While still being on guard for potential ambushes, the large group headed to Fuera, the capital of Rostanta.

On their way, they encountered monsters and bandits but they were dealt with effortlessly.

The students, especially those who were not familiar with Mika, still remained nervous in his presence but there were a few who tried to approach him. They asked him for advice on getting stronger as he was the leader of Hunters. And after seeing him interacting with those students, the other students, who were nervous at the beginning, slowly opened up.

Ophelia could not help but smile upon the sight of Mika helping out the second and first-year students, making him look like an actual upperclassman.

It was at such moments when she felt saddened about Mika’s fate that stripped him of a normal life.

A few days later, they arrived in Fuera without any real problems.

But because it was already night, Olivia assigned the students to guest rooms in the castle and announced a meeting early tomorrow.

"..."

Lily nervously stood in front of the room Mika was assigned to.

During their trip to Fuera, he and the white class had no opportunity to really talk with each other.

Now, there was a chance, however, she hesitated to knock on his door.

"He isn’t there, you know?"

"?!"

Lily quickly turned to Ophelia who was patrolling the floors with a small lamp in her hand.

"I-I..."

"Calm down, Lily. I know what you’re thinking." Ophelia stated empathetically.

"Just be a little longer patient. He will approach you on his own." she said reassuringly as she passed by Lily.

"..."

Lowspirited, Lily stared at Ophelia’s back which appeared smaller with every single step she took.

"What now?"

"..."

While everyone was mostly sleeping or resting in their rooms, Olivia and Mika were in Mika’s office which formerly belonged to Olivia but because she used that office mainly for work as the captain of the Grand Order, she passed the office to Mika, the leader of Hunters.

Mika was sitting on his seat as he went through the reports that freshly arrived whereas Olivia sat on the edge of the table with documents in her hands, too.

When they arrived in Fuera, they were informed about the flood of reports that were addressed to Hunters. They mostly contain information about the movements of demons across the globe aside from Grat.

"I guess the day of the world conference served as a signal for the demons to stop hiding." Olivia remarked as she read the reports.

Normally, the demons would try to stay low most of the time but since a few days ago, more people reported the sightings of demons being active.

Most reports came from Stakew and Malnor which was not surprising.

"How did your talk with Cylia go?" Mika asked with his eyes glued to the documents.

"She will make an alliance with Rostanta. That’s the obvious answer, I suppose." Olivia sighed.

"Good. We will have to form three groups then."

"..."

Olivia glanced at Mika.

"We need to offer Grat our support so we have to send a group there. Another one has to stay here in order to defend our base. And then, we need a group that will go on the attack." Mika elaborated calmly.

"Do you have a formation in mind?" she asked.

"Not yet. We first need to know how many students are willing to lend us their strength."

The truth was that Mika indeed had a lineup in mind, however, he was hoping that those people would refrain from involving themselves.

The next day.

The students gathered orderly in the throne room in front of Olivia who sat on her rightful throne.

Mika, Sara, Cylia and Ophelia were standing beside Olivia as they looked indifferently at the student body.

Olivia announced that everyone, who did not want to join their army, could leave the room and wait for further announcements. However, since then, only roughly 15 out of over 80 students left the room.

Five minutes passed. Then, ten. And without them realizing, 30.

Yet, no one else left their spot.

"..."

Mika, who put his hands behind his straight back, clenched them into fists.

Olivia, who was just a teacher a few days ago, bit her lower lip without anyone noticing.

And it was not just them but Sara, Cylia and Olivia, too, who expressed their frustration and guilt in an unobtrusive way.

They needed help in whatever shape or form. The students in front of them were more than anything they could hoped for, however, in the end, they were still students. They were just children and now they practically begged them to help.

"Alright. It seems like you have made up your mind. You have my gratitude and respect for stepping up." Olivia stated both gratefully and bitterly.

"You may leave and rest for now. In the following days, you will be informed about the next steps." she said.

Thus, most of the students left the throne room.

Only a few certain individuals remained there.

"We will leave you alone."

"..."

Mika looked apathetically at Olivia who got up from her throne.

"Isn’t it time for you to make the first move?" Ophelia commented with a faint smile.

"Who knows how many days we have left until we depart again!" Sara stated, slapping Mika’s back loudly.

"..."

Mika glared at Sara who was immediately hiding behind her mother.

"They’re right. It’s important to maintain a good relationship with others, especially in these times." Cylia added, grinning smugly.

After pestering so much, Mika finally gave in and walked toward them.

His gaze wandered across the room, desperately trying to avert them.

"..."

Olivia and the others watched from behind with great anticipation.

But when Mika stood in front of them, his eyes were facing the floor.

Lily, Belian, Lisa, Harik, Rachel.

Mika passed by them without saying a word.

"..."

Lily’s lips were trembling as she clenched her fists. She was about to get emotional as she turned around to Mika.

"Mika, wai-"

"I’m sorry."

"...?"

Mika cut her off as he apologized to her.

Lily and the others were dumbfounded for a second.

Instead of walking away, Mika was facing them wholeheartedly.

"Let’s go, shall we?" Olivia suggested, smiling contently.

Some of the white-class students began to tear up when they saw Mika.

"Mika!"

And of course, Rachel was the first one to jump into his chest, followed by the rest.

"..."

Belian was standing beside them and just smiled at Mika.

Meanwhile, Olivia and her group passed by them with a gentle smile.

"Are you perhaps crying as well, Ophelia?" Olivia joked.

"S-shut it!" Ophelia retorted, wiping her eyes.

"It’s just... It’s been two years since I last saw them being together and smiling like that." she explained proudly.

Olivia looked back at the smiling faces of people who could finally reunite. It was as if they returned the clock by two years, seeing how they acted.

Then, she closed the door behind her, letting the group alone.

"I completely forgot that Mika was also just a student." she muttered.

Meanwhile, the group of white-class students sat on the floor, forming a circle.

Rachel was snuggling up to Mika like some cat, whereas Lily was constantly glaring at her, sitting on the other side of Mika. Harik and Lisa were asking Mika some questions and Belian just listened satisfied.

Mika and the others did some catching up for a long time and even then, the time still was not nearly enough for them.

They talked about all the good things and the things that changed in those two years, leaving out the serious and sad moments out for today.

But soon, they brought up the incident a few days ago. The topic was not Lucio and the demons as they roughly grasped the situation already. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Rather than that, they talked about their little misunderstanding.

"So that’s why you always wore that ugly-looking bracelet..." Rachel muttered pensively after Lily confessed the secret behind the bracelet she had to wear on her right wrist.

"No wonder you were fighting Mika..." Belian murmured.

"I’m sorry for not noticing sooner, Lily!" Lisa apologized dramatically, hugging Lily tightly.

"In the end, we were protected by both you and Mika, huh...?" Harik laughed wryly.

If Lily had disobeyed Lucio back then, then everyone would have been caught up by the explosion of her bracelet. And if Mika did not arrive with Hunters, then everyone would be stuck in Loogam.

"Still, I feel bad for fighting you, Mika..." Rachel admitted regretfully.

"I’m deeply sorry..." she added.

Rachel just apologized without giving an excuse as it was a situation that did not afford an excuse. She and the others had to decide between believing Lily or Mika. However, after seeing the painful expression of Lily among other aspects, they decided to take Lily’s side.

"It’s fine. If I had been in your shoes, I would have most likely acted the same way. So let’s forget that already. Instead, let’s talk about..."

Mika still appeared apathetically as he switched the topic.

And it was only when it was already midnight that the doors of the throne room opened again.