Finishing up the audit took very little time at all as Class VII simply needed to retrace their steps to hit the other two shops needed. Both places went smoothly, with the only thing of note being the two Thors students they encountered along the way. One being Linde, the twin sister of that annoying reporter Vivi, with the other being a very excitable businesswoman named Becky.
Privately Fie could only wonder if this would be the fate of her and her classmates eventually. Were they to become some weird human swarm that spreads across the continent, consuming all in their wake? Was she destined to run into classmates wherever she went for the rest of her life?
Hopefully not, but at some level that didn't sound entirely bad.
If there was one letdown from their mission requests it was that the path they ended up taking kept them far away from Crossbell's fabled Entertainment District. Randy would be so disappointed in her. Hopefully the chance would arise for her to slip away and at least check out the casino the older man had gushed about so much, since she had a funny feeling her boring teacher would never allow it.
Oh well. At least Rean got the call that their client from the Epstein Foundation was ready for them just as they were finishing up at the noodle stand. It took a few minutes for the police captain to arrive to collect their work, but after that they went directly to the second largest building in the city.
It only took a minute after they reported to the desk before a nearby elevator chimed as it opened. Given that the person who had sent them the request was a high ranking engineer she expected to see some crusty old dude. Instead the person who stepped out was a girl who looked even younger than her...?
And yet as Juna rushed over to the girl there seemed to be no denying that this was their client. While the pink-haired girl chatted excitedly with the overwhelmed newcomer Fie witnessed Altina whispering something to Rean. As usual the two of them knew something more than what they were sharing. At least Kurt seemed to be just as ignorant as she was. It was nice having someone to share her ignorance with.
Eventually as the girl led them to a group of nearby couches she introduced herself as Tio Plato, Development Chief of the Epstein Foundation's Crossbell Branch. The name sounded vaguely familiar to Fie, but definitely not for anything related to engineering. It was only once Juna proudly introduced her as a member of the SSS that Fie understood.
Randy had mentioned that one of his old coworkers had been a kid, but this definitely wasn't what she had expected. Then again, wasn't one of her classmates a tiny child too...?
"Tio is seriously amazing, you guys! Not only was she in charge of information management at the SSS, she's a prodigy at working the orbal network! And she loves Mishy more than anything-"
Wow. Juna was really fangirling hard. This was pretty hilarious to watch, especially as the SSS member looked like she had swallowed something bitter as she tried and failed to temper Juna's enthusiasm.
Eventually Rean decided to be a bore by bringing the discussion back on topic before Juna could make a complete fool of herself. According to Tio there had been a computer glitch in the underground Geofront network and she needed to fix it, but to do so she needed an escort to protect her from all the monsters down there. From all accounts a simple enough request, but after a morning spent wandering around doing audits and cooking food Fie couldn't deny that a part of her was looking forward to the chance to let loose against some monsters.
Of course the Geofront was all the way back near the train station which meant that once again Class VII was walking through the city – albeit with a guest this time. She wasn't tired at all, but walking constantly was such a dull affair. Maybe she could convince someone to carry her if she faked an injury or something?
Those thoughts were discarded as they passed the central square and Fie remembered her own personal mission which she hurriedly moved to complete. Approaching the bench with the little girl and the cat she reached into her satchel and pulled out...
"Where did you get that fish!?" Kurt yelled in confusion.
"Fished it up while you guys were auditing the noodle stand." She enjoyed the shocked looks of her friends. In truth she hadn't had time to pull off something that elaborate, instead opting to purchase the fish from one of East Street's fishmongers while the others were chatting with some other merchant.
More importantly, however, was the reaction of the cat. "Nyannyan...!" She, her classmates, and the little girl all looked on with wide-eyes as the cat snatched the fish out of her hands before bounding away in a rush.
"Ah, yes." Tio was the only one not surprised as she nodded her head sagely, "It was smart of you to bring Coppe a fish. He really loves them. And if my calculations are correct he should be back right about... now."
"Funya~" Coppe's return was highlighted by the cat dropping a small object at Fie's feet.
Curiously she picked it up, "...A master quartz?" Time element, to boot. Seemed like a pretty high quality quartz compared to her current one. Neat.
"He does that. None of us know where he gets those quartz from, but he was always a steady supplier for the SSS. I would have loved to provide Coppe with some fish of my own, but..." Tio closed her eyes and shuddered, "...I do not like fish. Too slimy. Too creepy."
Eventually they moved on and soon arrived at the Geofront's entrance. After unlocking the door Tio led them inside. Down a flight of stairs they entered an elevator, which led them to another flight of stairs...
Just how deep did this place actually go!?
With them now in a combat environment Fie became more focused on her surroundings and of the gunblades now in her hands. Still, that didn't stop the former jaeger from noticing just how excited Juna had gotten upon realizing that she was about to fight alongside a member of the SSS. It kinda reminded her of the first time she had acted when Xeno and Leo allowed her to go on a three person mission with them. It was endearingly obvious that Juna didn't just idolize that Lloyd Bannings guy. She idolized the entire group. And from what she had seen of Crossbell that seemed to be a common opinion among the populace.
Still, idolizing Randy Orlando of all people? No wonder Crossbell was in its current mess.
That wasn't to say that Fie wasn't interested in the orbal technician herself. Hero of Crossbell business aside she had heard a few stories about the group from Randy and her curiosity was piqued. While Tio certainly didn't look like much it wasn't as if Fie had any room to comment. Being a tiny girl had been an asset as much as a hindrance over her career. Given the orbal staff in the other girl's hands she could only assume that she would be a more supporty type of fighter-
Tio must have noticed her assessment as their eyes met and the corner of her lips curled upwards, "I'm interested in you too."
"Huh?" Privately Fie cursed her lame response, but thankfully the blue-haired girl didn't comment on it.
"Mmm. When I learned that one of Juna's classmates was a former jaeger like Randy I was a little concerned. I kinda imagined you being more..." Tio trailed off.
But that didn't stop Fie from filling in the blanks, "Loud, obnoxious, and nursing a hangover?" Her words were on the money as both girls giggled to themselves, "Nah. I'm definitely not like Randy. You should meet the jaeger turned bracer that found me, though."
"Either that or someone like Garcia Rossi. He-" Tio turned her head a second before Fie noticed what was going on, "...Looks like we have company."
A group of nasty looking giant roaches were rapidly approaching the group. Huh. Tio was pretty observant to have beaten both her and Rean. A skilled, quiet, snarky girl who somehow managed to survive living with Randy for a year?
Yeah. Fie found herself respecting her temporary companion.
Thankfully for them the monsters weren't particularly dangerous, especially with the addition of a skilled arts user to the party – something which Class VII was admittedly quite lacking in. That didn't stop Fie from being annoyed after the fight, "How come every sewer has to be a monster infested dump? I mean this place is all modern and fancy, right? Why doesn't it have some kind of system to keep the monster infestations away?"
The only reply she got was silence. Figures.
She grumbled petulantly as the group continued moving forward. The Geofront reminded her a lot of the Einhel Keep trials they had been doing each month. Just a lot of machinery, bright lights, and monsters to be dealt with.
And just like the most recent trial the place also had a completely nonsensical path for them to follow, "Do they really expect workers to do stuff like this?" She asked after they exited from a vent in order to flip a switch to open a path forward, "What kind of psychopath would design the place to be like this?"
"Well, the entire Geofront was a front to mask how it was originally designed to power a ritual-"
"T-That doesn't matter!" Rean cut Altina off far too quickly to be anything but suspicious, "T-The sector I was in was a lot easier to traverse. Perhaps this area is just unique in its... difficult layout?"
"...I was set on fire the last time I was in the E sector." Tio muttered with a heavy frown as if she was remembering some unfortunate memories. To that Rean had no retort, instead bowing his head sulkily. Fie gave him a pitying pat on the back. He tried, but there was just no fighting off this many snarky girls at the same time.
It was funny watching Juna get more and more agitated after every vent and ladder they came across, but after a while even Fie was considering just ditching the others and relying on her own agility to traverse the area. They could catch up eventually. With her stealth training she could slip past all the monsters and take a quick nap in the terminal room-
"We're here." ...Or they could finally reach the end of the sector. That worked too.
The room at the end of the Geofront was pretty much exactly what she imagined a terminal room would look like. Just a large open room with a single giant computer sitting at the end. Tio's comment that this terminal had been a backup for a much larger one that Rean smashed up a year ago was kinda interesting, especially as the teacher looked rather sheepish at the mention. Definitely a story there.
As the Epstein chief began tapping away at the terminal Fie allowed herself the chance to relax. The room was completely devoid of monsters and the exits were covered so there wasn't anything to worry about-
At first she thought Tio was trolling her when she turned around with orbal staff at the ready, but a second later Rean drew his tachi and began scanning around for an unseen threat. Great. Her smug thoughts just screwed them all, didn't it?
Fie's problem had been thinking about things in a rational manner. The idea that they were safe so long as they kept the doors covered was a nice theory, except that didn't apply when the enemies had the unfair ability to appear out of thin air. One such example was that very moment as something large and dangerous looking appeared out of thin air right in front of them.
Although it was different from the one Class VII had faced at the start of the year she was immediately able to identify the enemy as one of those weird Magic Knights. This one, however, looked a lot nastier than their first trial as it was a big pink machine with a wicked looking battleaxe. Knowing they needed to keep it away from the terminal to their backs added an extra wrinkle of difficulty to the upcoming fight, but thankfully it seemed like the robot only had eyes for the humans in the room. Hurray.
In such a small room the Magic Knight didn't even have to pick a target as it could simply swing its axe around at random and completely scatter the members of Class VII. Even though Fie was able to dodge the attack with some difficulty she couldn't help but worry about the others – There just wasn't much space for dodging and it would only take one hit to really hurt someone. If only she could share some of her speed and agility with the others...
Had she not been so focused on launching her own assault on the rampaging machine she might have noticed her ARCUS II glowing for a moment.
Unfortunately for her, this ruby colored machine was a lot bulkier than the one they had faced earlier. Her bullets bounced harmlessly off its armor, her slashes did little more than scratch the paint, and what little damage she did was completely nullified as the Magic Knight regenerated almost instantly.
In that moment Fie made a mental note: As soon as they were back at school she was going to focus her everything on coming up with a new move. A true finished to surpass her Sylphid Dance. All the speed in the world meant nothing if she lacked the power to back it up.
At least she wasn't completely sidelined because she still had her explosives. A part of her was loath to waste her entire stockpile of fun explodey things on an unthinking golem, but a bigger part of her hated being useless. And right now she was useless.
Plus, this was Crossbell. She could just guilt Rean into replacing her stash at Neinvalli later.
The former jaeger observed the ongoing battle. Luckily for them the basic intelligence of the Magic Knight was easy to exploit – it simply went after the closest and most threatening target. That made it easy for them to control the enemy. Currently it seemed rather angry at Rean as the teacher had stabbed it just as it was about to corner Juna and Kurt.
But even if it wasn't targeting Fie she couldn't simply walk up to it and plant explosives while it was in motion. If she wanted to have any chance at taking it down she would need to place her charges in vulnerable spots. To do that would require it to be held in place for a long moment...
She watched in interest as the Magic Knight was caught in a blast of ice. It only took a few seconds for it to roar and shatter the obstacle, but those few seconds...
Decision made she approached the caster of that ice and the intelligence agent that was fighting next to her, "Think you can do that, but bigger?"
Tio glanced down at the orbal staff in her hands with a contemplative look, "It'll short out this test staff, but I should be able to. Why?" In response Fie drew one of her more powerful explosives from her satchel, "Mmm. That should work." The engineer began charging up her staff for the attack.
"...I'll distract it." Altina muttered as she approached the enemy, "Claiomh Solais!" Her machine punching the larger one accomplished little damage, but it did drew the ire of the axe-wielder, "Black Barrier!"
Her last second application of her shell's barrier proved effective at stopping the attack. The Magic Knight actually seemed confused by its failure for the briefest of moments before it wound its arm back for another swing. Fie wasn't sure if Altina could protect against another attack like that-
"Absolute Zero!" Instead of connecting with its swing, however, the Magic Knight found itself completely frozen thanks to Tio's powerful staff attack. Perfect.
With a burst of speed Fie placed herself directly behind the enemy machine. Already it was struggling to break free of the freezing trap and she knew she didn't have much time to waste. Fie was pretty sure that not even all of her explosives would be enough to put it down for good, so she didn't even try to kill it. Instead she quickly stuffed every last piece of plastic in her possession on the back of the knight's leg.
With a roar the Magic Knight freed itself, but Fie was already at a safe distance, "Ignition." With a press of the button all of her charges detonated at once.
The result was both effective and entirely underwhelming. Fie had envisioned the entire leg being removed from the force of all that explosive power. It didn't. Still, it was more than enough for the enemy to collapse to one knee. Its attempts at standing back up were futile, but already she could see it beginning to repair the damage-
"Seventh Slash - Fallen Leaves!" But before it could Rean was there with his own attack. Unlike Fie his most powerful move was actually capable of piercing the armor of the Magic Knight. And given that he struck at the vulnerable chest cavity of the helpless target...
"Woo. We rule." She deadpanned as the creature vanished into a ball of light. The Magic Knight hadn't been a particularly dangerous opponent, but it was obnoxious fighting something that just wouldn't die, especially in a tight place like that room.
With the battle over she listened with half an ear as Rean chatted with Tio. Apparently Magic Knights had never been seen in Crossbell until that very moment. Why the sudden change was a mystery that was probably important, but not one that she cared enough to try and solve herself. Instead she glanced around the room for a nice place to sit and relax while Tio did whatever needed to be done to fix the terminal-
It was because of that that she almost missed the flash of light and the return of the Magic Knight.
She narrowed her eyes at the opponent. That wasn't quite right. While the Magic Knight looked identical to the ruby red creature they had just vanquished, the fact it didn't have a single scratch from the battle led her to think that this was a second one. But a second identical knight appearing right after they beat the first was just as confusing!
Naturally, however, all those thoughts were secondary to the issue at hand – While the first battle hadn't taken that long and nobody had gotten hurt she knew they couldn't win the same was as before because she no longer had any explosives to use. Would they be able to make a new opening before exhaustion became an issue?
It seemed like Rean wasn't too keen on finding out because he raised his arm and began to call for Valimar. That he could have done that in the first place wasn't lost on the former jaeger, and she made a note to bug him about it later. Still, right now she wasn't gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. Rean could take care of this enemy on his own-
"No need for that!"
...Or for the second month in a row the Ashen Chevalier was interrupted before he could call his Divine Knight. This time the culprit was a blonde woman standing atop a side passage at a higher level in the room. In her hands was an orbal bow which she used to pepper the Divine Knight, inflicting little real damage, but drawing the ire of the hulking foe.
Which played into the hands of her companion as she leapt over the robot. At first Fie thought it had been a simple acrobatic display, but a glint of light caught her eye. That light revealed itself to be a myriad of wires attached to her hands, which were now wrapped around the Magic Knight. If those wires were made of steel than that had to have been the strongest steel on the continent, as somehow the massive enemy was unable to escape from the confines it found itself in.
Which, just like in the previous fight, left its vulnerable chest area completely exposed to the beautiful archer. "Gabriel Arrow!" What fired from her bow wasn't an arrow at all, but a beam of energy that Fie could feel from her position a few arge away. Said beam connected square on the weak spot of the Magic Knight, causing it to roar in anger before vanishing away.
Huh. That was easy.
For a few long seconds nobody moved, but once it became clear that there was no third Magic Knight Fie finally allowed herself to relax. Instead she eyed the newcomers warily. The one who was dressed as a maid was especially interesting, as those wires and acrobatics weren't something someone picked up from a legal fighting style. A little too unorthodox for jaegers though...
The maid must have noticed the scrutiny as she gave Fie a small smile and a polite curtsy. Yeah, definitely suspicious.
Thoughts of super strong combat maids with shady training were put on hold as the teary-eyed blonde archer embraced her teacher. Huh. She had thought Laura's hug the previous month was a little too much to be just friends, but this one might have put it to shame.
After a long and awkward wait the girl pulled herself away from Rean with a bright blush before introducing herself as Alisa Reinford, a member of the Reinford Group. The maid beside her was her assistant. That Alisa was also a former classmate of Rean wasn't at all a surprise after that display of affection.
While Rean caught up with his... friend, and Tio got back to work on the terminal – using some spare parts that Alisa had brought – Fie approached her friends, "Anyone else feeling kinda awkward right now?"
"Yes! Juna hissed loudly, "It's kinda pissing me off, actually! How does that guy...? Ugh!"
"I fail to see the problem." Kurt blandly countered, "While it's clear that the Old Class VII share an unusually tight bond, I don't think it's any of our concern."
"And yet you are blushing." Fie pointed out, causing the Vander to turn away and grumble something under his breath. Instead of listening to his whining she turned to the last member of their group, "You know about his old class, right? Any other girls close to Rean?"
Altina opened her mouth to answer- "All done. Thanks for the help, Alisa."
"Heehee. Glad to be of assistance."
"Great job Tio. Alright everyone, I think we should get of here before any more Magic Knights decide to appear."
With both Rean and the newcomers sticking close to them during the egress it was impossible for Class VII to finish the conversation in peace. Altina looked particularly miffed about being cut off while Juna actually glared at her SSS idol once or twice during the trip, causing Fie no small amount of amusement.
Still... Just what had Altina been about to say?
After conversing with Alisa about something Rean made the announcement that they were all headed back to camp for lunch. As much as she really wanted those noodles she also had no desire to walk all the way through the city and back again just for lunch. At least having so many extra people with them ensured that no monster was dumb enough to commit suicide via Class VII during the short trip.
Apparently the campus had contracted the Reinford Group to deliver some supplies to the camp, because almost as soon as they arrived Alisa made a call and a train car sporting the logo of the Reinford industrial juggernaut rolled in. While the older girl remained silent about the contents of the car Tita seemed to be over the moon about it. Fie was admittedly a little curious about what could excite her friend so much, but she didn't care enough to press the issue.
Instead she and the others were ushered into the conference room to debrief Randy and Towa alongside their guests. The appearance of the Magic Knights confused those in charge, as did news that the cryptid that had been defeated in the mountains was one that had only been seen in Erebonia before. It was almost like the weird magic powers responsible for those monsters acknowledged Crossbell as a part of Erebonia now, but there was no way that something that occult could be affected by some politician moving lines on a map... right?
In the end it was decided to just continue with their mission. With everything in the city finished there was nothing left for them to do except get lunch and check out the two known cryptid locations. While the former was good news – Sandy was hard at work making them lunch, after all – the latter caused Fie to sigh, "Great. More walking."
"Actually." Alisa smiled at her knowingly, "I have a surprise that can help out with that." She turned towards Rean, "And I would feel a lot better about all this if you took Sharon with you." She gestured to the maid who had been standing behind her, who promptly gave a curtsy to the group.
"W-Wait, what!?" Juna was the only one of the students who expressed confusion at that offer. Altina gave no reaction – either she didn't care or she already knew about the maid.
"Well, she does seem quite skilled..." Kurt's thoughts were similar to Fie's own. The more she thought about it the more she was certain that the servant's prior employment had been something illegal. Boss had mentioned some groups out there that weren't jaegers but were just as deadly. Could she have been a part of one of them?
Well, whatever. Given how affectionate the Reinford daughter was towards the teacher there was little doubt in Fie's mind that there was no hostile purpose in assigning Sharon to them. And her strength was as plain as day.
"Haha. Sure. I see no reason not to accept. Thanks, Alisa." Seemed that Rean thought the same way.
With that out of the way the group made their exit from the train so that Alisa could show them the surprise she had promised. Said surprise was being unloaded from the car as they arrived. And what a surprise it was.
"Holy hell..." Fie muttered aloud.
Orbal bikes. Two of them. She was no engineer, but already she could tell just how cool they were. Most of the convenience of an orbal car, but without looking as lame as those family vehicles were. And with the smaller size she could already imagine taking one of them off road or through some back alleys or something.
The machines were new to the market, according to Alisa, but once again Fie found herself annoyed to find out that Rean had somehow been partly been responsible for them, having served as a test driver for the original model. But this time she couldn't find herself to be too mad about it, because even with the attached sidecar they were really cool and she wanted one!
But before that could happen Rean sent them off to eat a quick lunch. Hurrying into the kitchen Fie expected to see her cheerful friend working away in the kitchen. And Sandy was there, but that wasn't what caused her to pull up short alongside her classmates.
"W-When did this happen?" Juna asked from beside her.
"Oh! Fie and the rest of Class VII!" Sandy smiled as she greeted them, "I have no idea who she is, but she showed up a few minutes ago and offered to help. I didn't see the harm in letting her, but... wow."
"Wow indeed." Fie agreed as they watched the maid all but dance through the Derfflinger's tiny kitchen with practiced ease. "She's Sharon, a maid for the Reinford Group."
Curiously she approached the kitchen while still respecting the chef's need for space. Fie thought she had been getting better at cooking herself, but watching the maid effortlessly work on a half-dozen different dishes at once while not letting a single one spill or burn... Yeah. She was only a culinary neophyte, but she understood enough to know that this was a master in action, "...You've gotta teach me how to do that."
She hadn't even meant to mutter those words out loud, but Sharon stopped in her work long enough to shoot the silver-haired girl a smile, "Should my Lady allow it it would be my pleasure to teach you. I served as the dormitory maid for the Original Class VII, you know."
Rean got to eat like this every day for a year? She glanced across the room at their teacher who had just entered the room alongside the other teachers, Alisa, and Tio. He must have overheard Sharon's comment as he nodded his head sheepishly, "It's true. We were spoiled rotten."
"...It's not that big a deal." Alisa muttered as she glanced away with a furious blush. Considering her name Fie was certain that the older girl had been raised on this food. Some people had all the luck in life.
"W-Well..." Sandy tilted her head thoughtfully, "I think I speak for all of us in the Cooking Club when I say we would love to learn from you, Sharon."
Juna raised her hand like they were in a classroom, causing Fie to roll her eyes as she glanced towards her club captain, earning herself a nod of assent, "...Guests can come too, I guess." The Crossbellian cheered.
Unsurprisingly the lunch was as good as it looked and Rean's suggestion that they have a quick lunch ended up being completely ignored as Class VII and friends took their sweet time. Not that the teacher could complain any considering he was right there with them relishing in Sharon's food. Still, all good things had to come to an end and eventually they reluctantly departed from the car as it began to fill with students from the other classes.
Which brought them to their current predicament. They had two orbal bikes available to them. There were six members of the team headed out to the beach to investigate cryptid sightings. There was a big discrepancy in those numbers.
And with Rean abusing his authority to hop onto the lead bike, Sharon in tow...
"Dibs."
"Dibs."
Fie glared at Juna. Juna glared at Fie. Both Kurt and Altina wisely stepped away from the brewing conflict.
"Wanna VM for it?" Fie was confident she could beat her friend at the card game, especially with a reason to play.
"We could, but I have a better idea." Juna's victorious smirk was unsettling, "Maybe we should let the person with actual driving experience drive?"
Damn! Fie hadn't even considered that Juna would know how to drive! This was bad! "U-Um... Well.. we all know Rean's a good teacher so I'm sure with his instructions I'll pick it up real fast?"
Sucking up like that was humiliating, but it was her only possible chance.
"Haha... Sorry, Fie." Rean's words signaled her ultimate defeat, "While I appreciate the vote of confidence..." She would have been proud of the raw sarcasm dripping off his voice were the situation not so lame, "...it's best we let Juna take charge this time. I'll gladly teach you and anyone else interested in how to drive these things once we're back at school."
Juna pumped her fist, causing Fie to scowl even harder, "...I'm gonna shoot out the tire and crash us all." Her bitter comment caused the Crossbellian's grin to widen as she approached the other bike, humming a cheery little victory tune.
With the drivers decided and both Sharon and Kurt taking the sidecars the only question that remained was who would end up riding behind-
Never mind. Altina was already approaching Rean's bike. The littlest student turned towards Fie and gave the flattest stare possible, as if she still held Fie personally responsible for the seating arrangements the previous month when they rode horses. For such an emotionless girl she sure knew how to hold a grudge.
Fie rolled her eyes as she approached Juna's bike. These cryptids had better be worth all the hassle.