“Hah hah hah hah!”
“After ten years of toil, I, Tsukasanosuke Tenma, have at long last discovered the greatest treasure under the sun!”
“However, this box is enormous...
If it is filled with gold, then I would not have to work another day as long as I live.”
“Heh heh heh. So, let us see what is inside!”
Now, Robo-Nene!
Flash your lights!
Engaging.
“Ah, such a heavenly light...!
This must be a treasure of immeasurable wealth!”
“Oh, my eyes... I was afraid that I had gone blind... Hm?”
“Waaaaaaaaah!!!
Wh-What is this?!”
“CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP. CHOMP CHOMP...”
“Hm...?!
'Be at ease, young one'...?”
“How is this possible?!
All I hear is him chomping, but I can understand exactly what he is trying to say...!”
“What in the world are you?!”
“CHOMP. CHOMP CHOMP.”
“Huh?! 'I am a deity'...?!
What are you saying...?”
“Yes, this shrine does indeed have a long history... But to think that you are its patron deity!”
“CHOMP, CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP.
CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP.”
“Uh... 'It is understandable that you do not believe me'...? An odd and boastful creature you are...”
“CHOMP!”
“Gwah...!
His thoughts keep penetrating my head...!”
“What?!
'I shall grant you a wish if you are able to make the people of this land smile'...?!”
“CHOMP.”
“A-Anything...? Including gold, money and giant castles...?!”
“CHOMP!
CHOMP...!”
One more time, Robo-Nene!
Miku, Len, just like we practiced! Get ready to raise the castle backdrop on three!
One, two, three!
Now!
“Wh-What?! A castle just appeared in the distance?! You truly are a deity...?”
“Then, I know!
To make my dream of having a castle of my own a reality, I shall make the people of this land smile...”
“CHOMP!”
And so, Tsukasanosuke embarked on a journey with the Lion Dance Deity to perform for people all across Japan♪
“Woof woof woof!
It's great to see so many people visiting the shrine today♪”
“But this Lion-Dog's starting to get bored of being stuck here working. It'd be great to go out for a walk and go somewhere else for a change...”
“Come one, come all!
All are welcome to see the traveling performer!”
“Hm? Is he a traveling performer?
Does that mean he's gonna do something for all of us?”
“That sounds fun!
Oh, I know! I should ask to see if I can join him...!”
“*Yawn*
Another beautiful day...”
“I am so glad that I was born a Snake Deity. All these humans bring me offerings without me having to lift a finger.”
“However, they are all so scared of me that they refuse to stay to listen to my singing...
*Sigh*”
“Come one, come all!”
“See the traveling performer's amazing show! Woof woof! Huh...?”
“Hey, Tsukasanosuke!
I see a Snake Deity over there!”
“A Snake Deity?!
That is quite a rare find... Hm...?”
“Hehehe... If she were to join us, our performance should attract just that much more attention! Lion-Dog, we must capture her!”
“Yeah!”
“Wh-What?!
Capture?! N-No, stay away!”
“Oh, what is this?
I exited the shrine to see what was going on with the village...”
“Come one, come all!
See the traveling performer's amazing show!”
“S-Singing is all I promised to do...!”
“Well, it is nice to see a troupe like this for a change.”
“It may actually be worth this shapeshifting fox's time to join in on the festivities.”
“Let us see how it goes...
Hello there, traveling performer. Do you have a moment?”
“Hm?”
The Lion Dance Deity led the human, Lion-Dog, Snake and Fox as they set out to put smiles on the faces of people all across Japan, from north to south, by performing a show that they had never seen before.
Before they knew it, ten years had passed, and they were able to put on a New Year's performance that made the entire audience smile from ear to ear.
“We... We finally did it...!”
“CHOMP CHOMP.”
“Hah hah hah! You can say that again!
I, Tsukasanosuke, am the most dashing man in all of Japan after all!”
“Now, my divine friend!
I believe it is time for you to grant me my wish!”
“First, my castle!
Naturally, I shall call it, Tenma Castle!”
“CHOMP...”
“Huh...?!”
“What do you mean, 'I cannot'...?”
“CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP...”
“What...?
'Despite being a deity, my powers waned significantly while I was sealed away, so I am limited to producing projections of castles'...?”
“Wh-What is the meaning of this...?!
I had your word. It is why I worked so hard all these years! Was it all a lie?!”
“CHOMP...”
“Bah... You liar!
Begone with you...!”
“Wait, no!
Don't go!”
“CHOMP...”
“*Sob*
Were these past ten years all for naught...?”
“Please cheer up, Tsukasanosuke!
Your castle... I can't really do anything about that...”
“But I had a lot of fun these past ten years thanks to you.”
“So what if you did...?
You had fun. Good for you. But I have nothing to show for my efforts...”
“Are you sure?”
“I have been alive for 200 years, but these past ten years have definitely been the most fun...”
“All good things eventually wither away. Castles are no exception. However, the time we spent together... That will likely never fade.”
“Yes, I agree.
I too have been alive for quite some time...”
“But I would not trade seeing people all across Japan smile for any amount of gold.”
“Tsukasanosuke, you may not have been rewarded with a physical treasure. However, to those who you've made smile, you mean everything to them...”
“And those smiles we saw...
That became our treasure.”
“Their smiles are our treasure...?
I see...”
“And yet, we still have one person left who is not smiling... Well, a deity, not a person...”
“CHOMP...”
“...
I apologize for calling you a liar, my friend.”
“I could not have attained this treasure on my own. You were the one who made it possible.”
“So, thank you for these past ten years.”
“...!
CHOMP!”
“Huh?! Why are you glowing...?!”
“CHOMP! CHOMP CHOMP!”
“I see. I do not fully understand what is happening, but by bringing back the smiles on everyone's faces, you seem to have regained your powers...”
“So much power...!
More power than even the Great Snake Deity!”
“W-Wait! A real castle...?!
My wish came true...?”
“That's great, Tsukasanosuke!
You finally got the castle you wanted!”
“How would you all feel about using this place as a theatre for our performances...?”
“We can gather people here to do performances for them, and even perform outside from time to time... Would that not be a fun way to put a smile on the faces of the people of this land?”
“Yeah! I wanna do that!
Let's keep doing shows together!”
“CHOMP!”
“Whoa!
Give me a little warning before throwing yourselves at me like that! Hahaha...!”
And so, Tsukasanosuke and his merry group of friends continued to make everybody all across the land smile. The end.
Yes, excellent dress rehearsal...!
And a wonderful New Year's spectacle!
Hah hah hah!
Of course it is!
We plan to have some members of the audience participate during the day of, so things should become even more fun.
The audience?! That does sound like fun♪ Break a leg, you guys☆
Thanks.
Still, it's been pretty long since we last properly did a show at the Wonder Stage...
Yeah, it has!
As sad as it was to hear that we wouldn't be doing any more ambassadorial performances...
Let's do our best to make everyone who comes to visit the Wonder Stage smile from ear to ear!
(No more ambassadorial performances...)
Hm? Is everything okay, Tsukasa...?
You look like you have something on your mind...
Hm? Me?
No, I'm okay. It's nothing...
CHOMP...!
CHOMP CHOMP! CHOMP...!
Hm? Wh-What the...?
Why is smoke coming out of Lion Dance Robot all of a sudden...?
Oh, he may be overheating because he had to move around quite a lot just now... Which means he might...
CHOMP!!!
Waaah!
Wh-Why's he chasing after me again?!
Don't worry. I made it so his fans automatically cool him while he runs around. He isn't malfunctioning, so he should settle down in a moment.
Wait, so I have to keep running until he does?!
Oh, they're playing tag♪
We wanna join!
Alright, let's jump right into it!
W-Wait!
We aren't playing tag!!!