You Have to Trust Me.

Seraphina's back arched like a bow. She let go of my wrist, grabbed the bedsheets, and trembled.

"Calm down, Captain."

I said in a calm voice, still wearing a serious mask and pretending I had no ulterior motives whatsoever.

"The most important source of mana is located in the uterus. It's completely blocked right now, obstructing circulation and causing the reflux. I need to stimulate the inside directly to clear it."

"I-Inside…? You mean…!"

Seraphina's pupils shook as though an earthquake had struck. Taking advantage of her confusion, I pushed in another finger.

"Hngh…?!"

My index finger joined the first, and the two fingers pushed their way into the cramped entrance. The virgin's narrow vaginal walls clamped down tightly, as though rejecting the unfamiliar intrusion.

'Touch of Tuning.'

[It heightens the target's senses and induces slight pleasure.]

"Ah, aaah…♡!"

A sweet moan burst from Seraphina's lips. She threw her head back and writhed with her whole body.

"Th-this…! What…"

'Touch of Tuning.'

[It heightens the target's senses and induces slight pleasure.]

"……Uh, hngh♡!"

'Status Analysis.'

[Name: Seraphina von Reinhardt]

[Status: Multiple successive orgasms. Aroused.]

I pulled out the fingers I had inserted.

Pop.

"Haa…?"

Seraphina stared at me blankly at the sudden loss. Her empty opening seemed to lament the absence, pulsing out vaginal fluid.

"……!"

Seraphina came to her senses belatedly. She hurriedly squeezed her legs shut and covered her private parts with both hands. Her face was flushed bright red.

"What on earth are you doing…! Don't tell me you're going to claim this is treatment, too…?!"

"Of course, Captain."

I answered shamelessly and activated the skill.

'Captivating Speech.'

[The skill 'Captivating Speech (Lv.3)' is activated.]

I put on a grave expression and began speaking like a doctor persuading a patient before a major operation.

"Captain, what is the fundamental cause of Mana Reflux? Mana that cannot flow pools inside, decays, and freezes. But when I checked with my fingers just now, I found a serious problem. Deep inside, the mana circuits around the uterus, the source of life, are completely blocked."

"Th-then… why did you do it that way…?"

"Fingers aren't enough."

I cut Seraphina off firmly. At times like this, I couldn't let her seize the initiative.

"Fingers are too thin, and the area through which they can transmit mana is too small. The key to biological resonance tuning lies in the area and location of contact."

As the concepts of contact area and location—terms she had heard several times by now—came up, Seraphina's expression stiffened. She seemed to realize what they meant. Her gaze nervously dropped to my lower body, then returned to my face.

I watched her expression closely and cast out the most important bait.

"I've seen a possibility."

"……A possibility?"

"Yes. If this treatment proceeds properly…"

I looked straight into her eyes.

"…I believe I may truly be able to cure your Mana Reflux completely."

"……!"

Seraphina's eyes flew wide open.

"…What did you just say? Cure it completely…? But… didn't you say yourself that it was merely a temporary measure? Then how…?"

[Hidden Desire: To escape this wretched pain.]

Her voice rose and her words came faster. It was only natural. She had just been told that the pain that had bound her all her life could actually be cured completely.

"That was then. But things are different now."

I spread both hands and showed them to her.

"I've grown, too, Captain. Over the past few weeks, while working on your body…"

I dressed up the fact that [Touch of Tuning] had reached Level 2 as a suitably convincing explanation. Seraphina listened to me in silence.

"…To summarize, I can now reconstruct mana circuits quite freely."

When I finished speaking, silence filled the room. Seraphina's eyes wandered anxiously, unable to settle anywhere.

[Status: In the midst of intense inner conflict.]

[Emotion: Fear and shame over losing her virginity vs. a complete cure for Mana Reflux]

"You have to trust me."

I delivered the final blow.

"Every procedure I've performed on you so far has worked, hasn't it? I've never disappointed you even once, Captain. This time will be no different."

Seraphina's body jerked violently. She gripped the sheet tightly, then slowly relaxed her hands.

[Status: Has tremendous faith in Max Jaeger's abilities.]

[Emotion: Extreme shame at the thought of having to accept Max Jaeger, yet far greater trust in and dependence on Max Jaeger, along with a sense of indebtedness.]

"……It really is… treatment, right?"

she asked in a tiny voice.

"I swear."

At my firm answer, Seraphina's expression hardened with resolve.

"…All right. I'll… trust you."

With a trace of guilt added to her expression, Seraphina said,

"No, rather…"

Ding-

"…I'm sorry for doubting you."

[The skill 'Captivating Speech (Lv.3)' affects 'Seraphina von Reinhardt'.]

[Her reason begins to rationalize your proposal as part of the treatment.]

Seraphina lay back down on the bed. Her body curved into a breathtaking arc, and her silver hair spilled in disarray across the bedsheets.

She bit her lip, then slowly spread her legs.

[Status: Trusting Max Jaeger.]

[Emotion: So ashamed she wants to die, with a sense of dependence on and indebtedness to Max Jaeger.]

I quickly removed my pants and underwear and climbed onto the bed.

Thump.

Seraphina's gaze instinctively locked onto my lower body, right at its center.

"……!"

Her jewel-like blue eyes widened. Her gaze held fear, curiosity, and a strange heat. Her eyes swept over my penis from top to bottom. She even swallowed hard without realizing it.

[Status: Shocked by the striking sight of a male organ for the first time.]

[Emotion: A dizzying thrill at the thought of that entering her, along with a strange tingling.]

"Captain…?"

"…Ugh!"

Only when I called to her did Seraphina avert her gaze. But her body was already responding honestly. I slowly worked my way between her legs.

Just before the tip of my glans rubbed against her vulva.

"Wait… What about contraception…?"

Seraphina pushed my shoulder away. It seemed her last shred of reason had kicked in.

"Shouldn't you use a condom?"

I paused for a moment. The Imperial Army obviously didn't issue condoms.

"It can't be helped. We'll have to put the treatment off. Without a condom…"

[Emotion: Fear of pregnancy is driving out her desperate desire for treatment.]

"I absolutely can't… get pregnant…."

'Captivating Speech.'

"Captain, that…"

I tried to persuade her as best I could. But…

Ding!

[Persuasion failed!]

[The difficulty of the request directly conflicts with the target's core value (avoiding the risk of pregnancy).]

[The negative effect that occurs upon persuasion failure is greatly reduced.]

Even [Captivating Speech] was useless.

'Damn…'

I swallowed my disappointment and pulled back.

Her aversion to pregnancy was indeed formidable. Even with [Conception Control], I couldn't explain the skill's existence, so it was useless.

I'd have to save unprotected sex with Seraphina for later.

"Don't worry. As it happens, I have one."

"You have one…?"

Seraphina looked slightly surprised. Perhaps, being a soldier, she was too rigid to realize that all sorts of things circulated even within the military. Then again, no wonder they called her the Ice Witch.

"How on earth did you get something like that…?"

"There's always a way."

I pulled a condom from my back pocket and, deliberately showing it to her, put it on my penis.

'Conception Control.'

[The skill 'Conception Control' is activated.]

[Pregnancy probability set to 0%.]

A condom alone wouldn't guarantee 100-percent protection, so I also used a skill I could trust completely.

Only after doing all that could I align my glans with her vaginal opening. I felt hot, wet warmth through the rubber membrane. Enjoying the sensation, I rubbed my glans against the wet entrance.

"Haaah…."

I slowly pushed my hips forward.

"Hnggggh…!"

My glans pushed into the narrow entrance. I felt the taut resistance characteristic of a virgin.

Seraphina groaned as though in pain, though she didn't show it openly. Her arms instinctively tried to push my shoulders away.

But I didn't stop. Instead, I put my weight into it.

'Touch of Tuning.'

[It blocks the target's sensation of pain and amplifies pleasure.]

"Huh…? Ngh?"

The moment my glans pierced her hymen, Seraphina's moan changed strangely. Instead of tearing pain, what struck her was a sharp, brain-rattling pleasure.

I seized the moment and pushed all the way to the base in a single motion.

Thud-

"Aaaahhh♡!"

Seraphina's head fell back. Her narrow, hot inner walls gripped my penis tightly all around. Her entire vaginal wall contracted in pulses, squeezing my penis.

"Haa, haa…."

I stopped moving for a moment to give her time to adjust. Seraphina panted heavily, looking back and forth between her lower abdomen and me in disbelief.

"……I-is it over now, Lieutenant…?"

Huh? What did she say?

…Apparently, her knowledge of sex ended with putting on a condom and pressing their navels together.

Her innocent reaction, so incongruous with her nickname of Ice Witch, brought a lewd smile to my lips. I bit down on my lip to hold back my laugh and said,

"The real treatment starts now, Captain."

"…What?"

I gripped her waist firmly.

"I'll move now."