The Evil Scientist is Too Competent

Inside the wrecked dojo.

The master, the students, and Riore were cleaning up the dust and debris that covered the floor, cursing Galrm for the state he had left their dojo in.

“That damn beast bastard...? He wrecked the place like this, and—what? Just walked off? We should report him to the police.”

“...Forget about it, Riore.”

“How can you say that, Father?!”

Riore immediately shot back at her father’s words. Forget about it? That guy had barged in, beaten everyone to a pulp, and just left. The police? Hell, it wouldn’t even be strange to call in a hero and have him arrested on the spot.

Yet her father, the dojo master, was far less bothered than she had expected. Scratching his cheek, he admitted the reason.

“The truth is... I was paid in advance.”

“Huh? What do you mean—”

“Around a hundred thousand dollars... More than enough to repair the dojo and cover the treatment fees for the injured students.”

Riore let out a dry laugh.

So that was why her father had been so calm.

It would have been a little ridiculous to take the money and then report him anyway. That guy could just demand it back, and on top of that, it wouldn’t look good to spread news about how they had been so thoroughly crushed.

Riore clenched her jaw and shook, still unable to let it go.

“...Even so, I can’t forgive him. Calling us trash, talking all that shit—who the hell does he think he is?”

“He wasn’t wrong, was he? We did all lose to him.”

“D-Don’t say that! I lost because I was weak, not because your martial art is—”

“Riore. It’s fine.”

Riore turned to her father with a shocked expression, but he only shook his head as if telling her not to worry. His face was filled with guilt toward his daughter.

“Let’s be honest. You’ve probably known for a long time that there’s no way something I created could be strong.”

The dojo master was human. He had no superpowers, no enhanced physical abilities—just a regular human.

However, even with no special abilities, there was one thing he excelled at—martial arts.

That overwhelming talent allowed him to push his limits as a pure human, but there was still an inevitable wall. Without supernatural enhancements or beastkin strength, there was only so far a human’s body could go.

In the end, he had given up on his dream of becoming the strongest fighter in the world.

That dream had only resurfaced when he married a beastkin woman and had a child.

His daughter, Riore, was a genius who inherited both his talent and her mother’s physical abilities.

When he saw her, he had a thought.

If I can’t become the strongest in the world, then I’ll create the strongest in the world.

That was how he developed the martial art Fiore le Riore, designed solely for Riore.

But there was one fatal flaw—

“A martial art created by a human could never be a perfect fit for a beastkin’s body.”

He had designed it, tailored it, built it just for Riore.

But a human trying to create a martial art for a beastkin was impossible from the start.

A human couldn’t even imagine the movements of someone with an extra finger, let alone perfectly replicate something they had never experienced.

The dojo master had done everything in his power to create a style suited to Riore.

And yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling that, in his arrogance, he had only ruined his daughter’s future.

“No! That’s not true! Dad!”

Riore shouted in frustration.

There was only one way to save her father from this spiral of self-denial.

To prove, with his own martial art, that it was the strongest in the world.

And there was only one way to do that.

“I’ll prove that this martial art—the one you created—is the best, no matter what!”

The ABC City Mixed Martial Arts Tournament, where {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} fighters from all across the city gathered.

She had to win.

For the record, Riore had made it to the semifinals last time.

The time before that, she had reached the finals.

Which meant... her performance had actually declined.

That was probably why her father had become so negative.

She was convinced of it—

It was because she was weak. Because she had lost.

That was why she couldn’t lose again.

She wouldn’t lose again.

“The qualifiers are next week, so just wait a little longer, okay? Got it?”

“Riore...”

“What! You don’t even need to cheer for me! It’s just the qualifiers! Who do you think I am? I’m my father’s daughter!”

Riore grinned, forming a V with her fingers.

Seeing her confidence, the dojo master let out a quiet chuckle before continuing the cleanup with the students.

And so, a week passed.

On the first day of the qualifiers—

Riore lost to a mysterious fighter named R.

****

“Ah, good morning, Commander Galrm!”

“Good morning, sir!”

“Hm—.”

Galrm glanced at the evil organization members greeting him and walked past them.

Then, a moment later, he perked his ears up.

Because the two had just started talking about him.

—Wait, seriously?

—Yeah. It’s real. I mean, with that massive build...

—Wow, he’s like a total Romance Tiger.

They were gossiping about him.

About him, an executive.

Part of him wanted to march over and put them through some torture-level training—

But Galrm forced himself to hold back and kept walking.

There was something more important to focus on.

“—Hey! Scientist!”

“Hwaaah?! N-Not there—!”

The moment Galrm stepped into the lab, he heard an incredibly explicit moan, causing him to frown slightly.

In broad daylight, in a lab of all places, doing something like that so openly?

His frown deepened as he turned his head—only to realize that the scientist was not engaged in what he had initially assumed.

“Oh, Galrm? What brings you here?”

“Huuh! Hngh—! S-Stop—Ack! Ngh! It hurts! It freaking hurts!”

The scientist was massaging Leviathan, who was lying on a massage bed.

Just from the sounds alone, the scene might have seemed extremely suggestive—but in reality, it was anything but.

Leviathan was sweating buckets, her face pale. Judging by her writhing and the moans she was letting out, it was closer to torture than anything else.

“...What exactly are you doing?”

“A massage. Leviathan’s body was way too stiff after the last mission.”

“Ghhhhhngh—!”

“...Does it really have to hurt that much?”

“Well, I had to use some undetectable substances to keep her from getting caught, so...”

Hearing that, Galrm remembered why he had come here in the first place and quickly spoke up.

“—Why did you do that?”

“Huh? Ahh—well, it was for your love life, Galrm.”

“You mean sending her to that tournament to crush Riore was supposed to help my love life?”

Even if he wasn’t experienced with all this complicated romance stuff, this made zero sense to him.

A girl whose dream was to be a martial artist—

And they had sent a literal human weapon from the evil organization to beat her into the ground?

And that was supposed to help him?

He had no idea what kind of twisted logic was at work here.

“Hm—Well, you do know what Riore’s actual goal is, don’t you?”

“...Becoming a famous martial artist?”

“Close, but if you dig deeper, it’s different. What she really wants... is to prove that her martial art is the best in the world.”

That information had been gathered using Evilus’ entire intelligence network.

Sure, it had caused temporary global service disruptions, but who cared?

It wasn’t like they were charging for that information anyway.

After analyzing everything about Riore’s ambitions and psychological weaknesses, Eight realized—this was exploitable.

“According to my AI calculations, Riore had a 91% chance of winning this tournament.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Oh, come on. If she achieves her dream all by herself, there’s no room for you to step in.”

Tsk tsk. Eight clicked his tongue and reminded Galrm of why this plan was necessary.

“After getting utterly demolished by the mysterious fighter X—”

“Eight-tan, it’s R, not X.”

“Right, R. After getting wrecked by R, Riore is probably drowning in despair right now. And Leviathan? She got eliminated right after, too.”

Leviathan had lost to someone Riore had already beaten multiple times.

Someone she knew she could defeat.

Which meant Riore’s loss was even more devastating.

She was either in complete denial, unable to accept her defeat—

Or utterly broken by it. Either way, it was bad.

“And that’s when you step in, Galrm.”

“...Me?”

“Yes. You approach her, teach her about martial arts, get closer to her, then marry her and become a dad. That’s the plan.”

“Hrm... That last part feels like a bit of a leap, but...”

Galrm let out a few coughs but decided to hear Eight out.

“So? What exactly do I need to do?”

“Don’t worry. The AI will guide you through everything.”

Galrm just needed to follow instructions.

No need to worry.

Listening to Eight’s words, Galrm received a few coaching sessions.

The Next Day.

As per Eight’s advice, Galrm put on a sleek, tailored suit and returned to Riore’s dojo.

He wasn’t a fan of such restrictive clothing, but—

What could he do?

Apparently, all of this was supposed to help him get the girl.

Not knowing any better, he decided to just trust Eight and the women around him.

“—Is the master in?”

“...You again—”

Upon entering the dojo, Galrm spotted both the master and Riore.

Unlike last time, he bowed his head in greeting, then immediately focused on the AI lens providing him with real-time advice.

[AI Advice]

Emphasize your experience and maturity!

Your target is currently trapped in the cycle of defeat!

Provide guidance to help her break free!

Recommended dialogue:—

Just as Galrm was about to follow the AI’s advice, Riore spoke first.

“Why are you here? Piss off. I have nothing to say to you.”

“Hm...”

Galrm recalled the AI’s advice.

He had to emphasize his maturity.

And giving martial arts advice would also be good.

So then—

“Watch your mouth, loser.”

“...What?”

“You lost because you learned from a weakling. No wonder you failed. I’ll teach you. You can become stronger—”

“—Get the fuck out, you bastard!”

As Riore suddenly burst out cursing at him, Galrm tilted his head in confusion.

Even the AI fell silent, seemingly out of answers.

Galrm genuinely couldn’t understand.

What the hell did he do wrong...?