Sir, Please Make a Wish

Sir, Please Make a Wish

“―Sir. Please, will you make a wish already?”

I woke up to a silvery voice that induced deja vu in me.

“Ugh... Wha... What? I already told you like a million times what my wish is. Why do you keep asking this?”

The person... No, spirit? Anyway, the thing floating around in my bedroom currently was something known as a ‘Jinn’; beings that occasionally grant wishes to humans in return for favours. 

“Yes, you did, but it was too unrealistic. I need you to make a new wish.”

―They aren’t omnipotent, of course, so it’s not like you can wish for absolutely anything without restrictions. However, meeting a Jinn and being granted a wish is still a dream for many.

Not me, though.

“Unrealistic? Isn’t that too cruel? Anyway, I already told you my backup wish, and the backup’s backup too.”

The Jinn I was talking to right now took the form of a woman―a woman of such beauty that it couldn’t be described. She was so phenomenal that at first, and even now, really, I had no words. Did all Jinns look like that?

Now that it’s been a while though, I called her simply ‘Jinn’, and I’m beginning to get annoyed.

“Sir. All eleven of your wishes are the same wish, just worded differently. I have already told you that it isn’t possible for me to grant that wish, therefore, please make another wish.”

I saved Jinn’s life by coincidence, which was her reasoning for granting me a wish. Needless to say, I was ecstatic, but then she turned around and said, “Sorry, a wish like that is impossible.” 

Like, what? What do you mean impossible? It was all I ever wanted. So I tried rephrasing my wish differently, in hopes I could find a loophole for what I so desperately wanted.

Of course, not once had that worked, and by now, I just wanted her to go away―it was just a tease.

“Haa... What is even the point...? There is nothing else I wish for. If you can’t grant my wish, then go away.”

“Sir, I cannot leave until I have granted your wish. Please, make a wish.”

Having someone who can grant wishes stay by my side for so long, and yet being unable to have the wish I want granted... Plainly put, it was torture.

What I didn’t know, however, was that Jinns couldn’t simply grant wishes as they pleased. No, there were strict conditions that had to be met, and depending on the rank of the Jinn, those conditions only worsened.

“Damn, you really can’t go back unless I make a wish? So you’re stuck here?”

“Precisely. I would like to go home, so please make a wish.”

...I never realised I was keeping her hostage. This... was bad.

“...I wish for you to go home.”

“That... I cannot grant that wish, Sir.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because that wish requires me to go away, which I cannot do unless I grant your wish. Sir, please make another wish.”

“Oh, now this is just ridiculous...”

“Please.”

It’s starting to stress me out now. I didn’t think I’d be the one responsible for allowing her to go home. She was so polite, too...

“The problem is that there genuinely isn’t anything else I want... Can I just wish for money or something?”

Though I didn’t need it, I thought it was fine as long as Jinn could return home.

Unfortunately, things were a bit more complicated than that.

“Sir, I cannot grant that wish either. I can only grant a wish you truly want.”

Well, that sounds like a problem.

“...How much do you miss your home?”

“I would just like to return, Sir. For that, I need to grant a wish of yours. Because I am only a low-ranking Jinn, I can only grant a wish you deeply desire―nothing half-hearted. So, please make a wish...”

Her voice had long become wobbly and brittle, as if on the verge of tears, and those charming yet glistening eyes of hers gave away the feelings of anxiety and dread that she was most likely experiencing right now.

“I’m really sorry...”

Nothing had ever made me feel as guilty as I did at this moment. 

“...But I don’t think I can grant your wish... No, my wish? Anyway, there really isn’t anything I want other than that one thing. Honest. Is there definitely no way for you to go back...?”

“There’s... not...”

Watching those unwarranted tears fall from her flawless face as she sobbed, I forced my brain into overdrive in a frantic attempt to come up with a wish to get her home.

Such a beautiful and well-mannered person―even if they technically weren’t human―didn’t deserve such misfortune.

I just knew I had to do something about it.

And eventually...

“I wish for you to be my wife!”

“...Pardon?”

―I ended up proposing to Jinn.

“That’s my wish. Can you grant it? It should be possible, right?”

Strangely, even though she was acting so emotional at the thought of being unable to go home before, now that I had actually made a possibly valid wish, she was stunned?

“Tha--wha-... Hm... I mean, theoretically...? But, wh-why would you wish for something like... Something... like that, Sir...”

Cheeks flushed, Jinn flustered like I had never seen before as she hid her face away from me.

The answer to her question was obvious.

“Well... It’s basically what I wished for originally, right? I don’t want you to be stuck here and unable to go home, and since I can only wish for something I truly want, this is the only thing left.”

“The same as your original wish...? Ah!”

Jinn seemed slightly dazed as she recalled what I wanted, before tucking her head into her top as if to pretend I wasn’t there. Was she embarrassed?

How adorable.

“Is everything okay...? Oh, did it work?!”

A few seconds later, a spectacular jewel-topped platinum ring materialised on my left hand as though through magic. Taking a quick glance, I confirmed that an identical one also appeared on Jinn.

...Did that mean we were married? That was quick. No, hold on. What was the point if my wife was just going to up and disappear the second after?

I might as well have just wished for an expensive ring in that case.

“Um...”

But then, I turned my head to the nervous-sounding, sheepish voice in front of me. There, with a face that pointed towards the ground, Jinn looked up at me―straight in the eyes.

Gulp.

“I... I think it would be a waste of your wish if I just left now, so... I-I’ll stay here for a while...”

―With that, all of my worries vanished, and I proceeded to live a truly wonderful life with Jinn, my wife.

It was a dream come true indeed.

Oh, my original wish? That’s right. It was deemed as not possible, one reason being that a person couldn’t be created from thin air, and also because human hearts couldn’t be forcefully manipulated, but... My wish was simple.

I only ever wanted a sweetheart.