ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 514 Part 2
ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 514: Reality Is Sometimes Stranger Than the Craziest Fiction Part 2
I’m not exactly sure who proposed that thing, but I guess that the drinking party is one of the most popular activities when it comes to after parties for events of such scale as this one. And something was telling me that I would most certainly not enjoy an event like that in here, or maybe that I am going to be in serious need of evacuation before long.
「…… Hey, Master, I asked for a fruits drink, if my memory serves me correctly.」
「Dear customer, this drink was requested by that kind person over there.」
The fruit juice that started flowing…… Ahh, I see! So it’s like this, huh? A classic drink bar event! But I mean, I get it that it’s a little bit lively in here, but aren’t you a little bit too excited yourself, master!? But enough about that! In situations like that it’s best to just go with the flow, and that’s exactly what I am going to do here!
「Kind person? What kind of kind person?」
「Ahh, hello there. That would be me, I assume.」
I had to squint my eyes really tight to be able to see that person through the darkness here…… Ah, no, it’s not like that. It’s just that the lights in here are just way too dim, so it’s really hard to see anything normally. And there is something different about this guy. He’s not dressed like one of the employees here. He’s wearing all black robes and he has a…… Hood, on his head? What the hell? Or was that my imagination?
Anyways, the way in which he is dressed surely stands out here.
「Are you…… some sort of executive……1?」
「Haha, close, but not quite. You see, I am the Head of the Sales Department for the Japanese Branch of Gatling Drum. As for my name, let’s see…… Ah, for now I guess you could call me Bishamonten.」
Bishamonten…… Like, that one god, or something like that? But anyways, I have heard the rumors that the Japanese Branch of Gatling Drum has seven executives in total…… Or rather, there was something about this guy’s voice that…… Hmm?
「And you see, the reason for my visit here today is quite simple. This time, as the local representative of the Gatling Drum corporation I would like to personally thank you for advertising the Riot Blood trademark not only on the nationwide scale, but also on the worldwide one! Of course, words alone are never going to properly convey all of the gratitude that the company feels towards you, which is why I brought this with myself. Please…… accept it as a small token of our gratitude and appreciation.」
「O-Oh, yeah, right. I, I see……」
But it’s not been all that long since the event has ended, so how……? When did he get here and who told him that I would be here……? No, don’t think about it, please don’t think about it! Your sanity is only going to suffer if you start asking questions! But then the man places a small box right before me and presses a button. The box opened up and inside of it there was……?
「This is something that is synonymous with the name No Face, since it is used to fide your face from everyone else. I present to you…… Jack the Mercenary’s helmet! With special color scheme!」
「T-This is……!」
N-No way…… Jack the Mercenary’s helmet, colored in the color scheme of Riot Blood!?
「Eh? Whoa, wait just a moment! This thing comes with the latest VR system expansion parts! What is going on here!?」
Eh? This has to be a joke, right? A portable VR device with its own power source built into it? And it’s one of those that does need to be plugged into the socket to work correctly? And if you connect your mobile device to it, it can even project AR images in real time…… EEH!? And the price…… This is even more expensive than the latest VR gaming gear that came out only recently……
「…………」
Looking sideways, Katzo looks pretty much out in the cold, Silvia sips on her drinks happily without a single care in the world, and Amelia keeps on chugging down the empty glass. Aside from that…… Hmm, there are no other guests around.
「Master, incidentally, how good are you with keeping secrets?」
「I am quite old already and I’m afraid that I do not have much more time left. So no need to worry about it. All of your secrets are safe with me. I shall take them to the grave with me.」
「And Gatling Drum guarantees to protect all of your sensitive private information.」
Oh shit, the look on the old man’s face tells me that he’s actually telling the truth! And that’s actually scary in its own right! But you are the best, Master……! Then let’s do this right away! I take off my previous helmet, wipe the sweat off my forehead and brows, and put on the new helmet, and then……
* * *
「…… Huh!?」
Huh? What the? A car? But why?
「N-No…… I’m sure that those idiots said that they were going to take a taxi right before they left. Yeah, that’s it……」
Huh? Ehh? Could it be that this is a dream right now?
「Dear Customer, you surely fell asleep there rather soundly. Just like a baby would.」
「Eh? Huh? Ahh…… what the, really? Is that what happened? No, umm, oh well, yeah, I guess that I was really tired today, huh……」
Fuuuhh………… I guess it must have been some sort of hallucination caused by the excessive mixing and intake of Riot Blood. Yeah, that would be the only plausible explanation.
Yeah, so forget about the pancake mix. There is no way in hell that I am ever putting something like that inside of a pancake mix. From here on out it’s just the milk and eggs for me. But what about the toppings? It was sweet as all hell, so maybe it would serve well to replace the maple syrup? That’s always a possibility. But wouldn’t that make it feel all gross and soggy? Yeah, that’s for sure.
However, what is even a nightmare? It should be just a mere dream, but with the addition of strong fantasy that tends to go off the rails in all the wrong direction, isn’t that right? But I guess that Gatling Drum would really be interested in that kind of experiment. Or at the very least the results that can be harvested from it.
THUD!
「……………………… Huh?」
No. No, no, no, no, no. No. It’s probably nothing. Just my imagination. Or maybe it’s just the sound of something hitting the Jack the Mercenary helmet that was still inside of my bag. However, what could that be? I mean, my mobile terminal is still in the pocket of my trousers. Same with my wallet and my house keys…… But even so, the sound of something hitting against something else would simply not stop here.
「…………」
I wipe the beads of sweat that begin to form all over my forehead and temples. Then I loosen the shirt around my neck, because for some reason I was finding it hard to breathe right about now. But even when I did all that, this terrible feeling of unease and that lump in my throat would refuse to go away. And so, I reach inside of my bag with trembling fingers……
「Hyeh!?」
And sure thing, there it was. It was the Riot Blood Custom Jack the Mercenary Helmet, shining in the dim light of the city’s neons and lampposts, looking as demonic as ever here.
KYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH ––––––––––––––––––!!!!!!!!! (Scream peculiar to only a selected few types of horror movies)
AHAHAHAHAH