She was timid.
And cried easily.
And had something wrong with her head...
She talked to the air...
Those were all things the old man disliked.
But...
The old man sighed silently.
The child's frail shoulders trembled.
Her little body curled up unconsciously.
She looked even more pitiful.
"...You're not the first person who's tried to buy Little Goldfish outright."
The old man spoke slowly.
The child seemed not to react at all.
She kept her head lowered.
"We've turned down everyone who's tried to buy Little Goldfish outright."
The old man looked at the child's hair, which was even messier than when he'd first met her.
When they'd first met, her hair had already been a little messy from chasing after a balloon all the way there.
Then she'd spent a while trying to scoop up the fish, and afterward she'd nearly fallen headfirst into the basin...
Her hair, which hadn't been very neat to begin with, was even more disheveled now.
The child grew even more dejected.
Tears pattered down one after another.
She'd rarely wanted so badly to accomplish something, and she'd even worked up the courage...
But the result had shown her...
That many things couldn't be accomplished just by working up the courage.
If only it were really that simple...
The old man sighed silently.
"Forget it."
"I was the one who burst your balloon in the first place."
Huh?
The child froze.
"How about this..."
The old man shook his head slightly. "Little Goldfish isn't for sale."
"That's for certain."
The light that had just begun to glimmer in the child's eyes quickly went out.
"But I can give you a chance..."
Huh?
The child instantly tensed up.
A chance?
What kind of