Chapter 66. The Prostitution System.
Chapter 66. The Prostitution System.
I decided to leave the Advisor's treatment to the survivors here and set it aside for now. The families among the survivors could stay, too.
First, we expelled every last person who had been running wild — we didn't leave them so much as a sip of soup. The one fortunate thing was that the women who had sold their bodies to the Awakened had never used them as shields to commit atrocities of their own.
Whether out of guilt or because they felt sorry toward the others, they kept their heads down and lived quietly.
The fact that there were quite a few medical staff — this being a hospital — was another gain, I suppose.
Once the sorting was finished, we gathered all the remaining survivors on the first floor, and our group's public face(?), the President, persuaded them to join us. Persuasion, naturally — not threats.
He'd been on TV, and his approval ratings had been high from the start, so the convincing was easy.
And so they all headed to Gimpo. Truth be told, they were skeptical at first, too, but they were stunned when they saw the intact military force, the self-sufficient system, and the container houses where people could live separately. Watching the purposeful expressions of our group's survivors, hope began to dawn on their faces as well. The funny part was that they were just as shocked to learn the group's leader wasn't the President — it was me.
For the survivors who kept flowing in, we set up our own curriculum(?) and gave them a proper education.
It probably wasn't easy for them to believe, but we laid out the current state of the world and what was coming next. We also conducted individual interviews, assigned them work similar to what they'd done in the past, allocated housing, and helped them adapt.
Then one day, an unusual report came in. A certain woman insisted she absolutely had to meet me.
'Tch... what else would it be but someone angling for special treatment...'
Contrary to my thoughts, she said she neither wanted nor expected any special treatment. The gist of the report was that she had a proposal and wanted to speak with me face-to-face. Curious at the peculiar(?) report, I decided to meet her.
When I entered the assembly hall, there was a woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties, rather polished.
"I'm told you have a proposal."
"Yes, Representative. My name is Lee So-eun. I looked after the women back at the hospital."
I just stood there staring, having no idea why she was telling me this.
"It's only been a few days, but as I looked around, I saw a lot of men here on their own."
And quite a few soldiers too... she added, smiling.
"What exactly are you trying to say."
"I want to run a brothel."
'She's saying this shit right to my face — does she think I'm a joke?'
Honestly, I couldn't care less whether they do it or not. In a way, isn't that just using yourself as a weapon? On Titan, too, there were districts and pleasure quarters run directly by the state.
But saying it straight to my face, openly — that grated on me. Suppressing a flicker of irritation, I asked again.
"What utter nonsense... Why do you even need my permission in the first place? Just do it on your own—"
"I want to manage and run it systematically, with the women who came with me."
"If you're going to do it, do it alone. No need to drag them into—"
"I've already spoken with those who agree with my plan."
I listened to the rest of her words in silence. They didn't want to hunt zombies or do physical labor. But at the same time, they couldn't just live off others' rations. They'd already been through this at the hospital, and she said they felt certain that this group, at least, wouldn't subject them to anything disgusting.
Instead, all they wanted in return was a little extra in the way of luxuries and food of decent taste and quality.
"Representative, of the three fundamental human drives, sexual desire is an extraordinarily important one. Do you really think the men can keep handling things on their own forever?"
"So what you're saying is... you want to institute a state-regulated prostitution system...?"
"That's right. I don't intend to run it immorally. We'll only accept men who are strictly single. Though it is a bit funny to talk about morality while discussing something inherently amoral."
She gave a faint, bitter smile as she said that last part.
"Hah... I'm not sure. What I will do, though, is discuss it with my people. Without a single lie, I'll relay every word of the conversation we had today and hear their opinions."
"Just the fact that you'll discuss it — I'm grateful for that alone."
With that, our conversation ended and she left the assembly hall at once.
'Hah... how the hell do I put this to everyone...?'
I agonized over it alone, then eventually turned off the hall lights, went home, ate and showered half-heartedly, and tried to sleep.
* * * * * * * *
That day, everyone in our party gathered at the assembly hall.
"Mr. President, Sihu suddenly calling us like this — have you heard anything?"
"Hmm... I'm not sure either..."
The group looked toward Chaeyeon and Jia, who at least lived in the same house, and asked if they'd heard anything.
"He did seem like he was worrying about something, but he didn't tell me anything specific."
"That's right. Sihu didn't say anything in particular."
Just then, the moment the door opened and they saw who was coming in, the questions started.
"Sihu, has some kind of emergency come up...?"
"Huh? No, it's nothing like that. Something's come up that I need to consult everyone on urgently. Why?"
"Whenever you call people together like this, we can't help wondering if something terrible has happened..."
I sat down, drank a cup of tea, and stayed silent for quite a long while, dragging out whether I should even say it.
"Hah... I've honestly been going back and forth on whether I should even bring this up."
"You... just hurry up and say it. The suspense is killing me..."
"First, before I start, let me say this is completely unrelated to my own opinion, and I'll tell you exactly what I was told, without any embellishment..."
Once they'd heard the full account, the group, surprisingly, began to give it serious thought. A few of them even let out sighs, particularly at the part about wanting to do it openly and be acknowledged. It was a topic no one wanted to broach, but Choi Jae-hyeok spoke up first.
"This isn't really a major problem in itself... The issue is whether their anonymity can be protected. If word starts going around about who sold their body and whatnot, it's guaranteed to cause discord within the group. You know, 'she's selling herself and eating easy' — that sort of thing."
"So you think we should forbid it?"
"It's... a bit of a difficult matter."
At that point, Lieutenant General Go Seong-hyeon, who'd been listening quietly, raised his hand and asked to speak.
"Representative, from the standpoint of someone who spent a long time in the military, issues with the opposite sex were always one of the problems that came up when commanding troops. In civilian life, soldiers could at least endure by going on leave and seeing their girlfriends, but in a situation like this... and I've occasionally overheard soldiers talking to themselves about being lonely and such."
The debate continued, heating up little by little.
"It might be hard for you to speak, but I'd like to hear the women's opinions as well."
It was Im Ji-hye who spoke up — she usually just listened and occasionally threw in a comment.
"I understand those women. I'm a useless pair of hands when it comes to physical labor too, with my blindness, but at least I earn my keep as an Awakened, don't I?"
"Useless is a bit..."
"But they aren't Awakened. If everyone else is working and they're the only ones not pulling their weight, they're going to feel self-conscious. Eventually, that leads to resentment building up, and invisible discrimination can creep in. If it's going to come to that, wouldn't it be better to just let them do what they want?"
"We could find them other work, then—"
"Representative, you know as well as I do. The group's numbers are getting so large now that there isn't any more work to assign them. We're self-sufficient and have enough food, but there's nothing left to hand out. Throwing more people at posts that are already fully staffed is just a waste. They'd only grow idle in the oversaturated workforce, too."
She was right. Too much work wears people down; no work makes them slothful. You had to give them the right amount of work to keep them lively.
Then, as if fed up, Terion held everyone back and spoke.
"What exactly is the reason you're all opposing this? No one is forcing them, and the parties involved say they don't mind. And they plan to accept only single men. Is it really this 'morality' you speak of that's the problem?"
"..."
"Fine. If it's so morally wrong, is it a provision that the entire world has jointly banned?"
They could see that wasn't the case just by looking at Europe.
"When I led a nation, managing it directly was how we maintained economic and social order. Soldiers who finished grueling training could relieve their needs, the state's tax revenue grew plentiful, and we could directly manage the women's health and maintain public order."
There it was. The reason Terion's opinion diverged from theirs. He had lived on Titan, a world with a medieval backdrop, while they were born in the Republic of Korea — a democratic nation governed by the rule of law.
"And wouldn't it reduce the potential for crime by allowing people to satisfy their urges legally? You say your nation banned it, and I'm sorry to say this, but that nation has now fallen. And then there's supply and demand. Doesn't your own history prove that?"
Once Terion finished, Seo Ji-hoon looked at me and asked.
"Representative, what are your thoughts?"
"I've lived on both Titan and Earth. My stance is that I don't care either way. Which is precisely why I gathered you all to talk rather than making an arbitrary decision on my own."
As if something had just occurred to him, Choi Jae-hyeok stopped agonizing and spoke up.
"Wouldn't it be simpler to just check if there's demand?"
"Bringing this up to people in the first place is going to be a sensitive matter, isn't it?"
"I have a good idea. Would it be possible to maintain a continuous use of the Word Spirit?"
Having been told that it was indeed possible, Choi Jae-hyeok promptly began to explain his plan.