A new day had arrived in Legram, bringing with it surprising news. The supernatural fog that covered the lake town for weeks had dissipated and the blue skies above were once again visible.
Emma and Celine were quick to use their powers to scan the area and confirmed that the mana concentration around Legram had subsided significantly, although it was still somewhat above normal as the spirit veins were still agitated across all over the Empire.
"This is good, right?" Said Elliot as they stood outside at the manor's entrance appreciating the view. Similarly, townsfolk were coming out of their houses to celebrate.
"Yes, it means that for the time being the town will be safe from phenomena like the fog and the appearance of cryptids," Celine explained.
That was indeed very good news as it meant Laura could leave town along with them and Fie asked just that to the Arseid heir, saving Rean from doing it and sounding a little too hopeful and needy.
"I must consult with Klaus first," Laura responded despotently, feeling herself torn between her duties as an Arseid and as a member of Class VII.
"That won't be necessary, my lady," said the butler, approaching the students alongside Toval and Miles.
The Guild receptionist formally introduced himself to the kids, not having had the chance the previous day. "You must be Rean, Sara and Toval told me a lot about you," he said to the swordsman.
"Whatever Instructor Sara has told you, I invoke my right to remain silent."
"Ha! I like you."
"Is it true, Lady Millstein, that the dangers threatening Legram have disappeared?" The aging man asked.
"Yes, at least for the moment."
"Klaus, how much of our conversation did you hear?" Laura asked.
"Enough, my lady, but even if I hadn't it doesn't take a genius to know you are itching to accompany your friends and your… partner," Klaus stared at Rean with a look of approval. "But you also believe it is your duty to stay here and protect Legram. And normally it is but it would also be a waste of your skills for you to stay here while Erebonia is in turmoil, that is why I have hired the services of the Bracer Guild and Mr. Randonneur to watch over the town in your absence."
Laura wanted to celebrate that bit of news and thank Klaus and Toval, however… "It would be irresponsible of me to leave Legram at the first opportunity because the situation seems to be improving," she said firmly, although the reluctance in her was plain to see. "Come tomorrow, the fog and cryptids can just as easily return. And just like you can say my skills would be better served outside the same can be applied to an accomplished Bracer like Toval."
"Hey, come on, Laura, it's not like I'm going to be taking a vacation here," the Bracer countered. "Yeah, I'm gonna hang around and keep an eye on any nasty critters that show up, sure, but I'm also going to coordinate with some of the other remaining Guild Branches across Erebonia and try to call HQ in Leman, though that last one might be a little harder. Besides, I was going to stick to you guys until we found Sara and well, I got the second thing on that front. Miles and I managed to get a hold of her yesterday, she's in Bareahard so if you kids get a move on you can see her today."
And the good news kept piling up, Instructor Sara was close by along with Jusis, and this time nobody could hide their excitement and visibly cheered.
"That's great, Toval, but how did you get in touch with her?" Rean asked.
"Well, the guild was shut down in Erebonia but not shut down shut down, if you know what I mean. We still got our little secret stations in the major cities in the country and we were lucky enough Sara checked in on the terminal at the Bareahard location."
Laura mulled over the butler's words for a moment but it was impossible to fight them. She didn't want to come off as leaving her hometown in favor of her friends and Rean, even if that meant also assisting in the rescue of Princess Alfin. Legram relied on her for protection and guidance, she couldn't abandon her town. If only those monsters weren't plaguing their lives…
"Be as it may, I can't-"
"Laura," the butler called her name as he put a hand on her shoulder, speaking to her without any of the honorifics that entailed his position as a servant of the Arseid family but as a friend. "Nobody understands how seriously you take your duties as an Arseid more than I and while it's an admirable trait of yours, you're coming off as stubborn. You are not abandoning your responsibilities on a mere whim, nobody would think that of you. Didn't your father teach you that, above all, you should use your skills where they can do the most good? I am sure he would be proud of your diligence but he would also tell you the same things I did."
The butler had gone straight into the heart of the matter, exposing exactly what troubled Laura and tearing it apart. Now it was a matter of her coming to terms with what her decision would be.
"I am not going to force you to leave, my lady, but whatever your decision is, please, choose what you truly desire, not just what you just think you should do."
Klaus was just as relentless with his words as he was with his sword. Looking at the man that helped her father raise her and finding a reassuring smile, her decision was made. "Understood, Klaus. I leave Legram in your capable hands as well as those of the Guild Branch. Once we are established in Ymir, I'll try to contact you as soon as possible."
The butler bowed. "Rest assured that Legram shall be in good hands in your absence, my lady."
After an energizing breakfast and a brief farewell, the steadily growing group of Class VII students departed from the town of Legram, deciding to reach the city of Bareahard by foot. They obviously couldn't fly with Valimar anymore and teleporting to the outskirts of the noble capital of the Empire without knowing what kind of defenses surrounded the city might not be the smartest idea.
By taking side roads to avoid any passing troops it would take them around three hours to get there if they kept a good rhythm. To at least attempt to pass themselves as innocent, common travelers, their weapons and gear were stored in suitcases, not the best lie but maybe it would buy precious seconds in case they were accosted by Kreuzen's provincial soldiers.
"When are we going to use this spirit path then?" Machias complained one hour into their trek. "What is the point of a robot with teleportation abilities that you never use? What's next, we'll find the rest of our class and then go to your hometown on a wagon pulled by mules?"
"If by mules you mean you then yes," Rean struck back. "We'll be getting a harness for you in Bareahard and Jusis gets to drive."
"Valimar isn't some sort of glorified public transportation vehicle that takes you everywhere because you are too lazy to walk a few arge," Celine added with her usual annoyed tone.
Machias had been ready to respond to Rean's provocation but now he refused to be talked down to by a cat of all things. "Easy for you to say when Emma is carrying you."
The witch looked down at her arms, apparently only now being fully aware she had been carrying Celine all this time. "Oh right, I've been so happy and relieved at seeing her I barely noticed."
Celine's eyes went wide as she turned to her companion just in time for the girl to open her arms, letting the familiar fall onto the ground. Gracefully on her four feet of course, but she still shot an annoyed look at the bespectacled kid that condemned her to walk the rest of the way.
"Now, Celine, don't be grumpy," Emma tutted. "Besides, if you had stayed quiet this wouldn't have happened. Sometimes when you don't have anything nice to say it's better to not say anything. And Machias, walking to Bareahard is hardly as intensive as most of the exercises we did at school, you should be more accustomed to physical activities by now."
Machias winced at the class president's reprimand. Maybe he had come off as a bit more petulant than he intended.
"Yeah, we should be talking about more important stuff anyway," said Fie, obviously setting something up and Rean wondered if she was still mad about his joke about her (lack of) boobs. "Like why didn't Rean sleep with Laura in her room last night?"
Yeah she was still mad about it.
"I don't see how that is any of your concern," Laura responded cooly, though a bit of flush was starting to form on her cheeks.
"I thought couples were supposed to sleep together. Problems in paradise already?"
"Fie!" Starting to get red in the face, Laura turned to Rean for support which proved itself to be a mistake.
"She's right," the very unsupportive boyfriend said while nodding his head. "I was waiting for Laura to call me over the whole night since it's her home but nothing. Was it something I did, Laura? Are you mad at me?"
"W-wait, what? Of course not, Rean! We were all exhausted last night and…" She had been caught off guard initially but the pleased smile that started to creep on Rean's face woke Laura up to the reality of what was happening. "Stop messing with me, Rean Schwarzer!"
"Sorry, sorry, it's just that… You look very cute when you're flustered," he said whispering in her ear but still loud enough for the others to hear, causing the Arseid girl to go completely red in the face while Fie and Machias groaned in disgust at the saccharine one liner.
"Ugh, if I have to see these two being lovey-dovey with each other for this entire war I might just escape to another country instead," the class' vice-president said.
"Leave them be, Machias. We are almost at Bareahard and you'll get your chance with Jusis soon enough," Elliot of all people said, sending the green-haired boy into an angry tirade which then led Fie to join in to provoke him further while Emma just chuckled to herself.
"Don't you start it!"
With the attention of the teasing diverted from her to Machias, Laura sighed in relief and turned her gaze to Rean. While his compliment was meant to also tease her it also felt earnest and she very much appreciated it, and he himself looked very charming with a calm smile on his face as they traversed the byroad to the Verdant City, even if part of his senses, like hers, was focused on any threats that could pop up at any moment. That line of thought then led her to remember something she had been remiss to address.
With a soft brush of her fingers on his hand, Laura caught Rean's attention and gestured for them to slow down their pace and hang back a little for a more private conversation. Fie noticed it in between saying something to Machias and simply nodded her head in acknowledgement.
"What's up?" The swordsman asked.
"I was wondering, Rean, if there is anything you wish to talk about in regards to the jaeger attack on your hometown, especially in regards to your killing of them."
Rean swallowed and ran his hand through his hair. "Ah that."
"It was subtle but I noticed some discomfort from you when you mentioned it. I meant to speak to you about it, mainly when we were sparring but then my father's disciples appeared and then everything else happened. My apologies for not saying anything sooner."
"Don't worry, Laura, it's okay, I get it," he reassured her, noticing Laura seemed disappointed in herself.
"Father was sure to instill in me the notion that at the end of the day a sword is a weapon for taking lives. We might spar and train and have fun with it but in the end it's an inseparable reality of what our blades are used for. While I can't say I have any hands-on experience on the subject, fortunately I suppose, I know that taking a life is a heavy matter and I want you to know that I will always be willing to listen whenever you wish to unburden yourself."
Laura held firmly onto Rean's left hand, interlacing their fingers as she felt just the slight trembling coming off it.
"Thanks, it means a lot to hear you say that," he spoke softly. "I can't say it didn't shake me for a bit, it feels… not great. Which is good, I guess, to not feel good about it. My mom had some things to tell me before I left and then I talked to Fie too, so I'm coming to terms with it. I played that scenario in my head a couple of times and I don't think I could've done anything differently." Yes there was but let's not talk about it. "In the end, a war is going on, people are fighting each other, we can't really escape that."
Laura sighed and her face dropped as she pondered what she would do in such a situation, if she would even have the time to think of an alternative to taking another person's life. "I suppose not."
"Hey, if it ever comes to it and you end up having to, you know, kill someone and you want to talk about it, I'm here too. What else are boyfriends for, right?"
The smile on his face had the desired effect of picking up Laura's mood. It was reassuring that Rean was dealing well with what had happened and it felt good to be there for each other, that's what a relationship should be about, right? Whatever would come to pass she knew they would be there for each other and they would face it head on.
The couple picked up the pace to approach the rest of the group, who were still bickering amongst themselves, and upon hearing a snarky remark from their silver haired friend an idea formed in Laura's head.
"So, you had a talk with Fie, huh?" She delivered with an oddly flat tone.
"Uh, yeah?" Rean raised an eyebrow.
"Was this before or after you touched her chest?"
!
Rean yelled inside his own mind with such an intensity that even Valimar was able to sense something was wrong.
[Do you require assistance, Awakener?]
"There is nothing you can do that could possibly help me now."
"Or was it during your conversation?"
Rean choked and stuttered, stopping dead on his tracks as he raised his hand in surrender. "H-hey, look, it was an accident! She came flying at me and fell on top of me!"
"Oh really?" Laura crossed her arms and glared at him through narrowed eyes, face hard as stone.
"Yes! Like what happened to Alisa and you!"
"A likely excuse."
"Oh come on, are you really going to get mad over this?" That was ridiculous, Laura was always so understanding, why was she being like this now? It made Rean frown and pout, was this really going to be their first fight as a couple?
The Arseid girl closed in on Rean, eyes like golden fire judging him. Closer and closer until her lips broke into a smirk and she planted a light peck on his lips. "You look really cute when you pout," she said with a coy smile.
Rean was stunned for a second and it took his brain a moment to caught up to what had happened, but it did he was relieved but also very mad. "Oh, oh! That was really dirty. You're the devil, Laura Arseid," he pointed an accusatory finger at her.
Not being able to contain herself anymore, Laura let out a hearty laugh and held on to Rean's arm as they started to walk back to their friends. "That will teach you to not tease me."
"Oh yeah, how about if I-"
"Hey, Rean, can you stop sucking on Laura's face for two seconds and get Valimar to land over there?" Fie called out, completely ruining the mood between the sword fighting couple. The former jaeger was on the side of the road, pointing towards an area made up of tall trees.
"Right, right," Rean rubbed his face and both he and Laura caught up to their friends. Neither of them had noticed when Fie moved away from the group to scan the surrounding area and both decided it wasn't the best of times to be lost in their own little world with each other.
Focusing on that particular area pointed out by Fie, the command was instantly transmitted to Valimar and in a couple of minutes they would be seeing the Divine Knight's silhouette approaching. The idea was that since they were walking ahead while Valimar stayed back in Legram, it would be advantageous to make it so the Divine Knight was closer to their destination, waiting in areas they were sure there were no hostiles nearby.
"Valimar's gonna be here soon," Rean said when it was done.
"Incredible how it works. I can scarcely imagine the leaps and bounds society would take if we could emulate this type of thought transmission," Machias remarked as he looked up to the skies.
"The bond between Divine Knight and Awakener is much deeper than simply inputting commands on a machine," Emma chimed in and although she was responding to Machias, her eyes diverted to Rean. "It is what allows Rean to fight alongside Valimar with more fluidity than any more experienced soldier on a panzer soldat. It cannot be easily replicated."
There, I think that was enough for Rean to get the picture of how he should view Valimar. It looks like he's thinking hard on it, I'm sure he understands now , Emma thought to herself as she looked to Rean with a hand resting on his chin.
"Well, there it is. If my math is right, judging the distance we walked and time it takes to take off, that's how fast Valimar can arrive get to us," no sooner had the swordsman pointed to the sky, the Ashen Knight flew past them before turning back and landing among the trees, just like Rean had instructed. "Good, it's settled. Let's get moving."
"Rean, don't you think you should check on Valimar before we move on?" Emma suggested tentatively.
"Status."
[All systems operational. No hostiles on sight.]
"Valimar's fine. Let's go."
Or maybe not, the witch thought dejectedly.
When they were finally near the city of Bareahard, Class VII decided to forgo the road altogether as they took to the forested area to approach the south entrance as a cautionary measure. Guarding the south gates were two panzer soldats standing guard, alongside two armored cars and at least six armed men.
"Eight, there are two snipers on the walls," Fie said. "Just like Sara told Toval in her message, and if nothing went wrong…" Her eyes scanned the provincial soldiers' uniforms until she found what she was looking for: one of them had a green handkerchief spilling out of his left pocket. "Let's get going."
They casually approached the city gates and the provincial soldiers were quick to stay on guard. "Hold it!" One of them shouted, clearly the man in charge. "State your names and business."
Rean stepped up and cleared his throat. "We are travelers coming from Legram. We came to visit a friend from school."
The officer in charge scoffed at the words. "There is a war going on, boy. This is not the time to be visiting your friends. And those suitcases you are carrying look suspicious to say the least. State your name and business or I will be forced to-"
The man was interrupted by the soldier with the green handkerchief soldier whispering something into his ear. "Covert operations… Lord Jusis… Jaegers…" were a few of the words the Class VII students managed to catch on.
"Hmm I see, I see," the officer muttered as he listened in attentively. Once his subordinate was done, he turned back to the youngsters. "My apologies for the disturbance. You may pass. Open the gate!" Not sooner had the officer issued the order and the lavish gates that adorned the entrance to the noble capital opened themselves.
Rean and his group politely thanked the officer for letting them pass and made their way inside, with Rean sparing the slightest nod to the green handkerchief soldier, apparently one of the few men in the provincial army that Jusis could trust.
Their next step, as detailed in Instructor Sara's message, would be to enter the city's waterways through the same way they had back during Machias' rescue. To get to their destination they would avoid the busier streets and army patrols.
"You can hardly notice there is a war going on," Elliot commented as they took stock of their surroundings. While it was undeniable that war or not life kept going, as evidenced by their stays in Celdic and Legram, in those instances there was a tension in the populace that didn't seem to be felt in the Verdant City. People went out shopping for clothes, stopped in the street to chat, walked their dogs, and it seemed fair to assume most of those carefree people were nobles.
"The war is something far away, a thing other people have to worry about," Rean said. "They think it'll never reach here."
"Typical. Even when there is a war going on to determine the future of the nation, some people are still too busy navel gazing and dealing with more important matters such as buying jewelry. It's a wonder there are even enough nobles capable of staging a coup."
There wasn't much to disagree with what Machias said, besides telling him to keep quiet as they turned a corner to avoid a patrol coming in their direction. Another patrol appeared on the other side of the street and they entered an alley, hoping they weren't being herded by the provincial guards.
After 30 stressful minutes of diving into alleys and going around city blocks to avoid patrols, they finally reached the entrance to the waterways. The doors were locked just like last time but that wouldn't be an issue. "Emma can just pick the lock, right? Said Rean.
"Uhmm, actually…" The witch approached the set of doors and took the padlock in her hands and then came in the recitation of a simple magic word, "aperio", and the mechanism undid itself.
"Huh, that healing salve and making fire and teleportation are one thing but I didn't think you could use magic for that too," said Rean. "I really thought you had picked the lock back then. Makes me wonder what else you can do with magic."
"The possibilities are limitless," Celine said proudly. "How do you think Emma managed to get into Thors?"
"Celine, be quiet," the witch muttered through gritted teeth.
That raised a few eyebrows as they climbed down the stairs to the underground area of the city. Nobody was really thinking about it but now that the matter was raised did that mean…
"You cheated on the entrance exam!" Machias shouted with an accusatory finger pointing at the girl, at which all eyes fell onto her as Emma tried to hide her face behind her hands.
"My mission of assisting the Ashen Awakener would completely fail if I couldn't even enter Thors so…" She said meekly. "B-but I promise I did study when I got into school, I couldn't bear to see you guys putting all that effort while I used magic to have an easier time!"
"All this time I spent thinking I failed at landing the top score when in fact I was cheated out of the first place!" The green-haired teen continued to rant.
"Come on, second place is still incredible, Machias."
"Who cares anyway, you got in, didn't you?"
"That's not the point!" He rebuffed Elliot and Fie's words.
"Machias, I understand you feel your pride has been wounded, however, Emma did it for a good cause and it's unfair to judge her as a mere cheater," said Laura.
Rubbing his eyes, Machias took a deep breath and recovered his composure. "I apologize for my outburst, Emma. The entrance exam is a mere stepping stone anyway. Mark my words, once this is over and we're back to school I'll land all of the top grades."
Eyes rolleds and the subject died there as they entered the waterways and closed the doors behind them, until Rean approached Emma that is. "So, once we are back at school could you… You know…" The swordsman gestured with his hand, trying to find the correct words to say. "Help us?"
"Yeah, can you make me smart with magic so I don't have to study too?" Fie said it bluntly out loud.
"Rean!" Laura turned to her partner, chastising him for even thinking about cheating. "And you too, Fie!"
"I am not going back to cramming for midterms after fighting in a war, sorry," Rean said and Fie nodded in agreement.
Laura was about to say something about how that was a lousy excuse when the appearance of a group of slime monsters interrupted her. Quickly they got their weapons out of their suitcases and assumed battle formations. It was honestly a welcome change of pace to engage in combat and to be able to relieve some tension after being in what was basically enemy territory for so long expecting to be attacked.
As they made their way through the underground they followed the next step on their plan, which was to follow chalk markings on the ground, walls and pillars that would lead them to the meeting point with Instructor Sara and Jusis.
"Oh hey guys!"
Or not. Floating around at an intersection was Millium sitting on Airgetlam's shoulders, waving excitedly in her usual chipper demeanor. The young girl was quick to jump out of her combat shell and tackle Rean into a hug that almost knocked him off his feet.
"I'm so glad you're all okay!" She yelled before literally jumping onto Laura as her next target and repeating the action with everyone, like some sort of nimble attacker dispensing quick strikes on her enemies, except with hugs. The assault ended with Elliot actually crashing into the floor under her weight.
"So, what's up!?"
"Not that we aren't glad to see you, Millium. But where are Instructor Sara and Jusis?" Emma asked.
"Jusis is on the second meeting point and Instructor Sara left with the orbal bike to Roer last night."
"What, why Roer?"
"She's got my bike?"
"Alisa and Gaius are hiding around the region, I can tell you all about it later. But first we gotta get Jusis."
Relief washed over at learning the location of their remaining classmates. So far so good, in a couple of days Rean would manage to get his entire class reunited, who could've thought it would be this easy, aside from the bumps against the Zephyr jaegers and General Le Guin. It would be smooth sailing from there on out.
"I'm sorry but this is where we must part ways," said Jusis.
Fie rolled her eyes at hearing the noble blond's refusal to accompany them. "This again."
After meeting with Millium, the intelligence agent guided them through the tunnels and secret passages that led to the Albarea residence. Sneaking inside proved itself fairly easy since no provincial soldiers were allowed inside and the staff knew better than to question who the youngest Alabrea had as a guest or worse, to tattle on the young lord. Now they were reunited in his bed chambers, which were actually pretty modest, especially in comparison to how opulent his family's manor was. Machias still called it ridiculously excessive, however.
After the expected greetings and a brief exchange of info, the young Albarea dropped the bombshell on them.
"I've been trying to tell him staying here is dumb but he won't listen!" A very frustrated Millium huffed.
"I understand how you feel about your duties here, Jusis, but-"
"But first there is something I must do," the blond cut off Laura and bowed towards Rean. Despite being the one among them who hadn't spend the best part of the past month on the run or fighting cryptids, Jusis looked worse for wear than the rest. His skin was paler than usual and dark circles adorned his eyes. He still had his usual composed disposition but the signs of stress were visible. "I have no words to describe how deeply ashamed I am of my father's actions."
It was obvious what he meant and Rean already had an inkling that this would happen. "So you know. I thought Vita had done something so the jaeger that returned would say they were attacked instead."
"Rufus explained everything to me after the fact, as the Alliance's chief of staff he has a direct line to Vita Clotilde. Meanwhile my father was too enraged by being bested by Duke Cayenne to give the matter any more thought," the young noble was still bowing, which was good otherwise his friends would've seen his lips trembling. "Please tell me that the baron… That your father is well."
That level of self pity was painful to watch and Rean started to understand how other people felt when he used to do the same thing, and as such he grabbed Jusis by the shoulders and lifted him up. "My dad's going to be fine and you don't have yourself to blame," he said calmly.
"As a son of House Albarea, my father's actions-"
"Are his own. Those jaegers attacking Ymir are on his head, not yours. Do you think you could've done anything to stop that from happening?"
Jusis sighed as he avoided Rean's gaze. "It's not that simple. I should've been more aware of my father's plans, that's the whole reason I decided to come back home in the first place, to do what I can to mitigate the damage of my family's participation in this war, and I utterly failed in that regard."
Knowing from personal experience how that line of thought works, Rean decided to circumvent it altogether. They hardly had the time to argue and try to convince Jusis, who knew when his father or someone else could show up.
Then again, it wouldn't be so bad to have some words with Duke Albarea…
"Fine. It's your fault. So now you have to come with us to Ymir so you can personally apologize to my dad. I think that's only the right thing to do now, isn't it?"
To say Rean's words surprised Jusis would be an understatement as his mouth hung open for a moment while he thought of a possible retort but coming up empty. The smug grin coming from Rean was not helping.
"Ha! He's got you now!"
"Shut up, Millium."
"Now get your shit together and let's get out of here."
"Haven't you listened to a single word I've said? I came here to curb the worst excesses of this war, however I can. Just yesterday I finally finished accounting for all those blasted requisitions the army has been making of merchants across the province, the official ones at least, I still have to go through the complaints of illegal requisitions which will be even more difficult," the blond rubbed his tired eyes. Thinking of how he would even begin to assess that was already enough to give him a headache.
"You mean straight up robbery," Fie said and Jusis dropped his head with a slight nod.
"I was also tasked with Bareahard's security, regardless of the reasons of this war the protection of the citizens is my duty as an Albarea."
"Oh I can see how in charge you are," Machias sneered.
"Watch your mouth, Regnitz."
But Machias paid no heed to his rival's protest. "If you are so in charge, why did Rean need to say a code phrase to be recognized by a specific soldier so he could make up a lie that would let us in? Covert jaeger agents, really?"
"Well duh, Rufus and papa Albarea don't trust Jusis as far as they can throw him!"
"I wouldn't have put it like that but…" Emma said nervously as she watched Jusis glare at the younger girl.
"As much as I have a say in the operations of the city guard, Rufus and father do have their own people in here, it was a mere precaution," it was a weak counter argument and he was aware of that. The duke was making use of his son's sense of duty to keep him in place and he knew that. He knew and was making excuses about his role to justify not taking action against his own family.
All in all, it was incredibly embarrassing, the noble thought to himself.
"Jusis, you told me once that you wished you could stand up to your father and brother," Rean spoke up. "Don't you think this is the best moment to do just that?"
Jusis cursed himself for opening up to Rean about that subject that day. "A childish rebellion is hardly befitting of the Albarea name."
"For the love of-" Getting tired of his friend's act, Rean grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "Screw the Albarea name, what do you want? What does the Jusis born of a commoner mother want? What does the Albarea name even stand for when your father stages a coup and tries to kidnap the Imperial Princess?"
"Jusis, while I had my own reservations about leaving Legram, it's an undeniable fact that staying put where we are will hardly fix or change anything," said Laura. "If we take our duties as nobles with the gravitas that they deserve then we can't use them as excuses to shy away from doing what we believe is the right thing."
The young Albarea lowered his head with a heavy sigh, not because of what his friends said but because of how childish he was being. Ever since he was brought in to live with his father all he wanted was to live up to the Albarea name, the dignity and prestige it represented, or at least those were the values instilled on him, and it was only recently that a desire to defy the rest of his family had appeared within Jusis. Or maybe defy was the wrong word, it brought to mind the idea of a meaningless teenage rebellion which was his mental hang up, that he was just him being a petulant child seeking attention from his father and jealous of his brother.
What Jusis really wanted was to rise above what his brother and father thought of what the name of their family meant, to bring forth his own meaning, not out of pettiness but for the sake of creating something new. Maybe, maybe this was the best chance he would get.
"You're all insufferable…" the blonde pushed Rean's hands away from him with an annoyed huff. "But you are not wrong. Fine, I shall accompany you in rescuing Princess Alfin and Rean's sister, the rest of you can keep whatever other speeches you were planning to yourselves."
"Damn, I was ready to talk about the value of friendship and hard work," Fie joked while the others cheered on the good news.
It didn't take long for Jusis to get his belongings ready to leave and the others had a suspicion he already had a travel kit packed and was counting on them convincing him to come along and it would absolutely be used against him in the future. After Jusis communicated to his loyal butler, Arnauld, to later inform his father that he would be absent for some time, he and Millium were set to take the road.
Going back to the waterways, Jusis guided through one of the many secret passages that led out of the city altogether, without the necessity of passing by any guards or patrols. This one in particular ended on a step ladder leading to a small brick house that was used as an orbal light maintenance station, the press of a button at the end of the ladder revealed the secret passage on the building's floor and from there they had free passage to go to Roer.
"So all Rean needs to do now is call Valimar and we are set to get the others!" Elliot said cheerfully, glad to be out of the gloomy tunnels and out in the sunny field to the side of the highway but since when things were allowed to be that easy for them?
"Ah ah ah, not so fast my dear violinist," a pompous voice echoed, immediately sending Class VII into combat positions as they prepared to engage in combat with an unknown assailant. Or maybe not so unknown.
"I know that voice," said Fie.
"Yeah, there's only one person I know who can surpass Jusis' haughtiness," Machias said, earning a glare from the aforementioned haughty one of their group.
"Great, just what we need, the masked weirdo. Watch out for the teleportation, everyone," Rean muttered. "Come on out, Bleublanc!"
"How impatient, don't you know how crucial it is in an espectacle for each actor to properly make their entrance? Like so!" A flash of light beamed in the middle of the group with the flamboyantly dressed thief appearing among the students, snatching up Elliot and once again disappearing.
"No!"
"Target in sight," another voice chimed in and a laser beam blasted their position, forcing the group to disperse. Looking up towards the trees, Altina and her combat shell materialized from their camouflage.
"Oh Aidios help us, there's two of them now," Jusis immediately said.
Rean immediately turned to the girl. "Where's Elise!?"
And while the girl's appearance was surprising for everyone, Millium was the most shocked of them all. "Woah, who are you!?"
"I am not at liberty to discuss my identity and have no knowledge of my previous target's current location," the girl simply replied as her combat shell landed on the ground.
The Phantom Thief's voice once again rang from the trees with a hearty laugh. "Now now, you're more than free to introduce yourself, my girl. Come on, be part of the show, let them know who you and your partner are!"
"I see no purpose to that but if you say that I must… My name is Altina Orion and this is Claiomh Solais."
"Hi, Altina! My name is Orion too, Millium Orion. Are you my sister? You look shorter than me… Are you my little sister? Ohmygosh I'm a big sister! This is awesome!"
"You are not my sister and our height difference is marginally short to the point of irrelevance."
"Airgetlam, come say hi to my little sister!" The hyperactive girl summoned her own puppet, who chimed in with its cacophony of strange noises, sounding almost as excited as his master. "You can call him Sammy and I'll call yours Lammy."
The black doll responded with its own set of sounds but with a questioning bent to it. "Don't call Claiomh Solais that, you will confuse him," Altina replied.
While the two young girls had their personal chat, the others worried about the Phantom Thief that still had to truly show his face. "Where's Elliot!?" Machias yelled.
"The musician is safe, I assure you. I just needed to get you separated for a little while," Bleublanc said before teleporting himself onto the highway, appearing with an elegant bow that hid his devious smile. "After all, it would be a shame if you lovely people simply teleported away on your Divine Knight before the main show begins."
"Millium, can you handle that Altina girl?" Laura asked.
"I think so! I wanna know what she's all about!"
"Valimar's going to be here in a minute. Let's just keep that clown distracted until th-"
Rean's words were cut short as the Ouroboros Enforcer summoned lances of orbal ice and nohval energy that flew at them at high speed. The ice was intercepted by a barrier of magic flames from Emma while the blasts of space Arts were avoided by the students jumping out of the way.
"I thought you said he was a melee fighter?" Jusis questioned as he and Rean avoided another barrage of offensive Arts.
"A good actor can play many roles to fit his part!" Bleublanc exclaimed with laughter as he unleashed another barrage of Arts from his scepter. It seemed like an orbal staff like Emma and Elliot's, but much more powerful and he was able to fire multiple types of spells almost simultaneously. "I'm sure the young Eight Leaves practitioner among you remembers my dazzling performance as the nefarious terrorist leader C at the Salchen Mines!"
"It was you!?" In retrospect it was obvious but that small revelation didn't fail to sting Rean's pride. Back then it had been the first time he had taken control of his power to protect someone he cared about, instead of the overwhelming rush of the ogre bursting forth thirsting for battle caused by him losing control of his emotions. It had been his choice, his control to take, to him it represented a step up in his growing as a person. But turns out he never protected anyone. It meant nothing.
As Bleublanc had his attention on Jusis and Rean, Laura and Fie took the opportunity to rush him but the thief was quick on the uptake and quickly changed his targets. The girls ran and dodged his projectiles with ease, with Fie even scoffing at how the Ouroboros Enforcer missed his target with the needle-like knives he was throwing which would prove itself a fatal mistake as Laura was about to deliver a helmbreaker on him, that is until both girls were stopped dead on their tracks.
"W-what sorcery is t-this?" Her body frozen in place, the Arseid girl struggled to speak as she watched a delighted grin appear on the Phantom Thief's face. Her sword was mere rege away from him, she just to…
"W-what did you do?" Fie managed forced out of her mouth.
Confused by what they were seeing, the rest of the group was easily trapped by Bleublanc's technique as well as their attempts of avoiding his knives were pointless, he was never aiming for their bodies in the first place.
What the hell is going on? Try as he might, even the act of trying to pull the trigger of his shotgun was a monumental task for Machias.
"It's shadow stitching!" Yelled Celine, the only one that had been fast and smart enough to avoid being trapped, moving her own shadow out of the way of the needles. "It can paralyze you if it gets your shadows!"
With the minimal eye and head movement they could muster, the Class VII students looked down to their sides and saw how the various needles scattered on the ground were precisely set on their limbs.
"Congratulations, oh feline of such lustrous dark fur, for recognizing my technique so quickly. And of course, you must also know that the only way to reverse it is to dismiss your companions' shadows or my needles. Not that you will have the chance for either of those," Bleublanc then aimed his scepter at the familiar, who had to make haste to run out of the way of his attacks.
Meanwhile, Millium was calmly walking towards Altina with a cheery smile on her face and her combat shell nowhere to be seen, making the black clad girl slightly unnerved at the behavior. She had been trained to deal with many types of combat scenarios, not someone simply moving towards her with all the calm in the world and displaying not outward signs of aggression.
"Why are you approaching me like that?" Altina asked.
"Can't beat you up without getting close to you, duh!"
That was when Airgetlam materialized and immediately delivered a right hook that was deflected by Claiomh Solais, which counter attacked with its own punch. What followed was a slugfest between the two girls as both combat shells exchanged blows.
"Ya! Ya! Ya! Ya! Ya! Ya!" Millium punctuated each punch with a strident battlecry.
"Please stop yelling like that, it's annoying," not only that but the white combat shell seemed somewhat stronger than Claiomh Solais, leading Altina to step back and use its laser beam to keep Millium at bay while retreated to the woods to the side of the highway.
Back to Rean's side of the fight, the Phantom Thief was gloating over how easily they had fallen for his trap while taking potshots at Celine. "Dance, little kitten! Dance! Aha!" With the black cat squirreling away to the woods and hiding behind a set of trees, the Enforcer then turned his attention back to his human opponents. "Now, where were we? Ah yes, I must say your little plan to infiltrate Bareahard was adorably clever! Fitting for a well executed spy thriller but unfortunately it had one fatal flaw…" Reaching into his pocket, the Phantom Thief pulled out a green handkerchief that he threw at Jusis' feet.
Jusis growled and glared at Bleublanc in response while he tried to move his arms and reach for his orbment.
"Now, don't be angry, young Albarea. You can hardly be blamed for falling for my world class acting skills. Do try to be more mindful on who you trust in the future, however, you never know who could-" The Enforcer stopped and teleported himself away as Valimar came crashing down on his position with enough force to crack the highway's pavement and undo the shadow stitching on Laura and Fie.
Pushing past the uncomfortable sensation of being paralized, even if for a short amount of time, the girls quickly move to help Rean and Jusis, destroying the needles at their feet, while Celine came out of hiding and helped Machias and Emma.
Rean didn't waste time to get to Valimar and raise his sword against the Phantom Thief. "The next thing out of your mouth better be where Elliot is."
"Bravo! Explendid entrance!" Bleublanc applauded, completely unfazed by the gigantic sword rege away from his face.
"Answer me or I'm going to-"
"Stop right where you are!"
"Ah, just in time," said Bleublanc, immensely pleased with himself.
From the direction of the city came the cry boosted by a megaphone, causing the student to take their attention away from their quarrel. A three armored cars were fast approaching with a bulky panzer soldat lagging not too far behind. Two of the vehicles flanked the Class VII students and Valimar while the third one took the backseat next to the soldat, and the answer as to why its driver didn't take the opportunity to try to encircle them came swiftly as Duke Albarea popped out of the armored car, and with a speaker on his hand he began to blare his commands through the vehicles speakers.
"Pilot of the Ashen Knight, as the ruling lord of the Province of Kreuzen and leader of the Noble Alliance, you and your cohorts are under…" The Duke then paused as his word got stuck in his throat. Looking absolutely flabbergasted, he squinted towards the so-called cohorts of the Ashen Knight. "Jusis, what is the meaning of this, what are you doing here!?"
"Oh to see the Duke's reaction to his son's betrayal in this raw a fashion. This is the sort of moment I live for!" The Phantom Thief laughed as his meticulously prepared plan came to fruition. To have the butler simply inform Helmut Albarea of his son's rebellion would be too boring and he simply couldn't accept that.
The presence of his father was a shock to Jusis, he would have preferred to confront him in a better moment, but he soldiered through. "I am doing what I believe is right, father. My actions are no more complicated than that," he spoke up.
"This is ridiculous," the Duke muttered before jumping out of the car and made his way closer to his son. A soldier tried to stop him because of the danger but the man pushed him aside. "Stop spouting nonsense and embarrassing our family and return to your duties at once!"
"The only ones embarrassing our family's name and that of the nobility are those who started a war because they felt their privileges were threatened."
The duke's eyes narrowed as he glanced around his son, noticing the son of governor Regnitz among his friends. "So that's how it's going to be, huh? Commoner blood is truly a disease without a cure. I should have never accepted you into this family."
Jusis' lips and hands trembled as he bit down a remark against his father. He had many things he wanted to say to the man, or better yet yell at him, but it wasn't the right moment, at least one of them should behave in a manner befitting of respect.
Duke Albarea turned his back to his son and stomped away. "Arrest them. If they resist, use whatever force necessary, no matter who," he muttered to one of his soldiers as he returned to his armored car.
"I couldn't have written a better scene if I tried, truly marvelous, gentlemen. Now that the other actors are here I will excuse myself. Don't forget your musician friend, he is by the woods, and if you see Black Rabbit tell her she's free to return to base!" With a final bow, Bleublanc disappeared in a flash of light.
"Damnit!" Rean cursed as he saw the Phantom Thief disappear right when he had him pinned down. But it was no time to waste whining, Rean had to pay attention to the immediate threat of the provincial soldiers right in front of them. Off in the distance, the car with Duke Albarea was speeding away back to the city.
The armored cars maneuvered to make way for the bulky panzer soldat as it stomped its way towards the Ashen Knight. Meanwhile, the provincial soldiers got off their vehicles to engage with the Class VII students on foot.
"We got no choice but to trust Bleublanc's words, Elliot must be tied up in the forest nearby. Fie, try to find him and Millium. Everyone else, get behind me and watch out!"
"Why just Fie? Wouldn't we all-"
"We can't risk our group getting even more fragmented, Emma," Laura pulled the witch by her arm towards Valimar as the former jaegers dashed out of the highway and into the forest. Behind them, the panzer soldat swung its massive ax at them, just for Rean to intercept it with his sword.
Valimar bucked under the weight of the heavy weapon but managed to lose its footing.
"Your Divine Knight might be fancy, kid, but it's got nothing on the hector model and pure strength of the provincial army!" The pilot jeered on, satisfied with how he caught his opponent by surprise.
With some difficulty, Rean managed to raise Valimar's arms and push his adversary back. The hector pushed forward attacking with its ax again and with a few movements, Rean figured out what it was capable of. The soldat was strong, no doubt about that, and its bulky armor was obviously sturdier than a normal soldat's, but it sacrificed speed and agility. It could do some heavy damage if it hit its target. Big if.
The controls were still stiff and Rean cursed himself for not having used the down time in Legram to practice with Valimar, maybe that was the problem. Or maybe the Divine Knight needed some grease on its joints? At least against a slower opponent that wouldn't be an issue this time but it was starting to get on his nerves.
Laura and the others ran away from the fight between the giants and took cover behind a set of trees to avoid any attacks from the remnant of the provincial soldiers. It felt frustrating, to say the least, to simply watch while they couldn't do anything for Rean.
Valimar dodged and counterattacked as the provincial pilot uselessly attempted to land a hit, cursing in the process. "Stay still you coward!"
Rean continued to analyze his opponent's movements and noticed the man on the controls was getting frustrated, dispensing more reckless attacks trying to catch Valimar. He looked behind him to be sure there was nobody behind him and jumped back a few arge. "Why am I even wasting my time fighting someone who can't even touch me?"
"You little shit!" The provocation sent the man into a rage and he geared his panzer soldat to move at full speed for a mortal attack against his opponent. Then Rean simply engaged Valimar's thrusters, flew above his assailant and landed behind him. With two quick strikes with his sword, he destroyed the soldat's head and one of its knee joints and incapacitated the robot.
"It seems he's gotten better since that day," Jusis said, clearly impressed with Rean's dexterity in comparison to his memories of the day in Trista.
"Indeed, although I can see that his sword is ill-fitting for his fighting style, but I suppose finding a tachi that fits Valimar's size isn't realistic," said Laura, tightly gripping her own weapon.
"We still have to find Elliot, Millium and Fie, and I doubt the rest of the provincial army will just retreat now," said Emma.
"And now there's that. Would it be too much to hope they would appear right in front of us?"
And so, as the class' vice-president's words left his mouth, Fie and Millium came bursting through the top of the trees clinging to Airgetlam while the combat shell carried Elliot whose limbs were tied with ropes. Behind them, Altina chased the trio while firing Claiomh Solais' laser beam.
"Woah, cool!" Seeing Valimar in action, Millium ordered her combat shell to land closer to him.
Also surprised by the sight of the Ashen Knight, but not as enthusiastically, the black clad girl stopped in her chase and looked around. "Where is Phantom Thief B?" She asked plainly.
"That buffoon left and said you should return to your base," Jusis responded as he and the others moved closer to the rest of their group, closer to Rean. Normally he wouldn't be the one to dignify their enemy with an answer but he honestly just wanted this whole ordeal to be over.
"I see… Farewell then," Altina and combat shell simply vanished into thin air. It was odd and anticlimactic but better than dealing with another enemy.
Duke Albarea was gone, the Phantom Thief was gone and Altina was gone, all that remained was the provincial soldiers right in front of them and from what Rean could see, more were coming, and he was counting on back up from the provincial army this time. "So uh, Emma, how does this spirit path work exactly?"
"Just visualize the place you want to be in! Think of where you want to be!" Celine yelled.
"We want to go where Instructor Sara and the others are, right?" Said Elliot as Machias cut a rope that bound his wrists. "Did you say they are in Roer, Millium?"
"They sent her instructions for a meeting place outside the city. They can't get into the city just like you couldn't just get in here."
"Right, we can't show up out of nowhere in the middle of the city otherwise we'll just be back to the same situation we are in now," Machias pointed out. "But from what Celine said, Rean needs to know the place where he wants to go, he can't just think 'somewhere near Roer' and take us there."
It had to be somewhere near Roer that he already knew. An idea flashed in Rean's mind, not an idea one but they didn't have time to waste. "I know a place. Everyone, stay close."
A bright circle formed under Valimar and the rest of the Class VII huddled closer together and after a brief moment, they disappeared before the eyes of the provincial army.