“……Is the story all done? If it’s finished, I hope we can start working soon.”
While I was chatting and laughing with Florene, Dwight’s mumbling snapped me back to reality.
I glanced sideways and noticed that Dwight, who had been watching us, had a rather fierce look in his eyes.
It was the kind of gaze you’d expect from a manager who saw part-timers chatting instead of working.
He looked like he was ready to shout, “Did you come here to work or to mess around?!” So I quickly turned my body and replied.
“Ah, sorry. Let’s get started.”
“Right. We need to finish quickly so we can go on the purification facility tour sooner.”
…I guess I was just eager to finish the tour myself.
Anyway, it was a good idea to get the work done without dragging it out, so I immediately put on my protective gear helmet.
It was time to work.
*
The task was to move the demonic beast carcasses from the cargo truck to the storage room.
Although the workload was quite a lot for the number of people, after all, we were no ordinary folks.
With just three people working together, we were far more efficient than any crane, and the job was done in no time.
“Whoo! Is this the last one? That was quicker than I thought!”
Florene exclaimed cheerfully as she unloaded the last demon beast carcass from the truck onto the floor of the storage room.
Watching her, Dwight shook his head and muttered.
“……If you hadn’t thrown the demonic beast carcasses at us like it was catch, we could have finished earlier.”
“Eh heh heh, sorry! But at least it wasn’t boring while we worked, right? Catch was fun, wasn’t it?”
I chuckled at Florene’s words.
I’m not sure about fun, but it wasn’t boring…
What she called catch wasn’t cute at all.
The fastball she threw felt like it was going 160 km/h, mixed with a waterfall-like curve, and honestly, I think it’s a miracle I managed to catch them all without dropping one.
What is Major League Baseball doing? They should scout Florene right away.
Of course, to be fair, she seemed more suited to shot put than baseball.
She really lacked consideration for the catcher.
I figured she thought she was being considerate by throwing at that level.
As I was lost in thought, Dwight let out a sigh as if he was exhausted from playing catch with Florene, then he unbuckled his protective gear and spoke with excitement.
“Anyway, now that the work is done, can we finally tour the facility?”
“Yeah! To be honest, I don’t think there’s anything particularly interesting to see here, but since you came along, I’ll take you! Scarlet, what do you want to do? If you’re not interested in the tour, I can have a car set aside for you, so you can leave separately.”
For a moment, I didn’t quite grasp what she meant by “separately,” but then it dawned on me that I wouldn’t be able to use the gateway outside the barrier yet.
So, if I left ahead, I’d be causing double trouble for the person driving me.
…That would be quite the inconvenience.
Just the thought of seeing a post on the company bulletin board saying, “Thanks to the chairwoman’s daughter’s friend, I drove like crazy today!” made my stomach churn.
I wasn’t really interested in touring the purification facility, but it felt like I had to create some interest, so I urgently shouted to Florene.
“I… I’ll go on the tour too! There’s really nothing special for me to do if I go back alone…”
“Okay! Then we can all leave together later! Got it! Let’s change our clothes and head out for the tour!”
Seeing Florene smile brightly, glad that she could spend a little more time with us, made me feel that going along with them wouldn’t be too bad.
A little while later, I threw off my protective gear and left the storage room to enter the purification facility building.
As soon as we stepped inside the building, my first impression was that the facility was quite bright and clean.
Feeling compelled to say something, I mumbled, “It’s cleaner inside than I expected,” and Florene chuckled next to me.
“Since it’s a purification facility, cleanliness is really important!”
As I nodded my head, while processing that information, a staff member appeared before us, possibly having waited for our arrival after receiving prior notice.
“I’ve been waiting for the notification about the tour. My name is Joseph, the facility manager. I hope you enjoy your tour today…”
The moment I saw his face, though, I couldn’t help but feel a bit taken aback.
With slightly messy hair, a five o’clock shadow like he hadn’t shaved in days, and deep dark circles under his eyes, he was the kind of soul you’d find wandering the university campus early in the morning.
His appearance was oddly far from the cleanliness I had just heard about, and I couldn’t help but stare blankly at him for a moment.
Joseph, introducing himself, noticed my gaze and awkwardly smiled as he lowered his head, seemingly realizing his own state.
“Ahaha… I apologize. I completely forgot to take care of myself… I’ve been really busy lately…”
“No, it’s fine! No need to apologize… Um, I see you’ve been busy.”
Feeling like I had committed some sort of faux pas, I waved my hands in denial, and upon asking subtly, he let out a big sigh and muttered.
“…It’s not just busy; the workload keeps coming in endlessly, and the staff has been working non-stop.”
Hearing that, I glanced over at Florene with a somewhat puzzled expression.
…Are you guys working at a black company or something?
It seemed Joseph caught on to the meaning behind my look and shook his head with a laugh.
“Haha, I know what you’re thinking, but that’s not the case. Everyone works here with a sense of duty, and more importantly, they earn enough for the work they do. So everyone is working hard for this opportunity. I actually just had my second child born recently…”
He clenched his fist as he talked about his newborn.
Seeing the light in his eyes as he motivated himself to work made it seem that Florene’s company wasn’t a black corporation, which eased my worries a bit.
However, I did feel slightly concerned that Joseph’s eyes looked like they were about to give out under the pressure. I hoped he wouldn’t collapse from work someday.
In any case, after a few exchanges with me, Joseph took us around the facility according to our original purpose.
To be honest, only Dwight seemed genuinely interested in the facility’s structure while Florene and I hung around like mere spectators behind Dwight, who kept exclaiming in awe.
It was somewhat amusing to see such a vibrant side of Dwight, which I hadn’t witnessed before.
However, I was quite impressed by how the staff all looked like they were about to collapse yet were burning with passion.
I thought I must work a bit harder for their sake.
Engrossed in that thought, I was following along, when Joseph shouted loudly.
“Alright, the last stop on our tour is essentially our facility’s alpha and omega: the amplification magic circle!”
“Ooh, is this the famous…!”
“Haha, originally, we don’t show it to just anyone, but since you’re a friend of the lady, I’ll make an exception. Well, to be honest, it’s such a large magic circle that even if you just skim over it, it would take you a few days, so security isn’t a concern.”
“Anyway, thank you…!”
Of course, only Dwight reacted to Joseph’s words.
It seemed like a pretty remarkable magic circle, but to me and Florene, it looked like just a slab covered in unreadable symbols.
Both of us wore blank expressions while half-listening to the explanation about the magic circle, and Dwight stared at us with a puzzled look.
“How… can you be so indifferent in front of such an amazing magic circle?”
“Uh… is it really that impressive?”
“Of course! Don’t you know? The formulas applied here! And those over there! They’re classics, but they were groundbreaking discoveries at the time! Without this magic circle, there’s no way we could even dream of purifying miasma, which is considered to be the least efficient type of magic! The century’s masterpiece created by the Dolos family of the past. Ah, to see this with my own eyes…”
Watching Dwight entranced and his enchanted gaze sweeping over the magic circle made me shake my head.
I remembered a friend back in the day who was just like him.
He was the type who would rave about how programming was a form of art, declaring that well-crafted programs could be incredibly beautiful…
As I was momentarily lost in those thoughts, a surprised voice from Dwight broke me from my reverie.
“…Huh?”
“Um? Is something wrong?”
“Earlier, I heard that the maximum amount of miasma processed in a day is roughly this much… and there were about 50 resident mages.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Dwight, with a stern expression, briefly exchanged words with Joseph before tilting his head and muttering.
“…Then the calculations don’t add up.”
“…? What do you mean?”
“No, based on what I roughly calculated from the magic circle, it seems there would still be about 10% left…”
“…What? Are you saying you interpreted the entire magic circle and finished calculating it in such a short time?”
Dwight nodded at Joseph’s question.
Joseph then stared at Dwight for a while before bursting into laughter.
“Haha, oh my, I thought you were serious but you’re actually a funny one. So you interpreted and calculated that in such a short time, and it turned out to be wrong? Wow, that’s the best joke I’ve heard this year. The last employee who tried that ended up losing his hair within months and had to quit.”
“…”
“Anyway, even if what you said is true, there’s no need to worry. I’ve worked here for several years, and we have never had residual miasma like that. If we did, there would have been a huge uproar long ago.”
Joseph chuckled heartily as he spoke while holding his belly.
And soon after, Florene erupted in laughter following Joseph’s lead.
“Ahaha, Dwight, are you sulking? Look at your red ears! It’s hilarious!”
Dwight, unusually, looked really grumpy and had turned red.
Seeing that emotional face was something I hadn’t witnessed before, and I couldn’t help but laugh too.
Then, surprisingly, Dwight really did sulk and turned to walk out of the facility.
Oh no, he looks really upset.
*
Back in the vehicle heading back to the city, Florene, who had been teasing Dwight for a while, ended up dozing off like before.
And as I snickered while watching, Dwight spoke softly to me.
“…It wasn’t a joke.”
“Yeah?”
“I really did calculate it, and according to my calculations, there would indeed be leftover miasma, which is why I said that. Even if it’s just 10%, that’s not a small amount. Besides, when it comes to miasma, being cautious is never too much.”
Dwight seemed persistently worried about what happened earlier.
Hoping he would calm down, I spoke up.
“Don’t worry too much. Even if what you said is true, it’s just like Joseph said; there’s never been a time when miasma has been left over. It didn’t simply vanish into thin air, right?”
“…You have a point.”
“And Dwight.”
Seeing that he still appeared lost in his thoughts, I smiled and said.
“They say even monkeys fall from trees sometimes.”
Dwight looked at me with a shocked expression, as if my words truly struck him.
After a brief moment, he turned away and stopped making eye contact with me.
…Sorry, but your reaction was so good I just wanted to tease you.
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