CHAPTER 1
One Girl’s Troubles
On a moonlit street corner, a lone witch was working as a fortune-teller.
She was sitting quietly atop a cloth she had spread out on the ground. She was a girl with distinctive ashen hair and lapis eyes.
She wore a black robe, a pointy black hat, and a star-shaped brooch—proof she was a witch.
The stars twinkled high above the tall houses that loomed over the street, and their dazzling brilliance drifted down onto the crystal ball resting nearby.
She was a traveler and a witch.
“Miss Fortune-Teller? I just can’t do it anymore!”
“Sigh.” The witch grimaced and turned to face the drunk girl.
For some reason, the witch was telling fortunes.
In all honesty, she had simply run out of money. Now she was posing as a fortune-teller and working for small change.
“Listen to my story, won’t you?”
“I collect one gold piece as a consultation fee, is that all right?”
Who on earth could she be? Just who was this witch who was overcharging because she thought this customer would be a pain and wanted her to hurry up and leave?
That’s right. She’s me.
Unfortunately, the girl before me turned out to be quite rich.
First of all, I’m a fortune-teller…Why do I have to listen to other people’s problems?
That’s what I would’ve liked to grumble, but as I had already taken the girl’s money, there was no helping it. I had to listen to her idle complaints.
From her appearance, I assumed she was having a difficult time, but having already collected my fee, there was no way I could ignore her story, no matter how much of a pain it would be.
“So I, like, waitress at a restaurant around here, y’know?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“And, like, I want to quit my job?”
“Then you should probably quit.”
“Recently, the customers are, like, really mean? They always have something to gripe about, and like, they lord it over me and complain, complain, complain if I make even one little mistake.”
“They have nothing but complaints, I see.”
“That’s right! But, like, they just pile on the criticism until I’m left thinking, You don’t need to go that far!—y’know? On top of all that, they always recite this dumb little phrase from some nearby country, like, ‘The customer is always right!’”
“Mm-hmm.”
“What do you think I should do?”
“They won’t shut up, even if you offer up prayers?”
“Are you taking this consultation seriously? Hic.”
“Are you seriously asking me that…?”
“In the first place, like, sure, I’m an employee, and sure, the customers are paying me, but, like, so what? That’s how I feel, y’know? Like, I thought we took the customers’ money, gave them what they wanted, and that was the whole job.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“So I thought, We’re equals! Like, if they’re gonna complain that much, I’m not gonna make them food! Right?”
“No, you’re not equal.”
“What are you saying, Miss Fortune-Teller? I gave you a whole gold piece, so could you be a little more professional? I’m the customer, y’know?”
“Are you really that eager to eat your words?”
“Oh…I can’t do it anymore! I want to quit my job.”
“I think that might be for the best.”
“But I don’t have any money.”
“Didn’t you just give me a gold piece?”
“That was everything I had.”
“I’ll give it back.”
“Miss Fortune-Teller, you’re so nice… Oh…to think I was lucky enough to meet someone so nice… This world isn’t such a bad place after all… Sniff.”
“……”
“Hey, Miss Fortune-Teller? What do you think I should do?”
“Let’s see… All right, I’ll give you a little advice.”
“…? Hmm?”
“I think you should be more honest with yourself.”
“What do you mean?”
“If someone has a complaint, you shouldn’t be afraid to defend yourself. You should tell them how you really feel.”
“If I could do that, I wouldn’t be having such a hard time!”
“Here, this is for you.”
“A bottle? What’s this stuff inside?”
“That’s enchanted water. Drink it, and you’ll be able to let your true self out.”
“Wow…! To think such water exists…!”
“Yep. Go ahead. Think of it as a gift from me. Drink it and do your best at your job starting tomorrow.”
“…Oh. I can’t. I don’t want to go to work.”
“Come on now, don’t say that.”
She proceeded to gripe in front of my stall for another several dozen minutes, until finally, she said, “Oh, I need to use the bathroom,” and started heading home.
She loudly gulped down the water I had given her and shouted, “Wow! I feel like I’ve rediscovered my true self somehow!”
“……”
It was just ordinary water, of course. The feeling she interpreted as her “rediscovering her true self” was just her sobering up.
On another day, in that same country, one of the waitresses at a certain establishment became a hot topic of conversation.
She had been hurling abuse at customers and sounded like an all-around awful person. If you tried to place an order, she would click her tongue as she approached your table and glare at you as she carried the food out. Whenever customers paid the bill, she would always send them off with an, “Okay, get lost. And don’t come back.”
For some reason, it seemed that the customers (mainly men) took a profound liking to her strange attitude, and before long, business was booming. Customers came in droves, saying things like, “I want to be abused!” Everyone in this country was a little off like that. After all, there’s no doubt they got a thrill out of ogling an apathetic waitress and enduring her verbal abuse. Everyone in this country was a little bit off like that.
Now she was the literal poster girl.
There was a huge line out the door of the restaurant every single day.
What on earth caused her to act like this?
A certain newspaper ran an interview.
“I just thought it was important to let my true self out.”
That’s what she said.
……
But that’s not what I meant…
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