"Do you understand why most witches have such a fixation on men?"
Faust and Lancel sat side by side at a small wooden table. Lancel took a sip of the warm tea in his hands.
"Because there are barely any men around here?" Lancel guessed.
"That's not exactly true."
Faust lifted her cup and took a small sip before continuing.
"Riviere receives thousands of male tourists every year. Some of them even volunteer themselves just for the chance to sleep with a witch."
Lancel grimaced. "Sounds about right."
"But have you ever asked why a witch would even entertain them in the first place?"
"Because witches are all crazy bitches."
"Listen, you—"
She stopped herself, exhaling a sigh as she tried to maintain her composure. For a moment, she looked genuinely offended.
Sure, some witches were eccentric. Some were even outright unhinged.
But she would very much like to believe she stood a little higher than that.
Faust set her cup down.
"Let me ask you something instead," she said. "Where do you think human life begins?"
"I don't know. God?"
"No."
Faust sighed.
"Life begins with two things. A sperm and an egg."
"…Right."
"The egg comes from a woman," Faust continued. "The sperm comes from a man."
She spoke calmly, almost like a lecturer explaining a simple biological concept.
"When a child is born, half of their existence originates from the man."
Faust tapped the table lightly with one finger.
"Now here's the strange part. Mana."
Faust's pale gray eyes narrowed.
"Women can be born with mana. Men cannot."
"That much I figured."
"But think about it," Faust continued. "Every witch in existence began life the same way as any other human."
"As a child?"
"As a fertilized egg," Faust corrected. "Which means every witch once began as a sperm that came from a man."
Lancel went silent.
Faust leaned forward.
"That means, at some point in the earliest stage of life, the potential for mana must exist in something that originated from the male body."
The room fell quiet for a moment.
Lancel slowly lowered his cup.
"…So you're saying men shouldn't be completely incapable of magic."
"I'm saying the rule makes no sense."
Faust rested her elbow on the table, tapping the rim of her mug as she gathered her thoughts.
"Think about it. A man can breed with a witch, and there is a chance the child will be born a witch, assuming the child is female. That much is common knowledge."
Lancel nodded. "That's how witches reproduce."
"Yes. But that only explains continuation." Faust's pale gray eyes focused on him again. "It doesn't explain the origin."
"What do you mean?"
"Where did the first witch come from?"
For a moment, Lancel had no answer.
Faust continued.
"If witches can only be born from witches, then the first witch should never have existed in the first place."
"...."
"I mean, think about it. At some point in history, the first witch had to be born."
Lancel listened quietly.
"That means she must have been born to ordinary parents," Faust said. "An ordinary man and an ordinary woman, right?"
She lifted her cup again.
"So how did that child suddenly possess mana when neither parent would have it?"
Lancel scratched the back of his head.
"…Maybe it was just random."
"Random?" Faust repeated.
"Some divine blessing. Mutation. Ancient magic. I don't know? Witch stuff? Something like that."
Faust shook her head.
"Those are all theories the academies like to throw around," she said. "But none of them actually explain the mechanism."
Then, she pointed toward him.
"And then you appeared."
"...."
"A man who can circulate mana. That alone contradicts thousands of years of magical understanding."
She paused for a moment before continuing more quietly.
"So now I have to consider the possibility that the premise itself is wrong."
Lancel raised an eyebrow.
"You mean the whole 'men can't use magic' thing?"
"Yes."
Faust picked up her cup again.
"Maybe it was never impossible."
She took a small sip of tea.
"Maybe no one ever looked hard enough to prove it otherwise."
Lancel felt a chill crawl up his spine. The moment Faust said that, a bad premonition surfaced in his mind. The last time someone had shown that much curiosity about his body, he had spent an entire year chained in a basement.
If Faust intended to start experimenting on him the same way Angelica had, he would refuse immediately.
At least, that was what he told himself.
But the translucent interface's message remained there, reminding him to raise his bond level with Faust.
It was difficult to ignore.
Faust continued speaking, unaware of the thoughts running through his head.
"And that is why witches study sexual education so seriously. Especially the study of sperm."
This was also why male tourists willingly came to Riviere and offered themselves to witches.
Most of them were simply driven by curiosity or desire. To many outsiders, the idea of spending time with a witch had a strange allure to it, and plenty of men were more than eager to indulge in it.
From their perspective, it was an experience.
For the witches, however, it served a different purpose.
Witches rarely cared about the men themselves. What mattered was the opportunity to observe, measure, and record.
Every interaction could become another piece of data, another small step in understanding the deeper mechanics behind human biology and magic.
In that sense, the relationship between visiting men and the witches of Riviere was surprisingly straightforward.
The men received the service they came for.
The witches received research material.
A simple exchange, built on mutual benefit.
Faust set her cup down and looked at Lancel again.
"Lancel. If Angelica was so fixated on you, then there must be something unusual about your body. Especially the fact that you can harness mana."
Lancel slowly stood.
"I think I'm going to—"
"Lancel."
Faust cut him off, pinning him to the chair with her magic.
"Show me your sperm."
"…."
Lancel stared at her in silence.
Of course, it would come down to this.
In the end, this was the relationship between men and witches. No matter how the conversation started, it always circled back to the same place.
Faust must have noticed the hesitation on his face, because she quickly raised a hand.
"I'm not going to treat you the way Angelica did," she said. "I don't need anything elaborate."
"...."
"Just provide a sample. Once I examine it, we'll be done."
[Bond Progress: +1%]
'...Oh?'
Lancel blinked. That was unexpected.
The bond progress had increased for some reason. He did not know whether it was because he was cooperating or simply because the conversation itself counted toward the system's condition.
Either way, it made the situation… interesting.
"It's not that simple…" he trailed off.
Faust frowned. "What do you mean it's not simple?"
She crossed her arms, clearly confused.
"Just produce a sample or something. Surely it can't be that difficult. Humans reproduce every second across the world."
Lancel stared at her.
"…You're talking about it like it's squeezing water out of a sponge."
Faust tilted her head. "Is it not?"
"No. I thought all witches received education about this."
"I said most, not all."
She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.
"My specialization is ice magic. I spent years studying frost formation, temperature control, and crystallization patterns. I know everything there is to know about ice."
Her expression turned slightly annoyed.
"But why would I know anything about male reproductive biology?"
Lancel stared at her.
"…Because it's basic knowledge?"
"Not in my field."
Faust lifted her mug again and took a sip of tea.
"If you asked me how to freeze an entire lake without cracking the surrounding terrain, I could explain it in detail. If you asked me how to construct layered frost barriers that regulate mana flow, I could teach you that as well."
She set the mug down again.
"But male sperm?"
Faust waved her hand dismissively.
"Completely outside my specialization."
Lancel sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"So you're telling me you want a sample for research, but you don't even know how the process works?"
Faust nodded. "That is correct."
"…That's reassuring."
Faust did not catch the sarcasm.
"Then you can explain it."
"Explain what?"
"The conditions required for the process," Faust replied matter-of-factly. "If my understanding is incomplete, you can correct it."
Lancel stared at her for a moment.
Then he let out a long breath.
"…Why does this suddenly feel like I'm the one giving the lecture?"
Faust's expression remained completely serious.
"Because you are currently the only expert in the room."
"Sigh."
There was no point arguing anymore. Faust's expression made it clear that she was completely serious about this. To her, this was simply another research question that needed to be answered.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Lancel stood up from his chair and lowered his pants.
[Bond Progress: +5%]