"Look, all I'm saying is that you could be doing so much more if you wanted."
"...How would you know what I could or could not be doing with Claiomh Solais?"
"Sure, sure. Big robot too complicated for simple minds like myself. But it has a stealth field. And while its stealth is lame and very inferior compared to my natural stealth skills..." Fie easily ignored the glare at her slight, "...I know stealth. And I know you aren't taking advantage of it like you could be."
The four members of Class VII were sitting in their homeroom chatting peacefully while waiting for their teacher to arrive. It was the first day of classes after their return from Crossbell, and while Fie would much rather be sleeping in after the long trip there was something relaxing about just chilling in the classroom chatting with friends. Maybe her opinion of the matter would change once the actual classes started, but for now?
This was nice.
After a pause Altina gave a thoughtful hum, "Perhaps you are right? You do seem to get effective results with your sneak attacks... If Claiomh Solais was to utilize its Fragarach while under Ebon Shade then perhaps...?"
"That's the spirit!" The stealthy girl cheered happily at successfully converting her friend, "Shooting giant lasers is cool and all, but our class is already filled with a bunch of morons who either believe way too much in honor or are just way too loud when they are attacking our enemies. We need more subtle in this class."
"Maybe you should heed your own lesson." Juna growled out in annoyance, "You weren't very subtle with those words... And don't make it sound like I yell and scream like an animal when I'm attacking someone!"
"Fie isn't wrong. You certainly are a noisy one." Hah! Unexpected support from Kurt was always welcome, "...But I still fail to see how fighting honorably is a bad thing. Wouldn't you rather treat your opponent with the same fairness you would want them to do to you?"
The silver-haired girl let out a rather unladylike snort, "Sure. That sounds good and all, but which or our enemies would that even work on? I doubt any of the cryptids, magic knights, and other random monsters can even comprehend something like that. Ouroboros maybe? I'm sure a group filled with the likes of Shirley and Campanella will totally play along." Her voice was practically oozing sarcasm at the end and she was damn proud of it.
Kurt narrowed his eyes thoughtfully as he struggled to come up with an answer. Eventually his face lit up victoriously, "What about Duvalie the Swift, and by extension the other Stahlritter?"
"Alright, I'll give you that one." She conceded easily enough, having completely forgotten about the knight. "Still... Maybe they'd fight you honorably in return, but you'll lose for sure in an 'honorable fight'." She added air quotes for good measure, "Duvalie's definitely faster than you. Might even be as quick as me..." She scrunched her face in thought, "Nah, not as fast as me. But close. Close enough to crush you."
"Wow. That's so humble of you." Juna deadpanned.
Fie shrugged easily enough, "Meh. Gotta defend my Sylphid title, you know? I refuse to believe that anyone can be faster than me. But I'm serious. If you wanna beat the Stahlritter you'll definitely need to fight dirty. Like... throw some dirt in their eyes or something."
"I am not going to throw dirt into their eyes."
His quick denial only served to amuse Fie further, "Words are cheap. We'll see what happens when you're disarmed and one of those crazy knights is charging at you."
Kurt looked like he sorely wanted to get the last word in, but before he could the door opened and Rean walked in. The teacher had an unsettling smile on his face as he waited for Altina to handle her classroom responsibilities.
The reason for that smile was soon elaborated on as the teacher clapped his hands together, "Great news, everyone! Principal Aurelia has seen fit to reshuffle the classes and make ours a little bigger. You can come in now." He finished while facing the still open door.
Fie stilled. A new addition? On paper that sounded like a great thing. Sure she didn't really know everyone at the campus just yet, but the vast majority were cool people. Tita or Sandy would be the best, naturally, but she would be more than happy with Maya or Freddie – especially when he wasn't acting like he was two minutes away from turning one of their classmates into dinner. Even people she had barely met like Kairi, Juna's clubmates, or that swimmer girl who recruited Altina all seemed like solid fits.
But the problem with all of that was that none of them had been the ones to follow Class VII on their insane escapades during their special operations missions. The Golden Rakshasa definitely seemed like the kind of woman who would want to put all the crazies together. So while there were a lot of possible candidates that she would have loved to have in her class, Fie was depressingly confident that she could narrow down who was about to walk through that door to two people.
The dreadful question remained - Was it going to be Ash or Musse?
"Yo. The name's Ash Carbide. Looking forward to showing all of you the proper way to kick some ass in the future!"
Fie groaned miserably. While she wasn't sure which of the two options she had been less enthused for, that they ended up with the louder one would definitely lead to headaches down the line. In fact she could already feel one coming on as the braggart strolled towards the group before taking the seat next to Kurt, all the while acting like a king who owned the room and not the newbie who had only been there for a handful of seconds.
Ah well. Even if Ash meant physical headaches at least he wasn't Musse. The former jaeger wasn't sure what she would have done had the mint-haired girl been the one to enter the room. The mental headaches she provided were a lot-
"Instructor Rean. Ash failed to close the door when he entered. Should I take care of it?"
"That's not a problem, Altina. In fact I told him to do just that..."
Wait, what!? Why would Rean do that unless...
No. No! No no no no no! The grin on Rean's face grew as horror filled Fie's. He never said they were just getting one new addition!
That meant...!
"Haha... The looks on your faces is priceless. Now I can see why Instructor Sara did it to my class. You can come in now."
"Mou...! Instructor Rean, you're so mean making me wait in the hallway for so long. You'll have to make it up to me later." Despite saying that the other half of Fie's grim prediction had nothing but a bright smile on her face as she entered before giving a proper curtsy to the class, "Musse Egret. I'm ever so delighted to make your acquaintance. I look forward to spending plenty of time with my new friends as a member of Class VII~"
"Nooooooo!" Of all Fie's classmates only Juna was nice enough to send her a pitying look as she slammed her head into the table in abject despair.
She was just starting to see this group as something like a family to her, and now this had to happen!? Both the loud one and the manipulative menace were to be her classmates for the rest of the year? Was this karma paying her back for years spent as a soldier for hire?
Nah. Nothing she had done with Zephyr warranted this kind of terrible karmic revenge.
Rean would pay. Sure he claimed that Principal Aurelia was the one responsible for this, but never in a million years would Fie be stupid enough to take her shot at that crazy woman. Much safer to just blame the smiling teacher for creating her own personal hell.
A personal hell which was growing closer and closer as for some ungodly reason Musse decided to take the seat right next to hers, "Oh my! You're looking rather pale, Fie. Is something the matter?"
The former jaeger shot her new classmate a baleful glare, but it accomplished nothing as the brilliant girl tittered like it was nothing, "It's... nothing." She finally grit out, even as she kept her head planted firmly on the table.
"How wonderful! I was afraid you weren't feeling well. I am so looking forward to being your classmate for the next two years!"
Why did she have to sound so fake with everything she said? And why did Musse choose her of all people to constantly harass? Why not Kurt or Juna?
And most importantly - Why did she need to remind Fie that this was going to be her class for that long? Two years seemed like forever now!
"Alright, settle down class." Bold words from the man who was responsible for this mess, "I know you're all as excited about these changes as I am-" Was the idiot mocking them or simply delusional!? "...But we still have classes today. In fact, given the changes your schedule for the next month will be slightly different from the previous ones-"
Fie proceeded to tune the guy out. Any respect she had for the annoying teacher was long gone. No amount of headpats or sappy words could possibly make up for this betrayal!
Musse Egret loved it when a plan came to fruition.
One didn't need to be a genius to identify that in a school filled with remarkable individuals the true standouts were in Class VII, although being one certainly helped. Despite being the smallest of the three classes with only five members including her beloved Instructor Rean, each and every one of them had the potential to be a powerful piece in the game to come.
Sure she could have simply gone to Principal Aurelia and been transferred into that class from the very first day, but such an action would have aroused suspicion. Far too many outside parties had a vested interest in the Ashen Chevalier for such a hasty move to be viable. Plus doing so sounded entirely too dull for someone with the level of ambition she held.
Instead she took the time to slowly involve herself in that group. Teasing their hunk of an instructor at every possible chance, spending as much time with the students in that class as she did her own dear friends in Class IX, and even providing assistance during their daring but questionable actions during the field studies.
And now here she was walking to outdoor combat practice alongside her new classmates as a member of Class VII, with nobody – not even their dear chancellor – the wiser for it. As far as the world was concerned she was simply just another student with a penchant for getting into unnecessary trouble, but with the skills to make it through safely. And as an added bonus she had even acquired a delectable wildcard in the form of Ash Carbide in the process.
"Why are you giggling? It's kinda creepy."
"Oh? My apologies." Whoops. The sweet taste of success caused her mask to slip a little. How silly, "I'm still just so happy that I get to be in Class VII now."
Fie stared at her with an expression that conveyed a healthy amount of skepticism. Eventually she must have decided that it wasn't worth pressing the issue as the shorter girl turned away.
"Alright everyone, given everything that happened in Crossbell I've decided to up the ante on your training a bit." Musse, Fie, and all the other students present focused their attention on Instructor Randy as he stood in front of the group, "Given that you guys encountered my old buddy Gareth and that archer Stahlritter in Sutherland I figure you guys could use a more practical lesson..."
Musse was quick to take note of the sniper rifle in the teacher's hands. Ah... So that was what the lesson was about.
The mint-haired girl took a discreet step towards Fie, leaving them closer together than they were to any other member of the class.
"...We're gonna be doing sniper survival training! And as luck would have it, I'm a pretty steady hand with one of these bad boys! Hard to make it in a jaeger corps without knowing how to use a sniper rifle, after all. It's not my Berserker, but I'm more than confident if any of you kids sit on your asses I can and will make you pay for it!"
The older male gave a glance around the group, "Your objective will be to make it through the tree line to the clearing on the other side. There I've placed a flag. None of you are allowed to go past the train tracks or beyond where Einhel Keep is. If you reach the flag or land a hit on me you win, but if I shoot you, well... You fail, obviously"
"I'll be pairing you up for this exercise. Let's see... Ash, you're with Juna. Musse and Fie. And that leaves Kurt and Altina as the final pair."
Musse gave a giggle as the Zephyr member sent her a sidelong look. What a fortuitous coincidence to be partnered with the one person with a similar background to Instructor Randolph!
Contrary to what those who knew her might think, Musse did not possess all the answers. While she wasn't so humble as to deny that she was an intelligent girl, her true strength lay in taking the scattered threads of knowledge that she possessed on the subject and weaving them together to create a complete picture, something with which she could work with. As handy of a skill as it was, it was impossible to fully accomplish if one of those threads was missing.
And while she had a solid grasp of military tactics and sharpshooter training, understanding of a veteran jaeger's mindset was not something one could simply glean from a tome or from the orbal net. No modern military came close to possessing the ruthlessness and experience that a mercenary from one of the top corps possessed. Normally Musse would be content to play the role of the intelligent but flawed student and use what limited knowledge she possessed to give a respectable performance before inevitably failing.
But right now she had a golden opportunity at her disposal to gain a better understanding of how her new classmate worked.
"Ash, Juna. You're first. In sixty seconds I'll give the signal for you to begin. The next pair can begin whenever they return." With those final instructions given the teacher ran into the forest, leaving just the students waiting silently. After the specified minute elapsed there was a single gunshot in the forest, which served as the signal for the first pair to begin carefully moving into the tree line.
"They are so screwed." Fie muttered. She seemed rather amused by the prospect.
Musse found herself laughing in agreement, "This exercise does seem to be a little too... subtle for Juna and Ash, at least from what I've seen. That being said, I'm afraid a mission like this is outside of my experience range. I don't suppose you have a plan?"
"A plan? Not quite. But I do have some ideas." The silver-haired girl sent a pointed look towards the rifle in Musse's hand, "How good are you with that thing?"
Despite already knowing her answer she took the time to consider the question, "As long as Instructor Randolph is stationary I am confident I can hit him at any range."
Fie nodded approvingly, "Good. My gunblades lack the range to seriously threaten a sniper, especially one as experienced as Randy-"
She paused as another gunshot rang through the clearing, which was followed a few seconds later by a third one.
"Well, that was fast. Maybe a minute or two at the most. I wonder..."
"Twenty-five arge would be my guess, based on the speed Ash and Juna were moving." Fie's surprise at her input was enough for Musse to smile a little wider, "I do believe there is a section of the forest that far ahead where the trees thin out a little."
"Nice." Fie praised, "I'm sure Randy will move after this, especially since he knows I'm involved in this exercise, but he can't really relocate too far if he wants to stay concealed. I should be able to guess his general location based on that. So what we need to do is-"
The gunsword wielder trailed off as Kurt and Altina approached the duo, "Do either of you have a plan to solve this exercise?"
"Nope." Fie responded sharply.
"...No as in you don't have a plan or no you don't intend on sharing with us?" The smirk on the girl's face was all the answer Kurt needed. Instead he turned his attention to Musse, "...And what about you?"
For her part Musse couldn't help but giggle. That level of casual competitiveness wasn't something she would have expected from Fie during that first month, but it definitely fit her new profile well. And as her friend how was she to refuse such a gesture? "I'm afraid I cannot answer that, but if I may make a suggestion?" With three pairs of eyes focusing on her she continued, "I would say your primary advantage is Claiomh Solais' stealth field, yes?"
The arrival of Juna and Ash brought an end to their little discussion. Both of them were scowling, but neither looked worse for wear, a testament to the effectiveness of the low-power training setting most orbal firearms possessed. But with their return came the important question... who was next to go?
"Let's do this." Musse would admit to being a little surprised that Fie volunteered themselves so quickly, but the most likely theory in her mind was that her partner believed that going second would improve their chances of victory. Perhaps Instructor Randolph would be easier to identify given less time to relocate from his original position? Or maybe she simply believed the instructor was going to go harder on future teams given the extra prep time?
Either way the conjecture was pointless, and instead she freely agreed to her partner's suggestion. Leaving her new classmates behind the two of them crossed the treeline. Musse couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of nervousness as the two of them entered the game – Even knowing the psychological dangers of a sniper did little to diminish its impact on her, even in a training setting.
Even Fie looked poised to react at an instant despite her confidence that the teacher would be further into the forest, "So we didn't really have any time to come up with an elaborate plan and the rules of this test don't allow for us to outflank Randy, so we're just gonna keep it simple and rely on our skills. If I'm right, Randy will probably be about forty arge away somewhere over there." She pointed a finger to provide actual directions.
"I want you to hang back to provide counter-sniper fire while I bait out his position. Randy will definitely be looking for you first since he knows how evasive I am, so stay out of sight until he's forced to take the shot at me. The combat link will have to provide your target.
Like Fie said, the plan itself was simple, but one part of it surprised Musse quite a bit, "You're placing a lot of faith in someone you haven't worked with before, aren't you?"
"Eh, I guess? I mean we did fight together on Orchis Tower. But more than that..." The lithe jaeger gave a tiny shrug, "...I guess it's gotten a little easier for me to trust people."
It was a good thing she had been moved into Class VII. Sure she had accounted for the possibility that being sent to a school would help her new classmate open up, but only in her most ambitious calculations did she guess it could happen to such an extent. It was truly admirable that Fie had learned to trust so quickly.
The schemer squashed the rebellious part of her brain that railed against that thought. Her personal mission was too important to rely on something as flimsy as trust.
"Alright." She agreed at last, "As soon as you move I shall take cover behind that rock over there." It was far enough from where Fie believed their teacher was to keep her hidden, but close enough for her to get an angle as soon as she stepped out.
"Good. Let's do this." Fie took a deep breath, formed a combat link between the two, and trotted forward into the open. Following instructions Musse took her own position. Behind cover she had absolutely no visibility and was forced to rely on their shared connection to provide senses-
Something which immediately paid dividends as Fie sensed the bullet with her combat instincts before Musse even heard it. She truly lived up to her Sylphid name as the girl rolled out of the way, avoiding the shot by a mere rege. Even as she evaded Fie was hard at work trying to pinpoint the shot for Musse.
For her part the mint-haired girl was already stepping out of cover to take her shot, her mind racing quickly. Take the trajectory that Fie identified, adjust for the five or so arge that separated the two students, find the closest spot that gave her line of sight...
There! Instructor Randolph's bright hair gave him away. The teacher must have respected their skills as he was already moving from his hiding spot to a more distant position, safe from any possible retaliation. Musse bit her lip in thought even as she took aim.
Practically speaking the shot she was about to take would have been beyond most trained soldiers, let alone students. If Musse wanted to play her role correctly she should choose to miss here. Given how well they executed their plan a near miss would be enough to earn the instructor's praise and a good grade.
But...
Fie had placed her trust in Musse to land this shot. And for some strange reason Musse found herself not wanting to let her down.
Squeezing the trigger the noblewoman watched with satisfaction as her round grazed Instructor Randolph's uniform. It was such a near thing that it could easily be passed off as a lucky hit, but it still fulfilled the requirements of the exam. Already Randy was raising his arms in the universal gesture of surrender.
"Nice shot." Fie grinned at her. Musse found herself smiling back. Success tasted sweet indeed.
Ash Carbide hated art class.
That was an unfortunate truth to the young man, as that was the class he and the rest of his new classmates currently found themselves in. It wasn't as if he held a particular hatred for music or painting – at least nothing more than most of the other classes – but there was one unfortunate thing that made this class stick out more than any other.
The teacher for this class was none other than the Golden Rakshasa herself.
The other bookworm classes like history and economics sucked too, of course, but those classes he could just kick back and relax. As long as he passed all his tests – which he did – neither Schwarzer nor Herschel gave much of a damn what he did in class. Maybe that was the same with Principal Aurelia, but the orphan from Rachel wasn't stupid enough to want to find out for himself. He had seen some terrifying shit in his time, but none of it compared to the crazy powerhouse of a woman that was currently droning on about music.
Ash took a gamble and glanced away from the powerful woman long enough to gauge how his new classmates were faring. Egret – the phony that she was – seemed to be following the lesson with a bright smile on her face. Pretty Boy was doing the same, just with a lot less smiling. Little Bunny's own attempts at scribbling notes were marred by the confused furrow of her brow whenever the young girl turned long enough for him to see her face.
Those were the three in the row in front of him. Next to him sat the Wild Filly, and the girl looked pretty overwhelmed. It was kinda hilarious. On the opposite end of the table sat Jaeger, and while the girl appeared interested in the lesson on the surface, Ash could tell that she was just as bored out of her mind as he was, but was too terrified to show it.
Guess they had more in common than he cared to admit.
Shitty lesson aside, the bruiser couldn't help but feel pretty good about his new situation. Sure the guys in Class VIII weren't terrible, but they were a bunch of wimps. Even if VII's teacher was still a lame-ass wannabe hero this was the class to join if you wanted to get into a scrap, and that was the main reason he brought his ass to this school to begin with.
Plus he couldn't deny the class had some fine eye candy. A shame all their personalities sucked.
The blonde hadn't been expecting to get transferred when the principal called him into a meeting after Crossbell. In fact a part of him hadn't been expecting to leave that office alive. He thought some asshole snitched about something or other and the Golden Rakshasa was about to cut him into little pieces. Seemed like the kind of thing she would do. Instead he found herself ordered to Schwarzer's class as his newest student alongside Egret.
Hell yes.
"Alright class, I've decided on a fun little exercise for all of you." Aurelia said, drawing the punk out of his thoughts, "You'll be working in groups of three with the people at your table." So that meant he was working alongside Jaeger and the Wild Filly? That sucked.
The principal pulled out a recording device, "I heard you are all familiar with Elliot Craig, yes? I'll be playing one of his songs, 'Under the Bright, Shining Sky,' and I want you to figure out the meaning of the song. Take note of chosen instruments, the tempo, the notes used, and everything else that makes up this song. It's all important in the language of music, after all."
...Say what now?
Ignorant of his internal confusion Aurelia pushed play and the room filled with music. It wasn't the stuff he normally listened to, but Ash couldn't deny the music wasn't terrible despite being lame violin crap. It was the kind of music you'd expect to be playing in the background of Heimdallr while you're out shopping, or something like that.
But none of that actually gave an answer to the question put before them. After the initial recording finished the principal placed the music on loop, but lowered the volume so they could chat with each other.
As pointless as it was, Ash did just that, "Do either of you have any idea what the hell this song's all about?"
"Nope."
Unlike Fie Juna actually seemed to think about it as she put a finger to her lip, "I mean... it's cheerful music, right? Is that the answer?"
...A shame a thoughtful Wild Filly was still just a Wild Filly, "No you idiot! That answer sucks! Are you both idiots?"
"Meh." Jaeger gave a lazy shrug of her shoulders, "My only experience with music is a bunch of drunk jaegers singing random stuff around a fire after a successful mission. Trust me, it sucked about as bad as you can imagine."
"I mean... I know music?" Juna protested feebly, "Between my dad, Ken, and Nana I've probably listened to the Mishelam theme song a thousand times. That's gotta count for something, right?"
"Oh, hey. I know that one. Boss taught it to me to hum during infiltration missions to keep my mind focused." Her worthless knowledge wouldn't have been so annoying had the little jaeger not started humming it right there in the middle of class, much to Juna's delight.
Ash couldn't help but groan loudly, "You two are completely useless!"
"Don't see you being much help."
"You kiddin'? Only music I know is the kind they play at rundown bars and other shady ass places. This proper music is way beyond me."
Jaeger hummed thoughtfully, which for some reason inspired a little more confidence than when Juna did so, "I guess we gotta go with the tried and true method."
"Fake it until we make it?"
"Pull something out of our asses?"
Ash shared a look with Juna as the two spoke at the same time. She might have been an idiot, but at least they were on the same page there. Jaeger too given the way she grinned at them, "Bingo. We met Elliot in Sutherland so we should be able to build something off of that."
He nodded along. That made sense, "You know the guy better than me, but from what I saw he looked like a total wimp, but considering he was able to hold his own against those Ouroboros psychopaths there's gotta be more to him, right?"
"Seriously, Ash?" Juna sighed out.
"Eh. His words sucked, but he's not really wrong either. Think something like 'soft tone but with a steely undercurrent to it' would work?"
The blond teen slowly nodded his head, "It's a start, but we're gonna need to do a whole lot more if we want to get through this. Write in a lot more detail and use a bunch of music words and all that other crap."
"But not too much detail." The pink-haired girl warned, "None of us know what we're talking about, so the deeper we try to go the more likely we are to be completely off the mark. And if Principal Aurelia calls us out on it..."
Right. He didn't think that insane woman would smite them with her giant sword for screwing up a music question, but at the same time he wasn't exactly chomping at the bit to figure out that point for sure.
"It's a shame she's watching us, 'cause I would totally sneak a look at what the others are writing and copy their work." Fie groused, "Well, whatever. I'm better at winging it anyways. So how about we start it like this..."
The tall student listened as his new classmates bounced ideas back and forth, even contributing a few of his own. Music class still sucked, especially since he found himself partnered with a pair of idiots, but at least these idiots knew what they were, unlike a lot of fakers he had met over the year. Better to just accept your limitations and come up with some utter bullshit instead of deluding yourself into thinking you're an expert when you aren't.
He still wasn't sure what to expect from Class VII moving forward. Sure the fights would be good, but Schwarzer was still a total fraud as far as he was concerned, so he wasn't sure what the 'hero' could possibly teach him. Maybe the next few months would be a total waste of his time.
But at least he was feeling pretty confident that even if it ended up a waste he would at least get some fun times out of it. His new classmates were anything but dull. Maybe he could convince them to slip off to a casino or a bar the next time they all go out on their silly mission requests?
And he'd never admit it out loud, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction when the Golden Rakshasa gave a better score to their bullshit summary than the one the others came up with. Pretty Boy's dumbfounded reaction was priceless!
Fie + Musse = A terrifyingly competent duo
Fie + Ash (+ Juna) = Zero brain cells.