A Midsummer Night's Dream

I know what the boss likes. She prefers robots over dolls, certainties over ambiguities, and equations and numbers over sentences laced with beautiful rhetoric.

If I had to categorize it, her tastes lean more toward those of a boy than a girl. So I figured what I needed to prepare should be something boys typically like.

But after thinking it over, I quickly realized that wasn't right.

'Come to think of it... would the boss even like receiving something like this?'

Robots, numbers, things boys would like. All of that was just my subjective opinion. Of course, the boss had mentioned liking those things herself, but that was what she liked as a child, wasn't it?

There's no guarantee that the woman who's been chairman of Evils Enterprise for years still likes those things.

Moreover, it can't be something easily available on the market.

'The boss can buy anything she wants if she wants it......'

Who is Regalia? The owner of a global conglomerate, the chairman of Evils Enterprise, even called the ruler of E City. Is there anything she can't obtain?

If she wants it, she spends ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠money. If money can't buy it, she uses any means necessary. If it doesn't exist in the world, she makes her subordinates create it.

In other words, what she wants is something that has never existed in the world, or exists only in extremely limited quantities.

'I have no idea......'

In the end, I decided to copy the answer sheet. I glanced at Vira lounging on the sofa. Vira, who had been giggling while reading a comic book, looked back at me as if asking why.

"What? Why are you staring like that?"

"Vira."

"Why?"

"What did you prepare for the boss's birthday gift?"

"Huh? Ah— So you're asking because you don't know what to give, right?"

At those words, Vira grinned. Caught red-handed, I just stared at her silently. What ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠could I do? I've never given a gift to a child before. Moreover, to a girl, and one with tastes similar to a boy's? This was a problem even searching the internet wouldn't easily solve.

Vira, who had been laughing brightly, wagged her finger side to side as if to say no.

"It's not about what kind of item you give to the boss. What's important is the heart of giving a gift to the boss itself, you know?"

"What kind of nonsense is that......"

"Ah—! Really, this is why science types won't do! No heart for people!"

Unable to get the answer from Vira, I wandered around the organization looking for other executives. Even if not Vira, others who've been with the boss for years would know what she likes!

As I walked down the hallway and spotted Galrm, I approached him and asked.

Q1. What are you planning to give the boss for her birthday?

"Beastmen don't celebrate things like birthdays."

Hearing Galrm's beastly answer, I looked at him as if asking if he was serious. Galrm, receiving that gaze, lifted the dumbbell vigorously as if he had no time to pay attention to someone like me.

"Being born is a blessing? No way. Being born means participating in the survival competition. The sin of making them participate in this hell is great. I might feel sorry, but I don't think it's a blessing."

"......I see."

"Moreover, among beasts, it's not uncommon for siblings to kill each other on the day they're born. Blessing the day of birth? Are you saying to bless the day you killed your family with your own hands?"

Galrm sneered, asking what kind of idiots there were. Well, it made sense. If there was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no culture of celebrating birthdays to begin with, there's no reason to accept that culture now.

The fact that birthday-celebrating culture is mainly human culture was also significant. Just as humans hate beastmen, beastmen hate humans. The idea that celebrating birthdays is an extremely human culture must be deeply ingrained.

In the end, I left without getting any useful information from Galrm.

"By the way, you said it's soon her birthday? There hasn't been a single mention of that in the past few years."

"What? What do you mean?"

"It means she hasn't asked for gifts or held grand parties under the pretext of birthdays."

However, just before leaving, Galrm tilted his head in confusion.

Remembering the information obtained in my head, I walked down the hallway again.

Not long after walking, I found Aile studying intently. I asked her the same question as Galrm.

Q2. What have you prepared as a birthday gift for the boss?

"What? Of course, it's a magical girl cosplay outfit! It's an official limited edition product, and there's even a rumor that it's a costume actually worn by a real magical girl......"

Aile answered that she had prepared a birthday gift without considering the boss's thoughts at all. A magical girl costume. It was very much like Aile.

I let out a dry laugh and asked back.

"The boss wouldn't like something like that, would she?"

"T-That's not possible! There's no girl who hates magical girls!"

"Would that really be the case......"

"It will be! The boss is a girl too! Originally, magical girl merchandise is targeted at children, and this is a product that's exactly the same down to the stitching as the costume the magical girl wore when she was young! There's no way she'd hate it!"

Aile's answer wasn't very helpful to me. No matter how I looked at it, that wasn't a gift for the boss, but just a gift because she wanted to create one more magical girl otaku?

It's true that the boss is a girl, but thinking that all girls would like magical girls is really a clumsy thought.

"More importantly, Aile. There's something I want to ask."

"What? If it's a problem set, I've solved them all......"

"That's not it— I heard the boss hasn't held a birthday party in the past few years. Is that true?"

"A birthday party...? Now that I think about it, yeah. It seems like this time, just us giving modest gifts and putting candles on a cake... that was all there was."

"Really? So that's how it is?"

Realizing that Galrm's earlier words were true, I nodded and left Aile. Next, I met Levitan and Arima.

"Eight!"

"Eight♠. What's up?"

I asked the same question to both of them.

Q3. What have you prepared as a birthday gift for the boss?

"The boss's birthday gift? Levitang is carrot chocolate! It's what Levitang likes the most!"

"I prepared a jewel from Ardenia◆. It's a lucky stone that brings good fortune if you have it."

Hearing Levitan's gift, I let out a dry laugh. Arima was better. Rather, his birthday gift was closer to the ideal birthday gift I had in mind?

Something that can't be obtained in this world, and moreover, actually helpful to the boss. If it was just a simple jewel, but since Arima said with his own mouth that good fortune comes, it must be a magical stone that truly brings good fortune.

Compared to that, what Levitan prepared? Carrot chocolate? If Regalia just snapped her fingers, the chef from a 5-star hotel would make a mountain of desserts with the finest ingredients and skill.

In that sense, her gift seemed the most useless and meaningless...... but Levitan didn't seem to think so.

"The boss can eat that kind of thing anytime."

"Grang? But it's still fine! Delicious things make you happy even if you eat a lot!"

"No, eating a lot indiscriminately isn't necessarily good...... And Galrm said beastmen don't celebrate birthdays, but do you celebrate them, Levitan?"

"I don't know because I don't have a family."

"Ah...... I'm sorry."

Realizing belatedly that Levitan was an orphan, and moreover, had been taken as a test subject and subjected to human experimentation before being released, I bowed my head and apologized for making the atmosphere awkward.

Then Levitan burst into hearty laughter as if it was fine.

"Ahaha—! It's fine! If it's Eight, you can commit that level of rudeness!"

"No, that's not......"

"More importantly— Eight. Asking something like this, you're worried about what gift to give the boss, right?"

"......Yes. Because I couldn't think of anything suitable."

"It's simple, isn't it? Anything that the boss would be happy to receive is fine!"

You seem to have no thoughts at all...... I held back my words and returned to the lab.

Returning to the lab and organizing the information I had asked the executives, I felt something strange and let out a groan.

When I summarized the answers, there was something odd. Something heterogeneous that my instincts and intuition had unconsciously found......

I laid out the answers I had heard from the executives and thought.

A1. The boss hasn't held a birthday party in years. It was only held modestly.

A2. The boss is a girl too. There's no way a girl would hate magical girls.

A3. Anything is fine as long as it's a gift the boss would be happy to receive.

'What on earth is strange...... Ah.'

As I scanned the answers written in my notebook at the same time, I finally discovered the odd point and groaned. It was the answer I had heard from Galrm. The single phrase that the boss hadn't held a birthday party in years.

This was strange.

'She doesn't hold birthday parties? That can't be.'

The very first day I fell into this world. What was the reason I caught her eye while staying at the boss's house? It was because I fixed the robot she had received as a birthday gift.

According to Regalia, she had held a grand-scale birthday party at that time to gather people, and among them, the robot she received from a famous hero. It just hadn't worked for years because the batteries were all dead.

In other words, at least until a few years ago, the boss had held grand birthday parties. At least at a level befitting the heir of a large corporation.

But now?

"......Vira."

"Huh? Why?"

"There's something I want to ask...... What happened a few years ago?"

"What do you mean? If you suddenly say that, who would understand?"

"I mean a few years ago...... At the boss's birthday party. What happened?"

Q. What is the reason the boss stopped holding birthday parties?

Vira smiled bitterly and answered.

"......It's a bit hard to say, but. Back then, the boss—."

This was the answer that had been bothering me.

Eight only said that the height growth stimulant has the side effect of not growing taller, but Regalia, who had been staying up all night for several days after drinking it directly, was experiencing another side effect.

Hallucinations.

—Mom! Dad!

—Be careful, Regalia.

—Look at this!

The sight of running around the garden with her parents as a child was vivid before her eyes. Her brain, which had been awake for several days, was forcibly pulling up even memories that had been buried too deep and showing them to her.

"—Young lady?"

"......Ah, why?"

"No, you look tired...... How about going into the bedroom?"

"I'm fine. I'm not sleepy. I was just...... just spacing out for a moment, so don't worry."

Regalia rubbed her eyelids and turned her gaze back to the documents in front of her. If she closed her eyes even for a moment, childhood memories flickered before her eyes.

She wanted to throw herself into that illusion, but she didn't. She knew well that it was meaningless.

Dreams are dreams, and illusions are just illusions. Even if you get drunk on them, reality doesn't improve at all. Unless you ride a time machine and go back to the past......

'Such a miracle shouldn't be hoped for.'

Regalia smiled bitterly and moved her hand. Time was of the essence. The position of chairman of a large corporation was such a place. Busy without time to indulge ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even in brief memories. Thus, a position where dreaming is a luxury.