Chapter 19

Realizing it might be a coded message, Shido hurriedly took the receipt and examined it. On the back, someone had written, "We'll support you. Just act natural on your date."

So I'm supposed to ignore you guys and go on a normal date with Tohka?

Shido smiled bitterly to himself.

"Shido, let's go," Lingmeng said beside him.

"Oh... right."

"...Wait. This is a raffle ticket for the shopping district. After you leave the store, follow the road to the right and you'll reach the raffle booth. Please make use of it if you can."

Just as they were about to leave, Reine took a brightly colored raffle ticket from a drawer and handed it to Shido. She put particular emphasis on the last part.

Shido looked at the ticket in his hand and broke into a sweat.

You don't mean "if you can." You mean "you absolutely have to," don't you?

"Oh, a raffle ticket? No reason to turn down something free. Thanks!"

Lingmeng thanked Reine. It was free, so why wouldn't she take it?

"Shido, Lingmeng, what's that?"

Tohka eyed the raffle ticket with keen interest.

"It's your chance to find out whether you're blessed by the gods of luck or cursed with terrible luck."

"...Huh? What does that mean?"

Lingmeng's explanation only left Tohka looking confused.

"Uh... Tohka, do you want to give it a try?" Shido asked awkwardly.

"Mm-hmm! I don't know what it is, but it sounds amazing. I want to go."

Tohka nodded firmly.

"Then let's go!"

Brimming with excitement, Tohka pushed open the door and ran out.

"Hey, do you even know where it is? Don't run off!"

Seeing Tohka bolt without another word, Lingmeng hurried after her.

"See you, Miss Reine." Shido exchanged a glance with Reine, then dashed out too.

"Thanks for the effort, Reine."

After confirming that Shido and the others had left, Kotori stood up from her hiding place beneath the checkout counter.

"...Mm. It was nothing," Reine replied in her usual flat voice.

Kotori was currently carrying out Operation F-08, also known as "A Holiday in Tengu City."

The plan was simple: if a Spirit evaded the organization's detection and made contact with Shido, the crew would disguise themselves as ordinary citizens and secretly help him.

To prepare for this, every crew member had to undergo at least a month of acting lessons. Even so, this plan was merely one of thousands Ratatoskr had devised for emergencies.

"Yeah, it's me. Try to act natural. If you mess this up, I'll skin you alive."

Having briefly laid out the mission and its penalty, Kotori hung up.

"Let's head back to Fraxinus. We can't contact them, but we can still watch the footage."

"...All right. Let's do that."

"Oh, this grilled sausage stuff is pretty good!"

Tohka was walking down the street with Shido and Lingmeng, holding a grilled sausage Shido had bought with the last of his change.

Just then, Tohka noticed a little boy beside her eating the same thing. When he finished, he obediently threw the skewer into a trash can.

"Mom, I put my trash in the bin like a good boy!"

The boy waved to a woman across from him. She walked over, crouched in front of him, and gently stroked his head.

"Good job, Torata." The boy beamed.

After watching them, Tohka swallowed the rest of her sausage in one bite. She hurried to the trash can, dropped in her skewer, then ran back to Shido and Lingmeng and lowered her head.

"Shido, Lingmeng, I want what that boy got too," Tohka said expectantly.

"Uh... well..." Shido scratched his cheek. Doing that in the middle of the street would be mortifying.

"You want that too? Sure." Smiling, Lingmeng placed a hand on Tohka's head and began petting her like a cat.

Tohka looked utterly delighted by the warmth of Lingmeng's hand.

Why does this feel a bit like petting the Husky I used to have?

Lingmeng thought about how her old dog had reacted the same way whenever she petted it.

Wait! What happened here? When I first met her, she was such an aloof beauty. How did she turn into a girl begging for head pats?

Suddenly sensing something was off, Lingmeng's expression grew serious. The Tohka before her was worlds apart from the one she had first met.

The old Tohka would have summoned her Angel and swung it at her by now. People changed as they grew up, sure, but this was like an entirely different person!

With that thought, Lingmeng withdrew her hand, her face darkening.

"...Hm?" Tohka gave a small hum. She didn't know why Lingmeng had stopped, but she didn't dwell on it. Instead, she went over to Shido and asked him to do the same.

"Ah... all right." Shido sighed helplessly and patted Tohka's head. "Good girl, Tohka. You're such a good girl."

Tohka looked delighted again.

Yeah, it feels much more natural when Shido's the one giving her head pats.

Watching them, Lingmeng folded her arms and nodded firmly.

"Uh... the raffle booth... Is that it?"

The three had reached the raffle area. Shido checked the map on the ticket and spoke uncertainly.

A long table covered with a red cloth stood in an open space, with a large raffle drum on top.

"This has to be the place," Lingmeng said.

"Oh! So this is where they hold the raffle? It's lively here."

Tohka nodded in amazement.

A man in a happi coat stood by the raffle drum, and another stood at the prize collection area. Behind them were bicycles, bags of rice, and other things that appeared to be prizes. Several people were also waiting in line.

Shido scratched his cheek. His memory was a little hazy, but he thought he had seen not only the men in happi coats, but even the people in line, aboard Fraxinus...

The Adult World

"Here, Tohka. You can draw."

Seeing how eager Tohka was, Lingmeng took the raffle ticket from Shido and handed it to her.

"Really? I can?" Tohka looked at Lingmeng in delight.

"Of course. Right, Shido?"

"Mm... go on, Tohka. Give it a try."

Shido nodded in answer to Lingmeng.

"Oh! Here I go!" Tohka joined the back of the line, practically bouncing with excitement.

As she watched the customers ahead turn the raffle drum, Tohka's head and eyes followed its rotation without her noticing.

At last, everyone ahead of her had gone. Copying what they had done, Tohka handed her ticket to the attendant and placed her hand on the drum.

Taking a closer look, Shido realized the attendant was Kawagoe, the man who "quickly entered the weary phase" of a relationship.

"I just have to turn this, right?"

Tohka gripped the handle and muttered to herself, then gave it a hard spin.

"I wonder what Tohka will win?"

"No idea. Even if it isn't anything valuable, it'll still be a nice keepsake."

Shido and Lingmeng watched curiously from behind.

With a clack, a little red ball dropped out.

"Uh... did it have to be red? That hits a little too close to home."

The sight of the red ball reminded Lingmeng of her previous life, when her luck at drawing cards had been abysmal.

"Aw, too bad. Red means a miniature packet of tissues—"

Before Shido could finish, Kawagoe began ringing the bell in his hand with a loud clang.

"Congratulations! You've won the grand prize!"

"Oh!"

"W-what?" Shido and Lingmeng blurted out together.

They froze, then both looked up at the prize board. The grand prize had been marked with a gold ball, but somehow it had changed to a red one.

"Shido, the grand prize was a gold ball a second ago, right? Have I been at it too much lately, or am I seeing things?"

Lingmeng tugged at Shido's sleeve, unable to believe her eyes.

"Uh... I don't know either. But Tohka's so happy. Maybe we shouldn't say anything?"

Shido answered awkwardly. He hadn't seen what happened, but he figured Ratatoskr was behind it.

"Congratulations! The grand prize is a free couples' pass to Dream Island!"

"Oh! Shido, Lingmeng, what's that?"

"Sounds like a theme park. Have you heard of it, Shido?"

Shido shook his head, looking just as puzzled.

"Sorry, I haven't."

Tohka happily accepted the tickets. Just then, Kawagoe thrust his face close to Shido's.

"There's a map on the back. Please make sure you go! The sooner, the better!"

"O-okay..." Overwhelmed by his intensity, Shido could only agree, sweating.

"Oh, it's pretty close to here. Tohka, want to take a look?"

Lingmeng checked the map on the back of the tickets and turned to Tohka.

"Mm!"

"Then let's go, Shido!"

With that, Lingmeng and Tohka set off toward the spot marked on the map.

Shido found it strange. If he remembered correctly, that area was residential. It wasn't impossible, but he had trouble imagining a theme park there.

Still, Tohka and Lingmeng wanted to go, so there was nothing he could do. He sighed and hurried after them.

"Oh! Shido, Lingmeng! There's a castle over there! Is that where we're going?"

Tohka pointed excitedly at a castle ahead. Shido cried out inwardly, No way. There really is one?

"If this is the place, that's a pretty impressive theme park."

Lingmeng spoke as she approached the castle. Then she saw the sign on it and stopped dead.

"What's wrong, Lingmeng?"

Shido walked up beside her. When he read the sign, he froze too.

The words "Dream Island" were written at the top, which was normal enough. The words below them, though, left them at a loss for words.

They read: "Short stay: from 4,000 yen for two hours. Overnight stay: from 8,000 yen."