by Shouji Gatou
“That much we know for certain, fumo, because Macaron and I were at the drinking party where it happened. But, well... we’d been wanting to practice for the parade the next day, so we opted not to join them, fumo. Thinking back now... we really should have stopped them,” Moffle intoned, solemnly.
“So, what happened then?” Seiya wanted to know.
“Dornell never came back, ron,” Macaron said, with pain in his eyes.
Apparently the two mascots who had gone in with Dornell had been found two days later in a corner of the second park, half dead. They were battered, covered in mud, and so exhausted they could barely communicate.
After they recovered, they both testified that they had come across a huge labyrinth in the cave. They had entered, still drunk, then gotten lost in the darkness. Unable to find an exit, they had pressed forward and run into all kinds of strange traps and monsters.
They spent a whole day running around, half-crazed and sipping from puddles to satisfy their thirst, before coming to the labyrinth’s deepest floor. There, they saw a dazzling hoard of treasure protected by a great dragon with glaring eyes and hot, fiery breath.
“A dragon?” Seiya asked skeptically.
“Yes, a dragon. Scales and all.”
“More tall tales...” Seiya knitted his brow in clear disbelief.
Moffle scowled in response. “I don’t exactly believe it myself, fumo... That’s just what the two who made it back said.”
“And?”
“They said Dornell was captured by the dragon and swallowed whole, fumo. The other two fled for their lives, spent a whole ’nother day wandering in the labyrinth... and finally made it to the surface, fumo.”
The park employees had immediately formed a rescue party to search for the missing Dornell. They headed for the cave in question, but they’d only gone a few meters in before they ran into a dead end.
“Now, it was an old cave to be sure, but there was no sign of a cave-in. The tunnel just reached a natural end in the mountainside. They searched all around, but they couldn’t find the way back to the labyrinth, fumo.”
“Nobody ever found out what happened to Dornell. And that brings us to today, ron.”
That was the whole story.
“...Um, so let me get this straight: a pair of drunkards told you some wild narrative about buried treasure? That’s why you subjected me to that shaggy dog story?” Seiya’s head was starting to hurt.
“I can see why you’d think that, fumo. But—”
“Mii. I brought it, just like you asked, mii!” Tiramii had left his seat earlier after a quiet word from Macaron, but he now barged into the conference room again, panting for breath. He was carrying a small wooden box, old and darkened from age.
“What’s that?” Seiya asked.
“We’d been keeping it in the company museum, fumo. That’s a place for various trophies and pictures picked up over the park’s 30 year history. None of it’s worth anything, of course... except for this. It’s from the ‘Dornell’s cave’ incident...”
Moffle took the box and opened it. “One of the two who came back alive was gripping this coin when he was rescued, fumo.” Inside the box was a large gold coin. It was a little bit larger than a 500 yen coin, stamped with a design Seiya had never seen before, and words in a language he didn’t recognize.
“It’s from one of the magical realms, the Schubert Empire, ron. It’s a commemorative coin from about 100 years ago, and it’s worth the equivalent of 100,000 Japanese yen..”
“Wow...” Seiya picked it up with a handkerchief and scrutinized it closely. Meanwhile, Tiramii cried out in surprise at the mention of its value.
“100,000 yen?! Why didn’t you tell mii?! I’d have run off with it if I’d known!”
“And that’s why we didn’t tell you, fumo. Now, Seiya, put it back.”
“Hrm...”
Moffle took the coin from Seiya, then put it carefully back in the box and closed the lid.
“He said there was a whole mountain of gold coins like this, ron... so if the story is true, the whole treasure could be worth billions. That would clear up the park’s money troubles, wouldn’t it?”
“If it’s true. Of course, none of us knows for sure, fumo...”
That was the end of the talk about the treasure, and the conference was concluded soon after without any clear plan for taking care of their financial difficulties.
The next day, while walking the path to the second park, Isuzu addressed Seiya: “Kanie-kun. ...You didn’t really believe that story, did you?” It was just after noon. The spring sun was bright, and songbirds chirped in the trees around them. They strolled down the path as leisurely as if they were out on a picnic.
“I wouldn’t say I believed it... but that coin was real,” he admitted. “That much we know, right?”
“That’s true. I’m not an appraiser, but the writing inscribed on it was convincing.”
“I don’t believe there’s a real treasure, of course... but I am curious about that coin. And the story of a cast member going missing is upsetting... at any rate, I feel like I should have a look at this cave of theirs.”
Just then, Isuzu turned to peer into Seiya’s face. It was a strange gaze, partly scrutinizing, partly hopeful.
“What are you staring at?” he asked.
“...Nothing,” she said. “I remember another time when you came to the second park for a similarly vague reason... to see the stadium.”
“Leave me alone. I’m not after another miraculous turnaround like that.”
“Well... I know that.”
“My concerns are mostly about the second park itself,” he said sternly. “Any problems could complicate what should be a done deal. That’s why I need to check it out before today’s meeting.”
Seiya had an important negotiation coming up at 4:00. It was top secret; aside from Isuzu, only Ashe and a few others knew about it—and he’d only told Ashe about it yesterday. To put this deal together, Seiya had spent more than two weeks taking off from school and running all around the city.
“Do you really think it will go through?” Isuzu asked him.
“It should be rock solid... The only thing that could tank it would be a major flaw in the area itself,” Seiya confirmed. “That’s my only concern here. Now, stop prying where it isn’t necessary.”
“...Very well.” She promptly fell silent, and the two continued walking down the forest path.
Seiya was wearing jeans, a thick shirt, work gloves, and hiking shoes. They were all things he didn’t mind getting dirty, just in case he might need to dig up soil or go crawling through narrow spaces. Meanwhile, Isuzu was wearing a safari shirt, hot pants, and sturdy jungle boots. She had a large backpack on, too; all-in-all, she looked more like she was on an expedition in some secluded South American or African region than scouting a commercial property.
Then, perhaps because he was alone in the forest with Isuzu, Seiya was feeling a little agitated. Things were still murky after the events around the interviews the other day, and he couldn’t stop noticing the beautiful lines of her legs which were revealed by her hot pants. He’d originally said, “I’ll go alone,” but she’d replied, “I’ll accompany you, as your secretary,” and ended up tagging along. He still couldn’t understand what she was after.
“Hey, Sento.”
“Yes?”
“Were you...” Were you looking for a chance to be alone with me? Seiya wondered. Should he ask it with a straight face? Like it was a joke? Like he was asking about tomorrow’s weather? He ran various simulations in his mind, but none of them seemed workable. “...No, never mind.”
“I see,” she replied. “If you don’t need anything, could you not talk to me?”
Then there was this. Even more inscrutable.
“We should almost be there,” Isuzu announced. “...There it is.”
They had covered a lot of ground, but then, they were on the grounds of an amusement park. It had taken them a
bout ten minutes to arrive at their destination.
Tucked into the ground, between the tree-covered hills, sat a hollow of sorts. An old fence had been erected in front of the hollow. A faded sign pinned to it read “Authorized Personnel Only.”
“Is that it?” Seiya asked. “But, wait...”
Three familiar mascots were crouched in front of the fence.
“Took you long enough, fumo.”
“We’ve been waiting all day, ron.”
“Let’s get a move on, mii.”
Moffle, Macaron, and Tiramii. The usual AmaBri triumvirate spoke up with utmost indignation. There were cigarette butts at their feet; empty plastic bottles and convenience store lunch boxes littered the ground around them. Utterly delinquent behavior—he’d have to make them clean it up later.
“What are you doing here?” Seiya demanded. “Today’s a standard business day. I don’t remember giving you permission to loaf around.”
The three scowled immediately in response.
“Listen to him, fumo. The great acting manager!”
“It’s not like we didn’t have better things to do, ron. But Isuzu-chan asked us...”
“...So we came here to help out, mii. We’re gonna pitch in on the search, mii.”
Seiya glared at Isuzu. “Sento. Would you please explain this?”
“It’s just a precaution. You heard what happened to Dornell, didn’t you? What if we take a wrong turn and get lost in some strange labyrinth? We’ll need support. We can’t afford to lose you, you know,” Isuzu said, her tone earnest.
“Look... you know I didn’t actually come here looking for treasure. I just don’t want any questionable places in the second park going unreported, so I wanted to scout it out. Besides, even if we do run into trouble, you expect them to be support? These guys? They’re as unreliable as you can get. They’re basically parasites.”
All three scowled at this outspoken criticism.
“That’s horrible, mii!”
“The impudence of youth, ron...”
“Well, well. So you still don’t acknowledge my skills as the last student of Cus D’Amato and a former member of Maple Land’s strike recon squad... Seiya, you really are stupid, fumo.”
The three each spoke in turn.
Annoyed, Seiya just waved his hand as if to say Fine, whatever. “We’re on a strict timetable,” he lectured them sternly. “...It just looks like a little dip in the hillside, anyway. So stop hanging around like rubberneckers and let’s go.”
They’d investigate the little cave, find nothing, and be done with it. Then, he’d give the disappointed group a long lecture on the way back to the park. The future seemed to unfold before Seiya’s eyes. “Come on, let’s go. Just open it.”
Isuzu nodded and brought out the key to the heavy padlock on the fence.
After pushing the creaking gate open, the five of them—Seiya, Isuzu, Moffle, Macaron, and Tiramii—proceeded into the hollow.
“For the love of...” Seiya commented acerbically. “This is going to take five minutes. Why do we need all these people?”
There was, indeed, a cave there. Its entrance was hidden by the tall, wild grass. It led them into a tunnel, which extended inwardly for about ten meters before hitting a dead end.
“Okay, see?” he continued. “There’s nothing here. Clearly, it’s just an air raid shelter. Maybe the missing people tried to start a fire here. Maybe they collapsed from oxygen deprivation, or started hallucinating—”
Flashlights in hand, Moffle and the others began searching the walls.
“There’s a hidden switch, mii!” Tiramii declared.
“Uh?” Seiya blinked.
“This little rock,” Tiramii explained. “See?”
Indeed, there was a round stone about the size of a 100 yen coin embedded in the rock wall. Tiramii put his ear to the wall, then carefully moved the stone. “Hmm... it’s camouflaged, but there’s definitely a button and a lever, mii. Let’s try up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A.”
“Only people over thirty will get that joke, ron.”
“Ah, I got it, mii!”
Immediately, the dead end wall let out a rumble and began to slide open: it was a hidden door.
“This is ridiculous!” Seiya said, dumbfounded, as the three mascots squealed with glee.
“That’s the Tiramii I know. You really know what you’re doing, fumo.”
“Let’s hear it for the man who got thrown into prison for cracking the Maple Bank safe, ron!”
“Hee hee... I’m blushing, mii.”
What the hell? He has a record? Seiya thought. He would have liked to dig deeper into this topic, but at the moment, he was more distracted by the long passage extending on past the hidden doorway. The corridor ahead curved slightly as it disappeared into darkness.
“It’s an underground maze, ron! The legends were true!”
This had gotten complicated. Was it possible that the story surrounding Dornell’s disappearance wasn’t a complete flight of fancy? Even if he ignored the possibility of a real treasure existing, he couldn’t just turn back now, pretending like this passage didn’t exist.
We might as well check it out... was the shared opinion of the group, so they cautiously proceeded into the passageway. It was pitch black, but they all had flashlights, which served well for illumination.
“Strange,” Isuzu whispered as she knelt down in the center of the passage.
“What is?” Seiya asked.
“There’s practically no dust accumulated here. Every nook and cranny is spotless. It’s impossible that no one has been here in ten years.”
“Hmm...” Seiya’s thoughts were interrupted by a sudden rumbling behind them. They turned in time to see the door closing.
“......!”
Tiramii was closest to the door. He sprung at it, but he was too late. The exit was sealed off by a thick rock wall. “We’re trapped, mii!”
“What the hell!” Seiya fumed. “We’ve lost our way out!”
“Well, it’s a common trope in horror and adventure movies, ron. Though I hope this is the latter and not the former...”
“Mm. If it’s a horror movie, we’ll be dropping like flies, fumo.”
“You sound awfully calm about all this,” Seiya noted. “...Hey, Tiramii! Can you get that door open?!”
Tiramii searched for another hidden switch, but it seemed he couldn’t find one this time. “Hmm. No can do, mii. It must be a one-way thing.”
“Grrr...” I should have left one of them waiting outside, Seiya thought. Now, they couldn’t call for help. If they weren’t careful, they would end up just like Dornell’s party.
“Well, it appears we don’t have a choice. Let’s proceed,” Isuzu said, pulling out her usual musket. Seiya would have liked to ask why it was mounted with a Picatinny rail running a tactical light parallel to the barrel, but since it was hardly the time for him to comment on his companions’ personal belongings, he just followed along without a word.
After proceeding for a time through the dark passageway, they came to a large hall: it was about the size of a school classroom, with a ceiling two stories up.
“A dead end?” Seiya wondered.
“No, look closer. There’s a large door there, fumo.”
He hadn’t noticed it in the dark, but there was indeed a large stone door ahead. It was decorated with sinister motifs and unfamiliar writing, and at the center was an engraving of a face reminiscent of an oni or a devil.
“I’ve never seen this style before...” Seiya commented.
“It resembles ruins I’ve seen in the Schubert Empire,” Isuzu replied. “I believe the engraving in the center is one of their gods.”
The Schubert Empire was one of the magical realms, different from the one that Isuzu and Moffle called home. Seiya had heard it was the parent entity of Cosmic Studios in Osaka.
“Schubert... I recognize the name, at least,” he said. “Are they evil, or something?”
With a name like that, it was hard not to imagine them as some kind of isekai novel dictatorship.
“Nah, they’re just like anyone. They’ve got an over-the-top design sensibility, but that’s all, fumo. Their main industries are forestry and farming, and they make a mean maitake mushroom tempura.”
“...They call themselves an empire, and that’s what they’re best known for?” Seiya objected incredulously. “They might as well be the Yuzawa Hot Springs.”
“We won’t be able to proceed until we open this door,” Isuzu observed. “There must be a hidden switch somewhere...”
Isuzu had just taken a few steps forward, when suddenly, laughter began to echo throughout the hall. It was a muffled, ominous sound that seemed to reverberate upwards from the ground—a mocking laugh that could chill the blood of anyone who heard it.
“Wh-What the...?!”
“I’m scared, mii! I’m scared, mii!”
“I’m terrified, ron... it’s almost like... almost like an Alien Baltan!”
“Enough,”Seiya said.
Before the terrified group, the fierce eyes of the demonic door flashed with white light. 《I am the Guardian of the Door!》 the door boomed, its voice rich with gravitas. 《I now address the adventurers who, foolishly, challenge our labyrinth! Peril awaits you beyond this door! If you fear not my wrath, nor a catastrophic end... then stand you before these stone coffins!》
Just then, sections of the flagstone began to pull back, and seven stone coffins rose up in front of the door.
“Frikkin’ sweet, mii! Listen to that rumble!”
“Retractable, eh? That’s stylish presentation, fumo.”
“I want a rig like that, ron.”
“How can you all be so calm about all this?” Seiya demanded.
Each of the coffins had a different symbol engraved on it, representing, from right to left: “Fire,” “Wind,” “Metal,” “Earth,” “Flowers,” “Water,” and “Lightning.”