Chapter 26
“Uh, what kind of body do you want?”
I asked, unconsciously covering my neck with both hands.
Why did I take that pose?
I didn't know either.
It was a movement I'd made reflexively when I heard her say she wanted my body.
Maybe it was because of how she'd subdued the thief by hoisting her helmet high.
“If you're saying you want my head, I'm afraid I can't give it to you.”
“Pfft.”
Lumina burst out laughing at my reaction and lightly patted my shoulder.
“Hahaha! Don't be so scared. I have no intention of eating you. And what, do you think I'm some kind of head collector? I'm only looking for my own head. I have no interest in other people's heads.”
“Ahem.”
Lumina's cackling reaction left me feeling embarrassed for no reason.
“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.”
“No, it's fine. To be honest, I am kind of interested in our part-timer Min-cheol's head.”
I instinctively covered my neck again, a chill running through me.
“My head? I doubt you'd find it particularly appealing.”
“As far as I'm concerned, it's overflowing with appeal.”
“……”
“Your reactions are fun. You're so entertaining to tease.”
She leaned against the counter and moved a little closer.
“The body I want is…”
Gulp.
This time, I covered my chest.
I had a slightly dangerous feeling.
Not the kind where I might die, but something else….
A sense of crisis that my chastity might disappear, or something like that.
“I wanted you to set aside some personal time for me.”
“Time?”
I blinked and looked at her, her answer different from what I'd expected.
“What do you mean by time…?”
Was she asking me to do some work together?
Or—could it be a date?
“Yeah. How about a night drive?”
“A drive?”
“Let's go for a drive after work. You said you haven't been in Taepyeong City long. You need time to get used to the area, right? You couldn't have gone very far on foot, so I'll drive you around.”
“Ah.”
At that, I slowly lowered the hand covering my chest.
“But why did you say you'd take your reward in the form of my body…?”
“Why? Seems a little different from what you were expecting?”
“That's not it. What could I possibly have expected?”
I had misunderstood a little.
But it wasn't like that.
I absolutely hadn't gotten my hopes up because I'd been entranced by those enormous breasts.
Really, I hadn't.
“You're fun.”
She giggled and continued.
“You don't have plans after work, do you?”
“No. I'll keep the evening free.”
“Good. Then I'll come pick you up when your shift ends, so be ready.”
Lumina casually turned around, lightly waving the hand in its leather glove.
I glanced at the shelves, then hurriedly called her back.
“Um, Ms. Lumina. Just a moment before you go.”
“Hmm? Why? Is your heart already pounding in anticipation of tonight?”
“No, that's not it.”
I pointed to the box Ms. Lumina had given me and said,
The box containing Taepyeong City's latest-model smartphone.
“Since you're here, could you show me how to use this? I'm still not familiar with Taepyeong City's devices.”
The smartphone inside.
Thinking of the smartphone the manager had been holding, it didn't look all that different.
But considering how Taepyeong City's devices resembled yet differed from those in the world I'd lived in, there were bound to be differences in how they worked.
It seemed best to get help from a local rather than accidentally breaking it by pressing the wrong thing.
Lumina stopped walking for a moment at my question and scratched her chin.
“Hmm, how to use it….”
She seemed to ponder for a moment, looking back and forth between the box in my hand and my face.
But soon, the flames burning inside her helmet flickered, and she shook her head.
“No. I don't want to be the one to teach you that.”
“Huh? Why? At least show me how to turn it on….”
“The manager made me promise in no uncertain terms that she would teach you how to use the smartphone herself.”
“The manager?”
“Yeah. She made such a fuss, saying she'd personally chosen and set up every detail for her loyal vassal and would teach you herself, no matter what.”
Lumina's shoulders bobbed as she burst into giggles, as though she'd thought of something amusing.
“If I jumped the gun and taught you everything here, that brat would definitely get furious. I can practically see her jumping up and down, crying buckets, and calling me a traitor.”
I could vividly picture the manager pounding on the counter like a child throwing a tantrum.
She absolutely would do that.
The manager was impulsive and occasionally had a childlike side.
“Honestly, part of me wants to tell you just to tease her, but this is the first time she's ever gone this far to choose a gift for someone.”
“……”
“I don't want to take that first away from her.”
I recalled how furious the manager had been after losing yesterday's raid, and how brightly she had smiled after winning.
If I told her I'd learned from someone else, she'd obviously sulk in a corner of the convenience store for days.
“Ah…. I suppose you're right.”
“So keep the smartphone safe for now, and when the manager comes later, wag your tail and ask her yourself. Got it? See you later, cutie part-timer!”
She gave a light, finger-to-forehead salute and left the convenience store with a jaunty stride.
“What's with the ‘cutie’….”
I looked down at the box containing the smartphone and let out a small, hollow laugh.
***
“The True Ancestor has arrived!”
As usual, the manager entered the convenience store around dinnertime.
It was a little earlier than usual.
“Vassal, were you waiting for the True Ancestor?”
“Welcome.”
“I heard from Lumina. A brazen thief came to the store, did he? And yet you protected the True Ancestor's domain without letting it be robbed. I commend you.”
The manager came toddling over to me and rose onto her tiptoes to pat my head.
“What are you doing?”
“I-I'm commending you! It's a reward for how well our vassal defended the domain.”
“The smartphone is reward enough.”
“Ah, you saw it? Well? Do you like how it looks?”
I picked up the sleek smartphone and showed it to her.
“I really like it. But I don't know how to use it yet.”
“Heh heh heh, knowing that, the True Ancestor came to work earlier than usual for her vassal. You should worship the True Ancestor for that.”
Our manager puffed out her chest, basking in her own glory.
I handed her the smartphone.
“Please teach me, my esteemed manager.”
“Heh heh, very well. Watch closely!”
The manager snatched the smartphone from my hand.
“This smartphone is Taepyeong City's state-of-the-art T-27, capable of using all sorts of functions in response to the user's mana.”
She held out her hand.
“Hand it over.”
“Hand you what?”
“Your hand! It needs to authenticate with your hand.”
When I held out my hand, she took my right hand.
“Eek!”
After grabbing my right hand, she was startled and clutched her own hand.
“Manager?”
“V-Vassal, how could you go around with World Tree pollen smeared all over you like that! Y-you startled me.”
“Ah….”
Taking care of the World Tree every morning before coming to work had become part of my routine.
“I'm sorry. Are you hurt?”
“N-no, it's nothing like that! It just startled me a little. This much pollen is nothing more than static electricity to the True Ancestor.”
“If you need to brush it off….”
“It's fine. I was only startled, so don't worry about it.”
She soon pulled my right hand toward her and pressed my thumb firmly against the center of the smartphone's pitch-black screen.
Bzzzt—.
“The vassal has very little mana even by human standards, so you have to keep your thumb pressed for quite a while during registration. World Tree pollen doesn't react to this device, you see.”
[Biometric information and fine mana wavelength registration complete. Welcome.]
With a smooth mechanical chime, bright light came on across the formerly black screen.
“Oh.”
“It reads the unique wavelength of the mana embedded in your fingerprint. Even if someone else stole it, they could never unlock it.”
“So it responds to me too?”
“It's an improved version that even races with extremely little mana can use. In a way, it's a premium model.”
A proud smile spread across the manager's lips.
She seemed pleased with my reaction to the gift.
Her little fingers slid rapidly across the screen.
Perhaps because they had been honed by raids, her fingers moved too quickly to see as she typed.
“First, I'll install the essential apps for staying safe in Taepyeong City. Look, this red shield-shaped app. This is the most important one.”
“What is it?”
“Taepyeong City Integrated Disaster Alert. It's an app that notifies you of disasters occurring in Taepyeong City. You won't need it while you're inside the convenience store, but it may come in handy when you travel elsewhere.”
“When would I need it…?”
“If a monster escapes from Hunter Tower, or an anomalous phenomenon occurs nearby?”
“Do things like that happen?”
“Rarely, yes. Of course, Hunters quickly deal with escaped monsters, so it's over soon, but the anomalous phenomena caused by criminals are a nuisance.”
“…Like that raccoon thief?”
“Exactly. If your phone ever sounds a siren, you must open this and check it immediately.”
“Understood.”
“Don't worry when you're in the convenience store! The True Ancestor will protect you!”
“Though, in this latest thief incident….”
“Ahem! The True Ancestor has to sleep during the day, too, doesn't she? I was tired from the raid and fell asleep right away…. Ahem….”
The manager averted her gaze and tapped away at the smartphone again.
“And this is the convenience store ordering app. From now on, if you need to order goods, tell me and use this app to place the order. And this one beside it is a delivery app. You can't live on convenience-store food forever, so I installed it on your phone too. Naturally, I've linked the payment to the True Ancestor's corporate card.”
Nice.
Our manager really was incredible when it came to employee benefits.
“I'll put it to good use.”
“And finally! This is the most important function!”
With an especially solemn expression, the manager opened the contacts app.
Could there be an emergency contact in there?
Then she quickly entered a number.
Tap tap tap tap!
The number she'd saved to my contacts.
She labeled it:
-The Great True Ancestor.
“…The Great True Ancestor?”
“You have gained the honor of receiving the True Ancestor's number!”
“Is this your number, Manager?”
“It is! For your information, you are the first vassal the True Ancestor has ever given her number to! So take pride in it.”
The manager raised her chin, hands planted proudly on her hips.
Now I understood why Ms. Lumina had left the first lesson to the manager.
The manager had been waiting for this moment.
To teach me how to use the smartphone and give me her number for the first time.
“If anything dangerous happens, contact this number without hesitation!”
The manager puffed herself up, looking proud.
“Understood. But, Manager.”
“Hmm?”
“I already know your number.”
“Huh?”
She blinked.
“The interview, remember? I called your number to conduct it.”
“Ah….”
She stared at me blankly for a moment, then pushed out her lips in a pout.
“Eeeeeek!! Th-that doesn't count! Cancel it! It's an unknown number! It counts because I saved it on this smartphone first! So f-forget the number you received before!”
Hmm.
I shouldn't have said that.
That was far too unromantic of me.
Sorry, Manager.
“Yep. I'll treasure the manager's number with the utmost honor.”
“Ahem, that's the kind of vassal I like.”
After I accepted the number with exaggerated solemnity, the manager seemed to relax a little.
“Anyway, from now on, use that smartphone in Taepyeong City.”
After she'd added a few more apps.
Ding—.
“Min-cheol, I'm here~.”
Ms. Lumina opened the door and entered.
“What are you doing here?”
“Why do you think? I'm here to keep my promise.”
“Promise?”
The manager tilted her head.
“Min-cheol and I are going on a night drive.”
“Y-you really are? You're really going on a drive with her…?”
“Yes, Ms. Lumina helped me.”
“……”
At my answer, the manager bit her lip and glared at Lumina.
“If that dullahan tries anything funny, call the True Ancestor's number immediately. I'll close the store and come help you, even if I have to.”
“Anyone listening would think I was going to eat him.”
“Were you not?”
The manager growled.
“It's not like that. I'm just going to show him Taepyeong City at night and broaden his horizons by showing him other parts of the city.”
Lumina calmed the manager down.
“Be careful. I'm being serious. That woman's driving is… quite brutal.”
“I'll keep that in mind.”
I clocked out with the manager's emphatic warning ringing in my ears.
Once I was off work, Lumina tapped the back seat.
“Get in. We're going for a drive.”
“Ah, yes.”
I sat in the back seat.
The seat still felt warm from where she'd been sitting moments before.
“Here. It's a helmet.”
Lumina handed me a helmet as I sat on the bike.
But Lumina, who was handing me the helmet, wasn't wearing one herself, leaving nothing atop her head.
“Huh? What about you, Ms. Lumina?”
“I'm fine. I don't have a head anyway.”
Even if she didn't have a head, was it really okay to go without one?
“Then is this your helmet, Ms. Lumina…?”
I looked back and forth between her and the helmet, startled.
“Hahahaha!”
The blue flames flickering above Lumina's neck shook violently with her laughter.
“I'm joking. I don't want to advertise to everyone that I'm a dullahan.”
“…Right? Of course….”
Only then did I feel relieved.
I had been worried about what would happen if other people saw Lumina.
She produced a helmet from somewhere and put it on over her head.
Only after seeing that did I put on the helmet she had given me.
It carried a familiar sweet scent.
“But you know, Min-cheol, the helmet you just put on is indeed the helmet I used to wear.”
“Huh?”
Startled, I looked at her, and the flames flickering inside the bike popped and danced anew.
“Hold on tight around my waist. You might fall otherwise.”
She drove off without giving me time to answer.
“Aaaah! W-wait a minute!”