Volume 1 Chapter 2: Studying Youth [2/2]

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I used to work in production and manufacturing, not in research, but I could still tell that everything in this laboratory had changed since then. The production lines and the location of the land on which the institute stands have not changed at all. However, as you can see from the exterior of the building, the institute had been extensively renovated. They must have bought the surrounding land as well. The institute was much bigger and prettier than it used to be.

I suddenly felt lonely seeing the development of the area I used to work at.

“As you can see in the brochure, our company focuses on the research and development of medical magic tools, and we have a very strict safety policy for that. Because we’re in the medical field, we do a lot of testing.”

Sophie seemed to feel a little embarrassed that her father was explaining things to her in front of us. I suppose it can’t be helped that she was the one who initiated the company tour, but it certainly made her feel a little embarrassed to have her own father in the room in front of her friends. I can’t help but understand.

“Mumumu…”

At one point, Anya stopped and groaned as she looked at something.

“What are you looking at? Anya?”

“This…”

She pointed to a poster on the wall. There was a poster that outlined the research on a certain topic and the results.

“Isn’t this just an outline of the company’s internal research?”

It’s like an introduction to your research when people from outside the company come to visit. At the very least, it’s not designed for students to be able to understand at all.

“You don’t understand even if you read it, right? Anya?”

“I don’t. So I want to understand it.”

Anya was wrinkling her brow and struggling with the poster. As expected, she hated to lose. I was stunned and respected her at the same time.

Eventually, Sophie’s father called and said that we would be moving on to the next location, so we had to leave. I asked Anya if she understood what we had just studied.

“About half of it.”

That’s the response I got. No way!

“It would be easier to understand if you read the ‘purpose of the study’ first, then skip the whole thing and read the ‘conclusion’ first. It’s like the design of the experiment, the description of the process, everything along the way is just a few lines of content for the conclusion.”

“…………”

I was amazed and dismayed. Sure, what she had just said was a trick or a simple basic of reading a paper, but this must be the first time she had read a research paper in a simplified form. Such a middle school student understood half of a company’s research? Bullshit, right?

“Is Anya really a middle school student?”

“What else is there to say?”

“Is it possible that you’re actually middle-aged inside?”

“Baka?”

Anya looked at me with taunting eyes, then giggled and made a peace sign with her fingers.

“What do you think?”

She was smiling proudly. I was dumbfounded, but she caught me and I laughed.

Sophie’s father, Mr. Shiro, took us on a tour of the various equipment and facilities of the institute. We saw a room with a huge microscope, a large room where magic tools were being tested, and an animal farm where animal experiments were being conducted.

Currently, this company is focusing more on medical research and development. When I was working in my previous life, production and manufacturing jobs were more dominant, and I was also engaged in those jobs, but now the overall percentage of production and manufacturing jobs seems to have decreased.

The places I had remembered were gone. And the magical tools I had manufactured in my previous life were no longer being produced.

All traces of my work were already gone. I was a little sad about that.

“Whoa! Sophie! And Costas-kun.”

While I was visiting one of the experimental facilities, an old man suddenly approached us.

“Grandpa.”

“I’m sorry I was so late. I was going to give you a tour myself, but one of my ex-subordinates asked me to help him, and now it’s so late.”

An old man with a white beard and mustache came up to us smiling and talking happily to Sophie. In other words, he must be Sophie’s Gramps, the former director. Oh shit.

“It’s been a long time, Gramps. How have you been?”

“Whoo-hoo-hoo! Sophie’s here for a tour of the company, so I’m in high spirits! Oh, and later, what did I tell you, I’m going to buy her a toy stick from the magical girl anime. Sophie loves cute things. “

“Gramps! Please stop! My friends from school are with me today!”

“Sorry about that…”

The white bearded old man was happily talking with his granddaughter while Sophie was being embarrassed by him. Sophie was blushing. So she likes Magical Girls, huh?

“So you’re the Anya and Zeke that Sophie was talking about?”

“Yes, I’m Sophie’s classmate Zeke. I’m always indebted to Sophie.”

“Fufufu…What a polite child. You could be more informal with me.”

The old man in front of me was smiling and talking casually.

He has changed, I think. I’m sure he was more of a frowning, unapproachable man.

“First of all, introduce yourself…”

The old man, Sophie’s grandfather, gave a polite bow.

“I’m Govan MacTaggert, former director of Clemens Magic Industries, father of Shiro Mayfield and grandfather of Sophie Mayfield. A pleasure to meet you.”

“Govan MacTaggert.”

This was a man who had been my peer in a previous life.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

“So what happened? The company was on the verge of a financial crisis, but it was saved by the help of another company with whom we had a close relationship. They were interested in a certain technology that we had, and they asked us to collaborate with them.”

After the tour of the company was over, we were ushered into a conference room for a social gathering, where we had a chat with the staff.

“You mentioned earlier that you helped the company before.”

“That’s right. In other words, it means that everything is a win-win situation. Remember it well.”

The person who was mainly talking was Govan, Sophie’s grandfather. Maybe he enjoyed talking to young kids, or maybe he was just happy to be able to talk about the company to his own granddaughter, but Govan had a lot to say anyway. The staff beside him laughed at the former director’s incessant talking, but he talked about the hardships he had faced in the past in research and development, the things that were challenging in his work, the things that were fun, the things that were painful, and many other things.

“When I joined this company, it was not so big and the building was not so clean. The rooms and corridors were small, and the factory used by the production department was dirty and rundown. There were tools piled up everywhere that we couldn’t put away.”

“It’s hard to imagine such a thing now.”

“Is that so?”

I know those days very well. I know you’ve been snickering about dirty factories and production sites, but the lab you were in was just as dirty as ours. In addition, dirty toilets were the same in the production plant and the laboratory.

We were having a fine cup of coffee in a beautiful looking teacup. I’m guessing that it was probably a luxury item.

There is no way that this company, which is now growing rapidly, would serve cheap coffee to their guests. Growing up in a wealthy family, Sophie and Costas must be used to drinking good food and know the difference between good and bad. And Anya’s family is also quite wealthy.

But unfortunately, I don’t know much about the differences between different types of coffee. So, when I drank the coffee in front of me, I could only guess that it was probably of a high quality. This was a little frustrating, so I pretended to be a connoisseur and drank my coffee black, without sugar or milk.

I don’t think it’s very mature for a “former adult” to act like an adult…

“Huh! You drink your coffee black! You’re a very mature man.”

“…………”

While I was distracted, Sophie’s grandfather, Govan, caught my eye.

“…Really? Even Costas there drinks his coffee black, right?”

“Costas is a bit of an eccentric boy,” she said. “Don’t people your age usually drink their coffee with sugar and milk? At your age, drinking coffee black is a bit odd.”

“…………”

Costas was reluctant to be called eccentric by Sophie’s grandfather, whom he had known since childhood. I want to add sugar and milk now, but Anya has already taken my sugar and milk with gusto. As expected of someone with a sweet tooth, Anya was happy to drink coffee that was sweeter than others.

“You’re quite the jolly person, aren’t you Mr. Govan?”

“Is that so?”

Govan rubbed his short white beard and mustache. He was called jolly, and he didn’t seem too happy about it.

Govan laughed cheerfully.

His appearance now did not match his past look at all.

That’s right. When Govan was young, he was difficult to get along with. He was smart and brilliant, but perhaps that was why he had a tendency to belittle those who were not capable compared to him.

In my previous life, Govan and I were classmates who started working at this company in the same year. Since I was in the manufacturing department and he was in the R&D department, we did not have much contact. Still, I didn’t have a good impression of him, and I had the feeling that he also looked down on almost all of his peers, including me.

But now what? Govan’s sour personality has faded into the shadows, and he’s become a likeable old man. Of course, I knew that the passage of time had made him that way, but I still couldn’t help but feel surprised.

After I died, this man changed. He’s changed.

I wanted to hear about the changes. I wanted to hear about how this company has changed since I died, and what happened to it.

There was a genius who belonged to this company.

The man succeeded in developing a magical tool that was effective in curing diseases. As a result, the company was highly praised by the medical community and attracted a great deal of attention from society.

I wanted to hear the story of the genius who had transformed this company in one fell swoop.

“I’d like to hear the story of how this company got so big.”

“Oh, I see you’ve been making those requests. I thought you wanted to hear about the employee who brought us to the attention of the medical community.”

“Yes.”

I had made my request in advance.

Anybody can find out that this company discovered an effective treatment for WM-8 chronic myocardial dysfunction, that it was praised by the medical community, and that the company’s performance rose steadily as a result. That’s why I had requested in advance through Sophie that I would like to hear the story of the genius who led to the transformation of this company.

But for some reason, Govan looked like he was having difficulty.

“Why would you want to hear such a story?”

“Eh?”

Govan asked a bit oddly.

“Why would you want to hear about a genius?”

“I think it’s normal to be interested in hearing about the story of how the company came to be successful?”

“Well, sure but…”

As he said this, Govan played with his beard and bent his mouth slightly.

For some reason, he seemed strangely reluctant to talk about it. His talkative mouth, which used to start talking without being asked a word, had somehow started to take on a little weight. I wondered why his mouth was clenched at the mention of the success story of how this company became big.

I’ll try to give you some more reasons.

“And my friend Anya, who is here, is also what you would call a genius. I’d like to hear what those geniuses have to say about it.”

“Hmm? What did you say? Zeke? I’d like to hear what you have to say.”

“You don’t have to participate in the conversation, but at least listen to what I have to say, Anya.”

Anya was playing with a handkerchief, folding cranes. What is she doing in a place like this?

“I see…”

Govan looked at Anya with such aloofness, and for some reason gave her a small nod.

“Okay, Fine. I’ll tell you the story. Let’s talk about the genius who inspired the company to change.”

“…………”

For some reason, he seemed reluctant and began to speak slowly. His tone was slow, as if he hadn’t been speaking so lightly before.

“That boy was my son.”

“Eh?”

“My son was a true genius. He developed new magical tools, started new trends, and made this company great. It was, indeed, the power of one genius. A genius changed everything for us.”

“…………”

Govan looked down and sipped quietly at the coffee in front of him.

“I didn’t know that. The father of that genius was Govan?”

“At the time, there was a disease with a high mortality rate called WM-8 chronic myocardial dysfunction. It was our company, or rather my son’s company, that developed a cure for this disease. This was the reason why Clemens Magic Industries was able to grow so much. We were praised by the medical community, and we received a lot of support. I’ve been given a lot to be thankful for…”

“…………”

“In fact, a long time ago, we had an employee who died of WM-8 chronic myocardial dysfunction. He was a classmate of mine at… It was only for a short time though.”

“Was that so?”

Sophie exclaimed in surprise.

“Yes, I did. Well, I didn’t really know him that well. But he was the same age as me, and he died of a disease that I’ll never forget about.”

“…………”

Those words synchronized deeply with me.

“Maybe that’s how it started. One day, my son, who was born later, suddenly started researching the disease, the WM-8 chronic myocardial dysfunction.”

The old man, who had been talking so cheerfully and happily, changed into a solemn face. His voice became low and his tone quiet.

“Regardless, my son was a genius. At only 25 years old, he made great achievements in his research. That’s enough to know that he was a genius.”

A genius who discovered a new cure for a disease at the age of 25. It’s unbelievable.

“He was a true genius. From the time he was a child, he was different from other children, and his needs were different. The knowledge he sought was not normal. His interests were different from those of ordinary people.”

“…………”

“I brought the little boy into the company’s laboratory when he was very young. I knew that he had a natural talent that would one day benefit our research and the world.”

“He’s an amazing person.”

“Yes. And, as expected, the boy achieved one thing after another. He noticed things that even adults didn’t notice. He advanced his theories with ideas that no one else could. He kept getting results at a young age.”

“…………”

“And he came up with a cure for the disease. He was highly praised by the medical community, admired by the company, and appreciated by many people.”

My heart tingled inside my chest.

He was a special person. He was the kind of “special” person that I admired. He had extraordinary talents, did things that ordinary people could not do, left results, saved people, was admired by people, and made his mark on the world.

He had something that I did not have in my previous life. He was my ideal person. I wanted to be as special as he was.

It was disgraceful, and I felt jealous of the prodigy.

“But there was no one who could understand him.”

“Eh?”

Govan continued to speak in a quiet, dark voice.

“Everyone couldn’t understand what he was saying. a grown man working in a company, who couldn’t follow his argument. It wasn’t just academic discussions. Many of the things he did and said were difficult to understand.”

“…………”

“One day, I heard a violent noise in his room. When I peeked in to see what was going on, I saw that the boy had broken his own certificates and trophies with his own hands. He was tearing up the certificates and smashing the trophies on the floor like a madman. When I scolded him for what he was doing, he cried, his eyes glittering, saying that this was not what he wanted and that these things would not teach him anything.”

We all gasped. The child genius had destroyed the form of honor he had earned for himself.

“He shredded the book of great men. He said that it won’t teach him anything. He was angry. The genius everyone envied was angry”

Govan continued to speak.

“He was angry. He was mad about something.”

“──────”

“He was angry. I didn’t even know what he was angry about…

But he was mad about something.”

I couldn’t understand it, he muttered in a small voice and shook his head helplessly.

“He died shortly after.”

“Eh?”

“He’s gone now. It was the year after he found the cure for his new disease, just the year after that.”

I felt as if I could not catch my breath. Sophie’s father, Mr. Shiro, gave me a somber look.

“On a snowy day on the outdoor stairs, he bumped into a person carrying a large load. He lost his balance and fell down the stairs. It was a serious blow and he didn’t make it.”

“…………”

Each of Govan’s words was heavy and painful.

“You don’t think it was a murder, do you?”

As a person who had achieved so much, there must have been people who were jealous of him.

“Wahahahaha! No, no! It was just an accident! That’s how it’s been judged! You’ve been reading too many mystery novels!”

“…………”

Govan laughed boldly, blowing away my doubts.

“There was snow on the ground, so he must have slipped.”

“…………”

“It was as if he had completed his task and was returning to heaven.”

A genius with a short life. Such words passed through my mind.

“I’m…….”

He looked up.

“I didn’t understand him. I couldn’t understand him.”

It was as if he was trying to keep the tears from spilling out of his eyes. I had never seen him so weak before. He was always irreverent, confident, and unsure of the feelings of the weak, but he seemed to have swallowed the thorns of pain after I died

“I’m sorry.”

Govan said.

“You don’t know the truth”

“…………”

“I haven’t been able to settle this story back then, nor have I been able to come to a conclusion right now in the present. No lesson learnt nor do I understand what was going through his mind that time.”

We couldn’t utter a word.

“It was just an accident, but maybe if I hadn’t made some mistakes as a parent, if I hadn’t been so hard on him, if I had given him what he really wanted, then maybe, just maybe, he wouldn’t have died.”

“…………”

“It’s a regret that’s still lingering in me.”

I could hear the ticking of the clock. The air was quiet. A cold atmosphere filled the place.

“It’s a boring story. It’s not a very entertaining story to tell people. Sorry, I haven’t come to any conclusions yet.”

Govan covered his eyes with his hands.

“I’m sorry.”

The small voice echoed in our minds everywhere and nowhere.

After that, we took a short break and then tried to talk about fun things. Govan, Sophie, the staff around us, and I tried to keep the atmosphere pleasant and entertaining.

I felt bad. My questions had clawed at his emotional scars. I could see why he had been reluctant to talk about his genius son.

I had to go to the bathroom, so Mr.Shiro, Sophie’s father, led me to the bathroom.

When we were alone, he suddenly spoke.

“As you can obviously tell from the story, the genius he was talking about earlier is my brother.”

Mr. Shiro said,

“He was smart, he always got better grades than me, and I was jealous of his talent. No, I wasn’t the only one, even my brilliant father was jealous of my brother.”

“…………”

Mr. Shiro spoke slowly, as if confessing his sins.

“I think he was being bullied.”

“Eh?”

“My brother didn’t get along with his friends at school, and I guess no one understood him. He was bullied a lot at school.”

“…………”

“Apparently, my brother was not very cooperative either, and would sometimes get on people’s nerves. I scolded him. I scolded him, ‘Why can’t you do it better? Why can’t you have a normal conversation’. My brother kept quiet with his head down, and didn’t say a word.”

Mr. Shiro let out a small sigh.

“… I guess he couldn’t do it. When I think about it now, that boy wasn’t normal. Even if he tried his best, he couldn’t do things like normal.”

“…………”

“I was so insecure about myself that I yelled at my brother…”

He kept his head down, He didn’t look anyone eye to eye. Sophie had a worried look on her face as she looked at her father. The prodigy must have been an emotional scar for the family. It’s a wound that has not healed yet. It’s evident from the look on his face.

I wanted to be a genius. I wanted to have special abilities and accomplish something like that child genius.

I wanted to be “Special”

But was the child that was a “Special” genius happy?

When I saw the sad faces of the people who had been part of the family, I couldn’t understand. I was confused.

After that, we changed the atmosphere a lot and talked about a lot of hilarious things. We talked about fun things, happy things, hardships, and strange troubles they had in R&D. All of them were the difficulties of society, and the working people in front of me overcame them and turned these things into funny stories.

They were respectable adults.

The tour of the company was over.

I apologized to Govan. I’m sorry for making him talk about such a harsh memory. He smiled and said it was okay. He probably told me his painful story because I told him that Anya was a genius, too. I think he hoped that his son’s story would add something to Anya’s life.

In my previous life I hated him, but today, just for one day, I didn’t hate him anymore. He was a senior in life that I should respect.

Both Govan and Shiro were in high spirits and saw us off. They sent us off with a gentle expression towards the little ones.

I thought about it on the train ride home.

His son, the genius that Govan had mentioned. He was thinking about a true genius who had achieved results at a young age and died at a young age.

If he were still alive today, I would have liked to talk to the genius. I was sad that I could not leave anything behind, and so I died quietly. But the child genius left something great and accomplished something great in the world.

Yet, he was still angry about something, crying about something. He wasn’t satisfied with something. And he died without anyone realizing his true intentions.

Would you have been happy if someone knew about the struggles you went through? If they knew about what you truly wanted compared to what you actually did?

If he were still alive, I would have loved to talk to the child genius.

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