Ch.406[Episode 406] Unexpected

“Mmm… Happu…?”

“You’re awake.”

Sir Dominic was walking through the streets with Sir Dominica carried on his back.

Sir Dominica must have fallen into quite a deep sleep, as she continued to sleep soundly with light snoring sounds despite having been carried for quite some time, but for some reason, she eventually woke up.

“Duck…?”

Sir Dominica, still half-asleep, noticed the platypus doll in her arms.

She blinked her eyes for a moment, seemingly not understanding the situation as she stared at the platypus doll, then suddenly startled, she looked at it with wide eyes.

“Duck roast!”

She probably meant to say “platypus,” but Sir Dominica’s pronunciation wasn’t particularly good, so that’s how it sounded.

Sir Dominica stared at the platypus for a long time with eyes wide open in surprise.

Then she hugged the doll tightly to her chest and smiled happily.

“Seems like you quite like it.”

Sir Dominic chuckled at the sound of Sir Dominica’s gleeful laughter from behind him.

…

“We need to get out of here quickly! I don’t know the exact time, but I remember the sun was high in the sky!”

“But why am I—”

“Oh, hurry!”

Future Sir Dominica grabbed Minerva’s wrist and began to flee urgently.

“If a time paradox occurs, our existence will be threatened! We’re already being chased, and if we cause more problems here…”

“What?”

“…Never mind. Anyway, let’s get out quickly. Before problems arise.”

Future Sir Dominica began to avoid paths where Sir Dominic might come, relying on her memory.

“…If I had known this would happen, I shouldn’t have fallen asleep then.”

Sir Dominica lamented as she continued turning through the alleyways.

…

“Happu! Cookie!”

“Hmm?”

Sir Dominic continued walking with Sir Dominica on his back.

Sir Dominica seemed fully awake now, but she apparently found riding on Sir Dominic’s back more fun than walking, as she showed no intention of getting down.

After walking for some time like this, Sir Dominica suddenly shouted at something she saw.

Sir Dominic looked around in response to her exclamation.

There was a small café there.

At the entrance of the café was a poster that read “Popular! Cookie and Cream Shake,” and judging by its amateurish appearance and the proud man holding double-sided tape, it seemed to have been put up just moments ago.

Sir Dominic thought no one would be enticed to buy anything by such an amateur poster, but it seemed to have hit the mark with Sir Dominica.

“Cookie!”

“Do you want some?”

When Sir Dominic asked Sir Dominica, she nodded her head vigorously up and down.

Sir Dominic could tell from the movement on his back that Sir Dominica really wanted to eat that.

“Well, you’re fully awake now, and we got the doll…”

Sir Dominic looked at the poster at the café entrance once more.

Now that he looked at it again, it seemed rather well-drawn.

“Taking a little break wouldn’t be so bad.”

Sir Dominic said as he walked toward the café.

…

“Hey, Dominica.”

“What!”

“I, um, wanted to ask something.”

“What is it?”

“Well, if I’m not mistaken…”

Minerva told Sir Dominica what she had noticed.

“Aren’t we just going around in circles?”

“What?”

Sir Dominica stopped in her tracks at those words.

Looking around, she realized Minerva was right.

The café they had just left was visible right ahead.

In other words, Sir Dominica had gone around the alleys only to return to where they started.

“Good grief. Why?”

Sir Dominica fell into a panic at this situation.

She was so deeply panicked that she didn’t even notice a man and a child entering the café.

“It seems like something is interfering with us.”

Minerva offered her brief opinion.

“I learned this at the police academy. There’s a method to catch criminals by making them go around in circles like this. That’s probably what’s happening…”

At Minerva’s words, Sir Dominica flinched as if something had struck a nerve.

Seeing this reaction, Minerva realized that Sir Dominica was involved in something.

“…Tell me. What’s going on here?”

“…Well—”

Sir Dominica hesitated at Minerva’s question, then decided she couldn’t hide it from her friend and was about to explain her current predicament.

However, her words were cut off before she could even begin by the sudden appearance of another person.

“There you are, Dominica.”

“!”

Sir Dominica turned her head in surprise at the voice from the alley.

There stood a woman with short brown hair, wearing a blue police uniform and holding a baton, with a riot shield and shotgun strapped to her back.

The shotgun had an SD-style Sir Dominic keychain attached to it—not just one, but three of them.

She slowly emerged from the alley and stopped a short distance from Sir Dominica.

Then police officers who had been hiding in every alley rushed out and surrounded Sir Dominica and Minerva.

Sir Dominica seemed to know who this policewoman was, as she raised her shield with a wary expression.

“Mary.”

“Yes, Dominica. Nice to see you. Has it been a day, or two?”

The policewoman named Mary seemed quite close to Dominica, addressing her simply by name.

“How did you get here…?”

Sir Dominica knew why Mary was here, but still pretended not to know and asked why she had come.

“It’s obvious.”

Of course, Mary, who had come here with certainty, wouldn’t fall for such a clumsy deception.

“I came to catch a criminal.”

“Criminal?”

Mary rattled the handcuffs on her belt and reached out toward Sir Dominica.

Minerva looked at Sir Dominica with surprised eyes at Mary’s words.

She had been acting nervously, but to think she had actually committed a crime.

“…Mary.”

“Yes, Dominica. My name is indeed Mary. So don’t waste time by saying my name again.”

Sir Dominica addressed Mary again.

Mary tapped her palm with her baton, her expression relaxed as if willing to hear what Sir Dominica had to say.

The area was already sealed off, and Sir Dominica had no teleportation skills in this situation.

Sir Dominica racked her brain trying to find a way out of this situation, but couldn’t come up with anything good.

“What on earth is going on…?”

Minerva asked Sir Dominica.

“What crime, and who are these people?”

“It’s nothing serious. Just a misunderstanding. And they’re Time Police.”

“Time Police… that extralegal organization?”

“Yes.”

“Why would they be trying to catch you? Did you—”

“If you’re asking if I committed a crime using time, I would absolutely say no.”

“Oh.”

Minerva thought Sir Dominica must truly be innocent when she got irritated.

Sir Dominica tended to maintain a poker face when hiding something.

When she showed her emotions this honestly, it usually meant she was genuinely wronged.

“But they’re still here to catch me.”

Sir Dominica whispered with a deep sigh.

“I can’t let them catch me. If I’m caught now, my alleged crime will become real.”

“…Oh no. What should we do?”

Minerva didn’t know what to do at Sir Dominica’s words.

“We need to escape first.”

Sir Dominica whispered as if stating the obvious.

“The good news is that you’re still a civilian who isn’t wanted. So while I’m escaping, if you get out of here, they won’t pay attention to you.”

“I can’t do that.”

Sir Dominica worried about Minerva and told her to run away, but Minerva couldn’t.

She couldn’t abandon her best friend Sir Dominica.

“But there’s no other way to get out of this situation—”

“…Wait. I have a good idea.”

Sir Dominica was annoyed at the stubborn Minerva, but Minerva whispered that she had a good idea.

Sir Dominica decided to listen to Minerva’s plan with an open mind.

And after hearing the very plausible method, she stroked her chin and nodded.

“So, we’re going to use my status as a treated criminal and your civilian status?”

“Exactly.”

Sir Dominica glanced at Mary.

Mary was still waiting for Sir Dominica to act, with a triumphant expression as if asking what was taking so long.

“…Let’s execute on the count of three.”

Sir Dominica accepted Minerva’s plan.

“Alright. I’ll count. Three!”

With Minerva’s signal, the two demonstrated an astonishing plan.

Truly, a brilliant plan that words cannot fully describe.

…

Sir Dominic and little Sir Dominica were waiting in the café after ordering two Cookie and Cream Shakes.

Sir Dominica was excitedly nuzzling her cheeks against the Little Sir Dominic doll and the platypus doll, holding one in each arm.

Sir Dominic watched Sir Dominica with a warm gaze.

It was worth getting the platypus doll.

“Hmm?”

Just then, Sir Dominic suddenly realized he could hear the sound of weapons clashing outside the store.

Sir Dominic slightly turned his head to look outside.

The front of the store was made of glass, so the structure allowed a clear view outside.

At that moment, he caught a glimpse of someone with white hair and someone with black hair outside the window.

Sir Dominic squinted to see who they were, but—

[Memory shortage.]

[System rebooting due to memory shortage.]

With this message, the world suddenly went dark, preventing him from seeing the two people clearly.

When the world brightened again, what Sir Dominic saw was police officers rushing somewhere.

“…There must be a criminal nearby.”

Sir Dominic nodded at this thought.

“Here are your two Cookie and Cream Shakes.”

“Ah, thank you.”

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica were consumed by a sense of happiness as they enjoyed their Cookie and Cream Shakes.

“Whoa…”

Sir Dominica’s expression was so happy she looked like she was melting like ice cream.

Sir Dominic smiled contentedly at Sir Dominica’s expression.

It was quite a happy moment.