Chapter 32 | Charter Destinyland
We skipped school and went to Chiba Destiny Land in Chiba, Japan.
The park is very spacious.
There was a castle in the distance, and flower gardens spread out around it.
It was as if we had wandered into a dreamland.
“What shall we do first?”
“I want to take a picture!”
Rika raises her hand with a smile.
Isn’t she a little more excited than usual?
“Ah, look at that! Look Shin-chan! It’s Stan-kun!” [TLN: Probably a parody of Mic**y Mouse?]
“Stan-kun…?”
Who…? Do you know him?
A big mouse comes toward us, walking on two legs.
“It’s Stan Mouse-kun! Wow! Wow! Stan-kun!”
Rika smiles and hugs the big mouse.
His body hair was golden, and he was wearing a tailcoat.
For some reason, he was carrying a giant sword from his back.
I wondered if it was a fantasy-based world, Destinyland.
“Eh, a commemorative photo? Together with Stan-kun!?”
Stan Mouse-kun nodded, Kokunko-kun.
“Shin-chan! Let’s take a picture!”
“Okay”
Rika looks happy today, after all.
“Wow! Look at this! So many of Stan Mouse-kun’s friends came to see us!”
The stuffed animals are coming this way, one after another.
“[Ruti Mouse]-chan, [Firia Duck]-chan! Ah! [Woodrou]-kun and [Kongman]! Yes! All of them!”
It’s a name I’ve never heard of.
I barely know Stan Mouse-kun…
“You know it well, the character’s name.”
“I know everything! I love Destiny!”
That’s great.
“Well then…let’s take a picture. Smartphone, smartphone.”
I tried to hand my phone to a gorilla character named Kongman, who was nearby.
“…………” Bikkun!
Konguman-kun stiffened excessively. I don’t know what it was.
“Uh, uh… what’s wrong?”
“…………” Bikkun!
“Can you take a picture for me?”
I hand over my phone to Kongman-kun.
“…………” Bikkun!
Kongman-kun falls flat and bows his head to me repeatedly.
What is this?
“Well, umm… let’s take a picture. Should we take a picture with the castle in the background?”
“Shin-chan.”
Rika comes up to me with a scary look on her face.
“What is it?”
“It’s not a castle. It’s the Dynamis Castle.”
Oh, the castle has a name?
“Well, please take our picture with the Dynamis Castle in the background.”
I said to Kongman-kun.
The stuffed animal nodded its head.
With Stan Mouse in the center, Rika and I stand there.
As a group…
“Oh, that …… everyone?”
The Destinyland characters are all lined up behind me.
And they’re all kneeling down!
“What’s going on?”
“You mean, let’s all take a picture together?”
The characters give a thumbs up.
“Wow! Wow! It’s like a dream! I get to have my picture taken with all the Destiny characters!”
Rika says to me with a sparkling smile.
“Thank you, Shin-chan!”
“Oh, no…it wasn’t me…”
I’m sure it wasn’t.
The one who rented out the place was the main family’s grandfather…
After a bit of a struggle…
After taking a picture with all the Destiny characters, we headed for the store.
“I can’t believe I get a picture with all the characters!”
“Is that really such a big deal?”
“Yes, it is! Usually, there are so many people there that it’s impossible to get a picture with all the characters!”
Well, Destiny is said to be very popular, so I guess they can’t take a picture with each and every customer.
“I felt bad that we had the whole place to ourselves, but it was a great memory for me! Thank you so much, Shin-chan!”
Well, I’m glad she’s happy.
“By the way, where are we headed?”
“When you come to Destiny, you need to buy something, right?”
What’s there to buy…?
I wonder…?
We arrived at a nearby store.
“Here it is!”
On the rack was a headband with ears.
“Oh, I see a lot of people on the train with these on.”
“Let’s buy one!”
Rika says with a big smile, pointing at the mouse-ear headband.
Uh, uh… it’s kind of weird…
“…No?”
Shun…
“No problem! Shall we wear matching ones?”
“Yes!”
Rika answers me with a bright smile.
I’m a little embarrassed, but if it makes her happy, I’m okay with it.
“Excuse me.”
I talk to the waiter.
“We, Welcome to the store!”
A Destiny staff member (a human) answers, stiffening.
“Well, I’d like to get the headband.”
“Oh, yes, yes, yes! Which of the headbands would you like?”
Wait a second…
Is this person nervous…?
Come to think of it the other characters seemed to be somewhat frightened of me too…
“Which one do you want?”
“Stan Mouse-kun and Ruti Mouse-chan’s!”
“Well, then, I’m going to get them.”
“Shin-chan?”
Rika’s scary face comes closer to me.
“What is it?”
“Stan [kun] and Ruti [chan], okay? Full name.”
“Ah, yes…”
Apparently, she is obsessed with it.
As expected of a Destiny enthusiast.
“Here you go!”
I received two headbands from the staff.
“How much?”
“How much? I can’t accept money from the grandson of Kogen-sama!”
“Kogen-sama…?”
Rika turns her head.
“The name of the grandfather of the head family. Kaida Kogen.”
“Ah, the old man I met at the New Year’s party a while back.”
The staff was trembling.
I see. He’s not scared of me but of my grandfather and, by extension, the Kaida group.
“Oh, I can’t take it for free…”
“No, no, no! No, that’s okay! Kogen-sama has been very, very kind to us! I’ll be punished if I take your money!”
“No, but…”
“Please take it! What will they say if I take your money?”
That much?
“Grandpa, are you such a bad person…?”
“Well…are you sure I can have it for free?”
“I’d be happy to do it for free! If you want, you can have all the merchandise in the store for free!”
“No, that’s not right…”
The staff was a little freaked out.
He is probably acting like that because of my background.
Is it the same as the mascot character from earlier?
“Well, excuse me then.”
“Have fun!”
We left the store, walking side by side.
“Shin-chan’s house…once again, it’s amazing. I can’t believe they even have influence in Destinyland.”
“Hmmm…I wonder why?”
I was curious, so I looked it up… Destiny Resorts in Japan…
They were all under the umbrella of the Kaida Group.
I’ll pretend I didn’t see that.
“Well, anyway, let’s go.”
“Hey, Shin-chan. Wait!”
Rika took my headband from me and put it on my head.
Her body is so close to mine!
It smells so sweet!
Rika pulled away and smiled at me.
“Yeah! It suits you! Hey, hey, Shin-chan? Does it suit me too?”
Rika wears the Ruti-chan headband and winks at me with a snap.
…She’s usually grown up, but it’s cute to see her play like a little child…
“Yeah, you’re so cute.”
“Really ♡ , Fufu ♡”
…Well, if I can see this smile, I don’t really mind anymore.
TLN: Translating the Destiny character is confusing as hell, I ended up just following the Romaji with a bit of tweaking for consistency’s sake.
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