Chapter 91

“Ready to go home?” “I think I can do it if I carry Boxxo. No, I know I can! L-look, I’m in charge of carrying him, so I really think I should be the one to do it!” Lammis is desperate. I’m happy to be wanted, but I’m pretty much in the position of being her parent. “Fine, you can carry Boxxo, so get moving.” “Okay. I’ll be fine if I’m with Boxxo. Right, Boxxo?” I hope so. Still, I feel like the difference between going into a haunted house alone and going inside with a vending machine is like night and day… I’ve never seen anyone go into a haunted house with a vending machine on their back. “Boxxo, you’re there, right?! You’re on my back, right?!” “Welcome.” “R-really? You’re really there?!” “Welcome.” “Don’t get off my back, okay?! Don’t do that!” “Welcome.” This reminds me of when I helped one of my relatives, a kid, who couldn’t ride a bike. I can’t move by myself, so there’s no way I could possibly get off her back. If she’s still anxious about whether I’m still here, it means she can’t feel most of the heavy weight she’s got on her back right now. With the strength she has, I’d think she could smash any monster she saw at night to smithereens in one hit anyway. “I’ll do my best. I’ll do my best, so let’s conduct the search together. Together.” Shaking, she grits her teeth and takes one firm step after another. I get it. I may be dense, but even I understand now. Lammis is so desperate to overcome her fear because she wants to stay with me. In that case, I should encourage her with all my might so we can overcome her fear together. There’s still quite a distance before the sundries shop. Is there any feature I have that will allow us to reach our destination with a few less frights? Something to calm the nerves… Something relaxing… A fragrance, then? I’ve heard roses and grapefruits have relaxing scents. A friend of mine who was enraptured by aromatherapy was very emphatic about explaining it. Also, the smell of coffee apparently calms you down. Should I change into a flower vending machine or a fruit vending machine, then? No, hold on. Any scent that came out if I did that would be extremely weak. I need to create a strong-enough smell that she’d be able to tell right away—maybe I’ll take this one. From my features list, I choose the aroma diffuser. This isn’t the kind you use to cover up bad smells in places like bathrooms but the kind stores use when trying to attract customers. It’s the type you can easily install into a vending machine, with over a hundred scents to choose from. When the motion sensor detects a person, the scent built into the machine begins to emit the scent from a cartridge. I take the Motion Sensor feature as well to make the most of it. The device is made for luring people in with the scent of your products, but the scent is rather strong, so it should reach Lammis, since I’m on her back. Among the hundred scents, they have grapefruit and coffee here. Hopeful of the effects, I try emitting one. “Ahh, I smell something good. Is it a citrus fruit?” Oh, the trembling I felt from Lammis’s back is gone. I don’t know whether it actually relaxed her or merely distracted her, but she’s calmed down a bit, so it doesn’t matter. I’ll try all sorts of other things for her sake, too. After testing a bunch of options, the two things that took her mind off her fear were the aroma diffuser’s scents and the jukebox’s music. I play the most effective song, a jazz piece, as I let a coffee scent drift through the air. Since I have a two-hour limit for form changes, I think sticking mainly with the aroma diffuser and only adding music in will be the most effective strategy. I mean, the music playing seems to calm Lammis down, but we’re getting freaked-out stares from the people around us. I hope she doesn’t notice.