A minimum of 150,000 sakuras per person was no small price.
As for Chiaki, she said already that she was going to Mikaâs place to stay over tonight, so Chiaki should be fine. Peach-sensei could probably afford the payments for her and Editor Yoshizawaâs protection. As for Hisashi, he could also afford the payment. Kaede was living right above him, so it wouldnât be necessary.
As for Hoshi, he was currently living with Rika Amami, the confectionery store owner and manager⊠Perhaps Rika would be able to pay. As for Rion and Kotomi, they were currently living together with their grandfather, Shouzou Amami.
Seiji recalled the time when he met the Amami Familyâs grandfather.
Although they never discussed the mystical during their last meeting, Seijiâs instinct told him that Shouzou might know something about the mystical side of society.
And so, Seiji decided to have a talk with Shouzou about it.
He immediately called Shouzou, and Shouzou accepted the call quickly.
âGood afternoon, Young Master Seiji.â Shouzouâs raspy voice greeted him.
âGood afternoon, Amami-san⊠please donât address me like that.â
The old man chuckled.
âHarano-kun, is something the matter?â
âItâs like this, Amami-san. Although we didnât mention it last time we met, you probably know about the âmysticalâ side of society, right?â Seiji tried asking Shouzou.
âYes, I know about it.â Shouzou admitted it directly.
âAmami-san, are you a Spiritual Ability user?â
âI was once in the past.â
âIn the past?â
âNow Iâm just an ordinary old man.â
âOhâŠâ It would seem that there was a story behind this. âSince Amami-san knows about the mystical, this will be much easier.â Seiji paused for a moment. âI would like to discuss what happened last nightâŠâ He gave a rough explanation of the situation.
âThank you so much for being concerned about my grandson and granddaughters,â Shouzou thanked him sincerely after hearing his words.
âTheyâre my friends and companions. Itâs what I should do.â
âHeh heh, I definitely didnât misjudge you.â
Seiji felt rather awkward about being praised like this.
âAs for the matter of barriers, thereâs no need, Harano-kun. Although Iâm no longer a Spiritual Ability user, I still have some connections in that side of society. Iâm capable of protecting my family from demons and spirits.â
âI see⊠Since Amami-san says so, I feel more reassured now.â
âHarano-kun, please be careful yourself as well. Itâs nice that youâre thinking about others, but itâs more important to protect yourself.â
âI will. Thank you.â
They ended the conversation there.
It seemed that he wouldnât need to worry about the Amami family.
That just left Yukari and Kaho⊠what should he do?
If the night of one hundred demons was a real threat, then he should explain it to them. But, the problem was that this threat was rather uncertain.
Perhaps demons wouldnât appear anymore tonight⊠Perhaps he was being overly concerned, just like how he wouldnât know if it would rain tonight or not, but he still wanted to buy a super expensive umbrella. In such a situation, was it really alright to tell them about the existence of the mystical?
Seiji thought over this question for quite a while.
In the end, he decided that he should tell them.
Although it was also alright to secretly pay for their personal barriers out of his own money without telling them about it, he felt that it wasnât something very good to do.
âLetâs just tell them the truth and face it together.â
Mayuzumi was quite astonished to hear from Seiji about her uncleâs true former identity as a member of the mystical side of society.
After thinking it over for a little while, she decided not to trouble her uncle. She would personally pay for barriers to protect her and her good friend Saki.
As for how she would convince the editor to accept such an expensive protection, Seiji didnât know.
After Hisashi learned about this available option, he requested to purchase three personal barriers, as well as a 50-square-meter fixed-location barrier.
Seiji immediately contacted Shizuka Saran again and placed his order.
âI need some time to prepare for these barriers. Iâll contact you again after Iâm finished with my preparations.â
âHow long do you need.â
âApproximately three hours.â
âI might order some more barriers from you later. Is that alright?â
âYes⊠Feel free to contact me if you need my services.â
They ended the phone call there.
After that, Seiji called Yukari.
âGood afternoon. Do you have time to meet up?â
Yukari was quite surprised to receive an invitation to meet up from Seigo Harano.
When he told her that he wanted to discuss something important with her face to face, she agreed although she was somewhat confused.
What important thing could it be?
No matter what, she was happy to be able to meet with him.
After dressing herself appropriately, Yukari headed over to Seijiâs apartment.
âSorry for suddenly calling you out like this.â Seiji opened the door for her when she knocked.
âItâs fine, I just happened to be free.â Yukari smiled as she entered his apartment.
Seiji had Yukari sit down by the kotatsu and served her some tea and confectioneries. After that, he took out a white gift box.
âThis is my return present for the Winter Snow Festival. I apologize that Iâm only giving it to you now.â
âThank you,â Yukari accepted it happily. âCan I open it up right now?â
âOf course.â
Yukari immediately opened up the box to see an exquisite light novel illustrations collectionâthis was something that she had been wanting recently!
âThis⊠is amazing.â Yukari was delighted with this present to the point where her eyes were sparkling. âThis was something I really wanted⊠did I ever mention it to you before?â
âNo, you didnât. I just felt like this light novel illustration collection was pretty good and that youâd like it as youâre also an artist yourself,â Seiji told her.
Actually, he had used the power of the gift information card in his system.
âI really like it! Thank you for giving me this.â Yukari smiled beautifully; it came from her heart.
She was more delighted with the fact that he gave her such an appropriate present for her rather than the light novel illustration collection itself.
Seiji was entranced by her beautiful smile, and was slightly dazed.
ââŠItâs good that you like it.â He sipped on his tea in order to help him regain his senses.
âWas the important thing you mentioned this present you gave me?â
âNo, itâs more about what I mentioned this morningâŠâ Seiji paused for a moment before lifting his head and looking into her eyes. âIf I tell you that there really are demons out there harming humans, what will you think?â
âEh?â
âThere really are demons out there, as well as Spiritual Ability users that exist. Iâm one of them.â
Yukari was rendered speechless.
She didnât know how to react to this sudden revelation, and her expression became a little strange.
Of course, Seiji wasnât surprised at all that she reacted in this manner.
In order to make her believe as quickly as possible, he lifted his hand and cast the most pretentious spell he knew in his arsenal.
*Whoosh!*
The light novel illustration collection began to fly in midair.
Then, it dropped down back towards the table, but flew up again when it was almost about to hit the table. Then, it flew in all sorts of random directions, flew in circles, whirled around in midair, and flipped itself around and around⊠all sorts of fancy flight paths.
The purple-haired girl was stunned to see this sight.
Finally, the light novel illustration collection landed back in Seijiâs hands.
âGo ahead and inspect this. Thereâs no tricks to it whatsoever,â he told her as he handed her the light novel illustration collection.
Yukari maintained her dazed expression as she woodenly accepted the illustration collection and inspected it.
It didnât seem like there were any tricks possible to herâŠ
âActually, I can perform the same thing with other objects as well. As long as the object isnât too heavy, I can do the exact same thing with it.â
The purple-haired girl looked at him once more when she heard him state that in a calm manner. She saw that he had quite a serious expression.
âSpiritual Ability userâŠâ Yukari muttered to herself.
âIt must be difficult for you to accept, butââ
âAmazing!â Yukariâs eyes began sparkling even shinier than when she received the present earlier. âSeigo, youâre actually a Spiritual Ability user⊠no wonder youâre so strong!â