Chapter 14

They head to the treasure hunters’ guild upon returning to the surface. Unlike when they left, they returned with a small part of their supplies with nothing to show for it. It was an exhausting, useless trip.

“Huh? Welcome back,” the receptionist greeted them upon seeing them. “What did you find-”

“How many days has it been? Since we last saw you?” Leyla asked, straight to the point.

Ellie looked at them, startled at the sudden question. “We- Well… Four.”

Their count was slightly off the mark. It was beneficial for them, however. This meant not too long had passed since they'd entered the dungeon.

“So… what should we do next?” John asked. When John first accepted the task, he thought going on a quest would give them extra credibility. Something Menela, the headmaster, asked of them. But after the exhausting days where they found absolutely nothing, John wasn’t keen on going back. Menela also mentioned that they should be quick.

“So, about your findings-”

“Let’s secure the other chair first.”

They had completed the requirement for a guild membership. Maybe Menela would now let them take the job.

“About the-”

“We have something else to do for now.”

“We’ll return to that later.”

John and Leyla left the sulking Ellie behind and headed to the academy. Spending such a long time in the dungeons made them dirty, however, so they headed to a bathhouse first.

•••

Unlike before, when the two returned, the guards let them through. One of them even guided the pair to Menela's office. Her office was located on the top floor of the academy, facing the town. The floor-to-ceiling windows provided ample lighting to the room. It also provided a gorgeous view of the town below.

It was a massive room. Various books and scrolls were lined up on one side, while medals and trophies were lined up on the other.

“Welcome,” she greeted from her seat behind her desk. “I assume you’re here to take the job?”

“Yes.”

They took out the card provided by the treasure hunters. Menela took a careful look.

“It took quite a while for these cards,” she murmured. “As lazy as she is, I doubt making them take long.”

“We went and took a quest. Haven't completed it, though.”

“... Is it the dungeon exploration one?”

“... Yes?” John couldn't recall any other quest in that old bulletin board.

“Well, Ellie had been pretty desperate on that one. Our own students would occasionally go and challenge the monsters on the top floor.”

That would explain why they didn't see many monsters during the first few floors, although they did practically skip those floors.

“So you'll be canceling that quest?”

“No, but getting to the bottom floor will take a while, so we'll finish this first.”

Menela's gaze narrowed. “Is there something special about that chair, to the point you're willing to go so far for it?”

John couldn't tell her the truth. If he did, she wouldn't let it go. But he would be in a tough spot regardless of how he answered. She already noticed.

“Is checking answers anything special?” Leyla asked.

Nice save, Leyla!

“Well, not necessarily…”

“So there's no problem, is there? A regular task deserves a regular reward.”

… Nice save? Is a chair in any way regular?

John could imagine asking for money, or if they were students, extra credits. A chair wasn't in the list of suitable rewards, however.

Leyla and Menela both stared at each other. They both had smiles on their faces, but their eyes had a dangerous glint to them.

From Leyla’s perspective, she wanted to get this done as quickly as possible. They didn’t know how strong Menela was, and snooping through security to steal the chair wouldn’t be as easy as going past monsters.

Menela, on the other hand, surely understood the importance of the chair. It wasn’t something she would give away so casually. It’s unlikely she’ll let them buy it at this point.

John stood beside Leyla, unsure of what to say or do.

“... Fine, follow me.” Finally, Menela relented. John and Leyla followed her down the building’s hallways. The sight of two regular people stood out in the midst of well-dressed students. John wouldn’t be surprised if they had some nobles in their midst.

They arrived in front of a room. Inside, there were many desks and chairs, but with no one in them.

“This is our old faculty office,” Menela explained. “We recently built a new one, but the professor who had gotten sick hadn’t had the chance to move his belongings yet.”

She guided them through the empty desks, arriving in front of one desk with a huge stack of paper on it. John gulped.

“These are all the midterms that haven’t been graded.”

“... How many students?”

“Ninety.”

There were certainly more than ninety pieces of paper on the table.

“Each answer sheet is ten pages. Here are the answers. The students are already waiting for the results. Get it done before tomorrow.”

Menela then left them. John and Leyla glanced at each other. Wordlessly, they got to work.

“What’s the answer for number fifteen again?”

“It’s B.”

“And next… C, right?”

At first, it seemed like an easy task. Something the other professors should be able to help with. But all this work came from three classes, on one subject. Going back and forth between the same answers was tiring, and there were a lot of them. This world hadn’t developed a way to automatically check all the answers like a computer would, so no wonder they need help.

“I wonder if this is something they should let outsiders do,” John murmured.

“They probably trust us more than their own students.”

Back in high school, the teachers would occasionally let them grade each other. John was a lone wolf even from back then. He didn't have many friends, so his score always came back to him untempered.

He could imagine some kids helping each other out. They would pretend an answer was correct, getting an extra point or two.

“It’s one odd job to the next,” Leyla muttered.

“You prefer something more exciting?” John knew that most people wouldn’t want to be transported into a different world just to do office work. That said, they couldn’t fight. Leyla must reduce her use of magic, while he couldn’t use any. He couldn’t wield any weapon, either. The reason he could open chests was because Ellie taught him how to use the magic key that could unlock them. He couldn't lockpick.

While living as an adventurer certainly sounded a lot more interesting, it wasn’t a life they could pursue. Not now, at least. Learning swordfighting would take a lot of time. Since Leyla kept insisting on getting the chairs as fast as possible, he didn’t have time to learn that.

“I prefer to just buy all the chairs.”

Kei could probably give them more money, but she didn’t. John wasn’t going to question her decision. Even if John did, there wasn’t anything he could do to change that. He could only work with the things given to him, doing his best to optimize them.

“Let’s just get this done.” John marked one of the answer sheets and set it aside. They still had a lot of sheets to work through. They wouldn’t be able to work through the night. They weren't allowed to use the room by then.

The more papers they finish grading today, the less they have to grade tomorrow. It was in their interest to get as many sheets done today.

“Besides, how can you be okay with this? Are you not the least bit infuriated?"

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t you hate your previous job? This isn’t really that different, is this?”

The kinds of documents he worked with were different, but he had been going through documents a lot in his previous life. Saying that he had been doing this in his previous life was fair. It was the same thing.

Still, this time it felt different.

“I think seeing you struggle so much is amusing.”

Leyla glared at him. “What are you saying?” She began pounding on him.

“He- Hey! That hurts-”

“Don’t care!”

Back in his office, he worked on his own. He didn’t interact with his coworkers much. Even if he did, it was strictly business. Leyla was much more involved in this. Maybe seeing her struggle was amusing.

“Besides, it’s not like this work is that heavy.”

It was tiring, yes, but he could see the end. By the time he finished grading these papers, he would be done. By the time he reached the bottom floor, he would get the chair. Both of these tasks had an end in sight. Back on Earth, he worked endlessly. After a task, there would be another task waiting, and then another.

This one didn’t feel like that. Eventually, he would get all the chairs, and after that, he could choose one. Considering the effects he had seen on the two chairs he had gathered so far, he had no doubt that he could live peacefully with one of the chairs.

“I’ll get it done eventually. There’s an end to it.”

“... I see… so that’s why.”

The two continued working, determined to get as much done as possible.