Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 419 Xia Luoluo's Decision
"You should have used a more appropriate way of communicating."

at dusk.

After Ritas was released by the enraged Aunt Mint, he realized that the woman was perhaps the most formidable member of the Elson family. Ritas then prepared to return to the secluded courtyard within the Elson mansion where he had always resided.

I'll be more careful next time.

"Peeking out a little from the fairy tale book," Wayne replied.

There will never be a next time.

Ritas, who showed absolutely no remorse, sighed, once again confirming that Wayne had deliberately used a phrase that could lead to misunderstandings.

Tomorrow, Ritas plans to leave the West and return to Ers Academy.

However, there was still one thing to take care of during this trip back to the western border.

In reality, this wasn't a big deal and could have been resolved long ago. But for days, the other party hadn't shown up. As time went on, it turned into a stalemate, a test of patience between the two sides.

Ritas admitted that his opponent had more free time. Therefore, he decided to concede defeat.
Just as Ritas glanced around, trying to check if the other person was still there, a voice came from behind him.

"Ah! Ritas!"

"."

Some people can really let others know who they are just by making a slight sound.

"Ugh"

"What do you mean by sighing without even turning your head?!"

"I'm lamenting that with such a vast mansion as Elson's, why did I have to take this path?"

"Stop talking nonsense, come here, come here right now!"

And so, Ritas, who was passing by Charlotte's yard, was invited into the hut.

What are you doing?

"Why don't you just take a look and you'll see?"

"Making waste paper?"

"What do you mean!"

Inside Charlotte's cottage, Ritas and Charlotte were bickering at a messy table.

Meanwhile, Wayne, who had been secretly observing from within the fairy tale book, discovered that Charlotte was actually a very special person to Ritas.

In fact, Ritas often reveals an expression of obvious disdain and contempt for others' intelligence, and inwardly criticizes their foolish behavior. But only when facing Charlotte does he usually say these things directly.

Although it wasn't a good thing, Wayne truly felt the "weight" that her senior had accumulated with Ritas over a long period of time.

"After all that happened, the family was finally able to hang up Mom's portraits openly again, wasn't they?"

Xia Luoluo scratched her head, looking somewhat awkward.

Although her condition had been basically stable for ten years and there were no signs of relapse, her family had always held the idea of ​​"avoiding mistakes rather than seeking merit" and tried their best to keep anything related to Sofia out of sight to avoid upsetting her.

As for Xia Luoluo herself, she wasn't entirely sure if she was truly "cured." After all, she hadn't intentionally triggered her illness back then. Furthermore, her episodes had undeniably affected and impacted others to some extent. Therefore, she had been suppressing her feelings all these years.

However, after experiencing those things in the fairy tale world and saying goodbye to Sophia in person, Xia Luoluo finally resolved the knot in her heart.

So, in the days after returning to Elson's mansion, she had the housekeepers dig out all the portraits and relics that had been sealed away for many years.

"Um"

Ritas nodded with a subtle expression.

Today, the Elson House, especially the main house, has its corridors and room walls covered with various portraits of Sofia.

While they spent time together in the fairytale world, Ritas never realized that Sophia was the kind of person who liked to leave her mark and be conspicuous. However, upon reflection, if it weren't for this personality trait, Sophia probably wouldn't have been able to create her own unique "recording magic."

"But what do you think of those portraits, Ritas?"

"...See with your eyes?"

"Forget it. I'll just be blunt. Although I don't know when or who drew those pictures, they don't really look like Mom. So, I thought I'd draw Mom's appearance accurately while I still remember it."

A rare, miraculous event occurred, allowing her to see her mother, who had passed away many years ago, again. Charlotte didn't want to gradually forget Sophia's presence, as had happened before.

only.
Charlotte, Ritas, and Wayne, who peeked out, looked at Charlotte's draft together and then remained silent for a long time.

The good news is that the mystery of what Xia Luoluo was drawing in the hospital room has been solved.

"come on."

"Wait, wait, wait! Did I call you here just to cheer me on? I remember you're pretty good at drawing, and you have a good memory too. So, could you draw a picture of my mom for me?"

Charlotte grabbed Ritas, who was turning to leave, and demanded.

"My drawing skills are very limited; I only briefly learned the basics a few years ago. So, rather than calling my paintings 'drawing,' it's more like using magic to reproduce the images in my mind as accurately as possible."

As Ritas began to speak in very complicated and difficult words, Charlotte, who had been stunned for a moment, realized that this was the other party's unique way of expressing reluctance.

Since Ritas is leaving the next day, the time may indeed be a bit tight.

However, Charlotte did indeed want a painting that could perfectly reproduce Sophia's image.

After struggling internally for a while, Xia Luoluo gritted her teeth and decided to go all out.

"...Over all these years, I've never asked you for anything. So...just this once, just this once...please draw me one, okay? Brother—"

With her head burning like a bomb about to explode, Xia Luoluo pleaded in a squeezing, mosquito-like voice.

And Ritas
"!"

After a look of extreme terror appeared on his face, he unconsciously took a few steps back and bumped into the table.

"Is it really necessary to exaggerate like this!"

Seeing Ritas's trembling lips and the look on his face as if he had witnessed the most terrifying scene in the world, Charlotte shouted angrily. In her feverish mind, Charlotte recalled the most correct way to drive Ritas, which she, the Bathing Goddess, and Millie had come up with in the fairy tale world.

"Stop talking nonsense! Draw it for me!"

With her face flushed red, Xia Luoluo threatened, looking as if she wanted to take Ritas down with her.

After a series of subtle changes in his expression, Ritas finally nodded in agreement with a sigh of resignation.

"Aren't you going to check on Roland? You'll probably have a lot to say to him once he wakes up, even though he's 'asleep' again now."

A short while later, Ritas, who had just packed up some painting supplies and was about to go back to his hut to paint, casually asked...

In fact, during the period when Roland was in a coma, Charlotte stayed by his bedside almost the entire time.

But after Roland woke up, Charlotte rushed off to do other things first.

If people didn't know the actual situation, they might think that Xia Luoluo didn't care about her father's situation at all.

It can only be said that Xia Luoluo has this peculiar charm that makes her unable to grasp the essentials of doing things and easily misunderstood by others.

"No rush. Anyway, what I can say shouldn't be anything big. There's no need to say it right away. There's plenty of time later. We can bother the old man when he's feeling better."

Charlotte spoke with a clear understanding of her own limitations, and after a moment of silence, she spoke again as if she had made up her mind.
"I intend to stay in the Western Region."

"Oh."

“Oh? What?! You should show some more interest. I'm planning to give up my studies and focus on helping out at home!”

Xia Luoluo said with great dissatisfaction.

"."

After being annoyed, Ritas stopped what he was doing and thought about it for a moment.

What to say?

Ritas found this to be truly amazing.

He couldn't fathom what use Xia Luoluo would have staying in the Western Territory. Nor could he fathom what effect Xia Luoluo's return to the Bayano Military Magic Academy would have.

"That's true. If I remember correctly, Bayano and Erles are different; it's been almost a month since school started. Graduating is difficult enough, let alone having to bear the burden of 'skipping classes for a month without a reason.' So, it's better to prepare for the next cohort early."

"It's not because I can't graduate that I'm not going back! Besides, if I can't graduate from Baiano, I might be able to graduate from another college, right? I performed so well at the college exchange meeting, maybe another college will try to recruit me!"

"you"

What champion?
Ritas was speechless for a moment.

The recruitment drive for the college exchange program is aimed at the winners of those projects. Charlotte, this "tourist" who's been active somewhere, doesn't meet the recruitment criteria for the exchange program at all.

Even if Ritas didn't care about Charlotte's feelings, he really couldn't directly question a silly child who didn't even understand the rules. So, his next words turned into a sigh.

"It's good that you know I'm actually in high demand!"

Taking Ritas's silence as a sign of being speechless, Charlotte raised her chin and, under Ritas's complicated gaze, began to speak seriously.

"Regarding those events in the Western Regions—no, I should say I was involved in almost every single one of them, starting from the academy exchange meeting. However, in none of those events, I was ultimately unable to accomplish anything."

Xia Luoluo sighed and scratched her cheek.
"It's not that I want to be the 'protagonist' of these big events or anything. It's just that I feel it's about time to face myself. Looking back, whether it was leaving the West or going to Baiano, I had some very childish ideas. For example, I wanted to prove that the West was just not suitable for me. For example, in following in your and Kurt's footsteps, I was actually being well protected by everyone. However, I didn't realize this. Or rather, even if I did, I didn't want to admit it."

Hearing Charlotte's words, Ritas raised his eyes and stared intently at her face.

Ritas realized that he hadn't observed Xia Luoluo closely for a long time. And Xia Luoluo, in fact, was slowly growing up in her own way.

At least it was no longer the crooked face he remembered.

"So, although I don't know yet what I can do by staying in the West and by the old man's side, I will at least try to find and shoulder what I can and should shoulder."

As Xia Luoluo expressed her decision, Ritas, who had already "updated" Xia Luoluo's information in his mind, nodded to his stepsister, who was now truly an adult.

"You will definitely find something that is truly right for you."

"Although Sister Xia Luoluo wasn't going back with us anyway, there was still a faint sense of sadness about parting."

After leaving Charlotte's residence, Wayne poked half of her forehead out of the magic book and said this.

"Really? Since you're talking about 'us' instead of Xia Luoluo, does that mean you plan to just keep following me like this?"

"Is it my brother's special ability to suddenly bring up something that's tacitly understood but never mentioned, and then calmly state it out?"

Viyn, whose heart skipped a beat, calmed herself and said with a hint of resentment,

"Indeed, even though I'm my brother's sister, it's not appropriate for us to be together forever. But for now, I need to recover with my brother. I don't think he'll just kick me out like this, since I'm not capable of taking care of myself, right?"

"."

Although there was no answer, Ritas certainly couldn't get rid of the current Vayne.

To be on the safe side, it would be best for Wayne to find her true body, or at least solidify her current form into a new one, before leaving Ritas.

However, having Wayne with him all the time would obviously be an obstacle to Ritas's future academic life.

Wayne doesn't seem like the type to stay obediently inside a book forever. So, it's inevitable that some students will see Professor Ritas talking to the paper figures in his books from time to time, and the paper figures occasionally even jumping out of the book.

But it's like having too much debt and not worrying about it.

Compared to the real headaches, Vayne's situation was just a minor issue in her life at Ritas Academy.
Upon returning to his residence, Ritas discovered that the "big problem" had not yet returned to the Elson mansion.

As "price" for getting rid of the White Wings Gospel Church, Miriam stayed with the Gospel Church during this period.

I wonder if Miriam, now a holy son of the Evangelical Church, who is now living a life of despair and performing various rituals that are merely superficial, regrets his words about "wanting to help the professor."

With Dino, the Elson family's head butler, accompanying him, Ritas wasn't worried about things in Miriam. They would naturally join him when they set off tomorrow.

However, with Miriam absent, that "unfinished business" may need to be postponed for a while longer.

Just as Ritas had set up his painting tools, mixed the paints, and was preparing to begin fulfilling Charlotte's request...

With a long-awaited sound, the white disc placed on the low table beside him began to slowly unfold.
(End of this chapter)