Reason

Reason

"This is..."

The car stopped in front of the amusement park, and we got out with Tatsumin-san leading the way.

Once outside, I noticed that the air was more humid than it had been when we'd left the inn. Looking up at the sky, I saw black clouds some distance away. Come to think of it, the weather forecast had said that the weather was likely to worsen in the afternoon.

'Yamaoka-san. I want you to wait here for a little while, gao.'

The man in the driver's seat silently nodded at Tatsumin-san's words. His eyes held a look of concern.

Her soft-looking blue back slowly turned toward us.

As expected, it was impossible to read any expression from her face beneath the mascot suit.

'Then let's go inside for a bit, gao.'

"...Yes."

Tatsumin-san headed toward the entrance with a gait that seemed as though it ought to produce soft, pattering footsteps.

Beneath the large roof, she inserted a key into the end of the accordion gate blocking the entrance. I hadn't noticed when she'd gotten it.

The accordion gate slid aside smoothly, as though she came and went frequently.

But the gate beyond it looked quite old.

It wasn't covered in dust. Rust had simply begun to show in places, and numerous sections were visibly chipped.

I followed Tatsumin-san into the park, but there was almost no sign of human presence at all.

All we could occasionally hear were the cries of insects and birds. The merry-go-round and coffee cups were still, battered, and decaying. The paint had peeled from the sign at the entrance to the haunted house in the distance. Rather than making it more frightening, the deterioration gave it a wistful air.

Tatsumin-san stopped in front of a fountain with no water in it and turned toward us.

'This is why I insist on being me... on being "Tatsumin," gao.'

She spoke while wearing a mascot suit with a smile that was, quite literally, pasted on.

'Apparently, my great-grandfather built this amusement park back in the Showa era, gao. Forestry was thriving then, and I heard that so many employees' families lived in the village that Tatsumin Land was flourishing too, gao.'

Come to think of it, that inn where we'd stayed had originally been built by a forestry company as a place for its employees to relax.

Surrounded by mountains, this village might once have been extremely lively.

'But demand for timber kept falling, gao. Now, the only things left in this village are the paper mill and the agricultural cooperative, gao. Tatsumin Land closed down during my grandfather's generation, gao.'

"That's..."

'It's just the way things go, gao. Nothing could be done about it, gao.'

I tried to say something, but no words came out.

If she truly thought it couldn't be helped, then why...?

'Even if we wanted to demolish it, calling in a contractor to haul away the debris would have been difficult, gao. We had to keep it standing, even though we had to pay taxes and all sorts of other expenses, gao. Honestly, money was a huge struggle, gao-nee.'

Tatsumin-san shook her mascot suit and laughed.

It was a self-mocking laugh that contradicted her fancy appearance.

'But I do have some happy memories, gao. Before this park closed, I came here with my family once, gao.'

Tatsumin-san turned her entire body to face another direction.

'That haunted house over there. I was scared and cried, but my parents laughed and said I was cute, gao. I remember getting really angry at them back then, gao.'

'On that merry-go-round over there, I rode the white horse, gao. I got so excited that I stood on the saddle, and Mom scolded me for being dangerous, gao.'

'I couldn't ride the roller coaster, gao-nee. I wasn't tall enough back then, gao. I lay down on the ground and threw a tantrum because I wanted to ride it, gao-yo.'

'Apparently, I cried on the Ferris wheel afterward because it was too high and scary, gao. To be honest, I don't remember that part very well, gao. Dad must have embellished the story, gao.'

'There used to be a popcorn stand over there, gao. But I remember buying a churro instead of popcorn, gao. If I went now, I'd buy both, gao-nee.'

She turned clockwise as she spoke, then faced us again.

'One way or another, I have happy memories, gao. But right after that, Grandpa died of an illness, and I cried a lot, gao.'

"..."

'After that, things got pretty difficult, gao. Working the fields was hard. We couldn't save much because of the amusement park's taxes. And even though we wanted to tear it down, we couldn't get a contractor to come.'

After saying that much, Tatsumin-san lowered her gaze slightly.

'My father and mother worked hard not only in the fields, but in town as well, gao. They went back and forth between inside and outside the village, working as hard as they could. They wanted me—Kaneko—to attend a proper school and live a comfortable life in the city, gao.'

Then she raised her head.

'But they both died in a spiritual disaster they encountered outside the village, gao.'

She stated it matter-of-factly.

'Bad things tend to keep happening, gao. That year's heavy rains caused a landslide that crushed our house and fields completely, gao. Less than half of my parents' remains were found, gao. Well, the monsters probably digested the rest in their stomachs, gao-nee.'

Tatsumin-san—or rather, Ryugu-san—spoke as though she were telling someone else's story.

'The albums and storage media in the house were ruined by mud too, gao. The only memories I had left were... this place, gao.'

About two years ago, around six months after the 'Day of Regression,' I heard that spiritual disasters had occurred all over Japan.

When the first one or two happened, and when a major disaster struck an urban area, I watched the news with my family and said, 'That's scary.'

But as for the other spiritual disasters... honestly, I don't remember them. I don't remember the natural disasters that happened that year either.

I lowered my gaze to the ground, feeling like an unbelievably heartless person.

'...So that's why I'm like this, gao! To sum it up, it's basically escapism, gao-nee! I'm such a small-minded person, gao!'

With a soft pat, Tatsumin-san brought both hands together.

'Sorry, gao-nee! I made the atmosphere incredibly gloomy, gao! It's not something I needed to hide, and I thought I had to explain this part of me, gao!'

"I'm sorry... for prying into your circumstances so thoughtlessly."

'It's fine, it's fine, gao. Anyone would wonder about someone like me, gao! Besides, I have very high hopes for you, Kota-kun, gao! It's incredibly selfish of me, though!'

"Huh...?"

I raised my head at her words.

Hopes? Why me...?

'If paper infused with mana could be mass-produced at the factory in this village... I thought it might bring life back here again, gao.'

"Ah..."

'Well, it's a pretty one-sided expectation, and honestly, I'm counting my chickens before they're hatched, gao! To begin with, taxes and all the other expenses eat up almost everything I earn as an adventurer, gao. I don't feel like I can do anything about repairs or inspections, gao-nee...'

She toddled toward us.

'I'm sorry, gao. I knew you'd worry about it if I told you this... but while I was thinking about how to explain it, my thoughts got all jumbled up, gao.'

"...Please don't apologize."

'Then let's call it even, gao. Gao gao. It looks like it's going to rain soon, gao. Let's go home, gao-nee.'

Waving her hand back and forth, Tatsumin-san—Ryugu-san—urged us to leave the amusement park.

Just then, I heard the sound of a droplet striking the ground nearby.

"Ugh... sob...!"

Rosso-san was crying her eyes out.

Actually, everything that could come out of her face was coming out. Tears flowed from the eye beneath her eyepatch, mucus ran from her nose, and a little drool leaked from her mouth.

I felt terrible about it, but the shock almost seemed to blow away the serious atmosphere.

'Oh no, her face is a disaster, gao...! I've hit one of Kota-kun's fetishes perfectly, gao...!'

"I don't have any fetish like that."

"S-sorry... sob...! It was s-so... h-hard...!"

'The one having a hard time is Rosso-chan's face, gao. Come cry into my chest, gao. I'm good at comforting people... I think, gao. Probably.'

"Tatsumiiiiin...!"

Rosso-san clung tightly to Tatsumin-san.

...Her drool and mucus were probably getting all over her, but pointing that out now would have been far too tactless.

"Memories?"

"Miyu-san?"

A soft murmur came from beside me.

Her amethyst-colored eyes were fixed on Tatsumin-san as she struggled to comfort Rosso-san.

"What was my family thinking? What were they feeling?"

"..."

"I can't remember my parents' faces. I can't remember the voice of the grandmother who raised me. I..."

Riko-senpai leaned against the woman standing there. Perhaps caught off guard, Miyu-san couldn't brace herself, and her shoulder pressed against my upper arm.

"R-Riko-senpai?"

"Miyu-chi. Take a deep breath. That's what you do at times like this."

Riko-senpai spoke to Miyu-san in an unusually gentle voice.

"You've worked so hard all this time, Miyu-chi... You can take it easy for now."

"But..."

"Resting is part of the job, right? If your body and heart keep running nonstop, you'll collapse before long."

"That may be true, but..."

"I'm going to rest too. Hearing that heavy story wore me out. Lend me your shoulder, Miyu-chi. Otaku-kun's going to lean on you too, so relax your muscles. Let's support each other and balance things out."

"...Is that all right?"

Miyu-san gently looked up at me.

At times like this, I hated that I couldn't say something thoughtful like Riko-senpai. If I could, I might be able to help my friend, my comrade.

All I could do was give a small nod. Taking Miyu-san's hand was too embarrassing, so I merely pressed the backs of our hands firmly together.

"...Thank you."

"Mmm. No need to thank me, Miyu-chi."

"That's right. We're friends, after all."

"Yes..."

While the backs of our hands touched, Miyu-san moved her index finger. It curled around my index finger and tightened slightly.

It didn't hurt. The heat from my body simply flowed into her slightly cool finger.

It was so embarrassing that my heart began pounding even at a time like this. I really had no self-control.

I tried to pull away so she wouldn't feel my agitation, but if I did, it seemed as though we would both fall over.

So I had no choice but to let things happen.

How much time passed after that? The black clouds had drawn considerably closer, completely hiding the sunlight. It was dark despite being daytime.

"...Sniff... Sorry. I kept you waiting."

"No."

When Rosso-san recovered, Miyu-san's body moved away from mine. Riko-senpai also stood on her own two feet.

Our intertwined fingers came apart. I hated myself for feeling reluctant to let go.

'It was my fault, because I explained things badly, gao. I'm sorry, gao.'

"N-no... It's not your fault."

I turned toward Tatsumin-san and found myself at a loss for words.

There were several strange marks on the blue mascot suit. Were they drool and mucus?

'...You can feel sorry for me over this, gao.'

"Um... don't worry about it."

"Mascot su— As an amusement park mascot, it's a badge of honor, Tatsumin."

"I hope dry cleaning can take care of it."

"I really am sorry. I'll pay for the dry cleaning, so..."

'Thanks, everyone, gao...'

Tatsumin-san headed for the entrance gate with a back several times more melancholy than when she'd entered Tatsumin Land.

Yamaoka-san, who had been waiting for us, did a double take when he saw her.

Then he looked toward us and gave a small bow accompanied by a wry smile.

His eyes seemed to hold just a little relief, and a great deal of tenderness.

I didn't think we could live up to it, but as her comrades, we bowed back.

'Come on, let's get in quickly, gao. The aforementioned 13th dungeon is very close to this amusement park, gao. I'm sure it'll be all right, but it's still scary, gao-nee.'

"Yes, you're right."

It looked like rain, so we got into the car.

Would we make the bus home? When I checked my phone, I found that we should make it by the skin of our teeth.

As the car jolted along the deeply uneven road, Rosso-san clenched her fist tightly.

"I will definitely persuade the paper mill! And I will bring vitality back to this village—no, to Tatsumin Land! I shall work super hard...!"

'Thank you, gao-nee. But you don't have to take it so hard, gao.'

"No. We also want to mass-produce paper for scrolls. I'll be rooting for you."

"Yeah. We've got our own reasons too. Specifically, 'Let's change history.'"

'If anything, it would be more like changing the times. Leaving our names in history, gao.'

"Nahahaha! That works too!"

"Ahaha..."

Despite having mixed feelings about many things, if paper infused with mana could be mass-produced, surely things would improve in all sorts of ways.

...Hopefully. What if we tried it with the factory's machines and it just went, 'Nope, can't do it!'?

Ah, my stomach was starting to hurt. My body was supposed to be free from illness, yet I felt a sharp throb.

I thought I'd look outside to change my mood, but the weather was terrible. It hadn't started raining yet, but it was too dark for daytime.

Come to think of it, was that thunder in the distance? I hoped it wouldn't affect the train home.

While we were having that conversation, we apparently arrived at the bus stop. The car came to a jarring halt.

'The timing should be all right, gao-nee. All right, everyone, get out, gao.'

"Sure thing."

"Yes."

I grabbed the backpack between my feet and stood up. As I got out after Tatsumin-san, I thanked Yamaoka-san.

Then I set my feet on the cracked asphalt.

I put some distance between myself and the car so we wouldn't block any vehicles behind us, then rotated my neck to work out the stiffness.

"...Huh?"

In the distance, I caught sight of black smoke.

Sweat burst from my entire body. An intensely ominous premonition raced through my nerves.

That direction was──────.

'No way...'

A muffled voice echoed from inside the mascot suit.

'No way!'

"Tatsumin-san! Calm down...!"

'...!'

With a shriek, Tatsumin-san leaned forward, and then...

She released a huge amount of mana and vanished from the spot.