The bracers settled into a routine as they did their best for the people of Bareahard in the time they were there. Fortunately for Rean's well-being the next four days passed without any difficulties, as he wasn't sure how much more patience his young partner had for it. Being a junior bracer certainly wasn't glamorous and even he was starting to get a little bored by the tedium of it all. He had absolutely no idea how his battle-hardened lover had managed to handle such simple tasks on her own without going crazy.
Speaking of, he had actually been quite impressed at how the former jaeger handled receptionist duties. Despite her lackadaisical nature she proved to be as reliable as ever, making sure all the branch operations ran smoothly and efficiently. Sure she complained incessantly, and twice he caught her napping at her desk, but he was used to the former and she waved off the latter claiming that he was the only one she would allow to catch her snoozing on the job.
And the missions she made available to Altina – and he by extension – while simple, were all good respectable requests that would look good on the junior's resume. And there had been plenty of them. Already she had finished enough requests that a promotion to 8th class would already have happened if they were working for a receptionist actually knew and cared about how to promote people, and 7th wasn't that far away either. It wouldn't be much longer until they had done enough to complete Bareahard. Considering how peaceful the city seemingly was it was a bit surprising that they always had jobs available.
Rean did his best to ignore the niggling thought in the back of his mind that this was a textbook case of nepotism.
And their stay at Jusis's mansion was mostly enjoyable too. Although the young Duke and his trustworthy Ironblood were rarely around as they had their own duties to attend to, there was no denying that the mansion was a great place to live. The food was great, the rooms were nice, and the place even had some spacious training rooms for them to use at their leisure.
That last one was a room he found himself in often. To the surprise of nobody, as good as Fie had been as a receptionist, spending her days behind a desk left her with energy to burn and skills that she absolutely refused to let dull. Which meant that he often spent his evenings as her target dummy.
Still, it wasn't as if he was against the idea as he doubted he would have fared much better in her shoes. They were warriors, and warriors needed to fight. And there was nobody alive who knew Fie's limits as well as he did, Fie included. As long as she kept their spars to a lower intensity he had no problem humoring her. It got the job done, but he had a feeling that Fie was not at all satisfied with the limitations placed upon her.
Either that or she was just unsatisfied with the one major flaw of their current residence in that they weren't allowed to sleep together. Aidios knows he was missing her company at night. That was one solution to her pent-up energy and something he was quite looking forward to once they returned home...
But it wasn't as if he was so base as to not be able to survive without his lover's company for a few days. Which was why he had a smile on his face as the three of them made their way to the guild on the dawn of the sixth day. A day that seemed destined to be like all the others.
At least until they saw Jusis's butler, Arnauld, waiting at the door for them.
As the guild receptionist it was Fie whom he approached with what Rean assumed to be a mission request. Given his conversation with Jusis at the start of the week he suspected it had something to do with that, but he still steered Altina away to give the two their privacy despite knowing it would end up in his hands eventually. After a few minutes the butler gave the trio a bow before returning in the direction of the Albarea Mansion.
Once Arnauld had left Fie turned to Rean with an amused smirk and a raised eyebrow. "...And just what have you been telling Jusis?"
"Nothing important." He muttered nervously. "Just offered to help him out if he needed it. Like a good friend?"
"You do know that bracers aren't supposed to get involved in politics, right?" He did his best to maintain eye contact with the grinning receptionist, but failed and glanced away sheepishly. "Hah. Very nice. I'm proud of you."
Altina glanced between the two with a judgmental look on her face, but both seniors knew that she had no leg to stand on. Helping Jusis meant helping Millium and that was absolutely something the girl would do, consequences be damned. "...What exactly does the request entail?"
"The honorable Duke Albarea claims that he acquired some intel on a potential monster sighting in the Aurochs Canyon and has requested that our best bracer go investigate it. That's me, by the way. But since I'm stuck here I suppose the job passes onto Rean instead."
Fie let out a yawn before continuing. "All normal stuff, except he wants you to check a very specific spot at a very specific time. Also he doesn't want you to engage, just observe quietly before reporting back, as the monster supposedly spooks easily."
Reading between the lines Rean easily pieced together the real mission: Someone – quite possibly Millium – had discovered that there was a secret meeting going on in the canyons today and he was being sent to spy on it. There would almost certainly be no monster there outside of the usual fare for that area.
All things considered it was a simple enough request. "Sure. I'll handle it. Altina, you can-" He paused as he looked at her.
Or more specifically, the flat stare she was leveling at him.
"Err... The request was only for me, remember?"
Her stare didn't change, but he got the feeling that it somehow grew in intensity.
"Eh, we both know that that doesn't mean anything. And she's your partner now, remember? Fie chimed in, as unhelpful as ever.
"...But this seems a bit much for a junior bracer, don't you think?"
He knew he messed up as the flat, unimpressed stare somehow grew even flatter and more unimpressed.
"Oh, please. We both know that she's the most overqualified junior bracer Erebonia's seen since me." Again, Fie couldn't help but add her unhelpful opinion.
Stuck between amused and deadpan looks he crumbled like a house of cards. "Fine. You can come. But we're still going to be doing your normal missions in the meanwhile."
"Very well." There was no denying the tiny smirk of victory the girl wore.
"Actually..." His Sylphid chimed in once again. "A couple requests came in last night that will take you into the canyon. Not the ones I probably would have given you, but you should probably do them. Kill two poms with one grenade and all that."
Altina followed her instructions and went to search for the tasks in question, leaving the swordsman to memorize the details of the meeting he was supposed to be spying on. "A shame you're stuck here. You would be perfect for a mission like this."
The stealth specialist let out a shrug. "Eh. It is what it is. Not gonna let it bother me any."
A mature outlook, but he could see that her fists were clenched tight and her eyes were slightly narrowed in consternation. For most people that minute change in body language would mean little. But he knew Fie.
It probably bothered her a lot.
"I am ready. Let us depart." Any further conversation was put on hold as Altina had finished taking down the info for her requests and was waiting at the door. Despite her clear distaste for the simple missions she had been doing she sure seemed impatient to get on with it. The Divine Blade let out a brief chuckle before following her out, shooting a reassuring wave back to his lover as he departed.
Shortly after Rean and Altina left Fie allowed herself the luxury of a long miserable sigh. It was a good thing that she was unflappable or else Rean would have been able to notice how she really felt about this whole situation.
It really bothered her a lot.
Sure, she had mentally prepared herself for the situation she now found herself in, but no amount of preparation was enough. It hadn't even been a full week and she was already bored out of her mind. And kinda stressed, to boot.
Her main motivation in continuing to gain strength after Zephyr disbanded was to protect her new family. But now in order to protect one of the most important parts of her family she had to not fight, which meant staying behind while the other half of her family left to go onto uncertain missions. There was just no winning in this situation!
Sure Rean was one of the most skilled people she knew and Altina was no slouch either, but none of that really mattered to her. She always hated the cliché idea of the fretful housewife sending her man off to war while she stayed behind, but now that she was living that life she found she hated it a lot more.
One thing was for certain, however. Jusis was gonna pay for this. It was a lot easier to deal with the situation when Rean was out collecting herbs and going through sewers. But that blonde bastard had to go and accept his selfless offer of assistance despite having an entire duchy of his own to order around, didn't he?
She wouldn't need to do anything, either. Just plant an idea in Millium's head and watch as chaos reigned supreme. If the Albarea mansion was destroyed in the struggle, so be it. Jusis reaped what he sowed...
Her ruminations were placed on hold as the door opened. Bracers or client...? Bracers. Two of them. If she recalled correctly they were both 3rd class and mostly just needed to prove themselves in tougher combat situations before they would be considered for further advancement. Deft hands moved, seeking out a fairly dangerous monster request to give them.
Next was a solo bracer, the most junior member of the Bareahard branch save for Altina herself and unlike her he was just a normal boy without any crazy experience or skills. Still, he seemed like a determined worker. To him she gathered up a handful of simple requests that would take him all over the province.
Next was some foppish son of a count with a mission request. On paper the task was simple enough, but there was something dishonest about his words. Still, even if the mission was likely more than it appeared she didn't get the feeling that it was anything illegal. She would put that one to the side and see if one of her few senior bracers was interested, while also emphasizing to the suddenly nervous noble that there would be a fee if the it came to light that important details had been left out.
A trio of juniors who made up for their lack of individual talent with their good teamwork and communication skills? Toss em a request to provide security for some noble's party. A call from Miles asking for some extra hands to help find a person missing in the fog? Might as well send down a pair of sword-wielding juniors who might benefit from Laura's brand of crazy. A delivery to Roer? Better to put that one away until next morning.
Before she knew it, it was lunchtime. As tedious as the work was, there was something uniquely interesting about what she had been doing. Matching the right face to each request... Was this how the Boss felt when organizing the different squads for their operations? Or Rean when trying to figure out who to bring to handle all the tasks Prince Olivert sent their way?
Either way, while she would never admit it, it wasn't completely awful. As much as she would rather be out there fighting alongside Rean, Altina, or any of their other friends, perhaps she could survive the next half year like this...
And plus, getting to boss Rean around was always fun. Even as partners his natural leadership skills often ended with him taking charge, not that she usually minded much. Having the authority to send him on all the crappy requests without actually being alongside him herself would not get old. She doubted that Sara would be so trusting as to allow that herself, but there were other ways that she could make her sister's life a living hell.
And with the morning rush now finished, there was little for her to do until bracers started returning at the end of the day, outside of the occasional client showing up. A perfect chance for her to take a break and rest her head for a bit. She wasn't so unprofessional as to take a nap in the middle of the day or anything, but a quick little – Zzzzz.
Having completed all the normal requests easily enough the two bracers made their way over to the location where the supposed monster would be found. They still had some time to kill, but in a situation like this it was better to be a little early so they could scope out the area and find a good vantage point. Plus, even though this area was frequented by the Kreuzen Provincial Army thanks to its close distance from Aurochs Fort, it was still a hotbed of monster activity and they would need to clear out the area lest they get attacked during their stakeout.
The area they were supposed to wait at wasn't hard to find, as it was a fairly open area not too far from the road, but completely concealed by the canyons around it. A perfect spot for a clandestine meeting.
That rocky terrain also meant that there were plenty of hiding spots around and the two found one large enough to conceal both of them, but still close enough that they should be able to listen to any ongoing conversations. Still, being this close was a risk, as while Rean had picked up a few tricks from his lover in the art of being stealthy he was no specialist. And Altina didn't have that.
"Claiomh Solais. Ebon Shade."
He let out a short laugh as the stealth field encompassed them. "I forgot you could do that. Nice thinking."
Altina gave a proud smile. "Claiomh Solais is superior to Airgetlam, after all."
He couldn't help but sweatdrop at how her first thought was to boast about her superiority. Still.. "Are you sure that Airgetlam is lacking in stealth functionality, or does Millium just never bother using it?"
The younger girl tilted her head in thought for a long second before shrugging. "...Irrelevant."
"Will Claiomh Solais be able to keep this up the entire time?" He blinked as a memory came to him. "Dumb question. You were able to keep all the soldats concealed, weren't you?"
Again she nodded. "Of course. Claiomh Solais can handle something this trivial indefinitely."
"...Hopefully they don't have any stealth detection."
The bunny's proud smile turned into a flat line at the reminder that such tech not only existed, but was becoming more prevalent. "...That problem will rectify itself soon enough." She promised, causing him to look at her in confusion. "I have already consulted with Professor Schmidt and George on the possibility of upgrading the stealth field so as to be more difficult to detect. The concept was enough to pique the professor's interest and he said he would consider the request."
Well, that was good. As cranky as he could be, Professor Schmidt was definitely the person capable of creating something like that, especially if he had George and his experience as a Gnome to assist. It would be nice if they could finally get a tech advantage over Ouroboros and the Black Workshop, but Rean couldn't help but suspect that they were already in the process of improving their tech already. Even so, just closing the gap a bit was enough of a win in his book.
With their position secure the two settled in to wait. They were so confident in their skills despite being in monster-infested territory waiting for a clandestine meeting of Jusis's enemies that they passed the time playing Vantage Masters. Rean was impressed. It was clear that she hadn't slacked off in her gaming during the year as both her deck building and moves were no joke. Still, as someone who prided himself on having vanquished Victor Arseid in a card game Rean refused to accept defeat and the Disaster card he kept in reserved sealed his victory, causing Altina to let out an annoyed huff.
They were in the midst of shuffling for another game when both paused as their ears picked up a group of people advancing towards them. Despite being under a stealth generator both were wary as they peaked their heads out over the rocks to take a look at who was there.
At a glance Rean could tell quite clearly that the half-dozen or so men were jaegers. They didn't resemble any of the units he knew and as a warrior he could tell that they didn't seem nearly as skilled as the ones he faced in the past, but still above the likes of Bugbear or most provincial soldiers. The only one in uniform was the man in front, presumably an officer of some level. The most unique thing about him was the unit symbol on his jacket: A blue bird in front of a yellow moon.
Although he had no idea who that symbol represented, he wasn't alone. "The Crescent Hawks." His former Intelligence Agent partner muttered. "A low ranking, but still professional unit. Willing to accept most contracts."
"Good to know, thanks."
For a few minutes there was little activity as the leader sat down at a rock and began smoking a cigarette while his subordinates fanned out to secure the perimeter, but none bothered to check for enemies already among them. The situation finally changed when a large car pulled out and a man dressed in the garb of a merchant stepped out and approached the group.
Neither of the bracers were fooled, however. Despite his apparel it was clear that this man was no merchant. None of his mannerisms matched up to any trader Rean knew. Not to mention that traders probably wouldn't bother with expensive bulletproof armor on their car.
The two watched as the man arrived at the meeting spot and greeted the leader of the jaegers. As important as this meeting was, the fact that the man didn't seem to bother locking up his car after exiting gave Rean an idea. And he had a partner to cover for him. "Stay here and listen." He whispered to Altina. Altina, despite having a snarky attitude that had only gotten worse after spending time with Fie, was still a professional at heart and merely nodded in understanding.
The jaegers were really proving their lackluster training as none of them were still on high alert and it was easy for Rean to dart from rock to rock at high speeds and evade alerting anyone in the area. Within seconds he had reached the car and much to his relief he was correct in that it hadn't been locked. Cracking open the door he slipped inside.
Being careful as to not leave any sign of his presence, the swordsman began searching the vehicle for anything of interest. He had been hoping for anything to identify the mystery person or perhaps some smoking gun detailing whatever plan they were working towards, but that was optimistic at best.
Still, the search wasn't completely in vain, as there was a nondescript folder sitting in the car's door. Opening it, Rean found himself staring at a group of documents. On the surface they appeared to be nothing more than financial transactions and for an instant he wondered if he had been wrong to dismiss the man as a merchant, but the longer he stared at the numbers on the pages the more irregularities he began to spot.
For one the transactions appeared to be from towns all across the Empire with little rhyme or reason to their location. None of them were from any of the major cities, however. But most interestingly, none of the numbers matched up at all, even in the cases where the same items were listed. What was five-hundred arge in one town was nearly double that two towns over.
Sadly, this was an area that he had no real expertise in and couldn't figure out why it was important, but his instincts were screaming at him that it was. So trusting that instinct the former instructor used his ARCUS to snap pictures of each page before putting them back in the folder and to its original spot. Wouldn't want to tip them off that someone was going through their stuff, after all.
Task complete, he considered sneaking back to Altina's location to listen in to the rest of the meeting, but decided against it. No point in risking the mission to sate his own curiosity when he already had an attentive bunny listening in. Instead he elected to wait for the end at a safe distance.
It was about ten minutes later when the 'merchant' returned to his car and drove off, another few after that before the presence of the jaegers vanished. He prepared to set out in search of his partner, but needn't have bothered as she was appeared in front of him after allowing the Ebon Shade to expire. There was little discernible change in expression on her face, but her brows did appeared to be furrowed in confusion.
"How did it go?"
"It appears that the Crescent Hawks have been hired alongside multiple other minor jaeger corps to act as bandits all across the country." Was her succinct answer.
And yet despite the clarity of her words the doubt never left her face. "But...?" He prompted for her.
"I do not understand it. Although I was unable to overhear all the details of their operation, from what I did hear made it clear that they are being forbidden from operating along major roads or rails. They are also unable to commit any serious crimes. Only acts like thievery, extortion, vandalism, and minor property damage were authorized."
"Hmm..." Only one thing came to mind. "Perhaps their operating in a way less likely to draw a response from the army and RMP?"
She nodded her head. "I agree. That seems likely. But that leaves the question: What do they hope to accomplish by doing this in the first place? The going rate of a single small jaeger corp is far higher than the monetary value of the damages they will be dealing in an operation like this."
He nodded along, trusting in her word. Jaeger operations were not his forte. "I'm sure Jusis and Fie will be able to make more sense of it. We should get back and report to them."
"Agreed. Were you able to find anything in your own search?"
To answer her question he pulled out his ARCUS and showed her the pictures he had taken. "Don't suppose you can make any sense of this?"
Unfortunately the only insights that Altina were able to provide were the same ones that he himself had gleaned. Sighing, he put it away. Again something that probably only Jusis would be able to comprehend.
Since there was little more that they could do they packed up and began the trek back to Bareahard. They discussed possibilities based on what they had witnessed, but with the limited intel they had it was little more than idle gossip to pass the time. They had plenty of potential theories, but without sufficient evidence nothing more.
Briefly he considered going back and following the jaegers, but a scheme as large as the one that seemed to be underway would almost certainly compartmentalize the intel so each group only knew what it was doing and nothing more. Going after them now would only serve to arouse suspicion among the masterminds. But if they got caught by a seemingly routine patrol after he informed Jusis, well that was an entirely different matter, wasn't it?
It was still fairly early when they made it back, but as neither of them had any real interest in the available nightlife in the noble city they instead just decided to return to the guild early and wait out the rest of the day before returning to the Albarea Mansion as a group. Opening the door to the guild he prepared to greet his lover and-
"Zzzzz."
Instead he sweatdropped as he discovered that yet again she was sound asleep at her desk. Considering there weren't junior bracers freaking out and confused clients he knew that she at least accomplished everything she needed to before giving up on consciousness. He couldn't help but let out a chuckle even as Altina gave an exasperated sigh.
Seeing her asleep like that filled him with an urge to pamper her, which he saw no reason to deny. Crossing the room he removed her hat and commenced his favorite pastime of patting her head. Even if Fie didn't seem to react from his ministrations he knew that she had to have been awake by now, but if she wasn't gonna stop him than he wouldn't stop. Simple as that.
Although she tried to hide it, it was obvious that Altina was pouting from her position by the door. Grin widening, Rean held out his other hand in invitation. With speeds that would put most of their classmates to shame the younger girl had crossed the room and was also happily receiving his affections. Many people over the years had told him that he was weird with his headpat obsession, but if it made those he cared about so happy than what was wrong with it?
The moment was ruined by the sound of the door opening. Before anyone could even step through the frame Fie had sat up with her hat back on and Altina had retreated a safe distance away. A picture perfect scene of serenity. Well, ignoring the fact that both girls were glaring daggers at the terrified junior now entering the room.
Quickly Fie adopted a mask of professionalism, but given the way her hands were clenched and how she was muttering things that only he could hear he kept close at hand to ensure she didn't lash out as the poor kid quickly reported his mission completion and ran away as quickly as his legs could take him. Only after he was gone did Fie slump back down. "Just can't keep a good thing going, can we?"
"Haha... I'm sure you've been working hard, so I'll take care of you later, alright?"
"Tch." The young woman muttered. "I have a feeling you're patronizing me. Still... Gonna hold you to that. So how'd it go?"
That was Altina's cue to give her reports on all the normal missions they did that morning. Fie nodded at each successfully report, of which there were many. "Mmm. Good job. Looks like we can go back home cause you've definitely done enough to get approved here." Altina couldn't help but puff out her chest proudly. "...Sadly you'll still have to show up tomorrow cause I have no clue how to handle all that." That good feeling was gone and now Altina was focusing all her ire upon the former Zephyr member. "Ah well. Franky will be back tomorrow and I'm sure he'll take care of ya. Me and Rean'll be thinking about you."
Slowly, Altina's head turned to his direction, and while her facial expression didn't seem to change, Rean couldn't help but notice the hint of pleading on it. He really wanted to support her... But the deal they made was to only travel with her to the first location and there was no way he could modify it with Fie standing right there staring expectantly at him! "Uh... Good job?" He knew it was the wrong thing to say before Altina had crossed the room to kick his shin. "Ow..."
"Seems we still have one more request to talk about." Hurray for Fie coming to his rescue.
But given the cover story... "Sorry, we weren't successful. The monster must have left on its own or someone else got to it first as we were unable to find it." He said evenly and with a bored shrug.
"Eh, that's fine. The client only requested that it be driven out. Even if it left on its own that news will be enough for the Duke. He even authorized a nice little bonus for the two of you. Good job."
The way she was staring at him made it quite clear she was curious as to what they really saw, but... "Sorry, but it's best it waits until we meet up with Jusis."
Telling Fie that she needed to wait to have her curiosity sated? A bad idea. Now both of his shins were aching and the ones responsible for that were pouting in unison.
Not wanting to earn any more bruises for his efforts he elected to assist Fie with filing away some requests while Altina wandered off to do her own thing before returning a while later. Eventually night arrived and after closing up shop the three made their return to the Albarea estate.
It wasn't until after dinner that Jusis was able to invite them into his office, with Millium naturally shadowing the group. There Rean and Altina took the time to explain what they overheard to the three listeners, after which the swordsman pulled up the pictures he had taken and showed them to the Duke.
"Ah. So that's what they are planning."
Rean blinked. That fast? "What is it?"
"As you are no doubt aware, Erebonia has always afforded nobles the right to govern and tax their own territory as we see fit. The attempts of the Reformist Faction to get rid of that practice were a major issue during our schools days, if I recall correctly."
"Uh huh. And?" Clearly Fie wasn't as interested in the politics as he was.
But after four years of being friends Jusis was more amused by her impatience than anything. "Even though the lesser nobles only have jurisdiction over their fiefdoms, economics is an international business. So one noble spiking taxes in their own region or reducing exports on a certain good..."
Eyes widened in realization. "...Will have a ripple effect all across the country and even beyond. And with a conveniently timed rise of banditry causing even more issues with trade... They're trying to artificially create unrest, aren't they?"
"Exactly." Jusis agreed with his assessment. "The average citizen doesn't specialize in economics and trade. All they'll see are rising prices and a scarcity of goods. They in turn will begin to blame those in charge – in this case the Imperial Government and by association the Four Great Houses – at which point I have no doubt that our conspirators will swoop in with solutions to the problems that they themselves created." The duke shook his head an let forth a sigh. "Who needs a great curse when there are still so many individuals willing to sabotage everything around them for personal gain?"
The bracers couldn't help but agree with his dour assessment, but as Rean once again looked at the numbers, now with proper context, he saw one ray of light. "At least it seems that in their need to go under the radar they are mostly only creating small fluctuations for now."
"Indeed. And they are doing what they can to keep the damage as far away from the major cities, lest we caught wind." The last loyal Albarea began massaging his forehead as if staving off a headache. "...It appears that this is the worst case scenario."
Rean caught Fie glancing at him in confusion, causing him to shrug as he too was befuddled by Jusis's words. "Wait." She asked. "I know this situation sucks and all, but 'worst case scenario'? Is it really that bad?"
In contrast to the rest of the group, Millium had a huge smile on her face. "Nah. It's not that bad. This is just how Jusis gets when he has to ask Machias for help."
Despite the situation, the rest of the group – Altina included – couldn't help but begin to grin alongside Millium. As a government inspectorate Machias was definitely the right person to contact about this, but neither of the two rivals could ever see eye to eye on any matter, even after all these years. It was a source of never-ending amusement for all of Class VII.
"None of us deserve to suffer Regnitz's grating voice." Jusis agreed solemnly. "Still. I owe the three of you my thanks. I will contact the other houses and together we should be able to nip this in the bud before it becomes an actual problem. I do not believe we will need your assistance again, but if I do I will not hesitate to contact you."
Although Rean shared his optimism that the current situation could be handled, he wasn't quite so certain that the overall problem would go away as easily. It seemed that many who once wielded power absolutely refused to accept that loss. It was doubtful that the disgruntled nobles would let it go quite that easily...
But it was time for them to go home. And even though all of them were willing to help, they all knew that this was far beyond what bracers were allowed to do. If Jusis or someone else in authority asked for them they would gladly do what they can to assist, but for now it was best to leave it be.
It wasn't like the situation was destined to get much worse, after all.
Figured you guys might be interested in knowing that I finally have an end in sight for this story. But before you get too worried know that it's probably at least ten chapters away. Still have many ideas for little singular slice of life fluff chapters before we get to the final major arc and ending. And as always, I am completely winging it so things could always change...
