Curiosities of Lotus Asia/Chapter 36

<

Chapter 35

Curiosities of Lotus Asia

Chapter 37

>

春と言えば、出会い、別れ…… そして「バイト」の季節!?	Ah, spring. The season of encounters, partings... and part-time jobs?!
第九話 価値観のるつぼ	Chapter 9: Melting Pot of Values
――桜が散り、博麗神社は新緑に包まれていた。	---The cherry blossoms had fallen, and the Hakurei Shrine was wrapped in fresh greenery.
初々しい葉には人間に活力を与える魔力が込められている。何か新しい事を始めるには一番向いている季節である。博麗神社の巫女、博麗霊夢の元に、外の世界の学生である宇佐美菫子が訪れていた。	The new leaves of spring contain a magic power that gives humans vitality. It's the season that's best suited for beginning something new. Sumireko Usami, a student from the Outside World, was paying a visit to Reimu Hakurei, the shrine's resident shrine maiden.
「あーあ、バイトかぁ。何か始めないといけないかなぁ」	"*Sigh*... Part-time stuff, huh. Maybe I ought to start doing something, too?"
「バイトって、仕事のこと？」	"Something to do part-time? You mean a job?"
「そうよ、周りの人でバイトを始めている人もいてね。まあ一応、校則違反なんだけど……」	"Yeah. I've seen some other students starting part-time jobs lately. I mean, it's technically against the rules, but..."
「確か、菫子 (あんた) って学生だって言ってなかったけ？　学生でも仕事をするの？　親がお金を払うんじゃ無いの？」	"You did mention that you were in school, right? So do even students get jobs? Don't your parents pay for things for you?"
「うーん、何だろうねぇ。みんなお金の為に仕事するって訳でも無いんだよねぇ。社会勉強っていうか何というかー、仕事しているのってやっぱり大人に見えるんだと思うんだよね。思うに勉強ばかりの子供時代に飽きて、みんな人より先に大人になるのに必死なんじゃないかな。かくいう私も周りがバイトを始めると、焦っちゃうわね。でも、やっぱり高校生で出来る仕事って言うと、やっぱりバイトなのよ。まあ、大人になったら仕事は嫌になるのかも知れないけど、今のうちにやってみたいというか……」	"Hmm, good question. It's true that they're not all just getting jobs for the sake of money. It's, like... practice for getting into society, I'd say? They think that having a job makes them look more mature. They get bored of a childhood where all they're ever expected to do is study, and they're desperate to grow up faster than everyone else. That might be it. Of course, I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel kinda pressured too, seeing everyone else getting jobs. But when it comes to work that you can do as a high-schooler, it's gotta be a part-time thing. 'Course, once you're an adult, you might start hating work altogether. So I guess I'd want to do it while I still have that chance..."
自分を弁明するような事をうだうだ言って、菫子は霊夢の顔を見た。	Sumireko rambled on as if trying to explain herself, then turned her face towards Reimu's.
「そういえば、レイムッチはもう仕事しているんだよね。巫女の仕事」	"Hey, speaking of. You've already got a job, right, Reimucchi? As a shrine maiden."
「え？　ええ、まあ……そうだけど」	"Huh? Er, well... I suppose so."
「やっぱ凄いなー、幻想郷の人間達って、みんな若いときから仕事をしていてー」	"Man, the humans in Gensokyo are so cool. You've all got jobs from such a young age."
「そ、そう？」	"Y-you think so?"
「巫女の仕事に、妖怪退治の仕事、他にも異変の解決とか色々やっていて、ちゃんと社会の役に立っているし」	"Like, you've got your shrine maiden job, your youkai-exterimation job, and you do a bunch of other stuff like resolving incidents too. And you're properly contributing to society with all of it."
「いやー、そんなに偉いもんでも無いわ」	"Well, it's not like it's that impressive..."
突然褒められて霊夢は照れていた。	Reimu was embarrassed by the sudden compliments.
「高校生が出来るバイトなんて、レジ打ちとか位で、妖怪倒して人間を守るとか、そんな派手なもんじゃないし……」	"The only part-time jobs you can get as a high-schooler are stuff like cash register duty. Nothing fancy like defeating youkai and protecting humanity..."
菫子はコンビニで退屈そうにバイトをしている自分を想像して溜め息を吐いた。	Sumireko pictured herself working at a convenience store, bored out of her mind, and sighed.
「ところでー、巫女や妖怪退治の仕事ってさぁ、こ (・) っ (・) ち (・) の方はどうなの？」	"Speaking of whiiich. How are those jobs working out for you on this front, anyway?"
菫子は親指と人差し指で輪を作るサインをし、下卑た顔をした。霊夢はそれを見て、同じように指で輪を作った。	Sumireko formed a circle with her thumb and index finger, and leered over at Reimu. As Reimu saw this, she made the same circle gesture in response.
「……そうね。派手な仕事なんで、妖怪達からうんざりするほど貰えるわよ」	"...Yeah. It's a pretty flashy job, so youkai and the like give me enough of it to make me sick of the whole thing."
それを聞いて菫子は色めき立つ。	At this, Sumireko's face lit up.
「え、うんざりするほど！」	"Enough to make you sick of it?!"
「そうなのよー鬱陶しいわよねー、避けるだけで精一杯だわ。弾幕」	"Oh, absolutely. It's such a pain. It takes everything I've got just to dodge the stuff. The danmaku, I mean."
「弾幕！」ずっこける菫子。	"Danmaku!" Sumireko nearly fell off her seat.
「じゃなくて、このサインはお金の事よ。儲かっているの？　って聞いてんの」	"No, not that! I'm miming a coin, see? I'm trying to ask how much you're earning."
勘違いに霊夢は顔を赤らめた。	Reimu's face turned slightly red at her misunderstanding.
「あ、お金？　え、ええ、うーん……」	"Oh, money? Um, well, err..."
「まあ、あんまり儲かってそうには見えないけど」	"Well, I guess you don't really look like you're earning all that much, anyway."
「お金……何でそんなことを聞くの？」	"Money... why would you ask about that?"
「何でって、気になるじゃん。仕事を探す時に一番って言ってもいいくらい重要なのはお金よ、賃金よ」	"Why? 'Cause I'm curious, duh! When you're looking for a job, practically the number-one most important thing to consider is money. Wages."
「あー、なるほどねぇ。私もお金は欲しいわ、でも私の仕事はお金を貰う為に選んだものじゃないの。巫女は生まれつきの仕事だし、異変解決したって誰もお金払ってくれないし」	"Ah, I see. I do want money, that's true. But my job isn't something I chose so that I could get money out of it. The shrine maiden thing is something I was born to do, and it's not like anyone pays me a cent for resolving incidents, either."
「え、ボランティアなの？」	"Wait, so it's all volunteer work?"
「なのかな。でもまあ、結果として何らかの形でお金は貰う事もあるけどね。お賽銭だって、売上と言えば売上だし……でも、仕事は、やるのが当然って事なんだと思ってたけど」	"Maybe? But when I think about it, people do give me money in some form or another, in the end. And the shrine does get a boost in donations, to an extent... But, I've always thought a 'job' is something that you do because, well, it's what you do."
「ふーん、凄いなぁ、格好良いなぁ。仕事はお金じゃ無くてやって当たり前、かぁ」	"Hmmm. Well, doesn't that sound cool. Very upstanding. Jobs are things you do for the sake of it, and not for money, huh...?"
「あんただってさっきそう言ってなかった？　学生はお金のために働くんじゃない、って」	"Didn't you say that just a minute ago? Students don't work for the sake of money, and all that."
「あれ？　いやいや、それとは別ものよ！　……いや、そうでも無いのかな、よく判らなくなっちゃった」	"Huh? No, no, that was separate thing! ...Well, no. Maybe it wasn't? I kind of lost where I was going with this."
――瘴気渦巻く魔法の森の近くに建つ古道具屋『香霖堂』。	"Kourindou," a curio shop located near the miasma-filled Forest of Magic.
主に外の世界から流れ着いた品を扱っているお店だ。店主の森近霖之助は溢れかえる古道具の整頓に追われていた。	The main products it deals in are objects that drift in from the Outside World. The shopkeeper, Rinnosuke Morichika, was up to his neck in new goods that needed sorting.
「……パソコンがこんなに沢山、どれもこれも不良在庫ばかりだ。殆ど売れないし――、勿体ないが整理しないといけないか」	"...This many computers, and they're all dead inventory. I can hardly sell any of these... It's a shame, but I suppose I'll have to thin things out."
積まれたパソコン類をみる。縦置きパソコン、横置きパソコン、ノートパソコンにタブレットまで、時代も性能もバラバラに積まれていた。	He looked at the huge pile of computers. There were vertical cases, horizontal cases, laptops, even the odd tablet-- all of varying generations and specifications, and all in complete disarray.
「しかし、困ったなぁ。はっきり言ってどうやって取捨選択すれば良いんだ？　『小さいほど新しくて高性能だから価値がある』と菫子君が言っていたが、古道具屋というのは大抵古くて大きい物ほど価値があるんだ。果たしてどれを残して、どれを捨てれば良いのか全く判らんな」	"That's a tall order in its own right, though. Honestly, how am I supposed to sort these? Sumireko did say 'the smaller ones are newer and higher-performance, so they're worth more,' but when it comes to your typical antique shop, products ought to be worth more the older and larger they are. In the end, I haven't got the slightest idea about which of these I ought to keep and which I ought to throw out."
霖之助は近いうちに専門家を呼ぼうと決めて、早々と整理を諦めた。	Rinnosuke decided to call in a specialist some time soon, and quickly gave up on doing any organizing himself.
「……という訳で、今日、君に来て貰ったのは他でもない。ここにあるパソコンの鑑定をして頂きたい」	"...And thus, I've brought you here today for one very important reason. I'd like you to appraise the personal computers I have in stock."
菫子は素直に驚いている。	Sumireko was genuinely surprised.
「うわー、凄いパソコンの数！　お店みたいだわ」	"Oh my gosh, you've got so many! It's like an entire shop in here!"
「ここも、お店だよ」	"I mean, it is a shop."
「ああ、一応そうだった。ごめんね、中古パソコンショップみたいって言ったかったの」	"Oh, right. Technically. Sorry, I meant that it's like a whole second-hand computer shop."
菫子は意気揚々と依頼された仕事に取りかかった。	Sumireko triumphantly set about the task that'd been requested of her.
「……これは見た事無い型ばかりだわー。持っていくところに持っていけば価値がある物もあるのかも知れないけど……多分殆どジャンクじゃないかなー」	"...I've never even seen most of these models. I'm sure you could get a good price for some of these if you took them to the right place, but... I'd say that most of these are probably just scrap?"
「ジャンクってのはゴミって事かい」	"By 'scrap', do you mean they're garbage?"
霖之助は溜め息を吐いた。	Rinnosuke sighed.
「まあ、そうね。ゴミね。……あれ？　このノーパ、プリンターみたいのが付いてる。こんなノーパってあるの？」	"Yeah, pretty much. Garbage. ...Huh? This laptop's got some kind of printer thing on it. Do lappies like this even exist?"
菫子は見た事の無い、大きくてディスプレイが小さい歪な形のノートパソコンを手に取った。	Sumireko moved to pick up a large, oddly-shaped laptop with a small screen, which she'd never seen before.
「こんなのあるの？　って馬鹿みたいな質問だな。いままさにそこにあるじゃないか」	"That's a fairly stupid question. It's existing on the table right in front of you."
「うーん……え!?　おっも！　ごっつ過ぎー！　こんなノーパ見た事無い！」	"Hmm... huh?! Gah, heavy! This thing's way too chunky! I've literally never seen a lappy like this!"
「そうか君でも初めてか。ちなみにそれは『ワードプロセッサー』通称『ワープロ』と呼ばれている物だ。うちには山ほどあるよ」	"You haven't? So it's your first time seeing it as well, then. Incidentally, it happens to be known as a 'word processor'-- a 'WorPro' for short. We practically have mountains of them in stock."
霖之助は見ただけで物の名前が判る能力を持っている。しかし菫子は名前を聞いてもピンときていないようだ。	Rinnosuke had the ability to recognize any object's name just by looking at it. Sumireko, however, seemed puzzled even after hearing its name.
「ワープロ……？　何それ」	"A WorPro...? What the heck is that?"
「ワープロを知らないのか？　文章を書ける機械だよ」	"You've never heard of them? They're a type of machine that can write text."
霖之助は見ただけで用途が判る能力もある。しかし偉そうに言っているが、実際の使い方も本当の価値も判っていない。	Rinnosuke also had the ability to recognize an object's purpose just by looking at it. However, despite his boastful tone, he had no idea how to use the object in practice or what it was truly worth.
「文章を書ける？　そんなの、大体どんなパソコンでも書けるわよ。でも、ワープロ、ワープロ……。どっかで聞いた事があるような、学校で習ったような……」	"Write text? Practically any computer can do that. A 'WorPro', though... hmm. I could swear I've heard that name before somewhere. Studied it in school, maybe..."
菫子はスマホを出して検索しようとしたが、圏外だったことを思い出して苦笑いした。	Sumireko took out her smartphone and attempted to search for the term, but grimaced upon remembering that she was well out of service range.
「……家帰ったら調べよ」	"...I'll look it up when I get back home."
――半日経って、殆どのパソコンに色紙が貼られていた。誰が見ても赤色に偏っていた。	---About half a day later, most of the computers in the shop had colored paper attached to them. No matter who you asked, they'd agree that most of the paper was clearly red.
「……赤色は無価値ね。捨てるなりなんなりした方が良い奴。青色は恐らくまだ使える。白色は保留、と」	"...So, the red ones are worthless. You're better off just throwing them out or whatever. Blue ones are probably still usable. And white means you should keep them in reserve."
「なるほど……ほぼ全て無価値、か。助かったよ、これで気兼ねなく在庫を処分できる。ありがとう、これは君にしか出来ない仕事だ」	"I see... So they're almost all worthless, then. That's a relief; I can dispose of the excess stock without having to worry about it. Thank you very much. You're the only person who could've done this job."
「あのー、これって仕事だよね？」	"Um, so... this is a job, right?"
「ああ？　勿論だ、重要な仕事だね」	"Mm? Yes, of course. It's very valuable work."
菫子は何か言いたげにもじもじしている。	Sumireko fidgeted, as if working up the nerve to say something.
「ねえ、だったら、ほらそのー。何かあるんじゃないの？」	"So then, like. Uh. In that caaase. Don't I get something for it?"
菫子は指で『お金』のサインを出してもじもじしていた。	Sumireko made the "money" gesture again, still fidgeting.
「えーっと、……ああそうか。君はお駄賃が欲しいんだね」	"Erm... Ah. I see. You want a reward for it."
「そ、そうなんだけどさー、仕事の対価を『お駄賃』って言わないでよ。言うんなら、賃金！　給料！　サーラーリー！」	"I-I mean, yeah! But! C'mon, you don't have to call payment for services a 'reward!' It's a wage, if anything! A paycheck! A sa-la-ry!"
「……はいはい、賃金を望んでいるとは思わなくて悪かった。で、いくら欲しいんだい？」	"...Yes, all right, I'm sorry for not assuming that you'd want any wages for it. So, how much do you want?"
菫子は戸惑った。働いたことは無かったし、お金もお年玉を貰う位で、欲しいものも親に買って貰っていた。だから、物の値段もよく判っていない。ましてや、仕事の対価の相場なんて、ネット検索に頼らずに想像出来る筈も無かった。	Sumireko paused. She'd never worked at an actual job, and New Year's gifts were just about the only form of money she'd personally received. Whenever she wanted something, she simply had her parents buy it for her. And she certainly wasn't able to picture a price estimate for her services without relying on an internet search.
「い、いくらなら出せるんでしょう。この鑑定の仕事に」	"W-well, how much might you be able to give me? For this appraisal job."
霖之助は机の引き出しを開けて、何枚か紙を出して考えていた。菫子は手にしたお札の枚数よりも、その紙幣の見た目に興味を抱いていた。それは紙幣のような、そうでも無いような代物だったのだ。	Rinnosuke opened a drawer, pulled out several slips of paper, and gave it some thought. Sumireko, meanwhile, was less interested in the number of bills in his hand than she was in the appearance of said bills. The things seemed to be paper currency, and yet not, at the same time.
「それは一体？」	"What are those?"
「菫子君……。賃金を欲しがっていたくせにこんなのも知らないのかい？　これはお金だよ」	"Sumireko... You wanted payment, and yet you don't even know what this is? It's money."
「お金、まあそうだと思うけど……、でもいつの時代のお金なの？」	"Money? Well, I figured as much... But what era is that from?"
「……そうか、これは外のお金の筈だが、菫子君が知らないって事は、すでに外の世界で使われなくなったお金なんだろうね」	"...Ah. This ought to be money from the Outside World, but I suppose if you're unfamiliar with it, it must be a type that they've already stopped using."
「幻想郷のお金ってこんなのなの？　これは、誰!?」	"You're telling me that this is what Gensokyo uses for money? Who is this?!"
菫子の興味は人生初給料の額から、見た事もない紙幣の肖像画に移っていた。見た事が無いのに、何故か知っているような紙幣ばかりにめまいがするようだった。	Sumireko's interest had now shifted from the first paycheck of her life to the unfamiliar portraits pictured on the bills. Though she'd never seen any of them, many of them seemed oddly familiar. It was enough to make her dizzy.
…………いつものように、スマホのアラームが優しく音量を上げ続けている。	...As always, she began to hear her phone's alarm gently raising its volume.
あくまで紳士的で、優しく流れるメロディに菫子は起こされた。その優しい音色が精神を蝕んでいく。彼女の目覚めはいつもよくない物だった。彼女は夢の中で幻想郷に行く。夢の中の方が活動的なので、寝ても疲れが取れないのだ。	That gently-flowing, nothing-but-courteous melody woke Sumireko up. Its soothing tone ate away at her mind. She always felt terrible after waking up, as her trips to Gensokyo took place in her dreams. Since she was more active in her dreams than in real life, sleeping didn't ease her fatigue in the slightest.
しかし今日は違った。調べたいことを夢の中から持ち出してきた事を覚えていた。彼女は枕元のスマホを手に取り調べようとしたのだが、すぐにそれをやめ、体を起こして机に向かってノートパソコンを開いた。彼女はいつもならスマホで検索するのだが、がっつり調べ物をしたいときは、スマホでは無くノートパソコンを使う様にしていた。	Today was different, though. She remembered that she'd brought something she wanted to investigate out of her dream along with her. Sumireko grabbed her phone from beside her pillow and began to type, but quickly stopped, heaved herself out of bed, and opened up her laptop on her desk. Though she usually used her phone to search for things, whenever she intended to really seriously investigate something, she opted to use her laptop instead.
「――ワープロ、ワープロ……。そうか文章を書くだけの機械でパソコンが広まる前に使われていた奴かー、聞いた事あったはずなのに思い出せなかったー！　……『悲報、今の世代はワープロを知らない』だって、知らないんじゃ無くて思い出せなかっただけだっつーの。馬鹿にすんなよ」	"...WorPros, WorPros... Aha. Yeah, gotcha. They're those machines that just type letters, the ones that people used before computers were an everyday thing. I knew I'd heard about them before! I just didn't remember! ...'TRAGIC: Kids these days don't even know what a WorPro is!' No, god, I knew about them, I just couldn't remember, thank you. Jerks."
菫子は毒づいて嘲笑っていた。	Sumireko laughed scornfully.
「――ワープロは生産終了し、今は一部の愛好家が買取をしている……だって、もしかしたらアンティークとしての価値が出てくるかもねぇ」	"...'Production of WorPros has since ceased, and nowadays only certain hobbyists tend to deal in them...' Hm. Might be able to get some good value for it as an antique..."
心にも無いことをつぶやき、次に気になっていることを調べた。それは、見た事もない肖像画の紙幣だ。スマホで撮影した画面と検索結果を見比べた。	She muttered this without really caring about it, and set to investigating her next point of interest. Namely, the bills with the unfamiliar portraits. She compared the pictures she'd taken with her phone to the image search results.
「これかしら……、ヤマトタケル、ああ、えーっとどっかで聞いた事があるけどゲームのキャラか何かじゃ無かったっけ？　このキャラのお札があったのねぇ、どれどれ、いくらくらいの価値があるのかなー……」	"Is it this one...? 'Yamato Takeru.' That's, uhh-- I know I've heard of that guy before, but wasn't he a video game character or something? So they must've made bills with that character on them. Let's see, about how much would they be worth now..."
菫子は検索結果を真剣に見ていた。	She gazed sternly at the search results.
――別の日の香霖堂。興奮した様子の菫子が霖之助をつめていた。	---Kourindou, some days later. A very excited Sumireko was staring Rinnosuke right in the eye.
「ヤマト！　えーっと、ヤマトタケルの紙幣は！　凄い価値があるのよ！」	"Yamato! Um, bills with Yamato Takeru on them! Are worth a huge amount!"
「そ、そうなのか？」	"A-are they, now?"
「そうなのよ！　でも、どうせ幻想郷でははした金なんでしょ？　だったら、そのお金を現実で換金すれば大儲けだわ！」	"Yes! But they're basically just chump change in Gensokyo, right? So if you went and exchanged these in reality, you'd make SO much cash!"
「……なるほど、菫子君の言うことも一理ある」	"...I see. What you're saying does make certain sense."
「他にもきっと価値がある紙幣が眠ってそうね。ねえ……、私がそれを換金してこようか？」	"And there's probably a ton of other bills hiding in here that would be worth a lot. Hey... d'you want me to go cash these in for you?"
興奮した菫子とは裏腹に、霖之助は冷静である。	In contrast to Sumireko's fervor, Rinnosuke was entirely calm.
「そうだな……、だがしかし、外の世界でお金が増えたところで何が変わるんだい？」	"I suppose that's true... But what difference would it make, exactly, if you had more money in the Outside World?"
「え？　お金が増えれば良い物が買えるし、美味しい物も食べられるし……えーと」	"Huh? Well, the more money you've got, the better stuff you can buy, the better food you can treat yourself to... and, uhh."
「浅はかだな、外の世界のお金は、幻想郷にとっては何の価値も無いよ」	"What a shallow idea. The Outside World's money is utterly worthless to Gensokyo."
「そうなの？　……でも、旧いお札だとはいえ実際にヤマトタケルの千円札を使ってるじゃん。それってやっぱりお札に価値があるって事じゃないの？」	"It is? ...But, it might be an old bill and all, but you are using Yamato Takeru's 1000-yen notes. Doesn't that mean that the bills have value to them after all?"
「確かに、使っているね。もっと言うとヤマトタケル以外のお札も日常的に使っている。でも、それはたまたま流れ着いた紙幣を再利用しているだけだ。幻想郷にとって紙幣は、複製不可能な約束手形なんだよ。紙幣に書かれた額面や肖像画、それ自体に大した価値は無い」	"We're using them, true. If I may elaborate, we use many bills other than Yamato Takeru's on a daily basis as well. But we're just recycling whatever paper currency happens to drift into Gensokyo. As far as we're concerned, paper bills are just promissory notes that are impossible to copy. The sums written and portraits drawn on them don't have any particular value on their own."
「？　どういうこと？」	"...? Mind explaining a bit further?"
「幻想郷では基本的に物々交換なんだ。外の紙幣も持ち運びしやすい交換アイテムでしかない。紙幣の価値は交換した時の言い値で決まり、紙幣自体に固定された価値は無い。そもそもあんなタダの紙切れに、誰が共通の価値を与えられると思うんだい？」	"Gensokyo essentially operates on the bartering system. As such, the Outside World's bills are nothing more than items for exchange that are easy to carry around. The price of a bill is determined by the asking price given when it's exchanged, and the bill itself has no fixed value to it. In the first place, who do you think could assign a universal value to a mere scrap of paper like that?"
菫子には理解が難しかったらしく、黙り込んだ。霖之助は饒舌に問いかける。	Sumireko was silent for several moments, as she seemed to have difficulty comprehending the topic. Rinnosuke then posed a question, in a rather loquacious fashion.
「本来価値も無い紙切れに価値があると思い込ませて、実際に価値を与えてしまう。そんな事が出来るのは神か、それか神を騙る極悪人の仕業だよ。君はどっちだと思う？」	"Let's say someone convinced people that there was some innate value to a scrap of paper that originally had none, and in so doing, they ended up granting said value to it. The only person who could do something like that would be God, or an utter villain pretending to be God. Which do you think it is?"
「……神がいる訳無い、ってことは、紙幣を作っているのは極悪人ってこと？」	"...There's no such thing as God. So, basically, anyone making paper money is a supervillain?"
「ご名答。その証拠に悪人ほど必要以上にお金を集めたがるだろう？　ただの紙切れなのに」	"Correct indeed. If you want evidence, just think about it: the more evil someone is, the more they want to hoard more money than they'd ever need, right? Even though it's all just scraps of paper."
「あ、確かに……」	"Oh, true..."
「ふ、君はこ (・) の (・) 仕 (・) 事 (・) に向いている」	"Heh. You're well-suited for a job like this."
菫子はいまいち理解しないまま同意してしまった。	Sumireko found herself agreeing before she realized it, though she still didn't really understand.
「じゃあさ、お金のために仕事するのって事は、悪なの？」	"So then, does that make it evil to work for money too?"
霖之助は首を振って、少し残念な表情をした。	Rinnosuke shook his head, and took on a somewhat sullen expression.
「決してそんなことはない。仕事の対価としてお金を選ぶのは至極妥当だよ。そうじゃなくて、悪人がやる非道な行為が、紙幣に価値を与える事だ。『この紙切れには家一軒買えるだけの価値がある』なんて戯言を信じ込ませて流通させる事だよ」	"No, absolutely not. It's perfectly appropriate to choose money as payment for your work. The thing that villains do-- the thing that's truly immoral-- is to attach real value to paper currency. Making people believe nonsense like 'this slip of paper is worth enough to buy an entire house!', and distributing it as such."
「あ、なるほどー。確かにそれだったら詐欺っぽいねぇ」	"Oh, I get it. Yeah, that would seem like some kind of scam."
菫子は納得し、何かを決意した。	Sumireko nodded, and seemed to decide upon something.
「ねえ、霖之助さん。やっぱり私、ここでバイトしたい。外の世界の道具の鑑定とかやるから」	"Hey, Rinnosuke. I think I'd like to be a part-timer here after all. I can appraise things from the Outside World, and the like."
「バイト……？　ああ、お手伝いって事か」	"Part-timer...? Ah, you mean doing favors around the store."
「違うよ！　お手伝いじゃ無くて、働くって事よ」	"No! Not 'favors'. I mean working here."
菫子は、独立した大人として仕事がしたいのだ。お手伝いとお駄賃では無く、労働と賃金として。	Sumireko wanted to do work as an independent adult. Not as 'favors' and 'rewards,' but as skilled labor and payment for it.
「そう、何が違うかよく判らないが……、それは助かる。謎の外来品の在庫が一杯になって困っていたところだ。それで、お駄賃……いや賃金はどうする？　さっき言った通り、幻想郷と外の世界ではお金に関する価値が異なり、両替も無意味だ」	"Alright. I'm not exactly sure what the difference is... but that'll help. Excess stock of unfamiliar items has been quite an issue for me lately, after all. So, what would you like for your rewar... your payment, rather? As I just explained, money has different value between Gensokyo and the Outside World, so exchanging one for the other is pointless."
「……こういうのはどう？　処分される無価値な道具を私が一つ持っていく、それをもって賃金とする。幻想郷のしきたりに従って、現物支給よ」	"...How about this? I take back one of those worthless tools that you'd otherwise dispose of, and that'll be my wages. Payment in kind, right? Just like how it works everywhere else in Gensokyo."
霖之助は少し逡巡したあと、頷いた。	Rinnosuke hemmed and hawed over it for a moment, then ultimately agreed.
――数日後。	---Several days later.
博麗神社にて霊夢と魔理沙が会話していた。	Reimu and Marisa were making conversation at the Hakurei Shrine.
「え？　菫子が香霖堂で？」	"Huh? Sumireko's working at Kourindou?"
「そう、正式に香霖堂で働くことになったらしいぜ」	"Yep! Seems like she's an official employee down there."
「へー、仕事に対して何か憧れを持っているなー、とは思っていたけど、まさかそんな閑職に……結局、楽したかっただけなのね」	"Wow. I did get the sense that she admired having a job somehow, but a do-nothing job like that...? I guess she just wanted to have fun with it, in the end."
「そうだな、香霖堂って、とても仕事をしているとは思えないが……ま、良かったんじゃ無いか？」	"Yup. I sure don't think they're doing any actual work down at that place... but, y'know, it's alright this way too, don'tcha think?"
魔理沙は真面目な顔で霊夢を見る。	Marisa gave Reimu a serious look.
「んー、そうねぇ。確かに助かるわ。菫子が香霖堂にいる時間が長くなるのは良い事ね。これであいつの監視が楽になる」	"Hmm. Yeah, I guess it does save me a lot of trouble. It's good that Sumireko's spending more time at Kourindou. It'll make monitoring her that much easier."
霊夢の隠れた任務に菫子の監視がある。菫子は外の世界の人間で、しかも底知れぬ力を持っている。霊夢にとっては、菫子そのものが現在進行形の異変である。霊夢は何気なく自然に見える様に菫子を監視していたのだ。	One of Reimu's secret duties was to monitor Sumireko. She was a human from the Outside World, and one with immeasurable power on top of that. From Reimu's perspective, Sumireko's very presence was its own incident in progress, so she had been casually monitoring Sumireko in a way that seemed natural to onlookers.
「それはそうと、巷で不気味なカードが出回っているのを知っているか？」	"Speakin' of somethin' else. Have ya heard about those creepy cards that've been making the rounds down in the streets lately?"
「カード？　ああその話、私も聞いたわ。一部の妖怪の間で噂になっているみたいね。何だか、意味不明な絵が描かれているだけなのにあちこちで取引されているとか何とか」	"Cards? Oh, those. I've heard about them too; it looks like some youkai are telling each other rumors about them. Something about how even though they've just got these bizarre little pictures drawn on them, people are dealing in them all over the place?"
「お前が知っているようで安心したぜ。そうなんだよ、一部のカードには不当な値段が付けられて売られているらしいぜ……、誰が価値を与えているんだろうな。何だか不気味な話で怖いぜ」	"'S a relief to know that you know about 'em too. Yeah, they say that some of those cards are being sold with totally unfair prices attached to 'em... It's like someone's giving 'em those prices. Pretty creepy stuff. Scary, if you ask me."
「……一過性の流行なのか、それとも異変なのか、注意して行くわ」	"...I'll keep an eye out for whether it's just a passing fad, or an incident."
――いつも平穏で安寧の地、香霖堂。	---Kourindou, my usual place of peace and relaxation.
約束通り菫子君が働いてくれていた。	Sumireko was hard at work, as she'd promised.
在庫をリストアップしては、「懐かしー」だとか、「初めて見たー」だとか騒いでいたが、それでも彼女にしか出来ない仕事をしちえる感じで助かっている。	She tended to shout out things like "man, this takes me back!" or "I've never seen this before!" as she took stock of the store's inventory, but she was still aiding me. It felt as if she was taking care of work that only she could deal with.
僕はと言うと、新しく入荷した品を手に取り、得も言われぬ恐怖を感じていた。	Meanwhile, as I happened to take one of our newly-stocked items in hand, I felt an indescribable terror.
「店長！　これはマジヤバイっす！　鑑定団に出せます！　って店長、それは？」	"Ey, boss! We've got a real piece of work over here! We'll have to send it in to the appraisal team! ...Uh, boss? What's that?"
「店長……だって？　まあいい。何でも無い、こっちは気にせず仕事続けてくれ」	"'Boss'...? Well, whatever. It's nothing, really; you can just go back to your work."
僕は引き出しに謎の紙切れをしまおうとした。	I moved to put the mysterious paper scrap away in a drawer.
「あ、気になりますよー。それ、何です？　ただのカードに見えますが」	"Oh, but now I'm interested! What might it be? As far as your loyal employee can tell, it just seems to be a regular card, but..."
「僕にも、ただのカードにしか見えない。だが、これが裏でとんでも無い価格で取引されているんだ。誰かが価値を操作しているとしか思えない」	"It just looks like a regular card to me, too. But these are secretly being sold at absolutely ridiculous prices. I can only imagine that someone's deliberately manipulating their value."
僕はひとつ嘘を吐いた。これはただのカードとは思っていなかった事だ。なんて言って良いのだろうか、こういう仕事をしている以上、呪われたアイテムや付喪神、マジックアイテムなんかも取り扱ってきた。しかし、このカードはどれとも違う。なんていうか、強力な力が込められていることは感じれるが、それが意味するところが想像出来ないのだ。	I told one lie, just now. I didn't actually think that it was a regular card. How should I put it... Given the work that I do, I've handled a lot of cursed items, tsukumogami, magic items, and so forth. But this card isn't quite like any of those. It's like-- I can sense that it's got a very strong power contained within it, but I can't imagine what on Earth that might mean.
「見せてくださいよー。って、これレイムッチの物じゃないの？」	"Come onnn, let me seee. --Wait, doesn't this belong to Reimucchi?"
「え？　何故そう思うんだ？」	"Huh? What makes you say that?"
「いやだって、何だかそのカードから巫女っぽい、いつものあの感 (・) じ (・) がするもん。それに、陰陽玉の絵が描いてあって判りやすい……」	"No, like, this card's just got a-- a shrine-maideny feel to it. It's just that vibe she's always got to her. Plus, the yin-yang orb drawn on it makes it kind of obvious..."
霊夢っぽい感じがする？　感覚を信じるなんて、もしかしたら、彼女はとんでもない逸材なのかも知れない。知識に頼る僕はそれを恥じて乗っかることにした。	It feels "Reimu-ey"? To think that she'd blindly trust in her own senses. Perhaps she might actually be someone of ridiculous talent. Though I typically choose to rely on my knowledge base, I somewhat-ashamedly decided to take her up on the topic.
「菫子君。僕もそう思っていたところだよ。さっきは嘘を言ったが、これは普通のカードでは無いと思っている。ただの紙 (カ) く (ー) ず (ド) に価値を与えようとする奴が、何処かにいるに違いない」	"Sumireko, I was just thinking the same thing. I was lying a moment ago, but I don't actually think this is any ordinary card. There's got to be someone out there who's trying to attach value to these ordinary paper scraps (cards) ."
「つまり、紙切れを使って価値観を支配しようとする大悪党がいるって事ね！　これってレイムッチが言う異変なんでしょ？　そうなんでしょ!?」	"In other words, there's some supervillain out there trying to control people's sense of value with these things! This is what Reimucchi would call an incident, right? Right?!"
菫子は興奮気味に話した。僕はそこまでではないと思って笑っていた。	Sumireko spoke with a palpable air of interest. I laughed, thinking it couldn't be something that serious.
――程なくして不思議なカードは幻想郷全土を支配した。巫女が動いた頃には、遅すぎだという批判が主流であった。	---In no time at all, the mysterious cards had taken over all of Gensokyo. By the time the shrine maiden began to do something about it, popular opinion was that she'd left it sitting for far too long.
それでも動き始めれば難なく異変を解決し、幻想郷に響き渡るのは巫女の名声ばかりだ。	Even so, once she set out to resolve an incident, it would happen without any difficulty, and the only thing echoing throughout Gensokyo would be the famous shrine maiden's name.
僕はそこで改めて気付いた。この価値観の異常に最初から気付いていたんだ。隠れて価値を操作する奴がいたことくらい、そしてそいつが異変を起こしていたことくらい……！	It was then that I realized it all over again. I had noticed this abnormal change in people's sense of value from the very beginning. I'd been well aware of the presence of someone manipulating the value of things from the shadows, and of the fact that they'd brought about the incident...!
（＊終盤の謎は新作に繋がる話なので、香霖堂では解決しません）	(*The mystery at the end is connected to the plot of the new game, so it will not be resolved in Curiosities of Lotus Asia.)
めでたしめでたし	The end!