E-book Exclusive Short Story: The Ojou-sama and the Internet Environment
About a week had passed since the Management Game began.
In the middle of our usual tea party, I casually voiced a question that had been on my mind.
“Come to think of it, everyone uses computers pretty naturally, don’t they?”
“That’s only natural.”
Tennouji-san set her cup down on the table and answered.
“In today’s world, computers are essential for work. We’ve been studying how to use them since we were young.”
“If anything, we even had classes on that in our first year, didn’t we?”
Asahi-san said with a cheerful laugh.
Those classes must be the kind that teach you how to use a computer. My old high school had them too.
It’s true that most jobs these days require computer skills, so it’s not surprising that everyone here has studied them.
But that wasn’t exactly what I meant…
“Even so, isn’t there a bit of a… bias in your knowledge?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, like how you don’t know much about commoner culture…”
Things like the three-second rule or borrowing something and never giving it back… Sure, those might be niche bits of knowledge, but there should’ve been plenty of chances to learn about things like arcades or shopping streets.
Especially for someone like Tennouji-san, once she gets curious about something, she’d probably look it up right away.
“…Now that you mention it, you’re right.”
Tennouji-san’s face took on a puzzled expression.
Next to her, Hinako tilted her head in confusion too.
“Why is that, I wonder?”
◆
“Because they use filtering.”
Back at the mansion, I asked Shizune-san about the question I’d raised at the tea party.
She gave me a clear, straightforward answer.
“The upper class has a lot of… doting parents, shall we say—pardon me, overprotective ones. To shield their wealthy sons and daughters, they subscribe to special filtering services.”
At this point, you might as well just call them doting parents.
I can understand filtering for elementary school kids, but for second-year high schoolers? That feels like overkill…
“Not knowing certain things can add to their air of refinement, you see.”
“What do you mean…?”
“Well, when you saw these Ojou-samas who didn’t know about commoner culture, what did you think? Didn’t you feel like… this is the real deal?”
“…You’re right.”
When I saw Hinako and the others clueless about commoner culture, I wasn’t just exasperated—I felt something closer to awe, like I’d come full circle. It was almost thrilling to realize that a true, sheltered Ojou-sama, the kind you only hear about in stories, was standing right in front of me.
In other words, this must be the kind of Ojou-sama image that’s in demand.
The filtering, it seems, is partly to preserve that image.
“It’s not something for the general public, but if you look it up, it’s easy enough to find. …Here it is.”
Shizune-san showed me the screen of her tablet.
“Celeb Filter… That’s, uh, pretty on-the-nose.”
Seeing the name of the filtering service, I couldn’t help but make a wry face.
“Does Hinako use this service too?”
“She did when she was younger, but it’s been canceled now.”
“Why’d they cancel it?”
“Because when it comes to our Ojou-sama, if she has time to look up unnecessary things on the computer, she’d rather sleep.”
That I could believe with every fiber of my being.
“But lately, our Ojou-sama has been changing, so it might be wise to keep an eye on her.”
“Yeah, you’re right… Hinako’s been getting into shoujo manga lately, so she might even say she wants to buy some online.”
“Shoujo manga? She can buy as much of that as she wants…”
“No, I don’t know much about it myself, but I hear some shoujo manga these days can get pretty intense. The ones Hinako’s reading now are borrowed from Yuri, so she’s probably filtered out the spicier stuff, but…”
Am I starting to think like an overprotective parent myself?
Still, Hinako’s got that pure, almost naive personality—she’s a greenhouse flower through and through. If she stumbled across some overly stimulating content and got overwhelmed, it’d be a disaster.
“Just to be safe, I keep an eye on Ojou-sama’s browsing history, so I can step in and prevent anything before it becomes an issue.”
“Is that… okay? Browsing history feels like a pretty private thing…”
“It’s under Kagen-sama’s orders, and Ojou-sama has been informed in advance.”
Well, if she knows about it… I guess it’s fine.
“…Oh?”
Suddenly, Shizune-san glanced at her tablet and furrowed her brow.
“…This won’t do.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Ojou-sama is looking at an inappropriate website.”
“What?!”
◆
While Izuki and Shizune were discussing the Ojou-sama’s internet environment, Hinako was in her room, working on the Management Game.
(Phew… I’m done with today’s tasks. Time for a break…)
As she looked away from the monitor, her eyes landed on a shoujo manga sitting at the edge of her desk. It was borrowed from Izuki’s childhood friend, Yuri, and for Hinako, it was nothing less than a textbook on romance.
She’d already read all the volumes she’d borrowed. Yuri had promised to bring the next ones when they met again, but honestly, Hinako couldn’t wait that long. She needed to know what happened next now.
“…That’s it! If I look online, maybe I can find out what happens!”
Using the internet for personal reasons was a first for her.
Hinako quickly typed the title of the shoujo manga into the search bar.
She managed to find the official page for the manga, but…
“…What’s this? An ad…?”
An ad-like banner appeared in the corner of the screen, and out of curiosity, she clicked it.
The next moment, the screen filled with a vivid pink illustration.
“Huh? Huh? Huuuh…!?”
It was an ad for a particularly risqué shoujo manga.
“W-W-W-What is this… What is this…!?”
Overwhelmed by a sensation she’d never felt before, Hinako’s face flushed red as she floundered in confusion.
At the bottom of the page, a bold, explicit scene was displayed in all its glory…
“Ojou-sama!”
“Hinako!”
Shizune and Izuki burst into Hinako’s room in a panic.
But Hinako,
“Ugh… ugh…”
Was so overwhelmed that she’d completely fainted from the shock.
“We were too late…”
“I knew it was too much for Hinako…”
Seeing the still-open computer screen, the two of them clutched their heads in despair.
The next day, upon Shizune’s report and under Kagen’s instructions, Hinako’s computer was quietly subscribed to the Celeb Filter service without her knowledge.
