whetting my appetite. If I was any hungrier, I might be down there scrabbling for crumbs with the birds. Please let the price be nice and hefty, I thought. Like most people do when their goods are being assessed, I tried to keep my expectations low. My initial guess was six hundred million yen for my life span, but I decided it was better to go in looking at the lowest possible —„‡”•‘™‘—Ž†ǯ–„‡†‹•ƒ’’‘‹–‡†™Š‡‰‘––Š‡‡•–‹ƒ–‡ǡ‡˜‡‹ˆ‹– was on the low side. The number I arrived at was three hundred million. When I was a kid, I thought my life would be worth three billion yen. Compared with that, this was a very humble estimation. But I was still being naive about my own low value. I remembered how Himeno said the lifetime earnings of the average Japanese salaryman was two to three hundred million yen. But I had forgotten that immediately after the gloomy classmate with the depressing future started talking, I had thought, —”‡ǡ‹ˆŠƒ†ƒŽ‹ˆ‡Ž‹‡Š‡”•ǡ™‘—Ž†ǯ–’—–ƒ’”‹…‡‘‹–ǡ‡‹–Š‡”Ǥǯ† probably have to sell it at a loss. I went back to the store early, sat down on the sofa, and was starting to nod off for a bit when the woman called my name and woke me up. She had finished her assessment. Š‡ƒ”†Š‡”•ƒ›ǡDz”Ǥ—•—‘‹Ǥdz—–†‹†ǯ–”‡‡„‡”–‡ŽŽ‹‰Š‡”› identity at any point or showing her any form of identification. She had the means of learning such things, apparently. There was something about this place that was indeed beyond the bounds of normal understanding. Despite the odds, by the time I returned to the building, I had decided to believe in the incredibly dubious idea that someone could buy your life span for money. There were a number of complex interlocking factors that influenced my view, but the strongest was that woman. ƒ›„‡‹–™ƒ•‹ŽŽ‘‰‹…ƒŽ–‘‰‡–•—…Šƒ‹’”‡••‹‘ƒ„‘—–•‘‡‘‡›‘—ǯ† Œ—•–‡–Ǥ—–ˆ‡Ž–ǥ–Š‡”‡™ƒ•‘Ž‹‡‹™Šƒ–‡˜‡”•Š‡†‹†Ǥ…‘—Ž†Œ—•–ˆ‡‡Ž‹–Ǥ There are people who simply despise dishonesty, regardless of any notion of righteousness or morality, regardless of even their own personal gain or loss. She was one of those people, I sensed. When I looked back on this moment later, it was easy to see just how poor my instincts had been. ‡–—”‹‰–‘–Š‡–‘’‹…‘ˆ›ƒ’’”ƒ‹•ƒŽǥ When I heard the woman say the number three, my face momentarily „‡–”ƒ›‡† –Š‡ ’ƒ”– ‘ˆ ‡ –Šƒ– Šƒ†ǯ– ‰‹˜‡ —’ Š‘’‡ǡ ‘” •‘  …ƒ‡ –‘