True to his word, Marquis Rogner surrendered and the Provincial Army of the Nortia Province stood down. It wasn't as simple as that, of course, after the battle at the Schwarz Drache Barrier, Marquis Rogner met with the RMP and Imperial Army to discuss the conditions of the cease fire, and Towa had the foresight of getting a hold of Prince Olivert to facilitate negotiations.
There were pockets of resistance from the noble faction sprinkled across the province, most of them outside of Roer, but those were left for the RMP to deal with. The crew of the Crimson Wings had done more than their share and they were retired for the rest of the day and sleep came early for the tired students. Well, most of them.
Rean was lying on his bunk bed, wide awake, staring at the ceiling of the room he was sharing with Elliot, Machias, Jusis, Gaius and George. Due to this, he noticed someone's presence approaching the door, silently turning the door's knob and pushing it open halfway. Angelica's head popped inside the room and both locked eyes with each other and she gestured to him to come with her.
The night air was chilly at the Courageous deck but it didn't bother him as he walked outside without his jacket on. He found some odd comfort in the cold, probably because it reminded him of home, and they were so close too. He hoped everyone was okay.
He followed Engalica to the rear deck, where she was leaning against the railing, staring at the airport and the little activity that was going on in the premises.
"I thought there was a chance I might ruin your beauty sleep but I imagined you couldn't sleep either," Angelica said as he joined her.
"I got a lot on my mind to fall asleep," Rean replied with a sigh. He looked around again, seeing that the two of them were alone out there, with only the graveyard shift on both the airport and the Courageous working at this hour, the deck was deserted. He heard the clinking of glass and only now noticed Angelica had an icebox next to her, from which she produced a bottle of beer.
She offered the bottle to him and raised an eyebrow when Rean looked at her with a bit of hesitation. "Come on, don't give me some spiel about you being underage after today."
"Heh, actually… Since we don't know what date is my birthday, my parents decided to celebrate it on the day my dad found me, which was on the 15 of December, meaning two days ago," his face had descended into a somewhat bashful expression, which he schooled back into a neutral one when he saw the smirk creeping on Angelica's face. "Don't tell anybody, okay? It's not worth bothering anyone with everything that's going on and you know they'll fuss over it."
The Rogner girl chuckled. "If you say so. Well then, let's make this a secret little celebration between us, how about it?" With a deft flick of her thumb, Angelica popped the cap off the bottle and handed Rean the bottle while picking up another one for herself. "Cheers!"
She raised her beer and they clinkled their bottles. Rean watched as Angelica immediately drank her beer and not wanting to embarrass himself, he followed suit. It was bitter, it wasn't anything like the sparkling wine he and Laura shared at the school at all, but he hid his reaction behind a good enough poker face. Angelica still noticed it however but made no comments.
They stood there in silence for a moment, just drinking and staring at the lights of the city, and the more they drank, the less the taste bothered him, Rean noticed. It was unusual for Angelica to be this quiet and he realized that her usual bluster before was muted and came off as a bit forced, her words lacking the confidence she normally exuded.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anybody about your birthday. Consider it a way to thank you for saving me and my father today."
"Don't mentio-"
"I mean it, Rean. Thanks."
There it was, a bit of sharpness returned to her voice. So that was what this was about.
"So, what's been keeping you up?" She asked.
"You're the one who came into my room, you first," he retorted with a bit of playfulness in his voice.
"Fair," Angelica took a swig of beer. "I've been thinking about the fight with my father."
"He said some crazy things back there."
"Yeah, he did," Angelica drank some more. "And he was right about some of it."
The words and the weight in them surprised Rean. "He was angry, you shouldn't let it get to you."
"What else can I say? He wasn't completely off the mark," she chugged the rest of her beer then put the bottle down, before grabbing another one for herself. "Being a Rogner, one of the Four Great Houses, carries a certain weight, a pressure from the moment you are born, you know? Tch, of course you do. Sorry, it was a dumb thing to say to you.
"Anyway, my father tried to drill the whole act of being a noble as far as I can remember and at first I followed suit because I was a kid and just did what I was told, right? But there were times when he'd chastise me, saying a proper lady of the nobility shouldn't climb trees or that I had to wear dresses instead of shorts or that I shouldn't be rough housing with the boys. I was a bit of a tomboy, if you can believe that."
That remark got a chuckle out of Rean. "Would have never imagined."
"And I started to question it, you know? Why can't I do the things that make me happy? Why do I have to do things that I don't like? I mean, that's kid stuff, like complaining you can't eat cake all day, but now that I think about it I guess that was the foundation for everything that came after because those feelings kept being reinforced.
"As I got older the list of dos and don'ts just got bigger and bigger. Private tutors started showing up to teach me all manner of subjects: statecraft, economics, history, court etiquette and other boring stuff, so my playtime with a couple of friends that lived near the Rogner manor was reduced. It was a miracle that I was even allowed to go outside to begin with but I suppose father didn't want me to be a total recluse. And as you might have heard, I never paid attention to those lessons out of sheer spite, which led to me being berated by my father and even some of the bolder teachers, which in turn made me even angrier.
"Meanwhile, my interests in sports and engineering were dismissed and even disencouraged because they were frivolous and not what was expected of someone of my status, my father tried to squash down every genuine form of self expression I had so I pushed back more and more. At some point I ran away from home, which was how I met with a woman called Kilika Rouran, my Taito master, and there was also the time I pretended to be a commoner to work at the mines to get a taste of what being a regular person was like.
"But maybe I could've gotten over all that, maybe I could've navigated my way through all those restrictions while managing to keep my sanity and eventually becoming what is considered a respectable noble woman, but then I said I liked girls instead of guys and all hell broke loose. Suddenly, marriages were being arranged and future heirs were being discussed and I turned my eyes to my mother. Ophelia Rogner, daughter of a viscount; she and my father got their marriage negotiated by their own parents. They never loved each other and behind closed doors, away from social gatherings, the two never exchanged a single word or glance, and in turn she never cared about the only child she spawned with him. To this day she lives a depressing life that she hates and I'd be damned if I'd follow that path.
"I couldn't do the things I loved and now I couldn't love whoever I wanted to love," Angelica's face contorted like she had drank some bitter poison as she talked and Rean saw a different side of her he never expected. It wasn't just anger, but vulnerability too. "I fought tooth and nail to avoid that fate and I do mean I literally beat up a guy 2 years my senior once to scare his family off from ever being near me. I was 14 years old for Aidios' sake why did I even have to-"
She sniffled and rubbed her face on her sleeve and Rean almost dropped his bottle at the prospect of witnessing Angelica Rogner crying.
"So I snapped. Fuck the nobility, fuck duties, but especially fuck House Rogner. I'd abdicate my right of succession to the marquisdom then disappear and live my own life on my own terms. Damn everything else to Gehenna, only my happiness mattered. And if along the way I could do something to hurt my father that would be a bonus, that's what really motivated me to investigate the iron laundering at Reinford. Sure, what they were doing was bad but honestly I mostly did it to get back at him."
Angelica downed her second beer, all that talking making her parched.
"Towa and George were trying to do the right thing and I just wanted to get one over my family. Same thing today, I was more excited about beating up my father than actually helping stop the war."
Melancholy and frustration marked her face in the dim light of the night as she poured her heart out to Rean and he couldn't help but feel there was a kinship between them. Both felt trapped by the expectation of noble society, him in how it affected his family and for her how it bore down its expectations on her, and both wanted to run away from it to be their own person.
"There's nothing wrong in wanting to carve your own path, Angelica."
"No, there isn't. I'm not saying my father was right about everything but it's just that…" She hung her head and her shoulders sagged and Angelica couldn't muster the strength to remove the cap, opting to set it aside for the moment. "I said all that crap about him not caring about the people of Nortia but I didn't either, I was ready to leave them to the mercy of some relative of mine and even let the province eventually become the stage for a war of succession down the line. All this time I acted like my actions only affected myself but that's not true at all, is it? I was born into the privilege of being able to steer how the province is ruled but I got caught up in the aspects that I hated about being a noble and never once I thought of using all this power to help other people."
With all of her introspective angst let out, Angelica filled her lungs with a deep, long breath and then released it slowly. A meditative technique taught to her by her master, the only other person she ever talked to about how she felt in regards to her status. Of course, back then she had been immature (or maybe more immature would be more correct) and still hadn't seen the other side of the coin that she was seeing at that moment.
"Even if you did it to get back at your father, you still tried to do the right thing back in Roer, that counts. You had those field exercises with Towa, Crow and George last year as Class VII's trial run. Are you going to tell me you hated helping people out back then?"
Angelica didn't give a reply, she just turned her gaze towards Rean.
"And let's not forget how you lent us a hand with the concert and how you… coached me in getting together with Laura," he managed to get a small smile out of her with that one. "They might be small gestures but someone who only cares about themselves wouldn't have gone through all that work. You had to deal with a father who never accepted you and saw no other option but to escape the life he tried to force you into and despite all that you still tried to protect him today. None of that spells out a selfish or bad person in my book."
With his piece said, Rean decided to finish off his beer while Angelica soaked in his words. That was actually harder than he expected, he was already feeling the effects of the alcohol. How Instructor Sara could go through dozens of these was a mystery or was he really that bad of a lightweight? Then again it was his first time drinking beer. Angelica's laughter made him cut his train of thought.
"Who could've thought I'd need a pep talk from you to pick me up? I must have been more shook than I thought," she playfully punched Rean in the arm. "Thanks, I really appreciate it."
With renewed disposition, Angelica opened the bottle of beer she had picked up and handed it to Rean before getting a new one for herself.
"So, got any ideas on what you're going to do about it?" He asked.
"Dunno. After we beat Cayenne and Albarea, because we will, I'll talk to my father and figure something out. I beat him up, he has to hear me. I'll make an effort to take responsibility for my station and we'll see where that goes. I'll not marry a man though, that's going to be non-negotiable, so don't go getting any ideas about a Schwarzer-Rogner alliance just because you're such a smooth talker, okay?" She prodded him in the ribs with her elbow. "But if Baron Schwarzer wants to negotiate a union between me and his daughter…"
"I have a giant robot."
Angelica let out a loud guffaw at how threatening he sounded. Oh man, poor Elise's gonna have a lot of trouble in the future. "So, now that I spilled my guts to you, what's been keeping you up? Let me guess, being the instrument of someone's death wish?"
"Part of it, yeah. I already had to kill some people to protect others during all this but this was… Why me, you know?"
Angelica nodded. "Yeah, that can mess you up. For what's worth, Rean, I think you did the right thing. For me and my father, obviously, but also him. The man wanted a warrior's death and you gave him that, don't let it get to you. Why you, specifically? I suppose it's because you're the closest thing to his… Boss… Ah, gotcha." The realization dawned on Angelica of what Rean meant by saying his insomnia was only partially due to Vulcan's death, and she couldn't stop her mood from turning foul again.
Rean closed his eyes and let out a long, drawn out sigh. "Angelica, what do I do about Crow?"
"I don't know," she replied weakly.
After the surrender of the Nortian army, part of the Crimson Wings' ground crew would be assisting the RMP with patrolling the streets of Roer in case remnants of the noble forces that refused to lay down their arms tried to cause trouble. Basically they would roam the city and keep the peace in case of any trouble. Rean and Laura partnered up, obviously.
Laura was a little concerned about Rean, his mood was a little more subdued than usual that morning, understandable considering the events of the previous day. They had talked about it but there was only so much that could be said before she started repeating useless platitudes. Time would have to play its part as well.
After a couple of hours of walking around Roer and no problems to deal with, as any would-be rebels were already dealt with by the RMP, color returned to Rean's face and his disposition improved, although he was still drowsy and he occasionally yawned, though he tried to hide it.
"Did you not get any sleep?" She finally inquired.
Rean rubbed his eyes, fighting another yawn. "Not really. Angelica popped up in our room at night and we… talked a bunch. Things were rough for her yesterday too."
"Hmm, I can imagine," Laura nodded with understanding then she paused, furrowing her brow. "You spent the night talking with another woman alone?"
"It was Angelica," Rean responded as if that was enough of a justification.
Seemingly not accepting that explanation, Laura intensified her glare, looking imposing with her arms crossed as she leaned closer to Rean, who refused to have a reaction drawn out of him.
"I'm not going to pout."
The swordswoman's eyes narrowed for a moment before she broke down into a giggle. "Ah, it seems I must vary my approach."
Rean made a show of rolling his eyes and shook his head. He would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy seeing Laura's more playful side, however. "You really get a kick out of that, huh?"
"Well, it is not my fault you look so- Huh?" Laura stopped herself as a most intriguing sight caught her eye. It was Fie, walking down the streets of Roer, which by itself was fine as the girl was also patrolling the city, but what stuck out was the fact she was doing so while missing a shoe.
"Fie, what are you doing?" She asked when they approached her.
The silver haired girl opened her mouth to answer but Rean immediately cut her off, warning her to not give some glib answer like "I'm just patrolling like we're supposed to" as if they hadn't meant what happened to her other boot.
"Spoilsport. Anyway, the sole from my other boot got busted, detached itself from the rest of the shoe. So I threw that one in the trash."
And decided to just walk around with only one shoe on her feet like nothing had changed. Incredible.
"And where's Millium, weren't you partnered with her?" Asked Rean, looking around for the intelligence agent.
"She spotted Captain Claire and decided to go talk to her and said I could continue with my patrol and she'd catch up. I'll get around grabbing a new pair of boots during my assigned break."
"You shouldn't walk barefoot in here, Fie. You could get hurt. A few blocks back, me and Rean spotted a store that had its display destroyed by a conflict between remnants of the provincial army that hadn't surrendered themselves, spilling shards of glass everywhere. You should wait here and Rean and I will arrange something for you to wear."
Fie turned her half-lidded gaze towards Rean. "Is she being serious right now?"
Rean shrugged.
"Okay then," Fie seemed to admit defeat and lowered her head. But then the girl walked past Laura, circling around her, and then with a "Hup!" climbed on top of her shoulders.
"W-what?"
"It's more efficient if you take me to a store instead of making me wait, isn't it? And this way I don't risk hurting my foot. Win win."
"That's not-"
"Onward, my mighty steed!" Fie clicked her tongue as if she were riding a horse.
"Fie Claussell, I will throw you off!"
It didn't help Laura that Rean was finding the situation incredibly funny and laughing at the exchange. That was until Millium appeared out of nowhere to hop on his shoulders too.
"What the-"
"Woohoo! I want a piggyback ride too!"
There was some back and forth in which Laura tried to dissuade the younger girls from their tomfoolery (because Rean refused to help, returning to find everything amusing) but they would not recant. Not wishing to continue to attract even more attention to themselves, Laura gave out trying to argue with Fie and accepted the fate she had brought on herself.
After a quick ARCUS call, Alisa and Sharon informed them of the location of the closest shoe store and they set off on their way but even that proved itself to not be so simple.
"Let's go, Rean. I bet we can beat those two to it!" Said Millium.
"You're on," said Fie, her voice filled with her sense of competition.
Laura groaned. "Alright, that is enough, you two. I'll accept the consequences of me being somewhat overbearing and carry Fie, but I'll not participate in such a public display of immaturity. Have you two forgotten we are supposed to be patrolling the city for possible enemies?"
"Yeah, come on, girls, even I think this is a little too much," Rean said and Laura was glad to have his support. "Besides, a race would be pretty pointless, we know who'd win."
The swordswoman blinked and stared back at Rean. "Oh, do we now?"
"I mean, I am faster than you," he said with a noncommittal shrug.
Wordlessly, Laura locked her eyes onto Rean.
"Are you really gonna stand there and take it?" Fie instigated her friend further.
Loathe that she was to admit, Laura gave in to the provocation. Worse yet, she had fun. She was panting and laughing after running across several city blocks carrying Fie on her shoulders. They had also lost, which wounded her pride, but the sight of Rean also laughing and looking much better than he was during the early hours of the day made the defeat worth it.
Laura and Rean let the girls down in front of the shoe store, with Millium saying she'd help Fie choose the coolest pair of shoes ever. Checking the time on their ARCUS, both swordsmen saw it was time for their break and decided to sit down on a bench nearby to rest for a bit.
"Haha, that was fun," Rean said with a content sigh, throwing his head back to look at the clear blue sky. It was sunny but since it was winter, it felt comfortable to bask in the sunlight even after physically exerting themselves.
"It was, I'll admit. It reminded me of our days at Thors when our greatest worries were our grades, when we weren't getting embroiled in the conflict between noble and reformist factions, that is. It seems like they were so long ago."
"I miss school. Free days, eating at Kirsche's, sparring with you at the gym, I even miss having classes and exams."
"I miss it as well," Laura said, taking hold of Rean's hand and interlacing their fingers. "But yesterday showed we can make a difference and help end this war. It will be an arduous journey but we can take it all back."
A far too optimistic view, even for Laura. Not everything would be back to the way it was, one of them wouldn't be there, but it was no reason to give up hope.
Rean adjusted himself on the bench and Laura felt the weight of his head land on her shoulder. "Yeah, I know, I'm just… I'm tired," his voice was soft and Laura understood his fatigue wasn't simply physical.
"I know," Laura leaned her head against his, rubbing her cheek against his hair. Rean didn't need to explicitly say what he was feeling for her to understand that events were weighing down on him, the constant fighting, the stress about the Rivalries, the killing… Selfishness didn't even begin to describe Vulcan's actions the previous day, as if Rean had any obligation to satisfy the man's death wish, forcing his hand like that was nothing short of appalling. "We will get through this, Rean. Just continue to rely on me whenever you need it."
She heard Rean mutter a thank you and his grip on her hand relaxed and Laura smiled contently as she noticed he had fallen asleep on her.
Alisa had been after Rean and Laura for a while. Both were unreachable through their ARCUS and that had concerned her for a moment before she decided to call the others and Fie informed her of the couple's location.
"Rean was looking kinda down so me and Millium decided to play with them a little. They're resting," the former jaeger had explained.
Alisa really wanted to know what the hell they were doing playing around the city when they should be patrolling it but decided against it, if it was to help Rean feel better then that should suffice as a reason. That didn't explain why neither swordsmen answered her calls, however.
"What, are those two too tired from playing?" Said Machias, who was accompanying Alisa as he also had some business with Rean. "Are they 10?"
Alisa shrugged. "Who knows what even constitutes 'playing' for them plus Fie and Millium. I'm surprised we don't have sirens going around."
They arrived at the street Fie mentioned and spotted a head of blue hair from behind, sitting at a bench, seemingly alone. "Finally found you, Laura. I've been-" The blonde archer stopped herself when she approached her friend and saw that Rean was lying with his head on her lap, sleeping with a calm smile on his face.
Machias mouthed a silent "oh" at the sight, as Laura's fingers gently caressed her boyfriend's hair.
"I've silenced our ARCUS units. I apologize if it caused any concerns," Laura whispered.
"Don't worry about it," Alisa said in an equal whisper.
With the commotion going around them, Rean stirred, rubbing his face against Laura's lap (which totally didn't make Machias jealous or anything) and murmured: "Laura…"
A satisfied smile crept up the swordswoman's face and Alisa put her hands in her mouth, suppressing a high pitched squeal. "Aw, that's adorable."
But then Rean said something else that had the inverse effect on the two girls.
"Alisa…"
Laura dropped her gaze back to Rean and stopped her ministrations while the Reinford heiress' eyes grew wide and her cheeks red. "W-what?"
"Laura… Alisa's so annoying… make her go away…"
Aaaaand he had been awake that whole time.
"Laura, beat up your boyfriend for me," Alisa seethed.
"I'll not descend to such extremes, however…" Laura flicked her finger at Rean's nose, eliciting an "ouch!" from him as he unfortunately had to lift himself up.
Rean groaned lazily as he stretched his arms up. He yawned, rubbed his eyes and scratched his head and made a show of waking himself up. "So, why was I woken up from the best sleep I've had in my life?"
Laura couldn't contain her lips curling up once again. Best sleep in his life, huh?
"My grandfather, George and I have finally got a hold of Professor Schmidt," said a very exasperated Alisa. "George thinks we can get him to make a weapon for Valimar and I think it would be best for you to be there when we talk to him."
That sounded promising. Even putting the Rivalry with Crow aside, Rean was going through soldat swords at a fast pace and needed something durable.
"My thing isn't that important in the grand scheme of things," said Machias, feeling a bit awkward for intruding on their moment. "I just wanted to reiterate my regret for my performance during the rescue operation."
Rean blinked a few times, as if still plagued by some drowsiness, then his eyes lit up with recognizance. "Oh that. I told you already, it's fine," he waved off Machias' concern.
Wondering what they meant, the girls asked about what had transpired during Irina Reinford's rescue and Machias recounted how instead of barging in guns blazing, he had announced their presence. "I was naïve. I thought I should do the right thing, telling them to surrender first, and it almost cost Rean dearly."
"But nothing happened, so stop worrying about it," the swordsman continued to calmly dismiss Machias' concerns but his nonchalance made Laura furrow her brow. His life was on the line, why shouldn't he care? According to Fie and Emma, he had been much less forgiving back during their field exercises in Barehard. And while she wasn't one to berate others, they weren't in a situation that could afford mistakes.
"Be as it may, Rean, Machias should be quicker to action. This is a war and there is no time to hesitate," she then turned to their bespectacled friend, with a stern look similar to her father's when he pointed out her mistakes. "I understand how distasteful the idea of attacking someone from behind and leaving them with no recourse to defend themselves might be, but our enemies won't let us afford such honors in the battlefield."
"R-right, right, I understand," Machias gulped. "Again, I'm sorry. I'll strive to be faster to act from now on, for everyone's sake."
Laura saw Rean start to roll his eyes, once again preparing to say it wasn't an issue, so she spoke first. "Apology accepted, correct, Rean?"
"I… Yes? Alright. Let's go see the professor then?"
They had heard about Professor Gerhardt Schmidt being a difficult man to deal with but that couldn't prepare them for witnessing it first hand. Just convincing him to put his work down for a moment and agreeing to a meeting with Rean at the Roer Institute of Technology took a lot of coaxing from George and Gwyn Reinford, the first being incredibly patient about Schmidt's behavior and the latter not so much.
"Absolutely not," the elderly scientist promptly said when questioned if he would forge a tachi made out of zemurian ore for Valimar, just like he had done for Ordine's double saber.
"What? Why not?" Rean's reaction was a mix of surprise and anger. Was the professor a nobility loyalist? Why else would he refuse it?
"I already made a weapon out of zemurian ore for the Azure Knight and learned everything I could from it, there is no need for me to waste my time making another one," he replied as if it was obvious and they were idiots for even suggesting him the task, and the professor wasn't bothered one bit about the glare Rean directed at him.
"Professor, there must be more about the process you could learn on a second go, surely there's value in perfecting the process," Alisa tried to convince him but Schmidt just shook his head.
"There is always more space for improvement but I see no benefit from it for my research, I am more than a mere blacksmith for oversized-"
Gwyn let out an irritated "bah!" and threw his hands in the air. "What did I tell ya, kids? This old goat doesn't care about anything but himself. Always with his face glued to his newest invention, hell, I bet he didn't even notice the war going on until you called him here."
Schmidt sneered at him. "I see you continue to be the same fool you've always been, Reinford, concerning yourself with inconsequential matters such as business and politics. Small wonder I was recruited to be one of Professor Epstein's disciples and you were not."
"Well excuse me, I was too busy getting laid."
Schmidt rolled his eyes and scoffed while Alisa really, really wanted the conversation to move away from that topic right at that instant.
"Are you serious-" Rean started to raise his voice but George put a hand over his shoulder and shook his head, pulling him and Laura aside while the two elderly men bickered amongst themselves.
"As you've seen, Professor Schmidt's is a really difficult person to deal with."
"How did someone that self centered even accept to become Professor Epstein's disciple? Wouldn't he think he is too good for learning from someone else?" Rean bristelled, watching Schmidt from the corner of his eye. The professor remained unflappable while Alisa and her grandfather continued to argue with him.
"He likes learning so he can continue to improve on his research, so if there is someone or something that will help him in that he's more than willing to listen. Aside from that though…" George shrugged.
"This is absurd, George," said Laura. "Doesn't the professor realize that he is partially responsible for this war? His inventions are what gave the Noble Faction an advantage in their campaign against the Imperial government. It should be on his conscience to make amends."
"Yeeeah, conscience, right," the engineer sucked in his teeth, hissing at Laura's admonishing of Schmidt but also because she was absolutely right. "I think it would be an exaggeration to say the professor doesn't have one but… The way he sees it is that he bears no responsibility on how his inventions are used, he is only interested in creating and moving on to the next project, it doesn't matter if his works are then used as weapons of war."
Both swordsmen stared blankly at George, as if their minds refused to process the information. For both of them it was unthinkable that someone could carry no responsibility on their shoulders, to not think of the ramifications of their actions when they had the power to affect so much change. The realization that the man had worked on the creation of the railway guns and wouldn't have thought twice about it had the ILF managed to bombard Crossbell months ago created a pit in their stomachs.
How could they convince someone like that to-
"Schwarzer," Schmidt's voice called them out and they turned to him with a puzzled look. "What is the extent of the damage your Divine Knight accrued during the fight against the Azure? How long did it take to repair itself?"
"What?"
"I could never properly study how the Azure Knight's self-repair mechanism works since nothing could properly damage it when I had access to it. It's missing data for my research."
After being incredibly rude to them, now the professor was asking them for assistance. Really? Rean and Laura once again held blank stares, this time of utter disbelief directed at the elderly man.
"Well?" He crossed his arms and tapped his foot on the floor, having the audacity of being impatient.
"Make the sword," Rean shot back defiantly.
Schmidt balked at the demand but then clamped his mouth shut. "Fine, I suppose it is a fair exchange," he then started to leave the building. "Contact me once you have acquired the required materials. George, come to my office to get the necessary data, use it to figure out the necessary amount we will be using."
And with that, he was gone, taking George with him. Not a single amicable word was said, not even a polite farewell.
"I hate that guy."
"What a detestable man. Can we trust him to pull through?"
"He's a pain in the ass to work with but if he says he'll make the weapon for Valimar, he'll do it," said Gwyn. "If I were you kids, I'd worry about getting that zemurian ore. Alisa said you haven't had success with that yet."
"No, we haven't," Rean rubbed his forehead wishing he was back to sleeping on Laura's lap and not having to deal with so much annoying stuff. "We still have to hit the other shrines Emma's grandmother told her about, maybe we'll find it there."
"I hate to be a wet blanket but if the last shrine was empty and had traces of VIta Clotilde being there, I don't think that bodes well for the other shrines," said Alisa. "I mean, the zemurian ore for Crow's weapon must've come from somewhere, right?"
That was a problem. If all the shrines were empty like the last one, did it mean that it had all gone to Ordine's double saber? How was Rean supposed to fight Crow then?
Watching the thoughtful and somewhat depressed look on their faces, Gwyn patted both Rean and Laura on the shoulders. "Come on, no need to be so gloomy. You kids managed to get here already, didn't you? I'm sure you'll find a way."
Right, just like Laura had said earlier, they would get through this, it was just a minor setback. Both raised their heads, thanking Gwyn for his words. A mistake.
"That's the spirit. Now, onto more important matters…" They felt Gwyn's grip on their shoulders tighten and Rean realized what would follow.
"Looks like we're done here, Laura. We should go-"
"The two of you do make a striking duo, eh? It pained me to learn my sweet Alisa lost the fight over Rean over here but I can see how that happened, you may not be as developed as she is in the chest department but you're certainly a sight to behold, Lady Arseid! So what sorta spicy adventures have you two getting yourselves into on board that airship, huh?"
"GRANDFATHER!"
Author's notes: In which I give Angelica more character development than even some of Class VII members will end up having for this fic (sorry Gaius fans). Also yes, Professor Schmidt's canon first name is actually Gerhardt, really close to Marquis Rogner's name, it was revealed in Kuro no Kiseki according to the Trails wiki.
This was a nice little epilogue for the Roer arc and the last update for 2022. I'll be taking a break over the new year period, 2 to 3 weeks tops, to let me recharge. It's been a good year, I'm glad I managed to maintain a steady rhythm despite the increased workload in comparison to Part 1, it really makes me feel like reaching the ending of this fic is possible. I think we're around 60% done with Part 2 (in terms of story beats, not necessarily chapters and word count) and I'm very excited for the later half of this story, with next year bringing the Crimson Wings crew to an unexpected location, so stay tuned.
Thank you everyone for following me through this year, have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!