Witch Taming System-Chapter 7: Frostnova

Faust walked through the streets of Riviere.

Above her, witches moved through the sky on their brooms as they went about their daily routines.

From the outside, the city looked peaceful.

But Faust knew better.

Anyone who truly understood witches knew that behind the closed doors of laboratories and private homes, witches conducted research that would horrify most ordinary people.

Human taboos meant very little in Riviere.

Faust had been born here, but she had not grown up in the city.

When she was still a child, her family left.

Her elder sister had been born without mana, unlike Faust, who had shown magical talent from an early age. According to their mother, that made Riviere a dangerous place for her.

As per her mother’s words, non-witches did not belong here.

Their mother, a witch herself, made the decision to leave the city. She took them both to the human capital and lived on their father’s farm.

But Faust had always wondered about that decision.

What about her?

If she had been born with magic, then why was she denied the same path her mother had taken?

Why was she expected to live quietly on a farm when her own blood clearly belonged to the world of witches?

"...."

Faust pushed the memory aside.

There was nothing pleasant about revisiting it.

In any case, Faust eventually arrived at the lecture hall she had rented for the afternoon.

As she walked down the hallway toward the room assigned to her, all of a sudden, she stopped.

"...."

Someone had just stepped out of the very lecture hall she was about to enter.

"Faust."

"...Angelica."

Standing before her was none other than Angelica Eisenreich.

"It was you, wasn’t it?" Angelica suddenly asked.

"...What are you talking about?"

Angelica took a slow step closer.

"I can smell him on you."

"...?"

"Lancel."

Faust held her gaze for a moment before letting out a breath. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"I don’t know what you’re talking about."

Angelica watched her carefully. For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.

Then Angelica tilted her head.

"You’re a terrible liar, Faust. You think I don’t know what Lancel’s semen smells like? It’s the kind of smell that can’t just be simply washed off. It’s practically oozing from your hand."

"...."

"But it hardly matters. Lancel was going to be reassigned soon anyway. I was preparing to transfer him to another witch, actually."

Faust did not react.

"...I’m afraid I still have no idea what you are referring to."

Angelica’s smile deepened.

"Were you unaware?" she asked. "Lancel is government property. The moment I took him into my custody, I registered him in the city registry."

Faust’s expression remained neutral.

"Registered under what category?"

Angelica answered without hesitation.

"Research asset."

"...."

Any human subject deemed valuable for academic study had to be documented under a Count Witch’s supervision. It was a matter of regulation, and Faust knew that very well.

"He was far too valuable to remain unrecorded."

Faust remained silent for a moment, as if considering the information.

"Then by that logic, his current whereabouts would fall under your responsibility."

Angelica let out a chuckle at the implication.

"Oh, Faust~ You wouldn’t happen to know where he is, would you?"

Faust just stared at her blankly.

For the briefest moment, Angelica’s face scrunched up in irritation. Faust had known her for years, yet it was the first time she had ever seen Angelica make that sort of face before, despite how quickly it disappeared.

"Well, in that case, congratulations."

Angelica stepped past Faust.

"Make good use of him. I know I did."

With that, she continued down the corridor and soon disappeared around the corner.

Faust stood there for a moment before letting out a sigh.

"Haa..." She rubbed her temple. "...Crazy woman."

As Faust entered the lecture hall, the two apprentice witches under her were already seated inside, waiting patiently.

Scrolls and notebooks were spread across the desks in front of them. The moment Faust stepped into the room, both apprentices greeted her.

The lesson began soon after.

For the next thirty minutes, Faust calmly guided them through the fundamentals of mana circulation, occasionally pausing to answer questions or correct their mistakes.

Then suddenly...

"Ugh..."

Faust staggered. Her hand shot up to her head as a sharp wave of dizziness struck her.

"Archmistress?"

Both apprentices immediately looked up in alarm.

Faust gripped the edge of the desk to steady herself.

Something felt wrong.

Her mana... it was draining. As though something unseen was siphoning it away from her body.

Faust clenched her teeth.

What the hell was this?

"Class is dismissed for today," Faust said. "We’ll review the material next week. I apologize, but I need to leave."

Her apprentices exchanged confused glances but quickly began gathering their things.

Faust did not waste another moment. Something felt wrong, and the uneasy sensation in her chest refused to fade. The strange drain on her mana had not stopped since it began.

A bad feeling followed her the entire way home.

The moment she stepped through the door, the reason became painfully obvious.

"...Uh?"

Faust stood frozen at the entrance.

On the balcony, Lancel stood with a cup in his hand, clearly struggling with the water exercise. The rim of the cup overflowed repeatedly as streams of water dripped down the sides.

But that was not what caught her attention.

The entire living room had been frozen.

A thick layer of frost covered the walls, the floor, and even the furniture.

For several seconds, she said nothing.

"Welcome back...?" Lancel said with an awkward smile.

Faust’s fingers slowly curled into fists.

"Explain yourself."

She was clearly angry.

* * *

There was no simple way to explain this.

"A blizzard suddenly swept through, and—"

No. That would never work.

"Another witch came in while you were gone and—"

That was even worse.

Lancel paused, thinking quickly as Faust continued to stare at the frozen room.

"I was... testing out spells?"

That one at least sounded somewhat believable.

Not that it explained everything, but it gave him enough room to work with.

"I don’t know," he added quickly. "I was reading some of the books you left out, and suddenly—"

He gestured vaguely at the frozen walls.

At the very least, Faust now looked more confused than angry.

She glanced around the frozen living room before turning back to him.

"So this is your spell?"

"Yes."

Faust frowned.

"And you expect me to believe that," she said, "when you can’t even complete something as simple as the water exercise?"

"Then what do you want me to say?"

"...It really is your spell?"

"Yes."

The room fell quiet again.

At this point, Lancel’s very existence already defied everything Faust knew about magic. A man capable of circulating mana should not exist in the first place.

If another impossibility appeared alongside him, then perhaps that alone was explanation enough.

"Well, whatever."

And Lancel was proven correct. A simple snap of her fingers was enough to undo the mess he had made.

Within seconds, the room looked exactly as it had before.