Hello everyone here is the next chapter of the story, I hope you all enjoy it, this one is about Group A's field study in Roer. Don't mind the the Rean/Alisa overdoses, I just couldn't resist ;)
To Volublepaladin,
thanks for leaving a review on my story and also thanks for complimenting my story.
As for your second point I can see your point of view I admit I may have overdone it a bit, like you said. Will try to tone it down in the future chapters.
The third point, regarding the spacing you are absolutely right but I don't know what I am doing wrong on this site at AO3, I manage to do it but every single time I try to create space between the texts the programs autocorrects it after I hit save and I don't know how to stop that, if you know how please tell me! As for the length of the conversations I thought I had keep them short enough but I will see what I can do going forward.
I always appreciate good critique, especially if it help me see where I can improve so thanks.
Like always some info:
Spoken words are between " "
Thoughts are between ( )
After the Courageous had landed at the airport in Roer and dropped off Group A along with Sharon, the students were guided by said maid through the concrete maze that was the city, "I can't help but recall trying to navigate through Garellia Fortress last month, when I look around here. I guess when you build with tons of iron and concrete, everything starts to look similar."
"Don't worry about it, Machias. You will get used to it but if I am not wrong, we aren't far from the city centre. To the ones who are visiting Roer for the first time, brace yourselves because the layout is even weirder than the capitals and I know that this is my hometown and all that, but even I can't deny that it is true. Now after taking a left here, we should come out of this tunnel."
At the front Sharon gave Alisa a teasing look before commenting, "It gladdens me that you are able to find your way around the city now, my lady. Why, it seems just like yesterday that I had to go pick you up when you had lost your way." That managed to fluster the archer who tried to deny it vehemently, "Th-that was when I was a kid! Don't say it like it's still happens! …Really, that was a long time ago!"
The last part was addressed to her grinning classmates who looked they didn't believe her but were polite enough not to say anything, as if knowing what they were thinking she was going to deny it once again but saw that they were fast approaching the exit, "Cough, let me welcome you all to the Industrial Metropolis, Roer!"
After stepping out of the tunnel, the ones who were seeing it for the first time besides Rean and Crow looked stunned with what they were seeing, "Whoa, the city here extends above AND below?", Fie was right besides Elliot with looking around commenting on what she was looking at, "You were right, this is weird and if I remember correctly, it has a population of around 200000 people living in it too. That is as big as the capital of a smaller country."
Looking around Rean spotted the place where the provincial army had escorted him and Alisa away to question them, going by the small grin on the archer's face it seemed like she was recalling the same memory though he wisely didn't mention it but something else, "I feel like the city has gotten bigger since the last time I was here. Hmm, the Reinford Corporate Headquarters is on the upper level, right?"
"That is correct, Master Rean. To go up, you just have to take the escalator right over there." Group A followed where the maid was pointing just to find a staircase that seemed to be…. moving its stairs up, for a moment no one said anything as they approached it, "So they finally finished it? When I left six months ago, they were still building them."
Noticing the looks she was getting Alisa explained what this here was, "Simply put this is a moving staircase, the first one was built by Zeiss and after that the technicians here, decided to try and build one too." Amused at that Rean was the first to step on it and after the initial surprise the rest followed while enjoying the ride, "I guess they wanted to show off a little too, by the way I noticed those the last time I was here but with all that happened I didn't get to ask but what are they? They don't seem like buildings more like machines."
The swordsman pointed at the weird shaped construction towering over the rest of the buildings, "Very astute of you, Master Rean. That is actually an orbal generator, Roer has so many factories and industrial facilities that the city uses an enormous amount of orbal energy. Having large generator like those that send energy where it is needed is more efficient than each factory producing its own energy."
In the time Sharon was done explaining, they had arrived at the top of the escalator where another surprise was waiting for them namely the skyscraper that was the Reinford Headquarters, after the others who saw it for the first time Alisa added her own comments to it, "It is a tall building, sure, though not as big as Orchis Tower in Crossbell. That one is a forty-floor skyscraper, the tallest on the continent now, I think."
"Haha, no need to be so modest, Alisa. It is your family digs, no one is going to mind if you talk it up a bit." The grin of Crows face made it clear that he was just teasing the blonde, along with the others who started teasing her too about it, the archer simply ignored them and walked inside, the rest followed her just to find that the inside appeared to be as fancy as the outside. It also seemed to serve as an exhibition for the various accomplishments Reinford had made over the years, showing miniature models of tanks, cars, airships and so on.
The moment Alisa stepped inside the staff recognised her immediately, greeting her when she passed by them, by the time they had reached the elevators, an older man wearing a butler uniform approached them without concealing the joy of seeing her again, "Lady Alisa, it has been six months since you have been home. It fills me with much joy to see you again and that you finally decided to visit the old homestead again but where are my manners, I am Dalton a butler in the service of the Reinford Family. It is a pleasure to meet Lady Alisa's classmates."
Greetings were exchanged between him and the students, done with that part Dalton excused himself to return to his duties but not before asking Sharon to take good care of their young lady. "Wow, it is one thing to hear about it but seeing with our own eyes really drives home the fact that she is a Reinford."
"Better make sure that you treat her right Rean, if you aren't careful you may have to deal with the entire Reinford Group coming after you in case you hurt Alisa." Both the archer and the swordsman ignored both remarks from Fie and Crow, (though Rean couldn't stop the feeling of dread that appeared out of nowhere which after looking around seemed to come from Sharon who just looked at him with one of her usual smiles however that one was filled with so much danger, making him realise who Alisa had learned that one from) and followed the maid towards into the elevators who took them to the 23th floor where the chairman was waiting for them.
Irina Reinford was surrounded by two Orbal computers along with small mountains of paperwork, in one hand she had what appeared to be a report while the other was typing something into one of the computers and a phone tucked between her shoulder and ear. Group A watched with amazement how the older woman seemed to handle multiple things at the same time from going over the reveal of the Courageous to the handling of the company stocks.
"W-wow, she seems like a commander issuing orders across multiple fronts."
"I thought it was impressive seeing Towa do it but damn your mother seems to have perfected the art, Gelica was right she is a general on the battlefield of business." The others whispered between them as they watched her give out orders, scoldings and inquiries, but Rean was more focused on Alisa who seemed to remain calm even though her mother was making them wait until she was done but not before rolling her eyes at him when she noticed that he was watching her.
Five minutes later the chairman was finally done, she simply stood up and walked towards them, with an envelope in hand, she stopped before Rean and handed it over to him, "We all have other matters we need to attend to, so I will get right to the point. Here are your tasks for the day, I have also cleared my schedule to dine with you this evening. Anything you wish to discuss can wait until then, but one point that is on the agenda is regarding those contacts of yours in the East, Mister Schwarzer. As I said it before there are some resources that I would like to get my hands on, as for the rest I will leave it you Sharon."
Rean could only watch as the two older woman made plans for the evening while simply ignoring the students, now that Irina had said what needed to be said and was going to leave, she seemed to be waiting for something to happen, while glancing at her daughter who just remained calm, "Huh, no outburst this time? Interesting."
The only reason Rean had managed to hear that remark, was because he was standing close to her after she handed him their tasks, on the way out she stopped, "Oh, I almost forgot to mention, if you want to return in one piece, I suggest you steer clear of the provincial army and the RMP. The same goes for the Marquis, though I can't imagine what business you would have with him, just remember to use common sense and don't try to overstep your bounds. That will be all, until this evening then."
Not bothering to wait if they had any questions regarding that statement of hers, she simply walked out of the room, "The army wishes it was that efficient, heck I am sure that even Dad would give her a commanding post in the fourth division on the spot if she ever wanted to enlist."
"Not only the army, but I also know some Jaeger Corps that would literally pay anything for someone of her calibre to be their quartermaster."
"She certainly has the mettle to head up an international company like this, to say the least. Heck, forget armies or jaeger corps, I have no doubt that she could take over the world of politics if she wanted to." Hearing Machias, Fie and Elliot praising her, the archer barely stopped herself from grinding her teeth, "That may be true but you all can't tell me that gave you a great impression of her, right?"
"In terms of being professional she seems extremely capable, and she is working right now so perhaps she didn't have much time to talk with us, besides I think she was looking out for us with that advice." The others seemed to agree with Crow, besides Rean who seemed to be thinking about something else, "Just forget it, getting angry at her and storming of is just what she wants from me, and I won't give her that satisfaction. We should be back before sundown, Sharon. Could please prepare the guest rooms and see that our luggage is brought up to our rooms?"
"Of course, Lady Alisa. I hope you have success in all your tasks." The maid accompanied them to the elevator and gave them another bow as the door closed, "So fearless leader, what are our tasks for today?" Rean wasn't fooled by her for a moment, she may have seemed calm during that entire exchange with her mother but inside she must have been fuming, he gave her look that told her that they would talk later about it.
Opening the envelope, he found three tasks inside and gave them a quick glance over, "We seem to have three, one monster extermination, taking part in an experiment with the Arcus and going to the mines to get some metal ore. Roer is your hometown, so you are the best choice to plan our itinerary for these requests." He showed the requests to the others before passing them to Alisa who seemed to think about what the best way to spare time and fulfil every request was.
"I will bet Mother assumed that we won't be able to finish all these today, but we are going to prove her wrong. We should start with the Arcus experiment since it seems the closest one to us, after that we can swing by the Institute for more information and before leaving for the mines, we should pass by the Spina Byroad to take care of the monsters."
The rest didn't see any problems with that and just in time they arrived at the ground floor and left the building to start, like Alisa had said the researcher requesting their help with his experiments was the nearest one. It turned out that he was a member of the fourth Development Division who wanted to test out where the signals for Orbal waves were at their weakest so that he and his team could think of ways to overcome that problem. He gave them a detector that could measure the strength of the waves, along with the explanation that a signal strength of three was the standard everything over it promised a good connection and anything under it was the opposite.
Luckily for them this made it possible to walk around the city to get more familiar with it, much to their amazement some of the places they found had a weak signal were surprising like, the one that was in the open with a closed metal door leading underground or the fact that the closer they were to the Institute the weaker the signal became.
Inside of that place they found the student who was requesting their help, apparently the famous Professor G. Schmidt needed a minor material for his research but the place in the mines were it could usually be found was closed off thanks to monsters appearing in it, "I know the mine chief, so if we explain why we want to head into that tunnel, I am sure he will let us in. But like we planned we should leave that one for last since we have to trek up the mountain to get to the mines and that isn't an easy hike."
"Alright, I think we have enough data to end the experiment, we can hand it in and go after the monster. Is there anything we must watch out for that metal?" The student gave them a description along with a picture of it, while asking them to be careful during their visit to the mines. They assured him that they would be, on the way back from having finished their first request for the day, they ran into Alisa's old friend Yuna who was carrying some bags full of food back to the diner.
They offered to help her carry them, but the others were confused when the archer glared at Rean when he mentioned that Yuna was smart enough not to take on too many bags, sensing a juicy story about that, Fie and Crow tried to get the blonde to spill what he meant by that. Refusing to say anything she just helped her friend, after giving the swordman a warning glare who responded to it with just a smirk much to the displeasure of the archer. They did however make a reservation at the diner that they would pass by later for a quick lunch before leaving for the mines.
Outside the city seeing how large their search area for the monster was, they decided to split into three group to cover more ground, Rean and Alisa, Fie and Elliot, Machias and Crow, if one group found their target they would call the others via Arcus. "You know, I never thought I would be glad that the others are always trying to get us alone but then again I also never thought I would myself in such a situation like this."
"Rean Schwarzer! Don't tell me you don't enjoy spending time with me?!" Alisa had her hands over her heart in mock shock but kept a grin on her face, but her eyes got bigger when Rean literally disappeared in front of her just to appear from behind to draw her closer to him, "Never, I am glad for any time I am able to spend with you."
Recovering from the little stunt he just had pulled, she turned around and hugged back, "Me too, but did you seriously have to do something like that just to say that you like spending time with me? I think you are spending too much time with Sharon if you are starting to pull pranks like this."
"Sorry, but that look on your face is just too cute to resist." Rolling her eyes at him she stepped back but not before pinching his waist in retaliation for that comment, "And I am sure that it has nothing to do with the fact that you want to get my mind off that meeting with my mother, right? And not to change the subject but we should start searching for those monsters."
"Guilty as charged and I will add that I don't have any regret for pulling that. Wanna talk about it? You don't have to, but I am here in case you want to."
"How many times, have we said those words to each other until now? But you are right it does help, to be honest if that had been the old me in that office, I would have blown up at her for the way she was behaving. That she ignores me isn't anything new, but she sits at the board of directors the least she could do was show some interest into you guys and not just hand over the tasks and leave! Let's not forget that she still wants to use your connections to get even more work for the company, I knew I said that I would remain calm no matter what but if she dares to try that, I am going to explode."
Rean just grabbed her hand and kissed it causing her to blush at the action, "Thanks for looking out for me but that won't be necessary, I already said back then the most I can do is give her a recommendation which Lords are friendly with me and which ones to avoid mentioning me if she wants to do business with them." Despite the blushing she didn't take back her hand immediately but squeezed it first, before she started to look around for clues of their targets.
"Now that you mention it, you said the same thing back then too. I am curious why is that? Can you tell me or is it a story that is going to result in me scolding you?" She didn't miss the way he froze, that alone made her curiosity grew but she didn't say anything and waited for him. For a while no one said anything while searching for the monsters, "…. Sigh, let me say this first, I didn't do anything reckless or dangerous, so no I am not afraid of this resulting in you scolding me, but I can tell you this, you won't like it."
"Oh? I am getting more and more curious at just what happened, but I won't push you for it if you aren't comfortable telling me." She smiled at him and was going to drop this conversation but the sudden ringing of Reans Arcus diverted their attention away, it looked like Fie and Elliot were the ones to find their target and were now calling for the rest to gather. After getting the directions where they were, the duo made their way over there, "I don't mind telling you, I just don't want to upset you with it besides I was a long time ago and …"
Alisa just giggled at him as she watched how awkward he suddenly seemed to be, "I think I will wait for you to tell me about it when you want to. If you are afraid of me becoming upset during our time here, don't be. Chances are that I will be upset later anyway, dinners with my mother are always a fifty-fifty chance in that regard." Not having expected that he just blinked at her but agreed anyway but told her that he if she wanted to vent after dinner, he would be there for her.
Before the archer could answer that, the rest of their group came into view, the first thing both of them noticed was that Machias was silently fuming about something, they shoot Crow a questioning look who just shrugged, "While searching for the monster we ran into the provincial army and let's just say that they treated us in their typical fashion and leave it at that, though I am curious what they were doing back there."
"…. No need to think about those arrogant…. people, our targets are in sight. How should we procced?"
(Machias has really mellowed out since the beginning of the year, normally we would be listening to him rant about them for a while.) The others shared Rean opinion on the gunner but focused on the monsters, it was a pair of what appeared to be huge lizards with horns growing form their heads. Given the open terrain, an ambush would be next to impossible, so their only remaining option was a frontal assault but not before going over their strategy as soon as that was done, they charged forward.
At the front were Rean and Fie, since this group lacked any more front fighters, they had no choice but to let the middle line empty but with four people in the backline, their firepower more than made up for it. Bullets and arrows drew the two monsters attention to the students, it didn't take long before they attacked though no one had expected it would be with their tongues.
Only thanks to their quick reflexes were the front duo able to dodge them, not only was their mode of attack unexpected but also their range, (I would say those tongues have a reach of around three to four arges and if we get close to them, I am sure that will try to hit us with those claws. Hmm, what to do? Perhaps we could use their tongues to our advantage? It could be worth a shot.) It didn't take long before Rean was able to come up with a plan, sharing it with the others, they started to implement it.
The first step was to make sure that they got their timing right and have their Orbal Arts and Crafts ready, for that the backline held back besides the occasional shoot to help out, they left the frontline to keep their opponents occupied with their speed. Rean's Gale and Fie's Scud Ripper were enough for that with the added bonus that they were able to gain enough Link energy to unleash Burst in case it was needed, along with the damage they caused.
After enough time passed, they got ready to try out their plan, as one the vanguard jumped back causing the monster to attack once again with their tongues but the moment those tongues stretched out, they were attacked by both ice and earth arts followed by bullets and flaming arrows. Cries of anguish were heard from the monsters, they tried to retract their tongues back into their mouths but unfortunately for them Machias Earth Lance managed to drill trough and immobilising them on the spot.
Not having anticipate that they would be so lucky, the swordsman used his Craft Autumn Leaf to cut their tongues off while Fie dashed forward to overwhelm her foes with her Sylphid Dance, however it turned out that it wasn't enough to finish them off. Not willing to give them any chance to turn the tables, Group A minus Elliot and Machias, who prepared the Water Art Crystal Flood and shotgun just in case, used the Burst Ability to attack them.
That ability seemed to be the last straw for them, no longer able to endure it both monsters died at the same time, the redhead waited for a bit to see if they were truly dead before letting his Art fade away without being unleashed, "Phew, with that we are down to just getting that minor metal for that student and we are done for the day. It looks like we will be done a lot faster than planned, right Alisa?"
"As much as I would like that, Elliot, that won't be the case. We will cut it quite close to sundown even if we hurry, the way to the Sachsen Mines is quite the trek. I don't know how much time we will need to locate that metal but the way to and from the mines will take at least four hours, so how about we get going and get that lunch from Yuna?"
Not having expected that the trip to the mines would take that long Group A, went back to the city to recharge and to report their success back to the provincial army, wisely they left that part to Alisa whom the army knows and wouldn't try to give any trouble to. Following lunch, they started their journey to their destination, along the way they saw some monsters but by sticking to the path where the orbal lights were, they were left alone besides the few times they left said path to recharge their link energy in case the Rush and Burst abilities were needed it in the battles to come.
Nearly two hours later the mines were finally in view, just to be shocked at what they were seeing, "Hehe, surprised, I take it?" They turned towards Alisa who was clearly enjoying their stunned faces, "Welcome to the Sachsen Iron Mines, birthplace of the steel industry that built the Empire."
"It's…. huge. I had no idea something this large was sitting right on the other side of the mountain path. Even this far away, the structures look like they are over ten arges tall." Crow stepped forward to get a closer look, "Rean is right, the cranes and ducts are so massive it is like they are meant for giants and is that there a freight line? Why did we have to walk all the way up here if we could have just hop onto that?"
"Because we aren't train jumping hobos, Crow. It is bigger than I expected, is this also under the control of Marquis Rogner?" The archer shook her head at Machias question, "The mine itself is actually owned by House Arnor which means it is officially under the control of the Imperial family. They decide how much iron is mined, then the ore is processed by Reinford's iron works and shipped all over the Empire."
"I see, it is a smart move, in the sense that it prevents a cadre of nobles from holding a monopoly on the iron mined here. I guess, one of the reasons we were sent here was because this place has a history of complicated politics all on its own. But that is something for us to think about later, should we head down?"
"Yeah, we will need to find the mine chief and tell him about the researcher's request. You should be able to see the entrance from here…wait, is that what I think it is?" Alisa pointed at the entrance just to notice something else beside it, "Isn't that one of the cars that RMP uses? What the heck is it doing here?" No one could answer Fie's question, but they all got a bad feeling about it, "…. Only way to find out for sure is to head inside."
With a frown on her face the archer led them inside the mine where they saw two agents of the RMP, talking with an older man but before they could get any closer to hear what they were saying, the two left the mine. Following them with his eyes, the elderly man noticed the group of students and made his way towards them but stopped when he recognised the blonde, "Well, now! If it isn't little Alisa! It has been ages since I last saw you around these parts. What brings you here?"
"It is great to see you again, Rudolf. Sorry to drop by unannounced, but me and my friends are here for a request from the Institute, I was hoping you could help us?"
"So, you are the group of students I was told to expect, the date must have slipped my mind, but that is no trouble at all. The doors of Sachsen are always open for little Alisa, though I suppose you are not so little anymore. You have really grown up since I last saw you and now you are even at studying at a military academy, how fast time flies."
The foreman seemed to be lost in memories letting Alisa explain how she got to know him, "My grandfather brought me here quite a few times when I was young. The chief was always nice to me.
"Well, Gwyn was always good to us miners. For the chairman of such a huge company, he was always so easy to get along with. I could talk with him like he was my friend, instead of my boss. Now that I think about it, is Angelica Rogner still a student at Thors? How is she doing?" At that question Crow could only grimace, "Please do not tell me that she was serious when told me that she used to work here at the mines."
Rudolf laughed at that, "That she did, and despite being a daughter of the four Great Houses, she was the best part-timer I ever had. Put in a harder day's work than most of our regular miners, you don't see too many gals out there like her." Besides Crow, Alisa was the only one not too surprised about that reveal the others were just amazed at what they just heard, "That does sounds like Angelica, alright. And that is not even the strangest thing she has done over the years."
"Tell me about it, every time I have got my eyes on a girl, she will swoop in and have them head over heels for her before I get a chance. Where is the justice in that?! Huh, tell me Aidios?!" As one Group A ignored their overdramatic senior and focused on the Foreman who for his part regained his wits rather quickly after seeing that display.
"Gahaha! Well, it takes all sorts, doesn't it? Gotta say, I kind of miss those days, the current chairman, she is a sharp lady and quite the looker, too, but she is none too friendly. Never shows her face around here and considering how much a workaholic she is, I don't imagine she ever will."
Rudolf belatedly remembered just who he was talking too, giving the blonde an apologetic look he tried to apologise, "Ah, beg your pardon. Didn't mean to speak badly of your mother, Alisa, hope you can forgive me."
"No, it's all right, really. You were just speaking the truth; I might be her daughter, but I probably know less about her than the company board." Rean had to hold himself from taking her in his arms at the sadness she was showing, an action that wasn't lost on the archer who in turn gave him a small smile to show that he didn't need to worry, the others didn't seem to notice the unspoken conversation between them. Thinking that perhaps a change of conversation would be good, Elliot was the first to speak, "By the way, what was the RMP doing here?"
"Oh, those guys? They have been dropping by quite a bit lately asking some questions about our operations, like today for example they were badgering me for all sorts of statistics about how much ore we have been mining or about shafts that were closed off because of monsters and so on." That information caused Alisa to look at him, "That seems like an odd question even for the RMP to ask. What do they even need that sort of thing for?"
"I have no idea, but since it giving them that sort of info isn't a problem, I will let them do their thing. Anyway, I am guessing that is not the reason you trekked all the way out here, you said something about a request for the Institute? How can I help you?" Group A explained to him what they were after and following a few minutes of convincing him that they could deal with the monsters inside the sealed shaft, Rudolf gave them both the key and direction on where they could find the entrance, along with a map where he marked the known spot of the linium.
One last check of their equipment, the group ventured inside to find tunnels that looked somewhat abandoned, "This place gives of a gloomy air." Elliot looked around before commenting on the atmosphere, though he shared the same opinion Crow couldn't help but tease the redhead, "Well, we are in an abandoned mine shaft. What were you expecting, confetti and parades?"
All he got in return was an eyeroll from the musician, before he could tease him further Machias butted in, "We will need to stay on guard for the monsters, if they are dangerous enough to have caused this shaft to be sealed, then we can't underestimate them."
"Yeah, caution is our first priority here which means a certain someone better behave or else…." The rest looked at Rean who just ignored them and spread his senses to see how many monsters that are here. (Hmm, there don't seem to be a lot of monsters in this place, perhaps we should see if we can wipe them all out as thanks for the mine chef's help?) His thoughts were interrupted as he felt a hand twist the flesh on his waist for a short moment, opening his eyes he found Alisa looking at him as if waiting for something.
"Sigh, alright. I will be careful not to overdo it, happy?"
"I would be happy, if you truly meant that but compared to the beginning of the year, you have made a bit of progress so I will be satisfied with that for now." The swordsman ignored the snickering from his classmates and just gave her a mock salute, "Thanks for that overwhelming praise, Lady Alisa. I will strive to improve even further." That got him more laughter and a swat from the archer though it lacked any real force behind it, he could even see that she was holding back a grin.
Group A started their search for their prize by following the map, on the way they fought against any monsters they could find after having decided that Rean idea had merit, though they didn't have much luck in finding their quarry. Every spot they found was already dug up leaving nothing behind much to their confusion since it should have been weeks since the shaft was sealed but the excavation marks, they found didn't appear that old.
(Just what is going on here? There aren't a lot of monsters, and they aren't that strong, the provincial army should be more than capable of eliminating them and not only that despite being sealed for weeks there are traces of people working here recently. Could it be that someone is still mining iron here without Rudolf knowing about it? If so who and why? …. To be honest I have some ideas about the who but not the why, for now I should focus on completing this request and perhaps talk about my suspicious when we are out of here.)
"Mira for your thoughts, Rean?" Looking back, he found that his friends were looking at him with Alisa being the one who asked that question, "…. Just finding the situation here a bit weird." They all shared a look with each, "Yeah, right and that is all what you are thinking about?"
"No offense buddy, but sometimes you are too easy to read, remind me to invite to play invite you to a poker game with money on the line." The second-year remark drew Machias attention who snapped at him, "Crow, we already talked about this multiple times, gambling involving any type of money is forbidden at the academy. If I or Emma catch you one more time, we are delivering you directly to President Herschel and let her deal with you."
That had the intended effect on Crow who promised that he had just been joking and that there was no need to involve Towa with this, amused at the sight the swordsman nearly missed the look that Alisa was giving, he mouthed the word 'Later' to her, who after thinking for a bit accepted it. Group A continued with their search, looking into every tunnel they found until one hour later they finally managed to find the metal they were looking for.
Though it wasn't a big piece, it was hopefully enough to fulfil the request, on the way back they hunted the last monsters down making sure that the shaft was now without any dangers, though Rean made sure to inform Rudolf that they should wait until the Army gave the ok for it, before they resumed work there. He also let it slip that perhaps the next time the RMP was here, he could also ask them to take a look around there.
The return to the city was without any problems though they noted that the sun was beginning to set when they arrived at the Institute to give the metal to the student, who thanked them for their work. After having asked some more question just what kind of research Professor Schmidt was doing, they left the building while some members were exhausted thanks to all that walking, "Sigh, that was a hard day's work, even by our standards. Then again looking at you guys, perhaps I am the only feeling this exhausted."
Machias noticed that his classmates besides Elliot didn't seem that tired, "Don't worry, you aren't the only one. Though by the looks we are in the minority here, I guess we really need to work on our stamina." Fie approached both boys and stood on her toes to pat their heads, "There, there. No need to feel bad, you have walked and fought a lot today, compared to the beginning of the year you two have really improved. Good boys."
Machias took a step back to avoid her hand, Elliot tried to do the same, but the silver haired girl was persistent in petting his head, having no choice he just let her. Thankfully for him, Fie caught Alisa grinning at the display and stopped it but not without a dash of red on her cheeks. The archer would have used the opportunity to tease her if it hadn't been for the sudden shouting coming from the lower floor on the plaza.
Group A decided to take a look, the moment they arrived at the rails and looked down, they saw that the RMP and Provincial Army were in a standoff. Though they couldn't hear what they were saying judging just from the looks on their faces, they assumed both parties were in quite the heated argument. Looking around Rean saw that the escalator was blocked by a group of bystanders, noticing the same thing Alisa led the group to an elevator that brought them down.
The closer they got the more they could hear the arguments being thrown, "Persevering the order in Roer is the duty of the Nortia Provincial Army, OUR DUTY! We have had enough of you outsiders swaggering into town as though you own the place! How about you turn around and leaves us to do our duty?!"
The RMP Officer calmly stepped forward in response to the shouting of his counterpart, "If I may, we are currently here on a mission for which we have full authority, and the expansion of the railways has increased the flow of money, information and people across the country. These days, it takes a modern organisation to maintain order in an interconnected world and that is the Railway Military Police! So why don't you take your sashes and your pointy helmets and kindly keep out of OUR way?"
The students had already joined the crowd of spectators who were starting to become uneasy with the way things were unfolding between the two groups, "You may answer to the chancellor, but with only this many of you, you are nothing more than a mob in uniforms and as such these are more than enough to deal with you."
The officer from the army raised his hand in the air as a signal, two armoured cars rolled into the middle of the city and were aiming at the RMP, "Are you insane?! You can't just roll military vehicles in places like this where there are civilians!"
Not caring for the complaints, the captain stretched his arms out and addressed the crowd, "Arms exist as tools to defend one's territory—one's country! Had we been the ones fighting the terrorists, I am sure that we would not have been outsmarted like those clowns over there were! Citizens of Roer, you have nothing to fear! In these dangerous times with terrorists running rampant the Nortia Provincial Army is here to defend you from any harm and defend you we shall! These glorified beat cops are out of their depth, they know nothing of this community! Please do not make the mistake of placing your trust in them!"
"Tch, what a blowhard! He is really selling it to the populace but how dare they drive armoured cars into onto the city streets! We should do something!", Alisa grabbed Machias arm before he could storm off, "I understand how you are feeling but what can we do?!" The gunner grinded his teeth before the feeling of being powerless overcame him, she let go of him and turned towards the swordsman like the rest of them. Rean took a deep breath and tried to calm them down, "They are both officially recognised military organisations. There isn't much that we CAN do, but if things get ugly, let's at least get the people here to safety."
"Bah, guess that is as much help as we can offer." Crow words hit them hard since for the first time in a long time Class VII felt powerless, before Rean could give his order a cold sounding voice could be heard, "You are quite correct, of course. Both the provincial army and the Railway Military Police have their own roles to fill, each important to the Empire."
To the surprise of everyone in the plaza, Captain Claire walked out of the train station and calmly walked towards the middle of the conflict, "I will take thing from here on. Good day to you captain, I believe the imperial government notified you two days ago that we would be conducting patrols and investigations in the area. Has that really caused such inconvenience that you felt compelled to bring two armoured cars within the city limits?"
The appearance of the famous Icy Maiden seemed to unnerve the soldiers of the provincial army who couldn't come up with a counterargument to her logic, undeterred Claire went on, "And frankly, I can't bring myself to agree with your assumption that we are 'out of our dept' here. The railway is a network that crosses the entire Empire, allowing us to dispatch forces anywhere at a moment's notice. We can also gather divisions scattered across the country in one place in a matter of hours, in fact that is a point of pride for us. It is our distinguishing feature as a division of the armed forces."
The citizens were starting to lean towards the RMP after hearing Claire's words, "Looks like Claire showed up at the perfect time. (Too perfect to be honest, like she had already planned this…. wait, are those? I see, so that's what is going here!)" The rest of his classmates were impressed by her, as were more and more people in the plaza, the captain still couldn't come up with any way to refute her.
"We have no quarrel with you and no reason to argue. We have enough on our plate with the terrorists as it is, but we have got a job to do and so do you. Ultimately, our commitment is to the people of this nation, and I am sure you feel the same, no?"
"That is true but if you don't mind me asking, how would you respond if a crisis were to occur in multiple places at the same time?" Everyone looked where the question had come, just to find Rufus Albarea standing there with his bodyguards breaking the stalemate between the two, the captain ran towards him and saluted, "L-Lord Rufus! We didn't know you were in Roer, are you leaving already?"
"Indeed, I am. His lordship asked me to extend my stay, but I am afraid I have business to attend to elsewhere, as such I will be heading out in short order." With that Rufus approached Claire and bowed to her, "Ahh, Captain Claire Rieveldt, I presume? It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, I have heard much about you."
The Icy Maiden seemed to have been caught off guard by Rufus unexpected appearance, "…It is an honour, Lord Albarea."
"Please, no need for formalities between us, Rufus is fine. Still, you seem rather puzzled as to what I am doing here in Roer or perhaps, you are wondering how I got here?" Rufus seemed to take Claire's silence as an answer, "The country's railways are completely under your control, had I taken a train you would have known it and yet there are no signs I passed through Roer Airport, either. So, the question is how did I arrive in Roer? The truth is more mundane than fantastic, I arrived aboard the Albarea family's private airship which currently sits just off a highway on the outskirts of the city awaiting my return."
He let that answer sink as he watched Claire realise that she had lost this round, "Blind spots are an unavoidable reality, every single person has at least one. As on the ball as you usually are, you would do well not to overestimate your own superiority. After all, the hardest falls are the one we don't see coming."
"…I will be sure to keep that in mind." He gave her a grin before addressing the provincial army, "Isn't it about time both sides withdrew? And remove those unsightly vehicles from the street at once, a provincial army must always conduct itself with valour and grace, wouldn't you agree?" The captain saluted him again before giving the order to withdraw the armoured cars along with his men, as did the RMP with their men, as she left Claire noticed Group A standing in the crowd, as did Rufus who approached them with a smile on his face.
"Oho, fortune finds us face to face yet again." The students greeted him, though after that the conversation stalled since they didn't know how to ask their questions, a fact that didn't escape Rufus who just chuckled, "I took advantage of all the excitement surrounding the Courageous maiden voyage to take my little trip unnoticed. An opportunity which I used to speak with the Marquis on my father's behalf and let me tell he doesn't make it easy."
The implication at that statement propelled Machias to say what was on his mind, "Then you must have a lot of important things to talk about then, if you personally had to make the trip." The unasked question of that remark went unanswered as the blonde just gave him a smile and changed the subject, "Given the current climate, it is impossible to predict what may happen, both here and in Ordis. You have three days of your field study remaining, I suggest you focus on your assigned tasks and stay out of trouble. I am looking forward to seeing what Class VII has to show at the academy's festival, after all."
(First the chairman and now Rufus is warning us to stay out of trouble as if they expect something to happen, though I am getting an idea just what is going on here. The timing of our field study couldn't be worse and if I am right, it looks like Group B is also facing the same troubles.) Rean thoughts were interrupted by Crow, "Man, you meet Jusis, and you think you have seen the nobility's golden boy. Then you meet Rufus Albarea."
"I am loathe to admit it but over time, I have gotten the impression that he is a good man…for a noble, though."
"Wow, even Machias is swayed by him, I am impressed." The gunner ignored Fie teasing, as the rest of the group agreed with her, Alisa stepped forward to address them after a moment, "Well, it looks like the sun is about to set and we are done with our requests for the day. Why don't we call it a day here? We still have the dinner with my mother, she might know more about what is going on with the provincial army and the RMP."
The rest agreed with her and followed the archer to her home which turned out to be the floors 24 and 25 of the Reinford Building, that info earned her some good-natured teasing from her friends while they were riding in the elevator, "Guh, I was afraid you guys would react exactly like that, hence why I didn't say anything at first. It may be a lot of space, but it is too much for just two people and the only servant that we have is Sharon."
"If you have Sharon, that is the only maid you will ever need, even for a place this big."
"You said it Fie, somehow I think even if you double this place Sharon would do it as easily as she does our dorm." Both Elliot and Fie were discussing the super maid, meanwhile Rean adopted a serious look though he did have a teasing light in his eyes, "Looks like we will be your guests during the next three days, so thanks for having us, Alisa." Though she knew that he was teasing her, she still couldn't supress her face turn a bit red, which didn't go unnoticed by their senior, "My, my, my! Is it just me or do I detect more than a hint of red on Lady Alisa's fair visage? Could the lady be embarrassed that she has friends over or is it because a certain boy is visiting her home for the first time?"
The red exploded on her face at that, but before the others could start teasing her some more, the elevator arrived at its destination and to no one's surprise Sharon was already standing there to greet them, "Welcome home, everyone." The archer who was the most used to her maid's behaviour just casually responded with, "It is nice to be back.", and followed her into the penthouse to reveal one of the most grandiose places Group A, (minus Alisa) had ever seen.
The whole place seemed to scream money and luxury from the glass chandeliers to the view of the town, "I have been away from here for half a year, but it is kind of nice to be back. You guys can look around all you want, just stay out of mine, Mother's and Sharon's room. Any idea when Mother will be back, Sharon, I don't know about the others, but I am getting hungry?"
There was no visible change on the maid's face, but Alisa must have seen the answer to her question, "Sigh, why am I not surprised? Let me guess, something came up and she can't make it, nothing new there let's just eat and do our report for the day." The way how she handled this showed Rean that this must have been a regular situation here, the rest didn't say anything and just went after her to the dining room where Sharon served them their meals.
After they were done eating, Group A got straight to work on finishing their reports for the day, but it was obvious that everyone was a bit distracted by the events they had just witnessed some time ago, coupled that with the chairman cancelled their diner appointment it was clear that something significant was happening behind the scenes. However, no matter how much they thought about it, they knew that for now there was nothing that they could, done with their reports they went their separate ways.
Crow and Elliot went upstairs to discuss the details of their music concert, Machias went to Gwyn library after learning of its existence, the girls went to Alisa's room to rest leaving Rean alone in the living room enjoying a cup of tea the maid had prepared, "(I have my suspicious on what is going on but without any proof, I don't think I should mention this to the others. Nonetheless, I think it is worth a try to see if she could give me some answers.) Hey, Sharon got a moment?"
The maid appeared right beside him as if she had teleported there, "How may I be of service, master Rean?" The swordsman didn't even blink at that, "(Perhaps I am also getting used to her appearing like that, anyway I think there is no need to beat around the bush.) I am sure you know all what is going on here in Roer both on the surface and below it, any info you can share?"
The only sign that he had surprised her with his direct approach was that her eyes got wide for a second before she showed him her usual smile, "My, you didn't waste any time now did you Master Rean? I was rather hoping you would have slowly tried to get the answers out of me."
"We both know I could be here trying for hours, and I wouldn't get anything out of you. Besides I wouldn't want to get you into trouble with the chairman, I do owe you that much." The confusion on her face, told him that she didn't know what he meant by saying that he owed her, so he elaborated, "You haven't told her about my power or about what happened in Tasogare Town."
Understanding appeared on her face, "Master Rean, there is no need for you to feel indebted because of that. As Class VII maid, it is my duty to keep your secrets even if it is from Lady Irina, of course as long they aren't a danger to her, or Lady Alisa and we both know for a fact that you would never hurt either of them. Besides it isn't like you didn't do the same for me, right? You could have told Lady Alisa about what you noticed about me and yet you remained silent."
He could only nervously scratch the back of his head at that, "You are giving me too much credit for that Sharon. Given how I am with my own past, I am the last person who will reveal anything about someone else's without their permission and to be honest it isn't like I know anything about your past, I just noticed that the way you move speaks of a certain type of training, beyond that I am not aware of anything. It is your choice if you want to tell Alisa and not mine."
"You are too kind, Master Rean. Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to share any information regarding what is happening in Roer, my apologies." She bowed to him to express her regret at not being able to help, he waved her apology, "No need for that, I was just trying my luck."
For a while no one said anything until they both heard a door open from where Alisa walked out without noticing them, she took the stairs to enter another room. "I would like to reassure you that there is no need for you to worry about what is happening here, instead I would much rather see you direct your concern toward Lady Alisa."
Another bow later, the maid left him alone without waiting for his answer already knowing what he would do, the swordsman just rolled his eyes at her before following the archer. He knocked on the door but before he could say anything, Alisa voice sounded from inside, "You can come in, Rean."
"Hey now, that is my trick." With an amused grin he entered to see that it was a type of indoor garden with an impressive view of the city illuminated by the streetlights, "How did you know it was me?", he walked towards the archer who stood by an railing looking out the window, "Just a lucky guess and I was pretty sure that sooner or later you would come find me. Were you that worry about me?"
"A bit, yeah. This day wasn't easy on you." She didn't say anything to that and just patted the place next to her as an invitation which he took, the archer didn't say anything and just leaned against him, while he wraps his arm around her shoulder drawing the archer closer.
They just stood there in silence enjoying each other presence and the sights, until Alisa spoke without looking at him, "…I am so pathetic. I keep saying that I am going to become independent but then something like this happens and I am back where I started. The helpless little girl who can only watch how her family gets further away from her." He didn't say anything, he knew that she needed to get it of her chest, so he just listened to her.
"We used to come here as a family to enjoy the view, me, Father, Mother and Grandfather. After Father died, Sharon joined us but from that point on, Mother became more and more involved with work, having less time for her family. I left for Thors and Sharon soon followed me, now she is all on her own in this place. Every time, I think of that, I just feel like crying, and it breaks my heart. I can't understand why she chooses to be alone."
"First off, you are not pathetic. Far from it, second the only reason why you feel that is because you love your mother and want the best for her."
"I…. I…just don't want life to pass her by… she wasn't always like that. Sure, she was always a career woman, but she made always time for our family when Dad was alive. After he passed away, she just threw herself into her work, she kicked my grandfather, her own father, out of his company and for what? More work! I just can't understand why, why did work become so important to her?!"
"I don't know the answer for that, I can only guess. Perhaps it was the only way she could distract herself from your father's death. As long she was working, she wouldn't have to be reminded that her husband was gone?"
Alisa let that answer sink in, "…So instead of seeking comfort with her daughter and father, her family who also needed her! She just chose her work for that?! It has been a decade since Dad died and in all that time, she couldn't spare a thought for us?!...and yet a part of me can understand that she doesn't want to face the truth but the rest of me wants to shake her until she realises that she can't live like that! Oh Aidios, I am a mess!"
Chuckling Rean leaned down and kissed the top of her head, "You are not, you are just always looking out for the people in your life, even when they get on your nerves, you still care about them. Just think how you tried to help me during history class even though you were mad at me or how you were with Laura and Fie. You have also been keeping an eye out for Millium all this time and we are all really grateful to you for it, especially me."
He could see that her cheeks were completely red, "Geez, you and your mouth. I swear…" Rean couldn't make out the rest of what she was saying since she faintly whispered it, he just chuckled again and held her closer, he would have said something more along the same line, but it was if she sensed what he was going to say.
The blonde used one of her hands to close his mouth, the red in her cheeks was still present, "I can only take so much at once, how about you tell me what exactly you noticed back at the mines and does it have to do with what is happening here in Roer?...Come now, after all this time together I think I have gotten pretty good at reading you. The mines weren't the only places you noticed something, during the standoff between the army and the RMP there was also something else that you caught your attention."
Despite being caught, he couldn't help but feel pride when he smiled at her, "Looks like teaching you the Unclouded Eye was both good and bad, if you improve even further, I won't have any secrets left." The archer snorted at that while her now free hand went towards his back where his tattoo was, "Please, you still have plenty secrets left, Mister. Though I haven't forgotten about this one, I just hope that one day you can tell me about it and everything else that you have been bottling up."
The moment he felt her hand along those tattooed words on his back, the memory of his oath came back, "…. Sigh. Alisa Reinford, you are going to be the death of me one day, if continue being so sweet." The smile he got in return was beautiful, "That is the bottle calling the kettle black, Rean. Do you know how many times my heart nearly jumped out of my chest because of you? But I think that is enough stalling for now, so what did you notice?"
Since things had come to this point, he saw no reason why he shouldn't tell her but before he could his Arcus started to ring, both teens looked at it not having expected for someone to call at this hour. "Could it be Group B or Instructor Sara?" The swordsman took it out of his pocket with his hand to answer and put it on speaker mode while keeping the other around Alisa, "Just one way to find out. Hello, Rean Schwarzer speaking."
"Oh, good. It went through, glad I was able to get your number from Millium."
"Is this…. Captain Claire?"
"It is, I apologise for calling so late but are you free right now?" Both students looked at each other both with bewilderment at first but that was soon followed by annoyance by one and understanding by the other as he had a vague idea why she was asking, "…Yeah. What's up?"
"There is something important I would like to discuss with you, but it is a matter best discussed in person. Would it be possible for you to meet me in the city? The sooner the better." Alisa narrowed her eyes at suggestion but remained silent waiting to see what his answer would be, "I see, I take it has to do with what just happened this afternoon and also with what is going between the RF, the Sachsen Mine and the Provincial Army?"
For a moment or two silence was all they heard from the phone, "…. Millium was correct, you truly are sharp, but I can't confirm that over an unprotected line. The provincial army is already on high alert, so traveling in a large group would draw too much suspicion, how about you come alone to the Bar called 'F'? You will find it on the south side of the upper level, it is a quiet, upscale establishment, the perfect place for a private discussion."
Rean could practically feel the displeasure coming off Alisa besides him, "Got it, I will talk with my classmates about it and then I will leave to meet with you Captain Claire."
"I am not on a tight schedule, so take your time. There is no need to draw attention to yourself by hurrying and by the way…. I would rather you didn't mention any of this to Alisa Reinford, since it involves her family, but I will leave that at your discretion." Without waiting for his response, Claire hung up leaving him to deal with this mess though he had no idea how any of this was his fault as Alisa stepped away from him.
"Isn't that nice? A beautiful older woman has invited you to a date, aren't you the lucky one?" If the sarcasm in her voice could be used as a weapon, then he was sure that not one at Thors would be able to beat her. That thought however was quickly put aside as he felt the danger he was in, "I wouldn't call this a date, it is just a meeting to exchange information and nothing more. Besides, you and the others are more than welcome to join me, I wouldn't dare leave you out of this. Especially since it concerns your family and ….."
He didn't know what else to say, so he remained quiet and endured her expressionless eyes looking at him for what seemed to be an eternity before she broke out giggling. The sudden turn of events left him flabbergasted; he could watch with his mouth wide open as she continued laughing. Finally taking pity on him she stepped closer to hug him, "The look on your face is priceless."
Still unsure what was going on, he hugged her back, "Am I still in trouble?", grinning at him Alisa shook her head, "You were never in trouble, I was just messing with you, I know you didn't ask to meet with her. However, I admit I am a bit annoyed that apparently random women call you in the middle of the night to invite you out."
Sensing that he was out of the danger, Rean relaxed and cupped her face, "Then how about in the future each time this happens I will inform you quickly and get your opinion?" By the way her eyes narrowed he seemed to have said the wrong thing, "So this is going to happen again, huh?"
"I don't know? I hope not?" The archer shook her head at that but remained calm, "I already said that I trust you with my life, so this isn't any different. Just don't try to make this into a habit, ok?" He could a bit of insecurity in her eyes, acting on instinct he kissed her forehead and hugged her closer to him, "The last thing I ever want to do is to hurt you, in any way. We can try to look for information elsewhere, perhaps if we pester Sharon enough, she will give us…."
"You know as well as I do that it doesn't matter what we do she won't break, besides I already said that I trust you and this is actually a good opportunity to see what the RMP knows. I would also recommend that you go alone, if Captain Claire sees that you followed her instructions to the letter maybe she will give you more information."
"…. Are you sure? Like I said there are other ways to get info without going to her."
"Yes, I am. I told you last week, that I am done running and holding back. If that means that I must admit that I feel jealous about you going to meet another woman then so be it, because I trust you no matter what."
"(Ok I don't know what I did to deserve her, but I will be forever grateful to you Aidios for letting me meet her.) There is no need to feel jealous and do you know why?... Because she isn't you. For me it is only you and no one else." Her gaze softened even as she blushed and buried her head on his chest, "There you go again, how do you even come up with that?! Geez!"
After a while they separated although her face was still red, "Anyway, we have already wasted enough time, you should leave now, and I will inform the others about this. Captain Claire may have helped us before still you should be careful." He nodded as an idea came to him, "How about this? I will call you before I go inside the bar and leave my Arcus on while talking with her. This way you and the other will be able listen in and in the unlikely case, that this is a trap, you will know immediately."
The archer found that it was a good plan and left to call the others leaving Rean to exit the penthouse and make his way downstairs, from there he searched around the upper level until he found the bar 'F'. Stepping inside it was as Claire had described it, a small upscale bar without too many people, with just one look around he immediately found her, though he wasn't expecting that she would be wearing a cocktail dress instead of her uniform while sipping on a drink at the counter.
"Sorry, I hope I haven't kept you waiting for too long."
"Don't worry you haven't, I see you followed my suggestion and came alone. I do hope that it won't get you in any trouble later. We should take this conversation elsewhere, follow me." Claire didn't waste any time and walked to an empty table on the back of the bar, before following her Rean gave his surroundings one more look.
"It is good to see you again, I think this is the first time we have been able to have a proper conversation."
"You are right and while I wouldn't mind just having a normal conversation with you, Captain Claire. We both know that we are on the clock here, I have so many questions that I wanted to ask but I think the first and foremost is this one. What exactly are you and the chancellor trying to achieve here in Roer? First, we have the standoff with army earlier, then we have the RMP trying to investigate the mines without going through neither the RF nor the Marquis who oversee it."
The older woman remained silent as if urging him to go on, "The conflict between the two factions is nearly at its breaking point, just the smallest spark and it will blow up into a civil war. Perhaps your actions today serve to be that spark, Crossbell is preparing for its independences while Calvard is weathering its immigration disputes last I heard. Is the Chancellor thinking that this would be the best time for Erebonia to settle its internal problems while the other two are too busy to intervene in this civil war."
The Icy Maiden despite remaining calm, couldn't hide the shock at his insight, "I wouldn't dare to presume to know his Excellency thoughts on that but at the very least the chancellor does still have a sense of integrity. He hasn't stopped so low as to give aid to terrorists, unlike some others I could name."
"Wow, you really said it. There is also no more doubt about it that behind ILF is the Noble Faction? Or is this a plot by the Intelligence Division to undermine them?"
"No, while we don't have hard proof of their support there is no doubt about it. These two are working together with Duke Cayenne of the Four Great Houses as their contact." Rean closed his eyes, digesting these new details, "I see, the reason why you are here in Roer is then to gather evidence of their connection and I am sure that you are ready to do the same in Ordis. So, the Noble Faction and the ILF have worked together to acquire iron from the mines without anyone noticing it, that should be the point you are focusing your investigation on. If you can prove that your side will have the support of the Emperor and the public on your side weakening the nobles enough to crush them."
He stopped at this point, starring straight at Claire, "I heard today that the one processing the iron is the Reinford Company, meaning that a group inside the company is working together with them. Is that why you didn't want Alisa to know about this?"
The captain swirled her drink in an attempt to gain time not having expected this kind of perception from an eighteen-year-old boy, "Millium mentioned that your insight was sharp, but I see now that she has underestimated you completely. Just some clues were enough for you to arrive at a conclusion that took us a full week to get. Are you interested in working for the RMP after graduation?"
Rean didn't say anything at that, he waited for her to explain, "Oh well, the RMP is currently weighing the possibility of a forced inspection of Reinford's 1st Factory. It is one of the main divisions and handles the bulk of the company's iron and steel processing, among other things. The problem is that those main divisions have become too big. They have grown to the point where they have their own allegiance, some towards the Noble Faction, others to the Reformist Faction and so on."
"Reinford has become too big for its own good, huh? So that what she meant back then, however I doubt that Irina Reinford is not aware of this situation. Why isn't she doing anything about it?"
"Back then when she overthrew the previous chairman, she had both factions supporting her, as such she is now in a place where she can't neither support nor surpress the divisions who are aligned with them. Still, she has been doing her utmost to reign them in during the last weeks. However, that won't be enough, I am sure you understand the situation better now."
"Yes, the situation is even more dire than I imagined. If you have proof, the Noble Faction will be weakened and we perhaps can avoid a civil war, with the chancellor coming out on top."
"Exactly, as such I would like to ask you students to stay out of this. Ideally, you all should be on a train tomorrow morning out of Roer, but I don't have the authority to demand that of you. I gave you this information to make sure that you and your friends understand the dangerous undercurrent in this city. You look surprised, why? Were you thinking that I would ask for your help?"
Rean nodded at her question, "That is exactly what I was thinking, I mean you were the ones provoking the army into starting a fight. I imagine your goal was to use that chaos to draw the soldiers who are guarding certain key points so that your people can infiltrated and gather proof. I don't think it is such a leap of logic to think you would want our help after your plan failed."
"….! That was indeed one of our plans, we miscalculate that they would dare to use armoured cars in the city, that was our mistake. Despite that I can assure you that we had enough contingences in place to guarantee the safety of the civilians."
"I know, you had your people disguised as civilians among the crowd to ensure that they would get away safely." For the third time this evening Claire was surprised by him, "The more we talk the more I am sure that you would be an asset to RMP, you should really think about joining us. That however is something for the future, for now I would like to ask of you and your classmates to stay out of this. I wish you a good night, Rean."
Claire stood up, to leave the bar after having settled her bill at the counter, he watched her leave thinking about the mess the empire was in, (I knew that the situation was bad, but I wasn't expecting it to be this bad.) His thoughts were interrupted as a voice came from his Arcus, "Dang, I wasn't expecting all that. I guess we better keep our wits if even the Icy Maiden is telling us to be careful. Anyway, Rean buddy you better come back quickly; I can't wait to hear about your date with her from you directly. Was she all dolled up? Did she make your heart flutter?!"
Rean just rolled his eyes while ignoring Crow questions, "We can discuss what we are going to do tomorrow, for now we all should go to bed. I should be back in fifteen minutes." Done with that he closed his Arcus and left the bar, still processing what he just learned, (Perhaps I should give Group B call in the morning to make sure that they are aware of the situation in Ordis? I am truly starting to think that every field study we are on, is throwing us further into this conflict.)
The next day after breakfast and having informed Group B what was going in both cities, Group A stood outside the RF building, "To recap what we learned the chancellor is using the RMP to search through the 1st main division of RF to get proof that that the Noble Faction has been supporting the terrorists, to counter that the provincial army has been blocking their attempts, correct?"
"Got it in one, Elliot. Perhaps it would be better if we had a better overview of the main divisions." Recognising that Machias had point, Alisa organised her thoughts to explain about the production divisions, "The 1st Factory has its allegiance to the nobles, their job is the process iron and steel and build large machinery. The 2nd Factory makes guns, thanks and general armaments while being controlled by the reformist. The 3rd Factory builds Orbal Trains and Airships but is neutral in the conflict, meanwhile the 4th Division is responsible for Orbal Communications and Battle Orbments. They are under the direct supervision of my mother the chairman."
"Just from that explanation alone it is easy to see that the 1st and 2nd must be rivals, seeing who they support. Perhaps it was the 2nd who tipped of the RMP what is going with their rival." The rest agreed with Fie's theory but shelved that for later, "You all heard what Captain Claire said, she wants us to stay out of this, but we should be able to look into this without drawing too much attention."
"Rean we really must talk about what happened yesterday; you didn't give me any detail how she was dressed! Come on man, be a buddy and share the goods with your old friend Crow." The second year had been pestering him for that kind of info since he arrived back at the Penthouse, he mostly ignored him along with the others, "Before we get to look into that we have to do our tasks for the day, we have another monster extermination, finding a lost cat and testing some new type of orbal guns."
Just like the day before, they left it to Alisa to plan their agenda for the day, they made the first stop to acquire the new orbal guns for the three users in the group, they were going to test them in the monster extermination task. Done with that they searched for the lost kitty across the city, despite their best attempts the cat managed to escape them several times, only after Crow pulled out some cat toys did they manage to get the little one and deliver it to the worried owner.
Sometime later during their search through the Nortia Highway, the group managed to find the clearing that Rufus airship had used as a landing pad, their three targets appeared to be large serpentine monsters with four snake heads each. Unlike yesterday they had the possibility of an ambush if they timed it right, the entrance to the clearing was a path large enough for two of them slither through but not all three and the height of the walls were enough that they couldn't jump out of it.
They would attack the serpents from afar guiding them to the entrance where Elliot and Alisa, after she received a water quartz containing the Frost Edge Art, would be waiting for them to enter the passage, the moment they were inside they would both cast two ice walls on each end, boxing the two snakes in, leaving the third to face Group A alone. The start of the plan was executed to perfection, the sole monster faced off against the students and was quickly overwhelmed by them.
During this fight, Alisa and Rean showed the full strength of their level five link, like their fight against Sara each attack led into another until Rean's tachi was able to slice of one head and Alisa's arrow pierced the brain of another. Having lost two of its four head weakened it enough that the Burst ability of the other four killed the snake off, done with that they quickly reinforced the two ice walls again making sure that two snakes couldn't escape.
The three gunners positioned themselves to sides of the entrance where they started testing their new guns against the monsters, thankfully they had received enough ammunition to test everything out, even if it meant that Crow goaded Fie into trying some trick shots which if Rean was honest was actually pretty impressive though he wouldn't say it out loud less he wanted Crow to try them out in real combat.
Even with the high number of bullets they had gotten, it took over ninety percent of them to finally kill the snakes, though thanks to it they managed to get some pretty good data of it. Alisa besides helping the redhead to recast the ice, was writing the report for the three guns at the same time she was asking the users of their impressions of them. That left Rean alone to make sure that no monster got the drop of them and if the snakes got out of their trap, he was ready to use his power to kill them.
Succeeding at their two last tasks, they prepared to return to the city but the moment they stepped inside, a loud siren could be heard along with some explosions and cries for help. The students didn't even hesitate to run towards the noise, the closer they got the more smoke they saw. The arrived at what appeared to be a factory that was on fire, people could be seen running out of the burning building, Rean looked around but couldn't see neither the army nor the RMP.
Intending to help the people, they approached two men who were trying to help the others, a short explanation report later, they learned that somehow mechanical monsters had appeared inside the factory. Attacking everything in front of them which caused the fire and the explosion they had heard, before Rean could call for help on his Arcus, another explosion rang out, fanning the fire even higher.
An older worker approached the other two crying that he had done a headcount to find out that some people were still missing, possibly even inside the building. Taking a deep breath, the swordsman looked at his classmates who had their determined faces on, causing him to smile a little at the sight, "(Looks like I don't even have to ask.) Alright Class VII Group A, we will go inside and rescue the people who are still there. Avoid combat if possible if not possible no need to hold black, attack with all you got! Orbal Arts, Crafts and Link Abilities, speed is what is important here, you find someone you escort them out immediately."
Group A stormed inside ignoring the shouts from the workers, luckily, they didn't have to go far to find the ones they were looking for, but less luckily was the fact that they were trapped by what appeared to be a giant archaism, the likes of which they had never seen before. It was large, bigger than a thank, and equipped with what appeared to be several weapons.
Hurriedly, they moved to engage the enemy, drawing its attention away from the civilians. Shouting at the workers to quickly leave, Group A spread out to face their opponent making sure that the weapons were pointed in different directions. Another piece of good news was that the people they had just saved were the last one inside the building meaning after they were done with the archaism, they could also leave without any worries.
"Guys we have exactly two minutes to beat this thing, after that we are leaving here. Worst case scenario we defeat it outside, but I don't want to risk injuring the civilians which is why I will be going full throttle from the start. I should be able to defeat it if I use the same attack, I did against that armoured suit in the old schoolhouse, but I need you to cover me for a bit."
Alisa and the rest recognised the need to finish this quickly even though they didn't like Rean using his power where other people could see. The memory how people had treated him in the past was still fresh in their minds, Fie made the first move by cutting of a gun that was sticking on the archaism side. Arrows and bullets followed shortly after, targeting the weapons they could.
Some were destroyed after the first salvo, but it was Elliot who was the MVP for destroying weapons, he used every EP point his Arcus had to cast the strongest Water Orbal Art 'Maelstrom'. He created a small but powerful whirlpool that managed to rip every weapon from the body away, though the main body seemed to have only a little bit of damage showing that it has anti-art armour.
Nonetheless, they had bought Rean enough time, the swordsman had coated his tachi in black Ki along with calling upon his ogre power. He disappeared in a flash, using the movement speed provided by the second form to move forward as fast as he could, the moment he arrived at the attacking distance he stopped moving utilising the momentum from his sudden stop to rotate in place with his tachi ready to be drawn, like before he used both the fourth and the sixth form at the same time making his slash appear so fast that it left a black trail in the air while at the same time the sound of steel being cut appeared inside the tank.
Unlike the armour from last week, this time he managed to cut it completely in half and as a bonus he managed to control the power of his attack to just cut his opponent. The black slash didn't travel very far before it completely disappeared, Alisa having waited that he was finished grabbed Rean to help him out of the building along with the rest, the moment they were outside another explosion happened.
At that exact moment the RMP arrived, Captain Claire was at first surprised at seeing them before it quickly turned into a scowl, she looked like she wanted to stomp her way to them and start to reprimand them. A shout from one of the workers drew her attention away from them, she started to give out orders to help care of the injured and to start putting the fire out.
Group A saw first-hand how effective the RMP was under the command of the Icy Maiden, in just half an hour they had not only managed to treat the injured on the spot before taking those in need of further treatment away, they also had managed to put the fire out and take care of any archaism inside the factory. "It looks like everything should be all right now but damn the Railway Military Police really get the job done."
"Agreed, Rean. I have a newfound appreciation for their capabilities, though I suppose I should have expected no less from an organisation under the chancellor."
"While I am glad that that we managed to get everybody out, this has the terrorists' signature all over it. Which begs the question where are they?" Alisa was right in asking that question, though no one had the answer for it, "I am having that looked into as we speak but before we get into that, I believe you owe me an explanation."
The watched as Claire approached them with a grim look on her face, "Thanks to your quick thinking, none of the personnel were critically injured which is a blessing for sure but it doesn't excuse your actions. It was fortunate that you were able to defeat that archaism without backup, but it was far too reckless of you to run inside without waiting for us to arrive, not only does this factory contain confidential information, but you all could have been seriously hurt or worse."
The students could feel the anger simmering inside the captain, but could only remain quiet as she went on, "I thought I told you yesterday to stay out of this mess, you of all people should understand how dangerous this is for mere students."
Rean took a deep breath and faced the Claire head-on, "I realise that, believe me I do. But I am afraid I can't turn a blind eye to it, especially not when lives are on the line. If we have the power to save someone and we don't use it to do that, then what is the point of having it in the first place. I struggled for years with the question why and when I should use my power, the answer for me was that I would rather be condemned and feared than just stand by watching people suffer. That is why I don't care if you reprimand me, I won't regret what we did to save these people."
Alisa and the rest understood exactly what he meant, judging from her eyes so did Claire but the archer didn't agree that he should bear that burden alone, so she took a step forward to stand beside him, "Neither do I or the rest of our friends here but I will also add this. I agree with you that what we did was reckless and could have ended badly but as long as we are together then I believe that we will always manage to achieve what we set out to do. However, it looks a certain someone hasn't got it through his thick skull yet, that he is no longer alone. Something I will have to work harder to achieve even it means I have to literally pound it in his head."
They all saw Rean shuddering at that threat the air around them seemed less sombre now, "Very well, then I am willing to overlook your rashness this time since no one as gravely injured but I do suggest exercising a little more caution in the future. And that goes for all of you. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, ma'am. Not change the subject or anything but do we have any idea where the archaisms could have come from? It is almost certain that the ILF is involved but there was no sign of them inside the building." Claire focused her glare away from Rean and focused on Machias question, "From what we could gather they were brought in containers to the site around three months ago."
The implication of that sank in, "That means they were brought in June when we first met G in the Nord Highlands and one month before the Imperial Liberation Front was announced to the world, could they have planned for this?! But that would mean… God dammit! Captain Claire, you need to go the mines right now!" Reans outburst confused the others besides Claire who understood his meaning almost immediately nearly cursing out loud, at that moment her subordinate arrives with grave news, making the others understand just what was going.
They begged that Claire take them with her while they won't be able to help, they wanted at least to see if Rean suspicious was right. The moment they saw the fake smoke come out of the mines and the provincial army blocking the path claiming that they were dealing with the terrorist made it clear that he was right and to make matters worse the terrorists took the miners including Rudolf hostage.
"I never thought I would say this but if looks could kill then, you would have erased the army, Rean. I know this situation isn't ideal but getting angry isn't going to accomplish anything, buddy."
"I know, Crow, I know! It is just people were hurt and could have died at the factory and for what?! So that the army can hide their dirty dealings with the terrorists, they didn't even send a unit to make sure that no one was hurt. They just don't care at all, yet you are right being angry won't help us now."
He could see that the others were also upset at the callousness of the Nordia Provincial Army, yet he couldn't come up with a plan to help rescue the miners, from the looks of it any attempt made by the RMP was blocked and unless they could sneak unnoticed there was nothing they could do.
"We should go back to Roer, standing here won't do anything besides pissing us off and I for one am not sure how long I can hold myself back from hitting these idiots with my arrows. So, we are going back, cool our heads and think what we can do to help." Having no other choice, they followed Alisa's plan and hitched a ride back to town with a soldier from the RMP who was also going to pass on some orders and messages, the moment they arrived at the central square they took a seat on the benches to go over everything they now know.
"We know for sure now that the Noble Faction and the ILF are working together to destroy whatever evidence is in the mines, the question now is what can do to help the miners? They should be our priority; I can't believe I am saying this, but do you have any idea on how we can do that no matter how reckless it is, Rean? Fie?"
They all watched as these two mulled over Machias question, both coming to the same conclusion, "Unless there is a secret passage into the mines, the only option left is to fight our way through the army quickly enough so that we can rescue the miners before they get hurt. Though that is impossible even if I go all out with my power and have the help of the RMP."
Before they could despair over that answer, the sound of an orbal bike was fast approaching them much to their surprise it turned out to be Angelica on the bike and George in the sidecar, who greeted them as soon as they got out of the bike, "I swear as soon we are back in Trista, I am modifying that side car to be more comfortable. Those seven hours were pure torture though we get some good data during this trip."
"Hey, no need to be so grumpy about it, George. At any rate it looks like we arrived at the perfect timing, I got a tip yesterday that my family is planning something nasty. Lo and behold, it came true. How about we swap info on what both groups know and go from there? I know the perfect place for this kind of talk."
"Geez, you two! Not even a hello for your old pal Crow, just straight into business, however I am glad to see you. You are the kind of reinforcement we were just hoping for, Towa is gathering info as we speak, correct?"
"Yes, she stayed behind to gather everything that she can to help us out. But we are wasting time standing around here, let's go talk about my dear Uncle Heidel Rogner who is controlling the 1st factory." The distaste for her uncle was plain to see for everyone and just like that Group A followed the two seniors to Dave's Dinner where they got a table in one of the backrooms.
"They are truly dumping iron into the black Market?! Have they lost their minds?! No wonder the RMP is trying to get evidence of that, his Majesty will be furious enough to literally dismantle the Nobles Faction himself." Alisa was completely flabbergasted at what Angelica said to her, she and their vice president were the only ones who truly understood how much of an impact those action could have on the economy of Erebonia.
"How sure are you of this? You know I have no love for the Noble Faction but even I have a hard time believing that they would do something that stupid." Angelica grinned at Machias with an infatuated look in her eyes, "My dear sweet little Towa, was the one who found the discrepancies by pouring over everything, RF yearly sales figures, government reports on the mine, you name it. Though that alone isn't enough as proof, since House Rogner claims that the reason why they are mining more iron and not producing the corresponding number of forged steel is because of the purity of the iron, which is complete bullshit."
"George, can you estimate how much steel they could produce with the stolen iron?"
"Hmm, this is just a speculative math on my part but around…. perhaps 100000 torim. That would be more than enough to make over two thousand Achtzehn tanks, of course just because they have the materials and the plans it doesn't mean that they could produce them. Tanks are the wheelhouse of the 2nd factory, they would never help the 1st factory no matter what, which begs the question just what are they using all that steel for?"
Group A could hardly believe the numbers that were thrown around in this conversation, but one thing was clear, "I can't imagine you came all this way just to share this information with us. What exactly are you planning, Angelica?"
The violet haired second year looked at Rean, "My uncle oversees the 1st factory, and the provincial army is blockading the mine. There is no way my family isn't involved. On the other side, you have got all the miners just trying to do their jobs who got dragged into this whole mess. I am a Rogner, just because I might not be a great daughter in my family eyes that doesn't mean I will turn a blind to this mess without trying to help."
They could see the determination in her eyes, "I used to work part-time in the mine, I know the place like the back of my hand. As long as I can find a way inside, I think I can handle the terrorists well enough." George and Crow could only shake their heads at her declaration, the rest shared a look before nodding at the same time, leaving it to the archer to speak for them, "My family is also involved in this, as such I feel like I have a duty to do something about it. You can count on Group A to support you, Angelica."
"Thanks guys, I appreciate it. I will do some digging to see if I can find anything else about this situation myself, as for a way in…."
"You can leave that to me! I will go talk with Mother directly about this whole situation, I can't think of anyone better at cutting red tape than her. Besides I think it is time for her and me to have some longe overdue conversation." Everybody talked some more about their plan before splitting up, the second years went on their ways to hit up some old contacts, meanwhile Class VII followed Alisa as she literally stormed into the office of the Chairman, where both her mother and Sharon were working, "Mother, we need to talk."
"I apologise for cancelling our dinner plans last night, something came up that demanded my immediate attention. I rather doubt I will make it back tonight too." The way her mother brushed her off, nearly set the archer off but after taking a deep breath, she spoke forcing Irina to look at her, "I am not sure what is keeping you so busy since you haven't even managed to fulfil one of your most basic duties as chairman. The miners who work at Sachsen, last I checked, are employees of this company. Can I assume you have issued a formal objection to Marquis Rogner?"
Irina put the papers she was holding down holding her daughter's eyes with her own, "Director Heidel Rogner has requested something to be done as a formality but nothing more. We both know what is really going here, no matter what formal objection I make the Marquis will simply ignore it. So why should I go to the trouble to do something meaningless?"
"Meaningless?! The lives of your employees are meaningless?! Whose fault do you think it is that things came to this point?! The 1st factory has been dumping iron into the black market for years and you didn't do anything to stop it!"
"Being unable to bring the 1st factory in line allowed that to happen and that is my fault, I admit. We ned to consider every possibility, like the one that the terrorists may set off an explosive in the mine and how to respond to that. Reinford is a global company, everything that affects it, will affect the entire continent. Surely you know this; the Reinford Group it its own entity with its own role to play and I have mine as the chairman. As do the army, RMP and even the terrorists, they have their own purpose. Action with a purpose. That is what keeps the world in motion, so tell me daughter of mine what is YOUR purpose?"
Alisa couldn't say anything at that, she even looked away from her mother causing Irina to sigh and to focus on her work again, the moment she opened her mouth to dismiss them, Alisa expressed herself, "My purpose? For now, it is apparently to clean up your mess!" Shocked at what she was hearing, the chairman looked up sharply, to harshly rebuke her, yet her daughter went on ignoring the angry look on her face, "Beyond that, it will be to bring the Reinford Group back on to its rightful place. I am done looking away and keeping quiet, done with just allowing you to drift away from me."
There was no sign of doubt or hesitation in her eyes as she spoke from the depths of her heart, "All my life I have looked the other way without doing anything. I did it when you made work your entire life purpose, when you drove Grandfather away and I did it when Father died. I wasn't the only one hurt by his death, but I searched for comfort in you and Grandfather, but you just escaped the hurt by diving into work making it the reason for your life." If before Irina had been angry before now she was furious, "You dare to….."
"Yes, I dare! I am your daughter, your family and as such I should be the one to tell you the truth! What you are doing is wrong, stop hiding behind the company and come back to our family. I was too young to understand much back then but the father I remembered was not the kind of man who would approve of your actions! What would he think if he saw you now?! What would Franz Reinford say?!"
The eyes of the chairman were practically spitting fire at the archer but stopped when her daughter yelled her last question, myriads of emotions were swirling inside for a moment. Seeing that Alisa softened her approach, "I am your daughter as well as his which is why I am telling you, what you are doing is wrong! The company shouldn't be run this way."
No one said as Irina slumped back into her chair, she appeared more tried than ever before but that quickly disappeared as she regained control of her emotions, addressing Alisa with an emotionless voice, "Can I assume you, in your infinite wisdom, are planning to tell me the correct way to run MY company?"
Alisa didn't back away from her eyes this time, "Naturally, but I know that I need more experience before I can do that. I promise you, though, that by the time I graduate from the academy, I will show you how this company should be run. As your daughter, someone who might just succeed you someday, I should be able to do at least that much."
"It is one thing to make a promise; it is quite another to live up to it. Still, I admit I am quite curious to see if you will succeed or fail at that."
"I won't run from the truth anymore, during my time at Thors I watched the prejudices and injustices of the world, heard about things that broke my heart and I can't and won't stay at the sidelines any longer. If I want to be happy in my life, to give happiness to others, then I must fight for it. No longer will I avert my eyes, no longer will I stand still, for this company, for my friends, for those I love, I will fight."
(Haha, wow. Talk about being on fire, looks like she has no more doubts or hesitation. Looks like Alisa Reinford will take the world by storm; of that I have no doubt.) Rean was nearly bursting with pride and happiness for her as he watched Alisa make her stand in front of her mother, the others looked impressed as well along with Sharon who like Rean was full of pride. It was just for a moment too soon gone to be sure, but he swore he saw a hint of pride in Irina's eyes, as she gave Sharon the order to give them a card that would open the door to a passage connecting Roer to the mine.
Gwyn had it created in secret in case of an emergency for the miners, they informed the second years about it and agreed to meet in front of it after they stocked up on items for the upcoming fights. Group A split up in three groups Elliot and Fie were on duty to stock up on healing items, Crow and Machias left to stock on ammunitions for their guns. Leaving the remaining two to give the report about the new orbal guns, after that they meet up with rest and started their last task for the day, rescuing the miners from the terrorists.
George stayed behind to remain in contact with Towa and oversee the operation along with a device to strengthen the signal of the Arcus Unit, with that they wouldn't have any problems to call him in case they needed to be apprised of what was going on outside the mine. One last check up later Group A plus Angelica hurried through the winding paths of the tunnel leading them to come out of an abandoned shaft, which luckily for them the former part-timer of the mine was able recognise.
Inside the mine they noticed that despite being filled with military monsters and Archaisms there were no sign of the terrorists since they had no clue where the hostages were being held, the students had no choice but search through most rooms. During one of the searches George called them, "Everyone, I just got off the phone with Towa, the RMP is mobilizing everything they have to go to both Roer and Ordis. The moment they arrive, will be the start of the fight between them, before it comes to that you have to get the miners out of there."
"Got it, we will try our best. You all heard him our time frame just got shorter but that is more reason not to rush, we have already searched through a good chunk of this place. The only remaining area they could be at, is to the south, we will try to eliminate every monster that we come across, be they mechanical or not. That way when we are leaving with the miners, we won't have to worry much besides perhaps fending off the terrorists."
The rest agreed with Rean's plan, sometime later they chanced upon two blue archaisms who looked like the same model Scarlet had used in Garellia Fortress with the only difference being the colour, guarding the entrance deeper into the mines. The battle links for that were both the second years together, Alisa with Fie and Elliot with Machias. Rean was the odd man out, but that would change if the situation asked for it. Rean and Angelica were the ones to open the battle, with tachi and fist attacking at the same time, crashing their opponents into each other
What followed next was a highspeed exchange between them and their opponents, Group A didn't waste any time to bring out the big guns. Knowing that they had a time limit, four S-Craft were used immediately, first was Elliot, then Machias, then Fie and followed by Crow. Despite all that the monsters managed to hang in there, earning them privilege to die by Angelica's 'Dragon Kick'.
She charged her Ki to the max, causing her aura to bathe her in a violet light, with a single jump she reached a height of at least six arges. Angelica used her Ki to propel her towards her targets with enough speed she appeared to be a violet dragon descending upon them, blasting through leaving two holes behind. Like usually defeated archaism exploded leaving nothing behind besides some burning and broken pieces of metal, inside the room they finally managed to find some miners.
Unfortunately for them these were only a small portion of the hostages the rest were further in the mine, to add worse luck into it, one of them was hurt by the terrorists since he had resisted too much, "We don't have much time to waste here, how about I take them all back? I know that we got rid of the monsters on our way here, but I would feel better if they had at least one escort just to make sure nothing bad happens to them."
They all looked at Crow who had volunteered himself for that job, "Are sure about that? Perhaps we can…." The bandana user waved Rean's worry away, "Nope no need for that, I am the best choice. We already took care of the monsters and losing me won't affect your combat strength too much. Fie and Machias can cover for me in the gun department, besides I will bring them to George and come straight back."
"First time that I can't argue with him, he is the best choice. It could be worse we could lose Alisa or Fie instead of this louse." Group A and the miners could only sweat drop at Angelica remark, after making sure that he was well stocked, Crow left with the hostages behind him. Without him, the group was down to six but that didn't stop them for venturing deeper, swiftly dispatching every obstacle in their way until they heard an explosion far away, one minute later Rean's Arcus rang.
"Damn…hey Rean, I hit a little snag here. After I was on my back from George, an archaism we must have overseen hit one of the tunnels with its rocket causing a cave-in. The route we took from the passage is totally blocked now; I will search for an alternate route to you, but I may take a while. Until then hang in there and be careful, Gelica keep an eye on our adorable juniors for me please."
Snorting at that she sneaked her arms around the waist of Alisa and Fie hugging them closer to her, "I don't need your reminder for that, I will keep them glued to me, don't you worry. Just be careful, if you get hurt, I will help Towa in dealing with you, capisce?"
"Yeah, yeah, no need to worry about little old me. See you guys soon." Crow ended the call before anyone else could say anything more to him, soon after that a grunt could be heard from Angelica as she rubbed her left side, "Keep your hand to yourself Angelica!"
The red on Alisa's cheeks plus her words were enough for the rest to understand that the Rogner girl had used the situation to grope a feel of Alisa, the swordsman understood that she had probably done it to keep the rest of them from worrying about Crow, but he still wanted to draw his tachi at her. The archer gave him a warning look to not make a big deal out of this, so he could only settle that the next time the second year invited him to spar with her, he would try extra hard to give her the fight of her life.
They made their way through the rest of the mine, arriving at the door that would lead them hopefully to the Mine Chef and his workers, along with either the terrorists, military monsters or archaisms waiting for them or all three of those together. To be prepared for anything that may happen inside they took a short ten-minute break to be in tiptop condition, after that the opened the door finding that V and some cronies were already waiting for them.
Rean saw that behind their opponents was a cliff along with two paths, one leading down and the other leading towards another room, probably where the miners were being kept, "Heh, would have thought you kids would turn up again? You just don't know when to quit! I guess I was right thinking that the provincial army wouldn't be able to keep pests from finding their way inside. In fact, was rather hoping that RMP would come here guns blazing so that we could lay them out. I guess I will have to settle with burying you kids."
"So, you are one of the leaders of ILF, the one called V. Name is Angelica Rogner, the miners you are holding hostage are friends of mine, if you kindly could release them and in return, I will promise not to break every bone in your body."
The terrorist started laughing at her finding it hilarious, Group A was ready to start the fight at any time but was sidetracked by Fie, "Now I remember, where I have seen you before. You are a survivor of the Arngarmr Jaeger Corps, aren't you? The boss showed me once an old photo of you some years back saying you were worthy opponents back in the day."
V was surprised at first that Fie knew of his old corps, "The name is Vulcan, I am honoured that the Jaeger King himself would tip his hat to us. It is a little late, but you have got my condolences, he was one hell of a man."
"…. Thanks, but from what the boss told me you weren't the type to take hostages nor to threaten people unrelated to combat. What changed?"
"That is easy, I will do anything to slaughter that iron-blooded shit stain and let him rot in Gehenna." At that declaration V's aura burst forth filling the entire place with his desire to kill the chancellor, "Why do you hate him so much? What did he do to you all that you would go this far to kill him?" V eyes looked at Rean as he answered him, "We aren't all pressed from the same Mold, we all have got different reason to be here, Gideon hated him for his ideology, Scarlet lost her home because he wanted built a railway through it as for me, let's just say I have got a misplaced grudge against the guy."
"When I was the leader of Arngarmr, we got a job to give the bastard a 'little scare' from the Noble Faction, they didn't like the fact that a commoner who came through the military became the chancellor. I thought it would one of those easy laid-back mission, but he saw right through it. I can't really call what happened a fight, it was more like a massacre. Couldn't even give us the chance to surrender they simply gunned us down in cold blood. Young boys and girls who had just been with us for a couple weeks, woman, man…. everyone."
The more he talked the denser his killing intent grew, "I don't know how I survived but when I woke up, I was surrounded by the corpses of my fallen comrades. Bastard didn't even have the decency to bury us, just left us to rot in the wilderness. After that I wandered for a while until I ended up finding the Imperial Liberation Front, no fancy high ideals here. I just want to kill him, hurt that son of a bitch, avenge my friends and tear apart everything he has spent his life trying to build."
Group A couldn't even imagine understanding what he went through however, "You want revenge, that is understandable but that doesn't mean the Chancellor was wrong in doing what he did. It may sound heartless, but you needed to be dealt with an iron fist. I am sure the fate of your corps discouraged others from attempting the same thing, but what you happened to you is no excuse for what you are doing now!"
Grinning Vulcan drew his huge machinegun and took aim at them, "You aren't strained for mercy, are you? But I can't deny what you are saying, but at the end of the day, it isn't about who is right or wrong. That was never the case. That bastard loves to fuel the flames of his ambition with the life of countless people, we were all burnt by him. So, we will fan our own flames, make them grow so big and wild that they will burn up even blood and iron. Remember you were the ones coming here out of your own free will, you can't blame anyone for becoming the kindle that will allows our fire to grow hotter."
"Everyone scatter!" Following Rean shout they all ran into different directions, the front fighter towards the terrorists avoiding the hail of bullets coming at them. The back line took cover behind rocks while shooting back, both Alisa and Machias managed to knock out the guns besides V's out of their hands making them easy pickings for Fie and Angelica.
Meanwhile Elliot was supporting Rean with his Arts, proving his strength V knew how to use his gun to his advantage, the moment Rean stopped moving even for a second bullets came flying at him. Even close combat proved difficult, the immense weight of the gun was heavy enough to swat Rean aside if he got hit.
"(Even Laura's sword is lighter than that, I won't be able to divert his weight like I do with her sword, ranged combat is also out of the question. I won't be able to cut that many bullets flying at me…. hit and run it is then.) Second Form Gale!" Rean used his speed to his advantage to move around and attack at the same time, not stopping even for a moment. It showed that Vulcan deserved to be the leader of a jaeger corps despite several cuts on his body he didn't slow down at all, he even tried to counterattack with grenades the moment Rean was close enough and used his gun as a shield against the explosion to create distance between him and the swordsman.
Rean was thankful for the musician support arts; they were extremely useful to keep his speed up, five minutes later the others had taken the remaining terrorists out leaving V alone, but that seemed to strengthen him even more, with a huge cry he released a black aura around him, "Rean, watch out! That is War Cry, only the strongest jaegers are able to use it. His strength and speed will skyrocket as long he is using it."
Hearing Fie's warning, he knew that he was running out of time and to make matters worse V's back hit a wall making it impossible to attack from the back further reducing his attack options but giving his opponent free reign to shot how much he wanted. Having no other alternative the swordsman approached from the front avoiding the bullets coming at him, the moment he was close enough V Swung his machinegun down at Rean.
(Now! Fifth Form, Morning Moon!) Right before the gun smashed his head in, the swordsman called upon his power for a short moment, he channelled his power into his tachi and preformed a high speed Iai draw cutting the gun in two pieces and before V could register what just happened, he was hit in the head by the handle of a tachi, nearly passing out. Still, that didn't mean he was out of the fight despite not being fully conscious his body reacted for him by throwing a small grenade and using the remainder of his gun as cover.
Rean jumped back thereby avoiding the attack, "The fight is over V! You should surrender peacefully, and we will…!" He was barely able to raise his sword to defend against the flying double sabre thrown his way, the power was enough for him to slide backwards to where his friends were running towards him, no one knew since when the black figure had been there, but they were familiar with him.
"Comrade S has already boarded the airship; I shall buy you time to join her." He retrieved his weapon as he walked in the direction of the students, past V who was being held up by the other terrorists, "…. Bah, fine! I will chalk this one as my loss. Just wait until next time you brats, then we will have some real fun." Done with saying his piece he and the others left this place, leaving only C behind.
"It has been a while since we last meet Class VII, it seems like you have improved considerably. How about another bet then? You defeat me in single combat Rean Schwarzer, and I will surrender while also releasing the miners. If I win you will let me leave here in peace" Snorting at that Angelica quipped right back, "Hilarious, just why should we even consider that? We can just gang up on you and beat you, the result will be the same with you in chains and the miners free."
The others supported her, seeing no reason why they should make this more difficult than it has to be, "Because if you don't, I will press this button here and kill the hostages with a bomb. What do you say about my proposal now?" They didn't know if he was bluffing or not, but they weren't willing to risk it no matter what, their priority was the safety of the miners.
"Very well, C! I accept what are the terms of this fight."
"Just a normal fight to the death if you will, of course your classmates can't interfere no matter what and you can't use your so-called ogre power either!" Surprised gaps could be heard from his classmates besides Angelica who had no idea what he meant by that, inside Rean's head his thought were going a hundred miles an hour, (How does he know about that?! Besides that, one time in the capital, I was always careful in using it out of sights from other people.)
Chuckling C explained his source, "Are you perhaps wondering how I know about that? We have eyes and ears in all places, even the Intelligence Division isn't safe from people that want to destroy that tyrant. Of course, I just know about what was written in that report from two months ago in the capital, though it did sound a bit exaggerated, but why should I take a chance? All I want here is a 'fair' fight, after all. So, are we in agreement Mister Schwarzer?"
Alisa and the rest knew that Rean had no choice but to accept it, still they were worried and cursing their bad luck that C had chanced upon the swordsman trump card that could have ended this quickly. Luckily C didn't seem to believe what they had written and without seeing it with their own eyes no one else would. Nevertheless, Alisa would make sure that Millium would erase that damn report from existence later, for now she could only watch as Rean and C took their stances.
(One step after another, first I will have to deal with this everything else can wait. I should focus what is right in front of me, no matter what I can't underestimated him.) Both fighters watched each other for a few moments before disappearing at the same time, they were so fast that besides hearing the clashes of their weapons, they couldn't be seen. Even with all their training they had done for the last six months Machias and Elliot were barely able to keep up with their speed, only the girls seemed able to see what was happening clearly.
(Thanks to Master's training I was able to shorten the gap between us technique wise, but he is still above me in strength and speed. Or rather the problem lies in the huge amount of Ki he has inside him, I didn't notice it last time or was he hiding it but unless he has been training for decades focusing on it, the amount shouldn't be that much. That level is close to some masters I have seen back in the East.)
Rean avoided a swipe from the double sabre by leaning backwards, he saw immediately through C's false opening, so instead of counterattacking he took two steps back avoiding the second blow from the sabre. The swordsman attacked with an overhead strike as if to mock him C avoided it by taking just one step back, making him miss his attack by one measly rege.
What C wasn't expecting was that Rean suddenly grinned at him and stopped mid swing to take step forward turning his attack into a thrust and thanks to C's arrogance he was able to hit the right shoulder of his opponent but besides thrusting him away the black armour he was wearing combined with an outburst of Ki protected him from Rean's tachi drawing blood. Still the swordsman saw his opportunity to press his advantage to attack causing C to be on the passive side for the next exchanges.
If the Rean had been able to press even further, he could have ended the fight, alas the leader of the ILF showed his cunning by using his left hand throw several black objects at him. Despite them looking like simple black balls, the swordsman got a bad feeling about them and jumped back giving up his chance to end the fight. However, that turned out to be the best choice because the black ball remained in the air, just to transform into smaller floating archaisms, causing his friends to curse out loud at C shamelessness after saying this would a one-on-one fight.
"These lovely little archaisms are called the NT series and are controlled by me, as such this here remains a pure one-on-one fight…..Oh, shit!" Before C could finish speaking Rean used Arcane Gale to cut them up and stop C from monologing, even with his quick defence the second Battojutsu strike caught him off guard. Throwing caution to the wind C prepared his ultimate attack, showing just how much Ki he had, the blast from it nearly blew Rean away.
(This is bad! Just how much was he hiding and how!? Doesn't matter, just focus, just one misstep and I am done.) Clad in azure coloured Ki the terrorist dashed forward so fast that if Rean hadn't acted on instinct, he would have been cut in two the moment he passed by him. But C wasn't down yet, he gathered his Ki into his double sabre lighting it up just to quickly slash twice in quick session, creating an X-shaped energy attack.
Not yet having recovered from the previous attack, Rean could only try to hastily deviate it away. Having barely succeed he was met with several attacks from C double sabre who had been hiding behind the energy attack, the first dozen or so he was able to parry by once again acting purely on intuition but the last one managed to land sending him flying towards the wall but not before he was able to swipe his hand on C's body.
"REAN!" His friends ran towards him, as bounced down to the ground, Elliot was already casting healing Arts while Angelica and Fie stood in front of him stopping his opponent to deal the finishing blow, "Looks like this is once again my victory, Rean Schwarzer. Perhaps you will have better luck next time." He was going turn to leave but was stopped by Rean, "I may have lost the battle, but I won the war…cough"
The swordsman stopped mid-sentence to cough, much to their horror on his hand was a bit of blood, "Oh? I wasn't expecting you to be such a sore loser, I must admit I am a bit disappointed in you…CRAP!" C and Group A saw what Rean had in his other hand was the same device C had threated the miners with, during the last blow he managed to steal it without being noticed.
Group A didn't hesitate anymore besides Elliot who was healing Rean, the rest attacked with all their anger, unfortunately C managed to throw several flash grenades towards them before they could reach him. The few second of sudden lights were more than enough to let him get away much to the anger of the students but instead of searching for him, they put taking care of Rean first. Still, it didn't take long before a black Airship appeared from the mines and with that both the RMP and Army stormed in.
It looked like Captain Claire had managed to force her way in through but not without a platoon of provincial soldier on her heels, seeing them the first thing Claire did was give her orders, "Take aim and fire!", as one her unit stormed forward and opened fire hitting the ship. "You have no right to open fire here! Men stop them at once!" With the army stopping the RMP the shooting ended letting Group A see both units struggling with each other, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!"
Claire looked like she would murder her opposite captain right now perhaps the only thing that saved his live was the fact that C chose that exact moment to speak, "My, my. What a pathetic spectacle. Go on and scurry back to your master, Icy Maiden and tell him this. Our preparations are complete, next time we strike we will rip his heart out and make him choke on it. Farewell for now, you failed once more but at least you can say that you tried."
They could only watch powerlessly as the airship made his ascent out of the mine as suddenly a shot was heard, followed by an explosion of the airship tanks resulting in the entire ship catching fire and falling down the mine where upon hitting the ground it exploded again. Everyone watched the smoke go without saying anything up till the officer of the provincial army started yelling at Claire, "What is the meaning of this?! Terrorist or not, that doesn't excuse shooting down their airship without even offering them a chance to surrender!"
"Enough!" Claire didn't yell or even raise her voice but just the iciness in it was enough to shut him up, she also took out an official looking piece of paper, "We have written permission from his Majesty the Emperor himself to investigate the mines and rescue the hostages. Are you going to hound us every step of the way, while ignoring his order to leave this affair to the RMP?"
"Ugh, don't get so full of yourself just because of piece of paper." He may have tried to act tough, but it was clear to see that it was just empty bravado, though he regained his energy as he noticed the students for the first time, "Who the hell are you meddling kids?! What do you think you are doing on restricted property?! Whatever excuse you may have better be brilliant or you will be in a world of trouble!"
"They are here because I asked them to or are you going to tell me that I don't have the right to enter this so-called restricted property?" The officer froze when he saw just who was standing in fornt of him, "L-L-L-Lady Angelica?!", seeing the unease her appearance caused made the second year take it a step further, "Perhaps you can explain to me just why you let terrorists have the run of the place while barring entry to law enforcement officials? Just who gave you the guts to do that?!"
"We were acting under the direct orders of the marquis himself! He expressly commanded us not to let these insolent fools' trespass in his territory!"
"Oh? The marquis must be quite the sly businessman, to acquire ownership of a mine, I wasn't aware we were selling!" The latest group to arrive was Crow, George, Major Müller and Prince Olivert, seeing them Rean finally could relax, (With Prince Olivert here, we should be able to get out of this mess with just a slap at the wrist at worst but are C, V and S truly dead? Why do I have the feeling have overlooked something?), at that point the damage he had suffered was starting muddle his thoughts causing him to slowly close his eyes and fall into the darkness.
The next time he opens his eyes he was in an unfamiliar room with huge windows on one side, slowly his memories were coming back to him, (Looks like I passed out, though this time it wasn't from over burdening my body. From the looks outside the windows, it is already deep into the night, I hope the others are alright…hmmmm?!) Rean only noticed now that someone else was in the room with him and was also holding his hand, raising his upper body from the bed he was in, he saw that it was Alisa holding his hand tightly and sleeping while sitting in a chair.
(She must have been the one to take care of me while I was out, the least I could do was to put her into a bed so that she can sleep properly. I am surprised that Sharon hasn't already done that.) He tried to be quiet as possible as not wake her up, but soon he found out why Sharon hadn't moved her, she simply wouldn't let go of his hand. If he put more force into it, he could open her hand but that would also mean that she could wake up, (So that is why. I don't want her to wake up the last two days weren't easy on her and she deserves to rest but how can I make more comfortable if she won't let go of my hand?)
He didn't know what to do now but apparently Alisa decided that for him, as if sensing that he was awake she drowsily opened her eyes to look at him, but before he could say anything she slowly moved to hug him across his chest freeing his hand in the process, but now trapping him even more than before, "You….are….awake…..good…..but…you….need…more….rest…..so sleep." She must have been more asleep than awake, she pushed him down onto the bed using his chest as a pillow and wouldn't move from her spot. (…)
Rean lay there frozen not sure what to do now that he was even more trapped but once he looked at her sleeping face, all thought of moving her away faded from his mind. Instead, he gathered the duvet as best as he could and covered them both with it, he gave her a featherlight kiss in her hair causing her to smile contentedly and with one last look at her face, he circled his arm around her back drawing her closer and feel asleep with a smile on his face, not caring about anything else.
