The next day, I went to the market, along with Jenny and the housewives. Barry had suggested I ask a woman from my household to act as mediator and manager for the women who would be preparing and distributing food, but I wasn’t exactly from the area, so I didn’t have any relatives I could ask to fill that role. Ann was all the family I had, and she simply wasn’t qualified. So I’d decided to ask Ann’s aunt, Jenny, to take on the management role.
“Aoi, we’ll want five sacks of dirt onions. Can’t make a good hot soup without onions!”
Jenny enthusiastically ordered me around. Ever since I’d told her she was the only family I could ask, she’d been in a very good mood. I paid the farmer for the sacks of dirt onions, and the housewives started loading them up on the simple wooden carts they were dragging along. Only a few months ago, bartering had been the only system in Milt, but these days most items had price tags on them, which made it much easier to shop. The way seasonings like salt and fish paste had become an indispensable part of their diet ever since I’d started selling them never failed to bring a tear to my eye. I wondered, was this really a positive change for the village? They hadn’t seemed particularly inconvenienced by bartering with goods and livestock. The only business that had used currency in those days was Fez’s stall.
“Next, we’ll need eight sacks of demi corn flour. C’mon now, hop to it.”
The housewives loaded up the goods Jenny ordered, one by one. I couldn’t believe the first time I saw one of those housewives hauling around a forty-pound sack of produce like it was nothing. They filled up three whole carts with grains and vegetables, and we continued our circuit of the market, eventually reaching the village’s communal warehouse.
“Oh, hi, Aoi! I’m almost all sold out here!”
Ann waved a paw at me as I reached our stall. I’d begun selling seasonings to the village on a whim, but they’d quickly turned into an absolute must-have for the villagers. I never brought all that much, but my stock always sold steadily, week after week. I made a pittance off it, but the villagers would always tell me they’d be back the next week for more, so I couldn’t let them down now. The villagers had been content to eat simple food for their whole lives, but going back to that insipid diet was unthinkable once they’d gotten a taste for food with more flavor. I hadn’t yet shown it off outside the labyrinth, but I was considering introducing them to sugar. For the time being, I was holding back because I doubted their wallets could afford the temptation it would offer. It was much more expensive than salt.
“You okay, Mary?”
Mary, who I had entrusted with looking after Ann while she manned the stall, was sitting in a corner, her legs tucked up and her arms wrapped around herself in the fetal position.
“Aoi, is that you? I have learned that commerce is a foe utterly beyond me. Resilient though I may be, strong though my sword arm may be, I think that I shall never make a customer smile.”
Yeah, in retrospect, I couldn’t exactly see Mary as a waitress, delivering an order with a smile on her face.
“Nah, don’t sweat it. To be honest, when Ann’s here, all I do is sit and watch. She’s a natural saleswoman.”
Ann’s ability to handle the villagers far surpassed what could be expected from an outsider like me or Mary. I’d gotten better with them over time, but it wasn’t uncommon for someone to bargain for a little extra when they were trading for fresh vegetables from their own fields, or to try to lowball us on something. When they did, I really couldn’t deal with it, so leaving everything to Ann was the best option. The problem was, I just didn’t know enough. I was studying every aspect of Milt’s economy as hard as I could, but I still wasn’t up on all the details of the principal crops, especially analyzing their quality and recalling their value in each season. All told, it was probably more complicated than understanding the entire Japanese financial system.
“Even you find this difficult? Thank goodness. I’m not the only one.”
Mary gave me a look of relief like I’d handed her a full canteen of water in the middle of the desert. I reached out my hand to her, and she took it firmly and let me pull her to her feet. I felt like we’d finally found some common ground.
“Jeez, you two would be lost without me, wouldn’t you?”
Ann gently needled us, a smile on her face. We were quite a pair: a helpless labyrinth manager and his helpless guardian. As Ann looked at us fondly, I reflected on how far I had to go—no, how far we both had to go. Maybe it was just our human nature.