“……Is everything finished? If so, I’d like to start our work soon.”

While I was chatting and laughing with Florene, I snapped back to reality at Dwight’s muttered remark.

When I glanced over, I noticed Dwight watching us with a rather fierce gaze. It was the kind of look an administrator gives when they see part-time workers chatting instead of doing their jobs. He seemed ready to chide us with a “Are you here to work or just to hang out?” vibe, so I quickly turned my body and replied.

“Oh, sorry. Let’s get started on the work.”

“Right. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can go on the tour of the purification facility.”

……It seemed like he was just eager to finish the tour as soon as possible.

Anyway, it was a task that was better wrapped up quickly without dragging it out, so I immediately put on my protective gear and helmet.

It was time to work.

*

The task involved moving the corpses of lesser demonic beasts from the cargo truck to the warehouse.

Despite the amount of work being quite a lot compared to the number of us, it didn’t matter who we were. With just three people, whose efficiency was better than any crane, the task was completed in no time.

“Yosh! Is this the last one? That didn’t take as long as I thought!”

Florene cheerfully exclaimed as she pulled the last corpses from the truck and set them down on the warehouse floor.

Seeing her like that, Dwight shook his head and muttered.

“……If you hadn’t thrown those corpses at us as if playing catch, we might have finished sooner.”

“Ehehe, sorry! But at least it wasn’t boring, right? Catching was fun, wasn’t it?”

I let out a hollow laugh in response.

I don’t know if I’d call it fun, but at least it wasn’t boring…

What Florene had thrown at us from the truck was far from anything cute like a catch ball.

The fastballs seemed to fly at a speed of at least 160 km/h, combined with curves that swooped down like a waterfall, and I think it was nothing short of a miracle that I caught every single one of them without dropping anything.

What’s Major League Baseball doing? They should hurry up and scout Florene.

Of course, if I were to nitpick, I think she’d be more suited for the shot put than baseball.

She lacked consideration for the receiving side.

I figured she probably thought she was controlling it adequately, though.

As I mumbled about that internally, Dwight, who seemed drained from joining in on Florene’s catch practice, eventually loosened his protective gear and opened his mouth with an expression of anticipation.

“So now that all the tasks are finished, can we go on the tour?”

“Yep! In fact, I don’t think there’s anything particularly interesting to see here, but since you’re all here, I’ll show you! Scarlet, how about you? If you’re not interested in the tour, I can ask for a car to take you back separately, so it’s okay if you wanna leave first.”

I was momentarily confused by the mention of “separately,” but then I remembered that we couldn’t use the teleportation gate outside the barrier yet.

That meant if I wanted to go back alone, the person driving would have to work twice as hard just to drop me off.

……That sounds like such a hassle.

Just imagining a post on a community board titled “My friend’s friend, who’s the chairman’s daughter, made me drive like hell today” made my stomach churn.

I wasn’t particularly interested in the purification facility tour, but now it seemed like I had to come up with some interest, so I hurriedly called out to Florene.

“I… I’ll go on the tour too! There’s not much to do if I go back alone…”

“Yup! Then we can all go back together! Great! Let’s change clothes and head for the tour!”

Seeing Florene’s bright smile as if she was glad to spend a little more time with us made me think that joining them wouldn’t be so bad after all.

After a while, I took off the protective gear and left the warehouse to enter the purification facility building.

As soon as I stepped inside, my first impression was how bright and clean it was inside.

Feeling the need to say something, I muttered, “It’s cleaner than I expected,” and Florene smiled and replied.

“Well, since it’s a purification facility, cleanliness is really important!”

As I nodded, surprised, an employee appeared before us, as if he had been waiting for us after receiving a prior notice.

“I’ve been waiting for you since I heard you are going for a tour. I’m Joseph, the facility manager. I hope you have an enjoyable time today…”

The moment I saw his face, I couldn’t help but feel a little taken aback.

He had shaggy hair that looked unkempt as if he hadn’t cut it in days and a dark beard, not to mention deep dark circles under his eyes.

If I had to compare him to someone, he looked like one of those poor souls you might find on a college campus early in the morning.

His appearance was quite distant from the word “cleanliness” I just heard, and I found myself staring at him momentarily.

Then, the employee, who introduced himself as Joseph, noticed my gaze and awkwardly laughed, looking down as if he just realized his own state.

“Haha… I’m sorry. I forgot to take care of myself… I’ve been so busy lately…”

“No, you don’t have to apologize! I mean, you seem quite busy these days.”

Feeling like I might have committed a faux pas, I waved my hand dismissively and tentatively asked, and he sighed heavily and murmured.

“……It’s not just busy. The amount of work we have to handle is endless, so the staff has been working almost non-stop.”

At his words, I glanced at Florene with a somewhat displeased expression.

…Could it be that your company is a black company?

Seeing the meaning of my gaze, Joseph let out a hearty laugh and shook his head.

“Haha, I can guess what you’re thinking, but that’s not the case. Everyone works with a sense of mission, and above all, they are compensated well for what they do. So everyone’s working hard to make the most of this opportunity. I just recently had my second child…”

As he spoke about his newborn, Joseph clenched his fist with enthusiasm.

Seeing his eyes shine as he invigorated the morale of the employees, I felt reassured that Florene’s company didn’t seem like a black company.

However, I was slightly worried that Joseph’s eyes looked like they were on the verge of breaking down, and I wondered if he might collapse while working.

Anyway, after exchanging a few words with me, Joseph led us around the facility for the tour according to the original purpose.

In fact, the one who was truly interested in the structure of the facility was only Dwight, while Florene and I merely followed behind him, exclaiming “Ohh!” at his constant praises.

It was a first seeing Dwight so full of life, and just watching him was quite entertaining.

At the same time, the sight of the staff working with faces that looked like they could collapse at any moment was quite impressive.

For their sake, I thought we should really work harder.

As I was lost in thought while slowly following, Joseph suddenly shouted loudly.

“Now, the last stop on our tour is essentially the alpha and omega of our facility—the Amplification Magic Circle!”

“Ohh, is this the famous…!”

“Haha, normally we don’t let people see this, but since it’s a friend of the young lady, I’m granting you this exception. Besides, since it’s such a huge magic circle, even a quick glance will take you days to comprehend without any real security concerns.”

“Anyway, thank you…!”

Of course, Dwight was the only one to respond to Joseph’s words.

It seemed like it was something impressive, but for me and Florene, it merely looked like a slab covered in unreadable characters.

As we both wore puzzled expressions and let Joseph’s explanation flow over us, Dwight looked at us with an incredulous look.

“How… how can you be so nonchalant in front of this incredible magic circle?”

“Umm… is it really that grand?”

“Of course! Don’t you get it? The formula applied here! That thing over there! They may be classics, but they were groundbreaking discoveries back then! If it weren’t for this magic circle, there’s no way we would even consider cleansing magical energy, which is known for its poor efficiency compared to other magics! This is a masterpiece created by Dolos back in the day. Oh, to be able to see this with my own eyes…”

I shook my head at the sight of Dwight so captivated by it.

I had a friend back in the day who was just like that.

One of those types who would rant about how programming is a form of art, and nothing could be more beautiful than a well-crafted program…

As I momentarily recalled those old memories, Dwight’s shocked voice suddenly interrupted me.

“…Huh?”

“Hmm? Is there something wrong?”

“Earlier, I heard the maximum amount of magical energy processed in a day is roughly this amount… And there are about 50 resident magicians.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

After conversing with Joseph for a moment and closely examining the magic circle, Dwight tilted his head with a perplexed expression as he murmured.

“……Then, the  math doesn’t add up.”

“……? What do you mean?”

“No, I took a rough estimate using that magic circle, but it seems like there should be around a 10% surplus of magical energy left…”

“……What? You mean to say you interpreted and calculated that entire magic circle in such a short time?”

At Joseph’s question, Dwight nodded.

Joseph stared at him for a moment and then burst into laughter.

“Haha, heck, I thought you were being serious, but you’re quite the amusing one! So you’re saying you interpreted all that in such a short time and found a discrepancy? Wow, that’s the best joke I’ve heard all year. There was an employee who tried that for over a few months, ended up with circular hair loss, and quit, you know?”

“……”

“Well, anyway, even if what you said is true, there’s no need to worry. I’ve worked here for several years, and not once has there been a surplus of magical energy like that. If there were, chaos would have erupted long ago.”

Joseph continued to laugh heartily for a while before finally saying that.

And then Florene burst out laughing, following his lead.

“Haha, Dwight, are you seriously upset? Look at your ears turning red! This is so funny!”

Dwight, indeed, had an expression that was very rarely pouting, his ears turning bright red.

Seeing such an openly emotional face for the first time made me struggle to suppress my laughter as well.

And really, Dwight seemed genuinely upset, turning on his heel and walking out of the facility.

Oh no, he looks really upset.

*

Back inside the vehicle headed back to the city, Florene, who had been teasing Dwight for a while, ended up sleeping just like before.

As I quietly watched her, Dwight spoke to me in a low voice.

“……It wasn’t a joke.”

“Really?”

“I really calculated it, and according to my calculations, there’s indeed magical energy left, which is why I said so. Even if it’s 10%, that’s not insignificant. Moreover, in matters concerning magical energy, no precaution is ever too much.”

It seemed like the earlier incident had really stuck with him, as he kept bringing it up.

I thought he might truly be worried, and seeing his grim expression made me hope he would relax a little.

“Don’t worry too much. Even if what you said is true, just like Joseph said earlier, it’s never happened before that magical energy has been left over. It’s not like it just vanished into the ground or anything.”

“……That’s true.”

“And Dwight.”

Seeing him still looking deep in thought, I smiled and said, “Even monkeys fall from trees sometimes.”

And Dwight seriously looked like he was in shock at my words.

After a moment, he didn’t even look my way.

…Sorry, but your reaction was too good, and I couldn’t help but tease you.