"I’m announcing the exam results. Neries Celein... you passed. However, you’ll be required to take makeup lessons to account for the time you were absent. Understood?"
"Yes! Thank you very much!!"
A few days after the practical exam, on the day the results were released, Neries beamed and bowed deeply to Professor Castle as he confirmed her success.
Overjoyed that she had officially avoided school expulsion, Neries was met with a round of applause and congratulatory cheers from Yugo and the rest of the group.
"You did it, Neries!" Yugo cried.
"Thank you! I only made it because you and everyone else lent me your strength!"
"It’s more than that," Misery added, praising her. "Your own efforts are finally bearing fruit. I’m so happy all your hard work has been rewarded today."
Neries gave a radiant smile to Yugo and Misery as they showered her with compliments. Verda and Peewee stepped up next, patting her on the shoulder.
"Looks like we’re in your debt again," Verda said. "We dragged you into our mess... I don’t even know what to say. I’m grateful, but I’m also sorry."
"Thank you for everything," Peewee added. "From talking sense into Neries to the special training... we really appreciate it."
"Don’t sweat it! Lending a hand to someone in trouble is just part of being a hero... and besides, helping each other out is what friends do!"
Yugo flashed a thumbs-up and attempted a wink that didn't quite land, punctuated by a practiced tongue-click. After the group laughed at his antics, Neries turned back to him with a look of profound sincerity.
"Yugo-san... thank you, truly. I think I really would have been expelled if you hadn’t been there. Being able to stay at the academy is entirely thanks to you."
"No way," Yugo countered. "Like Misery said, this happened because of your own hard work! In fact, didn't you learn the greatest magic of all during that fight?"
"Eh...? Magic...?" Neries wore a blank expression. She had certainly worked hard during her training, but she didn't recall learning any new spells.
Yugo gave her the answer with a wide grin. "Oh, you learned it, all right. The ultimate spell: Courage."
"Courage...?"
"That’s right! Because you found the courage to act as a decoy, we were able to defeat the Magic Armor Beast. And that wasn't the only time, was it? You’ve found the courage to take a lot of steps forward lately."
Told this, Neries looked back on the past few weeks and gave a small nod. Spilling out her weaknesses, finally stepping out of the room she had been cooped up in, making a promise with Misery about the future... all of those things had required her to find her resolve.
Each of those moments had become her strength and led her to this result. Neries felt as though she finally understood what Yugo was trying to say.
"Even if you're terrified, finding the strength to take that first step forward is an incredibly difficult thing to do. Maagi Magi Magii-de! You pulled it off, Neries, and that makes you a magnificent hero! You were awesome out there!"
"Yes! Um... thank you! Thank you so very much!" she shouted, bowing until her head nearly hit her knees.
Watching her, Yugo couldn't help but reflect. Change yourself, and you change the world. A certain hero had once left behind those words. Just as that hero said, Neries had shattered her shell and transformed herself; in doing so, she had fundamentally altered the world around her.
He felt certain she would continue to walk her own path now, side-by-side with friends she could trust. As he envisioned a bright future for her—one he was sure would be radiant—he nodded to himself, suddenly remembering a detail.
"Um, Professor Castle? Do you have a second?" Yugo asked, turning his attention toward Uno with a hint of hesitation.
Uno looked over at him, and Yugo asked the question burning in his mind. "What happened to Cyan? You mentioned something about his punishment earlier, right?"
"Ah, Fail. His formal expulsion was finalized just the other day," Uno replied. "He had already received a remarkably lenient sentence for interfering with the Security Force operation and essentially aiding criminals, yet he had the audacity to pull this stunt while the smoke from the last disturbance hadn't even cleared. There is no one left willing to shield him."
Fueled by a petty desire for revenge against his former party members, Cyan had tried to frame Neries, only to find himself the one cast out of the academy. There was no better word for it than karmic retribution.
The Warrior Shrine Maidens took in the news of Cyan’s inevitable downfall with solemn expressions.
"That makes two," Raiha remarked. "Two of the students called 'Hero Candidates' have now been purged from this academy."
"Egos was bad enough—hurting Yui and Fee, and trying to force himself on Raiha," Setsuna added. "But there’s a real darkness in the fact that Cyan managed to be even worse. It’s chilling."
Sakura looked troubled as well. "I remember seeing several other boys hanging around Cyan during that incident a while ago. It’s starting to feel like we can’t just dismiss this as two 'bad apples,' doesn’t it?"