Editing Failing Witch:Volume1 Episode2 (section)

===3===

Myousou Yagoro was out at night. He had fallen for a strange cyclist student trap on the way, but he had actually been on his way back home after doing some shopping during the excellent discounts just before closing time.

His home was on the upper level, where land was relatively cheap (which meant it was an inconvenient place to live). If he left his apartment from the front, he would find himself on a main street. If he left out the back, he would be in a labyrinthine squatters district. Once back at that highly convenient apartment, he found the silver-haired used bookseller doing some kind of difficult work.

It was hard to tell since she always wore an apron with an animal printed on it, but Yagoro noted that her black dress seemed unusually nice. It was black with gold embroidery, so it reminded him of an adult chocolate cake that smelled of brandy.

The gentle young woman was lifting a giant bag like Santa Claus and pouring some kind of clear beads into a lockable metal box larger than a bathtub. That was the magic ice used for refrigeration and it was free for anyone living on the block to use.

“Heave ho, heave ho. Nhhh!”

“Whoa, are you alright? Could you use some help?”

“No, no. This kind of daily housework and exercise is important for maintaining your health and beauty.”

Her troubled smile told Yagoro his offer really was an unwanted favor. Trying to be gentlemanly had a way of backfiring with her, so he had trouble figuring her out. He hoped to make a breakthrough soon so he could earn her praise.

He at least knew better than to let her know he found it oddly sexual when a busty young woman groaned in effort.

(Huh. I had noticed the magic ice was always full, but she must intentionally refill it late at night when no one will see. It’s not like there’s a rotation schedule, but she really goes the extra mile.)

The wealth disparity and population density was a lot more obvious at night. When viewed from the upper level, the tiered city clearly had a lot more pumpkin lamps filled with sunlight seals in the shopping district and luxury residential district on the lower level. Of course, they would also have a lower crime rate than up here where there was more darkness.

Some might find this odd since conventional wisdom said the rich gathered at the highest points of a city, but that wasn’t always true. People always wanted to live where life was easier and more convenient.

In other words…

“Oh, I can at least go draw you some water. The wells up here are a lot farther up from the groundwater, so it would be a lot of effort for you to-”

“Yagoro.”

She cut him off. She wanted her exercise and she could be frightening when it came to matters of health and beauty. He felt a chill along his spine, like he had touched a sharp blade with his fingertip. She may have thought it was a divine blessing that she lived on the upper level where getting around was such a pain in the rear.

And if she wasn’t going to let him be a gentleman, he had nothing to do, so he simply said goodbye to the jiggly young woman, and entered the apartment building. From there, he entered his room.

“Damn. My head already looks like pudding,” he groaned into the mirror.

His hair was naturally black, so if he neglected to care for it for too long, the black roots would start to show below the blond, making him look weird. As much as the blond hair gave him a wild look, all the haircare items and washing it required made bath time a chore. Did all those delinquents on Earth really go to all this trouble? Not that that would change how they looked. Glossy black hair was valuable here, so openly walking around with it could get him attacked by masked unlicensed barbers, but it was still a considerable expense.

While lining up a few readymade foods, his mind was focused on exam countermeasures. Coming up with quizzes was easy and, if he let himself, he was confident he could stay up all night making them and enjoy every moment of it, but that was meaningless if Viocia wasn’t in a position where she could absorb the information. That dunce was focused on so many things other than the exam, but he needed her attention directed solely toward studying. His first thought when considering that problem was always to lure her in with food, but he had never managed to come up with a concrete plan based on that.

And on that note…

“She is studying during the night, isn’t she?”

Normally, that would go without saying for an exam student, especially the wounded beast that was a student who had already failed the exam once, but he suddenly realized he had failed to check on that because it seemed too basic an issue. He wanted to believe she was. But his worries grew when he recalled that part-time delivery job. Once he thought about it, he realized he had always helped her study at the prep school or the park gazebo, so he didn’t know where she lived. What was her room like? Was there a lot of noise or drafts keeping her from focusing on her studies?