Volume 2 - CH 2.08

Part 8

After falling into the pit and rolling around in the darkness, Isuzu landed in a room, semi-conscious.

I wonder if he’s all right. I did push him away, after all. What if he ends up getting hurt? I’d have injured one of the most valuable assets in our park! Not to mention he’s my…

“Ugh…”

As Isuzu thought to herself, she noticed some people entering the room. They gathered around her, and started hissing amongst themselves.

(Been a while since we got a human—)

(Wait, isn’t she from Maple Land?—)

(Either way, we can’t just let her go like that—)

Isuzu felt herself being carried by some sort of stretcher. From the blurry shadow on the wall, she noticed that they were tiny—no taller than an average child.

With that, her consciousness faded away. She remained unconscious for a while before waking up, this time on a worn-out bed.

“Where…am I…?”

Isuzu found herself in a small room with stone walls and sturdily locked iron bars.

Isn’t this a prison cell?

“So you noticed, huh? Isuzu-chan.”

She turned around to find Macaron sitting next to a wall in the same cell.

“I fell into one of their traps, too. Looks like they brought both of us in here, ron.”

“Who are they?”

“God knows, ron. There were a bunch of mole-like dudes, and they didn’t look like cast members of Amaburi, either.”

“I guess that means they aren’t inhabitants of Maple Land.”

Isuzu sat up and shook her head for a bit. Though she wasn’t hurt much apart from some bruises, Isuzu felt terrible. After all, the prison cell stank and was terribly dusty, making her want to take a shower right away.

“It’s been more than ten years since anybody came here. I don’t get how could there be anyone living in this labyrinth.”

“Neither do I, ron. I’d understand if this were some dungeon in a magical realm, but it’s unlikely, since this is still on our turf.”

Saying that, Macaron pulled a cigarette from seemingly nowhere and lit up with a Zippo lighter. He was smoking his usual Marlboro.

“At the very least, ask for permission before you smoke in front of my face.”

“Oh, my bad. Mind if I smoke here?”

“Yes.”

“Hah, then that’s too bad.” Macaron continued puffing away on his cigarette, with no intention of stopping.

Throughout Isuzu’s year-long stint in Amaburi, she never understood what was wrong with Macaron.

To be fair, Isuzu despised the attitude of many cast members. And while Moffle and Tiramie seemed to always end up causing trouble wherever they went, they could be pretty reliable at times. Macaron was different, though. He seemed to find pleasure in pissing her off.

Or maybe it was because he was mature enough to be unaffected by Isuzu’s hatred? He was a divorcee and had a child, and all.

Macaron gave a snide snicker, sucked in a couple of puffs and tossed the cigarette to the floor, extinguishing it with a good step. It might have seemed cool if it were done by a rugged man, but the fact that a sheep mascot did it ruined the effect.

“Geez, at any rate, we can’t just sit in here for the rest of our lives, ron.” Macaron got up and walked to the iron bars.

“The bars are locked by a normal padlock, ron. Now if only Tiramie were here…getting out would be so much easier…”

“Got any useful tool on-hand?”

“Zilch. Just my wallet, my phone and keys to my house, ron.”

And as Macaron listed the items in his possession, Isuzu drew her musket from under her skirt and drilled a bullet into the padlock.

The shriek of the broken padlock echoed throughout the cell.

“That works.” Macaron whistled in appreciation. “Good job. Let’s go, ron.”

Despite Isuzu’s musket having made quite the racket, they got out of their cell only to realize there was nobody in sight—not even a single prison warden.

“This is strange…”

“Maybe they were distracted by Seiya and the others? They must’ve sent some backup over there instead, ron.”

“But even then, it’s weird that there wasn’t even an alarm or anything of the sort.”

“Hmm…”

There were about 20 cells lining the corridor, leading up to a dead end. There was a metal door on the opposite end.

Looks like that’s our only way out.

However, after taking a few steps, they heard coughing sounds from a cell 3 units away from theirs. It was then that they realized they weren’t alone.

“Hmm?”

They snuck towards the cell and took a peep.

The first thing they noticed were 3 LCD monitors. They then found a desktop PC, Blu-ray recorder and some gaming consoles lying around. It looked like a tablet PC had been tossed on top of the bed, which ruined the focal point of the various 1:3 shoujo and 1:144 gundam figurines. There was a shelf on one of its walls that was full of DVDs, manga and game discs, and posters of idols and pro wrestlers covered the rest of the wall.

Facing the monitors with its back to them was a mascot-like creature that sat on an elegant chair.

“Holy crap, that’s an Aeron chair, ron! Popular among the manga artists and producers.”

“Something like that being in a prison cell isn’t something to be envious about…”

The cell that this mascot occupied had been completely transformed into an otaku-friendly habitat. In other words, to a woman like Isuzu, this was precisely the type of room she did not want her future boyfriend to have, let alone sleep in.

Furthermore, the floor was littered with plastic bottles, speaking volumes about the mascot’s slovenly character.

“What’re you doing here? It’s not time for dinner yet, neru.”

The mascot hesitantly spun his Aeron chair to face its visitors, revealing its weasel-like appearance and khaki fur. It was certainly a mascot whom Isuzu had never met in Amaburi before.

“A-Aren’t you Dornel!?” Macaron exclaimed.

Dornel. The mascot who went MIA after entering this labyrinth. The survivors claimed he was caught by a dragon and swallowed whole.

Dornel narrowed his eyelids in suspicion. “Hmm, you’re Macaron, right? The new guy at the music theater.”

“Dude, that was like years ago, ron! I’m a veteran now!”

“You’re right, seems like it’s been quite a while since I came here, neru.”

Dornel stretched and shook his body.

“You’re Dornel, right? Just what are you doing at a place like this?” Isuzu asked, and Dornel pointed at the LCD monitor behind him in response.

“Oh, I’m checking out some blogs discussing why light novel titles are getting so damn long these days, neru.”

“That’s not the point…you’ve been missing for more than a decade now. What have you been doing all this while?”

“Uh, I don’t mind explaining, but before that, who are you?”

“I’m Sento Isuzu, the acting manager’s secretary. Now talk.”

“Fine. As you can see, we’re being held captive here, neru.”

“Here? For so long!?”

Isuzu and Macaron were dumbfounded.

“Yeah. The rule’s that one cannot leave this place unless his companions come to save him. Nobody came, so I just waited. After a while I got bored and asked for internet, and so I kept myself busy with games, anime and gunpla building, neru.”

“For 10 years?”

“Yeah! And speaking of which, I’m hungry…”

Dornel reached out and grabbed a telephone receiver. “…It’s me. Mind bringing some snacks over here? Some Kara Mucho chips and oolong tea will do. Oh, and 3 cups, neru.”

Dornel put down the telephone and waddled his way to the two of them, opening the barred gate separating them and beckoning at Isuzu. “Hope you don’t mind the mess, but come on in.”

“Why isn’t this cell locked, ron?”

“What are you talking about? If it was, it’d be a pain.”

“…”

Macaron and Isuzu were mentally prepared to rescue Dornel with brute force, but ended up entering his “prison cell”, utterly disappointed. They pushed away some empty Amazon cardboard boxes and found two chairs, which they proceeded to sit on.

“Hey Dornel, you do know that you’re considered M.I.A., right? To be honest I thought you were dead, ron!”

“Yeah, well…I guess that’d be the case, huh?” Dornel responded in an easy going manner.

“Look, spending decades in a cell like this isn’t normal, ron. And people were worried sick about you! Why didn’t you at least contact us to say you’re fine?”

“Uh, I originally just wanted to take an extended break, neru. But then I realized this was the ideal lifestyle for me. The new MMO I’ve always wanted to try out just entered its beta testing phase too, and I got so engrossed with it that a year just passed without me noticing.”

“What’s an MMO?” Isuzu, who was clueless about games, asked.

“It’s a type of online game, ron. Now that I think about it, there were quite a lot of time-consuming games like that back then, huh…”

“And after a year had passed, I no longer had any will to contact anyone, neru. You see, this place is perfect for me; I never have to worry about food, and I can get almost anything I want via delivery…”

What a scumbag…

“I see… MMOs are dangerous, ron. Narukawa-san also wasted years playing Lineage 2.”

“Who on earth’s that?”

“But it’s strange, ron. How are you still able to talk or socialize after spending a decade in isolation?”

“I don’t know, either. Maybe ‘cause I got popular in games by choosing female characters?”

“Seriously…?”

“At any rate, I’m okay with being this way, so once you’ve had your tea please return without me, neru.”

“Return? We’re allowed to leave this place…?” Isuzu and Macaron asked.

“I guess? I’ve never tried, though.”

“In the first place, what is this labyrinth, anyway? I heard you called for some tea and snacks…those must be the people who provided your games and consoles, aren’t they? Can you explain this to us?”

“Ah, that—”

Just then, a mole-like creature entered the cell, carrying the tea and snacks Dornel asked for. “I’ve brought the things you requested, mogu.”

“Thanks.”

It was a lot like what would happen at a karaoke bar, where refreshments were being served to Dornel. Isuzu and Macaron merely watched, dumbfounded.

“We’re…guests…?”