The day’s closing time arrived without incident, and Marie was at the register counter, calculating sales. The other employees, having nothing particular to do, were gathered around a table in the dining space, passing the time.
“So, you operate it like this… I see.”
“Rachel, you’re using unusual characters for input.”
“Ah, this? It’s called flick input. Like this, see? It’s fast!”
“So this is another way to input things.”
Rachel, who had returned from store number 2, was teaching Josette and Caro how to use smartphones. Kent had only taught Caro the basics of the camera and other functions, so Caro listened intently, curious about the various uses. Rachel, familiar with them from her previous world, operated the phone with practiced ease despite it being a different model.
“Kent, what are those things my older sister and the others have?”
“Those? They’re called smartphones. Originally, they were tools to talk to people far away. They can do other things too. But communication isn’t set up yet, so you can’t talk on them. Do you want one too, Catherine?”
“Will you give me one?”
“Of course. Here you go.”
“Yay! Thank you!”
Kent operated the terminal, ordered a smartphone, and handed it to Catherine.
“Hey, hey, can I join too?”
“Your older brother got you a smartphone, didn’t he? That’s fine. Sit here.”
Catherine joined Rachel’s group with the smartphone Kent had given her, learning how to use her new toy.
“Um, I would be happy if I could have one too…”
“Master, me too.”
“Yes, yes, here you go.”
Kent handed smartphones to Patty and Al in the same manner. With Patty and Al now having them, Emily was the only one present who didn’t have a smartphone.
“Don’t you want one, Emily?”
“Me? I don’t need one, since I have this.”
Saying so, Emily showed Kent her own terminal, used for ordering items. Likewise, Kent didn’t see the need for him to have a smartphone that couldn’t make calls at that moment. With Patty and Al joining in, everyone was having fun with their smartphones when Marie finished her calculations and returned.
“Oh my, you’re all having fun while I was away. Kent, do you have one for me too?”
“You’re right. It wouldn’t be good to leave Marie out. Here you go.”
“Thank you. I’ll treasure it.”
Kent handed Marie a smartphone as well. After handing out everyone’s pay, Marie joined them for a short while, and they chatted enthusiastically about their new smartphones.
“We shouldn’t stay out too late, so we’ll call it a day. Those going home, please be careful on your way.”
Marie announced, and they disbanded for the day. Although Kent had a painful financial outlay for the smartphones that day, he accepted it as everyone had been so happy.
After returning home, Marie, Catherine, and Al started fiddling with their smartphones, leaving Kent to prepare dinner and the bath.
The next morning, when Kent arrived at the shop, Elnet greeted him with a displeased expression.
“Hey, Kent. I heard yesterday you gave gifts to women other than me…”
“Yes, yes. Here’s yours then, Elnet.”
“Yay! Thank you!”
Elnet seemed to have felt left out, but she became very happy upon receiving a smartphone from Kent. (It’s a secret that she became so happy her personality changed a bit.)
Other than that, nothing particularly unusual happened, and it was time for Kent and the others to head to school.
“Josette, walking while using your smartphone is dangerous, you should probably stop?”
“Is it? If it gets dangerous, I have a guard nearby so I’ll be fine.”
“That’s not what I mean…”
Josette seemed to be struggling with the input method, wrestling with the smartphone screen even on the way to school. Rachel cautioned her that it was dangerous, but Josette interpreted it differently.
“Eek!”
Josette tripped on something and lost her balance.
“Whoa, careful.”
“Thank you, Kent.”
Kent immediately pulled Josette close, preventing her from falling. As Kent’s hand touched Josette’s chest, he unconsciously savored the sensation while rubbing it, when he felt a gaze.
“Older brother, how long are you going to be touching Josette’s chest? Pervert!”
“Kent, bigger really is better, isn’t it?”
Rachel said in her usual tone, and Caro sadly clasped her own chest and said,
“If you want to touch chests that much… well then, mine isn’t as large as Josette’s, but would you like to borrow it?”
“Wha?”
“Sorry, I was lying.”
Patty said shyly, and Josette and Caro shot her sharp glances, causing Patty to apologize immediately.
“Just as Rachel said, walking and using your smartphone is dangerous, so you should stop.”
“I understand… I will.”
When Kent said this, Josette put her smartphone back into her bag.
They then arrived at the academy, and Caro and Rachel parted ways to go to their respective classrooms. Kent headed to his classroom with Josette and Patty.
“From here on, I think it will be a bother to Kent, so I’ll go by myself.”
Patty declared just before the classroom. Considering yesterday’s events, Patty said this with Kent in mind.
“Understood. Then, we will enter the classroom after a short while. Shall we go, Kent?”
There was still some time before the start of classes, so Josette said to Patty. Patty then entered the classroom, and Kent and Josette walked in a different direction.
“Hehehe… This way I can have some time alone with Kent. Well done, Patty.”
“Um, I can hear you?”
“Ah, I can’t believe I let my thoughts slip out.”
When Kent pointed it out, Josette looked troubled.
“It can’t be helped that I’ve been found out. Well, time is short, so let’s be quick.”
“Josette, what are you going to do?”
“If people ask what men and women do when they’re alone, this is it.”
Saying so, Josette made a gesture by pinching her thumb between her index and middle fingers. This is what is known as a “female grip.” Kent, being an adult, knew what it meant.
“Josette, where did you learn that grip?”
Kent asked the reason for the gesture, which was unbefitting of a Duke’s daughter.
“It was Rachel. She told me that if you want to be intimate with a gentleman, this is what you should do.”
“Well, it’s not wrong, but… my pure image of Josette…”
Kent was astonished at what his sister was instilling in these naive young ladies. For some reason, his sister in his mind was grinning and giving him a thumbs-up.
“You must be Senpai Kent.”
“Um…”
As they were walking down the hallway, talking, a first-year male student stood in front of Kent. He had black hair and was taller than Kent. Although they had no direct acquaintance, Kent knew the person well.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Marc, a first-year.”
