Chapter 32

**Chapter Thirty-Two** of the sixth volume of the *Witch Hat Atelier* manga series.

## Summary

Tetia, Richeh and Agott give Coco a tour around the Great Hall. They take her to the Commerce Plaza, an avenue with shops where witches can buy food and handcrafted magic items. They stop a moment to eat pointy bread-hats. Coco asks if they’ve all been there before, which Tetia confirms. She explains that many witches are born and raised at the Great Hall, going to class, choosing a mentor to study under and eventually, after passing their tests, becoming independent. After this, some witches form their own separate ateliers or join communities, like Kahln, but many others choose to live in the Great Hall. Coco wanders why Qifrey wanted to live in an isolated atelier. She realizes she doesn’t know much about her teacher. The girls then decide to go take a bath.

Once there, Coco is surprised that there’s a beach in the bath, and to top it off the water is warm. As they relax, the girls realize they were lucky their teachers were there to protect them. Coco says she wants to learn a wide variety of spells. Richeh and Tetia want to help her pass The Sincerity of the Shield test. Even Agott offers to help, complimenting Coco on the sylph shoes she made for her. The other girls are surprised by Agott expressing affection.

They see a magic sulpture of a horse made with water. Tetia explains that someone probably had an idea while relaxing and decided to manifest it as a sculpture so they wouldn’t forget it, but ended out leaving it at the bath (which seems a be a common occurrence). This gives Coco an idea for a spell. The girls decide to practice for a while before meeting with Olruggio.

Meanwhile, Olruggio finishes reporting the incident on Cape Romonon to Luluci and Galga. He blames Kukrow for leaving his student Euini behind, while Kukrow blames Alaira, the proctor. Ekoh and Etlan give Kukrow Euini’s hat back, and Galga tells him that according to the law, it is his duty to search for his student, since they couldn’t find him. Kukrow seems reticent, asking if there isn’t someone more suited for that task. Utowin threatens to spread the rumor that he abandoned his student, which would make his life at the Great Hall very difficult. Kukrow leaves after this, accepting to search for Euini.

Luluci tells Olruggio that what the brimmed-hat witches are planning is a mistery even for the Knights Moralis: attacking pointed-hat witches during an exam is unprecedented. She adds that the Knights Moralis will keep investigating this incident, and security outside the Great Hall will be reinforced.

As he leaves, Olruggio says out loud he’s lucky Easthies wasn’t there, and Utowin hears him. Utowin reveals he is from Godley, in the north, just like Olruggio, but it’s no wonder he doesn’t remmember him: while Olruggio was a prodigy, Utowin chose the spear instead of working at a desk creating spells, unworthy of Olruggio’s attention. He doesn’t believe Olruggio told the whole truth in his report. Qifrey’s atelier continues to be at the center of unprecedented events. Utowin is worried this is a sign of things to come.

Olruggio meets with the girls, who are having trouble coming up with a spell to create a flowing cold pack to make Qifrey feel better. Olruggio tells them they should try with a gentle and delicate spell rather than a powerful one. The girls finally manage to make the spell work and want to use it on Qifrey, while Olruggio tries to find a way to make money off of their idea. As they leave, a couple of young witches recognize Agott as a member of the Arkrome family. One of them, named Loroga, goes as far as calling her the black sheep of the librarian family.

## Characters by Appearance

* Tetia
* Coco
* Richeh
* Agott
* Olruggio
* Kukrow
* Galga
* Etoran
* Ekoh
* Utowin
* Luluci
* Loroga *(Debut)*
* Loroga's friend

## Chapter Notes

* It becomes known that Agott failed to secure a spot in her house and is known as 'the dropout'. This is mentioned in a brief conversation between Loroga and Loroga's friend on the last page of the chapter.