Chapter 34: Resign immediately!

“Waaaah!!!”

Squire screamed as he woke up, only to find himself sitting on the elevator floor.

“Huh?”

The elevator panel showed that they were at the deepest underground level, but the elevator doors wouldn’t open. Squire had no choice but to return to the upper floors.

【We have exited the dream woven by the Grand Commander.】 Nyx explained.

“…So all that just now was a dream too?”

【Although it’s a dream, it’s real. What happens in the dream will also affect reality.】

“Why would an AI like you get pulled into the dream as well?”

【Because I was brought in as an item.】

Squire was confused—how could a real object be taken into a dream?

The elevator arrived at the Human Resources floor. Then came the formalities for resignation, and finally back to the Execution Department to pack up the clutter in the office. Since the Execution Department rarely used the office, Squire didn’t have much to pack.

However, upon entering, he was inevitably surrounded by former colleagues, packed so tightly it was impossible to get through.

Because they were all weirdos. Each one was tall and burly, and with Nitemare’s penchant for using animal factors, Squire felt like he’d entered a zoo where the animals were inspecting him.

“Hey! Isn’t that Brother Squire?”

“You’ve really turned into a little girl! When the Minister told us, we didn’t believe it at first… Wait, why are you packing up right after coming back? Leaving already?”

One of the chicken-headed freaks with a middle-parted hairstyle approached to greet him, even holding out his phone to take a photo, but Squire jumped up and slapped it away.

“Taking photos? Hell no—I just got fired!”

“Eh? Fired?”

The chicken-head cocked his head and asked, “Is it because of that modification department incident?”

“What else? Someone had to take the fall upstairs. Where else could they put face? Firing a low-level employee like me was the perfect solution, so here I am—fried squid.”

Both the chicken-head and Squire were low-tier freaks, just above the fighters, essentially cannon fodder. They didn’t have much interaction outside work, but they looked out for each other on the job. Now that he knew Squire was leaving, he was reluctant to see him go…

But now that Squire had turned into a little girl, even if he hadn’t been fired, he couldn’t stay in the Execution Department. He’d probably be transferred elsewhere.

“That wasn’t your fault at all. The higher-ups are just unreasonable!”

The loyal chicken-head was still angry on Squire’s behalf, but Squire flicked his suspenders.

“Alright, quit complaining! Instead of worrying about me, you should worry about yourself. From now on, you have to find a way to survive on your own. Can you handle no more Ink Mist from me?”

Another sloth-like freak holding a thermos cup asked, “You got fired but your mindset’s pretty good? Bro, you’re already thirty-five, right? It’s tough to find a job at that age.”

“Heh, I used to think our company didn’t have a thirty-five-age optimization tradition.”

“Thirty-five, it’s tough to find work…”

Squire, however, gave a smug smile and replied casually:

“But look at me now—how old do I look? Forget about finding a job, if I changed my identity and went back to middle school, no one would suspect a thing. So don’t worry about me.”

As the undercover Minister personally appointed by the Boss, Squire’s confident mental state was hardly that of someone just fired.

His mindset had shifted.

Since resistance was futile, he decided to accept it. Besides, from every angle, Squire was slowly realizing the benefits of turning into a little girl…

Of course, he wouldn’t actually go to school.

“Brother, take care of yourself.”

“Eh! Well then, brothers, we’ll meet again if fate allows!”

At this moment, Squire didn’t realize the goodbye wouldn’t be too far off. With those words, he picked up his cardboard box and walked out of the Execution Department, leaving the freaks behind to chat.

“Do you think it’s bad for a grown man to become a little girl?” the sloth-like freak asked.

“Hmm, seems kinda nice…” the chicken-head replied.

The elevator doors opened. Squire, clutching his box, stepped out of the elevator heading to the surface, but his face was full of worry…

He was faking it.

After all, officially, he was fired, and the Boss had asked him to keep it quiet. There was no way he could leave the company with a carefree smile.

“Yo? Why the long face?”

But as soon as he stepped out of the building, someone suddenly smacked him hard on the back.

“Ugh! Oh?!”

The blow almost made Squire tumble down the stairs in front of him. After steadying himself and looking back, he saw a streak of dyed blue hair.

It was Fran.

She was sucking on a lollipop, grinning at him, her hand still resting on his back. Her nails were painted in colorful patterns. She had taken off her white lab coat and rolled it around her waist. Her shirt’s hem was tied just under her chest, revealing a slim, youthful waist.

Squire looked at her coldly.

“Fran? You scared me to death!”

“Hahaha, it really is Mr. Squire~”

Squire glared at the troublemaker and complained, “You didn’t even make sure it was me before hitting me? If I’d fallen down those stairs, you’d be responsible!”

“I would’ve caught you! Besides, we’re colleagues now, right? Let’s get along well~”

Fran reached out to pat Squire’s head.

He tilted his head and dodged, quietly reminding her, “Don’t announce anything yet. We need to keep a low profile first. The Boss probably told you the same, right?”

“Don’t worry, it’s not like anyone will recognize us here.”

Squire wondered if this girl was really cut out for undercover work.

Fran continued, “You’re reporting to that company the day after tomorrow, right? So I’m planning to…”

“Rest well?” Squire finished for her.

“No, to thoroughly study you and your driver.”

“Huh?”

“Guess why the Boss sent me along? As a hero, you need a maintainer. As a genius researcher, my job is to figure out this driver even the tech department can’t understand…”

Just as Fran was about to poke his belly, Squire, recently jabbed by the Boss himself, quickly blocked her with his cardboard box. His brows knit tightly in displeasure.

“Hey! You can’t be doing this kind of stuff in public! Besides, you don’t even have hardware to connect to Nyx’s driver… The modification department’s system couldn’t handle it, so what could withstand her data stream?”

“Then we won’t rely on hardware.”

Fran unreservedly linked her arm over Squire’s shoulder.

“I want to communicate with that AI. Do you have a graphical interface I can use?”

“No such thing,” Squire answered.

Nyx, however, said:

【Actually, that’s possible.】

“Oh?”

【As a hero, a maintenance personnel is necessary.】

“How will you do it? Connect to Fran’s nervous system as well?” Squire asked.

【There’s another way.】

【Generating terminal interface program… completed.】

Suddenly, a strange new app appeared on both Squire’s and Fran’s phones.