Ch.297[Chapter 297] Back to Gacha Land

Sir Dominic experienced running away from something for the first time in his life, then fell ill and stayed in bed for a whole week.

It was the first time Sir Dominic had been this sick since he caught chickenpox as a child.

Only Sir Dominic, who had locked his door, would know why he was so ill, but that Sir Dominic was beyond that door.

“…It’s truly rare to be this sick in Gacharland.”

Lady Dominica sighed in front of the door to the room Sir Dominic had entered.

In her hands were a medicinal brew made from deer antlers and a ginseng root, gifts that Senator Muscleman had gladly sent for Sir Dominic’s recovery.

Lady Dominica placed these gifts next to Sir Dominic’s door.

Already, gifts from many people wishing for Sir Dominic’s recovery were piled up there.

Lady Dominica let out another small sigh.

“I wonder when he’ll get better. I wish he would at least eat something.”

Lady Dominica had been making porridge for a week now.

This didn’t mean something had failed or produced an awkward result—she was literally making porridge every day in preparation for Sir Dominic’s recovery.

Since porridge spoiled easily, Lady Dominica had to eat it all herself, but even so, she was once again making a soothing porridge with vegetables and minced meat.

Even to others, it was extraordinary dedication.

“Hey, Sir Dominic! Come out and at least eat some porridge! You might really die… well, you can’t die in Gacharland, but still, it’s serious!”

Lady Dominica called out to Sir Dominic one last time with hope.

Did her sincerity reach Sir Dominic?

“…I suppose I should.”

“!”

Sir Dominic’s gaunt voice was heard from inside the door.

With a creaking sound of hinges colliding, the door that had been locked for an entire week opened.

“I’m sorry. I’ve caused you worry.”

And from inside, Sir Dominic emerged, staggering.

On the surface, he didn’t look much different from a week ago, but Lady Dominica noticed that Sir Dominic’s eyes were hollow and unfocused, with deep shadows beneath them.

Lady Dominica wondered if he might have been cursed by some evil magic, but soon shook her head.

With Sir Dominic’s mental strength, he could withstand any magic.

If one couldn’t believe in mental strength, one could believe in Sir Dominic’s resistance stat.

“What happened that day? To be sick for a whole week…”

Lady Dominica finally couldn’t contain her curiosity about why Sir Dominic was so ill.

Sir Dominic seemed at a loss for words at Lady Dominica’s question, firmly closing his mouth and staring blankly into space.

And as if he couldn’t answer that question, he instead asked Lady Dominica:

“That day, I was rude to others. They gathered for me, but I disappeared…”

“Ah, everyone certainly was in an uproar.”

Lady Dominica realized that Sir Dominic was intentionally changing the subject, but she didn’t show it.

She knew that with Sir Dominic’s personality, he wouldn’t answer no matter how many times she asked.

It was easier to pretend not to notice and move on.

“Still, since everyone knows you to some extent, they seemed to accept that you must have had a reason to suddenly disappear. They said things like maybe a passing ninja kidnapped you and took you home. That’s a joke, of course. Usually, the stories were about a demon suddenly appearing and kidnapping you, or a dragon taking you to a tower.”

Lady Dominica said not to worry, as it hadn’t become a big issue.

“Of course, there was a fox lady who was rampaging in anger for some reason, and a red-armored warrior who became a porcupine from the kunai thrown by that fox lady, but other than that, everyone was just laughing, talking, and celebrating your success.”

Flinch.

Sir Dominic reacted to Lady Dominica’s words.

What Lady Dominica was talking about clearly referred to Hime, Musashi, and the amusement park.

And for the current Sir Dominic, those three things were quite disturbing to his peace of mind.

“…I see. What happened to the amusement park?”

But Sir Dominic couldn’t turn away from them forever.

While Dominic the manager of Tycoon City might have averted his eyes from them, during this week, Sir Dominic had returned to being Dominic the warrior of Gacharland.

And Sir Dominic, warrior of Gacharland and knight of Feralant, was not someone who would ever turn away from difficulties before him.

“Well, it’s doing well. It seems many tourists from Retrograde are visiting because of the amusement park. Since people from Retrograde don’t really like Gacharland, they’re coming to Tycoon City’s amusement park instead—making do with what’s available. Don Castello of Greed has experience running amusement parks, so it seems to be prospering. He said to come collect dividends later—”

“Well, as long as it’s doing well.”

Sir Dominic cut off Lady Dominica’s words as soon as money was mentioned.

Although Sir Dominic had earned enormous sums in Tycoon City, talk of money now disgusted him after nearly having his mind consumed by its magic.

“Well, nothing much else happened. Everyone attended the completion ceremony and opening ceremony, enjoyed the magnificent amusement park, and then returned to Gacharland one by one. Alice wanted to ride some attractions, so I stayed there a few more days, so I don’t know much about what others did.”

“You enjoyed the amusement park? With Alice?”

“Yes. With Alice. By the way, I didn’t know she couldn’t ride because of her height. Not me, I mean Alice. She’s grown taller and couldn’t ride the roller coaster because of the height limit.”

Lady Dominica said she was so dejected that it was quite a task to console her, and chuckled.

For some reason, Sir Dominic could imagine Alice like that and also quietly snickered.

“Anyway, that’s all I know. I’m sorry if this wasn’t very helpful information.”

“No. Thanks to you, I have a general idea of what happened during this week. Thank you.”

Sir Dominic expressed his gratitude for Lady Dominica’s kindness.

But Lady Dominica’s kindness was just beginning.

“Oh, right. I made some porridge. I followed a recipe—”

“Come to think of it, didn’t you just shout for me to eat some porridge?”

“Yes, that. I’m saying that porridge is right here. Want a bowl? No, you should eat it. Eating anything else would obviously upset your stomach after a week of fasting.”

Lady Dominica forcibly guided Sir Dominic to the dining room and arbitrarily stirred a ladle to serve him a bowl of porridge full of solid ingredients.

Sir Dominic thought that even a generous grandmother wouldn’t serve this much, but with Lady Dominica staring at him, he had no choice but to force himself to eat it all out of respect for her effort.

Sir Dominic picked up a spoon and brought a spoonful of the overflowing porridge to his mouth.

The porridge was quite bland, but the crispness of the vegetables and the saltiness of the meat created a harmony that made it easy to swallow continuously.

Sir Dominic kept putting the unexpectedly edible porridge into his mouth.

“Eat slowly. You’ll get indigestion.”

Lady Dominica was concerned that Sir Dominic might get indigestion from eating so well.

After emptying the bowl, Sir Dominic wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and asked Lady Dominica if he could have another bowl.

“Could I have another bowl?”

“Sure. Eat plenty.”

Lady Dominica said she had prepared plenty of porridge anticipating this and served Sir Dominic another bowl.

Sir Dominic once again bent his head and diligently began eating the porridge, while Lady Dominica watched him with a pleased expression.

For someone who cooks, the highest compliment is having their food eaten with enjoyment.

In that sense, Sir Dominic had given the highest praise possible.

When Sir Dominic had eaten about half of the second bowl of porridge, Lady Dominica suddenly seemed to remember something and spoke to him.

“Oh, right. Did you know?”

“Know what?”

Sir Dominic swallowed the porridge in his mouth and responded to Lady Dominica.

Seeing his action, Lady Dominica paused for a moment before revealing quite important information.

“I heard that beta testing is starting in Gacharland.”

“!”

Sir Dominic stopped eating and looked at Lady Dominica with surprised eyes.

Lady Dominica also grinned as if enjoying Sir Dominic’s expression.

Lady Dominica’s look was quite meaningful.

“But what exactly is that?”

“Well. Just saying.”

Of course, neither Sir Dominic nor Lady Dominica knew what beta testing meant.

Lady Dominica’s meaningful attitude was actually just her smiling contentedly while watching Sir Dominic eat the porridge well.

“Well, they say various things will change, but it probably won’t be much different from usual. Oh, want more porridge?”

“Please.”

Sir Dominic handed the empty bowl to Lady Dominica and asked for another bowl of porridge.

The topic of beta testing had long disappeared from both Sir Dominic and Lady Dominica’s minds.

Sir Dominic and Lady Dominica didn’t know.

How important beta testing was in Gacharland.

Of course, even if they had known, Sir Dominic and Lady Dominica would probably have remained as calm as they were now.