On vacation.
When I woke up in the morning, Ada was lying next to me.
Ah, that’s right. I think I held her last night.
As soon as I woke up, Ada woke up too.
“Faa… Good morning, Lord Exus ♡,” she greeted me and then gave me a gentle kiss.
She’s truly adorable.
She’s my precious little guinea pig and the culmination of all my experiments.
Thinking about it rationally, letting her, who’s basically a collection of classified experimental data, stay by my side without disposing of or restraining her shows I’m letting my personal feelings get in the way.
I was raised well, so I usually make sure to “clean up” after using any “tools,” you know?
Lately, I’ve been using bandits and assassins sent after me for my experiments, and I always clean up afterward. I mean, I wouldn’t want to deal with something like a revenge-seeking experiment subject getting away. That’d be like something out of Frankenstein, wouldn’t it?
But with Ada, I’ve kept her alive, let her stay by my side, and even continued modifying her. Thanks to that, she’s become quite powerful.
At the very least, as a result of the experiments, Ada doesn’t age, heals quickly from injuries or sickness, and is almost entirely immune to poisons.
Oh, that time when she was drugged with a sleeping pill?
Apparently, she just naturally took a nap. She’s an idiot, but that’s part of her charm!
Anyway, it’s the kids’ break time…
What was I doing at that age in my past life?
I think I was playing around by building massive computers using only transistors instead of ICs or creating my own programming languages.
Of course, I did things like play games like everyone else, joined the Boy Scouts for outdoor activities, rode horses, read books… I did a lot, but those things stand out the most.
As an adult, I built industrial systems, operating systems, firewalls…
…Now that I think about it, my hobbies are pretty much just the same things I do at work.
This makes it sound like I don’t have any hobbies at all.
People who are good at their jobs also know how to manage their private lives. That was especially true in America.
In Japan, salarymen who do inefficient overtime are useless. You have to streamline work as much as possible, use the free time for family, networking, and parties. That’s how it’s done abroad.
And well, at the company where I commuted, the workload and quality were insane. It wasn’t something you could deal with by just working overtime. You had to automate tasks and effectively utilize other team members to get things done. Time alone couldn’t fix it. If you couldn’t get the job done, there was no conversation.
You couldn’t just say “yes” to everything you were told; you had to propose improvements yourself. Otherwise, the work would never get finished!
…Thinking about all that, it’s about time I start training my kids seriously.
I’ve already secretly modified their bodies while they were sleeping, but now I need to update their software as well.
They’re still only thirteen? Fourteen? They’re not even in high school yet, so I’ll go easy on them for now. But if they can’t handle being project leaders by the time they’re twenty, I’ll have to let them go.
“Lord Exus? Breakfast is ready…”
“Hm? Ah, sorry. I was lost in thought.”
“About everyone?”
“Yeah, I’m thinking about the next project and want them to gain more experience…”
“Enough of work! Let’s enjoy breakfast and your vacation, okay?”
“…You’re right. A businessman who can’t take care of his family is third-rate.”
With that, I took a bite of the cereal Ada had made.
“Oh, this is good! The texture is better.”
“Ehehe, I changed the oil when I baked it! That made it crispier!”
“Nice. It’d probably go well with ice cream.”
“Really? Maybe I should try selling it at the shopping mall next time?”
Meals are an important time for communication with my “family.”
For Ada and the other girls’ mental health, I engage in casual conversation with them.
Now that I think about it, these girls are still just kids.
They’ve done well, being away from their parents. Good job, good job.
…Maintaining regular communication like this is the key to good relationships.
It’s normal for competent people to make friends and lovers.
But truly capable people can maintain those relationships for a long time.
After breakfast, we washed and dried the dishes together, then fed the dogs.
Oh right, I have some dogs.
They’re cute ones, with dark skin or pale skin—lots of different kinds.
I got a female dog from Proxia a while back, and since then, I’ve been obsessed with training dogs and keeping them around…
“Woof woof, Master, thank you for the food, woof. Marie is so happy to have been bought by such a kind Master, woof.”
After petting the cute dog, I went outside.
It’s time to check on the kids from the slums.
Looks like Ada is coming along, too.
“Good morning, Lord Exus,” said Alan and Betty as they approached.
“How are the new recruits?”
Oh yeah, about the Proxia Republic we took down recently…
The government collapsed, but the city itself still functions as a port town, like a free trade city.
The shopping mall, which had turned into an NGO, has been reverted to a paid service.
I only made everything free as a form of harassment against my enemies. Now that they’re all gone, there’s no reason to keep running the place for free.
Naturally, the locals, who had grown accustomed to free food and drink, resisted fiercely, but I told them, “Then die,” and had the homunculi take care of about half of them.
I told them, “Stop whining and start working!” Working is a given, right?
Eventually, the remaining residents realized that resisting would only get them killed, so they reluctantly started working.
That said, the shopping mall still offers everything at low prices, so they’re struggling to create jobs. But that’s not my problem.
“The new recruits… you mean the kids from Proxia, right?”
“Yes.”
“They’re doing well. They’re not quite up to leadership level, though…”
I see.
“And the ones who aren’t doing well?”
“If they show no promise, we’ll cast them out.”
Hmm, sounds about right.
