Chapter 3

My fatigue had reached its peak from the relentless nightly mana transfers with Silvia and the unaccustomed work at the Guild.

Perhaps taking pity on my state, the healing mage Lunaria Crescent offered to provide “treatment.”

Silvia wore an unamused expression, but considering my condition, she grudgingly gave her approval.

“Yuuto-san, please come this way. This is my healing chamber.”

Lunaria led me to a clean, serene room tucked away in the back of the Guild.

A pleasant herbal fragrance drifted through the air.

(This place is so… calming…)

It was nothing like Silvia’s room.

As I was thinking this, Silvia sent a sharp look from the entrance of the healing chamber.

“Yuuto is my property. Don’t get any funny ideas, Lunaria.”

“My, Silvia-sama. Isn’t maintaining your ‘mana supply source’s’ health part of the master’s responsibility? I’m simply offering to help.”

Lunaria replied cheerfully, though sparks seemed to crackle between the two of them.

(Am I causing these two to be at odds…?)

Silvia snorted irritably and left the healing chamber.

Once the door closed, Lunaria turned to me with a gentle smile.

“Now then, Yuuto-san. Please lie down on that medical bed. We’ll begin with a massage to improve your mana circulation.”

I did as instructed and lay on the bed.

Lunaria’s soft, warm hands touched my shoulders and back.

Her massage, perfectly calibrated in pressure, slowly worked the tension from my stiffened muscles.

“Yuuto-san’s magical power is quite extraordinary, you know. I understand why Silvia-sama is so fixated on it.”

Lunaria spoke softly as she worked.

“However, her methods are a bit too forceful. A talent as valuable as yours should be treated with much greater care.”

(Lunaria-san… she’s so kind…)

At her encompassing gentleness—so unlike Silvia’s—I felt tears threatening to well up.

As the massage continued, Lunaria’s body drew closer to mine.

Her ample bosom occasionally brushed against my arm or back, and each time my heart would skip a beat.

“Now, the next phase—the ‘special treatment’ to balance your mana flow.”

With that, Lunaria slowly brought her face close to mine.

Then her soft lips gently touched my own.

Unlike Silvia’s forceful kiss, this was as delicate as a feather—calm and sweet.

Yet I could still feel my mana being drawn upward from me.

But unlike with Silvia, there was no intense sensation of depletion. Instead, a pleasant warmth spread through my body.

“Fufu, Yuuto-san’s magical essence tastes wonderful.”

Lunaria smiled mischievously.

In the depths of her emerald eyes, I glimpsed something I hadn’t seen before—a type of possessiveness different from Silvia’s, but no less real.

(Is she also after my mana…?)

Along with the pleasure came a faint sense of guilt.

Guilt toward Silvia, yet I couldn’t bring myself to pull away from this tenderness.

By the time the treatment ended, my body felt remarkably lighter, and my mana reserves felt restored.

When I returned to Silvia’s room, she was waiting with her arms crossed.

“…You were slow.”

Her voice was unmistakably displeased.

And as she caught Lunaria’s lingering scent on me, Silvia’s eyebrow twitched.

“So… that vixen marked you with her scent. Unforgivable.”

(This is bad, she’s furious…)

Silvia grabbed my arm and threw me onto the bed without a word.

“Yuuto, you are mine. I’ll overwrite any other woman’s scent from you.”

With that, she delivered the most intense, deepest, and longest kiss yet—one brimming with possessive hunger, as though intent on claiming every part of me.

(This is just spite, isn’t it?!)

My protests were swallowed by her lips.

It seemed the battle between the heroines over me had already begun.

As these thoughts ran through my head, a cheerful voice rang out from the Guild’s reception counter.

“Hey, Yuuto-kun! Got a sec? I’ve got something I want to ask you!”

A petite girl with distinctive orange short hair was waving.

Fiona Bergamot, the Guild’s receptionist.

Her curious, bright blue eyes had locked onto me.

Chapter 4

The day after Silvia’s onslaught of “overwriting kisses,” I was approached by the Guild’s receptionist, Fiona Bergamot.

With her orange short hair and curious bright blue eyes, the small, energetic girl had adapted the Guild’s standard uniform—a blouse and tight skirt—to suit her active style.

While her chest was modest, her slender legs possessed an undeniable charm.

She seemed fascinated by the rumors of me becoming Silvia’s exclusive mana supply source and approached me with an air of keen interest.

“Yuuto-kun, everyone in the Guild is talking about you! Especially about the ‘mana transfer’ with Silvia-sama. I’d love to hear the details!”

Fiona closed the distance between us with an amiable smile and forward approach.

Her brightness and pushiness caught me off guard.

(She’s definitely a different type from Silvia and Lunaria…)

As I struggled to respond, I sensed a cold gaze from behind.

Silvia, and Lunaria, who’d appeared without warning.

Both made their wariness toward Fiona abundantly clear.

“Fiona, don’t pester Yuuto too much. He is my ‘property,’ after all.”

“Oh my, Silvia-sama. And Lunaria-sama, too. I simply wished to exchange information with Yuuto-san. There might be valuable information for him as well.”

Fiona shot back fearlessly.

She had guts.

“Yuuto-kun, want to talk somewhere the three of us can have some privacy? I’ve got some really useful intel.”

Fiona tugged at my sleeve and winked.

Evading the watchful gazes of Silvia and Lunaria, I was pulled along by Fiona to the Guild’s archives room.

Dimly lit and smelling of old paper, it was indeed a perfect spot for a private conversation.

“So, Yuuto-kun. Do you have any idea about the source of your unusual magical power?”

Fiona cut straight to the point.

“Not really… I woke up and it was just like this.”

“Hmm. Ever heard anything about how the female supremacy in this world started? Or maybe how your power might be connected to ancient magic?”

At Fiona’s words, I held my breath.

(Ancient magic…? The origins of female supremacy…?)

It was information I’d never considered.

As surprise played across my face, Fiona smiled with satisfaction.

“Interested? If you want the full details… well, Yuuto-kun would need to give me something in return.”

Fiona raised a finger to her lip with a playful, impish smile.

(Wait, is this heading where I think…?)

“How about an equal trade—my information for a kiss from you?”

That’s exactly where it was heading!

A request that felt like a game, entirely different from Silvia’s or Lunaria’s approaches.

Yet the information Fiona was dangling was extraordinarily appealing.

The mystery of my power, and the secret behind this world’s twisted structure.

The desire to know outweighed my guilt.

“…Fine. A kiss it is.”

At my agreement, Fiona’s eyes lit up with delight.

I steeled myself and pressed my lips to hers.

Her kiss tasted like tart fruit—light and playful, yet with an undeniable core to it. It was neither Silvia’s intensity nor Lunaria’s gentleness.

After the kiss ended, Fiona’s cheeks flushed slightly, though she wore a satisfied expression as she shared several pieces of information.

The details were fragmented, but they clearly suggested my magical power might be connected to something ancient.

Back in Silvia’s room, she interrogated me sharply about what I’d discussed with Fiona.

I honestly shared some of the information I’d obtained.

“Ancient magic, then. Your power does carry something unfathomable.”

Silvia seemed genuinely interested in the mystery of my abilities as well.

Perhaps with her help, I could unravel this enigma.

I was beginning to harbor such faint hope when it happened.

On the way home from the Guild, I spotted several rowdy women harassing a man in an alley.

Or rather, the reverse—several overbearing women were brutally tormenting a scrawny man.

It might be a common sight in this world, but I couldn’t tolerate it.

“Hey! You lot! Stop that!”

At my shout, the women laughed scornfully and turned their aggression toward me instead.

Then a dignified voice cut through the chaos.

“That’s enough! In the name of the Mage Knights, I will permit no further violence!”

A woman emerged clad in solid knight’s armor, her striking black hair bound in a tight ponytail.

Powerful violet eyes surveyed us with sharp intensity.

Eleanor Streifen, Commander of the Mage Knights.

She glared at me as well, regarding me as partially responsible for the commotion.