You Gave Me a Name
The ropes wouldn't have gotten in my way no matter what I did. Still, looking at that many of them, the myth of Gleipnir rose unbidden in my mind.
Which country's myth was that again? The great wolf Fenrir had looked too powerful, so they gathered ropes to try to tame him. At first they only wanted a show of strength—surely he could snap something like this? Then they brought stronger and stronger bonds, and he began to smell something off. So he held in his jaws the arm of a god he had been close to, and let them tie him.
And once he was bound by that magical rope, Gleipnir, he finally understood. This had never been a strongman act. They truly meant to imprison him. So he bit down and tore off the arm of the god who had betrayed him.
As for me, I could barely fit a finger in my mouth, never mind a person's arm. History is full of people biting off fingers to write oaths in blood, so I suppose I could manage a finger if I wanted. Why would I?
It was more that I understood how Fenrir must have felt. Those restraints were so excessively elaborate I had to wonder whether anyone would ever be able to take them off. And if I really were bound by them—would even my Thought-form be limited?
"You are going to take these off later, right? You're not going to put them on me and then forget how to undo them?"
"Of course. These restraints cannot be released by any ordinary means, but so long as you coexist with us peacefully, Sister, we can remove them whenever you wish."
They said they would, but I didn't find it especially convincing. Still, what was I supposed to do if I didn't trust them? If I threw a tantrum instead of going along, Helena would have a much harder time adapting to this world. So I quietly accepted the restraints.
First a belt cinched firmly around my thigh. It didn't squeeze too hard, but it sat flush against the skin—not even a finger's width of slack. I could have forced one in if I mashed the flesh, I suppose. The faint constriction was oddly irritating.
After that, Gyu-jin didn't even need to touch them. The belts crawled up my body on their own. They climbed from both thighs, split front and back at my sides, and cinched my waist. Then knots formed of their own accord, binding my torso firmly without quite becoming oppressive.
So that was why they had undone the handcuffs for a moment. The belts crossed my arms behind me and wound around my forearms until I couldn't move them at all. They climbed all the way to my neck, and there—as if that were the final destination—they looped once around. Then I felt the whole harness contract, drawing my body taut in a single pull.
"Nnh."
From my thighs through the space between them, up my sides, across my chest, and around my throat—everything tightened just enough that a little sound slipped out of me before I could stop it. And because the part binding my arms connected directly to my neck, that slight cinch pulled my back straight, like being forced into a stretch.
Once I was bound, it was easy to picture what I must look like. This wasn't some garter-belt-integrated harness. My body already had a rather generous chest, and the nun's habit tended to emphasize my figure. Being restrained like this only made that chest stand out more.
"I don't know who designed this, but the design is extremely peculiar. Was that intentional?"
I asked it mischievously, in the spirit of you perverts. They clearly knew what I meant. Both Gyu-jin and the agent who had become a beautiful girl went scarlet and started bowing and scraping.
"I-if it's uncomfortable, we apologize. To restrain a being of your caliber, Sister, we need a net-type restraint, and... well, that's how it ended up looking."
"Gyu-jin is correct. There's absolutely no other meaning to it. We'd be grateful if you could bear with us a little."
They knew, and they had no alternative. They could have gotten cocky now that they thought they had completely sealed my power—but seeing them act that politely took the edge off my irritation. It wasn't as if I actually couldn't use my power right now, anyway. So I could be understanding.
"Ah, I see. So there's someone else who wears these."
"In truth, until now this restraint was made for only one person. A mana suppressor is enough for most cases... or else they were hostile, and became targets for suppression. If you hadn't interfered with our minds, Sister, you never would have had to wear something like this."
"It's better if nobody has to bleed, isn't it?"
"It is. We're simply grateful that you understood that and so readily followed our protocol."
The implication was that if things had gone sour, we might have had to fight. It was a curious thing to hear—as if they were confident they could win, even if they themselves would die doing it.
From what I had gathered, quite a few beings crossed over from other worlds. Had this world developed ways to deal with them? Ah—with nuclear weapons, they could at least die together. Peace really does come from mutually assured destruction. I do so love that philosophy.
Still, the fact that only one other person had ever worn these restraints made me curious. How much of a nuisance must they have been, to be so uncooperative they ended up in something like this?
"Then what kind of person is the other one, to end up wearing these?"
"Ah, it isn't that they were uncooperative... These were made the other way around—to suppress their power."
"They suffer a great deal from power they obtained in another world, apparently."
I had been hoping for a story about some other troublemaker. Unfortunately, it wasn't a particularly interesting one. Though the odd title did make me tilt my head.
Saintess?
Wasn't that usually a title given after death, to honor a woman who had devoted and sacrificed herself for many people? Of course, people sometimes hung that nickname on someone still active—but a nickname was all it was. It was rarely an official designation. And yet neither of them found it strange. The concept must have taken root here quite firmly.
Well. In this world alcohol and tobacco were allowed but drugs were banned; in that other world tobacco was forbidden while certain relaxants were partially permitted. Cultures could differ from world to world.
The ice was more or less broken, then. I put my last demand to them.
"Well then, time to fulfill your end of the bargain. You need to move me to the room next to Helena's."
"We'll do that. Gyu-jin. Please escort the Sister to the room beside Helena's. ...Ah, and if you're wondering who I am, just rewind the CCTV."
"I know, sir. The only people in here were the Sister and you. You're lucky it stopped at turning into a woman."
"Huh...? But how did you recognize me so fast?"
"You're still wearing your name tag around your neck. And that daughter you're always bragging about—when she grows up, she'll probably look just like you do now."
"R-really? My little girl is going to grow up this pretty? Heh heh heh."
What? I had told him to think of his ideal type, and he had thought of his daughter? That was a little less fun.
Though for his sake, it might be the better outcome. Imagine if he had turned into some dazzling foreign woman with a whole different hair color. He might have gone home only for his wife to grab him by the hair, screaming about some other woman. But if he said he had transformed while thinking of someone he loved? Then it would be, Ah, my husband—our dad—really loves his family! A touching story. Khhh. I had already sat through a whole movie in my head.
...It really was just familial love, though, right?
Anyway, the identity problem of the black-haired beautiful-girl senior agent was settled. We left the interrogation room and headed for Helena's.
There were quite a few people passing through the hallway. All of them in suits, their faces tired or worried, yet still carrying pride—the expressions you only saw on people who believed they were doing the right thing. It lifted my mood too. People who work hard at their jobs always look cool, don't they? And if hardship and adversity were handed to people like that... what a delicious story that would make...
"This is Helena's room. Sister, you'll be using the one on the right."
"Oh, it was close. If you were going to do this anyway, you should have put me next door from the start."
I had already stretched out my Thought-form and known it had been two rooms over, but I pretended not to and tossed the joke their way. The two of them smiled awkwardly and avoided answering. Something I wasn't supposed to know, apparently.
I didn't want to make trouble at work for people who had been kind to me, so I rapped on Helena's interrogation-room door with my foot. Humans had a culture of knocking before entering a room. Ordinarily you would tap with your hand, but my hands were bound. What else was I supposed to use but a shoe?
Her startled voice came back at once. Fair enough. Someone in another world, speaking her language, calling her by name—of course she would be surprised.
I had meant it as a playful little riddle. Somehow, Helena already knew who I was. Had she heard rumors about me, and guessed that I was the one who had saved her life?
I said it lightly and tried to walk into the room.
Squish.
My chest mashed against the door.
Ah. Right. This body couldn't pass through doors.
The shackles of flesh were such an inconvenient thing.