Shin nosuke in a dream

My father is the captain of a large spaceship.

Even though he doesn't come home for a long time when he goes to work, I love going to the harbor to see his big ship when he's leaving or returning from work.

Since I don't have a mother, when my father is away working, a kind aunt comes to help me out.

My aunt gets really angry when I play pranks or do something dangerous, but she's a very kind aunt.

That's why I can endure my father's long absences.

I was born with poor eyesight.

I love reading books, but when I try to read the text on a screen, it blurs and I have to get close to see it, and staring at the screen makes my eyes flicker uncomfortably.

But there were also plenty of paper books at home, so besides playing with friends, I spent most of my time reading books.

When my aunt saw me reading with my face close to the book, she discussed it with my father, who then took me to the hospital. After various tests, it was discovered that I was born with poor eyesight.

But even though they said I'd see much better if I had surgery at the hospital and implanted a small device into my eye and head, I was terrified of surgery and having a machine inside my body, so I absolutely refused.

Father and teacher too

It doesn't hurt.

I said that, but scary things are still scary.

Me

Absolutely not!

When I said that, my dad gave up and bought me glasses.

When I put on glasses, the world suddenly became brighter.

The text in books became clear to see, and I no longer had eye strain when looking at screens.

My friends said,

"Putting on glasses makes you look ugly."

But I think glasses look cool, so I don't care what my friends say.

Once I stopped paying attention, my friends eventually stopped mentioning my glasses altogether.

When I was eleven, my father died in an accident at work.

Although my aunt and people from my father's company explained the incident to me, I don't remember what they said.

Since my father's body was never recovered—his spaceship had sunk completely—I couldn't bring myself to believe he was dead.

I only truly understood that my father had died when I saw the empty coffin at his funeral.

The moment I saw my father's hat placed on top of the coffin, I truly felt that he would never wear it again.

And I became anxious, realizing I had lost my family and was now alone.

My aunt said,

"Nothing to worry about. I'll take care of you until you grow up."

But I understood that I couldn't possibly burden my aunt anymore, especially since she had already been taking care of me at work.

Moreover, since my family home is a company-provided residence, I have to leave it, and because I can't survive on my own, I must enter a facility that houses homeless children with no relatives.

I became incredibly anxious the moment I thought that.

But after my father's funeral, the high-ranking officials from my father's company

Become my child.

he said.

I didn’t understand what was going on, but I heard that I and the company’s senior person were distant relatives.

My surname is Kashimura, and the senior company executive went by the name Saikouji, so if we were relatives, it must have been a very distant blood relation.

Even though taking me in would bring them no benefit, they still offered to adopt me.

Since I didn’t want to go to a facility, I decided to stay with Saikouji’s family.

I made up my mind to study hard and, when I grew up, repay them for their kindness in full.

Saikouji's family was incredibly wealthy, and their mansion was ridiculously large.

There was someone in the Saikouji household who acted like an older sister to me, but as soon as she saw my face, she said,

"Strange glasses."

I felt annoyed, but after thinking about it more carefully, I realized she wasn't calling me strange—she was just saying my glasses looked odd.

That realization made me feel a little happy, but when I thought about it again later, I still felt a bit annoyed after all.

I was able to graduate from high school thanks to the kindness of the Saitou family.

My father-in-law

Choose your own path. If you want to go to university, challenge yourself without any worries.

He said it.

My father-in-law has accepted that I bear the Kasimura surname despite being adopted.

My father-in-law

Compared to what your father contributed to the company, this is nothing. Cherish the name of Kasimura.

and even said such a thing.

Indeed, as the chairman leading one of the most prominent conglomerates in the Acneria Galactic Federation—Sai Kou Ji Company—my father-in-law likely sees my foster care expenses as negligible, and since my older sister will inherit the company, there’s no concern there.

Taking comfort in my father-in-law’s words, I decided to pursue the path I had chosen myself.

Since the company will be inherited by my sister-in-law, I was allowed to be selfish.

Then I took the entrance exam for the Acneria Galactic Federation Space Military Academy, passed successfully, and left the Saikouji household.

"...Your sleep gas effect will soon wear off and you'll awaken."

A voice reached Shinonosuke's ears, as if from somewhere distant, trapped in a dreamlike state.

Though his body remained immobile, his mind gradually became clearer.

I remember being caught in the explosion, but somehow managed to escape from Cerberus, and at least my life was saved.

Even with my eyes closed, it feels painfully bright.

There are multiple people nearby, and I can hear voices arguing about something, as if they're debating who should be the first to speak.

Whatever that's about doesn't matter. I can tell someone is leaning over me.

Shin nosuke slowly opened his eyes.

"Did you notice? Master."

The first thing to enter Shin nosuke's vision was Marks.

Marks was peering down at him with the dual cameras on his head.

"…Marks, no. I don't know exactly what's different, but I'm sorry, but I think this isn't right..."

Shin nosuke, still lacking strength in his entire body, muttered as best he could.