World Era 1920

Whenever a new year began, he had always thought about what would happen first. At the beginning of last year, problems had suddenly arisen with the appearance of mermaids. So this time as well, he could not help but be curious about what kind of problem would occur.

‘As for the mermaids, their numbers have decreased thanks to the activities of the hunting teams that began last year, so they say it is fine. They probably will not become a problem.’

He thought that the ones causing problems would not be the mermaids. While thinking that, January arrived, and as various events were held to celebrate the new year, Ian, as king, had no choice but to move busily.

Now that more than ten years had passed since he had spent time as king, he had come to think of his position as king as natural. Truly, there were no traces of the past royal family left at all. In truth, among the attendants and maids as well, many had been replaced.

If one excluded a truly small number of people, everyone had been newly selected, and as such, it could be said that almost no one knew the atmosphere of the past royal family. There were many who simply thought the atmosphere of the royal family members, including Ian, who was now there as king, was the original atmosphere of the royal palace.

In any case, even while the time of January passed, no major problems occurred. If there was a slight problem, he heard news that, at an intersection located in the center of the capital’s downtown area, around ten cars had been involved in a major collision accident, and several people had died and been injured.

After hearing about this accident, Ian immediately demanded that the automobile companies present safety measures for accidents. As the automobile companies received this demand from the king, they had no choice but to urgently present measures to resolve safety issues.

Various things came out. They operated cars after attaching rubber balloons to the front of automobiles, saying they would absorb force during collisions, or they created various methods such as having people themselves wear balloon-like safety clothes.

However, they did not have much effectiveness. Rather, as cases where those things caused accidents increased, he immediately had them stopped.

What mattered was the fact that automobile glass itself was extremely fatal during accidents. Since the front windshield was made of a single piece of glass, they realized that it shattered along with the accident and that the fragments inflicted fatal wounds on the driver.

The automobile companies were searching for a method to resolve this. The things that happened amid this situation were similar. A large fire broke out in some building, or if not that, robbers entered a bank and were arrested. Truly, things that would happen in everyday life were happening.

As he spent this time, January passed, and February quickly arrived.

In Pullea, the capital of the Polia Kingdom, there existed an amusement park that provided unusual sights.

Because of the monsters that had suddenly begun appearing one day, people wanted to see those monsters. Since there was demand, naturally, they were proposing to create enclosures where not only animals but also monsters could be seen.

They imprisoned living goblins and showed them acting just as they were, and they even captured mermaids and imprisoned them so people could watch them. Naturally, these sights were quite popular. Rather, there were so many people who came to see goblins and mermaids that it was more than those who came to see animals.

At the entrance to this amusement park, quite a lot of people had gathered. There were people made up of families, and there were also young men and women who were lovers. There were even cases where friends had come together, and everyone was buying tickets at the entrance to the amusement park and entering with looks full of anticipation.

“Mom, can we see goblins and mermaids?”

The face of the boy approaching the entrance of the amusement park while holding his mother’s hand was filled with anticipation. Seeing this, the woman presumed to be his mother laughed, hohoho, and said.

“Hohoho, of course. If we go, you’ll be able to see goblins eating and running around here and there. And the mermaids will be swimming too.”

“Wow, I’m excited! I want to hurry and go see them!”

It was the appearance of a child brimming with excitement, and at this, the woman and the man presumed to be the father going with them also smiled warmly. At that moment, in their sight, they saw some people standing while holding planks. At this, everyone looked at them as if wondering what was going on.

「Animals are living beings too. They cannot be locked up.」

「Can you not see the animals suffering behind iron bars? You must imagine a person being locked in such a space for their entire life!」

「Release the animals imprisoned here into nature at once!」

「Goblins are living beings too. They handle tools and even communicate!」

「How can you imprison goblins who have only now seen the light of the world? Goblins are not human slaves!」

「Goblins also have the right to become free and return to the embrace of nature!」

「Release the mermaids! How can you imprison mermaids who resemble humans!」

「Stop the abuse of mermaids at once! We condemn such acts!」

They were civic groups made up of about a dozen people. In a way, they were groups with the cause of protecting animals and monsters. Since they were holding such a demonstration in front of the amusement park, people’s gazes could not help but gather.

Of course, the gazes of the people looking at them held the feeling of wondering what was wrong. In the sentiments of the Polia Kingdom, people thought there was absolutely no problem with locking up animals and monsters. To their eyes, these claims themselves could only seem like strange and absurd logic.

Perhaps the amusement park side finally noticed their actions belatedly, and they took action. About 20 employees made up of fairly large men came out through the entrance and tried to make the civic group withdraw.

“Stop interfering with business and get lost at once!”

“What kind of disturbance is this!”

“You people, leave this place immediately!”

“This is not a place for people like you!”

Even at the actions of these employees, the dozen or so men and women acted as if they had no intention of doing so at all. Instead, they raised the planks with writing on them even higher and shouted.

“Animals and monsters must be liberated immediately!”

“They are precious lives too!”

“Release the animals and monsters that you are making into spectacles for people at once!”

At these shouts, the employees could only have expressions of disbelief. Release the animals? That literally meant they were saying they would ruin this amusement park. The employees could not view kindly the sight of people shouting that they would take away their jobs.

“What are you talking about! Stop spouting ridiculous nonsense and get out of here!”

“What kind of bullshit are you spewing!”

“You crazy bastards! You’re the ones who should get out of here right now!”

“Are we supposed to get fired from our jobs because of you bastards? Are we not pitiful too?”

It was the appearance of these firm employees, and the members of the civic groups likewise showed firm attitudes. The result of such actions could only already be decided. Before anyone knew it, a physical fight broke out, and in an instant, fists were exchanged.

They began hitting and fighting each other. Amid the sight of them biting and clinging to each other, the matter eventually grew to the point that the police were dispatched. The police who arrived after receiving the report had to hurry and separate the two fighting groups and arrest them. Of course, after hearing the circumstances a little while later, those who were arrested could only be the civic group.

“We will arrest you for obstruction of business and assault.”

“W-wait a minute. They started the assault before us!”

“That’s right! They hit us first!”

“We simply have the responsibility to give freedom to animals and monsters. Why are you saying you will arrest us!?”

They said this, but the expressions of the police fully contained the feeling that the civic group was at fault. In their view, those people had made the first mistake. To begin with, they had held an illegal demonstration, and since they even stood at the entrance where people were coming and going while making their claims, they had interfered with business as well.

Before long, the dozen or so members of the civic group had no choice but to be loaded into a medium-sized police car with iron bars that soon arrived and headed to the police station. In this situation, once the amusement park became quiet, it was able to conduct normal business.

By the time six hours had passed like that, the members of the civic group could be seen coming out of the police station. The reason they were able to come out like this was because the amusement park side had said they would release them if they signed a pledge that they would never interfere with business again, so they had no choice but to sign and come out.

“What do we do from now on?”

“What about going back out to the streets starting tomorrow and handing out leaflets?”

“More than that, those poor children keep flickering before my eyes, and it is driving me crazy.”

At one woman’s words, everyone nodded as if agreeing. They wanted to go back to the amusement park and shout their claims, but since they had even signed a pledge that they would not do it again, it was a difficult situation to move.

If they went there this time and were arrested, since there was even a pledge, their crime would be multiplied, and they would have no choice but to be locked in prison for several times longer. Therefore, they had no choice but to put their heads together and worry over what they should do.

At that moment, the woman with orange hair who had said they were pitiful spoke in a brightened voice.

“Let’s secretly enter the amusement park and release the animals and monsters.”

“Release them?”

“Yes. We will give them freedom.”

“To do that, we have to sneak in. How do we enter?”

“I know that if we go at dawn, there is only about one night guard. Couldn’t we avoid him and enter?”

If they were people with normal thoughts, they would never participate in such a plan. However, the people gathered here were literally those who loved animals and monsters and wanted to give them freedom.

Like that, they whispered among themselves and made a plan, then hurriedly moved. They decided that tonight, they would secretly infiltrate the amusement park they had visited. Amid this resolve of theirs, time passed, and before anyone knew it, evening had arrived.

Before long, three moons shone red, blue, and green in the sky, illuminating the earth. Was it around 11 p.m.? Amid the sound of grass insects, the amusement park, which had been noisy during the day, was located in an extremely quiet atmosphere.

Now and then, the cries of many animals and monsters could be heard from inside the amusement park. Listening to these sounds, those who were hiding near the amusement park could see the figure of a security guard moving along the wall while holding a lantern. As expected, just as they knew, only one guard existed outside.

“Everyone is ready, right?”

“Of course.”

“Let’s approach carefully.”

Everyone exchanged words in quiet voices, and they began moving according to the plan they had made. Like that, their plan, which could not have been more sloppy, was carried out, but it was proceeding better than expected. Basically, this was possible because the person standing guard was guarding in a half-hearted way with dragging steps.

In truth, he was thinking complacently that who would infiltrate an amusement park like this? Like that, after climbing over the wall using the prepared ladder, they began moving quietly along the path inside. The interior of the amusement park sunk in darkness was truly eerie.

However, they were moving solely with the resolve to release the animals and monsters, and soon, as if matched in advance, they divided their numbers and scattered, moving toward the places each of them intended to go. Among them, the woman with orange hair who had first suggested this plan arrived at the place where one enclosure was located.

『Caution—A group of “goblins” is present. When opening the iron-barred door, the procedure must be followed without fail.』

A warning sign announcing caution was present. As if they were trying to give the warning as clearly as possible, there were about a dozen such warning signs attached. At this sight, the man who had come along with her spoke in a cautious voice.

“Tina, it looks like there is a procedure we have to follow to open the iron-barred door?”

“It does not matter. We only have to completely release the goblins.”

“Well, we are not keepers, so I guess there is no need to follow that procedure.”

“Let’s hurry and open it.”

They approached the iron-barred door like that. Naturally, the iron-barred door was locked with a lock. Seeing this, the man who had come with the woman named Tina took on a confident expression and said.

“Leave this sort of thing to me. I can open it well.”

What he took out from his chest were strangely shaped objects. The man took those out and brought them toward the keyhole, then seemed to move his hands here and there, and soon, click, the lock was released. At this sight, both the man’s expression and the woman’s expression brightened greatly.

“It’s done.”

“Let’s hurry in.”

Creak. As the door opened and they entered, they were able to face another iron-barred door. It was a double-lock door, and they immediately attempted to dismantle this lock as well. As he moved his hands here and there to open it, soon, click, the sound of the lock being released was heard.

From this sight, the man’s former occupation seemed truly suspicious.

“You’re really good at this kind of thing. How are you so good at it?”

“This kind of thing is just basic. Ehehe.”

At the sight of the man speaking with a grin, Tina realized that he was deliberately not trying to talk about his former occupation, so she decided not to ask any further. In any case, the enclosure’s door had opened, and what they had to do now was open the door wide and move.

They were not fools either, and they knew that goblins were quite dangerous beings.

“Hurry. We are going to take shelter somewhere else.”

“Got it.”

The man and woman, who thought to open only the door wide and then take shelter, immediately opened the iron door wide and began moving as if running. At the very moment the two men and women passed through the first iron-barred door they had opened, a kikik! sound was heard.

A chill!

The two felt something was strange at the cry that sounded much closer than expected. The moment they turned around without realizing it, what they saw was the appearance of about ten goblins that had approached right behind them. They were far too fast compared to what they had expected.

“Ah…”

“N-no…”

They had used their heads, but they had not known that the goblins had already held their breath and approached close from the moment they were trying to open the iron-barred door. Perhaps they were fools who had only thought of one thing. And they immediately paid the price.