It was midday when the passenger airship they were riding on touched down in Grancel, the capital of Liberl. Despite being much smaller than the cities they were used to, the place had it's own charms, and the pair did their best to not gawk like tourists as they explored the place. While they could easily have simply asked for directions to the Bracer Guild, they instead took a more leisurely scenic route, checking out some of the sights and shops first.
"This place seems nice. I kinda feel sorry for them though." Rean shot a questioning look towards his partner, causing her to elaborate further. "You're here now. Whenever you go somewhere some chaotic event usually follows."
Rean opened his mouth to refute such slander, but paused as he couldn't think of anything to disprove such a fact. He furrowed his eyes in thought as he desperately tried to think of anything he could say to wipe the ever-widening smirk off Fie's face. "...Shut up." His concession only made the girl grin wider.
"At least you usually clean up your messes. You're a good boy." If she thought treating him like a dog would make him feel better she was sadly mistaken.
Eventually, while traveling through South Block, the pair spotted the familiar gauntlet of the Bracer's Guild. With their destination revealed they quit their explorations and ventured forth. "Well, here we are. Ready?" Rean questioned.
"Yup. Should be fun. At least I don't have to deal with Aeolia anymore." With that the girl opened the door and the duo entered the building.
"Ahh! You're so cute! Aidios has blessed me today!" The pair were so stunned that Fie was unable to evade the grasping arms as she was swept up into a big hug from an unfamiliar girl.
"Rean. Help." Said man could only blink in confusion. Talk about deja vu.
"Anelace. Let go of Fie." Thankfully Estelle was there and she seemed to have a better understanding on the situation.
"Hmm..." Anelace made a show of thinking about the request. Rean couldn't but think the name was familiar. "Naw. I don't wanna. Think I'll keep her."
"How come only girls think I'm cute?" Fie complained from her uncomfortable position.
"Um..." Should Rean feel offended from that comment?
"Not you. You always thought I was irresistibly sexy, even on that first day when you perved on me while I was sleeping." Was Fie answering his unspoken question or trying to get him in trouble? Either way, judging by the way Anelace was now glaring at him, he knew she had accomplished both.
"You... Grandpa has told me a lot about you, but he never said that you were an enemy of all things cute." Fie took this distraction as her chance to escape, which only seemed to enrage the girl further.
"Um..." Rean was still completely bewildered, but the first part of her declaration jogged a memory in his mind and that plus the tachi that he could clearly see caused him to realize he knew who this girl was. "Oh. You must be master Ka-Fai's granddaughter. It's a pleasure to meet you?" Or at least it would have been if the girl didn't seem to be seconds away from drawing her blade and taking a swing at her fellow disciple.
"Hmph. That's right. But from today on you shall know me as your eternal rival. Um, no offense Estelle?"
"Oh, no. Anelace has found a new eternal rival and moved on from me. How tragic." So tragic that Estelle looked ready to jump for joy.
"Ahem." An awkward cough drew their attention to Joshua, who had been standing to the side and watching the interaction with no little amusement. "Since these two don't seem that interested, let me be the first to welcome you both to Liberl."
"Right. Thanks." The two Erebonians shifted their attention away from the girl who seemed to be torn between attacking Rean or trying to kidnap Fie again. "We're happy to be here."
"So what do you want us to do." Fie asked while warily keeping an eye on Anelace.
Estelle gave a sheepish laugh. "Well, funny story, actually. So our head receptionist, Aina, was supposed to be the one to handle everything, but she, ah... appears to have left the country?"
"She left a message saying she was going to help Schera settle in and left without actually telling anyone."
"Pretty sure she just wanted to drink Schera and Olivert under the table again."
Fie just gave the Liberlians a hard stare. She truly was starting to believe that all Bracers were destined to end up weird. Maybe she should go back to Crossbell and become an Arc en Ciel performer, after all.
Under the younger girl's stare the Bright duo wilted. "...Anyways. It was a bit last minute, but we figured since you two were only here for a little while it would be best to send you to each of the branch offices."
"Yup, yup!" Estelle nodded in agreement. "It's something of a Liberl Bracer tradition. The country is like one big circle with Valleria Lake in the middle. So no matter where you start you will see everything we have to offer."
That sounded reasonable to Rean. He glanced towards his partner, but found her still giving Estelle and Joshua her best deadpan expression. He eventually decided that her lack of reaction signaled her acceptance. "Sure, that sounds fair. Any advice before we go?"
"Actually, yes. Think you could go west to Zeiss first? Estelle and I live in Rolent and there's something I would like to discuss with you once you finish." The former Enforcer suggested with a nervous expression on his face, which only increased after Estelle sent him a questioning look.
"Well, I wasn't expecting that, but I agree with Joshua. I'm sure Tita would love to see you. Dad too, since he's stuck at Leiston Fortress."
"Right, sounds good to me." Fie finally admitted herself into the conversation. "Let's go get your bike and get started."
"What? But you're supposed to walk there! It's a Bracer tradition!" Estelle was actually offended at that last comment.
"Tradition is lame when you have an Orbal Bike." Fie smirked as Estelle gave her a look of absolute betrayal before collapsing to her knees in despair.
"Wait!" The granddaughter of Yun Ka-fai shouted. "Rean Schwarzer I challenge you to a duel! I will beat you and keep Fie to myself!"
Rean scowled. "Denied." He flatly refused. The former Instructor looked upon his fellow disciple of the blade as if she were a misbehaving student. "Beyond the obvious fact that Fie isn't a possession to be bartered around, surely master has taught you to have a better reason than that when challenging someone to a fight. If you can find that reason I will gladly accept, but for now we are leaving."
With that the two Erebonians exited the guild to begin their trip. After a few seconds Rean's harsh criticism finally sank in and the remaining Eight Leaves practitioner, like Estelle, fell to her knees in despair. Joshua could only look between the two miserable girls and shake his head in exasperation.
After leaving the Guild the pair went back to retrieve Rean's bike from temporary storage and soon after departed the city. Despite having never been in this country before the path was straightforward and soon enough they arrived at Sanktheim Gate, which would take them into Zeiss. Despite drawing a few odd looks for their bike the duo were admitted through the gate once their status as Bracers was confirmed, although the guards on duty appeared none too happy when it was revealed that they were Erebonian.
After that the rest of the trip to Zeiss was simple enough. Although Rean considered detouring to Leiston Fortress to visit Cassius Bright, they had plenty of time and odds are they would end up in that area on a request anyways. All in all the trip from Grancel to Zeiss took barely under an hour.
Naturally, their first instincts were to compare Zeiss to Erebonia's equivalent of Roer. It was much smaller, but that didn't detract from the place at all. Despite the obvious signs of mechanization, the town still had vestiges of a pleasant homely area. The two also appreciated the simplicity in it's layout. Although neither would ever admit it they would totally have gotten lost the first time in Roer were it not for Sharon and Alisa providing guidance.
The Zeiss Bracer Guild was easy to locate and soon the pair departed with a handful of simple requests that would take them around the region. As they were leaving Rean spotted a familiar face, one that he had intended to seek out eventually.
"Tita!" Apparently the former student was so engrossed in some little gadget in her hands cause she shrieked in fright and almost dropped whatever it was at the unexpected call.
Once she recovered and made sure she didn't do any damage to her current project, the girl finally remembered to look and see who had greeted her. "Instructor Rean! Fie!" The young engineer called out in joy as she ran over to them.
"Hey." While Fie wasn't nearly as close to the youngest Russell as Rean was, she liked the energetic girl well enough. And plus, it was fun to tease her and Agate about the girl's obvious crush.
"Estelle told me that you guys might be visiting Liberl, but I didn't think I would be seeing you here. I'm so happy to see you are so well! How long have you been here? So how's being a Bracer been?" Realizing that she was rambling, the girl calmed herself down and gave a sheepish laugh. "Umm... Welcome to Zeiss?"
"Hehe, thanks." Almost instinctively Rean's hand twitched as it desired to pat the excited girl on the head, but he could sense the warning look from his lover. Reluctantly his limb relented. "So how have you been since graduating?"
"Oh, I've been wonderful. I've been helping Grandpa out on some of his inventions, and my parents have even chosen to stay home for a while to spend time with me."
"That's great. For your earlier question, we landed in Grancel a couple hours ago and made our way here first. We actually just got some requests to handle..." While he was more than willing to chat with his former student he wasn't exactly keen on skipping out of work, especially with it being his first day here.
The girl realized what he was insinuating, but answered in a completely unexpected way. "Would you like my help? I would be glad to show you two around the city."
The offer wasn't bad as most of their tasks did involve the city or factory, but... "We have a monster exterminating request outside the city too."
"That's fine too. I made some upgrades to my Orbal Cannon and have been meaning to try it out. I won't hold you back, I promise!" Her answer satisfied the older girl, although privately Fie was slightly saddened she wouldn't get to see her cool little mech. Still an Orbal Cannon would suffice. Tita would have been a good recruit for Team Tiny back in the day.
Unsurprisingly, the first place she took them was to Zeiss's defining feature: The Zeiss Central Factory, with Tita explaining details of the place as they proceeded. The trip was uneventful save for Fie grabbing Rean's hand and leading him up the wrong side of the escalator, in an event reminiscent of their first trip to Roer. Luckily Tita was no Sharon so he wasn't treated to a terrifying threat, although the engineer did shoot them an amused look at their antics.
"This place seems busy." Fie noted as they entered the factory. And indeed it did. While they had visited a few of Reinford's factories in the past none of them radiated chaos quite like ZCF did in that moment as people were running around like headless chickens and making all kinds of noises. It was actually quite annoying.
"You guys must not have heard. Estelle told me you guys were in Crossbell when the Jaegers attacked, right? As you probably know the military there has been trying to rearm, but lack the factories to produce airships. There must have been some serious negotiations going on cause just last night we were told that Queen Alicia approved the sale of a dozen patrol airships to Crossbell. It was a huge surprise!"
"I always heard she was a proponent of peace. Selling weapons to another country doesn't really fit that description..."
"Well Liberl was the first nation to suffer at the hands of Ouroboros..." Rean countered, causing his partner to nod her head at his point. Even the most peaceful people needed the tinge of steel when a secretive and highly militant organization was on the loose.
"Right. But because of that everyone is super busy. I'm sure Grandpa and I will be asked to help out with some of the more delicate operations eventually. So you guys said you have a request here?"
"Yup. Some researcher named Ray." Fie stated from memory.
Tita's eyes lit up. "Oh! Ray! He's actually really famous around here after he created the first Acerbic Tomatoes. You can find him in the labs on the fourth floor."
The two Bracers shared alarmed looks. "This guy created Acerbic Tomatoes?" Rean repeated, causing the girl to nod in confusion.
"The nasty bitter tomato that rapidly evolved into an evil vegetable monster that is becoming a serious threat all across Western Zemuria?" Tita finally understood their concern after Fie's clarification, causing the girl to laugh sheepishly.
"Fruit Monster."
"What?" Fie wasn't sure what Rean was saying.
"You called it an evil vegetable monster. Acerbic tomatoes are actually an evil fruit monster." Rean's attempt at sounding smart died under Fie's withering glare. "What?" He asked nervously.
"When did you become such a nerd? Is that why you started wearing glasses? Wanna be more like Machias?"
Tita giggled at their interactions. They were so cute together! She only hoped that one day she could find her own Rean. Someone kind, but fiercely protective of those he cares about. Maybe a Bracer. Perhaps one using a sword? Her cheeks flushed as her mind conjured an image of someone just like that.
After a short elevator ride and explanation from Tita about the contents of each floor, the trio emerged on the fourth floor and made for the laboratory. There they listened to the simple request to collect some plant specimens to be used for cross-breeding. Really the hardest part of the request for Rean was stopping Fie from planting explosives in the demonic greenhouse. While privately he wasn't fully against the idea, committing acts of terrorism on their first day in a different country would probably reflect poorly on them.
Of course this meant they now had a second task taking them out of the city, but Tita assured them that she didn't mind. Especially as she claimed that both requests were in the same area south of the city. After that they departed the factory and Tita led them around the rest of the city to handle the rest of their tasks, which were completed without issue.
Taking the south exit the trio departed the city. Having Tita in the group meant that they couldn't use the orbal bike without installing the side car, which they had shipped back to Erebonia after their Crossbell trip.
"Liberl is tiny." Fie commented after Tita informed them that they were close to their destination. They had only been walking for a few minutes!
"Well, Liberl is actually a lot bigger than Crossbell, but since it is divided into five separate regions it certainly feels a lot smaller. Instructor Rean mode activated again, much to her annoyance.
Unfortunately, the annoying Instructor wasn't alone. "Uh huh. Liberl is also extremely rugged and has a lot less settled area than you would think." His dutiful student was also present.
They found the monster easily enough. It would have been a simple enough fight for the two of them, but with the extra person it was trivial. While Tita might not have been as skilled or quick as the two Erebonians, she was more than capable of holding her own and provided withering cover fire with her oversized orbal cannon.
"I'm a bit rusty at fighting outside my Orbal Gear." She lamented after the fight. "At least the modifications we made to my cannon are all working correctly." Rean had to agree. Although he only rarely saw the girl fight outside of her Orbal Gear, he had witnessed it a few times and never was she able to fire such fast or powerful shots with her cannon before.
After that it was a short walk down the road to where the plants Ray wanted were located at. As always, it was Fie who handled that request. While not as familiar with species that grew in Liberl, the former gardener understood plants well enough to easily identify and harvest the ones they needed.
"What's down that road?" Rean asked Tita while Fie prepped the plants for transportation. He was curious because they had already passed the road that would take them into Calvard and didn't know there was anything else in this part of Zeiss.
"Oh. That will take you to Elmo Village. It's famous for its authentic Calvardian hot springs."
Fie backed up warily. She knew exactly what was coming. "Authentic. Calvardian. Hot. Springs..." Yeah, his eyes were sparkling. "Fie! We need to go there! Please!" He looked ready to start begging if she refused him. The native of Ymir remained just as obsessed with hot springs as ever.
Still, Fie wasn't exactly against the idea as they hadn't had a good soak since before leaving for Crossbell. "We still need to sort everything out and get settled in for our stay first. How about tomorrow?" Rean pouted sadly, but reluctantly agreed. It felt odd for the younger girl to be the voice of reason in their relationship.
"The hotel is really close to my house. We actually passed it as we were leaving. Oh! Why not come over for dinner. I'm sure my parents and grandpa would love to meet you." The two couldn't help but share wary glances. If Albert Russsell was like the other Epstein disciple that they knew than they really didn't want to be anywhere near him.
Still, as wary as they were it would be incredibly rude to refuse, so Rean accepted the offer for the two of them. This caused no small amount of happiness for his former student. First they stopped at the Guild to report mission success. After that Tita led them to the Zahnrad Hotel and waited while they made their reservations for the next few days. Once that was concluded they were led the short distance to the Russell home.
The home itself was quiet, but the sound of noise in the connected building alerted them to the presence of someone.
"Ah. Grandpa must be in the workshop!." Because of course any family that could create someone like Tita Russell would have a workshop in their home. The two Bracers followed Tita into the room. There they encountered Albert Russell.
Their first impression of the man wasn't great as he was completely oblivious to their presence as he tinkered away at some project. Even Tita calling out to him failed to get his attention. It was only after the girl made her way to home and yelled into his ear that the man seemed to realize he wasn't alone.
"Oh, hi Tita." Although he finally acknowledged her presence he didn't bother to look up from his work.
The young engineer rolled her eyes. "Grandpa we have guests." That finally was enough to draw his attention.
"Why hello there. It's nice to meet you, although I don't think I know who you are?" The old man questioned as he looked at the two newcomers. If nothing else at least he seemed a lot nicer than Schmidt.
"Hello. I'm Rean Schwarzer and this is my partner Fie Claussell. We're Bracers. It's nice to meet you." Rean greeted respectfully.
"He was one of my teachers at Thors." Tita added.
"Of course he was. Between you and that crusty old coot I am already well aware of who they are. Thanks for looking after my granddaughter during her stay in Erebonia."
Rean merely shrugged. "Think nothing of it. If anything I should be thanking her for all the support she provided during the Twilight."
"Still, it's thanks to you that she was able to grow as much as she did. And because of that I am now closing in on the secrets of Ouroboros's tech advantage. Now that final bit caught the attention of the two Bracers.
"I tried to collect as much of their technology as I could during the incident and sent it all here after." Tita elaborated. "A lot of it is still a mystery, but we have a good grasp on some of the weapons."
"How close are you?" Fie asked curiously.
"The Black Workshop was a truly heinous place from all accounts, but their weapon making abilities are second to none. I'm no blacksmith, but I do believe I can replicate some of the weapon making techniques that they used."
Now that was interesting. Many of the agents they employed were using some extremely powerful weapons. If the tech used in the creation of weapons like the ones Xeno and Leo used were made available to those opposing them that would make a huge difference.
"Of course this presents a different conundrum for us. Professor Epstein always believed that technology should be freely shared, and while I do agree with that, this technology is exclusively designed to kill people. While more useful applications will be discovered eventually, I can't say I'm a great fan of providing weapons to nations that could misuse them."
"Huh. You aren't what I expected at all." Fie admitted. "I thought you were going to be like Schmidt." Fortunately it seemed that Tita's grandfather actually cared about the potential ramifications of his research.
Albert looked like he just tasted something bitter. "I should be offended by that comparison, but from what I've heard you two have been stuck with that cantankerous old man for years, so I suppose it's understandable you would think that way."
"Grandpa's the best!" Supported the young engineer. "Oh! Grandpa, how about Fie?"
"Huh?" Questioned said girl. The old man took a speculative glance at the weapons on her hip.
"Can I see that for a second?" He asked the confused girl as he pointed to one of her gunblades. Normally Fie would refuse to hand over her weapons to a stranger like that, but in her state of confusion she did so without thinking about it. "Hmm... Very exquisitely crafted. Black Zemurian Ore too... Still, the Orbal Engine could definitely be upgraded. This could work"
"While Grandpa doesn't want to provide weapons to entire armies, we think that it will be ok if we do it for people we can trust. Especially those facing Ouroboros."
"So how about it young lady? Give me a couple days with these and I can upgrade these blades the same way I did Tita's cannon. Should be able to make it fire faster, do more damage, and go a little further."
The offer was tempting. Very tempting. But one problem lingered in her mind. "Gonna be hard to do my work without weapons..."
"How about you just leave one with him today and switch once it's finished?" Rean supplied helpfully. He knew his partner could fight well enough with just one blade, especially if it is just the routine tasks they do on a daily basis.
"That would work." The professor confirmed. "Sorry I can't do anything for you after all the help you provided Tita these last couple years, but that blade of yours isn't designed for orbal tech." Rean just waved him off. Giving Fie an upgrade was far more than they had expected when they arrived and he was grateful for that. With no more reason for doubt Fie allowed the man to keep one of her prized blades.
"We're home!" A female voice called out from the house itself.
"That'll be my parents. C'mon!" Tita led the two Bracers out of the workshop to greet the new arrivals. "I brought guests over for dinner, I hope you don't mind." She informed the two adults who had entered the house.
Tita's mother looked at the two with suspicion, but relaxed after a second. "Neither of them are Agate, so I suppose that's fine. So who are you two anyways?"
"I'm Rean and this is my partner Fie. We're Bracers from Erebonia."
"He was one of my teachers at Thors!" While Tita said that to be helpful, it ended up having the opposite effect. A cold chill filled the area as the woman's eyes seemed to glow with unholy intensity.
"So you're the one responsible for putting my little Tita in danger? I should strike you down where you stand!"
"Moooooom. It wasn't like that!" Tita whined. "It was my choice to go to Thors and they helped me out a lot. Nobody could have expected things to end up that way.
Rean scratched his cheek nervously. "I won't deny that it was dangerous, but it would have been a lot worse were it not for Tita's help. You have raised a remarkable daughter."
His words failed to mollify the angry woman, who continued to glare death at the swordsman. Luckily she was interrupted by her husband. "It's nice to meet the two of you. I'm Dan and this is my wife Erika. It's always nice to meet fellow Bracers."
"You're a Bracer?" Fie asked curiously.
"Retired. An injury ended my career. Now I just assist my family of dedicated engineers."
Time passed as Tita and Erika worked together to make dinner. Thankfully it wasn't too awkward as Dan seemed like a nice enough guy and swapped some interesting Bracer stories with them, which allowed them to ignore his wife's glare of doom. Eventually it was ready and after retrieving Albert from his workshop the group ate a simple, but enjoyable meal. Even Erika relaxed a bit after multiple assurances from Rean that he had no intention of putting Tita in danger ever again. Once finished the pair excused themselves and returned to their hotel.
"Well they seem nice enough." Rean commented after they had left.
His comment earned him a blank stare. "Didn't she spend half the evening glaring at you and threatening to castrate you? How is that 'nice enough'?"
"I guess it was a bit extreme, but there's nothing wrong with being protective of your family, right?" His reply only earned him a long suffering sigh from his lover.
"Of course you would think that's fine. Sometimes I worry for our future kids."
"I'm not that bad." His defense withered under her deadpan stare. Coughing awkwardly he changed the subject. "Awfully nice of the professor to upgrade your gunblades."
"Yup. I guess not all crazy professors are like Schmidt. Still, it feels kinda weird not having it with me." She frowned as she patted the spot the weapon would normally be. Rean could understand. Both of them kept their weapons on hand, even when they had days off. Something that served them well since they often found themselves under attack at the most random of times. Especially when Xeno and Leo got involved.
Luckily for Fie, the next day didn't involve much fighting at all, so her missing weapon was a non-issue. One of their tasks did take them to Leiston Fortress, but Rean was disappointed to find out that Cassius Bright had returned to the capital on important business and wouldn't be returning for a while. The rest of the requests were completed successfully and soon the two found themselves back in Zeiss.
After reporting their success the two made a quick stop to the Russell residence to swap out Fie's gunblades. The professor assured her that the first weapon was finished and working correctly, but Fie was still a bit nervous as she gave it a once-over. Thankfully Rean was able to stop her before she started conducting live-fire tests in the middle of the city, instead promising to let her test it on some monsters en route to Elmo Village. About midway to their destination the two got off the bike and found some hapless beasts to eradicate.
"Has a bit more kick to it..." Fie muttered after her initial testing was complete. The weapon was also slightly heavier than what she was used to, meaning she would need some time to fully adjust to it.
"Perhaps, but the rest of it..." Rean didn't need to finish as it was obvious what he was referring to. When Albert had promised an increase in firepower he hadn't lied. Despite being a much smaller gun it now had almost as much kick as one of Crow's pistols.
"Yup. This is great. I just need to figure out the maximum range and do a few stress tests to make sure it holds up under constant use."
"Umm, Fie?" He didn't say any more, but when she noticed he was sending furtive glances down the road towards their eventual destination she realized what was going through his mind.
She leveled the flattest stare possible at the nervous man. "Really, Rean? We fight monsters, robots, and evil societies for a living and you're more interested in a hot spring than my ability to fight correctly?"
"I mean you know it shoots good, right? And you can always stab things!" Her glare only intensified at his lame response, causing him to wilt even further. "Authentic Calvardian hot springs, Fie!"
She only shook her head in dismay. "You're lucky you're so cute cause you can be such a dork. Fine, but if I end up underestimating my weapons and shoot you in the face the next time we spar it's all your fault." Her threat went completely unheeded as the legendary Ashen Chevalier let out a gleeful cheer and was already seated on his bike.
It only took a few minutes to make the rest of the trip and soon the two found themselves looking over the tiny little tourist village they had arrived in. As it was early summer the place had quite a few people around, but not so many as to make the visit uncomfortable. Rean practically sprinted the final distance to the Inn.
"Welcome to the Maple Leaf Inn." A kindly older woman greeted them as they arrived. "Are you here for a room or the springs?"
"The springs. I've been so excited to visit ever since I heard about this place." Rean gushed.
"...Which was only yesterday." Fie reminded him, earning a mock glare for her efforts.
"Oh, sounds like we have a big fan of hot springs here."
"Of course, ma'am. I'm actually from Ymir."
"Ymir! What a wonderful place. It's been decades since I last visited there. Sadly these old bones won't let me make that trip anymore, but is it still as wonderful in the winter?"
Fie just sighed as the two continued this back and forth conversation. Another Hot Springs fanatic. Great. Wanting to nip this in the bud before she was stuck here for hours she decided to poke Rean. Hard.
"Ouch!" Rean went to glare at his lover, but stopped as he witnessed the full fury of her blank unamused look. "Um, right. We probably should hurry this up."
"Of course. Don't let me keep you. It would be rude to keep your lady friend waiting." With that she directed the pair on their way. "What a cute couple..."
"Ahhhhh, this is perfect!" Rean muttered happily as he sank into the water. It had taken them a few minutes to wash up and undress, but it was all worth it for this moment.
"This ain't bad." Fie agreed from next to him. In her mind it wasn't all that different from Ymir, but she knew that voicing such an opinion would lead to a long and utterly stupid lecture from the native of that place. So she wisely bit her tongue and allowed herself to relax.
"I can't believe it's been so long since we got to relax like this." In Rean's mind it was nothing short of sacrilege, and he vowed to never spend that long away from a hot spring again.
"Mmm... A shame there are other people here." Relaxing was nice, but there were other activities that Fie would have loved to do in a big open bath like this.
"So tomorrow will be our last day in Zeiss..." It felt weird only spending three days in a region after spending the previous two months in Crossbell, but if they wanted to complete the tour of Liberl in only two weeks it had to be done. "Now that I'm thinking about it, there aren't any roads to the west of Zeiss, are there? So how do we get to Ruan?"
Fie just waved off his concern as she sank deeper into the water. "I'm sure we'll find a way."
"Well, this could be a problem..." So apparently the only land route between the two regions was an underground tunnel network that went through the mountains and started in the basement of ZCF. Requests were complete, Fie had her weapons, and it was time to depart Zeiss. "I guess we need to take an airship?"
"This is the difference between me and you, Rean. You see problems. Me? I see opportunity." Alarm bells were going off in the Ashen Chevalier's head at the shit-eating grin on Fie's face as she grabbed onto their bike and started pushing it in the direction of ZCF. "I'll drive."
I can't say I am super happy with how the Liberl arc turned out, as I went into these upcoming chapters without a clear plan and it shows, but I think I got enough fun moments scattered about to make it a worthwhile read. Plus, it's only three chapters and I have high hopes for the next major story arc...
