Chapter 5
.
I got up in the morning and warmed up with a light jog.
I checked my clothes and appearance to make myself look even a little better to the apprentice witch.
I even ran through all sorts of possible opening lines by myself, worried I might accidentally say something stupid.
And even now, instead of wearing the weary look of a civil servant, I was still sporting an appropriate smile.
Thinking it through with that perfectly sound head of mine,
'That is true.'
A male prostitute…… that was what I was, after all.
A job providing sexual services to an apprentice witch who hated men.
To briefly summarize that boring, highfalutin explanation, I was basically a male prostitute, wasn't I?
If you looked at it closely, it might even be a more negative job than prostitution.
It would be one thing if she had met me because she wanted a man, but she was being forced to meet me against her will because of her master's pressure, despite hating men.
From Neria's perspective, there probably wasn't a man she found more unpleasant to look at than me, so in that respect, I was even lower than a male prostitute.
…So I didn't really mind Neria calling me a male prostitute.
But that wasn't a reason to obediently follow everything else she said.
I was momentarily dazed by the bewildering treatment, but when Neria finished saying her piece and turned around, I hurriedly called out to her.
"A-Apprentice Witch Neria? I understand what you have in mind, but even if we hide it, it'll all come to light in the end…."
"It's fine. If you act convincingly, both you and I will survive."
"What do you mean…?"
"You tried really hard, but in the end, Neria couldn't get used to men. If you report it roughly like that, who's going to complain? Right?"
Wrong.
The team leader of this shabby department that looked ready to collapse could, to be precise, use 'magic that read other people's thoughts,' though I wasn't exactly sure.
Putting on some half-assed act in front of a witch like that? There was no way it would work.
If anything, I was sure it would only earn me an aggravated punishment.
"That way, you'll be happy because you won't get fired, and I'll be happy because I won't have to do anything weird with a man. Win-win."
But Neria, unaware of that fact, seemed to think her plan was brilliant and put on a smug smile.
On the other hand, I was so dumbfounded by the absurdity of it that I could barely react, but apparently Neria saw me as something like 'a cockroach-level ignoramus enlightened by the exalted Archwitch.'
She smiled even more contentedly and waved her hand shoo-shoo, as if chasing away a fly.
"If you understand, go play in that room. This Neria-nim even put a few comic books in there out of the goodness of her heart, so use them if you need them. You can take a nap, too. I'll wake you up after about three hours of gaming."
Having finished speaking, Neria began walking back toward another room in the distance.
I watched her for a moment as she abandoned even the small amount of half-formal speech she'd used over the intercom.
Then I walked quickly from the entryway, blocking her path.
"No, you can't."
"Hey. Don't block me; move. You took this job because you wanted to try it with a witch too, at least partly, didn't you?"
……
"There are plenty of witches besides me. Ask them to spread their legs for you. You can build your performance record that way, I guess?"
Not half, but more like eighty percent.
Since this wasn't something to discuss right now, I continued as though I hadn't heard her.
"Neria-nim. I'm not saying this because I have some sense of duty toward this job. My boss is also a witch, just like you…. No matter how hard I try to act, she'll eventually see through it. For the record, I was personally selected by the team leader to take on this job, too."
"A witch? Well, I guess she's very perceptive."
"It seems to me that she probably uses magic to read people's thoughts…."
"…What are you talking about? Where in the world is there some absurdly overpowered, broken magic like that?"
"Pardon?"
"That witch just has exceptionally good instincts. It means the problem would be solved if you acted better."
Was that how it was?
No, no, that's not it.
This wasn't the time to be shocked by Neria's explanation.
If things continued like this, I'd end up with the same fate as one of my predecessors, who was treated like a pet and transferred to another department.
To see a new ending, I had to start by getting the first button right.
"In that case, Neria-nim."
"Why are you bothering me again?"
"Forgive me for saying this, but I actually…"
"Hey. What do you take witches for? You don't need that weird historical-drama speech; just use a reasonable level of honorifics."
"…It's embarrassing to admit, but I actually…"
"Actually what?"
"I quite like games."
"…Huh. Games?"
"Yes."
"Aha~ yes, yes. So civil servant Mr. Nam Dowon likes games?"
Was this the wrong approach? Had I moved too quickly after all?
Before the aura of regret could hit me, Neria's hand reached toward my chest.
It wasn't to hit me in the solar plexus…; my civil servant ID was dangling right there.
She grabbed it and gave it a cursory glance, then murmured only the name Nam Dowon before looking back up at me.
Neria tugged on my civil servant ID, making me bend at the waist, and said,
"Hey, idiot."
……
"Do you really think I want to play games or something with you? I can see right through whatever you're trying to pull."
……
"Even if the sky fell, I wouldn't play games with you while laughing and joking, so get the hell out to that room I told you about earlier. Before I get angry."
……
"Answer me."
"…Yes. Understood."
I had nothing to say.
*****
"Looks like you failed on your first day too, Mr. Dowon. From what I'm hearing, Neria seems quite a handful, too…."
After roughly three hours of being held captive.
After being told to leave, I was kicked out of Neria's home and had no choice but to return to Seoul City Hall without accomplishing anything.
As a bonus, she gave me an earful on the way out, telling me to make sure I acted well.
But no matter how hard I tried to act with my limited skills, the team leader would figure it out right away—whether through magic or simple intuition.
Lies piling up without any real progress would be meaningless, anyway.
Those were the words I heard over a cup of warm instant coffee immediately after I confessed everything to the team leader.
Fortunately, the team leader seemed to have expected as much and let out a regretful sigh in my direction.
"I thought someone like you would be able to bed Neria in no time, but apparently not. And she even put you through a confinement play on the first day…."
…Leaving aside the brazen talk about 'bedding' her or whatever, wasn't it a little too optimistic to interpret that as 'being ignored'?
I wanted to argue a little, but perhaps she was joking to comfort me in her own way.
I quietly tilted the paper cup.
"Well, a disappointment is a disappointment. How was it when you met Neria in person? Is she as pretty as in the photo? Is she your type, Mr. Dowon?"
"…Ah, yes. She was pretty."
Could she really be merely pretty?
The team leader in front of me, and Neria, whom I had just met.
There was something about witches' looks that couldn't be fully captured by simply calling them beautiful.
A voluminous pure-white T-shirt, raised only around the chest.
Leggings of the same color, with black stripes running down their outer sides.
And the black jersey Neria had put on over it by the time I was kicked out of her home.
Even clothes that would have made me look like a complete NEET looked not the least bit shabby when paired with Neria's dazzling appearance.
To borrow an old-fashioned expression, 'like a painting' probably came closest.
"I'm glad she was pretty. There's nothing faster or more powerful than looks when it comes to winning each other's favor. Neria probably didn't dislike you, either, Mr. Dowon?"
"Haha…."
"Then the next question. When Neria confined you, were you only angry? Or did you think, 'How dare she lock me up? Next time, I'll fuck her senseless to get revenge'?"
"Uh……."
And if you asked whether I wanted to have sex with a woman like that, I probably wouldn't need any time to think.
Even so, when a little over a minute had passed, the team leader pushed her chair back with a rattling roll and added,
"Seems you're closer to the latter?"
……
Since I had no words with which to object, I swallowed more coffee instead.
"Ahem. You seem to have the right mindset for the Rehabilitation Support Department, but you're still too scared, I suppose… It's a shame. I think someone like you could afford to be a little more proactive."
"…To be honest, I'm afraid that if I do, all my joints will get bent backward like my predecessors' did."
"If your enthusiasm gets ahead of you and you cross the line, that might happen. But you're the opposite, Mr. Dowon. You aren't even thinking about approaching the line, are you?"
Hearing that, I had to admit it was true.
One predecessor had apparently touched a woman's breasts out of the blue, and another had tried to strip her on the spot.
Compared to those bizarre creeps, I really was keeping my distance from the line….
But what on earth should I do if I wanted to approach Neria's line without crossing it, merely edging dangerously close?
While I was lost in thought by myself, I heard the rattling sound of wheels rolling once more and turned my gaze that way.
"Then let's try this as practice. The two of us."
……?
There were only two people in the Rehabilitation Support Department: the team leader and me.
If I heard the sound of chair wheels, it obviously had to belong to the only other person.
So this woman, sitting primly beside me in a perfectly coordinated office outfit,
This woman, staring at me with ominously gleaming golden eyes,
"Let's begin by imagining that you've been assigned to an apprentice witch named Eve Lycaon. What should you do first, Mr. Dowon?"
The team leader.
It could only be Eve Lycaon.
"What should I do first… Hmm…. Should I ask what she likes?"
"Pfft, isn't that a little too obvious?~"
As expected, was that it?
When I awkwardly scratched the back of my neck, the team leader covered her mouth and giggled.
"…I'm sorry."
"No, it's fine. You don't have to apologize. Since this is the Rehabilitation Support Department, you've basically laid bare your true intentions anyway, haven't you?"
"I suppose… Yes."
"So we both understand that we're here for sex. The best thing to say to close the distance at a time like this…."
The answer she gave was,
not particularly helpful to me.
"…Hmm. It's difficult. When I thought about what it would be like if I were in Neria's position, I felt like I'd just do it after exchanging a few words with you, Mr. Dowon."
……
"To put it bluntly, even if you said to me, 'I'm going to fuck you hard starting now,' I might not have minded?"
"…You're a very open-minded type."
"Heheh. Not really, unless I'm in front of a handsome man~"
Strictly speaking,
it was simply the statement closest to sexual harassment in the workplace.
*****
Since I hadn't gained anything, the next day ended up being exactly the same.
Ding-dong—when I pressed the doorbell, Neria came to greet me,
and when she asked how it went, I fed her some glib line like, 'They fell for it,'
before ending up locked in this room again.
Phew…….
Once again, it was time for me to lie down and fiddle with my smartphone, so I sat on the edge of the bed and let out a deep sigh.
It was getting a little stifling, doing this not just once but twice.
I hadn't expected to be able to have sex with Neria right away, but I hadn't expected her to lock me in a private room for our entire time together, either.
What was more, this could happen three, four, or even more than ten times in the future; just thinking about it made me dizzy.
Unless I was an idiot satisfied with this life, something had to change if I wanted to escape from here.
And it had to change in a direction that would win Neria's favor in spades.
"…What should I do?"
Should I pretend to be crazy and slap Neria on the cheek?
The first cliché that came to mind was one I'd often seen in Korean dramas, but I couldn't help questioning whether it would actually help.
The strategy 'You're the first person to treat me like this!' would have consequences impossible to handle if it failed.
Besides, wasn't it usually the woman who hit the man?
Though I did wonder if it might be okay for a man to hit a witch….
Anyway.
Leaving that aside, the only attempt I could make right now was,
"…At most, there's only that, right?"
That.
The food Neria had put in this prison for me.
Since there was nothing else besides comic books, really.
"…I might as well try it first."
I took a comic book from the shelf and began reading it carefully, as though memorizing its dialogue.