Moonlit Encounter
Ah, you don't know? That's toilet paper. Medieval folks who stack up random junk just to wipe their asses wouldn't have a clue. Ah, you don't know? Those are bathroom tiles. They're there to keep you from slipping on the water. Ah, you don't know that either?
“What are you thinking about?”
“...Random thoughts?”
“Then snap out of it. We're almost there.”
Father's words yanked my mind back from its escape into fantasy. The carriage rattled violently.
“Damn it, another rock. Just how in the world do they maintain these roads?”
“Are you all right, Helio? Not feeling dizzy?”
The first carriage ride of my life had a ride quality that ranked somewhere between garbage and torture compared to cars. Part of it was engineering, but the real culprit was the roads. Even the so-called paved ones had pebbles and stones rolling around like they owned the place.
But none of that mattered right now.
“...I'm more sleepy than dizzy.”
My body had already hit peak exhaustion. It wanted rest far more than it cared about minor inconveniences. And I wasn't the only one.
“Same here.”
Father looked at me with eyes so hollow they didn't belong to the head of a count family.
“.........”
Mother's eyes looked exactly the same. Mine probably weren't any better.
It was great that an unexpected product had become a massive hit. Up until that point, I'd been thrilled by my parents' praise, my brother's jealousy, and the sweet satisfaction of finally beating these primitives at their own game.
But that was where the good part ended.
What does it mean when a product you didn't expect much from becomes a massive success?
It means we barely invested anything in it.
And the products infused with Oh Ji-o's everyday sensibilities had succeeded too well.
“Kill me… just kill me…”
“I resent you, Helio.”
The jealousy toward my brilliant intellect lasted about five minutes. My older brother, forced to start working young because we shared blood, quickly converted that jealousy into murderous intent. I wasn't exempt either.
I hate compulsory education.
I might have possessed Oh Ji-o's memories and knowledge, but at my core I was still an eight-year-old child. I had my pride—I didn't want to be seen as a failure at Descent—and I wanted to show off what I could do.
...I shouldn't have. But I didn't know any better.
“Ah, look at this. This is what we call elementary mathematics.”
Most of Oh Ji-o's abilities were useless, but the elementary and middle school math he'd learned was different. Numbers and calculations were universally useful no matter which world you found yourself in.
“It's not a failure! See, I can calculate this too!”
“Oh? Did you summon the soul of a merchant? Not bad for a first attempt.”
“Ahem.”
Q: If something is famous but the supply can't keep up with demand, what appears?
A: Knockoffs appear.
“...Hah. Yeah, it was about time.”
Stay quiet...
“Our son. I heard from Rad that you know how to calculate?”
“Uh? Y-yeah… I guess?”
Stay quiet...
“Since it’s your invention, shouldn’t you take responsibility for it…?”
“Uh…”
No!!!
I fell for my brother's provocation and my mathematical ability was exposed. The result? I was trapped in a family-run black company that had no problem working an eight-year-old to the bone.
At least I didn't have time to wallow in useless sentiment.
The price of success was labor. It was both according to plan and completely outside my expectations.
The carriage rattled again.
“We’ve arrived.”
As Father said, the road quality had clearly changed. The mansion was visible in the distance, but none of us welcomed the sight.
“...Can’t we say we got lost and drive around for another hour?”
“We already did one full lap. A second would be pushing it.”
And so it was. My extremely exhausted parents stepped down from the carriage.
“Come now, Helio. Our son. You need to get down too.”
“Yes…”
“This is what happens when you’re the protagonist.”
Even while tired, Mother smiled gently and held out her hand to me.
Today was the day of my high-society debut.
Originally, I hadn’t planned to make a social debut at all. Given my condition, showing up would only invite ridicule. It was better to keep my face hidden than to be cursed at and told to disappear.
It was also possible because my older brother and sister had already completed their own debuts.
But the recent business success had raised our family’s name value too much. As my name spread, so did the news of my mana incompetence. At the same time, it also made clear that there was nothing physically wrong with me. The pressure mounted—no problems with his body, successful in business, clearly sharp-minded. Why not show his face?
If that was all, I could have ignored it…
Unfortunately, a situation arose that left me no choice but to appear.
“My lord! It’s a disaster!”
“Haha, butler. What could possibly be a disaster? Surely you’re not about to say the horrifying words that we have even more documents to process?”
“...Once you see this, you won’t have the energy to joke anymore.”
“What in the world is it that you’re being so dramatic—”
The news was exactly what I expected. Like all idea products, these didn’t require advanced technology so much as a shift in thinking. Combined with medieval attitudes toward intellectual property, it was inevitable that imitations would flood the market. Once people realized these things made money, smarter people than me began sniffing around for new concepts.
If we’d been an ordinary noble house, we might have been satisfied with our role as pioneers and moved on. But—
“How dare they look down on Helisbort?”
It seemed the head of Helisbort, counted among the absolute highest echelons, found the situation quite damaging to his pride.
Unfortunately, the quality gap between our products and the counterfeits wasn’t that large. So what should you do to increase market share in that situation?
Unlike Oh Ji-o, who had been an ordinary modern person, Heliont Helisbort had keen instincts.
“Our son, your body can move, can’t it?”
“...I don’t want to step forward.”
“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to. The story of a young pioneer, a genius child—these are perfect for promotion.”
“.........”
“Don’t hate it too much. If you’ve accomplished something on this scale, only truly stupid people would dare pick a fight with you.”
He wasn’t wrong, so I accepted it. After all, I couldn’t avoid people forever. This was the result.
“Hehe, your son is quite intelligent.”
“You flatter us. It was merely good fortune.”
Such a scripted exchange. A completely typical noble who spoke empty compliments while not forgetting to sneak glances of contempt in my direction.
Oilran barony—transaction terminated.
It wasn’t entirely without personal feelings. ...Alright, there were some. But there was still a legitimate reason. To raise brand value, we needed a premium strategy. That meant cutting off the mediocre players for the sake of reputation. Of course, abruptly ending deals would cause talk, so we planned to declare the suspension on the grounds that they had insulted the child making his debut.
In other words, I was the living bait.
“It is an honor to meet you. I am Helio Helisbort, third son of the Helisbort family. I hope you will look upon me kindly.”
“My word, what a clever child.”
“You flatter me. It was merely good fortune.”
“How could anyone call it mere fortune when you speak so beautifully?”
This person passes.
A genuinely good person stands out no matter where they’re placed. Even if it was acting, you needed to be able to perform at this level to qualify as a proper trading partner.
“Whew…”
Of course, Oh Ji-o (32) had zero experience with upper-class parties. But even if I was a noble, I was still an eight-year-old child. Simply not crying, speaking clearly, and avoiding fidgeting already placed me in the top ten percent.
“The child is truly…”
“You flatter me…”
After playing totem pole for quite a while, I had greeted nearly everyone who mattered and shown off sufficiently. The selection of trading partners was mostly complete. Practically speaking, my work was done.
Go play.
Just as Mother was gesturing with her hand.
“By the way, we are launching a new venture this time on our side…”
“I heard. The clever child suggested it, yes? We are also quite interested…”
Now that they had used their son to make the right impressions, my parents had to move on to actual business.
“Hahahahaha!”
“Ohohoho.”
Being a parent really is hard.
Watching them laugh heartily and elegantly when they had looked ready to die of exhaustion in the carriage filled me with genuine respect. Still, since they had brought me here by choice, I had to endure it. I read the atmosphere and slipped away.
“Aigo, I can finally breathe.”
Only six steps away and I already felt like a weight had been lifted. That was how burdensome facing those adults had been.
I thought having the knowledge would make it easy, but knowing and experiencing really are completely different.
From a child’s perspective, no matter how mature you acted, facing adults was inherently stressful. I’d have to keep that in mind. I was already feeling it again.
“...Is that him?”
“They say he’s from the Helisbort family.”
“Can’t use mana, right?”
“Eh, then isn’t he a weird kid?”
“But he makes a ton of money, doesn’t he?”
A little distance away, a group of children had gathered. They seemed to know one another; they were already whispering among themselves while staring in my direction. Some looked on with jealousy, but since many were older than me, I saw plenty of curiosity and calculating gazes as well.
In this situation, it would be best to either display some charisma and take control or simply stay far away. But my body had other ideas.
I really want to jump in there and play.
Especially when I saw the slightly taller boys, a vague sense of longing washed over me. It was pure childish instinct rather than any calculation of gain or loss.
Still, I shouldn’t go.
For someone with a major weakness like me, approaching them would be a huge mistake. The result would be worse than if I had never come at all—both mentally and for the family brand. A pathetic genius boy being ostracized by other children would evoke no good feelings whatsoever.
Are there no connection characters…?
I looked around just in case, but saw no familiar faces. Well, they were all around my age, so it was still a bit early.
“Hey, that kid…”
The moment I answered that voice, there would be no escape. This was the time to take full advantage of being an eight-year-old.
“Hey, that kid!”
It was the age where lack of tact could still be forgiven, right? Even though the voice was blatantly calling me, I pretended not to hear and quickly walked away with fast steps.
“There aren’t many people here.”
Just because a ball or party was being held at a mansion didn’t mean you could wander everywhere. It was proper etiquette to avoid anywhere beyond the open hall or terrace.
And I’m a minor protected by law.
An eight-year-old at his first social event. I was equipped with every possible excuse for forgiveness.
With that mindset, I could finally look around at my leisure.
It’s a garden.
A beautiful garden. Or rather, closer to a flower garden. Flowers of every color had been planted across the entire space with perfect regularity. Garden trees and shrubs formed breathtaking patterns as they stood in neat rows.
The true highlight was something shining faintly beneath the moonlight.
“Can you see it? That is a pond. The flowers are arranged according to a specific pattern and only bloom beautifully under moonlight at this particular time. You’re quite lucky.”
At the sudden voice, I turned my head.
“Uh…”
I recognized her at first glance. Of course I did. She was a connection character—one of the most popular ones, commonly referred to as the main wife.
Wow… can a person actually look like this?
There’s a common saying that 2D designs are superior for pure appearance. While that doesn’t apply to everyone, it holds some truth. Unlike live-action, which must consider countless real-world factors, 2D can incorporate as many preferred aesthetic elements as desired.
Just like how old dating sim characters that are now mocked as “eye monsters” once maximized beauty through exaggeration, the truth was that such idealized forms simply couldn’t exist in reality. That was why 2D characters were often prettier than most real people.
However, there were rare exceptions. People more beautiful than any painting or sculpture that tried to capture every ideal element.
“It is a pleasure to meet you.”
The sheer volume of information was overwhelming. Even her voice was beautiful. The devastating beauty before me completely shattered any notion that she was merely a game character. She looked like this even at our current age—what would she look like in the future?
Yet every characteristic from her character illustration was perfectly present: flowing silver hair, lake-blue eyes, an ethereal fairy-like aura, and a faint, gentle smile.
“My name is Diana.”
The connection character. Archduchess Diana.