Trouble!

"Was Cardinal Kelas talking to me in the first place? Please excuse my manners, headmaster. I merely thought that since his excellency spoke in such a familiar manner, he was talking to one of his knights."

"!!!"

The gold-haired girl tilted her head before politely curtsying for the third time and explaining with a soft smile that reached nowhere near her sharp eyes. This made both the men behind the desk and the two knights flinch angrily.

"Pardon my cluelessness in this regard, gentlemen, but what am I defending myself against? I was under the impression that I was called here to discuss some matters regarding my enrollment and maybe to receive some pointers. That kind of thing."

Melinda said, tilting her head to the other side without changing her expression or tone.

"Your enrolment?! ENROLMENT!? Diamondium kingdom has used this whole exchange program as a way to slap Emeraldios Empire in the face!"

The blond-haired Cardinal's face turned even redder and he stood up to leash out while slamming his hands against the crescent-shaped desk.

"YOU have slapped the high priest of the Chainlink port city! Harmed his bodyguards! Not only that, you arrived here at level 49, which is the closest you could possibly be to the limit set by our Empire! To make things even worse, you have enslaved the goddess Perservance's champion using some sly ability! Inexcusable! Absolutely inexcusable! YOU'RE EXPELLED! YOUR FOOT SHOULD HAVE NEVER STEPPED ONTO THE EMPIRE'S LAND! The only reason we didn't petition to start a war in response to your provocation is because our beloved Empress is aware that this whole thing was just a vile trick of a small group of Diamondium's aristocrats who oppose your current King's wishes! Your plans have been seen through and foiled! Leave!"

"..."

Kelas roared so feverishly that the droplets of his saliva sprinkled all over the desk, causing the whole room to go silent - especially Zane, whose jaw dropped as his eyes widened in a sudden realization.

"W-wait! This is a misunderstanding! All of it has an explanation. Our lady would never…!"

"Adi. Don't bother. There's no need to waste our efforts this."

The wide-eyed maid gasped and stepped forward, burnt by the guilt of one of her actions being assigned to the gold-haired girl, but Melinda reached out her hand and stopped Adrianna with an indifferent expression.

"Do you have anything to say in your defense against those statements, young lady Fenrioette?"

The black-haired headmaster, who remained completely calm through the Cardinal's lashing, asked the girl calmly. However, the contempt in his eyes clearly proved that he already believed every word of each accusation.

"Indeed, I have a few words to spare as a comment to such emotional speech."

Melinda nodded, continuing to smile.

"As for the slapping of the high priest. Calling a chaste woman a slut would earn someone that."

"...!"

The girl pointed out calmly, making the headmaster raise his brows - although he was the only one from that side to have a reaction like that.

"My level is a rather troubling case as at the start of the sea voyage, I was merely at level 10. I took the precautions far too late, and it ended up where we are now. I will not deny that the fault is fully on my side on that. Although not timely by any means, the countermeasures were put into action to make sure that the rules will not be breached, though."

Melinda added, showing off the EXP shackle secured firmly around her wrist.

"Accusations of me enslaving anyone is, simply put, gross. Everyone by my side is a legally employed paid worker who can leave if they wish so. I'd like to remind everyone present here that the Diamondium kingdom, since its conception, never established or supported the slavery of any intelligent races in the first place. Never. Comparatively, the Emeraldios Empire outlawed slavery only recently and hasn't uprooted those practices completely as of yet. In Diamondium Kingdom, we have active forces of so-called chain-hunters whose only purpose is hunting down slave merchants from other nations who dare to trespass on our territory foolish enough to try to capture, buy, or sell any member of intelligent races on our soil, be it a citizen or a simple traveler. Even if I had an ability that allowed some manner of control over people, as a proud citizen of Diamondium kingdom, I would have never used it against anything or anyone other than monsters."

"Hmph."

The girl added in a strict voice, but the Cardinal scoffed at her words.

"And finally, assuming that a member of the Fenrioette family would have any reason to stoop so low as to team up with the anti-crown faction is an unfortunate example of being foolishly unaware of the power dynamic in Diamondium kingdom."

"You…!"

Melinda added with a slightly wider smile that caused the Cardinal's face to burn red with anger once more.

"That said. Will I be wrong in considering Cardinal's words to be the opinion of everyone in the know on the matter?"

The gold-haired girl said, turning her attention to the headmaster.

"They are."

The black-haired man answered without skipping a beat, his expression turning back to a strict one.

"If that's the case, then excuse me, gentlemen. I have to pack my belongings."

Melinda declared softly while curtsying for the fourth and last time before turning around and gracefully walking past the armored knights to the door.

"Adi."

The gold-haired girl stopped in front of the door and called the brown-haired maid, who was on the verge of bursting into tears.

"A-at once, my lady…!"

Adrianna sniffled and rushed over to open the door for the girl.

"My lady! I'll stay behind and try to talk to those people. Don't do anything rash!"

Zane, who managed to compose himself, called out after Melinda with determination.

"Having the safety of the Jade Academy in mind, I see no reason why you wouldn't be able to do whatever you like, Zane."

"!!!"

"!!!"

Melinda responded with a light shrug, making both Zane and Adrianna flinch before leaving the office with her head held high.