“What are we even running for? Satsuki brought it up earlier, but you can’t run from the Magic of Omniscience, you know?”
With the Great Omniscient Magic, Satsuki could access any and all knowledge that had ever existed. Tracking us in real time would be a cinch for her. There was no escape.
“Don’t worry! I have a good idea.”
“A good idea?”
“All we have to do is go somewhere she can’t get to even if she knows about it,” Iris said, taking out a familiar-looking compact mirror from her uniform pocket.
“Is that... the device to summon your spaceship?”
“Yup!
With a wink, Iris pressed a button on it. Instantly, her summoned spaceship was overhead. Initiate abduction procedures as usual, I guess.
“Wait, by ‘good idea,’ you meant going into space?!”
“Satsuki and Rosalind can’t follow us there, right?”
“No, I guess not... But where are we headed?” I asked as we began floating up into the air.
“Hmm... let’s see...” Iris paused to think for a moment before clapping her hands together in delight. “I know! Let’s go somewhere with an amusement park.”
“Do they have those in space?”
“Duh! Ever heard of Ciel, the planet of leisure and recreation? Let’s go there together!” she exclaimed as she swam over and clung to me tightly.
I could hear angry shouting from below... but I decided to ignore it for now and leave that problem for later.
Chapter 2: Ciel, the Planet of Leisure and Recreation
The planet of leisure and recreation, Ciel, was roughly two and a half hours away from Earth with Iris’s spaceship warp. We arrived at a planet twinkling with neon lights so bright that they could be seen from space.
“Ciel is an artificial planet created for leisure and recreation. It’s famous throughout the Galactic Federation.”
“Artificial... You mean it’s man-made?”
“Yup. It started off as a small colony, but the large-scale casinos they opened became a big hit. It took off from there, growing in size until it met the Galactic Federation’s requirements to be named a planet.”
Earth had different definitions for planets, moons, and such, so I guess the Galactic Federation had a similar system. Maybe they couldn’t call it a planet until it hit some kind of benchmark.
“Wait, if ‘leisure and recreation’ means things like casinos... I’m still a minor, you know?”
“Oh, don’t worry. We’re heading for the all-ages theme park. Only adults are allowed inside the Midnight Area with the casinos and stuff.”
“Huh...”
Apparently, after Ciel’s initial start as a big casino hotspot, they rebranded themselves as a bigger vacation destination with a wide range of activities for all ages. It seemed I was worried about nothing.
“But if you reeeally want, then I guess I can prepare myself for a night at the more adult part of the park...”
“Nope! Let’s go to the regular one! Right now! Boy, am I looking forward to the roller-coasters and Ferris wheel!”
I averted my eyes from Iris’s fading blush and saddened gaze, raising my voice with exaggerated enthusiasm. I even started to stretch my limbs to show how eager I was to get to it.
“Rekka, you look really dumb right now.”
I wasn’t even discouraged by the scornful words of the girl from the future.
In the middle of all this, Iris’s spaceship began its descent towards Ciel.
▽
“Whoaaa...”
When we landed, I let out a dumb noise as I looked up at the sky in awe.
“Kyaaaaaaaah!”
There was a giant roller-coaster weaving through the air. No, ‘giant’ didn’t even begin to describe it. The track for it spiraled freely overhead and looked almost like a spider’s nest from a distance. It was made of a transparent material that cast almost no shadow at all, making the coaster practically look like it was flying. It was truly a sight to behold.
There were other spires that stretched up into the sky and a triple Ferris wheel, as well as fireworks and colored smoke from all kinds of performances. The skies of Ciel were constantly bustling. It might have been an artificial planet, but all the groomed vegetation made it look nice and kept the air feeling clean. It seemed like a lot of thought had gone into designing this place.
“It sure lives up to its name as a planet of leisure and recreation...”
“Right?”
Iris grinned happily to see me so impressed. Then she took my hand.
“So let’s get going immediately!”
“H-Hang on a second! I know it’s kinda late to say it now, but... you know we have school today, right?”
“Who cares about the opening ceremony? There aren’t any classes afterward.”
“Well, true, but...”
“Or is it because...” At my grumbling, Iris’s eyes suddenly welled up with tears. “You... don’t like being with me?”
“Huh?”
The tears glistened in her eyes, threatening to spill over at any second.
“No. I mean, it’s not like that...”
“Really? Then we’re gonna spend the whole day together!”
“Wait, wha...?”
“Yay! It’s a d-a-t-e!”
Her eyes were dry in an instant, making my eyes spin at how quickly she did a complete one-eighty.
“I wonder if this gullible part of you also contributed to the War of All...” R said with a sigh as Iris dragged me into the theme park by the hand.
▽
After getting our day passes to the park, Iris and I began touring the attractions. Honestly, I was already used to missing school because of my bloodline, and I had never been a really serious student like Satsuki, so I got over the skipping class thing pretty quickly. As long as I was here, I figured I might as well enjoy myself. But...
“The problem now is...”
“Huh? What’s wrong, Rekka?”
Iris tilted her head in confusion at my muttering. The problem... was that she was too close.
“Iris, why are we linking arms?”
“Because we have to act lovey-dovey all day today! We have to flirt, and we have to do it right!” Iris replied gleefully, wrapping her arm tighter around mine.
There shouldn’t be a need to act like a couple here, what with Rachelle being on a different planet and all... No, the real problem was the way her chest was squishing up against me every time she squeezed my arm.
“Come on, let’s ride that first!”
“S-Sure... Wait, what is that?”
“A free fall ride. Earth has these, too, no?”
Sure. Plenty of amusement parks had thrill rides that would basically just take you up high and drop you. The only thing that worried me was just how tall this one was... You couldn’t see the top of the tower from the bottom.
“This free fall ride is supposed to be an entire minute drop all the way from the atmosphere to the ground! Amazing, right?!”
“Hang on, hang on, hang on! That’s amazing all right, but how is that even possible?!”
“It’s fine! Don’t worry! The air in the atmosphere is cold, but the seats are heated and stuff.”
“The cold isn’t what I’m worried about; I can handle that much! I wanna know if it’s safe or not!”
“They have all the proper safety measures in place, and there haven’t been any accidents yet.”
“Yet?!”
That made it sound like they were just waiting for one to happen!
“Let’s go!”
“W-Wait!”
In the end... I didn’t die.
“...”
“Rekka? You okay?”
Iris was worriedly watching over me as I slumped onto a bench like a wet noodle. I had jumped off the back of Behemoth and even off a building before... And this was worse than all of it. Who knew free-falling faster than the natural pull of gravity was so freaking sca
ry? Why was I having all these near-death experiences outside of fights with Demon Kings and legendary monsters, anyway? Whatever. Now that I had actually survived with all my limbs intact, I could say with a lot more confidence that safety measures in space were top-notch.
“I guess you’re not really the thrill ride type... Sorry, Rekka.”
“It’s not exactly a type thing... Wh-Whatever, I’ve rested enough. Let’s go. Where to next?”
Iris looked like she felt really bad about the whole thing, so I got to my still-wobbly feet and feigned optimism.
“Are you really okay?”
“I’m totally fine, I tell you.”
“Okay. If you say so. Then let’s hit the next ride!”
Despite what she said, Iris must have decided to go easy on me. The next ride she picked was a pleasure cruise.
“Hm? There seem to be several lines for this ride. Are you sure we should be in this one?”
“There are several different tours you can take around Ciel. We’re in line for tour A.”
“Just how big is this theme park if it has multiple tours?”
“The theme park takes up over a third of the planet, so... If you added it all up, it’s probably about the size of an ocean.”
That was indeed impressive. Theme parks in space were apparently just on a totally different scale.
The next ship arrived as we were talking, and we walked across the ramp to board the pleasure cruise.
“Ooh, that breeze feels great!”
I stepped out on the deck to get some air and caught a nice, cool breeze instantly. It ruffled my clothes and hair without being harsh. The ship itself was incredibly stable, too. It made for a smooth ride where it hardly felt like we were on the water at all.
“Look, Rekka! There’s a flower garden on the opposite shore!”
“Huh, where...? Oh, you’re right!”
The shore across from us was overflowing with blooming flowers. Of course, none of them were from Earth. They all came in a wide variety of shapes and colors, but there was nothing I recognized.
“Oh, look at that one! It’s shaped like a penguirabbit!” Iris shouted as she pointed to a section of the garden.
There seemed to be a designated area with flowers modeled after all kinds of animals. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell which one Iris was saying looked like a penguirabbit.
“Where is it?”
“That one over there! See? Doesn’t it look like that stuffed animal I have on my spaceship?”
Iris pulled me closer by the arm as she excitedly tried to point it out to me. And... there was that squishing sensation again. It was wonderful... I mean, wonderfully distracting. I couldn’t concentrate on the penguirabbit flower at all.
“Rekka? What’s wrong?” she asked inquisitively when she realized I’d frozen stiff.
“N-N-Nothing!”
Iris was always way too defenseless about things like these. She was probably the one who made my heart pound the hardest when I was with her.
“Oh, that’s right! Rekka, are you hungry?”
“Come to think of it, yeah, I think I am.”
I’d had some juice aboard her ship on the way over, but the last thing I’d really eaten was breakfast. It’d been a good solid three hours since we’d taken off from Earth, so it was creeping up on lunchtime, and I was starting to get a little peckish.
“There’s a food court on this ship, too. Let’s check it out.”
“Sure, let’s go... But you’ll be paying for me again, Iris.”
There was no way a mere Earthling like me had their hands on any space currency usable in the Greater Galactic Federation. I was always relying on Iris at times like these, just like when we went to Berano before.
“There’s no need to worry about that. I’m the one who brought you here, after all.”
“Let me pay you back when we get back to Earth.”
“Really? Then can we go on a date when we go back?”
“Huh? Oh, um, sure.”
Pulled by the arm, I followed Iris down the stairs towards the food court. It was lined with fancy-looking eateries, quite unlike the food courts you’d expect to find in shopping malls and big department stores that usually only had fast food.
“What would you like, Rekka?”
“Hmm... I don’t really know anything about space cuisine. I’ll go with whatever you want, Iris.”
“Okay! Then... I want to go there!” she exclaimed, pointing to a nearby place.
We entered and took a seat at a table by the window.
“May I take your order?” asked the waiter.
“A polypole pasta for me. What about you, Rekka?”
“Um... I’ll have this crossworm meat sandwich.”
“What?”
“...What?”
“Oh, no, pardon me, sir. It’s just the first time I’ve had anyone order that. I’ll have your food out in just a moment.”
“U-Um...”
The waiter left our table in a flurry, seemingly embarrassed.
“So... what did I just order?”
The waiter’s reaction made me extremely curious. But as promised, not long after, our food was brought out to us. The meat on my sandwich looked perfectly normal to me, but... what kind of meat was it, exactly? If they served it here, it had to be edible... Maybe I was just better off not knowing.
“Hmm... Tastes pretty normal to me. It’s nice.”
“That’s good.”
“How’s yours?”
“Mine’s good, too. Want to try?” Iris asked, twirling some of her pasta around her fork. “Say ‘ah!’”
My heart skipped a beat when she said that with such a bright smile. I guess... I had no choice but to go along.
“A-Ah...”
“Here!”
Something with a texture similar to octopus entered my mouth alongside the pasta, but I was far too embarrassed to be focusing on the taste. My face was probably as red as an octopus right now...
“Rekka, look out the window.”
“Hm?”
Iris directed my attention to the window, where I could see a huge waterfall up ahead.
“Wow, it’s like Niagara Falls... Not that I’ve ever seen the real thing before.”
This whole planet was supposed to be man-made, right? Space really was incredible.
“Do we go under that?”
“Nope. We climb it.”
“...Huh?”
“It’s like those animals on Earth... What are they called again? Carp? We’re going to climb the waterfall like they do.”
“No way! This is a ship!”
I take it all back. Space was just plain out of this world.
“Wait a minute, wouldn’t the ship just tip vertically if it climbed the waterfall...?”
“There’s a gravitational device at work, so there’s no need to worry.”
“Okay, then what happens when we reach the top?”
“We’ll come back down, of course.”
“How?”
“The top of the waterfall is like a slide, so we’ll slide our way down from there. It feels great from the deck!”
So the pleasure cruise basically turned into a water ride.
“Let’s hurry up and eat so we can get to the deck in time!”
“All right.”
Faced with Iris’s bright smile again, I had no choice but to nod along. She’d seemed especially happy since we arrived on Ciel. And seeing her so happy made me happy, too. At her urging, I stuffed my cheeks with my sandwich as fast as I could.
▽
After that, we went on a handful of other attractions like the aforementioned super roller-coaster that ran on a transparent track, as well as a horse(?) ride with some kind of six-legged creature.
“What do you wanna go on next?”
“Hmm... I think I’m getting a bit tired. Maybe something relaxing for the next one would be nice,” I requested.
“Then let’s ride the Ferris whe
el in the Night Area!” Iris replied, still beaming.
“Huh? Isn’t the Night Area where the casinos and stuff are?”
“That’s the Midnight Area. The Night Area is in the north part of the park. It’s under a giant dome so it perpetually appears to be night there. The Ferris wheel inside is illuminated with a bunch of lights, making it a popular date spot for lovers.”
“Hmm, so it’s always night... Wait, lovers?!”
Hearing the L-word out of the blue like that nearly made my heart jump out of my chest.
“Come on, hurry up!”
Iris led the way while humming happily from her fixed position at my right arm, which she had been clinging to all day. I really didn’t want to do anything to ruin her good mood, so I went along with her at her pace and tried to calm my racing heart.
▽
Once we passed through the gate, we were met with the sight of a lovely night sky overhead. The Night Area was aptly named. Whereas the sky outside had been filled with color and fun from the rest of the park, the inside of the dome was plastered with artificial stars like a planetarium. Quiet background music was playing ambiently throughout the dome. Furthermore, everything on the ground was illuminated with beautiful lights that matched the overhead view. It had a totally different feel to it than the rest of the park. It seemed they’d kept this calm, quiet space and the thrill rides outside separated for a reason.
“Wow, lookie here. This sure sets the mood compared to before.”
“...”
“If the Day Area you were in until now was like sweet curry, and the Midnight Area with the casinos is like spicy curry, then I guess this place is kinda like the mild curry in between, huh?”
While I wanted to comment on her use of curry as an example, I thought R pretty much hit the nail on the head. The Night Area was something between the super mature and childishly lighthearted parts of the park.
As proof of that, there were couples just about everywhere I looked. A lot of them were older than us, but there were also some kids who looked to be about our age or younger. Iris and I blended right in, making it hard to pick us out of the crowd at a distance.
“Heehee...”
Even though nothing in particular had happened, Iris giggled shyly and drew closer when our eyes met. We had been running around the Day Area all this time to hit the rides we wanted, but the second we stepped into the Night Area, things seemed to slow down. We both began walking a little slower, taking our time to enjoy the stroll. Really, I was just following Iris’s lead, and it was thanks to her that we were able to blend in just fine. Otherwise, I probably would have felt too awkward and would have just wanted to run away.
I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse: Volume 10 Page 3