I walked, trying to calm my heart that felt like it was about to burst. The closer I got, the more my doubts turned into certainty. That place filled with grown men was definitely a gathering of people who loved the Little Magician, Lumi.
Absolutely, it wasn’t because I noticed the Little Magician Lumi merch they were carrying.
“Ugh…”
Now I was within ten steps. I could hear the voices of the chattering men.
“Even after watching it ten times, I’m not tired of this movie…”
“This theater gives out great special gifts.”
“Last time, the theater I went to was completely sold out…”
No matter how you looked at it, they were only talking about the Little Magician Lumi. There were about six or seven of them gathered. I grabbed my trembling legs and approached the men. After all, they were people who loved the Little Magician Lumi—they couldn’t be bad. We were all fans, no matter what.
Of course, I had expected it to be full of girls.
I approached the group. Then, I grabbed one person’s sleeve and spoke.
“I heard this is the spot for the Little Magician Lumi fan meet…”
“Huh?”
The man who turned around looked at me with a bewildered expression.
“Kid… are you in the wrong place?”
“Isn’t this the Little Magician Lumi gallery fan meet spot?”
“Well, yes, but…”
As I spoke, everyone turned to look at me. They all had flustered expressions.
“Are you… ‘LittleMagicianLumiFanatic’?”
They asked for my gallery ID. I nodded and said,
“Yes… that’s me…”
Then, they all let out sighs. From my perspective, it was unfair. I had assumed that people who loved the Little Magician Lumi would be young. It was, after all, a children’s anime—who would’ve thought adults would watch it? This wasn’t my fault.
“Wow. A real-life little girl senior has arrived. I thought the gallery was only full of old geezers like us.”
“What do we do? We were planning to go for round two. Can we even take a kid to a bar?”
“That’s not the problem. If we’re seen walking around with this kid, won’t we be mistaken for kidnappers? I’d call the police if I saw us.”
“My daughter at home comes to mind… I told her dad was going somewhere and brushed it off…”
“So kawaii…”
I pulled out my movie ticket and spoke. Even though I’d come this far, I might as well watch the movie. It would’ve been lonely to watch it alone. But with people who loved the Little Magician Lumi, it might be okay.
“Can you watch the movie with me?”
There was no age restriction for watching the movie anyway. The people who heard me looked at each other and spoke.
“Should we take her along?”
“Maybe? We can send her home before sunset.”
“Besides, we should give a kid who loves Little Magician Lumi an unforgettable memory. It’d be a bit harsh to just send her away.”
“If all else fails, we’ll just watch the movie and send her home. I’ll pay for her taxi. It’s only 3-4 PM after the movie, so it’s not dangerous.”
Luckily, it didn’t seem like they’d leave me behind. I smiled brightly and said,
“Thank you!”
With some time left before the movie started, we went to a café. I was able to have various conversations with people who loved the Little Magician Lumi.
“Isn’t this scene where Lumi shines the best!?”
“No way! Lumi’s great, but don’t ignore her companion Mimi!”
Despite their rough first impressions, they were all good people. I passionately talked about Lumi’s strengths. Everyone had their own perspectives, so we had a pretty heated discussion. I clenched my fists.
This was exactly what I wanted! No offense to the boss, but the boss’s reactions lacked soul. Of course, that was natural—the boss hadn’t watched the Little Magician Lumi movie. But these people were different. They knew more about Little Magician Lumi than anyone. Plus, since some of them had different opinions, we could have a healthy debate.
It wasn’t blind criticism—we could discuss within reasonable limits. I smiled happily. Being able to talk about Little Magician Lumi like this—I could die without regrets.
I sipped my chocolate milk through a straw. The organizer of the meet had bought it for me. I had offered to buy it myself, but they firmly refused. They said adults should pay or something.
“By the way, isn’t Idaya Coffee delicious these days? Lately, I think Idaya is better than Starbucks.”
“Me too. I heard they get their coffee beans from somewhere else—Starlight Food, was it? The coffee grown there…”
“They said they use coffee beans.”
“But isn’t our country’s climate not suitable for growing coffee trees?”
“True. But maybe it’s a plant from the Gate? Most of the time, when something weird happens, it’s connected to that place.”
I wanted to say, “I made it!” but I held back. They probably wouldn’t believe me anyway. And even if I said it, nothing would change.
We were having such a lively conversation that time flew by. I couldn’t remember the last time I talked this much about the Little Magician, Lumi. But I overlooked something. They were good people, but others might not see them that way.
While I was busy sipping my chocolate milk, a police officer walked into the cafe. Maybe they were thirsty while patrolling and stopped by for a drink? It’s natural for cops to drop by nearby stores. They’re human too. They might get thirsty while patrolling or need to use the restroom. Cops aren’t robots, after all.
But the officers seemed to be looking for something, scanning the cafe quickly. I got scared by their gaze and tried to hide. But hiding doesn’t really work. The officer spotted me and walked straight over.
I was racking my brain, trying to figure out what I did wrong. I hadn’t jaywalked, I listened to Bora and Haru, and I hadn’t lied. There was no reason for the cops to arrest me. But something felt off, so I couldn’t help but shrink back.
The people I was chatting with about Lumi also sensed something was wrong and stopped talking. The officer stood in front of us and said, “We’ve received a report of a child abduction. We need everyone’s cooperation.”
Wait, what?
My jaw dropped.
—
When it came to buying dairy cows, there wasn’t much difficulty. The reputation of Starlight Food helped. They paid generously and deposited money quickly. While some farmers saw them as intruders, those leaving the business welcomed them.
The dairy industry was split between those who supported Starlight Food’s entry and those who criticized it.
The milk business had no future. Due to the low birth rate, fewer people were drinking milk. The fact that the number of milk drinkers was decreasing was already a dark cloud over the dairy industry.
The milk-consuming demographic was steadily shrinking, and savvy livestock farmers were already preparing to leave. The government was throwing subsidies to protect domestic dairy farms, but it was like peeing on a frozen foot—completely ineffective.
Back in the 80s and 90s, over 800,000 babies were born each year. That led to an overflow of consumers for milk, formula, and other products. But now, it’s different.
Only about 200,000 babies are born each year. Even by simple math, that’s a quarter of the consumer base gone. If half the population disappeared, people would freak out, but a quarter disappearing was unexpected. The population was shrinking fast.
But for Starlight Food, it was an opportunity. Their production costs were low. Compared to other dairy farms, they could raise cows at nearly half the cost.
Of course, it made sense. Their feed costs were incomparable. Starlight Food’s rice straw was self-replicating. Other farms had to buy expensive feed, but Starlight’s cows, fed with Starlight Rice Straw, produced several times more milk. It wasn’t even a fair competition.
As a result, Starlight Food could buy as many cows as they wanted. Most dairy farmers sold their cows to Starlight at a generous price and walked away.
