A Talent for Bewitching People
"Hmm..."
"Hey, Charlotte, what's with that look? Did something happen?"
The Team Leader glanced over at me as I sat staring at my monitor.
It was probably the face I'd been making. I'd been stuck wearing a sour expression I couldn't quite shake, and for the last ten minutes or so I'd just been staring at the screen without doing a thing.
"...Hmm. Team Leader, how long does it usually take a newly debuted hero to go from E-Class to D-Class?"
"To D-Class? Quite a while, yeah? Well... it depends on talent and how hard they work, of course. But it usually takes a few months. Hero rankings don't change overnight — there's a certain interval to it. For most kids right after their debut, about half a year?"
"Right? So it normally takes a pretty long time, then?"
"Yeah. Why do you ask?"
"Hmm..."
Yes — generally speaking, climbing to D-Class took a fair amount of time. Which only made this more ridiculous.
In a little over a week, Batori had rocketed from 999th place to 444th, and her ranking was still climbing at a breathtaking clip. Graphed out, it would have been a straight vertical line — the exact inverse of every stock I'd ever tried my hand at.
"Hmm. It's nothing, really."
"...What? So it's not a big deal?"
"No, I was just asking out of curiosity."
I decided to think of Batori as simply a talented rookie hero. At first I'd figured she was just a nobody — a newbie whose cute, compact looks might eventually earn her a modest following. But reading through her file, I couldn't help arriving at that conclusion.
She'd debuted as a hero in March 2035, and only three months had passed since then... and she was already on the verge of reaching D-Class. Most of that leap had happened in less than a month since I'd been assigned to her.
It might have been a bit of an overreaction, but I found myself imagining that at this rate, her name might start getting mentioned among C-Class and even B-Class heroes before long. Though she still had a long way to go, of course.
"Yaaawn..."
I'd only looked it up out of curiosity. She was one of the heroes I was assigned to, so checking up on her was only natural as an Association employee. And... I couldn't find a scrap of information on Saran to begin with. She was listed on the hero roster, but beyond that there was nothing I could dig up, so I'd had no choice but to focus on Batori.
"Nngh..."
After that, I just sat in my chair and stretched. With nothing else to do, I spent the rest of the day the usual way — lounging comfortably in my seat, browsing communities, and admiring pictures of pretty beastfolk heroes. I handled a few complaints from heroes who stopped by the Welfare Bureau here and there, and before I knew it, it was time to clock out.
On days when I wasn't meeting with the heroes I was assigned to, every day was more or less like this, so I passed the time without much thought. But...
Today ended a little differently from usual.
"Good evening, Saran. The weather's nicely cool tonight, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
The reason being that I was having dinner with Saran. It wasn't anything special — just an extension of what we'd talked about before, meeting with her regularly as a form of treatment. In Saran's case, she didn't need her self-esteem boosted. Just sitting down and chatting comfortably with her was enough to help her improve.
"What would you like for dinner? Western food like last time? Or is there something you prefer?"
"Hmm... I'm not that hungry. I was home all day today."
"Then shall we keep it simple? Somewhere like an izakaya?"
"Yeah, that sounds good."
"I know a place, then. Let's head straight there. We go there for company dinners sometimes."
And so, tonight's dinner wouldn't be a home-cooked meal, but a small bar. I hadn't really felt like cooking side dishes anyway, and there was no reason to put off meeting Saran.
"What kind of work do you usually do at the Association?"
"Hmm... we just work like a regular company, really. The Audit Bureau and the Punishment Bureau have it pretty rough, but the Welfare Bureau is generally pretty comfortable."
We started chatting as we walked slowly toward the izakaya. The main topic was what kind of work the Welfare Bureau I belonged to actually did. It made sense she'd be curious — we'd been meeting more often lately, and this time we'd met after I'd already clocked out.
"Our Welfare Bureau is basically just a kind of counseling center. The only difference is that it's heroes who come to us."
"Hmm..."
"Normally there would be an official process rather than someone coming to us privately like you did, Saran... but we can consider that an exception given the special circumstances."
"I see."
There really wasn't much to it. The only difference was that the people we dealt with were socially famous heroes. And even then, most of the complaints and counseling sessions came from lower-ranked heroes like Batori, so I didn't actually do anything particularly special.
Anyway. As we talked, we arrived at a small izakaya located quite close to the Association building. It was small, but the atmosphere was decent, it wasn't too crowded, and the food was good — a place well-suited for spending time with the Team Leader and a few other Welfare Bureau employees. I never would have guessed on that first day that I'd end up coming here with Saran.
"Hmm... what should we order? Personally, when I come to an izakaya I start craving sushi or sashimi, but what about you, Saran?"
"Meat?"
"I see. Ah, you seem to like meat... which kind do you prefer? Beef? Chicken? Pork? Or something else?"
"...As long as it's meat, I don't care. I don't dislike fish either, but I think I prefer land animals."
"Got it..."
Just that kind of conversation. Saran was an extremely quiet person by nature. Not the type who was picky about people or afraid of them — just someone whose personality was fundamentally taciturn and reserved. At the same time, she didn't seem like someone who disliked being spoken to or having a conversation. Which was why I was deliberately talking her ear off.
I was a bit of a chatterbox myself, probably... and watching her answer every single thing I said, offering her own little bits of agreement, made me think so even more. After all, the way to help Saran was to get her talking more.
"Then shall we start with some fried stuff and... skewers? We can always order more if we get bored."
"Yeah, let's do that."
...The way her expression brightened just a little when I mentioned ordering meat confirmed that she really did prefer it. Considering she'd polished off two plates of steak by herself last time, it wasn't exactly surprising.
"Have you been doing well lately? I can't ask about your work in too much detail, but I'm curious."
"I'm fine. It feels a little more comfortable than before. And whenever I get bored at home, sending you a message seems to help a bit."
"Hehe, that's a relief."
She answered with a much better expression than when we'd first met. Even so, I'd still need to keep meeting with her regularly for a while. And once she was on a more stable track, I'd have to gradually reduce how often we saw each other. Because no matter how much I was assigned to her and helping her right now, I couldn't keep her under my wing forever, could I? My job was to make sure she could do well even after she left my care.
"...Hey."
After we'd finished ordering and each gotten a highball, Saran spoke up first as we waited. I was curious what she was going to say.
"If you work at the Welfare Bureau, you meet a lot of other heroes too, right?"
"Hmm... I suppose so? There aren't that many people I meet with regularly, but heroes often come by or contact us."
"...I see."
She'd been curious about this kind of thing earlier, too. She was a hero herself, and the person who'd solved her problems was me, a Welfare Bureau employee, so it made sense. It wasn't a hard question to answer, so I kept going.
"So you have people you're officially assigned to, besides me?"
"Yes, I do. Though she's an E-Class hero."
"...Then that's fine."
"...?"
What was fine? Was she just wondering whether I actually did any real work? I asked her afterward why she'd wanted to know... but unfortunately, Saran absolutely refused to answer. And then the food arrived, making it even harder to press the issue.
So we just started in on our drinks and meal. Being right in the middle of the city, and right in front of the Association at that, the food was decent and the portions were solid, so naturally we ended up talking about the dishes. We drank, we ate well, and as time passed I kept watching Saran's reactions — to get a sense of her condition this time, too, of course.
Not that I thought anything was wrong or off or bad about her. If anything, she seemed perfectly fine. It hadn't been that long, but if I had to compare her to Batori, Saran seemed to be in a much better state. Their problems were fundamentally different types, so the comparison might not have been fair — but that was how well Saran seemed to be doing.
"Hehe, this is good, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it's nice."
Just that kind of conversation. Saran and I were chatting normally, passing the time... when suddenly a rather loud voice came from behind us.
The tables were separate, but there weren't any partitions completely blocking the view, so our heads naturally turned... and at the end of that glance......
"I'm a person toooo... nine-tailed foxes are people toooo......"
"...Baekyeou?"
"I just want to rest a little......!!!"
A hero who was extremely, extremely famous on the community boards was sitting alone, drinking and pouring out her grievances. A pale, stunning beauty. A hat covered the fox ears that were her trademark, and her tail was nowhere in sight — but that face alone made it impossible not to recognize her as Baekyeou, one of the A-Class heroes.
What on earth...
Saran and I couldn't help tilting our heads at the sight.
"...Let's not pay attention."
"Ah, sh-should we?"
"Yeah. If we stick our noses in, it might just make things awkward. If she came here alone like that, she probably doesn't want anyone to see her. That's why she's sitting by herself in that corner."
"Ah, I see..."
...Saran had a point. Sitting alone in a corner, drinking by herself like that — she probably didn't want other people to notice her. Yes, that seemed right.
Working at the Welfare Bureau, seeing a hero like that made me instinctively want to help. But people have private lives. If she really needed help, she'd ask for it herself, wouldn't she? So I decided to follow Saran's advice and leave the nine-tailed fox hero, Baekyeou, alone.
"......"
Still, she was really, really beautiful. Even with all the beastfolk features I usually loved completely hidden, it took only a second to recognize her as the A-Class hero Baekyeou. Her looks were every bit as stunning as the photos circulating online. Snow-white hair and blue eyes. Just that alone was enough to make her a breathtakingly beautiful woman, and for a moment — just a brief moment... I couldn't look away.
They say foxes have a talent for bewitching people, don't they...?
That saying didn't seem wrong at all.