Sara Valestein watched grimly as Rean departed from the group to go make sure Valimar was prepared. While on paper his mission to North Ambria would be for him to simply evacuate civilians and not to engage in actual combat it was extremely unlikely he wouldn't need to make use of his trump card at some point. Between the Northern Jaegers, Ouroboros, and any other wild cards they were to encounter a fight was all but inevitable.

Claire, the Scarecrow, and Altina left shortly after, their mission to recruit the Ashen Chevalier completed. Even if they were on the same team this time she did not lament their exit one bit. Perhaps they meant well, but they were Ironbloods to the end. Altina was in a similar boat, but surprisingly her girls seemed to be growing rather fond of their former enemy based on what she'd heard of their few recent interactions.

As a former jaeger she could respect that mentality. Yesterday's enemies need not remain so forever.

But with them gone that just left the A-Rank bracer standing there with her two juniors. It was obvious the two girls were waiting for her to continue, but Sara decided to have a final bit of fun at their expense before the situation went to Gehenna. Instead of answering she took the time to look around and appreciate the sights and sounds of the ongoing festival. Any other year and she would've loved to take the time to check out the academy.

Despite being there for only a couple of years Thors would always hold a fond place in her heart. She blamed her little brats for turning her into a sap like that.

"Sara..." Inwardly she smirked. Fie – despite her lackadaisical attitude towards most things - could be surprisingly inpatient, "What about us?"

"Hmm?" She feigned confusion, "What about you?"

The silver-haired girl scowled and was about to spit out something nasty, but Laura stepped up to her support, "You said the Bracer Guild was being allowed to assist in the upcoming operation, yes? Surely you don't intend on going alone?"

Heh. They made a good pair. Laura's steady support and levelheadedness paired well with Fie. Sara wished she could've had someone like her around after she left the Northern Jaegers, "That's the plan. Toval's busy in the east and a war is no place for junior bracers, so it's not like I got any better option."

Even Laura couldn't prevent herself from twitching at the insinuation they wouldn't be going. Truth be told Sara had already made peace with the fact both girls would all but demand accompanying her with this mission. Sure she was right when she said it was no place for junior bracers, but it wasn't like they were any regular junior bracers.

And if Schera and Agate could get away with dragging a pair of rookies into the middle of a coup d'etat than she could definitely get away with bringing these two to her former home.

"Instructor Sara, I must insist...!"

"We're coming Sara, whether or not you agree."

Of course just because she had made her decision in their favor didn't mean she couldn't take advantage of the opportunity, "Hmm... I dunno. I really shouldn't, but it would beat the two of you slipping into a battlefield unsupervised, I guess...?"

"Hurry up and agree."

She was tempted to glare at Fie for her impertinence, but as the oldest and wisest – but not too old or wise – person in the group she chose to act with maturity and ignore the bitter girl. Easy considering she had them right where she wanted them, "Alright, fine. I'll allow you two to assist, but I have some conditions."

Neither girl interrupted which prompted Sara to continue, "First, you need to agree to follow my every order. I know I gave you a long leash last year, but this is a different scenario." She trusted these kids. She truly did. But the upcoming invasion of her old home was an extremely delicate situation, both for the Bracer Guild who was already in a precarious spot with the Imperial Government, and more importantly the people living there who were about to be caught in the crossfire.

"Understood." Laura's word was matched with a stoic nod from Fie. Good. Rebellious hellions they might be at the best of times, but the gravity of the situation wasn't lost upon them. The A-Rank bracer was confident her subordinates for this mission would keep to their word.

"And secondly, there's a thing happening a while from now that I've been told to handle and it's gonna suck, so I think I'll let you handle it for me."

The tension in the room faded as both girls shared blank looks with each other, "...You are making us do your work? And why are you being so vague?"

Yes, yes she was. As for the why? Because it was funny. Should she really be messing with her juniors at a time like this? Probably not.

But the next few days promised to be some of the most miserable in her life so she deserved to have a little fun before everything hit the fan. And given the resigned but somewhat amused looks on Fie and Laura's faces Sara was pretty sure they understood that at some level and were simply rolling with her shenanigans.

Her kids were good like that.

The Purple Lightning clapped her hands together, "Alright, then! Even though we're all headed into the same war we'll be heading up separately from Rean the others, so I want the two of you at the Heimdallr station bright and early tomorrow, got it? And make sure you're ready for anything!"

A bit of a silly final statement to give given that she herself wasn't ready for this at all. Even thought she'd known it was coming since the very moment they heard about the razing of Celdic having it as an imminent prospect left the older woman feeling sick to her stomach. She definitely wasn't gonna be drinking anything for a while.

It was time for the invasion of North Ambria to begin. That thought was enough to sober her mood and she doubted she'd be getting a good nights rest for a long while.

Rean hated politics. He especially hated the expansionist politics pursued by the Blood and Iron Chancellor. But there was no denying just how much of a master at statecraft that man truly was.

Thanks to the October War the man stood alone atop the Imperial government, with the power of the nobility being crushed because of their own actions – actions which Rean knew were manipulated by the chancellor himself. The only opposition remaining were the remnants of the Noble Alliance who had held themselves up in a fortress in the west under the leadership of Generals Le Guin and Bardias.

And that was when Osborne presented his offer: If Le Guin's army were to take charge in quelling the Northern Jaeger's insurrection in North Ambria then their allegiance to a dead cause would be forgiven and they would be allowed to return to their home provinces with their lives, their freedom, and their honor intact.

In a single action he had managed to turn his only remaining internal enemy into the vanguard for his next conquest.

Well, that wasn't exactly true. While the provincial army was providing the bulk of the manpower they weren't the vanguard for this invasion.

He was.

Fortunately his orders didn't involve him taking part in the actual invasion. There were worries that the Northern Jaegers responsible for the coup might use the civilians of North Ambria's capital of Haliask as shields against the Golden Rakshasa's overwhelming armies, especially as Major Lechter claimed they had evidence that Ouroboros was active in the state. Thus he and Altina had been tasked to work alongside both the RMP and the Bracer Guild to protect the civilians and evacuate the battlefield.

The Bracer Guild... Truth be told he wasn't at all surprised to find out that Laura and Fie had forced themselves onto the mission. Naturally a part of him was worried about them even if he knew just how capable both girls were – As cruel as it sounded it's a lot easier to worry about loved ones than it was the innocent strangers he was being sent out to protect.

What worried him just as much, however, was the fact that both girls had elected to involve themselves with the upcoming crisis. Rean had really hoped that by taking up the mantle of Ashen Chevalier he would be able to spare the rest of Class VII from any further manipulation from Osborne, but in hindsight that was a vain wish. Instructor Sara, Fie, and Laura were all bracers and this was the stated mission of the supporting gauntlet.

"Is something amiss?"

The soft question broke the swordsman from his reverie. He tilted his head in confusion as he looked to Altina, "Hmm? I'm fine, why do you ask?"

"Normally you are not so inattentive." The quiet girl pointed out, furthering his confusion, "The train stopped two minutes ago."

Rean looked out the window. Huh. So it had. He was surprised since the trip to General Le Guin's military camp near the North Ambrian border was supposed to take the majority of the day.

Had he really been so lost in his thoughts as to miss the majority of the ride?

"Heh. Thanks, Altina. Don't know what I'd do without you."

"I am merely carrying out my mission."

He couldn't resist the urge to reach out and lay his hand on the young girl's head, "Perhaps, but I'm pretty sure your mission doesn't require you to be concerned for my mental health."

Altina had no rebuttal to that, although that may have been because the intelligence agent was blissed out under his ministrations.

With a chuckle Rean rose from his seat, doing his best to ignore the quiet whine Altina gave as he stopped petting her head, "Let's get going. We need to get Valimar taken care of and then find Major Claire to figure out what's going on."

The former proved easy as he was practically ambushed by a pair of engineers as they stepped off the train who informed the Ashen Chevalier of the hangar space reserved for his Divine Knight and promises that they'd take care of the unloading. Technically his mission was simply to evacuate civilians and in a perfect world he wouldn't need Valimar, but sadly the world was rarely ever so perfect.

Best to keep his most powerful ally close at hand to be called upon when needed.

It was a strange feeling walking through this military camp. Unlike most bases he had visited this one was filled almost entirely with soldiers of the provincial armies. While very few sported the colors of Nortia or Kreuzen, that he was walking among former enemies was an unsettling one. He wasn't a former jaeger like Fie who could simply shrug off the presence of a former enemy, after all.

And what was even stranger were the looks of awe and excitement he and Valimar got from those enemies of his. Sure they were allies now, but given his role in everything that had happened Rean had expected at least a little animosity with his presence.

Perhaps these men and women were just ready for their war to be over with as soon as possible? Being trapped in a fortress for many months with no hope of victory must've been a terrible feeling.

Finding Major Claire proved easy as she and the rest of the RMP in the camp were currently gathered up away from the hustle and activity of the rank and file soldiers. The bright smile he and Altina received made her moniker of the Icy Maiden feel way off base, "I'm pleased to see the two of you made it successfully."

Rean knew his own smile was a lot less genuine, but he believed it was understandable given the circumstances "It's good to see you too. Do you have any orders for us?"

Before she responded Claire turned and waved off her subordinates, leaving just the three of them, "Not at the moment, no. The soldiers currently scouting out the situation in North Ambria. We're to be present at a strategy meeting tomorrow at noon, and there we'll come up with a plan of action. For now I want the two of you to get plenty of rest. Would you like me to show you to the barracks where we are staying?"

He shared a glance with Altina, but the girl's expression was as stoic and bored as ever, leaving the decision in his hands, "Sure. That'd be great. Thank you."

As they walked the major talked about what knowledge she was in possession of – or at least the information she was willing to share with him. The camp they were in was filled with soldiers and soldats in such staggering numbers that Rean thought it might have surpassed their visit to Garrelia Fortress the previous year. And yet according to Claire this was but one of many such camps that had cropped up near the border with the rebellious North Ambria in the past few days.

Fifty thousand soldiers in total, with almost three hundred panzer soldats. Led by the only general to not lose a single battle during the civil war. This was no beaten army, but an army to be reckoned with.

And it was all about to smash into their northern neighbor like an unstoppable tidal wave, all in the name of his father.

Rean tried to shake those morbid thoughts from his mind. North Ambria's fate was sealed, this much he knew even with his limited understanding of military tactics. But his job was to make sure the innocent civilians of that doomed country didn't share that fate. He couldn't allow himself to fail.

The officer's barracks Claire took them too was nothing more than a large tent, but this wasn't his first deployment where he ended up sleeping in such accommodations so he didn't particularly mind. Despite the fact he was sharing it with Altina and the RMP officers – luckily the tent had a flap to divide the genders – it still had a lot more room than what the average soldier had.

Most of the luggage he had brought were essentials, but there was one luxury item he usually brought along his Ashen Chevalier missions to help pass the time. And given there were still a few hours before darkness set in now was as good a time as any. Quickly he unpacked and prepared to leave-

"You really like to fish."

He couldn't help but chuckle at Altina's statement, not at all surprised his companion had managed to unpack before him "I guess I do. Do you want to come with me?"

Altina considered his words for a moment before giving a silent nod. He smiled, the company was always appreciated. It reminded him of the times when one of the other members of Class VII would accompany him during fishing breaks, or the time when he taught Laura and Fie-

Oh. Now that was an idea.

"Would you like me to teach you?"

Although the young girl didn't assent to the idea as she tilted her head in confusion the fact she didn't outright refuse was a victory in his eyes. He silently vowed to turn her into the finest angler he possibly could.

"Have fun, you two."

The swordsman froze. He'd completely forgotten about Major Claire, "Did you want to come with us as well?" He asked sheepishly.

Luckily the amused woman merely shook her head, "As entertaining as that would be I'm afraid I must decline. I still need to contact Sara and inform her of our plans for tomorrow."

That made sense. Sara had made it quite clear to them that she had no intention of staying in a military camp and had taken Laura and Fie elsewhere. He couldn't help but smile at that, "Would you be willing to pass along my regards?"

"...And Rean sends his regards."

Sara scowled as the radio transmission came to an end, "Gah! I can't stand that woman!"

Unlike her Laura was all smiles, "I'm glad everything has turned out well on his end. A shame we can't be with him right now."

"True, but this beats being in a camp full of army people." Fie pointed out, causing the Arseid to nod her assent.

Their mentor had led the three of them to a rather familiar town near the border with the rogue state – Alster. Ostensibly it was to keep the divide in command between the Bracer Guild and Imperial Army, but Laura was fairly certain Instructor Sara had done so solely for the extra amenities their inn room afforded them.

Naturally neither she nor Fie were going to complain about the bed, the home-cooked meal, or the warm bath.

A shame they were only going to be in Alster for a few hours. It would've been nice to spend more time in the little town they helped out during the Civil War. Instead they'd barely had enough time to greet Kai, Tilia, and the other inhabitants of the place before Sara ushered them to their rooms so they could get ready for the next day.

A pragmatic decision, but something about it felt off to the swordswoman. It wasn't as if there was all that much they could do at the moment. Major Claire had given them the time and location for the meeting where plans would be formed and they had already done everything they could to ensure their equipment and supplies were ready for the next few days.

Laura had a hypothesis about why their teacher was acting the way she was, and it was only reinforced by the way Sara seemed to fidget about restlessly after ending the call. It was almost impossible to believe with how unflappable she had been as Class VII's instructor, both in the classroom and on the battlefield, but the situation was a lot different now. In fact the only time she could recall seeing the older woman this agitated was during her encounter with the Northern Jaegers at Auroch's Fort.

Sara was nervous.

It made sense in hindsight. Laura was worried enough, both for Rean and for the civilians they needed to protect, but the A-Rank bracer had the added stress of knowing it was her home in danger. Laura could only imagine how she would react had it been Legram in the cross-hairs instead.

But that left the swordswoman with a dilemma. Instructor Sara was always looking out for them and doing whatever was needed to get her students over their hangups, so what should she in return do for her-

"I'm bored. Let's go out and do something."

On one hand she was a bit disappointed that Fie had beaten her to the punch, but at least they appeared to be operating with the same idea. Sara unfortunately did not seem as impressed with the idea, "Really? Are you so childish that you can't sit still for a few minutes?"

"Personally I think it's a good idea." The Arseid's support was met with an approving nod from one and a surprised stare from the other.

Sara, unsurprisingly, was the latter, "Tch. Fine. You kids can go do whatever you want, but I'm busy here and-"

"Busy doing what?"

"Huh?" Their instructor responded, perplexed.

This time it was Fie who came to her aid, "She asked what you're gonna be doing. 'Cause from my point of view it seems like you're just gonna sit in here and brood, same as you've done ever since we hopped on the train this morning."

"I'm not brooding!" Sara protested hotly, "Is it so wrong that I'm a little nervous about the future?"

"Not at all." Laura's placating tone seemed to calm the older woman down slightly, "But I seem to recall a certain instructor who would always be there to push us forward whenever one of us found ourselves feeling overwhelmed."

"You'd either make us do something stupid to take our minds off things or you'd just stick Rean with us and let him do all the work." Fie gave a shrug, "I'm too impatient to want to wait until we meet up with Rean tomorrow, so something stupid it is."

The veteran bracer looked between the two of them before giving a resigned sigh and wane smile, "Bah. You're right. I'm supposed to be the cool one setting the example for you impressionable kids, not an old sack moping around pointlessly!" With her fire restored Sara let out a laugh, "You girls are dangerous when you're on the same wavelength."

"Damn straight."

"Of course we are."

The three women shared a laugh as the tension broke, "So what plan did you have in mind?"

"Uh..." Laura sent a hopeful glance towards Fie only to meet a negative shake in response, "...We haven't gotten that far."

"Figures. In that case let's all pay a visit to the brewery!" Sara was out the door in a purple flash, forcing both junior bracers to race after her.

Fie was the first to catch up as she grabbed hold of Sara's jacket just as she was about to leave the inn, "We're not doing that."

"We're still underage, instructor." Laura finished for her.

"Bah. You kids grow too slowly. You and Rean will be old enough next year, right? Almost feel bad for you though, Fie~" The way she ended in a singsong made it obvious to all that Sara wasn't feeling bad at all.

"I hate you so much." Said girl commented bitterly, "What were we thinking when we chose to cheer you up?"

"Brat!"

"Hag."

The blue-haired girl felt the beginnings of a headache approach. As entertaining as it usually was to watch these two bicker she couldn't help but feel like the only one with any maturity in this conversation, "Would you both cut it out while we're in public!?" There weren't many people in the backwater village's inn, sure, but even still... "A shame this town doesn't have any baths or hot springs to relax in..."

That last part was meant for herself only, but the matching smirks on the two former jaegers sent a chill down her spine, "Sounds like something Rean would say."

"Aww. It's only been a few hours but Laura misses her man~"

In hindsight she should've let the two keep going at each because they were more alike than either of them cared to admit and now both had it in their mind to tease her.

"Ah, excuse me?" Perhaps Aidios was looking out for her because a distraction came in the form of the wife of the inn's owner, "I couldn't help but overhear you were looking for a hot spring and thought you'd like to know that it sounds like the Fairy Spring is back."

"Fairy... Spring?" The term was unfamiliar to her. She shot a glance towards her two companions but both shook their heads in confusion.

"Sorry, forgot you guys aren't locals. There's a mysterious spring of hot water just down the road towards the basin that appears at random for a few days before vanishing, seemingly without any rhyme or reason. The local hunter spotted it just this morning."

Sara tilted her head thoughtfully, "I feel like I've heard about it before, maybe...? Either way I'm kinda curious."

"Me too. Let's go check it out."

With the others in agreement Laura thanked the woman responsible for that information. The warning that monsters might be present in the basin was both appreciated but unneeded as she was more than confident in their fighting abilities.

With a destination in tow the three women exited town towards the Osgiliath Basin. The trip was short and soon enough they were at the edge of one of Erebonia's largest geographical locations – a place that would've been worth the trip in itself. That the aforementioned Fairy Spring was plainly visible just off the side of the road was a nice bonus.

"Well that was easy." Sara dipped a finger into the water, "Nice and warm too. Wanna hop in?"

Fie was already beginning to undress, but Laura hesitated, "Is this truly a good idea? We'd be visible to anyone coming down the road and I can see monsters just down the road from here..."

"Meh." Their teacher waved off her concerns with annoying nonchalance, "Few people take this path, right? And monsters? Pffft. If they know what's good for them they'll stay far away."

Seeing herself outvoted the swordswoman sighed, but didn't protest any further as she too began to undress. A few minutes later and she lowered herself into the water, letting out a groan of satisfaction in the process – the water truly was amazing.

"This is nice." Fie agreed with her silent sentiment, "Reminds me of the times we spent in Ymir."

"Really now? 'Cause to me it sounds like you girls get up to some steamy stuff in Ymir's springs. Are you finally starting to fall for the charms of an older woman or do you just miss Rean that bad?"

"Shut up, Sara."

Naturally Sara didn't shut up, "You should consider yourself lucky he isn't here, 'cause I bet he'd be focused on the two beautiful women in the springs and not a little girl like you."

"You really want to suffer, don't you?"

"Scary words from a literal washboard."

Laura tuned out the argument between the two immature brats as she allowed the blissful sensation of hot water to sooth both her body and her mind. She was at peace.

"Buuuuut you aren't wrong." Sara continued once Fie finally gave up on trying to commit murder, "Having Rean around wouldn't be bad. Need some eye candy in here. But personally? I'd prefer my eye candy to be of the older and more rugged type. Like a certain Radiant Blademaster we all know and love."

Laura twitched, but remained tranquil. She was at peace.

"Maybe, but wouldn't that be weird? If you and him got together, I mean. Wouldn't that make Laura your daughter?" Fie asked 'innocently'.

Laura struggled to not lash out. S-She was at p-peace...

"That does sound a little weird, but I can work with it. Hey Laura, wanna give it a shot and see how it rolls off the tongue? Just call me mom. It'll be fun!"

…...

…...

…...

"Won't you both just shut up and die already!"

"Alright, I'll say it. That woman terrifies me."

Rean – alongside Laura, Instructor Sara, and even Altina – all bobbed their heads in support of Fie's words. The arrival of his girls at the base that morning had done wonders to improve his mood, but it had come just prior to the strategy meeting they all attended. And that meeting revealed to them one great truth.

Aurelia Le Guin was an imposing figure.

While the rest of the provincial officers seemed relieved that their war would finally be ending she alone was the opposite. It was hard to get a good gauge on the woman he had only seen from a distance before, but Rean got the feeling that the Golden Rakshasa was almost disappointed that things were coming to a head. A far cry from what was supposed to be a defeated general making a futile last stand.

Rean could've only imagined how the last war would've turned out had she been in the eastern half of Erebonia and not the west. Even with Osborne and Rufus Albarea pulling the strings he couldn't imagine Class VII faring nearly as well as they had with that woman present.

"Scary woman aside at least we all know what we're doing."

Right. While neither he nor the Bracer Guild were technically in the military's chain of command the Golden Rakshasa had been kind enough to include them in their planning. While the initial assault was to focus on eliminating the Northern Jaeger's forward positions, they would be infiltrating the capital using a mostly unguarded route that Major Claire and the RMP was prepping for them. General Le Guin had promised them a few short hours to do as much work as they could before her final thrust into the heart of North Ambria was ready.

Given how large Haliask was the Ashen Chevalier had no doubts they'd end up splitting apart eventually – especially if he needed to involve Valimar in the crisis – but the fact he and Altina would be allowed to work with the bracers for the initial part of their mission was such a nice change of pace from his usual assignments.

Even if this entire situation was a disaster in the making at least he could take solace in the fact he wasn't alone for a change.

"Look alive, people! I think that's our cue!" They all followed Sara's outstretched finger towards an approaching RMP car. Said car came to a stop just in front of the assembled group, with the passenger window rolling down to reveal the major, "We've plotted out a weak point in the Northern Jaeger's defense formation. Climb in and we'll take you as close as we can."

Rean shared a glance with the others. Save for a stoic looking Altina he saw the same nervous readiness on all their faces that he was sure was mirrored on his own. But that didn't stop any of them from complying as they all entered the car.

The Northern War was beginning.