Their return to Erebonia was met with very little fanfare, which suited the two perfectly. After a night in their own homes the two were back to the usual grind of bracer activities. Thus their presence at the guild early in the morning. Alongside them was Toval and surprisingly enough for this early hour, Sara.

Noticing the dubious looks sent her way, Sara let out a shrug before smiling kindly at the two. "The Imperial Government forwarded a priority request to us this morning. Figured I'd give the two of you first crack at it if you want."

Alarm bells were going off in their heads. The way the former instructor was acting was highly suspicious. Still, a priority request from the government wasn't something to be ignored. "What's the mission?" Fie asked noncommittally.

This time it was Toval who answered. "Originally it started with a tip from the CPD that a known counterfeiter had possibly slipped through Crossbell and was on a train to Heimdallr. The RMP was waiting to take her into custody... but somehow she managed to slip through their grasp-"

"Oh I wish I could have seen the look on Claire's face when she got that news." Sara muttered in between chuckles.

The Zero Artisan bracer rolled his eyes at the interruption. "...Anyways. They tried to pursue, but lost her in the city and have instead turned to us for help. Sounds like this dealer has been a major nuisance in Crossbell for a while and both the SSS and bracers there have had run-ins with her."

"So what does she look like?" The request didn't sound that bad to Rean, so it was probably alright if they took it. He still couldn't shake the bad feeling he got that Sara was trying to dump more troublesome work on him...

Sara shook her head. "We don't know too much about her other than the fact that she is really old. She's known for peddling knockoff septium products, orbal products, and quality clothes."

"She's really old? How in the world did Randy and the others have trouble with her...? Fie seemed confused, and Rean couldn't blame her. He knew the mettle of the SSS as well as anyone. That they should struggle with a single old lady was a bit odd.

"There was a warning with the request. It says that she is rumored to be-"

Once again Sara interrupted her fellow bracer. "Well armed!" She yelled in a hurry, causing Toval to turn to her with confusion. "She might have a concealed weapon, so be careful!"

The Class VII members shared a look, strongly suspecting that what Toval was about to warn them about was something completely different. Still... "I suppose we can take it." Rean muttered after getting a nod from his partner. "If she's still in the city she is probably avoiding the places where authority is highest..."

"But at the same time she would need to be somewhere with enough traffic to make some mira." Fie countered. "With those in mind we should be able to narrow it down to a few districts. Still gonna be a pain to find, though."

"We can probably exclude Vainqueur Street and Dreichels Plaza since security is highest there." Rean muttered in thought. "I would also avoid Alto and Vesta if I thought bracers might be after me..."

"I doubt many people would go to the park looking to do their shopping." His love added. "Sankt is a possibility, but an international criminal would probably want to stay away from the embassies."

Rean frowned thoughtfully. "That still leaves Garnier, Leica, Ost, the Racecourse, half of Sankt, and the port. I guess we should hurry up and get started?"

"Yup." Fie agreed with a miserable sigh. "Gonna be a long day." At least they still had their Orbal Bike. Both Class VII students remembered just how tedious their patrols of the city had been when they were still reliant on the tram schedule.

Toval watched as his two rising stars made their exit from the guild together, before turning his attention back towards his colleague who was now sporting a massive grin on her face. "So why did you stop me from passing on that warning?"

"Why wouldn't I?" She replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Those brats have been a constant thorn in my side for ages and they even managed to ruin my trip back home. Payback's a bitch. Especially Fie. I just wish I could be there to see her reaction when she encounters some old bat who is just as quick as she is."

The arts specialist couldn't help but sweatdrop. Sara and Fie truly were sisters and it was entertaining to watch, especially now with Rean involved. That said, it was also somewhat exhausting and a part of him worried that one of them might escalate things too far one of these days. Most likely Sara. He knew from experience just how vindictive his long-time friend was.

"You sure you aren't just saying that cause they aren't blabbing all their secrets?" The glare she shot at him let him know his guess was right on the mark. "C'mon, chill out, Sara. If it's something interesting I know Rean won't keep us in the dark for long. Just need to be patient." He was curious too, but he trusted them that much, at least.

She rolled her eyes at his comment. "How can you be so laid back? Still, you're probably right. Whatever it is probably isn't worth the effort." Sara paused and an apologetic look took its place on her face. "...Kinda regret telling Alfin, though. Didn't think my hunch would spread that far."

Huh. He didn't think she would feel remorse for her actions. Still, it was probably to be expected when the rumor mill caused Ouroboros of all people to take interest. "Their adults now." He reassured. "I'm sure they can handle a few nosy gossips."

The former teacher winced in a way that had nothing to do with any hangover. "...You don't know Class VII like I do. They're like a big happy family and none of them know how to keep things secret." Even the calmer members of the group like Jusis, Emma, and Kurt were just as susceptible to getting involved, especially once the others started pressuring them.

Toval let out another sweatdrop. "You might be right." He conceded at last. Privately he sent a silent prayer to Aidios for the sake of Rean and Fie. If Sara was right they were gonna need it.


Fie let out a groan of dismay. "This area was a bust." The area in question was the Garnier district, which was the second on their little tour of the city after doing a quick check of Sankt. "I didn't think it would be this slow going..."

"I had a feeling it might." Rean admitted. "It's not like we have any idea what we're doing, after all."

That was the biggest issue they were having. Neither of them had any real experience in identifying counterfeit goods. This meant that they had no choice but to rely on their painfully limited knowledge of what the true value of luxury goods should be. Things like jewelry were a complete mystery to the two, as the only item of that sort they possessed was the ring Rean got for Fie, and even that generally went unworn, although she did usually keep it on her person.

At least common sense limited the number of shops they had to check out. Their target was an old lady, and since she had only arrived in Heimdallr a couple days ago any shop she was running would most likely have to have been newly opened. Still, as much as it narrowed it down, Heimdallr was still a city home to nearly a million people. There was a lot to check.

"Ah well. I'm sure we'll figure something out. We always do." A surprisingly optimistic outlook from the former jaeger, but it hadn't let them down thus far. "Wanna take a break and get some grub?"

Grub sounded pretty good at that moment, so he nodded his head in agreement. "How about Gamgee's Pub?" He asked. "We can search Ost after we've finished."

"Mmm... I could go for some fish and chips."

Decision made the two abandoned the Garnier district in lieu of lunch. Ost was on the opposite side of the city, but it also put them closer to most of the other districts they wanted to explore. One short orbal bike ride later and the two found themselves scarfing down the greasy pub food.

As they were eating Fie's ARCUS III chimed letting her know she had a new message. Both bracers groaned at that. "Who is that one from?"

"Millium, of course." She replied as she checked the message. "That makes it six from her. Plus two from Alisa, one from Crow, Laura, Emma, and Elliot..." If they weren't already sure their friends were suspicious of them, the constant deluge of messages and calls they had been getting from them since their return was all the answer they needed. "What are you at?"

He didn't even need to look at his own orbment to answer that. "About the same. Four from Millium. Three from Crow-" He paused as he too got a mail. "...Scratch that. Four from Crow. Two from Machias and Juna. One from Musse and Alfin."

A couple were well-meaning as they checked to make sure that everything was alright with the two of them. Those messages were fine. What was less fine, however, were the barrage of questions and guesses sent to the two of them, as if they would actually confirm or deny any of it. Everything from affairs, deaths in the family, Ouroboros activity, to disease. A few even guessed correctly, not that they actually knew that.

And that wasn't the worst of it. Some tried to bargain for the answers. Millium offered up a hefty sum of Jusis's mira. Juna tried to appeal to his sense of guilt by letting him know how unfair it was that Altina knew and not her. Even Elliot tried to bribe the two with concert tickets! But the absolute worst of all was when the Duchess Cayenne sent Rean a selfie that involved very little clothing with promises of more in the future. Fie had immediately noticed before he could delete it and came scarily close to losing her cool and going full jaeger murder mode when that one arrived.

It was a definite pain to deal with. But neither of them could deny there was something exhilarating about being privy to a secret that the others desperately wanted in on. Eventually someone would figure things out and there would be hell to pay for keeping the news from them, especially once news got out that Ouroboros found out before them, but for now they were content to sit back and enjoy the absolute chaos their silence was causing.

With lunch finished the two bracers resumed their mission. They knew that they were in for a long search, as they weren't even positive that the criminal was even still in the city. And even if she was, it would likely take them ages to check out each and every shop in the city. Still, they were committed, even if it meant searching for the entire-

"Found it."

"Huh?" Rean turned to his partner in confusion. "Found what?"

"Our target, duh." She answered like it was the most obvious thing, but the teasing grin on her face let him know that she understood his confusion. "Over there. Look."

And look he did. The store she was pointing at did fit all the criteria they were looking for, as it was a seemingly new little shop selling a variety of wares. The kindly old lady running the place gave a friendly smile and bow as she made a purchase to a pair of locals.

Still, Rean remained unconvinced. "How do you know that that's the one?" It wasn't that he doubted Fie. If she said it was the one than he believed her. That being said, this wasn't something they could afford to get wrong. Not even his fame as the Ashen Chevalier would let him get away with bullying and harassing an innocent old lady.

She rolled her eyes. "It's so obvious. Look over here." She guided him towards one section of the outdoor shop and pointed at one of the items.

"Alright, and...?" She was pointing towards a section of sneakers. He easily recognized the Strega logo on them. But while he considered himself an observant person, he didn't see any obvious issues that would make him think they were fakes.

"Ugh. Casuals." Fie looked so disappointed at him. "Gonna pick you up a pair at some point. You need to learn to understand." She turned back to the offensive sneakers. "Look. The logo is slightly off-center. I have been buying Stregas for years and never once have I seen a mistake like that. And this material..." She poked and prodded at the shoe with a heavy frown. "...What even is it? There's no way something like this is waterproof. The price is way off, too. I've been to every shoe store in the city and the cheapest I've ever seen this brand of sneakers is about three times the price of this."

Rean paled considerably as he looked at the price. He knew Fie liked to keep up to date with the newest model each year... Just how much were they spending there? Admittedly mira wasn't really an issue for the pair so it wasn't the biggest deal, but it seemed like a huge outlier to their normally frugal lifestyles.

He shook his head to clear those thoughts from his mind. That was something to investigate at a later time. For now he needed to place his faith in Fie and take action against this dastardly kind old lady.

"Excuse me, miss?"

"Oh? And what can I do for the two of you? Looking for some jewelry for your girlfriend? Let granny help you out." The potential counterfeiter replied in a sickeningly sweet voice.

Around them they could hear mutters from the other customers as they began to recognize the pair of bracers. Although he had gotten a lot better at tuning out the constant mutterings of his name and title, he also understood that their next actions were going to be under a lot more scrutiny. This meant they needed to act diplomatically and with tact.

In other words, he needed to make sure Fie kept her mouth shut.

"Actually, we're with the Bracer Guild. We're investigating reports of a counterfeit operation here in the Ost District." His words caused mutterings from those around them, especially from the customers who had just purchased things.

The old lady narrowed her eyes dangerously, but still kept up the innocent old lady act. "Oh? That sounds terrible. But you aren't accusing little old me of something like that, are you?"

Fie opened her mouth, presumably to say something snarky that would surely escalate the situation. Hastily he elbowed the girl to shut her up. The glare she shot him made him quite sure he would be hearing about that later, but that was alright. She did the same to him constantly, so surely Fie wouldn't be that angry, right?

For some reason he had a bad feeling about that...

"Ahem..." He muttered while trying to ignore Fie's burning glare. "Of course not. We're simply requesting that you allow us to bring in an expert to conduct a brief inspection of your goods. I give you my word as a bracer that it will be quick. There should be no problems with that if you are innocent, correct?"

As he watched the old woman's eyes dart about quickly as if searching for an escape route he now knew for certain that Fie's hunch was right on the mira. He subtly placed himself between the counterfeiter and the exit, while out of the corner of his eye he noticed Fie moving to block off an open window just in case.

The elderly woman's mouth moved silently as she tried to come up with something to say. After a tense minute of silence she seemed to give up and the tension left her body as she slumped down, eyes closed. Rean took a step forward, ready to take the surrendering woman into custody.

That was his big mistake.

Suddenly, her eyes opened back up, but this time the veneer of a kindly old lady was gone and in its place was a demon from Gehenna. "DON'T SCREW WITH ME, YOU BRATS!"

Her next action surprised Rean even more, as she grabbed one of the sneakers that had inadvertently given her away and threw it at him with full force. He was caught so off-guard that it impacted harshly off his face. "...Ow." She proceeded to follow that up by shoving him into a wall before making a break through the door.

The speedster of Class VII didn't immediately follow in pursuit, instead opting to provide him a hand as he staggered to his feet. "You alright?" She asked with visible concern.

"Yeah... Just a bruised pride." The Ashen Chevalier being taken out by some old lady with a shoe. He was glad that Vivi or Rex weren't there. He raised a hand to where the footwear had hit him. "...Also a bruised face." He amended with some annoyance.

Despite the situation, Fie looked vaguely amused. Doubtless she would be teasing him about it at a later date. "C'mon, let's run her down." He followed her out the door and onto the street where they spotted the old lady rounding a corner. "Woah... She's kinda fast."

Hurriedly the two set off in pursuit. It soon became clear that she was actually very fast, despite her seemingly advanced age. The two were able to keep pace with her, but were unable to close the gap as their bracer instincts meant that they took the time to dodge out of the way of confused pedestrians while the counterfeiter had no problem with running over anyone in her way.

"Leave me the hell alone, you damned troublemakers!" She yelled with vitriol. "First the cops and now bracers! You are all utterly useless!"

"She's got some serious lungs on her..." Fie noted as the two listened to her tirade. "Damnit. This sucks. There's no way this old bat is as fast as Sylphid!" It was clear that she was beginning to take personal offense to this slight against her speed.

Rean thought about the situation. He knew that they were faster, Fie especially, but with all the people in the way it was impossible to catch up. And they had already left the Ost District and were well on the way to the train station, which was far more densely packed. If she made it there there was a real chance they would lose sight of her and she would slip away.

He made his decision. "Fie!" She gave a sideways glance towards him while still keeping much of her focus on the target. "Go on ahead! I'm gonna call in some backup."

"Roger!" She replied as she sped up to her maximum speed. Rean, meanwhile, began to slow as he pulled out his ARCUS III unit and connected to someone he knew could help.

"Major Claire? It's me, Rean... We're in pursuit of the target, but she's making a rush for the train station... Three or four minutes, I would guess... Fie's currently in pursuit... Alright, thanks!"

He hung up his ARCUS and pondered his next course of action. By this point the familiar silver-hair that he was so fond of was but a speck in the distance and he knew there was little chance of catching up. He could keep going and support Fie if she manages to corner the crazy old lady, but with the RMP notified they should be able to support her if needed. Instead, he needed to act as if the counterfeiter wouldn't be caught and instead ran elsewhere. Decision made, he stopped, turned around, and began heading back towards the Ost District where they had left their bike.


Fie growled to herself as she darted between a group of tourists as she kept up her pursuit. She could no longer sense the presence of Rean. He had claimed he was gonna call in some backup, but she had a feeling he was just too slow and lazy to keep up with some senior citizen. And she was supposed to be the pregnant one! Mentally she was already pondering on the most efficient ways to tease him later on, but physically she remained focused entirely on the chase.

Although she had managed to close the gap a decent amount now that she was free to go at her maximum pace, the crabby old lady still had a considerable lead on her. And she was worried as they were getting closer and closer to the train station. Given that it was one of the largest stations on the continent, filled to the brim with trains heading all throughout the Empire and beyond, if the bat managed to lose her in there she would be almost impossible to find again.

Fortunately, it seemed that Rean wasn't entirely useless, as multiple squads of the RMP were milling about outside of the station. Good. Although she doubted their ability to actually contribute towards catching the criminal, their presence should at least deter her from making it into the station. Hopefully. Given the way she hilariously tackled down Rean it wasn't impossible that she might try and break through the military police.

Fie actually thought the hag was going to do just that as the two continued to close in on the station, but at the last second she cursed loudly before swerving away. "Can't you ruffians just leave me alone!?" She yelled as she began to sprint down Vainqueur Street.

On the plus side it was much easier to keep track of her target on this large road. Unfortunately, it was also filled to capacity with cars and trucks and none of them seemed all that interested in the two people running through the road on foot. Fie cursed as one particularly rude driver nearly ran her over as she crossed lanes in pursuit. She really needed to get off the road as soon as possible.

It seems the old bat had the same idea, as she used a surprising amount of dexterity to climb onto the back of a moving truck. Once she was safely situated on the back she turned around, made an obscene gesture towards the silver-haired bracer, and let the vehicle carry her away. Rude.

Technically the truck wasn't that much faster than her sprinting pace, but as she had no desire to get pancaked by some useless driver she couldn't keep up the pursuit like this. Still, her pride refused to let that annoying old woman get away. Time for Plan B.

Plan B, which she came up with in that very moment, was exciting as it involved something she had been wanting to try for many years now. With an acrobatic leap the girl jumped from the road to the roof of a passing car. Luckily the driver was either deaf or was choosing to ignore the sound of her impact as they didn't seem all that inclined to slow down and investigate.

Riding on top of a car was frankly awesome. Hopefully Rean never found out cause he would nag at her about it for ages. Guy just didn't know how to have fun. She waved cheekily at some gawking bystanders as the car she was on rode past.

The truck she was following was a fair distance away, but not so far that she couldn't keep close track of it. Both vehicles were headed north on the road towards Dreichels Plaza and the palace. Although she couldn't say for certain, she didn't think the counterfeiter could see her from her position, and hopefully was assuming that she managed to slip her pursuers. With her guard down she would be that much easier to catch.

She let out an audible curse as the car she was surfing began to slow down, presumably with the intention of turning onto Alto Street. Didn't the driver understand how rude it was to do that when she was surfing on top of their car? Briefly she toyed with the idea of forcing the driver to continue down the main road and keep up the pursuit, but she had a feeling that wouldn't go over well with anyone. She really did not want to get in trouble with the authorities.

...Mostly cause she knew Rean would be an insufferable nag after bailing her out.

With hijacking out of the question, her only real alternative was to find a different vehicle to ride. She didn't need Rean there to tell her how reckless and stupid her idea was as she understood it well enough. Despite that she bent her knees and tried to time the approach of another car. Just as her current ride began the turn she put all her strength into her knees and leapt.

It was a good thing that Fie Claussell was a peerless badass, at least in her opinion, as leaping from one car to another wasn't nearly as easy as the stories made it out to be. She managed to stick the landing, but only barely. It took a few seconds of her holding on for dear life before she gained her balance enough to stand back up. Unfortunately, her target was now even further away and nearly out of sight at this point.

"What was that noise?!" Questioned a voice from within the car. Crap. She really did not need the driver stopping to investigate.

"Woah..." She heard a second voice, this one a lot younger. Looking down she discovered a little girl had stuck her head out of the backseat window and was staring up at her with awe. "You're Sylphid, aren't you?! I love you so much! Can I have your autograph?!"

"Uh..." How was she supposed to respond to that? "Sure, I guess? Just make sure your dad keeps driving, alright?"

The deal must have been an agreeable one, as the young child brought her head back into the car and informed the man driving that the sound he heard must have been a bird or something as there was nothing wrong with the car. A few seconds later she stuck her head back out, but this time with a picture and a pen in hand.

It was a stretch, but the bracer managed to grab the proffered objects. The picture, she discovered to her shock and embarrassment, was one of her and Rean. Yet again she found herself blaming Vivi for turning her into a household name. Still, a deal was a deal. Autographing a picture of herself while standing on top of a moving car would go down as one of the more surreal experiences in her lifetime, but she pulled it off. The girl squealed in delight once the objects were back in her hand.

Fie's ARCUS rang, something which she had been expecting. "Hey, Rean." She answered as nonchalantly as possible.

"Where are you?"

"I'm pursuing the target down Vainqueur Street, just after the turn onto Alto."

"...How did you get there so fast?"

Now let it be known that Fie was a woman of principles. And one of those was that she would not lie to her loved ones. "She hopped onto the back of a truck so I found someone willing to give me a lift." That didn't mean she wouldn't stretch the truth a bit, of course.

"..." Silence was the only reply she got. It was only thanks to the orbment letting her know that they were still connected that she knew Rean didn't hang up on her.

Finally, he broke the silence. "Please, for the love of Aidios, tell me that that isn't you riding on top of that car?"

She looked behind her. Oh hey, so Rean went back to get their bike. Smart. That would explain how he managed to catch up so quickly. She decided to grace him with a happy wave. The groan she heard across the line was music to her ears.

"Hurry up and pull alongside me." She demanded of him. As much of a boring safe driver as Rean usually was, even he was faster and more reliable than standing on top of random cars.

"...Please tell me you aren't planning on jumping onto the bike?" Was his pained question.

"Please stop asking questions you don't want answered." Was her cheeky reply.

Despite his complaints he did exactly what she asked and soon was driving parallel to her ride. Despite being a trickier jump than the one she performed earlier, it was still accomplished a lot easier thanks to the ever useful combat link leaving her completely in sync with Rean's actions. She did remember to turn back and wave towards the child in the car who happily returned the gesture before the two bracers drove off.

Once safely situated behind her lover the bracer pointed out the truck their annoying target was in. As much fun as she was having, she was more than ready for this pursuit to come to an end. Something which Rean seemed to agree with as he increased the throttle, driving at a reckless speed that actually impressed her.

In the end it didn't actually matter all that much, as soon the street came to an end as the large open area of Dreichels Plaza came into view. End of the line. Not wanting to spook that tenacious old lady into running off again the two parked their bike a fair distance away and proceeded to sneak up on foot.

They reached the truck just as the counterfeiter hopped out of the back. "Damned brats. Now where the hell am I? Bah. Gonna be weeks before I can reopen. Maybe I should try my luck in a different cit-"

Her annoyed ramblings came to an end as she was painfully tackled to the ground by a flying silver-haired bracer. "Caught you~" Fie announced with a sing-song voice as she pinned the annoying target to the ground.

"What the hell!?" She muttered from her place on the ground before realization sunk in. "H-Help! I'm being assaulted by hooligans! HELP! Get her off of me!"

In hindsight tackling an innocent looking old lady in the middle of Dreichels Plaza was a terrible idea, but luckily Rean was quick to reassure the crowds. As much as he hated his Ashen Chevalier title he was sure quick to use it when he needed to sway public opinion quickly. A few minutes later the RMP finally arrived and took the raging counterfeiter into custody.

"Glad that's finally over with." Despite it not being a very long chase Rean looked exhausted. She couldn't blame him for that either. "Want to go home?"

Still... "There's one little thing I wanna do first while we're here." Here being Dreichels Plaza, or more specifically Valflame Palace in the distance.

Rean looked nervous. "Uh, Fie...? Is this 'one little thing' of yours going to get us in trouble?"

She was unimpressed by his insinuation. "Weren't you the one who walked into the Hyarms manor and threatened bodily harm on Patrick? And you really think I might do something worse?"


"Get down here you fruitcake jerk of a prince, so I can kick your ass properly!"

Come to find out, Fie's idea was worse. Much, much worse. The guards had let the duo enter the palace without any questions asked, but as soon as they were inside Fie started yelling out all kinds of obscenities and threats directed towards a certain Erebonian prince.

On the plus side, the dozens of guards in earshot range were so bewildered by this blatant treason that all of them remained rooted in their spots as they stared at them in confusion. That was probably the only reason that Fie, and Rean by association, weren't already in chains. That and the fact that all of them knew of Olivert and his many exploits, and privately some of them looked rather amused by her actions.

"My... Whatever is this noise about?" Luckily the two bracers were saved by the very fortuitous arrival of the Emperor and Empress, drawn out by the commotion. "Well, if it isn't our young heroes."

"Your Majesty!" Rean greeted nervously. While he considered himself on good terms with the Arnor family, that didn't change the fact that his lover had just been threatening all kinds of bodily harm on the eldest prince.

Fortunately for their continued survival the two seemed more amused by her actions. "He isn't present right now, but dare I ask what our son has done to earn such hostility?" It was kinda nice that the Empress was immediately assuming they had good reason for their actions.

That was enough to somewhat mollify Fie, who spent the next couple minutes giving a very abridged version of recent events, focusing mostly on how the prince ended up consorting with the society of all people to pry into their private lives.

The Emperor pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly. "And I'm sure he got the idea from Alfin. Here I was thinking that Cedric was our most problematic child."

The Empress giggled in amusement. "I was wondering why his wife looked so disgruntled when I last spoke with her. I'm sure our dear son has already been punished... most severely." All present winced at what Schera must have already done. "Still, thank you for bringing this to our attention. You can rest assured that we will be having some words for our children."

"Mmm... Thanks." That was enough for Fie, at least for now, who nodded gratefully to the royal couple.

"Well, this has been a most amusing diversion, but unfortunately we need to get back to what we were doing. The country still isn't in great shape, as I am sure you have surmised." The Emperor told them grimly, before perking up slightly. "Still, the efforts of you two and the rest of the Bracer Guild have not gone unnoticed. Please convey our gratitude towards your comrades when you get the chance."

The Ashen Chevalier slumped down in relief once the two royals made their exit. He was so glad that nothing bad came of that. Still, even if they were willing to brush the whole ordeal off... "C'mon, Fie. Let's get home. We need to have some words."

He didn't think she had any more shenanigans in mind, but that didn't keep him from keeping a death grip on her hand as he dragged her out of the palace, despite her many protests. While he had already accepted that this girl would eventually be the death of him, she needed to understand that he wasn't ready for it to happen this soon!