The Evil Scientist is Too Competent - Chapter 48

Chapter 48

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

***

I know what the Boss likes. She prefers robots over dolls, certainty over ambiguity, and formulas and numbers more than beautiful, flowery language.

If I had to categorize it, her tastes are more like a boy’s than a girl’s. So, I thought I should prepare something that boys typically like.

However, after thinking about it a bit more, I quickly realized that this wasn’t right.

‘Come to think of it… Would the Boss really be happy if she received something like that?’
Th i s wa s c o pie d f r o m k i n g m tl . o r g

Robots, numbers, and things that boys would like. These were just my subjective thoughts. Of course, the Boss had said she liked those things, but that was back when she was younger, wasn’t it?

She’s now the chairwoman of Evilus Corporation, with years of experience under her belt. There’s no guarantee that she still likes those things.

Moreover, something easily obtainable in the market wouldn’t do either.

‘The Boss can buy anything she wants…’

Who is Regalia? She’s the head and owner of Evilus Corporation, a global conglomerate and the ruler of E City. Is there anything she can’t obtain?

If she wants something, she can buy it with money. If it’s not available for purchase, she can obtain it by any means necessary, even having her subordinates create something that doesn’t exist in the world.

In short, the kind of gift she would want is either something that has never existed in the world or something so rare that only a few exist.

‘I can’t get a read on this…’

In the end, I decided to cheat. Sneakily—I looked over at Vira, who was lounging on the sofa and laughing at a comic book. Noticing my gaze, Vira glanced at me as if to ask what was up.

“What? Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Vira.”

“What is it?”

“What did you prepare for the Boss’s birthday present?”

“Huh? Oh—You’re asking because you don’t know what to get, right?”

Vira grinned cheekily. Feeling like she had hit the mark, I just looked at her in silence. What else could I do? I’ve never given a gift to a child before, so how would I know?

And I have to give a present to a girl, no less—a girl with tastes more similar to a boy’s? This wasn’t something that could be easily solved by searching the internet.

Vira, who had been smiling brightly, waved her finger from side to side as if to say, “Nope.”

“It’s not about what you give the Boss; what matters is the heart behind the gift.”

“What kind of nonsense is that…?”

“Aah—! Seriously, this is why people in the sciences are hopeless! You have no understanding of human emotions!”

Failing to get a clear answer from Vira, I wandered around the organization, seeking out other executives. Even if Vira didn’t know, surely the others, who’ve been with the Boss for years, would know what she likes!

T h i s w a s c o pie d fr o m k i ng mt l . o rg
Walking through the hall, I soon spotted Galm and approached him.

Q1. What are you planning to give the Boss for her birthday?

“Among the Beastfolk, we don’t celebrate birthdays.”

Hearing Galm’s beastly response, I looked at him as if asking, “Are you serious?” Noticing my gaze, Galm, as if he had no time to pay attention to someone like me, continued lifting his dumbbells.

“Birth itself is a blessing? No way. Being born means joining the struggle for survival. It’s more of a burden, a sin, rather than something to celebrate.”

“…I see.”

“Among beasts, it’s not uncommon for siblings to kill each other right after birth, so what’s there to celebrate? Are you supposed to celebrate the day you killed your family with your own hands?”

Galm sneered, as if mocking the idea. And it made sense. If you’ve never had a culture of celebrating birthdays, there’s no reason to start now.

The fact that birthday celebrations are mainly a human tradition was also significant. Just as humans despise Beastfolk, Beastfolk likely hold a deep-seated aversion to human customs, viewing birthday celebrations as an entirely human thing.

In the end, I left without obtaining any useful information from Galm.

“But still, the Boss’s birthday is coming up? I’ve never heard her mention it in all these years.”
T hi s w a s c o p i e d fr o m ki n gm tl . o r g

“Excuse me? What do you mean?”

“I mean, she’s never asked for a gift or thrown a grand party for her birthday in all these years.”

Just before I left, Galm tilted his head, seemingly puzzled.

A1. The Boss hasn’t thrown a birthday party in years.

I stored that information in my mind as I walked down the hall again.

Not long after, I found Ayle deeply engrossed in her studies. I asked her the same question I had asked Galm.

Q2. What did you prepare for the Boss’s birthday present?

“Huh? Oh, of course, a Magical Girl cosplay outfit! It’s an official special edition, and there’s a rumor that it’s exactly the same costume worn by a real Magical Girl…”

Ayle answered with a birthday present that seemed to completely disregard the Boss’s preferences. A Magical Girl costume? That was so typical of Ayle.

I chuckled and asked again.

“The Boss probably wouldn’t like that, though?”

“There—There’s no way that’s true! No girl hates Magical Girls!”

“Is that really so…?”

“It is! The Boss is a girl, too! Magical Girl merchandise is targeted at kids, and this costume is an exact replica of what the Magical Girl wore when she was a child! There’s no way she’d hate it!”

A2. The Boss is a girl. No girl hates Magical Girls.

Ayle’s answer wasn’t particularly helpful to me. It seemed like she wasn’t actually thinking of the Boss’s preferences but rather just wanted to convert the Boss into another Magical Girl otaku.

Sure, the Boss is a girl, but assuming that all girls love Magical Girls is such a naive thought.

“By the way, Ayle. I want to ask you something else.”

“Huh? I’ve already finished all my problem sets…”

“Not that—Is it true that the Boss hasn’t thrown a birthday party in years?”

“A birthday party…? Now that you mention it, yes. Just small gatherings among us, where we’d give her presents and light candles on a cake… That’s about it, I think.”

“Is that so?”

Realizing that what Galm had said was true, I nodded and left Ayle behind. After that, I ran into Levitan and Arima.

“Eight!”

“Eight♠. What’s the matter?”
Th is w as c o p i e d f ro m k i n g mtl . org

I asked them the same question.

Q3. What did you prepare for the Boss’s birthday present?

“A birthday present for the Boss? Levi-chan has carrot chocolate! It’s Levi-chan’s favorite!”

“I prepared a gemstone from Ardernia◆. It’s a luck stone that brings good fortune to those who possess it.”

Hearing Levi-chan’s gift, I couldn’t help but chuckle. Arima’s gift was much better. In fact, his gift was more aligned with the ideal birthday present I had in mind.

Something that couldn’t be easily obtained in this world and something that would actually benefit the Boss. It wasn’t just any old gemstone, but a magic stone of true fortune, as Arima claimed.

In contrast, what did Levi-chan prepare? Carrot chocolate? Regalia could snap her fingers and have a five-star hotel chef whip up mountains of high-end desserts with the finest ingredients.

T h is w as c opi ed f r o m k i n g m t l . o r g
In that sense, her gift seemed the most useless and meaningless… But Levi-chan didn’t seem to think so.

T h i s w a s c o p i e d fr o m k i ng mt l . o r g
“The Boss can eat something like that anytime.”

“Really? But it’s okay! Eating delicious things always makes you happy!”

“Well, eating a lot of something isn’t necessarily a good thing… And Galm said that Beastfolk don’t celebrate birthdays, but you do, Levi-chan?”

“I don’t have a family, so I wouldn’t know.”

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

It took me a moment to remember that Levi-chan was an orphan, who had been subjected to human experimentation before being released, and my apology came as I realized I had soured the mood.

But Levi-chan burst out laughing, as if it didn’t bother her at all.

“Haha—! It’s okay! If it’s Eight, you’re allowed to be that rude!”

“No, I really shouldn’t…”

“More importantly—Eight. The fact that you’re asking these questions means you’re struggling to figure out what to give the Boss, aren’t you?”

“…Yes. Nothing seems right.”

“It’s simple! Just give her something that would make her happy!”

‘You’re really not giving this any thought, are you…’ I held my tongue and returned to the lab.

A3. Anything that would make the Boss happy will do.

Back in the lab, I organized the information I had gathered from the executives, but something felt off, and I let out a low hum.

Compiling all the answers, something didn’t add up. An instinctive sense of something strange was nagging at me…

I laid out the answers I had received from the executives and thought it over.

A1. The Boss hasn’t thrown a birthday party in years. Only small gatherings.

A2. The Boss is a girl. No girl hates Magical Girls.

A3. Anything that would make the Boss happy will do.

‘What’s so strange about this… Oh.’

As I glanced over the answers written in my notebook, I finally noticed the oddity and let out a groan. It was in the answer I had gotten from Galm: the statement that the Boss hadn’t thrown a birthday party in years.

That was odd.
Th i s w a s c o p ie d f r o m k i n g m t l. or g

‘Not celebrating her birthday? That can’t be right.’

Think back to the first day I arrived in this world. What was it that caught the Boss’s attention when I was staying at her house? It was the fact that I had repaired a robot that she had received as a birthday present.

Regalia had mentioned that she had thrown a grand birthday party that year, attracting many people, and had received that robot as a gift from a famous hero. It had only stopped working because the batteries had run out after a few years.

In other words, the Boss had thrown elaborate birthday parties at least up until a few years ago. At least at the level appropriate for the heir of a large corporation.

But now?

T h i s w a s c op ied from k i n g m t l . o rg
“…Vira.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“I have something to ask… What happened a few years ago?”

“What are you talking about? You can’t just ask something like that out of the blue and expect me to understand.”

“I mean a few years ago… during the Boss’s birthday party. What happened?”

Q. Why did the Boss stop celebrating her birthday?

Vira answered with a bitter smile.

T hi s w as co p ie d f ro m k i n gm t l . o r g
“…It’s a bit hard to talk about. But back then, the Boss—”

A. Five years ago, on her birthday, Regalia lost her parents.

That was the answer to the question that had been nagging at the back of my mind.

***

Eight had mentioned that the side effect of the stamina enhancer was stunted growth, but Regalia, who had been staying up for days after taking it, was experiencing another side effect.

Hallucinations.

─Mom! Dad!

─Be careful, Regalia.

─Look at this!

The memories of running through the garden with her parents as a child were vividly playing out before her eyes.

Her sleep-deprived brain was dragging up memories buried deep within her, forcing her to relive them.

“─Miss?”

“…Ah, what is it?”

“You seem tired… Why not head to your bedroom?”

Th is w as c o p i e d fro m k i n g m t l . o r g
“I’m fine. I’m not sleepy. I just… just zoned out for a moment, that’s all. Don’t worry.”

Regalia rubbed her eyes and turned her attention back to the documents in front of her. The moment she closed her eyes, memories from her childhood flickered before her.

She felt an urge to throw herself into that illusion, but she didn’t. She knew all too well that it meant nothing.

A dream is just a dream, and an illusion is just an illusion.

Even if you indulge in it, reality won’t change one bit.

Unless you could ride a time machine back to the past…

‘I shouldn’t wish for such a miracle.’

Regalia let out a bitter smile and continued working. She was swamped with tasks. That’s what it meant to be the chairwoman of a conglomerate. A position where one was too busy to get lost in memories.

A role where dreaming was a luxury.

End of Chapter