Ah, So This Is What's Called a Phone
"Hehe. Helena, you came out looking so awkward. Why'd you pose so stiffly for the photo?"
"...And you, Yeonmin? Did you enjoy getting your picture taken that much? You're grinning from ear to ear."
The day began with the ID cards Yegyeong held out to us.
Well, more precisely, she'd also served breakfast, neatly arranged on trays. But that was just the basics, wasn't it? If this was South Korea, you were supposed to make sure people got three square meals a day. Even in kidnapping-and-confinement stories they always feed you on schedule. Or maybe not? Whatever.
Anyway, I could go without eating just fine, but Helena was a healthy, living human being. So even if feeding us breakfast was only to be expected, I was still grateful for it. What? You think I'm taking it too much for granted? We haven't even committed a crime, and this is basically a kidnapping-and-confinement situation as it is. Feeding us is the bare minimum.
Anyway: soy-sauce-seasoned bulgogi and bean sprout soup. Even then, Helena's soup was red, while mine was a bland yellow. They must have been looking out for me, since I'd said I couldn't handle spicy food. Ten bonus points! Not that awarding points actually lets me do anything for them. Turn everyone here into cute girls? I'd only do that if they asked, though.
Anyway, once I had an ID card on top of all that, it finally felt like the system itself was acknowledging I'd come back to our world. Whether she understood that or not, Helena stared holes through the card in her hand. Well, it was only natural she'd find it fascinating. In her world, even a birth registration was just paperwork. They didn't have computer systems or resident registration numbers.
Of course, I couldn't hold my own ID myself. I just looked at the one sitting on the desk. The design was the same as always; only the photo, the numbers, and the text had changed. Hmm, but how was I supposed to carry this around?
Helena must have been thinking the same thing. She gazed thoughtfully at my chest, then scooped up my ID and slipped it into her pocket.
"We'll be sticking together anyway, so I'll look after yours, Yeonmin."
"Would you? Thank you."
A nun's habit, of all things, had neither pockets nor anywhere else to stash something. In comics people were always pulling items out of their cleavage or from inside a belt, but there was no way that worked in real life. And I was tied up besides—how was I supposed to fish out an ID on my own? So this was actually convenient. I didn't have to fumble through a wallet; someone else took care of everything. Hmm. It might be easier to keep the fact that I could extend my thought-form a little quiet. I can't do a thing, please do it all for me. Hehe.
"It's best to keep your ID on you whenever you can. Buying a simple snack won't be a problem, but drinking, or anything more complicated, will be difficult without it."
"Don't tell me that if you're walking down the street without an ID, they brand you a spy and execute you?"
"Uh... that's not the kind of world this is. They'd just assume you were a foreigner, I suppose."
Yegyeong recoiled at Helena's suddenly bloodthirsty remark. Did Helena even know there'd been a time when things really were like that? Of course, in modern society, You don't have identification? Come with us to the station was the sort of thing that almost never happened. Even if you did go along, they'd just run a check and that would be the end of it—so long as you weren't actually mixed up in a crime.
The ID cards, at least, Helena accepted easily enough. The two phones sitting on the desk were another matter. An unidentifiable rectangle. To Helena, the unknown was the same as the dangerous. Her world had been full of strangely shaped weapons. Even a grenade was just a round little thing, and it exploded. A pistol was far smaller than a sword, and its power was nothing you could ignore. Same idea. That metal rectangle might explode, or it might lay a curse on everything around it, so she couldn't quite bring herself to touch it.
As for why I wasn't fiddling with a phone either—it wasn't because the design looked any different from before I'd crossed over to the other world. After watching Agent Park tap at a phone and summon a car, I'd even gone, Wow, technology really has come a long way! These days they store cars in phones! And then what sat on our desk was a humble little thing—not that it looked especially outdated, but it was no different from the phones I remembered. So I was absolutely not disappointed. It was free, after all; hoping for one packed with the latest features would have been greedy.
The reason I didn't touch it was simple. I was tied up. A human body that interacted with the world mostly through its hands became extremely limited once the arms were bound. That was just the truth of it. And so the two of us sat there staring blankly at the phones, until Yegyeong picked one up with a distinctly smug look on her face.
"This is a device called a phone. In its simplest function, it lets you talk with someone far away."
I already knew that. In modern society, unless you'd been born in the middle of nowhere, there was no way you wouldn't know what a phone was. But Yegyeong had a pretty face. Watching her show off her civilization was just cute, so I let her go on. And besides, Helena needed the help, didn't she?
"Ah, like a scrying orb. You've made it this small, so it must be easy to carry as well."
"Oh, so there were things like that where you lived, Helena? Yes, that's exactly it. And since the Great Cataclysm, additional functions have been added. If a certain amount of impact comes at you in a short time, it does this."
Yegyeong demonstrated how to work the phone. I found myself hoping she might show off some other function, but unfortunately what she pulled up was a YouTube video. An advertisement, from the look of it. A man in a suit, doing his best to look sophisticated, walked along with a phone in hand. Then a masked robber burst out of nowhere. Without even demanding money, he jammed a gun at the man mid-call and pulled the trigger—and a crack split the air, after which the bullet clinked harmlessly to the ground. What became of the robber was anyone's guess. The man just smirked and held his phone up close to the camera.
"...What is this?"
"It's an ad introducing the fact that phones now function as protective artifacts. Apparently some company CEO went so far as to film a commercial with a real gun to prove the feature was safe. Anyway, that isn't the important part. Civilians need protection from the monsters that come through from other worlds, and as a side benefit, everyday safety is covered too. You take less damage in traffic accidents as well."
"Traffic accidents?"
"Ah—there are a lot of horseless carriages on the roads. Even if one hits you, the shock is dispersed inside the barrier. Of course you still go flying, barrier and all, and tumble along, but that's better than colliding with a car directly and breaking bones."
"I see. To offer something so precious so readily..."
"Everyone in our world has one of these. Any other functions, you can download from the artifact app and use as you like."
This world really had changed a great deal. People no longer got hurt in traffic accidents? It even stopped bullets? I hadn't even imagined such a thing. Helena started to pick up my phone the way she had my ID, then hesitated. Once again she looked down at my chest, then my waist. I knew there was nothing lecherous in it, but the direction of her gaze still made me a little embarrassed.
"If you look at me like that, even between girls, I get a bit shy."
"...You perverted goddess. I was only checking where a phone might go. A nun's habit doesn't even have pockets, so there's nowhere to put anything. And I can hardly jam it down your cleavage."
Helena really was a good person; her intentions were entirely pure. Still, being called a pervert was enough to make me bristle. The way a fool gets angry when you call them a fool—I was the same. However much I happened to be fond of beautiful things, hearing it put that way was bound to sting. Had I ever groped a cute girl's backside? Had I ever stroked anyone's legs? All I'd done was save them from dying and keep watching to make sure they were living well. I'd even deliberately looked away when they showered, or when they spent time with someone they loved, twisting myself up all the while. Ah—I hadn't had a body then, so twisting my spirit would be the better way to put it. Anyway, I could not let this stand.
"Nngh, a pervert? You're the one who was looking."
"Haa... Handler. Is there any way we could make Yeonmin some kind of pocket?"
Helena bulldozed right past me toward her actual goal. That was why I liked her. Once she'd set her sights on something, she didn't so much as glance at anything else.
"Hmm. There is a way to make a small spatial pocket, but that's not possible right now... What if we attached a little bag to the restraints?"
"That would work. We can put the phone in a holster and strap it to her thigh."
That solution, however, was a bit of a problem. I was already bound tight, the belts cinching with every movement. And now they wanted to add a holster on top of that?
"Then what about your pistol, Helena...?"
I tried to talk her out of it, but Helena's attitude said she couldn't see what the fuss was about.
"I can just carry it in my hand."
Naturally, Yegyeong paled and waved both hands at that.
"You can't! Other people will be frightened!"
"The chamber's empty anyway. You people confiscated all the ammunition, didn't you?"
"If a swordsman walks around with a blade in its scabbard, people think, ah, a swordsman. If he walks around with it drawn, ordinary people are scared because they don't know when it might swing, right? Guns are the same. In a holster it's fine, but once it's in your hand, loaded or not, of course it's frightening."
Hmm, was it that serious? In our country, half the population had been soldiers, so if someone walked around with a rifle people just thought, must be training, and didn't give it a second glance. Ah, but that was K2 rifles; pistols might be a different story. Either way, I wasn't thrilled about even more belts being added to me, so I decided to leave the phone with Helena.
"Couldn't I just stick close to Helena? Hehe. I guess I really can't leave your side."
"If you keep that up..."
"Huhu. If I keep that up, will you get all worked up and jump me, Helena?"
"Honestly, there's not a thing you won't say in front of other people. What are you going to do if I actually do?"
So I sidled up beside her and pressed my hip against hers—and Helena shoved me flat onto the bed. Had I taken the teasing too far? And my body, it seemed, reacted even to a situation like this. My heart started pounding. I found myself looking up into Helena's stern face as she stared down at me, and maybe it was the way she looked like she was scolding me, but my mouth went dry. I couldn't even manage a joke. I just swallowed once. Unbelievable. I'd just had the initiative stolen by my very own heroine! At this rate I was a disgrace as a goddess. Not that I'd ever actually thought of myself as one.
"Th-that sort of thing is fine when it's just us, but ordinarily it wouldn't look very good to other people. To teach you that kind of thing, we'll be visiting an educational facility today. After that, I'll find you a place to live."
Fortunately, Yegyeong's awkward intervention let me escape that embarrassing situation. Well, even between women, a scene of someone actually pouncing like that would make ordinary people frown. I, of course, could watch two cute girls going at it and sit there going mmph-mmph in delight, but still.
Helena freed me with a thoroughly displeased look, and I just beamed up at her. At least now I knew she could show this kind of growl, too. I was a little curious who she might try to charm with it later.
Anyway. An educational facility, she'd said. Let's see how well they teach.