Upon exiting the labyrinth, an embarrassed Hina-chan pulled away from me, and amid a slightly ticklish, awkward atmosphere, we made our way toward the exit.
Several pairs had already arrived, and as we joined up with them, the rest of the group quickly followed suit.
Listening to everyone's stories, it turned out that their experiences had been largely the same; while one or two people seemed to have taken a hit, everyone appeared to have cleared it without incident.
As expected, when the Mirror Monster feinted and shifted between mirrors, no matter how quickly one pointed the lantern, it would move to another mirror during the slight time lag between pushing the stone and the light actually firing unless it was in that specific vulnerable state. That seemed to have been the easiest place to mess up.
Furthermore, even if you took damage along the way, the reinforced lantern in the final battle would heal any previous damage—a thoughtful design clearly intended to ensure the attraction remained easy to clear.
In fact, the Mirror Monster's phases in the final battle were based on the surprise attacks from the path—noticing the anomalies as it approached, waiting for an opening without being misled by feints, and anticipating surprise attacks from outside your field of vision. Since a mistake didn't advance the phase, the overall difficulty was definitely tailored under the assumption that everyone would eventually succeed.
"Still, even though it was unexpected, it was a lot of fun!"
"...Hina-chan, is your face a little red?"
"Well, it was scary, you know! I got so scared I even cried a bit... A-Anyway, setting that aside, let's head to the next one!"
When Aoi-chan pointed out the lingering flush on her face from when I had wrapped my arm around her shoulders earlier, Hina-chan flusteredly brushed it off. Naturally, Aoi-chan already knew Hina-chan wasn't good with scary things, so she simply nodded without questioning it too much.
"Hina-chan, where should we go next?"
"Next, let's just go on something standard, like a coaster. It'd be bad if another horror element jumped out at us as a surprise attack..."
"I don't think we'll keep running into horror stuff, but... how about this snow and ice coaster then?"
As I walked while watching Aoi-chan and Hina-chan chat, someone suddenly tapped me on the shoulder. Turning around, I found Luna-san standing there with a smug, amused smirk on her face.
Yeah... Luna-san is pretty sharp, so she probably sensed what happened between Hina-chan and me and came over to tease me.
"It seems this attraction offered an entirely different sort of thrill for Miyama-sama than mere fear. Even amidst an outing with such a large group, you took aim and boldly seized your chance the moment an opening presented itself. Unworthy as I am, Lunamaria cannot help but feel profound awe at your valor."
"You certainly look like a fish that just found water. So, Luna-san, horror attractions don't bother you?"
"I have no problem with them whatsoever. Rather, what I truly feared was the Forest Area..."
"Ah, right... Though, I really don't think they'd have the kind of things you're worried about..."
Luna-san's weakness was bugs, and while the Forest Area did seem like the most likely place for them to appear in this amusement park... aside from cute, stylized bugs, I doubted there would be any attractions featuring the realistic caterpillars that terrify her.
Well, if I carelessly played along with her topic, she would probably tease me endlessly, so steering the conversation away was essential.
"...And? Exactly what transpired? You can whisper it just to me, you know? Given the relationship between Miyama-sama and myself, surely..."
"No comment."
"Muu, your guard is formidable. Very well, then. We still have plenty of time, so I shall look forward to observing the masterful handiwork of Miyama-sama, the overwhelmingly dominant Romance Expert, from here on out. So then, who might be your next target?"
She looked thrilled. Immensely thrilled. If anything, she looked the happiest she had been since arriving at this amusement park. Luna-san had a penchant for gossip, and perhaps she just really enjoyed talking about romance.
Right now, she was clearly half-teasing, but she also seemed genuinely brimming with curiosity regarding romantic matters... In the end, her tastes and interests really were quite feminine.
"...In that case, maybe I'll make you my next target, Luna-san."
"Oh my, whatever shall I do? To think that even I am finally to fall into Miyama-sama's venomous clutches."
"..."
"...Eh? A-Are you actually being serious?"
When I met her playful response with a deadpan stare, Luna-san's expression visibly faltered as a wave of flustered panic washed over her.
She was quite similar to Alice in this regard—she loved sticking her nose into these topics to stir things up and pry, but the second the spearhead was turned toward her, she became exceptionally frail.
"Well, I wonder."
"L-Let us calm down, Miyama-sama... Did you not say so yourself in the past? That if you put your mind to it, you felt you could seize the initiative over me in an instant... Considering our actual difference in experience, there is simply no way I could hold my own if Miyama-sama came at me in earnest. Do you not find bullying the weak pitiful? A Powerhouse ought to possess a generous heart, after all."
"...Well, for now, let's make sure we pair up together whenever we hit an attraction that splits us into pairs."
"Miyama-sama, I apologize for getting carried away, so please have mercy... You occasionally display a rather sadistic streak toward Alice-sama and myself, which fills me with nothing but dread."
"..."
"Please do not simply smile in silence... The reason being that it is terrifying."
In truth, teasing me about romance was really a bad move on her part; she was essentially picking a fight on the exact topic of her own weakness.
My impression hadn't changed from before—in fact, I had gained more experience since we talked at the Six Kings Festival, and above all, the countermeasures I used on Alice worked just as well on her. When it came to topics like this, taking total control over her would be as easy as twisting a baby's arm.
???: "Seriously, right? Kaito-san tends to crank up his sadistic streak whenever dealing with the types who tease him, like m—Alice-chan and Luna-san, so it's quite troublesome, you know."
Serious-senpai: "I feel like that's just proof he's opened up to you. Although in a different way, he can be pretty blunt and biting with people like Tore as well..."