Chapter 183: Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat

Chapter 183

“...Are you guys done talking? If you’re finished, I’d like to start working now.”

I snapped back to reality when I heard Dwight mumbling as I was chatting and laughing with Florene.

When I glanced over, I saw Dwight watching us with a rather stern look in his eyes.

It was the look of a manager watching part-timers chatting instead of working.

He looked like he might scold us any moment with, “Are you here to work or play?” So I quickly turned and answered.

“Ah, sorry. Let’s get started.”

“Yeah. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can tour the purification facility.”

...So he was in a rush because he just wanted to do the tour quickly, huh.

Anyway, it was a task I’d rather finish quickly without dragging out unnecessarily, so I immediately put on my protective helmet.

It was time to get to work.

---

Our task was moving the monster carcasses loaded on the truck into the warehouse.

There was quite a bit of work considering the number of people, but who were the ones here?

Three people, more efficient than most cranes, worked together, and we finished the task in no time.

“Phew! This is the last one, right? That didn’t take as long as I thought!” 

Florene exclaimed cheerfully as she placed the last monster carcass that had been in the truck bed onto the warehouse floor.

Dwight, watching her, shook his head and mumbled.

“If only you hadn’t tossed the monster corpses at us like they were baseballs, we could’ve finished even sooner.”

“Hehe, sorry! But at least you weren’t bored while working, right? Playing catch was fun, wasn’t it?”

I gave a dry laugh at Florene’s words.

I wouldn’t say it was fun, but it certainly wasn’t boring...

What Florene did from the truck bed was far from the cute idea of playing catch.

She hurled fastballs at what felt like 160 km/h, mixed with curveballs that dipped like a waterfall. The fact that I managed to catch all of them without dropping any felt like a miracle.

What’s Major League Baseball even doing? They should scout Florene already.

Though, to be honest, shot put might suit her better than baseball.

Florene just doesn’t have much consideration for the person catching. 

I bet she thought she was taking it easy, though.

As I was mumbling to myself, Dwight, who seemed exhausted from keeping up with Florene’s catch session, sighed deeply, loosened his protective suit, and spoke with a look of anticipation.

“Well, now that we’ve finished the work, we can tour the facility, right?”

“Yeah! Honestly, Florene doesn’t think there’s anything too exciting to see here, but since you came along, I’ll go with you! What about you, Scarlet? If you’re not interested in the tour, you can ask for a separate car and leave first.”

For a moment, I didn’t get what she meant by “separate,” but then I remembered that the dimensional gates outside the barrier were still unusable.

So, if I wanted to go back early, someone would have to drive just me back, doubling their work.

...That would be a huge inconvenience.

I imagined a post on the company bulletin board titled, “The day I drove all day because of the Chairman’s daughter’s friend,” and my stomach churned at the thought.

I wasn’t interested in the purification facility tour, but I felt like I needed to muster some interest. I quickly called out to Florene.

“I-I’ll go on the tour too! I don’t really have anything special to do if I go back alone...”

“Okay! Then we can all head back together! Alright, let’s change our clothes and head to the tour!”

Seeing Florene smile brightly, pleased to spend more time with us, made me think sticking together wasn’t such a bad idea.

After a short while, we took off our protective suits, left the warehouse, and entered the purification facility building.

The first impression upon entering was that the facility was remarkably bright and clean.

Feeling compelled, I mumbled, “It’s cleaner inside than I thought,” and Florene, grinning beside me, responded.

“Well, since it’s a purification facility, cleanliness is important!”

Nodding in agreement, I noticed a staff member approach us. He seemed to have been waiting for us, having been informed in advance of our visit.

“We received word that you’d be visiting. I’m Joseph, the facility manager in charge of your tour. I hope you have an enjoyable visit today...”

Seeing his face, I couldn’t help but feel slightly taken aback.

His hair was slightly matted, his stubble looked like it hadn’t been shaved in days, and dark circles hung under his eyes.

He resembled one of those miserable souls you’d find roaming a college campus early in the morning.

I couldn’t help but stare, especially since his appearance clashed with the cleanliness he just mentioned.

Noticing my gaze, Joseph quickly glanced over his appearance and awkwardly smiled, bowing his head as if just realizing his state.

“Haha... I’m sorry. I’ve been too busy lately to take care of myself...”

“Oh, no! There’s no need to apologize... You must have been really busy lately.”

Trying not to be rude, I waved my hand dismissively and cautiously asked. He sighed deeply before murmuring.

“...Busy isn’t even the word for it. There’s a constant influx of work to be done, so the staff have been working almost non-stop.”

I looked at Florene with a slightly troubled expression.

...Is your company some kind of sweatshop?

Picking up on my silent question, Joseph chuckled and shook his head.

“Haha, I get what you’re thinking, but it’s not like that. Everyone here works with a sense of purpose, and besides, we’re compensated well for our efforts. So, we’re all working hard to make the most of this opportunity. I just had my second child recently...”

Talking about his new child, Joseph clenched his fist with determination.

Seeing his eyes sparkle with motivation eased my worries a little, making it seem like Florene’s company wasn’t some exploitative sweatshop after all.

Though, with how exhausted Joseph looked, I couldn’t help but worry he might actually collapse from overwork.

After chatting briefly, Joseph resumed his original task and led us on a tour of the facility.

In truth, Dwight was the only one genuinely interested in the facility’s layout, so Florene and I just tagged along behind him like extras as he walked around, constantly marveling at everything.

It was the first time I’d seen Dwight so animated, so watching him was entertaining in itself.

It was also quite inspiring to see the staff working with such passion, even though they all looked like they were on the verge of collapsing.

For those people, I’d have to push myself a little harder too.

As I was absentmindedly following along, Joseph suddenly called out loudly.

“Alright, the final stop of the tour is our facility’s Alpha and Omega—the Amplification Magic Circle!”

“Ooh, is this the famous one...!”

“Haha, we usually don’t show this to outsiders, but since you’re a friend of the young lady, I’m making an exception. Though, honestly, it’s so massive that even if you skim through it, it would take days to fully understand, so security isn’t really an issue.”

“Thank you so much...!”

Of course, Dwight was the only one who reacted to Joseph’s words.

It seemed like a grand magic circle, but to Florene and me, it was just a slab filled with incomprehensible symbols.

As both of us stood there looking clueless, ignoring Joseph’s explanation of the magic circle, Dwight looked at us in disbelief.

“How... how can you remain so indifferent in front of such an amazing magic circle?”

“Uh... is it really that impressive?”

“Of course! Don’t you see? This formula here! And over there, too—it’s full of things that were groundbreaking discoveries at the time, despite being classics now! Without this magic circle, we wouldn’t even dream of purifying miasma with purification magic, which is often considered inefficient compared to other spells! This is a masterpiece created by the Dolos family back in the day, a true work of the century. Ah, I can’t believe I’m seeing it with my own eyes...”

Watching Dwight gaze at the magic circle with enraptured eyes, I couldn’t help but shake my head.

He reminded me of a friend who used to be a programmer.

That guy once told me that programming was a form of art, and that there was nothing more beautiful than a well-crafted program...

While I was lost in nostalgia for a moment, Dwight’s startled voice came from beside me.

“...Huh?”

“Hmm? Is something wrong?” 

“I heard earlier that the maximum amount of miasma processed daily is about this much... and that around fifty magicians are stationed here.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

After exchanging some words with Joseph, Dwight stared intently at the magic circle, his expression turning grim as he murmured to himself.

“...Then, the calculations don’t add up.”

“...What do you mean?”

“I just did a rough calculation based on the magic circle, and it seems like about ten percent of the miasma remains unpurified...”

“What...? Are you saying you fully analyzed that entire magic circle and completed the calculations in just that short time?”

At Joseph’s question, Dwight nodded.

Joseph stared at Dwight for a moment before bursting into hearty laughter.

“Aha! Haha, oh man... I thought you were super serious, but you’re a funny one. So, you’re telling me you managed to analyze that whole thing and found the calculations don’t add up? That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all year. You know, we had a staff member who spent months trying to do that, only to leave with a bald spot from the stress.”

“...”

“Anyway, even if that were true, there’s no need to worry. I’ve been working here for years, and we’ve never once had residual miasma left like that. If it were an issue, we would have had a major crisis by now.”

Still chuckling, Joseph spoke while clutching his stomach. Soon, Florene joined in, laughing along.

“Haha, Dwight, are you sulking? Look at your ears turning red! This is hilarious!”

Dwight, unusually, wore a deeply disgruntled expression, his ears burning bright red.

I’d never seen him display his emotions so openly, and I couldn’t hold back my own laughter.

Clearly upset, Dwight abruptly turned and stormed out of the facility.

Looks like he’s really upset... This could be a problem.

---

Inside the vehicle heading back into the city, Florene, who had been teasing Dwight relentlessly, eventually fell asleep, just as she had earlier.

Watching her, I chuckled, but then Dwight spoke to me in a quiet voice.

“...I wasn’t joking.”

“Huh?”

“I really did the calculations, and according to my math, the miasma should have about ten percent left, just like I said. And even if it’s just ten percent, that’s no small amount. When it comes to miasma, you can never be too careful.”

It seemed Dwight couldn’t get the earlier incident out of his mind as he continued to bring it up.

Seeing his expression tighten with worry, I spoke, hoping to calm him down a little.

“Don’t stress too much. Even if what you said is true, Joseph mentioned earlier that there’s never been a case of residual miasma remaining. It’s not like the miasma is just disappearing into thin air.”

“...Yeah, I guess.”

“And Dwight.”

As he still seemed lost in his thoughts, I smiled and said to him,

“Even monkeys sometimes fall from trees.”

Dwight’s face took on a look of utter shock at my words, as if he’d been deeply struck.

Moments later, he turned away, refusing to look at me.

...Sorry, but your reaction was just too good to pass up teasing you.

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