I mean,
Honestly, I didn’t think the Emperor would be much help in my life.
And, well… it’s a bit awkward to say, but isn’t he kinda old?
Most of the older folks I’ve seen in this world tend to wave their hands and refuse when you try to teach them how to use smartphones or PCs, saying things like, “I can’t do this; can’t a young person do it instead?” or “The computer won’t turn on; can you do something about it?” They say that a lot.
Yeah, I get it. Sometimes I honestly don’t want to learn new things, and if it doesn’t stick in my brain, I just give up quite quickly.
So, I thought this person would be the same.
Anyway, I just slept on the first day.
Fortunately, the clothes I wore at home fit the Emperor just barely. It was pretty annoying that the Emperor, who looks like he’s lived several decades longer than me, had broader shoulders than my manly days, but at least I put them on.
“Whose clothes are these?”
If only Alice and Claire had come over, I might have shared my past life story. But I had no intention of sharing that with the Emperor.
I mean… he’s the Emperor. Who knows how he might use that against me? Considering I plan to jump back to that other world, it’s better if the past stays hidden.
Though it seems it’s too late for that.
…Should I just leave it all behind when I go back?
Claire and Alice fit into the women’s workout clothes I bought, so I made them wear that for now.
We all decided to compromise and change our clothes in the bathroom.
No matter how mixed our blood is, a daughter can’t strip in front of her father.
“I thought it was about time for my daughters to hit puberty.”
The Emperor chuckled as he observed the barrier I put up between him and us three.
The barrier wasn’t anything special. I just rolled up a blanket that I sometimes used in winter and placed it between the Emperor and me. I laid Alice and Claire on either side of me.
Anyway, after a night of sleep,
“Since there’s no way to go back right now, I’ll teach you how to live in this world. Please, try not to commit any crimes, as I’ll be here for quite a while.”
Of course, the talk about crimes was mainly directed at the Emperor. I could trust Claire and Alice with my life.
“Okay.”
“Got it.”
“Understood.”
The last response came from a deep-voiced middle-aged man, which annoyed me a bit, but I held it in for now.
“Today… I’ll show you a bit of this world. The technology here is highly developed. It might seem a bit complex at first, but once you get used to it, I believe you can use most things quite efficiently. In fact, the machines using steam power are usually simpler and easier to operate.”
The fewer parts a machine has that can break down, the less likely it is to malfunction. Many people mistakenly think electronic devices are easy to break because they consist of a very small circuit, but honestly, they tend to break less when they are made of complicated and small parts unless there’s a flaw. As long as you protect the circuits well and keep them from failing, that is.
If you drop a digital clock and a mechanical clock from a height of two stories in an apartment, usually, the digital clock survives.
“Well then, let’s head out after breakfast.”
At my words, Claire’s face sparkled with excitement. Alice looked a bit anxious—meanwhile, the Emperor was smirking.
Why? What are you planning?
I really wish he’d just say something instead of plotting.
*
“Is that a car? I think it’s about time to maintain the roads of the Imperial Capital. I should push to abolish the recurrent regulations, right, Alice?”
“…You seem to think you’ll lose your position as Emperor when you go back.”
“Of course. What can I do since I lost that battle?”
Seeing the Emperor chuckling, I had no words. He’s just acknowledging it; what can I say?
“By the way, I’m curious about the limits of this smartphone.”
“…I think most internet services should be available.”
Limits of a smartphone, huh.
It really depends on how you define ‘limits.’ If you’re asking about games, that might be a clear boundary, but if it’s just about “what can you do with a smartphone,” the story changes a lot.
So, what can it actually do?
“Does that mean stock trading and voting are possible?”
“Oh, that’s not the case. You can do stocks, but voting is not possible.”
“Why not?”
“Stocks are only the loss to the individual, but voting is a loss to the nation as a whole. Moreover, stocks need real-time price checking, but voting doesn’t need that; you just go in and come out. There’s no need to take unnecessary risks.”
I’ve heard there are places where electronic voting is actively used. Was it Brazil? But most countries still use conservative methods. Many people believe that’s a more reliable approach.
“…But, are you really thinking about getting into stocks?”
“Do you think I want to live with three of us in such a tiny room? We should at least get another room or find a place with two additional rooms.”
At that comment, Claire and Alice glanced at me.
Come on, you don’t need to be that careful on a bus.
“I wouldn’t mind living like this.”
“…Stocks aren’t that easy.”
I’ve tried it.
I only lost.
“Do you think that’s true? I’ve tried stocks too, you know?”
“……”
Did he gain something?
But hold on, wasn’t it because he had the Emperor’s name that he could profit? If the Emperor invests in stocks, they’re bound to surge, right? He’s a person with such high approval ratings in the Empire.
Otherwise, in our country, it would be like saying the president made a fortune off stocks. It seems like… that shouldn’t be legally allowed, but it sounds like it would create a ton of backlash. At least his external image would be tarnished.
“Is that impossible?”
Sigh.
I let out a deep breath.
“Anyway, I was planning to buy each of you a smartphone.”
Of course, I was thinking of getting used ones.
But still, we should have a way to contact each other, right?
*
And for the following week, I taught the three of them Hangul.
Thanks to the Goddess’s powers, they quickly picked it up. Maybe they were worried about being seen as strange for not being able to read Hangul despite being registered as Koreans?
The Goddess is truly an ungraspable entity.
Naturally, I got them smartphones.
Me, Claire, and Alice, well, we used them just for our age-appropriate purposes. We kept in touch, watched videos while lying around, and read various things on the internet.
While Claire and I were just having fun, Alice was studying diligently.
…And the most dedicated among us was none other than the Emperor himself.
“This world is overflowing with interesting things to discover the more you learn.”
The Emperor said this with a wicked smile.
“…Stocks are definitely not to be given as gifts. Always do it within your means. I don’t want to end up in the negative with what I have.”
“Of course. No way should a father leave debts for his daughter, right?”
But then, it’s okay to pierce holes in the body?
I knew all too well that he wouldn’t flinch at that comment, so I decided to stay silent.
*
And then, about three days later,
I found an alert on my phone, showing that a hundred thousand won had come in.
…Why on earth a hundred thousand won?
The sender was ‘Arthur Fanggriffon.’
“…What is this money for?”
“Oh, it’s from the profits of stocks.”
“…Huh?”
The money I had given the Emperor was two hundred thousand won.
Not just the Emperor, but I had given the same amount to Alice and Claire too. In my mind, that should cover what they might want to do for a month since we were already handling our meals together.
It seemed Claire really wanted to do internet broadcasting, and Alice showed some interest too. Even the Emperor seemed intrigued.
Honestly, I was interested too, so the three of us were checking things out.
At some point, I was curious about what the Emperor was doing with his smartphone—
He was trading stocks?
“…So you used twenty thousand won to yield ten thousand and sent this?”
“Not quite. I actually earned twenty thousand. But if I reinvest, won’t I earn even more?”
“……”
I looked at Claire and Alice with a dazed expression.
Claire tilted her head, but Alice shrugged her shoulders.
“Father has always been good at accumulating money through stocks.”
Yeah, I knew that.
But to think that was true no matter if he was an Emperor or not?
“Hmm.”
Hearing the Emperor’s voice made me turn back.
“I think you’re underestimating me. Even if it looks like this, I was an Emperor who had the Great Empire in my palm.”
……
That’s… uh…
There’s no denying it’s impressive, but.
I rubbed my face.
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