The Sponsorship
“Then shall we dress for a proper council?”
Illys turned a full circle where she stood.
Whoosh.
Her clothes changed. The white prayer robes vanished, replaced by a neat ensemble of dark trousers and a coat.
For a 4-Circle Mage, the etiquette of dress was no difficult matter.
Not long after Adeline had dashed off, others came running.
“My lady!”
Clatter! Thud!
“Guh!”
A slightly chubby middle-aged man with a kindly face came barreling in and went sprawling.
“Ow-ow-ow-ow.”
He got up again, though his knees clearly hurt. Still, he limped forward as fast as he could.
It was Bruce, the chief administrative officer who handled the territory’s governance.
Thud-thud-thud-thud.
From farther off, someone else came sprinting at tremendous speed. Mid-run he vaulted aside to avoid the administrator, planted a hand on the wall, and dropped lightly back to the floor. Then, as if nothing had happened, he stopped a few paces in front of Illys.
A man with a magnificent white beard. The very image of Guan Yu himself.
Carlton, Knight Commander of the territory.
Clatter-clatter.
Behind him a number of administrative officials arrived.
Limp, limp.
Only then did the administrator hobble up, rubbing his knee with one hand.
“M-my lady?”
His voice trembled. His face was flushed with excitement.
They too had clearly heard that the Constellation’s sponsorship had arrived.
Illys spread both arms with pride.
“Everyone! The Constellation’s sponsorship has arrived.”
Her proclamation drew a cheer from them all.
“Ohh! How long has it been since the last sponsorship?”
“This is it! Now at last…!”
“Finally our territory will rise again!”
Joy lit every face.
The administrator asked, “My lady, what is the sponsored item?”
“I haven’t received it yet. They said it’s large… we should go somewhere open.”
The officials brightened.
“Ohhh!”
Bruce suggested, “What about the training grounds?”
Illys nodded.
The Knight Commander spoke at once. “I shall deploy the knights immediately.”
“Very well.”
Illys and her retinue headed out to the training grounds.
Knights already stood guard around the perimeter. The sudden arrival of their lord, the Knight Commander, the administrator, and the rest of the vassals put them all on edge.
Illys carefully angled the mirror-like Holy Relic toward the open ground.
The writing on the mirror changed.
Do you wish to place the sponsored item here?
Illys answered in a tight voice.
“Yes.”
Summoning the sponsored item.
Gulp.
In the tense silence someone swallowed hard.
What would the first sponsorship in ten years be?
Everyone held their breath and waited.
Hummm.
The mirror vibrated for a moment, then a beam of light shot from its surface onto the floor of the training grounds.
Fwoooosh!
A vast magic circle blazed into existence across the packed earth. It was enormous—large enough to cover half the grounds.
Illys cried out, “A grand summoning circle!”
The great circle finished forming on the floor of the training grounds, and above it a massive structure slowly took shape.
It was huge. Fully the size of a three-story building. Its colors were a blend of deep brown and white. The corners were softly rounded. The white portions rose in layers that somehow looked fluffy. There were faint yellow parts as well. And a strangely sweet, fragrant scent drifted on the air.
The Knight Commander spoke to Illys. “My lady. Allow me to inspect it first.”
Carlton was the territory’s greatest martial force. He had never broken through the wall of enlightenment to become a Sword Master, yet he remained an Expert of the highest rank—the finest knight in the land. In short, he was a man who could handle almost any sudden danger.
He took several steps forward. “The scent is unusual. I’ve never smelled anything like it. Best you keep your distance for a moment.”
“Be careful.”
Carlton looked back at her. “I have spent my entire life with only the sword in my sight. I may not be immune to every poison, but I can endure most ordinary dangers.”
Unless the toxin was extraordinarily strong, he could push it out with mana.
“Hah!”
He shouted and raised his mana.
Hummm!
A soft light enveloped his entire body—a protective barrier of sorts. Manifested mana armor.
“Ohh.”
“As expected of a man who has lived his whole life for the sword alone.”
Admiration rose from those watching.
Thud. Thud.
“Sniff, sniff!”
The Knight Commander approached the dark structure and sniffed.
“First of all… the fragrance is quite strong.”
From a distance Illys asked, “What kind of scent is it?”
“Hmm… a sweet one.”
“Sweet?”
Carlton wrapped his hand in a thick layer of mana. “I shall try touching it.”
“Please do.”
Sssst.
Sink.
“It isn’t hard. Soft, with a bit of spring to it.”
He tore off a piece of the structure.
“It comes away in the hand. This is almost like…”
He delivered his judgment.
“Bread.”
“Pardon?”
A structure the size of a three-story building, dark and white.
“You’re saying that’s bread?”
Carlton found his courage. “Yes. That is how it appears. I shall taste it.”
He brought the small piece of the summoned object to his mouth.
Every eye fixed on his hand and lips—on the unknown substance disappearing into the Knight Commander’s mouth.
Chew.
Everyone watched his reaction.
In that instant Carlton’s eyes flew wide. Then an expression of utter disbelief crossed his face.
“Th-this is…”
Illys asked, “Commander. What is it?”
Eyes closed, head slightly tilted back, the Knight Commander looked strangely happy. He lifted his face still further, as though recalling something very old.
“Marianne…”
At the name of a woman that slipped from his lips, the officials began to murmur.
“Marianne? Who is that?”
“His wife, perhaps?”
A sharp-eared knight whispered, “Shh. Quiet. Must be his first love.”
Then Carlton gave his verdict on the taste.
“This flavor!”
“Yes! What does it taste like?”
“The taste of youth! A flavor that calls back long-ago happy memories.”
“I-is it that good?”
“Soft and sweet, gentle yet rich. I am an Expert of the highest rank, after all. My senses are hardly inferior to others’. To ordinary folk it would simply taste sweet, but if you attend carefully, a faint bitterness holds everything in perfect balance. Even the dishes I once tasted at His Majesty’s banquets in the capital—I wonder whether any of them could match this.”
“Ah… that remarkable?”
A structure the size of a three-story building. And the Knight Commander had just called its flavor the taste of youth.
At any rate, he had been the first to eat it and declared it safe. He had even said it was delicious.
Gulp.
Everyone swallowed, craving a bite of their own.
Illys tried a mouthful of the white portion next to the dark mass.
Chew, chew.
“Hah! How is this possible!”
Her eyes too went round. The taste that brushed the tip of her tongue was something she had never experienced in her entire life.
She carefully took a second bite.
“Sweet… yet soft… and so fluffy it’s light as air.”
She studied the dark lump in her hand as if examining a treasure.
“So this is the taste of youth?”
Illys looked up at the sky, as though the Constellation might be watching from somewhere above.
“O Constellation… truly… Administrator.”
“Yes!”
“We will hold a supreme council at once. Everyone, gather at the lord’s manor.”
“Yes! Understood!”
Illys and her vassals assembled in the lord’s manor.
The council chamber.
The faces of the seated vassals were bright. Hope filled every expression; they were rejoicing with their whole bodies over the great event that was a Constellation’s sponsorship.
Yet Illys’s own face was not entirely bright.
“Everyone. The Constellation has granted us sponsorship, yet there is a problem.”
“What is it?”
At the administrator’s question, Illys related her conversation with the Constellation.
“The Constellation said He came upon our Rodriguez territory by chance.”
“By chance?”
“Yes. He called it random. He visited by accident, I explained our lands, yet He refused a contract. And then He still sent this sponsorship. What’s more, He never even told me His name.”
The vassals looked thoroughly puzzled.
A loaf of bread the size of a great building.
“Surely… He sponsored such a massive quantity of bread without any recompense at all?”
“That is correct.”
“Hrm…”
Everyone tried to make sense of the situation.
Of course a Constellation might wander in by chance and casually offer a gift. Yet for mere charity, the bread was far too large.
Silence hung over the chamber for a moment before the administrator spoke.
“My lady. If I may venture a guess—the fact that the Constellation declined a contract yet still sponsored so great a quantity of fine food… I believe there is intent behind it.”
Illys nodded. “Yes. It is hardly ordinary. What do you suppose His intent might be?”
“Ordinarily a Constellation sponsors a territory or an individual and then takes a price.”
“That’s true.”
This was a world of theocracy. Constellations sponsored lands or people and received tribute in return. The former mining Constellation had taken minerals. Some wanted food, some wanted songs, some wanted life force itself.
“As I understand it, the first contact is always made by the Constellation. But once a sponsorship has been given, the receiving territory may initiate contact. If the Constellation does not block our prayers, we may send a message of thanksgiving once.”
“Yes. I know that if He does not cut us off, we can reach Him once through a prayer of gratitude.”
“Then is it not possible He is waiting for us to contact Him?”
“Waiting?”
“That enormous loaf… it was astonishing. Yet He gave it with no conditions attached. The Constellation first displayed His abundance; now He waits for our reply. It is our turn to offer a prayer of thanks and make a proposal.”
Illys nodded. “I see. So it is a transaction after all?”
The administrator shook his head. “One might view it as a transaction, yet the fact that He freely gave such high-quality food first feels slightly different from a purely transactional approach. Had it been a bargain, He would have stated His terms from the beginning—and named the maximum we could possibly bear.”
“Then what?”
“As you know, our territory’s food situation is dire. This feels less like a deal and more like… how shall I put it? Simply, coolly, helping us.”
“Simply?”
“Ah, of course it isn’t entirely free. We can still offer a prayer of thanksgiving.”
Illys tilted her head, half understanding, half not.
The officials began offering examples.
“You know the sort of thing, don’t you? Helping while pretending not to. When a woman is too short to reach something on a high shelf, a man says, ‘Tch, short as you are… move!’ and casually fetches it for her.”
“Or when a woman is standing in the rain, a man says, ‘Are you an idiot? You came out without an umbrella?’ and hands her his own.”
“Or when she’s carrying something heavy: ‘Trying to show off how weak you are?’ and takes it from her.”
The Knight Commander added his own contribution. “Mm… I once saw Marianne blowing on her hands in winter and gave her a warm drink while saying, ‘Hate to waste it, so drink it or don’t!’”
“So… the Constellation is playing hard-to-get with our territory?”
“Well… more than hard-to-get… perhaps a tsundere?”
“A tsundere? Pretending not to care on the outside while helping in every way that matters? Then the Constellation has already seen our hunger and, while pretending it was chance, slipped us food?”
“In my estimation it looks less like pure chance and more like pretending not to care, pretending not to contract, while quietly slipping us provisions.”
Illys looked around the chamber. Everyone was nodding.
“My lady, what tribute do you suppose the Constellation desires?”
“I cannot say. He never gave His name.”
A Constellation speaking His name was customarily a sign of intent to sponsor. Not knowing the name meant they could not be certain of a lasting relationship. A name also allowed one to guess a Constellation’s nature—and therefore what He might want.
“We must hold on to Him somehow.”
“Of course. This is the first sponsorship in ten years—and a massive quantity of food at that! It means the Constellation already has some affection for our lands. Honestly, what Constellation gives a gift this large with no feeling behind it? People don’t even do that. Giving a gift first means the heart is already involved.”
“Exactly. We must secure Him no matter what.”
An official in the corner raised a hand. “My lady. When you offer the prayer of thanksgiving, why not distribute the bread among the people of the territory? If the Constellation sees the common folk eating with gratitude and joining in the prayer, He may be even more pleased.”
“An excellent idea. Let us pray that way.”
Lucky Repair Shop
I was repairing the circuit board of a smartphone.
Ziiiii.
The soldering iron heated the board. Fixing the semiconductor chips themselves was impossible, but reconnecting a resistor that had simply come loose—that much I could do with a soldering iron.
“Ow!”
While soldering I brushed my finger against the iron. It burned.
“Ah, damn, that’s hot.”
You could call it the destiny of an electronics repairman. Just as a chef’s hands take cuts and oil burns, I too was never free from the soldering iron’s kiss.
But something else hurt far worse.
After soldering I measured the current.
Beeeep—
No current flowed.
That meant scrap. If a dead phone passed through my hands and still refused to live, the only thing left was to send it off as a lump of scrap metal.
If electricity flowed it was worth hundreds of thousands of won; if not, it was a thousand-won piece of junk.
“Huh?”
Ziiiiiing.
The smartphone I had set aside began to ring. I glanced over. The UI window was flashing.
It was the same baffling phone from earlier—the one with the strange boot-up that had somehow put me on a video call with a woman.
Another message had appeared on its screen.