I apologize if the end of the previous chapter seemed sudden, but I wanted to even out the word count which will be made up with this one.


Understanding Differences

We were at the restaurant near the hotel, relaxing after sharing a warm meal and I was sitting back comfortably.

"I wonder what Group B is doing right now." Machias said.

"I bet they're power surfing their way through their reports. Wait, is this deja vu?"

Rean chuckled. "We had this exact same conversation in our group last month too."

I sighed, before suddenly drifting off, although I heard Jusis mention about military and politics, there was some odd quaint voice that joined, but I was too tired to pay attention. The conversation ended and I felt my shoulder being tapped. I opened my eyes to see the others getting up, it was time to go back to the hotel.

I had just changed into my nightwear and I was ready to sleep. I also had my back turned to Fie who was currently changing.

"You know, Fie. I had been meaning to ask you since today." I said.

"What about?" Fie responded.

"How were you able to treat my wound pretty quickly?"

"Emma and I had a lesson about it with Instructor Beatrix, the nurse."

"Ah I see. Well, I wanted to say thanks, you're a real good friend."

"No problem...I'm done now."

I turned to see Fie in her nightwear and she sat on her bed.

"Also, what did you mean when you said Emma was right about me?"

She looked away. "Hmm..."

"Oh, is it something personal that can only be shared between girls?"

She shook her head. "Not really, I'm...just not sure how to tell you."

"Well, alright, I won't say anymore on it. After all, I am keeping my word on the subject of trust."

"Yeah, just like how we were today." Fie smiled. "I trust you as much as you trust me, right?"

"Bang on the money, girl." I laughed. "Let's keep that trust up for tomorrow, shall we?"

"Yeah, let's keep at it." Fie got into her bed. "Goodnight, Alex."

"Sure, goodnight, Fie." I got into mine and I nodded myself off to dreamland.


Dateline, May 30th.

It was time to begin the second day of our field study, we were given an envelope which Rean opened to reveal today's tasks...or in this case, just the one task.

"So we have to slay a monster on the North Kreuzen Highway?" I asked. "That's it?"

"It must be because my brother knows that we'll be departing back to Trista later today." Jusis replied.

"Then we should prepare before taking on the monster." Rean said. "Let's go."

We were about to leave the hotel when a butler walked into the hotel and looked at us.

"Excuse me, Lord Jusis." He greeted. "I am terribly sorry that I could not come to greet you yesterday. However, I have come today as the capacity of an escort."

"An escort? To where?" Jusis asked. "I'm sure you must be aware that I returned to Bareahard purely as part of a field study for my academy work."

"But of course. However, his grace has directly requested that I escort you to the mansion. So I would be most appreciative if you'd accompany me without delay."

"My Father...but why?"

"I am in no position to question or oppose his orders, merely to obey them. I'm sure you understand."

"You should go with him." Machias said. "We can attempt to form a combat link another time."

"We'll be able to handle this task on our own, don't worry about us." Rean added.

"Yeah, my body's back up to normal strength as well." I said, striking a pose. "We'll take care of it as fast as you can say royal flush."

Jusis smiled a little. "Very well, I'll return by the afternoon."

"All right, let's meet back here at the hotel lobby this afternoon." Rean said. "If something comes up, just leave a message at the front desk."

Jusis nodded and left with the butler and then we left the hotel to carry on with our task. We had to leave the town and go to North Kreuzen Highway, the giant monster was located at the bridge was at the far end of where we were. We traveled along the pathway until we saw the bridge and a giant plant monster roaming near it.

"Danm, even poison ivy wouldn't approve of that." I commented.

"Looks as strong as yesterday's." Fie added.

"Yeah, let's keep our guard up, we have to make up for the mistakes we made yesterday." Rean said.

"Agreed." I nodded. "Say Machias, shall we form a combat link for this one?"

"Oh...sure, let's give it a shot." He replied.

"Alright, begin battle!" Rean exclaimed.

The battle started when the little plants showed up and Rean and Fie formed a combat link and they attacked the little ones. I then charged at the other little plants with my gauntlets, knocking one of them off balance slightly and Machias finished it off with a shotgun blast. We repeated this method with the rest and then went all out on the giant plant monster. After Machias dealt the finishing blow, the plant monster vanished away, we had gotten stronger after that battle.

"We won and we kicked ass!" I boasted.

"We sure did." Rean laughed. "And in doing so, I believe we've successfully redeemed ourselves for yesterday."

"Haha...I'm sorry everyone, for dragging you all down." Machias said. "Especially to you, Rean. I owe you double the apology. I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!"

"Oh it's alright, don't worry about it. Had I been honest to you from the start, all of this could've been avoided."

"Well I'd say it's water under the bridge now." I said. "And that was some nice assists, Machias."

He nodded. "Same to you, I'm glad that our combat link worked well."

"Anyways, why don't we head back to town?" Rean asked. "It'll be lunch time soon."

"Yeah, I could go for some pudding like someone I know."

Fie had a question mark near her head. "Who are you talking about?"

"Oh I was just being myself as always, let's go paint the town...umm, in our academy colours."

Rean laughed. "What a team..."

We returned back to town and no sooner we were back at Station Street, we saw two guards coming up towards us.

"The provincial army?" I asked. "What do these lapdogs want?"

"You're the students from Thor's, correct?" One of them asked. "The ones who have come here for a field study."

"Yes, that's us." Rean replied.

The other guard looked at Machias. "He's a perfect match for the photo."

Machias was confused. "What?"

The first guard suddenly blew his whistle and a few more guards showed up.

"Student Machias Regnitz." The other guard said. "You're under arrest. Don't try to resist, if you know what's good for you."

"Wait!" Rean stood in front of us. "This has to be some kind of mistake! On what grounds are you arresting him?"

"A number of charges have been filed." The first guard answered. "But the most egregious is an accusation of trespassing into Aurochs Fort yesterday afternoon."

"Wow, that's a lot of bullshit." I said with sarcasm. "Who paid you to spew out all that crap?"

"Watch your tongue, young man!" The other guard told me. "Don't attempt to cross us, or you too will be arrested."

"Tch..." I looked away.

"You can't be serious!" Machias exclaimed. "I was near the fort at the time the intrusion occurred, certainly. But I was there with my classmates! If you aren't going to believe thier testimony, why am I the only one under suspicion?"

"Every one of us here can vouch for him." Rean said. "Jusis was with us as well, he can testify that what Machias said is true."

The first guard smirked. "Hmph! you'll have to do better than that."

Four more guards then arrived, surrounding us.

"We're outnumbered." Fie said.

"All you need to know is that this boy is a person of interest." The third guard said. "And we have every right to take him in for questioning."

"There's no pointing fighting it." A fourth guard added. "He is coming with us, whether you like it or not."

The six guards apprehended Machias and took him away. Rean was mad and he wasn't the only one. Those guards were assholes in more ways than one. We went over to the Noble District to try and make the officer there see sense, but he was having none of it. So it was pretty much a dead end. I started to wonder why this happened.

We decided to regroup at the hotel, only to find out there were guards outside our rooms as well. At least we were able to report the task that we did earlier. We chose to dine for lunch at the restaurant since there were no guards around. But after we finished, a pair of guards arrived, so we left and went to a bar at Artisans Street.

"Man, to think all of this happened in one swoop." I said with a clenched fist. "I bet Dick Alberea wanted to arrest Machias because of his family's background."

"That may be it." Rean nodded. "Machias's father is the Imperial governor and a key figure in the Reformist Faction. Basically, they wanted a hostage so they could have an advantage in future negotiations."

"So what can we do? I mean, you and I were able to be saved by the RMP last month, but if we try to do something, we could end up being in more trouble than before."

"But at the same time, we can't just sit here and let our hard work go to waste because one of our friends is behind bars for the wrong reasons."

"I agree." Fie nodded. "You want to save him as well, right Alex?"

I sighed. "Yeah, I do want to...then count me in as well. We should try and get Jusis first."

"But Jusis is locked up at home."

"Then what about Rufus?" Rean suggested. "He seemed to have a peaceful demeanor when he spoke to Machias yesterday."

"It would be good, but didn't he say he had business in the capital?" I asked.

"Then our only option is to break him out ourselves." Fie said.

"I had a feeling you would say that. But are there any secret passageways to get to Machias? Going through the front door isn't an option after all."

We suddenly heard a conversation between a customer and a bartender mentioning about monsters roaming around the underground waterways.

"He he he..." I smirked with delight. "I think we've found our way in."

"Yeah, that might be worth a try." Rean replied.

The blonde haired guy then got up and left before noticing us.

"Huh, don't see many people dressed like that around here." He said. "Those are some fancy red uniforms. Are you students or something?"

"Yeah, we're from Thor's military academy in Trista." I answered.

"Trista, huh? Sounds like a fancy place." He then walked towards us and placed something on the table. "Use this if you wanna solve the biggest problem you face." He then walked away and left the bar.

"A key..." I looked at the item and took it. "...maybe this unlocks a door to the underground waterway."

"Could be, let's try searching for a door." Fie replied.

"Alright, then let's go. We have a friend to save." Rean said before we left the bar.

Seeing that we were looking for a door that would take us to the underground, we would have to find a door that would be. We searched around Station Street before finding a stairway that took down to the path underneath the main street path and there was a door at the end.

"Well, this must be it." I said. "Time to see if this works." I inserted the key and turned the lock, I heard a loud click and opened the door.

"Alright, we're in." Fie smiled.

"Okay, if we're gonna go in there, we need to be prepared." Rean advised. "There's a chance we'll encounter monsters in there."

"Right." I nodded.

We opened the door and we walked down the dark stairs until we found ourselves in a huge underground area with the sound of the water moving under the bridges.

"I see no guards here, but a lot of monsters." I said. "Not to mention a few gates blocking our way."

"There has to be a switch that operates those gates somewhere." Rean replied. "Look sharp."

We walked around the first area. taking care of a few monsters and finding a large lever, Rean turned the handle and the gate was raised. We passed through it and reached a large area. We suddenly stopped when we saw a familiar person coming towards us.

"Well, I didn't expect to find you down here." The familiar voice spoke.

"Wha...Jusis?!" I responded.

"I'm glad you're okay." Rean said.

"Hmph. Of course I am." Jusis replied. "Though I can't say I was expecting to be placed under house arrest the moment I returned to the mansion."

"So that's what happened."

"Do you know what's going on?" Fie asked.

"Unfortunately, I do. Arresting the Imperial Governor's son under a false charge in order to keep the Reformist Faction under control. I find it hard to believe that my father would attempt something so brazen. He didn't have any intention of talking to me. Not the slightest inclination. This was all planned from the start."

"What an asshole." I muttered.

"But enough about me. Thanks to my brother, I'm familiar with the general layout of this waterway. I'll lead us to the guardhouse, let's get moving."

"Oh, I just had an idea in case we run into any of the monsters. Do you mind if we try forming a combat link?"

Jusis looked at me and nodded. "If we must, let's try it."

"Nice to see you being more open to us." Rean said. "You really are worried about Machias, aren't you?"

"Hmph! Don't get the wrong idea. I just can't condone my father's actions. Besides, he's no doubt huddled up, crying and lonely in the corner of his cell now. It's worth rescuing him just to see that."

"Ha ha ha...anyways, we should press on." I said.

We resumed with travelling through the underground waterways and raising the gates that were blocking our way, until we reached a locked steel door.

"Well, I don't think my fists could knock that down." I sighed. "Don't tell me this is a dead end."

"This path leads to the guardhouse." Jusis answered. "And it seems that this door can only be opened from the other side."

"This can be overcome." Fie said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Fie walked over to the door. "Stand back." She took out a roll of some kind of plastic clay and broke it into five parts before sticking one near each corner of the door and one in the middle.

"What are you doing?" Jusis asked.

Fie stood well back and got her pistol daggers out. "Ignition."

She took aim and shot at the plastic clay which caused them to explode and then the doors fell forwards.

"Well, you're full of surprises." I said. "That looked super badass."

"I know, I'm always badass." She replied, smiling a little. "That was a portable high-powered explosive. Plasticity makes it handy for this kind of espionage work."

"Where could you have gotten possibly such a thing?" Jusis asked.

"Fie, at this point, I think we have a right to know." Rean said. "What exactly is your background? The day of the entrance ceremony, I saw you dodging that trap door the rest of us fell into. You're two years younger than us, yet you're physically no weaker at all. In fact, I'd say when it comes to combat situations, you seem almost like you're holding back."

"Guess you got me." Fie replied. "Before I came to the academy, I was a jaeger."

"A jaeger?" I asked. "What's that?"

"It's where I learned how to handle explosives and use my gunswords. That's all."

"I see...well I think we should be okay with knowing that for now. I've never heard of this jaeger stuff before, but if there's one thing I do know, its that it doesn't change the fact that you're still a cool girl who can get us out of tight situations like this."

Fie smiled at me. "Alex..."

"Thanks for telling us, Fie." Rean said. "And I'm sorry for prying."

"Anyways, with the way clear, let's carry on with our rescue operation." I said.

We passed through the open way and up many stairs, we were no doubt inside the guardhouse and the jail area had to be nearby. We walked up slowly and saw a row of jail cells.

"Well, it seems like a normal jail to me." I commented. "Glad there's none of those lapdogs around here."

"Wait, I hear voices..." A familiar voice called from one of the cells.

"Sounds like Machias is in one piece too." Jusis said.

We went over to the cell that Machias was in and he seemed okay.

"What are you all doing here?" He asked. "There's no way the provincial army would just let me go."

"Well obviously." I replied. "That's why we're here to bust you out."

"Huh, you didn't sneak in, did you?"

"Yeah, through the underground waterway." Rean answered.

"I'll open the cell door." Fie said as she took out another piece of that plastic stuff and stuck it on the door lock before shooting at it.

Machias blinked. "What the?!"

The cell door then opened to the side, Machias came out and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks. I resigned myself to being stuck in here for a while."

"Think no more of it." Jusis replied. "I believed that this was a good way to pay back my father."

"I...see..."

Suddenly, we heard two guards coming from a corner.

"Damn, we took too long!" I exclaimed. "Shoot, I wasn't supposed to raise my voice."

The guards came up to us and stopped a few feet away.

"Lord Jusis?" One of them asked.

"As much as I'd like to praise you for a job well done." Jusis drew his sword out. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to take a short rest."

"Oh, now we're talking." I added, drawing my gauntlets out. "I've been looking forward to kicking these guard's asses!"

The battle began and Rean and Fie went first, weakening the guards. Jusis and I then finished them off with precise strikes that knocked them out, this one was over.

"Phew, how do you like that, losers?" I smirked at the guards. "Maybe next time you'll think twice before trying to assert your authority against me."

"Let's get out of here before more of them show up." Rean said.

"Roger that." Fie replied.

We made a run for it back the way we came in, we were running as fast as we can and then through a large area before something jumped in front of us and blocked our way. It was a large dog covered in gold armor, I looked behind to see another one that was in silver armor, they were circling around us as if we were their pray.

"Who let the dogs out?!" I exclaimed.

"Your family's army employs monsters like this?!" Machias asked in shock.

"No one ever told me!" Jusis answered.

"In that case, we're gonna have to put them down...hard!" I got the gauntlets out. "Jusis, Machias, this is your chance to end the field study on a high note."

"Yeah, we know." Machias replied. "Combat link, Jusis?"

"Already on it." He answered.

The battle began with Jusis and Machias focusing on the silver armored beast and Rean and Fie focused on the gold armored beast. I was able to land in a few shots in case any of them missed, including a nicely timed strike that gave our group the advantage. The dogs however began to fight back and I was struck down to the ground. Once again, I found myself being cornered, I didn't wanna do the same thing I did last time, but I was beginning to have no other option.

'Ha ha ha ha! If you wanna fight back, unleash your powers and eradicate those abominations!'

I suddenly got a headache and grew angry.

"Grrrrrr! Arrhhhhh!" I grabbed the paw that was on me and lifted it up with ease before kipping back up and I jumped away so that the others could take advantage. They were able to finish off the silver one before eliminating the gold one.

"Dammit..." I panted. "We won...but...did they see me...got a little crazy?"

The four of them looked too tired to think about what I just did, they were more focused on the combat links that we could now do. Suddenly we heard a whistle.

"Ugh...not again." I moaned as we were surrounded by the guards.

"You've pushed your luck one step too far this time." The officer spoke as he turned up. "Are you that desperate to be thrown into a cell with Regnitz?!"

"If you want to arrest us, go right ahead." Jusis said. "Well, what's it to be? Accusing my classmates of this crime will implicate me as well."

"Not even Lord Jusis has the right to trespass in a military facility! Much less to release a suspect in our custody, directly opposing the over of His Grace, the Duke."

"The Duke?" I asked with a smirk. "More like the dick."

"You there! How dare you defile His Grace's name with your vulgar expression?!"

"I could ask you the same thing and say how dare you abuse your military authority without even questioning what is right or wrong."

Jusis smiled a little at me.

"Very well! Disarm them, men! Lord Jusis included! And be sure that this one is punished severely!"

"That will not be necessary." A voice intervened.

We turned to see that Rufus has arrived, where did he come from?

"Brother?" Jusis asked in surprise. "How, why are you?"

"I received a message from the academy at noon today." Rufus answered. "And I returned by airship as quickly as I could...with your instructor."

"Really, Sara is here too?" I asked.

"Right you are." A voice answered and we saw Sara turn up alongside Rufus. "Looks like you've all done a fine job."

As the matter was being settled, I breathed a sigh of relief. Had it not been for Rufus, I had a feeling that I would've had to resort to extreme measures. We were able to leave the underground waters and we returned to the hotel to grab our things that we had brought along for the field study, it was time to go back to Trista. We made our way to Bareahard station with Sara and got the train ride back to Thor's.

There was one thing that was on my mind though, who was that guy who gave us the key to get in. It seemed like he knew his way around the places we went to as well as having experience in dealing with monsters. Maybe in the future if our paths cross, I might be able to ask him and see if I can gain any tips or advice on combat.


Yeah, since Emma wasn't part of this one, I had to change how the group were able to get into the underground waterway.

Next time! Alex studies for midterm exams before he meets and befriends Crow.