“If you understand, then hurry up and go! We only have so much time, so hurry up and go play while we can!”
It was curious if Frire was scolding them or urging them to play, but regardless, there was a gentleness to her voice despite the angry face she wore.
Shinichi and Myuhi noticed that, but they didn’t mention it and just said ‘okaaay’ and chuckled.
Though they were the last students to pass through the gate, the moment they did, they became residents of wonderland as well.
Shinichi may be a returnee from a world of fantasy, but there was a difference in the charm and worth of the real and the fake.
Perhaps that’s why he showed a twinkling in his eyes befitting his age, nay, perhaps even younger.
Welcoming them was a brilliant performance by the costumed staff.
And all the buildings and structures were made to entertain, none of the sort that could be found in the real world.
It was this sort of vibrant scenery brought to life from imagination that charmed people so.
Myuhi and Shinichi were still by the gate, yet the happiness and passion in the air was already enough to make Shinichi’s cheeks loosen.
Among the crowd were some more excited than the rest. They were likely students of the academy.
Their excited faces put a smile on Shinichi, and oh, what a gentle a smile it was.
Myuhi found such a smile ill fit his age, but it was so warm an expression that even she found her own cheeks loosening, and before she knew it, all of her attention was on him.
“Fu fu, just how old are you really? It’d be one thing if you made a fatherly expression, but sometimes you even look like you’re looking at your grandchildren.”
Myuhi walked alongside him and laughed as she pointed that out.
Understandably, Shinichi made a glum face and groaned.
“Unu… G-Grandpa? At least say I’m the ‘big brother’ or something.”
“But you’re the youngest one here!”
Myuhi laughed as she reminded him of that little tidbit and then walked beside him to enjoy his glum face.
Alas, he was indeed the youngest, so there was no way for him to refute her.
“…Hmm?”
And then Myuhi realized something strange, they have been walking for awhile now, and yet Shinichi never once left her eyes.
Myuhi had a short stature even for a woman, so her steps were much smaller compared to others, and yet, despite not taking bigger steps or walking faster, her steps were almost identical with Shinichi’s.
Curious, she looked down at his feet, and lo and behold, his feet were moving to match hers.
Her eyes twinkled.
Now that she thought back to it, this was the case back then at Tokyo Tower too.
Realization dawned on her, and without intending to, Myuhi found herself scratching her cheeks.
At the same time, her tail started swaying wildly, her ears innocently rising and falling.
That did not escape Youko’s eyes; hence, she quietly and suggestively smiled from atop Shinichi’s head.
“…You know, when you do something like that and not say anything, it’s really unfair.”
“What are you talking about?”
And then there was that innocent look on his face, as though he hadn’t a clue what she was talking about. By this point, Myuhi could only sigh and think to herself that he must be a natural.
“I wonder… Just who was it that trained you, Icchi?”
Myuhi said, and with how intensely she was staring at Shinichi’s feet, it didn’t take much for him to put two and two together and wryly smile. As a nostalgic expression surfaced on him, Shinichi explained.
“Ah, you talking about this? Actually, I have some younger siblings. They used to trot along behind me, and I’d have to match my pace with theirs. Somewhere, someway, it just became second nature to me. At first, my parents scolded me telling me not to leave little kids behind,” Shinichi laughed. “It was probably after that that it became a habit.”
“Hmm… Well, alright. I’ll forgive you this time!”
“Why do you need to forgive me, though?”
As Myuhi’s doubts were cleared, she arrogantly decided to forgive Shinichi, only for the latter to throw a tsukkomi at her, asking what for.
And then, out of the blue, a familiar voice yelled in an unfamiliar manner.
“Kyaaa!! I am the wind!!”
“Huh?”
“What?”
They looked up, and above them was the Nyazda Tornado Mountain.
Known to be the representative thrill ride of this park, it is a roller coaster that goes in and out of a giant fake mountain. The length of its course and speed easily puts it at the top category of Japan’s roller coasters.
A classic for sure, yet despite that, the Nyazda Tornado Mountain was without a doubt one of the most popular attractions in Nyazdaland.
“Hyaaaaa!!!”
True to the ‘Tornado’ in its name, the track car of the ride spun atop the twisted rails as it went along its course, and Aristel screamed in delight while dexterously keeping her luxurious ringlet curls at bay.
The rides here may not be able to compare In speed and maneuverability to the exoskeletons that they were used to, but the wind pressure and centrifugal force that they could not feel with exoskeletons was a fresh experience that easily got them hooked.
Even the discontented group from earlier were screaming their hearts out in delight.
“…She’s having the time of her life.”
“It’s cause her position is so stressful. You saw earlier, right?”
Myuhi and Shinichi wryly smiled as they looked up at the rails.
That was less because of Aristel’s appearance and more because of her mental state that made her want to scream.
“As long as she knows how to let loose, it’s all good. But the people responsible for their master’s state of mind are the real problem here.”
While blending in with the crowd of the theme park, they turned to that very problem with an exhausted face.
Currently, those two head servants were standing somewhere they could see the queue for the attraction.
There was a floating screen with the ‘X’ symbol in front of their mouths.
From time to time, their mouths would move in a way that suggested they were saying something in displeasure, but no sound would come out.
That was a non-combat-skill used to restrict a person from talking. The people behind the creation of the skill didn’t have any specific purpose in mind when they made it and just did so because they could, but it’s a skill often used to silence noisy kids.
“What did they do this time?” Myuhi said.
“Wanna take a look?”
As Shinichi said that, he showed her his foster on which the area around them was being shown from a slightly higher vantage point.
There was a hidden surveillance camera disguised as an object here.
But Shinichi found it immediately and hacked it to show the video feed on his foster. It was a move sorely lacking in common sense, and Myuhi’s head would normally ache because of that, but this was Icchi, so she just dropped the matter and watched the video with him.
“…To think they were lacking this much common sense. Apparently, I underestimated them.”
“Good grief.”
Shinichi and Myuhi dropped their shoulders and sighed.
When they realized that they had still underestimated Aristel’s hardships, they couldn’t help but be sympathetic.
After all, when Aristel tried to line up for the Tornado Mountain, those two head servants of hers casually tried to get ahead of the queue, so Aristel had to apologize to everyone with a red face while scolding the two.
Apparently, they had no intention of acknowledging that this was Earth’s Japan.
Regardless of the place, they believed that Aristel should always be prioritized over everyone else and should be given preferential treatment. Aristel finally couldn’t take it and used a skill to make them quiet.
In other words, they weren’t waiting there for their master, they were being made to stand as punishment.
Shinichi didn’t know if it was just his imagination, but Aristel seemed desperate when she yelled at the two.
“…Hina, sorry, but…”
“Let me guess, you want to pull Ari-chan away from those servants of hers, am I right?”
Shinichi wanted Aristel to at least be free here, and as it turns out, Myuhi shared his sentiments.
“Tell her to play in her usual getup. I could tell her myself, but that could be a problem too.”
Shinichi didn’t mind being hated, but that hate might carry over to the Earthlings, and that would be problematic.
Unfortunately, with these servants of hers, such worries weren’t unfounded.
“Okay, Icchi. Where will you be going?”
“For the meantime, I’ll be going to the castle in the eastern area… There’s someone I can’t afford to run into.”
“You talking about Yoppi’s group, right?”
“Yeah, right now, they should be in───”
With the video on his terminal already changed, Shinichi read the name.
───Mummy Marie’s Living Dead House
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