The Courageous arrived at the proximity of Roer the following day just before sunrise, leaving a small team consisting of only Rean, Alisa, Emma and Celine on the road and out of sight of the Nortian army, from where they would do the rest of the way on foot.
Gaining entrance to Roer was a bit tricky, as far as they were aware Angelica wasn't placed in a position where she could order the guards at the city's entrance to allow them in like Jusis had done in Bareahard and she hadn't had the time to devise a plan for them. But that didn't matter, as the provincial army soldiers wouldn't bat an eye at the unassuming black cat passing by the gates.
Celine made her way through the city, keeping her senses sharp just in case and making sure to not draw attention to herself, although to her annoyance in two separate occasions children pointed at her yelling "kitty" at the top of their lungs, scaring her out of her wits thinking she had been caught. Finally, after a while she found what she had been looking for, a dark, deserted alley.
The familiar cast a spell that served as a beacon for Emma, creating a type of tether between them that the witch then used to teleport herself and her allies to Celine's location. Emma and Alisa landed safely on the ground, meanwhile Rean wasn't so lucky.
"Seriously!?" The swordsman groaned, getting himself up a garbage bin with an open lid.
"Oh Goddess. Rean, are you okay?" Emma quickly moved to him, offering a hand to help him get out that he politely refused. "I swear this wasn't on purpose."
"Yeah, I'm just lucky like that, nothing new," he dusted himself off. At least the garbage bags hadn't torn themselves and spilled their contents on him and hopefully the faint smell would vanish quickly. Meanwhile, Celine and Alisa were holding their laughs.
"Are you sure this glamour spell is working, Emma?" Asked Alisa, a little hesitant as she touched her face. "It doesn't feel like I look different."
From her perspective, aside from some faint glittering covering Alisa's face, the blonde's appearance had remained unchanged, but Emma reassured her that it was fine because the spell was a simple illusion to fool other people, so she herself wouldn't notice any changes. For anyone else, however, Alisa had turned into a brunette with brown eyes and pale complexion. Emma however didn't have enough ingredients to cast the glamour on herself and Rean as well, so both had to make do with a pair of glasses and a hat for him and another hat for her.
Ideally the highly recognizable Reinford heiress shouldn't even be there but the girl was emphatic in that she had to accompany them and it was hard to argue against her since her mother was involved. At least, with her as a guide it was much easier to make their way through the busy streets of Roer.
Differently from their brief stint in Bareahard, the population of the industrial city wasn't as carefree in carrying out their daily routines. The tension in the air was much higher and civilians walked at a brisk pace, keeping to themselves while side-eyeing the provincial soldiers that kept a close eye on the people passing by. Maybe it was due to the fact that Roer was home to many rich commoners, unlike the noble capital of Bareahard, or the news of the defeat of the Kreuzen army at Celdic had put them in alert, whatever the case, Rean and the others made sure to not draw attention to themselves.
While Alisa guided them to the cathedral with no issue, they kept their guard up as they entered the church, being wary of any potential traps in case Angelica had been discovered in the time it took for them to get there. The interior of the cathedral was devoid of people, apart from a sole nun, kneeling at the front of the altar and offering her prayers and not paying attention to them. With no way of knowing how they would contact Angelica, they decided to take a seat and pretend to be praying.
"Have the little sheep lost their way?" Said the nun after a few minutes of silence. Her voice was muffled and somewhat strained but it didn't take a genius to figure out who it belonged to.
"Angelica?" Rean called out her name as he and the girl got up from their seats.
Of course it was the Rogner girl. Angelica turned around with a face of surprise and joy, throwing off the headpiece that made her disguise and rushing to greet her fellow Thors friends. "Aw, I was going to act all mysterious and put you guys on the edge. Your senses have gotten much sharper, Reanie! You continue to surprise me."
"And I'm surprised Aidios Herself didn't set you on fire for putting on nun's clothes."
With a laugh, Angelica went for a handshake but unlike the first time he met her, Rean was ready for it and their hand met with a loud clap as both squeezed each other's hand tighter to see which would give in first, grinning from ear to ear. A loud cough however interrupted the little power play and both disengaged.
"While the knucklehead reunion is amusing I thought we were here for a reason," said Alisa, still under the effects of the glamour spell, which led Angelica to approach the Reinford heiress with a predatory look in her eyes.
"Well, well, now who might you-"
"Whoa, it's me, Alisa," she quickly said with an unamused glare while taking a step back.
The Rogner girl blinked. "Wha-"
"It's magic, Angelica," said Rean. "Emma's a witch, her cat talks. Lots of stuff going on."
She looked at the bespectacled girl and the black cat she had only noticed just now. Emma waved shily while Celine said a curt "hello."
Utterly baffled, Angelica ran a hand through her hair, shaking her head with an amused smile. "And here I was expecting to blow your minds with what I had but leave it to Class VII to upstage me. Anyway, the archbishop is letting me have the church for myself for this little reunion but we can't exactly bar people from entering for too long without raising a few eyebrows. So, before we head to the backroom to share information..." The Taito practitioner's expression took a downturn from the joy she had been feeling. "I heard it from someone else but I need to hear it from you. Is it true? About birdbra- About Crow?"
The sour look on Rean's face was all the answer she needed for the moment.
Rean and the others recounted the events from the day of the attack on Trista up until Towa's appointment as the Courageous' captain. The only topic that was kept for later was Rean and Crow's conversation at the Pantagruel, which wasn't a priority at the moment. For her part, Angelica detailed her trajectory up to that point.
After the festival, she had gone straight back home, although she hadn't been exactly sure what she would do in the eventual war between Erebonia and Crossbell when that seemed like the likely scenario back then, it just seemed like the right thing to do. Her mistake, as Marquis Rogner immediately put his daughter under house arrest.
Of course, the ruler of the Nortia Province also made a mistake in thinking Angelica didn't have any allies in the provincial army, who managed to free her a week after the coup. Since then she kept switching between hiding in the houses of friends, never staying in one place for too long lest her father's men get wind of her, until she managed to establish a hideout outside the city with her allies. As for the information managed to gather…
"All of the Reinford factories are working to serve the war campaign, making panzer soldats and other weapons, and the places that can't handle that type of work have been shut down and their workforce moved. As you can imagine, not a lot of people are happy with that."
"That does explain the tension in the city," said Emma.
"People got uprooted from their jobs, some even lost theirs, and a lot of rich folks are losing money, everyone's pissed off. Hell, even my dad is annoyed with the current arrangement, he knows this is unsustainable and is only hoping the Noble Alliance will get a decisive win soon."
"We heard about the situation with the Reinford Group from Sharon, that your uncle took over the position of CEO, but that didn't paint quite the whole picture with how it affected the citizens," said Alisa. "But what about my mother? You said you knew where she was and even Sharon couldn't get around finding that out when we were here."
"Right, speaking of which," Angelica snapped her finger and the door to an adjacent room opened and the Reinford maid appeared, carrying a tray with snacks and tea.
Although content with seeing that Sharon was still in one piece, Alisa couldn't help but let out an exasperated sigh. "Ugh, of course you were here just waiting for the chance to make an entrance."
"Trust me, my lady, it was extremely painful for me to know you were standing here but it wasn't yet my time to make my entrance," Sharon said, placing the tray in the coffee table for them to serve themselves.
"I'm sure," Alisa rolled her eyes while simultaneously taking a bite of toast with apricot jam on it. "So, back to my mother's location? And where's grandfather?"
"Master Gwyn is safe with Angelica's allies, my lady."
"Has she been here in Roer the whole time?" Asked Rean.
"Not exactly," said the maid. "As you are all aware, the Noble Alliance has taken control of many of the Imperial government assets, including the Eisengraf, the train formerly used by Chancellor Osborne, which has been given control to Count Hidel Rogner, Lady Angelica's uncle. Lady Irina has been imprisoned aboard the train and her location has been constantly changed for the past month with the sole purpose of keeping me from successfully tracking and rescuing her."
"Can't say I don't respect how thorough my uncle is but it's a bit overkill in my opinion."
"That's one way to avoid an Ouroboros Enforcer," said Rean, which led Angelica to look at the maid with confusion, asking what exactly that meant. A topic for another time. "If that's the case, I'm right to assume that the Eisengraf is on the way here."
"You are correct, Master Rean. Especifically, the Eisengraf is on its way to the freight station of the Sachsen Mines for maintenance, due to arrive today at 22 hours, away from any prying eyes and undoubtedly guarded by the jaegers under Marquis Rogner's command."
"If you don't mind me asking, Sharon, but how did you come across this information? Do you believe it's reliable? For all we know this could be a trap," Emma brought up.
"I understand how you feel, Lady Emma, but I wouldn't be relaying this information if it wasn't trustworthy. Through our search for Lady Irina, Master Gwyn and I came across members of the Intelligence Division who were tracking down the movements of the Eisengraf. Major Lechter himself briefed me on Lady Irina's situation."
Well, that was good news then.
It was obvious then that their next course of action would be to start planning on how to rescue Alisa's mother while the train was stationed at the mines. Sharon however had a more bold idea. "If I may, I would like to propose a two pronged attack. While one team is in charge of rescuing Lady Irina, another storms the Reinford HQ and apprehends Count Rogner. With the assistance of the RMP and the Intelligence Division, we can deter Marquis Gerhart from mounting a proper response before we restore Lady Irina's control of the company."
An ambitious plan but not impossible. It would've been much easier if the Crimson Wings still had Viscount Arseid and Toval with them, and in truth Sharon had idealized it before learning of the new arrangement in the Courageous, but it could still be possible if they planned it out right. It would be the true litmus test of Class VII's independence.
"With my uncle under our custody the provincial army in the city will be with their hands tied and from there, we can head on to the Schwarz Drache Barrier where my dad is and get his ass!" Angelia slammed her fist on the table, a cocky grin adorning her face.
With the Eisengraf arriving later that day, the Crimson Wings had a few hours to plan out their dual operation, so with Angelica and Sharon in tow they left Roer, calling ahead to the Courageous for a pick up. The reunion between the second years was one filled with hugs, laughter and Towa yelping as Angelica lifted her up and spun the girl around, praising the cuteness of her wearing a captain's hat.
When that bit of fun was over however, they went straight to start planning out their operations. Firstly, Angelica disclosed the location of the hideout she and her allies, mostly consisting of young soldiers of the provincial army, and Gwyn Reinford had been using. It was a secluded spot selges away at the mountains west of Roer.
"We got some vehicles and three panzer soldats for ourselves, I even managed to put a few hours in getting a hang of piloting one," she stated proudly.
"Well, that is certainly impressive," Jusis said with admiration. "Diverting resources from the army's inventory can't have been an easy feat."
"It is when you know the right people in the right way," Angelica said with a sly wink of the eye. "But it's not like our little squad could make a difference against the army though, and we can't use it to rescue Alisa's mom or storm the Reinford HQ. I think the former should be our priority, otherwise who knows when we'll get a chance as good as this."
"Rean, can't you try the same strategy to intercept the Eisengraf like you did when we rescued my sister?" Asked Elliot.
"I'm not sure. The train that took your sister back then was a single car, so we knew where Fiona and the soldiers were and I could position us well enough in there for a surprise attack. With the Eisengraf though, suppose I get a small team inside, which car is Alisa's mom being kept? How many hostiles are there? Too many variables, too risky trying to teleport a group inside and getting immediately surrounded."
Sara nodded in agreement. "Still, it would be prudent to leave Valimar on stand by in case of an emergency. And thus we have the first member of the rescue team, are you okay with that, Rean?"
There was no reason for him to disagree, Valimar would be more useful there than storming a building, so he accepted. Sharon then volunteered herself for the rescue team as well to no one's objection, which led Alisa to also volunteer herself but the maid did not agree with her placement.
"What, why not? She's my mother, I can't not be there to save her."
"Forgive me, my lady, I understand how you feel. But wouldn't you be far more needed by the team raiding the Reinford HQ to apprehend Count Rogner? With your familiarity with the building you will be able to guide them much more efficiently."
"I have to agree," loathe that she was to do so, Sara had to acknowledge the Enforcer had a point. "We can't expect that getting to where Count Rogner is holed up will be as easy as going up the elevator and ringing the top floor."
"Don't worry, we won't let anything happen to your mom," said Rean with a reassuring smile while Sharon put a comforting hand on Alisa's shoulder.
The blonde sighed. Unfortunately everyone was making too much sense and she couldn't disagree with them.
"And it's my family's mess, so I'll be there personally to take my dumbass uncle down," Angelica, of course, had been expecting this chance for quite some time and was excited to finally have it.
Soon they had sorted out the rest of the groups, taking everyone's skills and capabilities into consideration for their respective roles and devised quite an ellaborate set of plans. Rean, Sharon, Machias, Jusis, Millium and Emma would be in charge of rescuing Irina Reinford, while Laura, Angelica, Sara, Alisa, Fie, Gaius and Elliot would be infiltrating the Reinford headquarters.
Thanks to Gwyn and Sharon's extensive knowledge of the underground tunnels and secret passages that led to the Reinford HQ building, they had a sure way to infiltrate it without raising any alarms. The same could be applied to the mines along with Angelica's knowledge of the tunnels thanks during her time working there.
With their plans drafted, the Crimson Wings' ground team went to get themselves ready for the incoming mission.
There was still a little over an hour until the operation would start but everyone was already ready to go, only waiting for Captain Herschel to give the go ahead. Naturally, some tension had built up from the waiting and some used that time to double and triple check their inventory, Rean and Laura meanwhile decided on spending those final moments together since they were assigned to different teams.
The couple was sitting side by side at Valimar's right foot, not saying or doing anything, just basking in each other's presence, their heads leaning against one another as if they had fallen asleep. It was honestly kind of adorable, Angelica thought when she found them, and it almost made her ignore the sight of the Ashen Knight.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer," Rean said behind closed eyes.
Angelica snickered and shook her head, approaching the couple as both got themselves up. "Sorry to intrude on such a romantic sight but you two were just too cute."
"I'll take that as a compliment," said Laura.
"It was! It's honestly great to see you two finally together, kinda missed it when it happened with all the mess that happened after the festival. Glad to see all my work coaching Rean didn't go to waste," Angelica said as she playfully elbowed a very annoyed Rean in the ribs.
"You didn't 'coach' me."
"Are you going to deny you asked me for advice on how to woo Laura when I asked you to spar with me?"
Rean pursed his lips, awkwardly avoiding looking at Laura. "Just saying that coaching is a strong word," he muttered and Laura chuckled. She was somewhat curious as to what advice Angelica had given Rean, although considering how events had played out it had either been surprisingly restrained coming from her or Rean completely ignored whatever suggestions she had. Laura found herself far more interested in learning about the sparring match between the two. However, before she could ask about it, Angelica had another topic in mind.
"So, tell me the truth. Has the deed been done yet? Have you two lost yourselves in the throes of passion? Surrendered yourselves to the urges of carnal desires? Professed your love in a hot, sweaty night of mind bending pleasure!?"
WIth each colorful descriptor, Angelica's voice grew higher and higher, attracting curious looks from some of their friends and now Laura wasn't finding the older girl's teasing very amusing at all and just fell into a deep blush.
"We're… Uhh, we're taking our time," Rean said.
Noticing he had spoken up for both of them and the look in Laura's face, a mixture of embarrassment and regret, Angelica understood what was going on. Very tactful, Rean. "Right, gotcha. Anyway, so this is the big boy, huh? Fuck me, this is way cooler than an orbal bike," she said with a whistle, her eyes running up and down Valimar's frame in absolute awe.
"Greetings," said the Divine Knight.
"It talks!?"
It was incredibly satisfying to see Angelica actually step away and put up her guard. The moment was short however and the Rogner girl quickly regained her composure.
"Among other things. His name is Valimar."
"Well, pleasure to meet 'cha, Valimar," Angelica took an exaggerated bow. "How about if I take you for a spin?"
The Divine Knight let out a thought hum, turning silent for a second, then came to life fully, slowly getting himself down to one knee and leaning down to come as close as possible to Angelica. It was somewhat ominous but she stood her ground, her narrowed gaze staring back in defiance at the giant's luminous, emotionless eyes. "Not in a million years."
Angelica was stunned silent for a moment before she burst out laughing. "Getting turned down by a giant robot is a new one for me. Are you teaching him to be cheeky like you too?"
"It's an ongoing process."
"Ha! I bet ya. And from what I've heard… Crow has one too," the mirth from their conversation disappeared right then and there. "I actually wanted to talk to you, Rean, about Crow. You know, the reason as to why he decided to be a nobility bootlicker, backstabbing bastard? Towa told you're privy to that stuff."
"Right, that," Rean sighed. "I guess we still have some time to kill."
"I'll leave you two to it then," said Laura but Angelica raised a hand to stop her.
"Hey, be it far from me from cutting your time together short. It's not like it's private information."
Laura looked at Rean for his opinion and he simply shrugged, unbothered, so she decided to stay and the three sat back down under Valimar as Rean recounted the events of that day in Trista, his stay at the Pantagruel and the fateful conversation he had with their former classmate and friend. It was a more dispassionate retelling than the first time when he had returned from the Noble Alliance's airship, as he was much more unsure as to what to feel about the subject.
Angelica simply listened in quietly, looking more serious than she ever did.
"So, Jurai, huh?" She said when Rean was finished. "I'd have never figured that one out. And he was the mayor's grandson to boot."
"It is one thing to hear about Chancellor Osborne's policies from afar such as reading about them in newspaper articles or learning about them at school, it is another to hear about how they can affect individuals. All of this and for what? So that the central government could have another source of funding," said Laura, clearly having put more thought into it since learning about Crow's backstory. Politics were often a messy business that left a bad taste in her mouth. "I obviously can't condone Crow's actions but it is as you said back when Crossbell attacked Garrelia Fortress, Rean, Erebonia has had events like these coming for a while."
Rean had completely forgotten about that detail and the irony that he had been more willing to give Crossbell's declaration of war and attack more leeway than Crow's actions did not escape him, but then one was more personal than the other.
"Yeah, we aren't exactly the most popular country in Zemuria," he responded with a weary sigh. "So, that's it, Angelica, the whole story. Any thoughts?"
"Ah crap, where do I even start…" She said, emulating Rean's exasperation with the matter. Angelica turned quiet, visibly struggling to sort the information she had learned and her feelings. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she spoke. "Politics aside, which is blergh, I don't even want to think about it right now. You've given me a lot to think about, I'm going to need some time to process everything, all I can say right now is that I guess I finally understand Crow."
"I thought you'd be angrier," Rean was surprised at how reserved she sounded. "I mean, you've known him for longer and all that time he's been lying to you and everyone else."
"Oh don't get me wrong, I'm pissed off, I'm going to beat the shit out of him next time we see each other and I don't think I can look at him the same ever again, but I finally got the final piece of the Crow Armbrust puzzle. There was always something about him we could never pin, something behind his act, and it always bugged the hell out of me how he never opened up about it.
"You guys should've seen him when school first started. I'm not going to say Crow was shy or antisocial or even a quiet guy in the first couple of weeks of school but Crow was much more… reserved I guess. He would hang around, make small talk, then be by himself. Slacking off, picking up chicks and gambling, you know, his good qualities, those came up later."
Unknowingly, Angelica had struck a chord with Rean, and he suppressed his surprise as best as he could. It was too similar to his own behavior when he got into Thors, before he tried to emulate Crow. Although Laura recalled her perception of Rean being more muted back then, aside from the misunderstanding with the fencing club, she herself didn't make the connection, having been more worried about school during those early days to form an opinion of Rean.
"He only got into his groove back like a week before our first field exercise, back when me, him, Towa and George were testing the waters for Class VII. At least that's what he'd tell you if you pointed that out but looking back at it, I think he was just lost."
Rean swallowed drily at the description. "Setting up a good lie, I guess."
Angelica shrugged. "Sure, partially, even if there was obviously a side Crow didn't want to show us, it was hard to think of him as a terrorist mastermind so that worked out. But the way I see it, Crow was a kid on the warpath for revenge for half of his life and then suddenly he was placed at a school and had to just adapt to a normal life. He was unsure what to do, what to be even, until he found something that worked for himself.
"I'm mad as all hell at him but, you know, I get it," she offered resigned smile. "And we still had some good times, I mean, it can't all have been fake, right?"