I Came Back but the World is Still a Fantasy!? - 4-51: Not Related to Wonderland (4/4)

4-51: Not Related to Wonderland (4/4)

───Mummy Marie’s Living Dead House

That was the name of an attraction in the western area of Nyazdaland.

At the entrance of the default western-style mansion was a depiction of a three-head-body-ratio anthropomorphic cat(Mummy Marie) to give the visitors a scary reception.

Thanks in no small part to the artist, Mummy Marie looked adorable despite being a mummy character, but make no mistake, with the latest technologies utilized, this was without a doubt Japan’s scariest haunted house.

3D imaging technology was nearly indistinguishable from the real thing, so it was safer and more effective than actors or gimmicks, allowing more freedom in the haunted house’s directing.

In fact, this haunted house is so scary that despite being committed to accepting all ages, Nyzadaland had no choice but to enforce an age restriction.

“Gyaaaa!?!?”

When a resentful ghost of a woman suddenly appeared, a girl screamed.

She jumped back in her panic, but countless pale hands sprang up from the floor and started swaying.

‘N-Nooooo!!”

Those hands seemed to be reaching out for her, so she ran again.

Her ponytail swung behind her as she ran through the field of arms, but then a doll hanging from the ceiling suddenly appeared in front of her.

Nay, it was not just one doll, there were a lot of them, and not just some few dozens either. They all had creepy faces, and they all simultaneously turned to look at her.

“Eek!!”

The girl let out a short scream and ran into a nearby passageway, but the screams continued even from there.

She had completely fallen for the directing of the haunted house.

“Tomoe, wait a moment!” Youko said.

“…We don’t even have the time to be scared,” Ryou said.

“Ahaha, that’s true,” Yousuke said.

As a result, her companions all laughed.

It was such a strange way of enjoying a haunted house, but they continued in that manner until the end.

“Haa, haahaa… I feel like I screamed a lifetime’s worth…”

It was hard to judge if the way they went about it was safe or not, but regardless, the group of four successfully broke through the haunted house, then sat in one of the benches prepared on the other side like the other customers.

The girl that screamed the most slumped over while breathing heavily.

They were all dressed in casual clothes that emphasized ease of movement, but the other three were relatively calm, so they stood out compared to the rest of the customers that were either slumped into their chair or had their heads hung.

Everyone was so quiet that wild pigeons could wander around, looking for spilled snack, with nary a care.

“See, everything turned out well… But, ha ha, Tomoe, I can’t believe you’d turn out to be such a scaredy cat when you could see the real thing, Ahahaha,” Youko said.

She was considerate enough to hand Tomoe a drink, but the thought of an exorcist afraid of haunted houses was just too funny not to laugh.

“Uu, but I can’t help it… I couldn’t sense a thing, and yet they just kept popping out one after another!!”

She could see them clearly despite not being able to sense them, and they would pop out of nowhere while also looking so terrifying.

“…So it’s because you know the real thing that you found it so scary, huh. What an unexpected problem,” Yousuke said.

“That’s just her. I wasn’t scared at all,” Ryou said.

Yousuke sanded impressed, as though he were learning a piece of trivia, but Ryou was just taken aback by Tomoe’s behavior.

Inwardly, he wondered what would have happened if he had been alone. He knew that, for better or worse, it was because Tomoe was so frightened that the three of them could keep their calm.

But of course, his manly pride would never allow him to admit that out loud.

“…Uu, don’t tell this to anyone, okay?” Tomoe said.

“It’s not really anything to be embarrassed about, though. I mean everyone was scared too,” Youko said.

The three of them knew why they weren’t frightened, and with how pale the rest of the customers were around the exit, they knew that Tomoe’s reaction was actually apt.

But…

“No! There’s a demon who’d drag me into the haunted house if he knew my reaction! Ryou! You better not tell him! Or else I’ll curse you, mark my words!”

Apparently, Tomoe just didn’t want them to tell a certain person.

She was so flustered that she even threatened Ryou with a curse even though she never even joked about that before.

“I-Isn’t that threat a bit too serious!? Alright, fine, fine. It’s true that he’d drag you back in there if he found out; my lips are sealed.” Ryou said.

Tomoe was so panicked that she even said something like that.

And though she never clarified who she was talking about, Ryou knew that it was none that than that person that they couldn’t talk about in front of these siblings.

“Huh, who are you two talking about? Tell me who it is, and I’ll be sure to send him flying if he so much as approached,” Youko said.

“Now, now, that’s not very ladylike, though it does make one wonder who that person is. Nee-chan might be a bit too radical in her approach, but I could try to keep that person from you too…” Yousuke said.

It was only natural for the conversation to flow in that matter, but Tomoe and Ryou were petrified for different reasons.

Though it was also thanks to that that Tomoe calmed down.

“…W-Well, there’s no need to go so far, right!?” Tomoe said.

“Y-Yeah, that guy is a bit of an S, but he’s a good guy for sure, yep!” Ryou said.

Tomoe suspected that they might be siblings, while Ryou just knew that they had friction between them.

But regardless, the both of them knew these siblings well enough to agree not to mention that name.

“More importantly, where are we going to next? You know, it takes a long time to line up, so we should hurry!!”

“Wait a moment, you need to let Tomoe rest first. At least be that considerate!” Youko said.

Ryou tried to fool them by voicing out his desire to play, but unfortunately, that just led to Youko pointing out his lack of consideration.

She wasn’t wrong, but having a classmate scold him for that struck a nerve.

“Tomoe’s not the kind of woman that would be worn out by something on this level. How long do you think we’ve known each other!?”

“Are you really saying that despite knowing how high your Stamina is? You’re the one with the highest rank here in that regard, so don’t use yourself as a standard, thank you!”

The way Youko saw it, Tomoe’s stamina was both a point of concern and a bad memory.

She didn’t want anything like that happening again, so she was excessively cautious.

Alas, both her and Ryou were stubborn and refused to change their opinion after getting heated up.

With neither side willing to take a step back, the argument gradually caught fire.

“U-Umm, by any chance, is this my fault?”

Tomoe was flustered as she watched sparks rise between the two, but Yousuke, just had a refreshed look on him and wasn’t even the least bit flustered.

“Why don’t you tell them something along the lines of ‘don’t fight because of me’?”

“As if I could!! Why do I have to do something so embarrassing!?”

“Ahaha, it’s certainly not in your character, huh, Safina-san. But you don’t really have to worry that much. The both of them are just quick to argue.”

“!”

Yousuke just shook his head as though he was already used to this and wryly smiled.

For a moment, that joking tone he spoke with and the way he followed it up afterwards overlapped with a certain someone.

“…They’re really similar.”

That’s why Tomoe inadvertently mouthed those words.

She’s always found the twins dissimilar other than their looks.

The older sister was earnest and inflexible, but she had a strong sense of justice and was considerate of her friends and family, while the younger brother would manage her secretly and was strangely attentive to his surroundings.

They were too different to simply blame on their gender.

But if ‘he’ were to be included, then the differences between them would finally make sense.

Because they would basically be his two sides split and exaggerated.

Fortunately, the older sister was too busy arguing, while the younger brother was too focused listening, so no one heard her, though she did feel someone react from behind her.

“─────Oh, looks like they’re about to reach a conclusion,” Yousuke said.

But then those words came before she could confirm anything.

“Good, we’ll settle it with that!” Youko said.

“Hah, don’t think that you can beat me in aerial combat!” Ryou said.

Youko spoke in a sharp tone as she pointed to a certain place, while Ryou snorted with confidence.

Apparently, the two of them decided to compete to settle their differences, further cementing Yousuke and Tomoe’s impression of their ‘simple-mindedness’.

“Well, this might not be so bad, I’ve always wanted to give it a try anyway,” Tomoe said.

“Yeah, it looks like it’ll be a different experience from the exoskeleton,” Yousuke said.

But of course, there wasn’t actually much of an opposition to their decision.

───Witch Nyaa’s Airfield

On the facility could be found a depiction of a broom-riding three-head-body-ratio anthropomorphic cat wearing a wide-brimmed triangular hat.

The conspicuous design of the facility might make it hard to imagine, but inside could actually be found a field with a stadium and seating for spectators.

Within the air space(・・・) of that vast field were youths flying around on brooms.

This was another attraction developed with the help of Garesto technology.

At Witch Nyaa’s Airfield, the dream of flying on a broom could finally be realized. Moreover, there were even racing games and shooting games.

“Let’s do this, Tomoe! We’ll teach this idiot a lesson yet!” Youko said.

“Let’s go little Senba! We can’t lose to these women now!!” Ryou said.

“You’re fine with the teams arranged like this?” Yousuke said.

“In this regard, they’re similar for a different reason. Yes, yes, I get it,” Tomoe said.

As sparks rose between Ryou and Youko, Tomoe and Yousuke could only wryly smile, but there was no helping it, so they just shrugged their shoulders and followed.

One of the pigeons from the flock behind them suddenly flew away and disappeared into the blue sky.

“…Phew, what an overprotective oniichan.”

Tomoe never turned around, but there was an astounded smile on her face.