Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Showdown
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Ian casually asked an employee who was cleaning up the broken debris before leaving the bumper cars.
“Do you happen to know where the theme park manager is?”
“The manager? The manager is in the tower!”
Fortunately, the employee answered kindly. He nodded and stepped outside, opening his booklet.
“The manager’s location is confirmed. One more to clear, and the escape route should open.”
“Y-Yeah…… It’s faster than I thought…… Hehe.”
They had already cleared two rides. With the manager’s location known, all that remained was to clear the last one, extract the heart, and make their escape.
He didn’t blindly trust the employee’s words. But with no other information available, there was no need to doubt and avoid what the guy had told him. If the manager wasn’t there, they could just look elsewhere.
Thinking that, Ian tossed his cigarette onto the nearby ground and scanned for their next destination.
“Huh, customers?”
At that moment, an employee passing by tilted their head curiously and approached the two.
Their face looked no different from a normal human’s. But a streetlamp was jammed into where their spine should have been, and lightbulbs were embedded in both eyes. The two’s reflections flickered in her blinking, lit-up eyes.
“……!”
It was the first time since entering the theme park interior that an employee had spoken to them first. Ian tried to stay as calm as possible, gripping the revolver hidden in his coat. Yuna tightened her hold on her staff.
“……What’s the matter?”
“The parade is about to start, so you can’t stay here like this. Hurry and put on your masks, then head to the plaza.”
The employee spoke as if scolding a child, curving their mouth into a horseshoe shape.
“……The parade?”
“Yes! It’s our theme park’s pride and joy. All guests and employees are obligated to attend the parade!”
Ian let out a groan at the anomaly’s words and glanced sideways.
The once wide-open theme park street was now lined with a long procession of employees.
None of them looked normal. Their grotesque forms went without saying, and their expressions were twisted as if they were going mad with anticipation for the parade. Some even had chunks of flesh stuck to their mouths and teeth, as if they’d just devoured a human somewhere.
He couldn’t tell exactly what kind of parade it was, but it was definitely not normal. Ian spoke in a polite tone, trying to find a way out.
“I’m sorry, but we’d like to enjoy a few more rides—”
“Customers.”
“……!”
The atmosphere shifted. The moment the employee cut Ian off, every moving theme park employee stopped in their tracks and glared at him.
“Eek…….”
Yuna clutched her staff with a pale face. Ian quickly made his decision, forcing an awkward smile and nodding.
“……My mistake. We’ll attend the parade.”
“…….”
“Where can we get the masks?”
Instead of answering Ian’s question, the employee just stared at him silently.
The other employees glared at the two, blood streaming from their eyes without a care.
Silence stretched on. Ian felt cold sweat trickling down his back and mentally mapped out escape routes in case things went south.
Then, the employee’s face broke into a wide smile.
“I’ll get the masks for you myself! Would you mind waiting here just a moment?”
“……Yes. We’ll wait.”
Ian replied with a sigh of relief.
“Haha!”
“Ahaha!”
Only then did the employees resume heading toward the plaza. The murderous intent from moments ago vanished like a lie, and the streetlamp employee handed Ian and Yuna two cat masks she’d fetched from somewhere.
“Put them on! We won’t be responsible for any consequences if you don’t!”
With that, she dragged her legs and shuffled toward the plaza.
“…….”
Ian leaned against the wall and exhaled a held breath only after her figure was out of sight. Yuna stood beside him, gasping as if a decade had been shaved off her life.
“T-That was close…….”
“……Yeah.”
It went without saying that even mages weren’t invincible against anomalies. He might handle one or two, but with dozens glaring at them, his legs couldn’t help but tremble. A frontal assault was impossible.
It would’ve been better if they’d been fleeing. Focusing only on the pursuers behind would minimize combat, making escape not too difficult.
But with hostility bared right in front of them like just now, even running would be hard.
With one anomaly blocking the way ahead and more pressing from behind, what escape was there?
If they’d kept resisting, they would’ve ended up like Management Bureau agents, torn apart on the spot.
‘There was a rule to obey the employees, but even minor orders like this can’t be refused?’
He’d expected a tough place, but it was far worse. He almost missed the days hunting vampires.
“……Once this job’s done, I’m taking a break until New Year.”
Ian muttered as he looked down at the mask.
It was a plain mask with nothing special about it. A bit grotesque in design, but no spells or curses on it. Wearing it should be fine.
“Let’s go, Han Yuna.”
“Y-Yeah…….”
Ian put on his mask. Yuna stowed her staff in its guitar case, donned her pink mask, and they joined the moving procession.
Moments later, the two arrived at the plaza.
Pew-woom!
Blood-red fireworks erupted from the fountain, rising into the sky and tracing a clown silhouette.
The gathered employees all wore masks of unknown origin. There were a few animal masks like Ian and Yuna’s, but most donned faces crudely carved from what seemed human skin.
“……I-It’s really human skin.”
“…….”
The two stared at the plaza from a spot slightly distanced from the gathered anomalies.
Soon, colorful mist began spreading from the plaza’s center.
“Waaaaah!”
“Ahaha! Hahaha! Haha!!!”
Just smoke billowing out, yet the employees erupted in cheers and laughter.
Was it laughing gas? But the smell wafting over was utterly ordinary. No urge to laugh either.
Ian fiddled idly with the revolver in his coat and quietly watched the parade.
Zzzzt.
Clowns began crawling out from within the spreading smoke.
Clowns with bodies like a child had assembled them at random.
Each grinning one looked up at the sky and danced goofily. Music flowed in time with their ridiculous movements.
‘Nothing special so far. If it stays like this until the end, that’d be great.’
The moment he thought that, a clown snapped their fingers in the air. At the same instant, a thin skewer appeared in their hand.
Impaled at the skewer’s tip was a human.
Not a grotesquely twisted human, but a pure, genuine one.
Though whether they were still breathing was doubtful—the pierced body didn’t so much as twitch. Blood merely dripped down the skewer.
“Our successfully reformed special guest! This guest, moved by our theme park’s service, graciously permitted us to use their body as fertilizer!”
The clown announced. They shortened the skewer bit by bit to meet the corpse’s eyes, then suddenly planted a light kiss on its lips.
The corpse touched by the clown’s lips bubbled and boiled, sprouting smiling faces like flower buds across its entire body.
The corpse, forced to grow dozens of eyes and dozens of mouths, widened them all. Then every mouth gaped wide, vomiting up organs from within.
“Here!”
The clown grabbed a spilled intestine, shouting gleefully.
“Let’s use every bit of food our guest provided, leaving nothing behind, to make our theme park even greater!”
The moment they spoke, employees lunged at the fallen organs like beasts.
The clown cackled at the ravenous sight and produced dozens more skewers. Naturally, corpses dangled from them too.
“……This place is bad for the mind.”
“Yeah…….”
Ian and Yuna watched from afar as the corpse was dismantled, employees showered in blood, and organs ripped apart. Fortunately, no anomaly forced them to eat the flesh.
“Thank you for enjoying today’s parade! This has been your clown!”
The parade ended soon after. The clowns exited in ridiculous fashion, and employees dispersed back to their posts.
Ian glanced at their retreating figures for a moment, then removed his mask and turned to Yuna.
“Let’s go.”
“W-Wait a sec.”
Yuna replied without removing her mask, staring at the stairs leading into the plaza.
“S-Something’s coming up from there……?”
“……What?”
“Ah, it’s the Management Bureau!”
At Yuna’s words, Ian hurriedly put his mask back on.
Instinctively, he tossed the grimoire into nearby bushes.
Turning, he saw a man and woman in suits ascending the stairs. Among them was the agent Ian had seen at the convenience store.
All wore tense expressions.
The woman with a sword at her waist seemed the least rattled, but the rest couldn’t hide their anxiety. It showed plainly on their faces.
‘Even Management Bureau agents find this place unsettling.’
It seemed even the Bureau viewed this as an exceptionally tricky anomaly manifestation.
Given its absurdly vast scale, entry conditions restricting exploration, and scarce survivors, it was no wonder.
Until they figured out a strategy, even they could only respond passively.
It wasn’t particularly important to Ian. He wasn’t a Bureau agent, nor allied with them.
He could infer their situation, but had no reason to care.
What mattered was whether their presence helped resolve the commission.
“…….”
They’d already acknowledged each other. The Bureau agents stared at the masked Ian and Yuna, while the two mages silently regarded the agents.
Blindly fleeing now wasn’t a great choice.
If he didn’t want to advertise he was a mage, it was time to put on an act. Complicating an already tough space by clashing with both anomalies and the Bureau was obvious folly.
So, best to play hapless civilians caught in the anomaly, refusing to remove their masks.
Ian sorted his thoughts, cleared his throat, and glanced at Yuna.
“……Han Yuna.”
“Y-Yeah. I’m thinking the same…….”
She trailed off with a fake cough.
Confirming her slight nod, Ian shouted toward the Bureau agents.
“P-Please save us!”