Masho no Otoko wo Mezashimasu

59.
A gift of gratitude

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“Ah, the reason I’m here is….
Well, I happened to find Hatano-san on the way home after eating lunch on my break time… and I’d like to say thank you to you too…”

“Thank you?”

“The shop became famous because Hatano-san went there.”

“No, no, I’m sure it because the bread is delicious.”

“Of course, the taste of bread is something we proud of, but that alone is not enough to become a famous bakery.
There is a lot of talk about it now.
And all of that thanks to Hatano-san.”

I’m glad to hear that, but it’s kind of frustrating because I just bought bread… I didn’t advertise the bakery at all…

While I thought so, the clerk continue….

“So, as a thank you… this…!!”

The clerk said so and handed an envelope.

“I thought to give it to you the next time we met, so I keep bringing it with me.”

“Ah, such a… I feel bad to receive it… after all, I just…”

“Please! It’s nothing much… really…”

I hesitated for a moment, but in the end, since she prepared it for me, I decided to took the envelope.

I’m grateful for this…really, thank you!

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“Then, I have to go back to the bakery now.”

After handing over the envelope, the clerk left saying so.

I saw her off and looked at the envelope I was given.

…It’s flat. I wonder what’s in it, I think it’s something like paper because it’s thin.

I opened the seal with excitement.

…I’ll be happy if it’s a gift card, or a discount ticket for the bread… what if it’s something like a movie ticket??…

I took out the contents while thinking various things about it.

The thing I took out was white paper, which seems to be the back side. 

However, I can see that there is a cut line even when viewed from the back side. …… Apparently, there are three sets of five-sheet. 

I checked the front side with a slightly unpleasant premonition in my head. 

On the front side, it was written as follows…

“You can pull once with five shopping district lottery tickets.”

………… Why it’s a lottery ticket!!!

I almost started screaming, but I remembered where I was and managed to not.

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……Well, I guess, I expected a little too much, so when it miss my expectation, I feel really disappointed. Anyway, why did that clerk decided to give me a lottery ticket as a thank-you?…

No, regardless the reason, it’s something she gave and I received, and I’m grateful for that… Alright, I’m going to go to try my luck. 

I told myself so, left the park and headed to the shopping district for a lucky draw.

I arrived at the shopping district.

This shopping street is rather busy and full of delicious food that you can eat while walking around. 

On the way to the lottery venue, I was drawn to the smell of fried chicken.
I decided to bought it with a drink too.

……It was very delicious.

When I arrived at the lottery venue, there were many people in the venue, which was larger than I had imagined. I first checked what the prize was.
I saw a list of prizes written on the large panel, among which it was written, the 1st to the 3rd place were stood out the most.

By the way, the 3rd place is an assortment of high-class Japanese sweets from popular Japanese sweets shops in the shopping district.

The 2nd place is 10,000 Jenni’s meal ticket of the Chinese restaurant in the shopping district.

And, the 1st place is the pre-open accommodation ticket family of the newly opened inn For 4 people.

While looking at the list of prizes, I line up in a line for the lottery.

There were quite a few people tried it, but it seems that the grand prizes hasn’t come out yet… most of them got pocket tissue and candy.

Well, I don’t think I’ll win either, but if possible, I’d like to get an assortment of high-class Japanese sweets and a meal voucher! after all, it’s a meal worth 10,000 Jenni.

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Finally it was my turn. 

I gave the ticket to the receptionist.

“Oh, a rare cutie has come.”

The auntie at the reception looked at me and received the ticket while leaking such an impression. Then, she check the ticket and

“With fifteen sheets you could try three times, do your best and good luck!”

She encouraged me. 

Thank you for your support, but there is nothing I could do to intervene in a lottery, after all it’s all about luck… 

There were several other receptionists, but they were paying attention to me… maybe it was unusual for a man to come and try a lottery.

…… Nah, nevermind, I’m used to this kind line of sight.

I put my hand on the lottery machine and turned it the first time.

A ball came out of the lottery machine with a rattling noise. Its color was pure white, which means a disappointing prize, it’s a pocket tissue. 

Well, when I took it for granted, I heard a disappointing voice from somewhere, I thought it was the ladies at the reception, but it seemed different, so, when I looked back, I found a crowd.
Everyone was paying attention to me pulling a lottery.

…… What happened? I just pulled once and there was already a crowd of people surrounding me…

Because of the unexpected phenomenon and the large number of eyes on me, a line of sweat ran down from my face. 

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…I don’t want to attract more attention, so let’s pull the second time faster …

I thought so, and I’ll put my hand on the lottery machine again.

The ball that makes a light sound is a light-blue colored ball.

“It’s 9th prize, it’s sweets.”

The auntie who saw the color gave me a candy. The sweets that are handed over are called ‘Good Stick’ and are cheap, but they are delicious, so I like them quite a lot.

“It’s the last time, Good Luck!”

Also, the auntie gave her support to me. I don’t know if it was inspired by that voice or because it was the last one, but I heard a voice from the crowd behind me saying, ‘Good Luck!’.

“Do your best!”

“Don’t give up!”

“Keep fighting!”

“It’s okay!! You can win the first prize! Good luck!!”

One after another gave their voice, and a big chorus of good luck happened.

While they keep giving their support, I was standing in front of machine and thinking…

…Do my best? What should I do? and how am I supposed to fight?..