Editing Failing Witch:Volume3 Episode3 (section)

===Part 8===

It was late at night.

But this area had more bars than restaurants, so it may have been even busier than during the day. While the signs shined bright in the night, a group flew sharply through the pitch black sky above.

They were Maleficium’s Earth Mothers.

White Magic’s combat unit.

Nancy had mentioned their Grade 4 and Grade 3 members were taking part, but in fact the Grade 0 knights, ranked above even Grade 1, were out on the front line as well.

Dark figures stood atop rooftops all over the street.

President Ulrike held her long black hair down against the night breeze and spoke from one roof.

With a smile on her lips.

“Sabbath Party, hm? You have an interesting taste in hideouts, Yagoro.”

She was answered by the Earth Mother committee head who was down on one knee nearby.

“Indeed. I assumed he would be hiding out in the squatter’s district, so we may be over-prepared for this. Such a large unit isn’t necessary to bomb a single building from the air.”

“There’s no such thing as ‘overkill’ against that monster who can use witchcraft even as a boy. Make sure to use every last witch at your disposal.”

“Understood.”

They showed no hesitation.

Even though this cruel choice would kill other, unrelated people, not just Myousou Yagoro.

This went beyond magically sealing away their personal goodness and conscience. The President’s words were just that absolute. It wasn’t just a case of obeying her being the prudent course of action. They held something akin to religious faith in her.

“E-excuse me, but are we really bombing that building?”

It was Nancy who spoke up to question their actions.

This was unnatural. Even she knew it. But if she didn’t say anything, that bar would be blown to smithereens in mere seconds. It really would happen.

She felt like they would easily detect the parchment talisman she had between herself and her thick Hexenturm, preventing it from sealing away her personal goodness and conscience.

She was also simply curious.

Why was President Ulrike taking this so far?

And why had she launched the initial surprise attack on Myousou Yagoro?

“This area is bustling with people even late into the night. There are customers inside Sabbath Party, as well as drunks and workers out on the street. Even a precision bombing will mean some civilian casualties. Both from the explosion itself and from the stone and glass shards blasted outwards!!”

Ulrike twisted her lips into a cruel grin.

“Not to worry. I have Enemy Debug.”

“?”

“C-FS-…not that I expect you to know what that means. What matters is that no one will question it if I steal things, attack people, or even strip off my clothes in public. That is the special power I received as the only one in this world granted the goddess’s love. …Yes, even if I kill people, I will be forgiven as a matter of course. Most likely, this was originally ''meant to allow the hero to earn money and experience points by defeating their enemies''.”

Nancy had no idea what any of that meant.

Still, it didn’t seem like complete nonsense. She sensed some kind of vast logic hidden below the surface.

But this wasn’t about being forgiven or not. The victims would be ordinary people who had not trained in witchcraft.

“Direct any complaints toward Myousou Yagoro. If he hadn’t chosen to hide here, we wouldn’t have had to make this painful decision.”

“But!!”

“Oh? If I didn’t know better, I would think you had some kind of problem with us bombing Sabbath Party, Nancy.”

The Benandanti’s shoulders shook hard.

She didn’t care about the club and committee members staring at her.

It was President Ulrike.

Looking back into that confidently smiling girl’s eyes was tens of thousands of times more difficult and terrifying.

“This is necessary.”

“?”

“It is a meaningful act. You passed the entrance exam with Navigate Exam’s assistance, meaning you spent an entire year with him, Nancy, but you still haven’t noticed ''just how horrific a threat Myousou Yagoro is''?”

What?

What could she possibly mean?

Sure, he was an extraordinary person. He was a male witch. And he wielded magic with his own willpower instead of a Formula Broom. Anyone who knew that about him would view him as an oddity. But why did this bother Ulrike so much when she already ruled at the top? Why did it scare her so? Ulrike’s spatial control was far more deadly than anything Yagoro could do and her political and institutional power dwarfed his. Could she be afraid he would bring an end to the female-focused age of witches?

If so, she was mistaken.

Nancy knew that monster had no interest in political or institutional power. In fact, he might not be all that interested in this world itself.

He continued to support different girls while sending them to Maleficium, but what was it he wanted ''in the end''? Nancy was his former student, but she wasn’t sure on that point.

“If you can’t see it, then you don’t have what it takes.”

“President…”

There was no summary execution.

Only a pitying look.

Mistaken. Could that term refer to both Ulrike and Nancy? That question roiled in the redheaded Benandanti’s chest.

“If you knew the truth, you couldn’t take this in-between position. Watch from there, Nancy. Myousou Yagoro will try to slither out of this. And when you see how he does it, you too will understand just how horrific a monster he is.”

(I can’t stop it.)

Ulrike had extraordinary power in combat.

She also stood at the top both politically and institutionally.

And she was reaching for a truth Nancy knew nothing about.

(I’m sorry, Yagoro, but I don’t think I can change what President Ulrike is planning!!)

“Two short days.”

The President chuckled and stroked a fingertip along her broom’s handle.

And she drew the slim, sharp rapier from the sheath fixed along that handle.

“Even the help of a legend like Tedaura Sugar Modestlucky only extended your life by 48 hours. Is this your limit, Myousou Yagoro? How tragically short. And no matter what you try here, I will prevail in the end and kill you.”

After speaking so softly on the rooftop, Ulrike glanced to the side.

To the building across the large tiered street.

Someone stood on that rooftop.

The curvy witch had brown skin and long silver hair. As Student Council President, Ulrike had access to the list of past graduates. That was the commander of Private Striga, the most powerful coven in the northern icy region. She was the priestess of death and blood who specialized in Greek mythology with a particular focus on the Cult of Dionysus.

“Good evening, President. I’m afraid I graduated too soon to meet you.”

She simultaneously had the look of a used bookseller and of a powerful coven leader.

But who was it who had said she was most frightening as a mother?

“A lovely night, isn’t it? Have you read the stars? They tell me even you can die satisfied tonight.”

The club and committee members prepared for battle around Ulrike. Had they not even noticed her until now? If so, all of their budgets would be slashed for next year.

“You are barely worth my attention,” summed up Ulrike.

She was not underestimating the woman. She had compared the accurate data on both of them and spat out the result.

The one who sat in the throne of Maleficium Student Council President couldn’t be threatened by ''a mere'' Limit Breaker.

“So where have you hidden Myousou Yagoro while using this obvious Limit Breaker as a diversion? Really, it doesn’t matter when I already have his Achilles’ heel in my sights. Wherever he hides and whatever he’s planning, that sensitive soul will come running the instant I start bombing Sabbath Party, won’t he?”

The busty witch didn’t dignify the President’s question with a response.

Instead, she smiled icily while her voice remained gentle.

“Maenads.”

The bookseller suddenly grew more than 20 arms. No, dark shadows emerged from behind her. Those bloody priestesses all possessed fearsome deadly power and would shred anyone they ran across – enemy or ally.

Ulrike gave a snort of laughter.

“Overwhelming me with numbers? Is that your idea of the ultimate attack? How boring. I don’t even need to raise a finger myself. I can simply send in all the club and committee members.”

The silver-haired witch continued smiling without responding.

As if to say she saw no value in speaking.

And the approaching clash never occurred.

Something grew up out of the rooftop.

The slender shadow hand latched onto Ulrike’s right ankle.

“?”

She shouldn’t have questioned it.

With her dangerous Wise Fencing skills, she should have severed space or torn down quantum theory in the local area to cut away the arm before even trying to think about it.

It goes without saying that shadows have no substance to them. So who had said they could ''only'' emerge from the coven leader’s back?

Thanks to this, the smiling bookseller was just one second faster.

“Have a nice flight☆”

The shadow arm swung her around.

Spun her around.

And after building up sufficient centrifugal force, it threw her in the opposite direction of the tiered city…that is, it threw her toward the vast lake in the center.

Over and over, water exploded from the lake as she skipped along its surface like a flat rock on the river.