There had been many times in the life of Rean Schwarzer where the young man came face to face with his seemingly imminent demise, but never once did he look away from those moments. Perhaps it was bravery, or maybe foolishness, but he stared down the most diabolical of men and the fiercest of beasts without flinching. One day he would die, but he always believed that he would face that day head on and not run away screaming in terror. Until now, that is.

"Oh my Aidios we're going to die!" He screamed as they sharply rounded another turn in the dimly lit Kaldia tunnels. He thought he had expected the worst when Fie took the reigns of his bike, but this far exceeded even those dire expectations. He had to tighten his grip on the diminutive driver lest he be launched off as the bike went over another bumpy part.

For her part Fie was having the time of her life. Normally she wasn't the biggest fan of driving, and only learned from Rean due to the practicality of the skill, but never had she gotten to experience a drive like this. Mishelam's rides had nothing on this! Seeing the path ahead straighten out as a bridge came into view she did the only obvious thing and increased the throttle, earning another terrified shriek from her passenger.

On and on they went, through the winding depths of the Kaldia Tunnel, with Fie making it her life's purpose to prove without a shadow of doubt that brakes were non-essential. Rean thought that maybe Aidios had spared him when they reached the end of the tunnel and saw that the way was barred by a metal gate, but Fie with her sharp eyes noticed that the gate wasn't locked and could swing outwards if forced. Her intentions were made obvious as she accelerated towards the barrier.

"Fie, no!"

"Fie, yes~!" Was her response as the bike slammed into the gate, forcing it open. The light of the outdoors briefly blinded the two after their sojourn in the dark, but Fie was quick to recover. They were surprised to find themselves on top of a stone wall but the stairs down to the ground floor were readily obvious and Fie gunned the bike in that direction, earning yells from the shocked guards stationed around the area.

In a normal situation the two might have taken the time to admire the natural beauty of Air-Letten and the many waterfalls that surrounded them, but now was not that time. Fie, despite her seeming non-nonchalance, was firmly focused on making sure they didn't end up in the embrace of the goddess as they took the bumpy drive down the stairs, while Rean had somewhat managed to regain his composure and was shooting apologies to the bewildered people they sped past.

Much to Rean's delight the main gate was open and soon they found themselves on an actual road as they left the fort a chaotic mess. Now that the threat of imminent death had passed they took the time to appreciate the Ruan region. It reminded them a lot of Ordis, with much of the area being situated on the coast.

The city of Ruan itself was quite impressive. Despite the small size of the port town it had one feature that immediately drew all eyes to it. Of course that same feature presented its own problems to the two.

"Let me guess, our destination is on the other side of that bridge." Fie muttered in annoyance as she drew the bike to a halt. Given the fact that the side they were on was filled with warehouses and other places of industry, which meant that the residential area was across the river, Rean thought her guess was likely. This of course presented a problem for the two as the bridge was currently raised.

"Have a little patience. I'm sure it won't be long." As if karma was rewarding Rean for his recent ordeals the bridge chose that moment to start lowering, earning the smug Chevalier an eye-roll from his annoyed partner.

It wasn't long after crossing the bridge that the supporting gauntlet of the Bracer Guild became visible to them. Although it was fairly late in the evening and they had no intention of doing any more requests that day the two figured they should at least check in and announce their arrival.

Inside there were two men, one familiar and one not. The unfamiliar person appeared to be the receptionist and was a kind looking bespectacled man. The other person was well known to them: Agate Crosner, the Heavy Blade. The two seemed to be in heavy discussion about something, but stopped when the two new arrivals entered.

"Fie! Rean! How's it going?" The A-Rank Bracer greeted them warmly.

"Sup Agate? Was wondering where we would find you on Estelle's stupid tour of Liberl."

Rean, while happy to see another of their friends, was a bit concerned about what they had witnessed when they arrived. "Is everything all right? You two seemed to be worried about something when we arrived."

"It's... probably nothing major. Oh, I'm Jean, the receptionist for the Ruan region, it's a pleasure to meet the two of you. Anyways, we just got word about an incident down south. Apparently a pair of psychopaths on a bike broke through the gate at Air-Letten and are now somewhere in the area." Luckily he didn't appear to notice that Rean had gotten considerably paler over the course of that explanation.

"Speaking of... Tita told me you guys would be arriving today, but the next airship from Zeiss is a few hours away... How did you two arrive anyways?" Agate's tone was normal at the start, but as the pieces started falling into place in his mind his question got a lot more suspicious.

"Simple. We rode Rean's bike here. Anyways we gotta go find a room for our stay here, see ya later." Fie's reply was delivered in a blank tone, but the way she quickly grabbed Rean's arm and beat a hasty retreat after delivering her words made it all the more damning. Luckily they escaped before the Liberlians could form a response.

The next day the two of them returned to the Guild, with Rean assuring Fie that he would gladly throw her under the proverbial bus if they were in trouble from her previous actions, earning himself a light jab from the girl. Agate and the receptionist were still there, but this time they were joined by three other Bracers. Despite being a few years older than the pair they made for a less than impressive sight, looking more like simple thugs than trained fighters, especially as one of the three decided to glare at them.

"These are the Erebonians? They don't look like much." The purple haired man scoffed at them. "Especially the girl. Is she even old enough to be a Bracer?" Rean could actually feel the agitation from his partner at that last remark.

"For sure. I've seen her fight myself. She has A-Rank talent and could probably beat all three of you at the same time." It was immediately obvious that Agate was intentionally goading these three into picking a fight with them, and Rean strongly suspected it was payback for their stunt yesterday.

Fie probably did too, but being called a kid pissed her off and she rose to the challenge. "I know I can." She stated with a challenging grin on her face.

"That's bullshit! We're the Ravens! We'll kick your ass! Right guys?"

"I'm not sure this is a good idea..." The green haired member of the three commented.

"Yeah, I don't feel good ganging up on a cute girl like this..." Muttered the third.

The hot-head scoffed at their timidity. "This is a matter of pride, so you two are helping me whether you want to or not!"

"Oh my, it seems like you guys want to have a spar, how shocking." Agate didn't sound at all shocked and instead had a viscous grin on his face. "Luckily I just so happened to have found a nice little area just outside the city for us to use."

"So... is there a reason you provoked them into fighting Fie?" A curious Rean asked the A-Rank Bracer as the group made their way to their destination, with the Ravens walking ahead of the other three.

"They don't look like much, but they actually have some potential and really solid teamwork. They just have a bad habit of letting their pride get in the way all the time." Mostly Rocco, but the other two kept following his lead. "Normally I would bash their heads in a bit, but I think I've done it so much that they are used to it now, so maybe having someone much younger and newer would be better. As for Fie in particular? That stunt yesterday created a royal pain in my ass and I know for a fact that something like that has 'Sylphid' written all over it."

Fie just smiled with no shame at all. "Guilty as charged." She admitted easily enough. If being given permission to beat up a group of idiots was her punishment for all the fun she had yesterday than maybe she should break the rules more often. They would survive... probably.

They finally arrived at their destination and the combatants took their stances. To an outside observer it looked like three thugs were trying to mug a young woman, but to a trained fighter it was blatantly obvious that the Ravens were grossly outclassed. Without waiting for any official signal to begin the brash leader of the trio let out a war cry and charged the Erebonian, with the other two following behind.

To their credit, Agate was correct when he said that the three possessed great teamwork. It was nothing like what she had with Rean or even Laura, but they managed to cover each other pretty well and kept her on her toes with their coordinated attacks. Still... while they weren't bad she didn't feel at all threatened and was content with letting them take the initiative for the time being.

"They're getting sloppy." Agate observed. "Usually I just whack 'em a few times until they settle down, so her dragging this out must be frustrating for them."

Rean just sighed. "She's enjoying herself."

Fie couldn't help but grin as their anger was starting to get the better of them. "I think it's time we end this." But how to do it? Eventually she decided on her first real move, taught to her by the Boss himself.

To their credit, the Ravens understood their peril when Fie put on a burst of speed, and correctly fell back and positioned themselves into a triangle to defend themselves from every angle and managed to block or avoid most of Fie's quick strikes, but doing so only left them all the more exposed to the second half of her attack. Stopping inside their formation they didn't even have time to react to the threat before she started spinning, unleashing a barrage of bullets as she went. The ex-gang members were sent flying away, marking an obvious end to the fight.

Rean just face-palmed. "You forgot about the upgrades, didn't you?" Sure enough, what should have been a painful but bearable attack had instead been so powerful as to knock the three Bracers unconscious thanks to the enhanced rounds from her gunblades.

"Ehehe... whoops?" She chuckled sheepishly, but her visage hardened as a thought came to mind. "But maybe that wouldn't have happened if a certain someone let me practice with them instead of getting all hot and bothered by a hot springs. Their blood is on your hands, Rean Schwarzer."

"First of all, there's no blood. Secondly: No."

Agate just sighed at their byplay. "If you idiots are finished help me drag this dead weight back to town, will ya?"


Ruan, they decided, was a beautiful place. Much of the region was situated on the coast which made the place an ideal vacation spot for those summer months. Of course the pair were busy enough that they didn't have a chance to enjoy the beach, but they still admired the scenery all the same.

Since Agate and the Ravens were already in Ruan there really wasn't any exciting stuff for them to do, but Jean had enough contacts in the region that he was able to scrounge up work for them. Mostly it was mundane stuff that they were easily used to, but occasionally he found something interesting for them.

Their current job was one of them. When the Jenis Royal Academy found out that Ruan was hosting a pair of Erebonian Bracers with one of them being the Ashen Chevalier himself, they all but tripped over themselves submitting a request for a guest lecture. While Rean couldn't say he was particularly happy with the request he was curious about the academic institution that featured people like Major Lechter and Princess Klaudia.

"How come I always get stuck with all the work." He grumbled as they made their way to the academy.

Fie gasped in shock. "How could you say that when I'm the one who does all the work in his partnership."

"And what exactly do you do?"

"Kick ass and look cute, of course." She answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'll give you the second one, but kicking ass? What about me?"

"Ehh, you're alright. I'll give you a seven out of ten... Nah, make that a high six. You could stand to improve a bit." Rean Schwarzer, the Ashen Chevalier. Recently achieved the rank of Divine Blade. A six out of ten. Never had he felt so useless in his life.

A chipper Fie and depressed Rean soon arrived at the school. Considering the only other academies they had visited had been military schools or a private school for noble girls, it was an interesting visit. A trip to the Dean's office ensued, with Rean being given the details on his mission. It was to be a lecture on the events leading up to the Great War from an Erebonian perspective. He had some time before the class was to start so he started to ponder what he wished to say. Fie wasn't content to wait around, and gave him a mischievous grin before excusing herself, promising to be at the class to support him.

Eventually he decided on an outline that generally stuck to the official script, but had a few personal touches added in for flavor. While stuff about Ouroboros, Witches, Gnomes, Sept-Terrions, and the curse were mostly kept secret from the general public, there were a few little details he thought he could slip in that weren't in the official history, mostly pertaining to the Divine Knights.

He waited outside the designated classroom until the instructor gave him his cue to enter. As he did he noticed a few things: The classroom was a lot bigger than the ones he had previously experienced, most of the students were staring at him with great interest, and somehow Fie had managed to acquire a Janis Academy uniform and was sitting at one of the desks gossiping with other students. She shot him a cheeky wink before muttering something that had an entire group of girls giggling in his direction.

Doing his best to ignore the distraction the former teacher addressed his temporary class. "Hello. I'm Rean Schwarzer of the Erebonian Bracer Guild." While he was fortunate that his name and face weren't instantly recognizable to the majority of Liberlians, a place of higher learning was an obvious exception and he now had their undivided attention. "In the back, and being absolutely no help whatsoever, is my partner, Fie Claussell."

"Love you too, Rean." Came her reply from the back, causing even more of the girls to giggle at him. Just what had she been telling them?

"Ahem. Anyways, I was asked to talk to you about the events leading up to the Great War, from my perspective." Initially he talked about the class divide that permeated Erebonia, as that was responsible for a lot of the events that followed, and how Class VII was established by the Prince to bridge that divide. After that he briefly discussed the Divine Knights, the Civil War, and the role Class VII played in both.

After that came discussion on the events prior to the Great War itself. While the involvement of Ouroboros was omitted, the events they caused were instead attributed to a criminal group hired by the Erebonian Government. The attempted assassination of the Emperor was also blamed on the Chancellor as a way to drum up war support. A part of Rean felt guilty that his biological father got almost all of the blame for the events when he was only trying to counter the curse in his own way, but he knew that Giliath Osborne wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Class VII, old and new, were presented as more of a generic resistance movement in his story, seeking to oppose the Chancellor in any way they could. He made sure to emphasis the contributions of their other allies, especially the Liberl Bracer Guild, due to his current audience. Eventually he got to the Rivalries. After briefly mentioning his fight against Azure he moved ahead to the next fight.

"His name was Rutger Claussell." Some of the students perked up at the familiar sounding name. "He was the pilot of the Palatinate Knight, a proud Jaeger commander, and..."

"My dad." Fie quietly finished for him, causing quite a stir among the students. The temporary teacher shot her a reassuring smile, knowing just how unpleasant the memory was for her. He quickly continued onward, but unknowingly had left behind seeds that would eventually turn into a popular romance story about how the brave Ashen Chevalier fought a robot duel against a powerful warrior to earn his daughter's hand.

He was just about to talk about the finale aboard the Empyreal Fortress when Fie intervened again. "Tell them about Mishelam." He couldn't help but gape as that was a very personal tale that had no involvement on the greater story, but unfortunately for him he was in a class with a bunch of gossiping teens who took his hesitation as a sign that something really interesting had occurred.

Reluctantly he conceded, first telling them about his duel against Cassius Bright to earn the title Divine Blade before moving onto another topic.

"After seeing the prince propose to his girlfriend I knew I couldn't leave matters alone, so I went to Fie and that's when we officially got together." He blushed as some of the girls gushed at such a cute tale. While most of the boys weren't interested in the romance subplot the idea of an epic sword duel between the Ashen Chevalier and Liberl's greatest hero was enough to excite themselves instead.

With that detour out of the way Rean finally got to finish his recap, discussing the final rivalries before culminating in the ultimate defeat of Giliath Osborne and the end of the brief war. While much of it was public knowledge, hearing it from the person who played the most central role in it's conclusion was enough to make it a memorable tale for the awestruck students and their normal teacher.

"So what do you think?" Fie asked after they left the building, with her still wearing the Janis Academy girl's uniform. "Cute, right?"

It was, but Rean had no intention of giving her the compliment she was fishing for. "It's kinda sad that you can still fit into a kid's uniform." Given how negatively she reacted to that comment he knew he had scored a critical hit. Still, at least now she now filled it out well...

In a complete contrast of their arrival this time it was a chipper Rean and pouting Fie who left the academy. It was their final request for the day so they returned to the city and rested the night. The final day in Ruan passed without event and soon the two heroes found themselves preparing for the next leg of their journey.


"This is so lame." Fie complained as they made their way to Bose. The reason for that? As soon as they learned that the road between Ruan and Bose was a long treacherous mountain path Rean immediately seized control of his bike and made sure Fie never got a chance to drive. This meant that the journey was nice and safe, but far far too slow for her tastes.

"Are you going to complain the entire trip?" He asked as he carefully navigated around a tight mountain turn.

"I wouldn't complain if you just took my advice once in a while. We would already be there if you listened to me!"

"Your advice was for me to go full throttle over a cliff."

"And it would have been awesome! We probably would have made it to the other side, too."

"We probably would have died." He riposted.

"Shut up, grandpa."

If he wasn't so focused on the road he would have glared at her for that comment. "Grandpa? I'm only two years older than you..."

"But you drive like an old man which makes you a grandpa."

Rean gave an evil grin when he realized the trap that Fie had inadvertently placed herself in, not that she could see his face. "And yet you're the one marrying this grandpa. That actually sounds familiar. Maybe I should start calling you..."

She gasped in shock when she realized what he was about to say. "Don't you dare finish that sentence Rean Schwarzer. I swear to Aidios I'll..."

"...Sara." He finally finished, causing her to slump down in abject defeat. With her silenced the rest of the trip was a peaceful affair. They passed through Krone Pass without incident, although a few of the guards shot them suspicious looks and Rean wondered if they had been alerted to Fie's previous shenanigans. It was late by the time they arrived in Liberl's second largest city, so they found themselves a hotel room and rested for the evening.

Bose, while being an impressive city, was a shell of it's former self from what they heard from some of the locals. It made sense when you consider that the commerce city relied heavily on Erebonian goods so the Great Twilight and frosty relations that ensued had been an absolute disaster for the region. Still, the area seemed to be on the rebound and the two were very interested in checking out the mall at some point during their stay.

Unlike Ruan Bose didn't have many senior Bracers currently in the region so the receptionist, Lugran, had plenty of work to offer them. Thanks to their skill, experience, and willingness to cheat and use an orbal bike to get everywhere the duo continued their trend of rapid success, completing every task they took while still having plenty of time to enjoy the sights of Liberl's northernmost territory.

Their second full day presented them with a potentially interesting, request, as they were asked to investigate the Amberl Tower after suspicious activity had been reported. They had spotted the towers in the previous regions, but their work had never taken them there, so they had been curious, especially knowing the importance the four towers played in the Liberl incident.

"Think we'll find anything in here?" Rean asked as they stared up at the large tower they had just arrived at.

"Probably just something boring like a monster nest, but it would be nice if we stumbled onto some evil society plot."

"...And what exactly would be nice about finding Ouroboros in here?" Rean asked as he looked at his partner with an expression that said 'you are weird'.

"Think about it. Every time it's them unleashing some crazy scheme of theirs unexpectedly, and we have to clean it up. And even when we win they just act like that was all part of their plan and teleport away like it was nothing. Wouldn't it be nice for us to get the jump on them for a change?"

For once Fie made perfect sense, and Rean found himself agreeing with her logic. That was, of course, until she opened her mouth again. "Plus we're still waiting on whatever crisis has followed you into Liberl."

"Are you still going on about that? That's totally not a real thing."

"It totally is!" She countered. "When you go somewhere trouble follows. Every. Single. Time. I guarantee we'll end up having to clean up some kind of mess before we leave Liberl."

Rean rolled his eyes at her stubbornness. Sure he occasionally found himself in a sticky situation, but it didn't happen all the time, right? "Fine! And I promise nothing bad will happen between now and when we go home." They only had a few more days left, so surely the chances were slim.

Fortunately, or unfortunately for Sylphid, her boring guess of a monster nest proved to be the accurate one. While not dangerous, having to clean out the infestation from bottom to top proved to be a tedious task. Especially as this tower which once held so much power and importance was just a normal tower at this point in time, the same kind of ruins they had explored many times in the past.

"At least the view isn't bad." She begrudgingly admitted as they stood upon the roof at the end of their mission. It didn't make up for the disappointment of the task, but it was something at least.

"Yeah..." Rean scanned the area and saw Bose in the distance. A look towards the south revealed the vast expanse of Lake Valleria, but that wasn't what caught his eye. "What's that place?" He muttered as he spotted a large building situated on the near shore.

"I heard about that place. I think it's The Kingfisher Inn, some kind of resort for people to relax and fish." As soon as she muttered the f-word she knew she had him captivated. "Wanna stay there tonight?" While she wasn't much of a nature person, she did appreciate peace and quiet. Plus, even if it wasn't to the extent of her obsessed lover she too was a fan of fishing so the place did appeal to her quite a bit.


Valleria Lakeshore, as expected, was a very scenic little place far away from the trappings of city life. Still, thanks to the recent economic downturn there weren't many guests so the two Bracers found themselves with free reign of the place, which suited them greatly. After dropping off their stuff in their room the two left to explore the place.

It was during their quick exploration that they discovered that the place had boats for rental and Rean didn't hesitate at all to secure one for them. Thus the two quickly found themselves on the middle of the lake with rods in hand.

"I always expected a boat ride to be a little more... romantic?" Fie questioned as they stood on the boat casting into the water.

"Haha,, I don't really think fishing boats are the kinds that people use for their dates."

"And yet this is what you picked for us..."

"Right. A fishing boat. For fishing. Not for whatever sappy moonlit cruise ideas is going through your mind right now."

Fie gave an annoyed look for that comment. "I don't do sappy, thank you very much. But if we had a bigger boat we could have done something fun. Like sex. Or a nap."

"You have the weirdest priorities, you know that?" In fairness to Fie, Rean did find one of those ideas to be interesting and he certainly wasn't tired enough for a nap.

"Probably. But you love me for it." She was distracted from saying anything else as a tug on her line signaled a catch. With all the skill she learned from Rean those last few years she deftly reeled it in. After taking a second to admire her first catch of the day she sent a challenging smirk towards Rean, who narrowed his eyes in annoyance. Fine, if she wanted to play that game than he, as a Divine Angler, would have to respond in kind.

Words became meaningless to the two as they engaged in the battle to end all battles. It was a duel that would only end with the absolute victory for one and crushing defeat for the other. Neither side was willing to back down or even budge a rege, so a peaceful resolution was out.

On and on they went, with hours passing and the onset of night rapidly approaching, but still neither side refused to back down. The battle continued, until with a victorious cry the Divine Blade dragged an absolute whopper of a fish onto the boat, far bigger than anything either of them had caught previously.

"And with that, I think this battle goes to me. When you challenge the master you gotta be prepared to lose." The cocky grin he shot Fie pissed her off greatly and she decided to do something about it.

With deliberate slowness the former Zephyr member set down her rod, as if she were a predator not wanting to make a sudden move and spook her prey. Rean watched warily as the girl slowly turned towards him. He was as prepared as one could be for any sudden attack, but no preparation was enough to stave off Fie's pounce.

With all the speed she was willing to use on such a tiny wobbly boat the girl launched herself at her opponent. Without the space to dodge Rean did his best to brace himself against such an impact, but couldn't do so well enough. Fie watched with satisfaction as her lover was sent overboard into the water with a cry. Or at least she would have if he hadn't latched onto her hand just before his fall, which inevitably dragged her with him into the lake below.

Despite the plunge they took neither of them was willing to concede to the other, so they continued wrestling even as they resurfaced together. Any attempt by one to get back on the boat was spoiled as the other grabbed hold of them and dragged them back or dunked them underwater. By this time the two were smiling and thoroughly enjoying themselves as they playfully fought in the water.

"You know this is all your fault." A thoroughly soaked Fie complained after they calmed down and got back onto the boat. Said girl was currently in the process of trying to wring the water out of her hat.

"And how exactly is it my fault that you're a sore loser?" He asked as he removed his boots. That was as far as the Bracer was willing to go. Fie had originally started to strip off all of her wet clothes, but was quickly stopped when reminded that she would have to put it all back on when they got closer to the shore. Of course knowing her she would probably just streak her way back to their room naked, which would unfortunately mean that Rean would be forced to murder anyone who caught a glimpse of his Fie.

"Wouldn't have been so sore if you weren't such a cocky jerk. Take your punishment like a man next time."

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say." The way he so easily brushed her off annoyed the girl greatly, so Rean quickly changed subjects before she thought about viciously assaulting him again. "Only a few more days until we return home..."

She hummed in thought. "Kinda worried about the Guild. Sara's gonna be insufferable if Schera's there to drink her under the table."

"I'm sure Toval has it under control..." He paused in thought and considered his words. "I'm pretty sure Toval will keep the place from burning down?" He amended at last.

Fie shrugged. "Either way, this trip was fun, but I'm ready to head back."

"Same. But you do know that as soon as we get back people are gonna start hounding us, right?" He had already gotten plenty of messages from his mom, sister, and even some of their friends about a wedding date, and using their trip as an excuse had only temporarily mollified them.

She groaned in dismay. "Ugh. Of course they will." It wasn't that she was against the idea, of course, as she never would have agreed if she was. They loved each other and were already living the perfect life together, so making it official served little real purpose and sounded like a total pain. It wasn't like putting on a fancy dress and saying a cheesy vow was going to change anything between them, right?

"Haha. Don't worry about it." He reassured at seeing her sour face. "We'll figure something out when we get back. We always do."

"Still gonna suck though." He had no real response to that comment so he just shrugged in agreement.

With darkness approaching and the pair still being soaked to the bone they inevitably made their return to the resort and returned to their rooms. They took the time to change their clothes and dry each other off, before eventually making their way down for a simple but homely meal. Once finished they retired to their room early, but didn't actually go to sleep until much later in the evening.

The next day wasn't the most pleasant for them, as while their battle outfits had dried off their boots were still very soggy and their day's work was filled with uncomfortable feet and awkward squelching noises. Still, they persevered and finished early enough. After a quick trip to the mall where they browsed a lot, but bought very little since most of it were just Erebonian imports, the two departed from the east gate as they set themselves up for the final leg of their trip around Liberl.