"The team is assembled—one teacher leading, plus myself, plus Glenn and Hermione, forty students total. I've had Peiheng calculate each person's assigned position. Though he's shirking his proper duties, that fellow truly has a gift for divination. I believe we can arrange team positions exactly as he described."
Lin Yu dropped onto the stone bench with a thud, his robe hem spreading to reveal the thin pajamas underneath. Despite his light clothing, he showed no signs of feeling the cold.
"Peiheng from Divination Studies... so he's among the operation personnel as well. Very well, let's proceed that way—you handle all the arrangements."
Lin Yingqing pushed a cup of steaming tea toward Lin Yu, briefly considered his words, and offered her response.
"...Great-aunt, you haven't bothered learning about any of the personnel participating in this operation, have you? You simply dumped this troublesome matter on me and washed your hands of it?"
"Precisely. You've been lounging at home for so long—if I don't find you something productive to do, you'll waste away entirely."
"?"
Seeing Lin Yu's weary expression teetering on the edge of complete collapse, Hermione quickly interjected:
"Um, why does team positioning require divination to arrange? Shouldn't it be based on each participant's individual capabilities?"
Faced with Hermione's inquiry, Lin Yu temporarily forgot his irritation at being roused from sleep in the early morning—though it was nearly noon by then—by his great-aunt to handle urgent business, and began explaining.
"Peiheng performed a simple fortune reading for our journey and discovered the result was inauspicious. He then helped us calculate detailed itinerary arrangements, instructing us to modify our plans according to his calculations to alter our fate. According to him, team positioning is absolutely crucial and must be arranged precisely as he calculated, or he'll abandon the effort entirely. Based on my experience dealing with him, it's wisest to heed his adamant assertions."
"Then what arrangement has that person made for Hermione and myself?"
Glenn spoke up, absently fingering the dagger concealed in his sleeve, lost in contemplation.
"Rear guard. He positioned you and Hermione at the team's tail end. Originally, I had arranged your positions in the center alongside me, since you're guests visiting the Dragon Kingdom—even if you're here to assist, we shouldn't burden you excessively."
"But judging from his divination results, you'll likely need to exert considerably more effort on this beast-hunting expedition."
Responding to Glenn's inquiry, Lin Yu chose to demonstrate directly, casting a technique that condensed shimmering dark purple light points in the air. They arranged themselves in tight formation, creating the team structure he described.
The formation resembled an elongated shape—narrow at both ends with a pronounced bulge in the middle. One terminus featured a single light point, while the other displayed two. Those twin points flickered with crackling lightning—evidently representing Glenn and Hermione's positions within the team.
Only forty light points...
Glenn conducted a swift count, noting the total with puzzlement but refraining from voicing his question aloud.
"Isn't the number rather excessive? After all, this expedition to the secret realm will encounter completely unprecedented circumstances. With so many people, even with teacher protection and mutual safeguarding, it might prove impossible to shield everyone adequately."
Hermione voiced her concerns directly. Though her question differed from Glenn's unspoken thoughts, he shared her unease about the forty-person participation.
Forty young sorcerers plus one instructor—no matter the perspective, it seemed impractical. Encountering peril in the wilderness would likely spawn chaos, and that single teacher might struggle to protect everyone.
"Previous beast-hunting expeditions have consistently maintained forty participants. This number hasn't varied for decades. Arbitrarily altering it now would arouse suspicion among those dark sorcerers and prompt excessive defensive measures."
"Furthermore, students qualified to participate in this expedition aren't ordinary individuals. Aside from those few rather... unique cases, self-preservation or coordinated combat presents no difficulties. Additionally, all North China Academy of Sorcery students have undergone military training and executed missions against illegal organizations, so disciplinary concerns are unfounded."
Lin Yu shook his head dismissively, raised his hand and clenched his fist, dispersing the dark purple light points back into his palm.
"Then what about intelligence regarding those 'unique individuals' you mentioned? If coordination becomes necessary, we require detailed knowledge of their capabilities and specializations."
Glenn's hand beneath the table had already extracted the dagger from his sleeve, manipulating it with practiced ease. Cold steel flashed between his slender fingers like quicksilver, mirroring the constant calculations racing through his mind.
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you shall never face defeat—this axiom held absolute truth. In his previous existence, Glenn had adhered religiously to this principle, investing considerable time understanding opponents' intelligence, ensuring he never failed a mission.
Though he'd once nearly failed due to encountering a bounty hunter who joined mid-operation. Since that incident, he'd refused any assignments involving allied forces.
But those were concerns from his former life.
Regarding the dark sorcerers and Death Eaters, Glenn possessed only fragmentary knowledge with no means of gathering additional intelligence. Therefore, he intended to understand his own side's personnel as comprehensively as possible.
"Ah, regarding that matter, I definitely won't be sharing such information with you."
Lin Yu scratched his head, appearing simultaneously exasperated and resigned, his tone carrying both disdain and helplessness.
"Why not? Another confidentiality protocol?"
Hermione found this rather intriguing, detecting from Lin Yu's inflection that the situation was far from straightforward.
"No, those individuals are far too lazy to bother with bureaucratic restrictions."
Being pressed on this topic, Lin Yu's expression shifted through multiple configurations before he finally collapsed across the table, burying his face in his hands.
"They discovered that foreign students would be joining this beast-hunting expedition, so they wish to maintain an air of mystique and create a spectacular impression at crucial moments... Honestly, I absolutely cannot tolerate those people."
"...Pardon?"
"...Are they primary school children? How can they be so immature?"
Upon hearing such an ridiculous explanation, Hermione's mouth twitched involuntarily before she muttered her complaint.
"No, they're all mentally unstable."
"Isn't that even more concerning?!"
"Incidentally, they're somewhat older than you two—approximately my age."
"Compared to your previous revelation, this additional detail seems rather superfluous now..."
Hermione's composure began wavering, though Glenn beside her remained utterly unperturbed.
"Mentally unstable... it's been quite some time since I've encountered that."
Unavoidable, really—Glenn had witnessed countless psychologically compromised individuals in his previous life. Who among those dwelling in society's shadowed corners possessed normal mental health?
"Er, let me clarify that 'mentally unstable' represents merely my personal assessment of them. You two appear to be taking this rather seriously."
"Then kindly disregard such entirely unnecessary information."
That was Glenn speaking.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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