Witch Taming System-Chapter 67: Picnic [3]

"...."

Ishtar’s eyes darted for a moment, clearly caught off guard. She didn’t expect that kind of answer.

Lancel just watched her.

She probably wanted to come off like some kind of villain. The kind she kept reading about in her novels. But the more she tried, the less it worked. If anything, it just felt... off, even silly.

Witches were seriously hard to understand.

It wasn’t even that deep. If she thought she was being a bad friend, then sure, maybe. But in a city like this, where Lancel could honestly sum it up as "witches were bitches," this was nothing.

Pretty tame, actually.

She made it sound like some grand, dramatic thing, but Lancel didn’t even know who Winona was to care about it.

To him, she was just another witch.

And witches were people he had to deal with carefully.

"Anyway, this place is really nice, huh?" Lancel glanced around, taking another bite from his food. "How many acres is this?"

"But, Assistant Lancel... There’s still an epilogue..."

"Hm?"

Lancel turned toward her.

"The little girl..." she continued. "She eventually did start taking a real interest in the man..."

"Pardon?"

"So much so..." Ishtar leaned slightly closer, her voice dropping just a bit. "That every night, she found herself thinking about him while getting herself off... Every night, she held onto her sheets... calling out his name without even realizing it."

"...."

Where was this going?

"Assistant Lancel."

"...Yes?"

"Have you ever had sex before?"

"...."

Lancel swallowed.

She was too close. Close enough that he could feel her breath against him, the scent of yellow jasmine immediately registering.

"Ishtar."

"Yes?"

"Let’s take this slow."

"Hm? Have you had sex before, or not? As for me, never. I’ve only just started learning how to masturbate."

"...You don’t have to tell me that."

"Why not? Men like hearing women talk about their sexual experiences, don’t they?"

Ishtar leaned in closer.

Her hand slipped inside her skirt for a moment, then came out glistening with her juices.

The next moment, she reached out and gently slid her soaked finger into his mouth. It tasted sweet, with a faint salty tang.

"Do you still want to take this slow, Assistant Lancel—no, Lancel...?"

"...."

Back then, with Mei, Lancel might have been swept up in the moment due to his lust. But right now, he was clear-headed and fully aware, despite the bulge slowly growing in his pants.

A line had to be drawn.

Because Ishtar was undoubtedly scarier than Mei.

Mei was a social recluse who was also emotionally dysfunctional, while Ishtar clearly knew what she was doing.

If asked who Lancel was more comfortable screwing around with, he would undoubtedly choose the former.

"Are you willing to offer your body to me?"

"Isn’t that obvious?"

"Are you willing to deal with what comes after? It sounds like you want to spend your life with me. If you didn’t know, Miss Ishtar, I’m public property. A research asset. Not even considered human in this city."

"P-Pardon...?"

"Your family won’t approve. Are you willing to go against them? After following them your whole life?"

"E-Eh?"

"If they don’t approve, what then?" Lancel continued. "Are you going to abandon everything here and run away with me? Because that’s what it sounds like."

"Uh, uhm..."

"If I become yours, that means going against the city. And if that happens, the city will come after me. If you really want this, then we can’t stay here. We have to leave, far enough that no witch can ever find us."

"W-What are you suddenly saying...?"

In truth, even Lancel didn’t know what he was saying. Some of it might’ve been true. Some of it probably wasn’t.

He was just putting words together, running along a line of thought that sounded plausible enough, something that stayed within reason.

"I... I just wanted to know what it’s like to be treated like a woman!"

"...."

"M-Marry you...?" Ishtar’s pupils darted, her face growing redder. "W-What are you suddenly saying?! Have you never heard of the concept of friends with benefits before?!"

"...."

"O-Obviously, I wouldn’t tell my family what we’re doing..." she added quickly. She was clearly flustered now. "I don’t want to end up on a stake too!"

"Then...?"

"Ah—forget it!" Ishtar turned away, clearly flustered now. "If you won’t have sex with me, then I get it! It’s because I’m not attractive enough, isn’t it?!"

"...That’s not true."

Objectively, that wasn’t the issue at all.

Ishtar didn’t have the same kind of curvy figure Lancel had gotten used to, and she was on the shorter side, but that didn’t change the fact that she was attractive.

And if there was one thing that stood out more than anything else, it was how her buttocks felt in his hands before.

"You’re beautiful, Ishtar."

"...."

Ishtar swallowed, her eyes widening as her face flushed even redder, spreading all the way to her ears.

For someone who could casually talk about her masturbation, she was the one flustered over something as simple as that.

Lancel didn’t get it.

Women were seriously difficult to understand.

At that moment, Ishtar suddenly stood up and grabbed his wrist.

"Ishtar?"

"Be quiet."

Before Lancel realized it, Ishtar had dragged him inside the nearby windmill. They went all the way up the stairs before suddenly stopping.

Ishtar pushed him against the wall, her hands planted on either side of him, and looked him straight in the eye.

"Lancel."

"...Yes?"

"Say that again."

"Say what?"

"Say that I’m beautiful."

"You’re beautiful—Mmph!

The next moment, Ishtar planted a kiss on his lips.

"Say it again."

"You’re beautiful—Mmph!"

Yet again, another kiss.

"Again."

"You’re beautiful."

Just as Ishtar was about to kiss him again, Lancel pushed forward and grabbed her waist.

"Ah...!"

He rotated her body and pinned her against the wall.

Ishtar swallowed her saliva. It was just like that time in the changing room again.

She pulled his collar close and pressed their lips together. Her mouth opened slightly, and Lancel took that opportunity to slide his tongue inside.

"Mmmh...! ♡"

A soft, wet sound filled the space as their lips moved together.