Elsie's Warning

Elsie stirred her coffee, resting her chin on one hand as she tilted her head to watch Wade's unconscious frown while reading the newspaper.

Her eyes were bright, with slightly upturned corners that made her gaze seem tender and affectionate.

But the boy before her seemed to be insulated from such signals. Unlike Elsie's former male classmates, he showed no signs of being captivated, his eyes lingering only on the black words printed on white paper.

"Tom Haik... That man is like a vulture fixated on carrion. He always likes to use sensational language to draw attention."

Elsie said slowly, "His reports may be unpleasant, but they aren't fabricated out of thin air. He's even correctly predicted several major events, so quite a few people in the American Wizarding World put a lot of faith in his reporting."

Wade looked up from the newspaper. "I've met reporters like that before. They never seem to care what the truth is—they only care about what readers want to see—"

"They paint noble people as despicable, portray brave people as cowardly, then dig into the reasons behind the actions of scoundrels, as if that makes them seem more clear-eyed and clever."

Elsie could not help laughing. "Haha, exactly... You can find people like that anywhere... Just like how, no matter where you are, people are always driven by profit."

Watching Wade's expression, she leaned forward slightly and asked tentatively, "Speaking of which, Wade... Have you ever considered finding a partner in the United States? Someone like Mr. Marchioni, except from a more powerful family or organization."

"—Such as the Security Department of the Magical Congress of the United States of America?" Wade shook the newspaper. "Graves certainly picked himself a very thick thigh to cling to."

"Mm..." Elsie neither confirmed nor denied it,