Chapter 37 (1/2)

Just as Souta tries to go back in, Fuura arrives.

「Souta-san, good morning. I came just like what we promised yesterday.」

Souta is surprised that there's another guest. Furthermore, it’s Fuura.

「Ehh? What is this? That face…… Did you by any chance… forget that I was going to come here? 」

He knows that he had actually forgotten but he keeps it to himself and quickly tries to regain his composure.

「Of course I remember. I’m just a little surprised that another guest came right away.」

Fortunately, there is quite a distance between them, so Fuura is unable to see the cold sweat on Souta’s forehead.

「Hmmph, well that’s fine. For the time being, crime prevention, was it? Let me hear more about it.」

「I understand. I'll give you the key before leaving. Because I haven’t change the key of the house, the crime prevention will be on the gate. Let’s go to it.」

After Souta regains his composure, he guides Fuura to the gate.

「Using this key, you can lock the gate.」

As they go outside of the gate, Souta takes out a key from his pocket and lets magic power pa.s.s through without Fuura noticing. He sets the locking range to encompa.s.s the gate and the stone wall around the mansion.

「Hmm? What do you mean? This is not this gate key right? 」

「Don’t worry about that. For now, try turning the key in front of the gate while imagining that you're locking the gate.」

Fuura takes the key and does as Souta told her to, though she does it with an incredulous expression.

A ‘click’ sound comes from the gate, and it’s locked.

「Ehh? H-How? Even though there isn't a keyhole! 」

Fuura jumps back a step from surprise, and she starts looking at the key, the gate and Souta's face in turn.

Since it looks funny, Souta laughs.

「Surprised? It’s a magic item, and there's lock magic in it. The range is around the mansion centered on this gate.」

「A-Around the mansion? It's not just a key to lock the gate? 」

Fuura is even more surprised by Souta’s remarks, and her hair looks like it's puffed out.

「Yeah, well, it’s sort of like that. Once locked, it'll be hard to enter even if they try to climb the wall.」

「I don’t quite understand, but you are amazing. If only I had this…」

It’s a job well done for Souta who's able to make Fuura surprised beyond expectation.

「If you use this key, you can come in without problems, but if you try to enter using brute force, you'll be hindered by the magic wall. I guess this is enough for crime prevention. It's not like I'll leave behind anything important in it. Now then, can you open it again? 」

Fuura opens the lock and returns the key to Souta.

「I understand about crime prevention now. Is there anything else I can do according to yesterday's contract? If there is something, I will change it accordingly.」

「… No, it’s okay. Even if it was created on the spot yesterday, the content is fine. There isn't a problem on my end.」

After thinking for a bit, Souta shakes his head.

「Really? It’s fine for me too. Umm… You’re not going to depart right away, right? What about the key? 」

「I plan to leave late in the morning and I'll bring the key to the store before that.」

「I got it. I’ll stay in the store around that time, I’ll be waiting.」

Once Fuura turns her back to Souta, she starts making a motion similar to when she used the key before.

Fuura isn't the last guest, as once she leaves, another guest comes.

Fuura leaves and heads to the left, while the new guest comes from the right.