The next day.

Olivia and Sara woke up in Prat after returning from chasing after Safras, whom Lily defeated in their stead.

The two prepared themselves and headed to the bar where they had an appointment.

This time, the bar was completely empty. No guests were there and even the owner was not seen. Only the back of a person was visible as that person sat at the counter, drinking water.

"Where’s the owner?" Olivia asked the person who wore a robe.

"Did you send him away?" Sara wondered, tilting her head.

The person nodded which led to Olivia heaving a sigh.

"Well, there’s no need to ask you but you did your part, right?" she asked after also taking a seat.

Again, the person just nodded.

"..."

Olivia inspected the person’s body and saw no signs of any injuries.

Yesterday, their group split up in two to chase after two demons. The demon Sara and Olivia were chasing was defeated by Lily whereas the robe-wearing person was chasing a demon alone.

Safras, one of their targets, was a reportedly low A-rank demon while the other demon, who was also fleeing from them, was at least a middle A-rank demon. And considering how the power hierarchy among the A-rank demons worked, the gap between a low and middle-ranked demon was already wide.

"..."

The person was about to open their mouth but Ophelia took the initiative.

"Our target was already dealt with." she stated.

A faint smirk crept onto her face.

"However, someone else snatched our prey from us."

"You won’t believe it but we met Lily yesterday! When we arrived at the scene, we found her alongside our target!" Sara chimed in excitedly, slamming the counter in the process.

The person did react.

"You won’t like this but it seems like she knows about you by now..." Olivia remarked.

"..."

The person’s head turned to Olivia.

"Sara couldn’t keep her big mouth shut in front of her and accidentally mentioned your name."

"Of course, she did not actually state your current status but it doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots with the existing information." Olivia added.

"S-sorry..." Sara said, scratching the back of her head awkwardly.

Then, the person leaned back slightly and rubbed their forehead with the fingers.

"Whatever." the person sighed tiredly.

The calm voice belonged to a young man.

"She would have known soon anyways." he said.

"?"

He took out the newspapers from his robe.

Both Sara and Olivia looked at it.

"It’s time for the next step." the young man said.

The other two raised their eyebrows at the sight of the main article.

It stated that Lucio Graymen, the ruler of Loogam, Stakew and Malnor, officially announced a world conference to be held in Loogam in one month.

"Is he crazy...? Who does he think he is...?" Olivia muttered taken aback.

Normally, each ruler would have received a formal letter with an invitation in it instead of being called out per the newspapers.

"I guess as the ruler of three nations he can get away with this much." he replied.

"What will you do, Olivia?" Sara asked curiously.

"We will participate."

"?!"

Olivia widened her eyes at his response.

"W-we?" Sara stuttered.

"To me, it appears like he’s calling us out. So why don’t we answer his desperate call?"

"Maybe that guy will appear, too." the man added quietly.

He stood up from his seat and put some money on the counter.

"We will leave."

"W-wait! So abruptly? You still haven’t explained yourself properly!" Olivia stated.

However, Sara stood up, too, and followed him.

"Well, if it’s him, then we can just trust him, right? I’m sure he knows what to do." Sara said with a wide smile.

She looked up at his face.

"Right, Mika?" she said.

There was no halo above his head and he always wore a robe to hide his identity but it was definitely Mika Elbar.

"..."

He tugged on his hood to cover his golden hair, his apathetic blue eyes and its cross-shaped white pupils.

"Jeez..." Olivia had to sigh again before she also got up and went after them.

For the past two years, she worked with him as Hunters.

Mika, who was the secret leader of Hunters, kept his word and actively hunted down threats, especially demons.

Grat and Loogam were neglected for the time being but he and his own group eliminated a huge number of demons in the other three nations. And among those three nations, Rostanta was recently declared free from any demons by Hunters.

However, Mika’s main goal to find Dreyar was not achieved yet as Mika could not find him or any traces of him yet.

Still, Mika was optimistic that he could finally get his hands on Dreyar’s whereabouts on the day of the world conference which would be held in Loogam. After all, Mika did some research on his own and found out who Lucio really was. And not just him but the rest of his squad and a few people from the Grand Order knew about him.

They did not do anything against him yet purely because they were preparing.

"Olivia. Sara. You two can return for now. I will get in contact with you before the world conference." Mika stated.

"What will you do from now on?" Sara asked.

"Doing what I always do."

In other words, slaying demons.

"I knew it..." Sara huffed.

Mika was about to step outside.

"By the way, Lily left a message for you, Mika." Olivia stated, crossing her arms.

"?"

Mika turned around and looked at the smiling Olivia.

She told him what Lily said yesterday.

"And? What will be your answer?"

"..."

Mika just turned his back on her.

"I will think about it." he said.

A few days later.

Lily, who arrived first in Fuera, reunited with her classmates and Ophelia after each one of them completed their quests.

And while they reported about their quests, Lily kept it vague and just stated that her quest was handled successfully as well.

She told no one, not even Ophelia, about her encounter with Olivia and Sara.

Just like Olivia told Mika, Lily connected the dots and came to the conclusion that Mika was the leader of Hunters. However, she decided to keep it a secret from the others for now as she understood that there was a reason why Mika was trying to hide himself from the others, including her.

"Lily, are you alright? You appear absentminded for a while now." Lisa said worriedly.

"H-huh? I-I’m fine, h-haha..." Lily replied clumsily, laughing stiffly.

She was currently in a carriage with some of her classmates as they traveled back to Loogam.

"..."

The classmates, who were with her in the carriage, were not convinced by her act but they decided for Lily to tell them about her problem on her own.

"S-so what were you talking about again...?" Lily asked nervously.

"See? You spaced out." Lisa sighed.

"We were talking about the upcoming world conference." Rachel answered.

"It seems like the location would be the academy itself but on that day your graduation would be also held." Ophelia said sternly.

"Thinking too deeply about it now would be useless. Once we arrive in Loogam, I will go and talk with Lucio." she added immediately, shrugging her shoulders.

"Graduation, huh...?" Lily muttered quietly.

"Do you already have plans, Lily?" Rachel wondered, catching her words.

Lily hesitated for a moment.

"I think about traveling for a while I suppose..." she lied, scratching her cheek with her finger and averting her gaze from the others.

"Traveling? Sounds nice, too." Ophelia commented genuinely surprised.

"W-what about you? Do you have any plans?" Lily asked the others.

Lisa was the first one to answer.

"I was thinking about joining the teaching staff in Loogam." she said pensively.

"..."

Ophelia looked at her indifferently.

"Are you sure, Lisa? Teaching others, especially kids like you, can be a pain in the ass sometimes." she joked.

"Then, why are you still a teacher?" Lisa retorted with a wry expression.

"Not long anymore."

"?"

"After you all graduate, I will resign from my position and concentrate on my other occupation." Ophelia stated with a faint smile.

The others thought that she meant the Grand Order. After all, she was a full-fledged member.

"Makes sense I guess...?" Rachel muttered, tilting her head.

"What about you, Rachel?" Lily wondered.

Rachel smiled.

"I was thinking of traveling, too, while I train myself." she responded, looking out of the window.

"Do you perhaps plan on joining the Grand Order, too?" Lisa asked.

"No, not really." Rachel replied.

"Hm... Then, what’s your reason for getting stronger? Aren’t you satisfied?"

The girls kept chatting while Lily became absentminded again.

Everyone talked about their bright future whereas Lily had to hide the fact that she was out for Leviathan’s blood.

No one knew about that as she did not want to be stopped by them or make them worry.

Or, in the worst case, make them join her.