Ch.83[Chapter 83] Hyper-dimensional Educational Institution

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica stared blankly at this noble young lady who seemed to have stepped straight out of the heroic tales of knights that had become classics even in Feralant.

“What are you looking at? Would you mind stepping aside? I’m in a hurry.”

The noble lady opened her feathered fan to cover her mouth.

However, after seeing the picture drawn on the fan, she became flustered and hastily closed it. While it wasn’t visible from Sir Dominic’s angle, from Sir Dominica’s perspective, it was a drawing of sparkling, scantily-clad men.

“A-Anyway! I, Señora Citadelia, command you! Please! Move! Aside!”

The young lady who introduced herself as Miss Citadelia, unable to overcome her embarrassment, huffed as she passed between Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica.

What on earth was going on?

“Oh my, are you new here?”

A new voice.

Turning his head, Sir Dominic saw a short-haired woman with children hanging all over her.

“Señora Citadelia has a rough way of speaking, but she’s a good girl. Since her parents immigrated from Sicily—”

The woman, whose vacant eyes looked even more vacant behind thick-rimmed glasses, lifted a child clinging to her arm and set them down on the ground before stretching her stiff back.

“Anyway, I heard new teachers were coming to the Knight Faculty. Could that be you?”

“That’s not—mmph.”

Before Sir Dominic could tell the truth, Sir Dominica’s hand covered his mouth.

Sir Dominica seemed to find the situation quite enjoyable, as a half-happy smile played on her lips.

“That’s right. This person is from a parallel world, so I don’t think he knows much.”

By his oath, Sir Dominic hadn’t known Sir Dominica for long, but this was the first time he’d heard her speak so kindly and considerately.

Meanwhile, the woman, who had been alternating between looking at a child showing off flowers in a pot and a crooked drawing of a robot scientist, nodded.

“Is that so? Well, during parallel world events, many people bring another version of themselves to school. Last time, someone brought another self thinking two people would mean half the work, but it also meant half the salary—”

“It wouldn’t matter if you’re just here to observe,” the woman said.

“Let me introduce myself to you newcomers. I’m Slodi, the homeroom teacher for the ‘Darkness of Dark with Wind of Wind’ class in the kindergarten department.”

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica wanted to ask if that wasn’t a strange name for a class of young children, but they held their tongues, thinking that since everyone at the Academy was intelligent, there must be a reason for such a name.

Instead, they began their introductions.

“Sir Dominic of Feralant.”

“Likewise, Sir Dominica of Feralant. Nice to meet you, Slodi.”

“Oh my.”

Slodi opened her sleepy, vacant eyes wide in surprise.

“Aren’t you those famous people everyone’s talking about?”

“Famous?”

Sir Dominic asked Slodi.

“Yes. You always appear in the algorithm on GachaTube.”

Slodi turned on her phone and launched GachaTube.

[Why I Can Keep Living Even When the World Makes Life Hard – Review of Poet Baek Han-song]

[When Should Children Take Naps? Advice from Child Psychology Doctor Eintzkrane]

Overall, there were videos for children or videos offering self-comfort.

The list matched well with her vacant expression and her relaxed, warm personality.

“Just a moment… Here it is.”

After scrolling down for quite some time, Slodi seemed to find a video related to Sir Dominic and showed them the list.

[Ultimate Deception! 15 Truths About Star I’m Not Little Who Drew Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica Twice Each in the Parallel World Event!]

[Front Tank Lecture for Pioneers Just Starting Out – Sir Dominic Edition]

[Is There a Sucker Who Couldn’t Draw Sir Dominic With Enough Money to Buy a Planet?]

[Performance is Decent! But Why So Popular? Admiral’s Advice for the Next Rerun]

Quite a few videos featured Sir Dominic’s name.

“Wait a minute. If Sir Dominic is just here to look around, and Sir Dominica came as a teacher…”

Sir Dominica felt cold sweat running down the back of her neck.

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica exchanged glances, wondering if they had been found out.

“You must be a guest lecturer! Goodness. Someone as famous as Sir Dominic couldn’t possibly come to our academy as a regular teacher. You must be busy. The academic affairs department must finally be putting our tuition to good use.”

When Slodi raised both arms and cheered, the children, finding her action amusing, followed suit and cheered along.

“It must be Tanker Studies, right? Or Understanding Chivalry? Shield Techniques?”

“By the way, it’s surprising that you know us so well.”

Sir Dominic blurted out anything to change the subject, but he genuinely thought so.

Despite being at the center of recent major issues, Sir Dominic hadn’t had time to reflect on himself while dealing with chaotic incidents and accidents.

“Well, you’re rookies who’ve appeared after a long time,” Slodi said as she stroked the head of a child who was starting to whine about feeling sleepy.

“Some children want to become tanks like Sir Dominic. In our class, Luci and Vincent over there are like that.”

Two children dressed in yellow chick-like outfits, a boy and a girl, were looking at Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica with sparkling eyes.

Both had small tables strapped to their backs, which seemed to be substitutes for shields.

“I’d like to help you find your way, but—”

Slodi already assumed they had gotten lost and ended up here.

“Unfortunately, it’s the children’s naptime now. After naps comes lunchtime—”

An unexpectedly packed schedule. Slodi checked each child returning to the classroom with her vacant eyes.

“I’m worried about the children’s unpredictability to help you.”

“I understand.”

“Of course. We’re concerned about disturbing your work.”

Sir Dominica continued to speak in the most polite tone in the world.

“This might be a bit shameless to ask, but…”

Slodi repeatedly inhaled and swallowed as if trying to say something very difficult.

“Could you give some words of encouragement to our children, telling them to grow up strong like Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica?”

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica looked at each other and then at the children.

Luci and Vincent were looking at Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica with the most sparkling eyes among all the children.

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica shrugged as if they had no choice.

…

A little while later.

“Ugh. I never expected to use up all my saved cinnamon candies. Who knew children would like cinnamon candies so much?”

“I know. When they pulled at my eyepatch saying it looked cool, I felt more terror than meeting a troll in a cave.”

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica left the kindergarten completely exhausted.

The words of encouragement were only six lines, but the children questioned, clung to, and swarmed around Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica until they were tired.

Luci and Vincent held their tables out in front, saying they needed to protect Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica, but the not-yet-fully-grown Luci and Vincent were no match for dozens of children.

In the end, Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica spent an extra thirty minutes comforting the crying Luci and Vincent before they could escape from the children.

“By the way, those children were brave, weren’t they?”

“When I was their age, I would cry in fright at the sight of a cabbage worm on a cabbage.”

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica laughed as they thought about the children’s behavior.

Was this how the citizens of Gachaland felt when they saw them?

“By the way, they send children to school at such a young age in Gachaland, so they must pay good attention to education. Or perhaps they’re all children of nobles.”

“You think so? If they were noble children, wouldn’t they have private tutors instead? I don’t know how other countries are compared to Feralant, so I can’t really compare.”

Sir Dominica tilted her head at Sir Dominic’s words.

Whether it was because Feralant was particularly harsh, it was a country with a surprisingly high ratio of scholars to population.

However, except for those who became scholars, it had an extreme structure where people truly knew not a single letter, so both Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica were correct, but they had no way to confirm the facts.

As they walked along, chatting about trivial matters, they had already circled about halfway around the main field.

“Beautiful.”

“Yes, I am quite beautiful.”

“Not you. The garden.”

Sir Dominic was captivated by an inexplicable sensation as he looked at the flower bed created by students.

How often would one see flowers in the harsh land of Feralant?

Even then, rolling around on battlefields meant there was rarely time to pay attention to such things.

It was the same since coming to Gachaland.

While he had often been entranced by beautiful scenery, he couldn’t recall ever being so captivated by such a small flower.

Intoxicated by its beauty, Sir Dominic reached out his hand.

He didn’t intend to pluck it, but merely wanted to touch its leaves.

However, that attempt was interrupted by a familiar voice from somewhere.

“?”

“You scou-oundrel! Revealing your hideous nature, kidnapper! How dare you try to pluck the poppies our Demon Lord has grown!”

“!”

It was the Demon Lord and the Chief of Staff.