Editing Failing Witch:Volume3 Episode3 (section)

===Part 12===

Myousou Yagoro took a deep breath and then wobbled on his feet.

That had been an intense few minutes.

It went beyond the shoulder wound. Even with Tedaura’s witchcraft treatment, he still hadn’t recovered from his earlier rapier wounds.

The used bookseller and Sorbeddy were both still on the ground.

As was President Ulrike.

Nevertheless, it was over.

Gentle weariness tempted him down into a sitting position where he wiped the sweat from his brow and looked up into the starry sky.

And…

“Yagoro. You don’t think this is over, do you?”

“!?”

“Oh, don’t worry. The goddess didn’t give me the ability to power up and take on a second and third form. I can’t even get back on my feet. This is the end for Student Council President Ulrike.”

Yes.

This long, long night was finally over.

There couldn’t be anything more…could there?

“No one must reach the ends of the world.”

The President gave him a dry smile from the ground.

“But don’t let me stop you. It’s you who will suffer if you learn the truth of the world, Yagoro.”

“?”

“And I think we’re past the point of worrying about the ends of the world. With my defeat, you must now face a new challenge.”

“What…are you talking about?”

“Answering that will be your first task.”

It didn’t seem like she was lying.

This world had been designed specifically for President Ulrike. Then Yagoro had wandered in by mistake and started messing everything up. And that had finally passed a crucial point.

So the President, who possessed a special ability, had attacked Yagoro, who had an equally special ability, to put an end to that.

Her reasons for fighting were selfish to the end, but that was why she wouldn’t hold anything back in preserving the stability of the world that was given to her.

That could only mean one thing: this world had been flawed to begin with. If nothing was done, Ulrike’s endless party in this world would be canceled – no, the world itself could even be confiscated from her.

Myousou Yagoro of course had no idea what this could be about.

And he was a Maleficium student.

(No, wait. That must mean…)

“You act like you know everything, but you are only a student, Yagoro. You don’t know what awaits after graduating from Maleficium, do you?”

“…”

That was indeed unknown territory for him.

There were still some blanks left.

The President was still unable to get up, her long, long black hair spread out upon the small island.

“Focus on what feels twisted.”

“You don’t mean…”

“Unlike the past, only female witches can use magic in this world. Nevertheless, the aristocracy that controls the political world remains a patriarchy steeped in the spirit of chivalry. Which means there is no room for magic-wielding women there. And yet the political world continues to turn. ''That means magic is not needed to control this world.''”

Something rose from the depths of his mind.

He recalled so many voices he had heard in the crowds. It was a mishmash of information that he would normally forget as no more than background noise.



''“Extra, extra! We have the latest on King Michael’s bastard son!! You don’t want to miss out on this!”

''“This is the same model of hat Lord Brian wore to the general council.”

''“Is it true those old men on the Senate are taking vacations on the sly?”



Sure enough.

Had he even once heard of a princess or queen mentioned in talk of politics?

“The ideal world for us witches is Maleficium. That is as high as it goes. We might graduate and work in any number of other fields, but we will never reach the top of any of them. The patriarchy resents us for our great skill and vast knowledge, so they use a number of social factors to simply extract labor from us… In the end, working ourselves to the bone to overcome the harsh entrance exam and entering Maleficium will not bring us witches a happy life.”

“Don’t tell me…”

Instructor Flamberg Wyrd had once asked if it was really right to help girls pass the exam and send them off to Maleficium. She had asked if that would really bring them happiness.

“The aristocracy spends so much public money to try and worm their way into the management of Maleficium because they hope to undermine the school’s efforts and produce inferior witches. If Maleficium carelessly accepts those public funds, it will really and truly mean the end of the age of witches.”

That would be why she held the position of Maleficium’s Student Council President.

She chose to remain there, refusing to graduate.

The world at large was ruled not by the wisdom to use magic, but by the foolishness to reject magic.

“Don’t act like you aren’t a part of this. You are both a tutor and a Maleficium student. This is your problem too.”

“So what? My students are my focus.”

“It’s the same either way if ''she'' comes to Temple School City.”

“She who?”

“You made too much of a scene, Myousou Yagoro. My original plan was to end this in a single swift surprise attack, but I failed to prevent the scale from growing. So she will be coming. Whenever a witch rises too far and crosses a certain line, she is labeled a threat to the patriarchal establishment and an assassin is sent to eliminate the problem. That traitorous witch is dispatched whenever the patriarchy of royals, bureaucrats, clergy, and artisans demands it.”

Another threat stood in their way even after graduating from Maleficium.

A traitorous witch.

Ignorance was fatal in a magical battle.

But Melehe’s mother, the bookseller, was a Maleficium graduate and also the leader of Private Striga, the largest coven in the icy north.

Had even she suffered some kind of setback which led to her giving up on something and settling for her current position?

Moreover, was that true even of Tedaura Sugar Modestlucky, the Queen of the Night, Darkness, and Love?

Yagoro couldn’t come up with a theory that seemed to fit well, but Ulrike shut her eyes while lying on the ground.

She could accept this, but she could not watch it.

It was a lot like someone looking away just before receiving a shot.

Without reopening her eyes, she spoke in a singsong way.

“Siren Carriers, the largest coven of the southern islands. Acrobat Valkyrie, the greatest coven of the western mountains.”

“?”

“You haven’t heard of them? Those witches were already destroyed by ''her''. She did it alone and did it so easily it sounds like a bad joke.”

Yagoro felt a chill in his gut.

This meant he couldn’t even rely on the bookseller mama’s other identity. The coming enemy was like a massive shark who could devour tens of thousands of witches led by a Limit Breaker as if they were a school of small fish.

If she was dispatched, it was over.

Any witch would be killed instantly. Even the Limit Breakers who had conquered their own lifespan.

She allowed no exceptions.

President Ulrike had tried to fortify Maleficium’s defenses ''for her own happiness'', but it hadn’t been enough. She had the power to fully control space both physically and geometrically, yet the option of going on the offensive wasn’t available to her.

Ideally, they would have gone unnoticed.

But.

Yagoro heard something.

A single footstep.

But why? It didn’t make sense. They were on a tiny uncharted island out beyond even the ''deadly'' lakeside. The bookseller and Sorbeddy were still incapacitated from their battle with the President and Ulrike hadn’t gotten back up yet. So why would he be hearing a footstep?

“Who’s that?” asked Yagoro without really thinking. “Wait…are you the one Ulrike was talking about?”

The newcomer immediately responded. A name flowing from her bewitching lips.