The morning in Amencho Town carries mist rising off the Dragon God’s pond, bringing with it the scent of damp earth and old trees. “…Calculations check out. This should deliver ‘happiness’ from one end of town to the other.”
Spice was fine-tuning a strange little drone he’d assembled from scrap aluminum cans and circuit boards. Hanging from its underside were several small bags, folded from washi paper.
“Happiness — does that mean there’s candy inside?”
Leaning in to peer at it was Kopo, sporting his favorite scarf.
“Sadly, no candy. This is a demonstration of my ‘multi-purpose high-speed distribution system.’ In the city, delivering packages from the sky like this is apparently becoming completely normal.”
Spice tapped his device, and several units spun their propellers, wobbling into the air. But a mischievous gust , blowing down from the Dragon God’s forest, struck the ungainly formation head-on.
“Aaah! I’m losing control—!”
Bags of washi paper fluttered down from the destabilized drones like snow.
“Oh my, that’s dangerous.”
Catching the scattering bags deftly with his long cane was Sonchō. He picked up one that had fallen at his feet and narrowed his eyes.
“Spice, your technology is impressive. But this bag’s contents are empty.”
“That’s… because it’s still in testing…”
As Spice trailed off, Sonchō chuckled, “Feh-feh,” and slipped a single dried shiitake mushroom from his own robes into the bag.
“By the logic of the city, speed of delivery might be everything. But in this town, what matters is who put the ‘weight’ into the bag. Even a flying machine — by the time it reaches someone’s porch, if it doesn’t carry the warmth of the sender, it’s nothing but trash.”
Spice gazed at the surface of the pond, beginning to glow with the sunset, and quietly tucked his warm device back into his pocket.
Margin note: That evening, Spice didn’t leave his workshop until he had refilled every single bag with a handwritten “shoulder rub coupon.”
【Today’s Drop】
- The Full-Scale Rollout of Drone Delivery: A contrast between the logistics revolution advancing in the city and Spice’s gadget development.
- Great Buddha Day (April 9): The “weight” and “reassurance ” associated with Mocchi are projected onto Sonchō’s teaching about the “weight of contents.”
This is an English translation of “空飛ぶ大入袋”, part of Tales of Amencho Town (蛙鳴町奇譚).
