A little lie and different plans

"How does it look, lady Seth?"

Melinda Fenrioette, with her golden hair particularly fluffy and not at all slicked back, asked the silver-haired woman while buttoning up her shirt after the examination in her dorm room.

"Once again, your HP does appear to regenerate during the night, and just like we discovered before, the amount you lose during the day gradually decreases."

The silver-haired woman breathed out, conjuring the floating words for the deafened girl to read.

"Which is a positive trend that doesn't deviate, correct~?"

"Indeed."

The gold-haired girl sitting on her bed swayed from side to side and hummed with satisfaction, but although the answer she got was positive, the mood of the silver-haired woman giving it certainly wasn't.

"Therefore, my journey back home for the summer break shouldn't be a problem… is that also correct?"

Melinda added, seeing that Seth wasn't particularly fond of speaking on the subject despite being the medic in charge of her.

"Young lady, I still am against it. Putting aside the consequences of someone of your status getting injured within the Empire, with the way the claw is lodged inside of you, traveling by either carriage or ship can prove to be fatal. Swaying on high waves and bumping on uneven roads are your greatest enemies at the moment."

The silver-haired woman pointed out with an upset expression that allowed the gold-haired girl to figure out that the elderly woman opposed even the idea itself.

"Putting the ship aside, the trouble of uneven and bumpy roads gets resolved by a luxurious carriage."

"What about bandits? Wild monsters? Other carriages losing control and crashing into yours? Terrible weather?"

Melinda shrugged her shoulders and responded with carelessness that very clearly didn't sit well with Lady Seth. The silver-haired woman immediately fired back with a series of rapid arguments that filled the air with a pale blue light as she conjured the floating words as fast as she spoke.

"I have an exceedingly capable individual willing to aid me, so nothing from what you said will be a problem."

Melinda waved her hand in front of her face, chasing the floating words away so she could speak while keeping eye contact with the other woman.

"Lady Seth, you are worrying over nothing. In the first place, if I didn't inform others about my injury, barely anyone would be able to tell. A pale complexion can be explained by a lack of sleep from studying for exams and so on. Even my deafness can be explained as my attempt to gain resistance to a status effect. While I am known to be stubborn enough to do something like that, I do not have any exhibitionist tendencies, so the claw itself would be kept hidden."

By that point it was certain that the gold-haired girl wasn't going to budge about her decision, although it could be said that the silver lining in that situation was that she still acted amicably and was trying to calm the silver-haired woman's worries.

"Like mother like daughter… Fine. I will make the report, including your decision and my permission. But I will not hold back on putting in my unwillingness to give it."

Seth mumbled the first part under her breath, conjuring floating letters only for the latter sentences.

"Thank you~!"

"..."

Melinda cheered out with a bright smile, and Seth quickly left the room, trying to act as a strict professional even though she couldn't help but smile back.

The gold-haired girl could be so incredibly charming when she opened up to someone, and the silver-haired woman visiting her for examination each day experienced that first-hand.

After Lady Seth left, some maid entered Melinda's room and curtsied.

"My lady, just to confirm, we will be leaving right after the end-of-the-year ceremony. Is there something we haven't packed yet?"

The maid straightened her back and spoke up, making sure her mouth was clearly visible.

"Camping gear."

"...c-camping gear…?"

Melinda nodded with a solemn expression and declared, causing the maid to blink a few times in confusion and sheepishly repeat the phrase.

"Yea."

The gold-haired girl clearly didn't see any problem and nodded once more.

"My lady… we… we discussed it, didn't we? With my current level, carrying you back to the Fenrioette mansion will take a day or two at most. Maybe shorter. There's no reason to camp outside at all…"

"Pfft! No! We're not going back to Diamondium, silly!"

The maid swallowed her saliva and pointed out, but the gold-haired girl snorted in response, waving her hand dismissively while rolling her eyes.

"W-we're not!?"

The maid's shoulders dropped as she asked in a devastated voice.

"Adi. The talk about returning home for the summer break was just for show. I thought it was obvious we would check out whether Silva Head holed up in the kobold's quarry. You know, the one where our scout was too scared to check in because of a bunch of rock-munchers."

Melinda let out a worried sigh and explained with a troubled expression.

"From the start, weren't we supposed to stay in Emeraldios Empire for a whole three years of my education…?"

She added, titling her head almost apologetically.

"...ohh… I… I apologize for my misunderstanding, my lady… I thought that you just changed your mind on the matter… I'll prepare accordingly while you're attending the ceremony!"

The maid's eyes widened in understanding as the facts clicked in her head, and she shook her head before declaring in a professional voice.

"I'm sorry, Adi. Did you make plans back in Diamondium?"

"Not at all, my lady! Please don't worry about something so trivial!"

Melinda apologized, making a guilty expression, and the maid hurriedly stepped closer and assured her.

"You know what? Let's ditch the ceremony and go. At this time of the year, the merchants in the city will rack up their prices anyway. We can buy equipment along the way in some small town instead."

The gold-haired girl perked up and pointed out while grabbing onto the maid's arm.

"...why do you sound as if you never intended to attend the ceremony…?"

The maid squinted her eyes at Melinda and murmured in suspicion.

"Hmm? What about the ceremony? Sorry, Adi, I wasn't looking from the beginning. Could you repeat that?"

"I merely said that the end-of-the-year ceremony is but a formality and is important only for the graduating students anyway."

Melinda leaned forward and turned her head to have a better look at the maid's mouth before asking, but the other girl dodged the question and made up another answer on the spot.-