“I don’t see why it’s an issue that Yue is a leader.” The professor said and looked over to William.

“She’s not even as strong as m—!”

“How would you know.” Viktor interrupted.

“H-Huh?” William faltered, appalled by Viktor’s tone and clear glare.

“You’ve never fought against her so how would you know if you’re stronger?” The Professor chuckled, taking over the conversation since Viktor seemed like he’d sooner punch William than continue speaking.

“She’s just a—!”

“Say it. I dare you.”  Yue said and covered his mouth with his fan, a glowing orb of violet fire appearing in his palm that was stretched out in William’s direction.

“Y-You!”

“You don’t even know when to quit huh? She just proved you wrong and threatened you with one spell.”  The professor laughed, walking up and patting Yue’s shoulder.

William didn’t even get to say anything before Viktor laughed and relaxed, no longer seeing the need to be angry. The tension caused by his anger dissipated.

“A fully condensed orb of divine flames. Completely impossible for anyone whose Magic core is below Platinum level. She’s stronger than you.”  Viktor said and smiled at Yue who he knew was hiding a smirk behind his fan.

Yue got rid of the fire orb and Mai threw a cocky look at William who was now thoroughly embarrassed. Luckily for William, today’s class was supposed to be short so he got to leave as the bell rang.

The students slowly started to file out soon afterwards. They made a mental note to not mess with Yue as they watched him and Mai stand.

“Thank you, Yue wouldn’t have done anything if you hadn’t spoken up.” Mai said to Viktor and smiled.

Yue flinched a bit, she was right, he had no intention of proving his strength and he didn’t want the position of co-leader either so he would’ve just allowed William to slander him. He had only decided to speak because he felt that the angry aura that Viktor was letting out had almost turned into bloodlust and he remembered the prophecy he had on his first day.

“I know. She probably doesn’t even want to be  co-leader.” Viktor said and Yue flinched and looked at him, unable to control his expression for a second. It was understandable that Mai knew his temperament since they lived in the same building and were practically inseparable but he definitely didn’t expect Viktor to read him like that.

Viktor was looking at him with an amused little smirk. Yue sighed and held back the urge to hit him with his fan just out of embarrassment.

“If you know that then work hard with me to make sure nothing goes wrong.” Yue said with red cheeks, moving his fan so it hid the side of his face that was facing Viktor as he walked out.

Mai froze for a second and looked at both Viktor who had an uncharacteristic grin on his face and Yue who was clearly embarrassed. She burst out laughing before rushing to catch up with Yue.

“W-What was that? I thought there was nothing going on between you two!” Mai laughed as she caught up with Yue.

“What were you two up to when you stayed out this weekend~?”

“Stop thinking indecent things.” Yue said and huffed, still red from embarrassment.

“Oh? So you were thinking indecent things too~?”

Yue’s whole face was turning red as he covered more and more of it with his fan and the sleeves of his hanfu.

“W-We have to finish packing. If you have silver hair pins or sharp silver jewelry bring them, they’ll help as a weapon in case of an emergency.” Yue said, trying to be serious so Mai will forget about it.

“Hehe Starting the Co-leader agenda, I see.” Mai teased.

Yue groaned and walked faster.

-

“It’s a good thing we started packing in advance but having to find space for all the werewolf-specific stuff was hard…” Mai sighed as she sat on Yue’s bed. It was early and she had come to Yue’s room unannounced to beg for help since her trunk wouldn’t close. 

“You should’ve just taken out the unimportant stuff. I told you to bring silver hair pins or sharp jewelry not every silver thing you own. You definitely won’t be fighting off Werewolves with any of those necklaces.” Yue said as he used a sharp looking silver hair pin with a decorative butterfly on it to pin his hair up in a low updo.

“You’re definitely bringing your eyeliner with you though.” Mai said, calling Yue out as she could see the small white jar of rogue in Yue’s open trunk.

“Yes but that’s the only unnecessary thing I’m bringing. All of my jewelry is sharpened, the clothes I’m bringing are just spare uniforms. Then I have spare knives and sword care items. Along with a lower grimoire and other magic items that would be of help.” Yue said and closed his trunk.

“Your fans?”

“One has hidden knives and the other is a magic item.” Yue said, proving to Mai that he had packed very effectively. He only packed the rogue because he didn’t want even the slightest suspicion that he was a male since he was leaving Academy city.

“Well I already closed the trunk so…” Mai said and lifted her heavy trunk from the floor.

Yue picked up his swords and fastened them to his waist before picking up his own trunk. He cast a spell to enhance Mai’s strength since she was struggling to carry her trunk and rolled his eyes

“ I closed the trunk but think what you want..Let’s go.” Yue laughed and they both went on their way.

-

They were very early and only Viktor was already at their meeting point. The meeting point was in the school’s European teleportation hub. They would teleport to Germany’s southern teleport hub when everyone arrives.

Viktor had a trunk around the same size as Mai and Yue’s but it seemed more luxurious in a way. Instead of the typical brown color that trunk’s usually had, it was white. It was to be expected from Viktor who seemed to enjoy staying within his white-gray-blue color scheme but seemed inconvenient since it would probably get dirty easily. He was carrying it quite easily and unlike Mai who had set her trunk down immediately after reaching the hub despite being assisted  by enchantments, he didn’t seem to be straining himself and carried it with just one hand.

“How heavy is your bag that you need an enchantment to carry it?”  Viktor asked Mai with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s not that heavy.” Yue said and took Mai’s trunk and easily lifted it up with one hand whilst holding his own trunk in the other. Mai looked shocked, not expecting Yue to be physically stronger than her. Viktor also seemed a little surprised.

‘Oh right, I’m supposed to be the sheltered rich girl..’ Yue thought and gave Mai the trunk back. He noticed that Viktor was smiling at him and looked curious so he changed the subject.

“Do you have the badges?” Yue asked. As the co-leaders they both had badges to denote their status so civilians would know who to ask for help or report incidents to.

Viktor nodded and passed Yue a blue and gold metal badge for him to pin on his clothes. It actually looked a lot more like a military medal than a badge but it clearly denoted status.

More people started arriving soon afterwards. Marianne and Elizabeth were struggling to carry their bags but still managed to not be late, unlike William who was so ashamed that he took his sweet time.

“How long is the expedition going to last?” Marianne asked, she looked nervous.

“Most likely 2 weeks, if we’re unlucky it might take more and if we’re lucky we might finish in one week.” Yue said and looked around the room.

“We’re all here.” Viktor said, appearing right next to Yue. Yue flinched and almost pulled his sword on him, he didn’t sense him and they were suddenly close. He calmed himself and nodded, not looking at Viktor who he was sure noticed his embarrassment. 

Everyone was already on the hub platform so they both just looked at the hub operator. The hub operator seemed a bit troubled.

“Too heavy?” Yue asked, figuring that was the issue since there were probably some overfilled bags. The operator nodded and looked apologetic.

“How much over?” Viktor asked.

“Well the weight is around 1800 pounds...and the platform itself can only activate the spell with less than 1500..” The operator murmured.

“Ah I didn’t think about that..” Yue murmured. He had been thinking of just using magic to support the spell in case the bags were too heavy but if it was more than what the platform could handle it wasn’t possible. He stepped off the platform with everyone’s bags. 

“How is it now?” Yue asked the operator and set down the bags near him.

“If one more person could step off it would be perfect.” The operator said after looking at a scale.

Mai was about to step off but Viktor stepped off before she could. Yue was about to say how one of the co-leaders should stay with the group but Viktor cut him off as if he knew what he was thinking.

“We’ll be separated for around 5 minutes, don’t cause trouble.” Viktor said and glanced at the other students before he went to stand beside Yue. The rest of the students seemed to understand the warning.

The operator started the hub and quickly teleported the rest of the class first. Yue was going to use levitation on the bags but Viktor did it first and brought them all to the platform. Yue blushed a bit, this would be an awkward 5 minutes.