“… What’s up with this place?” Viktor asked, petting Yue’s head.

“I don’t know? Everything seems to be quite old, and It seems like no one discovered it before us.” Yue murmured, turning around in Viktor’s arms to take a look at everything.

“I’m also not sure why these crates are here…I think whoever lived here packed everything valuable and left.” Yue murmured, turning back around, “well, except for the beads.”

Yue giggled a little as he felt Viktor tighten his Hug.

“What did you see?” Viktor asked, he was curious because Yue was so amused. He wondered if he met his toddler self or something.

“Hehe, 17 year old you was like a big puppy. So cute.” Yue giggled, twirling Viktor’s hair with his fingers.

“Puppy…?” Viktor looked at Yue with a confused expression.

“You looked like you would do anything for me I told you to,” Yue said with an amused smile.

“The current me would too,” Viktor said with a raised eyebrow.

“…Mmm yeah but It’s different. Mature Adult Vik would want a reward.” Yue said and wrapped his arms around Viktor’s neck.

“Hmm…You’re not wrong…” Viktor said and pecked Yue’s lips.

“Do you like the younger me more?” Viktor asked and Yue quickly shook his head.

“I like the current you more.” Yue giggled and started walking with Viktor out of the house.

Viktor smiled a little as he heard that, cuddling up behind Yue as they walked.

“We’ll double-check the forest in the morning and then leave,” Yue murmured and held Viktor’s arms as they wrapped around him.

“Alright,” Viktor said and looked at Yue warmly.
—

Viktor smiled and watched Yue’s sleeping form for a while that night.

“I’m glad you didn’t see something that made you sad…” Viktor whispered. He wasn’t sure what Yue saw but Yue didn’t seem unhappy with what he saw so he assumed it was something normal. He definitely was a little worried though, 17 year old him was definitely not very “puppy-like” as far as he remembered.

“Perhaps it’s because it was you…” He murmured and wrapped his arms around Yue’s waist.
—

“Have we gotten that much stronger...or was this expedition just that easy?” Yue wondered out loud. He and Viktor finished looking around the forest one last time in the morning and walked back to the campsite shortly after.

“A little bit of both,” Viktor chuckled, “They definitely weren’t this capable last year.”

Yue hummed a little in response, the group did get stronger overall but he didn’t think it was that much. Marianne, Alexius, and Walter were the first few to get stronger and it didn’t really seem like the rest of them would follow along until the expedition in Austria.

“Even from a weak monster like this I would expect at least one injury or someone who struggled a lot but everyone held their own well,” Viktor whispered as they got close enough to see the camp.

“We were actually considered the weakest first-tier class ever for a while Y’know?”

Yue turned to face Viktor with a shocked expression. That seemed impossible, sure the group was weak but ‘the weakest’?

“We were clearly stronger than the other classes but in comparison to the past first tier classes, we were very weak. Usually, the whole class is full of prodigies but for our class, it was really just me. People were seriously worried for our generation of mages back then…” Viktor explained with a chuckle.

Yue thought back to the first two expeditions and sighed, “I would’ve been too.”

“They definitely aren’t so worried for our class now though. You and Mai managed to make our whole class stronger.” Viktor smiled. Yue smiled a little at the compliment but he was lost in thought.

The classes were organized by your power at the time of admission and whether or not you pass an ascension test at the end of the year so while the class was probably a head above the other students they were weak compared to times when the whole student body was stronger. Yue was actually quite curious about it all. How come his generation was weaker than the rest? He had always thought that more and more strong mages were appearing that were around his age so why didn’t the Academy reflect that?

“It’s because of dungeons and monsters,” Viktor said, it was like he could tell what Yue was thinking.

“Young talented mages aren’t going to Academies anymore because they can learn from actively going into dungeons and fighting monsters that naturally appear in their areas instead. It’s better for them because they can stay close to home and some older mages are only encouraging this by retiring and deciding to stay away from society in small villages.” Viktor explained, “That's why you were rewarded for recruiting Frida.”

“Oh…” Yue murmured. He couldn’t deny that he personally did see more value in not going to an academy. Experience is important and learning through trial and error in the wild was rewarding, but in terms of trying to actually master magic, going through the Academy was definitely faster.

“Well, As long as they’re motivated anyone can be strong, even with a “bad” core, so I guess it doesn’t really matter whether or not they end up going to the academy or not,” Yue murmured.

“I personally agree but the mage association and some teachers aren’t very fond of their pay cut and lack of mages,” Viktor said and smiled, he gave a thumbs-up to Mai who noticed them walking over.

“I thought this would take at least a week!” Mai laughed.

“Nope, we get to go on vacation early.” Yue chuckled.

The other students were incredibly happy to hear this and quickly started packing up their camp area.

—
“It’s hard to believe you finished so quickly.” Mr. Anderson murmured, he and a few teachers were shocked when the class suddenly returned to the academy.

“We finished, checked it over a few times as well,” Viktor said and smiled.

“Nothing abnormal?” Mr. Wagner asked, looking at Yue and Viktor’s report.

“There was a strange house in the woods. It seemed to be around a century old. Nothing that was left behind seemed suspicious... But it was pretty well hidden.” Yue explained and showed them a map and where the house was.

“…We’ll look into it.” Mr. Wagner also seemed a bit perplexed by how simple the expedition turned out.

“Well…I guess they have been through a lot, maybe this is their break.” Mr. Anderson chuckled.

“Go on, go enjoy your vacation.” He said and waved the students away.

The students happily went off to start their vacation while the teachers just watched them leave, most of them still had surprised looks on their faces.

-

‘Does Mr. Anderson really care about things like pay and disposable mages? He doesn’t seem like that kind of guy, even if he jokes around about necromancy.’ Yue asked Viktor through telepathy as he walked with him and Mai toward the dorms.

‘I doubt he cares, it’s just a standard thing though, teachers are supposed to reward things like that so students do it more often.’ Viktor replied.

‘Oh…That’s good.’ Yue replied through telepathy, he was relieved that his image of Mr. Anderson hadn’t been ruined.

“Marianne and the other girls want to have tea with us tomorrow.” Mai suddenly said to Yue after remembering that she hadn’t told Yue.

“Ah…Okay.” Yue said and smiled.

Mai watched Yue’s expression for a second.

“I’ve been wondering about this for a while but aren’t you uncomfortable with ‘girl talks’ and stuff like that?” Mai asked. Yue never seemed to complain about things like that so she had wondered if it just didn’t bug him.

“I’ve gotten used to it.” Yue murmured, a bit, “It’s too late to stop being Yue Xia anymore so…”

Yue shrugged a little and Mai felt a little sad.

If Yue didn’t have to dress like a woman they probably wouldn’t have become so close and they might not have met at all but she couldn’t help but feel sad that Yue was uncomfortable in his “role”.

“Don’t look at me like that, I’m fine!” Yue said and giggled as Viktor and Mai both proceeded to stick to him like glue.

Mai faked a gag when Viktor kissed Yue’s cheek and tried to nudge Viktor away as she tried to hug Yue by herself. Yue just laughed as the two messed around.

—

“I can’t believe graduation is so soon. I thought we’d have much more time.” Ava murmured and sighed. She, Anika, Marianne, Mai, and Yue were all sat in a small pavilion area in a fancy cafe having tea and some desserts. They just talked about some random subjects for a while but they ended up going back to the topic of graduation every once in a while.

“Yeah…it’s kind of sad to think it’s finally over,” Anika murmured.

Yue and Mai couldn’t really relate much to their reminiscing over the past few years, they hadn’t even been in the Academy for a year. They just nodded and sipped their tea.

“I’m honestly shocked I survived,” Marianne laughed a little at her morbid thought, “Thinking back to the number of close calls I’ve had…I’m glad to be graduating.”

Yue giggled a little at this.

“I think all of us are happy to finally be able to choose our own missions and expeditions.”

The girls quickly nodded.

“I can’t wait to do my own thing,” Ava said and smiled.

“I hope we all keep in contact after graduation though,” Marianne said and smiled.

“It might be a little hard, but I’ll try my best to come over from Vietnam once in a while,” Mai said a smiled.

“I’ll definitely be sticking around for a while.” Yue chuckled and glanced at his ring.

“Will your families be coming to graduation?” Ava giggled and then turned to ask Anika, Mai, and Yue.

“Yes, they are!” Anika said with a bright smile.

“Mhm! My Fiance is coming as well!” Mai giggled.

They all then turned to Yue. Yue’s slightly saddened expression made them pause for a second. Mai in particular paused and looked a bit confused.

“My father cannot leave our family home because he is ill,” Yue said with a helpless smile.

In reality, this wasn’t true. Xia Lijun was likely in good health, the thing is that Yue was not his daughter and while it was okay for Yue to call himself Xia Yue, receiving some sort of parental affection from him was crossing a border. Not just for Xia Lijun but for Yue as well. Xia Lijun likely wouldn’t come even if he cared. He had sealed himself away from most people while in mourning. There was no telling how long he would mourn for he had lost his eldest son, his daughter-in-law, and his granddaughter after all.

“Ah, Well, I’m sure he’s proud of you, Miss Yue,” Marianne murmured, noting how awkward the situation became.

Yue smiled as if it wasn’t bothering him but he had actually forgotten that it was the norm for family to come to that sort of event. It was a bit saddening to think that he’d be all alone but he rid himself of the thought. It would be fine. This wasn’t anything new or different. He was used to it by now.

“Is your engagement party before graduation?” Anika asked, trying to change the subject.

Yue quickly nodded with a smile.

“Have you got everything ready?” Marianne asked, “Time flies.”

“Her majesty is dealing with it so I’m sure it’ll be done on time. I just have to get myself ready mentally.” Yue murmured, he was both excited and incredibly anxious.

“It’ll be fine, don’t worry!” Mai said and smiled. The other girls encouraged Yue as well.