Veronica thinks like a politician, but isnt mean spirited.
We never stoped Chise and Elias "plot", they are still learning about themselves and one another, the author is applying realism on how their relationship is growing. There is only so much you can do to grow character out of their funk when they only have each other.
Personaly i love this arc, took some time to reachbthe core of every character introduced but now we have some fun things happening, i love seeing the diferent types of magic and Elias and Chise have new friends, seeing them stumble on the most simple ways of friendship is funny, more so because everyone deal with some time or other
Edit: almost forgot to share, maybe some of you know but there is spin offs of the main series, one is about a changeling P.I. in New York and the other os about a gender bent version of Chise and Elias situation that happens in France. The second is so-so in my opinion but the first one is amazing, you can find them on mangasee, they are still being made and the site uses the oficial scans.