"A lover? No wonder Angelica freaked out."
"...Yeah."
Lancel smiled bitterly.
In truth, Angelica had never believed him. She was a freak of nature in her own right, and Lancel had long since given up trying to make sense of her.
But if what Faust had been saying held any truth, then he could more or less guess the reason Angelica had tornted him all this ti.
It wasn’t even about Leticia anymore. It was because of this so-called Outer God that had cursed him.
But then again, Lancel had no recollection of what occurred that day. All he rembered was the final sight of Leticia’s dying figure before everything went black.
When he ca to, it was all over. Even Denim was dead.
Lancel had tried his best to forget all about it. About Leticia. About everything.
Because the more he tried to rember, the more questions piled up in his head.
Who was Leticia, really?
Why had she approached him in the first place?
Was any of it ever real?
And what did she an by...
——I’ll find you again. Just like I always have. Even if not now, then in another lifeti.
* * *
The next day, Lancel returned to work as Faust’s assistant.
The misunderstandings between them still hadn’t been resolved. He could tell Faust was still wary of him.
Even so, she wasn’t trying to kill him anymore, and for now, that was enough.
According to her, there were no longer any traces of an Outer God’s curse coming from him.
If that kind of thing was even real.
Lancel still thought it was nothing more than Angelica’s usual bullshit.
He glanced at his system.
────────────
Contract System
────────────
[Contract Capacity : 3 / 3]
[Active Contracts:]
➤ Faust Lieber
[Bond Level : 1]
∎ Bond Progress : 5% / 100%
[Contract Bonus]
∎Mana Regeneration 10%
────────────
───────────
➤ Ishtar Prelati
[Bond Level : 1]
∎ Bond Progress : 13% / 100%
[Contract Bonus]
∎ Magic Resistance 10%
────────────
────────────
➤ i la Blanc
[Bond Level: 2]
∎ Bond Progress: 21% / 100%
[Contract Bonus]
∎ Magic Resistance 12%
────────────
Unsurprisingly, i’s bond level was the highest. That single, long, passionate night had likely contributed more than anything else.
"...Just what is this?"
There was one thing that caught his attention.
────────────
➤ ▒▓█▌▐░▞▟
[Bond Level : 999]
────────────
It didn’t fit.
Everything else in the system followed a clear structure, a logic he could at least grasp. But this single entry stood out, completely out of place.
The na was unreadable. And the bond level was even more absurd.
And more than that, it was sothing he had never consciously ford a contract with.
Even stranger, it exceeded the system’s limit. The contract capacity was clearly shown as 3/3, yet this made it four.
And still, the system continued to display it as 3/3, as if this entry didn’t count.
Or as if it wasn’t supposed to be seen at all.
"...Outer God."
The thought wouldn’t leave his mind. Before he realized it, Faust had already been calling for him.
"Assistant Lancel."
"Y-Yes?"
"I told you to distribute the materials. Why are you just standing there?"
"Ah, right."
Lancel snapped out of it and took the diagrams along with a few other tools from her desk before handing them out to the two apprentice witches present.
"It’s been a while, Assistant Lancel~"
"Yeah."
Ishtar waved at him with that familiar smug grin.
Lancel still felt awkward around her after what he had done to her last ti, but it seed like Ishtar was compartntalizing it pretty well.
"Assistant Lancel..."
anwhile, i looked flustered. A mix of fear and nervousness crossed her face the mont she saw him.
She had been composed just monts ago, but the second she took the things he distributed, she turned into a nervous little girl.
Now this was the problem. Of course, it was mostly his fault, but these girls had also played a major role in it.
How the hell was he supposed to explain to Faust that he had engaged in physical relations with both of her apprentice witches?
As he tried returning to the podium, i suddenly grabbed the back of his shirt. Lancel turned around.
"What is it, Miss i?"
"I... did what you asked..."
"What I asked?"
What was she...
’Wait, did she actually go to the guild, confess her sins, and then visit every single victim’s family to apologize?’
"It took quite a while to find each family mber... but I was able to accomplish it before midnight..."
"Ah. That’s good to hear, Miss i. You should always acknowledge your sins and live life as a better person."
i nodded. Lancel tried to walk off again, but realized she still hadn’t let go of his shirt.
"So... you’ll do that with again... right...?"
"...."
"I was slapped fifty tis yesterday... Five even tried stabbing ..."
"...."
Crazy people. If a witch suddenly appeared at his doorstep and apologized after killing his son, Lancel would just accept whatever compensation they offered and end it there.
It was best not to provoke a witch’s wrath. And yet so people still had the gall to try to murder her?
Sure, Lancel had hunted witches in the past, but he had long known that the ones that could be hunted were usually the weaker kind. The real witches, the ones who lived in Riviere, were on a completely different level.
"Fine."
i let go of his shirt and nodded.
Her face seed redder.
* * *
As Lancel freshened up in the halls, Ishtar suddenly approached him.
"What was that, Assistant Lancel?"
"What was what?"
"I’ve never seen i make a face like that before."
"...."
"Assistant Lancel, don’t tell ..."
Ishtar’s face turned into clear disgust. She hugged her small body as if he had just groped her right there and then.
"It’s not what you think, Miss Ishtar."
"I thought I told you that you could call Ishtar?"
"There’s no way I can do that."
"Fine. But what’s going on between you and i?"
Ishtar had known i since childhood. After all, they ca from the sa branch of witches.
i was the current Grand Witch’s niece, while Ishtar was her cousin. Although they were the sa age, that technically made Ishtar i’s distant aunt.
Never before had she seen i show any real expression on her face. If Ishtar had to describe the i she had known all her life, it would be like staring at a statue with only the face remaining completely stoic.
Seeing i look nervous, apologetic, and even flustered was extrely jarring.
"We beca friends...? Is there a problem, Miss Ishtar? I an, we beca friends, too."
Ishtar narrowed her eyes, let out a small "Hmph," and crossed her arms.
"Fine. Anyway, Assistant Lancel. I’ve done a bit of practice over the weekend."
"Practice?"
For so reason, her tone sounded suggestive.
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