Chapter 184

To be honest, being the Stingray heir or whatever hadn’t mattered much to me.

I had chosen the character “Aaron Stingray” simply because I thought I needed the power to protect what I cared about and, beyond that, to seize what I wanted.

So Benedict or Kallia wanted to become the Stingray Group’s successor instead of me?

I was perfectly willing to step aside peacefully. Running a giant corporation like that wasn’t easy, and if they just handed me a comfortable stock dividend I could happily enjoy a hermit’s life in my room while grinning ear to ear.

But Trinity Academy.

I could not tolerate anyone coveting that place, which to me was like a small treasure chest. No — if they truly wanted Trinity Academy, I could even give that up.

If they only waited until Iri and the others of ours had safely graduated, then what they did to the building afterward was none of my concern.

But my father, Chairman Drake Stingray, and my brother, Benedict Stingray, could not bear it.

There was a line people should never cross, and they had blatantly crossed it. They might have thought they could get away with it without me noticing, but in the end they were found out.

So what was to be done?

People who mindlessly crossed lines and provoked local incidents deserved equivalent punishment.

Therefore there was only one thing I had to do.

Revenge.

“Y-y-you’re not seriously on the phone with Chairman Drake Stingray, are you?”

Vladimir, who had eavesdropped on the call beside me, flinched in surprise. I had brought him along deliberately so he could listen; I wasn’t going to scold him for that.

I nodded calmly.

“Yes.”

“A-are you sane? That’s your father! Not just anyone — he’s the ‘Emperor’!?”

“What of it?”

“Is that a question? You just told the Emperor you were going to ‘put him in his place’!? How are you going to deal with the fallout!?”

Vladimir trembled with fear.

Given Chairman Drake Stingray’s personality, he seemed to think that he wouldn’t leave me alone after hearing such words. Even if I were his son.

“W-what are you actually going to do?”

“I’ll make them pay for this.”

“Specifically?”

“I’ll find Benedict and kill him.”

“Benedict… that’s your brother.”

“True enough.”

“…….”

Color drained from Vladimir’s face.

He looked as if he were staring at a species of human he could not comprehend. Well, even as the only son of a megacorp head like Militech’s chairman, having been raised in a normal human way, he couldn’t be expected to understand the atmosphere of the Stingray family.

Judging by his expression, he was definitely thinking, They’re real lunatics.

When I said, “If you have anything to say, say it,” he pursed his lips a few times as if searching for an appropriate response, then sighed deeply.

“Ha… fine. Please, just don’t let any of the fallout land on me this time. I’ll pay back my debts gradually. Well then.”

“Wait.”

I grabbed him as he was about to leave as if his business was done. Vladimir looked back at me with anxious eyes.

“Didn’t you promise?”

“What are you talking about?”

“That you’d help me return to the foundation chairmanship.”

“…….”

“I haven’t said anything yet. Try not to make that face.”

His expression twisted more and more.

He looked like he thought I was about to do something absurd again. But I felt a bit wronged.

He always started the trouble and then got roasted for it, didn’t he? If he hadn’t done stupid things, I wouldn’t have needed to take extreme measures.

Besides, I honestly felt indebted this time. If it hadn’t been for him, I couldn’t be sure Miyu would have come back safely.

More importantly, in the original story Vladimir had never been shown getting ousted from the Militech chairmanship. Having him return to his position would reduce variables and make things easier to control in future developments.

“…What are you going to do?”

“I’ll hand over Benedict’s research records.”

“W-what!?”

“Don’t react so theatrically every time.”

Stopping the flow like this constantly made it hard to move the story forward.

“There’s a mastermind behind this incident — Benedict. I knew he’d caused the last accident and then locked someone away, but it seems my father had prepared a secret research lab for him.”

“And?”

“As you know, Benedict had been the former head researcher of the Stingray Technology Division’s module department. He had long recognized and coveted Miyu’s genius, and this time he’d gone all in.”

I pointed at my head with my index finger.

“What he was after was the information inside Miyu’s head. If he’d tried to kidnap her outright, I would have noticed, so he planned to handle it in a relatively quiet way.”

“Hah. You call that quiet?”

“That particular accident was something even he hadn’t anticipated.”

What Benedict had made was a brainwave scanner.

He probably intended to quietly siphon the information from Miyu’s mind without anyone knowing. But of all things, the scanner triggered a mutation because the “Living Firework” emitted powerful waves, and that ultimately led to this mess.

“Even Benedict wouldn’t have planned to kill Miyu.”

Just from the fact that he’d tried to use a ‘scanner’ — a method that wouldn’t attract my attention — I could tell he still feared me.

A person like that wouldn’t have intended to kill Miyu, and since there was no sign he had interfered in the “Living Firework” exhibition process, it had to be an accident.

“In any case, I doubt Chairman Stingray would have entrusted Benedict with anything trivial.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because Benedict’s a genius too.”

Call it main-character buffing or the author’s setup; despite feeling overshadowed by Miyu, Benedict had remarkable talent in technology.

Would our old man, who treated useful human resources as tools, have left such a valuable person untouched? Never.

It had to be research important to the Stingray Group or the Chairman. I couldn’t be certain what it was, but as someone who had knowledge as an ‘observer’, I could roughly guess it wasn’t something decent.

“I’ll stop that research and render Benedict completely incapable of working again. And any byproducts I gain in the process, I’ll hand over to you.”

“How does that help me return to the chairmanship?”

“I don’t know. I’m just giving you a gift; how you use it is your role.”

“…….”

“You remember last time I tipped you off about a colony that would be attacked by the Titans. You used that and profited handsomely, didn’t you?”

“You mean the incident earlier this year? I lost at the [Showcase], and because I was suspected of murdering you, it was basically break-even.”

Vladimir grumbled discontentedly, but his expression wasn’t that bad. My proposal seemed to appeal to him.

“Well, for me, having more cards isn’t a bad thing… but Aaron Stingray, are you sure about this?”

“Are you talking about me defying Chairman Stingray? Or about me taking you, a man from Militech, as my partner?”

“Both.”

“It’s fine. This is a message.”

“A message?”

“A message that I can do anything.”

Would I really harm the company I was supposed to inherit? Would the Stingray heir really join hands with Militech? Would I really strangle my own neck?

By shattering such complacent thoughts and showing that I was truly insane, they would never dare touch me again.

Yes, insane.

Before I had transmigrated, Aaron Stingray had been a raving mad butcher. If his mood soured, he could slit countless throats in an instant. Chairman Stingray, and Benedict too, had dared not touch me while I was bedridden. They had simply waited patiently for my terminal illness to take my life.

But ever since I transmigrated, the man named “Aaron Stingray” had, inevitably, become closer to a “sane person.”

That was the problem.

I wasn’t any weaker, but since I had lost the position of the madman, people had started to see me as someone easy to handle.

So I would use this opportunity to smash that thought into pieces. By thrashing about with a knife in my mouth, they would come to realize — “Ah, there really is a line that must never be crossed.”

When I explained my thinking, Benedict looked at me with a peculiar gaze. Then, with a faint sigh, he said:

“Aaron Stingray… you have changed.”

Well, of course.

The contents were an entirely different person.

“Are those children really so precious to you?”

“Yes.”

I answered without hesitation.

At that, Benedict seemed slightly surprised, then turned his head to look where Iri and Miyu were. Miyu was still kneeling in front of Iri, listening to her lecture.

Vladimir muttered something faintly, as if he were overlaying someone else’s image on top of them.

“Donovan…”

With my Adaptee’s ears, I clearly heard that name, but I chose to pretend I hadn’t. Keeping silent, I let him speak again.

“…Understood. I will look for Benedict Stingray.”

“You know exactly what I want.”

I hadn’t even said it yet.

Truly, he was quick-witted, befitting Militech’s heir.

Since I had rebelled against Chairman Stingray, I couldn’t use the Stingray Intelligence Division’s strength anymore. Of course, I had Kara the Red Fixer, the best troubleshooter, but it still felt lacking.

Vladimir saw through this fact and spoke exactly what I desired. Which meant he also found this deal to his liking.

“Hmph. I’ll contact you later.”

But Vladimir just scoffed, as if to say “don’t make me laugh,” and strode down the corridor.

Come to think of it, that guy really had a tsundere streak.

You could call this the conclusion of the incident — or perhaps its epilogue.

“Mr. Chairman, may I leave Miyu in your care?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you.”

After a full two hours of lecturing, Iri, too exhausted to even stay angry, returned to her room.

The Academy Festival wasn’t over yet, and by morning she would have to run around again as the operations chairwoman. She had no choice.

Iri had probably wanted me to take Miyu to the hospital, but I decided to postpone that for now.

There were too many complications.

I entrusted Maria with tidying up the “firework exhibition hall” and personally carried Miyu back to her room. She was too weak to walk alone, so I held her in both arms.

The so-called princess carry.

Honestly, I had expected Miyu to get embarrassed, but she seemed too drained to say a word all the way back.

‘Oh well. I’ll talk to her later.’

I laid her gently on the bed and was about to leave when—

“M-Mr. Aaron, there’s something I must tell you.”

Her golden eyes held me in place. Looking at her like this, she really did resemble Kallia. It was only natural, since I had used my cells to regenerate her body. Her genetic information must overlap considerably with mine — and with Kallia’s as well.

So what was Miyu to me now — my little sister? My daughter? Either way, it didn’t much change the relationship.

“Go ahead.”

“I-I never told you until now… No, it wasn’t that I meant to hide it… It’s just… I-I had completely forgotten until recently…”

She faltered.

Miyu’s eyes flickered restlessly.

Her timid attitude remained, but I noticed something about her speech had changed. That odd habit of dragging out her words was gone.

I didn’t know why, but it felt like this was going to be a long conversation. I pulled up a chair and sat by her bed.

Finally, Miyu steadied her breath and began to reveal her past.

“Y-you asked me yesterday, didn’t you? If I had ever killed anyone. If I answer that now… Yes, I have.”

So began her tale. Her past. Her escape from the research facility. How she had settled alone in Sector E as a child.

As she recounted her stories, her breathing turned ragged from time to time. Old emotions must have resurfaced. I simply waited patiently until she could calm herself… until she could summon the courage to continue her tale.

And when everything was told, she put a period at the end with these words:

“I-I have always wanted a family… And, it might be rude of me to think so, but I hoped you could be my family, Mr. Aaron…”

She trembled with fear, unable to finish the thought. She didn’t have the nerve to come out and say, “Please stay by my side.”

Even after all these events, even now, she had no certainty I would accept such a request.

But I understood her heart.

Why had Miyu become such a girl? What settings about her had I not known? Filling in those blanks, the picture of the person called “Miyu” finally completed in my mind.

And so, in that moment, I knew immediately what choice I had to make. What she needed. What I had to do. The “true” way to help Miyu grow.

Trivial words weren’t needed.

Sometimes, a small action conveyed more than any grand speech.

“……”

I gently embraced her as she sat on the bed. I judged that this alone was enough — and I was not mistaken.

“…!”

The moment she fell into my arms, Miyu finally released the tears she had been holding back. For a long time she wept soundlessly against my chest, while I simply stroked the back of her head.

[Act 4 of Part 2 has ended.]

[Reward will be distributed.]

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