"Magic Knights are way worse."
"What?!" Juna looked stunned by Fie's conclusion, "Nuh uh! The Magic Knight wasn't hard at all! That Unsurtr nearly killed us! How is this even up for debate?"
Fie rolled her eyes, "Sure it was strong, but the cryptid died when we hit it a bunch of times. Maybe those Magic Knights could learn something from it. Plus, it didn't nearly kill us. It nearly killed Kurt. Big difference."
"Sometimes you really scare me." Juna muttered before both girls turned their attention to the only male in the class, "Err... How are you feeling, by the way?"
"...Like I just ate an entire buffet of Freddy's cooking." The Vander replied miserably as he held his stomach.
"You gotta be aware of everything your enemy is doing if you want to dodge its attacks. You were too focused on the cryptid's claws and head. Anything can be a weapon" Fie nodded her head sagely. Her advice sounded good. She definitely wouldn't have gotten kicked like that.
Kurt glared at her, "I am sure in time I will appreciate that advice, but right now...? Shush. Cryptids are definitely worse foes to fight."
"Yes!" Juna crowed at getting him onto her side, "High five!" She raised an arm expectantly.
"Is that a good idea? Kurt appears to be about to vomit his lunch everywhere." Altina pointed out as she entered the conversation.
"Eww... Good point." Arm went down, "Still, at least he isn't an idiot like Fie. You agree too, right Allie?"
The shortest member of the class tilted her head thoughtfully, "...I do not like Magic Knights. The technology that controls them is too different from Claiomh Solais or any other machine I know about. It is... disconcerting."
"Yes!" Fie pumped her fist, "That's three to two. We win."
Her words caused Juna to blink in confusion, "...How the hell did you get three points?"
"Me, Altina, and Claiomh Solais. Obviously."
Her ally nodded in assent, "It is true. Claiomh Solais counts as much as any of you."
As if hearing it's name called the robot appeared before making the strange robotic noises it was known for. Altina - being the only one who could understand it - listened carefully before frowning in what appeared to be surprise and confusion.
"What did it say?" Kurt prompted once it became clear she wasn't providing an answer.
"...It was nothing."
"What do you mean it was nothing?" Juna pressed, "It said something that seemed to annoy you... Wait a second... It totally hates fighting cryptids, doesn't it!?"
There was absolutely no way Juna's idiotic idea was right. Or at least that had been Fie's thoughts before her classmate turned away with an embarrassed huff.
No way!
"W-Well..." She winced at the stutter, "What about you guys?"
You guys in this case was referring to the two adults of the group who had been silently walking a few paces ahead of them. As much as it pained her to admit it, the cryptid fight would have been a lot harder were it not for them. Rean was one thing, but somehow the maid might have been even stronger with the way she sliced up the massive creature after trapping it with those nearly unbreakable wires of hers.
...She really needed to find Sharon's dealer to get some for her own use. There was no way those were simple steel wires.
Sharon made a humming noise as she rested a cheek in the palm of her hand, "While I must admit I don't appreciate how Magic Knights are unable to feel pain or fear-" Okay, so the maid was actually really scary. Good to know, "...My dislike of cryptids is far greater. An Unsurtr like the one we just defeated nearly killed my Lady Alisa and Master Gwyn during the civil war. A crime for which there can be no forgiveness."
Five down, which just left one to go. All eyes turned towards the teacher of the group, "...Can I abstain?"
"No you can't!" Either Juna didn't realize that him abstaining would win her the argument or her anger at his wishy-washy nature was greater. Either way, Fie wasn't complaining.
"Fine..." Rean shook his head tiredly, "I suppose my pick is for Magic Knights." Yes! "I'll never forget the time I had to fight one in the Eisengard Range just a few minutes after waking from a month long coma..." It almost seemed like he forgot they were there and was instead reliving a painful memory.
"Um... Instructor?" Kurt's confusion spoke for all of them. Even Altina, surprisingly enough.
Realizing his mistake the elder swordsman used a cough to try and mask his flush of humiliation, "Er... What I meant to say is that... There was a really powerful Magic Knight in a hidden shrine near my hometown of Ymir. Myself and the original Class VII only barely managed to beat it in the end. So don't get complacent just because the ones we've fought thus far haven't been the most powerful."
"So it's a tie... Lame" Fie mused aloud before realizing that their idle conversation had taken them all the way back to their two parked bikes. That meant it had done its job and she was more than willing to forget the entire thing had happened. The little jaeger began approaching the bike she shared with Juna and Kurt-
"Actually..." Sharon's word stopped her in her tracks, "There is something I wish to discuss with Master Rean in private, but given the lack of bikes I fear it is a discussion one of you will have to overhear. Would it be alright for Lady Fie and Lady Altina to swap positions for the return trip?"
On one hand it was appreciated that Sharon either saw her as someone who could keep her mouth shut or simply decided that her jaeger background made her more open to whatever it was she had to say. It felt nice to be trusted like that.
...But those warm and fuzzy feelings paled in comparison to the hole that Altina's glare was burning into the back of her head. Fie had never prayed to the Goddess for anything before, but right now she was in dire need of divine intervention.
Altina-related doom aside, she would freely admit that she was curious to hear the story of this badass super maid. Thus she did her best to ignore the look of imminent demise from her friend as she swapped bikes and hopped on behind Rean.
The story she silently listened to was both expected and unexpected in equal measures. Fie had already guessed that Sharon had been an assassin at some point, so that revelation didn't surprise or bother her as much as it did Rean. One did not acquire a skill set like she possessed without some kind of special training.
But while that didn't surprise her, the news that she had been an enforcer of Ouroboros after that organization destroyed her assassin's guild wasn't expected at all. That meant that she was like Shirley! And yet despite being an enforcer she was currently working as a maid for the Reinford family, a job which Sharon seemed to take great joy in...?
...Yeah. The society was weird.
Well, whatever. It wasn't her place to comment on it so she didn't. Instead she just relaxed and enjoyed the bike ride back to camp. One day she would be the one riding this glorious machine and it would be so much more fun.
Speeding laws were for wimps, after all.
At camp they were forced to sit through yet another dull debriefing. Much of the focus seemed to be on the strange red grass they found after fighting the cryptid, which Rean called Pleroma Grass. A funny little weed that somehow caused cryptids to appear in Crossbell the previous time. Except this time it was crimson when it used to be blue?
What little Fie understood about gardening was related to seeds that grew flowers and vegetables, not massive demonic monsters. But considering that neither Rean, Randy, nor anyone else in the briefing had any idea what it meant she decided to not fuss over the details for now.
Before anything else could happen they were all interrupted by the rumble of an airship. Exiting the train she peered up and confirmed that was indeed the case. Except it wasn't just any airship – Instead it was the biggest airship she had ever seen in her life and it wasn't even particularly close.
The Pantagruel. According to the others it had been the flagship of the Noble Alliance during the civil war, but now served as property of the Imperial Family. Fitting for a vehicle that completely dominated the skies.
It seemed that the inspection team had finally arrived.
All the monitors on the train were turned on to a local station that was broadcasting the arrival of the landing shuttle atop Orchis Tower. Fie watched with a little interest as all the celebrities inside stepped out one at a time. The Imperial Governor, Carl Regnitz, father of a member of the original Class VII. The Chairman of the Reinford Group, Irina Reinford, who had a daughter that had been a member of the original Class VII.
...She was starting to see a trend there.
Thankfully the rest of the important people had nothing to do with Rean's class. There was the infamous Prince Olivert, and beside him was his sister the equally famous Princess Alfin. And behind her trailed a pretty black-haired girl. No Class VII connections among that group.
Well, whatever. It wasn't as if the identity of a few big-shot individuals mattered to a student like her. Or at least that had been her thought process until Class VII reconvened a minute later and both Juna and Kurt looked upset about something they had seen. This time she found herself sharing in ignorance with Altina of all people. Maybe Rean knew something, but the guy was too busy sporting a dumb grin on his face to comment.
"What's up with all of you?" She asked, knowing that her fellow silver-haired girl wouldn't.
"It's nothing!"
"I-I'm fine."
"Haha... Don't worry about it." Fie did her best to keep her eye from twitching at being blown off by all three individuals. She probably failed. Rean gave a quick cough before continuing, "Are you guys all ready to recommence our mission? We still need to investigate the cryptid off the East Crossbell Highway before the day ends."
Before Rean had even finished his speech Altina walked off towards the bikes, causing Fie to roll her eyes. Did the other girl seriously think that it was her fault she was forced to ride with Rean on the trip back? Mentally she cursed Sharon – no amount of juicy backstory was worth the ire of a jilted rabbit.
At least with neither the maid nor any other guest with them she was free to claim the sidecar. It wasn't nearly as cool as driving the bike, but it beat being forced to sit behind someone any day, no matter what Altina might think.
The ride to the city was easy enough, but actually getting through the city on their bikes was a pain. Crossbell's road layout did not make for smooth transportation, especially with the added traffic probably due to the inspection team's arrival. Instead the five members of Class VII found themselves sitting in the city center waiting for a police officer to wave their bikes through.
"What's wrong, you two?" Fie could have rolled her eyes. Now Rean wanted an answer to the question she had asked earlier but he blew off. Figures.
"Sorry." Kurt muttered. And of course the swordsman would answer their teacher and not her! "That broadcast... It felt really strange to not see my brother there..."
Ah... Fie still didn't understand the Vander family completely, but she understood enough for his reaction to make sense. Kurt's brother should have been Prince Olivert's bodyguard, but with everything that had happened to his family lately...
After staring at Kurt in confused sympathy for a moment Juna turned her head away and muttered out loud, "I was just, um... wondering... Why wasn't Speaker MacDowell there to greet the inspection team?"
Fie knew little about Crossbell and cared even less for politics, so the name meant nothing to her. But given how how stressed her friend was over it she turned a curious gaze towards their teacher, looking for clarification, "Crossbell's most famous politician... He used to be the mayor."
If there was one thing the guy loved doing, it was explaining stuff to people, whether they wanted to know or not.
"Yeah, it wouldn't be unexpected to see him here as one of the local representatives... I'm just worried that he might've gotten sick or something."
Or something indeed. While Fie still didn't give a damn about politics she felt she had at least some understanding how an occupation like this would work. There were plenty of reasons for someone like Rufus Albarea to keep one of Crossbell's most important figures out of the limelight, and none of them were any good.
Rean must have understood that given the tired sigh he let out, "Both of you, just focus on our mission for now. We beat the first cryptid thanks to Sharon's help, but if we encounter another one we'll need to handle it on our own. If we aren't careful, it could kill us."
It was an obvious deflection, but an effective one. Both Kurt and Juna straightened their postures at the reminder, "Yeah, we can worry about that later. Let's get this done quick, so we can have some free time afterwards!"
That was all well and good, but Fie couldn't help but see the unfairness in this discussion, "How come you made them talk about their strange behavior while refusing to answer about your own?"
The Ashen Chevalier opened his mouth, probably to warn her off, but before he could... "My guess is it had something to do with the two girls who were onscreen." Altina answered with a sage nod, "Princess Alfin and that dark-haired girl who was with her. After all, that dark-haired girl is the person Instructor Rean cherishes the most..."
Wait... what!? This sounded like some juicy little tidbit. Both Juna and Kurt seemed just as excited, "Do tell more." Fie practically purred out.
"Well, she's my little sister."
Aww. What a disappointment. Here she was thinking she would get some dirt on her teacher, but there was no way something funny would be going on with his- "Through adoption." Never mind. Altina all but confirmed there was something juicy there. Fie had been around Zemuria enough to know that adopted siblings lived a very different life from blood ones.
"Is it that shocking?" Rean asked at their looks, "Anyway, my sister's friends with Her Highness, so naturally, I'm acquainted with her as well. It's been a while, so I was glad to see them again."
"I remember you being more than 'acquainted' with her..." Altina was absolutely on fire right now, "During the civil war, you rescued her from the Pantagruel and held her tenderly in your arms."
"Held her?!" So her teacher and the princess?! For some reason she wasn't surprised. It seemed like every woman that knew the guy had the hots for him, for some ungodly reason. Why not add a princess to the list?
And yet somehow Altina still wasn't finished, "Oh, and by the way, Instructor Rean wronged me twice. To be specific, he watched me sleep, and he made me-"
"Altina, stop! Don't say it like that! They'll get the wrong idea!"
Fie was almost sure that her classmate was blowing things out of proportion to make their instructor look bad, and given the panicked look on his face it was clearly working. So what was she to do in a situation like that? "No wonder Laura and Alisa and all the rest don't seem to be having much success with him. Never would have thought our teacher was the creepy type."
Pour more fuel on the fire, of course!
"I know, right?" A seemingly horrified Juna added, "I think we need to start locking our room at night from now on. Don't know what kind of creep might slip into our room at night. Don't worry, Allie, we'll protect you."
"Thank you."
"It's not like that!" Their now frantic teacher protested hotly, "I-It was an accident!"
"So you admit to it, then?" Kurt pointed out quickly, causing Rean to slump over in defeat. A part of Fie felt like taking pity on him, but considering he had just admitted that there was some truth to all of that...
How does someone 'accidentally' sneak into a girl's bedroom and 'accidentally' watch her sleep?
Maybe the guy really was a creep?
Fortunately for Rean the traffic jam finally cleared itself up and the police officer waved them onward. Even as the bike began to speed up Fie heard her teacher chuckle quietly to himself and it didn't take long to figure out why – Even though he had been the butt of all their jokes it had served as a good distraction. Both Kurt and Juna were all smiles on their bike, previous worries completely forgotten.
After that 'incident', the rest of the trip through the city went smoothly. The group of five were quiet, but that didn't stop Fie nor Juna from occasionally letting out a laugh as they recalled the prior conversation, which would inevitably cause their teacher to cringe painfully. Overall it was a pretty fun bike ride, even if they had to go at glacial speeds while maneuvering down Crossbell's narrow roads.
Happily they were able to really crank it once they exited the city's east gate onto a very long and very straight bridge. East Crossbell Highway was like most other highways she had come across during her travels – long, dull, and filled with so many monsters that it was a miracle that civilians could even use the road.
Of course they weren't civilians so none of the monsters that thought to get in their way lived long enough to regret that mistake.
Even though Fie had traveled this road a few times as part of Zephyr she had little recollection of it, so she was completely clueless as to where they were going. Thankfully it seemed like Rean did as he led them without hesitation. The only thing she knew for sure was that they probably didn't need to go all the way to the massive fortress under construction on the horizon.
Something which seemed to bother Juna immensely. Practically speaking it was obvious why Erebonia would want another Garrelia Fortress on their new border with Calvard, but that didn't stop the Crossbellian from staring at the eyesore like it was the most hideous thing ever. Luckily Rean's reminder that they were about to be fighting a cryptid was enough to cause the pink-haired girl to tear her gaze away from the eyesore and focus herself on the mission, but Fie could only wonder just how much more the girl could take before something bad happened.
Eventually the chevalier turned his bike away from the main road and onto a little dirt path. The mission briefing had told them that if there was a cryptid in the area that it would be near a small fishing shack by a lake. The same lake and shack which she found right in front of them.
What was surprising, however, was that the shack was currently occupied. If there really was a cryptid in the area one would think that would be an effective deterrent. What kind of lunatic would stick around in a ramshackle place like this?
The answer, apparently, was an angler. And not just any angler, but one of Rean's old schoolmates from Thors. They were literally everywhere. At this point Fie wasn't sure if she should find it funny or kinda scary.
At the very least the fisherman – who introduced himself as Kenneth Lakelord – seemed like a pretty chill dude. One glance at the members of Class VII and he could somehow tell that they were all novice fisherman, prompting the guy with the same name as her fishing rod to offer them some of his bait if they wanted to fish in the lake once the mission was complete. Something which caused Rean to light up in excitement.
Kenneth wasn't alone, either. With him was an older guy who introduced himself as Lughman, some kind of fancy professor from a civilian school who was sent to investigate the area. According to him there was some kind of change in the environment that may or may not be related to the cryptid sightings they were investigating...?
Fie might have been taking her studies a little more seriously, but this was so far out of her level of expertise that she pretty much tuned out the conversation.
Eventually they were given the key to a gate that would lead them to the clearing which was their destination. With that Rean bid the duo farewell before leading them out of the shack. Now that Fie knew about the gate their destination was obvious.
After unlocking the gate the group of five proceeded on foot, albeit very carefully. She didn't think something as big and intimidating as a cryptid could possibly sneak up on them and launch an ambush, but it was an instinctive reaction when headed into a battle. Warily the group entered a large clearing and looked around...
There was nothing there.
Well, that wasn't entirely true. There was no cryptid, but it didn't take long for the group to discover some of that weird red Pleroma Grass that was supposedly responsible for the monsters. If that was there then...
Fie expected to see a cryptid pop out of thin air to make life miserable for them. That didn't happen. Instead what they got was... "Heehee... I guess it simply wasn't enough."
"A-A boy's voice...?" Thank you for the stating the obvious, Juna.
Still, even if the voice belonged to a young boy and the words didn't seem malicious at all, the fact he was somehow eluding her senses while in this location led the former jaeger to believe with high confidence that this wasn't a friendly encounter. Fie had no idea what was coming, but with her gunblades in hand she would be ready for it.
Rean too seemed wary even as he tried to be diplomatic with the unknown voice, "We're from Thors Military Academy's branch campus. Class VII: Special Operations. Who are you?"
"Oh, my, how polite. A pleasure to meet you." The voice responded in a mocking tone, "I could introduce myself, but this isn't nearly enough of an audience for my grand entrance." Fie was growing more and more frustrated as she tried and failed to track the voice. It sounded like it was coming from multiple directions at once. How was that possible...?
"But while you're here..." The voice continued in a casual tone, "maybe you could put on a little show for me. Class VII and the Ashen Chevalier! Show me the power that defeated Bleublanc!"
Fie had no idea who Bleublanc was, but the challenge was obvious regardless. What was less obvious, however, was how the voice intended on challenging them. Something which they got an answer for when the ground near the Pleroma Grass began to glow.
Eyes widened in realization. Did this person have the power to...?
Yep. There it was. The cryptid they had been looking for. They had been told to expect a plant-type cryptid during the brief, and what appeared before them certainly was that. Unfortunately, however, that was where the similarities ended. What they were expecting to fight was supposedly a lot smaller than the monster before them. This one looked more dangerous, too.
Rean must have understood that as he raised his hand like he did back at Hamel, "Heed my call... Valima-"
The voice let out an excited laugh, "I do want to see that trick, but let's save it for the finale, shall we?"
Instead of Rean's cool giant robot the only thing she and the others saw was, "A spiritual barrier!"
"Quite so!" Voice agreed with Altina's assessment of the bubble that now surrounded the clearing, "This particular barrier blocks thought waves from going in or out. I admit, it's not particularly strong. But it's enough to stop you from calling your Ashen Knight."
They were facing a cryptid more dangerous than the one they had fought before, but now they had no Sharon or Valimar. Huh. Maybe Juna was right. Cryptids sucked. And they were totally screwed.
"Fine, then. I guess I can't hold back now." Rean held a hand to his heart, "Haaaaa..."
Fie's eyes widened in realization. With everything that happened she had almost completely forgotten about Rean's super secret power up move. Was he about to finally unleash it now?!
"Spirit Unification!" The answer to her mental question was yes he was. As dangerous as it was to take her eyes away from the dangerous monster before them, she couldn't help but take in her teacher's new appearance. With his hair like that he really lived up to the Ashen Chevalier title, and those crimson eyes were something else entirely...
Yup. Nothing like a jaeger's war cry.
"Hahaha, nice! Very impressive! Now show me this ogre power of yours!" Voice seemed happy at the very least. That kinda pissed Fie off. Since punching in his smug face wasn't an option – at least not yet – she refocused her attention on the cryptid and prepared to engage-
"Arcane Gale!" The former jaeger blinked. She was supposed to be the speedster of Class VII, so how come enhanced Rean was already there? That brief transformation in Sutherland had shown her that he got faster, but this was just unfair! Blinking away the shock she hurriedly embraced her unfortunate role as the second fastest member of the group and launched her own attack.
In the end, it proved entirely unnecessary. While she didn't understand what Spirit Unification was it didn't change the fact it made her teacher absurdly strong. Strong enough that he was basically toying with the once dangerous fiend. Her pride still demanded that she contributed to the fight, and she did with a barrage of bullets and the slicing of a few tentacles that were a little close for comfort, but at the end of the day the cryptid was prey, Rean was the predator, and the rest of Class VII were just along for the ride.
In just a few minutes the battle was over. Plant cryptid met Rean's eerie black flames and the flames prevailed. With a final howl of anguish the cryptid vanished into light, leaving just the four students and one enhanced teacher inside the still remaining barrier.
She couldn't help but think back to her earlier debate – No Magic Knight would have died that quickly. Her opinion was definitely right and Juna was an idiot.
Whatever celebration they might have had was put on hold when Rean's power flared to the point where she felt the hairs on her skin standing, and the swordsman fell to a knee with a hand over his heart. That didn't seem good at all, "He is losing control!" Altina warned. Definitely not good.
"'Ashen Chevalier'? More like 'Ash-haired Chevali-Ogre'!" Voice taunted, reinforcing Fie's need to punch whoever it was in his face, "Show me a little more! Let's see how far you can go until you break! If I give the proper directions, I think I can guide another one here." Fie had met plenty of deranged people in her time, but Voice was right up there with the worst of them. Had he really set this entire scenario up just to make Rean lose control over his powers? "All right. Let's see what shows up this time-"
"Stop right there!"
"Do it, Emma! Give it everything you have!"
Despite the relief the little jaeger felt that reinforcements had arrived she couldn't help but let out a tired sigh. They were getting rescued. Again.
At least this rescue was a little more interesting than the others as the barrier that was encased in a bunch of vines, "Aurum Hedera!" The strange words of who she presumed to be Emma were enough to shatter the trap.
Neither the barrier nor the unique incantation used to free them had been like any arts Fie had ever witnessed. It was definitely weird.
Speaking of weird, she could only watch with wide-eyes as the other voice appeared before them and began casting... something to help their teacher. That wouldn't have been surprising, save for one little detail that really caused Fie to feel excitement.
It was a cat. A talking cat. Whatever frustration she felt at being rescued fell to the wayside. This might actually be the greatest day ever.
Reluctantly Fie tore her gaze away from the coolest thing ever to look at their other savior. As she gazed at the beautiful girl she quickly began to put the pieces together.
Appeared at the exact moment to save them from a bad spot? Check.
Has some fancy skills that allowed her to get them out of said bad spot? Check.
Beautiful woman gazing at her teacher with clear affection? Definitely check.
Fie let out a groan. Just great. Another member of the Original Class VII was here.
Team Magic Knight or Team Cryptid. I would love to hear your thoughts on this critical debate.