—Agatsuma Eiji.
A man who has lived most of his life using others.
His dad was a big time politician, who had connections to the financial world, while his mother was the president of a large enterprise.
As someone born to such people, using others came to him was a matter-of-fact. And with the authority he possessed, that became his way of life.
On top of that, he was also an unmatched talent.
He was smart enough that he could understand something just after hearing it once.
He also excelled in physical activities and sports without putting much effort.
His family was wealthy and he was also of a good lineage.
Agatsuma Eiji fully exploited his reputation as a genius.
But unlike his parents, he did not go into the business world. Instead, he went into law enforcement.
But even in that world, he was able to push forward without any problems.
Throughout his whole life, there was never a moment when he was at a disadvantage.
At least, not until that time 3 years ago when the existence of the otherworld was revealed to the public.
The government at the time was steadily gathering the personnel they would need to form the Otherworld Crime Countermeasure Office.
They focused their choice of candidates around those from the police or from the self-defense force.
Agatsuma Eiji knew that the revelation of the existence of a dreamlike otherworld would bring with it much changes and chaos, which is why, the organization that would stand at the forefront to break the coming waves would surely be made of the cream of the crop.
Naturally, such an organization should only have someone like himself to lead it.
Yes. He believed that from the bottom of his heart.
And in the end, he was indeed chosen.
Only, he was chosen as a administrator from the Metropolitan Police Department.
In other words, as an external cooperative worker. He was sort of like an observer sent by the police.
Yes, it was true that he had the authority to give orders and he also had a high level of authority in regards to investigations, but at the same time, he couldn’t improve his reputation from solving cases.
So, although he could be considered to be in a good position, there was clearly an ulterior motive at play. A ploy to put the unpopular him in the developing organization.
The government couldn’t afford for the Countermeasure Office to fail in its administration..
Because of that they couldn’t pick someone who was just brilliant.
They also needed someone who could convince other people and had a flexible imagination.
Because of that Agatsuma Eiji vanished from the candidate list.
In that case, why was he sent as a administrator?
One reason was because people feared the influence of his politically strong dad.
The other reason was to send him, who was hard to use, into the countermeasure office, where his potential would dry up and cease.
It should have been clear as day that the number of people in the senior management with good social standing wasn’t just one or two people.
It was only natural that there would always be someone higher, but he Agatsuma Eiji couldn’t accept that.
Because of that he was received poorly by the upper brass.
But despite that he was skilled and his connections were good, so no one could touch him.
Until now…
On paper, it seemed like becoming a administrator and being sent as an observer was a promotion, but the truth was that this was none other than a ploy to slowly dry up his potential.
By the time he noticed it, it was already too late.
It was too late to ask for a change in personnel and all the achievements he accomplished were no longer recognized as his.
To make things worse, society shifted its focus to status.
Unfortunately, although he was talented in many things, his status was not one of them.
Hence, if he were to abandon his current position, even with all the abilities and connections he possessed, his position would not be good.
Pinned and unable to move, he spent his days doing investigations as he was told.
Somehow someway he was able to pile up achievements and become the top among the administrators, but as someone who wasn’t a member but an observer, such things had little meaning.
He spent 8 years enduring that sort of treatment unwillingly, until one day…
A returnee boy appeared…
In which he noticed something odd.
“This boy is hiding something.”
An opportunity had come.
He would find out the secrets behind this boy and gain the achievement of unveiling them.
That was why he went back to his parents to mobilize their troops to observe the boy and his family, as well as bug his whole house.
It was a completely illegal act, one done without any permission received whatsoever, but he believed it was worth it.
He even falsified information and forged documents for the intelligence department.
Unfortunately, for him, he did not realize that his actions had rubbed the reverse scales of something.
In the dead of the night, in an affluent neighborhood, was a black-lacquered car driving through the road.
Though the cultural exchange with the otherworld had occurred, and though much technological innovation has come and changed society, the basic parts of people’s lives hadn’t wholly changed.
Cars were one of those things that hadn’t overly changed. They were safer and more functional, but they still had four wheels.
Behind the wheel was none other than Agatsuma Eiji.
He hated being used by other people and he also hated having others drive his cars.
He was rich enough to hire a driver. He was also in the sort of position where it wouldn’t be strange to have a driver, but he still preferred to drive his own car. It was a preference.
And besides, he loved to drive when he had the road to himself.
Or at least… That was the case normally.
“Hmph, the very picture of a normal family’s supper, I see.
Well, I suppose I wouldn’t be able to dig out anything on the first day.”
He was clearly unhappy as he listened in on the conversation through his left earphone. It was a conversation from a few hours ago.
The bugs he placed could filter out the noise and focus solely on the conversation. It was also secure enough to be able to send the information solely to his terminal.
He had the bugs placed when the family left in the morning, so the conversation he was hearing was from the family when they came back.
There was nothing special in their conversation. It was your usual happy family get-together that you could find anywhere. And it was because of that that Agatsuma couldn’t help but raise his brows.
The boy’s behavior could be partly categorized as reservation and confusion.
But Agatsuma simply couldn’t understand the boy’s behavior toward his stepmother and his stepbrother.
He thought for sure he’d be colder to them, but he was actually being nice.
—Can a person really afford to be so warm toward a stepmother and a stepbrother that suddenly came to his life.
The reason he resorted to illegal methods in less than 10 days was because the information Rinko was giving him was completely different from what he was looking for.
He didn’t know why, but he assumed it was because she was protecting her son despite merely being his stepmother.
The other half was that the boy was too behaved.
The boy had returned, only to find that he had ended up in what was basically a time slip and his family had undergone a world-shattering change.
The boy was merely 15 years old, and yet his reaction was simply too understanding.
Agatsuma Eiji felt there was something not right about that boy.
—Just watch, you little bastard. I’ll figure out your true identity, and then I’ll claim my rightful position!