Trails of Wrought Iron (Class VII Genderswap)

by WrandmWaffles

The Empire of Erebonia is a venerable and storied nation with a long history filled with triumph and despair, iron and blood. It has withstood the test of time, but all is not well. In this turbulent time, a new generation must find its place in the world. For Irene Schwarzer, that will prove more difficult than she expects.

7. Chapter 7

March of Jurisdictional Jockeying

Irene woke up coughing, the acrid smell of smoke prickling at her nose and jolting her awake.

Loud noises thumped indistinctly around her, muffled by her surroundings.

What was going on?

A woman screamed.

Mama–?

PAIN

Irene jerked up in her bed with a choked gasp as a sharp jolt of agony spiked through her chest. One hand grasped blindly for her sword which she had left on the bedside table, the other clutched her chest over her aching scar.

She breathed in. Then breathed out. In. Out.

Gradually, the phantom pain faded, and her heart rate returned to a more normal state, but it would be difficult to sleep after that dream.

'I still don't remember how I got this scar. But from the dreams…how did I survive? Why…did I survive? And not Mama?'

She sighed, running a hand through her sleep mussed hair. Her dreams, or perhaps buried memories, never stuck in her mind for long, but for some reason Irene was quite sure her hair was the same color as her birth mother's.

The thought made her chest twinge again, and she brushed it away quickly.

Glancing around the room, Irene was relieved to see that her night terror hadn't disturbed any of her classmates.

'It has been a while since my last nightmare. I haven't really had them since I was at St. Astraia's, and even then they really only happened after the school trip to Valflame Palace. I wonder what changed?'

She shook her head, sliding silently out of her bed, slipping on her shoes, and quietly exiting the room, sword in hand.

'Perhaps some practice might help clear my mind.'

Irene padded out of the inn, the starry night sky drawing a pleased gasp from her as she breathed in the cool country air, a light breeze caressing her face gently.

Her breath evened out.

'This seems like a nice place. The sky is a bit more like Ymir's than Heimdallr's.'

Finding a nice spot behind the inn where the wind flowed freely, Irene took a breath and began to run through her katas.

The rote motions helped clear her mind, and for a few minutes, her nightmares, and the problems of the day faded into the background, whisked away by the gentle breeze and deep focus.

Eventually, she finished her katas, and came to a halt, letting out a slow breath as she dipped out of her fugue.

"Have you incorporated elements of ballroom dancing into your footwork?" inquired a deep, rumbling voice, and Irene let out a startled squeak as her heart almost leapt up her throat, finally noticing that Lawrence had been standing a ways in front of her.

"H-how long have y-you been there?" She gasped. "You gave me quite a fright."

"Oh, I apologize!" Lawrence replied quickly. "I didn't make myself known because I did not want to interrupt your focus."

'Did he sneak up on me? No…I must have just missed him in the dark.'

"You were there for most of it, weren't you?" Irene sighed.

"…Guilty as charged," Lawrence admitted, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "I noticed you were thrashing about in your sleep, but you got up and went outside before I could make up my mind on what to do."

"So you followed me out into the night?" Irene asked in a slightly accusatory tone, even if she did not really mean it.

'Besides, we did just share…a room for the night–but it was with other people–wait no! That makes it worse!'

"It sounds more nefarious when you put it that way," Lawrence grumbled, "but I really just wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Oh! I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Irene apologized, glad that the dark of night meant Lawrence could not see her flushing features.

"Well, yes," Lawrence admitted, at which Irene's heart sank, "but there's no need to apologize. I could hardly hold that over you when you evidently have a difficult enough burden already."

"They're just nightmares," Irene replied, trying to downplay them. "Nothing to be too worried about."

"If you do not mind me asking…?" Lawrence trailed off.

Irene was silent for a moment, not sure if she should continue.

'I already inconvenienced him though, so I at least owe him an answer.'

"…You know how I'm adopted, right?"

"Ah…I had my suspicions about that," the tall noble shifted uncomfortably. "So the circumstances of your loss were…violent?"

"I…think so," Irene mumbled. "There was fire and gunsmoke, if my memory is right, but I don't remember much."

"…You have my condolences," Lawrence said softly. "It must have been hard."

"I don't remember much of it," Irene emphasized, "but your sentiment is appreciated." She paused. "I am also sorry for your loss."

"Your kindness is also appreciated," the tall noble returned, before shaking his head. "But enough of such grim topics. I don't know what I can do to help with your nightmares, but do not hesitate to ask if you need something."

"I don't think you can tackle a nightmare, hehe," Irene giggled, "and you don't have to go out of your way to help me, but thank you for the offer."

"You've already gone out of your way to help me with my jacket," Lawrence countered. "And I know you've done a lot to help Lady Julia even when she's being unreasonable, so it's simply returning the favor in my eyes."

Irene felt her face heat up yet again. "T-that wasn't anything special, it was just my duty!"

"Perhaps the student council work," Lawrence admitted, "but being Julia's friend was not, so I at least have to thank you for that."

"…You two are quite close, aren't you?"

"I suppose you could say that," Lawrence agreed with a shrug. "You seem close to her as well. I don't remember Julia being as playful before she met you. It's good to see her smile more."

"T-that doesn't have much to do with me," Irene denied, though she got the sense that Lawrence was not convinced.

"All that aside," Lawrence continued, "do you feel that you will be able to go back to sleep now?"

Irene blinked.

'Was all that just an attempt to take my mind off things?'

"Perhaps," she sighed. "But it is hard to say."

"In that case, would you care for a dance?" Lawrence suggested, stepping closer to her.

"Whaa?!" Irene squeaked.

"Oh, my apologies. I suppose that was a bit forward," Lawrence chuckled. "You seemed to enjoy dancing, and I thought suggesting you dance while I stand here watching would be odd."

"I wasn't really dancing," Irene pointed out, "I was practicing my katas."

"And now that you are finished, you don't want to start again?"

"Well…to some extent," Irene admitted, the fatigue starting to catch up to her. "Part of me wants to just look up at the sky."

"It is quite a sight," Lawrence agreed. "Do you want to get a view from higher up?" He asked after a moment.

"H-higher up?" Irene asked. 'That sounds nice, but what does he mean?'

"I could give you a boost onto the roof if you'd like," Lawrence offered.

"Um…then you wouldn't be able to see as well," Irene pointed out.

"True," Lawrence shrugged, "but I'm not the one who is having trouble sleeping."

"You don't have to inconvenience yourself for my sake!" Irene declared.

"No, but I want to."

'…Aaah! How am I supposed to handle this?!'

"B-but!" Irene stammered. "W-we have the rest of our field study tomorrow, you should get some rest."

"That would also apply to you," Lawrence pointed out. "If you don't mind, we could just stargaze together."

With a sigh, Irene relented, and the two of them leaned against a fence, staring up into the night sky and the sea of stars.

"I missed this while I was in Heimdallr," Irene murmured. "Ymir is a small town, so there isn't a lot of light pollution. It was a bit strange that I could not see them in the capital."

"Legram is larger than Ymir, but it is likewise remote, and it did bother me how dark the sky was the first few times I stayed at Bareahard," Lawrence concurred.

"Hmn, I guess we're both countryfolk, so to speak," Irene said with a chuckle.

"Ha! So we are."

They stayed like that for a while, and eventually, Irene felt herself nodding off. She didn't quite remember how she got back to her bed, but she definitely slept better afterwards.

---

Irene woke up a bit later than usual the next day, only slightly earlier than Ellia and Elisha. Lawrence had awoken earlier still, and ended up bringing them their breakfast, the large man setting down enough food for five onto the room's table with no noticeable effort.

"The requests from the mayor are here," Lawrence announced, presenting a similar folder to the one they were given yesterday from where he had it tucked under his arm.

Taking the folder from him, Irene removed the paperwork regarding their tasks and read over them.

"There are only two tasks today, a monster hunt on the West Highway, and Merchant Lizzie requesting us to find the owner of a lost wallet," she read off.

"Only two?" Elisha mumbled, rubbing some sleep out of his eyes. "Guess we are supposed to head back later today."

"When did this monster appear?" Lawrence wondered. "We were on the West Highway for a few hours yesterday, and yet we saw nothing that could warrant this request."

"A Zwordar?" Ellia murmured, glancing over the request. "Isn't that a bird-like one?"

"Ah, I see," Lawrence mused, "then it might have been airborne, hence why we did not spot it."

"Kind of weird," Elisha added, narrowing his eyes at the request. "The hell is a birdmon hanging around a bridge for? Figured it would be in a tree or something, and that was a stone bridge, not a dead tree bridge."

"Now that you mention it," Irene murmured thoughtfully, "the Provincial Army soldiers mentioned that some monsters were behaving rather strangely yesterday, didn't they?"

"Not to mention the sabotaged orbal lamps," Lawrence added, "which would mean that monsters are more likely to end up accosting travelers."

"And with what the Mayor said about the taxes…" Ellia trailed off.

"Too much conjecture," Elisha grunted. "Eat first, think later."

'Fair point.'

The four of them dug into a hearty farmer's breakfast, savoring the taste of fresh potatoes, onions, and cured ham.

"I could get used to this," Ellia sighed. "No offense to the Thors cafeteria, but it can't beat this."

"It is quite well done," Irene agreed. "We should thank Margot when we head downstairs."

They did just that when they finished, Irene feeling slightly embarrassed that she was the last one done, but they weren't in a rush so she did not see the need to scarf down the food like Elisha and Ellia did. Lawrence didn't eat particularly hurriedly but he still finished first.

"Well, I'm glad to hear such enthusiastic feedback," the matronly woman laughed when they told her their appreciation. "You've been quite helpful so far, so I hope you'll visit again sometime once your field study is over."

"Perhaps during one of our free days," Ellia agreed. "Maybe me and my sister could plan a trip or something, it's really not that far away."

Whatever further plans could be made were interrupted as the red haired waitress burst into the inn. "Margot, we've got trouble down at the market!"

"Slow down Louise," Margot chided. "And where have you been? You're late!"

Louise winced apologetically. "Sorry, I got held up at the market. It looks like a couple of stalls got smashed during the night and all their stuff got stolen!"

"What?!" Margot barked in surprise.

"Oh no!" Ellia cried. "That's going to be terrible for the merchants!"

"Why two?" Elisha asked. "You'd think you'd hit the best value or as many as you can depending on your goal."

"Was it the two merchants from yesterday who were robbed?" Irene asked thoughtfully.

Louise blinked. "Yeah, how did you know?"

"They'd be the ones most agitated," Irene explained.

"Either way, it sounds like the market won't be opening on time today," Margot observed, smelling an opportunity. "Come on Louise, let's get this place ready in case we get more customers as they wait for the market to open!"

"Perhaps we should check in at the market?" Lawrence suggested.

"Will it do any good?" Elisha asked. "We have our own stuff to do, and the only thing we could manage is stop any punching going on."

"That seems a worthwhile endeavor in and of itself," Lawrence argued.

"And it is worth pointing out that the Mayor listed both tasks as optimal," Irene added.

"Huh? The wallet I can get, but the monster too?" Ellia wondered.

"Let's make sure the market doesn't have a brawl breaking out first," Lawrence declared.

"Yes," Irene agreed. "First things first."

The group hurried over to the market, where the nervous looking merchant trying to turn away early customers let them through, hoping they could help defuse the situation as they–well mostly Lawrence–had done the day before.

As they guessed, the two merchants from the day before were indeed at each other's throats again, and this time it seemed even the mayor's presence could not deter them.

"You hick! Do you think this is a joke, destroying my stall?!" the well dressed merchant yelled, waving his fist threateningly.

"Joke?!" The local merchant cried, likewise irate. "I'll show you a joke! You destroyed my stall, you Heimdallr snob!"

"Like I would be caught dead with your shoddy wares!"

"Shoddy–? Why don't we settle this right here and now, you bastard?!"

"Gentlemen! Please calm down!" the mayor called in vain.

"You're on!" the well dressed merchant growled.

"To the death, or to first blood?" Lawrence rumbled, sneaking up on the two merchants for the second time in as many days.

The two men jumped in shock, instinctively backing away from the tall noble who seemed to have appeared from nowhere.

"U-um…"

"I-i…"

Shocked out of their rage, at least for the moment, the two merchants reconsidered their words.

"That…was not what I meant," the local merchant admitted.

"I may have been too hasty," the well dressed merchant agreed quickly.

The mayor sighed in relief. "Thank you, Lord Lawrence. Marco, Mister Heinz–"

"My stand is still broken and my goods are gone!" the local merchant, Marco cried. "What am I going to do?"

The well dressed merchant, Heinz, glowered at the other man, but did not make any further aggressive move. "I paid good money for this?!" he grumbled.

"What is the delay with opening the market?" A pompous voice called, and everyone turned to see a Provincial Army officer striding into the market, flanked by several of his men.

"Captain," Mayor Otto greeted carefully. "There's been two robberies. Both Mister Marco and Mister Heinz have had their wares stolen."

"The two ruffians who slapped each other like children yesterday?" the captain snorted. "It should be obvious. Men, take them to jail!"

"What?!" the merchants cried.

"Clearly you have both stolen each other's things," the captain declared, "so to the jail you will go unless you reveal where you hid the stolen goods!"

"I did no such thing!" Heinz objected. "I took the train home last evening, it would not be possible for me to do this!"

"I was at a friend's place!" Marco cried. "I never left the whole night!"

"Captain, if I may?" Lawrence interjected, and the officer nodded, though reluctantly. "I am unconvinced that Mister Marco or Mister Heinz could have carried away each other's goods. Mister Marco had at least a truckload of food items, and Mister Heinz had a fair number of boxes as well. It would have been difficult for any one person to carry that off."

The captain and merchants blinked, looking slightly annoyed they hadn't realized that.

"You raise a fair point, Lord Arseid," the officer acknowledged grudgingly. "Even so, as described in the revised Celdic charter, aside from outside interference or issues that prevent the market from opening, market matters should be left to the mayor to handle."

"Surely such a theft would count as something within your scope?" Mayor Otto pointed out. "Unless you believe it to be entirely internal and not one such external factor."

"I have yet to see evidence that it was not due to this dispute between merchants," the captain dismissed. "While it is true that they were unlikely to have done such alone, that does not mean they did not have accomplices."

"Oh come one!" Ellia snapped. "Isn't that worse? If there's a bunch of people stealing stuff isn't it your job to catch them?"

"I will not be lectured on my job by a child, girl," the captain sneered. "The disturbance is over, and I suppose the two troublemakers suffered an acceptable punishment, so that will be all. I am a very busy man, and do not have time for these petty disputes."

With that, the head of Celdic's garrison marched off in a huff.

"I would say that this must be a result of slackened standards," Lawrence muttered after the soldiers were out of earshot, "but I am quite certain Captain Schalmmersdorf was part of the army well before that."

"Grr…" Ellia growled. "And they wonder why people are going to the RMP instead."

"They could have at least helped clean up the mess," Elisha grumbled.

As unsatisfying as it was, the soldiers' arrival had thrown cold water over Marco and Heinz's anger, and the two despondent merchants cleaned up the remains of their stall with the help of Mayor Otto and the Thors students, which did eventually allow the Grand Market to open for the day, though not without a significant delay.

The group started on their tasks for the day, collecting the lost wallet from Merchant Lizzie. Unfortunately, aside from a substantial amount of mira, the only clue to the owner's identity was a train ticket to Heimdallr in the evening.

"Quite a lot of cash," Elisha observed drily. "Bet you the owner is as torn up about losing it as those merchants are about their wares."

"I still can't believe they'd act like that," Ellia grumbled, only half paying attention to the wallet.

"Perhaps the owner would have tried to find it at the train station?" Lawrence suggested, trying to get the group to focus. "It is our only clue at the moment. Asking through the inns might work, but that would be tedious, though we can most likely assume that the owner is not leaving without this wallet."

"Yeah, I guess that could work," Ellia mumbled distractedly.

"Is there a lost item collection somewhere?" Elisha wondered.

"I am not sure," Lawrence replied. "I would suggest the guardhouse as a place to check for that, but.."

"Those guys won't be any help," Ellia finished grumpily.

"Well unless it's Maier," Elisha pointed out, "but he's on monster hunting duty, probably not this."

"Lady Irene, do you have some thoughts?" Lawrence asked, giving the other noble in the group a curious look. "You seem to have been deep in thought."

"Well…" Irene began. "I was considering whether we should investigate the robbery ourselves."

"Really?" Elisha grunted. "I don't think any of us have any experience doing that. Plus we have our own stuff to do."

"I think it's a great idea!" Ellia shot back. "We're already helping out with a bunch of stuff, why not this too?"

"I would like to help resolve this incident," Lawrence said slowly, "but there is the matter of perhaps overstepping my bounds, both as a student and a noble."

"Oh come on!" Ellia cried. "What's the worst that could happen?!"

"We get killed because this was some secret government project or the stuff was stolen by jaegars," Elisha replied matter of factly.

"W-whaa?" Ellia reeled back. "Where'd that come from?!"

"You did ask what the worst that could happen was," Elisha snorted.

"That seems unlikely," Lawrence countered. "I do not think most jaegers would deign to take such a job."

"Worst case," Elisha reiterated.

"I see. Even so, while this is not strictly my responsibilities, or ours, I would certainly like to see it sorted out," Lawrence continued.

"So, are we decided on our course of action?" Irene prompted, deliberately echoing Instructor Valestein's words from the day before.

"Oh right, of course she ran off when there was more work to be done," Elisha grumbled. "As long as we can get out on time, I'm in."

"Mnh!" Irene nodded, a pleased smile crossing her face. "To start with, we should check in with the station about the wallet, then we should check around the damaged stalls to see what we can find."

"At least there are only two things to do," Elisha muttered as they headed off to the train station.

The station attendant had, in fact, received a request about a missing wallet from a young woman, who mentioned that they were staying at the Weathercock Inn, proving Lawrence's supposition correct.

Returning to the inn, the group asked Margot about the wallet's owner.

"Oh! That must be Annabelle," the matronly woman exclaimed. "She was looking all over for it."

"Wait, Annabelle?" Irene asked sharply. "Salmon colored hair, obsessed with fishing? That Annabelle?!"

"Err…that does seem to fit," Margot replied, surprised at the normally mild mannered girl's reaction. "Do you know her?"

"Her family has been trying to find her for months!" Irene cried. "Where did she go?"

"She said she wanted to check around the Grand Market," Margot replied slowly, still taken aback.

"With no money?" Elisha asked drily.

"...Is she planning on trading in fish?" Irene wondered.

"Huh? I think she was going to look in the guest rest area," Margot explained.

'Oh, that makes a lot more sense.'

Alas, Annabelle was nowhere to be seen at the rest area, though another visitor mentioned a woman of her description talking about everything being in the goddesses' hands, so the group had a decent idea of where to look for her next.

While they were at the market, they also spoke with Heinz and Marco, though neither merchant had much more information to share, other than the nature of the goods they had lost, which were accessories and processed foods, respectively. While they were not particularly impressed with the idea of students trying to find their lost goods, they did not have much reason to refuse, given the despair evident in their demeanor.

"This has got to be some kind of scheme," Ellia hissed. "The permits came from the Duke, right? So there's no way these guys getting their stalls smashed is coincidence!"

"Likely not," Lawrence agreed, "but do you think the army did this themselves? As Lieutenant Maier mentioned yesterday, they do have a night patrol, so it would be hard to hide such activity, assuming that he and the local soldiers are not in on the plan, or someone leaked their patrol route."

"I do not get the sense that they would go along with something of the sort," Irene mused. "Especially not Hans and Franz."

"It is also worth noting that Captain Schalmmersdorf argued that the Provincial Army does not have jurisdiction over the market affairs," Lawrence added. "That is true, technically, but I am quite sure that such distinction was supposed to be about affairs such as opening and closing time. As the permits come from the Duke, the Provincial Army would have to enforce those permits or else they would be pointless."

"And yet they left resolving the dispute about the permit yesterday to the mayor, but showed up immediately today when something got stolen," Elisha observed. "Odd that."

"Like Lady Irene, I also find it unlikely they were directly involved," Lawrence cautioned. "As the Provincial Armies serve their lords, their actions also reflect on their lord. Indirectly, however…"

"Which is why they are attempting to silence the merchants' complaints regarding the new taxes," Irene concluded, twirling part of her ponytail around one finger. "Or rather, the captain and maybe some of his lieutenants are, but the average soldier is likely less aware of the specifics."

"There's need-to-know, and stuff like that," Ellia agreed.

"Even so, we would need much more solid evidence to make such an accusation," Lawrence added. "Not to mention that there is the matter of the missing goods themselves."

"There was a lot of stuff, so they couldn't have gone too far," Ellia concluded, "though where would they have put them?"

"Could be a warehouse or something," Elisha suggested. "Though that probably won't stay hidden for long."

"Wait…what about those weird rangers at the park?" Ellia suggested. "All it would take to make that a decent hiding spot is to just block people out."

"True," Lawrence acknowledged, "and it is close enough that transporting them there is feasible. Much of the land around here is either highway or farms, and those are usually too flat or see too much traffic to allow for serious concealment, unless the perpetrators were the farmers themselves, which seems highly unlikely."

"I think we will need more evidence before we attempt to try that gate," Irene pointed out. "And we need to find Annabelle."

"Think we'll have to look around town to find more clues anyway," Elisha grunted.

Firstly, they stopped by the church, where they indeed found a salmon-haired woman kneeling at the altar in prayer.

She finished and stood up with a sigh as they entered. "Aidios have mercy on me please. What am I going to do now?"

'It definitely is Annabelle.'

Irene strode deliberately (marched) up to her former classmate, the rest of the group watching them in confusion.

"Annabelle van Brakell!" Irene called. "Just where have you been?!"

The fish-obsessed girl jumped, spinning around and gawping at Irene a bit like a well…fish.

"Student council prez?" Annabelle mumbled. "What are you doing here?"

"Your family's been worried sick!" Irene cried. "Do you know they've been sending poor Mister Carragan all over the Empire looking for you?"

"Kinda?" the prodigal noblewomen mumbled.

"Your father was so worried he came to St. Astraia's himself to interrogate us and where you might have gone," Irene pressed.

"He could have shown that same concern when selling my future off," Annabelle muttered mutinously.

"Is the son of Baron Lakelord that bad?" Irene asked lightly.

"Wait, Lakelord? That's who it was?!" Annabelle gasped. "I thought it was some army guy!"

"You…ran away from home without even listening to whom you were betrothed?" Irene sighed in exasperation. "You didn't even graduate properly first!"

"Maybe?"

"Annabelle."

"Hey! I'm perfectly happy like this," the salmon haired woman objected. "Well, aside from the missing wallet–"

Irene presented her with said wallet.

"My wallet! Thanks Irene, I knew I could count on you!" Annabelle lunged forward and wrapped her former schoolmate in a hug, but Irene slipped out of her grasp, still holding her wallet out of reach.

"I can understand enjoying traveling around the empire to find good fishing spots," Irene acknowledged, "but at least tell your family where you are and that you're ok. Your father cares enough to have arranged a match with a family who would view your eccentricities as a positive, and this whole mess has put the Lakelords in an awkward position."

"Eh? I figured they'd just dump me," Annabelle shrugged, trying in vain to grab her wallet.

"It isn't that simple, Annabelle," Irene explained resignedly, even as she deftly avoided her former classmate. "Since you disappeared, without expressing your consent or lack thereof, they can't break off the engagement without it being viewed as an insult to your father."

"Oh…I hadn't thought about that."

Irene shook her head with a sigh. "It's fine if you don't want to pay that much attention to those things, but please at least be a little considerate about the feelings of other people, especially if you run off because you felt your father didn't take your own into account."

Something seemed to click in Annabelle's head as a distant look appeared in her eyes. "I…kind of made a mess of things, didn't I?" she whispered.

Irene nodded solemnly, offering her the wallet. "We've all been worried about you, you know? Friedel even had some of her family's soldiers check the good fishing spots around their territory."

"Ehehe, I told you I'd be fine," Annabelle laughed awkwardly. "Guess I got too caught up in the whole thing."

"It's alright," Irene replied. "You're safe, which is the important thing and what we were really concerned about. Though I didn't really expect to find you in a church of all places."

"I get it now, Prez!" Annabelle declared, a flash of conviction in her eyes. "I know what I must do!"

The salmon haired girl almost marched off, but paused to grab her wallet and give Irene another hug, which the indigo haired girl did not slip out of this time.

"See you later Irene!"

"Be safe Annabelle!"

There was an awkward silence in the church for a moment, before Father Zirbel laughed.

"That was certainly one of the more unusual ways I've seen a prayer answered," he chuckled.

"Wow, Irene's definitely got some kind of noble whispering power," Elisha joked. "That chick was running around for what? Half a year? And then Irene talks to her for a minute and they're going home."

"H-huh?! That's not what happened!" Irene objected.

"Heh, got another miracle in ya, little lady?" a despondent man sitting in a nearby pew asked.

"M-miracle?" Irene stammered.

"You did happen to return Lady Annabelle's wallet right after she finished praying for it," Lawrence pointed.

"Any chance you can get me my job back?" the man asked, perhaps jokingly, but his grim tone made it harder to tell.

"Um…well…how did you lose it?" Irene replied. 'I don't think I can help, but no harm in asking.'

"Heh, damned if I know," he scoffed. "I worked as a ranger at the nature park for over a decade, and then a week ago some official pranced in and fired all of us with no warning and no explanation." He shook his head. "Damn scrooges, figuring they can pay younger guys less and get rid of the older guys."

"Is this about the construction going on in the nature park?" Ellia asked with narrowed eyes.

"Construction?!" the former ranger exclaimed. "The hell is there construction for?! It's a damn nature park!"

'So that was indeed a lie.'

"That's what some of the employees at the entrance of the park said when we asked why the park was closed," Lawrence explained.

"That's bull–" the man paused. "That's a lie. Gotta be. What would they even build there? They'd have to pave over a bunch of stuff."

"There have been agitated monsters lately," Ellia murmured.

"…Aidios damn it all," the former ranger sighed. "Well, guess I'll have to figure out a different job then." He heaved himself up and left the church.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Ellia whispered to Elisha.

"How would I know that?" Elisha shot back. "Unless you're thinking that they have stashed the stuff at the park."

"That's–! Why did you have to be so difficult about it?!" Ellia snapped.

"Oh, so that was what you were thinking," Elisha replied with realization.

"It is admittedly a guess without that much evidence," Irene mused, "but there are a few suspicious circumstances."

"It is also in the same general direction as the monster hunt," Lawrence pointed out. "So we would not be going greatly out of our way."

"Then let's go!" Ellia declared.

"Ehem," Irene cleared her throat. "We should consider what we need to fight the Zwordar."

"Those things have some powerful wind arts, don't they?" Ellia replied.

"I believe so," Lawrence agreed. "And they can fly, so I will not be able to hit it with my sword unless it is close to the ground." He turned and gave Irene a thoughtful look. "Though you do have an effective way of handling wind arts."

"What do you mean?" Irene asked with some trepidation.

"I don't know if throwing Irene at the bird will work," Elisha snorted.

"Huh?"

"Wait what?!"

Irene and Ellia shared a confused look.

"True," Lawrence admitted. "Not to mention it would be better to stop it from charging up that attack in the first place."

"Might be a bit tricky if I'm the only one with a proper ranged weapon," Elisha commented. "Sure the staff has some range, but it's not gonna be able to hit the bird reliably."

"Perhaps it would be most effective to ground the monster, then" Irene suggested.

"Yeah, I bet if Lawrence sits on it, it'll be stuck," Ellia giggled.

"If I stood on a wing, perhaps," Lawrence said thoughtfully.

"I may have a way of…convincing it to get close enough," Elisha continued, reaching into his pouch and retrieving some ammunition. "Zwordars don't like fire, right?"

"Ah, so your idea is to anger the monster by shooting fire at it," Lawrence replied. "Then when it swoops down to try to stop you, we can hit it while it is low to the ground."

"Pretty much," Elisha shrugged.

"Sounds like a plan. If the monster flees, that would still be a decent result." Lawrence declared. "Shall we get to it then?"

After stocking up on some more medicinal items, the group again headed out onto the west highway. Now somewhat familiar with the terrain, they found the bridge in short order, and sure enough, they found the large bird monster perched on the bridge.

"Something is very wrong with how these monsters are behaving," Irene murmured.

"Should I still try shooting it?" Elisha asked. "It's already on the ground."

"I am unsure if I can reach it before it flies off," Lawrence replied, "but I do have an idea. I will try challenging this monster. Be prepared to cover me if necessary."

"...Got it," Elisha returned skeptically.

'It might actually work on territorial monsters such as this one. But that assumes it acts normally.'

"Wait a sec," Ellia called, before humming through the incantation for a strengthening art.

Irene pulled out her own ARCUS unit and did the same, the world sharpening into focus as she chanted to herself.

Lawrence marched steadily towards the Zwordar, sword held at the ready.

As he approached, the avian monster reared up, beating its wings threateningly, but oddly enough, did not actually take to the air, instead shrieking angrily at the approaching swordsman.

Lawrence was undeterred, and made no threat display of his own, instead continuing forward at the same pace.

The Zwordar let out a squawk of outrage, stretching its wings wide, and Irene could feel the air rushing to the monster's command–

Lawrence sprung forward with shocking speed and lanced his massive sword through the bird's left wing, interrupting the build up of the art and throwing it to the ground with a startled sound of pain.

The bird monster tried to spear Lawrence with its beak, but the large man grabbed a hold of it and held it away from him with one hand while he tore his sword through its wing with the other.

The Zwordar desperately tried to bat him away with its free wing, but Elisha stopped it with a burst of fire. An instant later, Irene appeared by Lawrence's side and cut through the free wing with her blades.

Ellia launched a torrent of water into the monster and Elisha closed in, projecting a stream of fire into its face, while the two sword wielders cut apart its wings.

With a cry of desperate terror, the bird-like monster summoned a burst of wind with the last of its energy. It was not enough to hurl the group around like gargoyle's had back in the Old Schoolhouse, but it was enough to send them stumbling backwards.

Irene let the rush of air swirl over her, landing on her feet lightly as it subsided.

Lawrence had not been moved far, righting himself without much effort.

Ellia had been knocked flat, but Elisha had managed to catch himself as he stumbled backwards.

The Zwordar opened its beak and let out a defiant screech, one that was cut off as Elisha sent a shot into its head that ripped the monster's skull apart in a fiery blast.

"You could probably have led with that," Lawrence pointed out.

"Didn't want to risk hitting you," Elisha explained. "Still not getting consistent yields on those things. They also keep exploding when shaken too much."

"Urgh! How can you all be so calm about this?!" Ellia cried as she scrambled back to her feet, giving the savaged remains of the monster a disturbed look. "I can see its brains!"

Elisha launched a burst of fire at the dead monster's head, maintaining the stream for a few seconds, enough to char the remains into something unrecognizable. "That better?"

Ellia gave him a horrified look, before doubling over and retching onto the ground.

Irene stood still to the side, trying to suppress a shiver, though for an altogether different reason.

A part of her shared Ellia's discomfort, but another, dark part of her radiated gleeful satisfaction.

"It's a monster, so it's a good thing it's dead, but–'

The scent of charred flesh stung at her nose, reminding her uncomfortably of cooking game meat somehow.

"Oh, I guess you girls might not have seen stuff like this before," Elisha muttered awkwardly.

"I'm s-starting t-to understand why dad didn't want me doing t-this kind of…thing," Ellia stammered, just shy of hyperventilating, still bent over, hands braced on her knees.

"There's no shame in being disturbed by death," Lawrence consoled, holding the ginger girl's hair out of the way with one hand and giving her a reassuring pat on the back with the other. "Just keep in mind that if the monster was left free reign, it might kill people in a similarly gruesome manner."

"Yeah, these things are nasty," Elisha agreed.

"A-are…are you ok Irene?" Ellia asked, probably in an attempt to take her mind off the scene in front of her as she straightened up, her breath coming out more evenly.

Irene blinked, snapping out of her…daze, before turning towards the shorter girl with a slight smile. "I am alright Ellia, thank you for your concern."

That did not seem to reassure her, and Ellia's head snapped rapidly between her groupmates. "Y-you guys have all seen…s-stuff like this before?"

"Yup," Elisha shrugged. "I've seen a guy get pancaked by machinery, and some really nasty burns. One guy lost half his hand and two of his finger, that was kind of weird–"

"I don't need a list!" Ellia snapped, shaking her head furiously. "Oh, Aidios, why did I think going to Thors was a good idea?"

"While Thors does teach combat, most of its graduates do not go into military careers," Lawrence replied. "And it is one of the most academically rigorous schools in the Empire, as well as one of the more prestigious ones."

"Not really what I was talking about," Ellia mumbled with a sigh.

"I've seen animals and monsters like this before," Irene murmured, centering herself with a slow breath. "The first time…well…that's probably not a good example." She shook her head, trying to cast away the phantom iron tang of blood on her tongue.

"A few people I knew were killed when jaegers attacked the Legram Bracer Office some years back," Lawrence added somberly. "It was…an unpleasant sight."

Ellia looked between the three of them, then at the remains of the monster. "I think I get dad a little bit more now."

Irene nodded. "You can see why he wanted to protect you now, right?"

"Yeah."

"And what of your desire to be able to take care of yourself?"

Ellia stared at the monster's corpse and swallowed. "I…I think I have a better understanding of what I need to do to get there."

"Ah crap," Elisha cursed, "now we can't bring the head back as proof."

"Don't ruin the moment!" Ellia cried, bonking the inconsiderate blond on the head.

"What did I even do?!"

---

The group approached Lunaria Nature Park cautiously, but there were no "rangers" waiting for them at the gate like the previous day.

Instead, their progress was barred only by a simple padlock, and the few scattered boxes proved their suspicion accurate.

"These are some really sloppy thieves," Elisha muttered, crouching down and pulling the cover of one of the boxes.

The box was mostly empty, but there were a few trinkets inside that bore some resemblance to the accessories Merchant Heinz had been hoping to sell.

"Oh good! We can get their stuff back!" Ellia cheered, before frowning at the locked gate. "Assuming we can get in."

Lawrence walked over to the fence, reaching up with his arm, his fingers reaching the top.

"I can probably climb over," he observed. "I can also boost the rest of you over."

"Are you certain?" Irene asked. "If you cannot make it over and send us over first, we'll be stuck."

"Well then, I shall try."

Lawrence stepped back, ran a few steps forward to the wall, and leapt, hauling himself to the top so easily Irene almost felt embarrassed for doubting him.

"Huh," Lawrence grunted, perched on top of the wall. "How exactly does this stop animals and monsters from getting through? Pretty sure the lizard thing could have gotten over it."

"Its arms were too small," Elisha pointed out, walking over to the wall below Lawrence. "You gonna help me up or what?"

"Ah, right, our original goal," Lawrence chuckled, reaching down and hauling Elisha up onto the wall with one arm, from where the blonde man hopped down to the other side.

"And you two?" Lawrence asked, offering Irene and Ellia a hand.

"Ah, yes!" Irene stepped over and grabbed at his arm, her relatively small hand dwarfed by his. He pulled her over the wall easily, and she dropped down lightly on the other side, hand going to the hilt of her sword as she watched her surroundings.

"Ellia?" Lawrence called. "We aren't planning on leaving you behind, you know."

"C-coming!" Ellia shook off her hesitation and Lawrence hauled her over the wall as well.

The interior of the park was quite different from the outside, with a thick canopy of trees that cast much of the area in shade, dimming the bright spring sun.

"Looks like there was quite a bit of foot traffic through here," Elisha declared, crouching down to examine something in the dirt path. "Got some bootprints, and wheel marks."

"That explains how they were able to carry off all the goods," Lawrence mused, eying his surroundings carefully.

"Something seems off in the forest as well," Irene murmured, closing her eyes and reaching out with her senses. The wind carried with it near silence aside from the rustling of leaves and the crunch of stones under their feet. "I don't hear any birds."

"Did they get scared off by the people poking around in here?" Ellia wondered.

"Supposedly, the theft took place during the night," Elisha pointed out, "so it wouldn't have been that immediate for the animals."

"And the creatures that dwell in this forest are likely more accustomed to human activity in their vicinity," Lawrence added, "so yes, there really does seem to be something strange afoot."

"Perhaps even beyond the robbery," Irene theorized. "All these monsters acting oddly seems unlikely to be a coincidence."

"That's probably not something people stealing ham and bracelets could do though," Ellia muttered.

"True," Lawrence conceded, "they may be unrelated, but it is still suspicious."

"Is this the only entrance to the park?" Elisha asked. "If it is, taking a truck into here would make it hard to get out quickly."

"I think we are getting ahead of ourselves," Irene chided gently. "We should determine whether the thieves really are here first."

"Fair enough," Elisha grunted.

The group thus headed deeper into the park, following the trail and the occasional mark left by the likely thieves.

They encountered some monsters along the trail, mostly mushroom like creatures and beetles, neither of which proved much of a threat. Even so, their presence alone was a bit unusual.

"Is it normal for monsters to get so close to the path?" Ellia asked as they cleared out another pack. "Or are the fake rangers just not doing their job?"

"It might be that with fewer visitors, the monsters are more confident in approaching the road," Irene suggested.

"I dunno, is this one of those controlled hunting places?" Elisha asked.

"No," Lawrence replied, gesturing to a variety of stone sculptures that periodically lined the path. "It is considered more of a historical site, given the animist structures present here. Though from what I understand, there has not been that much actual research into the park's history, possibly because there is not much evidence to work with."

The park turned out to be quite sizable, and with the occasional wandering monster group, it took them at least an hour to traverse the path, which took them across a stream and towards the center of the forest.

The trees and undergrowth grew thicker around them, and their pace slowed as they watched warily for an ambush.

"Hold on," Irene called softly. "I think I hear someone." The group paused, and she listened more deeply.

"Nice haul we got," one of the fake park rangers chuckled. "And we'll get even more if those grubby merchants don't stop complaining about the tax."

"Don't get ahead of yourself," another one chided. "We're getting paid well anyways."

"Though…just who were those guys?" a third fake ranger murmured. "The Provincial Army seemed to be way too willing to accommodate them."

"None of our business," the first bandit dismissed. "We don't get paid to ask questions, we just need to be ready to get out of here really quickly."

"You will be going nowhere!" Lawrence declared, stepping around the corner, sword in hand, followed by the rest of the group, not that the bandits noticed, scrambling backwards for a moment at the sudden appearance of the tall man.

"Shit! Where the hell did he come from?!" one bandit cried, fumbling his gun.

"How did someone that big sneak up on us?!" another one yelled.

"Forget it! They're just students!" their apparent leader barked, aiming his gun at the group. "It really wasn't a bright idea to come here into the woods, with no witnesses–"

Bang!

"Aaah!" The bandit leader stumbled back, one hand clutching his arm where Elisha had shot him, his weapon clattering to the ground. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

Elisha threw a grenade in response, sending the bandits scrambling to get away, but one still got caught in the blast of bright light and fell to the ground clutching his face.

Another one ran right into the pommel of Lawrence's sword and dropped like a rock.

The last bandit tripped and fell at the students' feet. "Wait! Please don't hurt me!" He looked plaintively at Irene, perhaps hoping the girl would be more merciful.

"If you return the goods you stole, then there will be no need for violence," Irene returned coolly, sword still pointed in his direction.

"Ok! Ok! I'll do that!" he cried.

"Do you guys hear a flute?" Ellia asked suddenly.

The air thundered as a monstrous howl crashed across their senses, causing the bandits to cry out in fear.

"What the hell was that?!" Ellia shrieked, gripping her staff tightly.

"A big monster," Elisha answered dumbly.

As if on cue, booming footsteps heralded the arrival of a massive ape-like creature as it barreled through the trees towards them.

"Well, fuck," Elisha cursed, switching out the ammunition on his gun.

"I do not think we can outrun this," Lawrence observed with deadly calm, readying his sword.

"W-who says we're running?!" Ellia barked, voice trembling, but determined.

Irene simply breathed in, holding her blades in a ready position.

The monster roared at them, then charged.

Lawrence and Irene stood their ground, part of them absently noting this was strange behavior for a monster.

Then it was on them, fists crashing down with an impact that shook the earth, but it hit nothing.

The two sword nobles went for its legs, Lawrence hacking a vicious wound through its calf, but Irene's strike was blunted by its thick hide and did little more than cut a gash into its thigh.

Still, the beast stumbled, having overcommitted to its strike, and received a face full of gunfire courtesy of Elisha, explosive rounds tearing away at its flesh.

Lawrence and Irene felt strength surge through them as Ellia cast an empowering art and they hewed again at the ape monster, but still only did superficial damage.

And then it recovered, whirling around swinging a fist in their direction. Irene ducked out of the way and Lawrence deflected the blow, but the second fist caught him in the chest, sending him crashing into the ground.

"Lawrence!" Ellia cried, starting to cast a healing art.

"I'm fine!" he grunted, springing back to his feet.

Irene ducked between the ape monster's blows, its movements quick and terribly forceful, but also heavily telegraphed…to an almost unnatural degree, but she didn't have time to dwell on that.

It attacked with reckless frenzy, heedless of the gunfire exploding around its head, instead resolutely continuing its efforts to squish its much smaller opponent to little success.

Still, Irene could not find any opportunity to counterattack, too busy trying not to get hit. If she had time to process things, she would have been terrified, but there was no time, and her world narrowed into sharp focus, with little room for anything but the monster in front of her.

A nudge from her ARCUS link prompted her to plant her feet and lash out, cutting two arcing gashes into the beast's right arm, leaving her open to the other fist, if Lawrence hadn't been there to cleave it almost cleanly off.

The giant ape screamed in pain, only to be interrupted as Elisha hurled a grenade into its open mouth and Ellia blasted it with a mass of water.

Irene paused to take a breath as Lawrence finished removing the monster's injured arm, but she could tell the fight was not over.

She inhaled deeply.

Dark energy swirled around the massive ape as its abused throat released a dreadful sound.

Lawrence went for its leg, but it did not fall, somehow ignoring the injury and the bombardment of gunfire and arts and hurling itself at the tall noble, trying to crush him underfoot.

Irene exhaled, spun on her heels, leapt, and struck.

The monster stiffened, suddenly silent, blood fountaining from an x-shaped wound in its throat, before toppling to the forest floor with a thunderous, but limp, crash.

The threat vanquished, a wave of exhaustion almost overwhelmed Irene, but Lawrence managed to steady her as she landed.

"Impressive swordwork, Lady Irene," Lawrence huffed, also breathing heavily. "If that is what a beginner of the Eight Leaves can accomplish, I will have much to learn if I ever meet even an intermediate."

'I'm about to keel over from that one move! You got punched by a giant monster and barely look winded!'

But Irene was too tired to voice her thoughts aloud.

"Are you two ok?!" Ellia cried, breathlessly attempting to cast another healing art with trembling limbs.

Elisha looked relatively unruffled and emptied his gun into the monster's corpse. "It better stay dead after this."

"...The fuck did you say about students?" one of the restrained bandits muttered, eyes wide.

"Are you sure they aren't jaegers in disguise or something?" another one whispered worriedly.

"How would I know?!" their leader gasped, still clutching his arm.

"Now, you shall return your stolen goods and turn yourselves in for the crime!" Lawrence boomed, glaring at the thieves, who wilted under his gaze.

"What, you expect us to just carry all the stuff back and walk right up to the Provincial Army guardhouse and turn ourselves in?" one of the bandits scoffed.

"Yes," Lawrence declared coolly, looming over them.

"And if we don't?" the apparent leader snapped. "What are you going to do about it?"

Lawrence just pointed at the felled monster behind him. "And rid yourselves of your false ranger uniforms as well. You are not worthy enough to wear them."

"You want them to walk back naked?" Ellia asked in confusion.

"If they are wearing nothing under their uniforms, then so be it," Lawrence replied.

"You serious?" one of the bandits squawked.

"I think we should do what he says," their leader bit out, glancing warily at Elisha, who was idly juggling a grenade. "Though I don't think I can do anything with my arm like this."

"If you promise to be good, I can help with that," Ellia declared, ready to cast a healing art.

In most other circumstances, that probably would not have been convincing, but the bandit leader was getting steadily paler and Lawrence and Elisha were quite intimidating even if it didn't seem like they were really trying to be.

With their leader in slightly better shape, the unnerved bandits (sans uniform jackets) began loading the stolen goods back into the truck under Lawrence's baleful gaze, giving Irene time to catch her breath.

'I'm still not making much progress.'

She let out a breath as the wave of exhaustion faded into a dull ache. Even though she trained often, it really wasn't as stressful as this had been.

"You doing alright there?" Elisha asked, coming closer to check on Irene while still keeping an eye on the bandits. "I still have a few of those healing shots left."

"I w-will be fine!" Irene squeaked, not particularly enthused by the idea of being shot, even if she had seen it work before.

"Well, yeah," Elisha went on. "I figured that much, I just wanted to know how fast you will be fine, just in case these guys have more friends somewhere."

Irene pursed her lips. He had a point. "All right. Hit me."

Elisha discharged his gun, causing everyone else to flinch. Irene sucked in a breath as her heart rate spiked, but the fatigue bled out from her limbs. "Thank you."

"No problem."

"What did I say about a warning?!" Lawrence barked.

"Hey! I got permission this time!" Elisha shot back.

"Oh, that is an improvement," Lawrence acknowledged. "But you should still give a warning before discharging a firearm. I almost swung my sword reflexively."

The bandit directly in front of Lawrence suddenly hurried towards the van with a crate.

"Shit, I didn't know Jaegers got so crazy this young," one of the other bandits whispered.

Irene glared at them, red tinging her vision–

Crash!

She blinked, unsure how a tree had suddenly fallen over.

Oh.

It had been cleaved through diagonally, like some of the practice pieces she used sometimes.

"What'd that tree ever do to you?" Elisha snarked.

"It was making too much noise," Irene shot back, uncharacteristically snappishly.

The bandits stopped talking.

Once all of the goods were loaded onto the truck, the bandits glanced at each other, then at the students, seemingly uncertain what to do next.

"Do you guys know how to drive a truck?" Ellia asked.

Irene and Lawrence shook their heads, while Elisha shrugged.

Seizing on their moment of hesitation, one of the bandits leapt into the driver's seat of the truck, started the engine, then gunned it as hard as he could.

For a moment, its wheels spun in the mud, before it sped off with a spray of dirt and grime, splattering the remaining bandits.

"Aidios take you Karl!" the bandit leader snapped.

"He's getting away!" Ellia cried, launching an art at the retreating truck to no avail.

"He isn't going to get far driving like that," Elisha commented.

"We will catch him eventually," Lawrence declared, with certainty that drew confused looks from everyone else.

"We aren't going to outrun a truck," Ellia pointed out.

"I do not believe we need to."

"You think he's going to crash into the gate?" Elisha suggested, raising an eyebrow at Lawrence. "Dunno how you're so confident about it."

"I would not be surprised if he did crash into the gate," Lawrence replied. "Though I do not know if the gate can stop him. But unless he stops the truck to dump all the stolen goods, he will have to drive quite far to avoid suspicion."

"You believe he will be captured by the authorities?" Irene murmured. "The Provincial Army seemed uninterested in investigating though." Her eyes narrowed at the expression passing over the bandit leader's face.

"I would hope seeing such damning evidence would ensure some action," Lawrence growled. "If it does not…"

The rest of the group glanced at each other. Irene wasn't sure what he was considering, but taking his father's influence into account, there was a chance that he could actually have something done about this whole situation. Not a very high chance, as Victor S. Arseid was not particularly politically active and the Provincial Army in Celdic answered to Duke Albarea directly, but certainly more likely than an attempt by anyone else here.

Whatever he was thinking, the remaining bandits didn't want to find out, and remained well behaved as they were marched out of the park.

When they approached the gate, they heard…shouting? And was that smoke?!

"Lunaria Nature Park is under our jurisdiction!" came the indignant cry of a snide, aristocratic voice, sounding like the commander of the Celdic garrison.

"Indeed. However, as this man committed a crime interfering with national commerce at the Grand Market, this case falls under the duties of the RMP," returned a cool, feminine voice.

The group of students turned a bend to see a smashed open gate and a rolled over truck not far beyond, with the runaway bandit cowering on the ground between what looked like a standoff between the Provincial Army and the Railway Military Police.

'What are they doing here? We're near Celdic, which is a major railroad junction, but isn't the Provincial Army officer correct?'

"Fucking Gehenna," one of the bandits rasped, "did you have this all planned?!"

Lawrence did not reply, instead narrowing his eyes at the arguing military units. "So here it is again."

One of the RMP soldiers noticed their approach and called out. "Halt! Identify yourself!"

"We are students from Thors Military Academy out on a field study!" Lawrence shouted back, probably unnecessarily loudly, but it did work to get everyone's attention.

The Provincial Army Captain's face twisted into a complicated expression before evening out.

"I see. Did apprehending these thieves fall under the purview of your field study?" The ice blue haired RMP officer with captain's markings asked wryly, one hand on her hip like an unamused school teacher.

'Captain Claire Rieveldt, one of the Ironblooded children…'

Irene frowned.

'If she is here, then this has to be some political machination.'

"It is within the parameters," Lawrence declared, "if not explicitly assigned."

"Is that so?" the RMP Captain wondered lightly. "I presume this one gave you the slip?"

"Indeed," Lawrence confirmed. "You have my thanks for apprehending him."

"There is no need for that," the Icy Maiden demurred. "It is our duty to apprehend those who break the law."

"Can they really claim credit for it?" Elisha muttered. "It looks like the gate did most of the work."

"I will be sure to commend the gate for going above and beyond the call of duty," the RMP major added drily.

"Huh, didn't expect her to have a sense of humor."

"Speaking of duty," Lawrence began again, giving the Provincial Army Captain a flat look, "Captain Schalmmersdorf , I was under the impression that you considered this case beyond the scope of your duty. What, then, has made you change your mind on this matter?"

'Did he change his mind? Or is him being here an indication of guilt?'

"We…received reports about a disturbance at Lunaria Nature Park, Lord Lawrence," the Captain replied with a grimace. "As such, we investigated according to our duty."

That seemed quite obviously a lie, and it seemed that most of the other people thought so as well.

"In that case, I must applaud your response time," Lawrence declared. "Though we have already defeated the massive ape monster that attacked us and these bandits. Perhaps with it dealt with, there will be fewer dangerous monsters appearing throughout the vicinity of Celdic."

"Yes, Aidios willing," the Captain returned with a pinched look on his face.

'He definitely knows more than he is letting on.'

"So…uh…who are we supposed to surrender to?" the bandit leader asked, glancing nervously between the two groups of soldiers.

"As criminals apprehended within the bounds of Lunaria Nature Park, by right they should be placed under our custody," the Provincial Army Captain declared.

"That would be the case if impersonating park rangers was their only crime," the RMP Captain countered. "These criminals stole goods from a national center of trade at a major railway junction, and according to the letter of the law, that would give the Railway Military Police jurisdiction over them."

"That law was put in place less than a year ago!" Captain Schalmmersdorfs objected.

"All the more reason that it should be followed," Captain Rieveldt returned evenly.

"I have seen this matter of jurisdictional jockeying before," Lawrence growled in an unimpressed tone. "And it appears as counterproductive as always."

"Not to ruin the mood," Elisha added, "but I think that guy's dead, or close to it." He pointed at the formerly truck driving bandit, who appeared to have fallen unconscious in the space of the two groups' argument.

"Serves you right, Karl," one of the other bandits spat quietly.

"He's still alive," reported an RMP soldier as he checked the downed bandit. "Though he probably will need medical attention before long."

"In that case, how about we hold them in your guardhouse for now?" Captain Rieveldt suggested. "We can sort out which court they will be prosecuted at later."

"Yes, that should be…sufficient," Captain Schalmmersdorf agreed reluctantly, face curled up in distaste.

No one looked particularly thrilled about the compromise, the bandits least of all, but regardless the perpetrators were arrested and a good portion of the merchants' goods were recovered, even if some of them were damaged or destroyed during the incident.

To some extent, the soldiers weren't sure what to make of the students' actions. The Provincial Army could accuse them of trespassing in the Nature Park, but that was a relatively minor offense, not something that they would usually make a fuss about even if the trespasser was not a noble as Lawrence was. The presence of the RMP also meant they had less ability to dictate things as they wished compared to their behavior earlier regarding the Grand Market.

The RMP just dutifully followed their captain, who seemed well disposed towards the students for some reason.

"I suppose I should introduce myself officially," the blue haired woman remarked as her subordinates secured the thieves in the guardhouse. "I am Captain Claire Rieveldt, of the Railway Military Police, of course. And you are the Thors students of Class VII, correct?"

"Indeed," Lawrence agreed. "It is a pleasure to meet you, and I must reiterate my thanks for your assistance."

"How polite!" Captain Rieveldt laughed, a hint of mirth in her pink eyes. "And I must also reiterate my own thanks for diffusing the jurisdictional dispute by performing a citizen's arrest. That certainly simplified things."

"I am happy that this matter was neatly resolved," Lawrence continued. "But if I may ask, was not Captain Schalmmersdorf correct regarding their jurisdiction? Even with your argument that this crime involved the Grand Market, both Lunaria Nature Park and the aforementioned market are still legally the domain of Duke Albarea, the park especially so."

The RMP captain smiled. "I'm afraid I cannot disclose more, for security reasons, but I do feel compelled to apologize, as at least part of what you are thinking is true."

"...You can gather my thoughts just like that?" Lawrence blinked in astonishment. "It seems your reputation is certainly warranted then, Miss Icy Maiden."

'I…don't think that's how you're supposed to use epithets…'

Captain Rieveldt blinked, before letting out a light laugh. "No need for flattery, and please, that moniker always sounds a bit silly."

"Yeah…I got no idea where they could have got that," Elisha grunted. "You're not icy at all. Can't comment on the maiden part, but that's kind of a weird thing to label people you don't know with."

The Captain paused for a moment, giving Ellia time to bonk the blonde on the head. "Elisha! You can't just say stuff like that!"

"Stuff like what?!"

"Hehe, it's fine," Captain Rieveldt interjected, an amused smile on her face. "I don't mind. In fact, I am glad to meet someone else who finds the title a bit tacky."

"Yeah! Your hair is blue–looks nice by the way–not ice colored!" Elisha declared, throwing his hands up in the air. "And you can't be icy cold or else you'd be dead…or an automaton or something, which would be pretty interesting actually, but I'm not sure you can mechanize this kind of beauty–"

"Elisha!" Ellia hit him again. "Stop it!"

"Oh what now?!"

The Captain laughed, a disarmingly light sound from such an infamous person. "As amusing as that is, Mr. Reinford, Class Seven, I do have to question you about the events that occurred here, if you do not mind accompanying us back to town?"

"Do…we really have a choice in the matter?" Irene asked carefully.

"Of course," the Captain replied evenly, face suddenly serious. "Though I would not recommend choosing poorly."

"W-we'll be good!" Ellia squeaked, before flushing red in embarrassment.

Fortunately, Captain Rieveldt was again amused, and they returned to town and gave their reports about the incident with no further hiccups.

Mayor Otto and the two merchants were very thankful for the students' help, with the former promising that they would always be welcome in Celdic, while the latter offered them some of their recovered goods as thanks.

Lawrence tried to refuse, as he felt he hadn't done anything special, but Marco managed him to take some of the processed food by pointing out that he could not sell an unfortunately significant portion of them anyways due to food regulations.

Elisha had no issues with free food, and Ellia and Irene could not resist taking a couple trinkets that caught their eyes.

"Would you like one as well, Captain Rieveldt?" Lawrence asked, gesturing to Heinz's wares (how could he be this dense?!) "You were also instrumental in catching the thieves."

"I think some of these would look pretty good on you too, not that you need the help," Elisha observed shamelessly. "Though they're probably not up to regulation."

"You two! What?! I can't even–aagh!" Ellia sputtered. "I'm so sorry about them!" she cried, hoping the RMP Captain would not take offense.

"If I may," Irene interjected. "I do not believe they have any ulterior motives with their words."

"...Am I supposed to?" Lawrence wondered, looking very perplexed by their reactions.

"What are you, my mom?" Elisha muttered. "Wait, bad example."

Shockingly, Captain Rieveldt was not offended, she actually looked slightly flustered(?), even if she hid it well.

"That's very kind of you, but I'm afraid I cannot accept, for policy reasons," she replied evenly. "If I do ever happen to come across your stand while off duty, however, Mr. Heinz, I would love to browse your wares then."

"I see! You'll always be welcome at my stall, Miss Rieveldt," Merchant Heinz declared, with Marco echoing his sentiment.

"Well, well, well, never thought I'd see you slacking off, Icy Maiden," came a familiar wry voice.

And of course, Instructor Valestein showed up just in time to observe the conclusion of the whole affair, having managed to avoid it entirely.

"Hello Sara," Captain Rieveldt replied with a polite smile. "How have you been? Are you settling into your new job alright?"

"Yeah, but no thanks to you," Valestein snarked back. "Didn't know the RMP was going to get involved here, guess you had that all planned out then?"

"You overestimate my abilities," Captain Rieveldt demurred. "I simply have a month or so worth of reports regarding issues in the Grand Market, which is enough to warrant some investigation."

"And a tip from you 'brother', I'm sure," Instructor Valestein added. "Nothing gets by you lot."

'She must be talking about the other Ironbloods. Do they really refer to each other as siblings?'

"We do try to prepare for any issues that might arise," the RMP Captain replied amiably.

"Well, you do you, Icy Maiden," Instructor Valestein shrugged. "Also good work kids! You really applied all I taught you, from what I heard."

"Again, your assistance proved invaluable," Captain Rieveldt agreed, giving them a nod of thanks. "Unfortunately, there are other things that I am needed for, so I must take my leave now. I wish you all the best in your future studies." She turned to leave.

"Thanks for your help Icy Maiden," Elisha called after her with a wave, drawing a strangled cry of frustration from Ellia and unimpressed looks from a pair of RMP soldiers.

Captain Rieveldt sighed. "Again, it is just my job. And that nickname really has overstayed its welcome."

"Hey! It ain't bad," Instructor Valestein objected. "It sounds pretty cool, if you know what I mean, even if it comes with an expiration date."

The blue haired officer gave her an unimpressed look.

"Expiration date?" Elisha wondered. "What, do you need licenses for nicknames now?"

"Is your issue that ice melts at room temperature?" Lawrence added. "I suppose 'Watery Maiden' does not have the same sentiment."

'...Is it seriously that difficult to understand?'

"...No, you do not need licenses for nicknames," Captain Rieveldt replied, looking slightly embarrassed. "And no, it is also not about the Icy appellation."

"Hey now!" Instructor Valestein interjected. "Those are my students, they're a bit too young for you."

"I was not planning on joining the Railway Military Police, but given the typical cadet starts around eighteen, it does not seem that odd to have recruiting pitches for people our age," Lawrence pointed out, somehow reading a very different conversation from what was happening. "Also doesn't 'Purple Lightning' also have an expiration date? Lightning comes and goes in a flash, after all."

Captain Rieveldt smothered a chuckle with her hand, while her fuschia haired counterpart let out a frustrated groan.

"You see what I have to deal with?" Instructor Valestein groused, "And he's not even the worst one!"

"I do not understand," Lawrence said flatly.

"It…may be better if you don't," Ellia mumbled.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Class Seven," the RMP Captain said, "but I really must go." She turned and headed for the railway station, flanked by two of her subordinates.

"She seems quite different from what her reputation makes her out to be," Lawrence observed once Captain Rieveldt was out of earshot.

"Yeah, dunno why people call her 'icy' when she's hot like that," Elisha concurred.

"You two really like playing with fire, don't you?" Instructor Valestein groaned. "Seriously–"

"Yes." Elisha nodded.

"What?"

"I like playing with fire."

"Do…you not understand figures of speeches or something?" Ellia snorted.

Elisha looked at her flatly. "No."

"No you do not understand or no you do understand?" Lawrence inquired mildly.

"I think it's time we leave," Instructor Valestein sighed, before muttering under her breath. "How the heck did these guys manage to get everything done with skulls that thick?"

'She seemed to have a bit of animosity towards Captain Rieveldt, I wonder what that was about?'

But it didn't seem appropriate to ask, so Irene said nothing as Group A boarded the train back to Trista, claiming another row to themselves as they had on the trip there.

Their instructor picked the row across the aisle from them and promptly fell asleep.

"Didn't she sleep the whole day or something?" Elisha muttered. "It's a long ride to Parm, she'd have plenty of time."

"From what she mentioned, it seems that Group B had even more trouble than we had," Irene offered. "So if Instructor Valestein had to deal with that, and then immediately take a long train ride back here, I can see why she would be very tired."

"Fair," Elisha conceded. "Though I still think she should have just gone with Group B in the first place. It was pretty obvious from the start they were going to have issues."

"Well, maybe our Instructor thought the situation in Celdic might have blown up earlier?" Irene suggested.

"I suppose that makes some sense," Lawrence murmured, talking more quietly so as not to disturb their sleeping instructor. "If she knew that Group B will have more issues, it would make sense to send them to a location where there was less likely to be further problems."

"Well, we do not know whether they ran into problems like we did yet," Irene pointed out. "Though from what I know of Marquis Hyarms, he is unlikely to have let this type of behavior stand."

"Assuming that there was a plan at all," Elisha grumbled, "and Teach wasn't just trying to skive off work."

"I think we should give her more credit than that," Ellia objected. "She did travel almost the whole day to try and help out the other group."

"I just hope Julia managed alright," Irene sighed. "But it sounds like things took a turn for the worse there."

"It didn't look particularly good to start with," Elisha commented.

Lawrence sighed. "There is no use in speculating. I imagine we will hear plenty about what transpired in Parm when we reunite with our classmates. With that said, even if the theft was resolved, it seems clear the main problem in Celdic remains."

"Pretty sure taxes aren't something we can do much about," Elisha shrugged.

"Yeah…" Ellia agreed, deflating a bit. "We helped fix the problem for today, but isn't stuff like this going to keep happening with the taxes like that?"

"Quite possibly," Lawrence replied. "And while I have no say in that regard, should my father tragically pass away earlier than expected, taxes will become a part of my responsibilities. Seeing the cascading effects of a change like that…well, it leaves a lot to consider."

"Yeah…" Elisha grunted. "As much as I don't like my mother, she definitely has a talent for managing the company. Not sure how things would shake out if she bites it for some reason."

"Uhh…so…" Ellia started, giving her classmates a startled look, as if she had just realized the expectations and responsibilities that were set upon them. "Are you going to have to do stuff like that too, Irene?"

"Quite possibly" the indigo haired girl replied. "I would likely assist my future husband with things of that sort, or my little sister if I do not get married."

Her three classmates gave her incredulous looks.

'What? What did I say?!'

"Uh…doesn't the eldest kid usually inherit?" Ellia asked carefully, glancing between Lawrence and Irene.

"That is correct," Irene confirmed. "However, I am not a Schwarzer by blood, so my younger sister takes priority."

"Wait…you're a ba–uh…illegitimate?!" Ellia squawked.

"No!" Irene cried. "Father would never–!"

"I'm sorry!" Ellia apologized.

"It's ok, Ellia," Irene assured her, taking a breath to calm herself. "You did not know."

"So…what? You were adopted?" Elisha asked. "Is that how that works?"

"Yes," Irene nodded. "I was adopted. I do not remember much about my birth parents, but I do know they were close with Father and Mother, so they took me in as one of their own." Her lips pulled into a slight grimace. "Despite all the complications that entailed."

"They sound like honorable people," Lawrence declared. "I would like to meet them someday."

'Lawrence, phrasing!'

"What did I say wrong?" the tall noble glanced questioningly between Irene and Ellia.

"Beats me," Elisha shrugged.

'You can't just go around saying you want to meet a girl's parents like that!'

"In any case…" Lawrence continued, still a bit perplexed. "This field study certainly did follow some of the typical trends of bracer work, as you suggested previously."

"Yeah…not sure how that has any connection to the ARCUS affinity," Elisha chimed in, "so that probably isn't the real main point of this class."

"Indeed," Lawrence agreed. "If that was the sole reason I would imagine we would undergo more consistent trials under the Old Schoolhouse, or something of that sort."

"Mnh!" Irene nodded. "Much of our field study had little to do with our ARCUS units themselves, and the degree of freedom we were given seemed much greater than what one would normally expect."

"Yeah, a bit different, isn't it?" came a cheerful voice from across the aisle. The group turned to see their instructor awake, her trademark grin on her face. "Independence isn't something you'd expect to learn from a school, is it? But learning to make snap decisions based on what you know on hand, with or without orders, is very useful, no matter what you all end up doing with your lives."

"Huh," Elisha grunted. "I wish I could go to sleep and wake up that fast."

"Oh come on!" Instructor Valestein cried. "I explain some teacher stuff and that's what you focus on?!"

"How did you acquire this skill?" Lawrence asked. "It does seem quite useful."

"It's just something I learned from experience," their instructor sighed, "not something I can really teach you."

"Are you implying that our training is, in fact, supposed to mirror Bracer training?" Irene inquired, subtly nudging Lawrence with her foot.

"You guys seem to have figured out part of it," their instructor replied with a shrug.

"Though for what purpose?" Lawrence wondered. "As far as I am aware, most of our class either has no interest or has other responsibilities that would prevent us from becoming bracers."

'It…is one potential option for me, if things go as I expect.'

"Well…I can't exactly tell you everything, can I?" Instructor Valestein shot back impishly. "What kind of teacher does that?"

"Quite a lot of them," Elisha pointed out.

"Wait, I thought most of the Bracer Guilds in the Empire got shut down though?" Ellia added.

Their instructor snored loudly, apparently having gone right back to sleep after her piece was said.

"I wonder if Fion could teach me that technique," Lawrence murmured. "He seems to have mastered it, though not quite to that degree."

"Would make some of our classes more useful," Elisha agreed.

"Hey! You shouldn't sleep during class!" Ellia objected. "And really guys? Aren't you more concerned about how we're apparently being trained to do a job that is basically banned?"

"I still maintain that learning this technique is of greater importance at the moment," Lawrence countered.

"Really?!" the frustrated ginger turned to the other girl in the group with pleading eyes. "Back me up here, Irene, please?"

Irene blinked, having been also considering the benefits of being able to sleep and wake up at a moment's notice.

"You too?!" Ellia gasped, deflating in defeat. "Why is our class so weird?"

"Given your enthusiasm towards music, I don't believe you are as different from us as you seem to think," Irene pointed out gently, causing the ginger haired girl to deflate. "And you do indeed have a point. Why would a Thors curriculum be similar to bracer training when there are few bracers left operating in the Empire?"

"Maybe they're going to create a branch of the RMP or something to do the stuff the Bracer Guild used to do?" Elisha suggested. "Kind of messy to kick them out and not replace them."

"Theoretically, the Provincial Army is supposed to do something similar," Lawrence added, "but with the centralization of governance by both the Great Houses and Empire as a whole, the Provincial Armies have likewise become larger and centrally organized, and thus, in some ways, less provincial."

"And bracers tend to operate in small groups of strong people," Ellia chimed in. "Which…kinda fits our class?"

"It seems kinda a crappy investment though, since none of us went in with that idea in mind," Elisha grumbled.

"Even so, it seems to be a valuable experience so far," Irene mused. "And with so many notable people in our class, it can be good for perspective later down the line when we have bigger responsibilities."

"Hmm…true enough," Lawrence conceded. The group lapsed into thoughtful silence.

A few minutes later, Ellia let out a slow sigh and shook her head. "I'm too tired to think about all this. Do you think Group B got back before we did?"

"Likely not, given how long the trip would be," Irene replied.

The train announcement chimed, declaring their approach to Trista, and Group A and their Instructor filed out of the train in short order. True to Irene's assumption, Group B had not yet arrived.

When they did, a few of Group A almost wished they had been delayed, as a drowsy Irene and Ellia suddenly found themselves subject to angry ranting and sounds of frustration from Julia and Masha.

Suffice to say, they did not sleep very well that night.

---

AN. Well, this one took quite a while, sorry all. Work has been pretty nuts the past few months, but now it's calmed down a bit so I had more time to work on this.