Failing Witch:Volume2 Episode3

Episode 3: The Consuming Witch

Part 1

Required Specs for the JX-401 SSTO Broom God: Version 3.51

User Name: <Anonymous> Sent to: <Anonymous>

• This document is meant to succinctly share the valuable opinions of the relevant departments with the relevant universities and companies. You have already agreed to participate in this matter. We wish to rapidly complete a realistic plan that meets all the demands necessary to realize purely domestic space development infrastructure.

Crew: 1 (although more could fit in the cargo space)

Max Speed: Greater than Mach 9 (standard atmospheric flight), greater than Mach 30 (in vacuum and extra-atmospheric flight).

Max Altitude: More than 400km. Must be able to leave the atmosphere and enter low orbit unassisted.

Primary Propulsion System: JF-23 aviation fuel + oxygen ram jet engine x2 (standard atmospheric flight), X-5 liquid fuel + oxidant rocket engine (in vacuum and extra-atmospheric flight).

Primary Power Source: Large capacity lithium ion battery + storage alloy hydrogen oxygen fuel battery.

Max Continued Flight Without Resupply: more than an hour (standard atmospheric flight), 48 hours (in vacuum and extra-atmospheric flight using non-propulsion position stabilization).

Max Capacity: 25 tons (excluding fuel and oxidant).

Equipped Weaponry: None (for clearing debris, it is equipped with multipurpose joints x4 capable of instant attaching/detaching of chemical oxygen iodine laser, air-to-air missiles, Gatling gun, etc. But to remain in compliance with the Borderless Space Peace Treaty, avoid referring to these as ‘combat’ or ‘military’ weaponry).

Safety Level for Crew and Cargo: Level S as per global standard. Including the cargo space capable of carrying extra crew.

Procured Budget: 30 billion yen per craft. Do not exceed this under any circumstances.

(Hidden Note by Sending User: This again? The cargo space is too large for the size of the craft as a whole. I know this is unavoidable given our initial objective of constructing a purely domestic next-gen transport method that can open up the space development industry that has shut down since the collapse of the United States, but if we increase the inertial burden that far, we can’t fully eliminate the risk of it breaking apart mid-flight. Also, the manufacturing costs will change considerably depending on the markets for the different materials and how many are being manufactured! You imbeciles!!)

Part 2

“Teacher!! Good morn- oh, you’re already up.”

“Yes, good morning. You really are in your element in the forest, aren’t you?

Myousou Yagoro was folding up (his own) blanket when Viocia arrived, quite cheerful for the morning.

“Hm, hm♪ Not even you can stand up to me out in nature, teacher.”

“Then should I summon a great storm to use the terror of nature to get your field trip canceled? By untying the three knots in a string one by one, by digging a hole in the ground and filling it with water, or by striking the water’s surface with my staff? There are innumerable ways to bend the stormy weather to an individual’s will.”

“Eeek!” Viocia ducked down and held her witch’s hand down with her hands. “Don’t scare me like that first thing in the morning, teacher. Besides, it’s such a nice morning, but Dorothea and Melehe are both still asleep in the tent and won’t play with me.”

Viocia had already secured her breakfast, so she pouted her lips while holding a simple hot dog made by sticking a wiener and lettuce in a skinny baguette. She had perhaps too much energy.

But it was unusual for Melehe, the prep school’s strongest witch who could easily accomplish most anything, to be too sleepy to leave her sleeping bag. Yagoro had difficulty imagining it. Perhaps she had gotten too accustomed to urban life while busy studying for the exam.

Yagoro took another look around and found the witch students were eating thick-cut bread covered with handmade pickles, sauerkraut, and other sour picked vegetables, and with a generous helping of melted cheese on top.

“Ugh, I-I at least need to wash my face in the river. Eep.”

“Dorothea, stop being a sleepy zombie and wrap yourself up in those bandages! They’re all loose!”

The girls were sluggish from aching muscles and spending the night in a tent, so they were in no mood to enjoy the greasy barbecue (other than Viocia the forest master).

After eating a simple breakfast, they left the bulkier luggage like their tents at the camp site, and set out for the Goddess’s Spring deep within the Dazzling Forest.

Schanze waved her hand up at the front.

“I totally need you all to follow after me. Before we left, you signed a waiver saying we aren’t liable if you get separated from the group and end up lost in the forest, so try not to get yourselves killed out here.”

“Damn. Witches can fly, so what are we doing crawling along the ground like this? And I can do a vertical takeoff, so I don’t even need the 500m runway.”

“The trees here totally form a tunnel overhead, so if you try to fly through the deep forest, you’ll run into some cool birds and die. Worse, the branches could tear all the flesh from your bones, or you could even totally get decapitated☆”

“Oh. Eep.”

Dorothea hadn’t even said anything, yet she was the one who shrunk down in fear.

Flying quickly wasn’t always a good thing. Bird strikes during high-speed flight were a major problem for witches.

After trudging through the humid forest for two hours, struggling past tree roots, large rocks, and flowing streams, they finally noticed a change in the natural scenery around them.

They saw white.

And straight lines.

They were half buried in the tropical greenery, but there were white marble rectangles visible on the ground. That had once been stone pavement. Looking further back, the ruins of pillars and walls could be seen here and there. The density of artificial structures gradually grew until they finally saw a temple even larger than a compulsory education school.

Viocia looked up at the white temple.

“Wow.”

“This is totally the starting point of the Dazzling Forest, which is bigger than an entire kingdom. It’s also the source of water for rivers all over the place. And the cool water source built into the center of the Water Temple is known as the Goddess’s Spring.”

How long had it been since this was built?

There were collapsed pillars and crumbled stone walls here and there. It was unclear if they had even originally been white. There was no clear distinction between the inside and outside, so the tree roots had gotten in everywhere and little squirrels ran around at their feet. Schanze didn’t lead them along the shortest route because she was carefully choosing a path that would avoid precarious ceilings that could collapse at any time.

Once inside the building, it seemed to take another half hour before they arrived at the deepest point.

They reached an area with a notably different atmosphere.

“This is totally it – the Goddess’s Spring,” said Schanze.

Part 3

It was a round spring measuring 10m across.

At the center, it appeared to be more than a meter deep, but the white stone bottom had a tiered design. The outermost area along the edge didn’t even seem to be 50cm deep.

Although the water was so perfectly clear staring at it would probably throw off your sense of distance.

(So a circular spring and a goddess who excels at breaking the rules, huh?)

With the stone monuments taller than people surrounding the spring, it looked a lot like a strange round table. Several artificially straight grooves allowed the exceptionally clear water to flow out from the round spring in the center and outside the Water Temple itself.

“Eep. So that’s the G-Goddess’s Spring that evolves Formula Brooms.”

“…”

Melehe was being unusually quiet.

The gyaru-style instructor twirled her broom around and used it to point at one person in the group.

“Okay, let’s totally start with you, Viocia Modestlucky.”

“Eh!? W-with me!?”

A Formula Broom was a valuable item for a hopeful witch. Even if this place was supposed to increase their broom’s specs without messing with the core, it was only natural to be nervous once it came time to actually face the Goddess’s Spring. But with multiple prep school’s participating, there were hundreds of witches here and once the sun began to set, they had to walk back to the campsite. There was no time for delays.

The instructor must have decided it would be best to get things started without too much thought.

And it was a lot like Viocia to step forward even as she groaned.

“Okay, Mephistopheles. I’ve decided to do this, so let’s get you powered up. I just have to dump you in the spring! And then swish you around at the bottom…”

“Viocia, do you remember the incantation?”

“Oh.”

Viocia must not have had the incantation memorized yet, so Big Sis Dorothea (who was actually the same age) whispered it to her. And as the dunce counted on her fingers while having her memory refreshed, she managed to get the words out.

“ATU 0729. Ghh. The ritual of the spring in which a gold axe, silver axe, and iron axe are traded for each other. Aquae Sulis – the bath of prayers and reversals which, despite being a hot spring of healing, can also be used for lead curse tablets. And, um, the Black Mass – the intentional defilement of a holy ritual to alter the nature of the summoned power. Uh, I submerge this witchcraft device in the waters here and pray for a bright and glorious transformation!!”

Her loud cry echoed from the Goddess’s Spring and out to the Water Temple and the tropical forest.

This was technically classified as the Water Spirit and the Gold Axe, so make sure not to get confused.

Then they waited.

There was no light or sound.

Viocia Modestlucky tilted her head.

“Huh? The spring didn’t glow and no goddess emerged from the water.”

“It probably rejected you cause your heart is too impure,” suggested Melehe.

But what did this failure mean?

It wasn’t that difficult an incantation. Yagoro and Schanze had both been observing Viocia’s lips and fingers, but while she had been nervous, she hadn’t made any clear mistakes.

Schanze looked puzzled after watching it all from a step away.

“That’s totally weird. Everyone’s big sis Dorothea, can I borrow your cool Formula Broom?”

“Um, yes.”

Schanze took her student’s broom, crouched down, and slowly submerged it into the pure water just like Viocia had.

The instructor then recited the same incantation but with much more familiarity.

“ATU 0729 – the ritual of the spring in which a gold axe, silver axe, and iron axe are traded for each other. Aquae Sulis – the bath of prayers and reversals which, despite being a hot spring of healing, can also be used for lead curse tablets. And the Black Mass – the intentional defilement of a holy ritual to alter the nature of the summoned power. I submerge this witchcraft device in the waters here and pray for a bright and glorious transformation.”

But…

“Welp, the Goddess’s Spring totally isn’t working.”

“Wait, we hoof it all the way out here and the ruins are broken!?”

“Wh-what do we do now? Eep.”

“Hmm, there could totally be something wrong with the facility as a whole.”

“Why are you all so mean!? You just assumed I did something wrong when it was me!!”

Taller Dorothea hugged teary-eyed Viocia from behind and soothed her.

The instructors of the different prep schools began a private meeting. Sensing trouble, anxiety spread through the Halloween-costumed girls too.

Yagoro sighed softly.

Then he pointed at a point in the white marble ruins around the Goddess’s Spring.

“Schanze.”

“What do you want, outsider tut- oh, my.”

Schanze reflexively pouted her lips and began complaining, but she was still a prep school instructor. She immediately realized what he was trying to say.

They were inside the Water Temple, which was deep in the forest yet rivaled a school in size.

And at the very middle, eight massive stones were arranged around the Goddess’s Spring.

One of the tall stone monuments was missing.

“Totally hmm.”

Schanze crouched at the edge of the water. Yagoro remained standing and observed from behind her.

She peered down into the exceptionally clear water, but there was no sign of broken stones at the bottom. So instead of a piece of the ruins crumbling with age, it had completely vanished.

And an enormous stone monument wasn’t going to sprout legs and walk off on its own.

The Dazzling Forest was vast enough to engulf a small kingdom, but it was also becoming a tourist destination and was dotted with several campsites.

That meant anyone could have gotten in here.

And while they had kept it a secret to avoid scaring the students, there had been some traps, including a dreadfully powerful bear trap, set up in the forest.

Yagoro nodded.

And Schanze spoke carefully while crouched next to the spring.

“Could someone have totally stolen that humongous thing?”

Part 4

“Ugh, I’m so bored.”

Viocia pouted her lips.

Even she could sense the air of heavy stagnation hanging over the place. She had come all the way to the Goddess’s Spring, but Formula Broom – Wittenberg hadn’t changed.

“But this summer solstice trip is meaningless if the students can’t complete their broom modernization.”

“That’s a problem now of course, but what about next year? Will we have to do the modernization somewhere other than the Dazzling Forest?”

Twin sisters, an old woman with a staff, and other prep school instructors were gathered a short distance away discussing the matter.

“If it was stolen, why hasn’t the management guild done anything about it?”

“If they knew about it, I doubt they would be totally ignoring it like this.”

Simply put, the students had nothing to do.

While Viocia was seated on some crumbling stone steps and kicking her legs, Myousou Yagoro suddenly approached her.

“Goddesses are often depicted in threes. Norse mythology includes Urdr, Verdandi, and Skuld as the goddesses of fate. Greek mythology has Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos who manipulate the thread of fate. But… Trick Question Warning: Clotho of the present first spins the thread and Atropos of the future finally cuts the thread with scissors, so don’t get the order wrong. Then, also from Greek mythology, what are the three Erinyes sisters called and what are they the goddesses of?”

“Nooo! Why would you make me study in this heavy dead time!? Are you a monster!?”

“Don’t be stupid. The greatest enemy of the exam student is idle time. You can use that time to study or to rest, but how efficiently you fill up these small bits and pieces of time will give you an edge over your rivals. ...Anyway, the Erinyes are the goddesses of vengeance and they are called Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megaera. Now memorize that!!”

“I choose to rest. You said that was an option!”

“You’re so full of energy in the forest I find it hard to believe you need a five-minute nap.”

Viocia covered her ears and ran away.

The Water Temple had partially crumbled, but it was still a huge structure the size of a large theatre. It had a lot of small rooms whose purpose had long been forgotten. Viocia finally escaped her tutor’s educational assault, but she noticed something glittering out of the corner of her eye.

The glittering came from beyond the tropical trees visible past a crumbling stone wall.

Beyond a thicket of red, blue, and yellow plants and flowers, long golden hair swayed along with…

“Long, pointy ears? I-is that a legendary elf!?”

Part 5

Dorothea suddenly noticed something.

She took a look around and then nervously tugged on Melehe’s sleeve.

“Um, hey, Melehe?” said the caring big sister. “Eep. Uh, do you know where Viocia went?”

“What, is she not here?” The sky pirate girl held a hand to her forehead. “You’re kidding. Don’t tell me she went off on her own because she was bored and then got lost. Ugh, did she forget we had to sign a waiver saying the school isn’t responsible if we get lost in the forest!?”

But if Viocia had left the group, where would she have gone?

They could only think of one possibility.

“Do you think – eep – she went to look for a l-legendary elf?”

“If so, was she planning to wander the forest forever? Elves went extinct ages ago!”

“But what do you think she mistook for an elf yesterday? Eep.”

Dorothea was all ready to rush out from the Water Temple and into the forest, so Melehe grabbed her wrist. Dorothea stopped in surprise while the sky pirate girl pulled out a vial and gave a single spray onto each of her wrists.

“This is perfume. People can’t smell it, but canine familiars will be able to track the scent. With so many witches, someone – probably one of the instructors – is bound to have one.”

“Eep. So in place of bread crumbs?”

“Right. Whatever ATU 0327a, Hansel and Gretel, might say, if you actually dropped bread crumbs in the forest, birds and animals would eat them all in no time. We don’t want to get lost ourselves when we’re trying to find Viocia.”

Melehe must not have wanted to spray any more perfume, so she rubbed her wrists on Dorothea’s neck and armpits instead. It tickled, but the bandage zombie girl endured it with only some minor trembling.

Once the girls were done sharing the scent, it was time to begin their search.

“Wh-where should we look? Eep.”

“Wherever she went, we know Viocia started in this Water Temple. That gives us a fixed starting point. So to start with, we walk the perimeter. Dorothea, you keep an eye out for bent underbrush and broken branches. I’ll look for footprints on the ground!”

“Okay. Eep. Got it!”

Glasses girl Dorothea renewed her resolve and stared into the distance while reaching a finger to her chest.

She pulled a clear stone on a thin chain from her cleavage. It was a dowsing pendulum.

Melehe stared into the middle distance.

“Oh, I see. So you’re one of those people with a hidden pocket. Just like my mom.”

“?”

Part 6

“This way? Or this way? No, I need to cross this river!”

Viocia ignored how wet her shoes and the bottom of her skirt got as she crossed a stream not even 30cm deep. Deep in the forest, following footprints was a fundamental skill of tracking. And crossing rivers to cut off your footprints and scent was the standard countermeasure.

When she was little, Viocia had truly played hide-and-seek with wild rabbits and foxes in her grandma’s forest (which everyone kept saying was on the level of a final dungeon), so this didn’t even register as trickery for her.

“Hm, hm♪ The wet footprints continue straight…oh, there they are.”

She glimpsed a golden glitter between the trees.

It was that long hair.

Melehe kept saying it was impossible, but there was definitely someone there.

(Let’s see…is that a girl?)

“Hm, I’d know for sure if I could see the long ears again…but I can’t see them.”

From the glimpses she had gotten, it looked like the girl had straight blonde hair long enough to reach her ankles. And she had a braid worn up to decorate her head.

Was the rustling sound due to her parting the foliage with a ceramic-smooth white and silver staff? It had a cross-like shape.

Either way, Viocia got the feeling the girl would flee if she suddenly spoke to her.

Viocia decided to keep her distance and follow her a while longer.

The girl up ahead seemed to be headed somewhere in particular, but she also wasn’t taking a direct route there. She would wander this way and that. She would stop to smell a hibiscus along the way, reach out a finger to let a bright blue butterfly land on it and observe it, or kick a thick tree trunk with the sole of her shoe and gather up the toxically red fruits that fell.

(She’s taking a lot of detours.)

Viocia knew what it was like.

She was jealous that this girl could go where she liked without getting scolded like Viocia did on the way to and from prep school.

Whoever this girl was, she munched on one of the red fruits as she walked.

She was alive.

So, at the very least, she wasn’t an immaterial illusion or a ghost.

“Ugh, I can’t see her ears through all the branches and thickets. I so want to be sure of that.”

Just as Viocia spoke to herself, the elf came to a stop.

Viocia was afraid she was going to turn around, but she didn’t.

She stayed put and looked down to her hand.

She unfolded a piece of parchment there.

“Is that…?”

That was the parchment note Viocia had placed next to the plate of meat last night.

(Did she actually read it?)

The wind changed direction.

Upwind and downwind swapped. Now Viocia’s scent could blow towards the other girl.

The flowing blonde hair came to a complete stop. The carefree detours stopped there.

The failing witch frowned at the subtle change.

(Hm? Did she notice I’m following her?)

When Viocia took another step forward, the girl up ahead gathered strength in her legs and…

“She tripped!?”

She had apparently caught her foot on a tree root.

Viocia shouted out loud on reflex and the girl up ahead scrambled to her feet and vanished into the thickets. It was cute. However, Viocia wasn’t all that worried. Just like when playing hide-and-seek with the wild rabbits and foxes in her grandma’s forest, anyone who was panicked and trying to make up for a mistake wouldn’t attempt any complex diversions or detours.

After walking a bit more…

“Oh?”

She saw a strange color beyond the reds, blues, and yellows of the tropical foliage.

White.

A small house was built from cold stone. And a short building was attached to the 2-story house like dropped ice cream melting on the ground.

(Is that the elf’s house?)

“No, it isn’t.”

The scale was different, but it looked familiar to Viocia. It reminded her of her grandma’s house.

That was a living space combined with a lab for high-level alchemy.

It was the kind of hideout preferred by witches who had withdrawn from the world.

“There are two chimneys. That means they don’t want the smoke to mix. They must have two stoves for different purposes.”

If Dorothea were here, she may have noticed that the orange light flickering in the night sky came from the sparks produced when the smoke did mix.

Viocia silently approached and peeked inside the window to the lab attached to the side of the 2-story house. To eliminate as much outside influence as possible, the glass had two layers to insulate against heat even in the sweltering Dazzling Forest. The hand pump, stove, and other equipment inside made it look a lot like a kitchen, but instead of a kitchen counter, there was a wooden table with glass lab equipment lined up on it: flasks, beakers, test tubes, lamps, condensers, scales, etc. It was unlikely someone was using those to cook food.

It was all kept immaculately clean, but thoughtlessly ingesting anything in there would be very bad for your health.

The air was filled with the scent of the bleach used to make white leather.

The room visible through the window had a shelf of vials full of dangerous dried herbs that could cause hallucinations or even death. The pot on the stove wasn’t meant for cooking. It was finely tuned for a different purpose.

If this was a witch’s hideout, who had that elf been?

Did she live with the witch, or was she the witch?

“Huh? There’s something there.”

Viocia spotted something unusual leaning against the wall in the back of the lab.

It was a large stone monument taller than she was.

(I saw those at the Goddess’s Spring too. But one of them was missing. Then did whoever lives here steal it and that’s why the spring isn’t working?)

If so, this was a big deal.

Maybe she should turn around right away and call for Myousou Yagoro or Schanze Dwelling.

But her legs wouldn’t move.

Because she heard a voice.

“?”

(Is that whoever lives here?)

She didn’t know their name or what they looked like. If she was going to tell people about this place, the more she knew, the better. Viocia moved along the wall, following the voice from the lab to the house. She crouched and pressed against the wall directly below a window.

And she peeked inside.

She saw what looked like a living room located directly off of the entranceway. She saw a sofa and a low table. She also noticed a well-polished crystal ball and various kinds of cards. Those were fortune-telling tools.

There was also a plate with some bread crumbs on it.

And…

“Freynir, you’re back?”

“I am, Lady Elinalva.”

“And no one saw you while you were out?”

“I do not know what you mean by that.”

“Sigh, did you actually think you could fool me like that?” Seeing the expressionless girl trembling, the old woman called Elinalva breathed an exasperated sigh. “You’re a terrible liar. Maybe that’s what happens when you’ve never had a chance to talk with many people. …That aside, should I simply view this as a problem, or should I see it as an unasked-for opportunity?”

Based on the conversation, the two knew each other.

They probably lived together.

Their relationship was unclear, but the girl may have been even younger than Viocia. She wore what looked like loose, white priest’s robes, but she also wore thick leather boots that nearly reached her thighs. The combination was odd, but it was probably necessary for walking through the forest.

Also, the girl’s ears were sharply pointed.

She was an elf.

This wasn’t a fossil in Temple School City’s museum and it wasn’t a picture based on what one was thought to have looked like. She had snow white skin and golden hair that glittered in the light. She was very much alive and standing right there.

Viocia gave a snort of excitement while crouched below the window.

(There she is! A real elf! Now Melehe can’t call me a liar! Oh, but I didn’t bring a camera, so I can’t bring back a photo as proof!!)

“Hey.”

“Hyah!?”

She jumped.

She thought her heart would stop.

Unable to stand up, Viocia scooted back on her rear with her Formula Broom clutched between her hands. The old woman named Elinalva sighed in exasperation while looking down at her from the window.

“Sigh, are you just not very bright? Hiding below the window doesn’t do much good when that big hat sticks up so far. At least this saves me the trouble of going out to find you.”

“Lady Elinalva.”

“We might be able to use her for the other approach. The odds aren’t good, though,” plainly stated the old woman before the elf girl could stop her.

(Huh?)

Something was happening here.

Viocia finally felt a cold sensation sinking into her gut.

(I know she lives with the elf, but why is this old witch hiding so deep in the woods?)

A Maleficium graduate would find a glorious world awaiting her. And even self-taught witches like Schanze could choose whatever job they wanted. Viocia’s grandma had a house deep in a forest, but that was just the trees in her yard growing into a great forest over a long, long time.

What if that wasn’t what happened here? What if this woman was truly hiding here?

What if there was some disadvantage for her if she didn’t hide? For example, what if she was doing something unspeakable she had to keep hidden from the world?

The next thing Viocia knew, the old woman had vanished from the window.

Then she heard the front door creaking.

Old Elinalva exited with the elf girl by her side.

Elinalva held a Formula Broom in her hands, practically dragging it along the ground as she walked. But a sharp piece of metal was attached to the end. It was the kind of large pitchfork used to carry hay, but just like the broom, there were legends of witches carrying them as they danced at their gatherings.

“Since you followed her all the way here, I assume you’re interested in elves.”

“I-I am.”

“I am too. It would be such a shame to let them go extinct. So I, Elinalva Longhouse, must find a way for elves to prosper once more.”

This almost sounded like an actual conversation.

They shared the topic of elves and their values surrounding them.

But…

“So I decided to create an extinct elf in this forest where so many of their fossils slumber. But I didn’t have the skill. The only option left was to rely on luck and search out one of that legendary race in a forest the size of a small kingdom. Although to be fair, I did tweak my luck a bit by ‘borrowing’ one of the monuments that control the direction of the waters flowing from the Water Temple. There is more to witchcraft than flying on a broom and directly causing supernatural phenomena.”

She didn’t sound particularly proud.

Her tone was dry.

They could speak, but something between them wasn’t clicking.

A somehow flat voice came endlessly from the old woman’s wrinkly mouth.

“But that was the most I could do. My results tapered off after only finding one exceedingly rare elf, but a single individual cannot reproduce and thus it still ends after just one generation. But having her marry a human would only reduce the purity of her blood. That could only produce half-elves, which is no different from the race of elves going extinct by my own hand. It needs to be elves – pure elves. There numbers need to be increased until they can endure the drastic changes occurring around them.”

“Um.”

“The Aspect of Admiration: ATU 0327a, Hansel and Gretel. No matter how many bread crumbs they tore off and dropped to leave a trail, the bread itself never ran out. The Aspect of Antiquity: Tanngnjostr and Tanngrisnir. The goats who pull Norse thunder god Thor’s chariot are always resurrected no matter how many times they are killed and eaten. The Aspect of Amorality: the wicked witch boils babies in a cauldron to create a special ointment.”

The old woman talked on and on more to herself than Viocia. She may have even forgotten Viocia was there.

Viocia was overwhelmed by it all.

But she still managed to open her mouth to ask about a solid question that she couldn’t find an answer for.

“B-but how do you m-make more elves?”

“By cutting her up.”

“…?”

“By slicing her apart over and over again, separating the right half from the left or the top half from the bottom. As long as I change Freynir’s situation so new flesh and bone will emerge from the cut, the end result is one more elf. And the process can be repeated indefinitely. That this method can only create female elves is a problem, but it will at least prevent a single mistake meaning the immediate extinction of the species.”

Viocia hadn’t misheard.

But this meant she didn’t understand the root of the old woman’s thoughts at all.

What had she just said?

And why hadn’t Freynir reacted at all to hearing it?

“Th-that’s crazy!”

“Witchcraft is a fantastical solution to real problems, isn’t it?”

“But painful doesn’t even begin to describe it! If you did that, Freynir wouldn’t just cry and scream!”

“Why should her feelings stand in the way of the prosperity of her species?”

“…”

She said it in the tone of voice used to tell a child they needed to wash their hands before mealtime.

“Freynir is currently the last one. An unfortunate accident could occur at any moment, making elves truly extinct. Increasing their numbers is the only way to avoid that tragedy. I have no intention of treating her like a precious flower and simply waiting for her to age and die.”

What the old woman was saying may have been correct.

But was it anything more than correct?

“Freynir!” shouted Viocia, but the elf girl only tilted her head.

She may not have understood what the old woman was saying.

She may not have known that becoming the foundation of prosperity meant to be sliced apart while still alive.

(Does she think it’s some kind of metaphor? But one look in that old woman’s eyes should tell you it isn’t!)

She wasn’t just a name or a symbol.

She was a girl who had read Viocia’s letter and held onto it instead of throwing it out.

She had a mind the same as Viocia.

Viocia was certain of it.

She couldn’t just leave the girl here.

No matter what.

“You will be used to try a different approach.”

“What do you mean?”

“It is said elves are the beautiful version of the beings that naturally crawled out of a dead giant’s remains. The giants are the enemies of the gods, which makes them the opposite of what is right. …Since you have barged into our little world here, that would be the perfect role for you, don’t you think?”

“…”

“Creating more elves by slicing up Freynir can only ever create female elves. And since that method will become unusable once I die, there must be male elves for them to maintain a prosperous village on their own, right? You – or more accurately, your remains left to decompose out in the open – will be used as an experiment to that end.”

Viocia wanted to look away, but her neck muscles tensed unnaturally.

This was all the more painful for her because she was close enough to her grandma that she had decided to get into Maleficium to create a potion to cure her grandma.

So it was all the more painful to see this old woman who had become such a hideously distorted person by failing to control her desire and choosing to reject what was right.

“W-wait, Lady Elinalva. This person has done nothing wrong!”

“Right and wrong are irrelevant when it comes to elf preservation,” spat the old woman, frowning just a bit. “And based on the lack of a tremor in your voice, those was your honest feelings. Even so, I will do anything to bring prosperity back to the elves. Even if you cry and reject it.”

“…”

“Formula Broom – Reykjaholt. Answer me, Snorri.”

The old woman approached while dragging along the Formula Broom that was half broom and half pitchfork.

While preparing magic that could smash a human body to pieces.

“I will run as many tests as necessary. I will repeat the process as often as it takes. I will increase the scale as far as I must. Freynir Nineworlds is just one living fossil and that is not enough. I will bear any sin or wicked karma if it will save the elves from extinction.”

Part 7

They never could have made it alone.

But the two girls managed to arrive in the nick of time.

“Eep, Viocia!”

“Don’t you dare steal all the glory for yourself, failing witch!!”

Dorothea and Melehe rushed out from the trees. They sharply changed positions to spread out and cover Viocia and Freynir.

Melehe held her Formula Broom in one hand and sharply pointed at the old woman with her empty hand.

“We heard everything you said from in the forest. Self-taught witch Elinalva, I will admit it must have taken some skill to search out a supposedly-extinct elf.”

“Right you are. I am the discoverer of this elf, so I must hold some rights over her, such as naming rights.”

Discoverer.

Did she see it like finding an animal in the woods and taking it in as a pet? And as the owner, she could decide how the elf lived? That was a horribly selfish human-centric view, but that wasn’t what Melehe was trying to say.

“Freynir, was it? It’s true she may be the last of the elves.”

“Yes, exactly my point! She is truly the last one. If more are not made by any means necessary, then these pure elves really will go extinct!!”

“But she’s an elf. If the legends are true, don’t they live for more than ten thousand years? Whatever the case, she has an exceptionally long lifespan.”

Old Elinalva stopped speaking when she heard Melehe.

And the pointing sky pirate girl kept going.

“Ten thousand years is a long time. She could outlive the entire human race. She might look like the last one to us, but she only has to meet one person over the course of ten thousand years to get married, so she has no reason to rush. So you happened to discover the final female elf and now you have to chop her to pieces to make more? And you have to kill humans and let them rot to maybe create a male elf? Go to hell. None of that is necessary.”

None of the supposed problems were an issue for the elf girl herself.

What was the pressing reason to ignore her own wishes and chop her up to immediately make more?

The answer was obvious.

“You’re an ugly old witch. Which means, unlike my mom, you age normally. You’re a second-rate witch who couldn’t become one of the Limit Breakers who can ignore their natural lifespan.”

“…Wha-?”

“That is why you want to make more elves right this instant. You want to see the elves prosper in your lifetime. But that has nothing at all to do with the fate of elves as a whole. It’s just your personal desire to see it. Don’t mess with Freynir’s life and future for something like that!”

This was a rejection of personal virtue.

A revelation of a lowly sin.

By arguing down their opponent with impeccable logic, anyone could claim the justice ruling the scene.

That was why a real witch would not act based on anything so vague. A basis that shifted from time to time, place to place, and situation to situation – and could even overturn reality at times – was far too risky.

“Unless we reach Limit Breaker status, the fate of an elf with a lifespan of more than ten thousand years is something none of us can ever see. And we know from personal experience that Limit Breakers are not just a fantasy. So if you do want to see the future of the elves, you don’t need to chop up Freynir – you need to start training yourself up as an observer. You abandoned your own dream from the moment you avoided looking at that and stopped improving yourself as a witch!!”

There was no logical rebuttal or even an emotional outburst.

Elinalva said nothing.

The old witch trembled with nothing at all left.

Witch battles started before the actual encounter began. Witches used their willpower to affect the outside world, borrow great power, and control magic, so psychological warfare could influence the battle more than it might seem.

And just then…

“Eep. W-wait, Melehe. This isn’t over yet.”

“Eh?”

But make no mistake.

Witches did not reject their own desire. They believed that, if those desires could be controlled, they made for a powerful motivator toward achieving one’s goals.

If they could be controlled.

Why was that qualifier necessary?

What happened to a witch who failed to control her desire?

“Ohhh…” groaned the old woman, her empty hand over her face.

It was a low, low moan.

But it didn’t end there. A pair of red lights glowed from between her fingers. Those were slit-like snake eyes. They had a color never seen in humans.

Viocia instantly mimicked her teacher.

Because she believed this is what Myousou Yagoro would have done.

“Freynir! Get behind me!!”

“?”

Viocia moved to protect the elf girl.

So she was a moment too late to nip the threat in the bud.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

Something exploded.

A thick tremor shook the air, large leaves scattered from the nearby tropical trees, and colorful birds took flight.

Elinalva had become a Voland.

A witch became a Voland when she was unable to keep up with the skill and education demanded by her cutting-edge witch’s broom, so her body was hijacked by the Formula Broom with a mind of its own. Had Elinalva been so mentally shaken her ability dropped to that level?

“Hee hee. I suppose I should be thanking you, young ladies.”

Wickedness swirled through the air.

This was unlike before. The old woman was enveloped by an unseen destructive desire powerful enough to cause her body to break down.

The situation was worse than they could have imagined. The world’s darkness was truly bottomless.

“This despair! This resignation!! This failure!!! I have finally been freed. I am Formula Broom – Reykjaholt, aka Demon Lord Snorri!! You poor old woman, I have one final gift for you since you did become my sacrifice. I will kill all of these people to make your greatest wish come true!!!”

Part 8

She was now a Voland.

If that was true, then Viocia’s group did not stand a chance.

“Your nine strings charm the nereids of the sea, the dryads of the trees, the muses of music, and all the many nymphs. Your human fingers control nature. Water, gather here. Form a twisted spear, Orpheus!!”

“Eep. Filling a hole in the ground with water or striking the water’s surface with a staff will create a great storm!!”

Melehe and Dorothea cried out together.

The water spear sent straight toward Demon Lord Snorri was a feint. Behind that, it supplied Dorothea with some of its water. This summoned wind magic which provided a blow as if from a wrecking ball.

Of course, neither of them thought this was enough to defeat a Voland.

Those were true monsters that not even Maleficium’s Benandanti could defeat.

The mangrove trees bent quite far as lots of fine sand flew into the air.

Melehe didn’t hesitate.

“Fall back! We need to get out of here for now!!”

They all turned 180 degrees and ran.

If they could at least save Freynir, the elf survivor, from the wicked witch’s clutches, that was the right choice. They had no real reason to risk serious injury settling things with Demon Lord Snorri.

However, they couldn’t just run in a straight line. They zigged and zagged and used the curtain of trees to its fullest and Melehe readied her Formula Broom.

Because…

“I don’t even need the 500m short-range runway. My broom can handle a direct vertical takeoff. No matter how powerful Demon Lord Snorri is, we can escape at our top speed as long as we get up above the forest’s trees.”

“No, don’t!!”

For some reason, failing witch Viocia grabbed at A-rank Melehe’s arm. Strongly.

At some point, all the sounds of wild birds crying and flapping their wings had vanished from the area.

Melehe was bewildered, but Viocia threw a stick as high as she could manage. It flew up above the tunnel of trees overhead.

It sounded more like vaporization than sizzling. After a flash of light, the branch vanished.

Dorothea’s shoulders shrank down.

“Eep!?”

“All of the birds that took flight earlier were killed. But the bunnies and crabs running around are fine. I think that means we’re done for if we thoughtlessly go up above the trees!”

“Witches cannot fly in Lady Elinalva’s territory.”

Something passed by overhead at extreme speed. The student witches couldn’t tell any more than that.

Freynir the elf spoke softly.

“There’s this zappy stuff in the ground created by the bedrock rubbing together and it makes compasses work, but if it’s thrown into disarray, it creates a special ‘wave’ and the reflections of that wave can be used to accurately determine the location of flying objects. The trees block it in the forest, but in the open air, an object moving up to Mach 9 can be shot down with 100% accuracy.”

“That means we can’t escape even with a Formula Broom.”

If they had to flee through the deep forest on foot, escape would be considerably more difficult.

Melehe ground her teeth together.

But just then, some light flashed.

An orange beam of heat attacked them from dead ahead. It was probably molten stone.

“!?”

Melehe immediately used water magic on a nearby river to construct a massive shield, but it ruptured before fully stopping the attack. The high temperature had triggered explosive boiling.

“I’m a bad match for this.”

The lava was thousands of degrees Celsius, but there was no sign of a wildfire starting. Even in a forest so thick with trees. The molten rock drew out serpentine S-shapes as it tore through the air, weaving between obstacles and accurately pursuing Viocia’s group.

“Eep. Bread crumbs are used to reach your destination in the deep forest and heated stone or brick is used to burn human flesh. This really is Hansel and Gretel!”

Zigzagging didn’t seem like it would be enough to avoid this, but trying to block it with magic alone would also just get them killed.

“Dorothea and the elf, this way! Viocia, hurry!!”

Melehe grabbed Viocia’s hands and leaped behind a large mossy boulder.

The four of them huddled together.

“We’ll never be able to stop every single attack. Elinalva – no, should I call her Demon Lord Snorri now? Regardless, she isn’t just staying put and firing projectiles. If we take too long, the Voland will walk right up to us.”

Just then, they heard a disconcerting sizzling sound. From right next to them. Demon Lord Snorri’s heat magic had pierced into the other side of the boulder they were using as a shield.

Melehe did her best to suppress her breathing and grinned.

“We need to move from cover to cover. Whether we’re putting as much distance between us and her as possible or we’re trying to circle around for a counterattack, we just need to ensure she loses sight of-”

The prep school ace never finished her sentence.

Because a sharp scattershot burst from only a few centimeters in front of her.

From the surface of the boulder.

Their shield had bared its fangs against them?

The heat magic piercing into the boulder had exploded, the shockwave had propagated through the boulder, and the rear side of the shield had burst where the girls were gathered. Were Viocia and the others even aware that thin and sharp blades of rock had been launched at them from extreme close range?

“Kah!”

“Melehe!!”

Viocia heard the sound of someone coughing up blood.

Melehe collapsed onto her side atop the fine white sand and convulsed unnaturally. It was clear she had taken more damage than the other girls huddled behind the shield.

Melehe Superlative had used her own body to protect the other three.

As the prep school’s ace, she had noticed what was happening before the others, giving her the chance to act.

“Ee hee hee.”

Laughter echoed from the depths of the forest.

No, there was a rustling coming from the thicket. Demon Lord Snorri was approaching from the front. Showing no caution regarding the girls.

“Ee hee, ha ha ha. Ah hah hah ha ha ha ha ha ha hah hah!! What’s wrong, little witches, aren’t you going to fight back? If not, you will all be killed and I will take the elf girl anyway!”

Acquiring Freynir wasn’t even his goal.

Demon Lord Snorri and Wicked Witch Elinalva were completely different people.

So Viocia and the others didn’t understand why he was still fixated on the elf. Perhaps it was all just a game for someone who didn’t care one way or the other.

“Wait!”

Someone grabbed at him from the side.

Freynir Nineworlds – probably the only elf remaining in the Dazzling Forest. The slender girl dropped the staff she was carrying and clung to the old woman’s hips.

She forgot all else and shouted.

“Don’t kill them! Killing them has nothing to do with your goal of bringing prosperity back to the elves!!”

Elinalva wanted to prevent the extinction of the elves and see them prosper once more, no matter what that required, so she couldn’t be violent with the only only surviving elf. That was Freynir’s reasoning and she was probably correct. Or maybe she was counting on the fondness that would have formed during the significant time they had spent together.

But it wasn’t going to work.

That might have worked with Elinalva, but it was meaningless with Demon Lord Snorri.

“Shut the hell up.”

That was all.

He rejected her plea, tore her off of him, and looked down at her with irritation in his eyes.

Then a dull impact rang out.

Followed by more. Many more.

“Uhh….”

“Are you gonna fight or not? If you wanna stop me, then you’ll have to kill this old hag.”

During this horrific display, Viocia found she could only hold onto Melehe’s limp form and watch the tragedy play out.

It wasn’t an issue of winning or losing.

Freynir didn’t want anyone to get hurt. Viocia only saw Elinalva as a scary old woman, but Freynir had lived with her and had to care deeply for her. Even if she was a dangerous person who intended to slice Freynir apart once the time was right.

Yet the Voland occupying her body attacked her so readily.

The elf girl’s skin and hair were covered in sand. She held her hands to her gut as if hiding something, so was she holding something there?

For example, the insignificant note Viocia had left with the plate of food?

“If you’re gonna be a nuisance, I’ll just havta break your arms and legs and tie them into knots. Is that what you want?”

Viocia and the other witches couldn’t do anything. Neither could Freynir the elf.

They could not defeat this Voland.

The situation was tumbling toward destruction beyond anything even Elinalva had wanted.

“Or how bout I tie all four of you together? Tie your hands together into one big, happy circle! Then you can cry and scream and bicker to your heart’s content without ever being separated again. Gya ha ha ha ha ha!!”

He would probably do it.

He wasn’t bound by any of this world’s rules or morals.

He would delight in any fleeting entertainment he thought up, even if it would devastate his host’s body. In fact, it would be unusual if he didn’t try out the destructive ideas that came to mind.

“Ah, ah…”

“Well, elfie!? Aren’t you gonna go crying to your Granny Elinalva who you betrayed and fled from? Of course, even if that old hag did want to stop me, she couldn’t take back control of a single damn finger!!!”

His palm rushed in.

From Freynir’s position down on the ground, it looked like a massive suspended ceiling. No one could escape that. The poor victim would simply be crushed, her bones shattered.

So.

When that palm stopped just before reaching her, it wasn’t Viocia or Freynir’s doing.

A steel baton had done it.

“?”

Just as the Voland questioned it, a massive explosion erupted.

It blasted Demon Lord Snorri straight back for several meters. The mangrove trees along that path could be heard breaking.

So who had caused this miracle?

“Sigh.”

His sigh was filled with exasperation.

He had unnatural blond hair and wore a boy’s sailor uniform and slacks. With just a bit of armor and a corset.

He held a special collapsible metal baton.

His other hand pet a large canine familiar he had likely borrowed from one of the prep schools and the tutor boy spoke with annoyance in his voice.

“What are you doing, Viocia?”

Part 9

Myousou Yagoro faced the Voland-ized old woman.

With one hand, the Voland dragged along a Formula Broom that was half broom and half pitchfork.

(The orange serpent is a self-forging fragment that forms its own core when it explodes. Sending the shockwave through the obstacle to cause a sharp rupture on the other side of the shield uses the same principle as a high-explosive squash head. But the weapon attacking anything in the air is more like a surface-to-air laser weapon that uses the EM waves from the telluric current to locate enemy craft.)

Yagoro used terminology from his time in the Force to assess the risk.

These kinds of things sometimes made him wonder if this world was being corrupted by knowledge from Earth or if Earth had actually been influenced by this world behind the scenes of history. But those fantasies were essentially meaningless. Unlike the butterfly dream, both worlds really did exist in this case.

Something began to squirm.

It was Demon Lord Snorri.

“I am Demon Lord Snorri.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“I am Voland! An actual Voland!! You’d better not think you can anger me and get away with it!!”

“Oh, shut up. You’re pretty annoying, don’tcha think? Here’s something you might be interested in: this isn’t the first time I’ve hunted down a mere Voland.”

They swung their baton and Formula Broom at the same moment and powerful magic clashed.

Demon Lord Snorri used the molten stone from Hansel and Gretel.

But in return, Yagoro used…

“Hm? What…did you do?”

“What do you think?”

“I didn’t…see anything? I don’t see anything! What the hell!? This lava is as real as it gets. I heated it up past 2000 degrees before launching it at you to cook up your flesh and blood. So…what is this? How are you holding it back with some invisible thing with no shape or mass? That isn’t even witchcraft!!”

“You’re already screwed. My preparations are already complete and the ring surrounding you has already closed.”

Yagoro spoke in a singsong voice.

He twirled his baton around to rest it on his shoulder before continuing.

“Hey, Voland, this is magic. If you’d done your homework, you’d know the answer.”

He wasn’t even blocking it anymore.

Yagoro took sharp steps to the right and left, nimbly dodging the orange serpents roasting the air while he sharply approached Demon Lord Snorri.

The Voland’s attacks were powerful, but that required him to plant his feet firmly on the ground to support his body when he launched those attacks. Which meant he was forced to stay in one place for just a moment.

Fearfully thinking his opponent would fight back before approaching actually created an opening.

He foolishly allowed Yagoro to approach.

“Kh!?”

He immediately moved back.

But Yagoro stepped firmly forward with thrice the speed.

“I have just one thing to say to you.”

“Go to-”

“This is revenge for beating up my student.”

The tutor boy didn’t wait for a rebuttal.

He swung his baton all at once.

He felt the dull impact in his wrist.

As powerful as the Voland was, his host was still an old woman. And the Formula Broom that combined a broom with a pitchfork was not designed for defense.

“Gah...kah. Are you kidding me, you bastard?”

“What, out of tricks already? Remind me why I’m supposed to take you seriously, second-rate?”

“Gahhhh!!”

Molten rock spread out all over the place.

But it didn’t matter.

Yagoro dodged it with three sharp steps and then spun the tip of his baton.

The throat borrowed from the old woman went dry.

“Is that it?” said the collection of wisdom. “Is that what you’ve done!?”

“Does that knowledge help you in any way?”

A powerful mass of wind burst out and slammed into Demon Lord Snorri at close range, blowing him away.

Part 10

The battle was over.

Wicked Witch Elinalva – no, Demon Lord Snorri lay collapsed and unmoving on the ground. This far from Temple School City, the Benandanti couldn’t arrive right away. For the time being, he would have to be restrained somehow – maybe tying him up with rope and trapping him in a cave – but the danger had passed for now.

“W-will Melehe be alright?”

“Mixing medicinal herbs is a key witch skill. I’ll tell you what you need, so go pick some herbs. Marigold or heal-all would be perfect for stopping her bleeding, but I’m not sure you’ll find them among all this tropical foliage… +1 point: start by checking for some aloe, especially aloe vera, Viocia. I’ll do the healing.”

“Okay!”

“And, Dorothea, do you have any extra bandages? I’d like to use them for their usual purpose.”

They were going to be busy for a while yet.

But there was one thing the failing witch wanted to say, so she came to a stop.

“You’re going to be okay now, Freyni-”

Viocia trailed off while turned around.

The abused elf girl was staring own at the wicked old woman lying collapsed on the ground.

The look on her face was not what Viocia had expected.

She looked like a small child who had been taken to an amusement park for a day of fun and was then abandoned by her parents.

Elinalva Longhouse had been a cruel and wicked witch, but she had been the one person to find and accept the elf girl who had lived alone deep in the forest for so long. Yagoro and Viocia may have seen this as rescuing her, but she had to feel the same shock and despair as having her sole connection to the outside world severed.

Her back looked so small.

Freynir Nineworlds spoke in a beautiful voice without the tremor of a lie or falsehood.

“And now I’m all alone again.”

Part 11

“ATU 0729 – the ritual of the spring in which a gold axe, silver axe, and iron axe are traded for each other. Aquae Sulis – the bath of prayers and reversals which, despite being a hot spring of healing, can also be used for lead curse tablets. And the Black Mass – the intentional defilement of a holy ritual to alter the nature of the summoned power. I submerge this witchcraft device in the waters here and pray for a bright and glorious transformation.”

The students’ voices filled the Goddess’s Spring over and over.

The missing monument had been returned to its rightful position and the spring was functioning once more.

Visually, the brooms weren’t given any new parts and their color didn’t change.

But their presence was different.

Everyone could tell.

No one had told her to, but Dorothea knew exactly what to say as she pulled her broom up from the bottom of the spring.

“F-Formula Broom – Lyceum bisA.”

“Tch, only my specs improved. If my witch doesn’t improve herself too, this is all meaningless.”

The broom complained but hadn’t opposed the customization itself, so he just sounded more and more like a tsundere. If he really had given up on her, he would hijack her body and turn her into a Voland.

Meanwhile, another pair got along quite well.

Melehe held her wet broom with a confident smile. Her Formula Broom was heavily customized, a lot like an American motorcycle, so she had had some trouble dunking the whole thing into the spring.

“Formula Broom – Mount Parnassus bisMR…I guess would be your name?”

“A top rate performer does not let her instrument’s brand name intimidate her out of tuning it to her needs. The best musicians pay careful attention to their instrument and the stage on which they perform, Melehe.”

Most of the Formula Brooms had been improved in the F or A direction. There was the occasional B, E, and R as well. But MR – that is, multirole – was fairly rare. Did that make it a good match for Melehe who could handle vertical take offs and landings?

While watching the celebrating or awed students from a distance, Yagoro winked and spoke to the gyaru-style instructor next to him.

“You’re all about cost-effectiveness and saving money, Schanze, so I thought for sure you’d sneak your broom in there to get it customized too.”

“Totally shut up. If a self-taught witch gets that lazy with her cool financial reasoning, it’s the beginning of the end for her. This field trip was carefully calculated out for the students, so an instructor like me totally can’t accept the leftovers.”

Schanze smiled fearlessly while sounding a lot like a freelance mercenary.

Yagoro realized the witch who held a lucrative control over the ice market by running around town selling ice was also very earnest when it came to money.

“The standard model has its own advantages. A self-taught witch can’t rely on her old classmates and has to do everything herself, so it can be a problem if she specializes too far in one direction☆”

That made sense.

The self-taught witches who had chosen for themselves to not go to Maleficium had their own way of thinking.

(There’s also the Benandanti who recruit members by handing out standardized brooms to students who’ve lost their own brooms in the intense competition after arriving at Maleficium. And I think the used book seller is still using a standard model without advancing to a bis model.)

Getting into Maleficium and graduating without ever improving her broom was yet another sign of how extraordinary that bookseller was.

Flying witches entrusted their lives with their brooms, so they took good care of them. Unlike Yagoro who couldn’t fly no matter how far he advanced his magic because something kept interfering.

“…”

And.

“Huhh?”

Viocia alone tilted her head.

She dunked her Formula Broom in the Goddess’s Spring over and over.

“What’s going on? My broom isn’t changing.”

This time, it couldn’t be a malfunction or problem with the Water Temple as a whole.

Schanze smiled bitterly.

“Hm. That’s a used broom you bought, right? The previous owner totally could have made some cool adjustments to reject any further customization.”

“Ehh!?”

That was the problem with used products. You could get them at extreme discounts, but the principle of caveat emptor always applied.

“But that also means it’s totally already been customized in some way. Plus, as long as you get into Maleficium, you can modify the core all you want. If that adjustment is annoying you, you can totally remove it.”

Viocia groaned, her shoulders drooping.

All that effort and she had nothing to show for it. A restriction that could only be removed after getting into Maleficium wouldn’t help her with the extremely challenging entrance exam.

But despite this disappointing result, Viocia didn’t seem all that bothered.

Perhaps she had obtained something even more important.

“Um, I don’t think this is all bad.' If the previous owners have customized it so much you don’t need to customize it yourself, it sounds to me like you got a bargain.”

“It hurts more when it’s so obvious you’re lying. But I appreciate the thought.”

Someone new had joined the group.

She wasn’t even human.

Sine Dorothea was closest to Viocia, she decided to speak up on everyone else’s behalf.

“Um, Viocia? Wh-what are we going to do about her? Eep.”

The girl who everyone had thought was as extinct as the Japanese wolf fidgeted nervously at all the attention.

She was the elf named Freynir.

Viocia hugged her like a precious treasure with a big smile on her face.

“Heh heh. I’m going take her to live with me!!”

Today’s Qui- Monster Quiz from Hell💀

Yagoro: Okay, I have an actual quiz for all of you losers.

Viocia: …!?

Melehe: I-I can’t argue this time?

Dorothea: Eep.

Yagoro: You earn respect after you can solve these cases on your own. For now, you’re in the same boat as the dunce. The hints have been scattered all over the Dazzling Forest, so you should go back pretty far.

Viocia: I knew it was coming!! First he goes easy on us and then he hits us with true hell!!

Question: How and with what magical method did Myousou Yagoro defeat Demon Lord Snorri and rescue all the girls including Freynir? (10 points per blank, 100 points total)

The Aspect of Admiration was ATU (____).

The Three Little Pigs is the name most people know, but that isn’t the official name. Watch out for trick questions.

The important part is that the wolf was finally defeated after three stages: the (_______), the house of wood, and the house of brick. Three is an important number in witchcraft, so focus on it whenever you encounter it.

☆Hint: Focus on the number 3!

The rest is easy. The Aspect of Antiquity was (_____), the trio of vengeance gods from (____) mythology.

The Aspect of (_____) was the witch ceremony in which a (_______) is created by untying three (____).

The witches could not win and Freynir the elf could not win. But my addition activated the principle of (______) the charm, giving me the role of the brick house, which acted as a curse to weaken Demon Lord (____). With that, the cruel wolf is reduced to a simple (____).

This can be used as many times as you want as long as you don’t die. In the world of witches, defeat isn’t always meaningless. If you can lose in a way that sets up a later victory, it’s actually a valuable investment, don’tcha think?

That’s all. Viocia, and the rest of you too, any questions?

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