaching our destination soon. …There it is.”
The 2nd Park may have been huge, but ultimately it was just a segment of the theme park. They arrived at their destination in less than 10 minutes.
There was a small opening by the slope, concealed by some trees. The entrance to that opening was fenced, with a discolored signboard reading “Do Not Enter. Authorized Personnel Only.”
“I see it…but wait…”
They could see some figures crouching in front of the fence.
“You’re late, fumo.”
“We’ve been waiting for centuries, ron.”
“Hurry up and let’s get going, mi!”
‘The Three Mascoteers’ spoke in lethargy. Cigarette butts, empty PET bottles and convenience store packaging was littered around them.
Such terrible manners. They’d better clean this up later.
“I’m pretty sure we’re open as per usual today, so why are these punks over here? I don’t remember giving them permission to loaf around.”
The three of them scowled.
“Says the acting manager who came ‘without a reason’, fumo.”
“We’re really busy too! But we didn’t have a choice since Isuzu-chan requested this…”
“We’re here to help you, mi!”
Seiya tore his gaze from them and looked at Isuzu.
“Sento. What’s the meaning of this?”
“You know what happened to Dornel, don’t you? On the off-chance that we do get trapped in that labyrinth, a couple of guards could come in handy. We can’t risk you losing your life, after all,” Isuzu answered in earnest.
“Like I said, I didn’t come here to go treasure-hunting. I’m just concerned about this cave and came to check on it. Okay, think about it, let’s assume we actually do get into danger. Guards? Them? These guys can’t even save their own lives.”
Hearing that, the three retorted.
“Hey, that’s mean, mi!”
“Ignore him that’s what all the young and naive kids say, ron.”
“I’m Cus D’Amato’s last disciple[1]. What are you, Seiya? An idiot?”
Seiya shrugged, waving his hands saying “Okay, whatever, suit yourselves.”
“It’s just a random cave, but if you really wanna tag along then do whatever you want. You guys have wasted enough time already.”
Seiya was mentally prepared to just take a quick look around the empty cave and end the exploration with nothing found. Then, he’d spend the journey back lecturing these busybodies.
“Let’s go. Open it up for me, would you?”
Isuzu nodded, and inserted a key into the padlock, unlocking it. She pushed the creaking gate open and the five of them walked in.
“Seriously…? I’m just doing a preliminary inspection and I need 4 escorts?”
They confirmed that the opening in the slope was indeed a cave with an entrance that was cleanly wrapped by tall grass growing around it. The cave’s entrance extended for about 10 meters, but ended with a dead end.
“There you have it, nothing in here.”
Moffle and gang whipped out their pocket flashlights and began to inspect the walls. “It really looks like some sort of air-raid shelter. Maybe the missing members got burnt to death? Or maybe the lack of oxygen caused them to faint or hallucinate…?”
“There’s a hidden switch, mi.” Tiramie said.
“What?”
“Look at this pebble, see?”
There was a small 100 yen sized pebble buried in the rocks. Tiramie placed his ears on the wall and tried to move it.
“I see…it’s camouflaged, mi. This is the switch and that’s the lever. If I follow the sequence: up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A…”
“Only people in their 30s will understand that joke, ron.”
“I-It opened, mi!”
With a sudden loud roar, the wall began to slide open. It was, in fact, a hidden door.
“How could such a ridiculous…”
With Seiya completely dumbfounded, the three mascots exclaimed.
“Nice, Tiramie! You’re really good at stuff like this, fumo.”
“You once got arrested for breaking into Maple Bank, didn’t you? So that’s the skill of a Maple Land prison escapee, ron.”
“Heh, you flatter me!”
So this guy has a criminal record!?
Seiya had tons of questioning to do, but his attention was diverted to the long passageway that extended deep into the cave. The passage had a slight bend and continued into the darkness.
“It’s an underground labyrinth, ron! The rumors were true!!”
Part 5
“Kanie-kun. I…hope you didn’t believe what Moffle and the rest said yesterday…” Isuzu asked Seiya the following day while they were traversing a footpath in the 2nd park.
It was slightly past noon. The mild sunlight of spring and the chirping of birds made this the perfect picnic area for those who strolled into the woods.
“Not exactly…but the money was real, wasn’t it?”
“You’re right. I am no connoisseur, but even I know that was legal tender.”
“I highly doubt the existence of such a treasure box, but I’m certainly concerned about the existence of these coins. The thought of having an M.I.A. cast member disturbs me too, so I’d like to at the very least check that cave out.”
Isuzu stared at Seiya from the side intently, as if trying to discover his true motives. There were also traces of anticipation in her eyes.
“Hey, quit staring at me.”
“This isn’t the first time you’ve used vague reasons to come to the park, the previous one being a ‘preliminary check on the stadium’.”
“Don’t get your hopes too high. We’re not going to be able to reverse our situation with a trip to a cave.”
“…I know.”
“And right after that, we’ll check the whole park. We won’t succeed in our negotiations if there are problems with it, after all. We ought to confirm its state before the meeting later.”
Seiya and Isuzu had an important business meeting to attend at 4 today. The meeting was kept in absolute secrecy, so very few staff members were aware of it, including Ashe. Even then, Ashe was only told about this a day before the meeting. Seiya had taken more than 2 weeks off from school in order to make rounds checking every inch of the 2nd park and to prepare for the meeting.
“You think they’ll really accept this?”
“We can never be too careful. Who knows, there might be a fatal problem here that we’ve yet to discover. You might want to focus on our work instead of questioning me.”
“…Understood.”
With that, the two continued their walk through the woods without saying anything further.
Seiya was wearing a pair of jeans and a thick shirt, coupled with some hiking shoes and work gloves. He had changed into this rugged outfit before coming here, given that they might be stepping into mud and encountering obstacles. Likewise, Isuzu wore a safari shirt, some hot pants and jungle boots. They certainly looked like they were visiting something far more treacherous than a park, perhaps an unexplored territory in Africa or South America.
Throughout the journey, Seiya could not set his mind at ease. After all, he was together with Isuzu deep in an uninhabited forest.
Putting the awkward interview drama aside, the fact that Isuzu’s hot pants had let Seiya notice her beautiful thighs did not help either. He had originally said he was going alone, but Isuzu insisted they go together because she was his secretary.
“Say, Sento…”
“Yes?”
“Could it be that…”
Could it be that you actually wanted to go with me, just the two of us?
Seiya visualized himself asking that in various ways. With a straight face? In a teasing manner? Or maybe in a ‘what do you think tomorrow’s weather will be?’ tone? Nonetheless, he could not imagine himself doing any of those properly.
“…Never mind, forget I said anything.”
“I see. Would you mind not talking to me if you have nothing to say?”
This. I don’t even…
“We should be reaching our destination soon. …There it is.”
The 2nd Park may have been huge, but ultimately it was just a segment of the theme park. They arrived at their destination in less than 10 minutes.
There was a small opening by the slope, concealed by some trees. The entrance to that opening was fenced, with a discolored signboard reading “Do Not Enter. Authorized Personnel Only.”
“I see it…but wait…”
They could see some figures crouching in front of the fence.
“You’re late, fumo.”
“We’ve been waiting for centuries, ron.”
“Hurry up and let’s get going, mi!”
‘The Three Mascoteers’ spoke in lethargy. Cigarette butts, empty PET bottles and convenience store packaging was littered around them.
Such terrible manners. They’d better clean this up later.
“I’m pretty sure we’re open as per usual today, so why are these punks over here? I don’t remember giving them permission to loaf around.”
The three of them scowled.
“Says the acting manager who came ‘without a reason’, fumo.”
“We’re really busy too! But we didn’t have a choice since Isuzu-chan requested this…”
“We’re here to help you, mi!”
Seiya tore his gaze from them and looked at Isuzu.
“Sento. What’s the meaning of this?”
“You know what happened to Dornel, don’t you? On the off-chance that we do get trapped in that labyrinth, a couple of guards could come in handy. We can’t risk you losing your life, after all,” Isuzu answered in earnest.
“Like I said, I didn’t come here to go treasure-hunting. I’m just concerned about this cave and came to check on it. Okay, think about it, let’s assume we actually do get into danger. Guards? Them? These guys can’t even save their own lives.”
Hearing that, the three retorted.
“Hey, that’s mean, mi!”
“Ignore him that’s what all the young and naive kids say, ron.”
“I’m Cus D’Amato’s last disciple[1]. What are you, Seiya? An idiot?”
Seiya shrugged, waving his hands saying “Okay, whatever, suit yourselves.”
“It’s just a random cave, but if you really wanna tag along then do whatever you want. You guys have wasted enough time already.”
Seiya was mentally prepared to just take a quick look around the empty cave and end the exploration with nothing found. Then, he’d spend the journey back lecturing these busybodies.
“Let’s go. Open it up for me, would you?”
Isuzu nodded, and inserted a key into the padlock, unlocking it. She pushed the creaking gate open and the five of them walked in.
“Seriously…? I’m just doing a preliminary inspection and I need 4 escorts?”
They confirmed that the opening in the slope was indeed a cave with an entrance that was cleanly wrapped by tall grass growing around it. The cave’s entrance extended for about 10 meters, but ended with a dead end.
“There you have it, nothing in here.”
Moffle and gang whipped out their pocket flashlights and began to inspect the walls. “It really looks like some sort of air-raid shelter. Maybe the missing members got burnt to death? Or maybe the lack of oxygen caused them to faint or hallucinate…?”
“There’s a hidden switch, mi.” Tiramie said.
“What?”
“Look at this pebble, see?”
There was a small 100 yen sized pebble buried in the rocks. Tiramie placed his ears on the wall and tried to move it.
“I see…it’s camouflaged, mi. This is the switch and that’s the lever. If I follow the sequence: up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A…”
“Only people in their 30s will understand that joke, ron.”
“I-It opened, mi!”
With a sudden loud roar, the wall began to slide open. It was, in fact, a hidden door.
“How could such a ridiculous…”
With Seiya completely dumbfounded, the three mascots exclaimed.
“Nice, Tiramie! You’re really good at stuff like this, fumo.”
“You once got arrested for breaking into Maple Bank, didn’t you? So that’s the skill of a Maple Land prison escapee, ron.”
“Heh, you flatter me!”
So this guy has a criminal record!?
Seiya had tons of questioning to do, but his attention was diverted to the long passageway that extended deep into the cave. The passage had a slight bend and continued into the darkness.
“It’s an underground labyrinth, ron! The rumors were true!!”
