After we finished lunch, I resumed my tour of the festival with Alice.
As expected, every attraction was genuinely impressive, and I enjoyed myself thoroughly at each one. After hitting several spots, Alice insisted on taking me to her top recommendation—the highlight of the day, as she called it.
When we arrived, the exterior of the attraction looked like the mouth of a cave.
"Now, we have arrived! This is Alice-chan's personal favorite! Today's main event—the Super Love-Love Illumination!"
"……Sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Could you say it again?"
"……Eh?"
I had heard her perfectly well, of course; I just couldn't wrap my head around the name. Alice froze as if I'd caught her off guard. Her eyes darted around restlessly as a faint blush crept up her cheeks.
"……I-I said…… it's the Super…… L-Love-Love…… Illumination."
"Sorry, one more time?"
"……I told you! It's the S-Super…… Love-Love…… Ugh, what kind of humiliating ritual is this!?"
"If it's that embarrassing, you shouldn't have named it that in the first place……"
Watching Alice shout with a bright red face was incredibly cute. The contrast with her usual self was so amusing that I couldn't help but keep teasing her.
Anyway, since it was an "illumination," I assumed the interior of the cave would be filled with beautiful lights.
"……Ahem. Right, back to the explanation. This illumination is…… well, to put it simply, it's a very beautiful place. It's a dream-like space that utilizes the absolute latest technology. However, it's also a place that will feel like hell to certain people."
"Hell? What do you mean?"
"……Just look at this."
"……Are you…… a devil?"
I understood her warning immediately once I saw the sign standing at the cave entrance.
Three arrows pointed the way forward, but I could tell these choices were the work of a demon leading people to damnation.
Each arrow was labeled: on the left was "Path for Groups and Families," in the middle was "Path for Lovers and Married Couples," and on the right was "Path for Individuals."
Essentially, the choices were "For Normies," "For Couples," and "For Loners." And remember, this attraction was called the Super Love-Love Illumination.
To offer a path for a single person while featuring such a nauseatingly sweet title…… This place was hell, designed with the sole intent of utterly crushing the spirit of any loner who entered.
"……Alice, what did loners ever do to you?"
"Oh, you know…… I just thought I'd provide a path for those sad, solitary souls too."
"Stop! Some loners would actually be hurt by that!"
"It's fine, Kaito-san. You aren't a loner anymore."
As a former loner myself, I felt a twinge of sadness for them…… though, honestly, no loner in their right mind would approach an attraction with a name like this.
While pondering that and scanning the sign, I noticed another tiny arrow at the very bottom.
Oh? So there were four paths instead of three? This one was conspicuously small, though.
I squinted to read the text: "Gorilla Path: Underground."
"Stop the relentless gorilla bullying! Also, I'm pretty sure that 'Gorilla' refers to a very specific person……"
"……Alice."
"Yes?"
"Exactly what kind of person is supposed to take the Gorilla Path?"
"A red, hot-blooded gorilla. Sometimes has horns."
"That's just Megiddo-san!"
I knew she was just playing a prank, but I was genuinely worried they'd end up in a brawl if he ever saw this. Still, she had such a wicked look in her eyes right now. Maybe it was time for a little payback.
"……Alice."
"Yes?"
"What was the name of this attraction again?"
"……Huh? I-I mean, you know what it is."
"Remind me?"
"……Eh?"
Alice’s expression shifted into a state of visible panic. I wasn't about to let her off the hook.
"What was it called?"
"……Ugh, like I said…… mumble mumble…… Illumination……"
"Louder."
"This is straight-up bullying! I feel like I'm witnessing someone's sick fetish!"
Seeing Alice shout in red-faced embarrassment made me want to tease her even more. If I wasn't careful, I really was going to awaken to some weird fetish.
Okay, this was getting dangerous in more ways than one. Time to wrap it up.
"Jokes aside, shall we head in?"
"Y-Yes, let's. Well then, let's go enjoy the Super Love-Love…… ah, er…… Illumination!"
"Don't trip over your own words."
Dear Mother, Father—just when I thought she’d made a confident declaration, she turned shy and started fidgeting. That contrast, that rare glimpse of her girlish side—that must be one of Alice's charms.