Editing Failing Witch:Volume1 Episode3 (section)

===4===

Carraway Cs Prep School was filled with a flurry of excitement.

The salary-focused prep school was showing an unusual amount of motivation, but only because, even though this wasn’t the actual entrance exam, a student earning a good rank on the practice exam was still excellent material for advertisements. Melehe and her Rank A were already treated like a school mascot by the faculty.

In the nearly empty cafeteria, Myousou Yagoro threw out a surprise question for the little witch in an orange, red, and purple pumpkin tart of a dress.

“You need to study the Three Aspects some more. Viocia, what is ATU 0709?”

“Uhh…Snow White! The one with the deadly apple!!”

“Good. That’s right. '''+1 point: The stepmother and the daughter were both beautiful, but the magical moral of the story is that unseen inward ugliness can still influence people’s lives.''' Even if you don’t use a mirror, telling your own fortune can confuse you or lead to self-destruction, so be careful. The same applies to the Kokkuri-san and automatic writing. Really, it’s not so much about what methods you use – it’s what you’re using the magic for. It comes down to the morality and purpose within your own heart. The uglier your heart, the worse it turns out for you, so it’s important to be a good person day to day.”

She seemed to have improved some from when she only memorized the round numbers.

“I know the details of the practice exam now.”

“Even so, why hold our planning meeting in the empty cafeteria? I pay a monthly tuition, so why can’t we just use the school’s lesson rooms?”

Because they gained nothing from letting the other students hear this.

“First, the location.”

“The Source Building. Apparently even big dragons are too scared to get close. The story is a student spent too many nights there studying and died of overwork, so her grudge continues to remake the school into a labyrinth. Yikes.”

“Why don’t you question why it is you know so much background information on a place you only just saw for the first time?”

Technically speaking, that was not a school building. Yagoro sighed.

“''This time,'' it’s the old meal center. That’s the true identity of what all of you keep calling the Source Building. But it’s been abandoned, so no one uses it anymore. That’s probably where the practice exam will be held, don’tcha think?”

“Meal center? Ohhh, they had one of those back when I was at a normal school!”

“Once they began a system where anyone could set up shop and sell lunches to the students, the centralized meal center went out of business.”

“Phew. So it’s not some deadly school building. And if that urban legend was fake, then there’s nothing to worry abou-”

“(Of course, there is that rumor that a worker fell into a giant bubbling cooking pot around when it went out of business.)”

“Gyahhhh!? Of course there’s a story! And a terrifying one too!!”

That was enough of the history and rumors.

“As you’ve probably figured out, the building can grow on its own, creating a massive labyrinth. At its core, it’s a largescale kitchen, so it has lots of knives, pots, and ovens. The point is, you should expect it to be a lot more dangerous than if it had started out as a normal school building. There’s no telling what might come alive and attack you.”

“U-ugh. And what am I supposed to do in that place?”

“That’s the real question.”

Yagoro leaned in close to whisper to Viocia.

“(Maleficium is a ‘summon’ restricted magic school. That tells you what kind of power they’re looking for.)”

“Hweh? T-teacher?”

“(But since the practice exam is being held in a dangerous labyrinthine school, it seems unlikely they’re going to quiz you on Earth trivia, don’tcha think? Maybe they’ll ask you to investigate the pattern of the monster appearances or prevent a specific tool from transforming into one, but your task will probably be related to the monsters. I would focus my studying there.)”

“Y-you’re moving too fast. This is a sacred prep school dedicated to helping us pass the exam. It’s not the place for- gasp! I just realized there’s no one else around! D-did you plan this, teacher?”

“(The old meal center didn’t appear in a natural way, so it isn’t going to stick around for long. I don’t know the actual limit, but the practice exam will probably begin within three days, don’tcha think?)”

“D-does your first time always catch you by surprise like this? Grandma, I’m about to become an adult here in Temple School City! W-w-well, here goes nothing: nhh.”

When he grabbed the brim of his student’s hat and tugged it down, Viocia (who was inexplicably tense, squeezing her eyes shut, and lifting her chin a bit) came back to her senses.

“Armgwa?! Huh, teacher?”

“I finally noticed we were having two entirely different conversations. To further our mutual understanding, could you explain what kind of conversation you thought we were having?”

Viocia blushed bright and waved her hands wildly before finally crossing her arms to form a big X in front of her face. The pose meant “I’ll do anything you ask, just don’t make me answer that”.

And if she would do anything he asked, there was only one thing to ask as her tutor.

“Make the most of the official practice exam.”

“Hweh?”

“Specifically, improve your rank by one letter. You don’t need to reach the passing point right away. It’s much more realistic and important to gradually climb to that point over the course of the year. This is your first step on that path. If you can make progress here, then you’ll have even more opportunities in the future, don’tcha think?”