“I remember … peaches. Eating peaches, the first time I saw him. Walking with a girl to a house. A quaint little cottage. They went inside and I … I came close. It had a golden-brown kind of smell … and when I touched it, it was so warm from the sun. The house looked so delicious, like I could eat it. So, I took a bite. Then I wanted more. I want more. I want some more.” She grins. “Maybe I wanted s’mores?”

“I am afraid I do not know of these … ‘some mores,’” says the Konaki Jiji. “However, by my understanding, your consumption of the jinmenju fruit and your manipulation of the boar god’s house set off a series of reactions among the more prevalent yokai in these woods. Your ability to transform things to food, combined with your ability to consume nightmares — even demons, perhaps — is uncanny. Limited only to the baku of yore. Oh, fear not, child. These abilities are good things. They put you, and only you, in the best position to find the boar god’s man, for there are no other baku in these parts.”

“But how am I supposed to find him when no one knows where he is?”

The Konaki Jiji produces a small, heavy-looking burlap sack. “Here. Take these. They were found next to a sleeping priest in a hut on the small island. They smell blessed. I think you can use them better than any of us can. Consider it a long-overdue gift for the time you successfully carried me without dying.”

The Yokai accepts the bag with a low bow of her own. She rolls it in her hand. It feels rough like burlap, and full of small oblong articles. She opens it and reaches inside. “Beans?”

“Close: soybeans. But in your hands, they are not just soybeans anymore, are they?”

She weighs the bag in her hand. “So, what are they?”

“You tell me. It is your dream.”

Are they protection? Weapons? The Yokai does not know what to say. “Thank you?” she finally decides.

“It is I who must thank you. You saved me. I would be passing through squid yokai bowels were it not for you and your bravery.”

The Yokai shrugs in the dark. “I wouldn’t call it bravery. I just, you know, do … whatever.”

“Exactly. And do again you must, to save your friend. I will leave you to it.”

“Wait a second! I still don’t know how to find him. Everyone says he’s with the King. The King of Nightmares. How do I find this King?”