"Class II is... I'm not sure, actually. It's hard to get a feel for the class when Instructor Thomas somehow manages to fill every bit of free time with some story or another. Like today he started morning homeroom with a story about the incident in Liberl, but was unable to finish before classes begun. All he did was save the rest of the story for our afternoon homeroom without missing a single beat!"

"Huh... Kinda jealous 'cause I bet I could sleep through all those stories, but at the same time I'm not too sad to not have to tune Thomas out in the first place. Class IV is weird. Instructor Mary just kinda lets us do our own thing, but I think it's more because half the class is just too noisy for her to beat, unlike Sara who was just lazy. Did you know that Vivi pretty much runs the class? She's like the Patrick of Class IV."

"Now there's a scary thought. Speaking of Patrick, he wanted me to pass along a message that he fully intends to score higher than you at midterms this year."

"Why would he tell you that instead of telling me directly...?"

"Pretty sure the guy's terrified of you."

Rean blinked in confusion at Fie's remark. Patrick was terrified of him? The same Patrick that spent the first few months of their first year belittling him at every possible opportunity?

A part of him knew that they were going away from the original discussion about life in their new classes as they walked back into town after the end of the first week, but he was too confused about what she meant. That Laura's face lacked the same confusion was another sign that he was missing something important.

"What do you mean he's terrified of... Fie?" He paused. She didn't seem to be listening to him at all. Instead the smaller girl was staring at something in the distance. That she let out a throaty growl made it clear it wasn't anything good.

Naturally he followed her gaze. Even though his eyes weren't nearly as good as Class VII's best scout, it wasn't hard to make out the identities of the two figures stepping out of the train station. They were both very unique, after all.

Their identities also made it obvious why Fie seemed so displeased. Rean couldn't help but square his shoulders as he mentally braced himself for the bad news to come.

"Rean you don't have to do this." Laura insisted, "I-I'm sure if we discuss it we can find another way."

The swordsman placed a grateful hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry about it." He tried to reassure, "I already knew what I was getting into when I decided to work with them. I've already prepared myself for this." He wasn't at all surprised to see that Laura didn't seem reassured at all, so he decided on another approach, "Look. I don't have to agree to anything yet, but I think we should at least go and see what Captain Lechter has to say first. Is that alright?"

"That would work if we didn't know you'll agree to whatever he tells you to do." He couldn't help but laugh nervously at Fie's biting remark, which only caused the girl to shake her head. While she didn't wear her emotion as openly as the blue-haired girl opposite her it wasn't hard to see she was just as displeased, "Alright, fine. Let's just get this over with."

The Captain had clearly seen the three of them coming because he was standing there in the middle of the plaza giving a cheery wave in their direction, entirely opposite of how Rean was feeling. His companion – whom Rean obviously identified as Altina – had wandered off out of his line of sight. It was only once they reached Lechter that he spotted her curiously gazing at the plants on display at the flower shop.

"Ah, there you are Rean! Laura and Fie too! Can't say I'm surprised to see the three of you together given the stunt you two pulled last month. So how's your second year been treating ya?"

Rean, having been the only member of Class VII besides Millium to have spent a lot of time with the intelligence agent, was the only one prepared for his extremely laid-back greeting, "It's different." He answered with a lame shrug, "It's... good to see you again, Captain. You too, Altina." The taciturn girl merely nodded in response as she rejoined her companion.

Truth be told Rean still wasn't sure what to feel about the man in front of him. Of all the Ironbloods Lechter might have been the most mysterious to Class VII. Millium was their friend and classmate, Captain Claire had been their ally during the war, and Rufus – despite fooling everyone to such a degree – was still Jusis' brother.

Still, from the time he spent in Crossbell Rean was at least sure that Lechter was an easy man to get along with, even if he wasn't sure he could be trusted. The man was entirely too laid-back, surprisingly supportive when not on a mission, and was generally just a pleasant person to be around. Maybe it was wishful thinking on his part, but Rean wanted to like the man.

"Eh. You know how it is. The Old Man's been keeping me busy, of course. Oh, and it's Major now. Can't really say I think I deserved the promotion, but it is what it is and you know how those stuffy military types would react if you messed it up in front of them."

"Haha... Thanks for the heads up. And congratulations on your promotion. I know what it's like to get something you don't feel you deserve, but I'm sure you'll do fine as a major."

"Can we just get on with this?" Fie groused by his side.

Lechter glanced at the girl before letting out a long suffering sigh, "Aww, don't be like that. This town's so relaxing! Can't I have a minute to just hang out? Maybe take a nap on that bench over there?"

"Major Lechter..." Altina spoke for the first time in the conversation. While her expression was even blanker than Fie's had been at the start of the previous year Rean had a suspicion the girl was annoyed. Traveling alongside someone like the major must have been an ordeal for the emotionless girl.

"Fine, fine... You feeling up to taking Valimar out for a spin to help us with a teeny tiny problem?"

The expected request, "Very well. What do you need?"

The Ironblood glanced from him towards Laura and Fie before letting out a short laugh, "It's kinda funny that you two seem so upset while Rean doesn't seem all that bothered." He was, but he had long since made peace with this role, "If it makes you two feel better I don't expect this mission to take more than a day or two. I promise Rean'll be back before you even know he's gone!"

"Somehow I doubt that." Laura shot back.

"I'm serious!" Lechter protested, "This isn't some long deployment to the border like last time, it's just a simple monster extermination request. Shouldn't take more than a day or two tops."

"A monster request?" Fie questioned with a furrowed brow, "Isn't that something the army can handle? Or... I dunno? Maybe the Bracer Guild would have if you guys hadn't spent the last few years screwing them over?"

The Major gave a nervous laugh as he rubbed the back of his head, "Can't argue that one, I guess. Would save me a bunch of headaches if we had more bracers around. But hey, sounds like the guild's luck has been improving a bit lately with a couple talented new recruits, hasn't it?"

That Lechter – and by extension the rest of the Imperial Government – already knew Fie and Laura had joined the guild despite not having done any bracer-related activities yet wasn't entirely surprising, but the fact he was so willing to flex that knowledge in front of them was a little disconcerting. It was a stark reminder that no matter what he did the chancellor had eyes on him.

But at the same time Rean didn't really want to think about that, nor did he want a confrontation with Lechter in the middle of town, "Alright. I'll help, although I'm still a little curious why the army couldn't handle it...?"

"Two reasons. Firstly is the fact the monsters were sighted at Languedoc Canyon. Would be hard to send troops in there, especially one of the armored divisions. And the monsters themselves aren't exactly the ones you want to fight with an army either."

"Huh?"

"Abyss Worms. And not just a few of them either, but a whole bunch. Seems like they spent the war and the aftermath multiplying like crazy. Talking dozens here."

Rean couldn't stop himself from shuddering. Abyss Worms were one of the most miserable monsters to fight. Class VII had fought a small group of them during the war and while they had prevailed it had been an uncomfortable fight. The mere thought of someone trying to fight that many of them – especially in a canyon where constant earthquakes could prove exceptionally dangerous...

Yeah. Valimar would definitely fare a lot better than an army of soldiers and tanks.

"We want to come too!"

But Lechter shook his head at Laura's forceful suggestion. "No can do. Maybe another time, but I just said it's a bunch of Abyss Worms, right? Bringing the two of you along would only make things more dangerous." As much as Rean hated to go against the girls he couldn't help but nod his head at the major's point. More people meant more earthquakes which meant a lot more damage done to them and the region.

"Well what about her?"

The her in question was Altina, who blinked upon being put on the spot by Fie, "...My role in this operation will be to conduct aerial reconnaissance to support Rean using Claiomh Solais. I have been forbidden from partaking in actual combat."

It was hard to tell, but the swordsman couldn't help but think the emotionless girl seemed a little miffed about not being allowed to fight.

While Fie seemed to grudgingly accept the situation Rean could tell that Laura was still apprehensive. It was understandable considering if it had been him forced to sit on the sidelines and watch as they went off into a questionable battle he would be equally frustrated. He wished he possessed the words necessary to comfort them.

Instead an alternate idea came to mind. Perhaps it wouldn't make them feel better about the entire situation, but it could at least distract them from it. Plus it was something that had been on his mind for a while now, "Why don't we do something fun when I get back?"

"Huh?"

"We've been so busy with everything that we haven't had the chance to go out together, so I'd like to change that."

"You mean... like a date?"

He nodded in response to her question, "Yeah. I think it'd be a lot of fun, don't you?"

The girls shared a silent conversation with their eyes before Fie glanced back towards him, "Sounds good. You'd better keep your word and hurry on back."

"Great! I'm looking forward to it already!" With that out of the way Rean turned back to a rather amused looking Lechter with an equally bemused Altina next to him. The swordsman couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed he just did that in front of an audience, but he didn't let that keep him down for long, "Very well, Major. I'm ready."

"Heh. Don't mind me. I always love watching a fun show like this. I don't have any formal orders for you this time, but I'll call Major Claire and let her know." Rean made a mental note at the RMP officer's new rank, "She's readied a train for you and Valimar that should be here within the hour."

"Understood." With his mission accepted he refocused attention back to his companions, "Sorry about this, but I-"

Laura nodded her head in understanding, "You need to go get ready. We understand. We'll be waiting for you at the station."

The Ashen Chevalier nodded his head gratefully before turning around to return to the academy.

It was time to wake his Ashen Knight.

"Knock knock!"

After seeing Rean off the two girls had retreated to their home for the night. Even though it was still fairly early in the evening neither Fie nor Laura had any real ambition to do anything special with their time after the events that had just occurred. Instead they resigned themselves to a slightly uncomfortable silence as the two of them went through the motions as they did their normal evening routines.

Or at least that was how it was until someone outside their home started shouting in at them. They weren't even knocking, they were just yelling the words!

There was only one person in Fie's mind who would do something that stupid.

With a lethargic sigh the silver-haired girl passed by a bemused looking Laura to open the door, "What do you want, Sara?"

"Aww. Is that any way to treat your favorite former teacher?"

"Neithardt is back?"

"Brat!" Sara pushed past Fie and entered their small apartment, taking a curious look around in the process, "So this is your home, huh? Seems kinda small. And basic. And boring."

Fie had been expecting a comment like that, so she had a retort prepared in advance, "Don't have to listen to your loud snores carrying across the dorm every night, so it's a pretty big upgrade."

"Instructor Sara." Laura finally decided to make her presence known, "What a pleasant-" The Arseid paused briefly, "...What a surprise it is to see you again so soon."

Fie laughed. Either the other girl's mood was still in the dumps after Rean's departure or some of Fie's own snark was starting to rub off, but the face Sara made at being shot down like that was absolutely priceless.

After glaring at the two students for a moment Sara rolled her eyes, "School finally found a new combat instructor and wanted me to stop in and help make the transition smooth. Lame work, but I wanted to see you guys anyways so I agreed. I take it by the fact I'm only seeing two munchkins that Rean's already left?"

"You knew about that?" A curious Fie asked, wisely choosing to ignore being called a munchkin. Two weeks without Sara was almost enough to forget just how annoying the useless drunk could be. Truly the best two weeks of her life.

"Know about it? I was the one who tracked down the worms in the first place!"

"And yet you didn't do anything about it." Fie groused, "Some A-Rank bracer you are."

Sara didn't seem to mind the comment much as she gave a lazy shrug, "Eh. I know you're just venting a little, but trust me. That many Abyss Worms? Unless your name is Cassius Bright or Arios MacLaine who can probably kill those buggers in a single hit then I don't think there's any bracer that would want to take on that horde. Damn near half the region would be completely reshaped with all the quakes you'd have to endure to win."

"I know you're right, but even still..." Laura frowned heavily before shaking her head, "Is there anything we can do for you, Instructor Sara?"

"You know I'm not your instructor anymore, right?"

"I've never called you instructor to begin with."

"Anyhow!" Sara continued, ignoring Fie's comment with annoying ease, "I was planning on waiting until you guys settled in a bit longer, but I had a feeling the two of you would be feeling pretty mopey and useless with Rean gone-" Why was this woman always so insufferably annoying!? "...So I figured I'd come and see if you guys want to do a job for me!"

Fie's annoyance died down as she comprehended Sara's words, "A job? You mean like a bracer job?" An eager nod was the response, "...What kind of job are we talking?" Sure Fie knew bracers did all kinds of stuff and normally didn't mind the more mundane work like rescuing cats and gathering medical supplies, but right now with her mood so foul...

"The only kind of job worth taking when you need to vent a little, of course. A monster extermination request! Might not be the one you want, but murdering some poor hapless monsters should make you feel better, don't you think?"

Fie glanced at Laura. Laura glanced at Fie. Fie gave a tiny nod. Laura smiled, "I believe we would need a little more information, but I don't see any reason for us to not accept, Instruct- Sara."

"Great! I've missed having you kiddos around to hand my work to when I'm feeling lazy!"

"Is it alright if I drive?"

Fie paled rapidly at Laura's innocent question. Since it was just the two of them it made sense to take the bike instead of the train, even if their destination was merely on the other side of Celdic. But since the idea of taking the bike without Rean around had never come up the two girls were left questioning who would take charge during the ride.

Or at least Laura was asking that question. Fie already knew the answer, "Nope. Not happening."

"And why not?"

"Because I don't want to die today, duh."

The mature blue-haired girl actually pouted adorably at that, "It was just the one time! And how am I supposed to get better if I don't practice!?"

Sadly for Laura the shorter girl was mostly immune to her charms, "Nope. You should ride with Rean later. He's more qualified to watch over you and fix any mistakes you end up making."

Rest in peace Rean Schwarzer. She'd possibly regret throwing him under the bus like that were it not her own skin being saved.

Fie couldn't quite stop herself from grinning victoriously as she led a dejected Laura to the bike. Thankfully Rean was very dedicated to keeping it well maintained, so it was a simple matter to hop on and start the machine up. The little bracer chuckled darkly as soon as her partner was in position.

There was a second reason Fie wanted to drive beyond her own survival.

"Better hold on tight."

"What do you-"

Whatever else Laura wanted to say went unsaid as Fie took that moment to gun the bike. Luckily school was long since over by that point so there was little risk of running anyone over as she drove out of the building and onto the path.

"Ahhhh...!" The girl behind her screamed as Fie rounded the corner and surged towards the gate, "S-Slow down! You're going too fast! You'll hit someone!"

"No worries..." Her calm reply didn't match up at all to the maniacal grin on her face, "...we'll be going a lot faster once we reach the open road."

Going down the hill from school into town at her current speed was great as she actually managed to get the bike to leave the ground for a brief moment. Well, it was great for her. Laura meanwhile simply screamed again before squeezing her even tighter, "I don't mind you hugging me like this, but I might actually crash if you break my ribs!"

"Then slow down!"

This time Fie actually did slow down, but not because Laura said so. Not even her devil-may-care attitude would allow her to drive the bike full throttle through a busy Trista evening. The poor pitiful Arseid must have thought she was being listened to as her grip receded and she quieted down, with only deep panting to show just how surprised and terrified she had been.

...Which was why the former jaeger couldn't help but laugh again as soon as they reached the main road and she was really allowed to accelerate. Poor, poor Laura. So powerful and yet so utterly helpless.

"I'm going to tell Rean!"

Fie rolled her eyes, not that Laura could see, "Yeah, sure you are. We both know you aren't the kind of person to stab me in the back like that."

"You'll pay for-" She found herself tiring of Laura's complaints so as the bike rolled down the East Celdic Highway she went with the tried and true solution of shutting her up – She accelerated the bike to its maximum.

"Ahhhhh!"

Music to her ears.

Fie let out a grimace even as Laura cleanly bisected the final monster, putting an end to the battle, "That... could have gone a little better."

"There is definitely some room for improvement." Her companion agreed as she put away her greatsword, with that mere act causing the Arseid to wince in pain.

On paper Sara's request had been a pretty straightforward one – Outside of Celdic a group of Crop Munchers led by one of their giant variants had been spotted. That in itself wasn't an uncommon sight, as even Rean, Machias, and Toval had fought a similar group just before reuniting with her. And Fie was confident the two girls could handle themselves just as well as the three boys had.

And she was right. They had dispatched the monsters fairly quickly, all things considered.

The problem arose from the fact that with just the two girls fighting it exposed some flaws with their styles. Fie relied on her speed, agility, and stealthy nature to unleash devastating pinpoint attacks where the enemy was most vulnerable. Laura meanwhile was a bastion of power as she wade through the battle toppling all foes before her.

Normally they worked exceptionally well together, but it had been a long time since they fought without their classmates. With no one else to support the two the moment Fie proved herself to be too much trouble for the monsters to hit they as one turned their attacks onto Laura. Even that would have been fine, as Laura was more than proficient at fending off a large group of monsters on her lonesome.

Things changed, however, once a second group of monsters attacked, having been attracted by the noise of their battle. This turned the battle into a chaotic melee with the swordswoman at its center.

It was almost inevitable that one of the monsters would get through eventually, and that moment came when one of the smaller Crop Munchers attacked Laura from behind. Even with their ARCUS link providing Fie's senses the Arseid had been too bogged down to respond in time, and Fie had been too far away to intercept.

They were fortunate the strike had only managed to hit Laura's arm and not anything more damaging. That she had been able to keep swinging her massive sword around was a testament to Laura's fortitude, but one didn't need a combat link to see how much she winced every time she did so.

"Neither of us have any healing quartz equipped, do we?" That was another problem with their current situation. Fie had become so accustomed to Elliot, Emma, or even Alisa providing the healing that she had begun to take it for granted. To her shame she hadn't even considered bringing something as simple as a healing salve for an emergency. "...I'm getting sloppy."

"Nonsense." Laura chided gently, "We just need to do a better job at adapting to our change in circumstance. I'm sure we won't be so unprepared next time."

Fie nodded absentmindedly even as she closed the distance between the two to check on Laura's arm. Even without healing arts she still knew some basic first aid, both from her time in Zephyr and her lessons with Beatrix. At the very least she could take a look and make sure the injury wasn't too bad.

Except as she approached Laura instinctively pulled her arm away, causing Fie to narrow her eyes in annoyance, "Let me see it."

"I'm fine!"

"I'll be the judge of that. Now hand it over."

And yet the stubborn girl still refused, "I was able to keep fighting. It isn't a big deal."

"Maybe you're just secretly a masochist?"

"I'm not a maso- Ow!" With Laura distracted Fie took the opportunity to dart in and grab the limb in question. The other girl tried to pull her arm away, but thanks to the injury she lacked her usual absurd strength, making it easy for the ex-jaeger to keep her grip.

"Hmm..." With Laura temporarily pacified she took the chance to appraise the limb, gently exploring it both with her hand and her eyes, "Well, it doesn't seem like anything's broken. And I don't see a fracture, either..."

"See! An injury like this is nothing! Unlike you I'm good at taking hits so I can- Ouch!"

Poking the ugly purple spot forming on the arm proved an effective tool for shutting Laura up, "Brag all you want, but this is a hell of a bruise. You're gonna be feeling this one for a while." Decision made Fie released her grip, causing Laura to pull away with a glare, "Alright, we're gonna stop in Celdic. Even if nothing's broken a few tear balms will at least dull the pain a bit, and something to wrap that can't hurt either."

"Fine." The stubborn girl conceded even as Fie turned and began the return trek to where they had parked the bike, "At least go slower on the way back, alright? Your driving is dangerous and I'm not sure how well I can hang on right now..."

"I'll consider it."

And she did consider it. For all of two seconds.

Her conclusion was that if Laura was still capable of swinging her stupid sword around and complaining when Fie wanted to help her then she was more than capable of hanging on during a brief bike ride.

The next few minutes promised to be quite fun, in her opinion. Laura might disagree, but considering she couldn't do anything about it it sucked to be her.

Rean watched with detached interest as the engineers worked to unload Valimar from the train. Personally he was willing to place his trust in their ability and leave them to their work, but Valimar deserved better than for him to ditch his companion in order to get home a few minutes quicker.

Luckily everything had gone just as Major Lechter had predicted. There were a massive colony of Abyss Worms infesting Languedoc Canyon, and it was a battle he didn't think Class VII could have handled, even with the support of Instructor Sara or their other allies. But Valimar? The Divine Knight more than proved itself as he sliced through each and every worm with contemptuous ease, ensuring that not only was the battle won, it was done so with the bare minimum of destructive earthquakes.

Even now he was still impressed at just how much power the ancient machine possessed.

Nobody was there to greet him as he exited the station, but that was fine. He hadn't messaged ahead to let anyone know he was returning as it had only been a day. Classes would have just ended for the day and given that he was pretty sure none of the clubs were meeting that made his next destination an easy one.

As he entered the door he expected to find Laura and Fie, which he did. What he wasn't expecting, however, was to find Fie pouting in a chair while Laura was at the opposite end of her apartment focused entirely on her classwork. The tension in the air was almost palpable.

...And was that a bandage on her arm!?

"Sup, Rean?" At least the odd mood didn't seem to matter as Fie gave a bright smile at his arrival.

"Welcome home." That initial greeting was enough to draw Laura's attention as she approached the tired swordsman, "How was your... trip?"

"It was fine. Nothing I couldn't handle." He reassured in return, "In fact I'm more interested in what happened to you?"

The injured girl glanced down at her arm, "Ah, this? It's..." She trailed off before a surprisingly devilish smile took hold of her face, "...It's Fie's fault, actually."

"What!?" That was enough to jolt the former jaeger into a stupor, "That's a lie!"

"You drove like a psychopath!"

"No I don't! And even if I did that had nothing to do with you getting whacked!"

"Maybe it wasn't the initial cause, but I am fairly certain I exacerbated the injury on the way back when you took Rean's bike airborne."

"What!? We barely left the ground! And I can't believe the first thing you're doing after Rean showed up is to stab me in the back! I thought you promised you wouldn't!? Where's your honor!?"

"I never promised that. And I don't see how it's dishonorable to point out when someone's a menace to society."

"Grr... Look, Rean. I dunno how much of her lies you're believing, but the alternative was to let her drive your bike. And neither of us want that, now do we?"

"Hey!"

Rean... was entirely lost. This was not at all the happy return he had expected.

Eventually he calmed the two girls down enough to get a full and coherent story from them. Both of them demanded his intervention. With a rapidly forming headache the swordsman at last made his decision.

None of them would be touching his bike without his consent ever again. Neither girl was happy about that, but he wasn't about to side with either of them when either choice put his precious bike at risk.