Chapter 4 - The Work of the Settlement Support Division
The Work of the Settlement Support Division
Translator : Elizabeth
Charles smiling brightly, and Lily looking like she's about to shoot laser beams from her eyes.
Although her eyes were smiling, Charles's cat ears, which had been fluttering lightly, were now pressed flat to the sides, and Lily looked like she was holding back from spitting out curses right this instant.
Charles opened her mouth, still with a smiling face.
"Interdimensional Transferee-nim. I don't know how things were in the world you originally lived in, but calling someone you're seeing for the first time here 'this woman, that woman' is very rude, you know? Speaking informally is, of course, even more unacceptable. I'm telling you this in advance before 'my Senior' informs you."
"Ha, really? So picking a fight openly in front of someone you're seeing for the first time is a daily occurrence here? I've never learned such etiquette, so I didn't know. My apologies. Ah, and sorry, but I knew Hans... no, Hyun-soo, long before you did? We traveled together in the same world for a long time. In such a relationship, speaking informally is only natural, isn't it?"
Charles's eyes narrowed considerably.
"Haa? Isn't that all in the past anyway? No, fundamentally, what reason does the Transferee-nim have to be angry? What is your relationship with Senior Hyun-soo?"
At her words, Lily blinked a few times, glanced at me, and answered while blatantly showing she was angry.
"Just an old colleague."
Not a husband!
It seemed Lily was so angry about me disappearing after the first night that she didn't even want to acknowledge we were a married couple.
Charles, perhaps because she arrived a little late and hadn't heard me openly calling her my wife, shrugged her shoulders and asked.
"...? Then you're just ordinary acquaintances, right? This Transferee-nim is a bit sensitive."
Just as Lily was about to retort to those words, I raised my hand to restrain both of them.
I don't understand why these two are fighting as soon as they met in the first place.
I scolded Charles immediately.
"Charles, what are you doing right now? Don't you know what's most important in the Settlement Support Division? We need to stabilize the transferee's mind and body and guide them well to the programs we provide, so what do you do if you fight with the transferee? Where did you sell off everything I taught you?"
"S-Sorry..."
Charles's ears drooped, and Lily snorted while making a very arrogant expression.
"Lily, if you put up your guard against people like us when proceeding with the social adaptation program, it gets tiring for both sides. So tone down your temper a bit. Got it?"
"Depends on how you act."
Unlike Charles, who is my direct subordinate assistant and has no choice but to follow my words, Lily held onto her pride until the end.
Well, it's not like there hasn't been anyone with an attitude like hers until now, so handling her won't be a big problem.
Above all, since Lily is a mage, she can't suppress her curiosity when she discovers something new.
"Then if I show you something you might like, will you behave?"
"Hmph~? Confident, aren't you? Saying that in front of me, who has seen all kinds of artifacts in the Evil Dragon's nest? And since I find you detestable, I have no intention of obediently following as you wish, so you'll probably suffer a bit in the future?"
"W-What is this?! Surveillance magic? No, looking at how I don't feel any mana, that doesn't seem to be it, but what is this? Hiiik! What is this again!? Did you capture past events in here? And you're even showing them again right in front of my eyes? How does the principle work? If it's like this, it means even after years, decades pass, you can see past records again like they happened today..."
Lily, who had been giving off a nuance of confidently saying, 'I've seen plenty of awesome artifacts so I won't be impressed by whatever you show me!', was immediately captivated as soon as she received the low-end budget smartphone and kept pressing the camera and video buttons.
If even Lily, Astraia's strongest Archmage and the one with the highest academic insight, is like this, there is no need to mention her subordinate mages or ordinary citizens.
Especially the citizens who didn't know how to use magic were astonished that they could do things that seemed possible only with magic, and they treated the phones given to each of them with extreme care, cherishing them like sacred objects.
"To think something like this is possible..."
"Even in the Imperial Family, there probably isn't anyone who knows how to wield such magic."
"Look at Lady Lily. Even such a great mage is that surprised..."
And is it only the phones?
Different from what they ate in Astraia, the utterly delicious essences of modern food engineering!
When we provided chocolate as a snack during the education time for adapting to Korean society, and divided the personnel into several groups during mealtime to take them to the buffet operated by the countermeasures headquarters, Lily's disciple mages and the citizens became faithful slaves of modern society.
"This is... food...? What on earth have I been eating until now..."
"I never dreamed such a world existed! I'm not going back!"
"Ice cream... I should have eaten just one more cup of ice cream... or maybe shaved ice..."
"Hambuggie!"
"It's hamburger. And Lily? I don't know when you went to the kitchen alone and came back, but if you just leave like that without telling me next time, you'll be in trouble? Problems could arise, so if you're going somewhere, make sure to tell me and go with me, understand?"
"Slurp... Chomp... Slurp... Chomp... Gasp! W-W-What did I do?! I have absolutely no idea what you're saying?!"
Lily was no exception; as soon as she took one bite of ramen, she lost her mind and emptied one in an instant, and it seems she secretly went to the kitchen avoiding my eyes and grabbed another ramen.
I don't know if she walked or teleported.
Charles crossed her arms, stared at Lily quietly, and added a word.
"Transferee Lily-nim. Did you get permission from the kitchen to bring that? If you brought it secretly, this constitutes theft and can be punished by imprisonment for up to 6 years or a fine of up to 10 million won."
"Haa? Are you treating me like a thief right now? You look more like a thieving cat yourself—"
"Now you're not satisfied with just making negative evaluations based only on a person's appearance, but you even voice that fact in front of the person concerned? Senior Hyun-soo! Transferee Lily-nim's language and conduct are too vulgar, and she lacks the will to integrate into society, so I judge that further management from our side is difficult! We should call the Special Management Bureau and have them monitor her there—"
Bonk!
"Ouch!"
I rapped Charles on the head, making her cringe.
I don't know why this kid has been itching to get at Lily since the first time she saw her.
"Special Management Bureau? Do you think someone from the Settlement Support Division can just carelessly say we should send a transferee there? If you act coercively like that and the transferee really goes astray, the problem becomes more serious. When are you going to grow up?"
"Hing... Why is it always only me..."
Watching me scold Charles, Lily narrowed her eyes and said.
"Getting along well, aren't you?"
"Hmm? Ah, well, we're a mentor and mentee. She's my direct subordinate, so I have to teach her the work properly. She needs to improve her skills quickly for my work to become a bit easier too."
"Hmm... Is that so? Is that really it?"
"Ah, it's the next education time again. Lily, could you gather the people from Group 3? The next session starts in 10 minutes."
"I don't want to. You gather them yourself."
Lily still seemed to think I was making this and that excuse despite having abandoned her and run away, so her attitude was very crooked and uncooperative.
Even Lily, whose personality is relatively easy to understand, is like this; when I meet the other three, how on earth am I supposed to resolve that situation...
Due to Lily's non-cooperation, I eventually stood up from my seat to gather the people myself, and Charles stood up with me.
"Senior! There are over 100 people in Group 3, and since they'll be scattered, it will take a long time if you try to do it alone! I'll help you together!"
The moment Charles ran toward me saying that.
Suddenly, Lily's body disappeared and reappeared between me and Charles, taking her place.
Lily glared at Charles and slightly leaned her shoulder against mine.
"I changed my mind. It seems like it would just be a waste of time, so I'll just help you."
"Uh? Really? Anyway, your fickleness has been well-known since long ago—"
Shwoong—!
Before I could even finish my sentence, Lily and I teleported through her magic to the lounge where the people of Group 3 were scattered and resting.
After the socialization education of the first day of being transported to another world ended.
Lily Amarua, trying to sleep in her assigned accommodation, couldn't fall asleep and tossed and turned continuously.
Even though the environment wasn't much different from after that night when Hyun-soo... no, Hans suddenly disappeared, today especially, the bed felt unbearably lonely and desolate to Lily.
She recalled the object called a supply-use smartphone she had placed by her bedside and reached out for it.
Since Lily's brain was so brilliant, she had already perfectly memorized how to use it in her head.
She unlocked the phone and found the name of the only person saved in her contacts.
[Hans, Jung Hyun-soo]
Her husband and the person she gave both her body and heart to, but simultaneously the person she absolutely didn't want to acknowledge as her husband.
Seeing that name, she immediately understood why she was feeling so lonely and desolate right now.
Because her husband had suddenly disappeared on the first night after getting married, she needed that warm touch she had never felt even once.
Lily sent a message to that sole contact saved via the phone's text messages.
[Hey what are u doing]
The reply came back quickly.
[Not sleeping yet? I was organizing tomorrow's education materials almost finished]
It seems Jung Hyun-soo just finished work too.
Lily touched the phone with trembling fingers and sent a reply.
[Then come to my room there's a problem here]