Editing Failing Witch:Volume1 Episode2 (section)

===4===

And so it was the following day. Night had already fallen.

“(I’ll be going to your place tonight, Viocia.)”

“Ehhh!? You can’t just decide that, you stupid teacher! I-is this like that thing in Macbeth where it seems like good luck at first but it’s actually the beginning of a great tragedy!?”

“Huh, so you have been studying. I’m glad to hear it.”

Myousou Yagoro smiled but only externally.

“'''+1 point: Witches’ words are attacks that only gain meaning once their target hears them, so talking about the future all on your own is meaningless.'''”

They were in the Honeycomb self-study room of Carraway Cs Preparatory School’s structure building.

“And why would me visiting your home seem like good luck?”

“Bwehablkadfh!? Th-the fall into tragedy has already begun!?”

The large room was split up into small booths by thin partitions and each booth contained a desk and a chair. Everyone fixed their broom vertically to the edge of the desk using a 5cm glass holder, making them look like raised flags. (In the other world of Earth, a broom raised at the doorway was instead a sign the woman was out.) The Honeycomb name likely referred to how all the small booths were arranged. In Rosicrucianism, honeybees symbolized those who pursued wisdom, but that was probably reading too much into it. When it came to the witch entrance exam, thinking you had discovered hidden knowledge was a dangerous thought process, so you had to be careful.

Everyone was studying hard in preparation for the Bealtaine practice exam.

The Bealtaine was only a school event and had nothing to do with the real practice exam, but improving your rank in the prep school let you use more equipment and read more grimoires. That could lead to the prep school itself being the deciding factor in whether or not a witch passed the exam, but it was also true that a high-level grimoire would only go to waste if it was lent out to a clueless student. Cutting down on pointless lines like that was thought to help as many students as possible pass. Unfortunately.

So if you wanted to pass, you had to prove your worth in the prep school to be granted greater rights there.

(That not everyone is treated equal is another way prep schools differ from compulsory education.)

The lights used at night were generally the sunlight seals that had sunshine sealed inside, but the ceiling lights in here used moonlight seals because the students handled old books. The gentler light was a lot less bright, so Yagoro was worried about his student’s eyesight.

(She needs to at least get an average score so she can still use all the basic facilities and equipment. If she scores below average and is stuck with only the spare equipment, there’s no point in paying so much money to go here.)

And it looked like that unfortunate girl’s mind was elsewhere.

She had been so sleepy when it was still bright out, but now she was more alert than she had been all day.

“You can’t spring this on me at the last second! If I don’t clean my room first, where will you even have room to stand?”

“Well, that’s enough right there to know your room is not fit to study in. This is necessary if you’re going to keep using the prep school’s basic equipment. I’m doing it and that’s final, Viocia.”

“Could you not talk about ‘doing it’ right now?”

“And you have no right to act all innocent about this, don’tcha think? When we met a month ago, you’re the one who followed me to figure out where my apartment is.”

“Ugh! S-sometimes girls get curious about things they want to keep secret.”

“I’m only doing what you did and I have an actual legitimate reason for doing it.”

“I refuse! A girl has a right to privacy. You don’t get to see all of my secret places just because you want to!!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure everything gets nice and clean. You are in for quite a night, so I hope you’re ready. I’ll even bring a variety of tools.”

“This is happening? It’s really happening? No way! And when you say everything, do you even mean on the inside too!?”

Just then…

“G-give it a rest, you two!! This is a prep school for witches who are serious about getting into Maleficium. It is not a place for, um, perverted tutors who are after their student’s bodies!!”

Someone had a very wrong idea about Yagoro.

They were poking their head in from the next booth over.

Apparently a lewd tutor was only considered a wonderful fantasy when the tutor was female and good looking. Yagoro hung his head, trembled, and bit his lip in silence.

The person who emerged from her booth while blushing bright red was a girl with shoulder-length silver hair and brown skin. But unlike gyaru-style Schanze, that appeared to be her natural skin tone.

She looked around Viocia’s age, so was she 15 or 16? That would mean she was a single failure.

She wore a midriff-baring black jacket, a tight miniskirt, and a large hat. Overall, she looked like a cross between a sky pirate and a soldier. She did have something like medals or unit insignia on her (decently-sized) chest, but Yagoro couldn’t figure out what they were supposed to mean. Her clothing had gold embroidery here and there, so she looked something like a fancy chocolate parfait.

“Also, I can see your underwear,” said the girl.

“Eh? Hnyahhhhhhhhh!?”

Yagoro’s student immediately jumped up from her chair. Her long skirt must have been caught on the back of her chair, leaving everything exposed from behind and she had only just realized. Her clumsiness batting average was nothing short of a miracle considering she wore an ankle-length skirt, even if it did have slits on the sides.

But Viocia looked kind of happy even though this girl was mad at her.

“Huh? Wow, she’s a celebrity.”

“Do you know her?”

“I said she’s a celebrity, didn’t I? She’s Melehe Superlative! She’s Carraway Cs’s strongest witch, she always gets the top spot on the practice exams, and it’s rumored she was awarded Rank A by Maleficium!!”

“Heh heh.” Melehe teased her silver hair with a hand and proudly held her head high.

But…

“Sure, but this isn’t some prestigious school or anything. And there’s no point in lifting any one person up as special when reproducibility is the heart of science, don’tcha think? Now, I don’t know if she’s from some famous family or something, but if she’s at a prep school so late she’s practically spending the night, then she must have still failed the exam. Is being the best of the failures really such a great-”

Yagoro stopped when he noticed everyone in the large self-study rom glaring at him. Quite harshly at that.

He had apparently said something he shouldn’t.

Melehe tried her best to regain control of the conversation.

“I-I intentionally failed last year’s exam. I was awarded Rank A status at the time, but I knew if I spent another year studying, I was guaranteed to get into Maleficium.”

Oh, so hers was a calculated failure.

There were some students who chose to spend another year studying despite already being a lot more clever than the other students. That might mean she was indeed smarter than the others who had actually tried and still failed.

…But it still meant she was a girl who had failed to pass her first time. And if she didn’t realize that, then she wasn’t as smart as she thought she was.

“You know Private Striga, the largest coven in the snowy region which has three whole regiments of witches? I am their key bearer. Simply put, you can think of me as the future commander of the largest witch force out there.”

“If you say so.”

“But this isn’t about me!! This is about your problematic behavior, pervert tutor! Really, why must you do this when I am trying to study for such a crucial exam? The Bealtaine is coming up! I do not have time to be distracted by anything else.”

“Viocia, this girl knows what she’s talking about. Listen to this Rank A Genius and imprint her words on your idiot brain.”

“Ughh.”

“I was speaking to you, pervert.”

Melehe sounded somewhat exasperated.

The prep school’s strongest(?) witch put her hands on her hips before continuing.

“Listen. I don’t know what you hope to accomplish by using the prep school’s lax security to sneak in as a tutor, but if you interrupt our studying, I will throw you out myself!!”