The Evil Scientist is Too Competent

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Six, having stopped crying, immediately took me to her parents’ house. It was quite rare for a colleague to have alive parents, and even rarer for them to have a good relationship, so visiting them felt really strange.

It felt like we were about to have an arranged meeting… I shook off the distracting thoughts and took out the Recognition Transformation Pill, the item that would allow me to perceive Six’s existence.

Upon seeing the pill, Six’s expression stiffened as she looked at me.

“You think you can just recognize me with that…?”

“The technology needed to make this is impressive, it’s just that the pill itself isn’t filled with any extraordinary technology. It’s like a smartphone.”

“Ah…”

Smartphones, hailed as the pinnacle of 21st-century technology, had utterly ridiculous performance compared to the computers of just half a century ago. A smartphone that some random passerby could carry around was thousands of times more powerful than an ENIAC that needed a 167㎡ room.

When comparing size and performance, it was utterly nonsensical; with the technology of that time, creating a computing device with performance similar to a smartphone would require a machine the size of a city, perhaps even the size of a country. That’s practically impossible.

“Well, it’s not really important what this is and how amazing the technology involved is…”

“…Right.”

“Are you confident in your speaking skills? I’m not particularly confident myself.”

“Do I look like I am-?”

“Okay. Then could you take that off for a bit? Come out when I call you.”

With an expression of uncertainty about what I was planning, Six nodded vaguely and turned off the devices of her special suit. To my eyes, she was still visible, but this would mean that others wouldn’t perceive her, even her own parents…

Ahem—after a few coughs, I headed towards the house where her parents lived. Despite their daughter being an executive in Evilus Corporation’s secret organization, the Evil Organization, it was a fairly modest-sized villa that didn’t give off a vibe of wealth.

Who would ever guess that the occupants of this house were the parents of an Evil Organization executive? Every time I looked at the house, I remembered the despair Six must have felt and cautiously knocked on the door.

[…Who is it?]
“I apologize. I’m from Evilus Corporation.”
[Evilus Corporation? Why are you…]
“It sounds like a long story; may I come in to talk?”

Her mother, slightly suspicious of my words, carefully opened the door. Perhaps my neat formal attire from the intercom played a part in that. People are swayed by appearances, after all.

I bowed politely and entered, then followed her to sit at the table before clearing my throat. However, her mother jumped straight to the point without any formalities.

“You said you came from Evilus Corporation? Why…?”

“Ah, I’m sorry for the late introduction. I’m this kind of person.”

I handed her a business card to her, which was a fake one I made while discussing things with the Boss. It was labeled as an Evilus Corporation employee.

Sure enough, her mother, upon receiving the card, looked puzzled, constantly tilting her head while alternating her gaze between me and the card.

“Why is an employee coming to our house…?”

“Congratulations. You’ve been selected for a special pension program organized by Evilus Corporation. I’m here to introduce it to you today.”

“Oh? What is that…?”

“You’re aware that Evilus Corporation is committed to social welfare, right? This program is part of that…”

“Oh, oh dear! Just a moment! I haven’t offered you a drink yet!”

Her mother said that and hurried away into the kitchen. Ignoring the fact that she was checking if the card was real as she went there, I knew that the card was fake but that I truly was an executive of Evilus Corporation. Since I had already discussed this with the Boss, even if she called Evilus Corporation, they would confirm that I was genuine.

Before long, her mother returned, her face beaming with a smile as she carried two glasses of orange juice.

“You’re not allergic to orange juice, are you?”

“Of course not. I’ll drink it gratefully.”

Now was the moment. I signaled to Six, who was blankly staring at her mother beside me, to drop the pill into the drink. Realizing my cue, she finally acted and placed the pill in the glass.

The pill dissolved atop the juice, bubbling and frothing, but I didn’t mind. Six’s hand hadn’t left the glass yet. After a moment, once the bubbles started to settle, she slowly took her seat next to me.

The chair scraped noisily and dust rose, yet her mother remained oblivious to her presence.

“Um… I don’t know if it’s okay to say this, but we haven’t exactly applied for anything.”

“The eligibility requirements are confidential.”

“There are others who need assistance more than us.”

“That’s fine. Everyone is being supported, too.”

“Ah…!”

What difference does it make? I mean, it didn’t sound rational, but people often get clouded by benefits. Unless this was a scam, there’s no way I’d be here without checking my status. There was no room for doubt.

While reading the documents I presented, her mother seemed overwhelmed by the extent of support and sipped on her juice, likely very thirsty.

This was it. The moment she downed the juice, I immediately stood up. Her mother attempted to rise as well, asking if something was wrong, but she suddenly grabbed her head and staggered.

“Ugh…?!”

Seated again, her mother carefully opened her eyes and was stunned to find Six in front of her, blinking in disbelief.

“…Shizu?”

“Mom.”

“No, you’re here right now, but why until now… I should have called…!”

The shock hitting a parent after years of forgetting their child is a tumultuous wave that can’t be described in words.

I slowly left the house while witnessing the tears of Six, who was gazing at her crying mother. I didn’t belong in this moment.

Exiting the building, I cautiously looked up at the sky, which was dark with clouds, representing the emotions of the two mother and daughter.

‘Parents…’

I too have parents.

But if asked whether, at this moment, a few hundred miles away, they were someone I wished to see to the point of tears, I couldn’t say we were that fond of each other.

I wanted to see them, sure, but not to the extent I’d burn everything for that…

Just that level.

So all I could do was empathize with the maternal feelings of my coworkers when they surfaced, feeling my cheeks heat up in response.

‘More importantly, her real name was Shizu. That girl.’

I recalled Six’s real name, storing it in a corner of my mind as I returned to headquarters.

* * *

“Hello there— Executive Number Six of the Evil Organization. It’s Six, right?”

“Six—!”

The second executive meeting held in the same month. While puzzling over the situation, I administered the pills to the gathered executives. This way, all executives could recognize Six’s existence.

The executives who already knew Six chuckled awkwardly as they remembered her after realizing why they’d forgotten her. It seemed weird that they had completely overlooked her until now.

“What’s this? Why had we completely forgotten about her until now?”

“Well— it’s because my ability has evolved so much that everyone in the world forgot about me, right?”

“That… so, you’ve been going at it alone all this time…?”

“Yup—! And the one who resolved that situation is this gentleman here!”

Six pointed at me while saying that. The executives looked at me with expressions that questioned what I had done this time.

I merely shrugged, and that was the end of it. The executives had grown accustomed to this situation and no longer raised questions. They simply accepted it.

“By the way— Six? You said you had something you wanted to say.”

“Oh, yes— I did indeed, right?”

“Were you called here to greet everyone? How about we have a welcome party together for this occasion?”

Regalia said with a smirk. However, there was one fact she was unaware of.

While everyone forgot about Six, her salary continued to be paid, and she was a professional who kept doing her job just as long as she received her salary.

“Boss has given me a mission. I’ve completed it.”

“…What?”

“It was a command to thoroughly search through the businesses of 25 cities. It took quite a while, but I got it done—.”

Six said, slamming a box of documents down on the table.

“With this, could I get a bonus—?”

Regalia, who’d just let out a bemused laugh at her casual air, began scrutinizing the documents on the table, her eyes lighting up as she spoke.

“─If you want, I’m willing to give you half of this world.”

Upon hearing that, I realized that this box contained information about that guy she had desperately been searching for.