Van was definitely not expecting the past two weeks here to be… well… so much like a school. In the mornings they went to the cafeteria to get their breakfast, then went to class which consisted of biology and sex ed, this was followed by psychology class, mostly about how to determine if someone is a threat to your well being and how to find signs in yourself for trauma and other mental issues, followed by how to deal with it.
After that was lunch and a break to let the food settle, then it was self-defense and how to deal with women who try to pin you down and some light martial arts, with the next class being group therapy sessions for any that want it.
In fact, it was so much like a school, that it had a separate entrance that had nothing like the debaucherous scene he saw before. With a real school-looking hallway and everything. There were actually two more entrances as well for a total of four. One entrance for those who want some fun time, one for the training program, one for couples or people who are looking for love or people looking for pregnancies with no strings attached, and one for a general help desk for their establishment with office worker-like rooms.
When Van thought the building almost took most of the block, he was wrong. It took the entire block! And then some! With buildings on the other side of the street, bought by the guild to help them store their goods and act as housing for some of their employees.
He also found out that the reason why some women join the course was so that they get a chance to become employees. As the program also has simple math and general history classes to help them get the degree of learning necessary. As well some young women join because they are shy and have no experience and hope that they can get some sex in a nice safe environment. Which threw Van for a loop, though not by much. He supposed, even if they are in a minority, there are some women who are the shy type. But what was really shocking, was to find out that one of them was actually molested by a male as a child and was here for the therapy sessions.
It felt weird to be shocked by that. He knew in his head that that made sense, man could molest and sexually assault too. But it was a little weird to hear it. But just like in the memories of his other lives. Coming out with it and seeking help has a sense of emasculation or in this case emfeminization? With people saying that she should be so lucky that a guy wanted to be with her or touch her or that she actually enjoyed it. Which for him, no matter the world, was wrong.
He wanted to do something to help her but realized that it was best to just leave it to the professionals.
Still, with everything going on, it was still a little hard for him to get used to everything. Thankfully he was close enough that his bangle was in range of the castle. So every night he called Luna to catch up. She had asked her mother for an early birthday present, her own vespera bangle, so she could keep in touch with him.
While it was very nice to hear from her every night. It was weird that she kept asking who he had done it with, or when will he do it with someone, or asking when was he available for her to visit, it was a little off-putting. Not to mention her strange overly cheery attitude in encouraging him to sleep with other women. In a way, helped him calm down and realize that, unlike women, men do not need to be so chaste, nor was it expected of them. If anything, it was encouraged that they sleep with many other women. For some strange reason.
The reason why, he soon found out, or at least one of the reasons may be, was a book he saw once on Sheri’s shelves in her room. A book he asked about, but was told that he would read it later. That same book was now in front of him, and he only read a few pages and already hated it. The name of the book was called. A natural woman.
Van sighed as he chewed his food and looked at the book cover next to his tray. Wishing he could just throw the book away or burn it. He didn’t even know why it was mandatory for all students, including males, to read such a strange book.
“Reading that book I see.” a young man with brown hair said, sitting next to Van with his own tray of food. A temporary friend that Van found for himself schooling here. “Trust me, it just gets worse from there.” taking note of Van’s bookmark
Van groaned, “I'm not even in the second digits and I want to gouge out my eyes. I mean what is this crap! It's literally demeaning men! Look here!” he flipped through a few pages and began to read.
“If you want to make friends with your neighbor, and she is single, offer your male to sleep with, it's a great way to break the ice.” he flipped through another page. “If you hurt someone, offer your male for a night as compensation.” another flip. “Women should keep in mind they are the head of the household and they are in charge. If your husband doesn't sleep with you, he doesn't love you. If you leave for a long journey, keep a woman behind to watch your husband and make sure he does his male duties.” This and more about how to sell your male for night services to earn a quick buck, or how to properly milk a male, a male's place in society, parable stories and so much more, infuriated Van to no end.
“This book is like, over thousand years old, it's not even a religious book! It's a crazy women’s ramblings about what's the proper way to be a woman and how to treat men and their place in society. A strange idealist utopian world where causal fornication should be considered the norm. Where women hold all the power and arbitrary rules about how to do things with self-help advice to get women to feel good about themselves and invoke a positive feeling and therefore a positive look on the book. Some of these phrases' moral stories and rules are so vague that they literally can be used and interpreted any which way. It's like the person intentionally saw the state of the world and decided to force her views in a way that would appeal to the majority of people so as to get her goals across.” he seethed.
And Van may not be so far from the truth. As far as he knew, a feminazi was awakened into a woman and she decided to make sure that, using her knowledge of her world, she would create a book that would appeal widely, and like religious dogma, help hook readers in, for her main goal of making sure that the world was ruled by matriarchy, even if it wasn’t in the exact form she wanted it to be. Or at least was his closest guess.
The young man nodded. “I hear you, just be glad you're not required to read the whole thing, only a few pages. Otherwise, it would be pure torture.” the other males around them nodding along.
Van sighed in defeat and just ate his food. Not wanting to think about it anymore
---
Two weeks later, now a month in, Van was under the wing of one of the employees to be given a tour and showed how things work around here. One awkward task was to stand by as his temp mentor talked with a couple about looking for a wife.
The wife of the couple was looking for another woman for her husband to marry. They are well off but felt like they could do better.
“We are just looking for a girl who can help us stay financially stable.” the wife said. “Someone to help with the rent and help take care of the kids. So someone with some experience in that regard. Even if she doesn't work, she definitely has to be able to hold the house when I go to visit family and a few business trips. Speaking of which, my husband owns a small store, so someone who can help with that as well. And most importantly, we want to make sure she is compatible with our family, so perhaps we can start off as lovers?”
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His temp mentor nodded. “Well, as you know, we here at the Lovers guild will do our utmost to make sure that you are matched with someone compatible. You already had a session with us before and filled out a form with your ideal partner. Through combing our files, we have a small list of eight people who match your preferences.”
The temp mentor then set eight pages on the desk between them. Each page had age, height, hair color, eye color, and their previous experiences and skills alongside a blurry image of them, more to get an idea of what they looked like along with the name being redacted, probably to protect the person in question. The mentor then went on a pitch about which women would be the best partner, which women seemed most compatible, and why the women in question are looking for a couple as opposed to a single male to marry.
“This one has had many younger siblings and had to take care of them all for a long time. She used to work as a cook and has learned her numbers, but does not have any experience in the front end of a business. She’s looking for a well-established couple because she feels it's finally time she gives birth to a few kids, but since losing her job because the restaurant owner couldn’t keep her business afloat, she is now unemployed. She wants a well-established family unit with some money to give her that sense of security, and is willing to work to help pay rent.”
“Our results also show she has a very good personality and a quick mind with a head for learning things. She is on the young side, so you know she has more than enough time to learn any trade you wish to teach her, and she is willing to learn. We highly recommended her.” the mentor said.
The couple looked over the resume with a few nods and whispering. After looking at the other profiles they turned back to hers and agreed that they would like to meet her. After they filled out a few forms, they left with the promise that the other party would be informed of the date and place to meet. Both parties thanking each other all the while.
After them came a young woman who was looking for a no-strings-attached pregnancy. She wasn’t looking for a lover, nor a husband, but she did want a kid of her own to inherit her shop. She then gave a description of what kind of male she wanted to breed with and what genes she was hoping to find in him.
With trained ease, the mentor, who Van realized is more of a consultant for all things like these. Moved to a filing cabinet behind them, checking the tags, she pulled out a few folders and looked through them. Finding a few, she then shared them with the women. Blue eyes, good pedigree, with a strong body, with proof of them coming from a long line of families that had such genes expressed for at least a few generations.
Sadly, none of them seemed to match her taste, she wanted the perfect child, which meant she had to breed with the perfect man, or at least as close she could get, after all, she wasn’t planning to have more than one or two kids. So the few she was planning to have should not have any genetic risk and have good genes.
“I'm sorry miss, but these are all the ones that match your own genetic data. We can try another blood scan and see if we missed something, or you can widen your criteria and if that's not good enough, we do know a few specialists we can refer you to who have the proper skills with gene therapy to make sure while your baby is still the womb, they will do their best to express all your desired genes in the child. Not to mention not many males do these kinds of things and your restrictions narrow that down the pool of potential donors even further I'm afraid.” the consultant said sadly.
The woman gave a slight scowl as she reread all the profiles in front of her. Annoyed that her perfect seed was so hard to get. Knowing that what she has in front of her was probably the best she was going to get, not wanting to give up on her high standards, yet also unhappy with the choices.
Looking at all the papers in front of her, left and right, she noticed Van out of the corner of her eye and her gaze fell on him. A well-defined build with black hair slicked back with blue piercing eyes. Standing at attention, hands clasped behind, cutting an impressive figure, an air of nobility surrounding him.
“What about him?” she pointed at Van.
Both Van and the consultant were taken by surprise by the question.
“Oh… uh… no… sorry… he is not available.” the consultant said.
“Why not?” the woman asked, a little confused.
“He is in our training program, this is just to get him used to what we do and why we do it. He hasn’t even been scanned for his bloodline or what genes he might have, so as far as we know, he doesn’t match your criteria. Not to mention, such a decision ultimately lies with him, as he made it clear on the form he filled out when he joined that he has no plans for long-term employment with us, nor one to be a donor/breeder.” the consultant replied.
The women pouted a little before an idea came to her. “Will he be doing temp work at the end of the program?”
The consultant hesitated “unfortunately, we only allow professional trained escorts and customers who we have explicit trust to sleep with those who go into the temp worker program. Even if he did, if it is his decision not to have a child with those he sleeps with, then no child would be made, whether he even goes that far, or decides to quit, the last week like some do.
The women scowled for real this time but quickly sighed. “A pity…” then looking up to Van. “if you ever decide you want some extra money, I will pay you double whatever you wish. Just ask, and they will notify me.” With that, she thanked the consultant and promised to think on the profiles she was shown before taking her leave.
Van gave a sigh of relief, not even realizing how nervous he got from the exchange.
After that was a bunch of couples looking for an extra spouse, single women looking to get pregnant with the majority looking for a man to wed. with the usual complaints of not wanting to spend money for sex. Or just wanting to find that significant other that would give their lives more meaning. Some even taking notice of him and winking.
Most were given a form to fill, others, shown profiles of eligible men and women. Even one woman going too far as to state she wasn’t interested in the male profiles. To which the consultant only nodded and switched over to profiles containing women who share that particular women's disposition or who don’t mind it.
As the day was nearing the end, and Van was starting to see a pattern and grow a little bored, the next person to walk into the room really threw him for a loop.
A young man walked in very nervously. He sat down with his back all hunched as if he was a scared animal. He quietly whispered his preferences to the women, blushing all the while. But Van was able to hear the last few words he spoke. “And… umm… it doesn't matter if they are a woman or… men…” he barely squeaked out.
The consultant never wavered, she gently smiled and showed him the profiles available. After a few minutes of looking, the young man built up the courage to choose one. And with some form filing. A date was made.
He was the last one of the day, after he left the consultant turned to give Van a small smile. “So, what do you think about the life of a matchmaker?”
“Its, uh… interesting, especially that last one.” trying to be polite.
She chuckled. “We get all kinds here, not just men looking for women, but men also looking for other men. As rare as that is, or at least, that's what most people think. It happens often enough to make it at least… rare, rather than almost never, if you catch my meaning.”
Van thought about that and nodded. Not fully understanding, but going along with it because it felt correct.
The consultant smiled. “Well, I hope you have gained some appreciation for the work we do. It's important stuff that helps many millions of lives throughout the continent. Without us, rape would probably be the norm, and people would have a harder time finding their one true love.” she finished, slightly joking at the end there, but also sounding very prideful of her guild.
“Now why don’t you get some dinner, it's been a long day, and I know I could certainly use a good meal.” She said, dismissing Van for the day.
Van wholeheartedly agreed and thanked her before leaving to finally get some food. All the while thinking about all the things he has learned from this day alone. And what it meant for the wider society as a whole.
But such thinking could wait. He had a lot more to learn, more notes to take. And while it did get a little weird sometimes going through all those people. He was actually beginning to think that this might actually be a pretty good idea for him.
After he got his food, he went to his room, called Luna, told her what happened, and went to bed.