As I had the key, I considered going back to lodge a complaint, but then I realized that I had not asked her how to use the key .
“…Damn it…”
I stood by the wall with visible irritation, which probably made an amusing sight to any who watched .
Well, I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but there was no use standing around here . And so I decided to go back to the guardhouse and try to meet up with Daniela .
The white, spotless building came into view . It really was pretty . I went in from the front entrance and called for Bacon at the counter . I was quickly permitted to see him and made my way to the designated room .
“Knock-knock . ”
“Who is it? Only an idiot would say ‘knock-knock’ while banging the door . ”
“It’s Asagi . I came to meet Daniela . ”
“Ah, it’s just Asagi…”
It’s just Asagi? I was thinking of something to add, when the door opened . Of course, it was Bacon .
“Hey . I haven’t seen you since yesterday . ”
“You weren’t called . ”
“Yeah, yeah . ”
I pushed my way into the room to find Daniela sitting on her chair and looking very bored .
“Hey…”
“Asagi . Did you finish what you were doing?”
“Kind of . I’ll tell you about it later . But I just thought I’d drop by to see how you’re doing . ”
“Well, then . Take a seat . Bacon is going to make us some tea . ”
“Um, I’m actually the captain here, you know? I wonder how you have so little…reserve?”
Bacon went on as he noisily prepared the tea . After a few minutes, he set the tea before us on the table .
“Thank you . …It’s warm . ”
“That can’t be helped . This is just a guardhouse . Be thankful you get anything at all . ”
I suppose so… In any case, I created blocks of ice and put some into all three cups . It melted quickly at first, but the temperature eventually dropped and the drinks were chilled .
“Alright, that’s better . ”
“Thank you, Asagi . ”
“Asagi, that’s amazing…”
Bacon looked very surprised as he quickly drained his cup .
“Hm? You didn’t see it on my status card? I can use ice magic . ”
“You do realize that I have to look through many of these everyday? I can’t be bothered to read everything on them . ”
“So, the scanning is more of insurance in case something happens?”
“Yes, you can think of it like that . And while it isn’t displayed on the status card, our machines will detect the presence of a criminal record . ”
Now that was news . What an interesting hidden feature… But I had no need to worry on that account .
“So, are we finished here?”
I asked as I took a sip of the chilled tea .
“Yes . Miss Daniela has given me a detailed description of the events . Once again, I must thank you both . ”
That was something that had been bothering me . Couldn’t they have used brute force? Couldn’t the imperial army have done something about Eve?
“You two are new here, and so you do not understand . It was only recently that she had completely taken over Nicora . We were still investigating the situation through our spies . ”
“Spies…ah . ”
Those three men…
“It would have been easier to attack once we knew how strong they were . We had received such instructions . And so we decided to take a cautious approach . ”
Soldiers and guards… I suppose they were different organizations with different positions . As I could only make assumptions and felt that it was rather complicated, I closed my mouth .
“Well, there were other problems of that sort, and so we had not made any moves yet . ”
“Right…”
“But regardless, I think we would have ended those bandits once the army agreed to move . ”
Had they waited much longer, the majority of the population would have been bandits…that was an ending for sure .
“So, I guess we really are finished here?”
“Yes . Sorry to take up your time . And thank you for helping us . ”
Bacon stood up and bowed . In spite of everything, I was a little impressed as we left the guardhouse .
We returned to the town and wandered the streets, filling our stomachs and buying some to take back with us to the inn .
It wasn’t until we were relaxing in our room again that I started to tell Daniela about what had happened .
“I met the creator of the hollow bag . ”
“Oh? Is that not the bag that Russell retrieved from some bandits back in Fhiraldo? How did you recognize this person?”
“Well, I didn’t find out till later . The thing is…”
It was quite late when I finished telling her the story . Daniela became hungry part way into it, and started eating the food we had bought . Her hunger was infectious and so we both ate as I talked .
The food ran out just as my story did . We were sitting back in our chairs and staring at the key that Rachel had given me, which sat on the table between us .
“The only mystery left is how I’m supposed to use it . ”
“Hmm… Keys are usually inserted into keyholes…”
Daniela picked it up to take a closer look .
“Yeah, but I’m not sure there is one . ”
“I see…”
Daniela held the blade of the key and stared at it .
“Hmm… Perhaps it is a magic tool?”
“You think?”
“It was made by Rachel . Why would it be an ordinary key? The problem is knowing what it does . Is it a key to something ancient? Or a key to something she created?”
“She didn’t tell me where, specifically . Just that it would allow me to come and go . ”
“Well then, it is clearly a key to the space that you were in . ”
“But there was no keyhole . ”
“That is where you have to think of it as a magic tool . ”
Daniela chuckled and then began to send magical energy into the key . And with that, it started to glow with a faint light .
“And Rachel uses dimension magic . So space magic would be very easy for her . ”
Daniela inserted the key to where there was nothing . And the blade of the key disappeared into nothingness .
“What!?”
“I was correct . ”
Daniela turned the key . There was a click, and then the space opened . I frantically moved behind Daniela in order to look . There was the space I had been before . The alley .
“Daniela…you’re a genius…”
“Hehe . You can do better than that . ”
“Brilliant, spectacular!”
“Yes, yes . ”
Daniela was pleased and looked very smug . I pondered on how cute she was as I stepped out into the alley . The window to Rachel’s room was right in front of me .
“She was eating in there . ”
“Let us open it then . ”
Without a shred of hesitation, Daniela reached to touch the window, but then stopped .
“How do you open this thing?”
“Ah, windows here do not slide, do they?”
It was something engraved into my very being, and so I hadn’t even thought of it as nostalgic until now . But it really was a rather modern window .
And so I pushed the glass to the side to open it . We were met by the same small, square room . But Rachel was nowhere to be seen .
“I guess she’s out . ”
“…Wait, I feel a presence . ”
Daniela’s sharp eyes looked into the room . Without making a sound, she tried to enter, but I grabbed her arm and shook my head . She looked at me strangely, but I pointed at her shoes . She must have understood it, because she took off her shoes and then entered into the room .
I followed after her and checked to see if there was anything different . The low table was still there . And there was a folded mattress . That was it . It was like a prison cell, I thought . Then I looked up and saw that Daniela was staring at the sliding paper door . It seemed like she wanted to pass, but was stumped at the lack of a doorknob . I chuckled at this and slid the door to the side for her . Daniela let out a sigh .
It was a hallway . Just an ordinary hallway from a Japanese house . I felt a rush of nostalgia for a second, but it didn’t seem like the time to bask in it .
Daniela took a few steps and then stopped . She pointed at a door . Apparently, there was someone on the other side . I nodded and slowly opened the door .
It was a changing room .
“…Daniela . We better leave . ”
“It seems to be the case… Let us go . ”
We whispered to each other as we saw a pile of clothes on the ground .
“Well, just wait a minute . I will be out soon . ”
Came Rachel’s voice . So she knew we were here . Daniela looked surprised but remained cautious .
I didn’t care anymore and so I called out .
“We’ll be in the living room . ”
“Whatever . ”
Whatever… Hmm, she had probably already forgotten about how she dropped me into the sky .