Amagi Brilliant Park: Volume 2 (Premium)

by Shouji Gatou

  As I write this, it is March. I have enjoyed myself greatly this year. One year ago, I was so uncertain as to how to conduct myself in front of the others. It was very hard on me. Now, though, things are different. I love everybody in this park.

  The person I am now will soon have to say goodbye to them all. But I will not be discouraged. I wish to try over and over again, and continue to love them all the same.

  To you who are receiving this letter, do you love everyone? Do you love this world? It feels strange to say it, but I hope that you will continue to live your life to its fullest.

  You need not worry. Because... you are me.

  Isuzu finished reading the letter, leaving the rustling of greenery the only sound left in the garden.

  “Ah... are you okay?” Seiya asked.

  In a voice that was almost too low to hear, Latifah answered: “...It’s not fair.”

  “......” Seiya waited for her to elaborate.

  “She is me, yet she is so much stronger than I am. I...” She turned away from Seiya and Isuzu to sag against the terrace railing, trembling. “Will I... ever be this way? Lingering as I do, here in this terrifying darkness—will I ever be able to encourage myself, as she did?”

  Isuzu didn’t seem to know what to say. She just watched Latifah from behind, with sorrow in her eyes.

  “Hey, Latifah...” Seiya took a step forward. “Which do you prefer. Harsh words or kind words?”

  “Ah... harsh words... no, kind words, if you please. I am sorry. I cannot handle... harsh words... right now.”

  “I’ll try to say it kindly, then,” he told her. “You will. Of course you will.”

  She tilted her head in confusion at his brief statement. “Is that all?”

  “Yes,” he said shortly.

  “...What would the harsh words have been, may I ask?” Latifah asked, curious.

  “‘Of course you will. Quit worrying about the obvious, dummy.’”

  “Is that all?”

  “That’s all.”

  She stood there quietly for a few more seconds, then giggled. “You are a terribly funny person, Kanie-sama.”

  “Am I?”

  “But you must never speak to your girlfriend that way,” she teased. “It lacks sensitivity.”

  “Hmm... well, sorry.” He didn’t have a girlfriend, of course. Or—wait, was she trying to imply something else with that phrasing?

  Isuzu stared at them, her gaze silent and unreadable. Unsure of how to react, exactly, Seiya just responded with a shrug.

  “I feel a little bit better. Kanie-sama, thank you very much.” Latifah said, after a little stretch.

  There did seem to be a bit more cheer in her voice than before.

  April Activity Report 1 (Moffle)

  Moffle had said he was doing some attraction renovations, so Seiya swung by to see how the work was coming along.

  The attraction was, naturally, Moffle’s House of Sweets. It was a game where you fired water pistol-shaped laser pointers at naughty mice, competing for points. Guests who got a good score would earn prizes or a picture with Moffle.

  It was one of the more popular of the park’s many mediocre attractions.

  “...Anyway, this House of Sweets was built over ten years ago,” Moffle said to Seiya as the two met up. He was wearing work clothes and a safety helmet, a well-stocked toolbelt hanging around his waist.

  Behind him, Wrenchy-kun and some of the other backstage staff were hard at work, pushing the remodel forward. Adachi Eiko-san, whom they had ended up hiring, was also present, running here and there to help out. Seiya still didn’t know her stage name; Isuzu seemed to know something, but whatever it was, she was keeping it to herself.

  “It’s the concept that needs modernizing, fumo. Ah, you know what I mean. This whole ‘beat up the naughty rats!’ concept aimed at good boys and girls... it doesn’t appeal to the new generation, fumo.”

  “Hmm...” said Seiya. “All right, so what’s the revamp? I should warn you, we’re still on a budget...”

  Selling the second park had secured them a bare minimum of funding, but they still weren’t completely out of the water. He couldn’t approve a total renovation of an attraction that easily.

  “Ah, I know, fumo. I’m not changing the underlying structure. People have always liked the gaming elements of the House of Sweets, so I’m just making some minor changes to enhance that, fumo.”

  “Oh?”

  “First, I’m replacing those water pistols the guests use, fumo. Here’s the new prototype.” Moffle handed him the new laser pointer.

  Instead of a cheap water gun, it felt like an actual pistol; it was heavy and blocky, with a shiny black metal finish. The well detailed slide portion was inscribed with the words, “SIG SAUER.”

  “What is this?” Seiya asked.

  “A P226. Used as many metal parts as I could get, fumo. It’s got an electrically operated slide that moves back and forth, and if you look into the ejection port, you can really see the feed ramp! The battery’s in the magazine—press down on the snap to remove it—and the decocker’s the on-off switch. It’s all there to enhance the mood, fumo.”

  Seiya’s eyes had glazed over during the long string of jargon.

  “If the guests rack up enough points, they can earn even more powerful weapons. Shotguns, sub-machine guns, assault rifles... For 10,000 points, you can even use a Gatling gun, fumo!”

  Moffle proudly lined up his prototype weapons, and each let out a substantial thunk as he set it down. They all seemed sturdy and intimidating.

  Seiya noted a variety of long, narrow items and a device about the size of a rugby ball. “What are these?” he asked.

  “Anti-tank missiles, fumo. And this one’s a sniper rifle. It can take out enemies even a kilometer away, fumo.”

  “And this?”

  “A neutron bomb,” Moffle answered him. “For suicide runs.”

  What exactly is he putting the guests up against? Seiya wondered. “...These don’t look like they’re for punishing naughty mice.”

  “Well, of course not! I modified the enemies too, fumo.”

  Moffle led Seiya further into the House of Sweets, into the kitchen room where the mice would appear. The last time Seiya had come, it had been a whimsical world of pots, pans, and fruit baskets, from which mischievous but adorable mice would poke out their heads and squeak teasingly.

  Now, it was in ruins.

  The appliances were wrecked and blackened with char. All around them lay the bodies of dead soldiers, their dried blood staining the floor. A gloomy, unsettling BGM played from all around, mixed in with the distant sounds of gunshots and explosions. Now and then, a man’s dying scream rang out.

  “This is where the mice come out, fumo.” A naughty mouse animatronic appeared with a piercing squeal.

  “...?!” Seiya was taken aback.

  The mouse’s face was twisted with malice; its eyes were blazing and bloodshot. Its lips were curled back, revealing fangs from which dangled the remains of an unfortunate foe.

  《Filthy humans!》

  《Kill them all!》

  《We’ll cook you up at our leisure!》

  The animatronic mice taunted Seiya in their warped, distorted voices. They were like monsters straight from the depths of Hell.

  “See?” Moffle boasted. “Impressive, eh? And when you hit one with your laser pointer...” Moffle fired indiscriminately.

  《Ergh... kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!》

  The animatronic flew apart in an explosion of gore. Even for someone who knew that it was fake, it was still a disturbing sight.

  “That’s how they die, fumo. But the biggest change is coming up. If you take too long to shoot all the naughty mice...”

  《Vengeance for our fallen brothers! Diiiiiie!!》

  The animatronics began shooting some kind of liquid at them. Moffle quickly dodged, but Seiya took a surprise hit right to the face.

  A sharp pain and irritating odor assaulte
d Seiya’s nose. “Gwuh?!” he exclaimed. “My... my eyes!”

  As Seiya whipped around, clutching his face, Moffle swiftly dispatched the naughty rats. “...They’ll fight back with tear gas spray, fumo. The guns have transmitters in them, so they even know where to aim!”

  “My eyes!” Seiya wailed. “Gwaaaaaah!”

  “Their reaction speed is pretty fast too, fumo. Naturally, this’ll be too hard for kids and seniors, so I included difficulty settings. Typically you’ll have Casual, Normal, and Hardcore tiers, fumo. But...”

  “Raaagh!” Seiya cried. “My eyes... my eyes!”

  “...I’ve also prepared ‘Insane’ mode for brave customers that just don’t find Hardcore enough of a challenge, fumo. Visitors who beat it get to enter the hall of fame. You get a “Soldier’s Honor” medal with a diamond inside of it, and we put up a gold plate inscribed with your name, fumo.” Moffle went on and on delightedly about the details of his planned renovation, ignoring Seiya’s screams of agony.

  April Activity Report 2 (Macaron)

  Before opening that day, Seiya went to check in on Macaron’s attraction. He’d never actually been to Macaron’s Music Theater before—it was constantly closed, which made it hard for it to do real business. That was going to be a real problem, of course, so he’d ordered Macaron not to take days off without permission anymore. The sheep mascot had grudgingly run his attraction ever since.

  The general flow of Macaron’s Music Theater had guests board a large, 20-person gondola. It would travel between small rooms representing countries across the world, allowing guests to enjoy music associated with those countries.

  This announcement played at the start: “Welcome to the boat of music, the Mezzo Porte! We’re going to share with you melodies from all over the world! Hold on tight, okay?”

  In the room styled to look like Vienna, guests would enjoy the stirring sounds of Mozart; in the Istanbul room, they’d enjoy exotic flutes; in the Congo room, they’d enjoy passionate drumming. In Venice they’d enjoy Mendelssohn’s Boat Song; in Las Vegas, old rock classics; in Bali, a Gamelan ensemble would be playing. It was that sort of thing, introducing the audience to various musical styles.

  Then in a final, fairy tale room, Macaron would appear and show off his magnificent flute skills. At least, that’s the way it had been.

  “...But I don’t care about the flute at all, ron!” Macaron shouted, breaking in half a sort of fife whose name Seiya didn’t know offhand.

  There were renovations being made here, too, so they were surrounded by staff—including part-time workers—running around busily. Chujo Shiina, the childish-looking high school student whom they’d ended up hiring, was dashing about here and there, helping Macaron out. Seiya still didn’t know much about her, but as long as she wasn’t causing trouble, he had no issue with her.

  “Why do I have to teach those kids about Mozart’s The Magic Flute, ron?” the mascot raged. “He was great, sure, but he was a perv! You can’t really understand him unless you learn about his poop songs first, ron!”

  “Er... I understand what you’re saying, but is this park really the place for that?” Seiya gave a careful answer to the argumentative Macaron, whom he had met up with backstage.

  “It should be! Even that God of Manga ate sushi off naked women during planning meetings! Art is vulgar and base, that’s what makes it liberating!”

  “I recognize your position on art,” Seiya said delicately, “but what, exactly, is this particular attraction?”

  Seiya and Macaron were currently in the first room the gondola visited. Normally this would be Vienna, resonating with a buoyant sonatina, but now it looked like a grimy American suburb. Some large men loitered on the porch, looking bored; they seemed to be drug dealers pushing cocaine. The sound of police sirens echoed faintly in the distance.

  The music that was playing was bass-blaring gangsta rap. Kill the police! Go to hell, GOP! Show me respect or you meet my AK! went the lyrics. I’m cool and I’ll rule! Take control!

  “It’s world music, ron!” Macaron argued persuasively. “It’s not off-topic, ron!”

  “That doesn’t mean you should do it!” Seiya objected. “And what’s with those bodybuilders? They’re glaring at me.”

  “They’re probably admiring your ass, Kanie-kun,” the mascot explained.

  “What?!”

  “Just kidding. They’re Mogutes, ron. “Go on,” Macaron called out his instructions, “take them off! You’re scaring the acting manager.”

  The men squirmed around a bit, then opened up, revealing a set of Mogutes a layer down. Seiya didn’t know if they were employing body suits or what, but the illusion was genuinely impressive.

  “Macaron-san,” they asked, “is it okay for us to just hang around like this, mog?”

  “Yeah. But if you see any hot babes among the guests, it’s okay to leer and do some catcalling, ron.”

  “No, it’s not!” Seiya objected.

  “You studied the F-bomb, remember?” Macaron continued. “Make liberal use of that one. I wanna hear all kinds of fucks and bitches, ron!”

  “I told you, no!” Seiya insisted.

  April Activity Report 3 (Tiramii)

  Seiya was grappling with a pile of documents in his bare-bones office when the old-fashioned phone on his desk suddenly rang. “Yes? Acting manager here,” he answered, annoyed.

  It was from the part-time greeter in the front plaza. “Emergency, Kanie-san! A cast member was stabbed!”

  Give me a break! Seiya thought. He wanted to cry, but he stopped himself.

  The person on the other end of the line was Bando Biino, whom he’d ended up hiring after she’d recovered and gotten out of the hospital. She was currently learning guest control by acting as a guide in the front plaza.

  “Wait a minute,” he said. “Calm down, then explain. Someone got stabbed? Who, and by whom?”

  “Um... a guest did the stabbing,” Bando told him. “They pulled out a Damascus steel knife and just swung it as hard as they could. It was so sudden, no one could stop them...”

  “Who got stabbed?” Seiya asked patiently.

  “Um, what was his name... the Pomeranian mascot, T... Ti... Tiramii-san!”

  “Got it. I’m on my way.” He slammed down the receiver and flew out of the office.

  When he reached the front plaza, he found that things had already resolved. Several cast members were restraining a woman in her thirties, and a bloody knife lay on the ground a little ways away.

  Tiramii was lying about five meters beyond, clutching his stomach. “Mii, mii...”

  “H-Hey. Are you okay?” Seiya asked.

  “No, mii,” the mascot groaned. “I’m dying, mii...”

  How many times had he seen Tiramii collapsed and bleeding now? Most people would never think to use “Fairy of Flowers” and “carnage” in the same sentence, and yet...

  “Kanie-san! I’m so sorry that this happened... Even though I was here...” Biino clung to him, in tears.

  Are you sure it wasn’t your presence that caused it? he wondered. What kind of theme park sees two people stabbed in such close succession? All he could think was that this Bando Biino girl was under some kind of curse.

  “...Anyway, I don’t get it,” Seiya commented. “Who’s the culprit? Another of your relatives?”

  “N-No, I don’t know her...” Biino continued to dither around while the culprit strained against her holders and started shouting.

  “I taught him a lesson!” the woman with disheveled black hair yelled. “All those flattering lies... ‘you’re the only one for mii!’ You promised we’d be married! But you said that to all your women, didn’t you? You mongrel!”

  “I’d n-never say that, mii...” Tiramii whispered, still bleeding profusely. “Marriage is the one thing I don’t want, mii... Besides I don’t remember any of this. Just who are you, mii?”

  “You don’t remember the hundreds of times we met in our dreams?!” asked the woman, sco
rnfully. “You were always so kind. That’s why I gave you all those presents! And this is how you repay me?!”

  “I really don’t know what you’re talking about, mii...”

  “You liar! I know you! Every morning I dress up and call out ‘good morning,’ but you just stand there in that picture frame and you never respond!” she fumed. “It’s cruel. It’s wrong! You need to pay! I need to kill you!”

  “Mii...”

  “...Take her away.” At Seiya’s order, the woman was led away.

  Tiramii was still in a ball on the ground, but the wound didn’t look fatal. Seiya ignored the panicking Biino and addressed him. “I think I see what’s going on here. But let me ask you one thing: is what you said true? Is that woman just mentally ill?”

  “...Yes, it’s true. Mostly, mii.”

  “So there’s a bit of a lie in there?” Seiya asked skeptically.

  “Mii...”

  “Tell me,” he ordered.

  “...Sorry. I did puff her once, mii...” Tiramii stuck his tongue out cutely from the middle of his pool of blood.

  “I’m cutting your salary,” Seiya sighed. “Also, you can lie there and die.”

  April Activity Report 4 (Isuzu)

  There had been a bit of chaos that was beyond their control, but the cast still seemed to be working hard. They’d earned a stay of execution for a year, and some time to breathe easy, too.

  Isuzu was enjoying their newfound breathing room. She hadn’t felt any more of the annoyance or despair that had possessed her back in March, and she wasn’t letting the foolishness of Moffle and the others get to her nearly as badly.

  Is it just about time...? she wondered. It was 9:52 p.m. Isuzu stood in the entry hall of the administration building, checking the time. Ah, there he is.

  Kanie Seiya got off the elevator and started walking towards the entrance, where she was standing. He was already in his civilian clothing, with a fashionable bag dangling from his shoulder.

  “...Hey. I thought you’d already gone home,” Seiya said as he noticed Isuzu.