'Aah, it's that dream. When I think about it, it will be a feeling that sunk in a dream. It's like how you become an orphan who doesn't go.'

—

I was surfing around the website that day, and was watching a news article I saw. It was a typical article that an economic newspaper wrote for investors, and a company that developed a new product.

The new product was a photovoltaic panel using new technology. In the manufacturer's case, the improvement of the device increased the power generation efficiency. Furthermore, special processing was made on the film of the panel surface, and the weather resistance was also good. It was a state-of-the-art solar panel fully used with proprietary patent technology developed by the company, and it was stated that the patent was pending.

When I learned how horrifying I felt, I immediately contacted the Patent Office and verified the information. As I asked with a feeling of praying to G.o.d, the patent had been filed definitely. I thought that it was a genius spark (in my mind). The technology I was studying was patented earlier by my company.

It was over.

I wanted to patent this technology. I was thinking if by chance, I would like to present this technology when I joined a public listed company.

At that time, I was a mere postdoctoral researcher who was leisurely doing postdoctoral fellows.h.i.+p. I, who returned from a long vacation, displayed an empty-looking face due to the shock of it being patented ahead of me.

Then, while in the state of disgust, I came to the laboratory for the first time in a long time. I found out that my personal computer wasn't in the laboratory.

"I'm sorry. While you were on vacation, XX-kun slipped water on your PC, and I supposed he sent it for repair." (??)

I was told by the professor, and I figured out what happened. As the professor said so, I could smell the reek of acting. Even though the professor was a full-time researcher, he was a failure as an actor.

The inside of my head turned blank for a moment. At the next moment, the brain cells heated all at once as if it was caused by an oxidation reaction. Speaking of which, my head boiled with anger.

"Aah… is that so? Then, there's nothing I can do today." (MC/Yuri)

"I'm sorry." (Professor)

"It's fine. Please tell XX-kun that he doesn't have to worry about it. Just in case if he feel down." (MC)

XX-kun was a postdoctoral senior who had already become 35 years old. He was an unusually timid. Speaking of which, the company that I thought was foreshadowing the patent, was also the company that frequently went to and from this lab.

I didn't think that was especially necessary because it was a broad and narrow industry, but the cord was connected because the PC was gone. In the first place, I could not imagine the situation that the desktop PC was broken because it was spilled water, as was the case with laptop computers.

I didn't think it was broken just because it was a bit watery, or no matter how much if he used a hose to flush the intake fan. He could do as much as unplugged the power cord, wiped it over or dried it up for sometime while I was away. However, why did he go for repair without permission? I didn't think the data in it would be corrupted.

But I wasn't certain that my research had been stolen. I might be completely paranoid. If I made a noise under such a circ.u.mstance, even if my needless fear was real, I would be severely criticized and going to get fired. My postdoctoral position would be gone.

'Don't panic, don't panic.'

I checked my desk while telling myself.

In this university, the research contents were to be backed up to the connected server at the same time as being stored on the personal computer addressed to each.

a.s.suming that the research was stolen, the research data stored on the SSD of the PC would have been completely erased, and the backup of the server would have been erased as well. Of course, it was impossible for me to erase even the backup of the server, but with the administrative rights of the professor, it was easily possible.

If both the computer itself and the backup data were erased, the evidence that I was doing that research would be lost.

But I also backed up a small external SSD that I plugged into a USB hub. The computer for research that I used in the past still used HDD. When the HDD broke down, I completely forgot the pa.s.sword to connect to the server. Unfortunately, the server administrator was hospitalized with blind appendix, so it took about a week for the reissue and the research couldn't progress.

Since then, I had been setting up an external SSD to take a backup even though I thought there was a security problem. It was just one surplus of SSD salvaged from a broken laptop. The external SSD was plugged into one of the USB hubs and should be inside the desk.

As I expected, the external SSD was still inside the desk.

'That's good.'

It was overlooked. It might be because it was connected to the USB hub and not directly connected to the computer.

When I recovered the external SSD…

"I have come up with something during the vacation, so there is something I want to check in the library. Is there any job need to be done soon for today?" (MC)

I asked the professor.

The professor, who usually always asked me to do some job, said 'No, there's none' readily allowed me to go.

'Is he feeling obliged?'

"Well then, I'm going out for a bit." (MC)

Then, I went out of the laboratory.

After about a week, I filed a lawsuit against the school and the company.

I hired a detective with a small amount of money, gathered various statements under the guise of ignorance in the recorder, and exposed the payment of a mysterious advisory fee to the professor from the company. Then, I consulted with a lawyer, and charged them.

Under normal circ.u.mstances, it was difficult to win the case in such a trial. The stealing side insisted that 'the technology has been developed independently', and it was hard to gather evidence to deny it.

However, in my case, the company made a mistake. Among the data submitted at the time of patent application was exactly the same as the data I calculated in the experiment. It was obviously strange that the same data, which were up to the point of the threshold, came out from experiments done in different labs with different equipment, even though the data tends to be similar. Even the company, that seemed not willing to pay a single cent, was overwhelmed by this.

As a result, I didn't win, but I didn't lose. It was an out-of-court settlement. I was able to get settlement separately from the university side and the company side, and I made a compromise with it.

I couldn't enjoy all my life with the money, but I had got about half the lifetime salary of a salaried worker for the time being. Even I persisted and got a patent, it would stay only up to twenty years, and I wouldn't get enough money to enjoy for the rest of my life. I thought that this was fine because it wasn't always possible for an individual to collect a decent patent fee.

But the world was cold to me who lost my job.

"If there was no research, I have no idea what you are doing. The personality is bad, and talking with you are tedious. You look like an idiot." (Girlfriend)

She came to my house, collected her stuff left at home while saying that.

I also thought that it was exactly the same.

There was no objection. I didn't have any friends, I didn't have a good personality, and I couldn't talk well. I was certainly like an idiot. I truly became unemployed and I was fired for causing dispute with the laboratory.

When I thought it was supposed to be like that, it hurt strangely at the same time.

"Well then, it's goodbye." (MC)

"Yes. It's refres.h.i.+ng." (Girlfriend)

'I'm sure you're right, but I also sense the resentment.'

This person probably think that it doesn't matter to hurt the feelings of a man who had been thrown away as if throwing away the shame of the travel. If there is a concept of kindness to human beings, I think that there is no woman with the kindness of this woman.'

She was the woman who I liked for the first time in my life.

I wonder if it was a misunderstanding because it was a research profession of a famous university. It was like a hopeful stock that I became a professor or something in the future.

Postdoctoral fellow wasn't a researcher with a future. Let alone becoming a professor, it was hopeless to become an a.s.sistant professor. If I couldn't produce results in my independent research, I would be lucky if I became a professor at a third-rate university.

I thought that she was a good woman who would still follow me. I was wrong. However, I wasn't surprised.

"Is it refres.h.i.+ng? Actually, I got the money that I can live playing around in my life with out-of-pocket money. It can't be helped. I'll use it alone." (MC)

When I said so, she, who did not know that he got a settlement offer, had a stunned face I pushed her out of the apartment and closed the door.

Soon after, my chest became refreshed. Immediately after that, I felt disgusted. It was a little boy who lied like a brat, and was pleased with the performance. With this, I was similar to that d.a.m.n woman.

I felt that I had fallen to the bottom of my own way. I became irritated and hit the wall. The cheap wallpaper cracked, and I was annoyed with the stupidity of what I was doing.

'Should I really go on a trip?'

I loaded clothes, tents, and sleeping bags on a 250cc bike in my car and started moving on that day. I rode to Niigata without stopping and went on board a ferry to get to Hokkaido and came back three weeks later.

It was not because I missed my home that I returned, but because I was suddenly awakened to the act of traveling in j.a.pan. Hokkaido was beautiful, but while traveling in j.a.pan, the gloomy feeling that stuck in my heart didn't disappear.

I canceled the contract of the apartment, and went my home which was owned by my parents. Before I unpacked the luggage, I changed to become a backpacker. I took a flight from Haneda Airport to Taiwan and started the journey from there.

I traveled around there to rejuvenate the youthful days.

From Taiwan to China, traveled from India to Israel, and I went to Spain through Istanbul. From there I went to the United States and from Los Angeles International Airport, I went back to j.a.pan.

When I returned home for the first time in a year and was satisfied with the trip, I had nothing to do anymore. I spent my days indulging in the Internet, games, and reading books, and quietly dried up and rotted like forgotten vegetables in the fridge.

—

When I woke up, I saw the ceiling of the dormitory.

'A dream?'

I looked at my palm and checked it. They were white and small hands. It is not an adult hand with yellow skin.

'Phew.'

When I got up, my clothes with sticky sweat, and it stuck on my skin.

"Are you alright? You seemed to have a nightmare." (??)

I heard a voice from the next bed. When I turned my eyes there, I saw Carol.

I woke up at once. Rather, my face became pale.

"…Why are you here?" (Yuri)

"This is my bed." (Carol)

'Oh, by the way, I've heard that before. The other roommate is Her Highness Carol.'

'At that time, I only thought 'Hmm, they just prepared a room, but she never use it. The room is very big'.

'To let her stay in a room where there are only men… what are the people in the castle thinking? A bunch of idiots, is it?'

'But last night, there was no one here. Dolla also wasn't there. Since today is a holiday, they are many people, whose hometown in the capital city, stay there.'

'So, I should have slept alone yesterday. That means that Carol came in the middle of the night or in the morning.'

'I thought she let me using it since she is not going to use it anyway. So, I put my school luggage on Carol's bed. I wonder where is my luggage.'

'Was it thrown away by Carol?'

When I looked around, I found them on my desk aligned with each other.

The clothes were folded and the others were stacked.

'Aah, that's great.'

Carol wore white top and bottom like pajamas, and sat on top of the bed. She had a face that it was obvious to be here.

'No, it is the bed of this girl, so it is a matter of course…'

'This is dangerous. As I expected. No matter how many times I think about this, it is not a matter of course either. There was no one who tried to stop her.'

'Or does she think that I and Dora are relieved? …When I think about it, before I had a fight with Dolla, I was considered as a calm child with incredibly balanced personality.'

'And, Dolla is an idiot brat, but he is a child of a long-standing army officer. I thought it is unlucky for me and Dolla to be roommates. There are different rooms up to five occupants. When compared to Carol's safety, the rules seems like garbage.'

'I see. For the time being, the reason has come.'

'When I looked outside, it was still before dawn.'

Carol, who quietly sat on top of the bad, suddenly…

"Anyhow, what dream did you have?" (Carol)

She asked that.

"…It was a dream of going on a trip after being dumped by a woman." (Yuri)

And I answered honestly.

"What…? Did you go on a trip because you were dumped by a woman?" (Carol)

Carol said it while slightly tilted her head.

'Eh? Is there no such custom?'

"Well, it wasn't only about being dumped by a woman. When I got fired from my job and became unemployed, I was dumped by a woman like a garbage, so I went on a journey with nothing at all." (Yuri)

"Hmm… I don't get it." (Carol)

'She doesn't get it, is it? Some say that culture is different. I think that it is a typical story to say that being fired, being dumped by a woman and going on a journey in tears.'

"It is a pity that I was unemployed, but it is a shock that you were dumped by a woman." (Carol)

"That is… the shock is about being in a relations.h.i.+p." (Yuri)

"Really?　Rather, it's a relief, isn't it?" (Carol)

"Relief?" (Yuri)

'Does you feel relief if you get dumped in this country? It is an unintelligible culture.'

"It's because the woman is a waste." (Carol)

Carol discarded it resolutely.

'A waste? In the past, I was angry because I thought that way too. Especially when you are in Hokkaido, because it is  a common law of marriage that the woman has the right to get half. Something like that when the mail comes.'

"However, since the man is unemployed, he is no less of a waste." (Yuri)

"Hmm? Aah, that's not it." (Carol)

'??? What's the difference?'

"Before choosing a marriage partner, the first need that should be removed first is a wasteful man." (Carol)

'He-heh… I didn't get it when she said 'that's not it'.'

"In this case, it is a woman, but the woman will not change fundamentally." (Carol)

'I don't understand. Is a waste some kind of jargon for her?'

"My mother said that a man who looks at other things than the personality and wants to marry me is garbage." (Carol)

"Heh." (Yuri)

'She is somewhat proud. I always think, but why is she so proud?'

'However, Her Majesty seems to be the one who says something very harsh. What would happen if you say 'You are the worst garbage' to the future audience?'

"Do you know why?" (Carol)

"I don't know." (Yuri)

"I see, you also don't know." (Carol)

'So, why does she look happy? Does she know the origin of family precepts?'

"Such a man, regardless of the appearance and social status, if the things he is attracted disappeared, his feelings will disappear. Then, he will betray the woman. I don't want to have that kind of man as a husband." (Carol)

'Kuh… I can sympathize with that. Somehow, I feel like my personality was being targeted. Although it isn't about me, why do I feel like being told something unpleasant…'

"However, that is not the case if you marry because of his personality. Even if I lose the right to be the heir of the throne, I will not cease to be me. As long as he doesn't become a waste, I'm not afraid to be betrayed." (Carol)

'It's a simple and clear theory.'

"Well, that's certainly true." (Yuri)

'She has a point. There may be more or less than one reason.'

"But, it's hard to make sure of it. Even if you look at his face or body, he will say that he loves you from the bottom of the heart." (Carol)

Carol nodded with a groan.

'I completely don't get it, you know…'

"Nevertheless, you have a strange dream. Even though you have never been with a woman, you get stuck and thrown away by a wasteful woman. Did you read any novel?" (Carol)

"I don't get it." (Yuri)

'Is she going to do that?'

'I mean about reading a novel. If it so, I wonder how good it is.'

"Huhu." (Carol)

'So, why do you feel proud? 'How is my guess right? I got you'. Is that kind of feeling?'

"By the way, why are you here? Even if the bed is prepared, a daughter who is married into a family wouldn't come to his place, you know." (Yuri)

'What would you do if you were violated by a stupid brat? It's still good for now, but after a few more years, it'll be a real danger.'

"What? Are you going to say that to me as well?" (Carol)

She made a blank face.

'She might be told the same thing by other people.'

"You are a guy like an old man, isn't it?" (Carol)

'Old man… It's strange to say that given my mental age, but that's rude.'

"I have to deepen the friends.h.i.+p with the future Knight. There's no point of coming here if not because of that reason." (Carol)

"As I expected, she has that kind of motive, is it? You consider well even though you are still a child.'

"It is probably better for you to foster relations.h.i.+ps with the Liberal Arts." (Yuri)

"I am also doing that with them. Somehow, it's annoying to stay at their place. However, here is more important to me." (Carol)

'It seems that the school of Knights is more important than the school of Liberal Arts. It's not like she enroll in the school of Knights.'

'That decision is probably not wrong. It goes without saying that this is not a situation to prioritize the study of domestic affairs, such as what has been done in the school of Liberal Arts.'

"I see. Well, do your best. I'll go wash my face." (Yuri)

"We'll have one round if you go wash your face." (Carol)

'??? One round?'

"What do you mean by one round?" (Yuri)

"Of course, it's Togi." (Carol)

'Aah, it's one round of that. It was so sudden that I couldn't figure it out.'

'I wonder what she has been decided. And when it has been decided. It's puzzling.'

"Why me?" (Yuri)

"According to the dormitory's reputation, you're the strongest. So today, I came to defeat you. Huhu." (Carol)

'…What kind of person are you? Well, I don't mind keeping her company for a little while.'

"I'm fine with that, but… Are you the type who likes Togi so much?" (Yuri)

"Aah, I like it, I really like it." (Carol)

"Really?" (Yuri)

'For some reason, she has the aura of Rook. I hope that it's just an imagination.'

Result: 9 Wins 1 Loss (Withdrawal from the game – Deserting under enemy fire)

—

TLN: