Back in Roer, more students had been added to the Courageous' roster. After a brief lesson from the previous helmsman of the airship, Angelica assumed the role, meanwhile Mint was more than happy to get to work on the ship as their small engineer team grew and Nicholas was appointed the airship's chef. At the same time, a serendipitous trip to deliver supplies to a small village on their way to the next shrine in search of the zemurian ore led them to meet Dorothee, Klein and Fidelio. The latter two quite literally shoved the mousey literature club president onto Emma's arms as they aired out their frustration with the girl who had written a fictional retelling of their escape from Trista, including a love triangle turned into the male rivals falling for each other.
"I-it was very rude of them to read someone's notebook without permission," Dorothee tried to defend herself to her fellow writer. "Besides, the characters resemble us in no way, shape or form. It's not my fault they decided to see themselves in my work. Which, by the way, you have my full support in case you decide to pursue-"
"I swear, she's worse than Rex," Fidelio threw his hands in the air, leaving the premises to search for his fellow photographer.
"Riiiight," meanwhile Klein glared down at the girl. "It was just a commoner photographer and a noble professional swimmer falling for each other, totally different from the two of us. Watch out for that one, Emma, please. For everyone's sanity."
"Y-yes, I'm really sorry guys." Why does it feel like I'm the responsible one when she's the club's president? "She won't do it again. Right, Dorothee?"
"S-sure. Uhm… Could I have my notebook back?"
"Absolutely not. I'm going to talk with Captain Herschel to see what duty she can assign me to and deliver this to her. You can ask her for it later, she'll decide its fate."
As if Towa wasn't busy enough. Besides handling the ship's administrative duties, the acting captain was keeping an eye on reports she received from Prince Olivert, Toval, the RMP and even some stuff from the intelligence division, studying the ways that they could assist with the war. She wasn't alone in that endeavor however, Sara helped her pointing out where there were still active Bracers that could handle simpler tasks, Millium acted as a go between the Crimson Wings and RMP and Intelligence Division, and Machias and Jusis continued helping her with paperwork. Surprisingly, Alfin had requested to assist on that front as well and after a lot of pleading, Towa relented and gave her work too.
It was unthinkable that the Imperial Princess would have to handle grunt work but the girl refused to stay still, feeling left out. So far the only thing she had done was write letters to the Noble Alliance petitioning a cease fire, a useless waste of time.
With all of that going on, the Courageous was shaping itself up into something new. For some a little bit too much like a mobile version of Thors with all of these students, but the daily hustle and bustle made the airship feel alive and that built morale as they kept on doing good work. They were delivering supplies to small villages and transporting people whenever it was necessary since the use of the railways was still limited and, of course, exterminating dangerous monsters that continued to plague Erebonia.
The latter was a great opportunity to test the Courageous' offensive capabilities, both the armaments themselves and to see if the crew was up to the task, and they used the guns to blast away a cryptid prowling the border between Nortia and Kreuzen, courtesy of Alan and Loggins at the gunnery.
The two days after the retaking of Roer followed in that relative calm, without major operations or events, even though it included the exploration of another shrine in search of zemurian ore. The second shrine visited by the Crimson Wings had been at a worse state of affairs than the previous one. It was completely dead, no monsters, no traps and not even a grain of zemurian ore, just empty corridors through which their steps echoed. It was a bit eerie but ultimately a waste of time.
It was in that utter boredom that many of the members of the Crimson Wings found themselves at the ship's hangar looking for ways to occupy themselves. The engineers were working on the sound based Arts project, others were taking stock of their supplies while some were simply chatting and Rean was playing around with a stupid idea.
"Woaaah!"
Onlookers watched as the Ashen Awakener was ejected at high velocity from Valimar's cockpit across the hangar then was caught by Airgetlam before he fell onto the hangar's hardened steel floor.
"Woohoo! That was awesome!" Millium cheered excitedly while her combat shell settled Rean back on the ground. "Can I try it too?"
"Not until we get it right first," Rean said then turned to the Divine Knight. "A little less force next time, Valimar."
"Acknowledged."
Having arrived right on time to catch the tail end of the spectacle, Machias almost had a heart attack. "What idiocy is going on here?"
"I'm trying to see if Valimar can launch me out of him like a projectile," Rean replied as if it was the most normal and sensible thing in the world. "I have some interesting ideas of how I could use that tactically. For example, what if I need to teleport through a window? Or maybe I need to get behind someone while they worry about Valimar? Millium and I have been workshopping some ideas."
The class' vice-president simply shot a blank look at him. "You're just bored, aren't you?"
"I mean, that too."
"What are you going to do if you get hurt?"
"Oh relax-"
Rean's dismissal was interrupted by the entire airship rocking due to a violent turbulence. Some were rocked off their feet while others held on to anything they could to support themselves while equipment falling from shelves, tables and open crates caused a cacophony of sounds in the hangar. Across the Courageous chaos ensued and when it was over, the casual voice of their helmswoman called out from the speakers.
"Sorry about that, folks. I'm putting this baby through some tests to check her limits, don't worry too much about it."
And that was all the explanation that was given. At least they weren't under attack.
"Is Angelica actually trying to kill us?" Machias groused as he picked himself from the floor.
"She's just getting used to the Courageous."
"By crashing it into the ground!?"
Unbothered, Rean waved off Machias' concerns and walked back to Valimar.
"We still have some military personnel here and they must be thinking we're a bunch of stupid kids seconds away from ruining this entire operation," equally irritated, Alisa grumbled while setting the tools and instruments that had fallen. Part of her was impressed that Angelica had somehow managed to put enough stress on the Courageous that the inertia dampening effect of the airship's orbal field couldn't handle it, but she dreaded to think what Angelica would do if she learned of that.
It didn't take long for Emma, Celine and Laura to walk in and ask around if anyone was hurt after Angelica's "careful" testing of the airship's limits.
"Everyone's okay," Rean said from inside Valimar and the Divine Knight made an "okay" sign with his hand, which led them to question what he was doing there and the answer made them both facepalm while Celine was absolutely scandalized.
"Valimar is not some toy for you to play around with!"
"Consider this a bonding activity between us. Didn't Emma say I should try to connect better with Valimar? We need to do something together besides fighting all the time. Besides, he's having fun, right, Valimar?"
"Yes. This is entertaining."
"Don't use your telepathic connection to force him to say stupid things!"
Emma laughed awkwardly. "Ehe, well, this isn't exactly how I had pictured it, but as long as nobody gets hurt, I don't see a problem with it."
"Check this out," Rean readied himself and then called out to Millium to be ready with Airgetlam to catch him. Valimar ejected his Awakener once again, the first signs of mana manifesting themselves in front of the Divine Knight's chest as Rean was launched forward.
Rean barely understood the events that followed. He had managed to hit Airgetlam at the desired altitude and speed he wanted and the combat shell comfortably caught him in its arms, but then the Courageous buckled once again, courtesy of Angelica, and Airgetlam lost its hold on him. Despite not being too high, Rean braced for impact but it ended up not being as painful as he expected, the collision with the ground was rather soft actually, like something had cushioned him while also darkening his vision.
"Ooow…"
A feminine voice whined next to him.
Was that Emma? Wait…
Rean felt himself being lifted up, like something or someone had picked him up by his clothes and was raising him from the floor. Still looking down, he saw darkness give way to a blur of purple and lilac, then his vision focused and shapes came into view and he saw the embroidery of clothes followed by reddened Emma's face and his heart sank.
Hesitantly, Rean looked to his left and came into view of Laura's face, her half-lidded eyes casting an unamused glare at him. With his limbs hanging limply to his sides and Laura holding him by his jacket, Rean was akin to a misbehaved cat being reprimanded by his owner. It was also a show of Laura's strength that she could lift Rean up with just one hand like that.
Oh crap.
"Rean, you lucky sonofa- I- I mean, for shame!"
Nice save, Machias. Really.
"Emma, you are not hurt, are you?" Laura's calm and collected voice had an icy quality to it that sent shivers down his spine.
"N-no, I'm perfectly fine, Laura. Thank you. A-and I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry," the witch quickly scurred away and put some distance between her and the couple.
"Do not worry yourself, there is no reason for you to apologize," the swordsman then turned to her boyfriend, her half-lidded eyes boring a hole through his face.
Rean lips quivered as half formed sounds escaped his throat.
"So, was it everything you were expecting? I remember something about big, soft pillows," her voice menacingly whispered to him.
"It was an accident!"
"Oh yes, I am aware. After all, you are just… Lucky like that, aren't you?"
Curse his stupid mouth, he was never going to joke about that ever again. Laura wasn't actually mad at him, she was just messing with him again, wasn't she? "Is… Is pouting going to work?"
While Rean was silently scolded by Laura's fierce stare, Alisa and the other engineers once again tried to reorganize their work bench and amidst that, Mint had an epiphany. "Oooh, did you guys tried doing this-"
Mint picked up a half disassembled combat orbment fitted with esmelas and nohval quartz on its slots and used a pair of clamps to connect it to Elliot's orbal staff and, to everyone's horror, immediately cast an Art with the weapon. Doing that carelessly could end up damaging Elliot's weapon or even cause some disastrous explosion and get people hurt, but instead nothing happened for a few seconds and Alisa prepared to scold Mint when a faint, whining sound distracted her and she turned her head looking for the sound. The noise, a high pitched whine, gradually grew louder and louder and when realization came to the blonde engineer it was too late.
The high pitched sound suddenly exploded from the jury rigged orbal staff/orbment combo, reverberating across the metal surfaces of the hangar and it sent all of its occupants to their knees as the sound bashed against their eardrums, their attempts at muffling the sound by covering their ear proving to be ineffective. Incapacitating, the infernal noise felt like having a drill inside their skulls, boring a hole straight into their brains.
Being the closest one, it took George all of his strength and willpower to reach for the cables and disconnect the orbal staff, instantly ending the noise. Everyone collapsed on the floor, letting go of their ears and taking in deep breaths as they recentered themselves. Machias rushed out of the hangar saying he was feeling sick.
"Looks like…" George winced, feeling like his own voice was too loud at the moment. "Looks like now we know how to get the right frequency to use for offensive sound based Arts."
Despite the mind shattering experience they had just gone through, Mint was completely recovered and simply cheered with excitement. "Yay, go me!" She yelled, not noticing she was being bombarded by deathly glares from everyone around her.
Thankfully, the range of the Art Mint had cast was limited to the hangar and didn't affect the rest of the airship's occupants, being registered as a slight buzzing by the few people who were on the access corridor that led to the elevator.
Having lost all energy to still be mad at Rean, Laura was helping him up after the sonic attack unleashed on them made her drop him face first on the floor, but when Sara came in the hangar asking questions about what was going and why Machias was hurling his guts out in the bathroom, the swordswoman jerked her hand away from Rean and dropped him back on the ground.
Alisa watched the scene unfold while massaging the sides of her head and had half an idea what that was all about. She also suspected Laura wasn't actually upset with Rean, it had obviously not been on purpose, she was giving him a little bit of a hard time, which he deserved because of Rean's uncanny luck or lack thereof in that particular subject matter. Truth be told, she found their little display kinda cute.
"I'll check in the infirmary if they have something for this headache," Alisa said to the others and asked if they wanted something too. Receiving an affirmative response, she left for the door then the elevator.
Both of them are adorable together, honestly. I wish I had someone like that to have a dumb argument with, to sleep on my lap and- Argh!
Alisa cut her line of thought by slapped both hands against her cheeks, good thing she was alone in the elevator. There were so many more important things to worry about like getting the sound based Art to work meant they had now to find a way that it wouldn't hurt the user and their allies, they also had the zemurian ore to search for, their daily operations to handle and whatever else new thing appeared, she couldn't be bogged down with stupid feelings.
Her mind focused on those subjects, Alisa lifted up her head and left the elevator, continuing towards her destination with a confident stride. Unfortunately, when she arrived at the infirmary and opened the door the first thing Alisa saw was Fie making out with Vivi.
"Seriously? Here?"
Fie shrugged. "There was nobody here and it's quiet."
"We really need to find an actual private place. I wonder if the princess will lend us her room," Vivi mused.
Without further words, Alisa slammed the door shut and stomped her way through the corridors of the Courageous.
"Are you certain this information is correct?"
"That's what that Bracer told us, at least."
Jusis had been stopped by Munk on the ship's second floor. The radio aficionado turned communications officer was relaying a message from Toval detailing the movements of the Northern Jaegers hired by Duke Albarea across the Kreuzen Province. While the message was sent to the Courageous as well as the Imperial Army, RMP and Intelligence Division, the Bracer made sure to specify that Jusis should be privy to it as well.
The report wasn't very detailed, it only said there were some unusual movements from the jaegers, with some squads being recalled back to Bareahard. Evidently, the ruler of the Kreuzen province was planning something, probably a desperate counter attack against the 4th Armored Division banging at his door.
"He said that even if there's nothing you can do about it, since it's related to your old man you should know," Munk continued.
"I see…" Jusis stroked his chin, thinking on what his father and Rufus might be planning. Now with Nortia withdrawn from the war, the Imperial forces had more freedom to move, so how was his family planning to counter that?
So deeply in thought was Jusis that he didn't notice Alisa coming their way, only becoming aware of the girl when she grabbed him by his arm and wordlessly dragged him away. Both him and Munk were completely speechless by the girl's brazen behavior.
"Lucky guy," the brunette sighed as he watched Jusis being dragged towards the archives room.
After certifying there was nobody else with them, Alisa shut the door behind her and turned to Jusis. She was frowning and her cheeks were flushed, Alisa was clearly angry but for the life of him Jusis could not figure out why he was the subject of her ire and it did not help to clarify matters when the Reinford heiress crossed her arms and lowered her head then mumbled something barely audible.
"What are you-"
"Kiss me!" Alisa yelled out, throwing her hand to her sides and stomping her foot.
The young Albarea was thrown for a loop, to say the least. Completely befuddled, he stood there speechless for a moment, regarding the girl whose labored breathing and reddened face would make one think she had just ran a marathon. Realizing what this was all about now, Jusis thought through what his best course of action would be and, recalling a similar situation that happened with his brother involving a flustered girl during a party, chose his next words carefully.
"I had thought you would rather your first kiss to not be here, in a dusty, stuffy room of an airship," schooling his expression, he turned it into what he believed to be a small yet charming smile. "I had planned something a little more befitting for the occasion."
It was like the gears inside Alisa's brain shifted and she stood there stunned for a second before she slammed her face onto her palms. "I'm so stupid."
Jusis suppressed the urge to chuckle and approached one of the tables and pulled a chair, gesturing to Alisa to sit while he took his place across from her.
"Do you want to tell me what this is about?"
Alisa sighed and hung her head in defeat, sitting herself. She opened her mouth, ready to say the first thing in her mind then closed it back up. She had to hand it to him, Jusis was being incredibly patient as she mulled over her thoughts.
"Back in Ymir, why did you ask me out? Did you blurt it out without thinking or…?"
Jusis was not fond of people who avoid answering a question with another question but Alisa seemed embarrassed enough already and it was best to not create unnecessary conflict. Besides, he did feel somewhat responsible.
"I confess, it was an act of spontaneity, although not without cause. I've rarely thought about romantic endeavors, being part of the Albarea family I thought my future was sealed with an arranged marriage waiting for me, something I was unquestionably willing to go through for the sake of the honor of my family. But as you may surmise, recent events have made me question the true worth of the Albarea name and made me ponder what I want for myself. So when you made your little joke about the two of us talking I thought I might as well do something for myself for a change. My apologies if that was selfish of me."
"N-no, it's fine. I sorta get it."
"Now, would you mind explaining what brought this on?"
"Well, after all that introspection from you it's kinda embarrassing, to be honest," Alisa bit her lip and avoided looking at him for a moment and Jusis, the patient guy that he was, let her collect her thoughts. She explained the series of events that led them to their current situation and, while it wasn't actually much, it still felt difficult for her. "All of that made me feel a bit… Lonely, I guess."
The Reinford heiress wrapped her arms around herself while continuing to avoid looking at Jusis, which was a good thing for him since it made her miss the surprise on his face.
"I guess you can imagine I can be unapproachable to some people."
"I suppose that being the daughter of one of the richest families in the country makes commoners consider you out of their league, although being a commoner yourself reduces the prospects from nobles willing to get closer to you."
Alisa nodded at his on point explanation but more than that, there was no judgment on Jusis' voice, just understanding, and she risked raising up her head to look at him and she saw he was looking straight at her. The thoughtful, gentle way he was staring at her was the first time Alisa realized he could look rather handsome.
"It's not like I never got asked out, there were surprisingly a lot of nobles back at Thors who didn't worry about the class divide like… Vincent Florald," Alisa's expression wasn't really one of displeasure but she certainly didn't seem enthusiastic about the memory.
"Hmm, I do remember you briefly dancing with him after you and I were done dancing with Millium."
"Well, he did ask me to dance through fifty layers of flowery compliments but he did it without referencing status or family ties. He's a bit too much for me, to be honest, but that felt nice at least. Meanwhile, during our second month of school there was this second year, Colin Dunn, his father is a business partner with the Reinford Group, and can you believe he led on asking me out with talking about strengthening the relationship between our companies?"
Alisa scoffed and rolled her eyes and in an odd way, Jusis felt this meant she was in a better mood than before.
"I don't want to sound like I'm desperate to date someone, there are way more important things to worry about at the moment, but it's something I feel like I'm missing out on and seeing other people having it got to me, you know?"
While Jusis didn't feel that way about that particular topic, he could agree with the sentiment. "It seems the two of us have familial issues to work through. Such are the woes of the rich and powerful, huh?" He said with a smirk on his face that made Alisa chuckle.
"Yeah… Gosh, I'm acting like such an idiot, I'm so sorry, Jusis. Really."
"Don't worry yourself, Alisa. We are all under a lot of stress and it's perfectly normal to let emotions get the best of us at times."
Jusis offered a gentle smile and Alisa reciprocated, feeling much calmer now that she got to let out some of her feelings, and she had to admit, Jusis had been very understanding of her. As it pained her to admit it, it reminded her of her conversations with Rean back in Nord and Roer, although Jusis was more formal, of course, and didn't inject a joke or snarky comment, but still, it was nice.
"So… Did you actually have any plans for a first date for us?" She asked, her cheeks still pinkish and to her surprise, Jusis nodded with no hesitation.
"I would pick you up at your home around 7 o'clock in the evening. First, we would go watch a play at the Roer Theater of Fine Arts, balcony seats, of course. After that, we would have a nice dinner at L'Ambroisie, after which, well, I thought it would be best to see where the night would take us," Jusis finished it off with a casual shrug.
Now Alisa was really blushing. "You even had a restaurant in mind?"
"It might have been an impulsive action but I don't do things halfway."
"Let me guess, you actually scoped out L'Ambroisie while we were in Roer."
"I had the time and I asked Nicholas for suggestions, I wanted something befitting the occasion but not too opulent."
L'Ambroisie was a small place, a traditional restaurant hidden between Roer's new and modern constructions and eating there was a quiet and intimate experience where the Reinford heiress and younger son of Duke Albarea could have some privacy, away from prying eyes eager to spread gossip. Alisa still wasn't sure if she felt about Jusis that way, she wasn't going to fall for him just from the description of a planned date, but she liked that side of him. Bold, self assured, thoughtful.
"That sounds really nice. I'm looking forward to it."
Both quiet down for a moment before deciding to return to their duties, the people at the hangar were probably wondering why Alisa was taking so long. It was when they were about to go their separate ways that Towa's voice came from the speakers, requesting the ground operations team to reconvene in the conference room.
Class VII was greeted by Lechter Arundel's face being displayed on the main screen, the intelligence agent looking as calm as ever with an easygoing smile on his face.
"Heya, kiddos. How are you enjoying your new ride? Having fun?"
"As much as being a special ops team as we can, Scarecrow," Sara replied. "What do you have for us?"
"Sheesh, Valestein, straight to business? I thought you'd give me some love too and after you kissed and made up with Claire," Lechter said with a cheek wink of his eye.
"W- How did you…" The Bracer sighed and looked at Millium. "Seriously? You told him that?"
"Aw, but it was nice to see you two getting along. I wanted to share the good news!"
Sara couldn't help but sigh. "You see, Millium, Ironblood or not, Claire is still just a police officer who couldn't have much pull one way or the other in the banning of the Bracer Guild from Erebonia, so I decided to cut her some slack. Now a certain intelligence division captain on the other hand…"
Clearing her throat, Towa brought the conversation back on track. "Captain Arundel, you said in your message that you had information on the zemurian ore. Did you find one of the shrines I told you about?"
Completely unfazed by Sara's threatening tone, Lechter continued being his chipper, carefree self. "I actually can do you one better than that, Little Miss Captain, I actually know where all the zemurian ore the Noble Alliance got is being kept. Ladies and gentlemen of the Crimson Wings, your next destination is none other than the Port City of Ordis!"
Despite Lechter's cheery attitude, everyone else's reaction was much less enthusiastic, with thoughtful murmurings and muttering instead.
"Hey, come on, guys, this is great news, isn't it?"
"Are you certain this information is correct?" Machias asked.
"Hundred percent. A couple of weeks before the war started, I got the initial info of multiple shipments of minerals arriving at Ordis from one of my contacts over at the region. He's a bit new but the kid is a hard worker. Anyway, it wasn't anything worth sneezing at first but like I said, that kid is smart, he noticed that the material was coming from all over the country, including places with no mining activity so I have one hell of a report here, let me tell you guys, really detailed with dates and hours and all that. But considering all the terrorist crap that was happening, we had more things to worry about than Cayenne possibly smuggling rare metals, but when Captain Herschel here told me about the zemurian ore, well, it all clicked with me."
Hearing all of that, Millium jumped in with the most important question. "There's another intelligence agency kid? Wait, did you say it's a he? Do I have a little brother too, Lechter!?"
"Heh, settle down, you munchkin. For starters he's older than you and two, he's not an official agent, not yet at least. We just set him up with a job in Ordis working at the train station to keep an eye on the comings and goings there. Honestly, I didn't expect him to be this thorough."
"Well, thank goodness the intelligence agency has a steady supply of youngsters in need to do their work for them," Laura said with no attempt of hiding her disapproval, something that made Lechter recoil a bit as some of the others voiced similar thoughts.
"Putting the ethical circumstances of the Imperial Intelligence Agency aside for a second," Emma interjected. "While it's fortunate we know where all the zemurian ore was taken to after Vita got it from the shrines, isn't there a chance it has already been used for Ordine's saber or moved somewhere else?"
"Nah," Lechter waved off her concern. "I had a close infiltrated ally in the Noble Faction confirm it to me just now. They got a two torim surplus and it's being kept in a warehouse in the port, ripe for the picking. Ah, well, ripe for the picking might be a strong word, they don't know in which building it's being kept on so you guys gonna have to check each one first."
"Right, we just have to go to the capital of the Lamarre Province on the side of the country, which is the main headquarters of the Noble Alliance," Rean's feigned nonchalance was filled with sarcasm as he delineated some of the obstacles on their way. "We'll just infiltrate it and transport two torims worth of solid rock back to Roer. Of course, first we have to pass through the battlefields between us and Ordis, no biggie. Maybe I'll say hello to the Golden Rakshasa on our way there."
There were other issues as well. Getting to Ordis unnoticed would be impossible, the borders were being watched all around the province, even a ship as fast as the Courageous would be noticed by air patrols and they would surely be more intense the closer they got to the Port City. Going through the Sutherland proving to circle around Lamarre was also difficult since Marquis Hyarm's pledge of neutrality included repelling the Courageous from its borders. A tentative option was to go north, through the skies of North Ambria but that didn't solve their other issues.
"Let's say we manage to arrive there unnoticed," Gaius scratched his head in thought. "How do we go about transporting the zemurian ore? I imagine it's being heavily guarded, meaning that the moment we reach it we will get into a confrontation with the provincial army and from then loading the ore in the Courageous…"
"And from the little I remember from the time we went to Bryonia Island, the warehouses in the port aren't exactly isolated from the city, so even the most stealth approach with the Courageous will draw attention."
"I can think of some ways for us to infiltrate the city, no idea about the zemurian ore though."
Elliot and Fie added as everyone started to wonder how to get to Ordis and Lechter acted disappointed that nobody was celebrating him for bringing in the information, but then Emma's eyes lit up, the witch seeming to have come up with an idea.
"We can use Valimar's spirit path, of course. How didn't I think of it sooner?"
"Well, I thought about it but Valimar can only take us to places I've been to since I have to visualize where I want to be and I've never been to Ordis," said Rean.
"Actually I was thinking of Bryonia Island at first. From what you guys told me, there are still ruins of ancient civilizations that lived there, including animistic monuments, isn't that right, Laura?"
"Correct. There is also the guardian statue as well, which now that I think of it, might have a connection with the Divine Knights. Is that related to your plan, Emma?"
"Yes. These factors point to Bryonia Island being a focus point of mana, I'm sure there is a spirit vein leading straight there. As for what you've said, Rean, you're only halfway correct. You do need to be familiar with your destination so you can set Valimar on his way, however, with a spirit vein located there it's also possible for you to navigate it and reach our destination."
"Oh cool, that's-"
"It's also incredibly dangerous for someone as unexperienced as him. One false move could send Valimar to the opposite direction and have you materialize inside a mountain," Celine unhelpfully added.
"I was getting to that, Celine," said Emma, casting a scolding glare at the cat. They seriously needed to have a conversation about her speaking over her. "Yes, there is a risk but I think I have a solution for that," having said that, Emma pulled up her ARCUS unit, showcasing it to everyone.
"Everyone else in our class has been to Ordis, either passing by as part of the group that went to Bryonia Island or the field exercises that took place within the city itself. We could try using the combat-link functionality in our ARCUS units to help Rean steer Valimar towards Bryonia Island, using our memories and feelings to guide them."
Emma's idea drew approval from everyone in the room as it seemed like a reasonable enough plan with high chances of working, everyone but Laura. The swordswoman ran her fingers on her own combat orbment tightly on its pouch on her hip and directed a reluctant side glance at Rean before turning to the young witch.
"But Emma, that is not how the combat-link works, we can't transmit our thoughts to each other. We had this discussion right after the orienteering exercise during our first day. How was it that Instructor Sara said…?"
"These seem like incredible devices," commented Jusis, holding his ARCUS unit in his hand. The newely formed Class VII stood around the gargoyle they had just defeated. "However, I have concerns regarding privacy."
"Yeah, I don't want people reading my mind or something," said Alisa with an accusatory glare at Rean.
"Well, you kids can relax in that regard. The ARCUS units…" Sara stopped talking and started looking through her pockets until she found a piece of paper that she unfolded and read from. "The ARCUS unit is a device that blah blah blah… By using… some technobabble, they allow the user to always know the position of the people they are connected with as well as be aware of their immediate state of mind to create a more cohesive unit. The combat links cannot transmit complex cognitive processes between users..." The instructor kept reading on silently and sometimes scratching her head, making the students look at each other with worry, she then crumpled the piece of paper into a ball and threw it away.
"Screw this manual, I'll tell George to make a version for dummies later. Look, the combat-links are based on your fight or flight instincts. How it works is that you can always know what your partners are thinking regards to immediate combat, if they are taking aim to shoot you'll know so you don't get in their way, if the person watching your back sees something dangerous coming at you you'll know before they can even speak, if your partner is scared shitless you will feel it. What it can't do is: let you talk with each other inside your minds, see into each other's memories, sense someone's more closed off thoughts, that sorta stuff."
Emma raised her hand asking for permission to speak. "If I understood this right, Instructor. The best it can do is communicate strong and immediate but simple thoughts and emotions. For example: if one of us were to hold a grudge against the other, unless that person was actively thinking about it and put it at the forefront of their thoughts for an extended period of time while linked, the other wouldn't even be aware of it. Is that correct?"
"Correct, there's nothing to worry about about privacy. So if you horny brats start checking each other out you'll have complete privacy within your heads as long as you don't put too much effort into it," the instructor finished off with a completely innocent smile.
"Phew, what an informative insight of the Purple Lightning's pedagogical skills."
"Shut up, Arundel."
"So, it should be impossible, right?" Laura said, ignoring the bickering between then adults.
Meanwhile Emma was a little taken aback by Laura's line of questioning, as were the others. It wasn't as much as she was doubting Emma's idea could work, but that she had problems with the very foundation of it.
"Erhm, yes, you're right, Laura, but what I'm proposing isn't exactly telepathic communication. It's honestly not that different from what we do during combat when we position ourselves without exchanging words or direct our intent to certain targets. These are all tied to strong emotions put on the forefront of our frame of mind during combat, so if we could use that same principle but instead focusing on a certain location we could help direct Rean and Valimar along the flow of mana towards our destination."
Eyes turned to Laura, wondering if that explanation had satisfied her, and Rean was upfront in asking if everything was okay. The girl lowered her head and sighed, schooling her expression to a more neutral one and refocusing her thoughts.
"My apologies for disrupting matters, I guess I simply misunderstood Emma's initial explanation. Now, let us continue," the swordswoman's voice was flat and controlled and she offered a smile to indicate she was fine. "Can Valimar transport such a heavy load without issue, Rean?"
"Yeah, he says he can as long as it's within the radius of his gateway to the spirit path," Rean replied and, not fully convinced of Laura's explanation for her behavior, approached the girl and whispered to her to come with him outside, while telling the others to continue the discussion.
"Are you sure everything is okay?" He asked her once they were in the corridor. "This… isn't about earlier at the hangar, is it?"
"No, no, of course not," Laura couldn't help but chuckle at Rean still being worried about that. "As I said, I simply misinterpreted Emma's plan and worried that we could be putting all of our eggs in a single basket. I'm sorry if I caused a scene."
"Are you sure? Because if there's something bothering you know you can tell me."
"Yes, I know that," Laura smiled again, a more genuine one this time, and took a hold of Rean's hand, squeezing it affectionately. "And what about you, Rean? Do you think you're ready for another mission so soon?"
"Yeah, I'm feeling better now. Better enough that I can do something stupid that gets me into trouble," he chuckled lightly while caressing the back of Laura's hand with his thumb in slow, circular motions.
It was a soft, quiet moment that both ended with a quick kiss before returning to the conference room, lest their friends think they were skipping on their duties. There was still much to be decided about the raid on Ordis.
Author's notes: We're starting off the year with a filler-y chapter but it served to give our characters some well deserved resting time after Roer, to established the rhythm they've got going on the ship with more people showing up, duties being assigned to them, some silly shenanigans, and overall just a nice, calm chapter that feels rather fitting as the first one of the year, working as a prelude to Ordis.
Also yeah, Ordis. I didn't want to write about Class VII going to the shrines because that's boring, they're just dungeons and as you guys might have noticed I'm not big on writing about dungeon explorations. So this way, instead of going "and they went to a dungeon and blah blah blah they arrive at the end, get the zemurian one and Rean has a random vision" we get something more exciting.