I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm

I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm – Chapter H.3

"Ugh- this class is way too long. Can we just go home already~"

"We literally just sat down, Jimmy."

"And these five seconds have been the longest five seconds of my life."

The girl next to him rolled her eyes at his groans, "You say the same thing every day. Are the seconds getting longer or are you just getting more impatient?"

"Both probably."

"... No. The seconds are not getting longer, you weirdo," the girl sighed, "Shouldn't you be more excited about class today? I heard we're doing a special lesson for the anniversary."

"Anniversary?" Jimmy tilted his head, "The fifty thousand whatever? That's today?"

"Have you really not paid any attention!? It's all that people are talking about- I mean, there's so many events going on today to celebrate it that it's hard not to see a flyer somewhere. We're literally even going to one together after school today!"

"Oh, right... that's what it's for."

The girl's eyes narrowed, "You're joking. What else could it be for?"

"I don't know. There's an anniversary for something like every day," Jimmy whined while stretching in his seat, "All I'm saying is that it's hard to find something to be an important date thing when we still have to wear these stupid uniforms to school."

"You don't like the uniforms?"

"... The 'Donstar' logo just feels cheese-y."

"What does that even-"

"Good morning, class!" The teacher finally entered the classroom, interrupting their casual conversation with her call, "We have a special lesson today, so let's not waste any time!"

"I told you so."

Jimmy ignored the girl's whisper next to him as he apathetically fixed his posture.

"As I'm sure you all know, today marks 50,000 years since the first settlement was established on this planet!" the teacher continued, "I prepared some materials on your DonPads outlining some history for us to look over today."

With a groan, Jimmy pulled out a device resembling a tablet and placed it on his desk, "These things are so heavy... why can't they bring back the implants?"

"Are you seriously gonna complain about everything today?" the girl next to him rolled her eyes, "It weighs like a quarter of a pound... and you know those implants were a disaster."

"Slight convenience is worth getting brain-zapped for," Jimmy shrugged as he turned on the DonPad and opened up the teacher's link, muttering the title out loud, "The Origins of Donstar Amidst the Cold Cataclysm published on Scribble... Hub? That's not this site, is it?"

"What? No, this is the teacher's personal site."

Bang!

"That's horrible! How could she just steal the author's work like that!? He probably spent years writing this thing!"

"... You don't have the energy to pick up a DonPad yet you're slamming on your desk over something like this?"

"Of course I am! This is a sin against ethics! A travesty of morality! A carbuble in surcupatron!"

"You're just making up words at this point."

"The point is, it's wrong!" Jimmy dismissed the girl's interjections with a raised fist, "I won't stand for this heinous crime!"

"Jimmy, put down your fist and be quiet."

"I don't take orders from a thief!"

"Jimmy! Are you crazy!? Don't talk back to the teacher!"

A three-way argument quickly broke out in the classroom, lasting until Jimmy eventually shut his mouth under the threat of triple homework.

"I didn't just steal the guy's work- only a monster would do that," the teacher sighed once Jimmy quieted down, "The link I sent you all only has a few paragraphs from his writing; it's not like I'm posting entire chapters or something crazy like that. Besides, his work was from before Mars was first settled, it's well into the public domain now, anyway."

"Still, you should've gotten permission..."

"If the dude wasn't dead, I would have. Again, I'm not a terrible person who'd steal someone's work without permission," the teacher dismissed his grumble, "Even with our technology today, we can't live more than a few thousand years. Over fifty thousand years have passed since this was published- he's not exactly around to ask permission from."

"... So you would've asked permission if he was alive?"

"Of course," The teacher nodded, "Regardless, I'm sure the author cared much more about people learning and potentially being inspired by his work than the way people viewed it."

Jimmy's eyes narrowed, "But you would've left likes and nice comments on all of his updates if he was still alive and posting?"

"... Sure, Jimmy."

"Okay, that's fine then."

As Jimmy finally settled down, seemingly satisfied despite her sigh, the teacher finally began summarizing some of the passages after taking a moment to reflect on that whole interaction.

"I'm sure you all heard by now about Donstar's revival of humanity, but I'm willing to bet that few of you are aware of their exact origins," the teacher suddenly changed the class's front screen to show a map of Earth, "This is Earth. Although it looks quite a bit different now, this is what it looked like just before the Cold Cataclysm."

Her finger pointed toward the center of the white landmass at the bottom of the screen, "Everything starts here- in this southern continent, once known as 'Antarctica'. Even before the Cold Cataclysm, Antarctica was inhospitable to put it lightly; it was far too cold for people to live on. Aside from some birds on the shoreline, the continent was almost completely devoid of life; someone could likely walk thousands of miles through its interior without seeing another creature, let alone another human. If one wanted to hide from the world, there was no better than this... and a small group of people did just that."

"Although the exact spot is still unknown, a massive underground structure was built somewhere on this cold continent, designed to be fully self-sufficient and isolated from the rest of the world. Some of the richest and most influential people and their families at the time called it their home- these were figures with enough influence to disappear from public view entirely, all while quietly manipulating and controlling the world from the shadows using their funds.”

"They hoarded some of the world's most valuable and advanced materials. Things like technology, art, literature, and anything else you could name were kept in their massive storage facilities hidden beneath the ice. So, when the world started falling into chaos, they only saw it as an opportunity to add to their collection... but then the first nuclear weapon went flying."

The screen changed to the image of a giant mushroom cloud.

"Tens of thousands of these missiles were launched destroying nearly every major city around the world. In the areas not immediately reduced to irradiated rubble, fights over the remaining territory and resources ran rampant- within the first year, Earth's population was slashed to under 3 billion people, but you all know that this was just the start of the disaster."

The girl next to Jimmy raised her hand, "That's when the Cold Cataclysm started, right?"

"Mhm, you got it," the teacher switched the screen showing what resembled a white Earth, "It's still not known why it happened, but the nuclear winter following these explosions lasted much longer than thought possible. Except for a thin strip near the equator, almost the entirety of Earth was gradually covered in ice over the course of thousands of years. The death, famine, and overall destruction caused by this cold decimated the world's population already crippled by war. What wasn't reduced to rubble in the main conflict was soon buried under miles of ice."

"Of course, throughout all of this, there was still one group untouched by the chaos: the ones who were already hiding in ice," the teacher continued, "Out of the reach of war and in a shelter already built to withstand the brutally cold conditions, these families were able to survive with little problems using everything they had in there, yet despite being safe, they were completely trapped. If it weren't for a small window in an observatory used to view the stars, the outside world would have seemed like just a myth. With the conditions being unsurvivable for over 7,000 miles, there was nothing much they could do besides wait and reflect on their situation- so that's what they did."

The screen switched, showing a picture of people standing around a table.

"It took over 13,000 years for the ice to melt enough to become manageable to traverse. By then, the outside population had dwindled to a mere 25 million people. Throughout all of this, guilt accumulated in the minds of every new generation born inside the shelter for their ancestors' actions. They knew their ancestors' power would have been enough to easily prevent the war that plunged the world into frost, yet their greed and apathy toward life nearly enabled its extinction. And so, once they were freed from this icy isolation, these families took it upon themselves to put humanity on their shoulders- the new generation would use what their ancestors had stored to rebuild what they destroyed. Rebuilding it was only the beginning in their minds- that wasn't enough to atone for their inaction. Their goal was to carry humanity higher than it has ever gone before- high enough for humans to don the very stars they spent 13,000 years staring at overhead."

An updated map of Earth appeared on the screen as she spoke.

"As expected, this wasn't an easy task; the world they ventured into was much different than the one their ancestors left behind in nearly every way imaginable. Glaciers reshaped the geography, some species vanished, others evolved to withstand the cold, and the humans that remained throughout everything had long forgotten their global dominance. Even the most advanced cities at the time were only at the level of the early Middle Ages in pre-Cataclysm human history before the group was able to start guiding them."

It was Jimmy's turn to raise his hand, "How did they even teach them everything? Could the people even read the books they saved?"

"... What's with you and books?" the girl next to him muttered with a raised eyebrow.

"Great question, Jimmy," the teacher replied as he shrugged off the girl, "It took many years of charity before the group, now going by Donstar, gained the trust of the people. The outside language had changed so much by then that reading their books was impossible for anyone not from the shelter. Donstar had to teach the world the language they were written in: English. Of course, not every book was able to be preserved, but many could still be read even after all that time."

"Hang on- you're saying our language is from before the Cold Cataclysm!?" the girl nearly popped out of her seat with the question.

The teacher nodded, "Yep- hundreds of years before it. Donstar has done such a good job preserving the language ever since then that there's been minimal changes since it was re-introduced. You could likely communicate perfectly with someone from before Earth turned to ice."

As the teacher explained, the screen changed to now show an image of Mars.

"Even with Donstar's leadership, it still took roughly four thousand years for Earth to recover to where it was before the war, both in terms of population and technology. Since then, they have guided humanity to Mars, and as you know, have recently finished terraforming it. It was not very long ago when oxygen tanks were still needed outside of shelters and the Tui Vallis River still ran dry."

The teacher turned to the class, "Although I would like to go more into detail regarding the actual settling of Mars, we're dedicating this month's curriculum to exactly that! There's no point in rushing that today. So, to celebrate this 50,000-year anniversary of the first Mars settlement, spend time outside and enjoy the results of everyone's hard work and determination. Maybe now that you all know where we started from, you can better appreciate all of the effort put into the world around you. The rest of the school day will be taking place at the school festival- so enjoy today! Class dismissed!"

Cheers rang out from the students who eagerly funneled out of the classroom with Jimmy leading the charge before the teacher even finished her last sentence. Although he attempted to make a run for the school's exit, a small tug on the back of his shirt prevented him from doing so.

"You weren't about to run home, right? Even though I reminded you before class that we're going to the festival together...?" a familiar girl's voice spoke behind him.

"I know you want me to deny it, but I actually was about to go home."

"You jerk!"

Her hands which were previously used for gripping his shirt were now repeatedly punching his back under exaggerated pouts. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Fine... quit punching me, I'll go with you," Jimmy groaned as he resumed his walk to the school's exit, "Just for a bit though."

"Why do you sound like you're doing me a favor when this was what you originally agreed to do!?"

"It's a favor when you're probably going to make me pay for something."

"Whatever. I thought you would've loved paying for things- especially considering how you were freaking out over the teacher not paying for the book in class," the girl teased.

Jimmy simply shrugged, "I just find it disrespectful to the author, that's all. He clearly meant for it to be read on a certain place. Regardless of his desire to inspire, she could've at least honored that."

"Well, it was all basic information that she was giving anyway. The details she was giving us were so vague that it was obvious she was hardly even referencing the book."

"That was weird, wasn't it? She spent the special 50,000-year Mars anniversary lesson talking about Earth. At that point, I figured she'd at least mention the settlements in the upper atmosphere of Venus when she was going over the whole Mars settling portion." 

"Did she even talk about that?"

"No, but it was in the link she sent us," Jimmy answered, ignoring the scoff that followed.

"She probably just wanted to get to the festival and skipped over it," the girl lightheartedly deduced as they neared the school's exit, "Either that or she scrapped her plans after your tantrum~"

"It really wasn't a tantrum..."

The two kids stepped out of the school as Jimmy muttered this, quickly catching sight of a lively festival before them. Booths, tents, and games sprawled out into the distance with countless more continually being constructed. Despite being in front of the school, it seemed to already be filled with random families happily exploring the area.

"Wow... they sure put this together quickly," Jimmy couldn't help but gasp at the lot which flooded with life within the short time he spent in class.

"Are you surprised? You see the 'organized by Donstar' text under those banners, don't you? They could probably get a whole town constructed in a day, let alone a festival."

"Well, I can't deny that they're good at it, but I feel like it's difficult to find an event not organized by them. They're in charge of the whole planet yet they still micro-manage things like this."

"They got us to Mars, didn't they? There's no one better to trust with these kinds of things," the girl nonchalantly stated as she scanned over the stands in the distance, her eyes widening as she spotted one that caught her interest, "Jimmy- the snacks at that one look so yummy!"

Before he even had time to protest, he was already getting dragged by his hand into the festival.

.

..

...

"I didn't expect it, but that was actually pretty fun," Jimmy admitted as he continually juggled a small, silver ring in his palm. 

"I told you it would be~ nom."

Small munching could be heard from the girl next to him as they traveled back home, following their time at the festival. They took a peaceful route stretching along a stone brick pathway, slightly raised above the edge of a Tiu Vallis River channel.

"I can't believe you made me buy those for you, yet you won't even share any..."

"Huh!? Why didn't you ask!? Here-"

Ding!

Splash!

"Noooo! My ring!"

Following Jimmy's demand, the girl tossed him a piece of candy... only for it to hit the ring he was juggling and send it splashing into the river roughly 6 inches below their feet.

"Shoot! Sorry, Jimmy! I didn't mean to-"

Splash!

Before she even had a chance to fully apologize, Jimmy had already jumped into the water.

"What are you doing!?"

"That ring was engraved for the 50,000-year anniversary! Do you have any idea how valuable that thing might be when we're older!?" Jimmy yelled as he started frantically digging in the mud in search of the ring.

"... I think you might be overreacting a bit."

"How could you say that after whacking it into the river!? This is your fault!" Jimmy continued excavating the mud with his hands as he searched the river, "Where are you, my precious!? Hm?"

His hand made contact with something hard hidden beneath the mud. Though it was far too big to be the ring, Jimmy scooped it out anyway out of curiosity.

"A rock? This is weird... is it some kind of meteorite?" he muttered as he looked at the stone in his hand.

It was pitch black and roughly the size of his palm, resembling slightly more of an oval than a sphere. It had an odd shine to it and was strikingly smooth, almost as if it was polished.

"Are you collecting rocks now?" a high-pitched voice sounded behind him.

"Are you done judging everything I do now?" Jimmy rolled his eyes as he slipped the rock into his pocket, "If I can't find the ring, I might as well keep something from today."

"We can still find the ring... Here- I'll help you look."

After taking off her socks and shoes, the girl hopped into the river next to him and aided in the search. Sure enough, the two managed to locate the ring after a bit more looking.

The two kids eventually got back to their homes much happier despite being covered in mud. Once back in his room, Jimmy placed the ring he had won and the rock he had found next to each other on his shelf.

It would not be until he turned off his light to go to bed that he'd discover the faint glow emitting from the stone.