The proficiency exam was so rife with trouble that the Hero Institute fell into a commotion for quite some time. First, Aliza and Danita were duly punished for having let their personal grudges interfere with the exam. As central figures in the case, Leonie and I were questioned about the situation during its investigation, and we were even called to the scene on the day the pair’s punishment was to be decided.
“It isn’t a personal grudge! I am simply trying to maintain the order of the Institute!”
Aliza wasn’t ready to acknowledge what she had done. Since her daughter, Danita, had already confessed to everything and acknowledged her wrongdoings, Aliza’s persistence only served to leave a bad impression, but regardless, she continued to stubbornly assert that what she had done wasn’t wrong. On top of that, she furiously protested the idea she and her daughter should be punished. Just as everyone present—the school principal, the teacher in charge of our year, Leonie, and me—were getting fed up with her antics, a crisp sound reverberated throughout the room.
Danita had slapped Aliza across the face.
“Stop acting so pathetic! What do you think Dad would say?!”
Pressured by Danita’s menacing, tearful appeal, Aliza finally began to behave herself. This incident seemed to have set her straight and practically turned her into a different person. From what I heard, after that, she submitted her resignation and disappeared from the Institute without ever having to face any consequences.
Danita was suspended from school for some time as her punishment. She had violated school rules in a number of ways, such as being in possession of an illegal scroll and defacing the teleportation circle at the proficiency exam. However, since she had committed most of these offenses under pressure from Aliza, the school decided to give her a lighter punishment, taking her talent and age into consideration.
After being handed down her suspension, Danita holed up in her room and seemed to leave her tyrannical attitude behind her. This is a bit of a digression, but I’d heard a student passing by her room had witnessed a juicy exchange between Danita and one of her followers.
Apparently, the flunky had been pacing back and forth in front of her room.
“If you’ve got somethin’ to say to me, then spit it out.”
“…I’m sorry. I know I can’t ask you to forgive me, but I—”
“I won’t forgive you.”
“…Wh-what?”
“At least, not until you treat me to lunch. Once my suspension is over, y’know.”
“…! Danita…”
“One lunch special, extra large.”
“Yes… You’ve got it, Danita…!”
Leonie was given high praise for the survival skills she’d displayed on the deserted island. Many of the students owed their lives to her convenience magic, and thanks to the words of appreciation she received from both the students who had been saved and their guardians, the Institute had no choice but to acknowledge her achievement. Since Leonie and I had found out about Aliza’s involvement with the incident, the school offered to cut us a deal on the condition we didn’t tell anyone else an instructor had been behind the disaster during the proficiency exam.
For our silence, the school agreed to some discretionary adjustments to our school activities going forward.
As I was leaning against the wall by the entrance to the faculty building and waiting for someone, the door opened. I watched as a beautiful girl with silver hair came out.
“Hey, Leonie.”
“Ruchika… Were you waiting for me?”
“Yup. So how did it go? Did you reach an agreement?”
“Yes. They suggested adjusting my Gear so I can continue my path of researching convenience magic.”
According to the Institute, Leonie’s foremost talent that had been indicated by her Gear was still swordsmanship, and they had no intention to go against their beliefs in the Gear’s ultimate authority. Apparently, however, they could make artificial adjustments to her Gear to allow Leonie to keep developing convenience magic from now on.
“That means you can do what you want! Congrats, Leonie. That’s great to hear, right?”
I gave her a lighthearted reply, but her answer was unexpected.
“However, I declined their offer.”
“Huh?”
I blinked back at her in disbelief.
“Wh-why? After you finally got a chance to do what you wanted…”
“Oh, I’m sorry. The way I phrased that was misleading. To put it more accurately, I asked them for something even more extravagant.”
“‘Extravagant’?”
“Yes. I requested that I be able to study both my swordsmanship and convenience magic simultaneously.”
I listened, surprised, as Leonie went on:
“Indeed, I do love convenience magic. But I don’t want to give up on the path of swordsmanship my Gear has indicated to me.”
I asked her why, and she answered—
“I have what I want to do, and what I should do—and I want to do them both. Though you taught me the importance of following my passions, Ruchika, at the end of the day, I’m still the daughter of a hero.”
It seemed Leonie had, in a fashion, recognized the value of my lifestyle, the value of “doing what you want to do.” But she had also chosen not to neglect what she felt she should do. She also attributed the way everyone had ended up awkwardly thanking her for saving their lives on the deserted island to how she had “done what she felt she should do.”
“I see. Well, if that’s what you’ve decided, then that’s great, too.”
“You always respect my decisions, don’t you, Ruchika?”
“Of course I do! Because I love you!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Aw, come on, don’t be so cold!”
Leonie gave me an awkward smile as I pouted back at her.
“Hey, Ruchika. Can’t you hang out with us sometimes, too?”
“Sorry, I can’t today. But maybe next time!”