Editing Failing Witch:Volume1 Episode2 (section)

===5===

''Teacher, I’m going home now, but you are not invited to my room. And no tailing me to find out where it is.

''If I catch you following me, I swear I will kill you!!



“Huh, so that’s where Viocia lives.”

“Leave it to a pervert tutor to ignore the poor girl’s warning and tail her anyway.”

Did she think he was doing this because he wanted to? It was necessary for his job. Viocia had said enough for him to guess her room was a pigsty. And there was more to studying for the exam than attending a prep school. Having a clean and orderly study space at home was one of the most basic strategies.

He would do whatever was necessary to ensure she passed the exam and got into Maleficium. Because that was the tutoring contract the two of them had signed. So he wasn’t going to stop here.

“So, Melehe, why did you follow her too?”

“Because who knows what a pervert like you would do out in the city at night if you aren’t supervised.”

Melehe was flipping through some flashcards while hiding in the shadows near Yagoro. Instead of just memorizing a list herb names, she appeared to be randomly drawing them from a giant collection that linked the different herbs by type and other connections. Even at Rank A, she was still an exam student. He really wished a certain idiot he knew would learn something from her.

Melehe didn’t just have access to the basic equipment. In her position, she would have access to the top-level documents on the Horned God. That didn’t mean Viocia’s fumbling efforts were worthless, however.

The prep school was a prep school.

Scores in practice and during preparation didn’t mean all that much. Whoever won out during the final entrance exam would have the last laugh.

“Come to think of it.”

From what Yagoro had seen at Carraway Cs, Melehe’s Formula Broom was heavily customized. It had curved Y-shaped handlebars, a cushioned seat, and boxy luggage compartments hanging down on either side at the rear. The headlight used both sunlight seals and moonlight seals so she could switch between light intensities at will. She had probably done it all to make the broom easier to use, but the end result looked a lot like an enormous American motorcycle.

“If I remember correctly, your Formula Broom is incredible, but isn’t it hard to carry around? It’s kind of big and heavy, don’tcha think? Is that why you don’t have it with you now?”

“Do not mess with me, pervert. Are you planning to steal it even though it has a girl’s seat? But unfortunately for you, I have it circle overhead when I don’t need it. Why should I carry it around at all times when I can just summon it to me when I need to use it?”

Myousou Yagoro did a double take.

“What?” Melehe stopped flipping her flashcards and looked up at him in legitimate confusion.

“You’re allowed to fly in the city? Without a guide?”

“So what if I am? Any witch can do that if they have the necessary knowledge.”

“But you failed the exam.”

“Do not say that to my face, pervert.”

The girl gave him a harsh look. But he wasn’t her tutor, so he didn’t need to worry about building trust with her.

Surprisingly, Viocia was living in the lower part of the city. Specifically, in the expensive shopping district.

“She lives in a fairly nice place.”

“She’s only renting a room, so the land value doesn’t really matter all that much, don’tcha think?”

But there was another issue.

What was with that Sabbath Party place? The colorful sign lit up for the night included bunny ears, a bottle of booze, and underwear shaped like an upside-down triangle.

A dancer woman stepped out from the entrance, presumably to attract customers. In fact, several did. And they all wore revealing, see-through clothing that was concerning in a number of ways. Their outfits were the kind of thing that made you wonder “who would actually buy that?” when you saw it on a mannequin near the entrance of a women’s underwear shop.

If this was what they were like outside, what went on inside there?

Seeing them was enough for Melehe to jump several centimeters into the air.

<span style="font-size:150%">“Y-y-y-you pervert!!”</span>

“(I’m beginning to think she’s the real pervert. She’s tied up focusing on her studies for now, but is she actually extremely interested in these “perverted” things?)”

“O-o-o-o-of course not! Don’t you dare speak another word, pervert tutor!!!”

His speculation seemed to have grown to something much bigger in Melehe’s mind because she began strangling him while blushing, but the blond tutor in a sailor uniform remained calm.

“Dancers in skimpy clothing? Is it a witch establishment for exorcism and evil-warding where they listen to their customers’ worries and resolve them with purifying dances? Still, the main draw is probably choosing a girl and a song and watching her do a sexy dance, don’tcha think?”

If they were really only interested in resolving people’s worries with a magical effect, it would be easier to listen to the customer’s story and use certain herbs to whip up a magic recipe for a unique food, cocktail, or smoothie.

“The fact that you could figure all that out at a glance makes me question your life experiences,” grumbled Melehe with a hand on her forehead, but then she appeared to realize something. “Oh, wait. They sell animals in this amoral and decadently lewd shopping district? Is it a pet shop that charges a flat rate? Seeing that cute bunny lit up on the sign is so soothing.”

“That would be a strip club where the girls dance in nothing but an animal ear headband, don’tcha think?”

“Vwahhhhhh!! Ahhhhhhhhhh, ahhhh, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

The prep school’s ace(?) doubled over and scratched at her head through her large sky-pirate-ish hat. That she saw that place as the one ray of hope here must have made the shock all the greater.

There were flowers and other plants decorating the fronts of the various clubs, perhaps to celebrate some kind of occasion, but given the type of city this was, they all looked fairly toxic. The giant tropical flowers weren’t so bad, but why the carnivorous plants? They may have been based on some kind of superstition rather than being an ingredient for a witchcraft ritual.

A lot of clubs had a familiar designed to look like a wolf or monitor lizard seated next to the entrance, perhaps to ward off evil. They also looked cute sitting there looking bored, so maybe they also helped attract customers.

Now, Viocia was only renting a room, so she had nothing to do with the club on the first floor. Yagoro noticed the gentle-on-books (but bad for the eyes) light of a moonlight seal coming from the window on the 2nd floor.

Even Viocia had to be working hard to make sure she kept her access to the basic equipment.

It would be sad indeed if she were labeled a failure by the prep school before even getting to the actual entrance exam.

Then again, the noise coming from the club was noticeable even at a distance. That 2nd floor room had to be physically vibrating from it all. Could she really study like that?

(It’s best to have 15 minutes of silence at the start to help you get focused on your studying. Once you’re properly focused like that, it’s a lot harder to get distracted.)

“So a coven, huh?”

“What?”

“You said you’re from Private Striga, right? If you belong to an organization of professional witches, why are you bothering studying here in Temple School City to get into Maleficium? Wouldn’t it be faster to learn magic from the many tutors your coven could provide?”

Private Striga in particular had a strong independent streak. If she knew that was where she would end up anyway, it seemed like she would save herself a lot of effort focusing her education in their unique direction as early as possible.

“I can’t do that.”

“Because you think a Maleficium education can’t be beat?”

Self-taught witches could use a Formula Broom ''to an extent''. But if you wanted to go beyond that extent and customize the broom’s untouchable core, you had to go to Maleficium.

“Private Striga is definitely my home, but that’s why I have to be stronger than all the others. I need to be the kind of leader who can stand at the very front and guide the way. I won’t get there with a sheltered upbringing surrounded by things I like and am good at. Ultimately, I need to surpass even daddy and mom.”

“You’ve given this a lot of thought for an exam student.”

But that was a child’s dream. She had to have some accepting parents if they agreed to that plan and even let her strategically fail the exam once.

He was afraid he had clawed at her self-esteem, which could be even more sensitive than a scab, but Melehe sounded happy.

“Heh. Of course I did. My mom stands at the very top of the 13-branching tree, she wields Formula Broom – Greek Theatre, and she’s earned the highest score in Private Striga’s history. It’s said she has already reached the level of a one-woman army.”

“Greek Theatre?”

“That’s right. And mine is Formula Broom – Mount Parnassus. Heh heh.”

''Would that mean'' the mother’s guide was Dionysus and the daughter’s was Zagreus? No, if the category was defined more broadly, it could be Orpheus. Either way, the fact that Melehe had so thoroughly customized the broom that tied her to her mother was probably a sign of how much she loved and looked up to the woman.

As a teenager, she probably thought she was keeping it hidden, but it couldn’t have been more obvious.

Not to mention the proudly snorted “heh heh”.

(Hm. Would the Orpheus connection mean she’s a vegetarian?)

But did that group even allow women to join? He wasn’t certain, but the process of magic knowledge spreading to this world could have caused some changes like in a game of telephone.

Of course, Melehe was only interested in the Formula Broom and learning any magic she could use right away. She wasn’t trying to join the Earth-born Orphism religion so she could reach a fulfilling afterlife.

“Her name is Viocia, right? Couldn’t you ask her much the same thing? Maleficium fails more than 99.9999% of the people who gather from all over to take the entrance exam. It should be obvious you can’t pass if you aren’t wholly committed.”

“Hm, I guess there’s no reason to hide it.”

“?”

“She wants her grandmother to get better.”

Their surroundings were as noisy as ever, but Melehe fell silent.

So Yagoro continued.

“The doctor said she’s just old and nothing can be done about it and the old woman herself accepted that answer. But Viocia refused to let that go unchallenged. She wants to create a brand new potion to heal her sick grandmother who lives deep in the forest. That’s why she wants to learn magic and work on the potion in the best possible environment: Maleficium. That really is all there is to it for her. Her magic knowledge is almost entirely self-taught, so she’s missed a lot of the basics. In fact, her mother isn’t even a witch. Both her parents are ordinary people. They apparently wanted to keep her as far away from magic as possible.”

“…”

“I’m not trying to convince you to go easy on her. The entrance exam is a competition. Your reasons for wanting into Maleficium won’t decide who passes and who fails. Worrying about your rivals’ sob stories will only hurt your chances.”

“…I know that.”

Melehe sounded sulky.

She flipped through her flash cards, but she also asked a question through pouted lips.

“But you decided to help her because of that, didn’t you?”

“That’s a privilege granted only to an outsider who isn’t interested in passing the exam.”