Five-Man Meeting (At Savage, A Yakitori Bar)
That night was the monthly cast leader get-together. Each of AmaBri’s five areas had one cast leader (also known as a CL).
Moffle was the cast leader of the land of “fairy-tale magic,” Sorcerer’s Hill— in other words, he was the coordinator for the cast group that included Macaron, Tiramii, and Muse.
A cast leader was responsible for keeping an eye on the cast in his area, and maintaining high levels of customer service and performance. They had input on attractions and human resource decisions, and were allowed to advise (read: bitch to) acting manager Kanie Seiya about policy. All in all, the cast leaders played an indispensable role as bridge between the on-site workers and the management. If Moffle and the other four cast leaders ever chose to bond together to rebel, they could effectively bring the park’s functioning to a screeching halt.
These so-called (by themselves, at least) Majestic Five were holding a meeting tonight in the yakitori bar Savage near Amagi Station.
“Ahem. Moffu.” Moffle cleared his throat. “Well, let’s get started. Everyone got your glasses? Let’s toast.”
“Cheers!”
“A hearty cheers to you all!”
“Heh... cheers.”
“......”
With the leisurely air of a drinking party, they clinked their glasses together.
Moffle drank his draft beer down. (He’d been told recently that he could have one beer per night.) He cleared it out in no time, then let out a satisfied sigh. “Takami-chan! Hoppy Black, fumo!”
“Got it!” Takami, the staffer, shouted back from elsewhere in the bar. Tiramii wasn’t there today, so there was no fear of anyone harassing her—something he was grateful for.
“Now then, Moffle-dono. What topic dost thou broach this eve?” As the eating and drinking commenced, it was Kenjuro who got down to business first.
Kenjuro, the dolphin, was the cast leader of the area known as Splash Ocean. He was a two-heads(?)-tall dolphin. While on land, he toddled around on his tail fins, with which he was able to move quite swiftly. He wore two swords on his belt and a small samurai-style helmet on his head. This Warring States Shogun-style dolphin was currently sitting upright in his seat, eating squid shiokara.
“Moffu. Nothing in particular... If I had to name something, it’d be, ‘how are things going lately?’”
“Yea, verily,” Kenjuro replied. “Little hath I to report, however. The pool at our Splash Ocean shall open two weeks hence, and several other water-based attractions will, at last, see renovation... such events proceed apace.”
Kenjuro spoke with tremendous gravity. He came from the magical realm Amatsu Yao, where apparently all the aquatic fairies talked in roughly the same way. But even among them, Kenjuro was especially formal. He had mentioned once before that he came from Amatsu Yao nobility.
“Ah, I see, fumo. Well, summer’s coming up. I wouldn’t be exaggerating to say that our final attendance numbers are riding on how we perform during summer break, fumo.”
“Thy words are well-taken.” As the name might suggest, Splash Ocean’s focus was on water-based attractions. It featured splashdown coasters, pirate adventure shows, mermaid princess romances, Jules Verne-style retro sci-fi undersea rides, and more. “We of the Splash Ocean cast shall put everything into this summer,” Kenjuro promised. “Prithee, be at ease.”
“Ah, sure. Well, I’m not too worried, fumo.”
“If we fail to achieve our required attendance, I, the dolphin Kenjuro, shall slice open my stomach in Latifah-sama’s sight.”
“Er, there’s no need for that,” Moffle told him hastily.
“Ah. You deem such penance insufficient? Then I might stain the pool’s water with the blood of all our cast...”
“No! No ritual suicides, fumo! Just tell me you’ll do your best!”
“Ah, do forgive me. I, Kenjuro, am at times a petty man. Forbearance, I beg of you.” Kenjuro let out a hearty laugh, reminiscent for a moment of an old-time warrior of Satsuma. Moffle had a feeling he was teasing him a little bit.
Despite that, Kenjuro was still the most responsible of the leaders present. He was universally competent, and kept a firm hand on the reins of his subordinates.
In the three months since Kanie Seiya had become acting manager, Splash Ocean had been fairly inactive. It was still the cold season, after all; nobody wanted to do water attractions. But last year, it was Kenjuro’s area’s performance during the summer that had gotten the park to the point where it had only needed one last push to stay alive.
“Just keep doing what you’re doing and things should work out fine, fumo. We’re all counting on you, Kenjuro.”
“Well said, Moffle-dono,” the dolphin responded modestly.
As Kenjuro responded, someone else interrupted. “Huh?! Moffle-kun, our areas are working hard too!” The interruption had come from the cast leader of AmaBri’s Astro City area, Mirai-kun.
“Ahh... Mirai-kun-san. I know you are, fumo.”
“Really? I wonder. I know you’re buckling down to get serious this year, but...”
“I appreciate the vote of confidence, fumo.” Moffle bowed down low, careful not to make it look too patronizing.
“But our area pulls good numbers, too, and don’t you go forgetting that, okay?”
“Of course, fumo. We’re always relying on your ability to bring in guests, Mirai-kun-san.”
Mirai-kun was Moffle’s senpai; a member of the cast that predated even him. He looked like the Earth. His entire body was just a globe with spindly arms and legs; in effect, you could say he was only one head tall. His map was outdated, though, and if you looked closely it still said “USSR” where Russia should be. His big button eyes sat on Siberia and Canada, and his mouth was in the Pacific Ocean.
Mirai-kun was the cast leader of the Astro City area. His area’s attractions were themed around space, sci-fi, and scientific enlightenment. But Mirai-kun’s own attraction, Save Z Earth, wasn’t popular by any standard.
Save Z Earth. Beyond the obvious question (i.e. why it wasn’t “Save the Earth”), it had its origins in the bubble economy-era push to engage with environmental issues and the various dangers that the natural world was facing.
The theme was ecology, and it incorporated cutting-edge video and audio technologies to make its case to the guests. It was quite well made (after a fashion), but it also felt preachy. It was hard to argue that Save Z Earth was meant for children’s enjoyment in the first place, and it had undergone very few renovations over the years, meaning the content felt rather old-fashioned and hackneyed now. Worst of all, Mirai-kun himself was an absolute pill.
“Moffle-kun,” he was saying, “Is that really true? I don’t think you’ve been showing me the proper respect lately.”
“Moffu. I wouldn’t say that...”
“Don’t you understand the importance of my attraction? Don’t you realize that the Earth is suffering? We need to communicate that to our guests.”
“Yes. Of course you’re right, fumo.”
“You know who I am, don’t you?” Mirai-kun demanded. “What I symbolize?”
This again? Moffle thought, while at the same time steeling himself to give his senpai the answer he knew he wanted. “Moffu. The Earth.”
“That’s right. I am the Earth, Gaia. I know times are hard right now, but you need to be kinder to the Earth. Right?” Despite saying this, Mirai-kun’s attraction was one of the most wasteful in the park in terms of its energy consumption. Save Z Earth used old-fashioned lighting systems and air conditioning. How could someone preach about ecology while wasting electricity like that?
“Yes. You’ve educated me, fumo.”
“Good, good,” Mirai-kun told him. “Now, I’m counting on you and Kanie-kun, all right?”
“Thank you very much, fumo,” Moffle said. Then he thought, That old windbag. I hope he dies, fumo. Gaia, my eye! Why don’t you whisper to me a bit more? (Whatever that old meme even means.) Go eat a gamma burst, fumo!
“Moffle-kun, were you just thinking about how you think I’m annoying?” Mirai-kun huffed.
“Perish the thought, fumo.”
“Hmph. Well, I hope not. But you should be kinder to the environment, even so.”
“Yes. I agree, fumo.”
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