Chapter 10
Bang!
"Step down from the Foundation Chairman position? What kind of insane nonsense is that!"
The second son of the Stingray Family.
Benedict Stingray erupted in fury inside his office.
"That terminally ill bastard should’ve just rolled around in bed and died! Instead, he’s alive and telling me what to do…!"
"Rumor has it that Big Brother’s illness has completely healed?"
At his younger sister Kalia Stingray’s words, Benedict’s voice rose even higher.
"Exactly, do you think that makes any damn sense? You know as well as I do that bastard’s illness was 'Genetic Overcast'!"
Among the Stingray Family, Benedict had a particularly deep understanding of nanomachine technology.
He knew far better than the average doctor or engineer what disease had been eating away at his brother’s life.
"That’s a rare disease that even our tech department and medical department haven’t found a cure for! That bastard was destined to die within six months!"
The malfunction occurs at astronomical probability, making research itself extremely difficult.
At best, they speculated that a specific gene code was causing the error.
Moreover, it wasn’t a normal disease, so even people with the same diagnosis had entirely different symptoms.
Naturally, there was no drug or technology to cure it.
Of course, if one could completely eliminate the nanomachines from the body, it might be curable, but no such technology existed at present.
Once someone had nanomachines implanted and became an Adaptee, there was no way to return to a natural state.
Even if, by some miracle, 99.99% of the nanomachines spread throughout the body were removed, the remaining 0.01% would self-replicate and restore the original state.
"Where the hell did that damned rumor come from? That monster bastard’s illness was cured—can that really be trusted?"
"I don’t know either. But it didn’t seem entirely baseless."
"Why do you think that?"
"A few days ago, didn’t the Intelligence Department employees rush around following Big Brother’s orders? Did you already forget?"
"Oh, that ‘Talking Vending Machine’ or whatever he told them to find?"
It was about four days ago.
That morning, Aaron had suddenly woken up and stirred up a fuss, yelling, "Find the Talking Vending Machine in Sector E!"
He claimed it was the way to cure his disease or something like that, so the Intelligence Department went into a frenzy trying to search all of Sector E.
But the news quickly reached their father and Benedict, and they quietly canceled Aaron’s orders behind his back.
Wasting company resources on the baseless ravings of a terminally ill man wasn’t good, and more than anything, they didn’t want Aaron’s disease to be cured.
"But what if that was real? The Talking Vending Machine actually cured that monster bastard’s disease?"
"Hard to believe, isn’t it?"
"Heh."
Benedict clutched his head from the intense stress and collapsed onto the sofa.
Kalia, sipping expensive natural coffee across from him, asked,
"So, what are you planning to do, Brother?"
"What do you mean?"
"Now that Big Brother has recovered, everything will return to how it was. All the work you’ve put in until now will be for nothing."
"I won’t let that happen."
"Really? I truly hope you mean that this time."
"What are you trying to say?"
"You and even Father are all afraid of Big Brother, aren’t you? All the men in our family become cowards in front of him."
Though she spoke mockingly, there was some truth to it.
Aaron’s talent was the greatest among the siblings, even posing a threat to their father, who was known in the business world as the old fox.
Of course, if it came down to sheer wits, the Stingray chairman was still superior.
Neither Benedict nor Kalia fell behind when it came to strategic battles.
The problem was Aaron’s overwhelming physical power.
Without a doubt, Aaron Stingray was stronger than anyone Benedict had ever seen.
The reason for calling him a "being" was because even state-of-the-art military drones were no better than scrap metal in front of Aaron.
"You’re the weird one. How can you be so friendly with that monster bastard?"
A monster in every sense.
It made you wonder whether a mere human should even be allowed to possess such power.
Aaron was a natural-born hunter and apex predator.
Might makes right.
Even if you had an army of tens of thousands behind you, it meant nothing if the person in front of you was stronger than them all.
For example, if he suddenly went wild during a family dinner?
You couldn’t bring a whole army to every event involving Aaron.
So it was only natural that the Stingray Chairman and Benedict were wary of him.
It was a survival instinct all living creatures should have.
In fact, it was Kalia, who joked and played around with Aaron like nothing, that seemed the odd one.
"Big brothers are born with a gene that makes them dote on their youngest sisters."
"……"
Says the one who was born in a lab.
Benedict didn’t even respond to her absurd comment.
And perhaps not expecting a reply, Kalia continued,
"Just my opinion, but wouldn’t it be better to back down quietly this time?"
"You want me to tuck my tail and run? Are you planning to side with that monster bastard?"
"Well, I don’t really care either way. But you’re only in that seat as the 'Acting Chairman', right? Clinging to it like that doesn’t look good."
"I know that already!"
Benedict snapped irritably and bit his lip.
No matter how he fought, it wouldn’t look good.
A younger brother who refused to step down out of greed, even after his older brother’s illness was cured.
A perfect story for those third-rate tabloid media outlets that hated the Stingray name to sink their teeth into.
"The Human Resources Development Foundation holds great symbolic value because of its role. The position even comes with the title of Executive Director and is basically the path to becoming the next Chairman. There’s no way I’m handing over that spot to some monster."
"Then what are you going to do?"
"I’ll take the challenge."
"I don’t think responding to Big Brother’s provocation is the wisest move."
"Shut it. If I play this right, I can completely destroy that monster bastard’s standing."
"Hmm."
A very confident attitude.
Kalia looked at him expressionlessly, then just shrugged.
As if to say it had nothing to do with her.
"Well, I’ll be cheering you on, so do your best."
***
Trinity Academy Dormitory.
Even in a facility far cleaner than most homes in Sector C, there was one area that stood out.
A special wing reserved for students sponsored by major corporations.
It was, in essence, a dormitory for the ‘lucky ones’ who had managed to catch the eyes of the city's aristocrats.
Food, drinks, clothes.
Everything was of superior quality compared to what regular students received, allowing them to enjoy a luxurious lifestyle.
They were the envy of most students at the Academy, who were largely from districts below Sector C.
But maybe because of that—
Between students who were on equal footing when they first entered the Academy, a strange sort of class divide had formed.
There go the corporate lapdogs.
Which ones?
Stingray.
Bastards.
Don’t make eye contact. If they pick a fight, it’s always our loss.
Among them, the students affiliated with the Stingray Group had an especially poor reputation.
Because they received far more support than others, many of them walked around with inflated egos.
They acted like kings within the Academy garden, and not only regular students but even those backed by other corporations looked at them with disdain.
But even they had their own struggles.
"Damn it, what kind of evaluation is this during vacation?"
"Seriously. I had plans and had to cancel everything."
That struggle was having to respond to their sponsor’s summons without exception—even if it came out of nowhere.
And now, the ones being called were first-year students from Stingray’s tech division, about to become second-years.
Thanks to excellent grades over the past year, they had caught the eye of the Stingray Group.
Even as they walked, they kept grumbling nonstop.
"So what are they evaluating? We already submitted all our grades from last year."
"Apparently the sponsor returned and wants to check our skills personally."
"The sponsor… you mean Mr. Benedict?"
"He’s just the acting one. Not him. Haven’t you heard of someone called Aaron Stingray?"
"Oh, the one who was hospitalized?"
"Yeah. The Crown Prince. I don’t know the details, but it looks like he’s coming back because he recovered. He was actually our original sponsor."
"I see."
It was annoying, but they had no choice but to follow the order once it came down—unless they wanted their sponsorship revoked.
So, even while grumbling, the students sponsored by Stingray moved toward the meeting spot right on time.
Then—
"Whoa!?"
A male student walking at the front of the hallway collided with someone at the corner.
The difference in size was so great that the person he bumped into was flung backward and fell hard.
"Damn it! Watch where you're going!"
The male student snapped without even checking on the other person.
But the person who got hit only bowed repeatedly without arguing.
"S-sorry! I took a wrong turn… I’m really sorry, so sorry…!"
"Tsk!"
It was a disheveled-looking girl.
Her hair, grown out nearly to the floor, covered most of her face.
On her backside, a mechanical device was attached like a tail.
The male student scanned her dull appearance up and down, then muttered in disgust.
"What the hell. Even ‘things like this’ get into the Academy?"
"……!"
That unmistakable sense of superiority.
The pride—no, arrogance—born from achieving top grades and catching the attention of the most elite corporation in New Valhalla City.
But none of the students pointed it out or reached out a hand to help the fallen girl.
Even if they thought to themselves, ‘Isn’t that a bit much?’, no one actually acted on it.
It was only natural.
Trinity Academy was a place like the wild.
Your life could change depending on whether or not you achieved top grades and caught the eye of one of the corporations that ruled the city.
If anything, stepping on a potential competitor was smarter than offering a pointless helping hand to a gloomy girl who wouldn’t help your future at all.
Besides, the name of the boy who just caused the commotion was ‘Sing’.
He had proudly ranked first in the Academy’s first-year tech division last year—a young man with a bright future.
His personality was a bit trashy, but his path forward looked smooth and secure.
Everyone wanted to quietly move along, thinking there was no reason to get on his bad side.
But then—
"Are you alright, Miyu?"
A beautiful voice rang out from behind the girl.
It was a voice none of the students had heard before, but for some reason, they were all gripped by the sense that they had just made a terrible mistake.
"I told you not to leave my side."
"I-I’m sorry, Aaron… I guess I got too excited because there were so many new things…"
"Weren’t you singing about not wanting to come here just an hour ago, you shut-in?"
"I-I’m sorry…"
"Don’t cry."
Behind the fallen girl stood a man radiating overwhelming presence.
Black hair slicked back and golden eyes.
The students found themselves captivated by his handsome face for just a moment, but quickly recognized who he was and froze in fear.
"N-no way… Aaron Sting…!"
"S-sponsor!"
"What are you doing?! Hurry and greet him!"
"Hello, Sponsor!"
The students bowed 90 degrees and greeted Aaron loudly and politely.
That included Sing, who had just collided with Miyu—not that long ago, his attitude had been completely different.
But Aaron didn’t even glance at the students.
As if he hadn’t even registered their existence, Aaron’s gaze remained fixed solely on Miyu.
"Let me see. Are you hurt anywhere?"
"I-I’m fine…"
"That’s a relief."
Aaron grabbed Miyu’s arm and helped her up.
He pulled out a handkerchief and roughly wiped away her tears before slowly starting to walk.
"Don’t wander off again. Stay close."
"Y-yes…!"
Miyu quickly followed after Aaron, taking small, hurried steps.
Because of the significant height difference, it looked almost like a young, stern father walking with his timid daughter.
As the two of them moved farther away, murmurs began to ripple through the students.
-W-what the heck?! Who even is that girl?!
-Wait, is she his daughter?! Did he have a secret daughter this whole time?!
-No, he didn’t say “Dad”! And they don’t even look that far apart in age!
-Then what’s their relationship?! They seem super close?!
And then—
All the students received a mail at the same time.
Though the timing felt random, the contents of the message were clear.
"‘Additional Notice’… and, ‘Sponsorship Suspension’…?"
"If we don’t do well in today’s evaluation, they’ll cancel our sponsorship…?"
Only then did the students realize—
Aaron hadn’t failed to notice them.
He had simply…
"Dude, we’re so screwed…"
…been so pissed off that he didn’t even want to acknowledge them.