Comment by Yuki on A single aristocrat enjoys a different world ~ The graceful life of a man who never gets married ~ - Chapter 16.2

@Yuki

That's asian mindset for you.

"Son, when will you become a doctor?"
"Mom, I'm a salesman, as I always wanted to be..."
"OK, I understand, but when will you become a doctor?"

The MC isn't just a somewhat introverted bachelor who doesn't want to get married. He's someone who is fundamentally lazy, egocentric, and has never learned to deal with frustration - typical of a spoiled brat.

The funny aspect of the manga is the contrast between the typically Asian family expectations and the bratty behavior of the MC. Because if it were just about the MC's life, it would be boring to death: his life is 100% crappy, he THINKS it's perfect simply because he manages to avoid any frustration, but it's as foolish as believing you have a "good" job just because it provides you with exactly enough money to live. He simply can't THINK about getting out his comfort zone to see if there is something better - maybe there is, maybe not, but he doesn't even TRY.

@Wisblade Nah, he's very successful and he's also perfectly content to live his own life on his own terms by himself. Sure, he's bratty and ego-centric, but he has the capital to be and his behavior is still generally not harmful. Dude is rich, handsome, and perfectly capable of sustaining his high-consumption lifestyle.

@Mndless

Did I say ANYTHING contradicting your statements? Or do yours contradict mine?

However, you rightly wrote "generally"... That's exactly the problem: it SEEMS like he doesn't harm anyone.
But in practice, he does:
- He is often needlessly discourteous - not to say rude - with people,
- His laziness impacts his business and consequently his employees, who would probably want better salaries or working conditions or more colleagues,
- He scams people,
- After extorting an artifact, he destroys a family legacy out of pure selfishness - like "I need space on my iPhone, I'll erase the last photos of your grandmother before her death that you had never seen without sending them to you first."

Rich, yes, even too much - he throws money out the window foolishly.
Handsome, yes.
Capable of sustaining himself? Not really. He invents things only for HIS comfort, and thanks to his family and close relatives who sell these inventions for him, he's rich. But that's not "himself", he's more like a disabled dude who think that he's "independent and strong" while closing his eyes to all the support he gets on a daily basis.
Like a guy in a wheelchair who prides himself on having gone to the 20th floor of a building for a meeting "all by himself, without anyone's help, I'm the boss," without wanting to acknowledge the elevator, the access ramp, the adapted public transport, or even... the wheelchair he can't build himself.

@Wisblade Chill bro, it's not that deep. Yes, he is generally rude (blunt, to be precise) to people, but to be fair almost every single person he meets either pesters him about what to do with HIS OWN life (like about his marriage, creating tools he doesn't want, not wanting to meet new people,etc) or just cycles through the same stories about him being a genius or whatnot just to suck up to him. it's understandable he'd be annoyed. Also, what scam? Who did he scam and how??? And about the secret message thing, the message was not meant for Catarina to hear, nor was there any chance for her or anyone with little experience with artifacts to find out about it. Literally no one lost anything from this message being deleted (the guy is literally DEAD, who cares at this point😒) and the thing is his now, no matter what anybody says. He can literally do anything to it no one can say anything about it 🤷. Lastly, what support?? Those are literally his employees and he pays them. The blonde guy is literally dependent on that income and his job is to help in the workshop while the married lady's job is to secure connections and handle business stuff. If they don't do their jobs, their relationship ends there and he can hire different people. If we're talking about his family, the ONLY person who is stated to be helping him in any way is Alt (the younger brother) with the not succeeding the family issue, which is based of him but that doesn't undermine his independence. I fail to understand where your argument is coming from🤨.

@anon You just exposed the core issue without realizing it. You defend the MC by saying "they get paid", "they can leave", "he can do what he wants". That's a classic corporate cop-out: as long as the contract is fulfilled, there's no moral weight, no responsibility. But here's the truth: economic dependence isn't freedom. It's the exact opposite.

You admit the blonde is dependent on that salary. So no, she can't just leave. She has no leverage. She's stuck working her a** off for a guy who couldn't care less. He gives her crumbs while burning piles of cash on useless artifacts like a manchild with a gacha addiction. And you call that independence? That's not freedom - that's neo-feudalism wearing a silk glove.

This guy lives off others. Not by stealing, but by making them invisible. He doesn't oppress - he lets them submit. He offloads responsibility, expects loyalty, and gives nothing in return but cold indifference and the luxury of his detachment.

Now let's talk about that deleted message. "The guy is dead so who cares". Really? That's your bar? The MC knowingly erases a message from a valuable artifact - something that could've boosted his reputation, opened social doors, brought him benefits without compromising anything. He destroys it out of pure apathy. Or worse: pride. And you applaud that?

This isn't a genius. He's not a self-made man. It's an aristocratic slùt for comfort, wearing the mask of an independent soul. He doesn't carry his own weight - others do it for him while he pretends to float above them all. And you relate to that? Maybe because you'd love the perks of superiority without ever earning the burden of leadership.

He's not a role model. He's a passive narcissist, coasting on the labor of people who don't have the luxury to walk away. And what you're praising here isn't freedom - it's well-dressed parasitism.

@Wisblade look my guy, I'll try to this brief:
I think it's pretty obvious that the MC is portrayed as flawed. No one is arguing that he is a role model. It's more like that his problems are Relatable and we root for him because we know people who want us to have our lives in the way THEY want.
About Blondie's job, you act like he can't work anywhere else despite being talented enough to work under the MC (later confirmed that he is so talented he would be a core member in other workshops). You act like he is living with minimum wage when literally the ONLY time he says he's broke is because he bought a girl a gift that we don't know anything about (heck it's only implied/said that it's expensive). I think your argument would be correct if we were told that a job in magic tool workshops is too competitive or pays dirt cheap but we don't know that (open to be proven wrong). 
About the message, again, The MC literally has no use for it and HE is the one who owns it now. The only thing that message would get him is a one-way ticket to annoying political fights, unwanted attention from the nobles (which, you know, he doesn't like), and hurting Catarina and her family. There's even a chance someone he invites fiddles with the artifact behind his back, discovers the message, and then drags him into trouble. It's straight up better for the message to not exist at all and he didn't want to deal with whatever landmine that jerk of a grandfather left him (an unrelated person) with, which is understandable.

@anon About him as a character, he never claimed once that he was a genius, not even to himself. Also, as far as I'm concerned, the only person he may have (indirectly) hurt was his little brother by choosing not to lead his family because he's not forced to. Then again, the brother took the role for his sake, because he's his own person and he can make choices like an adult. Unless you're saying that the MC should dedicate his life to what his family wants of him without any will of his own, in which case I'll disagree with you on that point.
Lastly, about his independence. I mean this without any patronizing, did you skim the chapters or something? Wasn't it obvious that he is working, just like anybody else? He is busy inventing and designing magic tools for general use and leaves other tasks to more suited individuals. Bro literally invented a refrigerator, a coffee mill, and magical protective rings. I don't what was his previous life was like, but you'd have to be a fair bit of a prodigy to be able to do that from scratch (with or without a technological background). He is definitely not leeching off of his employees if you ask me.

This was not brief AT ALL😅😂. I'm sorry