Failing Witch:Volume2 Episode1

Status: Incomplete

9/14 parts completed

   

Episode 1: The Witch and Monetary Alchemy

Part 1

In this world, the men who used magic with their own power were known as wizards and the women who used magic by borrowing others’ power were known as witches.

But this world’s magic had fully died out.

However, the people could not forget the benefits magic brought them, so they sought that lost knowledge from another world called Earth. In the end, only women carrying cutting edge witch brooms called Formula Brooms could use magic in this world.

That is the history and the mythology of this world.

Part 2

“Phew.”

“My, my. Is something bothering you, Yagoro?”

In a dimly-lit restaurant with the perfect ambiance, the silver-haired, brown-skinned young woman seated across the table from Myousou Yagoro placed a hand on her cheek and smiled. She was the used bookseller who was always helping him out in some way or another.

As for the food, she liked to accurately understand and analyze other people’s preferences, so she had a bad habit of getting cutely upset if he showed some restraint and followed her lead. So when their tastes were completely different, everything went a lot smoother if he just came out and said so.

Now, her large breasts were resting a bit on the round table, so she could be described well by the sound effect “jiggle-boing!”

When the busty apron woman had invited him out to eat for the first time in a while, Yagoro had checked the contents of his wallet and visited the shopping district with her, where she had been eating nothing but grass, plants, and vegetables. The seasoning was all mild to place a focus on the charm, or juiciness, of the ingredients. And to be clear, this was dinner. When a 17-year-old boy’s stomach wanted a salty and fatty feast of 100% beef hamburger steak or a thick pork steak! There wasn’t anything wrong with veggies, but weren’t they meant to be placed alongside the meat? Also, how in the world had her bustiness grown quite so busty if all she ate was grass, plants, and vegetables!?

Maybe it’s divine punishment, thought Yagoro.

This woman was in fact the mother of Viocia’s friend Melehe Superlative.

But based on the adult face palely illuminated by the classy candle in a clear glass holder, he still wanted to call her Melehe’s sister.

Another voice spoke from the same table.

“What’s your problem, Myousou? This is a 5-star restaurant, you know? Does your childish palate not understand the luxurious flavor of original recipes made with only organic vegetables?”

“That reminds me, Sorbeddy. Why are you even here?”

“I was the one who found this restaurant. And here I thought I was doing you a favor by sharing the happiness with everyone.”

A small girl who appeared to be only about 12 laughed with an aged sort of cunning.

Her name was Sorbeddy Icing.

She was a witch with a command over the cold and ice and she ran around Temple School City selling ice, making her the most successful businesswoman there. Electric-powered refrigerators had not been invented in this world, so she provided an unbeatable service. She was probably the greatest of the self-taught witches who were unaffiliated with Maleficium and she was undoubtedly one of the so-called Limit Breakers.

She had her pale blue hair done up in a braid and she wore a bluish-white mini dress resembling a camisole and pumps with extremely pointed heels. Her witch’s hat was tilted back on her head, but the brim jutted sharply out in six points, a lot like a snow crystal. Altogether, she had a blue Hawaii soda float vibe. And with some rather risque parts of the outfit made see-through, it seemed like a dangerous outfit to walk through the shopping district or squatter’s district at night. …Of course, the danger there would be to any reckless drunks who tried anything and received a very harsh lesson in return from the strongest ice witch.

“Two real Limit Breakers at one table? I swear the world must be coming to an end.”

“Keh. Don’t act like you aren’t extraordinary yourself, Myousou,” spat the ice witch with a smirk.

To be clear, the word “smile” didn’t do the expression justice.

“Are you in a bad mood, Sorbeddy?”

“She doesn’t like this large exchange that’s opened up lately. That modern alchemy one. Apparently she isn’t the only witch making a killing in this city.”

Yagoro couldn’t believe she was afraid of competition when she had already amassed a great mountain of gold and silver coins, but immaturely opposing any new upstarts may have helped polish the sharp nose for money the rich depended on.

Another legend, the mysterious fluffy bookseller, placed a hand on her cheek and changed the subject.

“So are you still too young for this kind of restaurant, Yagoro?”

“If possible, I’d prefer you invited me to a paradise of greasy meat next time. Oink, oink.”

“My, you mustn’t eat that stuff, Yagoro. Consuming fava beans and animal carcasses is damaging to your soul.”

He didn’t know the details, but this witch of unclear age had taken a step into the realm of the Limit Breakers and appeared to have a unique set of values. Yagoro was fine with spending money on high-quality meat and fresh fish, but he couldn’t stand seeing his wallet emptying out for nothing but grass, plants, and vegetables. Health-focused? Brand-name crops? The world of wealthy adults was full of mysteries.

Based on her Formula Broom, she was apparently the Dionysus type, not the Orpheus type, so he would have expected her to be spending night after night chugging strong drinks and partying.

Formula Broom – Greek Theatre spoke with a refined male voice while leaning against the wall.

“Sir Myousou Yagoro. Are you sure you want to see this wife when she is drunk? This bloody priestess lets the alcohol take over, runs across the fiery battlefield half-naked, and tears barehanded through human and wild beast alike, discarding their corpses with a laugh before-”

“Dionysus☆”

She silenced the broom with a smile.

There were apparently still plenty of dangerous secrets yet to be uncovered.

“But why did you invite me out to eat out of the blue? There’s no point in listening to this weirdo brag about the quality of the food when she didn’t actually make it herself and your own vegetable dishes are pretty good. Are you trying the food to figure out a new recipe of your own?”

“I am giving back to the local community.”

“Oh, I see.”

“What do you mean ‘this weirdo’!?” protested the ice witch who tended to get heated quite easily, but Yagoro ignored her.

The chefs were probably a different matter, but the waitresses and bodyguards moving silently through the candlelit restaurant were all pretty young – mostly younger even than Yagoro. They were probably part-timers.

They didn’t all have the business talent to get rich by magically making ice.

The witchcraft exam students were in the gap between education and employment, so they tended to be in a fairly weak position.

The bookseller placed a hand on her cheek with a different nuance from before.

“I do have a daughter of my own busy studying for the entrance exam. So I was looking for a way to support the exam students who could use some money.”

Not only was she extremely powerful, but that mother had a caring heart as well.

But that didn’t change the fact that Yagoro’s wallet was emptying out and each new dish only tasted like plant juices. He wished she could have used more of that caring heart when choosing the restaurant.

Part 3

The following day, Myousou Yagoro was walking through Temple School City in the early morning, moving out of the way of the witch exam students dressed in revealing Halloween costumes and the kids from the squatter’s district dressed in rags. Going anywhere was a pain in a city full of so many stairs, but the children were full of energy this morning.

Yagoro had developed a habit of reaching for the top of his head while in crowded areas. Even though he couldn’t actually tell if his hair was still dyed blond by touch.

(Why do they think human black hair is a dye for the most powerful curses? You would think the existence of real magic would keep people from being superstitious, but nope.)

The exam students were not the only people in Temple School City. There were plenty of people trying to make money off of the prospective witches, including prep school teachers. Yagoro was one of those. He walked by the street stalls hawking their wares so early in the morning and passed by a woman who was probably an instructor at a flight gym or training ground. She looked like a shortcake in her pointy white hat and wedding dress. The extreme slit up the right side of the dress gave glimpses of a white garter belt. Was that unique to this Halloween costume world? He didn’t know where she taught, but he occasionally saw her at the usual used bookstore. Her curvy and sexy body lines told him she was probably a self-taught witch. Although that same assumption had failed miserably with the bookseller.

The tutor boy arrived at Carraway Cs prep school.

He entered the structure building’s Cauldron classroom and sat casually next to his student Viocia. The gyaru-style instructor Schanze Dwelling appeared very motivated this morning.

“Three months!!”

With her voluminous blonde hair, tanned skin, black leather vest, and tight skirt, Schanze had a Mont Blanc look. She raised her voice from the very first word once her students had gathered.

“It has now totally been three months since you arrived at this prep school after your first failure! It’s time you moved on from the Witch’s Chimney indoor training ground and began flying in the open sky. I’ll be guiding you, so the restriction over flying above the city will be totally lifted!! This only applies to our lesson time, but you can now fly high in the sky!!!”

The girls’ cheers shook the lecture room, which resembled a large garage.

The difference between a compulsory education teacher and a prep school instructor became evident here. There was an element of entertainment here – a skilled instructor made sure to research how to grab the students’ attention. Stimulating the students’ desires and self-importance like this would be a challenge for the straitlaced government workers who taught compulsory education.

And so everyone made their way to the roof of the neighboring practical building.

While Schanze led the way up the stairs, Viocia was swinging Formula Broom – Wittenberg around in her hands. She was extremely excited.

“It’s happening, it’s actually happening. Our classes finally sound like something a flying witch would actually take!”

“Hmph. It’s not like this is the first time we’ve flown above the city,” chimed in Melehe Superlative.

She was a girl with silver hair and dark skin. The talented girl had earned Rank A on an official practice exam and she wore miniskirt outfit that looked like a mix between a black military uniform and a sky pirate’s outfit, giving her a chocolate parfait look.

Tall Dorothea shrank down as she spoke.

“But if they’re letting us fly outside, it means we’ll be doing something we couldn’t in the indoor training ground, doesn’t it? Wh-what could that be? Eep.”

“Anything’s fine as long it’s useful for the exam.”

All was normal here. Melehe was extremely eager and greedy while Dorothea tended to be passive and cautious in all things. By adding in the (needlessly cheerful) life of the party that was Viocia, they struck a nice balance. Of course, they were rivals when it came to the exam, so Yagoro did wish he saw more cutthroat competition between them.

Once they arrived on the practical building’s rooftop, the view opened up.

A mass of wind struck them from head on.

“Wah!”

“Viocia, your skirt!”

Dorothea frantically held down Viocia’s long skirt from behind.

They could see several giant red-painted elevators shaped like scales.

Temple School City was a diamond-shaped city given a chessboard coloration by all the marble and obsidian. The sectors were arranged in tiers like a reverse pyramid and there was a massive circular lake in the center. Past the pure white diamond dust hovering over the lake, the silhouette of Maleficium was visible at the center of the lake.

“Okay, we’ve arrived. And be careful.”

Schanze stood tall and tapped the flat rooftop with the end of her Formula Broom’s handle. She dressed gaudily, but she could take on the teacher’s role when lives were on the line.

“You will now totally be playing a game called Elbow.”

“What’s that, teacher?”

The idiot’s ability to immediately raise her hand and ask the question was one of the few advantages she had.

Schanze nodded toward Viocia and explained.

“After accelerating to full speed along a set distance, you totally make a 180-degree turn around a fixed corner☆ Whoever’s turn radius is shortest will totally be the winner. So it comes down to who can fly fastest and turn sharpest.”

Something slipped out from Schanze’s shoulder.

It looked like a skinny squid measuring 30cm long, but it was actually her domestic familiar. It floated around like gravity didn’t affect it and then stopped directly above the park. Its tube-like belly(?) faintly glowed from within, making it visible even from a distance.

Familiars were generally artificial. First, the witch would picture the completed form as they put together the skeleton like a jigsaw puzzle. Then magically-summoned artificial muscle and fat were attached to give it shape. The completed familiar would obey its witch’s commands and assist with a variety of jobs: physical labor like construction or cargo transportation and intellectual work like calculations and paperwork.

“That right there is totally your target buoy. After accelerating for 5000m, you need to totally turn around the fixed buoy as sharp as you can. You’ll totally be scored on speed and turning radius.”

As simple as it sounded, setting up the course was a challenge with so many prep schools.

Dragons and griffons the size of Earth bombers were flying leisurely through the sky above, but those were lifeforms created in Maleficium that had escaped and turned wild. Natural monsters were rare these days. And at their altitude, they were unlikely to affect the witches’ game.

“Okay, Viocia, what’s the most important thing in this totally cool game?”

“Overwhelming speed! I’ll blow past everyone else with my super acceleration!!”

“Idiot, then you won’t be able to complete the turn and fly off in the wrong direction.”

That was all Melehe had to say with a snort that gave it a nuance of exasperation more than contempt.

The sky pirate girl looked to Schanze.

“This isn’t like compulsory education. If we have a plan already, can we start flying?”

“If you totally want to☆”

Melehe snapped her fingers and something dropped from the sky like lightning, stabbing sharply into the rooftop. That was Formula Broom – Mount Parnassus, her broom. The thick seat had luggage carriers on either side, handlebars that spread out in a wide Y-shape, and plenty more custom parts reminiscent of a large American motorcycle. That was proof that she had already flown the sky enough times to test all those things out through trial and error.

“Orpheus, did you hear all that?”

“Yes, we have been tasked with a solo drive, which is your specialty, Melehe.”

Melehe didn’t bother jumping from the edge of the roof. She floated up on the spot. That vertical takeoff was a challenging move that only an elite like her could pull off.

“Let’s do this, Orpheus!!”

Her powerful acceleration compressed the wind.

And it didn’t end there. After approaching dangerously close to the squid familiar glowing faintly in the distance, she cut a sharp clockwise curve. Her speed didn’t grab hold of her and throw her off course. After turning, she immediately resumed her powerful acceleration.

(Accelerate, decelerate, and accelerate again, hm?)

This reminded Yagoro of the real aircraft exercises he had done with the Force back on Earth. The key to aircraft maneuverability was to accelerate on the straightaways and rapidly decelerate before turning. That way your turn wouldn’t swing wide and you could keep your turn tight. ...Of course, in actual dogfights, you had to focus on the more biological issues or the enemy would be on your tail in no time, so there weren’t many chances to stick to the basics like that.

Schanze whistled.

“Whew. Did our very first attempt totally bring her turning radius down to less than 3m?”

Formula Brooms were extraordinary vehicles that allowed for bicycle-level maneuverability at supersonic speed, but Melehe’s record was still quite something.

A disastrous first attempt would have made the rest nervous, but too successful a first attempt had the same result. Regardless, any witch who would waste such a valuable opportunity for practice because of nerves would never pass the entrance exam.

And Tutor Myousou Yagoro was of course a pro at making sure Viocia would pass.

(Now, then.)

“Viocia.”

“H-hweh? Don’t talk to me, teacher. I’m trying to focus!”

So did she actually have the guts to volunteer to go immediately after such an impressive model answer? That, at least, was praiseworthy. As a tutor, he only had to make sure his student’s motivation gave her a real chance of success.

“You haven’t applied your ointment set yet, have you? Do you have one based on long pepper and turmeric?”

“For additional fuel? That’s one you rub on the broom.”

Now, using special chemicals to fly was not just a witch thing. For example, in the other world of Earth, there were specialized supersonic combat psychotropic drugs developed to increase military pilots’ focus and reaction speed during missions. (Although the Force Yagoro had spent time with had chosen not to develop them.) But the supply of these drugs would be cut off once the pilots retired, so they were doomed to a tragic elderly life plagued with withdrawal symptoms.

Also…

“Lend me your ear. I’ll tell you how you can beat Melehe.”

“?”

“You need to…”

Part 4

(That should be good enough.)

Melehe Superlative felt confident as she rode her highly customized broom.

Since she could manage vertical takeoffs, she had no difficulty coming to a stop in midair to take a break.

Prep schools were not like compulsory education. All the students in a class would not have equal abilities. The ones who had what it took would advance and the ones who didn’t would be left behind. She had just demonstrated what it meant to be an exam student.

Even the other girls at her prep school were her rivals.

She had to draw on every bit of skill she had and develop it further. She had no intention of making friends here.

“Eep.”

Due to her personality, Dorothea Rockpool had completely frozen up.

But the entrance exam was a fierce competition.

Anyone attempting to get into Maleficium had to assume the odds of failure were greater than 99.9999%. If they let themselves freeze up because of what someone else did, they had no chance.

“That was mean, Melehe,” said Melehe’s broom.

“If a barrier of this size is enough for her to give up, then she would probably be happier doing something else in life.”

But if anyone was still willing to challenge her, they could bring it on.

She brushed back her shoulder-length silver hair…just in time for Viocia Modestlucky to curve around the squid buoy with an unthinkable speed and angle.

“Huhhhh!?”

She easily blew past the results of the Rank A genius.

What was that?

A 3m turning radius didn’t even come close. In fact, she didn’t even make a clockwise turn. She had taken a ridiculous curve a lot like metal balls rolling through a clear glass tube.

Had she taken a vertical turn?

Schanze spoke to Myousou Yagoro, sounding like she had thrown in the towel on this one.

“Hey, did you manage to measure that one? You totally have to measure that turning radius in centimeters, don’t you?”

“It was at least less than 140cm, don’tcha think?”

The tutor chuckled and stuck his tongue out with his head turned so the Mont Blanc gyaru-style instructor couldn’t see.

Melehe managed to read his lips.

That pervert tutor had interfered yet again.

“(That maneuver is known as the slice turn. You twist the craft around to 135 degrees and, once it’s nearly upside down, you perform a loop directed diagonally downwards. The knowledge I picked up with the Force comes in handy from time to time.)”

Although that technique had been entirely meaningless for him since he had been headed for space.

Needless to say, a special maneuver that incorporated gravitational acceleration would turn more sharply than simply decelerating and turning. Without a practical benefit, a tricky maneuver like that wouldn’t have stuck around so long.

Viocia was carefree as could be when she returned. She couldn’t stop in midair, so she flew in a wide circle around the practical building instead.

“Ahh, this feels great. Flying in the open sky is so freeing!”

“Eep. Viociaaaaa!”

“You’re up next, Dorothea! Front and back, side to side, up and down – whichever axis you turn on the world looks completely different. I’ve found another three numbers to go with the Three Aspects of witchcraft. I bet I could do so many cool things if I combined these in different ways. Flying straight and slowing down just gives you the one thing. It’s so boring and uncreative!!”

“K-khh…”

The silver-haired girl bit her lip, hung her head, and shook.

She was the “boring and uncreative” one.

Orpheus, her supposed partner, was having trouble suppressing laughter.

Tearful and red in the face, Melehe Superlative shouted at Viocia.

”You’re on!!!”

Part 5

Boom!!

Eeeee!

Kapowwwww!!!

Motivated by Melehe and Viocia, more and more hopeful witches kicked off from the edge of the building rooftop and flew toward the squid buoy 5000m away. The distinctive sounds of bursting, whistling, and rapid compression of air sounded on top of each other several times over. Even Dorothea was raring to go. Unable to bear waiting in line, oftentimes five or six witches at once were attempting the round the buoy at sharp angles. Afterwards, they would land directly on the main street, assess their results, and try again. They made repeated attempts over a short span of time.

Which had an inevitable result.

During lunchtime…

“Blehh…”

“C’mon, Viocia, eat this salmon and onion sandwich. Get your head off the table and eat. You worked hard to pay your tuition, so you don’t want to sit out this afternoon, do you?”

Witchcraft was not powered by anything as convenient as “magic power”. All humans had was willpower, so they had to borrow power from another world and manipulate that. However, it went without saying what happens to a human body after repeatedly performing strenuous exercise without a break.

(Hm, maybe I egged them on a little too much.)

The witches were all dead tired. It was strange indeed to see a bunch of growing teenagers in the cafeteria without any of them ordering anything. Yagoro had only been trying to use Viocia’s rivalry as a motivator to get her to study, but he did feel a little guilty now.

But the lunch break only lasted so long. If they didn’t eat anything, none of them would be having a good time during their afternoon lectures.

A naked cloak vampire girl and cat ears maid had enough energy left for their empty stomachs to overpower their exhaustion and they were whispering to each other.

“Ugh. The cafeteria’s raised its prices again.”

“That’s how many times now and it’s only June? How are we supposed to focus on studying like this?”

“If it was just one day, fine, but it adds up day after day.”

“What am I going to do? Maybe I should start borrowing more money this month,” said the cat ears maid, gently holding a keychain-like doll between her hands.

“Ugh,” groaned Viocia, her head down on the table. “Higher prices is a real problem. The XL hamburger steak plate and the extra-thick chicken steak bowl were the one thing I could look forward to in my brutal days of endless studying, but now I won’t be able to afford them.”

“You nee to focus more on keeping a witch’s figure. Being short and light gives you an edge.”

Was this why Melehe and Dorothea had stopped eating lunch with her lately even though they were generally good friends? Sadly, the entrance exams were both a competition with others and a battle against yourself. Those two would gain nothing by letting their friend’s endless desire drag them down too. Not to mention that a witch was supposed to know how to control her desires!

Then Yagoro heard something moving outside the first-floor cafeteria window.

Curious, he opened the window to look out.

“Raynold, what are you doing here?”

“Geh, mister!?”

A boy of about 10 in a filthy shirt jumped directly below the window. He lived in the squatter’s district adjacent to Yagoro’s apartment.

Next to him was a girl in a dress covered in patches and so filthy its original color was no longer discernible. She was like a crepe fallen in the sand or like Cinderella before she met the fairy godmother. Her short skirt was frayed and torn in places, but she appeared to be wearing shorts below. Her wavy blonde hair was tied back and she wore a pointy hat and a thin summer cloak that gave her a bit of a witchy look. If she actually took a bath, she would probably have the lovely face of a doll.

She carried a homemade notebook made from tying fliers together with string and she had tears in her eyes.

“Th-th-they noticed us.”

“Shut up, Roslynica. It’s okay if he knows. He’s one of us!”

Apparently Yagoro had been made a member without his knowledge, but what were these brats doing hanging around this prep school?

Then Viocia reacted with surprise.

“Huh? What’s Roslynica doing here?”

“H-h-hello.”

“Friend of yours, Viocia?”

“Heh heh. I need money for the field trip. That’s how I met her.”

“?”

Was she taking on more day labor jobs or roadside subquests? Viocia could make friends with anyone in the city – even a carriage horse waiting for customers – so the extent of her acquaintances was always a bit of a mystery.

Raynold pouted his lips and spoke as if giving in.

“Roslynica is going to Maleficium one day.”

“Wait, I haven’t decided for sure yet!”

“She’s definitely going!! She’s really smart and the grownups were even saying she might be the first person from the squatter’s district to get in!”

“I see…”

Ordinarily, girls graduated from their compulsory education and then attempted the Maleficium entrance exam, but it was possible to skip that first step if they already had the necessary knowledge. Maleficium believed in acquiring people with definite skills over requiring a silly diploma that only meant you knew how to toe the line. Otherwise, Yagoro could never have gotten in after suddenly appearing in this world one day with no credentials to his name.

“But we don’t have the money to send Roslynica to a real cram school or prep school, right? And if you live in the squatter’s district, they won’t hire you for any of the ordinary jobs. So we thought if we hung around outside the window someone might throw out some balled-up quizzes or something. By gathering up enough problems and combining them, we’d have our own textbook or workbook.”

The blond tutor glared over at Viocia who was suddenly very busy looking the other way and whistling nonchalantly.

And sweating profusely.

What had she been doing with the quizzes he stayed up all night writing? Even if she got the problems wrong – no, especially if she got them wrong – they were a valuable resource to hang onto. A quiz did not end once it was taken. They were a means of identifying your problem areas so you could set up the next hurdle to clear and focus your studies there!!

“That’s it. I’m confiscating all the sweet things from your lunch.”

“Please no, teacher! Even a whack from your slide rule would be better than that!!!”

“Oh, no, no, no, no!” Roslynica began panicking even though she wasn’t the one being scolded.

Anyway, finding a way to get something for free and clinging to that was an essential skill for surviving in the squatter’s district. Salary-focused Schanze probably wouldn’t be thrilled with these kids’ methods, but it wasn’t a real problem for Yagoro since he was an outsider anyway. And as a tutor, he didn’t want to discourage someone who was self-motivated to study.

“But we might just get by thanks to you, mister.” Raynold smiled bashfully. “I mean, everyone thought we were just a drain on the city but you taught us how to sell firewood and give something back! Heh heh. So we’re all saving up our money little by little in a moneybox. One day the money we save up will be enough to help Roslynica take the entrance exam!!”

Raynold sounded delighted even though this didn’t benefit him in any way.

Was he just happy he was participating in the city economy and helping someone grow?

“We’re always telling her to focus on studying, but she keeps sneaking away and working.”

“I-I can’t let the rest of you do all the work… And I can flip through my notes while I sell firewood.”

It sounded like her motivation was on the level of Ninomiya Kinjirou, the original distracted walker. Yagoro really wished a certain idiot would learn a thing or two from that desire to absorb knowledge at all times.

The tutor boy sighed.

“Okay, Viocia. This calls for a quiz. Let’s see who can answer first – you or Roslynica here.”

“Eh? This does not call for a quiz, teacher.”

“Question: What is ATU 0333?”

“You’re not even listening to me, are you!? Um, 0333 is, uh…the 300s are the old magic stories with supernatural enemies, so-”

“Um, it’s Little Red Riding Hood.”

Viocia petrified when the much younger girl immediately gave the correct answer.

Yagoro winked.

“Then what’s the magical lesson found in the wolf symbol?”

“W-wait, let me answer tha-”

“When the prey is in the wolf’s spell, they will believe even the most brazen lie. But once the hunter reveals the lie, the wolf’s belly is split open and the captured and eaten people can be retrieved unharmed.”

“Correct. Which means ill-gotten gains will not remain yours for long. Good job, Roslynica.”

“Noo,” tearfully groaned Viocia.

As young as Roslynica was, she had apparently obtained even more knowledge than an exam student who had been studying for an entire year. As for the dunce girl, Yagoro would have to make sure this lesson stuck later on.

Yagoro handed a few sandwiches out through the window, earning him a delighted grin from Raynold in his filthy shirt.

“Heh heh. Of course, it helps that Miss Rayon sometimes teaches her some witchcraft.”

“?”

Yagoro didn’t recognize that name.

“But that witch lady has other work to do,” said Roslynica. “She’s always so busy working with all those numbers, so I can’t bother her too much.”

“She’s a real classy witch. Ahem, ‘It’s wrong that being dirt poor can keep people out of the entrance exam. If you wanna take that path, then come to me for help.’ ”

“Th-that doesn’t sound like her at all. Miss Rayon sounds a lot nicer and more polite!”

Apparently Yagoro wasn’t the only one looking after those kids during the day. It sounded like this woman was well-liked by the cautious squatter’s district children. Did ‘working with all those numbers’ mean she did some kind of accounting work? Witches were familiar with calculations thanks to their potion mixing and encryption building, so they were sometimes hired to do accounting work. Ordinary people apparently found accounting just as baffling as magic.

“See, told you Roslynica was smart! I bet she really can get into Maleficium. And it’s not just us saying it – even the grownups say she could be the first person from the squatter’s district to get in!”

“B-but we don’t have that kind of money.”

“Don’t worry! We’ll save up money bit by bit selling firewood, gathering trash, and so on. It’ll all go in that moneybox. You won’t actually be trying for the entrance exam until you’re 15, so we’ve got five whole years to save up. So you stop worrying so much and focus on becoming the best witch out there. Ah ha ha!!”

Roslynica still fidgeted nervously, but she didn’t have a response to that.

If someone from the squatter’s district really did get into Maleficium, it would be a Cinderella story straight out of a children’s storybook.

Part 6

Evening had fallen.

Myousou Yagoro spotted Viocia, Melehe, and Dorothea gathered in a corner of the cafeteria doing something. While there was a ticket system in place to rent out time in the lecture rooms and self-study room, quite a few exam students used little spaces like that to get their studying done.

“Where did I go wrong in today’s divination class? Oh, no. If I don’t do better, teacher’s evil scheme will keep me from going on the field trip!”

“I don’t think he has a say in that part. Eep. B-but if you’re having trouble, just keep working at it. You need to get this under control before you convince yourself you’re just bad at it.”

“Then what kind of divination should I do? I know! Financial fortune. Please, all-powerful cards, I want to earn a mountain of coins so I can go on the field trip, so do you have a good money-making plan for me?”

“C’mon, Viocia. Try to remember the actual method of using cards for divination. Eep.”

Dorothea could have just let her idiot rival continue full speed down that mistaken path, but her strange need to take care of others made another appearance. That may have come from being the oldest sibling of a large family.

“A black card means yes and a red one means no. Go!!”

Viocia drew the 8 of hearts.

The very red card meant no.

“Nooo!! D-does that mean I can’t go on the field trip!?”

“You can’t expect much accuracy from a failure’s divination, so you probably don’t have much to worry about.” Melehe averted her eyes and sighed as she made a comment that was equal parts comforting and insulting. “Besides, there are several fundamentally different ways to use playing cards for divination. You can have the cards correspond to the tarot minor arcana or you can have the 13 types, four suits, and jokers correspond to a 365 day calendar. Either way, you need to establish a foundation of logic first or you have nothing to divine.”

“(+1 point: You don’t want to be a phony necromancer who pops her joints in time with the questioner’s questions to mimic a rapping sound or poltergeist, but when performing divination for yourself, make sure you don’t grow overly self-focused or enter a trance. Always make sure to do this in a group so you can keep an eye on each other.)”

The tutor stared into the distance and muttered under his breath.

The prep school had a daytime group and a nighttime group, so there were a lot of students in the cafeteria during the evening. And not just because it was mealtime. The exam students were all in different financial situations, so a lot of them simply didn’t have the spare money to eat out in the city.

(To be honest, the price of books is one of the major problems, don’tcha think? The lithographs are only disposable things used to create sample photos and there’s no real printing technology in this world, so they all have to be handwritten, which unavoidably brings up the price.)

Since this world did have Sketchgoats whose skin could be removed repeatedly, the price of parchment wasn’t all that high. That allowed for fliers to be passed out on the street.

“Gweh! The cafeteria really has upped its prices.”

“Is it true that the most cost-effective method is to buy the cheapest bread roll they have at the school store and then order a side of onion soup at the cafeteria? The roll is supposed to get a lot bigger as it soaks up the soup.”

Yagoro left the cafeteria with a glance toward the moving efforts of a succubus girl wearing fake wings and a tail and a yuki onna in an oiran-style kimono that left her pale shoulders bare. The students who lived on their own tended to find they had more than just their studies to worry about.

(The actual cheapest option is to grab some unsold side dishes from a food stand outside.)

When the students were making an attempt on their own, it could actually hurt their motivation if their tutor interrupted to correct them. So Yagoro decided to leave Viocia be for now and join in once she had discovered her own problem areas.

He walked through the tiered city on his own today.

A bipedal kangaroo familiar held a leather megaphone and called out to passersby while reaching a hand(?) into its pouch and passing out parchment fliers.

It spoke with an artificial feminine voice.

“The Spanish Fly Indulgence Bank is a reliable ally for all exam students. If you need money for your schooling, your daily necessities, or anything else, we offer several different types of loan. So please come down to the Spanish Fly Indulgence Bank! Our exchange is run by Accounting Witch Rayon Risoniphimil.”

The occasional squatter’s district kids he saw approaching and taking a flier probably weren’t interested in a loan – they only wanted to tie the fliers together to create a notebook. It was sad. That would be how the little witch-in-training named Roslynica had gotten her notebook. Since the familiar only acted out the simple command of “pass out fliers”, it must not have been able to determine a target demographic.

And…

“Whoa, whoa, oh, no- yikes!?”

“?”

A witch who had been handing out fliers alongside the familiar tumbled to the ground. She was a tall young woman with short hair dyed green, yet something about her reminded Yagoro of Viocia.

(The super clumsy part of her.)

“Owww.”

She was sprawled out on the ground with her fliers scattered across the road.

The kangaroo familiar could only perform simple tasks, yet this young woman was more of a klutz. And within the large category of “klutz”, she belonged to the smaller category of “busty and gentle klutz”.

The squatter’s district children swarmed around.

“Fliers!”

“Yes, I can finally make a drawing notebook!”

“Miss Rayon, we’ll take all these fliers, which means you’re done with your job for the day. So will you play with us now?”

“Wait, please just one flier per person,” tearfully pleaded the young woman, but the children showed no mercy as they tugged on her arms and clothing.

Miss Rayon.

Yagoro recalled what Raynold and Roslynica had said. So was this the person who used her spare time to teach the back alley children about witchcraft?

Instead of entering his apartment on the top level of Temple School City, Yagoro entered the narrow street next to it.

That brought him to the squatter’s district.

After a failed redevelopment project, the area had been left to rot, so countless unauthorized additions had been made and a lot of greenery had encroached from the flower beds and roadside trees that had been made for the redevelopment. Rent and land rights meant nothing to the dangerous armed residents who had illegally taken over the uncompleted buildings and the district around them. Exam students who lived ordinary lives were advised to stay far away from there.

“Teacher.”

A middle-aged man spoke to Yagoro while sharpening a long metal pole into a blade by scraping it against an old stone wall. His head was shaved, he wore an eyepatch, and he was both scarred and muscular. The bandit look would cause an ordinary person to jump and flee, but he was just another neighbor to Yagoro.

“You here to take a look at thing again?”

“Ha ha.”

“You don’t need to laugh it off. I dunno what’s in there, but everyone’s got their issues that rational thinking can’t solve. Especially anyone who winds up in the squatter’s district. There’s nothing but secrets and checkered pasts here.”

Maybe so.

Yagoro may have found the squatter’s district comfortable enough to visit fairly regularly because he fit in well there.

“I saw Raynold earlier. And a girl called Roslynica.”

“Oh, the smart little girl? Even when us adults all work together we still can’t beat her at chess or reversi. I dunno where she came from, but she reminds me a lot of you. Lotta brains in that one.”

Unlike Raynold, it sounded like Roslynica hadn’t been born into the squatter’s district. That was curious, but it wasn’t something he needed to dig into.

“I hear she wants to get into Maleficium.”

“If she uses those brains and keeps on studying, I doubt she’ll wind up in the worst parts of this city. And having a dream is a great way of keeping yourself from taking the wrong path in life.”

The middle-aged man framed it like that, but he sounded proud. Almost like her accomplishments were his own. It was true the people here were working together to save what little money they could. Most people had more or less forgotten the squatter’s district even existed, so it would probably feel great for its residents if someone from there got into that elite school.

Board games like chess and reversi didn’t really fit in here. When it came to games, the rough-and-tumble squatter’s district was more into betting on fights and darts. The people here weren’t just supporting Roslynica, they were gradually changing themselves.

“Hey, teacher. Can a girl like Roslynica really get into a place at the very top like Maleficium?”

“Anyone can if they do the necessary work.”

Yagoro said goodbye and then made his way deeper in.

He arrived at an open space at the base of a giant tree.

The squatter’s district was mostly half-crumbled stone buildings, so the thing half-fused with green moss here really stood out.

It was a metal container.

Just like his baton, Yagoro had asked his usual blacksmith to create the extra-large box.

It was was still affected by rust, but the lock attached to thick chains was doing its job. Yagoro had locked it himself, but not even he was sure if the day would come when it was once more unlocked.

He had needed to seal way his crashed craft.

He couldn’t allow any cultural contamination in this fantasy world.

The squatter’s district had been convenient for his needs. The ordinary citizens and even the Maleficium witches rarely delved so deep into this dangerous level.

And with all that in mind, Yagoro shook his head.

(That’s all an excuse.)

He pressed his forehead against the container buried in green, rested his weight on it, and then leaned his back against it.

Then he let his hips slide down to the ground.

(If I was really afraid of contamination, I would destroy it to erase it from this world, not just seal it away. I still can’t bring myself to fully let it go, don’tcha think?)

Still seated on the ground, he looked up into the sky.

The burning red of the sunset formed an endless expanse there.

It wasn’t that he still wanted to return to Earth.

Or so he wanted to believe.

“Yeah…”

But.

A much more simple concept was hidden behind all those grand and complex ideas.

There was one thing not even a tutor who had mastered witchcraft could do.

Simply put…

“I wish I could soar through the sky like I used to.”

Part 7

The perimeter of Temple School City was an inconvenient place to live, so a variety of facilities were gathered there.

The lawless squatter’s district.

The gates leading outside and the guard stations.

The trading posts and exchanges for merchants who wanted a location near the gates.

In front of one large boxy exchange was a large road where small children wearing rags for clothing were making chalk drawings, tossing a ball around, and otherwise turning it into their playground.

“Pant, pant. Sorry I’m late, Roslynica.”

“Miss Rayon!”

Little Roslynica’s face lit up. The fear she usually felt around others was gone. She spread her arms and hugged Rayon Risoniphimil around the hips.

Technically speaking, Rayon was not a prep school instructor or a tutor.

This was not a job for her. But she still found time for young Roslynica.

“Are you ready to learn more witchcraft?”

“Yes, yes!”

“Did you bring your usual tool?”

“I did,” said Roslynica, holding out a rolled-up sleeping bag. The pair of ears at the top of the storage bag made it look a bit like a dog mascot.

“It works best with something you always have with you – especially something you need to live your life. Have you remembered everything I taught you?”

“Yes!!”

“Then let’s start with a review of last time. When you hold the sleeping bag tight, what do you imbue it with?”

“Heh heh. My willpower!”

Roslynica smiled happily at the head rub she received and she squeezed her eyes shut while hugging the sleeping bag like it was a pillow.

She focused her mind.

“Please, lend me your power.”

“Keep going.”

“…”

“Be careful. Keep your focus steady but strong. You need to let your willpower seep deep inside the sleeping bag to its very core.”

10 seconds.

30 seconds.

It wasn’t more than a minute.

“That should be enough.”

At Rayon’s prompting, Roslynica hesitantly opened her eyes and relaxed her arms around the sleeping bag.

The sleeping bag was no more than a tool, yet she felt a stirring within it.

“Wow, wow!!”

“This might not seem like much.” The witch woman rubbed Roslynica’s head. “But once you learn to control your desires and more accurately send your willpower into objects, it will work for you. This is witchcraft. No expensive antiques or grimoires are necessary. Magic can be done with everyday objects – it is a system anyone can use that brings happiness to all.

“That should be enough for today,” said Rayon. “Roslynica, do you have your focus doll?”

“I-it’s right here.”

“Then let’s trade it for this new one. This is a witchcraft tool that boosts your focus and makes you love studying. The witch entrance exam begins with making mental adjustments like this.”

“But can you really keep giving me things like this?”

“It is wrong for a lack of money to lock you out of certain paths in life. As a witch, I am happy just knowing I am correcting a wrong in this world.”

“…”

Part 8

The boy leaned back against the container door and stared up into the unreachable sky until it grew dark out.

He couldn’t let anyone see him like this. Viocia would have already left the prep school and returned to her room. And Yagoro needed to get back to his apartment and make a quiz for tomorrow.

He knew he had sat a nearly impossible goal for himself.

Still, he tore himself away from the container and stood up, ran his palm along the mossy metal door just once more, and then quietly left.

He was walking through the labyrinthine streets of the squatter’s district without any giant pumpkin lamps to light the way when he heard an exasperated voice.

“You sure are careless.”

It came from a delinquent girl wearing a red waitress uniform. She had a macaron look to her, but the toxic polka dot pattern and diagonal yellow and black sash made it clear this was a poisoned macaron.

Arbamini.

She was one of the three aces from Sassafras Cfa Prep School, famous (infamous?) for all its terrible delinquents. She had once clashed quite spectacularly with his student Viocia.

(Formula Broom – Glamis. She uses the witches that deceived Macbeth.)

Macbeth was a play by the world-famous playwright Shakespeare, but there were suspicions the depiction of the witches had been an addition by a later author. Since it was such a famous play it had unintentionally helped create the idea of the “wicked witch” leading to the witch hunts, the idea that a third party had wholly or partly added in that part was a chilling thought. Choosing someone like that as her partner showed this girl really was a true delinquent.

(That aside.)

Yagoro was honestly impressed. Even Temple School City’s patrol had decided for themselves that the squatter’s district was too dangerous and lawless for them to even visit.

And yet…

“You know how to sneak into the closed-off squatter’s district?”

“And you’re being really careless wandering around here without any kind of bodyguard. Or are you just that confident in your skills, Mr. Tutor?”

There were certainly some dangerous beasts out there, but there was one thing Arbamini couldn’t see from her perspective. Her very presence was proof that this city had a criminal underground targeting the exam students. The ability to detect those crimes in advance and nip them in the bud was crucial, so he wished he could borrow her nose for these things.

And.

He was grateful for Arbamini’s trio as powerful rivals who Viocia would (possibly) work hard to outdo.

“Is something fishy going on in the city again?”

“What, you hadn’t noticed?”

She made the question sound like a snort of laughter.

Still, it was a huge step forward that she was actually holding a conversation with him instead of snapping at him. He had to keep in mind that she had spoken to him and was giving him intel on a possible crime unprompted. Even if she was mocking him as she did it.

“So she’s masking her true feelings with the bad girl act…”

“Are you trying to piss me off? I swear, everything in the world just wants to piss me off lately, but you’re the worst in that regard. If you’re that confident in your strength, then how about a rematch? I have been studying invisible curses instead of powerful attack magic, so I was hoping to try them out.”

“I get that a lot of factors outside your control pushed you to be a delinquent, but you should really stop focusing so much on magic used for fighting. Trick Question Warning: We’re not talking about the Celtic sword Fragarach which, when drawn, would automatically take flight, cut down the enemy, and return to the wielder’s hand.”

For some reason, Arbamini blinked twice.

When the delinquent girl did speak, she sounded impressed.

“I guess you really are a top-rate tutor. Thanks for the great inspiration.”

“Wait. You really shouldn’t try to create revenge magic based on Fragarach! It’s a bad idea!!”

“Because then you’d have to defeat me again? Don’t assume you know everything I can do just cause you beat me once. I only need a single second to obliterate a tutor like you.”

“Huh?”

Yagoro looked puzzled as Arbamini took action.

She lazily reached her hands down to her short skirt and lifted it.

“There, now I can say you sexually harassed me.”

“Why would you jump straight to a self-destructive attack like that!?”

Part 9

Trouble wasn’t brewing. It had already arrived.

Yagoro felt like he had received a gift with a bomb inside, but Arbamini had warned him nonetheless. He decided to keep that in mind.

He again set out for the squatter’s district exit.

He was walking through the labyrinthine streets created by all the unnecessary extensions when something fell from above. It was a notebook made from tying fliers together with string.

“Hm?”

“Ah!”

He looked up to see a bridge between two short buildings. It was little more than a skinny metal beam, making it only slightly better than a ladder.

The girl crossing the bridge wore a dress and shorts that were so tattered she looked like Cinderella before the fairy godmother. She also wore a witch hat and a thin summer cloak. After noticing the tutor looking up at her, she held down the hem of her short and tattered skirt. She was apparently old enough to worry about such things.

She was the little witch in training named Roslynica.

“Here, Roslynica. This study notebook is important to you, isn’t it?”

“Yes…”

She hopped down from the metal beam bridge.

As damaged as her clothing was, it gave her a witchy and a girly look. Everyone in the squatter’s district must have gathered cloth from all over to mend it.

She would be growing quickly at her age and the squatter’s district didn’t have much in the way of resources. Unisex pants would be more convenient since they could be reused by another child once she grew out of them, but they had still made her a skirt.

Was that another sign of how much the district expected of her?

But the witch in training didn’t seem to be in the mood to chat as she accepted the homemade notebook from Yagoro. She seemed somewhat restless. The people of the squatter’s district were apparently selling firewood, collecting trash, and otherwise working here and there to make what little money they could, so maybe this had to do with that.

“Sorry. A first-come-first-serve job?”

“Um. Yes, but if I don’t get the work first, everyone else tries to do the work for me, leaving me to rest on my own.”

…It sounded like Raynold was turning into a real gentleman.

But it didn’t sound like it was just the one kid. The entire district was supporting Roslynica. Yagoro was reminded of the old-fashioned craftsmen who had worked together to build a cutting-edge lunar rover. Success stories like this one could be found here and there on Earth as well.

“Why not just accept their kindness? I’m sure they’d prefer it that way.”

“B-but Maleficium is a really difficult school, isn’t it? I know they all say I can get in, but I feel so bad seeing them work so much to save up the money…”

“I doubt they’re the type to hold it against you if you don’t get in.”

“It’s not that. I-I just have to do this the right way.”

He watched her run off, clutching her flier notebook to her chest.

And he muttered to himself.

Come to think of it, she appeared to be lacking something necessary to become a witch.

“I wonder…”

Part 14

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