Trails of Eastern Steel

by TF1990

This a rewrite of the first Cold Steel game, with some twists concerning Rean Schwarzer, the rest of the story will mostly follow canon. -Instead of training in Ymir, Rean left with his Master to travel the eastern part of the Continent. -Emphasis on Rean/Alisa -A more experienced, but still as dense and insecure (maybe a bit more than canon) Rean. -Can somewhat control his Power

23. The Vermilion Capital Part 2

Hello everyone here is the second of the fourth field study, I hope you all enjoy it!

Like always some info:

Spoken words are between " "
Thoughts are between ( )

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Elliot made his way towards the guild branch where his friends were staying and knocked on the door, after waiting for a few moments no one answered him, "Huh…? Are they still sleeping? That's weird, normally Rean is the first one up no matter what." Thinking that perhaps he should try knocking again, he was going to but the moment he raised his arm the door opens to the reveal an energetic Fie standing behind it. "Morning, Elliot. I hope you had a nice night, catching up with Fiona." Instead of waiting for him to react, she passed by him letting Laura and the others leave the building. Laura like Fie was also full of energy, the boys on the other hand were the complete opposite, "What is wrong with you two? You looked exhausted!"

"Heh, you might say we had a pretty eventful night, isn't that right Machias?" The gunner could only just nod before he suppressed a yawn, "Tsk, tsk. Look at these geriatrics. We on the other hand, as you can see, have gusto to spare. Isn't that right, Fie?"

"Psssh, and you call yourselves men?" Glaring at the two girls, Machias couldn't hold himself back from growling, "And whose fault do you think it is?! Honestly, I can't understand how you two can waltz around like nothing happened and for your information, we are more mentally tried because we were the ones to deal with the police yesterday!"

"And I was also the only one that Instructor Sara yelled at because the authorities called her to confirm our identities, though I am glad that she wasn't here in person and that she just lectured me through the Arcus." Giving a Rean a cheeky wink, Fie didn't resisted ribbing him, "Perhaps it she would have been in a better mood, if you hadn't cut off her alcohol intake." Acting quickly Rean managed to flick her forehead before she could dodge, "I didn't do anything like that, it was just a coincidence that things turned out like this."

Rubbing the spot where he had hit her, she rolled her eyes at him with a voice dripping in sarcasms, "Right, just a 'coincidence', a well-timed one since it just happened hours later after Sara dropped me and Laura to you. Were we that much of annoyance to you?" Finished speaking she took three steps back to avoid another flick, "I never said you and Laura were an annoyance, perhaps the Goddess was just tired that the instructor was always dumping work on me without even asking for my opinion." He could see that no one believed him for a minute though Fie was mostly amused at him, sighing he was just going to stop speaking but Elliot raised his hand to get their attention.

"Perhaps you all could start explaining to me what happened last night?! The police?! Instructor Sara?! I left you alone just for several hours and you got into that much trouble?!" Elliot questions made it clear that he was addressing everyone though his eyes were focused on Rean, "First things first, let's grab the list today's tasks from the mailbox and went to your sister. On the way Fie and Laura can explain what happened last night."

Ignoring the pointed look of the redhead, he opened the mailbox and took out an envelope like the one they had received yesterday, then everyone walked towards Elliot's house where they enjoyed the breakfast prepared by Fiona while the girls explained everything that he had missed including Fie's past. Making Fiona unable to hold back from hugging Fie while listening to her story though she did also make sure that her plate was always full of food.

"Wow, so that's what you guys have been up to when you left? I feel all left out now…"

"You have our apologies, but after listening to you talk about your resolve yesterday strengthened my own, I simply couldn't wait any longer and so one thing led to another." Sitting beside the pouting Elliot, Fie poked his cheeks, "No need to pout now, I will treat you to something nice later as an apology." Dodging her finger Elliot couldn't keep it up, "Fine, fine. Though I am glad you two were able to patch things, even if I wasn't present for it."

"Consider yourself lucky then, you didn't have to endure two hours of police questioning afterwards like we did." Machias grumbled into his fifth cup of coffee this morning before he could go further into details. Rean took out their tasks for the day, unlike the day before there were only three tasks this time and only one was mandatory which was a monster extermination task, this time it was issued by the Port Chief.

The other two were to test out some boots and to find a lost cat. Going over their tasks they decided to go first to Vainqueur Street where the shop Le Sage was, inside they found the man who was responsible for their request, and he was also the one who had designed their Class VII uniforms. The task was to try out some new Strega boots that had come in and give him their opinion on it. The models that he got belonged to the line for women, so the girls were the ones who wore them, he told them that they should walk with them during the morning and come back to him in the afternoon.

Both girls were satisfied with both the mobility the shoes offered and their look, from there they made their way to the Ost District to find the missing cat, after walking around for the better part of an hour they found the lost kitten being protected by, in Machias words, the King of Cats of the district, the mighty Mr. Tiddles! Sweat dropping at the name, they let Fie coax the big cat to let go of the kitten, with that they returned it to her family who was overjoyed to have their little Nono back.

Done with that request Group A took the tram to the Heimdallr Port where they would get more information on their target for the day. Arriving at the port they first enjoyed their view of the Anor river while Elliot and Machias told some more details about the harbour, asking around they found the port master, "Something I can help you with? Can't imagine what would draw four students to the port."

"We have been informed that there's a monster around here that needs to be dealt with." Understanding filled his face at Rean explanation though it was also filled with concern, "Oh, you guys are here about that? I just sent that request to the City Hall yesterday. Didn't think that they would get anyone out here so quick. But aren't you all a bit too young to go monster hunting?"

"Sir, I can assure you that we are more than qualified for this job, it would be my honour to help you out with your problem." Laura's assurance caused the older man to frown but before he could say anything Machias followed up with his own assurance. "I will bet this is my father's doing, but you can rest assured that since he gave us this task, we are capable to take it on."

Hearing that the boy in front of him was the son of the Imperial Governor made the older man smile, "Ah, are you Governor Regnitz's son? You must be proud having such a hard-working dad like him." The gunner in turn could only sheepishly scratch his head and nod, "Anyway, would you be willing to explain the particulars of your request to us?"

":…Sure, no problem. There is a door, way over there that leads down to the underground passages. We know the monster is lurking somewhere inside because lately we have been hearing the howls of some beast coming from there." The students were surprised that once again they would have to go down there to eliminate a monster, curious about it, Laura decided to press for more information, "Might I ask how we can gain access to the underground passage?" The Port Master looked at her with his frown that had returned, "This has been bugging me, I think it is something in the way you talk but….You are not a noble, are you?"

"…I am, but how does that impact our ability to do what you have requested?" His frown deepened and his eyes were filled with displeasure, "Bah, maybe it doesn't but still I can't bring myself to ask for help from some damn noble who surely lives the high life looking down on us common folk." Group A was shocked at the sudden change from the man, not knowing how to act for a moment, "(I guess the Reformist Faction has a pretty strong hold in this part of the city.) If that bothers you, I should mention that I am also considered a noble."

The Port Chief looked at Rean with shock, "You are kidding, right? What was Governor Regnitz thinking sending nobles for this?" Steeping forward Elliot explained how their class was structured, "Our Class is actually made of both commoners and nobles. I am a commoner myself, but Rean and Laura have always helped me out when I needed help."

"Laura is skilled with a sword and her commitment to duty is second to none. She would never dream of looking down on people giving their all."

"My friends are telling the truth. My father was the one who assigned us this task, so if you feel that you can trust his judgment then please let us do what you have asked of us." The man stunned at what he was hearing, taking a moment to think about it he bowed his head to Laura, "….Sorry, you are right. You came out here to give us a hand and acted like that. I am sorry for that, but it is hard to shake old beliefs. Here, this key is for you, you can used it to open the door to enter the tunnels."

The Port Chief took an old looking key out of his pocket and gave it to Laura, "Head farther along the port and go through the door you find. That will take you where is your target is waiting. But be careful, the layout is pretty complicated and there is water flowing down there too, so watch your step."

Laura took the key and thanked him for his trust, "I always thought that nobles and commoners were like oil and water, but I guess there are some good nobles out there, after all." With he said goodbye and returned to his duties, leaving Group A to find the door, though before they stepped inside, they were stopped by Laura, "Before we go on, I want you all to know that I really appreciate what you have just said. Especially you Fie, I never thought I would hear you stick up for me. It made me really happy."

":…No biggie, there is after all no charge for telling the truth." Watching the two girls happily talking with each other brought smile to the boy's faces, they let them continue talking while they searched for the door. A bit later they went into the tunnels, their formation remained unchanged from yesterday's leaving Rean out of combat, he used the reason that now that Fie and Laura were working together, they should use this opportunity to refine their teamwork.

Though perhaps they hadn't need it, the monsters that they encountered weren't able to withstand their assault for too long, in some cases Machias and Elliot couldn't even make a move before the fight was over. They worked their way through the tunnels until they arrived at their target an oversized brown alligator, however in the end even its scales weren't tough enough to save its life before Fie and Laura. The moment the gun swords managed to create an opening Laura followed with her attack making it bleed, add Machias shotgun and Elliot's Orbal Arts the monster was quickly eliminated.

"You know, I am starting to feel sorry for the monsters if you two are their opponents." Rean watched the two girls high-five each other before they turned to him, "No need for that, we still have a long way to go before we reach your and Alisa's link level."

"Laura is right, our Link level just reached level two. There is still a long way until we reach level four like you two lovebirds…Hmm, does anyone else feel a breeze here?" Before Rean could protest against her comment, the silver haired girl changed the subject narrowing his eyes at her, he wasn't going to be distracted by her attempt but a short moment later Fie managed once again to find a switch to reveal another secret passage leaving the swordsman no choice but to put this for later. "Wow, you are quite good at finding those, Fie. Got any tips on how you do it?"

"Not really, I just got lucky." Fie shrugged Elliot's compliment away though she still gives him a couple of basic tips on what he should pay attention to before she and the others turned to Rean waiting for his decision, "We just have to report back to the Port Chief of your success in eliminating the monster and I think we have walked far enough now, to also report to the other request. Meaning that we should have enough time to explore this passage besides I don't think I should stop you now, you four are on a roll and who knows perhaps this will be a good chance to further your teamwork."

The others were of the same opinion, so they went inside the tunnel picking a fight with every monster they saw, like he had predicted the more Laura and Fie fought the more refined the collaboration became, even Machias and Elliot profited from these fights. This went on for around two hours until they reached the end where a steel door was waiting for them.

To their surprise they had returned to the Ost District, "I have lived here my whole life, but I didn't know about this door here, who would have thought that underground passage went all the way from the port to here." They looked around and found out that they had come out from a secluded alley of the district that hasn't been used for quite a while if the dust around them was any indication.

The moment they left that alley, bells could be heard in the distance signalising that it was twelve o'clock. "Well, I think it's about time we found something to eat. How about we order something from Gampe and enjoyed it at my house? This way I can treat you to some high-class coffee." Not seeing any reason to decline Machias offer, they ordered some Fish and Chips and went to his house.

After eating Group A was enjoying some coffee, "Do you buy your own beans and grind them at home?" Rean comment got Machias attention, "Yeah, it looks like my father went out and stocked up not too long ago. Now and then, he gets the chance to take some time off from his work and comes to relax here. He sees his coffee as a small luxury in his hectic daily life though given his workload, I don't think that comes as a surprise."

Looking at the small and cosy house Laura gave her own thoughts, "You would hardly imagine a home like this belonging to an important official like the Imperial Governor…..I meant no offense with this, I just imagined that this house would have a look more, how to put this, distinguished. I am sorry if that offense you, Machias. I…"

"Nonsense, Laura. No offense taken, I can understand where you are coming form but me and my father are commoner through and through. Just because he is a top official it doesn't mean that we must change our whole lifestyle. Besides, it's not as though we don't have some attachment to this house." Machias glanced at a photo that was on the cabinet, following his eyes they saw Governor Regnitz standing with a young woman and a green haired kid, it didn't take long before they connected the dots on who he was. "D'awww…..Look at cute little Machias there!"

"He looked like he has such a sweet disposition."

"….Yeah, before he grew up to be a stubborn old nag, how cruel the wheels of time are." The others besides Rean teased Machias until he couldn't take it anymore, "S-stop nit-picking people's old family photos, honestly!" Trying to placate the gunner Rean tried to change the subject away from him, "The governor looks the same as ever, though. Is that woman next to him your older sister or something?" They noticed the sadness in his eyes when Machias looked at her, "Close enough, she was a cousin on my father's side of the family. She lived quite close by, so she came to visit us often. Our family was just my father and I, so having hr around was a huge help."

"The way you speak about her seems to imply you no longer see her, did she move away or got married?"

"….She died around six years ago." The others didn't know what to say to that until Rean spoke, "I see and that has something to do with why you hate the nobility, right?" The others were surprised by Reans observation but remained silent, "I had never really planned on telling anyone about this, but considering all we have been through, I suppose it is time I should you a little bit about me. It is a long story but ….would like to hear it?"

They gave Machias enough time to gather his thoughts and find his words, "Sis was nine years my senior, beautiful, kind. To me, she was in every sense the ideal woman. As I said earlier, we are a family of commoners through and through, but my father proved to be a very capable government official and thanks to his work ethic, he was promoted to an important government position, where he started to make a name himself, though he also made his fair share of enemies during that time. After seeing success in a number of major projects, he gained a reputation both inside and outside the government."

Pride was clearly seen on Machias face at his father's achievements, "My mother died when I was still young, but Sis happened to live around here and ended up helping us in more ways than I can count, since she was his niece, my father always made a fuss over her. She may not have lived in the same house; but she was like a real daughter to my father and a real sister for me. She was my idol growing up and as you would expect, she had countless admirers among the men in the city but despite all that popularity, she remained level-headed and sensible. I never once thought I would have to worry about anything concerning her, that is until HE appeared. He also worked under my father in the city hall though he was of noble birth, the heir of a count."

The gunner took a deep breath before he continued though the others could see that whatever he was going to say it pained him to do so, "However, he had none of the usual arrogance or haughtiness, one would expect of such a high ranking noble, he was down to earth, honest and a loyal man. Even as a child I couldn't find any flaws in him, and the most important part was that he made Sis so happy when she was with him. They entered in relationship and after a year of dating they became engaged and that is when everything started to fall apart. His family never tried to hide their disdain for Sis, but they didn't interfere after he made his stand clear, that is until their house received a marriage proposal from one of the Four Great Houses, House Cayenne."

Cracks could be heard from the cup that Machias was holding, though they couldn't see his face since he had lowered it, they could easily imagine the hatred that he was feeling at the moment, "With that proposal there was no way that they would allow Sis to marry him, so they began harassing her in secret and Sis never told us anything about it. Until it reached the point that Sis took her own life to escape their torment, only after her death did, we finally learned what she had been through and the words of her fiancé only managed to anger us further, 'I told her, I would love her as my mistress, if she had just accepted that we couldn't be married, so why did she do this?' From that moment on my father threw himself into his work, like a machine going into high gear and with the help of his ally Chancellor Osborne, he managed to gain control of City Hall from the nobles and became the Imperial Governor of the capital."

No one knew what to say, condolences didn't seem enough for what happened, "So that is why you started hating nobles?" Machias nodded at Fie's soft spoken question, "Yeah. I was so furious at Sis death, my hatred needed to be directed at someone, anyone. At first, I hated her fiancé, then his family and then my hatred spread to the entire nobility as a whole. Everything they represented from their culture, people, social classes until I was blind with my anger at them, I studied more and more to make sure that I would show the nobles that just because they were born with a silver spoon, that they weren't my equal and that their pride was worthless. But deep down I knew the truth, I knew I was taking my anger out on people who didn't deserve it. What happened to Sis was unfair but if she had come to us, we could have tried to help or just be there for her during that time and her fiancé did truly love her even if he wasn't strong enough to protect her from his family."

Machias finally looked up, smiling at both Rean and Laura, "Spending time with you two, showed me that not all nobles are unworthy of respect and that not all commoners are good people, there are both good and bad apples on either side. Laura, you showed me the dignity and pride that a noble should have and Rean, you showed me that it one doesn't need to be a commoner to show kindness to the world. Your actions made me realise how narrowminded and immature I was being and for that I am thankful. Thank you."

"I am glad that felt that you could talk to us about it, Machias. It took real courage to open old wounds like that and I am honoured that you shared it with us." The rest followed Rean example until it Fie's turn came, "Does that mean, you and Jusis will finally become friends?" The gunner looked gobsmacked at that, "Are you kidding me?! I admit that I was wrong about nobles as a whole but Jusis Albarea as an individual can go choke on a pom before that happens. That arrogant self-centred fool is always lecturing me that I shouldn't be stuck in my books every day and….."

They let Machias get it out of his system though he wasn't fooling anyone with his complains, they knew that deep down he counted Jusis as a friend, though he turned quite red when Fie pointed it out to him.

While Group A enjoyed their meal plus teasing Machias, Group B was also eating lunch at a food stand after having finished their tasks for the day, "Urgh, I never thought that beneath the capital were that many tunnels filled with monsters, shouldn't the government do something about that?" Listening to Alisa's complains the others shared her view though Jusis added a more pragmatic view, "That would cost a lot of money to do that regularly, a sum that I don't think that the Reformist Faction is willing to spend as long the people know not to go down there, though I admit that the provincial army in my town does the same."

"Couldn't they try to make it a training exercise for the army both imperial and provincial? That way it could serve as both training and elimination of the monsters?" Jusis thought about Gaius proposal for a moment, "That is actually not a bad idea, I will have to talk to my brother about it." The rest of their lunch was spent discussing their tasks of the morning until they finished, "Since we are done with our requests, we can start then with Miss Inari's favour. She told us to meet her after we are done at that restaurant from yesterday, right?"

The archer nodded at Emma's question, recalling the conversation from yesterday, Inari's plan had been a simple but effective one, the bracers would patrol the eastern site of the town in a pair of two, one to search for the Ikaruga squad and two to try to keep Rean from meeting them. Group B would patrol the west site in the name of their field study while keeping their eyes open, of course with the size of Heimdallr it is a difficult matter to search for a few people especially if said people were undercover. But Inari was able to deduce a few locations that they could be at, "Remember if we find them, we should contact Yui and the others immediately unless we have no choice, we aren't to engage them in combat, if that happens, we should make it a priority to escape."

"Looking at you, it is clear to see that you are unwilling to do that, Alisa. Got something on your mind?" A groan escaped her mouth at Gaius question, "That obvious huh?" The other three nodded at that, "Honestly, if I could, I would like to beat the crap out of that person from that whatever town, while I don't exactly know what happened back then with Rean and them. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that whatever they did, it hurt him immensely."

"Perhaps if combat is unavoidable, we could land a few hits on him? Though I am sure that you would rather capture him to find out what they did."

"I would be lying if that thought didn't cross my mind but while I don't think that it is a big deal if Akari and the others tell us stories about Rean, this matter seems like something that I, I mean, we should hear it from him when he is ready and willing to tell us."

"From a certain point of view, you are right. But this is Rean we are talking about. He would rather shoulder everything on his own before asking us for help or talking about it" Jusis had fair point though something in his tone made Alisa suspicions, "Is there something you aren't sharing with the class Jusis?"

A raised eyebrow was the only sign that the noble was surprised but he answered her after thinking for a moment, "There is a situation involving Rean that I am keeping an eye on but like usual he wants to deal with it himself. Don't worry, I warned him the moment they crossed the line, I would get involved no matter what he says."

Eye twitching Alisa had to hold herself back from calling the swordsman to scold the hell out of him and from the looks of Gaius and Emma they weren't too pleased with him either. "I once thought that helping raise the little children back in my village would be the most mental exhausting thing I would have done until now, but it seems like Rean is slowly testing the limits of my patience. Can't he just ask us for help when he needs it?"

"If he did that, he wouldn't be Rean. Just to be sure which line are you talking about? Yours or Reans?" The noble snorted at Gaius question, "Mine, of course. If it was Rean's, I would never have to get involved no matter how far they took it." Massaging her temple to lessens the headache she was beginning to feel, the archer directed the conversation back on track, "I already have a guess or two what situation you are talking about though I didn't think that it was that bad, that is however a problem for latter when I get my hands on him. For now, we should concentrate on finding those people."

"I get the feeling that Rean can't seem to catch a break, no matter what. Perhaps we should talk with President Towa and Instructor Sara to give him a break on the next free day?"

"Believe me, Emma I thought about that a lot but even if we convince these two to give him a break, Rean still wouldn't take one unless we chained him to his bed for the day."

"Been thinking a lot about chaining him to a bed, Alisa?" Jusis question was so natural that Alisa missed the innuendo that he had implied at the beginning resulting in her face exploding in red as the words sank in. She was still red even when they later meet with Inari who for her part sensed something juicy behind that, but she focused on the matter at hand for now.

Group A after finished eating made their reports to both the Port Chief and the owner of Le Sage, while leaving the store Reans Arcus Unit started to ring, "Hello, Rean Schwarzer speaking."

"Hello Rean, this is Carl Regnitz. You are Group A's representative, so I figured it would be best to call you. Is now a good time?"

"Good day, Governor Regnitz, now is totally fine. We just came from your house, Machias invited us in for coffee."

"Haha. Did he now? I had a favourite specialty store roast those beans just the way I like them."

"It was a top-notch cup of coffee, Sir. With all that we have doing since morning, it was nice to just sit down and enjoy a moment of peace."

"Well, I am glad that you were able to spend some quality time together, my son can be a bit stubborn, but I am glad that he was able to find friends like you in Class VII. Anyway, the reason why I am calling it because we just received a notification that the Crimson Tiara has been stolen by Phantom Thief B. He left behind a note saying that he would return the stolen item if Group A was able to solve the riddles he left behind. Normally, I wouldn't give something like this to you students but since he asked for you, I thought that perhaps you would have the biggest chance of getting the tiara back. What do you say, are you up for an additional task?"

"I don't mind but let me speak with the others to get their opinions first." Rean explained what Governor Regnitz had told, leaving the others confused why the thief was asking for them by name though they all agreed that they should try to get the tiara back. After getting additional information from the governor, they left in the direction of the Garnier District to inspect the store. Once inside the manager explained to them what had happened along with giving them the letter the thief had left behind, "To the owner of this fine establishment, I have acquired the Crimson Tiara from you and will keep it securely with me unless Class VII's Group A manages to solve my little riddles. Should they manage to do it I will return the crimson beauty into their possession. Signed Phantom Thief B."

"Is it just me or does anyone else get the impression that he is just using the tiara to toy with us?" Laura's question drew nods from the rest of the group, unnoticed by them was Reans grimace as he finally remembered where he had heard the name Phantom Thief B, (Oh boy, this isn't good. How and why did we gain his attention? From what I heard he isn't someone to mess around with, should we try to play his little game or not? Sigh, I don't think we have much of a choice, I am sure that he stole the tiara because he wants to mess with us, and the manager looks like she is going to burst into tear at any moment.)

The swordsman looked at his friends who were discussing B's various shenanigans during the last two years, (At least I should make sure that nothing happens to them.) Resolving himself, Rean read the first riddle and from there Group A led to various location over the eastern side of the capital, from Dreichels Plaza to Alto Street to Mater Park and finally to the Port where they had been just this morning, locating the last clue.

"The final key is also hidden near the water's edge. The crimson crown you seek sleeps within a black ark, nestled in the steel car that marches with the minutes." Reading the paper out lout Fie looked at it with disgust, "I am getting tired of these obtuse riddles, can he just tell us where it is and be done?" Patting Fie on her shoulder to calm her down, Elliot looked at the others, "Anyone got an idea what he is talking about?"

"Hmm, he said that it is hidden near the water's edge which means that it should somewhere around here. Wait, steel car that marches with the minutes! He must mean the tram!" Machias eyes light up and together with rest made his way towards the tram they had used to arrive here, after explaining the situation to the driver, Group A looked thoroughly in the car where they found a black suite case with the crimson tiara inside. "So, this thing is worth a hundred million mira? It is pretty, however there is no way I would ever pay something like that just for a few stones." Not caring about its worth, Fie took the tiara out and looked at it, "Fie! Be careful with that!"

Ignoring Machias shout, she continued looking at it while showing it to Laura who shared her opinion regarding it, done with that she put the tiara back in the case and closed it. Both Elliot and Machias were sweating at her careless way of handling something like that while Rean was starring outside the tram. The moment they stepped outside the driver approached them. "So, the crimson tiara really was in there, huh? Now I am wondering if the last passenger who stepped of the tram was Phantom Thief B himself, I don't remember there being any unusual passengers on board, though."

"The most important thing is that we got the tiara back, we should go return it quickly to the store…Rean?" Elliot noticed midsentence that his friend was starring intensively at the driver, unnerving the man, "Wh-why are you staring at me like that?"

"I think it's time we put an end to this little charade, don't you Baron Bleublanc? Or should I say Phantom Thief B?!" The others were astounded for a moment but trusting their friend they immediately took out their weapons and assumed their battle stances, "Hahaha…hahahaha! This! This savoury taste is why the unripe fruit is the most delectable of all!"

A flash of light later the driver appearance changed completely revealing to the members of the group that had been in Bareahard a familiar person, "Aren't you that eccentric baron that we met two months ago?! And that mask?!" Reacting to Machias shout Bleublanc bowed to them, "Allow me to introduce myself once again. I am Phantom Thief Bleublanc, otherwise known simply as Phantom Thief B. The Baron is but one of the many roles I have assumed during my pursuits. Incidentally, might I ask when you first discovered my true identity?"

"It didn't really take much discovering, you never really tried to hide it. We never said what had been stolen and yet you knew about the crimson tiara, your disguise, however? Nothing short of perfect, the question now is what are we going to do?"

"What you do you mean, Rean? He stole the tiara and theft is against law, we are taking him to the police. Fie, with me!" Both Fie and Laura jumped forward to apprehend Bleublanc and yet he disappeared in a flash of light, just reappear on a roof not far away from them. "How is that possible?! How did he do that?!"

"Oh my, you young ladies are quite brash. As for how I did this, well let's just say that it is one of my many tricks that have helped me throughout the years as a Phantom Thief. Enough about that, your explanation shows how you found out that I am the Phantom Thief B but how did you connect it to Baron Bleublanc?"

The mask may have hidden his eyes, but Rean could feel the curiosity and interest in them, "When we first meet in Bareahard there was something familiar about your name, but I couldn't put my finger on it, until we left the city. Back then I thought it could have been just a coincidence there should be a lot of people with the name Bleublanc in the continent that is until today where Phantom Thief B was suddenly interested in us and from there, I guessed that I could have been you, Baron Bleublanc."

"That is some sound logic, though it raises another question. How did you connect the name Bleublanc with Phantom Thief B? After all no one in the Empire besides a certain pair should have known what the B stands for." Shaking his head, Rean didn't answer his question this time, "I already answered your question, how about you answer one of mine?"

"Oh, I didn't realise that we were taking turns with our questions. Hmm, and why should I answer your question?"

"How about as a reward? We solved your riddles and got the tiara back, but we also unmasked you. For that shouldn't we get a little reward? I won't ask for much, I ask you one question and you answered it truthfully." The rest of Group A didn't understand what the swordsman was doing, nonetheless they let him go on, Bleublanc was taking his time to think about Reans proposal, "Normally I would say no to that, however you managed to pick my interest, Monsieur Schwarzer. I will answer your question with the bittersweet truth but only in the form of yes and no, so choose wisely." Maintaining his calm, Rean smiled at him and asked his question, "Enforcer Nr. X, does the Society have any plans for Erebonia like they did with Liberl two years ago?"

Rean could see that he had managed to surprise the Enforcer, he focused on him while ignoring the confused looks his friends were giving him, it didn't take long before Bleublanc started laughing out loud again, "Hahahahahahah. How delightful and how fascinating, I wasn't expecting that kind of question from you. Well done, Rean Schwarzer. Well done indeed, you managed to get me even more curious about you, seems like there is now something to sweeten my pursue of the ultimate beauty. How do you know about me and the Society? Who told you, it couldn't have been my eternal rival and what else are you hiding?"

The others could feel a shudder run down on their bodies from the change in their opponent's behaviour meanwhile Rean was keeping calm while starring right back, "Your answer?" Grinning widely Bleublanc gave him a bow, "Ah, of course. Forgive me, I forgot about that in my delight though you are putting me in quite a tough spot. Despite that you have earned your answer, which is yes! I can't wait to see how this story will go on now. Until later, Rean Schwarzer." With a flourish of his staff the enforcer disappeared in a flash of light wearing a maniac grin while looking at Rean.

"Ok, care to explain what is going on here, Rean? What is an Enforcer, what Society and what does he have to do with what happened in the Liberl Coup two years ago?!" Turning around the swordsman could see that they were truly curious about what was going, "(I didn't think it would turn out like this, but it was a too good of an opportunity to pass up though how to appease them will be quite a challenge since there is no way I will tell them about what those words means. After that I should talk with Instructor Sara to pass this information on, if Ouroboros has plans for the empire like they did in Liberl, the best person to talk with would be Prince Olivert but how do I contact someone of the Royal Family?) Guys, I am sorry, but I can't answer that."

Not having expected that answer, they didn't know how to proceed, "Ok, why not?" Rean looked at Fie before looking at the others, "Because this matter involves quite a few dangerous people, and I don't want any of you anywhere near them. It doesn't matter how strong you guys are, they are on completely different level and quite ruthless. I will be honest; I also don't want to get involved with them, but this was a too good opportunity to get information on them to let it go. As soon as I get the chance, I will pass this on to Instructor Sara to let her handle this. I beg of you to forget about what happened and not tell anyone about it, please!" Done speaking Rean bowed to them with his upper body in ninety degrees, the rest looked at him and saw how serious he was with his plea not having any other choice they listened to him but not before putting forth some conditions.

"Very well, Rean we shall do as you asked but only if you let us also be in the room when you talk with the instructor to make sure that you aren't taking care of this yourself and if that 'Society' is truly as dangerous as you claim you will call for us and the others to help you out if they appear before you. Phantom Thief B was quite fascinated with you after that question of yours, if there is one thing that I learned with Class VII is that by working together we can overcome any foe and that we will also inform Group B about this."

His head snapped up on those demands, "Guys, I don't mind the first condition but not the others. I mean it when I say that they are truly ruthless and strong and concerning telling Group B if it had been possible, I would have made sure to keep you all out of this."

"That is just more reasons for us to insist on Laura's conditions. No….let me speak ,please." Machias raised his hand to for stall any arguments coming from Rean, "I know that you have just our best interests in your heart when you say that but that is exactly why we won't budge on this because while you have ours, we also have yours in our hearts. Those conditions aren't negotiable Rean, either take it or leave it." He could tell from the looks on their faces that they wouldn't budge with this no matter what he said or begged so with a heavy heart, he agreed to them.

"Good with that done, how about we bring this here back to the jeweller because I just remembered that I am carrying something worth a hundred million mira in my hand and is making me really nervous." Elliot raised the briefcase containing the Crimson Crown making the others remember how this all had started, Fie took the case from him and walked towards the tram that was just arriving. Sometime later they had returned the tiara and as they were leaving the store Rean's Arcus rang again, "This is Class VII, Group A, Rean Schwarzer speaking."

"Hello hello! Sounds like you have been keeping yourselves busy." The voice tried to disguise herself but it wasn't enough to fool him, "….I know it is you, Instructor Sara."

"Ohhhh, got it in one! How did you guess? Don't tell me…..it is your smouldering love for your tragically beautiful teacher?" Though Sara couldn't see through the Arcus, but Rean was grimacing at what he was hearing, "I have….uh…..many feelings about you but none of them are love I can assure you that. Anyway, you don't usually call us while we are in the middle of a field study, did something happen?"

"Little boys like you will never understand and appreciate the allures of mature woman like me. Actually, I would like for both groups to meet up and go to a certain place. There is someone in the Sankt District that would like to see Class VII in person."

"Okay? That is where the Cathedral and the various embassies are, correct?"

"Got it in one, you are free to do whatever you want until then just be there at five in front of St. Astraia and someone will guide you inside. That will be all, enjoy the rest of your day, ciao." Acting quickly Rean called out to her before she hung up, "A moment, Instructor Sara! Would it be possible for you to meet with us today or tomorrow to discuss something?"

"…..What kind of trouble did you guys get into now? Wasn't it enough that the police had to call me yesterday? So, what did you do?" The accusatory tone from her made him roll his eyes, "(It isn't like I go looking for trouble all the time, geez.) I just happened to acquire a certain information that we should discuss at the earliest chance that we get, and I am sure that we shouldn't talk about it on the phone."

Silence came from his Arcus until a sigh came from it, "Oh boy. I am suddenly getting a bad feeling about that, fine I will be there this evening after you are done with your meeting. Just tell me are any of you in danger?" For all her dramatics, the swordsman could detect the slight worry for her students that she was trying to hide, "No one is hurt, and no one is in any danger, for now at least. The day is still young enough for trouble to find us."

"Spare me the flippant answers, Rean. I will be there, just make sure not to do anything too reckless or Alisa will be the least of your worries!" With that threat done, Sara hung up leaving Rean to explain the others what their teacher had told him, they still had some time left until five so they used that time to wander around the Capital delighting in seeing the various preparations that were going on for the Summer Festival that would start tomorrow. They arrived at the Sankt District when the bells started to ring, indicating that school was over for the day, several young girls started to appear, "There are all wearing the same uniform as Reans sister, do they go to the same school?"

"I think so, St. Astraia is supposed to be a combined middle and high school exclusively for the young ladies of the nobility and for the ones with the very deep pockets."

"Yeah, this is one part of the capital that the masses have no reason to visit. Although I can at least support the school's commitment to fostering chastity and rejecting materialism, making sure that the students grow up without being spoilt like most noble school do." Fie looked between Elliot and Machias, "You two seem to know an awful lot about a fancy girls' school."

They boys tried to explain that it just common knowledge but the more they explained the more Fie's face was getting off-putting before she shot both a grin and walked towards the school, making them realise the silver haired girl had been just messing with them.

"…..Anyway, let's just go and wait by the front gate for the others and our guide. Or perhaps we should wait here for them?" Fie shoot Rean a curious look, chuckling Laura noticed what had Rean and the other boys on the defence, "To men, this academy must seem clad in the mysterious, impenetrable aura of feminine nobility." Ignoring the laughing girls, they walked toward the gate and waited untill a voice was heard behind them, "Oh, you are here already?"

Group B was approaching them, "Seems like you were able to quickly finish your tasks if you are here this early." Elliot grinned at Gaius, "Well, we had just finished them when the Instructor called, leaving us with enough time to get here and enjoy the sights."

"Were you able to finish up everything on your end too?"

"Of course, what kind of question is that? We finished them in the morning, though we would have been even faster if we weren't so unfamiliar with the capital." The others watched with some amusement how Machias and Jusis started bickering with each other, "Looks like getting these two to admit that they are friends will be an uphill battle."

"Haha. Well, some say that the more you bicker the closer you are." Watching Laura and Fie talking, made the other girls realise something, "Wait, did the two of you….?" Sharing a look with each other both Fie and Laura nodded at Alisa's question, "I….uhm…I am sorry for any worry I have caused you."

"What she said, we are fine now even manage to get our combat link going."

"Really? That is great, maybe after this field study is over, we can get together and spend the night talking in one of our rooms." Emma's suggestion sparked the conversation between the four even more, making plans to when, what to eat and so on, though the peace only lasted till Fie said, "A pyjama party sounds good, but we still have a score to settle with you and Rean regarding our defeat in the practical exam and this time there will no police to interfere like last night."

As one Group B looked at Rean for an explanation, "What does she mean by that? What did you do last night?" Exasperated Rean could only try to defend himself, "Why do you always think that it is somehow my fault? For your information, this time they were the reason for what happened, not me." Seeing that they didn't believe him, he explained in detail what had transpired last night leaving Fie's history out of it since this neither the place nor the time to talk about it, after he finished Alisa looked at him, "I still think that it is somehow your fault that you four got into trouble with the authorities."

"How?! I wasn't the one who told them to duel in the middle of the night!" Laughter rang form the rest at that, Rean could only shake his head fondly at them, until he noticed that the members of group B were more tired than they appear to be, "Is everything fine? Were your tasks that exhausting, you look tired."

"Not more than usual, we just walked around a lot." Alisa's answer gave him the feeling that something wasn't right, "You walked? Why didn't you use the tram?" Jusis was the one who answered that, "We wanted to experience the capital without being chauffeured around so after were done with our tasks we walked everywhere we could on our feet." The feeling got stronger when Emma averted her eyes from his, narrowing his eyes at the archer who maintained a nonchalant look while looking back, noticing this the others took a step back from the pair.

Silence reigned between them until the swordsman spoke, "Something you want to tell me, Alisa?" Maintaining her nonchalantly the archer just answered back, "I don't think so, Rean. Why would you think that?" She knew that he was beginning to suspect something, but she had no plans to tell him anything about what they were doing until either those people were out of town or Class VII was.

Before he could say anything, someone called out to him, "Rean, is that you?" Turning around he saw his sister standing in front of the gate, "Elise? What are you doing? Wait… that was a stupid question, this is your school after all."

"Yes, but what are you all doing here?" Elise looked at the other members of Class VII, "Wait…..are you the nine people I was told to guide inside?" Not really understanding what was going either he just told her what he knew, "I think so? We are nine people, and we were told to be here at five pm and that someone would guide us inside." Understanding appeared in Elise's eyes, "I see, this is something that she would do, but she could at least have given me a little warning that you were coming. No matter, welcome to St. Astraia Girls' School, I hope you will enjoy your visit."

Class VII followed Elise inside, timing his steps the swordsman managed to walk besides Alisa who rolled her eyes at him, "You and the others are up to something that much is clear but if you don't want to tell me that is fine. Just tell me this, are you and the others in any type of danger?"

Mulling over this Alisa took a moment to think it over, "No, what we are doing isn't that dangerous. So, you don't have to worry, ok?" She gave him a smile that hopefully said that everything was fine, he hesitated for a moment but decided in the end to trust her, "Alright, I will try not to but the moment you and the others are in danger you will either call me or the others to come help you out. Since we are for once in the same city, we should be able to help each other." Nodding at that the archer gave him another smile and started to look around the school.

They followed Elise until they arrived in a hall called 'rose garden' where they meet Princess Alfin, "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen of Class VII. It has been a while since last meet each other but to the one who hasn't meet me until now, I am Alfin Reise Arnor. It is an honour to finally meet Elise's beloved Big Brother!"

After enjoying Reans flabbergasted look and explaining how they had meet the princess at the same time as his sister but were asked to keep quiet about her to Rean, they sat down and enjoyed some tea watching how Alfin teased Elise, (She did tell me that she had made a very good friend, kind of a surprise that said friend is the princess but I can tell that she is the kind of friend Elise needs, to show how not to take everything too seriously.)

The conversation turned to the reason why they were summoned, though before that Alfin had a favour to ask, "You are every bit the person Elise says you are which is why I shall not let this chance pass. I have actually a teensy tiny favour to ask of you. Do you think I could join Elise in thinking of you as my dear brother as well?"

It was a good thing that Rean hadn't been drinking any tea at the moment or he would have spilled it all over the table, "What?!" came from both siblings, undeterred Alfin continued making her case, "You see, Elise has spoken of so often that in my heart, you have already come to feel like family and now that I have had the opportunity to meet you, I fear I simply can't suppress these feelings any longer."

Recovering from his daze Rean tried gently let her down, "I am honoured that your Highness thinks so highly of me, alas I fear that I am not worthy of such a privilege. Though if your highness doesn't mind while I am unworthy of the title if the princess ever needs my assistance, you just have to say the word."

Alfin giggled after hearing his answer, "Ohhhh, well done! Dodging my offer to have call you my brother and yet still promising me your help that the title would have demanded from you. Seems like Elise forgot to mention your silver tongue, that was quite the elegant way of saying no and yet giving me want I want. That just makes me want to call you my brother even more."

Even Jusis seemed impressed by Reans method of dodging the princess, for a moment it looked like Alfin would continue but Elise decided that Alfin had played enough, "That is enough, your Highness! Don't forget why you have called them here!" The pressure emanating from the black-haired girl was enough to deter the princess, "How stingy of you, Elise! You can't evens share a bit of your beloved big brother with your best friend, how sad that makes me!"

No one at the table was fooled by the crocodile tears she was shedding, another glare was enough to get her on track, "Anyway, we will speak about this later. For now, I think it is time for you all to meet the person who asked for this meeting," On cue the sound of a lute came from behind one of the doors, appearing in a white coat with a dark crimson neck scarf playing said lute, a blond man appeared, "Salutations young horned lions of Thors, it is I, Olivert Reise Arnor. Also known by some unscrupulous individuals as the Debaucherous Prince, I also serve as Thors Military Academy's ornamental chairman of the board. It is a pleasure to finally meet you all in person. Will you all join me for a meal so that we may deepen our bonds over the pleasure of good food and wine?"

Class VII had no choice but accept Prince Olivert invitation, on the way he disappeared for a short moment to change his clothes, he was now wearing the crimson colour that is usually associated with the Imperial Family, taking a seat at the head of the table Olivert beamed at the rest, "Come now, no need for stuffy table manners. This is no formal meeting, just me getting to know the member of the class I created at my Alma Matter."

The revelation that he was the founder of Class VII amazed them once again. (Seems like the goddess is smiling down at me today, just this afternoon I was thinking how I wished that I could contact Prince Olivert and now I am here sitting with him on a table.) Rean watched how the others asked their questions about the creation of their class.

"During my visit to Liberl two years ago I was inspired to bring changes to the Empire, one of the many projects that I created was Class VII. During the coming years we are going to need up and comers who can think and act independently to face the challenges that are yet to come, that is one of the reasons why you have your field studies to see and to learn about our country from the front seat."

"I see, that would explain some of the doubts I had about our class, thank you for clearing this up, your Highness." Olivert waved Laura's thanks away, "Come now, no need for that. I am the reason you all were thrown together in the first place, so the least I could do was to clear your doubts away. Don't be shy, one of the reasons for this meeting was to answer any question you may have. You don't need to raise like you are in class, Fie. You just simply have to ask." Fie had her hand in the air like this was one of their classes, "Even if the question doesn't have anything to with Class VII but about your time in Liberl?"

"Oh? Well colour me intrigued, which of my stories are you interested in, my impromptu concert on the river flowing through Ruan?"

"Eh no. But do the words Enforcer and Society mean anything to your Highness?" Silence fell on the table Group B, Alfin and Elise didn't know what was going while the rest of Group A was curious if the prince could shed light on that matter. Olivert froze when he heard those words and at the same time Rean groaned, "Fie!"

"What? You didn't say we couldn't ask other people what they mean right?" Fie was grinning at him but before he could say anything else to her, "I am sorry but where exactly did you hear those words, Miss Claussel?" For Alfin it was a rare occasion seeing her brother acting so serious, curious on why that was the case she looked at the silver haired girl waiting for her answer, but the answer didn't come from her.

"That would have been my fault, your highness." The table looked at Ream who after glaring at the unrepentant girl faced Olivert, "We had the misfortunate to catch the attention of Phantom Thief Bleublanc today. I managed to get some information out of him that you should listen to." At the mention of the Enforcer Olivert couldn't stop the grimace from appearing on his face though he signalled for Rean to go on and so he explained what had transpired during their encounter with the thief.

"I see. I had hope that the Empire wouldn't be their target for a while longer, alas it seems like that I have much to discuss with certain people, though it will be difficult for them to act. You have my thanks for bring this information to me, Rean. However, I must ask where did you learn about them? Knowledge regarding the Society is quite sparse and not known to many people on the continent."

Rean remained calm behind the looks the others were sending him, though he didn't have any intention to satisfy their inquiries, "Last summer, Anelace Elfead came to Ymir to meet her grandfather, during her stay there she talked about some of the events that had transpired in Liberl and warned me about the Society."

"Oh, Anelace? Now that you mention it, I do remember reading a report that she had managed to get into the country last year, unfortunately I was too busy during that time to meet with her. How has she been?" Having heard where the swordsman had learned about those matters, Olivert relaxed since he knew that his old comrade wouldn't talk about that if she didn't trust Rean completely, "Last time I saw her, she was still the same old bundle of energy, and I don't think that she has changed that much in just a year."

"Splendid! Good to know that she hasn't changed a bit." Alfin having had enough that no one was explaining anything, butted into their conversation, "What exactly are you two talking about? Care to share with the rest of us?" The two exchanged a look both the same decision on each other's eyes, "I am sorry Alfin, but I would rather not. This matter is far too appalling for an angel like you, my dear sister."

"Regarding the matter of Class VII, am I right in assuming that it doesn't just exist to fulfil your progressive ideal?" Both Rean and Olivert were too obvious in trying to change the topic, initiating displeasure in the rest, "You are right, the board has its three directors and like I said I am just an ornamental figure in the board. Each faction is represented by one of them while Chairman Irina is staying neutral in the conflict claiming that she is just interested in the testing of the Arcus Unit and the Orbal Staffs. Though her true intentions are a mystery to me, each one of them has their own interest in Class VII and it is them who decided where you are going for your field study. It was one of the conditions they gave in exchange for allowing Class VII to be established, that and the fact that I won't have any say on how the class is run."

Although they were still curious about had really happened in Liberl, what the prince said was thought provoking enough that decided to let it slide for the moment, seeing the students in their thoughts Olivert decided to expand, "You don't need to think too deeply about what their plans are. Because you are students first and foremost, reach out and grab that fragrant rose of school life! Join a club! Eat cheap food with your friends at midnight! Fall in love, we live only once, so your priority should be to make your youth count!" Sweat drooping at that declaration, the members of Class VII started to relax and returned to enjoy their meal while learning about what else the prince had done for their class.

"It wasn't easy coaxing her away from her former line of work, but your Instructor played a large part in giving this new class a great foundation. She is, after all, one of the strongest people in the Empire and with her experience she makes for a natural field leader. She even earned herself the nickname Purple Lightning by becoming the youngest person to achieve the A-rank in the Bracer guild. Seems like some of you have heard of her."

Both Rean and Laura reacted visibly to that name, "Giving your reactions the name Purple Lighting must be famous among Martial Artists." They nodded at Gaius remark, from there they shared what they have heard about their instructor while Olivert added his own details to it, most of them couldn't quite reconcile the image they had with their lazy teacher with the heroic image they were hearing about, as the evening went on the conversation started to flow into more relaxing matters, telling the royal sibling and Elise about their school life in details though some jokes about a certain 'gopher' were made.

It what when they were nearly done with their food, that Alfin decided once again to make a request, "I almost forgot. Rean, I have another small favour I would like to ask of you, you see tomorrow I will be attending a garden party sponsored by the City hall to start the Summer Festival and to be honest I was rather hoping that you would attend as my dance partner."

That request hit Rean and the rest like a thunderbolt out of the blue, though her older brother was grinning wide after recovering, waiting to see how this would unfold, "?! (Unlike how she behaves for the public, Princess Alfin is quite mischievous in private. First, she wants to call me big brother and now this, though I truly hope that she is just trying to tease me and Elise at the same time.) Your Highness that is a too great honour for just a simple Baron's son…"

"Nonsense, your father may be a baron, but the Schwarzers have long had deep ties with the Imperial family. I apologise if this comes across as rude but inviting you would likely create less opposition than if were to invite someone like Jusis for example."

"Well, I can't deny that, and you needn't apologise. To be honest, I find your choice rather fascinating."

The smirk on his Jusis face was directed at Rean who returned it with a short glare before he faced the princess, "That may be the case your highness, however I still think that I would be a poor choice for a dance partner at such an event. Besides if am not mistaken you are still only fifteen years old, and tradition demands, even of the Imperial family, that only a young lady of sixteen years is allowed to debut into the high society. Add that to the fact that I am still obligated to take part in my field study tomorrow, plus I wouldn't dare to let his Highness Prince Olivert expectations down after he went to such lengths to create Class VII. All those reasons combined leave me no choice but to have to decline your offer, Princess Alfin and for that I am truly sorry."

Silence spread through just to be interrupted, "Hahaha, wonderfully done! Such eloquence, using your obligation as a student, plus the old traditions and my own name to let Alfin gently down while not giving her a single opening to counterattack. Bravo, my friend! Seems like to me you are well versed in dealing with such matters." Olivert was grinning from ear to ear while clapping his hands at Rean, who could only sheepish apologise again, "Sigh, it appears I have found my match, leaving me no other choice but to try again next year! Though I assure you that next time I will be better prepared leaving you no choice but to dance with me." Bowing he and the others followed Elsie out of the room leaving a grinning Olivert and a pouting Alfin behind.

They said goodbye to Elise outside the gate, "You really ought to have accepted her invitation, perhaps it might have led to something truly unexpected in the future. Who knows you could have…."

Rolling his eyes at his follow noble, Rean shot him down, quickly, "Yeah, right. She was just trying to tease me because I am Elise older brother and nothing more. How about you stop trying to stir things up, Jusis? I still haven't forgotten the matter with those photos." The last part was whispered so quietly that only Jusis could hear it who just gave a smirk at that reminder.

"Still, Prince Olivert was right, you do seem used to situation like that. Got much experience in turning down the invitation of princesses, Rean?" Fie's teasing remark managed to get everyone else attention at him, though before he could defend himself someone else interfered "Perhaps he learned that while strolling in Red Lights Districts?" Mouth open Rean looked at Alisa while stuttering, "W-Where did you get that idea?!"

"Didn't you get once chased by the local mafia through such a district and while running you apparently got quite an eyeful of the different sights it had to offer."

"How do you know about that?!" The swordsman confirmation drew shouts of surprise from Group A while Group B seemed to already know about that, Fie practically leapt at Alisa catching her arm while looking cutely at her, "Please give us more details."

The others also seemed to be interested in the story leaving Rean to his thoughts, (How does she know about that?! First, she knew about the waterfall yesterday and now this?! Who is telling her that?! Mom and Dad can't be, they are both in Ymir, Tamamo shouldn't know about it though I am not so sure, and Master Ka-Fai is currently in the East. So, who else is left in the Empire who knows about….that…. OH!...When I get my hands on them!)

Looking at the archer he saw her looking at him with narrowed eyes which he returned with a smirk, "How are those four doing? I am sure that Yui and Akari would enjoy visiting Le Sage, Itsuki and Haru on the other hand would be more at the home at the casino. You should ask them to visit those places if they haven't already done and do give them my regards next time you see them along with the message that I still have enough blackmail material to make them cry for mercy, if they don't stop telling stories about me!"

"I guess it was a matter of time until you found out huh? Oh well, at least I still have some quite 'amusing' stories concerning you." Laura and Elliot were the only ones who recognised those names while they explained them to Machias and Fie, the swordsman slowly made his towards the archer, "Really? And which stories are those?" You could practically see the smugness oozing out of Alisa at the moment, "You know, this and that."

Various memories were running through his mind trying to find out which she could have heard about, unfortunately for him there were too many to find out which they were, after a wink at him Alisa turned towards Fie who was clearly enjoying the show, "As far as I know A-rank should be the highest rank in the bracer guild, right? And can I assume that you already knew about Instructor Sara's history?"

She was a somewhat disappointed that the show as already over but thinking about the fact that the blonde seemed to have even more stories about Rean, Fie decided that she would get them later perhaps at the pyjama party, "Yup. The guild is every jaeger corps' main competition after all. I ran into her a few times during our operations but no matter which one she was always getting in our way. One time I even threw a handful of grenades at her because she had the nerve of taking my sword guns away from me."

(I guess this is payback for the times I tried to change the subjects when the heat was pointed at me, but if she thinks that this enough to deter me, then she doesn't know me well enough.) The moment Rean opened his mouth, just for another voice to cut him off, "Heehee. I had almost forgotten about the good old days, which reminds me you still owe me a new coat because of that stunt you pulled with those grenades."

Looking at the direction from the voice, they saw Sara approaching them, "So looks like you finally found out about my past, huh? I hope that it doesn't tarnish my ravishing adult charm and admiration you all have for me." The class looked each other before Machias stepped forward, "Instructor Sara, as the Vice president I am sorry to inform you that you never had any of our admiration or adult charm."

"Ssssh, Machias. Did you hear an old maid sighing?" The grin on Sara's face disappeared quickly in place was a glare that managed to get Machias to step back though it did prove ineffective against Fie, who cupped her ears as if she was listening to something, "Care to repeat that?! I think I must have misheard you just now."

Fie continued looking around, "Be quiet, I think I heard another sigh." Grinding her teeth Sara was going to box the brat's ears but remembered that she wasn't alone, so she decided to deal with her later, "Good evening, Class VII. I hope you all had a pleasant meal with the prince and princess."

Appearing from behind Sara was Captain Claire wearing an amused look on her face, "This is an unusual combination, did something happen?" Deciding that their appearance warrant his attention more than getting answers, Rean asked them what was on everyone's mind, "Let me be first to assure you that this wasn't my idea. But the governor asked me to inform you that your field study is being put on hold starting tomorrow, instead you get to be this lady's evil minions to further the schemes of the devil himself."

Rolling her eyes at Sara, Claire tried to rectify that statement, "Sara, could you maybe not try put them off entirely before I get the chance to explain what I want to ask them? There is a matter I would like Class VII to help us with, but this is a conversation that we should have behind closed doors and not here. Please follow me to the RMP headquarters."

Curious about what was going on they followed Claire to cars that were waiting for them, a short trip later Class VII was seated inside a room where both Sara and Claire explained what was going on, "We got some information that terrorists are going to target the Summer Festival tomorrow. This includes the man some of you met in the Nord Highlands, Gideon. From now we don't know a lot about them, neither their number, target nor even motives, the only thing we were able to find out is that they are going to make their move soon. The RMP will be joining forces with the Heimdallr Military Police to bolster the security in the city. However, given the size of the city I can't guarantee that we will be able to cover everything which is why I want to add Class VII as an additional patrol group."

"Bah, it would sure be nice if the guild was still around in these parts. They would have helped sure a lot, alas thanks to a certain man there is no more guild to help in a situation like this." The sarcasm coming from Sara was nearly visible, "Your boss and 'brother' made sure to drive them out completely from the city and now you can't even count on that 'brother' of yours since he is busy playing around in Crossbell."

Claire's head snapped in her direction at that, Sara enjoyed the surprised look on the captain's face before facing her students taking on a more serious look, "You have heard what she wants from you, if you decided to help her ,this will be your only field study task for tomorrow and if not, the governor still has a lot of requests that need your help. The decision is up to you."

The students remained quiet looking at each other before they all nodded in unison leaving it to them representatives to answer for them, both Alisa and Rean stood up at the same time, "Group A is willing to help out the RMP. / Group B is willing to help out the RMP." A look of resignation passed by Sara for a moment, "….All right, then. You heard them Captain, you can start explaining what their roles are going to be for the next twenty-four hours. I will also join your little security detail to make sure that you don't abuse my cute kids."

For the next hour Captain Claire explained which patrol route they should take, what to do and who to contact if they find suspicious people and so. Sara declined her offer to drive them to their lodgings choosing to take the tram instead. On the way Rean decided that he should address something else, "Everyone a moment please."

The others stopped to look at him who focused on Group B, "Given the current situation, I think it is wise for you to share what you are doing…no, let me finish." Rean raised a hand to stop Alisa from speaking, "I trust you and I trust those four, they wouldn't put you in any danger and you are capable enough to assess the situation and ask for help in case you need it. But like I said given the current situation with the terrorists someone should know what you are doing in case things go south and since you don't want me to know at least tell Instructor Sara, please. That is all I am asking." Group B shared a look with each other before coming to a decision, "That is actually reasonable which is weird coming from you Rean."

"Even you, Emma? Geez, why is everyone so surprised when I am being reasonable?"

"If you put a hand over your heart and think really hard, I am sure that will find out why. Though how did you know that what we are doing has something to do with Yui and the rest?" He ignored the first part of that, "That was easy, if you were just hearing stories from them and nothing more, you would have told me what you are up to but since you don't want to it should have something to do with them. Most likely is that they asked your help to find someone that they don't want me to meet,…given your looks right now, I now know that I am right."

The others couldn't hide their shocked faces, as the swordsman deduced what they were up to, "I even have an idea who it is that they don't me to encounter. (It should be Tamamo, they heard me complain a lot about her in the past, about her shenanigans and so on, and since they are most likely looking for her in the Empire, they want to make sure that we don't meet. Though they are a bit late for that.)"

This further amazed Group B since that was exactly what they were doing, "I am sure that they are doing this because of what happened last time we were together. Sigh, can you please tell them that it wasn't their fault, they did nothing wrong back then. I was never upset with them in the first place, there is no need for them to go this far from keeping that woman from meeting me, especially since we have already meet."

Rean was lost in his memories on what happened that he missed the bewildered looks on their faces, (Wait, a woman? The person Miss Inari showed us was a man, could it be that he is talking about someone else and not that man from Tasogare Town? That must be it! I must be careful not to give anything away for now if he finds out who it is we are after, I am not sure what he is going to do.)

Using the moment that he was distracted she conveyed her intentions to the others who had the same thoughts running in their heads, "Come on, how is it possible that you managed to find out what we are doing just from that little bit of details?" Alisa managed to sound annoyed which he bought since he was distracted for a moment and as if the goddess was on their side Sara after having listening from the side butted into their conversation, "How about someone explains to me what is going on here? What kind of trouble are you getting into this time?!"

Trying to fool him further Alisa struck her tongue out at him and lead Sara away from him until she was sure that he wouldn't be able to listen in, then she explained everything including who they were after, "Alisa, are sure that you want to do this? I mean, I can understand where you are coming from, and I am proud to see you and the others doing this for him, but you should still be careful. A true jaeger corps is not the same as the dropouts you faced back in Nord, they are for more dangerous and crueller than you can imagine."

"We discussed this at length, Rean is always there for us shouldering everything we throw at him while not letting us do the same, this is here is something that we can do for him, and I am sure that Group A would agree with me. Of course, we aren't going to keep this a secret from him for long, as soon we have left the town or send that man away, we will tell him. As for the danger we will have four B-ranked bracers as back up in case it becomes dangerous though I am sure that it won't come to that, our job is just to find him and leave the rest to Miss Inari."

Sara couldn't find any fault at that though she would make sure to keep an extra close eye on Group B, while calling Toval in the morning to ask him to check on that Ikaruga Corps, back with others she confirmed with Rean that his old friends were trustworthy which he assured her that they were. She gave Alisa and the rest her blessing with the demand to not let this interfere with their patrol tomorrow, done with that they split up and went their separate ways to rest for the next day.

Back in the eastern guild branch Group a just stepped inside to see Sara looking around, "Wow, this place brings back a lot of memories, speaking of which how is your sister doing? Is she still a piano teacher?"

"Yes, she is. Sis did once mention that she knew a strong bracer, she must have been talking about you instructor."

"Still, what is it that caused the guild to withdraw from the capital? The bracer in my hometown told me that the guild was very active in the Empire just a few years ago." Sara looked at Laura and the others before she took a seat at a nearby table and invited them to sit down, "I am sure that you all heard about the guild branches that were set on fire, the culprits were a jaeger corps hired by a rather nasty bunch that was and still is at odds with guild. Thanks to a very dependable ally, we were able to defeat the jaegers but by then, the Imperial Government had its eye on us. They started to shackle guild with so many conditions leaving us unbale to fulfil our duties toward the population until we had no choice but to shut down the branches across the country."

Sighing Sara looked around once more as if remembering happier times, "That was all planned by the Iron and Blood Chancellor Giliath Osborne and his Imperial Intelligence Division and just like that your Instructor was left without a job until his Highness Prince Olivert came to me with an offer and just two years later Instructor Sara Valestein homeroom teacher of Class VII was born. Though I still help the guild out from time to time which is why I was able to bring our little jaeger princess here into the fold." Sara started petting Fie's head until she had enough and knocked her hand away, "Stop it!"

"You said the guild was attacked by jaegers, what was their name?"

"No need to worry, it wasn't Zephyr that attacked us, but a mid-ranked Corps called Jester. Zephyr was in a different league, one of the two strongest corps in western Zemuria, their leader was this insidious guy known as the Jaeger King. You name a combat specialist Zephyr had it covered, they were the only corps on par with the Red Constellation, which has its roots in the Berserker of the Middle Ages. They caused me plenty of trouble back when I was a full-time bracer, urgh the amount of paperwork I had do because of them."

"….Look who is talking. You have caused us plenty of trouble yourself, why I remember that one time where you made our vehicles explode forcing us to walk towards our destination." Sara ignored that, "Anyway, the terrorists we are dealing with aren't part of any jaeger corps. Your involvement is just a precautionary step, so do your best but don't take too many risks in case you have to act, understood? ….Good, now go write your reports for the day and go to bed it is getting late." Getting nods from them Sara went towards the back where the kitchen was, Rean let the others go ahead after informing them about what he was going to do.

"Something on your mind, Rean? Need to talk with your astounding smart and beautiful teacher about your worry? Just a heads-up since you said that you trusted Group B I won't say anything regarding them…."

"I want to inform you something regarding Ouroboros." That managed to shut Sara up quickly and to glare at him, "Where did you hear that name?" Gone was the lazy teacher, in her place was a lioness ready to pounce, "From Anelace Elfead, she came to visit Ymir last summer, I already informed Prince Olivert about this, but it doesn't hurt to also tell you this. We ran into Phantom Thief B this afternoon and….."

The next few minutes Rean spent telling Sara everything about their little run-in with the Enforcer like he had done with the prince, "Hmmmm, can't say that I am happy, that you know about the society but what is done is done. It may not mean much but just confirming that those snakes have plans regarding Erebonia is good enough for now. I will pass this information on to the guild branches in other countries together with HQ in Leman. For now, put them out your mind and concentrate on your patrol tomorrow."

"Got it and Instructor?" Sara was pulled from her thoughts by him, "I and the others may not show it, but we are thankful for everything you are doing for us. Right now we may be students but that doesn't mean you can come to us for help….."

Snorting Sara stopped him from continuing, "Whoa easy there, where did that come from?"

"The fact that you are looking around here with such a nostalgic look on your face?" She froze at that remark, "Was it that obvious? I would be lying if I said I didn't wish I could go back to those days when I was a bracer here, they were exhausting sure, but I had so much fun that I didn't notice it and I felt like I truly belonged here. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy my work now being your teacher is just as fulfilling as back there. So, you don't need to go all soft and start worrying about little old me."

"Alright but let me say this, I think that Class VII is only complete when both the students and Instructor are together in it, I and the others will try to make sure that you feel like you belong with us."

"I swear, you are one sappy boy, Rean. But thank you, just try not give Instructor Beatrix anymore of those accursed tea leaves and we will be fine. Now it is high time for you to go write your report and get to bed." After shooing him away Sara looked around the place one more time before following him upstairs, believing that this teaching gig is turning to be quite good.

The following day after another hearty breakfast by Fiona Group A started with their patrols checking everything on their list, they managed to gather information about some suspicious movements in several places, like workers that have suddenly quit without warning at the port, finding that several people entered the underground tunnels from the Ost District, warning the police about the hidden entrance in Mater Park and so on.

They even managed to help a tourist who had lost his suitcase to find said suitcase again during the morning, when it was afternoon Sara asked them to keep an eye out on the arrival of the princess at the park. They watched as both Alfin and Elsie stepped out of the limousine where Machias Father was waiting for them, the trio went inside, and the Military Police took their places in securing the perimeters.

"Hello Class VII, it looks like you are tied up with your field studies or whatever you call them, even on such a fine day." On their way-out Group A ran into Patrick, "Hello Patrick, were you also invited to the garden party?"

"Of course, I was invited. This will be my chance to introduce myself to Princess Alfin. Schwarzer, perhaps I was mistaken but was that Lady Elise who I just saw entering the garden with princess?" A short nod from Rean was all the confirmation Patrick needed, though he had apparently forgotten how scary Rean had been just two days ago when he had mentioned his sister, "Good, good. Seems like the goddess is smiling down at me today, to have such a chance…..EEEEEKKKKKK!"

Rean had just appeared in front of him sending his aura down at him, combined with his emotionless eyes and scary smile Patrick was petrified but luckily for him, the others dragged him away before the swordsman could do anything to him. Though it took the four of them to barely achieve that, Rean gave Patrick a look that promised him hell on earth if he got close to his sister as he was being dragged away leaving the poor noble terrified.

Group A decided that their next stop would be Dreichels Plaza from there they would do one more sweep of their patrol routes before calling it a day. To their surprise they ran into Towa and Angelica these two were in the capital to offer their support with patrolling after having heard of a possible terrorist attack at the Festival though it didn't take Angelica long before she cuddled up to Fie who struggled to get out of her embrace. They chatted for a bit before they were joined by a despaired looking Crow who was down on his luck regarding the bets, he had done one the horse races.

The only thing that saved him from Towa's scolding was the fact that the bets he had done were those that were made for minors to play and didn't involve any money. To drive him further into despair Angelica revealed that she had been the one to win those bets, however before she could drive the stake further in the water fountains were starting to malfunction.

A minute later they exploded letting monsters out from the underground, the police stationed at the plaza reacted quickly to contain them, "Crow, Angie help me with evacuating the people from the plaza. Group A you should go to Mater Park to make sure that everything is fine with princess, this is here could just be a distraction." Seeing the wisdom in Towa's order they left the plaza as quickly as possible, running towards the park on the way there they spotted a tram that was going in their direction, getting inside they quickly inspected their equipment in case they needed to fight while using the travel time to make sure that they were ready.

Upon their arrival on the park, they saw how the guards and the police were fighting against monsters while smoking came from the garden house. Rean, Fie and Laura stormed forward cutting down every monster that barred their path. Inside Rean saw Gideon with two other men that were holding Elise and the princess hostage standing before a giant hole while Governor Regnitz was on the ground clutching his bleeding shoulder standing in front of him was Patrick with his rapier pointed at the terrorists.

Seeing the danger Elise was in Rean had to surpress the ogre from coming out with all his willpower, noticing their arrival Gideon sneered at them, "Ah, Class VII! So, you have come to meddle in our affairs again, have you? Not this time, get them my beasts." Not wasting any time G played his flute to call out two monsters that were the same as the one they dealt with yesterday in the waterway. After giving his orders they took the girls down the hole with them, Rean saw red at that but before he could do anything, Machias and Elliot jumped forward.

"I hope you are ready, Elliot!" The gunner took out several strong looking bullets and shot them at the monsters causing big explosions upon impact, Machias took another special bullet out along with an Orbment which he placed on his shotgun, taking aim he waited till Elliot acted. The musicians somehow transformed his Orbal Staff into a violin and started playing, the sounds being produced resonated with the elements in the air forming seven balls that represented both the lower and higher Elements, reaching the final of the short music piece the balls flew towards the monsters along with Machias final bullet. Both attacks managed to literally erase the monsters not leaving anything behind, the pair quickly high-fived at their success in pulling this off. The gunner ran towards his father to make sure that he was alright leaving Elliot to explain things to their gobsmacked friends.

"We also are working hard to make sure that we can keep up with you guys." Grinning Elliot cast a healing art at the Governor stopping the bleeding and after convincing Patrick to stay behind, they jumped down the hole in pursuit of Gideon, a bit later Rean's Arcus started ringing not willing slow down, he answered mid run, "Sara here, I just got the info. Give me your report."

"Gideon and two men kidnaped both Elise and the Princess right now we are in pursuit of them, though one of the underground tunnels."

"OK, keep going. Your first priority is the recovery of the hostages and making sure that they aren't hurt. If you can't recover them, stall the terrorists until reinforcements arrive. Me and Captain Claire are on the way to you, but it will take us at least fifteen minutes to arrive. Be careful." Closing his Arcus Rean concentrated on spreading his senses as far as he could, but he only managed to sense monsters in front of him, "They have a head start and monster are blocking our way, but they are also carrying two hostages which should slow them down enough for us to catch them. We are breaking through every monster that we find, Laura and Fie you are up front, Machias and Elliot you are in the middle, and I will bring up the rear."

"Got it!"

They managed to catch up in a big hall where several huge bones were spread out, Machias fired shots to slow them down while Fie and Laura cut them off, resulting in Group A surrounding them, "Show is over, let Elise and the princess go. NOW! Do that and we will let you go." The look in Rean promised them untold pain if they didn't comply, "Hahahaha, impressive. Very impressive. I had no idea Thors was cultivating such gifted students…"

Gideon tried to continue talking but the sudden pressure coming from Rean shut him up, "I won't repeat myself, a third time. RELEASE THEM NOW! Or you will wish it was the RMP who got you instead of me!" The terrorists took a step back away from Rean, remembering their back up plan in case of pursuit, Gideon stepped between the other two men making it impossible for the students to attack him without hurting the hostages, he once again played his flute but this time it wasn't a living monster that appeared instead the bones spread out in the room started glowing and joining together adopting the image of a Bone Dragon, "Behold the power of the demonic flute, it sound capable of enslaving even the shadow that reigned over Heimdallr during the Dark Ages!"

The dragon used his tail to separate the two groups and placing itself in front of Group A using its height and its aura to intimidate them and it worked until Rean swung down his tachi spreading his own aura and Ki, motivating his friends, "Guys, think just how much you have grown just during this field study. Laura and Fie are starting to unleash their full potential by working together while Machias and Elliot have grown far stronger even developing their own S-Crafts. There is no way this thing is going take us down!" Listening to Rean lit a fire inside them, gone was their hesitation in its place only determination, they fired their combat links up with such an intensity that it was almost blinding.

No more words were spoken they chose to answer with their actions, Laura and Fie made the first move knocking the dragon back using their Scud Ripper and Earth Cleaver at the same time. Rean was just a step behind them using its front leg to jump higher just to smash his head down with a Flame Impact, not missing a beat Machias used his Break Shot damaging its head even further Eliot meanwhile finished charging his Arcus to unleash the Water Art Hydro Cannon. The force of the water smashed the monster into the wall leaving it dizzy for a moment.

The girls didn't miss a beat by exploiting this opening, they focused their attacks on the joints of the dragon's claw causing cracks to appear on it, trying to defend itself the claw was raised and brought down with enough force to crush the girls who remained in place trusting their comrades, they started to gather their Ki to unleash their greatest attacks together, using the Autumn Leaf Cutter on the cracks Rean managed to cut its claw off without the support from it the dragon started to lose its balance finding it difficult to stand upright with only three legs.

Machias used two of his special bullets, Burst Drive, to give the girls a burst in speed while Elliot Art gave them more strength, grinning at what they were planning Rean got out of their way, "Alright, Laura, Fie finish it off!" The girls both unleashed their S-Crafts like they had done against the Ice Wolf two months ago, Fie used her superior speed and bullets to soften the bones while Laura clad in a huge amount of Ki unleashed strike after strike precisely targeting those spots, crushing every bone to pieces. With one last mighty strike she cut of its heads and hit it towards the terrorist cutting their path out of this hall off, at the same time Fie used her speed to appear besides them effectively boxing them in.

"…THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE! That was the dark tyrant himself how could it be defeated by you brats?! HOW?!" Gideon couldn't accept what he was seeing he took his flute to revive it again, but a red flash passed by his head cutting a part of the flute making it unusable and leaving a wound the right side of his face. Realising how close that flash had been caused G to turn pale and take several steps back, slowly making his way towards them was Rean flanked by the rest.

"Your little pet is destroyed along with your flute, you have no way to escape, your only chance in getting out of this in one piece is if you let them go, RIGHT NOW!" Rean was reaching the end of his patience with them, his demeanour started to change promising the terrorist great pain if they didn't do as he said. At that moment their survival instincts kicked in prompting them to release the girls out of reflex, seeing this opportunity Elise used the hand-to-hand skills her brother had taught her to threw them to the ground and take Alfin to run towards Group A.

Gideon reached toward them out of reflex, but another red flash went by him again this time on the other side of his head leaving a similar wound behind like the first one, making him stop in his movements. Machias and Elliot took the younger girls behind them and away from the terrorist though both boys looked a bit shocked at the youngest Schwarzer, "My brother taught me several ways to defend myself in case someone was trying to hurt me."

The girl blushed a bit at their stares though she ignored Alfin's teasing remarks by focusing on Rean, because she knew that he was truly angry now and with that his power was more likely to surface, if that happened, she shuddered at that thought since she knew what had happened last time to him, when people saw his Ogre Power and she didn't wish for that to happen to him again.

"This is the end of the road for you, surrender peacefully and you won't be harmed, in case you do resist then you are just giving me an excuse to hurt you badly….! Fie get back, now!" The swordsman yelled at the silver haired girl, she didn't even think to question why she just jumped back and started jumping sideways, which helped her evade a sword that had appeared above her head and the gunshots that followed until she was besides Laura and Rean facing her two assailants, a woman with an eyepatch on her left eye and a huge man wielding a machinegun with only one hand. Seeing them managed to get Gideon moving again, "Comrade S, Comrade V! I wasn't expecting to see you tow here, though I am not complaining."

"Heh, we and the boss thought you needed backup in case the RMP had some trump cards we didn't know about."

"Though we weren't expecting that their trump card would be such cute kittens." Both the man and woman seemed to be allies of G, add the two recovering men, Group A was the one outnumbered now, though they were going fight with every ounce of the strength to give Elise and Alfin the chance to run, Rean was looking at the stairs instead as if waiting for something, the others in the room noticed this and looed in the same direction just in time to see a person clad entirely in black wearing a black helmet with a red visor hiding his face.

"The mission was a success just by reaching this point with the princess, there is no need for us to do anything else. We should leave now or does Class VII Group A has something against that?" The helmet not only hide his face but also his voice, "You know who we are? No matter, for attempting to kidnap two young girls and causing so many damages throughout the city, we are placing you all under arrest."

Facing Laura's declaration, the terrorists merely sneered at her, "And here I was hoping to leave here peacefully, though perhaps a test of your mettle isn't such a bad idea. Hmmm, what do you say, Rean Schwarzer? You five against me in combat, if you manage to win you can arrest us, if we win you will let us leave in peace." The terrorist in black looked at Rean when he made his proposal, (He knows that I am the group leader and our Class, who is he? Should we take his offer…no. I can sense that he is strong, plus the other two are also skilled enough to nearly get the drop on Fie and we still have Elise and Alfin to protect. We must get them out of here first, still I shouldn't pass up this chance.) He looked back at his sister and the princess before facing the terrorists, "Very well, I accept your offer, but you aren't going to face all of us but only me."

"What?! We should fight as a group; surely, we can overwhelm them even if they fight together. You shouldn't…"

"Laura! What is our priority here?" The swordswoman understood what he was say implying, still it didn't sit well with her to let him fight alone, "Machias, you and Elliot take Elise and Alfin away from here. Don't argue with me, go back while protecting them. Fie and Laura stay here and keep an eye on the rest of them, I don't trust that they will stay idle when their comrade is going to lose."

The only woman looked at him like he was an idiot, "Did you hear that, C? The little boy is thinking that he can defeat you all by himself." The rest were laughing at him, "Come now, Comrade S. No need to be so mean to him. Very well, I shall face you in single combat, I am interested to see what a practitioner of the Eight Leaves One Blade School can do." He took out his weapon managing to surprise Laura, "That is a double Sabre, a weapon originating from the Dark Ages!"

Machias and Elliot started to make their way towards the exit while keeping an eye on their adversaries in case they chose to attack them, after one last long at Rean, they took the girls who were looking back with worry in their eyes, at the same time Laura and Fie took their position, watching the terrorists in case they attacked like Rean had said.

As for the two combatants they starred at each with their weapons drawn, waiting for an opening. In flash they disappeared at the same time meeting again the middle of the room with their weapons clashing several times, Rean attacked with a trust, but it was deflected his opponent with a swipe of his sabre, the other end came at his head in one smooth movement. Rean evaded it by just stepping back a little bit, causing him to feel the air of the attack on his face. Using Helix, he coated his tachi in flames he as he slashed at C two times while using that momentum to use a rotary motion to start low and end up high while using his Ki to unleash a tornado covered in flames which caught his opponent off guard. Though the damage was just some tears on his clothes as acted quickly by unleashing his Ki in a burst to defend himself lessening any hurt that he suffered

Both fighters stepped back to reassess their adversary, (After crossing blades with him I am sure, he is better than me in both strength, speed and technique, the only advantage that I have is my combat experiences. Unless I plan to take out my ogre power, I don't see any way in winning this without drawing this out though I have the feeling that even if I manage to defeat him and the others, they still have a method to get out of here. For now, I should just concentrate in buying time for the others to leave and for Instructor Sara and the RMP to arrive.)

They started to exchange moves again, though it didn't long for the others to notice that C seemed to have the upper hand now. Still Rean managed to get him to stay on his toes long enough for several footsteps to be heard coming from behind them. With that Rean sprang into action unleashing everything that he had, "Seventh Form, Void Lights!" His tachi was covered in that black Ki again though this time it was thinner than the one he used before, using the basics forms of eastern swordsmanship he attacked from every direction almost instantly, combining nine moves into one attack, his opponents on the other hand attacked with simply coating his double sabre with enough Ki to lighten the room before swinging it at him, "Criminal Edge!"

Both techniques hit each other at the same time though Rean was thrown back further than C, the terrorist had a crack on his visor though it didn't break in the end.

"Hmm, seems like I have underestimate you a bit if were able to push me this far. Nonetheless this ends here, listen well Class VII. We are the Imperial Liberation Front, in our hearts, the flames of silent anger. In our hands, the hammer of judgment that shall topple the dictator. That is our cause and our purpose." Done with his big speech C took out a detonator and pressed it, causing several explosions to appear above them, it took Rean and the others a moment before they noticed what they had done. "Girls, get out of here!" Not wasting any time, they sprinted out of the hall just as stones started to fall burying the entire hall with debris. "Are you three alright?!"

Turing around they saw Machias, Elliot, Sara, Claire, Elise and Alfin with several soldier from RMP running towards them, "Boy, am I glad to see you all unharmed. Those four already filled us in what happened, where are the terrorists?!" Facing Sara's question Rean was going to fill her in, but Elise grabbed him and started to see if he was injured, leaving him no choice but to let Fie explain what transpired after Machias and Elliot left.

After listing to Fie both the instructor and captain looked at the now blocked hall, deciding that C and company should have already escaped giving the head start they had, leaving them with no other choice but to returned to the surface where both Patrick and the Governor Regnitz were waiting for them. "Sigh, this has turned into quite a mess. First the capital is attacked by several monsters and both the crown prince, and the princess are attacked by them. Got to admit the Imperial Liberation Front made quite the first impression in the Empire."

"My brother was attacked?! Is Cedric alright?!"

"No need to worry your highness, he didn't suffer any injuries and he is already in a safe place, thanks to the efforts of Group B." Captain Claire calmed Alfin down while explaining what happened, "Seems like Alisa and the rest did well then, do you know what they faced, Instructor Sara?"

"Unlike here there were no terrorist involved in the attack besides the fact that they released several monsters to cause chaos near the cathedral where the Crown Prince was, they managed to get him to safety without a scratch. Last I heard they were chasing that group from the east down." The last part caught Reans attention along with a bad feeling, "What group? I thought they were after Tamamo!"

Before Sara could answer his question here Arcus rang, she took thinking that perhaps it was Group B calling her, it wasn't, "Toval? Nice of you to finally call me back, I asked you for detail this morning regarding….Wow, slow down….What?! What do you mean that the Ikaruga Jaeger Corps are ranked as a Triple S Threat level in the Bracer Guild?!" Rean body turned cold at what he was hearing, catching Sara by her arm, he forced her to look at him, "Instructor Sara, please tell me that the others aren't chasing after members from Ikaruga, please!"

The look he got from her was answer enough, she started saying something, but his head was a mess with several thoughts running through it, until he activated 'Frozen Heart' to forcefully calm down, "There is no time to lose now. First, where are they headed?"

His change didn't go unnoticed by the rest who looked at him with worry, Sara could feel sorry for herself later for now she had to protect her students, "They were last seen heading in the direction of the harbour on the west side. I will get us a car and drive us there. Oi, Claire I needed a car, asap!"

"In which direction is the harbour, I don't need the route just the direction." Both Elliot and Machias pointed in the general direction, "Thanks you two, I will go ahead to try and support Group B." Before anyone could say anything, Rean disappeared in front of them, only Sara and Claire were able to see him move though only barely. He ran towards the exit of the park, jumped onto a military car and used it as a springboard to jump higher onto a roof before he ran into the direction of the harbour leaving several people to look at him with their mouths wide open at the nearly inhuman speed and jump strength he showed. The sole person who knows what is going on could only pray that this wouldn't cause her brother more pain in the end.

(Everyone, please be safe!) Rean decided to go all out, he unleashed his 'Spirit Control' causing his eyes to turn blood red with slits in the middle and his hair to change colours to white instead of the dignified black he usually had. Those changes along with the changes in his aura caused his speed to nearly triple making it easy for him to jump from roof to roof in the direction where his friends were.

Thirty minutes earlier.

At the same time Mater Park was being attacked Group B was watching Crown Prince Cedric being escorted into the Cathedral, "So that is the Crown Prince of Erebonia? He looks quite soft-spoken compared to his sister and brother."

"True compared to them he is bit timid, though please be careful that you don't say that where people can hear you, Gaius. That could lead to problems if the wrong person heard you." Jusis warned his friend while he drank his tea, Alisa looked around the area hoping to catch their quarry, "I think as long that man doesn't run into Rean we should consider this request a success, Alisa." The archer sighed before nodding, "You are right, Emma. As long they don't meet everything is fine. Still, I would love to get my hands on him."

"I see that Rean isn't the only overprotective one in our class."

"Very funny Jusis, as if you three are any different. Are you telling me if you got the chance, that you wouldn't do the same?" The silence from the others was enough as an answer for her, "I know that I shouldn't meddle in this unless he talks to me about it, but the fact that he is always the one taking care of us and helping us out with our burdens while at the same time he doesn't let us do the same for him…it just isn't fair. What happened to him that he would refuse any help from others?!"

The others shared a look with each unsure what to say even though they shared the same opinion as her, "We know that this here is the first opportunity since the beginning of the schoolyear that we have to help him for a chance, though he shouldn't find out about this until much later."

"True enough, if he did, he would only blame himself for burdening us with this. Perhaps we should also have told the others in Group A about this, they could have perhaps kept an eye on him to prevent their meeting?"

"That isn't a good idea, Gaius. He may have gotten the wrong person but with just some simple clues he was able to piece together what we and his friends are doing. Suppose that we told the others, I have no doubt that he would find out about it rather fast."

Thinking about it the lancer was convinced what Jusis was saying was true, the others settled in their chairs watching the proceedings unfold until they noticed that something was wrong with the fountain in front of the cathedral. The water was rising until it flowed out of the fountain before anyone could act, every manhole exploded along with the fountain releasing several monsters form the underground.

Springing into action Group B started to take on the monsters, thankfully the place was full of guards which helped in eliminating the monsters faster, though from one hole an alligator like monster jumped out and ran towards Cedric. It managed to mow down the guards that were in its ways but before it could the Crown Prince, Alisa's Rosetta Arrow manged to knock it sideways giving Gaius and Jusis enough time to attack and Emma to create a barrier in front of the prince.

Dizzy from the arrow the monster didn't put much of a fight which Group B took advantage off to end it, with the danger averted and the other monsters under control Cedric stepped forward to thank them for their help. Yet before he could speak a yell was heard from inside the church, "Thief! Someone stop him, he stole the belongings from the church!"

Along with the sounds of glass breaking, looking in that direction Group B saw the man they were looking for along with another man that according to Inari belonged to the same squad. Group B exchanged just a short look with each other before they ran after them, while running Jusis called Instructor Sara to inform her of the recent events, while Alisa called Itsuki and the others to help them.

For the next ten minutes they chased the fleeing pair until they arrived on the harbour where the four bracers were already fighting with the remaining members of the Ikaruga Squad. "Damn it, if you would listen to us just for a moment, we don't want of fight you, we just want to talk, nothing more."

The answer to Haru yell was a blade to his stomach which he blocked with his tonfas; the jaegers didn't say anything they just continued their attacks. It was four against four before the Group B and the other two arrived, Akari was wielding a naginata, Yui wielding two kodachis and Itsuki was using gauntlets equipped on his hands and feet. Group B immediately realised that those eight fighting skills were above their own, but that didn't stop from cutting the fleeing pair off before they joined their group.

"Put down what you stole from the church and raise your hands in the air!" The duo looked at each other before they threw a box far away from the fight and took out their weapons, not wasting any time they were assaulting Group B. Gaius and Jusis stepped forward to meet them while Alisa and Emma provided support from behind, compared to the other four these two were less skilled but still a level above in skill compared to the students.

By making full use of their combat links, they managed to get the fight evenly with their opponents, however unlike the sparing they had done in school these people fought with the intention to maim or even kill. For the next a few minutes the sounds of fighting could be heard from the harbour, the fighters not knowing that they were being watched from above.

Himari Sasaki and another woman were looking down from one of the rooftops, the woman standing besides Himari was taller and had a far more voluptuous figure, the kimono that she was wearing was white in colour though it looked like it would burst open in the front trying to contain the twin mountains of the woman. It somehow managed to draw attention to that place without it being too obvious giving the woman a mature allure, add that together with her golden eyes and hair. This was a woman so beautiful that it could bring down countries with just a smile, "Lady Tamamo, this wasn't what you promised me! You told me that you would resolve this without anyone getting hurt."

Himari tried to make the woman stop the fighting below, "Don't worry little Himari, when have I ever lied to you? For now, no one is hurt, I am just curious to see how this little play will unfold and what it will reveal. Of course, if I see that the students or the bracers are in any danger I will intervene, after all I don't want Rean to be mad at me." Himari could only accept that, since she knew that if the woman in front of her made a move, she could easily subdue the fourteen people attacking each other, "What exactly are you hoping to see then, Lady Tamamo?"

"In the beginning it was just a tiny curiosity toward Class VII, but little Alisa was able to see through Rean quite easily making me wonder if he isn't letting his guard down around her and the others. You and I know how closed off he can be regarding himself; the boy would rather suffer in silence and alone before asking someone for help. That and I want to make sure that he doesn't get hurt again like what happened in Tasogare Town."

At the mention of that town a shiver ran down her back, making her wonder what the hell had happened to her old friend there that would make the being in front her, furious at the mere mention of it. They watched in silence as the fight went on, until Tamamo head snapped in one direction, "Oh my, seems like I underestimated his attachments to his classmates. What should I do now? Should I stop him, or should I use this chance to test Class VII reaction?"

"Lady Tamamo! Look!" Himari pointed at the Alisa who was now in mortal danger, coming to a decision Tamamo remained still, "Don't worry, Himari. Nothing will happen to her, he is here." Before she could protest, Himari looked in one direction and stopped moving with her mouth wide open as she saw what Tamamo had already noticed, (Aidios! Is that Rean?!)

Alisa fired arrows after arrows leaving it to Emma to cast the Orbal Arts, somehow, she had a feeling that she could predict how her targets were going to move, their movements were somewhat familiar to Reans and thanks to their training together she knew where to shoot. The tides were slowly turning in favour of Group B, spotting an opening to drive them into a corner, Alisa moved leaving the boys protection though the results were excellent.

They managed to cut off their movements until they were between some cargo containers and the wall of a warehouse, in a desperate move one of their opponents threw a grenade at Alisa. She deflected it with an arrow while it was in mid-air, though unluckily for her it hit some cargo containers making the highest fall down towards the archer. Alisa for a short moment froze while the others yelled and ran to her, the last thought in her head was (Rean, I am so sorry!)

The container landed with a loud bang on the ground, making Group B and the bracers despair at the sight their minds blank, no one moved or made a sound until everyone present trembled out of nowhere thanks to the sudden appearance of a malevolent aura. They looked at towards the source of it, only to find Alisa alive in the arms of Rean, though this wasn't the Rean they were familiar with.

This one had white hair, red eyes and an aura that promised death and destruction, to anyone who crossed him, no one said anything at the sight however there was one man who glared at Rean with eyes full of hatred and disgust. Feeling that she was being carried and not smashed to pulp Alisa slowly opened her eyes and saw that she was being hold in a princess carry by Rean. At the first she couldn't understand what was going, just a moment ago she was going to die and now she was in his arms, her brain blanked out for a moment, and she would have blushed immensely if she hadn't noticed the changes around Rean.

The moment their eyes met she somehow knew that whatever she did next could either break the boy who was looking at her to pieces or start healing those scars he hid deep inside. Her brain didn't know what to do, so she followed her heart and reached out her hand to cup his face giving him a smile, "Hey there Rean, thanks for saving my life."

The smile she gave him loosened the breath that he had been holding in since she looked at him as the Ogre for the first time, he didn't say anything and just remained silent, "I have to say, while I prefer your black hair and lilac eyes, you also look good with that white hair and red eyes. Hmm, you should try wearing the red jacket of our class while looking like that, I think that it would look good on you."

Alisa didn't make a move to get out of his arms, any other time she would have scrambled out of there while blushing immensely but this time she was content in staying in his arms looking at him, her heart telling her this is what the boy in front of her needed. She felt him relax and looking at his eyes he was relieved that she seemed to take his changes in stride however before he could say anything to her, there was a loud bang.

In one swift motion, the Ogre had put Alisa behind him and cut the oncoming bullet in half, looking at the man who had fired it he saw what he had expected to see in Alisa's and the rest of Group B eyes, hatred and disgust. "What the hell is an abomination like you doing here?! You should be dead! Just looking at you reminds of what you did to my hometown, I still have nightmare of that day. The day you destroyed Tasogare Town, covering it in fire, blood and the corpses of those that you killed, you goddamn demon!"

Shocked gasps could be heard from Alisa and the rest of Group B however their eyes toward him didn't change towards fear but rather to concern for him, while Alisa squeezed his hand in support before glaring at the man, "What did you just say?! What right do you have to call Rean like that, in our eyes you are the monsters, if it hadn't been for him, no one from that accursed place would be alive! He saved the lives of every person in that town and how did you thank?! Do you know how much he suffered because of you?!"

Itsuki looked ready to murder the man and the other bracers shared the same look, the atmosphere turned hostile while the bracers and Group B glared at the man, the Ogre finally understood what was happening, why his friends had been chasing these people.

"Enough! We have wasted enough time here, either let us leave or fight us!" One person form the Ikaruga Squad stepped forward, presumably the captain and started issuing his orders, Itsuki switched his glare towards the man and was going to respond but he didn't get the chance, "You want a fight? Very well, then I will give you one! But I can assure you…." The Ogre's voice spread through the area containing enough power to subdue the weak minded, the sound of a tachi being drawn and sheathed followed resulting in cargo containers made of steel being cut into several pieces, "You won't like the results, so stand down!" Seeing what the being standing before them could do, caused the squad member to turn pale in fear though the man from Tasogare Town still looked ready to kill the Ogre.

"You all should listen to him, because if you don't, he won't the only one dealing with you." Out of nowhere appeared a melodious sounding voice, looking around they saw Himari and Tamamo walking towards them, "Rean may look fierce right now, but he will only hurt enough for you to stop from moving, me on the other hand will break every bone in your body."

The sentences coming out of her mouth didn't match the gently smile she had on her face, but just her presence alone was enough for the people coming from the East to stand down, "Tamamo no Mae, why am I not surprised that you are involved in this?" The Ogre was the only one brave enough to speak to her, "Come now, Rean. I just wanted you to avoid running into that maggot over there and your friends were helping me voluntary, I might add. I didn't force them into anything against their will."

He was going to refute that claim but was interrupted by Alisa shouting, "Wait….Tamamo? Isn't that what you called Miss Inari back in Roer? That is her?!" That resulted in the bracers looking at her in shock, realising that their target, the reason why they had come to Erebonia, had appeared before them and they hadn't even noticed it, "Urgh, we completely forgot that she is a master of disguises. How could we have been so stupid!" Patting Yui on her shoulder Akari tried to console her, "Because she is the best one in the East, besides neither the Guild nor we expected to really find her if she didn't want to be found."

"That is a good mindset little Akari. Anyway, how about it, Squad Captain, are you going to stand down or should I make you?" The Captain knew exactly who and what was standing before them, he would rather take his chances with the white-haired demon and the rest instead of dealing with the famous Golden Fox, so he gave the order for his men to surrender.

"A very wise choice Captain. Don't worry, I will release you after we are back in the East just to make sure that your man there doesn't get any funny ideas." Tamamo gazed towards a certain person though he just glared right back not knowing who stood in front of him, "That thing over there should be killed. You have no idea what he did…"

Suddenly a pressure appeared out of nowhere forcing the man to his knee, Tamamo looked livid gone was the teasing smile in its place was a snarl, "I know exactly what he did but what you and others from that town don't know is that the reason you were given a new land to rebuild your lives was because he asked the Lords for it since he felt guilty for not having managed to protect your town and something else that you should know is that I and other people would have punished you for your actions against him. But we didn't because, Rean Schwarzer the one you call a demon, asked us not to and we decided respect his wish, even if some of us would have gladly made you suffer for the rest of your pathetic lives. Do not test my patience in this matter, I still can and will make you pay for what you did if you cross the line again."

Not believing what he was hearing, the man was going to retort back but one punch for his captain made him stop and keep his mouth shut. Taking back her pressure she smiled warmly at Rean, "I will take care of this matter here, for now you and your friends should go back. This place is soon going to be full of the RMP and the Imperial Intelligence Division searching from what they stole, as for you four. I think it is best if you also come with me, Bracers aren't exactly welcome here and we should avoid leaving anymore trouble for Rean and the others. Don't worry I will make sure that you catch up with Rean another day." Left with no choice Group B took back the stolen items, that turned out to be artifacts, though Alisa took that chance to land a kick between the legs and a vicious uppercut on the man from Tasogare Town when he wasn't looking.

Tamamo gave her a thump up for that along with a grin, "I am starting to really like her, she has quite the fire in her. Rean, I won't tell you what to do next, but I think that you can trust her and the others of your class. It is time for you to walk out of that shadow from four years ago, just give them a chance."

Rean had already released his 'Spirit Control' and was suppressing the backlash from it with just his willpower, so could only look at Tamamo with uncertainty in his eyes, she took that as progress because if this had been the old Rean before he had met Class VII, he would have already disappeared from here and Class VII's lives.

Tamamo gathered the others around here and took out an eastern Talisman, "Don't worry I still have something to do in the Empire so you will see me again, so this is just a temporary goodbye for now. See you, Rean And Class VII." Today seemed to be the day for overturning Group B's views, first Reans changed appearance and strength and now Tamamo used an odd-looking piece of paper to make twelve people disappear in a flash of light not unlike the one from the teleport in the old schoolhouse.

Taking a deep breath, they looked at Rean who still using 'Frozen Heart' not knowing what to say they left it to Alisa to speak, "We have so many questions but for now just tell us how bad are you hurt? Don't bother lying, Rean. You told us that the longer you use 'Spirit Control' the greater the recoil from it, last time you used it for a moment and Instructor Beatrix made you rest for the remainder of the day and….."

She didn't get to finish her question since at that moment several cars pulled into the harbour and from one of them Sara jumped out followed by the rest of Group A, looking at the worried looks they were directing this way Rean thought to himself, (Perhaps Tamamo was right, I think I have been running away long enough. I will leave the choice on how to go on to them, though to be honest I don't think that they will accept me after seeing me like this, but it is their choice, and I will accept it. I just hope that this won't give my family any trouble.) As soon as he finished thinking that Rean couldn't hold back the backlash anymore and just fainted right there, though before he lost conscious, he saw the anxious looks of Alisa and the others.

Rean slowly opened his and looked at the ceiling above him trying to remember where he was, the pain in his body made him recall everything that happened, (Let's see, should I take it as a good sign that I am not chained to this bed or not?) He tried to raise his body up, but a hand appeared out of nowhere and pushed him gently back down, "You need more rest before you can even think of mowing, Rean."

Slowly turning his head, he saw Alisa sitting next to the bed he was in, "Should I say good morning or good evening right now?" The archer rolled her eyes at him before offering him a glass of water, "Good evening, but it has been a full day since you fainted Rean. The doctors who examined you, didn't find any lingering wounds just that your body was overworked like last time, so you are on bed rest until I say otherwise."

Drinking the water was good for him since his throat was pretty parched, "Shouldn't that decision belong to a doctor?" Narrowing her eyes at him, Alisa took back the empty glass, "Nope, that is my decision, and the others agree with me, you aren't leaving this bed until I give you, my permission. Are we understood?"

Knowing that any further discussion was useless when she was like this, he just nodded, "Yes, ma'am! By the way, what happened afterwards?" Satisfied with his answer, the archer started peeling an apple, "Nothing much, Captain Claire arrived and started asking questions, me and the others gave her an edited version on what happened, though I am sure that she didn't believe us, in the end she let it go. However, she was quite curious how you managed to reach us from across town so fast and what happened to the containers you cut. For the last one we told her that the thieves used some kind of overpowered Wind Art, as for the first we said that we have no idea."

He didn't know how to gently approach their next conversation, so he just asked her, "Should we talk about the elephant in the room, then?" She stooped peeling the apple for an instant before she continued, "Only if you want to, if you don't, we won't." Rean could only stare at her, "Are you not curious at all?"

She took cut the now peeled apple into smaller pieces before feeding him one, "Of course, I am. But you waited until I was ready to talk about myself back in Nord, it is only fair that I give you the same courtesy. Now open wide." Not knowing how to react to that he just did as she said, "I think after all you and the others have seen I owe you an explanation….humm." Alisa used the opportunity to throw another piece of apple inside his mouth to stop him from speaking, "You don't owe me or the others anything. When you are ready, we will listen until then I don't want to hear a word about it."

"Alisa, I am grateful for your consideration but at this point I want to tell you and the others about it. Though I also am not sure what is inside me, I still want to tell you. So that Class VII can come to a decision."

She was going to shove another piece inside his mouth but stopped midmovement getting a bad feeling, "…and what decision is that?" He looked directly in her eyes and calmly told her, "If I should remain at Thors or not." It took her a moment or two to understand what he was saying but when it did, she stood up and glared down at him, "What is that supposed to mean?!" The archer tried to remain calm but the longer she thought about it the angrier she was becoming, (He isn't really saying what I think he is, right?! Even he can't be that stupid!)

Rean proved to her that yes, he was that stupid, "What you all saw, it was when I have somewhat control over my power, the moment I lose control is the movement I run amok. There is always chance that I could suddenly get overwhelmed by him and lose control if that happens, I could hurt you or the others. Normally I should already be far away from here but part of me, the part that is unbelievable selfish hopes that you can somehow accepted that risk, I…"

Alisa suddenly appeared above him and blocked his mouth with her hands, She lowered her head until their noses touched and looked deeply in his eyes, "Not another word! How can you even think that we will chase you away?! Where were you during the last four months?! I thought that you knew that you could count us and that nothing can and will change that. ARGHH, you are incredible lucky, that you are hurt right now, because if you were a hundred precent fine, I would be slapping some sense into you, repeatedly. I don't know what happened in your past, but get this in your head, Rean Schwarzer! I am not going to leave you, not now or ever! You are stuck with me, I don't care what that power is, you hurting other people? Never, you are far too kind and stubborn for that to happen. The others will agree with me on that, rather I assure you that if you tell them the same think they will jump you and beat you up. I can promise you that!"

Wide eyed he looked at her, "You can't know that, Alisa. I am not that strong, just the thought of hurting you, is enough to fill me with despair." Rean could only whisper his fear to her, the glare softened at that admission, "If you can't trust yourself than trust me, Rean. I will put my life in your hands anytime and I will know that I am safe."

Before he could respond to that the door open and the rest of Class VII plus Sara entered the room, though they remained rooted in place when they saw them. "ehh….eh…You two while I said that the academy doesn't prohibited relationships, you two should still think about where you are or at least lock the door." It took them a few moments to grasp why Sara had said and the others looked at them with red faces, they looked at each other before they realised the position they were in, Rean on a bed and Alisa above him. Red faced Alisa jumped away from the bed, "This this isn't what it looks like. I was just going to going to…beat him up. Yes, that is it!"

Rean couldn't hold back his groan at her explanation, the others looked at her like she was crazy, "Hey no need to look at me like that, if you knew what he had just said, you all would have done the same." They looked from her to him still not believing her, so in an attempt to make them forget about the position she had been in, she told them what he had said.

Like she had predicted, the others were also furious at the swordman for even thinking of something like that and started to berate him, even the softspoken Elliot and Emma, good natured Gaius joined in. After several attempts to placate them, he had at least managed to calm them down, "Alright, alright! I was in the wrong, I won't leave the academy! But are you really find with this? I…"

"If you want to tell us, then wait until you are back on your feet, and we are back in the academy. For now, you need to recover, we can talk about your power later. Instructor Sara do you have any more news?" With that Alisa put that conversation for later and turned towards Sara, "The RMP managed to clear the monsters from the city and the Summer Festival is going smoothly now. As for our friends from the Imperial Liberation Front, there is no news and speaking of that, the royal family invited us all to the palace tomorrow morning before we leave for Trista. Do you think you will be fit for that?"

Her question was directed at Rean who after thinking for moment nodded, "Yeah, if a day has already passed, I should be fine tomorrow to walk on my own, but I should rest for another day or so before doing anything more than just walking."

Snorting Alisa looked at him, "I would say a week before you can even start thinking of training or playing gopher." He looked nearly horrified at that prospect, "I know my body the best and the recoil this time wasn't that bad, one or two days max and I will be fine." That seemed to the wrong thing to say as Class VII glared at him, "Care to explain what you mean by 'that this time wasn't bad'? How worse could it be?" Averting his eyes from Jusis question made it somehow worse when accidentally looked at Alisa whose smile seemed to be somewhat more scary than usual.

"Alright we can grill Rean later for more answers, for now you all should go to bed to rest. Ah, I nearly forgot. Your combat training will be several times harder for now on, don't even think of protesting. This is for your own good, Group A fought against terrorist and Group B took on a squad of real Jaegers. Prince Oliver explained to you that one of the goals of your field studies is to train your ability to make decision, and mine is to make sure that you all are ready for anything that may happened from making those decision, so prepare yourself for more training in the future."

Done speaking Sara left the room, leaving Class VII behind to lock at her retreating back in fear what kind of training she had in mind, though they knew that it was just because their Instructor was worried about them.

The others left also shortly after speaking with Rean for a bit, however Fie couldn't help herself from teasing them some more given the recent position they had been and the fact that Fie had finally manage to get her hands on Norton's photo gave her more ammunition for teasing them in the future. Alisa had run after her when she told them that Sharon should also be informed about recent events along with the photos but not before promising Jusis a painful punishment for asking for the photos.

(Who would have thought, that after seeing me like that they would still accept me? Well Group A didn't see me like that, but they heard enough form the others to imagine what I looked like. Hmm, I really am lucky this time around, especially the fact that Alisa didn't seem to fear me at all.) With those thoughts Rean fell asleep but not before he enjoyed the rest of the peeled apple while thinking about Alisa.

The next day Class VII was brought to Valflame Palace to meet the royal siblings Olivert and Alfin along with Elise who after making sure that her brother was fine, started to scold him for making her worry like that, Olivert looked at them before he bowed his head, "I don't really know how to begin thanking you all. You have done so much for our family by saving both Alfin and Cedric, I doubt we will ever be able to repay you for this favour."

Hearing Prince Olivert thanking them, Alfin joined in, "He is right I shudder to think what would have happened if you hadn't saved me and Elise." The siblings left Class VII no choice but to accept their thanks, "Prince Olivert, how goes the search for the Imperial Liberation Fronts?"

"Slow for now, they managed to cover their tracks well, but I am sure the Intelligence Division will find them sooner or later. But until then we will have to keep our guard up against them. I fear this won't be the last time we will see them." Recalling C, S, V and G Rean couldn't but agree, "In our hearts, the flames of silent anger. In our hands, the hammer of judgment that shall topple the dictator. No matter how cringeworthy those words are they also reveal for they are after."

The others agreed with him when a voice called out to them, "Oh thank the goddess. I didn't miss you." From one of the corridors appeared Crown Prince Cedric along with Governor Regnitz, "I also want to thank Class VII for their help in both my and Alfin cases. So please accept my heartfelt gratitude."

"Perhaps you also can ask for a few lessons in manliness from the gentlemen of Class VII."

"A-Alfin, come onnnn…" They watched how Alfin teased her brother bringing a smile to their faces, "How is your shoulder, Dad?" The Governor looked at his son and moved his shoulder, "As you can see, I am good as new. No need for you to worry. As a member of the board of directors, I would like to congratulate you all for your exemplary work, well done. You meet and exceed the expatiations we had for you. Prince Olivert, we three directors may have different points of views, but I can assure you that we just want what is best for the students."

"Haha….well, if you say so. I have always found you a trustworthy man, of course. But…"

"Ah, I see that everyone is here." Another voice called out to them but this time it was deep one, the speaker was approaching them, revealing a robust looking man that seemed to be in his late forties. The members who knew that man, stiffened in response to the imposing presence he was emitting, "I am overjoyed to see you safe and well, Princess Alfin."

She bowed her thanks to him, before he turned his attention toward Prince Olivert, "I would like to assure you Prince Olivert, that we are starting a nationwide hunt for those terrorists and that we won't rest until we have them apprehended. Ah but where are my manners? Please excuse me for not introducing myself. I am Giliath Osborne, representative of the Erebonian government and you all must be the famous Class VII that Prince Olivert created. I have been following your exploits for a while now. You have travelled quite far in our country and even outside of it and managed to accomplish so much, truly an inspiring class."

It was easy to see how this man had managed to climb to his position, given his bearing and presence, (So this is the Iron and Blood Chancellor, the supposed target of the Imperial Liberation Front. He certainly shows the part, but why is my scar and heart aching when I see him?! This has only happened when my power is surging but the ogre is calm now, so why?!)

Noticing his slight discomfort Alisa wanted to step beside him and comfort him, but her movements drew the attention of Osborne, "Ah you must be Rean Schwarzer, the leader of Class VII. I read your filles, you have led quite the fascinating live. Travelling the East while you were only eleven years old, studying under the founder of the Eight Leaves School and even managed to pick quite the imposing nickname for yourself. Though I think that in that regard we are familiar that we didn't chose those names ourselves. The Iron and Blood Chancellor for me and the Rampaging Demon for you, some people have really terrible naming senses, wouldn't you agree? Or do believe that you deserve that name?"

The pressure he was suddenly feeling coming from him, snapped him from his thoughts, "I wouldn't call myself the leader of Class VII, your Excellency. Each member is more than capable of assuming that role, as for the rest I would say that I was just lucky in being able to travel like that." It didn't escape the others notice that he hadn't answered the chancellor's last question, who gave him a smirk before he turned his attention at Sara, "Ah, it has been quite some time, young bracer. I am glad to see that your new career path is working out for you."

"Thank you, Chancellor. In a sense it is because of you that I can be where I am today. I will have to find a chance to repay that favour someday." Class VII could literally feel the lightning sparks coming from her at that response, Osborn either didn't notice it or just ignored it. "Very good, I look forward to that. Principal Vandyck was my old commanding officer in the army, as such I am planning on granting you a bit of additional assistance. I should have it ready in few weeks' times."

Alarmed expression appeared on both Sara and Olivert but before either could ask what that was about, he went on, "I have great expectations for you all. Nurture the bonds you share, and train up bodies and will of steel, for I have no doubt you will need them in the turbulent times to come." Following that speech, he left with Governor Regnitz and Cedric in town leaving the rest to wonder what the man knew, though one thing was certain there was a storm approaching the Empire that would tear at its foundation.

Class VII said their goodbyes to Elise, Alfin and Olivert and made their way towards the train station to return to the academy, on the way there no one said a word about their meeting with the Chancellor, however there was a surprise waiting for them on the station namely, a grinning Sharon. "Hello everyone, it is a pleasure to see you all again after such a long time." Rolling her eyes at the maid after everyone had returned the greeting Alisa approached her, "Is there a reason you are here, Sharon? I was expecting for you to greet us when we arrived in Trista and not here."

"I just returned from Roer just now my lady and waited for you so that we may return together since I can't wait to listen your report on how this exciting field study went. Besides that, I have also a small errand to finish." A feeling told Alisa that her maid already knew in detail what happened, but she let it go for now, "And what errand is that?" The maid took a small medallion and approached Rean, "I was asked to pass this here on to you, Master Rean. The person who asked me said that you should recognised it."

Curious what it could be, he opened his hand and paled at what he was seeing, it was a medallion that had eight small leaves engraved into it. "Sharon, I am really hoping that it was Himari who gave you this and not the other one?" The look he got in return was enough to destroy his small hope, "(Is that what she meant when she said she still had some business here in the Empire?) Sigh, seems like the Chancellor was right turbulent times are in store for me, Aidios please help me."

Rean could only imagine what that damn fox had planned for him and with this medallion he didn't have any right to refuse what was coming, he only hoped that she wouldn't cause too much chaos in this part of the continent though he knew that it was a futile hope.