Witch Taming System

Faust was no stranger to death.

However, it was her first time witnessing an ordinary human kill a witch. While she knew Lancel had once engaged in this kind of work in the past, the sight was still surreal enough to leave her momentarily speechless.

Faust gazed down at Lancel, who was in a condition even worse than her own as he lay resting in her lap.

The toxin within her continued to deteriorate her body, eating away at her strength, but even so, Faust forced herself to summon a spell, doing what little she could to heal him.

"Don’t die..."

A spell of this caliber didn’t require much focus for someone like Faust.

However, the small amount of mana she could muster was so embarrassingly little that she had no choice but to devote all her concentration to it.

It took some time, but as Faust felt his breathing gradually stabilize, she finally let out a breath. Slowly, she turned her head to the side, her gaze falling on the witch Lancel had just killed in front of her.

Heidi Ermengarde.

Back then, Faust had only been a young witch who had just joined the Erudition despite her lack of experience.

To say she hadn’t been haughty and confident would be a lie. At that time, Faust believed she owned the world, as if she could do whatever she wanted, as if no one could rival her talent, and that one day, she might even become the Grand Witch.

If the Faust of now were to return to the past and meet her younger self, she would undoubtedly beat herself senseless for how arrogant she had been.

She had taken it upon herself to embarrass a senior witch, to challenge her, defeat her, and personally deliver punishment.

And as if that wasn’t enough, Faust had even suggested banishing Heidi, claiming that her crimes were unforgivable, that no Erudition should ever make such a mistake.

But now, recalling the number of failed experiments she herself had committed, Faust understood the reality.

Anyone could have ended up like Heidi.

Failure was something everyone experienced.

It was just that Heidi had been unfortunate enough to face the Grand Witch Cyrene at a time when she had been far more ruthless than she was now.

For that reason, Faust could only feel pity for Heidi, who had ended up like this.

"Bitch..."

But even so, there was still anger lingering within her. The toxin spreading through her body was undeniably Heidi’s doing, and that alone was enough to keep that resentment alive.

With that, Faust slowly pushed herself to stand. She pulled Lancel’s unconscious arm over her shoulder, supporting his weight as they began to move out of the clearing.

Her steps were uneven, and she stumbled more than once, but she forced herself to keep going until they finally reached the caravan, where she had left Fiore safely.

"Uh..."

Now, however, Faust was faced with a bigger problem. In her current condition, she wasn’t confident she could repair the wagon.

And unfortunately for her, the only viable means of transportation left was a single horse.

Faust had never learned how to ride one. Still, she wondered if it could really be that different from riding a broomstick.

"Haa..."

Faust wished she could summon her broomstick right now, but even she wasn’t confident she could properly control it in her current state.

Just as Faust was beginning to prepare herself to mount the horse, a voice called out from the distance.

"Lancel!"

She turned her head slightly. From afar, two figures came into view, riding on a broomstick as they rushed toward them.

"...Countess Gretelle?"

Countess Gretelle approached on the broomstick, with a man Faust didn’t recognize clinging behind her, his posture stiff with fear as if he might fall off at any moment.

As soon as she descended, Gretelle rushed forward and immediately checked on Fiore’s condition.

"This girl... why is it that every time I turn around, she’s caught up in trouble again...? And it’s nice to see you again, Countess Lieb...er...?"

Her voice trailed off.

Countess Gretelle froze as she finally took in Faust’s condition. It didn’t take long for her to realize just how bad it was.

Then her gaze shifted to her apprentice. Fiore remained unconscious, and from a single glance, it was clear she was in an even worse state.

Slowly, she turned back to Faust.

"Tell me everything."

* * *

Lancel slowly peered his eyes open.

The moment he did, the unfamiliar ceiling above him immediately came into view, settling into his senses before anything else.

"Ugh..."

"L-Lancel...!"

Lancel jolted as two voices overlapped, calling out his name. Turning his head, he saw Fiore and Faust sitting right beside the bed he was lying on.

"...Fuck."

Those final moments came rushing back at that moment. The memory of mercilessly beating that witch, of driving Arondight into her skull, replayed vividly in his mind.

Then his eyes widened as he recalled the sensation he had felt in that moment, the authority, Chains of Dominion.

A power that, for some reason, placed him above witches.

Lancel understood it immediately. Back then, even at his prime, he would have never been able to defeat Heidi. She was the kind of witch that even the Leviathan Group would have struggled to deal with.

And yet, he had done it.

And he had done it far too easily.

"Lancel?" Faust prompted.

"Hm?"

"Thank you for saving me."

"And me, too," Fiore added as she lowered her head.

Twice now, Fiore had been saved by Lancel. Even with her status as a witch, she felt that if she didn’t lower her head like this, she would simply be ungrateful.

"I heard what you did for us..." Faust continued. "And the lengths you went through just to find us..."

"Yeah..." Fiore chimed in softly. "You’ve already saved me twice... I’m not even sure I can repay you..."

Lancel scratched his cheek, clearly unsure how to respond to the two witches expressing their gratitude.

"I didn’t really do that much..."

"Do you even know how long you’ve been out?" Faust asked.

"...How long?"

"Two weeks."

"Ah..."

It took an insurmountable amount of effort to heal him. When they examined his condition, the extent of the damage became clear.

Lancel had suffered multiple fractures across his body. His ribs had been shattered in several places, his left arm had been completely broken, and even his right leg had sustained cracks from repeated impact.

His collarbone had been fractured, and there were smaller fractures along his fingers from gripping his weapon too tightly under pressure.

The damage to his internal organs was even worse. His lungs had partially collapsed from the force of impact, making his breathing unstable for days.

There was internal bleeding around his liver, and his kidneys had taken enough damage to disrupt his body’s balance.

Even his brain had not been spared. The repeated blows had left him with a severe concussion.

All of that had been inflicted within a single minute.

"Is that so..."

"But you’re alright now," Faust said. "However, there’s a problem."

"A problem?"

Lancel felt a chill run down his spine.

"Witches in Riviere have taken notice of you now."