Six years old.
A little while after the incident where the village chief’s kid got bullied.
I was casually repairing our secret base with magic.
Ada was making this face like, “Huh…?” but I smoothly ignored it.
She gave off this vibe like, “If you can fix it, then why did you have to hit him so much?” but I totally ignored that too!
I mean, come on, bullying weaklings is fun, you know?
It was quite an amusing turn of events to bully someone who mistakenly believed they were bullying the weak.
I couldn’t miss this opportunity.
Sorry, Ada.
Now, time passed since the incident, and it was summertime.
Surprisingly, the calendar seemed to be accurate, with the months divided into twelve just like on Earth, and it was early August.
I was summoned by my father.
“Exus.”
“Yes?”
“You’re the village chief’s son, but… you got your nose crushed, didn’t you? The church in the village said it won’t heal for the rest of your life.”
Oh.
“I see… I’ve done something bad, haven’t I?”
Hmm, that came out more insincere than I intended.
But you know, you can’t survive as an adult in society if you can’t say insincere things.
“I love my job! It’s fulfilling! I’m learning so much!” … and stuff like that.
Well, I did love my job for real though.
Just developing my favorite programs and getting paid for it, it’s like a dream job.
But let’s leave that aside, it’s all in the past now.
Seeing my apologetic attitude, my father said this:
“Indeed, you’re right. Not standing up when someone messes with the land you’ve maintained, especially when it makes a woman cry—that goes against the code of chivalry!”
Yeah, that makes sense.
“However, going overboard isn’t good.”
Well, that’s true.
“So, starting today, I’ll teach you how to use your power!”
Huh? Is this some kind of leap in logic?
A leap!
What? Are you telling me to practice swinging sticks like a caveman?
How absurd…
“Unfortunately, I’d rather learn manners and literature than martial arts.”
“What are you saying! Nobles are warriors!”
Such a pain.
Then I want to ask, where are you going to learn the etiquette, literature, and ultimately, economics and science that you’re neglecting?
In this trashy province, what’s needed is not stick-wielding training but economic development!
I’m really getting sick of this.
Ah, well, here’s a compromise.
Let’s play for three days a week and train for four days.
Just a simpleton like my father, who’s no more than a country samurai, can be easily manipulated with a bit of tongue-lashing.
See, these negotiation skills and the like, those are the kinds of techniques you can’t use, you know?
How does it feel to be manipulated by your own kid?
…No, I guess your brain doesn’t even register that.
Sad, isn’t it?
Well, I can’t keep up with training every day.
Besides, I’m already stronger than my father thanks to my magical abilities.
sigh Oh well, can’t be helped. Stick-wielding training it is, then. Whatever.
So, during training…
“First, let’s start with some running!”
“Yes! ‘Application <Theta-tap> Start’!”
Let me tell you a story from my past life.
It’s about my previous life.
You know about severe disabilities, right?
Like having no hands, or spinal cord injuries that make your body immobile.
Well, at our company, we had a subcontractor that was developing computer interfaces for such severely disabled individuals.
Well, at first, the development was quite challenging.
You know how we can type on a keyboard with both healthy hands?
So, they were wondering how people without the use of their hands could type.
Voice input systems had been developed quite some time ago, so it was a different issue altogether…
Then, one day, an engineer had an idea.
“If they can see, why not make it so they can input what they see?”
So, they set up a camera on the monitor and tracked eye movements.
The characters where the gaze was fixed would be inputted… And thus, the “Theta-tap” system was born.
I developed that as an application.
It’s not that difficult, really.
It’s just tracking the gaze, after all.
So, instead of placing the camera on the opposite side to detect the gaze, I projected the conceptual AR vision onto the retina through magic. Well, anyone with a bit of math and programming skills could handle this level of stuff.
While I was leisurely running, I was busy with system development…
Utterly worthless.
What we need in our precarious daily life isn’t the honor of a knight but a source of income, isn’t it?
My younger siblings, Sirius, who just turned four, and Cecily, who’s three, are always hungry.
As a parent, shouldn’t the priority be to ensure your children don’t go hungry rather than training them with swords?
That’s why I can’t feel grateful to the parents in this world.
Even if they express love with their words, the reality is they can’t even support their children.
Do they think their children will respect them for that?
And they seem to be fooled by my superficial friendliness, not seeing through my true feelings.
They also don’t know what I do during the day.
Is that what parenting is about?
From my perspective, it’s like being told, “Ignore whatever you do usually, get angry when problems arise, force you to do things you don’t want to do, but can’t even provide enough food, yet expect unconditional respect.”
My previous life’s parents were saints who “took care of every little detail, spent large sums of money and considerable effort on my education, sent me off with a smile even if I didn’t inherit the family business, didn’t complain about what I did, and never asked for money until I succeeded.”
There’s just a gap that can’t be filled.
Moreover, my younger siblings are also incomprehensible.
Even when I was an only child, we didn’t have plenty to eat, so why did they decide to increase the mouths to feed?
What kind of family planning is this?
They’re not dogs or cats, you know?
If you can’t raise them, don’t have children.
Thanks to that, my siblings are always hungry.
Well, I take advantage of that and sometimes play the role of a saint by sharing some of my food with them to gain points.
Because I can prepare some ingredients with magic, you know.
I’m definitely enjoying delicious food in secret.
So, my siblings seemed to admire me a lot.
They might even admire me more than our parents.
Whether it’s dogs, cats, or humans, they all attach themselves to those who give them food.
