"Where should I begin explaining? History lectures tend to be a bit boring, after all…."
The 14th floor of Seoul City Hall.
When I arrived at a floor number that definitely hadn't existed on the elevator, contrary to the mysterious scene I had imagined, an incredibly ordinary hallway came into view.
With corridors gently connected here and there against a white backdrop, it was a hallway whose most appealing advantage was how easy it was on the eyes.
But as I walked down this hallway and read the nameplates reading Department of This, Bureau of That, it was truly quite a sight.
Although the majority of officials walking around seemed to be ordinary humans, not a single nameplate beside an office, anywhere, was missing the word "witch."
It seemed the 14th floor of Seoul City Hall was comprised entirely of departments dedicated solely to witches.
While I was taking in this sight, something poked lightly at the side of my forearm.
"You seem to be enjoying the view?"
"...Ah, I'm sorry. I got distracted while you were speaking...."
"That can happen."
Eve Rikaon.
The team leader, whose name was written as such on her name tag, slowed her pace and gave a faint smile.
Had it not been for that suspicious incident in the elevator, that smile would have likely given off a first impression of a "kind team leader."
But maybe because I knew the probability of her being a witch converged at one hundred percent.
Whenever my eyes met hers like this, I couldn't help but feel an inexplicable sense of unease.
Because, sometimes you see people who know all too well that they're beautiful, and simultaneously wield that fact with great skill.
Maybe I'm just twisted, but that's the feeling I got right now.
"Well then, since we're here, shall we start with proper introductions?"
"I-I'm Nam Dowon. I look forward to working with you."
"I'm Eve. Eve Rikaon. Though I'm sure you already knew that, Mr. Dowon."
"Huh?"
"The name tag on my chest. Didn't you glance at it several times in the elevator?"
"...Ah, the name tag. Yes. I did glance at it since it was there."
"Though for someone who says that, you certainly stared hard enough to bore a hole through my chest."
"..."
...Seeing her throw such an embarrassing question at me already,
teasing others, especially subordinates, seemed to be her cup of tea.
"They're not particularly large, but neither are they small, so men tend to stare often. Especially hot-blooded men like you, Mr. Dowon."
"...I'm sorry."
"Hmm? Ah, I didn't mean that in a bad way. Personally, I like people who can't hide their desires well. That action you just took is actually a plus factor."
"..."
"Hm, I'm saying this in earnest, not as a joke."
"...I'll be sure to keep that in mind for now."
"Good."
It was hard to believe she was being sincere; it hadn't even been ten minutes since we'd first met.
Besides, a man sneaking glances at a woman's chest could, depending on the situation, be classified as a crime.
Even if she called that a plus factor, there was no way I could take it at face value.
But since I couldn't say that honestly, I hid my ambivalence and humored my superior for the moment.
She cleared her throat lightly and brought up the topic she'd been about to discuss earlier.
"When you first heard the words 'Apprentice Witch Rehabilitation Support Division,' what did you think this place did?"
I still remembered that vividly.
Did they want a public official to scold an apprentice witch going through puberty in their stead? That was exactly what I'd thought.
However, it wasn't easy to voice such explicit criticism in front of an active-duty witch, so I'd been about to give a dull answer like, 'I thought it would literally support the rehabilitation of apprentice witches...'
"Did you perhaps think it was a department that helped coax out apprentice witches who'd locked themselves in their rooms in a huff?"
"...Yes."
Since she'd asked a question as if she'd read my mind,
I ended up answering honestly that it was, instead of pointlessly wracking my brain.
Magic that reads minds... it wouldn't have been strange if such a thing existed.
Besides, the team leader's earlier comment about 'liking people who can't hide their desires well' could, in a way, be taken as telling me not to overthink and just be honest.
Better to be straightforward than to get caught in a pointless lie.
...Though I had no idea what on earth that "coochie-coo" expression even meant.
"It can't be helped. It seems everyone who comes here thinks something similar."
"By those who come here, do you mean my predecessors?"
"That's right. Those who were here before you, Mr. Dowon."
"Ah.... ...?"
So she was talking about my predecessors.
After that vague reaction, one question followed.
"The way you said 'were here'—does that mean currently...?"
"There's no one here now."
"..."
"...Pfft."
I didn't have a mirror, so I couldn't be sure, but I must have made quite a ridiculous expression.
The first thought that came to mind was, 'Surely they didn't all die?' It couldn't be helped.
Seeing my face, the team leader let out a small laugh for the first time and, adding a brief remark, turned the corner.
"It's far too difficult to find talent suited to our department, yet conversely, people quit far too quickly. Usually, I'm either guarding the office all alone, or—as is the case now with you, Mr. Dowon—there's barely one person. That's generally how it goes."
No talent, plenty of desertions.
I more or less understood what that meant.
The work here wasn't just looking after some pouting brats; these were apprentice witches we were dealing with.
I suppose there were countless complications starting with, 'How dare a mere human!'
On the other hand, at community service centers, countless people quit due to complications starting with, 'How dare a mere public servant!'
Thinking about it that way, it didn't seem particularly special.
"Because the role that the Rehabilitation Support Division actually performs is quite different from what you imagined, Mr. Dowon."
"...?"
But without paying any mind to me, who had gone silent, the team leader began by correcting my misunderstanding.
"Let's see... including what you mentioned, it's a somewhat broader concept, you could say? Of course, there may be apprentice witches somewhere who've locked themselves in their rooms in a huff at their master, but our focus is on 'apprentice witches who refuse to hunt monsters.'"
"I see...."
To be honest.
I reacted as if I understood, but in reality, I didn't understand at all.
It was truly appreciated that witches hunted monsters without asking for special compensation, but why was it a problem if they simply chose not to hunt them?
So, how should I put it?
It felt like a friend who always did my homework for me suddenly declared, 'I won't do your homework anymore!' and instead, that friend's parents were scolding the friend...?
"It doesn't really concern humans, but hunting monsters is of great help to witches' magical achievements. Combat experience, of course, as well as the special materials obtained from dismantling monsters."
With the team leader's added explanation, I could more or less understand that strange and complicated feeling.
Monsters were beings that devoured humans, yes, but simultaneously, they served as study material for witches.
Seeing that even special materials from them were helpful, they could probably be sold to other witches to earn money.
That was why witches needed to encourage their disciples to actively hunt monsters.
"...But, Team Leader."
"Yes."
But aside from that small curiosity being resolved, doubts still remained.
"Is there any reason why a public servant—no, a human—has to take on that role together?"
"Hmm?"
"What I mean is... if they won't even listen to their master, would they really listen to a human?"
In the end, can't you all just sort it out amongst yourselves?
Why do humans have to step in and help with this?
"Right? Naturally, they won't listen to a public servant at all. Especially since apprentice witches are still young, they tend to be steeped in superiority and look down on humans. This is the biggest reason for the flood of resignations."
"Then why do you keep hiring ordinary humans like me?"
"Mmm... I suppose I should first explain why apprentice witches who refuse to hunt monsters appear in the first place."
The team leader herself had even said that haughty apprentice witches would only listen to human advice with one ear and let it go out the other.
As various pieces of information combined to amplify my doubts even further, we had arrived before a nameplate reading 'Apprentice Witch Rehabilitation Support Division.'
Compared to the other departments I'd seen while walking here, its entrance was remarkably small.
The inside, once we opened the door and entered, was bleak as expected.
It was clean like the hallway, but a room that could hardly be called an office.
There were only four desks.
Of those, only the team leader's and mine were actually in use.
...At this rate, it felt less like an office and more like a school clubroom.
The team leader, having seated herself in the chair near the window, rested her hands together at an angle and began to speak.
"Sometimes, there are witches who become so frightened of monsters that they lock themselves away and try to achieve results through research alone. Naturally, they are among the apprentice witches we must concern ourselves with, but to be honest, we don't really need your help with those, Mr. Dowon."
"...Yes."
"And sometimes, there are witches who study magic completely unrelated to combat, and thus have nothing to do with monsters. In these cases, we don't need to concern ourselves with them either. Such cases rarely come to us as requests in the first place."
"Understood."
"Lastly, the case I need to explain is one where a 'sturdy and decent' human man like you, Mr. Dowon, is very, very, very much needed—more so than me... hm...."
And as her hands intertwined tightly, eventually meeting palm-to-palm.
"There are, veeery rarely, apprentice witches who refuse to hunt monsters simply because they don't want to use their magical power."
Having broached the subject, she gestured for me to sit instead of remaining standing.
At the same time, seeing a chair glide smoothly across the floor, it seemed she could also handle magic similar to telekinesis.
...I hadn't even heard an incantation.
I'd suspected as much, but this confirmed she was a witch.
"To be precise, it's more accurate to say they don't want to have to 'replenish' it after using it."
"Replenish...."
"You don't know much about magical power, do you, Mr. Dowon? I imagine you only know it as the power to use magic."
"...To be honest, everything I know is from fiction."
A witch's magical power was a force commonly seen in various games.
There were even many games that paid particular attention to authenticity, so I had a general idea.
Of course, I wouldn't dare speak carelessly in front of a witch.
"Hmm... putting aside the overly complicated details, to put it simply, it's a problem arising from the recovery mechanism of magical power."
"..."
"There are two methods: one is to rest comfortably and wait for natural recovery, and the other is to receive help from something else to replenish it. Do you understand so far?"
"Yes. I do."
"However, natural recovery is far too slow and inefficient, so as one's magical achievements grow, one usually receives help from other sources to replenish their magical power."
From here on, this was unknown to me.
Having at most gulped down potions or clicked through them in games, I lent an ear to the team leader's voice.
"That 'help,' well, to put it simply, requires a man's semen."
"...Huh?"
Thinking I must have misheard,
I tilted my head slightly.
"Most have no resistance to procuring it. 'If it's for research, that much is...' is the most common mindset. Many also think, 'Might as well enjoy it, so why not?' Ah, for reference, I'm the latter."
But she showed no signs of correcting herself.
Instead, she only threw out jokes that were difficult to react to.
Even the explanation that followed roughly fit the theme of 'semen.'
"But since this isn't something apprentice witches hear about immediately after becoming one, many are quite bewildered when they receive sex education. Having lived lives surrounded only by women, this strange phenomenon occurs. If you were to compare it to the human world, it's like having attended an all-girls kindergarten through an all-girls high school. Right?"
...Given her serious and detailed explanation, it didn't seem like she was teasing me.
"Because of this, there are occasionally foolish apprentice witches who refuse to use their magical power because they dislike this 'replenishment' step."
"..."
"The apprentice witches I mentioned earlier who are afraid of monsters still go around having sex just fine, so these girls are actually the real headaches. Even when they lock themselves in their rooms, they don't produce good research results. After all, they try not to expend much magical power in the first place."
As she spoke, the team leader's gaze swept up and down my body once.
Face.
Body.
...Passing through some very concerning areas,
down to my legs.
After her slow gaze passed over me as if appraising me, the words she uttered
were such that, due to my somewhat lacking vocabulary,
I felt they could only be described as absurd.
"Roughly seventy percent of the apprentice witches you will be in charge of at the 'Apprentice Witch Rehabilitation Support Division' from now on will be that kind of apprentice witch."
"So to summarize, the reason I was assigned here is..."
"That's right. You simply need to coax the apprentice witches I've pointed out and instill in them the concept that 'sex is a pleasurable act.'"
"..."
"After that, they'll hunt monsters on their own and try to replenish their magical power through pleasurable acts. Simple, isn't it?"
Even though I'm a public servant.
I think I more or less understood.
Why the resignation rate was so high as well.