Failing Witch:Volume2 Epilogue

Epilogue: Various Stairways

July had begun.

Sorbeddy Icing hadn’t done much business at the flea market and was left with lots of stock leftover.

“Please, Myousou, buy every book in this box☆”

“Why would I want a pile of unsold trash!?”

To escape the god of poverty hounding him, Yagoro fled to Carraway Cs Prep School’s structure building where a minor event was underway first thing in the morning.

The results of the official practice exam held at the end of June were in.

The practice exam had been a 24-hour written test. That meant the students had been tied to their desks, fighting their drowsiness and weariness as they continued writing out the correct answers. When to eat and nap was part of the strategy for that test of stamina, but there was no need for a Formula Broom.

“Oh, I went up a rank. I finally made it to D!”

“Hee hee. That’s wonderful, Viocia.”

Viocia hopped excitedly and Dorothea smiled. The glasses bandage girl had remained at C rank. With the practice exam results, it was easy to move up from the lower ranks but that got a lot harder as you moved up.

“…”

Melehe watched them both, uncertain how to react.

She was still A rank.

But in Melehe’s case, it would be very difficult to climb the ranks any further and leave behind her rivals. When you were already at the top, it became a defensive battle. And that battle truly began once the others started catching up.

As the big sister of a large family, Dorothea could celebrate her friend’s accomplishment even though it meant a close rival was approaching her position. Melehe must have been jealous of that ability. Because the witch way of life and witch values were based on beauty.

“Feeling better now, Viocia?”

“Yeah. If I’d been able to repair familiars back then, I might have been able to save those Dracae. I can’t just sit around. There’s no way to get better other than studying!”

“I see.”

“Teacher, why are you grinning like that?”

“No reason. I definitely wasn’t thinking about sharing the trivia that familiars aren’t just made and used – they can be gifted and sold as well. Anyway, if you can use this feeling to motivate yourself, then it’s a win for you, don’tcha think?”

Black.

Pitch black.

That was the color within Summon Restricted Magic School Maleficium’s massive lecture hall. All of the windows were covered by thick, light-blocking curtains, creating an artificial darkness similar to a movie theater.

This was the Court Theatre.

It was a weekly meeting at which the leaders of every committee and club were allowed to attend.

The decisions made here were considered to be the will of Maleficium’s student body.

“The mastermind Flamberg Wyrd has been arrested and all of the Divine Lances determining the Dracae control areas have been destroyed. That resolves the Dracae incident which used group control of familiars to claim air superiority.”

The speaker standing from one of the chairs filling the audience section was Benandanti Nancy. Only leaders were allowed in those seats, but even they were only considered the audience. Maleficium was simply on too great a scale.

“I must also report that this incident was not resolved exclusively by the Benandanti. We had assistance from the citizenry. Considerable assistance.”

“Oh?” The leader of the Channelers grinned in a teasing way. “Did you think you could avoid being censured as a wicked witch if you freely admitted to your failings?”

“I did nothing wrong. I simply decided keeping secrets would be the first step toward misdeeds.”

The Channeler fell silent.

She must have realized she had been baited into making just that argument.

The conflict between committees and clubs was nothing new. The committees served all equally at the command of the charismatic White Magic, giving them a socialist disposition, whereas the clubs promoted their own interests first and foremost and sought an expansion of individual liberty, giving them a capitalist disposition.

“The Dracae problem was resolved in the end, so pursuing this any further would be a waste of time.”

“That’s the problem with you noncombatant Witch Doctors. You don’t even have the strength to correct people’s misbehavior.”

“Shut up, Jongleur. If you’re only going to spread valueless information, I fail to see why you need to exist at all.”

“Raise your hand if you’re losing and need a boost! The Maidens are here to cheer for you all☆”

Nancy sighed.

This happened every single time, but the focus was slipping from the topic at hand to attempting to trip each other up.

And it was always the same person who brought things back on topic.

“Can’t we leave the final decision with her?” asked Benandanti Nancy, mildly annoyed that she had to. She turned to look at one person individually. “Isn’t that right, President Ulrike?”

That was enough to silence the fruitless bickering.

Even though the girl in question hadn’t spoken a word.

Someone else had simply mentioned her name.

While the right and left sides of the vast audience – the clubs and the committees – glared at each other from their factions that looked like a parted sea, the president sat in a leather chair up on a dais and merely listened to the conversation.

She was President Ulrike.

Of all of White Magic’s members, only she held a public position capable of bringing her opinions directly to Natural Magic and Ritual Magic, allowing her to influence the policies used to manage Maleficium as a whole. So all the school’s clubs and committees curried her favor in an attempt to get their opinions to the teachers and management.

White Magic – the student council. Ritual Magic – the board of faculty. Natural Magic – the board of directors.

Maleficium was run by those three groups, but White Magic actually had the greatest authority.

And Ulrike opened her mouth.

“Nancy.”

“Y-yes!?”

“Wicked Witch Flamberg thought our 99.9999% failure rate was too low and wished to increase it to a perfect 100%, ensuring that no one at all could pass the entrance exam, correct?”

“Y-yes. What about it?”

“In that case, she didn’t intend an indiscriminate attack on all exam students – she intended to locate those with a high probability of passing and mark them as priority targets. By her standards, that would save those innocent girls.”

“Well, there was an A rank girl at Liberty Ceridwen,” noted Nancy, but President Ulrike saw things differently.

“(She may have been after a different girl,)” she whispered.

“?”

“Anyway, I thank you all for your valuable opinions. That will be all.”

“But, president, you still haven’t determined a punishment for the foolish and ugly Benandanti who have failed so many times in a-”

“I said that will be all.”

The president girl repeated herself with a smile.

Like a receding wave, everyone pulled away from and gave pitying looks to the Channeler who had carelessly gotten greedy. How much of a failure had that one statement been?

Ulrike smoothly continued.

“Some of your opinions I am sure will receive agreement from Ritual Magic and Natural Magic right away. Others will be more difficult. That concludes this week’s Esbat. Now, everyone, may your next week be even more kind and beautiful than the last.”

The sunlight seals in the ceiling light fixtures emitted bright sunshine.

By then, only Ulrike remained.

Almost like the rest of the people had been swept away along with the darkness.

The president sat in her leather chair, not at all surprised to find herself alone.

She smiled thinly in the Court Theatre lined with empty seats, rolled her long, long hair around a lithe finger, and mentally reviewed everything that had been said.

Her hair was black, just like a certain boy’s natural hair.

She possessed that rare quality said to be a dye used in the greatest curse.

But that wasn’t all.

She held a broom with an estimated rank of S³.

That extraordinary witch’s broom was suspected to in fact be a trap for the witch trials.

It was not a bis, nor an MTD.

It was still a standard model with no additions because it had been so flawless to begin with that any modifications would only ruin its perfect balance.

In other words…

“No one must come in contact with the edge of the world. Don’t you agree, Formula Broom – Wittenberg?”

Meanwhile, Myousou Yagoro was faced with an unprecedented crisis.

He was in that shop only open at night.

And instead of on the 2nd floor where Viocia rented a room, he was down on the first floor.

In the sweet and bewitching shop itself.

Dancer Olivia bowed deeply to him.

“Teacher, I hear you did not just protect Viocia and her friends but also defeated that immoral instructor and settled an old debt we we weren’t even aware of. As a representative of everyone working at Sabbath Party, I express our utmost appreciation. Thank you so much.”

“Y-you’re welcome…”

“Now, then. You have the entire place to yourself tonight. And I am willing to offer services which aren’t normally available here. Hee hee. So what are you into personally? Don’t be shy – you can tell me anything.”

This was a problem.

A big problem.

Why were the rules so lax in this fantasy world? He could just enter an establishment like this. This was (truly) his first time entering one during business hours, and Viocia had to be studying just one floor above right now. Assuming she hadn’t given in to the drowsiness and passed out at her desk. Even with a scantily-clad dancer in front of him, he just couldn’t do it. If any guy could give into his desires in a situation like this, he couldn’t be human!!

Then Olivia released a bewitching giggle and leaned toward him while seated next to him on the sofa. She had the look of a cat toying with its captured prey.

“Or, teacher, is there a girl you’re interested in? If your heart already belongs to someone, then our services might make things awkward.”

“Um, what are you talking a-”

All of a sudden, Olivia stripped off her top. As casually as removing a T-shirt with both hands.

The sound effect?

Fwoosh and then boing.

“Alright, let’s have sex.”

“No!! This is all moving too fast!”

“Oh, dear. You don’t look too happy about having a willing girl right in front of you, teacher. Is that because a certain someone is so close by?”

“…”

“Hee hee. Who did you just picture in your head? C’mon, you can tell me☆”

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