Back to the morning of Mika’s last full day in Youra.

An hour before Mika would wake up and head to the academy with the others.

While Mika was sleeping, a certain man was holding a tea party in the heavenly realm with his three colleagues.

That man was Mikaela, a middle-aged man with long golden hair and blue eyes with white cross-shaped pupils.

"May I ask you why you called us to a tea party so early in the morning?" the woman of the group asked calmly after taking a sip from her cup.

Compared to her and Mikaela, the young man with the spiky hair tried his best to not fall asleep, whereas the young girl already dozed off with her head on the table.

"I apologize for doing this so abruptly but I just wanted to hold one today." Mikaela answered.

"Is that so?" she sighed.

"I promise, I will not be so spontaneous in the future." he said with a faint smile.

"..."

The woman gazed at him. Her eyes seemed saddened.

"Hey, you two. Wake up already." she then said in a slightly louder and alarming voice.

"H-huh? I-I was not sleeping!" the young man shouted.

"Wipe the drool from your mouth." the woman remarked amusedly.

"Hngh...!"

And without any shame, the young girl woke up casually and stretched her hands in the air.

"..."

Feeling warm in his heart, Mikaela took a mental picture of this moment with his colleagues.

"Lanzar. Practice to keep your emotions under control." Mikaela advised the young man named Lanzar.

"S-sure... But why are you telling me this now?" Lanzar replied confused.

"Zeima. Please continue to watch over them." Mikaela pleaded to the woman named Zeima.

"Of course, rest easy." Zeima responded diligently.

"Raspalia. Fix your attitude. It’s fine around us but don’t let others, especially your subordinates, see you like this." Mikaela ordered the young girl named Raspalia.

"Fine~" Raspalia answered frivolously.

Mikaela got up from his chair.

"Hm? Are you going already?" Lanzar wondered.

"It is time for me to go to work." Mikaela replied with a gentle smile.

"I guess I can go back to sleep then..." Raspalia muttered before doing so.

Mikaela was about to leave them.

"Will we see you tomorrow?" Zeima asked quietly and sternly when Mikaela passed by her seat.

"You can read me like a book, huh?" Mikaela commented pleased.

"I’ve known you the longest after all." Zeima responded with a small huff.

"I am sorry." he then muttered.

"Don’t be."

Mikaela left.

"Zeima, are you crying?" Lanzar wondered curiously.

"It’s Lady Zeima for you."

"Ack!"

Zeima chopped Lanzar’s head.

And while he caressed his head, Zeima rubbed her eyes shortly.

Now, back to the present in the human realm.

It was the next morning after everyone’s last day in Youra.

The sun was greeting the day as it was rising on the horizon. The breeze was fresh. There were no signs of clouds in the blue sky. It was a good start to the day.

And yet, Sylvia and Lily were in the dumps emotionally. Their gazes were cast to the ground and it looked like they got their feelings hurt.

"What happened to them?" Lisa whispered confused into Rachel’s ear.

"I don’t know..." Rachel replied concerned.

The rest of the group did not know what to say to them.

However, there was a person who was unaffected by the mood.

"Jeez... What is taking him so long...?"

Tapping her foot on the ground and crossing her arms, Elsa was growing impatient.

"We still have time, Elsa. Maybe he just overslept." Dura giggled.

"Hmm... But would he really oversleep on a day like this...?" Sara doubted pensively.

Those three had to travel with Ophelia and the white class because of the imminent Grand Order meeting.

"..."

Belian lifted his head to the upper floor of the inn.

They all waited outside of the inn, waiting for Ophelia to come back with Mika who did not come down.

"?"

Then, everyone turned their attention to the inn’s entrance where Ophelia rushed out.

She was seemingly in a panic, being out of breath and sweating.

"Ms. Ross? What’s wrong?" Harik wondered surprised.

"And where’s that brat?" Elsa asked annoyed.

But instead of answering, Ophelia raised her hand which was holding a small piece of paper.

Belian stepped forward and looked at its content.

"Leave without me." Belian read out loud.

Everyone, especially the white-class students, was shocked by the message.

"W-what’s the meaning of this?" Lily asked desperately, clinging onto Ophelia’s arm.

"..."

Sylvia could not utter a word but she, too, appeared anxious.

"When I checked his room, he wasn’t there anymore... Only this small letter was left behind on his bed..." Ophelia said, being as confused and tensed up as the others.

"Aside from a destroyed table, there were no irregularities in the room..." she added.

Belian put his finger on his chin.

"A fight...? No... Maybe he was enraged...? But what could possibly enrage him...?" he muttered sternly.

The current Mika was more devoid of emotions than before. So if he was to be enraged, then it would take a lot to achieve that.

And knowing about Mika and the system, Belian felt like it could be maybe because of something the system stated. Or it could also be a new quest.

However, Belian wondered what kind of thing or quest Mika heard that could trigger so much.

"What?! As if we’d leave without him! Let’s search for Mika! he must be still in the vicinity!" Rachel yelled frantically.

"Rachel, calm down."

Lisa grabbed Rachel’s arm so that she would not storm away.

"So he left..." Lily murmured in disbelief.

"But he did not show any signs of planning to do so yesterday... Was it because of... Us...?" Sylvia whispered, hugging herself.

"..."

Elsa indifferently looked at the scene.

"If they were simply surprised, then that would be normal... But most of them are losing their minds. Is Mika that important to them?" Elsa muttered.

"Don’t be so insensitive, Elsa." Dura scolded her lightly.

"I know, I know."

Elsa shrugged her shoulders.

"Everyone, let’s move." she announced as if nothing happened.

"How could we leave witho-"

"Don’t you trust him?" Elsa cut off Rachel sternly.

"..."

"There must be a reason that he told us to leave without him. And knowing him, this may be even for our best so wouldn’t it be disrespectful to not listen to him?" she elaborated with a sigh.

"But..."

Rachel tried to argue back but could not.

"You all know him far longer than I do, making me wonder how you can not trust him. Didn’t he always come back no matter how the odds were?" Elsa mocked them now with her smirk.

"Elsa."

As her grandmother, Dura had to remind Elsa of her tone. Elsa, in turn, just glanced at her shortly before stopping her mouth.

"..."

Still, her words resonated with the rest.

Now that they were thinking about it, Mika would always manage to survive, no matter how bad the situation was.

He survived against Zantar even though it looked bad for him in the beginning. He survived against Yater, an A-rank demon, even though his time ran up before he could finish him. He survived the invasion even though he fought against multiple demons and his greatest enemy. He survived against Shira even though Shira seemed practically invincible.

And last but not least, he survived against the semi-transcendental being in the Unnatural Dungeon and Vira, the strongest demon in the human realm according to the records.

"You’re right. If it’s Mika, then we shouldn’t worry so much." Ophelia agreed relieved and relaxed.

"I feel kind of stupid for worrying about him." she lightly joked afterward.

She turned to her students.

"Let’s depart for now. Mika will surely find a way back to Loogam once he’s done with his business." Ophelia stated with a firm smile.

Some of her students still seemed reluctant but they all nodded and listened to their teacher. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Thank you for your words." Ophelia whispered to Elsa when she led the group with her.

"No need to thank me. I just stated the obvious after all." Elsa replied.

"As much as I don’t want to admit it, he’s the strongest person I’ve ever met. Even stronger than your sister. So I highly doubt that there’s anyone who could possibly give him trouble." she added with a scoff.

"Yeah, that’s true." Ophelia giggled.

Thus, the group departed to Yurt where they would then embark on the ship.

The end of their exchange program also marked the end of another Chapter for them. Now, they would enter the next Chapter which would turn out to be the start of a dark period for everyone.

Thanks to Elsa and Ophelia, the mood in the group improved but it would not take long until the situation would take a turn for the worst. And this time, their happiness and joy could not be restored anymore.

After all, the days when they could all hang out together were over.