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The blue mascot.
That strange being that had changed my boarding pass into a membership pass. It had even treated me like a lost child after I escaped through the gate and put out a wanted notice for me.
The more I thought about it, the more chilling even its cute exterior in the shape of a blue dragon became….
Good
child!
It was strangely friendly.
Right now, just looking at it made me feel oddly at ease.
I walked right up to the gate and waved at the blue mascot, who looked at a loss about what to do.
As though it had realized once again that we couldn’t cross into each other’s zones, the blue mascot looked a little dejected, but soon waved back enthusiastically.
At the sight of the two mascots waving at each other across the gate, several visitors near the gate glanced over and laughed.
Good
child
You
came
to
see me
And then I noticed something strange.
‘Its words… I can hear them more clearly.’
In other words, beyond the mascot’s usual short speech, it was like the deep and mighty voice I had once heard.
But unlike then, I didn’t feel so pressured I could cough blood.
It came across as though pure intention itself were seeping through.
Was it because I was a mascot too?
Right now, the blue mascot seemed to be saying two things at once: So you finally came to see me, and I’m really happy and grateful you came to see me like this.
Were mascots able to communicate this richly with each other?
‘In that case… ordinary visitors can’t understand meanings this deep.’
Then maybe I could communicate a little more directly.
I
want
to
play
!
Why
did
you
invite
me?
I mean, in the theme park, it definitely seemed like we had promised to play, so why, when I came here, was I still stuck having to work?
At my asking why it had invited me if that was the case, the blue mascot fidgeted and opened its mouth.
And what…