Daikokuten

393 AC - It's nice to have earned a load of cash from the sweat of your brow. What's that? Dishonestly? First of all, how dare you! And secondly, deception requires a great deal of effort and creativity. But seriously, you think I just sit there twiddling my thumbs? Yes, I'm talking to you. And tell the rest of the peanut gallery to keep their comments to themselves, OK? Now that I have your attention, it's important to know that theft on its own is never good enough. You need to know how to capitalize on it. You need to know how to double down. And that's why… I take an Effigy of Daikokuten out of my bag, and place it on the little island. And you know what? Stealing it out from under the nose – and very long beard – of that damned Afanas was no mean feat.

The divinity materializes when I smash the statuette, and he's brought all his gear with him: sack, mallet and bales of rice. If there's one god that can congratulate me on my ingenuity, it's him. In a corridor once, I overheard some Ordis scholars talking about him and certain traditions involving him, which I found particularly interesting. It's called fukunusubi, or "theft of fortune", where you steal an idol from a temple without getting caught, then sell it to the highest bidder. Obviously that's the kind of guy I like, because he gets how these things work: nothing ventured, nothing gained. So cough it up, because I followed the instructions to the letter!

Daikokuten is the Japanese deity of commerce, trade and wealth. He is depicted as a smiling man with a rotund belly, surrounded by sacks of rice (symbol of happiness). Over his shoulder is a large sack containing wisdom and patience. In his right hand he carries a wooden mallet (uchide no kozuchi), a symbol of the virtue of work.

NEVENKA