"That will be all?"
It would be easier to call me a mule rather than a human at this point. With bags hanging down from every part of my body, one could be mistaken to think that I already took care of everything. In fact, a huge pile of boxes still remained by the side.
Thankfully, those were yet to be checked in and unnecessary in the first part of my project. Meaning, with all the stuff that I already carried to the basement, the last batch that I manned-up and picked up all at once would let me finally start exploring the apocalypse world as it should be done!
"For now, yes. But please, mind the volume of what you are ordering sir. At the rate at which it grows, soon your shopping may hinder the progress of the construction."
Throwing me a hateful look, the secretary didn't even bother to attempt to hide it. What used to be just a slight annoyance for her a few days ago, already turned into the basically second shift for her, doubling the woman's work. Given how her original role was to just sit in this open container, look nice and soothe the eyes of the crude workers, the fact that she actually had to do something seemed to be a great insult to her face.
"Don't worry. I'm almost done with all the necessary stuff. Let's not forget that its the sake of what's inside that this construction is all for, not the other way."
Not willing to let the woman just have her way with me like that, I rebuked sternly. Maybe in the past, while still being a kid called Krist, I would cover in fear before an adult like that and simply apologise. But right now, the prestige of the role I was playing, forced me to take on a different face.
No matter how hard something like that was for me. If not my ability to manipulate my own emotions, I was quite certain that I would just fail at my act.
"Almost? So this nightmare isn't over yet?"
I couldn't say for certain whether everything she did was simply genuine or if she was influenced by my stern rebuke. Either way, I didn't see any reason to dawdle in this place any longer.
Over the last three days, the sight of me carrying the ordered stuff from the reception to the basement become common. Not a single worker paid any mind to me as I passed beside them, treating me as just another quirk of the job. And I was quite happy with this kind of situation.
After finally hauling all my items back to the basement, I stood before the opened doors for a moment. Given how I ordered so much stuff that it would barely fit inside the spacious basement of mine, it would be no wonder if I were to disappear for a relatively long time.
In the end, I was buying all that stuff for a reason. Whether or not people knew what that reason was, was something I didn't need to bother myself with.
"Woah… Didn't expect that…"
Given how absolutely every single element of small construction that I brought to the apocalypse was completely devoid of magic, I didn't need to bother with protecting it from the influence of the anti-magic dust that seemed to cover the entire planet. And it could be one of the reasons why bringing all the stuff from my basement to the apocalypse took me about as long as just a single trip to carry the materials to the basement in the first place!
"Okay, to hell with this. How should I start…"
Standing over a huge pile of metal pipes, supports, fans, electric generators and all kinds of useful stuff, I finally realised that in this grand plan of reclaiming at least a single building in this world, I forgot about one, pretty important element.
The idea of what should I do in the first place.
Left with the pile of what others could see as useless junk, I threw my doubts aside and moved to the work. Even if on earth people would accept my excuse of working in the crypt, the same couldn't be said about Ayda's world.
Every minute that I busied myself with work in the apocalypse was a minute that this damn adorable girl would be at risk of getting ambushed.
With my hands suddenly stopping right in the middle of unpacking one of the technical boxes, I noticed one thing about myself. While matters on earth right now took priority as I had to establish some kind of presence to make my system safe, ultimately it was Ayda's embrace that continued to lure me in. It was in her arms where I could find the moment of comfort in my busy schedule.
"Ah, I should bring some stuff for her…"
As if it was some kind of happy day for enlightenments, I became aware of yet another thing I should take care off. There was no denying that Ayda was disappointed at not being able to move to earth with me. But even if I wasn't capable of changing that fact for now, what was stopping me from bringing a bit of earth to her?
"Dang it…"
Mostly done with just the very first of the many projects that I had in mind, I took a few steps back to adore the results of my silly craft.
Right in front of one of the doors whose other side was mostly blocked by rubble, a strange gate stood. Made from a simple supporting frame that stretched a thin yet resistant fabric all over itself, it became the most important element of anything that I would ever bother constructing.
An airlock.
With steel tubes connected to the air compressors poking from all sorts of angles within the shielded area, a wall-sized fan stood on the side of the room, ready to blow all the excess air and dust away to the special container locked to the other side.
Even though for now, this airlock was nothing but a fancy and sci-fi looking construction given how it connected the blocked path behind the doors and open space filled with the dust, this was the very first step on my path of reclaiming this place.
Ping, ping, ping…
As soon as I looked towards the remaining pile of materials to start working on the second piece of my hermetic dorm within this world, the sound of my clock's alarm forced me out of my daze.
Four hours have passed ever since I hid inside the basement. And that meant, my job in this place had to come to an untimely stop. After all, a meeting with executives of Baskar family was not something that I could just outright ignore!