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.
「Good morning Souta-san.」
It"s Milfa who arrives.
「Milfa, huh… There"s a lot of visitors today. Have you heard about me going on a trip? 」
「Yes, after Souta-san came, there was a report for me and guild master from Airi. I heard that you will go to the country of elves…」
Milfa’s face looks grim. It looks like she feels the same as Carena about the state of her homeland.
「Yeah, I also already heard from Carena about how hard it’s to enter the country and that there are many elves that dislike humans.」
She shakes her head while showing a bitter smile.
「No, if it’s you, a warning is most likely will be pointless. Today, I came to hand you the letter of introduction from the guild master.」
She gives a single envelope just like Barth.
「Ummm, there is an adventurer guild in that country, so this should make it easier for you to enter even if it’s just a little.」
「This will help. I’ve troubled a lot of people.」
Souta puts the letter he receives in the back pocket of his pants.
「A lot? Are there any other letters of introduction? 」
「Elvas, this one from Guran, and then from Carena, which I need to get from her place. Since each letter of introduction comes from different position, one of them will surely help.」
「Before I know, to be an acquaintance of Carena-san is… Somehow, Souta-san is going down a road where ordinary people take years in only a few days.」
Says Milfa with a little bit of amazement in her voice.
「Is that so? I don’t know what"s normal…… Well, everyone"s different. There are slow ones, but there are also the fast ones.」
「Hahh, for some reason, that has quite the persuasive power coming from Souta-san……. Fufufu, to also mind the small details and report to the guild when you want to travel for a long time, it’s so like you, Souta-san.」
Souta tilts his head.
「Ara, is it not obligatory to report? I feel like I heard that long ago, but … was it a misunderstanding? 」
He remembers what he heard from a companion on his previous journey. That’s why Souta went to report.
「Ummm, I heard that there were such things in the past, but now it is optional.」
「Was it so? Then is there any difference if I report? 」
「If you still report it, it will help us because we can grasp the adventurer who is based in this guild.」
Milfa smiles at Souta who is scratching his head.
「… … Anyway, I will leave the city for a while so please tell Guran for me once again. Also, there isn"t a thank you for the letter of introduction.」
「I understand. Then, if you will excuse me.」
「Yeah, later…… Thank you for taking the trouble to deliver the letter, Milfa.」
Souta bows to Milfa who is going to return as thanks.
「Ehhh, no…… You"re welcome.」
Milfa is surprised for a moment, but then her smiles return and she bows once again before leaving.
Souta goes into the house after Milfa’s figure disappears, and he proceeds to bathe to wash off his sweat.
Ed goes back to bed to sleep for a short time until Souta comes out.
t/n: because of some part of next chapter, i end up reading quite far ahead, and so i now know who win the bet from some chapter before, quite an unexpected result actually,