The Devil Takes the Night Shift

Chapter 44: The Manager Shows off his Knowledge

The man decided that going to the new stuff together as a group was the best course of action. Since he hadn't been around in ages, it certainly would be a joy for him. Plus, they'd also need a lot of his help in understanding most of it, so it was nice he'd be able to show off a bit to them.

"Wow, when I know they aren't going to kill me. These things look really cool." Akitomo was enamored with seeing all these models of mechs lined up as if they were in a museum. "People get in them to use them?"

"Well, that's how it goes in the anime." Juuto answered. "And then they pilot them to fight against their enemies during war."

"Wow, that sounds dangerous." Marie commented. She knew of mages who could conjure up golems, and that would certainly be a safer way to do battle with giants. However, she did understand they did not have magic, so controls would require something a bit more direct.

"Would you like to ride one?" He asked Akitomo as the boy stood still, staring at one of the mechs.

"T-totally not." The boy, now embarrassed from seeming to amazed at something crossed his arms and tried to act tough. "I can see a lot of children like these things, and I am totally not a child." They were surrounded by many people, a lot of adult with their kids who were not much shorter than the boy.

"I'm surprised you even have that kind of concept in your mind." Apparently kids between their worlds weren't so different after all. "But there's nothing wrong with wanting to ride one of these things. I'm older than you, and I'd love to give it a shot."

"Really?" He asked, a bit unsure as if he was about to be made fun of if he agreed. "You do?"

"Oh yeah, when I was a kid, I wanted to grow up to be one of these pilots." He answered. Of course, he knew now as an adult that dream was impossible. Though with all the recent building of the mechs in real form these days thanks to the popularity of the series. There could be hope in the future he'd at least be able to pretend he was in one. "Wow, I really lost my ambition growing up." He muttered to himself, realizing how content he was to be a manager at an 8-Twelve.

"Well, I guess it would be cool if I got to pilot one of these things." He admitted.

"I'm surprised with your abilities that you're still able to want do something like that." The main reason for why Akitomo didn't want to show a sign of weakness spoke up. It was true that when at full power, he could probably topple a Robodam. So there really was no reason to have to ride one of these to look cool and it would less effective.

"Really?" Juuto looked at the woman not amused as the boy's face turned bright red. "I was just trying to get him to open up a little."

"Well, it's funny to see him all flustered." She giggled. Though she ended up erasing his efforts, it was nice to see those two back to normal. Even though he barely knew them, he did like that side to their relationship.

After some exploring, the group had mainly covered a lot of the new things the park had to offer. It seemed they spent more time on making the place look cool and gave visitors a closer representation of actually living in the universe of Robodam.

"Looks like we're still about halfway through our day." Juuto commented as they got to the center of the park. There were dozens of people walking about everyone that made it difficult to determine where to go next. "What should we do next?"

"Let's split up!" Asaga commented. This was the final part of his plan that needed to go by perfectly in order to finally get them right where he wanted.

"I can live with that." Marie wasn't a part of the planning, but what she said first help lead them in the right direction. "I was interested in that bit with those training platforms."

"Ah shucks, I was thinking of the same thing." The farmer said. Whether he only took this as an opportunity or that was the truth was unclear to Juuto. "Then, let's go there together."

"I did want to go look at the so-called rides they have around here." Said Mifuru. She could tell where this was going, so she was willing to help out Asaga in this plan, despite wishing to throw him into a lava pit. "Now come, join me Akitomo."

"What? I didn't agree to this." The boy was the only one who came close to wreaking these plans. Thankfully, the retainer was having none of it. "N-no, don't just pull me along. I don't want to join a mutt like you!" He yelled as she picked him up and carried him away on her shoulder. "Wait, please no. I want to go with Juuto."

"Well anyway, see ya." Asaga said as they were left alone from those two. With that, Marie and him left to head towards a building that showed off what appearing to be training on the inside. Now it was just Juuto and Rame left alone.