Editing Failing Witch:Volume2 Episode2 (section)

===Part 3===

“We’ve totally arrived☆”

The forest had many different faces – some areas were filled with thick trees and others were covered mostly by undergrowth. Schanze had guided them to a flat area near a clear river. There were some tropical-ish trees here, but the ground was half fine sand and half rock, meaning almost no undergrowth and it was dry too. If they moved the larger rocks out of the way, they would have plenty of space to pitch their tents.

(Now, this is where it really begins.)

There was no point in taking the trip if they were only going to take it easy.

Yagoro wanted to ensure E-rank Viocia reached the D-rank on the next official practice exam. How much she could learn during the summer solstice field trip would play a big role there.

Besides, witches borrowed a lot of power from nature, such as herbs and the arrangement of the stars. Camping out deep in the woods was the perfect opportunity for a Maleficium entrance exam student to gather knowledge and experience. In a way, there was more to learn here than from a library with all its shelves packed full of grimoires.

<span style="font-size:150%">“Gyahhhhhh!! Agyahhhhhhh!”</span>

<span style="font-size:75%">“Oh, no. M-Melehe is freaking out after seeing a bug with lots of legs. Eep.”</span>

“Ah ha ha ha ha!! Spiders are good bugs, so you don’t have to be scared of them.”

<span style="font-size:150%">“Did you see all the bright colors on that one!? And it was the size of my hand!”</span>

Myousou Yagoro held a despairing hand to his forehead and Schanze smiled bitterly at him.

“The students totally want a break from their studies, so you can’t expect them to start quietly observing their surroundings right away.”

Fortunately, the field trip was several days long.

The things they directly observed in the forest were of course important, but the real test was their ability to view things in such a way that they could see the magical techniques and knowledge hidden in the ordinary scenery. The very shape of Temple School City was filled with wisdom. It could provide more knowledge than any parchment textbook.

“I ate my biscuit before we even reached the forest, teacher. What am I supposed to do now?”

“Are you sure you want to know?”

“Um, uh, teacher, I don’t like the look of that dark smile!”

“Heh heh heh heh. I made sure to prepare plenty of quizzes for downtime like this, so don’t you worry. Oh, I’m so glad to have such a studious student, Viociaaaaa!!”

“Gyahhh! Why did I have to open my dumb mouth!? And there’s no way to escape on the field trip!!!”

Going easy on her now would only hurt her in the long run.

“Okay, a question: ATU 0124 is usually known as the Three Little Pigs, but that’s the name of the most well-known story, not the official genre name. So what is the correct name for ATU 0124?”

“Ugh. Why would you give another name first just to confuse me, teacher? That’s mean.”

“Exam questions aren’t just about testing your knowledge. The way they present the question or have you answer will often include tricks or traps to influence your thinking, don’tcha think? Hint: it’s Blow the (___) Down.”

“Oh, I know! Blow the (Pig) Down!”

“It’s (House), idiot. '''+1 point: Three is an important number in witchcraft.''' There are cases where taking the same action thrice gives it a different effect. For example, the three little pigs gradually reduced the big bad wolf’s effectiveness by repeatedly defending their houses of straw, sticks, and brick. By the time they arrived at the brick house, the wolf had dropped to the position of jobber. It can seem pointless and like a lot of work, but preparations are important, don’tcha think?”

“Huh, so brick is best then?”

“In the standard version of the story. It was a house of iron in the original, but I feel like that house would rust and cause the ground to sink below it.”

Now, what were they waiting for at the moment?

Schanze made a loud announcement.

“Okay, listen up, everyone! Setting up camp is totally the focus for today. That means getting your tents up so you have a place to sleep tonight. The Goddess’s Spring is totally deeper in the woods, but it’s already the afternoon. It’d be totally dark out before we got there if we tried today, so we’ll try for that tomorrow morning instead☆”

An oiran-style kimono yuki onna, a fur bikini werewolf girl, and a Hasshaku-sama enhancing her height with thick soles on her shoes whispered to each other while watching excited Schanze.

“Are the rumors true? If we dunk our Formula Broom in the Goddess’s Spring, does it enhance some of its stats?”

“But trying out modernized enhancements sounds kind of scary.”

“But, but. I don’t want to be the only one who doesn’t do it.”

They may have been so suspicious because they were too exhausted to look at it any other way. The instructors had probably chosen to make the first day almost entirely free because they had known the girls would be so exhausted.

(A goddess, huh?)

Myousou Yagoro thought on that while making sure no one else noticed.

What goddess was this supposed to be exactly?

If this had anything to do with the goddess hanging around at the midpoint between worlds – in the gap between life and death – then this was worth some personal investigation separate from the entrance exam.

They had eaten lunch before entering the Dazzling Forest.

They could wait to pitch their tents until sundown.

So what would the hopeful witches prioritize? They naturally came to the same conclusion.

Namely…