Chapter 387: Amusement Parks are Irresistible (End)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 387: Amusement Parks are Irresistible (End)
They say time flies when you’re having fun.
It didn’t feel like we had been here that long, yet the sun was already beginning to dip below the horizon.
“Um, next is… next…”
As the light faded, Luna’s anxiety grew. It seemed she had some regrets; because she had prioritized the rides she wanted to go on most, there were several she hadn’t managed to ride yet, and she hadn’t even stepped foot near the safari zone.
She likely knew it was almost time to head back, which only made her more restless.
Well, to be fair, everyone else looked a little disappointed too, not just Luna.
Deciding for yourself when a wonderful time must come to an end is always a cruel task.
But just because you don’t choose doesn’t mean the end won’t come; rather, the opportunity would simply slip away into nothingness.
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, Luna held out the map to me.
“You said we’d ride what Dad wants to ride at the very end.”
I thought she was asking me to choose for her, but instead, she was remembering our promise and yielding her turn to me.
To be honest, at this point, there wasn’t anything I desperately wanted to ride, but…
“Then for the last one, shall we talk with Dad while riding that?”
“Yes, I’d like that.”
The final ride was the Ferris wheel. Since each cabin could hold up to four people, I expected the usual squabbling over who would get in, but everyone was surprisingly tactful this time. They were all being considerate, letting Luna and me ride alone…
“Woof! Woof! Bark!”
…Well, everyone except the wolf.
“Right, you come here too.”
As the wolf hopped into the cabin, a flash of envy crossed the others’ eyes for a moment, but they all seemed to restrain themselves, waiting for the next cabin in line.
As the Ferris wheel began to turn and the scenery unfolded, Luna’s face brightened for a moment. But it was truly only for a moment. As the areas she hadn’t visited came into view, her expression visibly darkened again.
She was trying her best to hold it in and pretend to be having fun, which was precious, but I didn’t quite like seeing her that way.
“You’re sad it’s over, aren’t you?”
“Huh? No. I had a lot of fun today.”
“I know. It was fun. But Luna, the more fun you have, the stronger that lingering regret feels. Are you really not sad?”
“…Mmm.”
“It’s just Dad and the wolf here, so you can tell me, you know?”
“But still…”
“Dad is really sad it’s ending.”
“You are?”
“Because it was so fun. I wish this happy time would never end. It’s been a while since everyone laughed and chatted like this, and once this is over, we have to go back to our busy daily lives.”
“…But Dad, you don’t look that sad.”
“Is that how it looks to you? It’s not that I’m not sad. But you see, Luna…”
Luna stared at me, almost holding her breath, curious about what I was going to say.
It wasn’t even going to be anything that grand.
“Because we’re sad to leave, we’ll just have to come back again.”
“Huh?”
“Today isn’t the last day of the world. We can come back as many times as we want. And like I said, if you’re really that sad, we can just rent out a hotel today, rest, and keep playing tomorrow.”
As I gently stroked Luna’s hair, she leaned into my touch and relaxed.
“But Dad thinks this: fun is best when it leaves you wanting just a little bit more. Just enough to leave a beautiful memory that makes you want to come back.”
“I don’t really get it…”
“You don’t have to overthink it. That’s just how Dad feels. Since we went where you wanted to go this time, next time we could plan a high-efficiency route to conquer every single ride. Or we could prioritize the places we missed and find new things to enjoy.”
“But we don’t know if we can come back. If we can’t, won’t the things we didn’t do just turn into regrets?”
“That could happen. Yeah, it definitely could. Things in this world don’t always go the way we want. We might not be able to come back.”
A villain’s terror attack could break out and destroy the place, or the amusement park could go bankrupt.
Or maybe the owner of the park suddenly goes crazy and tears it down himself?
“If—and this is a big ‘if’—that really happens, of course it would be sad.”
“…Yes.”
“But listen, Luna. Let’s think about it like this. Even if the amusement park disappeared tomorrow and we felt really sad…”
It would certainly be a shame, and it might remain a regret.
“That doesn’t mean the fun we had today never happened.”
“Oh…?”
Well, if someone argued what use memories are, I wouldn’t have much to say, but to me, it was important.
“Someday, memories will weather and scatter. Both the good and the sad ones will fade. But even so, the fact that today happened will never disappear.”
“I want to remember it forever, but what if I can’t…?”
“That’s why we take pictures. When your memories have faded to the point where you only vaguely remember that you had fun or that something happened, you can look at the photos we took today. That feeling you get from beyond those blurred memories… that’s what I call a ‘recollection.’ That’s what I think.”
“I still don’t really get it…”
“Was that too difficult? Okay, let’s keep it simple. Luna, did you have fun today?”
“Huh? Yes! I think this is the most fun I’ve ever had.”
For someone like her, for whom just looking at the ocean or meeting people at the Academy was a massive thrill…
Today must have been wonderful.
“But if you only think about how sad you are at the end, and it ends on a somber note, then that would be the real shame.”
“Ah…”
“And I only said all that because you were worried about ‘what ifs.’ We’ll be able to come back to the amusement park.”
“…How can you be so sure?”
“Because your Dad finally has the power to protect at least one amusement park!”
“What?”
“Villains attack? Dad can stop them. The park goes bankrupt? Dad can buy it. The machinery goes haywire and the park blows up? Then heck, Dad will just build it all over again, even better than before!”
As I chuckled and answered, Luna stared blankly at my face.
“So, Luna, if you wish for it, we can come back. This is a guaranteed future. So even if it’s hard, let’s turn that sadness into anticipation. Let’s cherish today’s happy memories so we can have even more fun next time.”
“Dad…”
“Luna. Let me ask one more time. Did you have fun today?”
“Hehe, yes! It was so much fun!”
“Right, then that’s all that matters! Let’s play even harder next time!”
Luna, who had been moping ever since we got on the Ferris wheel, finally gave a bright, characteristic smile.
“Bark!”
“Yeah, you had fun too, didn’t you!?”
I wasn’t sure if the view from the Ferris wheel was worth as much as I had longed for it to be as a child, but seeing Luna smile like this made it worth it.
When the Ferris wheel completed its rotation and we all got off, the others looked at me with relief, seeing Luna happily eating Dippin’ Dots with a bright face.
* * *
Meanwhile, at that same time, the Association President was trembling in terror.
How could this be happening…?
When the signal from the assassin he sent to kill the Chairperson was cut off, he had brushed it off.
They could have just been well-prepared.
However, when the multiple simultaneous operations he had prepared began to crumble one by one, he could no longer just sit back and laugh.
Was this… was this even possible?
Assassination via poison, kidnapping of associates, other assassinations disguised as accidents—how could every single one of them be thwarted?
He had attempted over ten operations today, and for the signals to cut out on all of them simultaneously was beyond common sense.
Humanly speaking, it made no sense.
Was he a god? Unless he had looked inside his very head, how could he have done this?
The most terrifying thing was the voice currently echoing in his mind.
— Hey, don’t struggle so hard to die. Your life thread is short enough as it is.
The moment all his operations failed and he tried to devise a new one, the voice began to ring in his head.
— You should hold onto it tightly. Don’t try to run, don’t try to do anything. Just focus on barely staying alive. It’s a life thread that could be lost at any moment; what will you do if you get distracted and accidentally let go?
“W-What! Who is it…! Get out of my head…!”
— Your life is so fragile, it feels like it would snap if I just gave it a little twist.
“Aaaaahhh…!!! Get out…! Stop it…! It’s all an auditory hallucination!”
— I’m only leaving you be because there’s still a place I need to use you.
Is this how it feels when an absolute being speaks to you?
By the time he regained his senses, he was already on his knees, begging the entity he had dismissed as a hallucination.
“Please, please, just let me live…”
— Hold onto your life thread tight. And stop being a nuisance.
He continued to plead toward the voice, but no further answer came.
* * *
While everyone was picking out souvenirs at the gift shop, I was briefly testing the new Taoist Magic I had learned.
“Wow, this is basically telepathy, isn’t it?”
I had intended to torment the Association President a bit as a warning. I didn’t know exactly what state he was in, but I could instinctively tell that my words had been delivered perfectly.
— Hmm, telepathy. That’s not entirely wrong. Once your level gets a bit higher, you’ll be able to hear what the other person is saying too. But it consumes more energy than you’d think, so don’t overdo it.
“Oh, come on. How often would I even use this? I just tried it out today as a test. And to give him a little warning not to act so pathetic. I won’t do it anymore.”
— Good.
“But you said you were going to come out and play. Are you sure you’re okay not joining in?”
— Hmm? What are you talking about?
“No, I mean, I told Luna that, but I thought Sun Wukong might be a little disappointed…”
— No, I’m asking what you mean. I manifested and played along, didn’t I?
“…What?”
— Well, creating a single clone shouldn’t be much of a burden for you now. If you check the photos you took, I’m sure I’ll be in quite a few of them.
It didn’t sound like a joke, so I checked the photos. Sure enough, there were several pictures of a woman with blonde hair in red clothes, wearing star-shaped sunglasses and a bunny-ear headband, captured near us.
— Well, wouldn’t everyone be shocked if I played with you directly? Call it a deity’s consideration.
…I really didn’t see that coming.
— In fact, when you were on the Ferris wheel with Luna, I was sitting on top of the cabin.
Oh, that would have been a bit of a horror story if anyone had seen it.
Wait, maybe not? Would people just think it’s something a Superhuman could do?
— By the way, do you not intend to tell those girls what happened today?
While I was chatting with Sun Wukong, it seemed everyone had finished picking their souvenirs.
“No. Then it would be no different from the old days. I’ll let them rest well today and tell them tomorrow.”
— Ho. They’ll all be worried if they find out you stopped the incidents alone. How will you handle that?
“Well, if they get mad, I’ll just have to beg for forgiveness.”
— …Do you not even intend to make excuses anymore?
“Hey, what can they say if I tell them I just wanted to have one day of pure fun? And besides, even if they do get mad…”
I picked up a cute fox plushie and took it to the counter, drawing reactions from the others.
“Oh? You’re buying that?”
“It’s cute. It’s a black fox with red eyes, so it kind of looks like you.”
“Right? I felt a strange connection to the colors.”
When I gave them a smirk, they all subtly avoided my gaze.
‘They’ll probably all forgive me.’
— …You seem to have become brazen in a different way than before. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing.
‘It just means I’ve become more honest~’
As the sun fully set, the drop in temperature made it clear that it could hardly be called autumn anymore.
Winter had truly arrived.
Winter was the season I hated most.
But still.
“Whew, today was really fun. Is everyone sad to leave?”
“But we all took lots of pictures and ate lots of delicious food.”
“Ah, that’s right. Rose, what kind of tea was that we had earlier?”
“It was made from dried plants I grew myself. It’s caffeine-free, so it’s quite good for the body.”
I think I might be able to spend this winter a bit more warmly than the ones before.