Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat

Chapter 183

“......Is everything finished? If so, I’d like to start our work soon.”

While I was chatting and laughing with Florene, I snapped back to reality at Dwight’s muttered remark.

When I glanced over, I noticed Dwight watching us with a rather fierce gaze. It was the kind of look an administrator gives when they see part-time workers chatting instead of doing their jobs. He seemed ready to chide us with a “Are you here to work or just to hang out?” vibe, so I quickly turned my body and replied.

“Oh, sorry. Let’s get started on the work.”

“Right. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can go on the tour of the purification facility.”

......It seemed like he was just eager to finish the tour as soon as possible.

Anyway, it was a task that was better wrapped up quickly without dragging it out, so I immediately put on my protective gear and helmet.

It was time to work.

*

The task involved moving the corpses of lesser demonic beasts from the cargo truck to the warehouse.

Despite the amount of work being quite a lot compared to the number of us, it didn’t matter who we were. With just three people, whose efficiency was better than any crane, the task was completed in no time.

“Yosh! Is this the last one? That didn’t take as long as I thought!”

Florene cheerfully exclaimed as she pulled the last corpses from the truck and set them down on the warehouse floor.

Seeing her like that, Dwight shook his head and muttered.

“......If you hadn’t thrown those corpses at us as if playing catch, we might have finished sooner.”

“Ehehe, sorry! But at least it wasn’t boring, right? Catching was fun, wasn’t it?”

I let out a hollow laugh in response.

I don’t know if I’d call it fun, but at least it wasn’t boring...

What Florene had thrown at us from the truck was far from anything cute like a catch ball.

The fastballs seemed to fly at a speed of at least 160 km/h, combined with curves that swooped down like a waterfall, and I think it was nothing short of a miracle that I caught every single one of them without dropping anything.

What’s Major League Baseball doing? They should hurry up and scout Florene.

Of course, if I were to nitpick, I think she’d be more suited for the shot put than baseball.

She lacked consideration for the receiving side.

I figured she probably thought she was controlling it adequately, though.

As I mumbled about that internally, Dwight, who seemed drained from joining in on Florene’s catch practice, eventually loosened his protective gear and opened his mouth with an expression of anticipation.

“So now that all the tasks are finished, can we go on the tour?”

“Yep! In fact, I don’t think there’s anything particularly interesting to see here, but since you’re all here, I’ll show you! Scarlet, how about you? If you’re not interested in the tour, I can ask for a car to take you back separately, so it’s okay if you wanna leave first.”

I was momentarily confused by the mention of “separately,” but then I remembered that we couldn’t use the teleportation gate outside the barrier yet.

That meant if I wanted to go back alone, the person driving would have to work twice as hard just to drop me off.

......That sounds like such a hassle.

Just imagining a post on a community board titled “My friend’s friend, who’s the chairman’s daughter, made me drive like hell today” made my stomach churn.

I wasn’t particularly interested in the purification facility tour, but now it seemed like I had to come up with some interest, so I hurriedly called out to Florene.

“I... I’ll go on the tour too! There’s not much to do if I go back alone...”

“Yup! Then we can all go back together! Great! Let’s change clothes and head for the tour!”

Seeing Florene’s bright smile as if she was glad to spend a little more time with us made me think that joining them wouldn’t be so bad after all.

After a while, I took off the protective gear and left the warehouse to enter the purification facility building.

As soon as I stepped inside, my first impression was how bright and clean it was inside.

One of those types who would rant about how programming is a form of art, and nothing could be more beautiful than a well-crafted program...

As I momentarily recalled those old memories, Dwight’s shocked voice suddenly interrupted me.

“...Huh?”

“Hmm? Is there something wrong?”

“Earlier, I heard the maximum amount of magical energy processed in a day is roughly this amount... And there are about 50 resident magicians.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

After conversing with Joseph for a moment and closely examining the magic circle, Dwight tilted his head with a perplexed expression as he murmured.

“......Then, the math doesn’t add up.”

“......? What do you mean?”

“No, I took a rough estimate using that magic circle, but it seems like there should be around a 10% surplus of magical energy left...”

“......What? You mean to say you interpreted and calculated that entire magic circle in such a short time?”

At Joseph’s question, Dwight nodded.

Joseph stared at him for a moment and then burst into laughter.

“Haha, heck, I thought you were being serious, but you’re quite the amusing one! So you’re saying you interpreted all that in such a short time and found a discrepancy? Wow, that’s the best joke I’ve heard all year. There was an employee who tried that for over a few months, ended up with circular hair loss, and quit, you know?”

“......”

“Well, anyway, even if what you said is true, there’s no need to worry. I’ve worked here for several years, and not once has there been a surplus of magical energy like that. If there were, chaos would have erupted long ago.”

Joseph continued to laugh heartily for a while before finally saying that.

And then Florene burst out laughing, following his lead.

“Haha, Dwight, are you seriously upset? Look at your ears turning red! This is so funny!”

Dwight, indeed, had an expression that was very rarely pouting, his ears turning bright red.

Seeing such an openly emotional face for the first time made me struggle to suppress my laughter as well.

And really, Dwight seemed genuinely upset, turning on his heel and walking out of the facility.

Oh no, he looks really upset.

*

Back inside the vehicle headed back to the city, Florene, who had been teasing Dwight for a while, ended up sleeping just like before.

As I quietly watched her, Dwight spoke to me in a low voice.

“......It wasn’t a joke.”

“Really?”

“I really calculated it, and according to my calculations, there’s indeed magical energy left, which is why I said so. Even if it’s 10%, that’s not insignificant. Moreover, in matters concerning magical energy, no precaution is ever too much.”

It seemed like the earlier incident had really stuck with him, as he kept bringing it up.

I thought he might truly be worried, and seeing his grim expression made me hope he would relax a little.

“Don’t worry too much. Even if what you said is true, just like Joseph said earlier, it’s never happened before that magical energy has been left over. It’s not like it just vanished into the ground or anything.”

“......That’s true.”

“And Dwight.”

Seeing him still looking deep in thought, I smiled and said, “Even monkeys fall from trees sometimes.”

And Dwight seriously looked like he was in shock at my words.

After a moment, he didn’t even look my way.

...Sorry, but your reaction was too good, and I couldn’t help but tease you.