It had to be said. There was no such thing as a male witch. In fact, there had never been such a thing as a male mage at all.
Throughout history, no record had ever mentioned a man capable of wielding magic.
It simply did not happen.
There were women who became knights and fought alongside men on the battlefield. That much was common enough, and no one found it strange. Strength with the sword did not belong to one gender alone.
Magic, however, was different.
Magic belonged entirely to women.
Of course, not every woman possessed mana. Some were born without it and lived their entire lives as ordinary people.
But those who were born with mana were always women. Never men.
Men could study magic if they wished. They could learn its theory, read about its principles, and watch witches cast spells during lectures or demonstrations.
They could even dedicate their lives to researching it.
But one rule had always remained absolute.
Men could never use it.
That had always been the natural order of things.
So when Faust heard Lancel's proposal, she could not help but burst into laughter.
"Puhahaha! What the heck?"
"Hey. I'm not joking."
"Oh, I can see that," Faust replied, wiping the tears from the corner of her eye. "Right, right. I don't think you are."
"...."
"I mean, you can study magic if you want," she continued. "There's nothing stopping you from reading theory or learning the principles."
She shrugged.
"But teaching you how to actually use it?"
Then shook her head.
"That would be a waste of time for both of us."
"What if I can do magic?"
"Then the sun should rise in the west tomorrow."
Lancel did not argue right away and slowly lifted his hand.
For a moment, nothing happened. Faust watched, clearly expecting him to prove her point for her.
Then a faint light gathered at the tip of his fingers.
It was barely visible, but the air around his hand shifted ever so slightly. A thin strand of mana moved like a weak current, moving uncertainly toward his fingertips.
Faust's expression changed.
Then her eyes narrowed.
"…That's impossible."
Lancel exhaled slowly, concentrating as the small thread of energy fizzled unevenly between his fingers. To a witch, this was quite literally nothing.
But since it was Lancel, it was everything.
"I figured you'd say that."
The mana waved once more before dispersing into the air.
Faust stared at his hand as if she were looking at something that should not exist.
"…Do that again."
Lancel lowered his hand.
"You just said it was impossible."
Faust ignored the remark entirely.
"Do it again."
Lancel did just that.
"...There's no way. You can't be a man."
"I am—"
Before Lancel could finish his sentence, Faust snapped her fingers.
In the next instant, his pants dropped straight down.
"…What the fuck?!"
The sudden exposure lasted only a second, but the sight of his little brother was more than enough to confirm the obvious.
Lancel hurriedly yanked his pants back up and stepped away from her.
"You crazy—!"
"Ah, wait—sorry!"
Faust quickly raised her hands as if surrendering.
"I just needed to confirm something."
Lancel continued backing away from her, staring at her as if she had completely lost her mind.
"You couldn't just take my word for it?"
"…That's impossible. I… I can't believe it…"
"What? Should I show you again?"
The moment the words left his mouth, Faust suddenly stepped forward and grabbed his hands firmly.
"Never."
Her voice had changed.
"Under no circumstances should you ever show that outside. Do you understand?"
"W-What?"
"If you do, Angelica will be the least of your worries."
Her pale gray eyes locked onto his.
"This entire city will do far worse to you than she ever did."
"...."
In other words, if the witches of Riviere discovered that a man could use mana, they would dissect him piece by piece.
The next moment, as they finished discussing what they would do from now on, something flickered at the edge of Lancel's vision.
"Huh?"
He blinked and looked to the side.
A translucent interface had appeared in front of him.
────────────
Host: Lancel
Rank: Familiar
Level: 3
────────────
Primary Attributes
────────────
Strength: 2.8
Vitality: 3.1
Mana: 0.2
Agility: 2.4
Endurance: 2.7
Resonance: 0.5
────────────
Contract System
────────────
[Contract Capacity : 1 / 3]
[Active Contracts:]
➤ Faust Lieber
[Bond Level : 1]
∎ Bond Progress : 5% / 100%
[Contract Bonus:]
∎Mana Regeneration +5%
────────────
Lancel stared at the floating panel for a moment.
"…What the hell?"
"Something wrong?" Faust asked.
Lancel raised a hand and pointed directly at the interface.
"Hey, can you see this?"
Faust looked at where he was pointing.
"…See what?"
Lancel paused. The panel was still there, hovering clearly in front of his eyes.
"…Seems like you can't."
"…?"
────────────
[Special Objective]
────────────
[Condition:]
∎ Reach Bond Level 2 with any contracted witch.
[Reward:]
∎ Spell Unlock +1
────────────
* * *
"Archmistress Angelica!"
Angelica turned at the call of her title.
Four apprentice witches hurried toward her from the lecture hall she had just left.
It had been a small lecture.
Angelica did not teach in a grand hall like some of the other Count Witches preferred. She usually rented one of the smaller classrooms whenever she felt like holding a session.
That was how the academy worked in Riviere.
There was no single campus where witches gathered to study. The entire organization simply referred to itself as the Academy, but in practice, it was a loose network of mentors, apprentices, and lecture spaces spread throughout the city.
Any witch who wished to teach could rent a room and hold lessons whenever they saw fit.
In that sense, witches could also be described as scholars. Their lives revolved around the pursuit of magic, always searching for greater understanding and more powerful spells.
However, even witches were not limitless.
Despite possessing lifespans far longer than ordinary people, their development was not infinite. Sooner or later, most witches would encounter a wall they could never overcome.
A barrier their talent alone could not break.
And when that happened, they found another way forward.
If a piece of research could not be completed within their own lifetime, then they would simply continue it through someone else's.
A witch would begin searching for a successor. Once such a person was found, they would inherit the predecessor's research and continue the work where the previous witch had stopped.
To witches, this was not unusual.
It was simply another method of pursuing magic.
"Clarice, Adele, Siesta. What is it?"
Clarice was the first to speak.
"Archmistress, about what you mentioned earlier. The mana circulation method for stabilizing complex spell formations… I still don't quite understand how the secondary channel is supposed to form."
"The common misconception is forcing the flow. But actually, Mana does not like being forced. Let it circulate naturally first, then guide the second channel once the current stabilizes."
Next was Adele.
"Archmistress, is it possible to create a casting method that bypasses the core entirely? If someone had unstable mana, wouldn't redirecting the flow through the limbs be safer?"
"In theory, yes. In practice, it is inefficient. You would lose too much control."
Adele frowned as she considered the answer.
Before the conversation could end, Siesta spoke up from behind them.
"Archmistress…"
Angelica looked at her.
"Yes?"
"…Will you bring him next time?"
Clarice and Adele immediately glanced at her.
Angelica's expression did not change.
"…Him?"
Siesta nodded.
"Your… assistant."
"Lancel? I suppose I could. But he's been misbehaving lately."
"Oh, is that so? Maybe he just needs stricter discipline. Or maybe he's just bored, cooped up in your home all day? You did mention he responds better when he's part of your demonstrations."
Angelica considered the suggestion.
"That may be true."
"Then perhaps you should bring him to the next lecture? Your previous lesson was much easier to understand when you used him as an example."
"Yes, Archmistress, that demonstration was very helpful. I didn't realize the male body could harden a limb that has no bone without the use of magic."
The other apprentices chimed in as well.
"That's true."
"It was quite surprising."
Angelica listened to their remarks, and before she realized it, a faint smile appeared on her face.
Hearing them speak so positively about the demonstration brought her a small sense of satisfaction. Despite his constant defiance and the way he often talked back to her, Lancel had proven to be extremely useful in her research.
In truth, Angelica had grown rather fond of him.
He was troublesome, stubborn, and far from obedient. Yet his reactions, his endurance, and the strange anomalies surrounding his body made him endlessly fascinating to observe.
Few subjects had ever held her attention for so long.
Eventually, the conversation ended, and Angelica left the rented lecture hall, returning to her mansion as evening settled over the city of Riviere.
When she arrived home, however, something immediately felt wrong.
The moment she stepped inside, her eyes moved instinctively toward the basement door.
It was open.
"...."
Slowly, the belongings in her hands slipped from her grasp and fell to the floor.
"…."
She descended the stairs.
The chains were broken.
The room was empty.
…And Lancel was gone.