[MashUp] Ch 20: Six Hundred Janitors

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Noon

Amagi Brilliant Park, Maple Castle — Fifth floor, the Sky Garden.

Six hundred fairies filled the courtyard with restless noise, the clamor so loud it felt like it might blow the castle roof off.

The park had shut down for the day.

For the first time in history.

"Are you kidding me?!"

The brown fairy Moffle yanked at his bowtie and stamped his feet, seething.

"All because of some nobody who showed up outta nowhere, we're closed?! Do you know how much ticket money we lost today?!"

"Exactly!"

Beside him, the white sheep Macaron stood with hands on hips, equally annoyed.

"Hasn't Princess Latifa and that idiot Isuzu just been tricked by this guy? A human is gonna save us? Really?"

The pink cat Tiramy licked his lips, eyes narrowing with suspicion.

"Well, he does look pretty tasty. But looking good doesn't pay the bills, nya~"

The complaints spread like a disease, infecting the crowd in seconds.

"Yeah! Why should we listen to a human?"

"What does he even know about running a theme park?"

"And making us all gather here—who does he think he is?"

The grumbling swelled into a buzzing uproar, drifting up to the castle's highest floor.

---

Sixth floor, Princess's chamber.

The noise downstairs couldn't reach this place. It was so quiet, you could hear a heartbeat.

Isuzu Sento stood rigidly at attention, her tight uniform tracing out tense lines across her stiff posture. Her nails dug almost painfully into her palms.

That man had ordered her to shut the park down and summon everyone here.

But he hadn't told her what came next.

The helplessness of being kept in the dark, forced to wait, brought back the humiliation of last night in that abandoned lounge.

Beside her, Princess Latifa looked pale, her silk-gloved hands twisting nervously together.

Her gaze never left the elevator doors.

Hope and dread warred in her eyes.

Ding—

The crisp chime made both girls flinch.

The doors slid open.

And Takuma stepped out.

He wore the same lazy, indifferent look as always. To him, the six hundred restless fairies downstairs were nothing more than a flock of noisy sparrows in the garden.

He strode casually into the princess's fragrant chamber.

"Takuma!"

Latifa lifted her gown and rushed toward him, instinctively, brimming with desperate hope.

But two steps in, yesterday's memory hit her.

That kiss. That overbearing breath against her lips.

Her shameful collapse in his arms...

So... her legs froze. Her delicate face burned crimson, red enough to drip blood.

Caught halfway, she faltered, unable to move forward or back.

Takuma looked at her—wanting to come closer but too shy to dare—and smirked, wickedly amused.

With long strides, he closed the distance.

In her panicked eyes, in Isuzu's wide pupils—

He reached out, pulled the tiny princess into his arms—

And kissed her.

Not a gentle brush. Not a fleeting taste.

But a forceful claim of ownership.

"Mmph—!"

Latifa's mind went blank, leaving only trembling under the suffocating intensity of his breath.

Isuzu stood frozen, forced to watch the absurd scene unfold.

She saw the princess's initial struggle, her weakening collapse, and finally—even clumsily—her start to respond.

By the time Takuma let her go, poor Princess Latifa was so drained she could barely stand.

Her eyes were hazy, cheeks crimson, chest rising and falling in ragged gasps. Her body gave out, sliding helplessly down his arm until she sat slumped on the floor, completely undone.

The sight made Isuzu's heart clench hard.

But mixed with her worry and burning shame for the princess... came something else.

A flutter she refused to acknowledge.

Because last night, in that abandoned lounge—

She had been like this too. No... even worse.

This man was branding them both with the same mark.

Isuzu forced herself to look away. Head bowed, she stepped forward, voice dry and stiff.

"E-Everyone's assembled."

"Good."

Takuma casually adjusted his collar.

"Then let them see what kind of master their princess has chosen for them."

He turned toward the terrace.

Isuzu's heart pounded as she hurried after him, whispering urgently.

"Wait—Takuma! The situation is already bad. Everyone's emotions are on edge. You absolutely can't just—"

At the terrace doors, he stopped.

Turned back.

And with gentle fingers, brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

The warm touch made her whole body tense.

A hot rush shot from her ear to the crown of her head, deepening the flush already burning her face from watching that kiss.

"On edge?"

"Good."

"In a moment, I'll make them even more on edge."

He let his fingers trail across her heated cheek before pulling away.

"Now, my secretary. Be quiet. Stay here."

"And enjoy the first lesson I'm about to teach you and your princess."

Without another glance, he strode onto the terrace—into view of the entire garden.

In an instant, the uproar below fell silent.

Then, louder than ever, the protests burst out.

"That's him? That human's supposed to save us?"

"Hey! Human! Why'd you call us here? You trying to pull something?!" Moffle, counting on safety in numbers, was the first to shout.

Takuma smiled—and even applauded.

"Bold of you. Looks like you've all got plenty of complaints."

"Fine. I'll give you the chance to spit out all your stupidity at once."

His contemptuous words poured oil on the fire.

"You dare call us stupid?!"

"Yeah! We've worked ourselves to the bone for this park! What do you know, outsider?!"

"Go back to your human world, nya~"

The uproar nearly blew the garden apart.

But as seconds dragged on, Takuma's smile only grew colder.

"Finished?"

He asked it softly.

Then—

A crushing weight erupted from him, a pressure from the very peak of existence.

For the first time, he unleashed the power of the Blessing of the Chaos Dragon.

Wmmm—!

The garden's magic swirled out of control. The very air thickened.

The fairies, loud just a heartbeat ago, were suddenly strangled into silence.

Their anger froze on their faces, replaced by primal terror.

"D-Dragon... he's a dragon! A pureblood dragon!"

"That's impossible! The law says dragons can't interfere with the human realm!"

"Why is there a dragon inside our land?!"

"R-Run!"

Panic detonated.

The weaker fairies collapsed, legs giving out as they trembled on the ground.

Even Moffle, self-proclaimed tough guy, stood rigid, every hair on his body standing on end as his eyes darted desperately for the invisible beast.

And into that deathly silence came a lazy voice from above.

It wasn't loud. But every single fairy heard it, clear as day.

"If you still want to keep wasting air in the human world—"

"Then shut up."

Every fairy, even those already crumpled on the ground, stiffly lifted their heads.

They saw him.

The silver-haired man on the sixth-floor balcony.

Sunlight played in his hair, but couldn't soften the suffocating pressure rolling off him.

The source of that crushing aura—

Was him.

Takuma's gaze swept lazily across their stunned faces. A mocking smile tugged at his lips.

"Good. At least you can still understand human words."

"Now you're quiet."

Straightening, he spoke like a judge passing sentence.

"Yesterday I spent an hour touring this so-called 'amusement park.'"

"My conclusion?"

"You've got nothing."

"Every ride here is garbage. The only purpose they serve is to tell your guests—'See? It's all a scam. Your dreams are worthless.'"

"You're not gathering fun energy."

"You're manufacturing disappointment. Feeding resentment. Digging your own graves faster."

"So my first order is this—"

He spread his arms wide, as if to embrace the entire failing park. "From today, every ride shuts down."

"The shooting gallery's busted guns. The rapids full of stinking water. The kitchen's rancid oil. And that Ferris wheel that looks ready to collapse—"

"All of it. Shut it down."

BOOM—!

His words hit like a bomb in the crowd.

"W-What?!"

"Shut down the rides?!"

"He's insane! Without rides, how is this even a park?!"

Moffle jumped up again, knees still trembling, but too furious to hold back.

"You clueless outsider! We survive off these rides! You'll destroy—"

"Survive?"

Takuma chuckled softly. The sound dripped contempt.

He jabbed a finger toward them, voice dropping cold. "With a bunch of filthy, lazy, rotting souls like you—"

"You think you deserve to talk about survival?"

Behind him, Isuzu forgot to breathe.

"Now, for my second order—"

His voice paused as he looked across every furious, bewildered face below.

"From this day forward."

"Your identities—"

"Are no longer performers."

"Not mascots."

"Not even fairies."

The smile on his lips gleamed cruel in the sunlight.

And under six hundred pairs of eyes, he delivered their new role.

"You are—"

"Six hundred janitors."

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