Chapter 22 - Target Practice

12.18.1204 - Saturday (Celdic Stopover Day)

After helping out the Imperial Army with the Twin Dragons Bridge, Lieutenant General Craig suggested to the Thors students that they should stop by the recently liberated Celdic to unwind. With how hard everyone had worked recently, Towa agreed and ordered everyone to relax while in Celdic. She had planned to stay on board the Courageous to look over some things, but Rean was able to convince her into joining her crew outside in Celdic.


Despite the fact that Rean was the one who brought Towa outside, he quickly excused himself as he wanted to have a quick look around Celdic.

Towa tried to convince him to let her help him inspect Celdic, but Rean knew better than to pile on more work on Towa. He specifically brought her to the market so she could relax in the first place. In the end they managed to compromise, and Rean left Towa in charge of inspecting the shops. But before Rean left however, he told Towa that once he finished inspecting Celdic he'd come back and help her with whatever she wanted. It was only after Rean had left the market however that Towa realized what he had really assigned her to do: window shop.

"Fine, I know exactly what you can help me with later." Towa whispered as she patted her coat pocket.


The market was quite lively.

Towa's "inspection" was going rather well in her opinion. She decided to go around and ask the shopkeepers how things had been in Celdic. They mostly told her how grateful they were that she and the Thors student had helped liberate Trista. They had also offered her some free products as thanks. Not wanting to be rude, she graciously accepted everything she was offered.

After going around the market, Towa had gained quite the number of snacks and refreshments. She decided to take a seat in the rest area in the back of the market. She was starting to feel tired of carrying so many items. The items she was the most interested in were the cans she was given by one of the shopkeepers. She knew that they'd be useful for later.

"Rean should be here soon, hopefully he'd like these drinks." Towa said to herself.

As if on queue, Rean had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "There you are Captain Towa! Wait, how much did all of that cost? I knew I should've given you some mira before leaving."

"Wait, Rean!? D-Don't worry about the money, they were all donations by some of the shopkeepers!" Towa tried to explain.

Once that was cleared up, Towa signaled Rean to take a seat in front of her.

"I imagine that you must be tired after inspecting Trista all by yourself, so have some drinks." Towa told Rean as she handed him a drink.

"Captain Towa, I couldn't-" Rean tried to say before Towa interrupted him.

"You said you were going to help me with whatever I wanted. I need at least three cans for what I want to do, so you better drink these cans quickly. It'd be rude to just empty them out here." Towa explained as she handed Rean more cans.

"What in the world do you need three empty cans for?" Rean asked as he opened his first can.

"You'll see soon enough. Now drink up, we don't have all day you know!" Towa ordered.

It only took ten minutes, but Rean was able to chug down all three of the cans Towa had given him.

"Good work! Let's go drop off the rest of this stuff in the Courageous' cafeteria. Then I'll show you what I need the cans for." Towa said as she put all the empty cans in a bag.

Towa and Rean made their way to the Courageous. After dropping off the food donations in the cafeteria, Towa (with the bag full of cans) led Rean back outside with her.


Towa led Rean deep into a nearby forest outside of Celdic.

"Alright this should be far enough." Towa announced.

She quickly put all three empty cans on some nearby stumps.

"All right, now I can explain what I want you to help me with." Towa said as she pulled out her orbal gun from her coat pocket.

Towa could tell that she caught Rean by surprise and decided to explain her plan to him.

"You see, when I joined the Courageous' crew back a few weeks ago Prince Olivert gave me an orbal gun he imported from Liberl as a reward for helping around the ship. According to him, instead of regular bullets it shoots 'arts-based' bullets. I had asked Instructor Sara what I could do to improve, but she told me that it'll be better if I just practice with someone who could look over my aiming skills and help me figure out what specifically I need to improve on. Seeing as you offered to help me with anything, I figured who better to look over my aiming skills than you?" Towa explained.

"I see. Alright, show those cans what you're made of Captain Towa!" Rean cheered.

"Thanks Rean." Towa responded.

Towa quickly got into position and took aim at the cans. Before long Rean felt the arts-bullets fly past him.

Rean and Towa were surprised by her results: she somehow missed every single can.

"Well that's embarrassing." Towa commented.

"I think I see where you went wrong Captain Towa." Rean commented.

Before Towa knew it, Rean had walked up behind her and put his arms around her. Towa couldn't help but feel a bit flustered as she felt Rean put his hands on top of hers on the orbal gun as well.

"Here let me help you. Your shoulders slump whenever you pull the trigger." Rean explained.

"Alright, ready, aim, and fire!" Rean ordered as he helped keep Towa's arms straight.

Towa pulled the trigger as Rean ordered, and hit one of the cans.

Rean immediately let go of Towa and went to check up on the can that had Towa hit.

"Wow, looks like you got a direct hit!" Rean informed Towa.

"Really? Alright!" Towa celebrated.

Rean quickly got out of the way so Towa could shoot her remaining two targets.

Towa got herself into position again, this time making sure to keep her shoulders straight.

"Alright, ready, aim, and fire." Towa thought to herself as she pulled the trigger.

Before checking if she hit the second can, Towa did the same for the third (yet not final) target.

Rean saw as Towa hit both remaining cans like it was nothing.

"Wow, great job Captain Towa! You're a natural with that orbal gun!" Rean said as he approached Towa.

"Only because I have such a great helper cheering me on." Towa responded.

With all the targets meant for her orbal gun taken care of, Towa put her orbal gun back in her coat pocket.

"Now all I have to do is take care of my final Target." Towa thought to herself as she saw Rean going around picking up all the cans and putting them in a bag.

"Should we head back to Celdic or the Courageous now? Pretty sure it wouldn't be a good idea leaving these cans here." Rean asked as he made his way towards Towa.

"Um actually, how about we take a seat by that log over there and rest for a few minutes?" Towa asked. "If I want to be able to reach my final target, then Rean and I need to be closer in height. Luckily, after sitting next to him so many times before, I know that once both of us are sitting down our heights become much closer." Towa thought to herself.

"Oh sure." Rean said.

Towa could tell Rean hadn't caught on to her plan just yet.

Rean and Towa sat down next to each other on the log. They spent a few minutes sitting silently as they took in the nature around them. Celdic was certainly a peaceful place now that it was liberated.

After sitting silently together for a few more minutes, Rean decided to ask Towa a question.

"So, what brought all this on? You're already the best backup we could ask for. It seems odd for you to be taking up a weapon now." Rean asked.

Towa immediately recalled what happened back at Trista. Even though Rean was safe and healthy in front of her, she still blamed herself for not being able to help defend Trista and keep him safe.

"I was actually a bit perplexed myself when he handed this to me, but… I think he realized that I've been worried about my own lack of strength lately." Towa admitted.

"You have? Sorry. I didn't even notice-" Rean responded. He felt guilty over not being able to see that Towa had been harboring such feelings.

"Oh, it's okay. It's just I've been tasked with looking after the Courageous. I can't rely on everyone protecting me forever. And this isn't just some minor clash we've been swept up in, either. This is a full-on war in every sense of the word. If I can't look after myself, I'm just going to end up being a burden. That's the last thing I want. So… can you see why I want to become strong enough to protect you- I mean myself?" Towa interrupted.

Rean's mind immediately caught on to Towa's worries.

"Captain Towa… you're not some burden like me." Rean thought to himself.

Although, the words that came out of Rean's mouth were completely different.

"This has really been weighing you down, hasn't it?" Rean asked.

"It's not just that, either. Viscount Arseid and Prince Olivert specifically chose me to succeed them. They're trusting me to fill their shoes. To me, that makes it my duty to become capable of supporting everyone on the Courageous." Towa continued.

"Well, that's more than enough to convince me. If you've got your heart set on this, then I'll gladly help you with any more practice with your orbal gun that you need. Not that I would ever say no to helping you Captain Towa. Let's become stronger together, Captain Towa. A-Along with the rest of the Courageous!" Rean announced.

"Yeah!" Towa said in agreement.

The two continued talking casually about other things for a few more minutes.

Once enough time passed, Towa decided to put her plan into action.

"Rean… I know what you wanted to tell me back at the school festival." Towa confessed.

Rean immediately froze.

"Here I thought she'd finally forgotten about that… Well Rean, hope you're ready for your first heartbreak. Still, at least she chose to do it somewhere private. It wouldn't be the worst thing that's happened to me in a forest at least." Rean thought to himself.

Neither dared to look at the other while Towa continued speaking.

"W-We promised to continue that conversation when you returned from defending Trista. You've been back for a few days now, s-so I think it's time I gave you an update." Towa said.

"You've been meaning to say this sooner haven't you? Now I feel even worse for distracting you from your work." Rean thought to himself.

"R-Rean… I'm not giving you an answer yet. W-What I mean to say is that you deserve so much more than to hear my answer while we're in the middle of this war. S-So when the Noble Alliance no longer has the advantage or this war is brought to an end, that'll be when I give you my answer." Towa announced.

"Captain Towa… you don't need to worry about my feelings. You should know that even if you reject me now, I'll still fight to protect everyone. Nothing will stop me from wanting to put this war to an end." Rean thought to himself.

"I don't want it to be a memory made during a dark time. I want us to be able to look back fondly on it." Towa thought to herself.

Rean wasn't what to do. Every fiber in his being was telling him to just walk away or even run, but he couldn't bring himself to do that just yet. He didn't want to cause another misunderstanding with Towa. He could sense that Towa still had more to say.

Rean's senses were so focused on Towa however, that he hadn't noticed that there was another person in the woods with them.

Towa understood that now was the time for her to take her shot.

"R-Rean… I understand how frustrated you must be with me for constantly not giving you an answer. S-So t-to make up for it, here's y-your only hint." Towa announced as she turned to face Rean's side and leaned in.

Her final target was Rean's cheek, and her weapon was her lips.

Rean suddenly sensed a third person close by.

Rean was able to sense that they were standing behind a nearby tree that was behind Towa. He quickly turned to face Towa in an attempt to try and spot the person behind her.

Rean and Towa immediately locked eyes however, and so did their lips.

Rean and Towa could only stare into each other's eyes as neither were sure how to react. Despite it being an accident, neither had really minded this turn of events.

Rean's only real experience with kisses had been the occasional peck on the cheek from his mother and Elise, but a kiss on the mouth was a generally unknown concept to him. Sure he'd seen his parents give them to each other from time to time, and many of his mom's shoddy romance novels that he read out of curiosity from time to time contained characters kissing (amongst other things). This however was different, he'd never felt such a sensation before. This was his first kiss, and it was bliss.

Similar thoughts were going through Towa's head as well. She'd never been the most well versed when it came to such gestures. Besides her Aunt and Uncle, she'd only ever read about kisses in her book. For the most part she was content with keeping it that way, but the sensation she was feeling now was making her feel different. Her brain started to take in and process what exactly was going on. This was her first kiss, and it was bliss.

Even though only a few seconds passed, it felt like an eternity for the both of them. They'd seemingly grown content staying like that.

Suddenly both Towa and Rean heard someone stepping on a branch and (reluctantly) separated from each other.

Towa and Rean were horrified at the thought of someone stumbling upon them and getting the wrong idea. Not that either of them were sure what the right idea even was.

"W-Who's there!?" Towa shouted.

Rean tried sensing for the person, but it was as if they vanished into thin air.

"I don't sense them anymore. Was it just some sort of animal?" Rean commented.

"Yeah, that seems to be the case." Towa answered.

Towa and Rean then turned to each other. Both their faces got red as they recalled what had just happened.

"I-I just remembered, there's something I need to look over on the Courageous! R-Rean, I order you to have another look around Celdic!" Towa announced.

"R-Roger!" Rean shouted.

With that, Towa picked up the bag Rean had put the cans in and ran off back to the Courageous.

"I-I meant to give Rean just a peck on the cheek! H-How in the world did I hit his lips!? Why didn't I separate the second I realized that Rean and I were accidentally kissing!?" Towa thought to herself as she used her free hand to feel her lips.

Rean took a look behind the tree he sensed someone hiding behind earlier. Besides a broken branch, there were no other signs of anyone being there.

"I swear I sensed that there was someone else here." Rean told himself.

He tried to focus. But beside himself and a few animals, there was no one else inside the forest.

"I guess it might've just been an animal after all." Rean concluded.

"Still, I imagine that was Captain Towa's hint? A pity kiss huh." Rean thought to himself as he put his hand on his lips.


Meanwhile on the outskirts of Celdic.

A strange machine carrying a white haired girl flew across the sky where it could remain undetectable. Once it spotted an isolated area it flew down and dropped the white haired girl on the ground.

It was Altina Orion, who was currently being hired by Rufus Albarea to assist the Noble Alliance. Rufus had sent her to spy on the newly appointed Captain of the Courageous and the leader of Class VII to see if she could collect intel on what they were planning. However, Altina had other plans that involved reporting to another group.

"That was a close one. Thank you Claiomh Solais, if it weren't weren't for you Captain Herschel and Schwarzer would have caught me." Altina said.

"АиэлФЯ." Claiomh Solais responded.

After making sure that the coast was clear Altina took out her Arcus unit and made a call.

"Black Rabbit, why didn't you answer your Arcus earlier?" the voice on the end asked.

"Yeah, you usually answer immediately." another more smug voice commented.

"My apologies Jade Rock and Scarecrow, but I was in the middle of spying on Captain Herschel and Schwarzer when you called." Altina explained.

"I see. Any updates on what they're planning?" Jade Rock asked.

"Despite the two of them seeking refuge deep inside a nearby forest outside Celdic, all they really did was shoot empty cans with an orbal gun given to them by Prince Olivert and had a conversation that didn't involve any upcoming plans." Altina answered.

"Any idea what that conversation was about?" Scarecrow asked.

"It was about Captain Herschel wishing to partake in combat with Schwarzer and Class VII." Altina answered.

"I see. Sounds like Captain Herschel plans to fight on the front lines then." Jade Rock commented.

"By the way, it also seems that Schwarzer has breathing trouble. I don't recall his health records mentioning him having an issue with breathing. Should I update his records?" Altina informed Jade Rock and Scarecrow.

"Really? What makes you say that?" Jade Rock asked.

"As I left, I saw Captain Herschel giving Schwarzer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation." Altina revealed.

Altina suddenly heard Scarecrow laugh uncontrollably.

"Now it all makes sense! Ha! No wonder Captain Herschel and Schwarzer went deep into the woods! Good thing you left when you did Black Rabbit! Who would have thought those two would be so bold! Here I thought they were both pure goody two shoes, but even doing that inside the Courageous isn't risque enough of a place for them to express their passion." Scarecrow said while still laughing.

"Scarecrow that's enough. Just because Icy Maiden and White Rabbit are too busy to help us with our mission, doesn't mean you can make lewd comments. Continue your mission Black Rabbit. I'm sure Rufus Albarea has other things prepared for you." Jade Rock commented.

"Roger." Altina responded before hanging up.

"So Captain Herschel and Schwarzer are a thing huh? You don't think that's the reason why the boss got her to be his and Prince Olivert's secretary for the West Zemuria Trade Conference do you?" Scarecrow asked.

"Not a doubt in my mind." Jade Rock answered.

"What's so wrong with being a concerned parent?" a third voice responded.


Author's Note

Bonding Event one has been taken care of. Expect the next few chapters to adapt all of Towa's remaining Bonding Events, along with an optional story event thrown in there.

Not much I can say about this chapter other than it was rather fun to write. Pretty sure Altina is going to be fun to write for later on.

Preview - "You look like a teacher dressed in that!" ? explained while laughing.