Please Observe the Rules of the Road

Ah... I hope I don't have to use up my second sick leave slip tomorrow _(:з"∠)_

Section 78. Please pay attention to driving regulations.

Watching the little bear leave with a triumphant air, just across the street from the unfinished academy, Miss Surtr silently exhaled a breath that didn't turn into mist. She sniffed, catching an interesting scent in the air. Her gaze then shifted slightly, turning to another direction beside her.

She saw Persephone standing there—not in the Rhodes Island Doctor's overcoat, but in a Chernobog student uniform—a fitted vest, a white long-sleeved shirt, a black knee-length skirt, and matching stockings and boots. Her ascetic charm was thus amplified, and simply standing there attracted various admiring, envious, and even jealous glances.

Unfortunately, she doesn't have a good figure.

"You arranged this?" Surtr asked, referring to the matter of Rosa.

She didn't ask Persephone why she was there at this time—the woman's mind was capable enough to handle several completely different and complex tasks simultaneously in several places without making a single mistake. Asking such a question would only earn her a laugh.

"You need an assistant." The Maiden Doctor's answer was as concise and direct as ever. "Moreover, just as I was able to calculate that there was a Bladeworks Master on your list, I was also able to calculate that there was another record outside of that list that you had deliberately forgotten... A transmigrator from another world, is that it? After you provided information about the Dream World, it wouldn't be difficult for me to make that connection."

"I remember telling you about this a long time ago. You just didn't believe me then," Miss Surtr shrugged. She wasn't at all concerned about her transmigrator background being exposed—what was there to be afraid of? Nobody could beat her, and all her relationships were built after she transmigrated. Besides, she had already shared this information with people she knew well long ago.

"Theresia, Kal'tsit, you—I've only told the three of you about the time travel, and none of you believed me. Unless absolutely necessary, I hope you won't spread this around. After all, it's essentially meaningless, and talking about it will only cause trouble—how's the situation with Talulah? And with Frostnova?"

The girl casually skipped over topics and crossed the street as the traffic light came on—she entered the large, expanding campus. She deliberately chose a direction different from Rosa's.

Persephone followed her, shoulder to shoulder.

"It's alright." The Rhodes Island Doctor, who had temporarily switched to being a high school girl, replied, "Talulah's infection is mild. I can tell at a glance that she has at least fifteen years before she becomes a critically ill patient. Regular suppressant medication can keep the infection from worsening—so I handed her over to Gavial. I'm sure this lizard lady can handle the remaining ritual procedures."

Gavial ... very good. Surtr remembered this guy's profile in the game; the patients treated by Gavial generally passed away peacefully—though the illnesses were indeed cured.

"You don't like Talulah?" Miss Surtr arrived at a 'perfectly' empty construction site. She reached out and picked up the building modules, each weighing over a thousand kilograms, stacked together. Ignoring the dirt and mess, she directly started doing the work of a construction worker.

"No, I value her highly." Several drones flew up behind Persephone, and the cement truck beside her rumbled loudly—a few thin lines flicked from her fingers, and the still-rough concrete units were instantly chopped into suitable and convenient shapes. The drones then picked up these components and precisely placed them in the appropriate locations.

"I know Gavial's 'personal style.' That's why I specifically placed Talulah under her command. This is a test to see if she can get along well with Rhodes Island's active operators in the right way. If she succeeds, she will naturally be given a more suitable position. If she fails, Gavial's treatment will be my punishment for her."

Laevateinn leaped up from behind Miss Surtr, and dozens of strands of flame, as thin as cotton threads, precisely injected into the joints of these numerous building units—new buildings that would normally require a long time to cool and solidify before being put into use were quickly bypassed by this alien flame. Because it was a mobile city-state, it did not need a foundation. As a result, the construction of the floor structures was even faster.

The process involves laying the floor, building walls, installing pipes, and constructing stairs.

"Poor Talulah ..." Miss Surtr shook her head slightly. "I hope she won't disappoint you."

Where is Frostnova?

"A full-body examination is a huge undertaking, and she needs the most thorough one. She won't be able to leave the isolation room for at least three days—but I can give you some good news. Her Originium fusion rate is currently only 1.3%. If she has blood transfusions three times a week, along with the highest-level inhibitors, there might be hope to completely eradicate all the infection symptoms in her body."

"This isolated case is unacceptable; this method of 'curing Originium Infection's won't sell. Besides, Frostnova herself might not be willing to abandon her Infected identity at this point." Surtr shook her head slightly. She began building the second floor, using her immense strength and control to complete in a very short time what a construction team would take several days to accomplish.

"And I remember that the Rhodes Island flagship will arrive in Chernobog in three days. Does that mean some projects can only be completed on Rhodes Island?"

"Indeed." Persephone nodded slightly—she raised an eyebrow, and a speck of dust was sliced into tiny pieces by crisscrossing threads before it could fall onto her shoulder, then swirled in a small vortex of wind. "Some of the instruments on Rhodes Island have a rich history that surpasses that of current civilizations. Just like the Sarcophagus in Chernobog, their effectiveness even far exceeds that of Columbia, currently the most medically advanced country—you should have realized that already. Don't you want to think about it?"

Surtr hesitated for a moment, but then nodded.

"Yes. That's true to some extent—many people on Rhodes Island have rather... eccentric temperaments and behaviors, and I'm not very good at dealing with them. That's part of the reason why I haven't returned to Rhodes Island for several years."

"For example?"

"For example, Nightingale always comes to ask me medical questions she knows absolutely nothing about. For example, Blaze, who knows she can't outdrink me, but always insists on drinking until she's drunk in my room—this big cat has taken over my bed countless times and has no sleeping posture whatsoever, forcing me to go to the bridge mast to enjoy the night breeze and contemplate life. Besides these, there's Ascalon, Hyperia... well, there's a whole bunch of them. I'd rather be out on field missions every day than waste my time dealing with them all the time."

Surtr sighed slightly. She chose a wood-grain wallpaper to cover the wall.

"In short, it's a real headache. It's fine if we just get along, but these guys also really love to tell riddles... I really can't figure out why there are so many great writers on Terra, even though the education rate is quite low due to Catastrophe!"

Then she heard Persephone's reply.

"Perhaps, many people only like you when they are around you... using more complicated language."

"Then I really have to thank them properly..." The Flame-haired maiden shook her head slightly, laying marble floor tiles and beginning to build the third floor of the building—more drones flew in from a distance. They unloaded new building materials and planted vegetation around the building. Under Persephone's meticulous operation, an exquisite garden composed of soft grass and delicate flowers quickly surrounded the side of the building.

"... It must have been really tough not being able to speak human language." Surtr, while making the ceiling, worked with Persephone to set up the lighting and heating ducts.

Persephone, standing beside her, paused slightly.

"You never used to tell me these things." The Maiden Doctor's voice was slightly melancholic.

"I told you, things are different now than before." Surtr didn't hesitate for even a moment. "I want to care for you, look after you, and protect you. To share your pain and stress—that's a promise, and I won't just say it. And since I want to be good to you, I naturally need to let you know what I'm thinking."

She built the building to the fourth floor, and after some thought, decided to make the fourth floor the roof. The flames of Laevateinn quickly dried the building units and solidified the joints. Meanwhile, from the still-unfurled windows, numerous drones carrying various electrical appliances and office supplies flew in and set them up one by one.

"I'm a rather simple-minded person... It's not that I can't think about more complex things. After all, I can mine Bitcoin using mental calculations. But I'm not very good at interacting with people, or rather, I don't really like to guess what other people are thinking."

She turned around, looked at the slightly dazed Persephone, smiled slightly, and gently tapped Persephone's forehead with her finger.

When she saw the purple-furred thing, she instinctively jumped back a little. Then she laughed even more happily.

"As I said before, I am a time traveler. In other words, I can also be understood as having a past life. My past life has had a great influence on me, and I don't think it's necessary to change many of my habits. The most prominent one of them is that I really hate trying to figure out what other people are thinking."

She tilted her head.

"After all, some unpleasant things still leave a deep impression on me even now. I've had enough of those idiotic clients, moron-like bosses, and shameless colleagues. I hate dealing with those kinds of people more than anything in my life, not in the past, not now. And the future... it's hard to say, but it'll probably be about the same."

The building was almost finished, four stories high and twenty meters tall. The first floor was a large hall ten meters high, while the second and third floors were offices, meeting rooms, and various functional rooms forming an office complex. The fourth floor, however, was residential, with elegant and exquisite interior furnishings. Electricity, heating, and water supply were all operational—she saw drones installing floor-to-ceiling windows between the floors.

Thus, the training center's director's office building, as well as Miss Surtr's resting place, were built.

Self-reliance leads to abundance, and labor is the most glorious thing. After Persephone stirred up the hot air, driving away all the lingering smells of renovation from the new building, the Flame-haired maiden stretched.

"So," she tilted her head, looking at Persephone in front of her, "Could you please stop telling me riddles?"

"A riddle... I'll try my best." The purple-clad Maiden Doctor glanced slightly to the side—she seemed to have suddenly thought of something interesting. She then smiled silently.

She didn't even wait for Surtr to ask.

"But I completely understand your thoughts—you hate riddles and speculation, don't you? Kal'tsit is really pitiful. I'm almost reluctant to bully her."

"Right, you also think Kal'tsit likes to tell riddles, don't you?" Surtr turned her head to look at the large clock in the fourth-floor lobby. In her eyes, the clock was pointing to 11:30. "I really don't understand her attitude. Most of the time, I feel like she's just trying to pick a fight with me. Only on rare occasions can I feel her almost illusory concern."

"I was thinking of making her dinner to show I care. But I figured she might just throw the plate in my face, so I decided against it... Um, I remember you don't like mustard and onions?"

She opened the refrigerator and took out fresh vegetables and meat. Because Laevateinn would get angry and blow up the kitchen when she chopped vegetables, she had to use a hand knife to cut them. While preparing the Western-style meal, she glanced at Persephone.

"Are you planning to rest here at noon? If you don't move around too much, I can give you a nap with my lap as a pillow. And are you planning to stay here overnight? Or would you like me to go to your rest room? You've worked so hard during the day, I'll give you a massage to help you relax."

She received no reply from Persephone.

She didn't pay any attention, and simply turned around quietly to continue preparing the dishes.

Then--