The referee swallowed nervously, then announced through a sheen of sweat that Lin Mo had taken first place in today's sumo tournament.
Tama bounded happily onto the ring and threw herself at Lin Mo.
Once again, Lin Mo reflexively pressed a hand against Tama's head to keep her from landing on him.
The man who had promised to buy Tama's woven hats involuntarily took half a step back.
Lin Mo fixed him with a sharp stare.
After a moment of silence, the man had no choice but to steel himself and step forward, buying all of Tama's hats for eight hundred Beli.
Lin Mo received a prize of one thousand Beli, along with a small wooden token that qualified him for tomorrow's tournament.
He did not care whether he competed or not, so he paid the little token no mind.
Tama, however, carefully tucked it away.
Then Tama happily led Lin Mo to the town's rice shop. A thousand Beli bought them only half a jin of rice, and they spent the remaining eight hundred on half a jar of pickled vegetables, barely five centimeters across and ten centimeters tall.
Holding the rice sack and the jar of pickles, Tama felt utterly content.
Lin Mo watched Tama skip along ahead of him. After a brief silence, he asked, "Tama, why are you so happy?"
Tama stopped and looked back, smiling. "Having something to eat makes me happy. Thanks to you, I get to eat pickles again. Kojiro, thank you so much~"
Lin Mo remained silent.
Seeing that he did not look very happy, Tama asked in confusion, "Kojiro, what's wrong? You won the tournament, and we have money for food. Aren't you happy?"
Lin Mo shook his head. "It's not that. I don't know what's wrong with me either."
Chapter