#GraduatedHighSchoolLastYear #TwentyYearsOld #Male
A human stamped with these tags is, generally speaking, quite interested in women.
This wasn't something that needed separate proof.
Because right now, I was someone who fit all three of those tags, and I was indeed quite interested in women.
Therefore, having ended up with a profession where I had to have sex with witches 'out of necessity,' well, how should I put this.
Ah, right.
I didn't exactly hate it.
"…In short, I should have lots of one-night stands with apprentice witches. Is that how I should understand this?"
But on the outside, I didn't show that 'not exactly hating it' attitude.
Rather, I answered with a reluctant expression and needlessly busied myself rubbing the back of my neck.
#GraduatedHighSchoolLastYear #TwentyYearsOld #Male
A human stamped with these tags has, as a default setting, the tendency to put on an act of being completely uninterested in women on the outside despite being very interested in them.
How could I honestly react with something like 'I fucking love that woman!!' right now?
It's not like I have an iron plate for a face.
"Ah, do you dislike it?"
"Well…, it's rather sudden, I suppose. It's not that I hate it, just…."
"Oh my… you hated sex. Mm-hmm. You hated it."
"……Ah, no. Team Leader. It's not that I hate it…."
"I must have made a mistake while examining candidates one by one these past few days. I thought Mr. Dowon would really enjoy this kind of work, so I picked you personally."
But unfortunately, such crude acting didn't work on a witch in the slightest.
Rather, wasn't it actually working too well?
Absolutely not.
The team leader's expression was proof enough—though her tone was soaked in regret, she still didn't lose her eye smile, as if she found something cute.
…At the same time, I had received a rather bothersome performance evaluation of 'I thought Mr. Dowon would really enjoy something like this,' but I didn't ask further about it.
Because about ninety percent of it was probably because a witch said it, so there must be a special reason.
And the remaining ten percent was because I knew myself well enough that there was no need to ask.
"What to do… Should I try to find a different male who'd crawl on all fours at the sight of a woman even now…?"
No need for long words.
Of course I liked women too.
And not just any woman, but if it was a pretty woman like a witch, I'd crawl on all fours.
If a woman around the team leader's level said she'd do me a favor once and told me to spin around and bark here, I'd probably do it without much thought.
That's what being an ordinary guy means.
If my main job was mixing bodies with apprentice witches.
If that was really all,
"If you don't think this job suits you, please tell me right now. I'll help you return to ordinary work after erasing your memories."
"……Team Leader."
"Ah, has it started to suit you now?"
"……Yes."
"Pfft. Then I look forward to working with you, Mr. Dowon."
Because this place was, without exaggeration, an earthly paradise where you could earn money while having fun.
I, who had been putting on crude acting, eventually nodded my head truthfully.
"I'm so glad you changed your mind, Mr. Dowon. We even got a consultation call recently, but since there were no staff available to work, it ended with just small talk."
"A consultation call…… you use similar methods too."
"We may be witches, but we do know how to use modern technology. The stubborn and narrow-minded ones are from a slightly older generation. About 100 years older than me."
It seemed the team leader wanted to claim she was from a slightly younger generation.
Since I had heard that witches could achieve immortality if they wanted, the thought that generational power struggles would get too complicated crossed my mind, but….
"……."
Anyway.
There is one thing I must keep in mind.
Unfortunately, this isn't a workplace where having sex with apprentice witches is the only thing.
While sex is indeed included as a pleasurable task, it is ultimately just a means to 'rehabilitate' apprentice witches who have shut themselves in their rooms.
This department is a place with terrifyingly high turnover rates, as the team leader said herself.
They were definitely all guys who'd crawl on all fours at the sight of pretty women, yet those guys chose to quit instead of endless sex with witches.
Because apprentice witches, drunk on superiority, looked down on insignificant humans.
As I expected earlier, the countless twists and turns starting with 'How dare a mere human!' were obvious.
And all sorts of things I couldn't imagine with my imagination would probably happen too.
…Though I think the probability is low, it's hard to ignore the possibility of my life being threatened.
In other words, to navigate through these difficulties well….
'Instead of only thinking about sex from the very beginning, I should prepare as much as possible—whether it's countermeasures or plans.'
Only then could I make this place into an earthly paradise.
During the subtle silence that flowed, I eventually cautiously asked the team leader a question.
"Excuse me, before I start work, I have a few questions."
"Ask me anything. You're bound to be curious about many things."
"Do you happen to know why my senior, whoever it was, quit?"
"If it's Mr. Dowon's senior… ah, I recall he knocked on just one apprentice witch's door for 108 days before it ended."
"108 days, that many…."
"It's a rather special case, so don't worry too much. There aren't many apprentice witches with such hikikomori tendencies. Rather, the witch master often actively helps out too."
"……Hmm."
"Would you like to hear stories about others as well?"
"…Please."
Countermeasures or plans, my ass. If the apprentice witch side does something like that, there's no answer, is there?
So after I let out a hollow laugh, the team leader's old stories began.
One senior got hard before getting close to the apprentice witch in charge of him and suffered a rebuff.
At times like these, they usually explained that after treatment and memory erasure, he was transferred to another department.
Another senior similarly tried to strip an apprentice witch's clothes as soon as they met and was found twisted strangely, and he too was transferred to another department after receiving the same treatment as the senior from just now.
Another senior succeeded in frequently being with an apprentice witch through calm behavior, but eventually said he couldn't take it anymore after being treated like a pet.
And yet another senior succeeded in sex, but because the apprentice witch didn't feel good about it, they decided to transfer departments after sufficient conversation….
'…I'm going crazy.'
Is this place really an earthly paradise?
Wouldn't it be right to see it as just a midsummer night's dream?
The team leader added one more thing to me as I was worrying.
"Mr. Dowon, you'll be able to do well enough."
"…Thank you for the encouragement. I'll work hard."
It wasn't exactly a believable remark.
*****
"There are three apprentice witches whose schedules are currently backed up. I'll tell you the difficulty of each one, so pick one, Mr. Dowon."
I was going to let you prepare your heart on the first day, not push you straight into work.
The team leader, having said so, held out three fingers straight toward me.
Thin, long, beautiful fingers that naturally drew the gaze.
"…Does this mean I can choose according to my preference?"
"I intend to match you as much as possible. After all, I'll just say 'this one was backed up first, sorry!' and offer to buy coffee later."
"Honestly, it feels like things operate quite sloppily."
"That's just how witches are. We're all connected through mutual acquaintances…."
"…Understood. I'll choose once you tell me."
"Good. First up… lowest difficulty. There's one apprentice witch who's already quite favorable toward sex."
"Then wouldn't it be fine even if I didn't work?"
"I suppose she's scared since it's her first time, so she can't take the first step easily. Her master couldn't stand watching anymore and requested us. She's asking you to take her virginity."
"…Hmm."
Then does that mean I can just meet her and have emotionless sex and be done with it?
The difficulty level was quite appealing the moment I heard it.
For now, this is my first pick.
"Next would be… lower-middle? Middle? Around there. This one is an apprentice witch more favorable toward semen than sex. And it was the apprentice witch herself who contacted us, not her master."
"Is that possible?"
"She says if you just extract the semen, she'll process it with medicine and handle the rest herself?"
"……."
"You won't have the fun of fucking apprentice witches left and right, Mr. Dowon."
"…That's fine. I don't need that."
This one felt dangerous the moment I heard it.
The difficulty might certainly be low, but there was an atmosphere of being tied to some strange experiment and having semen extracted in large quantities.
…If they did such a thing with an ordinary man instead of someone from the Rehabilitation Support Department like me, they probably get scolded by other witches or masters.
Though she seemed like a witch I'd eventually have to meet given she was backed up on the schedule, I absolutely didn't want to meet her right now.
I naturally pushed her into a corner of my memory.
"Lastly, it'd be around upper-middle difficulty. There's an apprentice witch who has completely quit magic research and just plays games in her room."
"…Witches play games too. I thought magic would be more fun than games."
"That could mean she's that unwilling to mix bodies with a man. As a side note, her master is a close friend of mine…, hmm…."
"If possible, does that mean you'd like me to take this apprentice witch first?"
"Weeell~ to be frank, it's not that I don't feel that way…."
The last one is a game-addicted apprentice witch.
Unlike the first two who were favorable in some way, she was one who had really boycotted magic—a witch with quite the personality, it seemed.
…Was that why?
Despite looking like a difficult difficulty, I was actually the most interested in her.
"My friend said she had considerable talent too. Maybe not legendary level, but still, she was comfortably in the genius category."
"……."
"But she shut herself in her room just because she didn't want to mix bodies with a man, so she can't even scold her properly and is in quite a bind."
"If her talent was mediocre…."
"Such a request wouldn't have come, right? She'd just be excommunicated."
It was a somewhat creepy story, but I didn't let it weigh on my mind too much.
"Of course I'd like you to take her first, Mr. Dowon, but it's no big deal if you pick the easiest apprentice witch first. I'm really fine with it!"
But what bothered me was that right there.
The team leader's attitude of trying to make me comfortable, saying she was really fine.
Think about it.
If she truly wanted me to choose comfortably, she wouldn't have brought up the expression 'my close friend's apprentice witch' in the first place.
She would have just explained appropriately and left only the impression that this one is quite tough.
And yet she deliberately threw several elements that would get on my nerves….
"…Team Leader."
"Yes, yes."
I have to survive in society, after all.
"Regarding the apprentice witch you explained last. Is there any way I could see a photo?"
"Ah, just a moment. I think I have one… here. Here you go."
After I grind through this tough one first, then I'll go to the lowest difficulty apprentice witch.
Thinking so, I accepted the photo from the team leader.