“───Ah, come to think of it, why is it even called the Tokyo Tower?”
“What do you mean?”
After all the twists and turns in their conversation, before they knew it, Shinichi had started tackling a question that’s been on his mind since finding out that they were headed here.
This was his first time visiting Tokyo personally, so it was only a given that he would want to visit this place that was synonymous with Tokyo.
However, this was a school trip of Garesto Academy, a school that claims to be at the forefront of the times.
Hence, from the perspective of someone from 8 years ago, Shinichi could not help but wonder if it might’ve been better for them to have visited someplace else.
“Wouldn’t it have been better to visit the Sky Tree instead?”
It was still the tallest tower in the world and it has also succeeded the Tokyo Tower’s role of being a radio tower.
That’s why Shinichi thought it would be a more fitting to place to visit than the Tokyo Tower.
“Oh, actually───” Wernher said.
“───Allow me to explain!” Myuhi interjected.
“My job was stolen!?” Wernher said.
As an anime-loving engineer, explaining was a role that Wernher didn’t wish to give up to anyone, but Myuhi cruelly pulled it out of his cold hands, causing poor Wernher to collapse, but Myuhi was just happy to finally be able to join the conversation again.
Shinichi felt bad for Wernher, but he still chose to listen.
“Putting it simply, the school is careful about sending students to officially visit the Sky Tree. Moreover, this trip was on such short notice that they never even considered it in the first place,” Myuhi said.
“They’re being careful?” Shinichi said.
“The Sky Tree was completed ju— approximately 2 years before the otherworld was revealed to the public, so its role more or less ended in two years.”
Myuhi said as she pointed to the Sky Tree north of the tower.
That Sky Tree would normally appear small from this distance, but they were all people that could see it clearly despite that.
He knew she actually intended to say ‘just two years’, but he wasn’t boorish enough to point it out.
“…Its role ended? Do you mean its role as a radio tower was made meaningless by the switch to Garesto’s communication systems?”
“Pretty much. You really are quick on the uptake, aren’t you, Icchi?
To be more precise, the current system is an upgraded version based off of Earth’s technology, and it has its own backup system too, but neither system requires the construction of such a large tower, so…”
“So basically, both the tree and the tower got benched.”
As Shinichi started to make sense of the situation, he began to realize various things despite the disheartening reality.
He knew all too well what would come next as a recent returnee.
“In just two years, people lost interest in the world’s tallest tower. But that can’t be helped – after all, the existence of another world had just been revealed.”
“So from the perspective of the Earthlings, the disclosure made them less attractive in terms tourism and commerce.”
That was likely the reason behind the school’s caution. Though they were not directly related for their losses, the school were an organization that advocated for the interaction between the two worlds, so they wanted to approach the matter carefully.
All the more so when it concerned Japan, a country they were on intimate terms with, and a building with such prestige.
“The tallest tower in Earth is still interesting to the Garestonians, though, so it is still a tourist attraction, but it’s just too tall for us. The Tokyo Tower on the other hand can easily be seen from below and is at just the right height. It’s also a beautiful red and has history behind it, so it’s more popular among Garestonian tourists.”
“No wonder I’ve been noticing more Garestonians since awhile ago.”
A casual glance at the surroundings would reveal a variety of naturally colorful hair.
Even without the school students, the ratio was approximately 6 to 4 in favor of the Garestonians.
Considering that there was normally about one Garestonian out of five people in the city, that was a truly high ratio.
Moreover, beyond the reasons that Myuhi mentioned, the administration had also promoted Japan as the first country that initiated the otherworld exchange to the Garestonians, which when coupled with the Garestonians’ desire for travel, their interest in high-rise buildings, and the safeness of the nation, Japan became the first “otherworld country” that the Garestonians would like to visit.
“But if that’s the case, then what’s with that?”
“What’s with what?”
“The decision to disclose the existence of the otherworld and the notification of that decision. It came too abruptly, didn’t it? Or did the administration actually already delay it for some time, and even then there wasn’t enough time for the relevant parties to read through the changes in the communication systems? The latter would be incompetence, but the former sounds fishy.”
Though it was certainly doubtful that anyone could have predicted that they would be switching to a different more developed system, but with how sudden it was and how incomplete the groundwork was for the masses, though the exact time was unknown, it was likely that the relevant parties were notified too close to the date of disclosure.
At the very least, that should have been the case for the Japanese administration, Shinichi surmised.
“…So you got that far just from the Sky Tree, huh, Icchi.”
The topic change to the Sky Tree should have been a simple question.
Shinichi hadn’t intended to lead into this, but this was ‘also’ a natural result.
To think that at 15 years old, he would actually have such sharp senses. Myuhi was both impressed and dismayed.
She felt that half of his thoughts were always those of ‘The One That Threatened the World’.
But such things were simply too normal to Shinichi.
“I-If I may add!”
It was curious how Wernher took Myuhi’s silence from her admiration and dismay, but Wernher got up and took this opportunity to add his own input.
“It’s actually a known problem for facilities that were constructed or began construction around 2014 before the existence of the otherworld was disclosed to the public, especially public work projects and large facilities likely to be affected by the exchange. It’s a global problem, an Earth problem, if you will.”
He presented this topic because he felt that international matters in Earth were his forte.
He said that the incorporation of Garesto’s technology made certain facilities less relevant.
When he saw Shinichi impressed by his answer, he clenched his hand into a fist.
But…
“That then drew criticism from the public, asking why they had to build them at such a sensitive time,” Teacher Saland said.
“Huh, Teacher Saland?” Shinichi said.
The tough-looking history teacher caught wind of his field(a conspiracy) being discussed and came.
There was a smile on his rough face, but he was just too frightening.
Even though he was only having fun, his face was so scary that those who didn’t know that might just call the cops on him.
Shinichi was already used to him, but the others weren’t, so they took a step back, allowing him to take over the conversation.