Everyone left the throne room aside from Olivia, Elsa and Zhen.

"Did other people escape alongside you, Elsa?" Olivia asked indifferently, looking out of the room’s window.

"I don’t know. The situation was chaotic. Even I barely managed to get out of there in one piece." Elsa replied sternly.

And if she had found people on her way out, she would not know if they had survived in the end. In that situation, it was better to move alone than in groups as moving in large numbers would have attracted the attention of the demons.

On her own, Elsa would not have been able to protect them.

"We also didn’t encounter anyone else aside from Elsa." Zhen added.

Only he and his son Ren departed to Fuera.

"Once we’ve received your letter before the conference, we immediately headed out to Fuera. Of course, we paid attention to possible refugees but there were none. It’s possible that no one else managed to leave Loogam." he elaborated.

"Seems so." Olivia sighed.

She then turned to Elsa.

"I know that you just arrived but I need you to prepare yourself already to head to Grat with the others." she said, sounding slightly bitter.

"No problem. On the ship, I will have enough time to recover." Elsa replied casually, shrugging her shoulders.

"..."

Olivia smiled faintly at her.

In the meantime, Mika accompanied Harik, Rachel and Lisa to the training grounds whereas Belian and Lily were getting some food for the group.

Ophelia and Sara, who were often a part of that group, were discussing some things with Cylia and Lereon.

"Are you sure about heading to Grat?" Mika asked.

They were getting some light training done before Belian and Lily would arrive with food.

"..."

Because Grat was isolated from the rest of the world, information would travel between Grat and the other nations irregularly. They did not know much about the current state of Grat.

Cylia told them previously that Grat was doing fine currently aside from a few small incidents here and there and she did not notice any big movements from an enemy.

Still, there was also the possibility of facing Leviathan again.

"Aren’t you scared to face it again?" Mika wondered.

Harik and Lisa’s gazes turned grim for a moment.

"We would lie if we were to say that we weren’t scared, however..." Lisa said as her hands trembled.

"Somebody has to go, no?" Harik finished.

Mika looked at him concernedly.

"We already made our decision, Mika." Lisa said, smiling gently at him.

"Yeah, furthermore, it’s my homeland. A lot happened there but in the end, I want to protect my nation." Harik added.

"..."

Mika did not seem completely convinced, however, he understood from a neutral point of view that this was the best option.

It would have been too risky if Mika were to go to Grat. Even Cylia and Olivia knew that. Therefore, the optimal strategy was to have Mika stay in Fuera, guaranteeing at least one triumph.

"But enough of that talk for now! Let’s relax for today!" Harik suggested brightly.

He, too, was nervous but knowing when they had to depart, he wanted to spend his last days here with his friends.

"Then, let’s sit down. The two should be here soon!" Rachel said as she summoned thick roots from the ground and formed chairs and a table.

They sat down.

"..."

And although those chairs were meant for one person per chair, Rachel forced herself onto Mika’s chair partly.

"Rachel...?" Mika muttered confusedly.

Harik and Lisa chuckled.

"Hey, Mika. Can I ask for a favor?" Lisa asked.

"What is it?" he replied, ignoring Rachel’s affectionate antics.

"I know that a lot of things happened in those two years. We were separated and did our things. It’s inevitable that we changed in that time period, especially after all the situations you’ve been through. Although we had a long talk, we couldn’t catch up completely. So..."

"So could we pretend like those two years didn’t happen and return back to our selves from two years ago? Just for the remaining time before we depart...?" Lisa asked sincerely.

"..."

Mika opened his mouth slightly.

It was impossible for him to do her that favor.

The Mika now was completely different than the Mika back then. It was too late for him to return back to his old self.

He experienced and suffered too much to return to his life-enjoying self.

Then, his halo disappeared and his hair and eyes took on the appearance from back then.

"Sure." Mika answered with a smile that did not reach his eyes.

However, to try at least.

Even if it was not him anymore, he put on an act for his friends.

"Are you satisfied now, Lisa?" Mika chuckled with a smirk.

Every word he said was insincere.

"Thanks, Mika." Lisa responded empathically.

"Heh, it’s quite easy to make you happy, huh?" he teased her.

Those words and his behavior came from him and yet, those actions felt so distant to him.

"..."

Lisa continued smiling, however, she and the others noticed that it felt awkward.

They realized that it was impossible to return the clock to two years ago.

"By the way..."

Harik chatted with Mika and laughed awkwardly with Mika whereas Lisa looked down and Rachel buried her face in Mika’s chest.

"Do you two mind reconsidering your decisions?"

Mika suddenly switched topics and smiled blankly at them.

"To be honest, I don’t want you to get involved in this."

Now, his words appeared more sincere than before.

"Mika..."

Although he talked about this a lot with Lily, he still could not shake off his lack trust in his friends.

"I don’t feel comfortable having you fight in this war. So please reconside-"

Suddenly, Rachel dug her teeth into his chest.

Mika flinched and soundlessly tried to push Rachel away.

"Mika."

"?"

Failing to get her away from him, Lisa turned stern.

"We won’t let you suffer alone anymore." she said.

"..."

"That’s right. And I mean, this is something we want to do. So don’t feel so responsible." Harik huffed with a wide grin as he crossed his arms.

"..."

Mika clenched his fists.

"Why are you all the same...?" he muttered.

His halo appeared again and he undid his transformation.

"...?"

Rachel sandwiched his face between her hands and stared deeply into his blue eyes.

"No matter what you say to us, we will do whatever we want." she said firmly.

Her frown disappeared and her expression turned playful.

"I can guarantee you that you will be thankful to have us on your side at the end of the war." she declared with a grin.

"The end of the war..." Mika murmured.

"Any plans what you want to do after that?" Lisa asked curiously.

"..."

Mika had a vague idea.

"I don’t know yet. What about you?" he lied.

"Then, how about going on a trip together?" Harik suggested excitedly.

"Oh, that sounds nice! We never really had the chance to relax on a trip as a group!" Lisa agreed.

"Wow, that’s the first time you made a great suggestion, Harik." Rachel remarked impressedly.

Then, Belian and Lily arrived with food.

"Hey, what were you talking about?" Lily wondered.

"Oh, hey, Lily. Listen to this!"

Lisa explained the trip to them.

"Not bad." Belian commented, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, that really sounds fun." Lily reacted the same way.

While they discussed the trip in advance and suggested where to go first and what they wanted to do, Mika stared at them, feeling distant.

On the surface, it actually looked like they were back to the time when they were classmates, however, deep down, everyone knew that it was not possible. Especially for Mika.

Still, being like this was satisfying for him nonetheless.

It may be just for a few days but he was surrounded by his dear friends once more.

"Ah, there you are!"

From afar, Ophelia and Sara approached the group.

"Is this some kind of picnic?"

Following them, Olivia and Elsa joined them.

Rachel created more chairs for them and suddenly, the small meetup between former classmates turned into a large group, involving different people.

"..."

Unbeknownst to him, Mika flashed a small but genuine smirk.

"Hey, why are you grinning so creepily...?" Ophelia asked taken aback.

"Leave him be, Ophelia. It must be because he has a girl clinging to him." Olivia remarked calmly.

"Huh? Rachel, you’re still doing that?" Lily stated baffledly.

"Well, seems like he likes it." Rachel replied triumphantly.

"This girl..." Lisa sighed.

"I guess some things never change." Harik laughed.

Belian smiled satisfied.

"Were they always like that...?" Elsa muttered confusedly.

"That’s the white class for you, hehe..." Sara giggled wryly.

Mika exhaled.

"Give me a break, will you?"

On that day, the group shared a picnic together while being blessed with good weather. Every seat was taken aside from one.

And even in the future, Mika would look back on that day and remember the joy and the laughter of his close friends.