The Case Files of Jeweler Richard - Chapter 2.3

This took a while, but it was worth it. Next chapter is the longest one yet. Also, thanks for the ko-fis!

The next Saturday. Workers from the renovation company came to us on the second floor to apologize. They told us to close the store in an hour and a half and to get ready to return home.

Coming right after the overalls of the renovation company, a woman in jeans and a summer sweater furiously ran up the stairs. It was Yamamoto-san with her hair disheveled.

“Um! I know I didn’t book today! But could you please show me some gemstones?”

“Oh, no, I’m sorry. There’s going to be construction work for the air conditioner downstairs today starting soon.”

That’s why we’re already closed . When I told her that, Yamamoto-san weakly sank down on the stairs. Was she okay? There were handrails, but they were steep. I hurriedly supported her back, and Yamamoto-san sniffled heavily.

“I’m sorry…why am I always like this…!”

Yamamoto-san burst into tears while she was on the floor. I had no idea what happened, but it seemed like she received quite a shock. Sobs slipped out while she bit down hard on her molars.

When I looked over my shoulder, wondering what to do, Richard, who had come out after locking up the store, cleared his throat slightly. He was carrying a large black suitcase in his hand. It was the bag that was packed with all the gemstones in the safe. Yamamoto-san raised her head, her face stiffened in embarrassment, and she wiped her tears.

Richard, with a smile, invited Yamamoto-san to a cup of tea until she calmed down slightly, if she didn’t mind. She widened her eyes, her gaze wandered about, and then finally she looked at me as though clinging to me. It seemed that she wanted me to come with them. I understood how she felt. Being face to face with a beauty like Richard still made me nervous even though I was used to him. I would accompany them no matter where they went.

After she calmed down in a seat at the back of a coffee shop on Chuo-dori, Yamamoto-san began to talk as though a dam broke. Apparently, her mother and sisters found out that she was going to buy a ring for herself. They found a pamphlet from the store with this-and-that written all over it. Yamamoto-san, who kept silent about the breakup, was subjected to intensive fire from the three women, and when they finally shouted “Are you an idiot?”, she couldn’t take it anymore and ran out of her home. Apparently, she had the day off from work today.

“I’m so, so mortified…even I know that I’m an idiot, but…”

Yamamoto-san covered her face. It seemed that even she knew only all too well that she was doing something childish.

“…I want to shout at them to leave me alone. I’m the ugliest in my family, and I’m going to live alone until I die. I’m prepared for that!”

In the coffee shop where only our corner had a strange atmosphere, Yamamoto-san was drinking black tea. I had orange juice, and Richard had mineral water. With a voice that did not fit the refined atmosphere of early afternoon in Ginza on a Saturday, Yamamoto-san kept on apologizing.

“I’m really, really sorry, I’m beyond pathetic. I didn’t know what to do until I came to the store tomorrow, and before I knew it…I’m so sorry…”

“No, no, our store is open tomorrow too. Right, Richard?”

The owner only nodded and silently drank his water. His expression was his usual pleasant smile. His golden hair was struck by the gentle sunlight, and it shone like a fabric of golden thread. It felt like there were two humans and one angel sitting at the table. No matter where or when, there was a different space around because of that face. That’s enough. I was going to do something about this.

“Oh…um, I can’t say this very well, but don’t be so down! It’s a good thing! There are as many good guys out there as there are stars in the sky!”

I didn’t hear him say “Seigi” in a low voice, but I received a dangerous look from the owner and I shut my mouth. Yamamoto-san, with dull eyes, had a half-smile on her lips.

“I pretty much know what my market value is, so…I know there are plenty of better people in the world, but I also know that what those people want isn’t me.”

The man who had the gazes in the restaurant concentrated on him just by drinking water suddenly looked at Yamamoto-san. He was not smiling.

“I want to ask you this, Yamamoto-sama. When you decided to purchase a garnet, how were you feeling?”

“My feelings? I felt…like I had given up.”

“What did you give up on?”

“That I’m not a diamond or a ruby.”

Yamamoto-san smiled again. I finally realized which situations where she smiled. It was when she was giving up. When this person told herself that there was nothing she could do but give up, she smiled regretfully. At her rough smile, Richard returned a smile of the finest quality. It was a bit scary. What was he going to say?

“It may be boorish to tell such a story outside of the store, but when I think of the gemstone called garnet, I think of Ancient Rome. Do you have any knowledge of ancient civilizations?”

“Um, Rome…I only really know Roman Holiday .”

I see , Richard nodded, and smiled a smile that would make even a princess travelling incognito blush. Then he put down his glass of water. A gear change. Was this his serious sales talk mode?

“The red garnet is a gemstone that was loved in a special way in Ancient Rome. It wasn’t only loved for its beauty. It was a periapt for warriors.”

“Pe-ri-apt…? Is that like a charm or a talisman?”

Precisely , Richard nodded. While Yamamoto-san said nothing, Richard went on and on about what he wanted to say. It was already like his specialty.

“When it comes to such old items, that is the domain handled by museums and antique dealers, not jewelers, but gold rings fitted with garnets were excavated since the very early days of the Empire. At that time, there was no technology to cut gemstones and have them reflect light, but the technique of decorative engraving, called cameo, was well developed. A stone is cut with a thin needle and a picture is drawn. Many of them have images of Roman gods, and they are said to be prayers for victory and safe return. When I see those rings, what recurs to my mind is that the hearts of people have not changed between two thousand years ago and now. That is, the feeling of ‘I want to win.’ The strong desire of ‘I want to survive.’”

“Desire!”

“Yes. Gemstones are beautiful, but it is essential that one has the room in life for appreciating them. It is our daily peace that guarantees a comfortable life, but in Rome, and by extension the society we live in, it is the state of things in which we must fight in order to maintain peace. Living is a battle.”

“…A battle?”

“A battle.”

Richard smiled somewhat daringly.

Ever since he started speaking, the restaurant suddenly became quiet. The owner, who was used to attracting eyes and ears daily, didn’t particularly care and continued to speak like he was reciting lines from a classical play.

“If you work at a shop that sells fresh flowers, I think it is easy to imagine, but if you misjudge when and how much flowers to stock up and sell, would that not cause serious damage to the shop?”

“Huh? Oh, it would, you would be in the red if you bought a large amount of carnations when it’s not Mother’s Day.”

“It is generally the same in the world of gemstones.”

What?

I wasn’t the only one who widened my eyes in astonishment at Richard’s voice. Yamamoto-san was also looking at Richard with a puzzled look on her face. The beautiful man spoke matter-of-factly.

“There are countless processes in the time leading towards the gemstone reaching the hands of the customer. Beginning with the mine managers and workers, the people who sell stones locally, purchasers and other intermediary services, wholesale companies, retailers—it would take far too long to enumerate them all. When will the stones come out, when will they cease, how popular are they currently, how much is their market price, is the market saturated with them or not? If the timing is mistaken, you will suffer heavy losses. Of course, it is not uncommon for merchants to try to make a profit by cheating the other party. Sometimes one cannot help but cry when you meet with misfortune. Certainly, gemstones are not ‘quick to spoil’ like fresh flowers and cakes, but supply and demand are constantly changing. One must not let their guard down.”

Yamamoto-san and I were both looking at Richard in silence.

It was the first time I was hearing it. About his “work”.

The man called Richard I saw was a man in an elegant suit who ate sweets and drank royal milk tea in the Ginza store. But that was only his face on weekends. On the other days, he pulled along a suitcase full of gemstones and ran around Japan or all around the world. He carried around gemstones, a commodity that would never be wanted by everyone as much as food or water.

It could not be called a stable job, even as flattery.

Yamamoto-san gulped and asked Richard a question.

“…Being a jeweler is a battle, isn’t it.”

“To work is to live. And so, living is a battle. Is that not the case with socializing? For instance, this is a time where we are looking for a life partner as a survival strategy, so when an adversary appears, we have no choice but to fight.”

“…When the opponent is a beautiful young woman, I felt utterly defeated before I even fought…”

“Youth and beauty are certainly powerful weapons, but both are only just one out of the myriad of attractions. If we use a boxing match as a metaphor, then it would be like a score sheet with a good record, but there are countless other sources of points, from their personal virtue, personality, conversation skills, the atmosphere the person exudes, to their friendships and hobbies. Even if you think you cannot win on your first impression, it is not uncommon for a superior opponent to turn out to be only a sandbag when you actually try hitting them. What is more difficult than anything is admonishing yourself for being afraid to fight. I believe what helps in times like those is not beauty, but ‘effort’ and ‘perseverance.’ Of course, it is also one’s choice to not fight. However, I see you as a warrior who roots herself to the ground and fights.”

Warrior.

Yamamoto-san was at a loss for words.

If I thought about it rationally, then it was quite a curveball. I was arbitrarily guessing, but I didn’t think there were a lot of women in the world, not just Japan, who would be happy at being called a warrior. I was sure that they would be a little happier at being called a young lady or a princess.

But, if I were in Yamamoto-san’s shoes, I felt like I would thank Richard and even ask to shake his hand.

Since Richard was a fighting man, it was like being told that you were standing in the same ring as him.

Yamamoto-san looked embarrassed and perplexed, but it didn’t seem like she hated it. Her frustrated expression was also sealed away.

“Why am I a warrior…? Because I work?”

“Because you came to seek a garnet. Not any other stone, but your own birthstone. It is proof that you are fervently re-questioning your own way of life. It is as though you are reforging iron. It is not easy. Though you say that you are not a diamond or a ruby, you never tried to escape from that. That is because you have the will to fight.”

Richard smiled mildly, and Yamamoto-san looked shy with a slightly embarrassed look on her face.

“…I wish I could have met a teacher like you in middle school or high school. Thank you. I am truly sorry. You had to see me be so unsightly…”

“Whether or not you think you find your own way of being unsightly or insist that it is charming, is it not up to you?”

“I, I really can’t do that…!”

From behind a relaxed and smiling Yamamoto-san, new customers came into the shop. It was a man and woman. When they passed behind her, the two of them quite shamelessly stared at Richard’s face. When I turned my eyes to them lightly with a “What the hell” look, the two sat down in seats at the back of the shop. They were behind Richard.

Just then, Yamamoto-san’s expression became tightly strained again. What’s wrong this time? When I tilted my head in confusion and tried to turn around, she stopped me in a panic.

“Stop, please stop…!”

“Was there something wrong with the people who came in just now?”

“It’s…!”

It took a fair amount of time in silence before she said, My ex-boyfriend . Holy shit. It seemed that we chose the wrong shop. So that meant his companion was his new “young and cute girlfriend”?

I looked at the seat behind us, trying not to move my head as much as possible. The man was dressed a bit unkempt, had a good looking face and seemed fun.* He looked to be in his thirties. Next to him was a dark haired woman who looked to be younger than him, dressed cutely in Shibuya-style casual. They both had uniform, almost frightening smiles.

(TN: the term used here is 二枚目半, which refers to a man who is both handsome and funny, such as a handsome comedian.)

In the first place, this store was not that big. The couple’s voices sounded piercing in my ears. The man was the one who mainly talked, and the topic was mainly sweet talk that was entreating her about how much he loved her, but the existence of a “comparison object” flickered at the end of every word. You’re so cute, not all girls are like that. You’re such a good, honest girl; some people are so twisted. I’m so glad you’re with me, I was right to break up with her, and so on. While putting down his ex-girlfriend in every way, he was putting on the flattery for his new one. What the hell was this? I wanted his girlfriend, who was all smiles while only saying “Oh, really–”, tell him once and for all that she wasn’t happy at all being complimented in that way.

With vacant eyes, Yamamoto-san had a faint smile on her face. There was no sign that she was going to go over there to punch him. She was just stunned. I wanted to talk just about anything to gloss over the situation, but unfortunately, I couldn’t say anything because of the funeral-like atmosphere at our table.

I took a look at Richard to see as to whether or not we were leaving. The jeweler was drinking his mineral water with a detached look on his face, as though he didn’t hear anything.

After the man stopped his one-sided talk, the woman started speaking for the first time.

“Hey, this was fun, but can we finish this up soon?”

“Huh? Oh, alright.”

Go to the next shop? The man asked. Yes, that’s good. You could even end your date if you want.

However, what was spoken after that surpassed my expectations slightly.

“Not that. Let’s go back to being just friends soon.”

The “Huh” sound came from Yamamoto-san’s ex. It wasn’t my inner voice. The cute girlfriend smiled brightly at the man who was stiffening in bewilderment.

“Our dating trial period was for about two months, but I don’t think we’re right for each other after all.”

So, let’s end it here . Her voice was lovely like an idol’s. The man’s face was steadily becoming ashen. Unable to control myself anymore, I twisted my neck around to look at him, but he probably couldn’t afford to notice me right now.

“Trial…trial period…?”

“Eh? Didn’t I say that from the start? I wanted to play with you because you’re a nice guy, but I didn’t know if we can be together forever, so we had to try it out.”

“That’s, that’s why I broke up with my girlfriend!”

“Sorry, sorry, it’s not you, it’s me. I hope we can continue to be good friends.”

“’Continue’! You…you, hey, I don’t think so!”*

(TN: He uses omae, which is mainly used among males of equal standing and is definitely rude to use towards a woman)

“Just a word of advice, but you shouldn’t talk to girls in that tone, ‘cause it makes you sound like an old man. Well, I have a date after this, so see ya!”

Bye bye , she waved, and then practically bounced out of the shop. The man hurriedly chased after her, but bumped into someone else in another seat midway, and while he was apologizing, she disappeared. In front of the register, he was stopped with “The bill hasn’t been paid yet, sir.” He paid in a rush and chased after her, but I had no idea if he caught up or not.

Before Yamamoto-san and I, who were stunned as though we were in a daydream, Richard took another sip of mineral water.

“…That just now wasn’t staged, right? It, it really wasn’t…?”

Yamamoto-san’s tone was thirty percent bafflement, and the remaining seventy percent was, strangely enough, sadness.

“Yamamoto-san, are you alright?”

“I, I’m…not alright…”

Yamamoto-san’s reaction was intense. She opened her eyes wide and wiped them with a napkin. She was really crying. Was she sympathizing? With that man. It wasn’t my place to say it, but with a man like that.

Yamamoto-san shook her head.

“Hi-him just now…he was exactly like me when I got dumped…!”

Oh, I see. It seemed that she saw her past self in the current him. Repeating Ah, ah, she wiped at her tears. After a light coughing fit, this time she looked up.

“That guy’s a giant idiot…!”

“I also think so.”

Richard ruthlessly chimed in without a moment’s delay. Yamamoto-san wiped her tears with a shameful face.

“He only thought about the person he’s together with as a new accessory…”

Ah , she started repeating again. She wasn’t laughing at her boyfriend. That voice was like she looked into a mirror and was astonished that a face that was more worn out than she thought reflected back at her.

“I…I had thought that I wasn’t beautiful to the point that I wanted to die, but…this is the first time I’ve ever felt so stupid.”

Is it because you’ve been with that person for many years? I thoughtlessly asked, but Yamamoto-san smiled bitterly and shook her head again.

“We’re the same. He and I are the same. I’m not beautiful or cute, so I’ve always thought that I had to put up with a man who’s a bit of a pain. But, when I think about it, my looks and age have nothing to do with men treating me lightly. It’s not like it’s a comparison of quality, but I was always thinking ‘I have to give up’ or ‘It can’t be helped,’ and so I’m judging and deciding how to deal with the person I’m dating as an object, not a person, aren’t I? I’m the worst. I’m…an idiot…”

Yamamoto-san was smiling while crying. Her voice repeating “I’m an idiot” sounded somewhat happy.

“But, I do agree with him on ‘It was right to break up’!”

Richard smiled in satisfaction and gave a deep bow to Yamamoto-san.

Since we had been sitting there for so long, we also ended up dispersing. Yamamoto-san, who was in such a panic when she barged into the store, now seemed to have regained her spirit and was looking cheerful.

When we left the store, Yamamoto-san bowed to us and turned to Richard again.

“Thank you so much for everything. I will resolve myself to become a ‘fighter.’”

“I shall wish you good fortune in battle and much success in your endeavours, Yamamoto-sama.”*

(TN: Richard uses war related terms here like 健闘 (good fight) and 武運 (fortunes of war), it’s pretty cute)

Looking a bit embarrassed as ever, but also with a smile that was somewhat like she had been unbound from something, she kept on bowing to us before she left.

“Hey, you know…”

“My name is not ‘you know.’”

“Sorry, my bad. Hey, Richard, I don’t know what the standards for women’s faces or anything like that are, but when she’s talking happily, she looks about thirty percent more beautiful than when she’s not saying anything in the store…right?”

“Going on and on about women’s beauty is more foolish than setting off fireworks in an explosives warehouse. Everyone has their own standards of beauty.”

I thought that was true, though. I wanted to say a few words to her as a sort of “warrior apprentice” who worked part-time at Richard’s store while aiming to become a civil servant in the faculty of economics.

I’m sure your name is not as unfitting as you think it is.

When I said goodbye to Richard and rode the Yamanote Line from Shimbashi Station, I thanked God that I ended up not saying something like that to Yamamoto-san. I was glad that I didn’t say it. Was that sexual harassment? Absolutely. Why was I looking down on her in the first place? While I was feeling relieved, I realized one thing.

Words like pretty and beautiful were certainly words of compliment, but at the same time they were also words of evaluation. Those who evaluate and those who are evaluated—the differences in those positions would always be there. The big talker wins the game. A careless remark is almost abusive if you took one wrong step. Without thinking about those things for the slightest bit, I called Richard beautiful over and over again. Because he truly was pretty.

While that was still fresh in my mind, I sent Richard an email that was combined with an apology for my habitual rudeness. His response came three hours later. One sentence. “I am used to it.”

I was truly ashamed. I decided to go out and buy some rare sweets soon.

On Saturday, just after the store’s opening at eleven, a package had unusually arrived at Richard’s store by home delivery. The name of the article was “plant.” A plant? Not an assorted basket of sweets?

“What did you buy and where?”

“Please look carefully at the sender’s name.”

I took a hard look at the pink sales slip. The address was Tokyo, the sender was Yamamoto Mito. I was glad that it was an easy-to-remember name. After untying the strong packaging, I discovered that it was a potted plant. Long and narrow leaves grew from a short, light brown tree. Was it a decorative plant? There was also a message card.

“Wow, apparently this is a pomegranate tree! That’s awesome. I wonder if you can take care of it indoors.”

“Does that card say something along the lines of ‘I decided not to buy a stone. Sorry’, after all?”

As expected of the battle-worn jeweler, he was spot on. The message card was small and only for a few words, like the kind flower shops included as a free gift, but five of them were crammed into the envelope. Written with a ballpoint pen in what was apparently Yamamoto-san’s handwriting, she thanked us for our courteous hospitality and showing her many gemstones, apologized for the incident at the coffee shop, and in a frank sentence, she wrote that she decided not to buy after reconsidering. It was just like Yamamoto-san.

Right now, I still don’t have the confidence to treat gemstones as something that will nestle close to me.

The word “still” was the good part. I hoped she would come back to buy one someday.

“I guess it can’t be helped. A ring could have landed you a lot of money.”

“Gemstones and flowers are both things that should be enjoyed in one’s spare time.”

No , Richard followed up. He put a hand to his slender chin, a faint smile playing on his lips.

“The reverse is also true. No matter what kind of situation one is in, gemstones and flowers are things that grant peace of mind.”

So, if Yamamoto-san said she wanted one, were you really going to sell her a garnet? I asked him that, and Richard asked me a question back.

“Do you know the origin of the word garnet?”

I shook my head, and Richard sighed. Was he telling me to study a little bit since I worked at a jewelry store? I intended to study in my own way. I read The Illustrated Book of Gemstones three times from start to finish. Since I flipped past the parts I couldn’t understand because they were too technical, I was somewhat doubtful that it did me any good.

“So, the correct answer on your mind is…”

“’Granatus.’ It is a Latin word. It means ‘seed.’”

“Oh!”

Come to think of it, he must have been aware of Yamamoto-san’s background before it was stated.

“…It’s the perfect stone for her, isn’t it?”

Richard nodded. Not just because she handled flowers or other reasons like that, but, how should I put it, because it felt like the word “seed” fit her to a tee.

“She seemed to have wanted to say many things about the garnet, about it being a punishment, about it being an unfavorable comparison, and so on, but it was a truly thorough investigation. That is probably because it was a stone that was associated with herself. Such a person is healthy. If it was something she truly hated, she would not study about it in the first place. She was merely averting her eyes from it.”

“Healthy?”

There are things where even if you hate it, there is nothing to be done about it , Richard went on to say. Did he mean things like birthplace or appearance?

“You cannot escape from such things. What you can choose is when and how to face them. She says this and that with her mouth, but it seemed to me that at her core, she was either trying to accept it or she already did. Perhaps I should have said ‘constructive.’ I made a mistake with my wording.”

“You didn’t. I think I understand what you mean.”

For Richard, the most “nothing to be done about” thing was probably, no, definitely his face. I didn’t think he was lying when he said it was nothing but a drawback. But the current him behaved with elegance and refinement, as though he was born with a spirit and mentality that matched his face perfectly. It was like he was a product of gemstones.

There were probably a lot of things that happened.

Things that I couldn’t even imagine.

I stared at Richard, and the beautiful owner’s eyebrow twitched. I could almost hear him say “What is it?” in his usual voice. He really was sharp-sighted. Should I try asking him? In your student days, how did you feel you were one-sidedly told “I wanted to try talking to you”? Or something like that. But if Richard were in my position, he probably wouldn’t say such a thing.

Not asking what you didn’t want asked. Not poking at the parts you didn’t want poked. If it was his everyday to have business discussions with people with different cultures and etiquettes, then it might be the norm. Since it was a business-like relationship, so I supposed if you said that you weren’t interested, that was the end of it.

But, more than that, this guy cared about me. It was a warm indifference.

At the end of the day, he was a good guy.

“No, it’s nothing.”

In that case, I would just have to follow his way of doing things.

Richard had a look of amazement on his face for a while, but he picked up the pomegranate needle plant and put it next to the biggest bookcase, then looked at it from a distance and then came near it again, nodding several times. It seemed that he decided to put it there. It looked good. When you sat down on a red sofa, the fresh green of the leaves came into view.

“I will entrust its care to you. When it becomes overgrown, take it home.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Now, some tea.”

The pomegranate tree Yamamoto-san sent us got bigger as it gulped down the injected nutrition that looked like mini-sized energy drinks. The branches with beautifully green leaves, with the power of “growth” not possessed by gemstones, was steadily expanding its territory in the corner of the store even today.