“Ah?”
Clara and Lucia frowned at the same time.
“This is the ‘Dream Witch Human Resources Dispatch Company’? Are we sure about this? Aren’t we supposed to be the Hero Company?” Lucia couldn’t help but complain.
The “office” before them was empty and dusty. If it weren’t for Fran Livka standing to the side with a lollipop in her mouth and her hands shoved into the pockets of her white lab coat, they really would have doubted they were in the right place.
“This is going to be our office from now on. Since it’s the first day of opening, it’s a bit messy. Let’s come over first and tidy things up, okay?”
Fran said this with a clearly mischievous smile on her face. Clara asked, “Um, Dr. Fran, are we really a legit company?”
Fran glanced at her and laughed, “Hey, Lucia questioning this is understandable, but even you’re doubting it now?”
“…Would a legit company put its office in a place like this?”
Clara certainly knew that ‘Dream Witch’ wasn’t exactly a formal company, but even shell companies usually rent some office space in a proper building to maintain appearances. Yet this so-called office…
Compared to the lavish, almost unreal employee dormitory, the Dream Witch’s office was actually located inside a small shop in the underground parking lot of a building.
The shop was already emptied out, with only piles of decoration trash left behind and dust scattered everywhere. It was obvious no one had maintained it for some time. Add the terrible air quality of the parking garage, and the whole environment screamed unhealthy…
“I mean, why choose a place like this? We’re not running a car wash business, are we?”
Usually, small shops like this are rented out to car maintenance businesses since it’s convenient for customers to just drive their cars in for service, wash, or repairs.
But renting it as an office? That was something Clara had never seen before.
After all, the rent for such a shop isn’t cheap compared to an office building. Unless there was a special reason, Clara really couldn’t imagine why the company would be set up here…
“Don’t worry.”
Fran calmly soothed their worries.
“You see, don’t hero bases usually disguise their entrances as restaurants, cafes, gas stations, and the like? Our ‘Dream Witch’ is the same.”
“Wait, does that mean there’s a secret entrance leading downstairs here?”
Clara started looking around.
However, there was only one vending machine that looked completely out of place in the surroundings.
It sold drinks.
It was plugged in and playing online advertisements.
Fran walked over to the vending machine, inserted a coin, and selected something. Though the machine didn’t open, the blank wall beside it transformed into a double elevator door.
“Wow! The real company is downstairs?”
But do we have to buy something from the vending machine every time we enter the company?
The Yō family sisters (?) frowned simultaneously.
Whether evil organizations or hero companies, they all liked underground bases. The Central City was full of underground headquarters, even the subway lines were planned accordingly. The really rich companies even built space and sky bases. No matter what, none wanted to run a company openly on the surface.
“This place used to be the headquarters of the now-bankrupt evil organization ‘Natural Order.’ Their base was designed pretty nicely, so when they went bankrupt, the owner just bought this place.”
“Nicely designed?”
“You’ll see when we get down there.”
Fran introduced while eyeing their outfits.
“You two aren’t dressed for cleaning at all. From now on, just wear casual clothes… A professional cleaning crew will handle this place.”
Out of a sense of ceremony for their first day, Clara and Lucia were both dressed formally. Clara wore a tight pencil skirt, and Lucia wore dress pants, but neither looked suited for housekeeping.
“Come in. I’ll take you down to see our space first.”
Fran entered the elevator and gestured them to follow.
The elevator car looked very old. Not only were the doors iron gates, but the elevator walls were dark red wood paneling, giving off a vintage vibe.
While the elevator descended, Lucia asked, “Do evil organizations go bankrupt too? Is competition fierce on the villain side as well?”
“Of course it’s fierce. They not only go bankrupt but sometimes get wiped out by heroes. That’s why evil organizations always have powerful villains stationed at their headquarters to guard against hero raids.”
Now that this topic was brought up, Clara had plenty to say.
“When the strategic department arranges missions and operations, the first thing they consider is the casualties of the execution unit. They need to ensure personnel can rotate and recover properly so that villains don’t get injured or killed in excess during missions, which would stop subsequent missions from being deployed.”
Clara’s detailed explanation made Lucia both curious and familiar. Thinking about her morning suspicions, she blinked and asked, “Miss Clara, you haven’t officially become a hero yet, right? But you seem to understand the evil organization’s structure very well. Did you work for an evil organization before?”
Clara immediately made a face as if she had swallowed a fly.
“Ah, no, I just happen to know a bit…”
Realizing she’d said too much, Clara shut up nervously. The slow elevator ride dragged the mood into awkwardness.
Fran quickly broke the silence.
“Whether it’s heroes or villains, after all, they belong to the same industry. Their company systems aren’t much different~”
“Is that so?”
“Alright, we’ve arrived!”
Still half in doubt, Lucia relaxed slightly as the slow old elevator finally reached the base. Fran slung an arm over her shoulder and stepped out.
“…So, we really are underground, right?”
But the scene before them surprised both of them.
“This is really the evil organization’s base?”
The ‘Nightmare’ dungeon-style prison wing, the dangerous overlord’s office, and the security muscle robots everywhere fit the typical evil organization image…
But this base was completely an underground garden, with flowers, water, rocks, and even an artificial sun dome above. The bright sunlight and chirping birds created a peaceful atmosphere.
It was just that, left untended for a long time, the plants had gone wild and overgrown.
The two followed Fran on a tour through the neglected garden and saw the office in the pavilion and the maintenance area.
Since it was an underground base, although it looked open-air, it wasn’t truly exposed. Even though the environment system could simulate artificial rain for watering, staying inside the pavilion wouldn’t be affected. But they’d need to keep equipment protected from moisture…
“Yo, you finally showed up? I thought you didn’t want to work anymore~”
A childish voice came from behind.
Fran turned, and her gaze passed over Clara as she greeted, “Boss, I’ve brought the people.”
Huh? Boss?
Curious, Clara turned to look.
Had the president of Dream Witch, personally appointed by the overlord, finally made her appearance?
What appeared before her eyes was…
A red-haired little girl who looked even shorter than herself?
Noticing Clara’s gaze, the girl put her hands on her hips and giggled proudly.
“What’re you looking at, loser♡~~”
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