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Amagi Brilliant Park - Volume 8 - Chapter 2




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2: EXODUS 

“Don’t ask me anything.” “Don’t tell anyone.” Isuzu was loyal enough that when Seiya told her to keep quiet, she had no choice but to obey. Still, she couldn’t help but spend the night tossing and turning and racking her brain. 
She spent a sleepless time alone in the girl’s dorm, her anxious thoughts racing along three general lines: 

Number one... Kanie Seiya was dealing with family problems, and was finally making plans to move out of the apartment he shared with his aunt, Kyubu Aisu. The real estate company had called to tell him about an appropriate property. 
It was also possible he meant to get a place to live with Isuzu. Though that would be quite sudden, it was the only reason she could think of for why he would possibly want to bring her. “Look, it has a nice big bathroom. We can take baths together. We can start our life together here, right, Sento?” What would she do if he took her in his arms and whispered that to her? But if... if... if he were to make that offer to her, what would become of her oath to the princess? 
No, that couldn’t be it. But still... but still... 


Number two... Could it be that Kanie Seiya liked older women? That woman on the phone sounded over 40, and she could even be as old as 60. Was their phone exchange hiding some charged yet subtle eroticism that a young girl like her couldn’t comprehend? It wouldn’t be strange for an adult couple, trying to hide their relationship, to put on such an act. It wouldn’t be strange at all. 
But in that case, why would he take Isuzu to see his love nest with an older woman? Was it a roundabout way of saying “Get a clue. I’m living with this older woman; give up on me,” or something like that? But it wasn’t as if they had that kind of relationship to begin with. It would be a strange thing to say to someone who was still merely your secretary. But still... but still... 

Number three... What if Seiya was actually dating some woman in the park, and he was looking for a place to live with her? What if it was Muse?! No offense to Muse, of course. It was just hypothetical. Purely hypothetical. And then, and then... what if they didn’t want to bear the burden of rent by themselves, and wanted to come up with some... scheme, to pay for it using the park’s finances? That might explain why he wanted his secretary along... 
But wait. For matters of funding, it would make more sense to bring the head of the financial department, Ashe. She was the person who held the purse strings in the park, and she definitely wouldn’t allow funds to be used in that way. Unless... Ashe? Was Ashe the other woman? If he was planning to live with Ashe, wouldn’t that explain everything he’d said? Of course. Ashe, was it? 
Apart from Isuzu, the woman Kanie Seiya spent the most time with wasn’t Latifah, but Ashe. She was an elite former minister of Schubert, a dark elf-type with blonde hair and copper skin. She was always very businesslike, and wore tight-fitting suits that showed off her nice curves. Ashe was an incredibly appealing woman, and Isuzu knew that she couldn’t compete. But still... but still... 

Isuzu ended up spending a sleepless night thanks to these thoughts. She staggered her way through the next morning, arrived at Amagi City’s Inabazutsumi Station at 11:00, and found Seiya standing there in his usual clothes: Jeans from UNIQLO, a parka from The Gap, and cheap sneakers. 
Meanwhile, Isuzu had gone all-out, wearing a jersey-knit top with a dropped neckline (emphasizing her chest), a frilly cardigan (emphasizing her femininity), and a pleated skirt with a flower pattern (emphasizing her legs). “So? Where are we going?” Isuzu asked, fighting off her sleepiness and getting herself together. If it was any of her three possibilities, it couldn’t be too far away from Amagi City. 


“You look pretty decked out,” Seiya observed. “Where did you think we were going?” 
“...?” 
“We’re not heading into the city,” he clarified. “It’s the suburbs... well, actually, more like the country.” 
“What do you mean?” Isuzu asked. 
“We’re going to Sanami Lake,” he told her. “Didn’t I mention that?” 
He hadn’t. He hadn’t said anything. Sanami Lake was in the mountains, far into Western Tokyo, on the other side of Mt. Takao. It was just on the border, in Kanagawa Prefecture. It was the kind of place that was bustling with tourists on the weekends, but nearly empty on weekdays. What would be the point of renting an apartment out in the sticks? (Apologies, but “the sticks” was the only way to put it). 
“That’s two hours from here,” she said incredulously. 
“More like an hour and change,” he said. “Let’s get on the train.” 
“Could you explain first?” 
“I’ll explain on the way.” 
“......” With no other choice, Isuzu followed after Seiya. 

They got on the JR Nanbu Line from Inabazutsumi Station, heading towards Tachikawa. The Nanbu Line was shaky and loud. It was known locally as the “gambling train.” There were lots of horse tracks and cycle race tracks along the line, so the Sunday passengers naturally tended towards that disposition. They were surrounded by middle-aged men glaring death at horseracing newspapers, which made talking awkward. 
“Let’s see, where to start...” Seiya finally said after they changed to the Chuo Line in Tachikawa. “Do you know anything about Kagawa Real Estate?” 
“A little bit. I’ve heard the name, at least,” Isuzu said, but the truth was, she had looked them up last night. There wasn’t much of use on their home page, but she’d managed to figure out that they didn’t really do residences, and generally handled land sales for corporations instead. They apparently handled the accounts of several ager—these were amusement parks, managed by magical realms—inside Japan. 
“I’ve had them secretly searching for property over the last few weeks,” Seiya told her. “This isn’t something I can just casually tell people about.” 
“I had no idea,” said Isuzu, feeling bewildered. 
“Needs of the situation. I didn’t want anyone to know.” 
“I don’t know what’s going on, but it seems awfully far away,” she pointed out. 
“What?” 
“If you’re renting an apartment, Sanami Lake seems too far away,” Isuzu said, trying hard to sound unconcerned. 
Seiya’s brow furrowed. “Apartment? What are you talking about?” 
“It’s not an apartment? A house, then?” Was he trying to get a large estate with a lot of land in the country where rent was cheap? In the age they lived in, she’d heard you could get a pretty nice summer house for only a few million yen: three bedrooms, with a yard and a hot spring. 
A hot spring! Of course! He wants to enjoy a hot spring with someone? I don’t know who, but he must know how much I like hot baths. And if he’s telling me about all of this... is he testing me? Sanami Lake is famous for its secluded hot springs. Maybe he’s trying to see if the mention of a villa there would make me happy? Maybe? Yes. It would be a lie to say I have no interest at all in Sanami Lake hot springs. He must be— 
“Ah, just to warn you, we’re not going to the Sanami Lake hot springs,” Seiya said bluntly. 
Isuzu straightened up in shock, feeling as if he’d read her mind. “Hot springs? What do you mean?” 
“I’m not really sure, but I know you,” he told her. “I assumed you were thinking I wanted to rent a house with a hot spring bath, or something.” 
“Ridiculous. I wasn’t thinking of hot springs at all,” Isuzu lied, brazenly. 
“Really? All right,” Seiya said with genuine indifference. “Anyway, I was looking for property. Not an apartment or a house—land.” 
“Land?” 
“Land,” he said firmly. “I’m looking for a big plot of land.” 
“A big plot... how big?” Isuzu wanted to know. 
“Let’s see... around 500,000 square meters, if I can get it.” 
“But that’s...” A word flashed suddenly into the back of Isuzu’s mind. EXODUS. That was the word she’d seen typed out on Seiya’s computer screen after he passed out from exhaustion. Exodus—a great movement out of Egypt. Migration. And the 500,000 square meters Seiya mentioned was the same area as Amagi. 
What did it mean? That was obvious; he was going to move the park. Seiya was going to move the entire park out of Amagi City to somewhere else. 
“I see you’ve caught my meaning,” Seiya said, with tremendous nonchalance, despite the seriousness of the situation. “This is why I was searching in secret. Can you imagine what would happen if word got out?” 
“Are you serious about it?” she asked. 
“I haven’t made up my mind for sure yet,” he admitted. “But I’m exploring it pretty seriously.” 
“Why on earth—” 
“Why do you think? There’s no way we’re getting three million people by the end of the year.” It was September now. Their best period for bringing in customers, summer vacation, was already over. It was only going to get colder from here on out. They had a lot of months left, but traffic in January and February was bound to be low; attendance during this time was typically so bad that most amusement parks could close up entirely on weekdays. 
Their current attendance was 1.2 million. They’d beaten their total attendance from the past year to a degree that could almost be called a miracle. But their final attendance would still likely fall somewhere around the two million mark. No matter how optimistic your calculations, the shortfall was inescapable; there was no gutsy move, no effort from the cast that would be meaningful enough to change it. 
The numbers had come clear around last month; that was why he’d tried for the bidding war between Digimaland and Cosmic Studios. But then he’d thrown that out the window, and in the rudest way possible. Isuzu was relieved to see those negotiations fall apart, but they still hadn’t solved the three million attendance problem, and neither of those two conglomerates would offer aid to AmaBri ever again. Even so, this was Seiya they were talking about—she’d known that he must have some trick up his sleeve. So this was it. “You’re running away?” she asked. 
“That’s right,” Seiya said with a self-deprecating smile. “The only reason we have to deal with that absurd three million requirement is because we’re clinging to Amagi City. It’s like a landlord putting unreasonable demands on his tenants. At some point, you just have to move out.” 
“Even so... this isn’t exactly like changing apartments,” Isuzu pointed out. 
“I’ve spent a lot of time since then reading over various contracts,” Seiya said. “I think it’s possible.” 
“But what about the money?” 
“We’re not rolling in it, but I think we’ll be fine. We’re assured almost two million in attendance already, so we should have enough to pay off both Amagi Development and the city,” Seiya explained. “The money we spent on the renovations this year can be paid off over two years with the money we make from the sale of the land and facilities. Plus, interest is ultra-low right now. I did a rough estimate; have a look. See?” Seiya tore a page from his notebook and held it out to Isuzu. 
Isuzu spent about a minute reading it thoroughly. They were just rough calculations, but under this plan, they probably could wring out enough money for their so-called ‘exodus.’ 
“The cost of land around Sanami Lake is about one third of Amagi City’s,” Seiya said. “It’s still a lot of acreage, so it won’t be cheap, for sure... but it seems like a realistic option, right?” 
“Realistic? Hardly.” Isuzu replied, and furrowed her brow. “What about the cast? Most of them live in or near Amagi City, don’t they? You think they’ll all happily move out to the middle of nowhere?” 
“It’s not the middle of nowhere. And it’s only about an hour by train.” 
“But you still expect everyone to just go along with it? The veteran cast will rebel, and the young people will quit rather than make the commute.” 
“Then we’ll make it work with whoever’s left,” Seiya said bluntly. “Besides, it’s better than losing the park entirely.” 
“Well... I suppose that’s true, but...” Isuzu had no alternate plan. Of course she didn’t. Seiya had spent six months racking his brains, and this was the best he’d come up with. 
“There are plenty of issues to deal with, of course,” he went on. “Backlash from the employees, like you said; what to do about the attractions; the inevitable negotiations with Maple Land when we move; etc, etc...” 
“Most importantly, how will we bring in guests?” she asked. “Our regulars won’t follow us on a move this far away.” 
“That’s what makes location so crucial,” he told her. “AmaBri’s been lucky in that regard.” AmaBri really did have a good location: thirty minutes from Shinjuku by train, then ten minutes by bus. There were only two or three other amusement parks so accessible from the city. “Besides, a drop in attendance won’t be fatal anyway. We’ll be able to take it easy, coasting along on decent numbers and acceptable profits. We can make our target, say... 500,000 a year? That should be more than enough to keep us in the black.” He sounded so relaxed. There was no desperation, no tension or strain, in his voice. 
Isuzu finally realized why Seiya had been acting so strangely lately. “I see...” she murmured. 
“Does that upset you?” he asked. 
“Well...” It didn’t upset her at all. Isuzu hated the idea of placing any more burden or worry on Seiya. It’s not as if he was at fault for any of their problems. If it makes things easier on you, I’m glad—she was about to say, but then swallowed the words down. Instead, she said with calm—with forced calm: “I just see why you’ve been so low-energy lately. That’s all.” 
“Hm...” 
“When I look more closely, your jaw is slackened,” she mused. “Your gaze is more slovenly. Humans fall from grace so easily...” 
“What the heck? I’m talking about securing a future for the park! Besides, I look at myself in the mirror every morning, and I’m still as handsome as ever! You need your eyes checked if you think I’m slacking at all!” Seiya said, openly annoyed. 
Seeing that he was still capable of arrogance gave Isuzu a measure of relief. “Your self-confidence is the one thing I’ve always admired about you.” 
“Hmph.” Seiya let out a snort, and gazed out the train window unhappily. “But, it’s too bad...” 
“...?” she waited for him to finish his statement. 
“Self-confidence isn’t worth a damn,” he finally said. 
The train kept on moving. The houses visible outside the windows grew sparser and sparser, and mountains stretched out as far as the eye could see. Western Tokyo was a mountainous region, so this was to be expected. 

Handa-san from Kagaya Real Estate met them right outside the JR Sanami Lake Station ticket gate. She was a flashy dresser. She was in her 40s, as expected, but her skirt was very short. She was very tanned and her exposed legs were clearly well-muscled. Her short brown hair seemed bleached by the sun. 
“Do you do triathlons in your spare time?” Seiya asked after a brief greeting, and Handa-san’s eyes lit up. 
“How’d you know? Have we crossed paths at a meet somewhere?” she boomed. When Isuzu had first spoken to her, she’d assumed the loudness of her voice was an issue of phone volume. Apparently, she’d been wrong. 
“No, I don’t really play sports...” Seiya admitted. 
“You don’t?! Then how did you know?! What a mystery! Ah ha ha! My son’s friends all say the same thing! It’s a mystery! It’s a mystery, all right!” The area around the station was quiet, and they could probably hear her from over 100 meters away. “Now, let’s hit the property! My car is parked right over there! Look, there! There!” Handa-san strode off. 
“She’s like a gym teacher... and she seems a little crazy...” 
“She’s very unreserved, though. I rather like her.” 
While Isuzu and Seiya whispered to each other, Handa-san opened the door of a Daihatsu kei-car parked on the shoulder, and waved them over with a shout. “Hey! Come on, come on! Don’t wait too long, or we’ll lose the light! Ahaha! Ahaha!” 
What does this old woman think is so funny? Is she on drugs? Seiya suddenly felt reluctant to get into any car she was driving. 
“Pretty small car, right? Ahaha! Go on, get in!” she urged. “You know where the seatbelts are?!” 
“Ah, yes...” 
“I’ve got travel sickness medicine! You need some? You want some?” 
“Ah, no thank you...” 
“You might regret it later! Go on, just take some! I won’t hold it against you!” 
“No, I really... don’t need it.” 
“Oh, yeah? Well, if you insist! Let me know if you start feeling nauseous! Don’t be a hero, okay? Okay?! Ahaha!” 
“Ahh... is the property very far?” he wanted to know. 
“Noooope! Just twenty minutes by car! Ahaha!” 
“I... I see...” Then don’t try to push travel sickness medicine on me... it makes no sense. 
Handa-san kept driving, unaware of how annoyed Seiya was feeling. 
The city around Sanami Lake was quiet. The weather was clear today, and the September weather was still hot and muggy. They could see the large lake spanning their right, where blinding sunlight glinted off the water. 
They were going down a highway along the slope of the mountain, so now and then, they could hear the roar of another engine. They also saw large signs proclaim things like “Sanami Lake Camping Land: 3 km” and such. 
Sanami Lake Camping Land was the only noteworthy amusement park near Sanami Lake City, an outdoor-style resort facility that shared funds with Highlander Fujimi, the more hardcore amusement park further west at the foot of Mt. Fuji. 
“Are you worried about Camping Land?! Ahaha!” Handa-san said. “It’s been doing very well lately! Ahaha! Not many people there today, but it’s usually brimming over with guests!” 
“Yes. I do hear that Camping Land does very well...” Seiya responded, forcing himself to sound indifferent. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t concerned about Camping Land. They were heading to a 33-hectare plot several mountains away from it, which hosted the ruins of another amusement park that had closed a long time ago. It was close enough that the rivalry might prove troublesome if AmaBri moved here. 
“The property we’re going to see... there was talk about turning it into a golf course! But the buyers just never seem to bite! Ahaha!” Handa-san said, as if she found it very funny. Seiya and Isuzu had no idea what was so funny about a golf course not finding a buyer. 
There was already an amusement park with a well-established customer base nearby. Would moving AmaBri here cause friction? Seiya didn’t agree; it was the opposite. Sanami Lake was quite a ways away from Tokyo, so having another amusement park here would be huge. 
It was a synergy thing: if customers were coming for an overnight stay, most didn’t want to spend their second day at the same park. It would be more fun to go to places with different concepts on different days. That’s what he was banking on, but... It looks pretty rusty... Seiya thought. It was his impression, not of Camping Land, but of the region as a whole. 
They’d caught sight of two abandoned structures on the way here: 
One was a closed-down bowling alley; the windows were all broken, and there was graffiti on the walls. It was right next to the main road, yet it looked like it had been abandoned for years. 
The other was a closed love hotel. It was a beautiful building, ten stories tall, that looked out on the lakefront, but it also seemed to have been neglected for a long time. With its castle-like outer appearance, it now resembled a sort of haunted house. It was probably an exciting location for urban explorers, at least. 
There’d been something off about the station they’d come out of, too. There were just a few souvenir shops and eateries around the small taxi roundabout, and he wasn’t even sure if they were in business or not. Lots of storefronts with closed shutters. The public park in front of the station (called “Excitement Park”) was empty. Unshapely fish statues sat in a fountain dirty with limescale, from which water came out in fits and starts. There was no energy here, no passion. Sanami Lake hung heavy with that distinct smell of “obsolete tourist trap” that you found here and there around Japan. 
“What do you think, Seiya-kun?” Isuzu must have been feeling the same thing. He wasn’t going to say it in front of Handa-san, but she had probably read it off his expression. 
“Hmm... well. I think it’s all right.” That wasn’t how Seiya felt at all, but he still said it. 
The prefectural road continued to snake through the mountain. It was so narrow that a large bus coming the other way might result in a standstill. “Are you certain there’s an appropriate property in the area?” Isuzu asked nervously. 
“Yeah! We’re almost there! Ahaha! ...Look, there it is!” Visible across the upcoming T-intersection, obscured by trees, they could see a sign covered in ivy. “That’s the property I want to show you! The former Sanami Amusement Park!” 
All Seiya could make out on the grimy sign was ‘Welcome to Sanami Amusement Park.’ “It’s been closed... twenty years now, right? Has it been abandoned this whole time?” 
“Yes!” Handa-san told them cheerily. “Why do you ask?!” 
“Well... if the old facilities are still around, it will cost money to have them removed. We might need to do a geotechnical investigation, too,” Seiya pointed out. “Is that something we can negotiate?” 
“You bet it is! Okay, going in!” 
Does she really know that, though? Seiya wondered, growing more and more nervous. This appeared to be a private road, but they eventually arrived at a rusty gate. 
“Hang on just a minute!” said Handa-san, getting out of the car and going to open the gate. 
“Sanami Amusement Park... I’ve never heard of it,” Isuzu said. 
“It closed a long time ago,” Seiya told her. “Its active period was before the Internet took off, too, so you’d be unlikely to find it just with an online search. It’s really only known among urban explorers.” The former Sanami Amusement Park was full of creepy things like the sign they’d seen earlier, this gate, and the statues of various mascots left to the elements along the road on the way in. It would be a great place for a test of courage. 
Isuzu was a little nervous, too. Like Seiya, she didn’t have much spiritual sensitivity (despite being a native of a magical realm), but still, she felt an unsettling air hanging over this place. “Are you certain this is all right?” she questioned. 
“That’s what we came to find out,” he told her. “If it’s not, we’ll find another site.” 
“So you haven’t made up your mind yet?” 
“I’m enthusiastic, but I haven’t decided.” 
“......” Isuzu had nothing to say to that statement. 
Handa-san didn’t come back immediately. She dithered around in front of the gate, looking thoughtful. Just as Seiya and Isuzu began to wonder what was going on, she opened just one half of the gate, then returned to the car. 
“What’s the matter?” Seiya asked. 
“Nothing! It was already unlocked, that’s all!” 
“What?” 
“Oh, you see this a lot!” she said reassuringly. “Some local kids or urban explorers just barge on in! The nerve of those people, I tell you!” 
“Is someone in there now?” Seiya was a little unsettled, but Handa-san just waved at him in an exaggerated fashion. 
“No, no! I’m sure it’s fine! The people who own it send someone through once a month. I’m sure they came in a few weeks ago and forgot to lock up after, that’s all!” 
“Ah-hah...” It seemed plausible enough, but... Seiya didn’t want to stumble upon the body of someone who had infiltrated the park on a lark and fallen to their deaths. The weather was still warm; any corpse left to rot would probably be pretty rank right now. 
“If anything happens, just leave it to me! I’m a really fast runner!” Handa-san boasted. “I’ll dash off at top speed to call for help! Ahaha!” 
In other words, you’re going to run away? he thought pointedly. 
 



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