Chapter 67 - Rumor Mill Hijinks
8.24.1206 - Thursday

"What have I heard about Schwarzer's love life? Listen, it's easier to name off the top of my head who hasn't been named in the tabloids." Ash joked.

"You're not seriously entertaining the thought of believing those trashy tabloids, are you?" Elliot questioned.

"Does he often do stuff that lands him on the front page of all the tabloids and some newspapers? Sure. Is there any validity to those claims? Have you met the guy? That should be proof enough." Machias argued.

"As the member of the Gralsritter tasked with keeping tabs on Rean in Leeves, I haven't seen him do anything of the sorts that would deem him unfaithful." Rosine explained.

"Hmph. For a human he sure does have the reputation of a dog." Celine complained.

"It's true! I've seen the way my dear instructor looks at me whenever I raise my hand in class- Hey come back, I'm not done answering your question!" Musse tried to answer before Crow walked away.


"That last interrogation- I mean interview was a bust. I can tell that Musse was just trying to screw with me." Crow reported as he sat down next to Angelica in the cafeteria.

"You'd think she'd cooperate given the fact that she's the one who clued you in about Rean kissing some random chick at a ball some time ago." Angelica noted.

After swearing up a storm the previous day, Crow had sought out Angelica and told her about the picture he saw of Rean kissing an unknown woman with light-blue hair at some event. As Towa's friends they couldn't just twiddle their thumbs while their friend's supposed "loyal" boyfriend was off with other women, so they had decided to go around the Merkabah to see if anyone knew anything more of Rean's possible unfaithfulness.

So far everyone has come to Rean's defense, but for whatever reason they all refused to comment on the picture showing him with the unknown woman. Some of them even started to laugh after seeing the picture.

"I say we ask the hard-hitting questions from now on." Angelica suggested as they looked over the remaining list of people onboard they thought about having a chat with.

"Good idea. Let's get more intense too. I'll be the good cop and you'll be the bad cop." Crow replied as they got up and met with the next person on their list in the backroom.


Alisa could feel a single drop of sweat go down her face as a bright lamp was placed close to her. It felt as if the sun itself had been snatched from the sky and placed inside the Merkabah. Not helped by the two people sitting across the table from her who shared an intense aura around them.

"Hey buddy, how about you tell us everything you know?" a smug voice suggested.

"Listen up blondie. Tell us what we want to know, and we'll let you out before you know it. If not, this lamp still hasn't been set to its brightest setting." a more menacing voice threatened.

"Geez, had I known you guys were going to use this Reinford Company lamp on me I wouldn't have helped set it up for you two earlier!" Alisa complained before knocking down the lamp with a quick kick.

"Hey, you can't just kick the interrogation lamp!" Crow complained as he looked at the now broken lamp.

"Well there goes the aesthetic." Angelica sighed as Crow went over to go grab a broom.

"When you two said you wanted a quick chat with me, I didn't expect to be interrogated, you know." Alisa continued complaining as she sat back and crossed her arms. Clearly annoyed that she was roped into whatever scheme her former upperclassmen cooked up this time.

"This isn't an interrogation, it's just an interview." Crow argued as he finished throwing away the broken glass into a nearby trash can.

"Uh-huh. And I have platinum hair and blue eyes." Alisa sarcastically replied.

"Shut up both of you! Ahem. Getting back on track." Angelia responded before sliding the picture of Rean kissing the unknown woman over to Alisa. "Do you know who this woman is?"

Alisa couldn't help but gasp as she looked at the picture, which caught the eye of her interrogators.

"Oho! We caught something!" Crow commented as him and Angelica jumped out of their seats.

They did it, they finally made progress. Now they were one step closer in beating up Rean for two-timing Towa with some random chick.

"What do you know?" Angelica questioned as Alisa continued looking at the picture.

Alisa did her best not to laugh now that she realized what was going on. The others must've realized it too and decided to not to clear things up. It was too funny of a situation for them not to let it continue. Not for Rean and Towa obviously, but they only had themselves to blame for this mix-up regarding his faithfulness.

"I know enough." Alisa answered as she smirked at her former upperclassmen.

"Well? Go on." Crow replied.

Choosing to have some fun leading on Crow and Angelica, Alisa decided to recount a dramatized version of the events regarding Towa's disguised dance with Rean during the Summer Festival.

"Where do I start?" Alisa commented before recounting an inaccurate version of events. "The ball had been going well into the night before the emperor was attacked. All eyes had been on Rean as he danced with Her Highness and his sister. Before I could- I mean, the rest of us in Old Class VII could get a turn to dance with him however, a new challenger took center stage. A short girl and with light-blue, none of us knew who she was. According to Her Highness, she was an old friend of hers from St. Astraia named Creha Rem Ordin. Without much hesitation, Rean danced with her. Lasting noticeably longer with her compared to Her Highness and Elise. As an observer, I could tell that their movements were quite in sync. Just as things were wrapping up, Rean bent down and gave her a big ol' smooch like in that picture. While murmurs filled up the dance hall, Creha disappeared leaving Rean to deal with the aftermath by himself. Being the gracious friends that we are, the rest of us in Old Class VII and some of his students in New Class VII took turns dancing with him to ease the tension."

"Hey wait, where was Towa during all of this? There's no way she wouldn't run up to the dance floor to smack Rean herself!" Angelica pointed out.

"Oh… well, she was in the washroom for the whole duration of Rean's dance with Creha." Alisa continued lying.

"I've warned her about the dangers of drinking too much coffee." Angelica quietly said to herself.

"So that's the story behind the picture?" Crow questioned.

"Yup. I've given a completely honest and accurate account of what I saw that night." Alisa answered while giving the two a thumbs up.

"Thank you for your assistance. You may leave." Angelica informed Alisa as she unlocked the door for her.

"Don't mention it… Seriously. Don't ever mention it. Especially around Rean." Alisa replied before leaving.

"Alright, we finally got an idea about what happened." Angelica noted as she and Crow inspected the picture one last time.

"Yeah, this Creha chick tried to claim Rean for herself while Towa was occupied and then he kissed her." Crow summarized.

"Something still feels off, though. First of all, Rean doesn't come off as one of those guys who just kisses random women. Alisa's account makes it clear that that was Rean's first time meeting Creha. Crossing out any chance of it being some secret affair. Which means that he barely knew her during the dance. Maybe he tripped or something and accidentally locked lips with her? Second of all, everyone on the ship is still buddy buddy with Rean. Even if he's their friend or teacher, you'd assume the others would be less than friendly to a guy who hurt their other friend." Angelica commented. "It's like we're missing some crucial piece of information that explains everything and clears up the situation."

"While all of that does seem weird, we can't just stay indecisive. I say we have enough evidence to go confront Rean." Crow responded.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to get some practice in while we waited to get more info on Her Highness and Elise." Angelica said in agreement as they both pumped themselves up.


"So what do you think?" Rean asked as he spoke with Gaius and Rosine on the main bridge.

"We'll have to check in with Father Thomas before we can make you any promises." Gaius answered. "I don't think it's impossible, but he might have better knowledge on the matter given his expertise on the Church's practices."

"I think it's sweet that you're already thinking this sort of thing regarding your relationship with Towa." Rosine commented.

"Thank you for all of your help. Oh, and please try not to let the others know, especially Towa." Rean requested.

"Haha, of course. You have no need to worry about either of us spoiling the surprise." Gaius replied.

"You do realize who you're speaking to, right?" Rosine teased.

"Ah right, my bad." Rean replied as he tried not to question just how many secrets the Septian Church was keeping from the public.


With that matter settled, Rean decided to make his way over to the cafeteria. Running into a certain heiress on the way there.

"Oh hey, Alisa." Rean greeted as he saw her exit the stairway.

Rean figured that something fun must've happened, because he quickly noticed that Alisa had a prideful grin across her face.

"Oh hey, Rean…" Alisa replied before stopping dead in her tracks as she realized that Rean was going downstairs where Crow and Angelica were surely waiting to ambush him. Her smile quickly faded as she realized what she had done.

"Huh, did something happen?" Rean questioned as he saw Alisa's expression suddenly change.

"N-Nothing of the sort! B-By the way, the pantry ran out, so no real need for you to go downstairs… h-haha…" Alisa informed him.

"Really? I guess it wouldn't hurt for me to look around the pantry and organize a list of what we need to restock during our next stop." Rean suggested.

"Geez, I can see how he became Towa's gofer now." Alisa thought to herself.

"Thanks for letting me know, Alisa." Rean commented as made his way to the stairway.

"Uh, Rean… Sorry!" Alisa anxiously responded.

"Okay…?" Rean replied. He was unsure what Alisa could have done recently that had made her feel the need that she owed him an apology.

Nevertheless, Rean made his way downstairs. Ready to continue helping around the ship while Towa worked by herself in the computer room.

Feeling responsible for what was about to happen downstairs, Alisa followed close behind in hopes of being able to diffuse the situation she had helped escalate.

"Teehee, about time something interesting happened around here." Musse quietly said to herself as she watched things play out from the sidelines.


Upon entering the cafeteria, Rean came face to face with two friendly faces.

"Hey, Angelica, Crow." Rean greeted them as he walked over to the two.

"Don't 'hey' us!" Crow angrily responded.

"Bold of you to show your face around us. That carefree smile is going to make punching you feel all the more satisfying." Angelica commented as she cracked her knuckles.

Neither had their weapons equipped, mainly because they didn't want to waste their usage on someone who hurt their friend. Deciding that their fists should suffice.

"Guys?" Rean questioned as he took a step back as his former upperclassmen approached him.

Despite being friends, Rean was able to sense a hostile aura around the both of them. Thankfully it was clear that it wasn't the curse at the very least, but it was still something he shouldn't take lightly.

"H-Hey guys, no need to do something you might regret later!" Alisa nervously advised as she joined the three in the cafeteria.

Alisa's words fell on deaf ears as Crow and Angelica charged at Rean. Not wanting to fight either of them, he relied on his senses to dodge each of their blows. He kept them at bay for as long as he could, that was until he slipped on an empty bag of chips a certain blonde student of his lazily tossed to the floor instead of throwing away in the garbage can.

"Well then, anything you've got to say for yourself?" Angelica asked as she lifted Rean up by his collar.

"What's with the sudden hostility…?" Rean questioned.

"Don't play dumb with us. You really thought you could keep that hidden from us?" Crow angrily shouted.

"Wait, they figured out what I was planning? I could've sworn that I was doing a good job being subtle. Wait, but why are they suddenly so against Towa and I? They helped push the two of us to get together in the first place back at Thors!" Rean thought to himself.

"Why so quiet all of a sudden? Your silence speaks volumes, y'know." Angelica commented.

"Guys, this is all just a misunderstanding." Alisa argued as the door to the computer room was opened.

"Don't even bother trying to act like you're innocent. We have photo evidence of you and that shrew." Crow informed Rean.

"Shrew?" Rean repeated.

"Yeah, some blue haired shrew. Kind of accurate given how small that girl looked in the picture." Angelica replied. "Hmph. If only that shrew were here too, I'd like to teach her a lesson for trying to make moves on my best friend's man."

"That 'shrew' is right here!" Towa angrily announced.

Everyone froze as they felt as if a dark aura had engulfed the cafeteria.

"Put. Rean. Down. Now." Towa bluntly ordered as she approached her friends.

"S-Sorry you to find out this way, but Rean's been unfaithful to you. We know that you're way too forgiving, so we figured that we'd teach him a lesson in your place." Angelica explained as she let go of Rean.

"Yeah, we even have a picture of him kissing a girl with light-blue hair!" Crow added on.

"So that's what this is about…" Rean noted as he realized what was going on.

"I see…" Towa replied as the dark aura evaporated while she took out her ARCUS to look for a picture. "I believe this should clear everything up."

Towa presented Angelica and Crow with a picture Elise had taken of her wearing the disguise before they went out to dance with Rean.

"Oh…" Angelica responded as she Crow realized that they were tricked.

"Damn it, I forgot that I was dealing with a Cayenne." Crow muttered to himself as remembered how Musse had been the one who'd given him the photo and then never gave him any more information.

Angelica and Crow quickly began apologizing to Rean for the mistake, to which he forgave him. He had an inkling that some other party had been responsible for this mess.

"I'm guessing this is what you were apologizing for earlier?" Rean asked as he turned to look at Alisa.

"Yeah, the others and I couldn't help but have some fun ourselves. You two only have yourselves to blame for kissing in public while Towa was pretending to be someone else, you know." Alisa commented.

"Ugh. It was Her Highness, Elise, and Musse's idea, not ours!" Towa argued as Rean patted her head to calm her down.

"Haha, all's well that ends well." Alisa replied.

"Not so fast!" Crow shouted as he pointed at the stairway.

"Don't think I haven't sensed you watching from the sidelines. Come here, young lady." Rean ordered as he turned to face the person in the stairway.

"Oh darn, I guess I can't hide anything from my dear instructor." Musse lamented as she entered the cafeteria with a mischievous smile on her face.

"I should've known this was a typical Mildine scheme." Angelica noted as Musse approached them.

"Just what do you think you were doing!?" Towa questioned.

"I was bored." Musse explained as she twirled her hair.

"Elise's already told me that spreading gossip is popular at St. Astraia, but that's no excuse to spread lies like that." Rean scolded his student.

"So you were bored, huh? In that case, I'll make sure to let you know next time we have work to do here on the ship…" Towa menacingly informed Musse as she placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Eep!" Musse panicked as she felt her petite instructor's grip getting tighter as a dark aura appeared around them.

Alisa, Angelica, and Crow all laughed as Rean and Towa continued to scold Musse for her scheme.


Author's Note

Hope you all liked the new chapter!

How fitting that this light hearted chapter came out in April, it was not planned. I just wanted something between Towa's bonding events.

I'd just like to clarify here that any and all Nayuta references are just winks and nods, and not me trying to properly tie in Nayuta: Boundless Trails to the main series. Nayuta Herschel from Boundless Trails and Nayuta Herschel in this fic are two different characters... unless Boundless Trails does wind up connected.

Special thanks to ZetianWu and CrowgoesCaw for beta-reading this chapter for me!