Kurosaki Witch Detective Agency ~Netorare Case Files~

Chapter 034: The Black Witch’s True Feelings ⑱ – The Result of My Choice

“Information broker! You stole my underwear and stockings!!”

After getting dressed in the changing room, I stormed angrily into the living room. The information broker had already changed and was sitting on the sofa waiting for me.

“No no, it wasn’t me. Pharmacy did it. That’s why he left the bathroom so early. He’s supposed to be off on Saturdays too.”

That damn pharmacy guy… Next time I see him, I’ll make him regret it.

“Alright, let’s get to the main topic. Have a seat on the sofa.”

I sat on the sofa directly facing him. I suddenly noticed that the information broker kept trying to peek up my skirt. Even after everything we did earlier, he’s still looking. I’m not used to being without panties, and after sex my body feels extra sensitive… I crossed my legs. After adjusting my posture, I noticed a stack of documents-like papers on the table.

“What’s this?”

There was a thick stack of A4 papers, about 20 centimeters high. Something was written on the top sheet.

“It’s a request from the Witch Monitoring Agency. That’s the investigation report.”

It said “Slum Investigation and Destruction Operation.”

“Wait a minute. I came here because of a request from the Agency. Did you trick me?”

“Calm down, Black Witch. Even I wouldn’t dare trick a witch. Page 52, look at that.”

I picked up the report from the table and opened page 52…!

“Information broker, this is…!”

“The kid you were looking for… maybe. I’ve never seen the child directly, so I can’t say 100%. That’s why I called you.”

On the page detailing the slum’s personnel structure was the name of a bottom-tier subordinate in the slum’s information network: Yuuya. This year he is 9 years old…

“The age, hair color, and eye color match the information you gave me. Black hair and black eyes aren’t rare, but if the age and name match too, the probability is very high.”

I desperately tried to recall Yuuya’s face from my memories… I had old photos of him in my room, but the child in the report definitely resembled the one in my memory. But why was he in the slum? A bad feeling settled in my chest.

“Oh, just so you know, you can’t take this report home. You’re not the one in charge of this request.”

“Who is in charge?”

“Check for yourself. It’s written on the last page.”

I looked at the final page of the report…

“Beni is the one in charge…”

“Correct. This is a request assigned to the Red Witch by the Agency. It’s not your request.”

Why is Beni’s name coming up now? Is this just a coincidence?

“I can’t give you the report. Take photos with your phone or whatever, but only the important pages. And don’t show those photos to anyone. If information leakage is suspected, it’ll put me in danger.”

“Yeah, I understand.”

I approached the table and took photos of the report with my phone. The information broker came closer and peeked at my body again. My body was still hot, so I hadn’t buttoned the top of my blouse, and I wasn’t wearing a bra. Well, look all you want. The report is more important right now.

After photographing dozens of important pages, I stood up from the sofa. I had no more business here.

“See you, information broker. Maybe asking you wasn’t a mistake after all.”

“I almost gave up at one point. I luckily found information about the kid from another request. If you had found him completely by yourself, the fee would have been one full month. Oh, one last thing.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“To be honest, I’m interested in this kid too. I want to know what kind of child the Black Witch cares about this much. But if you do anything dangerous, I have nothing to do with it. If the Witch Agency suspects me, my life is at risk.”

“Yeah, I know. I won’t mention you. See you.”

Hmph. His real reason is probably that the Witch Monitoring Agency’s requests are too lucrative to let go. This mantis. I’m sure several other witches besides me have probably been subjected to 3P play in his bathroom too.

When I left the information broker’s place and got into my car…

Drip…

“Aaaaah! More semen is dripping out. Even after washing so much… What do I do? If semen drips onto the seat while I’m driving… That damn pharmacy guy. How much did he even ejaculate?”

Consciously aware of my lower body, I drove home like that.

By the time I got home, it was already night. I printed the documents I photographed with my home laser printer, organized them, and read the report in my bedroom. I turned on the desk lamp, sat in the chair, and began reading.

“Mission name: Slum Investigation and Destruction Operation.”

Just hearing the word “slum” from the information broker made me extremely anxious inside. Why is Yuuya in the slum? What happened after the orphanage fire? Life in the slum… definitely isn’t good… First, I need to read the report properly.

“Ah, so it’s this slum.”

It was closer than I thought. By car, it would probably take about 15 minutes. Has Yuuya been this close to me the whole time?

Slum structure… I looked at the top person first. The slum boss’s name is Stan, 185 cm tall, 95 kg. From the photo, he has a very muscular body.

He frequently uses low-ranking subordinates to steal money, kidnap women, and do dirty work while he enjoys the best parts. He especially likes to use slum children.

“Using children…? Maybe Yuuya has been used too…”

The total number of people in the slum is about 200. It’s a bigger organization than I expected. There are about 10 executives. It’s a pyramid-style organization.

“Slum Investigation and Destruction Operation. If it’s just destruction, I could handle it alone. Beni should have no problem either.”

The immortal witch. Even with her magic restricted, her immortal body alone makes her very strong. I also have reinforcement magic. Destroying an organization like this alone is easy. The troublesome part is the investigation. According to the report, after kidnapping women, the boss sells them somewhere. We need to investigate this secret route.

“Well, this isn’t my case. Worrying is useless. Let’s look at Yuuya’s page.”

Black hair, black eyes, age 9. He has several arrest records for theft.

“…He’s already become a bad kid…”

It can’t be helped in the slum environment, but it still hurts my heart. Is he eating properly in that environment? Can he sleep well every day? Alright, I’ve decided. Tomorrow I’ll go directly to the slum and look for Yuuya. I need to understand his current life.

I turned off the desk lamp. Time to sleep. Today was really exhausting. My lower body still feels strange. The sensation of the pharmacy guy’s thick cock probably still lingers… Ah, stop thinking about it. I need to sleep quickly, or the Black Curse will activate again. Sleep, sleep.

“Yami, I’m heading out.”

“Have a safe trip~”

The next morning, I prepared to leave the house. The useless cat was still lazing on the sofa playing with her smartphone. She’s already hundreds of years old, yet she loves using her phone this much. I went to the third floor, carried some investigation equipment from the storage to the car, and drove to the slum.

It took about 20 minutes to reach the slum. It was as dirty an environment as I expected.

“I wonder if Yuuya is really here…”

My heart was full of conflicting feelings. I want Yuuya to be here. I want to see him. But I don’t want him to be here. Just imagining him living in this environment for five years… hurts my heart…

I drove slowly, looking around. Especially at the children. All the children wore ragged clothes. Many weren’t even wearing shoes. Yuuya might be the same as them…

Even after searching the slum for an hour, I couldn’t find any child who looked like Yuuya. Searching for someone while driving was more tiring than expected. It required a lot of concentration.

“I’m hungry. Johnny’s Bakery is nearby. Let’s go buy some bread.”

After driving for about 10 minutes, I saw Johnny’s shop. While waiting at the traffic light in front of the store—

“You again!!”

A loud angry shout rang out. When I looked toward the voice, Johnny had come out of the store and was chasing someone…

—! A black-haired child! No way!

I immediately U-turned the car and chased after the child. He was fast. At this speed, Johnny had no chance. With the car, it shouldn’t be a problem. But then the child ran into an alley. The car couldn’t enter.

“Can’t be helped. I’ll park here.”

I grabbed my binoculars, got out of the car, and immediately chased after him.

“Fast legs… Chasing in heels is difficult…”

Luckily, I spotted the child right after entering the alley. Is that Yuuya…? I observed him from a distance with binoculars. This felt a little nostalgic — the same as when I watched Yuuya with binoculars outside the orphanage five years ago.

“…!”

I didn’t have time to indulge in nostalgia. I saw the one thing I least wanted to see. Through the binoculars, the child looked very much like Yuuya. But he had changed a lot compared to five years ago. Not just physical or age-related changes.

“Those ragged clothes. Shoes that don’t fit…”

The Yuuya who happily played in the orphanage five years ago was completely different now. Looking anxiously around for pursuers, Yuuya desperately ate the bread he had stolen. Seeing this scene broke my heart…

“So this… is the result of the choice I made eight years ago…”

The baby who happily drank milk in my arms eight years ago is now eating stolen bread.

『My wording might be bad, but my daughters were born from me. That black child was just picked up.』

Damn… Why did Beni’s words come to mind again at a time like this? After eating the bread, Yuuya headed somewhere else. I followed him carefully so I wouldn’t be noticed. This kind of work is part of my job, so I’m used to it. I also needed to understand the range of Yuuya’s daily activities. Wandering around the slum searching for him again would be troublesome.

I tailed Yuuya for several hours after that. His activity range was smaller than I expected. But watching some of his actions hurt my heart again. Digging through vending machine coin returns, sticking his fingers into public phone coin returns, rummaging through trash cans…

By nightfall, I had mostly grasped his activity range. Just as I was thinking of going home, I saw Yuuya rummaging through a trash can again. He pulled out some leftover bread and put it in his mouth.

Stop!

Don’t eat that!

You shouldn’t eat dirty things from the trash!

I kept screaming inside my heart, but Yuuya ate all of the bread. I couldn’t bear to watch anymore. In anger, I used reinforcement magic to crush the binoculars in my grip. Then I went straight back to the car and drove home.

“Saeko, welcome back.”

“Yeah, I’m home.”

After replying to Yami, I returned to my bedroom. I reflected on what I saw today. That child who looked like Yuuya is almost certainly him. His atmosphere has changed a lot, but that was definitely Yuuya. Not 100%, but about 95%. The remaining 5%…

“I can only confirm it through compatibility.”

The compatibility of the Black Curse. While tailing him earlier, I poured magic power into my eyes and looked between Yuuya and myself. As expected, no black thread appeared. After I separated from Yuuya eight years ago, the thread had already disappeared. But deep in my heart, I was hoping for even a faint black thread. Eight years ago I hated that black thread so much it nearly killed me, yet now I’m hoping for it to appear. Haha… how ironic.

Stealing bread, digging through coin returns, eating food from trash cans — I knew these were common things slum children do, just part of daily survival…

“Seeing Yuuya rummage through a trash can with my own eyes… it still hurts…”

Is this the result of the choice I made eight years ago?

Because I let him go, Yuuya ended up in the slum?

If I had chosen differently back then, could he have had a slightly better life?

Even if cursed by the Black Witch’s curse, it should be better than living off trash cans every day.

『My wording might be bad, but my daughters were born from me. That black child was just picked up.』

Damn it! Beni’s words again.

Until I saw Yuuya today, I had always believed that my choice back then was not wrong.

I let him go because the Black Witch’s curse is terrifying.

I let him go because he wasn’t a child I gave birth to.

I let him go because I couldn’t take responsibility for his life.

I believed in many supposedly correct reasons and let Yuuya go.

And this is the result of letting him go!

If he had stayed with me, I could have at least given him a life where his basic needs were met. Even if cursed by the Black Witch’s curse, it would surely be better than slum life!

『Before one side makes a mistake, the other side stops them.』

Beni and I have something like a rule between us. Eight years ago, I listened to Beni and made my own choice. As a result, Yuuya is now in the slum.

“Sorry, Beni. Just this once, I won’t listen to you.”

It might be coincidence. It might be fate. This time the request was assigned to Beni. It feels like another warning telling me not to approach Yuuya. Moreover, this is a request given directly from the Agency to a witch. If I make contact with Yuuya, what happened eight years ago might be dug up again. While tailing him, many times I felt the urge to suddenly hug him and take him home. But if I act too unnaturally, I’ll probably end up separated from him again, just like eight years ago.

But… even so…

“I’m taking him back. Yuuya.”

To correct the wrong choice I made eight years ago, I began planning to take Yuuya back.

Chapter 035: The Black Witch’s True Feelings ⑲ – Conversation with Cana

“I’m taking him back. Yuuya.”

To correct that wrong choice I made eight years ago, I began forming a plan to take Yuuya back. I still hadn’t thought of a concrete method… That’s right! Beni recently took a disciple. Then I can just make Yuuya my disciple too. Honestly, whether he’s a disciple or a witch’s child doesn’t matter. As long as I can be with Yuuya. If I take him as my disciple, Beni shouldn’t be able to stop me… probably…?

『My wording might be bad, but my daughters were born from me. That black child was just picked up.』

…! The conversation I had with Cana and Beni at Cana’s café the other day came to mind. Beni had taken her disciple with the Agency’s permission. The biggest obstacle to taking a disciple is the Witch Monitoring Agency. Taking Yuuya as my disciple under the Agency’s surveillance would be difficult… First, let’s list the problems.

① Witch Monitoring Agency

② Beni

③ Black Witch’s Curse

First, ① the Witch Monitoring Agency. The current highest authority in the Agency is a witch. The witch self-restraint faction is currently leading the Agency. They have already granted witches a certain degree of freedom. It’s much better than when the witch regulation faction was in control. Otherwise, there’s no way they would have allowed Beni to take a disciple.

“Should I also apply to the Agency for permission to take a disciple…?”

I couldn’t see any future where that application would be approved. When I asked Cana and Beni at the café the other day, they both said there was no way it would be allowed. If I were to give birth to a child myself… it might go through… and we’re back to this again. The whole reason I picked up Yuuya back then was because I couldn’t get pregnant. It’s completely backward to have a child just so I can take a disciple. Time-wise it’s impossible too. After all these years of never getting pregnant, could I even give birth now?

『My wording might be bad, but my daughters were born from me. That black child was just picked up.』

Ugh, that line keeps popping up in my head. So anything goes if you give birth!? It was starting to piss me off.

“Besides, even if I really did give birth, I don’t think taking a disciple would suddenly be allowed.”

I’m the ranked number one witch. I don’t particularly like being number one, but I am aware of the position. If I start doing anything strange, it could upset the balance within the Agency. If the self-restraint faction loses power, the regulation faction might take control of the Agency again.

“Being number one means I can’t do anything reckless… Why am I still ranked number one anyway? Seriously…”

Leaving the Agency issue aside, let’s think about ②.

② Red Witch Beni – my best friend

If Beni finds out I want to take a disciple, she might try to stop me. Just like eight years ago. There’s also the possibility she would report me to the Agency…

“The current situation is a little different from eight years ago.”

Beni herself took a disciple very recently. From a position standpoint, she shouldn’t be able to stop me. She has the just cause of taking a disciple for her daughters, but ultimately it’s also for herself. In essence, it’s the same as me taking Yuuya as my disciple.

“The real problem is whether she reports it to the Agency…”

Even if she doesn’t stop me herself, she could just report it. In the end, it circles back to problem ①… Then I noticed the investigation report I photographed yesterday sitting on my desk.

“That’s it! This is perfect!”

I looked at the report titled “Slum Investigation and Destruction Operation.” If Beni hands this mission over to me, I can pretend to be carrying it out while secretly taking Yuuya as my disciple. That way, neither the Agency nor Beni should find out what I’m doing. I had found solutions for ① and ②. All that remained was ③.

③ Black Witch’s Curse

Eight years ago, I feared the Black Witch’s Curse and let Yuuya go. Because of that, he ended up in the slum. I couldn’t stay with him. The root of all this is the Black Curse — a curse close to the Black Witch’s Curse. In my life so far, there have been times when the curse went out of control. Sometimes I remember the rampage, sometimes I don’t. After a rampage, I sometimes faint and wake up with no memory of what happened.

Yami has scolded me for it many times. She may be a useless cat, but she’s my longest companion and practically family. She often tries to stop me when I rampage, but she usually fails… The difference in our magic power is too great for her to stop me.

“I hate rampaging Saeko the most.”

Yami has complained about it countless times. She might be the biggest victim, always watching my rampages up close. I feel a little bad about that.

“Let’s take a breather. I’ll grab some beer.”

I left the room, went to the kitchen, and took several beers from the fridge.

“Wooooooah~ There are so many big-titted female characters in this season’s anime. Hey! Idiot! Don’t add censorship! What’s with that light beam!”

As I returned to the room with the beer, Yami was lying on the sofa watching late-night anime and complaining at the TV.

“Come on, it’s already the whatever century! Are we getting mosaic or light beams again? I can’t see the pregnant Kokoro-chan’s nipples!”

This useless cat is calling herself the victim…? I take back what I said earlier… I went back to my room, opened a beer, and chugged it down…

“Gulp, gulp, gulp… Whaaaa! That hits the spot!”

My head cleared up instantly. I had been overthinking and my brain was tired. In times like this, beer really is the answer.

“But I have to think about it. While I’m enjoying beer like this, Yuuya is in the slum…”

I really want to kidnap Yuuya right now. But I can’t. I need to think carefully. A plan to take Yuuya back.

“That useless cat…”

This plan will need Yami’s help after all. While tailing Yuuya today, I realized one thing.

“I stand out too much in the slum.”

A tall woman in a black suit, miniskirt, black stockings, and heels. The most noticeable thing is my height. I can change my clothes, but I can’t change my height. While tailing him today, I felt eyes on me again and again. Doing it for one day might be fine, but continuously tailing him for multiple days would definitely look suspicious. When it comes to tracking someone, the cat Yami is far more suitable.

But how much of this plan should I tell Yami? Should I tell her everything? Maybe I should tell her that Yuuya is that baby from eight years ago… I have a feeling she’ll oppose it. If Yami opposes it, the plan will face major obstacles. She’s a very reliable partner when it comes to detective work.

“I’ll use the mission as an excuse to get her help.”

I’ll still need to tell her some of the truth. If I suddenly pick up a child while on a mission, it would be too unnatural.

“It’s the same as when I picked up Yuuya at my own doorstep eight years ago.”

I’ve decided about Yami. I’ll only tell her part of the truth. The biggest concern is still…

“The Black Witch’s Curse.”

『Kuro, I think netorare suits the Black Curse better.』

Cana’s words suddenly came to mind. It’s true that netorare might suit black better than red. Beni has already succeeded. But asking Beni directly feels weird.

“I’ll ask Cana.”

Cana should know. Beni asked Cana first back then too. When Beni was guiding her disciple, she asked for my opinion many times. I never thought the day would come when I would be the one asking.

I’ve decided. Tomorrow I’ll go to Cana’s café. I’ll ask her about netorare induction.

The next day, I went to the café Kanaria. I wanted to see Yuuya today too, but tailing him two days in a row would be too noticeable. Netorare guidance is more important right now. I entered the café.

“Welcome! Welcome to Kanaria~~!! Master— …ma’am.”

A child in maid uniform with brown skin came over. She had long white hair in twintails that reached her waist with a slight pink tint, and pink eyes. Despite looking like a child like Yami, she somehow gave off a seductive aura. By the way, she’s flat-chested.

“Hey hey, a customer is here. Can’t you even do basic service in this café? Oh, it’s just a kid? I’d like to file a complaint.”

“Tch. Old hags aren’t customers. Get out already!”

“Who are you calling an old hag!? You loli hag!”

This child-like girl is a witch. One of the lower-ranked minor witches I mentioned before.

“Anis, you can’t treat customers like that. Is it just Kuro today?”

A gentle voice called out. The Yellow Witch, Cana, appeared.

“Yeah, just me. I came today because I have something I want to ask you.”

“Me? Then let’s use the same table as last time.”

“Sure.”

I followed Cana and sat at the same table where I had spoken with Beni last time.

“Want to order something, you widow hag?”

“…Cana, doesn’t your café need better staff training? Minor witch, one iced coffee.”

I deliberately ordered while looking straight at Cana instead of Anis.

“Who are you calling a minor witch!”

“Who are you calling a widow!”

“There’s only one widow-looking person here, right? Always dressed entirely in black. Don’t you have bad fashion sense?”

“Unlike certain minor witches who have zero attachment to clothing, I’m actually envious. Especially one whose hair and eye color don’t even match and has low magic power — a m-i-n-o-r w-i-t-c-h~”

“What was that!? You wanna go!? You widow witch!”

“Fine. I’ll show you the power of the ranked number one. I’ll make sure you can never call me a widow again.”

“Both of you, stop fighting. Anis, hurry up and bring the iced coffee.”

“Tch. You got lucky.”

You’re the one who got lucky! If I lose to a low-rank like you, I’d kill myself! Anis turned around and went to prepare the iced coffee.

“You too. Why do you always tease Anis?”

“It’s nothing. Sorry.”

The truth is, I just don’t like how close her hair color is to white. Plus, being called a widow pisses me off. Maybe I should change the color of my formal suit? At least change the blouse color?

“By the way, where are the other witches?”

“Oh, we had a little event yesterday, so the others are still resting.”

Probably another perverted event… Is this café okay?

“So what did you want to ask me? Could it be you’re interested in netorare from last time? Fufufu.”

Being asked with such a goddess-like smile if I’m interested in netorare… it’s complicated, but she hit the mark.

“Yeah. Beni succeeded in guiding the Red Witch’s Curse, right? I’m a little curious.”

“My my, I told you last time too. Netorare definitely suits Kuro better.”

A witch who suits netorare… that sounds weird… But right now, the most important thing is the induction method.

“I’m a bit interested… So… how exactly do you guide netorare?”

How do you guide the Black Witch’s Curse…?

“Hmm… In my case, it’s less ‘guiding’ and more ‘finding people who already have that predisposition.’”

“Finding them? It’s not guiding?”

“That’s right. Netorare is not an easy predisposition to guide. In the worst case, it can cause trauma to the target.”

…It’s that dangerous!? Yet Beni has been guiding it for the past month.

“In the old days when we could use magic freely, finding people with that predisposition was easy. But even if they have the predisposition, guiding it doesn’t always succeed.”

“What do you mean? Haven’t you all been living like this for a long time? You’ve had failures?”

“Yes. In fact, we’ve had more failures than successes. First, we find a male target, then we approach him.”

I was listening to a terrifying plan. As expected of the Witch of Wisdom. Do all five of them do this kind of thing together?

“Oh, I forgot to mention. For netorare, there’s one very important element needed.”

“Important element?”

This sounds crucial. I’ll listen seriously.

“Love.”

“Ai? The Blue Witch?”

“No. Love. L-O-V-E love.”

“Love is related to netorare?”

“It is. Strictly speaking, it’s not limited to love. It’s fine as long as it’s someone precious being taken. The sense of loss is what matters.”

“I don’t really get it.”

Is netorare this complicated…?

“Let’s say you, Kuro, have a man you love. Imagine one specific man in your head.”

“Mm-hm. Okay… I can picture him.”

Even if told suddenly, I thought of Yuuya.

“You and that man are living a lovey-dovey life. One day, Shiro steals him from you. How do you feel?”

Yuuya being raped by Shiro! That would—

“I’d have no choice but to kill that damn witch.”

“Does your heart hurt? Your precious person was stolen.”

“Yeah, it hurts so much I want to kill her.”

“The sexual excitement that comes from that pain of loss is the netorare predisposition. When you imagined it just now, didn’t your lower half… throb?”

Huh? Now that she mentions it, there was a slight reaction… No way! Is the Black Curse awakening to something new at a time like this!? I don’t want to admit it!

“…No. I just felt like killing her. Why bring up the witch I hate the most anyway? Couldn’t it be someone else?”

“The more you hate the person, the bigger the shock. If Yami slept with that man, would you get angry?”

I’ve never thought about it… But if Yami goes into heat, she might eat Yuuya. Should I get angry?

“I don’t know. But I wouldn’t want to kill Yami.”

“See? The shock is completely different. Also, if your precious man slept with a complete stranger, would you get angry?”

“No. It has nothing to do with me if some unrelated person sleeps with whoever.”

“This is why love and preciousness are so important for the netorare predisposition. Without it, netorare doesn’t work.”

“So basically… I need to get somewhat close to a man who has the netorare predisposition?”

“Exactly. We always find men with that predisposition and all marry him together.”

“Ah, you mentioned the netorare harem last time.”

“Yes. But… there were times we failed and suddenly got divorced…”

Cana said with a sad expression.

“By the way, I’ve been wondering for a long time. Why do you five keep living like this? Is it because of the curse? Or just a shared fetish?”

I really want to know. Living this perverted lifestyle for hundreds of years — what are they thinking? If it’s a curse, the other four witches don’t need to go along with Cana. There aren’t many witches whose curses are as close as mine and Beni’s. If it’s a fetish… no, that’s weird too. All five have exactly the same fetish? Is that even possible?

“Ufufu. It’s a se~cret.”

“You five really are full of mysteries…”

Honestly, as far as I know, almost all witches have something wrong with their heads. After living for hundreds of years, it’s impossible to stay normal. I’m the same… Well, I was already abnormal the moment I was cursed by the Black Curse.

“Here, widow. Your iced coffee.”

“Thanks, loli hag.”

“Tch. Don’t pry into our business too much.”

“I was just asking. I have one or two secrets I can’t tell others either.”

“Cana, I’m going back to the lobby.”

“Ehh~ Let’s sit and talk together.”

“Talking with this widow will just lead to a fight. Hmph.”

Anis said that and left for the lobby.

“Kuro, that was mean. Calling Anis a loli hag.”

“But that child-like appearance…”

Anis, one of the lower-ranked witches. I’m not certain, but from what I heard, Anis got her first period at age nine. She became a witch quite early, but her physical growth stopped there. This varies between individuals. It wasn’t that becoming a witch stopped her growth. Ironically, despite getting her first period the earliest, Anis was also the first whose body stopped growing.

“Kuro, do you want to take a disciple?”

“—! N-no, not me. I was just curious because Beni took one.”

Cana smiled at me as if she saw right through everything.

“Ah, I see. Beni’s disciple. Ufufu… Have you asked Beni about curse guidance yet?”

“Not yet. I was passing by, so I thought I’d ask you first.”

“I see. But for curse guidance, you should really ask Beni. Your curses are similar after all.”

Ask Beni…? That’s exactly why I came here instead, because it’s dangerous. I guess I have no choice but to ask her…

“Why? Aren’t you the netorare specialist?”

“I do know more about netorare than Beni, but the essence of guidance is different.”

“Different in essence?”

“It’s the fundamental difference between whether the target already has the netorare predisposition or not.”

“Sorry, explain it simply.”

“Let’s see. When I choose a target, I pick someone who already has some degree of netorare predisposition. Beni is different. She guides them without even knowing if they can accept netorare. That’s quite dangerous.”

“So in short?”

“It’s the difference between 0→1 and 1→2. Continuing from earlier — in the past when we could use magic, finding men with the predisposition was easy. Even with magic restricted, it’s still manageable. And recently, thanks to the netorare boom on the internet, it’s actually easier than when we could use strong magic.”

“Why? We can’t use strong magic anymore, right?”

“This. This right here.”

Cana placed her smartphone on the table.

“Smartphone?”

“Ufufu. I am the Witch of Wisdom. I hack the internet, select several targets, then approach them. Pairing this phone with the target’s phone is all it takes.”

Smartphone pairing — one of the hacking techniques. I use it often in my detective work too. The method is simple: launch the hacking app on your phone, bring it close to the target’s phone, wait a few seconds, and pairing is complete. After that, you can access all the information on their phone. You can even eavesdrop and secretly record. It’s a terrifying hacking technique. Come to think of it, Cana created this hacking app. She made it specifically to find netorare men!

“After deciding on a target, we get close to him, marry him, and finally guide him into netorare play.”

“It sounds like I heard something terrifying.”

“In other words, the people I choose already have some degree of netorare predisposition. That’s what ‘1’ means.”

“Some degree? There are levels to netorare?”

“Yes. Some like netorare but only in fiction. The ‘dimensional wall,’ so to speak.”

“Dimensional wall?”

“Hmm… Like, netorare is fine in fiction, but impossible in reality.”

“It’s complicated…”

“It’s not that hard. I just need to turn their ‘1’ into ‘2’ — make them accept real-life netorare. Beni is different.”

“How so?”

“Beni does 0→1. She guides them without knowing if they even like netorare or not. That’s quite difficult.”

“I see…”

This really is difficult… I didn’t expect curse guidance to be this complicated. I wonder if Yuuya has the netorare predisposition…?

“I can only teach you about 1→2. For 0→1, you’ll have to ask Beni.”

“Yeah, got it. Thanks.”

In the end, I still have to ask Beni.

“One more important thing I’ll teach you, Kuro.”

“Hm? What?”

“There is one thing common to both 0→1 and 1→2.”

“Common point?”

“Shock. To awaken this kind of predisposition, a very strong shock is needed.”

“Vague. Be specific.”

“Let’s see. Being raped in front of the person you love works well. Gang rape is even more recommended.”

…Hearing the words “rape” and “gang rape” recommended from this goddess-like witch’s mouth. As expected, most witches have something wrong with their heads.

“Yeah, I understand. That’s helpful. It’s about time. I’ll head out.”

“Kuro, if you take a disciple, bring him here. I’m sure everyone will be interested in your disciple.”

“We’ll see~ Bye bye.”

This Witch of Wisdom already knew after all.