When the day of the festival arrived, Marie and I—both clad in yukata—ignored the festivities around us, pumping our legs.
“Wait right there!”
“Drop those charms if you know what’s good for you!”
We were chasing a man in a fox mask. On his back was a box full of charms he’d planned to sell at the festival.
“Someone heeeeelp!” he screeched at the top of his lungs.
When we’d first met the man, we’d greeted him casually and asked to buy charms. He’d been happy to oblige, saying, “Yes, of course. One per person.” Inside the box on his back were hundreds of little white bags, each containing a charm. It was impossible to pick out a bag that contained the one we wanted.
That was when I made my move. “Give me all of them,” I’d said. “I can pay whatever price you want.”
Can you guess what he did next? He shouted at us: “No, out of the question!” Then he refused to sell us any charms at all and made a run for it. That was why we were currently chasing him.
“If you’re worried about the money, I can pay you ten times what you normally charge per charm! No, a hundred times!” I bellowed breathlessly.
The man glanced over his shoulder at us. “Absolutely not!”
He was ridiculously fast. It didn’t help that Marie and I were sprinting at top speed; we weren’t gaining on him at all.
“I can’t even catch up to you? Are you kidding me?!” Marie cried. “You can outrun me despite how much training I got fleeing vicious beasts on a snow-covered mountain?! What the hell are you?!” She was impressed but dismayed.
“Hearing that, I should ask you the same thing! How are you still alive?” demanded the man. “Now I’m even more terrified!”
You and me both, I thought. The vendor and I saw eye to eye on that particular matter, at least. I can’t imagine creatures chasing me around a remote mountain. Marie’s made of tougher stuff than I am.
Still, the vendor was carrying an extremely big, heavy-looking box, and despite all the running we’d done, he didn’t seem the least bit winded. To make matters worse, he was skipping up the mountainside wearing traditional Japanese sandals; the incline didn’t even slow him down. There was no winning against a local.
Marie and I were meanwhile panting for breath, losing speed. I glanced at her.
She nodded back, equally vexed over how the vendor was running rings around us.
“All right,” I called to him. “Fine! We give up! At least sell us one each, please!”
His whole body turned to face us. “One per person, and that’s it,” he said, continuing to run backward. “Just one! You better not try to steal any!”
“We won’t! Just stop running already! You’re way too fast…”
How far had we sprinted, anyway? Marie and I were both drenched in sweat.
The man finally stopped, though he still seemed wary of us. I yanked my wallet out of my pocket and handed him enough cash for two charms. Marie and I were still winded, our shoulders heaving with each intake of breath.
“It would’ve been better if you’d just agreed to buy one each from the start,” the vendor complained. “Your rash demands forced us all to run all over the place.”
“Sorry about that,” I said. “I was just that desperate for the charms.”
“This is the first time a customer’s ever offered to pay a hundred times their worth. To be honest, it’s flattering. Still, I want to limit my charms to one per customer. I have patrons who come for the festival each year, and they really look forward to buying a charm.”
So he’s more concerned about making people happy than profiting. It made sense that he hadn’t let me buy them all, then. If he’d only explained his position sooner, that whole nonsensical chase would’ve been unnecessary. Then again, I guess it was my fault for being too stubborn.
I scratched the back of my head. “Look, I genuinely feel bad. I hope you’ll forgive me.”
The man lowered the box from his back and lifted its lid to reveal hundreds of tiny white bags. According to his rules, we weren’t allowed to scrutinize them or feel them before deciding which to buy.
“All right. One each,” he said.
I plucked mine out first.
“Since you’re making us pay, you should let us pick out which charm we get,” Marie grumbled under her breath, still huffing and puffing. She wanted to skip the randomized aspect of this.
“The right charm will find the right person,” the vendor assured her. “There are no bad ones, so choose whichever feels correct.”
As far as we were concerned, anything other than the charm we were specifically after was as good as useless.
“Come on,” I begged, “let me luck out… Huh?! No!”
The moment my fingers slipped inside the bag I’d chosen, I could tell I hadn’t picked the charm we wanted. The first thing I felt was a braided cord. When I pulled that, the rest of the charm popped out of the bag. The cord connected to a metal ring that was in turn linked to a marble-sized ball. When the light hit it, the ball reflected a rainbow of colors. It looked like a big pearl, but I knew it had to be an artificial replica. Considering how cheap the charm had been, that was to be expected; it would’ve been much pricier if the pearl were genuine. The only real reason I was disappointed was that this wasn’t the charm I’d hoped for.
Marie waited for me to finish, then reached inside the vendor’s box and grabbed a charm for herself. She wasted no time opening the little sack to see what she’d gotten. “Give me what I want, give me what I want,” she chanted. “Come on! Argh…”
Her hopeful expression gave way to disappointment. I knew instantly that she’d struck out the same way I had. From the little white pouch, Marie pulled a gleaming silver charm shaped like a sword and shield. It was intended to boost melee characters’ physical attributes as they leveled up.
Studying our disappointed expressions, the vendor hoisted his box of charms onto his back once more. His fox mask hid his face completely, but I sensed him grinning beneath it.
“Those charms suit you,” he said. “Now, I’ll be returning to the festival.” He sighed. “It’ll be quite a walk back.”
As soon as he’d faded out of view, Luxion appeared beside us. “I am glad to see that you both acquired the item you so desperately wanted.”
“Yeah… In a sense,” I said.
Marie and I glanced at each other’s charms. My fake pearl strengthened healing magic, which made it entirely useless to me. Marie, meanwhile, had no interest in a charm that would strengthen her physical attributes. At least, I assumed she didn’t. I mean, she was stronger than the weaker guys out there, so maybe that charm wasn’t bad for her. I could somehow picture her with gorilla-like strength after the charm boosted her stats. The image was partly terrifying and partly hilarious enough that I actually wanted to see it.
While I was lost in thought, Marie held the charm out to me. “This isn’t my style, so I’ll let you have it.”
“You sure?” I asked but accepted it gratefully.
“It looks like the kind of keychain sold at souvenir stores. You know, like a dragon wrapped around a sword… That kind of thing. The stuff guys always like to buy.” It sounded as though she couldn’t comprehend men’s taste.
“Hey, I actually bought that exact type of keychain,” I replied. Back in grade school, in fact.
She shook her head at me. “I’ll never understand it.”
“I think I actually like this,” I said. The way she’d described the sword-and-shield charm brought back fond memories for me.
“Well, good for you. Now give me the one you got.” Her eyes were fixed on the fake pearl charm I held. When I offered it to her, she snatched it from my hand and slipped the braided red cord around her right wrist.
“There. We’re done! We might not have gotten to buy them all ourselves, but this at least wasn’t a bad outcome.” She flipped her hand, appreciating the way the charm looked on her wrist. Flyaway strands of hair on her forehead were now stuck to her sweaty skin. Sweat had also soaked into her yukata, making it slightly translucent. She’d pulled her hair into a ponytail, exposing the nape of her neck.
There was something strangely sensual about the way she looked. I had to tear my gaze away. Unbelievably, my heart was pounding in my chest—over Marie, of all people.
“Man, all that running really took it out of me,” I said, trying to distract myself.
“Yeah. I’m soaked with sweat.”
The intense exercise had exhausted us both.
“Regardless, by the time you return to the festival, everything will be ready,” Luxion declared.
Marie cocked her head. “What’ll be ready?” She’d already forgotten what she’d been looking forward to when we first arrived.
I forced a smile. “The fireworks, remember? We’re going to watch them from a perfect spot. I can’t believe it slipped your mind. Who is it that won’t shut up about the fireworks, starting yesterday?”
Realization dawned on her face. “That’s right! The fireworks! We need to hurry back!” She took off.
Luxion and I hurried after her, trading looks as we went.
“We’re good to go?” I whispered to him.
“Of course. The rest is up to you.”
“Yeah. That’s the part that worries me.”