Since this was just the pre-opening, the amusement park was restricted to invited guests, so there was no need to worry about crowds. Alice had given us pamphlets before we entered, so we decided to check the details together first.
It was a fold-out pamphlet. When opened, it displayed a map of the entire grounds with the names of the major facilities; the reverse side listed the locations of everything else, such as restaurants and rest areas.
"……I knew it would be big, but this scale is incredible."
"It really has that major theme park vibe, doesn't it? It’s clearly divided into areas, and they all seem to have their own specific concepts……"
Alice had provided enough pamphlets for everyone, but since there was no point in every single person unfolding theirs, those of us who had been talking earlier gathered around a single copy.
Aoi-chan and Hina-chan peered over the pamphlet I held open, each offering their impressions. Just as Hina-chan said, the atmosphere was very much that of a professional theme park.
"There are seven color-coded areas…… I assume the castle in the middle is the Baby Castella Castle Alice mentioned? It looks like a standard castle on the pamphlet, though……"
"It looks like six areas are encircling the central castle zone."
The map featured a castle at the center, with six distinct areas surrounding it in a ring.
Looking closer, each area had its own name. First, the central one was the "Otherworld Area." The others were the Flame Area, featuring attractions with fire and volcano motifs; the Ice Area, which had a fantastical atmosphere of snow and ice; the Forest Area, themed after nature and the woods; the Dark Area, which used a somber color palette and likely contained a Horror House; the Aqua Area, which seemed to be centered around water attractions; and the Magic Area, which gave off a classic magic-fantasy vibe. That made seven in total.
"……Wait, could it be that every area besides the center one is based on the Six Kings?"
"The fire and ice ones certainly fit, and I can see the forest connection…… but what about the other three?"
It was just a hunch, but I suspected each area was modeled after the image of one of the Six Kings. Flame was Megiddo-san, Ice was Isis-san, and Forest was Lilliwood-san. Those were easy to understand. However, as Hina-chan tilted her head in confusion, the remaining three were a bit harder to place.
"Alice is probably the Dark Area. The Phantasm King Faction and its executives have a lot of dark, shadow-related imagery. I’d bet the Aqua Area is Magnawell-san. He usually brings to mind rocky mountains, but the Sea of the Demon Realm is apparently under his jurisdiction. As for the Magic Area, it’s probably based on Kuro, the Creator of Magic Tools. ……Well, I suppose it’s possible it has nothing to do with them at all."
"No, now that you mention it, Kaito-san’s theory makes sense. Is the center an Otherworld-motif area, just as the name suggests?"
"Hmm, this is just a guess…… but maybe the amusement park I visited before is located in that central zone? They might have placed an otherworld-style park in the center and then built the surrounding areas with attractions unique to this world, using the Six Kings as motifs."
"I see! Regardless of the reason, it sounds exciting!!"
Since they had gone out of their way to call it the Otherworld Area, there was bound to be something related to my home world there. The most plausible explanation was that the park I had visited with Shiro-san, Kuro, and Alice was the core, and they had expanded it by adding the other six areas.
That would explain why the place was so incomprehensibly massive. If they had essentially built six additional amusement parks around the original one, the scale would be enormous.
……Besides, if that wasn't the case, the only other thing an "Otherworld Area" would bring to mind is something related to the Hero…… and that would likely result in another attraction that brings shame to Noin-san. I'm sure Kuro would have stepped in to prevent that.
I still didn't quite understand why they had added a mysterious facility like the Baby Castella Castle to the Otherworld-motif zone, though……
"Hmm."
"Is something wrong, Aoi-senpai?"
"……Well, the shape of this Otherworld Area…… doesn't it look a little bit like Kaito-san's necklace?"
"Does it? Now that you mention it, I can see it if I squint…… but maybe not? Aren't you overthinking it?"
"Maybe so."
It resembled the shape of my necklace? Now that she mentioned it, I could see a similarity…… but surely not. That couldn't be right, could it? I wasn't involved in the creation of this park at all. There was no way they would design an entire area based on me, right? That would just be ridiculous.
"……Alice, the motif for this central area is the other world, right?"
"……"
"Why are you just smiling silently? I’m just imagining things, aren’t I?"
"……"
Without saying a word, Alice vanished, leaving behind a smile so radiant it almost felt refreshing.
Serious-senpai: "I see…… so, what’s the truth?"
???: "It’s an area created with Kaito-san as the motif. Well, it’s strictly just a thematic image; there aren't any specific goods or items that would identify him personally. It’s at a level where someone in the know might think, 'Wait, is this related to Kaito-san?' and that’s about it."
Serious-senpai: "……And what about the Baby Castella Castle?"
???: "Kuro-san pushed for that one. She insisted, 'When people think of Kaito-kun, they think of the Vice-chairman of the Baby Castella Appreciation Society!' ……Well, as a result, it moved the area's vibe further away from Kaito-san’s actual image, so fewer people are likely to notice the motif now."