Morgan had trouble sleeping the night before the field study. Maybe it was because she was excited at the prospect of visiting a new location for a few days. Or maybe it was because she was worried about what she and her classmates would have to do once they got there. Or maybe it was because she had a little too much coffee the previous day when she was studying. Regardless, when she woke up at 6:04 that morning, she wasn't surprised to find that she wasn't feeling quite as rested as she should have been. That didn't bother her too much, though; if she needed some extra sleep, she could always sleep on the train ride over to Celdic. At any rate, she had little else to do at the moment, so Morgan got out of bed and looked over the things that she would be bringing along for the trip.

"ARCUS?" Morgan looked to the ARCUS unit on her desk. "Check. Weapon case with weapon?" She retrieved her lute case from the floor and opened it, finding her weapon inside. "Check. Pouch for sepith…" She pointed to the belt with three pouches George gave her that was resting on the chair. "Check. Emergency orbment…" She opened one of the pouches to reveal her personal orbment already inside it. "Check." Morgan was initially hesitant on bringing it along, since it was technically a "cheat item," but this was her first ever field study, so she had every right to be a little bit cautious. In the best case scenario, she wouldn't have to use it at all, but at the very least it was reassuring to have.

With all of her stuff sorted out, Morgan carried on with her daily routine, washing her face, brushing her teeth, and changing into her school uniform. Once finished, she packed a spare change of clothes and her toiletries into her lute case alongside her weapon. She looked to the clock on her nightstand, which now read 6:24.

"Kirsche's opens in a little bit, right?" Morgan said to herself, remembering that the cafe opened early on the weekends. "I'll think I'll get something to drink." Fastening her pouch belt around her waist and gathering her belongings, she exited her room and closed the door gently behind her. The third floor was quiet, as was the rest of the dorm, so Morgan assumed that most of her classmates were either still asleep or already out and about. Though the prankster inside her would have liked to make some large racket to see everyone's reactions, she figured it was in her best interests to keep things quiet for the time being. Thus, she tiptoed her way down the stairs and out of the dorm.

"You're awfully early today!" Fred remarked, pleasantly surprised that the first customer of the day was a student he knew.

Morgan shrugged her shoulders. "Eh, some things came up. Had to wake up early." She sat at the bar counter and put her lute case beside her chair. "I'll take a coffee, house blend."

"Comin' right up." The orange-haired barista immediately began going to work. "So what's with the lute case you got there?" Fred asked as he brewed some coffee. "You headin' someplace today?"

"Something like that," Morgan responded, nodding her head. "I guess you could call it a little vacation."

"A vacation!" Fred chuckled. "At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the empire? There's no need to lie; you're goin' with the rest of your class on a field study, aren'tcha?"

Morgan was surprised. "How did you know about that?"

"The Student Council told us all about it, and when I say Student Council, I mean little Towa." Fred poured some coffee from a pot into a small mug. "Most of the shops'll open earlier on the days you're heading out so you could stock up on supplies and all that. Course, it's not a problem for us, 'cause we're already open this early in the first place." He placed the mug and pot before Morgan. "The Student Council already helped us a bunch, so think of this as our way of repayin' 'em."

Morgan took a sip of coffee. "I'll have to remind myself to thank Towa later."

"So where you guys headin' this month?" Fred asked.

As Morgan was about to respond, she heard the door to the cafe open behind her. "Well, I'll be! Looks like I'm not the first one here this time!" a young lady's voice said. Morgan looked behind her to see a middle-aged woman with waist-length hair wearing red glasses and a white cap walking to the bar counter.

Fred waved at the woman, the same way he would when greeting a familiar customer. "If it ain't Misty! Looks like you made it through another all-nighter!"

The woman named Misty let out a small groan. "Sometimes I feel Michael has a little TOO much fun working me to the bone…" As Misty sat down next to her, Morgan couldn't help but feel that she had heard this woman's voice somewhere before.

"That attitude's proof that he thinks highly of you!" Fred assured her. "Now let's get you started on something to drink, eh? You want the regular blend or the work blend?"

"I've got another gig later on today, so the work blend, please."

Fred nodded and retrieved some tea leaves. "By the way, I tuned in to your show last weekend!" he added. "You were great, as usual!"

Misty took off her hat and set it on the counter next to her. "That's nice of you to say. It makes all of the backstage work worth it."

"Oh?" Morgan's interest was piqued. "You do a show? What kind?"

Misty turned to face her. Her eyes were colored a subdued violet. "I do a little something for Radio Trista. Hm?" Misty narrowed her eyes. "That uniform…" She scanned her eyes up and down, making Morgan feel a little anxious. "You wouldn't happen to be one of the Class VII students from Thors, would you?"

"Uh...yes, I am."

"Heh, I knew it!" Misty's face broke into a friendly smile. "Ever since word of Thors' dashing guys and girls in red got out, you've been one of the rising topics at our radio station. In fact, just last week, my manager met one of you personally and he couldn't stop talking about you! Although, the person he mentioned was a guy, so you're probably not the same person." Morgan figured that was probably Rean when he was doing tasks for the Student Council. "So…" Misty continued. "Mind if I ask for your name?"

"Morgan. Morgan Daraen. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Misty." She held out her hand.

"The pleasure's all mine. And please, just call me Misty." The bespectacled woman retained her friendly demeanor as she reached to shake Morgan's hand, but as soon as she made contact with the teen's fingers, Misty grimaced and jerked her hand back.

"Is something wrong?" Morgan asked.

Misty paused to look at Morgan for a moment, then shook her head. "Oh my...I think I must be seeing things. Maybe I stayed up too long. Don't worry about it." She reached to grab Morgan's hand again, this time completing the handshake. Fred set a pot and a cup of tea in front of Misty. "Ah, right on time." After thanking the barista, she took a sip of her drink.

"Why does it smell like breath mints?" Morgan asked, noticing the smell.

Misty smiled, a contrast to the grimace she showed a moment earlier. "Because it's peppermint tea. I actually prefer lavender myself, but peppermint is better for your throat, or so they say. It helps for when you have to do lots of voice work."

"You mentioned doing a radio show," Morgan recalled. "I have an orbal radio in my dorm room. Mind telling me the time slot? I'd like to be able to catch it if I could."

Misty adjusted her glasses by the corner and let out a small, all-knowing laugh. "You want to know, don't you? I suppose I could do a little bit of advertising…" She cleared her throat and spoke in her best anchorwoman voice. "Coming at you live from Radio Trista is a brand new program brought to you by yours truly, Misty! Make sure to tune in every Sunday at 9 P.M. for the latest in recent topics, trends, or whatever at 'Abend Time!' Please look forward to it!"

"Abend Time?" Morgan worded. "'Abend' is another word for 'evening', right? That's a little cli...ched…" Suddenly, Morgan realized why Misty's voice sounded so familiar; she was the lady she listened to last Sunday before she turned off her radio. Upon putting all the pieces together, Morgan let out a cry that made the bespectacled woman nearly jump out of her seat. "You're that lady!"

Misty hastily recomposed herself and readjusted her glasses. "I take it you've listened to me before?"

"Well, not exactly…" Feeling slightly embarrassed, the teen recounted her experience with Abend Time to the radio host and how what should have been a relaxing evening listening to a new radio program came to an abrupt end.

At the end of the story, Misty couldn't help but snort and laugh. "I'm sorry that first impression went so badly, but I assure you, I don't have the ability to read minds over the radio. If I could, my ratings would be higher than they are now!"

Morgan pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a bit more embarrassed than before. "Yeah, I should've known better. That was my mistake."

"Well, no point in worrying about it now. Water under the bridge, right? Just start things over tomorrow!" Misty poured some more tea into her cup. "Maybe I could even squeeze this story in somehow…"

Morgan laughed nervously into her coffee. "I'll definitely tune in from now on, though I'm not sure about this week. Our class is going out of town this weekend for a field study, so I'm not sure when we'll be able to return…"

"A field study?" That caught Misty's attention. Her violet eyes then shifted towards Morgan's lute case. "Ah, so that's why you've got that with you."

Morgan nodded, impressed that Misty was able to piece together the evidence so quickly. 'It must be an essential part of the trade,' she figured.

"So where are you guys heading?" Misty asked. "If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"Well, our class got divided into two groups." Morgan wondered if she should be sharing this information with a stranger, but since Misty was working for Radio Trista, and Radio Trista was already acquainted with Class VII, she figured it couldn't be that bad… "My group is heading to Celdic."

"Celdic, hm? Why, that sounds like it'll be a fun trip." Misty sighed wistfully. "Visiting the Grand Market, taking a walk through Lunaria Nature Park, and ending the day with a swig of Celdic's famous beer...that sounds like the perfect way to spend a weekend!" She then caught Fred giving her the stink eye. "Sorry, I guess I shouldn't be talking about booze when you're still a student, should I?"

"It's fine." Morgan giggled. "My homeroom teacher happens to be a big fan of beer herself."

"Oh, is she?" Misty raised an eyebrow. "It's such a shame that I'm usually booked in the evenings when school is out, otherwise I'd love to crack open a cold one with her!" Her expression then turned serious as she took another sip of tea. "Still, Celdic...I've heard that there are some pretty unsavory things going on there recently. Most of it boils down to baseless rumors, but you and your class should still be careful over there. With the way the provincial army's been acting lately, I wouldn't be surprised if you came across a conflict or two there."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind, thanks. Although, if you don't mind me asking…" Morgan lowered her voice. "What kind of conflicts are we talking about here?"

Misty looked to her right and left, confirming that no one else had entered the cafe since she arrived. Fred, meanwhile, had gone to wipe some of the tables. The bespectacled woman then leaned in close. Despite having drunk peppermint tea, Morgan could detect the smell of lavender coming off from her as well. "This is off the record from here on out," Misty whispered, "but it's mostly minor squabbles over property taxes and market goods. Nothing too big on its own, but one of my colleagues said that it's been happening a lot lately, and if too many minor things start adding up…"

"It's only a matter of time before we see something major, right?" Morgan finished the sentence in a hushed voice. Misty nodded her head in confirmation.

'Yeah, that's definitely something worth watching out for,' the teen decided. "Are you sure it's okay for me to know this?" she asked Misty.

The bespectacled woman winked. "Think of it as my way of repaying the offer for being able to meet one of the students of Class VII. Again, there's no evidence to support or disprove it, so take it however you like."

At that moment, Morgan's ARCUS started ringing, startling both the women seated at the bar counter. Taking out her orbment, Morgan flipped open the cover and whispered, "Hello?"

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" yelled Alisa's voice over the ARCUS. "It's already past 7:00 and the train's almost here!"

"Wait, it is?" Morgan looked to the clock hanging on the back wall, which confirmed that it was indeed past 7:00. Morgan cursed under her breath. "I'll be there in a minute. Did you guys get our tickets yet?"

"YES! Just...get over here RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" The line hung up.

Morgan looked to Misty apologetically. "It's been lovely talking, but I think I need to head out now."

"No worries." Misty smiled, nodding understandingly.

Not wanting to waste the rest of her coffee, she took the pot, removed the lid, and drunk the rest of its contents that way. After reeling back a bit from taking in too much bitter liquid at once, Morgan hastily fished out some mira and set it on the counter. "Fred! I'm putting some mira here for you! Keep the change!"

Fred called from the other side of the room. "Sure thing! Now hurry up and get goin'!"

Morgan grabbed her lute case and dashed out of the cafe to the train station.

As the door closed behind her, Misty chuckled to herself. "She's an interesting one, isn't she?" She took off her glasses and set them next to her cap before gazing at her right hand, the one that shook the black-haired teen's hand. "Still, I can't help but think that she felt...different, somehow."

"You mean Morgan?" Fred had come to pick up the mira and overheard Misty's comment. "Yeah, she's a bit on the peculiar side, but she means well! Likes helping people and eating pizza with extra meat!"

"Yes…" Misty closed her eyes and took another sip of peppermint tea. The image of the girl's awkward yet carefree smile despite the scar that ran up her face lingered for a moment in her mind. "I suppose that must be it…"

Needless to say, Alisa was a little more than livid when Morgan ran onto the train just as the doors were about to close.

"Care to remind me who was it that suggested we all meet in front of the station at 7:00 A.M. sharp?" The light from the streaming from the windows combined with Alisa's red irises almost made it seem like her eyes were on fire.

Morgan whimpered. She could feel the blonde teen's eyes boring holes into her. "Look, I said I was sorry, alright?"

Rean looked on from the seat across from them with sympathy, having also known what it felt like to get on Alisa's bad side. "L-let's just be glad that we left on time…"

"I concur." Gaius, who was seated next to Rean, remained as calm as ever. "We're all here now, and that's what matters."

"Personally, I'm looking forward to learning the true nature of our excursion." Laura, who was seated across from Rean, tried to change the subject of the conversation. "Given how our instructor said it was a part of our curriculum, I assume whatever she has planned won't be easy."

"Yeah, if it were, it'd hardly be worth the trip." Rean nodded his head in agreement. "Well, we'll find our answer when we get there. We're supposed to drop by the inn as soon as we arrive. There should be an envelope waiting for us with details on our mission."

Alisa finally took a moment to stop nagging Morgan, who silently breathed a sigh of relief. "Say, this has been on my mind for a while now, but this whole trip seems eerily well-planned out, don't you think? Even the station employees knew we were coming…"

"That just goes to show how high the academy's expectations are for all of you!"

The students all turned to the direction of the voice and were pleasantly surprised to find their homeroom teacher walking towards them.

"...I was wondering why you were nowhere to be seen this morning," Laura mused as Instructor Sara stopped in front of them.

"Looks like Group A's all present and accounted for. Good, good." She nodded in approval. "I heard there was a little bit of a panic when someone decided to show up right as the train was about to leave, but all's well that ends well, right?"

Morgan hung her head. "Can we just...drop that, please?"

"So...umm...what brings you here, Instructor?" Rean asked. "I thought you were planning on staying back at the academy?" It was true; Sara had made it clear ever since the practical exam on Wednesday that she wouldn't do anything to intrude on Class VII's activities during their field study.

"Well, plans change," their instructor replied. "Considering this is your first time out in the field, I assumed you'd be positively lost without me! I won't stay with you all the way, though; I'll just stick around until you've finished checking in at the hotel."

"Th-thanks, I guess. But…" Alisa's voice trailed off as she stared out the window.

"Yeah, you're thinking about Group B, right?" Morgan wondered how Emma, Fie, and Elliot were handling things on their end.

"Would it not have been better for you to accompany the others?" the last girl of the group asked.

"Aww, but they'd be a nightmare to deal with…" Instructor Sara pouted. "I may still have to go to them, though, if those two get out of control. Buuuut…" She shrugged her shoulders. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it!"

Rean, Morgan, and Alisa collectively facepalmed while Gaius and Laura merely let out two dejected sighs. The fact that their instructor readily admitted Group B's faults and yet still didn't take any extra steps to resolve any issues only hampered their perception of her reliability. Instructor Sara remained unbothered by this and took a seat in the train booth next to the students. "Anyway, don't pay me any mind! You five feel free to keep talking. I didn't get any sleep last night, so I'm just going to take a little nap right here." With that, she closed her eyes and immediately began snoring.

Laura shook her head in disbelief. "Incredible…"

"I don't think I've ever seen someone less inclined to be an educator than her," Alisa retorted.

"M-maybe we're better off just letting her sleep…" Rean suggested. "Although, one of us should wake her up once we get to Celdic."

"We've got less than an hour until we arrive," Gaius noted. "Before that, is it possible for me to ask a request from all of you?"

His classmates all turned to him in mild surprise. With how dependable Gaius had proven himself to be, it was a bit odd to see him be the one to ask for requests from others instead of the other way around.

"As you know, I'm someone who spent a majority of his life in the highlands," Gaius began. "Inevitably, this means that I've only heard of the empire's cities through word of mouth and dots on a map. With that said, these field studies present me a unique opportunity to learn more about the empire's locations firsthand. Through that, I was hoping that since you've all been living here far longer than I have, you can tell me more about each of these locations."

"So basically, you just want us to tell you what we know about our field study locations?" Morgan summarized.

"If that's possible, then I'd greatly appreciate it." Gaius bowed his head slightly.

"Well, it can't hurt to go over what we know before we get there," Alisa said. "Let's see, our destination is Celdic, so here's what I've heard…"

The rest of Group A began to share what they knew about Celdic with Gaius, the topics ranging from the town's location to its reputation as a trading town to its standout attractions such as the Grand Market and its granaries. Morgan also relayed some of the information she heard from Misty regarding the disputes over property taxes, though for the sake of right to privacy, she insisted on keeping her source anonymous. Despite the serious turn at the end of the discussion, talking about the location got the students excited about their field study to the point where they had to remind themselves that they weren't going there for vacation.

"Oh, yeah! I brought these along with me." After the discussion roughly came to an end, Rean reached into his pants pocket and brought out a packaged deck of cards. The small box had the words "BLADE" written on it.

"Oh? You have one as well?" Laura reached into her blazer and brought out the same deck of cards. "I procured it this morning on a whim. Truth be told, it was the name and design of the packaging that won me over. Aside from that, I know little else of the game."

"I got this from the pawn shop in Trista last week," Rean said. "The rules aren't that complicated, so I don't think anyone here will have any trouble picking it up." He looked at his other classmates. "So how about it?"

"Sounds like a good way to pass the time," replied Alisa.

"I'm always ready to try something new," Gaius responded.

"Then let's give it a try." Morgan rubbed her hands together. "Rean, if you would do the honors of teaching us…"

And so, Rean went over the rules of the game and played a practice round with Laura as an example. As he had predicted, everyone understood the basics of the game within a few rounds and it wasn't before long that they used the extra deck to get two games going on at once. Time seemed to fly by as the students enjoyed playing amongst themselves, not having to worry about what lay ahead of them...

"Divine Bolt!" Laura placed down a 'Bolt' card, rendering Morgan's last card null.

"You'll pay for that!" Morgan looked at the last two cards in her hand. "How will you answer to this?" She placed down a '1', allowing the card that Laura struck down moments ago a second chance at life.

Laura's answer was to play her final card and say it's name with confidence. "Mirror!" This card switched the side of cards on the field, meaning that Laura's cards were now Morgan's and vice versa.

That confidence began to dwindle however as a sly grin appeared on Morgan's face. "Yeah...not happening." She played her last card, which was another 'Mirror' card. "Checkmate!"

Laura admitted defeat. "That was an intense duel. Well done."

Alisa, who was spectating their match, breathed a sigh of relief. "I think my heart was pounding near the end, and I wasn't even playing!"

"It's hard to imagine that we were all novices just a short while ago," Gaius commented. He was helping Rean to put away the cards on their end.

"Yeah, that's one of the appeals of this game. New players don't start off at too big of a disadvantage, but there's still a great amount of depth for old timers as well." Rean put his deck of cards in his pocket and looked out the train window. "It's a good thing you guys finished, cause I think we're just about here."

The three girls turned to look at the view through the window. "Wow…" Morgan commented.

"It's beautiful." Alisa's mouth hung open.

"What a spectacular view," Laura agreed with her fellow females. "The rye planted last fall seems almost ready for harvesting."

"Is that so?" Gaius asked. "I was under the impression that Erebonian rye was harvested in the fall."

"Well, the soil in this area is supposed to be extra fertile due to the warmer climate, so things are a little different here," Rean explained. "The view really is amazing, though. It looks like something out of a painting."

The artist among them nodded his head in agreement. "This certainly would make for some nice landscapes. I wonder if I'll have the chance to draw some rough sketches…"

As Gaius finished his thought, a jingle sounded over the intercom. Shortly afterwards, a female voice informed the passengers that the next stop was Celdic.

The students turned to look at Instructor Sara, who was still snoozing away. "Guess it's time to wake her up…" Rean muttered. As he went over to wake their sleeping instructor, Gaius helped the girls put away their deck of Blade cards.

A minute later, the train braked to a halt at the station and the students retrieved their belongings from below their seats. Then, they followed a yawning Instructor Sara in exiting the train and walking to the entrance of the station. Sara pushed open the doors, and the students took their first steps into the town of Celdic.

Celdic was humble in its appearance, as expected of a town focused around farming and trading. Houses and shops were built from wood and sets of stones adorned the walkways. Right next to the train station, there was also a windmill. However, the main attraction was without a doubt the collection of stalls situated in their own big hub with lots of people coming and leaving as they pleased. The words "Celdic Grand Market" were printed on a slab of wood on top of the wooden structure leading to the eponymous market.

Gaius was the first student to speak. "So this is Celdic…" Though his visage remained as calm as ever, Morgan saw a glint of wonder in his eyes as he took in the surroundings.

"It seems like a really relaxing little town," Rean commented. "Though there are a lot more people here than I expected."

"I imagine they've come for the Grand Market," Laura guessed. "Even merchants from other countries regularly come to see it."

"Sounds like this place is as popular with the tourists as the capital, then, but for a whole different set of reasons." Alisa's eyes were dead set on the Grant Market, as if she wanted to walk in there and get a piece of the action herself.

"Celdic's also widely renowned for their local beer, which they make using rye," Instructor Sara mentioned to her students. "But you're all still minors, so I'm the only one here who gets to drink it!"

A bead of sweat collectively dropped from the students' heads at that comment. "Should've known that the only reason you would come to Celdic with us is for the booze…" Morgan remarked.

"Are you...trying to make us jealous?" Rean couldn't help but ask.

"We don't really care, you know." Alisa remained unimpressed by their instructor.

"Anyway!" Sara quickly changed the topic. "Let me show you to the inn. It's, uh…" She glanced over the view of similar-looking buildings until she found the one with the sign "Weathercock Inn" nailed above the entrance. "...Right over there." With that, the teacher and her students walked to the direction of the inn. Upon entering, they were greeted with the sight of a dining room with a similar layout to the first floor of Kirsche's, except it was much larger to accommodate the larger crowds of Celdic. A set of stairs to the right led up to the inn section of the building.

Sara wasted no time in approaching a woman who was facing the bar counter. "Hey there, Margot," she called to the woman.

Upon hearing her name, the woman turned around. "Well, if it isn't Sara!" The face of the woman named Margot stretched into a friendly smile. "What are you doing here? I knew the kids were coming, but I didn't think you'd be coming with them."

"Oh, I just figured I'd help them get settled in before I left." She turned to the collection of teens behind her and held out her hand to present them. "And here they are: my lovely students! Well, half of them, anyways."

"Well, now, aren't they a youthful looking bunch!" Margot commented. She waved her hand. "You probably already heard, but I'm Margot, the owner of this humble establishment. What might be the names of you fine lads and lasses?"

Each of the students took turns in introducing themselves. After the introductions were finished, Margot took the teens upstairs to the inn room where they would all be staying for the night.

Yes, all of them would be sharing the same room.

"Are you kidding me?!" Alisa exclaimed once she realized this. "Whose idea was this? Was it Instructor Sara? Something tells me it was her."

Margot looked like she had been anticipating a reaction like this. "Yup, it was Sara's idea, all right. Honestly, I had my doubts about that too, but she insisted, so that was that! I broke the beds into a group of three and two to make things less awkward, but that was about the best I could manage."

The group of students all looked at each other with different expressions on their faces.

"Personally, I don't have a problem with these arrangements." Gaius was the first to voice his opinion. "I used to share a tent with my younger brother and sisters back in my homeland. I'm not sure if everyone else will be as accepting, though."

Morgan took a moment to look at the room they were given. Judging from the size of the room, it was definitely meant to be inhabited by a small family. Three beds were positioned along the left wall while the other two were positioned along the side adjacent to them. There was also a desk with drawers a chair, two nightstands in between beds, a closet, and a large, L-shaped couch surrounding a low, wooden table. Off to the far right was the door that led to the bathroom. All things considered, it was more than enough space for all of their needs, especially since they would only be staying for one night.

"Honestly, I think we should take it as is," Morgan finally said. "It's got everything we need, and Margot was kind enough to move some things around."

Laura turned to face Alisa. "Alisa, I don't believe we have a choice here. We are military students. We mustn't allow the prospect of mixed-gender accommodations faze us."

Alisa groaned. "I-I know that, but…"

"It's not uncommon for women to share rooms with men in the army," Morgan noted. "Might as well learn to get used to it sooner or later. If you're that worried, though, then Laura and I can take the outer two beds and you can take the one in the corner."

"Okay, okay! I get it!" Alisa stammered. She then turned to face the two gentlemen who were present. "But if either of you two comes anywhere near our beds…"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Gaius assured her.

"Likewise," Rean agreed.

With the debacle of their living arrangements out of the way, the teens each claimed a bed, with Alisa making a beeline for the bed in the corner far away from the boys. Morgan thought she heard her muttering something about chaining Rean to the bed. Once the room was all sorted, Margot handed the students a rectangular envelope with the Thors academy emblem on it, informing them that the details of their assignment were contained inside. With that, she left the teens by themselves so they could get settled in.

"Now that that's out of the way…" Morgan said once Margot left. "Should we take a look inside?"

The other students gave their unanimous consent. Rean, who was currently holding the envelope from Margot, opened it. "Let's see what we've got…"

Inside the envelope were several pieces of paper, with each sheet containing the description of a task that was meant to be completed. Also included was a small map with the rough layout of Celdic, along with a few short sentences at the bottom. "Study area is defined as a 200 selge radius around Celdic. Each student must record his or her activities daily, to be remitted to the instructor upon request," Rean read.

The students took a moment to let the information sink in. "This is our 'field study'?" Alisa finally asked.

"So we're just going to be working the whole day?" Morgan looked over the information written on the task papers. One was a request from a clergyman to gather some ingredients for a particular medicine. Another was a request from the local orbal shop to help replace a malfunctioning orbment light. The final one was monster extermination request from a local family situated in the highway. "Not gonna lie, this is a bit underwhelming." One thing she also noticed was that the latter two requests had the words "Required" printed in red at the top of the page. 'Still, something about this seems oddly familiar…'

"There is a monster elimination request, at least." Laura perused some of the documents herself. "But that's the most we have."

"As my people often say, 'there is always a way to help around the settlement'," Gaius said.

Rean's eyes then widened, as if he just pieced something together. "So that's her angle…"

The other four students turned to him. "Did you figure something out?" Gaius asked.

Rean thought to himself. "Maybe, but I think we should go and talk this over with Instructor Sara first. She probably stuck around specifically to answer any questions we might have."

"Hmm. You may be right." Laura concurred with her fellow sword wielder.

With that, all five of the students went downstairs hoping that they could catch Instructor Sara before she left. To the surprise of absolutely none of them, they found their instructor in her natural habitat: sitting at the bar with a mug of beer in her hand.

The violet-haired woman made several gulping noises as she chugged her drink. "Ahhh, nothing hits the spot quite like a cold beer!"

Margot, who was standing behind the counter, had her hand on her forehead as she sighed. "You never change, do you, Sara?"

"Come on, don't gimme that!" Sara pointed her finger at the older woman "What kind of person would throw away the opportunity to enjoy beer this good?"

"How about someone who has the gall to not say those things in front of her students, for one?" Margot remarked, noticing the teens in red uniforms marching down the stairs.

"Looks like someone's having the time of her life…" Morgan stated the obvious.

"How many pints has she downed already?!" Alisa wondered aloud. "It's not even noon!"

"Oh, you kids are still here?" Sara just noticed her students standing in a group next to her. "I'll just be hanging back and enjoying myself, so go on ahead and get started! Don't mind me!" She made a shooing motion with her free hand.

"W-we have questions for you, though!" The blonde of the group exclaimed. "What's with these field study tasks?"

"I'm glad that they're not as difficult as I was expecting, but I am curious as to what your aim is with having us do these tasks, Instructor," Gaius admitted.

"Mmm…" Sara put her finger on her chin. "Well, it makes sense you'd have some doubts. You only need to do the ones it says are required, though, so feel free to just ignore the rest if you want. I don't care!" She took another swig of beer. "Up to you how much or how little wanna do!"

This only got the students even more confused. Alisa finally had enough of their instructor's behavior and started raising her voice. "S-stop being so irresponsible and-"

"Wait." Rean interrupted Alisa's rant before it could even begin. "These kinds of decisions are as much a part of our field study as the tasks themselves." He crossed his arms. "Am I right, Instructor?"

His classmates all looked at him strangely. Meanwhile, Sara's face crept into a smile, but it didn't appear to be the type that came from intoxication. She downed the rest of her drink and turned to properly face her students, looking surprisingly sober despite having acted mildly drunk just a moment before. "You have two days," she said to her students. "Trista isn't far from here, so you'll be returning to the academy tomorrow evening. Until then, you can spend your time here however the four of you see fit. Every decision rests on your shoulders; I won't be forcing you to do a thing."

Suddenly, Morgan remembered some words she heard the evening before the free day last week...

"It'll mostly just be fulfilling requests from people in the academy and in Trista," Towa explained over dinner. "Sometimes people send in feedback and list things they'd like us to do for them. We try to help out however we can in return, but since we're often so busy running other things, we sometimes don't have the time to answer every request."

"I'll skip the details for now, but it's got something to do with the other part of your curriculum that I'll be announcing next week," Instructor Sara spoke over the ARCUS. "I thought it'd be a good chance for one of you to do a little rehearsal before the main event."

Morgan yelled once the realization occurred to her, startling her classmates, her instructor, and roughly everyone else on the first floor. "Everything makes sense now!"

Rean, despite the commotion his classmate just caused, couldn't help but grin. "Yeah, I figured it wasn't going to be long before you realized it, too."

The three remaining classmates looked at the two of them, wondering if they knew something that the rest of them didn't. Picking up on this, Rean guided the group upstairs back to their lodgings. Morgan also apologized to the other people on the first floor for her brief outburst.

"Okay, so what's up?" Alisa asked Rean and Morgan once they were all inside their inn room.

"You both look like you've pieced something together," Gaius commented. "Though some were more subtle than others."

Morgan apologized to a classmate for the second time that morning. "S-sorry, but I couldn't help it! It was like my mind went all, 'BOOM'!"

Rean chuckled. "Believe me, I was thrown for a loop too when I pieced everything together." He then turned to face his expectant peers. "Right, so here's how it is…"

Rean proceeded to recount the tasks that he did for the Student Council during his free day, which coincidentally were functionally similar to the tasks they were given for this field study. He also mentioned how after he had finished his tasks, he had learned a lot about Trista, the academy, and the people that inhabited both, moreso than anything a textbook or a newspaper could put into words.

"So whatever various and sundry things Instructor Sara may have planned for us," Rean gave as a concluding statement, "I say we just work our way down the list while immersing ourselves in Celdic culture, taking in as much as we can."

"I already know for a fact that I'm in." Morgan showed no hesitation in signing herself up. "It's like studying geography, only way more engaging and fun!"

"When you put it that way, it does sound pretty exciting," Alisa commented. "Alright, count me in."

"I have no objections either," Gaius concurred.

"Then we are all in unanimous consent," Laura acknowledged. "Since we're all here, however, we should take a look at the tasks again so we can plan our day efficiently."

"Already on it." To the surprise of the other four students, Morgan had already grabbed the envelope and started emptying its contents onto the wooden table beside the large couch. The black-haired girl interlaced her fingers and stretched her arms, ready to flex her intellectual muscles. As her classmates gathered around her, she laid out the map of Celdic. "Right, so here's where we are right now…" She pointed to the location of Weathercock Inn on the map. "And our pick-up locations for the field study tasks are here, here, and...here." She pointed to three different locations on the map. "Now, how do we want to do this…"

"The monster extermination one looks like the farthest one away, so we should probably save that one for last," Rean suggested.

"That's a good idea." Alisa nodded her head in agreement. "It definitely sounds like the toughest one of the bunch, so we should only do that when we're ready." Laura and Gaius also voiced their agreement.

With that out of the way, Morgan turned back to the map. "As for these other two, they seem to be in the same general vicinity as each other. The orbal shop is closer to the inn, but I was thinking we should visit the chapel first." She lifted the paper for her other classmates to see. "This Father Zirbel wants us to find some ingredients, but he didn't specify which ones. We may as well see what ingredients he wants first and collect them as we do the other tasks. It doesn't say "Required" at the top, so I'm assuming there's no time limit, but that's all the more reason to ask, right?" She looked up from the sheet of paper to find her classmates staring at her with varying expressions. "What?"

"S-sorry," Rean apologized. "It's just...the way you're talking almost makes it feel like everything's going to work out. It's like you're, how do I describe this…"

"I think the word you're looking for is 'professional'." Gaius said. "At the very least, it looks like you know what you're doing."

"Do you have any previous work experience?" Alisa asked. "Like, were you a planner or a manager?"

"Ha! I wish!" Morgan laughed. "But no, nothing that special. I just used to run errands like this before I enrolled at the academy. Must have gotten used to it. Anyways, that's what I got for now. If anyone else wants to make a suggestion, speak or forever hold your peace."

No one said a word, so Morgan took that as her cue to get up from the couch and leave to grab her weapon from her lute case. "Then it's time for us to get some work done-zo!"

Author's note: The idea to include an encounter with Misty was one that spontaneously occurred in my head, and since I'm a sucker for including extra scenarios while still remaining in the context of the story, I figured "why not?" Misty was always a character I felt could have benefited from more interaction to make late-game reveals all the more surprising and personal (even though she has perfect reason for being like this), and the moment I started jotting down some dialogue, I found that she was actually really fun to write. Not entirely sure if she'll be a reoccurring character in this fic yet, so I'll leave that for you all decide.
Other than that, this chapter was fairly straightforward, so nothing else much to say. Congrats on making it to the end, as always. If you enjoyed reading this, that's good to hear! If you didn't, well...eh, I tried. That's all! Over and out! ∠(^ー^)