Ch.398[Episode 398] Return to the Future

The next morning.

“Phew.”

Sir Dominic was continuing his training, sweating profusely after a long while.

As if yesterday’s round appearance had never existed, Sir Dominic had returned to his usual self.

“So resting for one day really does set you back by two.”

Sir Dominic sighed as he looked at the shattered training dummy.

For some reason, he felt that his shield-wielding speed and shield-lifting techniques had regressed compared to before.

“I should probably train a bit excessively like this for a few days.”

Sir Dominic said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with the towel around his neck.

“Hmm?”

“Happu!”

While Sir Dominic was wiping the sweat that had seeped under his eyepatch, a small and cute visitor came to his training ground.

It was Sir Dominic’s granddaughter, Sir Dominica.

“Awuapi!”

Sir Dominica pointed at the training dummy while shouting incomprehensible words.

She probably wanted to say “training dummy.”

“Do you want to train too?”

Sir Dominica nodded at Sir Dominic’s question.

Sir Dominic stepped aside slightly to accommodate Sir Dominica.

It was a sign of permission.

Sir Dominica recognized the gesture and immediately took out the small shield she had been carrying on her back and began poking at the training dummy.

Perhaps because she was too young, her strikes were weak, and she occasionally missed and fell down with a thud, but Sir Dominica seemed to enjoy hitting the dummy and continued to strike it while grinning broadly.

Sir Dominic watched her with satisfaction.

“Come eat breakfast!”

Sir Dominica opened the front door and called for Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica.

Sir Dominic nodded at Sir Dominica’s words, then approached Sir Dominica and said:

“Let’s go in now. We need to eat breakfast.”

“Bba!”

She probably wanted to say “food.” Sir Dominic thought as he carried Sir Dominica into the house.

“First wash up and then eat. We’ll start eating first…”

Sir Dominica said this after seeing the disheveled state of Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica, but then realized that Sir Dominica was a girl.

Though she was young enough that bathing with Sir Dominic wouldn’t be strange, Sir Dominic was a very… macho type of man.

The moment such a cute little girl was entrusted to such a man, it was obvious that her skin and hair would be a mess.

“No, I’ll bathe with Sir Dominica. You go wash up first and come out.”

“…? Understood.”

Sir Dominic heard Sir Dominica’s words and tilted his head as he entered the bathroom first.

After a quick shower, he roughly dried himself, changed clothes, and came out.

“While we wash up, Sir Dominic, please eat first.”

Sir Dominic nodded at Sir Dominica’s words as she entered the bathroom.

…

Just as Sir Dominic finished his meal, Sir Dominica and Sir Dominica came out of the bathroom.

Sir Dominica looked exhausted, as if she had aged ten years.

“A child’s energy is truly something.”

Sir Dominica said.

“Well, aren’t all children like that at that age?”

Sir Dominic replied.

“By the way.”

Lady Alice interrupted the conversation between Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica.

“Shouldn’t we buy some necessities for that child?”

Ah. Sir Dominic let out a short exclamation at those words.

“After all, she’s different from us in size and many other ways. I think there’s a lot we need to buy separately.”

Sir Dominic nodded at those words.

Indeed, while this house was spacious enough for adults like Sir Dominic, Sir Dominica, and Lady Alice, it was too large and dangerous for Sir Dominica.

Sir Dominic decided to go out and buy things for Sir Dominica as suggested.

“But… I don’t know what to buy.”

Sir Dominic said, closing his mouth.

“Well-“

Sir Dominica, who was about to answer Sir Dominic’s question, also closed her mouth.

Lady Alice was already turning her head away.

None of them had any connection with children, so they had no idea what children needed.

“…I should contact Alice’s mother.”

“Huh? Me?”

“No, our child’s name is Alice. Come to think of it, you have the same name. That could be confusing.”

Sir Dominica cleared up Lady Alice’s misunderstanding.

“I’ll contact her a little later.”

“Why? Why not call now?”

Sir Dominic said he would call later.

Lady Alice wondered why not now but later.

And that question was answered by Sir Dominic’s words.

“Alice is still a student. It’s time for her to go to school.”

“Ah.”

Lady Alice exclaimed in understanding.

“Well, I guess we have no choice then.”

Lady Alice leaned back on the sofa.

“We’ll just have to wait a bit.”

Sir Dominic, Sir Dominica, and Lady Alice looked at Sir Dominica and waited for time to pass.

Whether Sir Dominica knew this or not, she was just happily eating her favorite stew to her heart’s content.

…

At the outskirts of Gachaland, at the boundary touching the wasteland.

Lightning struck in this desolate place where hardly anyone visited.

It was truly a bolt from the blue, but fortunately, there was no one passing by, so no one was hurt.

No, there was one person at the spot where the lightning struck.

A being that certainly wasn’t there until just a moment ago.

The being slowly raised its head and began looking back and forth between Gachaland and the wasteland.

“…Is this the right place?”

White hair and emerald eyes.

A mysterious woman with tricolored feathers adorning her head, wearing a white coat.

…Of course, she carried a dazzlingly white shield on her back, and a blindingly sharp kunai and revolver were attached to her waist.

A mysterious woman whose identity and character were completely, utterly unknown.

After looking at Gachaland and the wasteland, the woman thought that this Gachaland was somewhat different from the one she knew.

“The Gachaland I know felt a bit more developed.”

The woman looked at the wasteland once more.

“It wasn’t such a desolate place…?”

The woman tilted her head like that, then sighed as if there was nothing she could do.

“So this is why mother said you need resources even for backpacking. It’ll take some time to recharge…”

The white-haired woman took out a golden pocket watch from her pocket.

Unlike ordinary pocket watches, this one had as many as 13 hands, some of which were moving properly, some were stopped, and some were turning backward.

“…I’ll try to get a part-time job first, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll borrow from the dimensional bank to go back. This trip seems like a failure.”

After saying that, the white-haired woman sighed once more, then straightened her coat and began walking toward Gachaland.

To gather resources and return to where she came from.

…

As soon as this “Return to the Future” event began, Gachaland became chaotic.

To be precise, the problem was that information known only in the future was about to be released in the current era.

Of course, the central system hadn’t approved this event without considering all this.

The central system had prepared proper safeguards.

“What am I like in the future?”

“Your hair is ■■■… Oh, I see. Restricted information.”

“Huh? What happens to my hair? Why is only that part censored?”

Either amplifying questions rather than providing future information…

“Hey, tell me which stocks will rise in the future.”

“…That’s a disease, ancestor. Did you know? Actually, the world is run by the Illuminati-“

Or bringing back descendants who weren’t in their right mind.

Gachaland was doing its utmost to prevent future knowledge from being released.

Of course, this was a bit excessive.

To be precise, it somewhat overestimated the citizens of Gachaland.

“Hey, in the future, did I-“

“Ah, I can’t tell you information about the future-“

“Did I pull a 4-star Sir Dominic?”

“…Just know there’s no pity system for that.”

Some people were only thinking about drawing card packs even at this moment.

“Ah, father? So this is-“

“You rascal! If you were summoned as my son-in-law, it means you married my daughter! She’s only 13!”

“No, the wedding is ten years later- Ah!”

“I don’t need such excuses!”

Some revealed secrets by accident but didn’t care.

“So you’re saying if I roll the apple gacha 10 times today, I’ll profit?”

“No, I’m saying the apple gacha ruined our family!”

And some who heard only what they wanted to hear regardless of what others said.

Gachaland was truly a cauldron of chaos.

And at this moment…

“…”

A large man wearing a yaksha mask and holding a halberd was walking through downtown Gachaland.

“Hmm.”

The man with the deep voice, taking in the sight of Gachaland, was using his halberd as a walking stick as he moved somewhere.

“Hmmm…”

The man wearing the yaksha mask took out a compass from his pocket and looked at it briefly.

After staring intently at the chaotically swinging north pole for a moment, he continued walking.

The direction this man was heading was toward where the white-haired woman was.