Editing Failing Witch:Volume2 Episode2 (section)

===Part 5===

Evening had arrived.

“Eep…”

“Huh? What’s wrong, Dorothea? Why are you trembling like that?”

“<span style="font-size:75%">Oh, no. The area below my navel...and between my legs...feels really hot and even hurts? Oh, I put that bag of spices on my clothes to keep animals away, so m-maybe some of the spicy stuff got on them and then got in somewhere it shouldn’t be. Ahhh, it stings so bad!</span>”

<span style="font-size:150%">“Go over to the river and deal with that immediately! I’ll do everything I can to keep the pervert away!!”</span>

Yagoro heard some splashing in the distance, but he did his best to ignore it.

Together with the instructors from the other schools, Schanze formed a megaphone with her hands and shouted.

“Okay, everyone! It’s totally time to split into your groups and set up your tents!!”

If the groups didn’t gather and set up their tents before it got dark, they wouldn’t have anywhere to sleep that night.

“I am getting a tent up, I am getting a tent up, I am getting a tent up, I am securing a safe space – a holy ground – for human beings where no bugs can get in,” muttered Melehe, a dark look in her eyes as she was removed from the comfort zone she had built up from urban living.

Dorothea (with new bandages wrapped around her) spread out a thick cloth waterproofed with wax.

“First, we need to figure out where to put our tent. Eep.”

“To measure the best spot witchcraft-wise, we would have to wait until the stars come out. I say we focus on the river current and the positions of the hills instead.”

Melehe began staring at the parchment map she had spread out on the ground in the forest. Of course, the existence of that map was proof this was a safe and maintained campsite.

Viocia set a cup of water on the ground to check the angle of the water’s surface.

“Ohhh, it’s completely level. The ground here is flat and has no roots, so it won’t be too uncomfortable. Just move the stones and level out the ground and it’ll be perfect!”

“You really do come alive in the forest, don’t you? Eek!?”

Melehe shrieked and jumped when she discovered some creepy-crawlies on the underside of a large rock.

She continued forcefully but tearfully.

“We will be safe in the tent, won’t we? It’ll be hell if any bugs get in through the gaps. All our attempts to seal the tent up will only keep them from getting back out.”

“Heh heh. So you’d only feel safe in the house of brick, Melehe?”

“Oh, shut up. This isn’t about that ‘third time’s the charm’ story in ATU 0124.”

“?”

Viocia’s head tilt suggested she still had some training left to do. ATU 0124 was Blow the House Down and Viocia herself had identified its most famous story as the Three Little Pigs.

Melehe precisely measured out the directions and terrain and laid out a square sheet of leather to act as a floor.

Viocia created small holes in the ground around the perimeter and stuck a thin pole much like a fishing rod into each one. And with some help from Dorothea, she brought together the tips to create a dome-shaped frame.

Lastly, all three placed the waterproof cloth tent over the top and tied it in place with string.

However…

“Uh, oh! Wait, wait, the frame isn’t coming together right. Viocia, you measured the lengths and dug the holes so the poles would all come together at the top, didn’t you!?”

“Wah!? Th-the wind is picking up the floor sheet!”

“If I tie this here...huh? Eep. Th-there’s a gap between the tent and the ground.”

Untested theories were notoriously unreliable.

A hellish struggle awaited them.

Determining directions, choosing terrain, adjusting the frame’s angle, placing the poles in the ground in order, tying the strings with the appropriate knot – did they realize how much of this physical labor doubled as witch studying?

“Done! Our team’s tent is up!! …Huh?”

When Viocia was done focusing on her task, she took a look around and saw Dorothea and Melehe collapsed on the sandy ground. The tent work had been preceded by a long walk and playing in the river. They had all (except for the idiot) worn themselves out more than they had realized. Looking further away, a fair number of teams hadn’t even managed to get their tents together before collapsing among those big pieces of cloth.

(Teacher should be fine, though.)

“Hey, listen up. This is totally the night patrol guide.”

“Why would I need that? Hold on! Keeping these hundreds of students from sneaking out to have fun during the night is a job for you prep school instructors! I’m just a normal tutor, so I’m sleeping! What, am I being conscripted!?”

But Myousou Yagoro was called away by Schanze Dwelling.

(Since I can still move, I need to do the work.)

And so Viocia was off.

“Hm, hm, hmm♪”

Viocia walked through the forest, collecting dried twigs for firewood.

While camping, they would be cooking over a campfire instead of using recipes to make instant food, so they would need fuel for that fire.

Since the others were so inexplicably exhausted, Viocia knew she had to do the work or there wouldn’t be anything to eat once she was hungry.

Then she noticed something gold and shiny swaying deeper in the woods.

Was it long hair?

And were those long ears twitching along with it?

“Could that be...a legendary elf!?”