As Laura exited her room she thought about the day to come. With Marquis Rogner having pulled the Nortia Province out of the war it meant that the Courageous was free to land in Roer and undergo maintenance work. A task that would take the entire day, thus freeing up Class VII and the rest of the students to explore the large city at their leisure.

Something that she was quite excited for, having never been in the large city herself. She had heard plenty of stories about the industrial metropolis from Alisa and the others, of course, but experiencing the city for herself beat simply hearing the stories. And if everything went according to plan it wasn't something she would be doing alone.

Arriving at her destination she knocked on the door. "Rean? Are you there?"

"Come in!" With permission she entered the room to witness the boy in question. He smiled at her, but while the gesture was genuine enough there was something missing from it. "Good morning, Laura."

"Good morning. Are you busy today? I was hoping you could show me around the city." It was a weak excuse, but it got the job done. She knew the events of the previous day were still weighing heavily on his mind and simply wanted to keep him company.

Thankfully he smiled back at her. "That sounds great. Is Fie coming too?"

She shook her head. "I haven't seen here anywhere. Perhaps she-"

"I'm right here."

Laura did not shriek. Shrieking implies that she was surprised by the voice directly behind her. That was blatantly untrue. Even as she worked to calm her heart rate which had spiked due to entirely unrelated reasons she spun around to witness the madly grinning girl. "Fie! Have you been following me this entire time!?" If Fie had been following her, then... She spun back round. "And you! Why didn't you say anything?!"

"I didn't know I was supposed to." The mirth in his eyes belied the innocent look he gave her.

Fine. Whatever. Even if it had come at her expense Fie's little prank had helped perk Rean up, so she was willing to grudgingly give it a pass. That very well might have been the other girl's intent with her action, after all. "I take it you're coming too?"

"I guess so. Got nothing better to do."

"Do you have to make everything sound like such an ordeal?"

Fie shrugged, causing her to narrow her eyes in annoyance. The cat analogy really fit her well. Before she could say anything else they were interrupted by laughter. "Haha... Alright you two. Shall we get going?"

"Yup. Let's go."

Laura rolled her eyes as the other girl turned and walked out. Annoyances aside she was quite looking forward to the day. Who knows what fun and exciting things lay in wait for them?

"...That's a cat."

"Meow?"

Fie glanced down at the furry object in her arms. "Yes, Rean. It's a cat. Good job."

Laura stepped to the boy's defense to spare him from Fie's condescending look. "I think what Rean wishes to ask is why do you have a kitten in your hands?"

Almost as soon as they had stepped off the Courageous Fie had darted off. Trying to keep up with her full speed was naturally impossible, but they tried their best. After finally catching up this was what they had discovered.

"It's lost. No collar, so it's probably a stray." The silver-hair girl nodded, decision made. "And we're gonna help it find its family."

Laura shared a glance with Rean. The bewilderment in his eyes was probably an accurate reflection of her own. "I-I'm not adverse to that decision, I suppose, but-"

"Great." Fie cut her off with a smile. "It's decided. Me and this little guy will be your tour guides while we look around.

"Mew."

With their mission decided for them the three humans plus one confused kitten made their exit from the airport. Although she had borne witness to the industrial city from the Courageous, stepping forth into the capital of the Nortia Province with her own two feet was an unusual experience. While it was less populated than a place like Heimdallr, the smaller size, industrial focus, and smell of smoke and metal gave it a very unique feel.

One that the Legram native couldn't say she enjoyed.

Still, even if the cramped metallic confines of Roer weren't to her tastes she would never speak poorly of such a place out loud. It was the home to some of her friends, after all. And the citizenry themselves seemed quite happy, even if a large part of that was simply due to the news that Roer was removing itself from the ongoing war.

That thought still astounded her. Although she hadn't been on the active team for the last mission the fact that Class VII had helped to get one of the Four Great Houses out of the war was truly remarkable. Sure Angelica deserved much of the credit, but Rean, Alisa, and the others who fought the previous day had won a major victory.

She was no general, but even she could tell that this was a major event in the war's trajectory. With a quarter of the Noble Alliance's strength now gone the scattered Imperial Army had more freedom to act. Already troops from the 3rd Armored Division had arrived from Zender Gate to help maintain order. Losing Roer and its many factories had to smart too.

During her first visit to Garrelia Fortress she had been confused. Just what role did a sword have to play in a world dominated by tanks and airships? Now, however, she finally felt like she was finding the answer to that question. Even the addition of Divine Knights and Panzer Soldats didn't diminish the fact that there were decisive actions only a group of determined warriors on foot could pull off.

"How should we do this?" Rean asked as they stood in the center of town. "Roer is a pretty large place..."

"Perhaps we should try the upper level first?" She suggested. "The view from up top might prove helpful."

The mischievous look on Fie's face set off warning alarms in her head. "That's a great idea. Let's go!" Without waiting for reply the shortest of the group made her way towards the stairs.

The stairs that were moving. "Why exactly are they doing that?" She asked in curious confusion.

"They are there so-"

Whatever Rean wanted to say was stopped by Fie cutting him off. "They're a training tool. Anyone who wants to get a little extra exercise can fight against the moving stairs. A little extra resistance, you know?"

That seemed entirely excessive, but perhaps Roer was just that affluent? Still, wary of Fie's shenanigans Laura shot a glance towards Rean, but her fellow sword user was looking anywhere but at her. "I... suppose that makes sense? Very well. Let us climb."

Halfway up the stairs and she now understood that she had been hoodwinked. There were a lot of confused eyes upon the trio and the steps got very cramped when a family started descending down the same flight they were on. A glance towards the others confirmed her suspicions. Fie looked entirely too happy while Rean appeared torn between apologetic and amused. Still, at least they were kind enough to follow her into whatever humiliation they had tricked her into. "...These aren't for exercise, are they."

"O-Oh look! We're at the top." The cowardly Rean Schwarzer quickly brushed past her. "Let's go ask around at the cathedral!"

"...Pretty sure the cat is not a follower of the Goddess." And yet in his haste to get away the boy ignored Fie's advice, causing the silver-haired girl to turn towards her with a flat look. "Nice going."

Something which Laura was more than willing to return in kind. "Me?! You're the one who tricked me into going up the wrong stairs!"

"Not my fault you're so gullible."

"Mew?" Their mock argument was interrupted by the little kitten in Fie's arms. Hard to stay annoyed when something that adorable was present.

Getting back on track the duo followed in the same direction that Rean had left, meeting up with him just as he exited the House of Aidios. Unsurprisingly, nobody in there had any knowledge about any stray cats living in the area. Instead the trio continued their walk around the upper level, looking for any hints to help them solve this mystery.

"Why don't we ask her?" Fortune favored them as soon enough they encountered Celine sitting by herself. It was odd to see the familiar without her master, but it was handy for them.

Watching Rean struggle to convince the grumpy feline to assist them was admittedly quite humorous. For her part the familiar didn't seem all that happy to be compared to a normal cat and found the idea of helping one out was beneath her.

And yet she had been there at Bareahard when they worked together to find the old woman's missing kitten. Underneath all that fur and haughtiness there existed the soul of a good person- cat.

"Fine." Something which was confirmed when Celine eventually capitulated. "Let me talk to him."

Fie acquiesced as she gently set the kitten down on the ground. The nervous little feline looked bewildered, but eventually trotted over to the darker cat. "Meow?"

Watching the two cats converse back and forth with meows..."This is kinda funny." Fie summed it up best.

The three humans were content to watch in interest as Celine apparently questioned the young kitten. Eventually she let out a groan before turning back to them. "He's too young to know much, obviously, but he remembers solid earth and a bunch of large objects. Sounded like boxes to me."

"Oh." Fie blinked in realization. "I think I know the place. We went there on our first date."

"That was our first date?" That was news to the boy in question.

"Wow. He doesn't even remember the time we spent together." The saddened look on her face was entirely too scripted. "...Although he did spend most of the night at a bar ogling an older woman."

Laura couldn't help but roll her eyes. "As fun as it is to tease Rean, I have a suspicion that your version of that day is not the most accurate." Ignoring the now pouting Fie she turned her eyes back to Rean. "Would you be so kind as to lead the way?"

For once she prevailed in a contest of speed as she bent down and scooped up the confused kitten a second before Fie could. The victory earned her a scornful glare, but it was a price worth paying as the cuddly feline settled onto her arms. She might not be as much of a cat fan as her girlfriend, but that didn't mean she didn't like cute things!

Her slowly expanding collection of Mishy merchandise could attest to that.

With destination in hand the three made their way back down the way they came. This time however Laura made certain to take the correct flight of stairs. Personally she preferred the added exercise the alternative provided, but she wasn't keen on drawing unwanted attention to herself like that again!

Following Rean's lead they quickly approached the gate leading out of the city. But that wasn't what caught her eye. That would be the large collection of crates stacked against a nearby wall. And among those crates... "There!"

A large female cat that looked almost identical to the one in her hands. Hastily she set down the kitten and watched as the two cats happily bounded up to each other, all but confirming their relation.

Mission accomplished.

While they were unable to speak cat, the gratitude the two felines expressed was impossible to miss. Although the things they had accomplished lately were of a much larger scale and were causing major ripples across the entire country, there was something warm about completing a task as simple as this. It had a more personal feel to it. "I am glad we were able to reunite these two." She muttered as the two scurried away into the shadows together.

"Me too..." For some reason Fie was looking towards where they had vanished with a look of... longing? "His mother must've been looking for him all this time. Nice to know his family didn't abandon him after all."

This time Rean was quicker on the uptake as he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. That seemed to snap the former jaeger out of her reverie as she turned and shot them a small smile. "I'm fine. Even if he had been abandoned that's not the end of the world. Just means that we would've needed to become a new family for it."

While Laura was glad that she seemed fine, she couldn't not point out a critical flaw in her thinking. "Pretty sure a cat wouldn't be allowed on the Courageous." She paused before reconsidering. "...A normal cat, anyways."

"Eh." Fie gave a lazy shrug in response. "What are they gonna do? Doubt anyone is so cruel as to throw a kitten out like that."

The two sword users shared a glance. "Easier to seek forgiveness than permission, huh?" Rean muttered with amusement. "Well, I'm game."

"We are not bringing a cat onto the airship!" Laura's declaration was met with a pout from Fie. Even Rean looked a little put out! But that was fine with her as she wasn't quite finished. "...However, I do think this is something we could discuss once we are back at Thors."

That was the correct thing to say as Fie was quick to wrap her in a quick hug before doing the same to Rean. "That's a great idea! You guys are the best!"

"Hey! You guys!" Their moment together was put to an end by a loud shout. Turning Laura discovered the voice to be a familiar pink-haired girl waving to them. She wasn't sure if the speaker was Vivi or Linde, but the point was mostly moot as next to her stood another nearly identical girl. "Aww. Did we ruin a private little moment?" The salacious grin on her face made her fairly confident that this was Vivi.

"Vivi." Fie confirmed with a bored tone. "What are you doing here?"

"I am so sorry for her." Linde apologized quickly. "We were spending the day together when she spotted you guys. You know how she can get."

Rean let out an amused laugh. "I'm glad to see the two of you back together again."

"Me too." The less dangerous of the two smiled gratefully. "And I owe it all to you guys. Especially you, Rean. I just wanted to let you know how grateful I am to all of you."

"Linde's right. You guys helped us out a ton, so I figure you deserve a reward." Vivi's grin grew deadly before she stepped back and gave her sister a gentle shove forward. "You can have my sister!"

"...Huh?"

The twin in question had a face as bright as her hair as she rounded on her sister. "Vivi!?"

"What? We all know Rean's collecting pretty girls and you're second to one!"

A weary looking Rean sighed heavily. "Ignoring everything else for the moment, why would you offer up your sister and not yourself?"

Fie facepalmed, and even Laura got the feeling that he had just walked into an entirely avoidable trap as Vivi gasped in delight. "Oh my! I should have known that your lecherous eyes were set on me! You are a man of exquisite tastes, after all."

"That's not what I-"

"Hmm..." Vivi cut him off as she made a show of pondering his words. "It might be fun, I suppose? Alright! I've decided! If you can satisfy my beloved sister then we can flag the twin harem ending together!"

"Grr... Vivi!" The three Class VII members watched in mute interest as Mount Linde finally reached its eruption point. Vivi shrieked in fake terror before taking off in a dead sprint with her sister hot on her heels.

That entire encounter had been far too strange for her. "Um..."

"Sooooo." Fie drawled with an amused smile on her face as she looked at Rean. "You considering her offer?"

"Wha-!?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Vivi's a pain in the butt, but it could be kinda fun, I suppose..."

Even if Fie wasn't being serious the Arseid heiress decided to put a stop to this line of thought. "You can't have Vivi."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Five minutes ago we were discussing the possibility of getting a cat. Now you want her too? How greedy can you get?!" Perhaps Aidios was feeling merciful on her as an idea came to mind. "How about a compromise? We'll allow you to pursue one, but not the other."

There was a pregnant pause as the shorter girl considered her options. Laura wasn't concerned. She knew the answer already. Finally Fie slumped down in defeat. "...The cat, of course."

"Thought so." With the nuisance finally dealt with she turned to her other companion. "Is everything alright Rean? You've been awfully quiet since they left."

In fact the swordsman still seemed to be gazing off in the direction the twins had run off to. Something which Fie jokingly took the wrong way. "Don't tell me you're actually considering the offer?"

"N-No!" That was enough to shake Rean from his thoughts. "T-That's not it at all. I-"

"Rean?" It was clear to her from his troubled look that he was struggling to say whatever it was he wanted to.

He glanced towards her before sighing as the tension left his body. "Vivi's shenanigans aside it was clear their gratitude was genuine. And I look around and see everyone so happy to have things returned to normal. It's clear we did a good job yesterday..."

He let out a miserable laugh. "So why do I keep wishing things had turned out differently?"

Even if she had correctly assumed that his memories of yesterday had been plaguing him she hadn't expected him to actually bring it up like this. A quick glance towards Fie showed the girl was seemingly rendered speechless. She too found herself struggling with the words to say, but Rean deserved an answer nonetheless. "As you said, things turned out quite well yesterday, but they could have been better. That bothers you because you are a good person."

He didn't seem too happy with her words. "A good person, huh?"

"Indeed. It didn't matter to you that Vulcan was a terrorist, or that he was threatening your friends, or even that he wanted to die. You value human life and respect the power you wield, but at the same time you are not the kind of person to shirk from your duty. I can only imagine how much it hurt that you had to forsake one ideal in favor of the other."

"...Maybe you're right." He glanced up towards the sky as if it held the answers he sought. "I just wish I could stop replaying that scene in my head."

"It's hard, isn't it?" Fie finally entered the conversation. "It was around three years ago. I was tasked to provide covering fire while the older members made their attack. An enemy soldier peaked his head out of cover just as I took my first shot." She let out a helpless shrug. "Don't even know if it actually killed him or not – never found a body – but that's the memory that's still clear in my head as if it had happened today."

"So how'd you deal with it?"

She shrugged helplessly. "Not sure I ever did. Time stops for no one. Eventually you get busy enough that you stop dwelling on it. We'll probably be stuck in another battle in a day or two. My advice? Learn from your mistake and try and take yesterday's lessons into tomorrow's fight. It won't stop the memories, but it lets you honor them."

"She's right." Laura confirmed. "As much as it must hurt, I believe in you. You won't give up after something like this. You will keep fighting because it is the right thing to do. I can only hope that when the day comes for my blade to spill blood that it is for as noble a cause."

"Noble, huh?" Fie looked bothered by her words.

And she could hazard a guess why. "Of course. Even if I probably would not condone the reason Zephyr was fighting that day you yourself were fighting merely to survive and to protect your old family, were you not? That sounds like a noble cause to me." She let out an amused giggle. "I cannot even begin to fathom how dull my life would be were you not around to force yourself into it."

"Definitely." Rean confirmed with a smile of relief. "Thanks, you two. It still hurts a lot, but I think I'm already feeling a little better after talking with both of you. I'll do better next time. I swear it."

"I am relieved to hear it." It was obvious to her that between his special powers and Valimar that Rean carried an extremely heavy burden. While she firmly believed he was was strong enough to carry it, any opportunity for her to alleviate some of that weight – no matter how small – was an opportunity worth seizing.

"Yay. I'm glad that's over with." Fie's deadpan exclamation couldn't hide the relief in her eyes as much as she probably wanted it to. "Dunno 'bout you guys, but talking about heavy topics while standing in the middle of a city isn't my idea of a fun time."

Rean let out a sheepish laugh. "You're right. Want to continue with the tour, Laura?"

While most people were content with going about their daily lives there was no denying that the three of them were drawing undue attention to themselves, causing her to cough awkwardly. "...That sounds like a good idea. What's that shop over there?"

The primary reason she was so interested was because it offered them a quick escape, but the fact the shop in question seemed quite busy piqued her interest. And wasn't that the logo of Alisa's family business?

"Hmm... The Reinford store." Fie confirmed with a nod. "They sell a lot of weird things in there. It's pretty neat. Wanna check it out?"

"I don't see the harm in it." For some reason she felt an odd chill, but brushed it off.

Together the three of them made their way to the large RF store. Entering it almost felt like stepping into an entirely different world. When Fie said that they sell a lot of weird things she was understating it greatly! Laura had no idea what any of the objects on display were!

"An orbal refrigerator..." She read the display tag of the closest object with interest. It took her a moment to realize why it felt so familiar. "I believe we have one of these in the kitchen of the Courageous, yes?"

Rean – who had followed her to the display – tilted his head in thought. "You're right. We do have one aboard, don't we? Being able to just stick food in there and have it stay fresh for days is pretty awesome."

That's what it did?! She gazed at the large object with renewed interest. Having something like that to assist with her cooking attempts... "How much does one cost?"

Her thoughts came to a halt when she laid eyes on the price tag. While she – and the Arseid family by extension – were by no means poor, she wasn't the type of person to splurge on something unnecessary. And that was a lot of zeroes... "Maybe I'll consider one when my skill in cooking improves enough to justify the expenditure. Let's go look at something else." She winced internally as her voice wavered at the end, but couldn't stop herself from sending one last longing glance towards the orbal refrigerator before reluctantly turning away.

"Check this out." Fie's voice called out to them, drawing them towards where she was staring at a strange looking contraption. "Orbal vacuum cleaner. Says it sucks more than the provincial armies."

"Fie!" Sure they were their opponents, but there was no need to make such comment. Still... What an odd device. How did it work? It certainly didn't look anything like a broom or any other device for cleaning floors.

Her eyes were drawn to a large button on the side of the machine. Perhaps that could shed some light on how the contraption worked? Without hesitation the Legram native reached over and flicked the switch.

Immediately the machine roared to life, shattering the relative quiet of the store and causing her to take an instinctive step back. W-Was it supposed to work like that? Nervously she glanced around and confirmed that many eyes were now upon her.

"I don't think you're supposed to just turn on appliances in the store like that."

Rean's nervous comment made a lot of sense and she colored upon realizing her mistake. "S-Sorry. I guess curiosity just got the better of me. I suppose I should turn it off, then." In her haste she reached towards the closest switch she could fine. "Is this the button you press to do that?"

Come to find out, it wasn't. Instead... "Why is it vibrating even louder and more forcefully!?"

"E-Excuse me, miss!" She was so ashamed of herself that she couldn't bear to look at the approaching store employee, opting instead to hide herself behind Rean as the disgruntled worker turned the vacuum cleaner off. After sending one final glare her way the employee returned from whence he came.

"I-I'm sorry, Rean."

"Gotta admit, it was kinda funny." Fie commented as she popped back into her vision.

Come to think of it... "Where were you just now?"

"I was over... there." Fie pointed in a random direction. "Looking at that thing."

"...You ran away as soon as I created a scene, didn't you?" Laura really shouldn't have expected anything more than the shrug she got in answer.

Instead the Arseid opted to put the entire embarrassing spectacle behind her by changing the subject. "What are these?" She asked, pointing towards a large cube-like object.

"They're... uh... orbal washing machines, by the look of it." Why did Rean sound so nervous? "You put your clothes in there and it'll wash them for you."

"Wow! That sure sounds convenient." She appraised the machine with interest. It didn't have any water or any other tools one would expect to see for the washing of clothes. "Fascinating. I wonder how it works. Let me see..." That button was practically calling out to her!

In hindsight she seriously should have thought this through more, but sadly the scope of her folly only made itself known as the washing machine roared to life. Rean groaned out in dismay. "Not again!"

"M-My apologies..." Now she was beginning to panic. She had to shut off the machine as soon as possible. Was that switch the one to turn it off? How about that button? Maybe that one?

Not only did none of them do what she wanted them to, but pressing them all in quick unison had the opposite effect as the machine began sparking dangerously. It reminded her a bit of archaisms that were about to explode after taking too much battle damage... Oh.

"Excuse me, miss!" This time the employee didn't even try to hide his disdain as he hurriedly brushed past her and did something to cause the appliance to shut off. In her embarrassment Laura wasn't sure where she should be looking – At the machine she had damaged, the very large price tag next to it, the employee who was glaring fiercely at her, or Rean who couldn't even bear to look in her direction.

"I've seen these two hanging out with Alisa Reinford before." Once again Fie appeared out of nowhere. "Can probably charge all damages to her. Oh, and for the record? I've never met them before."

"...Why did I get thrown out too?" Fie complained bitterly.

Laura glowered down at the girl. "Punishment for your betrayal, perhaps?"

"I'm just glad he was willing to overlook the damages..." Rean tried to play the peacemaker, but his smile seemed rather weak.

The swordmistress looked away in mortification. "I can't believe I made such a blunder not just once, but twice..."

"Never would have imagined that you suck so badly with machines."

"...Thank you for those kind words, Fie."

"W-Well..." Rean interjected before the teasing could continue. "No one is good at everything, right? You might have a weakness with technology, but we're here to help you out, just as you've helped us with our own weaknesses."

"Thank you, Rean." This time she was genuine with her words. And he was entirely correct, too. It bothered her that she had made a complete fool of herself in the store, but as long as she could count on the others...

Fie hummed thoughtfully. "Nah. She's good. Imagine if we weaponized her ability."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it! She can break any machine she touches. What if we were to use that ability for good?"

"You mean use it against our enemies?"

"Yup. Get her in a soldat and it will probably explode."

"How about the Pantagruel? Get her onto the bridge and...?"

"Nice idea, Rean. Their flagship would be gone in an instant. Total victory."

"Think she could help me beat Crow and Ordine?"

With fists clenched at her side Laura listened to the back and forth with growing anger. All that earlier positivity? That was gone thanks to these two idiots. Now she was filled with determination.

She would either learn to excel with machines or they would all die in the process.