"So General Craig told the two of you all that, and Schera talked to Mueller..." The Prince's bodyguard didn't have as much information as the General, but he had heard some of the rumors being spread around and how receptive a lot of soldiers had been to them. While the 4th was an elite division and had maintained high morale despite everything that had happened, the same couldn't be said for many of the other divisions, and the 7th was no exception.

"Yup. And you and Toval got your asses beat fighting archaisms."

"We did not! We beat them super easy!"

Fie smirked as she got a rise out of her mentor. "Uh huh. And you let your targets get away." Toval and Sara had been discreetly following a group of defecting soldiers and the soldat they had stolen the previous night when they were beset by a large group of archaisms. Although they handled the mechanical foes easily enough, it was enough of a distraction for the soldiers to slip away. Still, at the very least the fact that archaisms were involved was good intel, as it meant that Ouroboros was involved in some capacity.

"There were a lot of them and we weren't expecting to be attacked." This time it was the arts specialist doing the defending. "You get what we're saying, right Rean?" He asked, turning to the member of the group who had thus far remained silent.

"...They had a Soldat." His tone expressed no anger, just a lingering sense of disappointment, like he was a parent dealing with his disobedient children. That only made it worse for the two supposedly elite bracers. "But in all seriousness, how did the great houses take the news?"

Since it was Toval who contacted the leaders of the four houses with the gathered intel, he took that as his cue to answer. "About as well as could be expected, all things considered." It helped that all four noble houses were staunch allies of the guild. "None of them are happy with the army, obviously, but it sounds like they are coordinating with each other and the lesser nobles and are working towards a unified response."

"So what should we do?"

The Purple Lightning just shrugged at her protege's question. "For now? Nothing. The nobles seem content to work with the information we gave them and the loyalists in the army are doing their best to stamp out the dissent as quickly as possible. Jusis made it clear that they will contact us if they need our help in the future. So let's just do our normal things and if we find out anything new we'll pass it along."

"You do know that everyone else sucks, right?" Fie made her opinion of both large armies quite clear, and none of them could really deny her words. Sure they possessed immense power, but but both were unwieldy weapons and tended to be bad at delicate situations, even when the people in charge were competent. In her experiences as both a bracer and a student she had learned to respect the precision of small but elite groups far more in comparison. Maybe it was just her being paranoid due to the bad feeling she still had, but she suspected that neither group would be able to resolve the problem before it became an actual crisis.

Rean just shot her a reassuring smile. "We'll be fine. As long as the two of us are together we're invincible, remember? At the very least we have friends in both groups that we can trust, so let's just do what Sara suggested and keep our eyes open just in case."

With a sigh she merely nodded at his suggestion, and so ended the meeting between Erebonia's most elite bracers. Since the two older bracers had been up for most of the night they both returned to their homes to rest, which meant that Erebonia's top couple (at least according to Vivi of the Imperial Chronicle) were in charge of Heimdallr's branch for the day.


The next few days maintained the facade of normalcy, with the bracers doing the mundane tasks that defined their work. Finding missing kittens, making deliveries, slaying giant monsters capable of eating a person whole. The normal stuff. Of course beneath that facade was an undeniable tension that none were allowed to speak of.

Well, officially, that was. But everybody who knows Class VII knows that there are no secrets between them, and between the bracers and the nobles of the group, the story was soon made known to both generations of that vaunted class. Of course they were a reliable group, and all understood the importance of discretion, but all vowed to do what they can to dig up anything of value.

Today was one of those mundane days. At least on paper it was. There was one unique caveat in that a certain request had arrived that specifically asked for Rean. While not the first time this happened, the fact that the request came directly from Duchess Mildene de Cayenne made it noteworthy. The request itself was nothing noteworthy, just a simple task of providing extra security to some event the nobles of Ordis was putting on, but the fact it came from Musse and requested Rean and only Rean raised a lot of flags in his partner's mind. So of course she all but demanded her presence alongside him so she could complete the critical task of protecting her favorite Chevalier from a certain unwanted harpy.

Since Ordis was pretty far from the capital it wasn't a place they got to visit often, so they decided to make a little trip out of it. A day spent enjoying the port city, complete the task in the evening, and spend the night having fun in Raquel, before returning the next morning. With that in mind they bid farewell to the other bracers, hopped on Rean's bike, and departed the capital for a day of relaxation.

Unsurprisingly, the city was packed despite the summer festival having already came and gone, but there was enough space for the two of them to enjoy themselves still. Their first stop was for lunch, and they found a nice outdoor table in the harbor district where they could eat while enjoying the ocean breeze.

"This is nice." Fie looked ready to fall asleep after finishing off her fish and chips.

Of course that wasn't something Rean could allow. "You know we're gonna be busy today and there's no time for taking a nap, right? Your idea, I might add."

"Shut up. There's always time for a nap. And plus, I need to be well rested for the casino tonight."Said the girl with a blissful sigh as she relaxed her head on the table and let her eyes droop ever so slightly.

Both knew that she wasn't so immature as to fall asleep while at work, but it was a fun little game between the two of them. "You're right. Sorry, that was insensitive of me. Why don't you go rent a bed and rest up, while I get started on my mission. I'm sure Musse would love to have me arrive a bit early. Hopefully we have plenty of time to... catch up." He actually was looking forward to spending time with his student, but he knew that by phrasing it that way he would garner a reaction from his love.

And sure enough... "You're the worst." The dry expression and half-lidded eyes as she stared holes in him were a vast improvement over the half asleep look she had just a second prior.

"Haha... Love you too." She responded by kicking him under the table, causing him to yelp, even if it didn't actually hurt. "So what do you want to do now?" They still had a few hours before his request, after all.

"Hmm... Wanna go shopping?" There were always a few things that you could find in Riviera Market that couldn't be found elsewhere in the Empire. And plus, one of their fellow graduates ran the place, so it wouldn't be bad to visit. She stood from the table and allowed herself a stretch to shake off any lingering exhaustion, but couldn't quite hide the smirk as Rean sent an appreciative look towards that action. As much as she teased him about other girls, she always knew that he would only ever have eyes for her.

After a pleasant afternoon enjoying the sights and sounds of the city, the two made their way to the Cayenne Estate. While the request was supposed to be for Rean alone, there was a less than zero percent chance that Fie was going to let him wander into the beast's lair on his own. The mansion guards were informed of their arrival and allowed the duo to pass without any fuss.

It didn't take them long to find their client. "Aww, and here I was hoping you were going to come alone." Standing before them was the elegant form of Duchess Mildine de Cayenne, resplendent in her role as leader of the Lamarre province. But to her closest friends she would forever be Musse Egret, no matter what her official role in life was.

"Not like you expected otherwise." Fie knew the younger girl enough to understand that her brain worked on a different level and she had to have assumed that Rean wouldn't be alone.

That comment caused the girl to giggle slightly. "Of course. But that's fine. I don't mind sharing~"

The man in question just rolled his eyes, but smiled slightly at the byplay. It was always funny seeing the normally unflappable Fie get herself riled up whenever Musse started being Musse. "It's good to see you again."

Musse's playful expression melted into something more genuine. "Same to you. It is so wonderful to see you, Instructor Rean. And you as well, Fie." Back came the playful smile as she put a finger to her lip in thought. "Although I would be happier to see you if you agreed to a little proposition. I will let you have my titles, this city, and all of Lamarre Province if you let me keep Rean for myself. A great deal, right?"

"No deal." The older girl replied instantly, causing the Duchess to pout.

"Phooey."

"Alright you two. So what is it that you want from us tonight?"

"What I want? You of course." She giggled. Rean sighed and Fie glared. "But for tonight? Not much, really. This silly little gala is important to the nobles of Lamarre, but due to the current... uncertainty I had to calm their fears by promising a little extra security. That being said, despite our current lack of information," The briefest hint of annoyance flashed across her face. "it would make zero sense for those insurgents to attack Ordis at this time."

Fie just shot her a dirty look in return. "So you're just using Rean for his title?"

Musse actually appeared apologetic. "I'm afraid so. I know how much you hate being the Ashen Chevalier, but it was the best solution I could think of on such a short notice."

Fie looked ready to say more, but was stopped by a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's fine. I don't mind helping out a friend." He actually did something similar for Jusis shortly before the Great Twilight, now that he thought about it.

"Of course I fully expect the two of you to take the time to enjoy the party. I know this isn't really your kind of entertainment, but Elise told me that you two have danced before, and at the very least I know you'll enjoy the food we have prepared. Of course I do expect to share a dance with you at some point, Instructor."

"...Maybe." Despite her obnoxious nature Musse was a member of Class VII, a friend, and one of Rean's students, so Fie would allow that much. "But just the one. And I will be keeping an eye on you, just in case."

Although Musse clearly wanted to spend more time with them, or one of them in particular, at least, duty compelled her to leave to tend to other matters, giving the pair of bracers free reign of the place. And while they knew as well as anyone how good her calculations were and that if she said they won't get attacked tonight they believed her, they were still hired to provide security to the event and took their jobs seriously. So to pass the time they explored the manor, checking for any entry points or possible escape routes in case a quick evacuation was required.

Guests were already arriving by the time they finished their reconnaissance, and the main room had been transformed into the kind of place one would expect for a party of the nobility. They did their best to remain off to the side and away from the attention of the preening nobles, but the fact they were attired in a much different way from the upper class guests made their attempts at remaining unnoticed impossible. It wasn't hard to notice the whispers and stares, especially as people started recognizing them.

It wasn't all bad, however, as most of the nobles were more focused on their own self interests and trying to make deals among themselves, and didn't bother spending the time making small talk with people who couldn't improve their standing, even if one of them was a famous war hero. Of the few who did approach them, many of them were familiar to the pair, including Ferris and Vincent Florald, and much to Fie's delight, Edel. The graduates of Thors seemed much more inclined to mingle with each other than they did to network with the older and oftentimes extremely pompous nobles that made up the majority of the event.

Eventually Musse stepped up and addressed the assembled guests. Since most of the speech was addressed specifically to the nobles of Lamarre the bracers did their best to tune her out. The speech continued for a while until...

"And of course I have heard your reservations about tonight given what is happening in Erebonia, so I have taken the liberty of inviting a pair of special guests. Feel at ease knowing that the Ashen Chevalier, Rean Schwarzer, and his partner Fie Claussell, the future Lady Schwarzer, are here to watch over you tonight."

Fie winced as everyone turned their eyes upon the pair. "She just had to add that last part, didn't she?"

"Haha..." Outwardly he gave no reaction to the attention, having become used to it over the years. He merely gave a reassuring wave to the gathered nobles. That being said he did keep a careful eye on the group, and noticed a few of the members giving his partner less than impressed looks at the notion of her joining their ranks. Thankfully it was just a few, but Rean made note to not honor them with his time if they tried to win his favor that evening.

After that the event began in earnest and many of the participants paired up and started dancing to the tune set by the provided orchestra. As they were basically freed of their duties Fie took it upon herself to browse the buffet table, dragging Rean in tow. The spread was simply remarkable and the pair wasted no time in digging in.

Of course such a meal was catered to higher class folk, and Fie didn't even know what half the dishes were, but luckily Rean was there to provide answers where he could. Despite being a member of the nobility, life in Ymir wasn't exactly the classiest, but he was somewhat familiar with most of the dishes thanks to the trips his family took over the years.

A short while later they had finished sampling the myriad dishes available and found themselves relaxing as they watched the festivities. Deciding they could be doing a little more, Rean held out his hand. "Want to join me for a dance?"

The only time they had danced prior was during the school festival all those years ago. A bright moment in their memories before all the chaos that followed. Remembering that event, Fie grinned as she took his hand. "Let's do it." Even her words were the same as that night.

With her agreement he led her to an open spot on the floor and held each other tight as they moved to the music. Although their inexperience showed in their technique, their bodies,minds, and hearts were perfectly in sync with each other and they moved as one across the floor.

The pair drew a lot of attention to themselves as they danced, as neither were dressed in formal attire and both were well known to the general populace, but neither of them noticed as lilac remained glued to lime-green, and vice versa. Outside of each other the only other thing they noticed was the music as they allowed it to guide their movements. In that moment all of Ouroboros could have attacked and neither of them would have noticed.

Fortunately for their careers, nothing of that sort happened, and the pair danced the evening away in peaceful bliss. Despite their low expectations for the event it ended up being a magical evening for them, just another stark reminder of how wonderful life could be as long as they were together. On and on they went, even as most of the other dancers got tired and excused themselves from the floor.

Eventually, and quite reluctantly, the two decided to stop for the evening. Fie made her way back to the food table to get a drink for herself while Rean fulfilled his promise to share a dance with Musse. An hour later and the event finally came to an end and the guests started departing. Finally remembering that they were there for a reason, the two made sure to remain until the final guests had left before bidding farewell to Rean's student and leaving for themselves.

It was already fairly late into the night when they got back to the streets of Ordis, but their night was far from over. The bike ride to Raquel was quiet, as the two silently agreed to enjoy the moment before the noise and activity of the entertainment city filled their senses. An event that didn't take long, as the bright lights of the city were visible as soon as they entered the canyon.

Since they had already stuffed their faces at the party they decided to skip the meal and instead opted to instead check out the theater. Despite having been to Raquel plenty of times they had never seen a show there. All in all it was a rather enjoyable experience, but it paled in comparison to the elite performance they witnessed from Arc en Ciel.

After that was a trip to the casino. There the two put their gambling prowess on display. While Rean was generally successful, as the young man had quite a lot of experience playing card games, Fie absolutely stole the show with her nigh unbeatable poker face and ability to lie so casually. Between the two them they ended the evening with a lot more mira than what they started with.

A few times during the evening one of the scantily clad bunny girls offered the pair drinks. Fie grudgingly declined as she still wasn't old enough, and Rean declined because he wasn't Sara who would gladly get drunk when they had work the next day and more importantly because he didn't want to rub in the fact that he could drink and Fie couldn't. To say that Fie was looking forward to her birthday the next month was an understatement.

It was well after midnight by the time the two arrived at the hotel they had booked for that night, but even at that point the party wasn't truly over. Neither of them were quite sure what time they finally exhausted themselves and fell asleep, but considering how tired they both still were the next morning it was definitely quite late.

The others at the guild knew of their mini-vacation and weren't expecting them to return before noon, so they were allowed to relax a bit before their return trip. But unfortunately for Fie that came at the expense of Sara having called dibs on Rean for the day. With that knowledge in hand Fie made sure the two took as long as possible on their return, knowing just how peeved her mentor figure would be when they made her wait until the very last minute.

The strategy worked, but it backfired on the girl when the vindictive woman pulled rank and made sure the request she did with her favorite student was one at the far end of Erebonia, all the way in the Eisengard Mountain Range. Since it was so far away...

"Hmm... Think I will crash at Ymir tonight, if that's alright with you?"

"Ooooh. The Phoenix Wings? Count me in!" Sara was quick to voice her agreement.

Fie pouted, not liking the idea, but seeing the merit in it. "Fine. Rean can stay. He needs his rest. But you Sara? Not happening."

"H-hey! You can't do that!"

"You're right, but he can." She pointed to her lover, who appeared deep in thought.

"Oh please? Rean? He's a good guy and won't leave me hanging like that... Right?" Something about the frown on the face of the 'good guy' unsettled her deeply.

Rean gave her a shrug. "Normally? You'd be right. But right now? Gotta agree with Fie on this one." He was about as happy with this long trip as she was and was absolutely willing to blame their instructor for it.

"Talk about being whipped! Be a man for once!"

Wisely choosing to ignore the older woman, Rean turned to his true partner, seeing her still looking rather unhappy with the entire situation. "It's just one night Fie. Look after my bike, kay?" Seeing her reluctantly nod, he embraced her. "I'll be back early tomorrow, I promise. Love you."

"...Love you, too." Her words were weak, but she couldn't help herself. That bad feeling she had been having the past few days had come back in full force and as she watched her lover walk out the door she was stricken by the feeling that something terrible was about to happen.


For Rean the day passed simply enough. The monster they were hired to take care of was far beyond what a younger bracer could be expected to handle, which is why the two elites were forced to make such a long trek. It was already dark by the time they reached their target, but that was the hardest part of the mission. Despite being considered a high level threat on par with a cryptid it was no match for the A-Rank and C-Rank but with A-Rank talent bracers.

As promised, once the duo returned to Roer they separated, with Sara having taken his rejection in stride, instead vowing to sample every drink the overnight train to Heimdallr possessed. Rean of course hopped on the next training headed to Ymir and arrived at his hometown soon after. A peaceful dinner was spent with his family before he set out in town to spend time at the tavern catching up with some of his childhood acquaintances.

The night was fun, but Rean couldn't help but feel something was missing. That obvious answer came to him when he returned home and attempted to sleep, but found it to be a challenge without the warmth he had become so used to. Still, tired as he was he did eventually drift off into a restless slumber. He awoke the next morning earlier then he had expected, but since he made his promise to return early and didn't feel like struggling to get back to sleep he rose and began his day.

With a farewell to his parents and a quick message to Fie letting her know he was coming, he departed the mountain town and began the long ride back to the capital. The train was pretty sparsely populated this early in the morning, so he did manage to catch a brief nap before pulling into Roer Station.

The second, and much longer, leg of the journey wasn't nearly as peaceful, as traffic between Roer and the capital was always vast, plus the vast amount of freight that was always departing from the industrial city, but Rean had prepared for this. It had been a while since the Schwarzer heir had read a book, so this was a prime chance for him to blitz through a story he had picked up at the train station.

The first half of the trip passed uneventfully, and before long he watched as they passed through the Schwarz Drache Barrier. Rean stifled a yawn as he flipped to the next page of his book. It was good reading, but he couldn't help but feel the ride was too peaceful without Fie around causing chaos and mayhem.

Maybe Aidios actually did hate him, because at that moment the train was rocked by what sounded like an explosion towards the front and came to a screeching stop. He had already discarded his book and drawn his tachi before the other passengers even began to comprehend the trouble. He quickly navigated to the front of the car, passing by panicked passengers and train attendants both. Once there he forced open the door and stepped outside to investigate the incident.

What he saw threatened to stun him in disbelief. The locomotive had been completely slashed open, presumably by the Spiegel S with a sword standing just in front of it. This caused the entire train to derail, with the first three cars having rolled onto it's side as frightened and injured passengers did their best to find an escape.

The area around the train was filled with soldiers wearing the uniform of the Imperial Army. Maybe a good hundred or so. Some of them appeared to be in the process of breaking into a few of the freight cars in the back, all of which were sporting the logo of Alisa's family business. Backing up the soldiers and Spiegel were a handful of Drakkhen soldats and a group of armored cars.

It only took a couple seconds for him to process all of this data and come to the conclusion that these were some of the defecting soldiers and had decided to rob a train for Reinford's military hardware. This, obviously, was not something he could allow, and so he moved to engage the soldiers without hesitation.

The nearest squad was defeated before they could even comprehend the fact that they were under attack. The second group, having seen the initial attack, responded a bit better, but even they were quickly dispatched thanks to a well-timed Arcane Gale. It was only after destroying his third target; an armored car, that all activity stopped as the traitors realized there was an enemy in their midst.

"It's the Ashen Chevalier!" Unlike the hundreds of times he had heard that exclamation prior, this one was filled with sheer hatred. Almost immediately dozens of rifles were pointed square at him, and even a few tanks started rotating their turrets in his direction. Such a sight would intimidate all but the most hardened veteran, but the war hero merely shifted his stance and prepared to spring into action when-

"Halt!" Cried one of the officers. Rean was about to ignore the cry, but noticed that the officer hadn't pointed his weapon at him, but instead targeted the civilians who had just started exiting from one of the overturned cars, causing the group to cry out in terror.

"Sir?"

"But our orders?"

If the officer was upset at the protest of his subordinates he didn't let it show. "I don't want to have to do this either, but we can't afford hesitation against the government's favorite dog. The RMP is probably already on its way so even if we kill him we will still lose. So here's what's going to happen, Rean Schwarzer. Either you surrender that sword to us or we will open fire on the train. Now, what's it going to be?"

Rean muttered a curse under his breath as he tried to determine if it was possible to defeat the soldiers with an Arcane Gale before they could open fire, but found it to be an impossible task, especially as some of the other soldiers reluctantly turned their weapons upon the train and its passengers also. With great reluctance he sheathed his tachi.

"A wise decision." The officer gestured to one of the soldiers to collect his weapon and orbment, which he did. Only once he was fully disarmed did the rebels allow themselves to relax. "Our word probably holds no value to you," The officer shrugged, uncaring about that fact. "but we didn't want to get civilians involved in the first place. Our only desire is to topple the illegitimate government that you're responsible for and restore Erebonia's pride to what it once was."

"And this is how you're doing it?" Rean finally spoke for the first time. "Attacking trains and murdering civilians? You're nothing but bandits. There's no way you're going to accomplish anything like this."

The nameless officer just laughed. "I would agree, but we have some very powerful friends who wish to see us succeed."

"Ouroboros..." The bracer knew the criminal organization a lot better than the arrogant officer, and considered telling him that the society probably didn't care about their little coup at all, but instead had just latched on to create a smokescreen of chaos while they worked their true plans, but discarded the thought as he knew these traitors wouldn't listen.

"Ah, they're finished." The enemy nodded approvingly as the soldiers finished ransacking the Reinford cars. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have orders to give and you have a nap to take." Said nap apparently consisted of a nearby soldier stepping up and slamming the butt of his rifle into the back of Rean's skull, flooring the swordsman instantly.

Despite the blow, however, he stubbornly clung to consciousness. Maybe it was the injury causing his brain to act weirdly, but in his dizzy state only one thought was going through his head at the moment.

"I'll be back early tomorrow, I promise. Love you."

Those had been his words to Fie the previous day, and he was just starting to realize that he was about to break his promise to her for the first time. That thought actually hurt him more than the hit had. Maybe he could-

Any further thoughts were put on hold as the second blow arrived, and all that remained was darkness.


Fie yawned loudly as she rested her head on the table at the Guild Branch, and for good reason. The girl who prided herself on her ability to sleep anywhere had gone through one of the most restless nights in recent memory. It kinda shocked her how much she had come to rely on her favorite pillow and the warmth it provided, but the proof was present for all to see. She could have taken on a request or two that morning, but with Rean having messaged her that he was on his way back the girl chose to remain on standby.

Her only solace was the fact that Sara was far worse off. The older woman had stupidly decided to get plastered on the train ride home, presumably planning on just sleeping in late before arriving to the guild the next day. Unfortunately for the Purple Lightning, Fie could be extremely petty and she knew damn well that a drunk Sara wouldn't turn off her ARCUS before crashing, so all it took was one early morning call to ruin the former instructor's day. So there she was, doing her best to nurse a hangover while doing her best to set the younger girl alight with her glare.

Beyond the two women, the only other person present that day was Toval, with the man humming happily to himself as he filed a report for a previous mission, much to the two exhausted bracer's annoyance. Schera had been there earlier, but she had chosen to support a couple junior bracers in their requests, claiming it made her feel nostalgic.

Sara looked just about ready to fall asleep herself when her ARCUS started ringing yet again, causing her to groan in abject despair. Still, despite her many many many flaws, she was not one to shirk her responsibilities, so reluctantly she answered the phone.

"What?" She greeted grumpily. After a few seconds her eyes widened in surprise. "Claire?" To say that the two women didn't get along would be an understatement, so for the Icy Maiden to call her directly was concerning. The other bracers watched the one-sided conversation intently, as something was clearly up. That was proven true as Sara suddenly sat up straight, hangover completely forgotten. "What!?"

That dreadful feeling that had been plaguing Fie the past few days was back in full force, and it felt like an icy hand had taken grip of her heart and was about to start squeezing. She wanted nothing more than to rush over and take the communication device into her own hands, but her body refused to move. That feeling grew exponentially worse when something Claire said caused Sara to gasp in shock. After that the conversation continued for a few more seconds, but it was obvious that the veteran bracer was barely listening at that point, her face trapped in a rictus of horror. Eventually the call appeared to end, but Sara never bothered closing her ARCUS, the device remaining forgotten in her hands as she turned her gaze to the others present.

"T-That was Claire. A couple hours ago a train was attacked by the former soldiers. Eleven civilians dead, countless more injured. And..." She paused for a moment, before managing to steel herself. Her gaze locked upon her protege as her next words came out as a mere whisper, but were the loudest words Fie had ever heard. "And they have Rean."

It was at that moment that Fie Claussell's entire world threatened to shatter into a million pieces.