Ch.82[Chapter 82] Hyper-dimensional Institute

While Sir Dominic read the letter handed to him by Hyper Authentic, an awkward silence filled the room.

“What a strange person.”

“Strange indeed.”

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica exchanged glances, sharing their opinions about Hyper Authentic.

“By the way, isn’t today your workday? At the Executive branch?”

“So you work at the Executive branch? I work at System Industries.”

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica conversed while cleaning up the messy living room.

As it happened, today was Sir Dominic’s day to work as a security guard.

Due to the nature of System Industries, space-time was often distorted, so despite clearly going to work every day, sometimes his hours would show as 1,880 hours in one day or just 3 minutes of work in a month.

According to Gachaland labor laws, working more than 24 hours in a day was considered illegal use of unauthorized space-time lines. Both the worker and employer would have all compensation for additional work confiscated and receive penalty points.

In the latter case, the labor law stipulated that termination without notice was permissible.

There was no use complaining. System Industries was a place where space-time was unstably distorted, so it was the fault of those who failed to recognize this.

This was also why Sir Dominic’s occupation wasn’t frequently mentioned despite him having a job.

While unstable space-time lines passed through System Industries, he was essentially no different from someone unemployed.

But System Industries was still a company.

Stable work and reporting, rather than irregular duties and achievements, help maintain a company.

That’s why the Unborn President of System Industries, with his brilliant mind, came up with an amazing idea to help employees work stably.

That was the towering spire located in the center of Gachaland, so tall that even flying dragons would crash into it and fall.

Sir Dominica frowned as she received the letter Sir Dominic had read.

“Was it green light yesterday?”

“Green, green, yellow. Overall stable.”

The spire was visible from all dimensions, all timelines, and all spaces, but it was so massive that humans couldn’t perceive it properly, causing what’s known as cognitive dissonance.

However, Gachaland was the center where this spire stood, and people could occasionally see its true form.

Of course, due to space-time uncertainty, even that appearance might not be its true form.

According to the employee training materials distributed to System Industries staff, when space-time lines were stable, the spire appeared as a giant traffic light with a green light.

Green, green, yellow.

Time and space lines stable, but caution for fine dust.

Slight congestion in logistics on the Eastern Circular Dimension Road.

The traffic light with such notifications always boasted 100% accuracy.

Previously, fascinated by this situation, he had asked v.a.l.l.o.c. about the traffic light.

‘Of course. System Industries is a company established in the future moving toward the past.’

Rather than yesterday’s uncertainty, it’s tomorrow’s certainty, v.a.l.l.o.c. had said incomprehensibly.

While Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica finished preparing for work, Remi, still feeling awkward around Sir Dominic, sneakily rummaged through the refrigerator.

And during this busy morning, Dr. Banshee finally opened the door and came out.

“Good morning…”

Dr. Banshee appeared rubbing his eyes, with an eye patch featuring Santa Dinosaur Daibo pushed up on his forehead. His hair was three times fluffier than usual as he picked at the leftover snacks in the living room.

“What’s everyone doing? Looks like you’re going somewhere.”

Dr. Banshee munched on cold, hardened garlic bread dipped in tomato sauce.

Unlike Remi, Dr. Banshee had decided to embrace shamelessness, allowing him to blend into the situation.

“Work.”

“If one has a job, one should be diligent about it.”

Sir Dominica wore clothes similar to a security uniform but in a darker navy color.

With her shirt tucked into her pants, Sir Dominica’s formidable chest was visible.

For some reason, Sir Dominica, with a whip and baton at her waist, looked in the mirror.

Sir Dominic was the same.

Dressed in a security uniform with a hat, Sir Dominic gave off a gentler impression than Sir Dominica.

Sir Dominic, equipped with a shield and sword, removed the feather decoration from under his hat and attached it to the top.

Dr. Banshee, who had been absentmindedly watching while chewing garlic bread, suddenly dropped his bread with a thud.

“Why did you drop it? What a waste.”

Remi, who had been looking for the right moment to speak, seized the opportunity.

“Hey, Banshee.”

Dr. Banshee still didn’t know his name in this parallel world, so he was still called Dr. Banshee.

Dr. Banshee, who had called Remi, slowly turned his head and stared at Remi with empty eyes.

“…?”

Remi didn’t know why Dr. Banshee was looking at him that way, but fortunately, Dr. Banshee continued speaking.

And Remi also looked back at Dr. Banshee with the same eyes.

“Isn’t today our school day?”

“Ah.”

That’s right.

Dr. Banshee’s eyes weren’t empty.

They were trembling with shock and disbelief, trying to escape reality.

Remi had forgotten this fact after just experiencing a hostage situation.

And Dr. Banshee, seeing Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica preparing for work, realized there was something he had forgotten, finally deducing that it was their first day of school.

“School?”

Sir Dominic asked while tying a navy tie over his shirt.

“You mean… school?”

Sir Dominic found the word “school” awkward, but this was because he had never been near a school (universitas magistrorum et scholarium) in his life.

In fact, where Remi and Dr. Banshee were going was an academy, not the solemn, sacred, and truthful place of education that Sir Dominic imagined.

In modern society, schools are typically divided into elementary, middle, high, and university for realistic education, or academies and military schools for character development.

Gachaland was no different.

There was public education teaching basic knowledge, and separate academies for developing specialties like hunter, slayer, knight, spirit master, or wizard.

The place Remi and Dr. Banshee mentioned was the latter; they had applied to an academy to gain machine-related specialties.

An incredible academic passion to transform Zero, currently an awkward robot, into a better being.

Of course, Remi and Dr. Banshee looked like they should be in middle or high school, and considering their age at death, they actually were that age.

But that didn’t mean the academy was the crucible of academic fervor and revolutionary dreams that Sir Dominic imagined.

“I think there’s some misunderstanding…”

“It’s too late now.”

Remi thought Sir Dominic, who was looking at him with impressed eyes, was clearly misunderstanding something, but Dr. Banshee, seeing Sir Dominica in a similar state, sighed and decided to just accept the moment.

…

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica decided to take Remi and Dr. Banshee to school.

The pretext was concern for the two doctors’ safety, but in truth, Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica, who had never seen a school, simply wanted to see one.

“This is… a school?”

“So this is what it’s like. I can certainly see why nobles wanted to send their children to school.”

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica were entranced by this fantastic place, looking around in awe.

“This is just an average academy, you know?”

An average academy? Has Gachaland advanced this much?

Remi and Dr. Banshee were wearing uniforms made of luxurious yet comfortable fabric.

Brown berets that matched well with their brown hair, and skirts with suspenders, or vests with suspender trousers.

Sir Dominic remembered seeing such fabric in Gachaland a few times, but they were all quite expensive.

Was it just the uniforms?

Tens of thousands of pyeong of land. A large main building and annexes, plus a gymnasium, boys’ dormitory, and girls’ dormitory.

The area labeled “main field” was so vast it seemed like a legion could set up camp there, and amazingly, beyond the field were training grounds for knights, shooting ranges for wizards, and individual armories for technicians.

If this was called “average,” how magnificent must the schools for noble children or royalty be?

The point was slightly off, but anyway, this academy itself was far from average.

“Ugh, late on the first day. We’re definitely marked.”

“We’ll go ahead first!”

Remi and Dr. Banshee quickly entered the building and disappeared.

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica slightly raised their heads to watch them go, but they had already gone up the stairs and were no longer visible.

Then, a voice came from behind them.

“You there! How rude! Move out of my way this instant!”

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica turned their heads toward the elegant yet frivolous shouting.

“What? Don’t just stare, move aside!”

There stood a noble lady with golden hair curled like drills from a shoujo manga, a pink dress covered in frills, and impressively sparkling eyes.