Chapter 41 - First Day Anew
3.31.1206 - Friday
"We are now above Leeves. Anywhere in particular we should land?" Valimar announced.
"Principal Le Guin mentioned there being space for you in the Hanger behind the Branch Campus, so let's head there." Rean replied.
"Acknowledged." Valimar responded.
"Wow, you two are so in sync." Towa noted.
"Haha, thanks." Rean replied.
"You know, I could say the same about you two." Valimar responded.
"Really, how so?" Towa asked.
"Despite you not being my pilot, you two give off the same energy. For example, If one of you moves slightly inside the cockpit, the other moves around as well to help make the other comfortable." Valimar noted.
"Heehee. I suppose I never thought of it like that." Towa responded with a slight blush.
"It seems you two are very fond of your current position. Tell me Rean do you like having Towa sit on your-" Valimar asked before getting interrupted by Rean.
"W-Would you look at that, we're here. We'll continue this conversation later." Rean announced as he felt his face turning red.
"Acknowledged." Valimar responded as he released Rean and Towa from the cockpit.
"A-Anyway, thank you again for the ride." Rean replied as he put on his glasses.
"Yeah, Valimar. You made the trip to Leeves go by much faster." Towa added on.
"You're welcome. I'll do my best to relax inside here. Rean, don't hesitate to call me whenever you sense danger." Valimar responded.
"Will do Valimar." Rean replied before Valimar entered rest mode.
"Principal Le Guin should be waiting for us in the Main Building. Shall we head there right now?" Towa asked.
"Yeah, sounds good." Rean answered.
The pair soon left the Hanger and made their way to the Main Building.
"Good morning!" Rean and Towa greeted Aurelia once they joined her inside the Main Building.
"I shouldn't be surprised that you two showed up first. Good morning you two." Aurelia greeted.
"Haha. Wouldn't want to be late on our first day." Rean admitted.
"Hmm, have you always worn glasses?" Aurelia asked Rean.
"Oh, I got those for Rean so he wouldn't get recognized when we're out and about." Towa explained.
"I figured I'd try to keep a low profile for the first few days here." Rean added on.
"I understand. Don't worry, I'm sure in due time the citizen's of Leeves will simply see you as just a local instructor." Aurelia assured Rean.
"Wait Principal Le Guin, are we the first ones here?" Towa asked.
"Indeed you are. Besides me and Schmidt, of course.
"Wait…" Rean and Towa responded before someone joined in on the conversation.
"I see Le Guin wasn't lying about hiring you Schwarzer." Schmidt greeted.
"Professor Schmidt!? What are you doing here!?" Rean and Towa asked.
"I was planning to return to the Roer Institute of Technology, but Le Guin informed me about an interesting position at her new school. She also informed me that she was planning to hire Schwarzer. I do hope you don't mind me tinkering around with your Divine Knight." Schmidt revealed.
"I-I see…" Rean responded.
"He's not even going to acknowledge me is he?" Towa thought to herself.
After an hour of awkward small talk, the remaining two instructors entered the Main Building.
"Please excuse our late arrival. Our train was delayed." a blond man greeted.
"Sup. I would've gotten here earlier, but seeing as I'm still new to the Empire, I had to stick close to this guy." a red-haired man greeted.
"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you were able to arrive today." Aurelia greeted.
"Let me properly introduce myself. I am Michael Irving of the Railway Military Police. Branch Campus though it may be, I will do my utmost to serve as chief instructor." Michael introduced himself.
"Name's Randolph Orlando. Got transferred here from the Imperial Army, Crossbell Unit." Randy introduced himself.
It didn't take long for Rean to feel Randy eyeing him.
"My name is Towa Herschel. I've been going from NGO to NGO for a while now. Pleasure to meet you two." Towa introduced herself.
"I'm Rean Schwarzer. Just a rookie who recently graduated from Thor's main campus. Pleased to meet you, Major Irving, 1st Lieutenant Orlando." Rean introduced himself.
"Likewise. It's an honor to be able to work with the famous Ashen Chevalier. But keep in mind, we're not looking for heroics from Divine Knights here. I look forward to seeing your aptitude as an instructor." Michael noted.
"Understood." Rean responded.
Rean then turned to Randy.
"That look tells me you know a bit about my sordid backstory. Been peekin' through the Intelligence Division's files, I take it?" Randy responded.
"Yes… I can't deny it. From what I could tell, it was a pretty complicated situation that sent you here." Rean commented.
"Haha… Not as complicated as yours, I'm sure." Randy replied.
"A-Anyway! It seems all of us instructors are here now. Major, Instructor Randolph, I'm looking forward to working with you." Towa noted as she felt the atmosphere getting tense.
"Indeed. I'm curious to see what you'll bring here. Especially after you turned down a position with us. I've been curious as to why." Michael responded.
"H-Haha, uh… so you knew about that?" Towa asked. It was one of the many job offers she rejected while Rean was off fighting in the Northern War.
"Oh, that so? You must be better than you look for the RMP to roll out the red carpet. I heard you graduated early. What are you, like, 17 or something." Randy noted.
"Umm… Actually, I'm 21." Towa answered.
"Wh-What? Nuh-uh! You're seriously only three years younger than me?" Randy asked.
Rean did his best to hide his laughter from the others, especially Towa. Although she quickly noticed and jabbed him with one of her elbows.
"That's enough fun for now. I still need to give you guys a proper tour of the Branch Campus. Schmidt, you are free to go." Aurelia announced.
Aurelia soon showed Rean, Towa, Michael, and Randy around the Branch Campus.
She started with the Main Building that was made up of the first two floors and connected to the Clubhouse, which also housed the Dining Hall. Underneath the main building was a swimming pool, along with a firing range. While walking across the Academy Field, she pointed them towards the Vegetable Garden, the Cooperative Store, and Einhel Keep. She didn't specify what it was for however. Soon they reached the hanger, where they all saw Schmidt inspecting Valimar along with some other Panzer Soldalts. She then led them to the Platform, which housed the Derfflinger. The train they will be using to travel for their Field Studies.
Once their tour of the Branch Campus was over, Aurelia led everyone back to the Main Building.
They all soon entered the Tactical Conference Room.
"Alright, now I'll just hand Instructor Schwarzer, Herschel, and Orlando their class information, and then I'll take you guys to the Branch Campus Dormitory. These envelopes contain information about all your students, along with a general outline for each of your orienteering exercises for tomorrow." Aurelia announced as she handed the three of them envelopes with information for their classes.
The three of them opened their envelopes and skimmed through its contents.
"Schwarzer, you'll be the homeroom instructor for Class VII: Special Operations. Orlando, you'll be the homeroom instructor for Class VIII: Combat Tactics. Herschel, you'll be the homeroom instructor for Class IX: Military Finance." Aurelia continued.
"Class VII…" Rean thought to himself. Even he could tell that the placement was intentional.
Rean soon noticed that his envelope was emptier than the others, mainly due to having only three students. Juna Crawford, Kurt Vander, and… Altina Orion. He almost got up from his chair to question Aurelia about Altina's enrollment, but decided to save his thoughts for another time.
Towa could sense that something was off about Rean's class, but decided to ask him about it some other time. She carefully looked through her list of students. Sandy, Kairi, Tita, Louise, Tatiana, Valerie, Musse, Pablo, and Stark. Nothing really out of the ordinary.
Meanwhile, Randy skimmed through his students and tried to brainstorm nicknames for each of them. Jessica, Wayne, Sidney, Maya, Ash, Freddy, Gustaf, and Leonora. All fairly basic names, most of them should lend themselves to nicknames later down the line.
Aurelia soon led the instructors into Leeves. Luckily, Rean's glasses were enough to stop onlookers from recognizing him.
"This is where we'll be staying, along with the students." Aurelia announced as she opened the doors to the Branch Campus Dormitory.
Aurelia quickly showed them everything the first floor had to offer. There was a main lobby that had books to read, a training room for basic exercise, a dining room, and two bathrooms.
"Inside there is an indoor artificial hot spring for bathing. Schwarzer, I do apologize if it's lackluster compared to the real deal." Aurelia informed Rean.
"Haha. I'll manage." Rean joked.
The second floor was simply where all the students would be sleeping.
The third floor however was where their rooms were at.
"I have already taken the liberty of assigning everyone their rooms. Look for your nameplate." Aurelia announced.
The instructors soon separated to see how their rooms looked. Everyone's rooms looked fairly empty. They all had a bookshelf, a bed, and a desk. There was also their luggage, which they had all sent in advance.
Towa was setting up her telescope when Aurelia entered to check up on her.
"It seems you've already taken a liking to your room." Aurelia commented.
"Sure do. This window seems to be the perfect spot to stargaze." Towa replied.
"I do apologize for not being able to place you and Schwarzer's rooms side by side." Aurelia continued.
"T-That's okay." Towa responded.
"I'll let you in on a little secret, all the rooms on the third floor are entirely sound proof." Aurelia teased before leaving to check on the others.
"S-She better not be like this the entire school year." Towa said to herself as she tried to calm herself down.
Everyone soon shared dinner together in the dining room after they all finished preparing their rooms.
One by one everyone left after clearing their plate and wished the others a goodnight. First was Michael, then Randy, and then Aurelia. Rean and Towa decided to volunteer to wash the dishes together before going to bed.
"Goodnight Towa. Best of luck tomorrow." Rean said as he and Towa made their way to the third floor.
"Goodnight Rean. Let's do our best together." Towa replied before Rean bent down to give her a kiss.
With that, the two of them made their way to their respective rooms to rest for the night.
4.1.1206 - Saturday
The following morning, all the instructors got up early to prepare for their first day. Once everyone finished their breakfast, the instructors made their way to the Branch Campus to prepare their classrooms.
"Haha. I can't help but think about my first day at Thors." Rean admitted as he and Towa relaxed in the Faculty Lounge.
"Heehee. Do you want me to help calm you down again?" Towa teased.
"That won't be necessary this time around." Rean replied.
"What won't be necessary?" Randy asked as he entered the Faculty Lounge.
"You don't mind if I tell Instructor Orlando about your first day at Thors?" Towa asked Rean.
"I think I should be the one to tell him." Rean responded. It wasn't that embarrassing of a story anyway.
Randy quickly took a seat as he prepared to hear Rean tell an embarrassing story.
"W-Well, I was really nervous during my first day at Thors. I probably spent a solid minute frozen in place by the entrance. Of course, the Student Council President at the time wasn't going to allow one of the first-years to start off the school year being a nervous wreck. So they took it upon themselves to help calm me down." Rean informed Randy.
"Judging by the gleam in your eyes, I can tell you had a crush on that Student Council President." Randy teased.
"Haha." Rean responded. He was unsure if he had said too much.
Rean then turned to Towa, and saw her blushing.
"W-Well? D-Did you have a crush on your Student Council President that early into the school year?" Towa asked.
Their small talk was soon interrupted by Aurelia, who announced over the intercom that all the students had arrived and were waiting for them in the Academy Field. She wanted all of the instructors to walk to the Academy Field together.
The instructors all met up and made their way outside together.
Rean and Towa couldn't help but get a little nervous as they saw their students lined up outside.
After Aurelia gave a speech to the students, the instructors did roll call and took their students back inside the Main Building for orientation.
"Good luck Rean." Towa whispered to Rean before taking Class IX to their classroom.
Rean then turned to face Class VII.
"Alright, nice to meet you everyone. Our orientation will be a little different compared to your classmates. I'll explain our orientation exercise as we make our way to Einhel Keep. Class VII, let's do our best!" Rean announced to the three students that were with him in the empty Academy Field.
Author's Note
Rean and Towa's time at Thors Branch Campus has officially started.
Hopefully their students don't become too much of a hassle, along with their coworkers, and friends.
Preview - "Is the artificial hot spring to your liking?" Towa asked.
