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After seeing Elliot disappear in the corner, I knocked on the chairman’s door. I knew Maxwell was inside, and usually, I would’ve intruded without knocking, but he might’ve been on edge after that quarrel. I decided it was better to follow some manners.

“Who is it?”
“It’s me, Nicole.”

I didn’t know who might’ve been listening in the corridor, so I responded in a girly voice. Hearing my voice, Maxwell seemed to have cheered up as he replied.

“Nicole? You arrived at a great time. Quickly now, come in.”
“A great time?”

I asked while bending my head in puzzlement. That almost made Kabby slip off, but let’s ignore that for now. At any rate, he told me to go in, so it was better to do so promptly.

As I opened the door, Maxwell who looked to be at his wit’s end came to greet me. There was one overturned cup on the desk. It was probably Elliot’s deed.

“What happened here, old man. Elliot was actually angry this time, you know?”
“It was about cleaning up after your mess. I did not think he would get that angry. It seems the medicine was too effective for him”
“Cleaning after me?”

As I asked that, I sat down on the chair next to the desk. It was probably the same chair Elliot sat in earlier. Maxwell also did the same and closed the curtains behind him. He probably realized that he could be seen from the outside from the fact that I showed up.

“That’s right. Try to remember what you did the other day.”
“I ripped the kidnappers a new one.”
“Quite a frank reply I see. And legally speaking?”

I started to think. That place was a diplomat’s residence, so to speak, and I was an unidentified girl. Someone like that snuck inside, massacred six people in total, and even caught Tarkashire, who was technically a diplomat, bound his arms and stepped down on him.

“Uh, could it be that I’m in some deep s̲h̲i̲t̲?”
“What you did wasn’t wrong. I was backing you as well, after all. But it’s still full of problems from the legal perspective.”

There would’ve been fewer problems if Maxwell himself handled the matter. However, some unknown girl did it in his stead, and she was currently in hiding too. Since they had Elliot’s testimony, I probably wouldn’t be branded a criminal… But I was in a dangerous position nonetheless.

“And that became a problem. I used that to my advantage.”
“Used?”
“I mean for your case. You can’t keep appearing in the city using that form, right?”
“Ah, you mean that.”

If I kept appearing with that appearance, Elliot’s longing would be prolonged too much. I had to take my exit somewhere along the way.

“And so, I made Haumea be one of the spies I secretly hired and made her be responsible for the matter.”
“Responsible how?”
“I ordered her to investigate a suspicious individual and prevent the crime that accompanied it. Since she was unable to prevent it, I had her expelled from the kingdom.”
“Whaa!?”

Hearing about the expulsion made me shocked… But thinking about it, that form… Haumea was just an illusion. Even if she was deported somewhere, it wouldn’t exactly cause me problems.

“However, Elliot could not come to terms with that. He lashed out at me quite unusually.”
“Well, I can see why.”

From his point, a girl that was both his savior and a crush was expelled from the kingdom. Of course he would flip out.

But from Maxwell’s point, he managed to avoid any trouble and deal with a dangerous person by shifting all the blame on an imaginary person. At the same time, he was able to conveniently get rid of the Haumea illusion.

With that, Elliot would continue chasing that illusion for some time, while I could finally be free from him.

“Well, I feel bad for him, but we can say everything ended well, right?”
“You say that, but now I am the target of his anger… But I suppose I had that coming.”
“If you are aware of it, then deal with it.”
“I wonder whose fault it truly was if we get down to it?”

The spearhead was turned my way so I looked away and avoided it. Too bad for Maxwell, but it was a great help that I was able to direct Elliot’s love somewhere away from me. Lyell might even welcome this outcome, actually.

“With this, Elliot’s love would stay unrequited for some time and his interest in me would go away.”
“And by the time the scars of his first love heal, you would be gone from the academy, is that it?”
“Yeah, perfect, ain’t it?”
“That is under the assumption that you have learned Polymorph by then.”
“Ugh, I’ll just pray that my Gift (God’s Blessing) is able to cover that part.”
“Even Gift holders need to devote themselves to learn things, you know?”
“…I’ll try my best.”

I nodded to Maxwell’s remonstration, realizing I stirred up the trouble for myself. In reality, however, my magic skills increased exponentially within these three years. I was still below middle grade, but my skill at using it was clearly outside the realm of children.

At this rate, I still had three more years of elementary school, and three more years if I followed through senior high. I should be able to learn it by then.

When I reach the senior grades, I would have access to the underground library of the academy, which should rapidly increase my skill.