Chapter 39 - Branching Out

2.2.1206

Rean and Towa sat together at the kitchen table as they waited for Aurelia to arrive. They've been waiting there for over an hour, just sitting down silently.

"What time did your uncle say Aurelia was going to arrive?" Rean asked.

"He didn't." Towa answered.

"I suppose we'll just have to wait here until she arrives then." Rean responded as he got comfortable and put his arm around Towa.

"Good thing we didn't make any plans for today." Towa commented as she snuggled up to Rean.

They soon got comfortable as they waited for Aurelia to arrive. The more they thought about it, the more they realized that they had no idea what she wanted to have a meeting with them about. They definitely had a history with her, but she was never someone that could be considered much more than a distant acquaintance. She was a general for the Noble Alliance, but she mostly fought Olivert's group. Her few interactions with them were fairly calm as they happened off the battlefield. Rean did get to know her a little better thanks to their time in the Northern War together. She definitely earned her title as the Golden Rakshasa with how powerful she was inside her panzer soldat. But outside that, she was a complete mystery.

Rean and Towa were too distracted to notice that Aurelia had arrived and took a seat in front of them while they were piecing together everything they knew about her.

"If you two are really that curious about me, might I suggest listening to my offer?" Aurelia spoke aloud.

Rean instantly lifted his arm while pretending to yawn, before lowering it slightly farther away from Towa. Who pushed herself away before brushing of his chest to make it seem that she was simply inspecting his shirt.

"G-Good afternoon Ms. Leguin!" Rean and Towa greeted each other.

"Good afternoon to you as well. It certainly has been a while since we've last seen each other, Schwarzer. And Herschel, I believe this is the first time we've spoken. A pleasure to meet you." Aurelia greeted with a smirk on her face.


Rean got up to make tea for the three of them as Towa and Aurelia talked to each other in an attempt to get to know each other better.

"I always had been curious about the girl Victor and Prince Olivert placed all their faith in captaining the Courageous during the Civil War. You did remarkably well as the Courageous' captain considering the fact that you were still a student at the time." Aurelia commented.

"Thank you very much, but I can't claim all the credit for captaining the Courageous. Class VII was a big help." Towa replied.

Towa and Aurelia soon turned to Rean, who was too focused on his tea making to really listen in on the conversation.

"I imagine Schwarzer in particular was a big help." Aurelia noted.

"He definitely was." Towa said in agreement as she recalled their time together onboard the Courageous.

"Alright, the tea's done." Rean announced as he made his way back to the kitchen table with three cups of tea.
"Thank you Rean." Towa replied.

"I see you weren't lying about your tea making skills Schwarzer." Aurelia complimented as she took a sip of her tea without even blowing on it.

"I suppose, nothing really phases her." Rean thought to himself as he blew into his cup.


Aurelia did her best to lower Rean and Towa's guards by talking about more casual things. Like asking if they had any plans for the following week, their thoughts on the weather, and so on.
"So, what was it you wanted to speak with us about?" Rean asked.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious." Towa noted.

"I suppose it is about time that I bring up the matter." Aurelia responded as she placed her empty cup on the table.

Rean and Towa froze as they felt Aurelia eyeing them.

"You two would look rather nice in uniforms." Aurelia joked.

"E-Excuse me?" Towa asked.

"My apologies. I'm just simplifying trying to see for myself if you two look fit for the job." Aurelia replied.

"What job?" Rean asked.

"Tell me you two, are you fond of children?" Aurelia asked.

Rean and Towa both concluded that Aurelia wasn't going to tell them the point of this meeting until the very end. Even then, they decided to play ball.

"He might be a bit of a hassle, but I could never get mad at my cousin." Towa answered.

"Elise and I would always go out of our way to look after the younger kids in Ymir I suppose." Rean answered.

"I see. I shouldn't be surprised that you two have the patience of saints." Aurelia commented.

"I'm not sure I'd go that far." Towa replied.

"What are your thoughts on traveling? I hear Ordis is nice this time of year." Aurelia asked.

"Well up until recently I would've preferred to stay in Heimdallr, but I suppose if you came here for both of us… I wouldn't mind." Towa answered while sneaking a few glances at Rean.

"I'd have to agree." Rean added on.

"Alright then. I have already taken the liberty of looking through both of your Thors profiles. Above average grades in all your classes. I was worried that both of you would be sticks in the mud, but I saw a few absences on record." Aurelia responded.

"Why did you need to see our student records?" Towa asked.
"Isn't it obvious by now?" Aurelia asked.

"Not really. I think I speak for both of us when I say that we have no clue what you're trying to recruit us for." Rean answered.

"Where are my manners? I probably should've started with that." Aurelia replied.
Rean and Towa watched as Aurelia stood up to make whatever she was going to say next all the more grand.

"Rean Schwarzer and Towa Herschel, I would like for the both of you to become instructors at Thors Military Academy Branch Campus!" Aurelia announced.

"Instructors?" Towa repeated.

"Branch Campus?" Rean repeated.

"Have you two not been aware of recent developments at Thors?" Aurelia asked. She was expecting the pair to jump for joy at the announcement.

"I've been helping around the family shop, so any news on Thors probably slipped through my radar." Towa admitted.

"Yeah, and was too focused on my final exams to really look into any new developments regarding Thors." Rean continued.

"I-I see… Well, I suppose I should give a basic rundown about what's been going on." Aurelia said.

Rean and Towa watched as Aurelia sat back down with a look of defeat on their face.

"After the conclusion of the Northern War, along with the upcoming arrival of Prince Cedric, it was decided to create a second campus for Thors in the town of Leeves. Dubbed Thors Military Academy Branch Campus, or just Thors Branch Campus for short. It acts as a place for newly admitted citizens of the Empire along with people who would've been rejected by the main campus for small mistakes to attend. I was asked to be the newly constructed school's principal. While it pains me to leave the army in the hands of solely General Wallace, it is an opportunity for me to stretch my wings a bit. I have already gotten into contact with two other people for instructor positions, but there are still two spots left open. I figured I'd recruit the two people who created a third path in the Civil War." Aurelia explained.

"I see… I-I'm not sure if I'll be a good fit as a teacher." Towa replied.

"I just graduated, am I really the best fit for teaching?" Rean responded.

"Rest assured, I have already taken the liberty of interviewing all your former instructors, all of whom gave each of you glowing reviews. Instructor Thomas was notably excited about sending Schwarzer to Leeves." Aurelia revealed.

"Oh…" Rean replied. He should've known that Instructor Thomas had something planned.

Rean and Towa thought about Aurelia's offer carefully. There were seemingly no cons with her proposal. Towa had already been looking for work, and seeing as Rean would be accompanying her, their biggest roadblock was already solved. That and Rean getting a job himself also helped.

Towa thought about what she wanted to do, or rather how she never put much thought into what she would do. She had taken the internships at NGOs in an attempt to see what pathways they opened up for her, but once they were over she received the same requests from places like the Railway Military Police. She didn't want to enter something that could lead to more violence, so maybe the Branch Campus could be the right fit.

Rean thought everything through. Despite having a year to think about what he would do after graduating, he hadn't really come up with anything. Admittedly, a part of him simply hoped that hanging around Towa would help figure things out. So having an opportunity fall right into both of their laps, caught him by surprise.

"Please excuse us for a minute." Towa announced as she stood up and dragged Rean to her room to discuss the matter amongst themselves privately.


"What do you think?" Towa asked as she closed her door.

"I'm not sure. Speaking as someone without any plans set in stone, it does seem rather appealing." Rean admitted.

"Yeah, it sure beats working for the RMP. Plus I imagine that we'll be colleagues, so there's that." Towa replied.

"Should I take that as a yes then?" Rean asked.

"Yes. This is probably the best outcome for us, Aidios forbid getting separated from you again." Towa revealed.

"Yeah." Rean replied as he remembered all the times he'd been separated from Towa.

"Alright then, I suppose we should tell her our thoughts. Wait… should we tell her about our relationship? I-I imagine there's rules in place preventing coworkers from you know… being together." Towa responded.

"W-We'll just ask and figure things out once it's all said and done." Rean answered.


Aurelia watched as Rean and Towa returned to their seats. It seemed whatever they discussed had caused their face to turn a matching shade of red.

"Well?" Aurelia asked.

"We accept your offer. When do we start?" Towa announced while Rean nodded beside her.

"I'll send you that information tomorrow via our Arcus units. Pleasure to have you two aboard. Expect your uniforms to arrive in the mail in a few days." Aurelia said as she stood up to shake their hands.

"J-Just one question… What exactly would happen if hypothetically… two instructors turned out to be in a relationship?" Rean asked as he avoided eye contact.

"Nothing. Although I request that you two limit any flirting, kissing, touching, and any other displays of affection for when you two are in either of your dorm rooms.

"W-Wait us!?" Towa asked. She was sure that her and Rean kept any public displays of affection to a minimum while not in her room.

"Save your breath, you two have done a horrible job hiding your relationship. How even the tabloids have missed it is beyond me." Aurelia joked.

"W-What in the world makes you think that we're a couple?" Rean asked nervously.

"Well, why else would you be in the Herschel's residence? When I called Herschel's family yesterday, I noted how all I needed to do was to arrange a meeting with Schwarzer, and they informed me that he was right here." Aurelia explained.

"I-I just happened to be visiting. I'm actually staying at my friend Machias' place." Rean lied.

"That's odd. The Regnitz family went on vacation to Remiferia over a week ago." Aurelia revealed as she eyed a newspaper that Fred had left on the kitchen table earlier with a picture of the Regnitz family boarding an airship on the front page.

"O-Okay, so Rean has been staying at my house. T-That doesn't mean we're dating." Towa argued.

"Well, I see only three rooms. One for your aunt and uncle, one for your cousin, and one for Herschel. When I walked past Herschel's room, I couldn't help but notice Schwarzer's clothes neatly folded right next to a suitcase presumably filled with more of his belongings." Aurelia explained.

"S-So? We're just... roommates." Rean lied.

"There's only a single small bed inside Herschel's room." Aurelia commented.

Rean and Towa hung their heads in shame as they finally accepted that they were caught.
"Please don't tell anyone. We really want to keep this private for the foreseeable future." Towa admitted.

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me. Just keep things professional when in the presence of the students." Aurelia assured them.
"Thank you." Rean and Towa replied.


With the meeting finished, Aurelia, Rean, and Towa swapped contact info.
"I'll give you two more info soon. Enjoy the rest of your day!" Aurelia informed them before making her way downstairs.
"Thank you, take care!" Rean and Towa yelled at her as she left.
"So… You and I are instructors now huh?" Rean asked.

"I guess so." Towa replied.
"So should I start calling you Instructor Herschel now?" Rean joked.
"That won't be necessary Instructor Schwarzer." Towa replied.

The two shared a quick laugh over their new titles. While they expected all their students and coworkers to call them that, they very much still planned to call each other by their first names.


Author's Note

Here's hoping Rean and Towa can manage to act professional when outside their dorm rooms.

Preview - "It certainly has been a while since we were last here." Rean noted as he took in all the steam.