Witch Taming System

It was about time to leave.

While Fiore had already passed her curfew, Lancel and Faust didn’t want to get the girl into even more trouble.

Even though it would have made more sense to simply keep enjoying the night since she was already late, Faust still cared about keeping up appearances.

If Countess Gretelle were to ever learn that Faust had been a bad influence on her precious apprentice, the old hag would never stop

As they stepped outside the pub, the cold night breeze hit them immediately, contrasting with the warmth they had felt inside.

The reason Port Town remained such a popular hub in Riviere was its jarring presence compared to the rest of the region.

While Riviere obsessed over refined aesthetics in everything from elegant outfits to refined food presentation and grand architecture, Port Town felt alive and chaotic as if a festival was being thrown every single day.

"You seem really stressed these days," Lancel said. "Is it trouble with the Erudition?"

"Trouble? It’s a damned witch hunt. And it’s because of you, Lancel!"

"Me?"

Lancel pointed at himself, clearly confused. Even Fiore tilted her head curiously as she listened in while they continued walking.

"Those damned witches keep asking me what kind of man you are for Angelica and me to be fighting over you!" Faust ranted. "Fighting? Are they crazy? Who’s fighting? Over who?"

"Uh..."

Fiore leaned in close to Lancel’s ear and whispered softly, "What’s she talking about?"

"It’s complicated..." Lancel whispered back.

"Hmm..."

Fiore alternated her gaze between the two of them. While she had initially thought there might be something special going on between Lancel and Faust, she realized after spending the evening with them that it wasn’t the case.

The two were clearly just friends, with no special affection between them.

"Does it really bother you that much...?" Lancel asked.

From his perspective, there wasn’t really much of a problem.

But maybe Faust found it offensive that the other witches kept misunderstanding the situation. After all, no woman would enjoy being teased about a man they didn’t even like.

But Faust didn’t dislike him... or did she?

Hopefully not.

"It’s not that it bothers me," Faust continued, her tone still edged with frustration. "It’s that they keep pestering me with the same damn question every single day. Do you know how exhausting it is to keep repeating the same answers over and over?"

Lancel just listened along as they walked. All of a sudden they realized they had stopped at a dead end.

"Uh...?"

Faust scratched the back of her head, swaying slightly on her feet.

"That’s strange... I thought you were leading the way, Lancel. I was just following you."

"Huh? I thought Miss Fiore was ahead of us..."

"Me? I was following Countess Lieber..."

The three of them stood there swaying gently, clearly confused about how they had ended up at a dead end. Just from that alone, Lancel realized all three of them were quite intoxicated.

"You too, Miss Fiore?"

"Hm? I don’t know...? I feel strange, though..."

Faust stopped for a moment and steadied herself against a nearby wall.

"But did Fiore even drink? I remember her spitting out the alcohol, saying it tasted horrible..."

"Ah, did she...?" Lancel replied. "...I don’t remember. I think she did."

"I didn’t drink..."

Fiore clutched her forehead as a sharp headache suddenly kicked in. That was right. She clearly remembered not drinking anything at all.

Yet for some reason, she felt just as drunk as the other two.

Tak. Tak——!

At that moment, silhouettes emerged from the dark alleyway. The three of them immediately turned toward the source.

"Clowns..."

While it was difficult to distinguish in the dark, under the moonlight, the full white makeup was clearly visible, along with the sparkling red nose of the figure standing in the center of the approaching group.

"Those... the performers from earlier...?" Fiore muttered, her speech badly slurred.

"Performers?" Faust rubbed her eyes, trying to focus.

"Fuck... we might’ve been drugged..."

Lancel brushed his bangs back and stumbled forward. His legs were giving out, and the same was happening to the other two.

Faust tried to cast a spell, but one of the clowns appeared out of nowhere and smacked the back of her head hard, knocking her out cold

"Faust..."

Lancel didn’t even have the energy to scream anymore. He reached out desperately, crawling toward the unconscious Faust.

"Lancel, look out—"

Just as Fiore was about to cast a spell, she too was struck from behind and collapsed to the ground.

"...!"

Lancel’s eyes widened in alarm, but he could barely summon any strength.

"Haa... what kind of crazy bastards would dare attack witches in Riviere..."

Lancel looked up. The troupe he had seen earlier had now completely encircled them.

A man wearing a black mask that covered half his face stepped forward and knelt down in front of him.

"Unfortunate for you, buddy. But we’ll be taking those witches off your hands. You’re a little greedy, aren’t ya? Two beauties by your side. Why don’t you leave them in our company, hm?"

"...."

There was no need for pretenses anymore. In a situation like this, where Lancel had no strength left to protect himself, there was only one thing he could do.

"...Nyx."

"Hehe—Huh?"

At that moment, a ghastly creature materialized behind Lancel.

Its translucent vapors swayed pitch-black as its crimson-hued eyes glowed fiercely. The form expanded rapidly while its limbs elongated into something monstrous.

The four-limbed, spine-like monster known as Nyx had appeared, leaving the entire troupe frozen in a mix of shock and fear.

"What the fuck is that...?"

Rooooar——!

Sensing the imminent danger its master was in, Nyx immediately lunged forward just as Lancel finally passed out.

Unaware of what they were truly facing, the troupe immediately scrambled into position, drawing their weapons in a desperate attempt to surround the creature.

Clang!

Unfortunately for them, their entire plan had already gone to shit.

They swung their blades and tried to deflect Nyx’s slashing claws, only to realize with growing horror that the monster’s limbs were as hard as tempered steel.

Sparks flew wildly with every clash.

"What the fuck is this?!"