You Get Hot Easily...?

"Oh? You don't keep your car in your phone?"

"Keep a car in my phone...? Ah, you mean the garage app. Yes, that takes up a slot, and I don't have room for it—I'm using the space for other things."

"Ah, I see."

I'd assumed she could summon a car out of thin air the way Agent Park did. Unfortunately, Yegyeong did no such thing. She led us down to the parking garage instead.

Then again, if something that magical were available as a downloadable app, it stood to reason that not everyone would be able to use it. There had to be other handy functions besides parking, didn't there? I'd even heard that a barrier capable of stopping bullets would activate on its own so long as you were carrying your phone.

If I were human, I suspected I'd fill every last slot with things that would keep me safe. Take everything on offer, and after that, fill whatever remained with convenience. Teleportation? Or an umbrella? Oh—if you could delete and reinstall apps at will, couldn't you handle heating and cooling with your phone too? Hmm. Then the battery would be the problem.

But would I even get hurt? If this body of mine could be wounded, maybe I ought to arrange some means of protecting myself. If not, convenience apps alone would probably suffice. Come to think of it, I didn't even need those. There was no reason to borrow a tool's power for something I could already do myself. I could just hitch a ride on someone else's wish.

Even on that short walk from the interrogation room down to the underground parking garage, Helena and Yegyeong were moving sluggishly in the heat. I didn't feel the heat myself, but I did enjoy the sensation of coolness, so I quietly borrowed their wishes and granted them.

Cool the air around me!

It wasn't as if I'd never considered driving summer out of the entire world. There's a saying about the butterfly effect, though—how ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the beat of a butterfly's wings can summon a typhoon across the sea. One could call even that a part of nature, I suppose. Still, I didn't like my actions exerting a direct influence on the world. This was the world of living things, not mine.

So I wrapped a layer of cold around us, and outside it I stacked, in moderation, the heat we'd stolen away. In the end I tricked the world so that a few steps' distance from us, there would be no effect at all.

"Hmm. Maybe it's because we're underground, but it's cool down here. Is there something granting cold to a space this large?"

"Oh, you're right. Do they run the air conditioning in the underground parking garage now? The Association's welfare really is generous. Other buildings don't cool the parking levels."

Helena and Yegyeong were both sharp enough to notice the air turning chilly at once—and both of them credited the wrong party entirely, offering their thanks in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the opposite direction. I smiled at that, turning in slow, childlike circles.

Was this why parents hid their identities when they gave their children gifts? Even if the kids thanked Santa Claus, watching them light up still filled you with pride.

And so we rode through the streets in Yegyeong's car. Sitting in the back seat, I couldn't feel other people's gazes at all. That, at least, was a relief.

Someone walking around bound who wasn't a prisoner was someone whose power had been suppressed. I'd been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠given that explanation of the image it created. Embarrassing was still embarrassing, though. As if a nun's habit that already showed every line of my figure weren't enough, there were restraints that bound my chest so it stood out even more. However many sights I'd seen in that other world—the ones I was meant to see and the ones I wasn't—at my core I had been a human of this world, and of a rather Confucian country at that. I couldn't help being inwardly mortified.

On top of that, I knew perfectly well that I had an objectively pretty face and a figure that drew the eye. Even if no one looked at me strangely, that didn't mean there were no gazes at all. Just yesterday, on the way to the restaurant, hadn't there been more than a few people watching me, whether they meant to or not? Even wearing a human shape, I didn't take in sensation through my eyes. If I could see it that plainly, there was nothing to be done about it. Or rather—I should say I felt it.

Those gazes vanished the moment I got in the car. Of course they did. Humans couldn't see through an opaque wall. Tinted glass didn't make the interior completely invisible, but people's interest in this side of it was no different from the interest they paid any other vehicle.

Hmm. I supposed I wasn't cut out to be a celebrity. I'd been finding other people's eyes more of a burden than I'd realized. I preferred being the one who looked to being the one who was looked at.

...Does thinking that make me sound like a pervert?

But I'd purely enjoyed watching Helena's life unfold. None of us seemed especially inclined to chatter, so once we were in the car everyone fell quiet. A cute girl was a joy to look at even if all she did was breathe. And if she stopped breathing? That would be pretty in its own way, too—but the thought of her no longer moving was a little sad. There would be no story after that.

"Yeonmin. Why are you staring like that?"

Helena didn't seem to enjoy other people's gazes either. The faint discomfort she showed at being watched so intently made that clear.

"Because you're pretty. Oh—was it uncomfortable?"

"...It's not that I mind, exactly. It's just a little much."

"Then I won't look."

Not in a bad mood, but not exactly welcoming it either. Well, that settled that. If I was going to stare this openly, I'd have to do it in secret. Instead, while I was sitting beside her, I simply tipped my body at an angle and leaned against Helena.

The leather of the back seat was comfortable enough, it was true. But a human body was built to find lying down more restful than sitting. Being even a little more parallel to the ground was better. And when I lay back like that, our kind-hearted Helena went so far as to draw my shoulder in—as if to say that if I was going to lean on her, I might as well lie down properly. With my arms bound, I couldn't even resist. My head sank onto Helena's thigh with a soft thump.

"..."

I hadn't been hoping for quite this much. Looking at Helena's pretty face was a pleasure, but I hadn't planned on sticking to her this closely. And the thigh under my head—soft and yet firm—made the healthy pulse of Helena's vitality so vivid I could feel it, until my face flushed of its own accord.

Whether I flushed or not, Helena looked down at me steadily. Even without using my eyes I could feel that gaze, until it was exactly like meeting hers, and by then even my chest was pounding in an unseemly racket. We were pressed this close together—what if Helena felt my pulse? What if she started teasing me as a goddess who got embarrassed over something like this? That serious expression of hers suggested she wouldn't, but it was embarrassing all the same. And as if that weren't enough, she began slowly stroking my hair!

This was not fan service on the level of getting an actor's autograph. What fan in the world received this kind of treatment from an actor?

In the middle of all that fluster, my body lurched suddenly forward.

"Ah—!"

Helena and I both pitched ahead in a rush. I at least remembered that a body would be thrown forward by inertia when a car stopped, so although my upper body was lying down, I still had my legs planted on the floor and braced myself against the front seat. Helena did not. She simply went with the lurch, her torso tipping, and then Helena's chest was against my cheek—

Oh.

"We've arrived. It's the building right up ahead. It's hot, so go on inside to the first floor first. I'll park and catch up."

Whether or not she had any idea of the mortifying situation I was in, Yegyeong worked the controls and clicked the back-seat locks open. Which meant I needed to get up, away from Helena—

"Nnh. Sorry, Helena. Could you help me up?"

"...Yes."

This body was so frail I could barely raise myself on my own. I had no choice but to accept Helena's help getting out of the car. Even then my flushed face wouldn't cool, so I turned my head smoothly away from her. Helena noticed that, too, and sent me a look of genuine concern.

"Yeonmin. Did you hurt yourself somewhere? Your face is a little red. Don't tell me something's wrong with your new body."

"No, no, no! I-it's because it's hot."

"It's cool, though... Hmm. So Yeonmin gets hot easily."

If I said it was hot, she might have simply taken my word for it. Would Helena ever guess that I was the one who'd made it this cool? Even so, I couldn't snatch the cold away and make her suffer the heat out of spite. Watching Helena drip with sweat would have been entertaining, yes—but she would have a miserable time of it. A human overcome by heat lost their vigor, and that meant fewer chances of anything interesting happening. If you wanted to see something fun, humans had to be free to move.

At any rate, while Yegyeong parked and came back, I cooled my flushed face in the shade of the first floor. Meanwhile Helena surveyed our surroundings. I had no idea how far the Translation Artifact, or whatever ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it was called, actually reached—but she stood before the empty reception desk, reading the letters there.

"Comprehensive Middle and High Academy... Is this an academy? So this is a place for studying."

"Well, originally it was that kind of building. It seems it's become a place for teaching modern civilization now. They must have acquired a failed property and put it to use as-is, without remodeling."

They treated us well enough to buy us phones. Did that mean they weren't willing to invest as much in the building where they taught us? The faintest suspicion crossed my mind that the quality of the education might be a little low—but I didn't particularly want to air complaints to agents and handlers who had been kind to us.

When Yegyeong joined us and we went up to the second floor, I followed quietly behind the two of them. And so we arrived at the comprehensive academy. It certainly looked like they hadn't wanted to spend any money. Building and remodeling weren't cheap, of course, so wanting to save was fair enough. Still—hadn't they saved a little too hard?

Even so, one wall was hung with photographs of smiling alumni and a one-line message from each of them. Judging by that, this did seem to be a place that taught people to feel some affection for this world after receiving their character education here.

The entrance was being used as a waiting room. An agent in a suit stood there together with a cat-eared cute girl—and from that direction, a sudden, ringing complaint burst out.

"Fuuuuck-nyang! I have to retake the class again-nyang! I can never be happy-nyang!"

"That's why you should've just held back a little instead of firing Nyang-Nyang Beam..."

"I didn't have a choice-nyang. How was I supposed to just sit there when someone was dying right in front of me without firing Nyang-Nyang Beam-nyang!"

Hmm. A cat-eared cute girl. So this world had become a place where characters like that could exist, too? What a wonderfully improved world.