Witch Taming System-Chapter 28: A Sudden Encounter [2]

Mei blinked her eyes. This was indeed Assistant Professor Lancel.

And more than that, she had seen it clearly. There was no mistaking it. He had cast magic.

What the hell? The killing intent that had driven her moments ago disappeared all at once as curiosity took its place. This was no longer a situation she could resolve so simply.

She took back her earlier words.

This was far too strange to end with his death.

On top of that, there was another problem. Lancel was Professor Faust’s assistant. Killing him here, on a whim, was no longer an option she could justify.

"I’ve decided."

"What?"

"I’ll be taking you."

"What are you—"

Before Lancel could even process what she meant, the last thread of consciousness vanished. His vision went dark, and his body went limp as everything cut off at once.

After landing, Mei lowered herself beside him and inspected his body.

"How is it possible?"

Magic cast by a man.

It went against everything she knew, everything that had been taught and accepted. And yet, she had seen it herself. There was no room to deny it.

Her eyes narrowed.

This was not something she could ignore. Whatever the truth behind it was, she needed to uncover it.

She had to investigate this closely.

* * *

Lancel groggily opened his eyes.

"Uh?"

He tried to move, only to realize that he couldn’t. His body refused to respond. When he forced his gaze downward, confusion gave way to immediate bewilderment.

He was naked.

Chains bound his limbs, and as he tried to gather mana, it felt as if his mana was being suppressed.

"Good evening, Assistant Lancel."

"M-Mei?"

"Yes."

His head turned as much as it could, and only then did he take in his surroundings.

He was strapped to some kind of bed. The room around him was not what he expected.

A bedroom.

Not just any bedroom, but a bedroom that had some sort of girlish touch. The arrangement, the colors, and the small details around him all contrasted with the cold and aloof impression he had of Mei.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked.

Mei tilted her head, a teddy bear held close to her arms. "How were you able to cast magic?"

"...."

That had been his mistake. Back then, he had thought he could escape, that he could slip away before she had the chance to notice anything. He had not known it was Mei. If he had, he would have acted differently.

But now, it no longer mattered.

The situation had already taken a turn for the worse. Someone else now knew. Another variable had been added that had seen him cast magic with their own eyes.

"Answer me."

"...Even I don’t know."

"Such a lie. You couldn’t have cast spells of that magnitude if you hadn’t been learning magic. Ah, I see. Is Archmistress Faust teaching you?"

"T-That’s right!"

Lancel held onto the hope that this could work in his favor. Faust was Mei’s mentor, an Erudition, someone she held in high regard.

If he could place himself under that same connection, if he could pass himself off as a direct apprentice, then perhaps Mei would treat him differently.

"Hmm."

Mei brought a hand to her chin, falling into thought.

"That spell back there was distinctively similar to Archmistress Faust’s... but I still don’t get it..."

Her voice trailed off before something clicked. Then, her eyes widened.

"Ah, I see. You and Archmistress Faust are keeping a secret."

"...."

Lancel said nothing.

There was no point.

She was far too sharp for her own good.

"Are you worried?" Mei asked. "I won’t tell anyone. I respect Archmistress Faust that much."

"Then—"

"But not you."

"...."

"I can keep Archmistress Faust’s involvement a secret. But you being able to cast magic... do you know how big a story that would be if the City found out?"

"...."

"So, I propose we make a deal, Assistant Lancel."

"...A deal."

At least she was being reasonable. Or at the very least, she was willing to talk.

"That depends on the terms..."

"You’re in no position to decline, Assistant Lancel."

"...."

"I’m keeping you alive out of my respect for Archmistress Faust already," she stated. "I could stage your death right now, and no one would ever know."

"...Fine."

There was no point resisting.

"I’m glad we’ve come to an understanding."

Crazy bitch.

Mei turned without another word and walked out of the room. When she returned, a book was in her hands.

"Help me learn this."

"...!"

As she stepped closer and held the book up for him to see, Lancel instinctively tensed.

His body twitched at the sudden proximity. He was still buck naked and restrained, yet Mei showed no reaction to it. Her attention remained fixed, entirely focused on the matter at hand.

Then his eyes dropped to the book. All stray thoughts disappeared the moment he read the title.

[Advanced Biological Foundations of Reproduction and Mana-Induced Gestation]

"That’s..."

"I wish to learn the mating process between a man and a woman."

"...."

Lancel went quiet.

First Ishtar, and now Mei.

It seemed like the lack of proper sex education under Faust’s teachings had clearly led to this.

These girls were fledgling despite their status as apprentice witches, reinforcing curiosity in places it should have been addressed properly from the start.

Left unchecked, it had now turned into something far more direct.

At this rate, it was only going to get worse.

"Do you even understand what you’re asking?" Lancel said.

"No. That’s why I’m asking you to help me. I need someone who does."

She paused for a moment, then continued as if explaining something perfectly reasonable.

"I was studying the Mother Silkbane because I wanted to understand how it reproduces despite the absence of a male. It didn’t make sense to me."

Lancel paused.

Now that she said it out loud, everything began to connect.

Mei had been behind everything.

"That... you were the one who put in the request to the adventurer guild, weren’t you?"

Mei nodded. "Yes. I hurt it by accident, so I needed a way to restore it. After some research, I found that consuming humans accelerates its regeneration."

Lancel’s eyes narrowed. "Do you hear yourself right now?"

She blinked, clearly not understanding the issue.

"So those adventurers..." Lancel continued, "they were sent there just to be fed to it?"

"They had potential use for my research," Mei replied. "But you killed the Mother Silkbane, Assistant Lancel. So in the end, their deaths served no purpose."

"What are human lives to you?!"

Mei tilted her head, resting a finger to her lips as she considered the question.

Then she answered, as if it were the most natural conclusion in the world.

"Free labor?"