30/08/1204 09:10
Crossbell City, Crossbell.
Lechter Arundel stood at the Central Square of Crossbell. While he was technically part of the Erebonian delegation for the West Zemuria Trade Conference, he had been here since forever to smooth things over for Chancellor Osborne.
He didn't expect that two days ago, the SSS approached him to warn him about a potential terrorist attack on the Garrelia Fortress. Of course, he contacted Claire to calculate some possibilities after his intuition told him the worst wouldn't happen if everyone did their part, hoping that Claire would be able to operate a countermeasure while something here in Crossbell caught his attention: namely, how his intuition gone weird when the SSS informed him that there would be an attack in Garrelia Fortress.
It all came back to the mysterious SSS's Informant, and thankfully, through some weird coincidence, the SSS's Informant unwittingly revealed herself through her contact with Class VII. Good thing Millium was there. From the call, Lechter profiled that the SSS's Informant was a woman and involved with both the SSS and the guild.
He spent the whole day yesterday watching several hotspots in the city for anyone resembling the profile, and he got a hit on the first try.
A pink-haired girl left the guild with the SSS. Later, she trained and then came back to the guild. It fitted a woman involved with both the SSS and the guild. Well, maybe 'woman' was too old to describe her since, judging by her looks, she was at least as young as Class VII themselves or even younger. After asking some bystanders, Lechter knew that her name was Juna Crawford, an aspiring Bracer, student of the Divine Blade of Wind, Arios MacLaine. As for her connection with SSS, none of them say anything substantial, just something along the lines of 'Juna is friends with everyone.'
Still, that was the SSS's request that he saw Juna join in. There had to be a connection.
When his intuition told him to wait in the Central Square for the pink-haired girl to come, Lechter decided to bet on his intuition. But before that, there were some things he had to ask Claire.
"Yo, Claire." He asked her after coming to Neue Blanc to use their orbal phone. Claire was out but thankfully still nearby, so he only had to wait for a second.
"Lechter... What do you need? I'm busy doing things that you dumped on me in the first place."
"Nothing so demanding. I just wanna know the exact percentage of the weather in Crossbell for today and the next two days," Lechter passed her concern with a laugh.
"...Couldn't you just do that on your own?"
"I don't have the exact percentage. I just want to know something. Please?"
A sigh came from the other end. "Fine. Taking into account the distance from Crossbell to Celdic, Celdic's weather forecast from the radio, and my own observation of Celdic's clouds... In Crossbell, the chance for rain is 30.77%. Tomorrow, 24.81%. Two days from now, 34.12%. Is there anything else? Because I need to go. The chancellor's train will pass by Celdic soon."
"Nope. Thanks, Claire. Hope things are fine on your end." This information was enough for his purpose.
"...You too," Claire said with a touch of concern before ending the call.
After bidding the Neue Blanc female staff goodbye, Lechter hurriedly went to Central Square and waited.
There was a reason why he asked those questions, and it was all related to that girl, Juna Crawford.
Sure enough, she passed by him, not paying attention to him. Lechter called out to his target.
"Yo, SSS's Informant."
The pink-haired girl stopped and turned towards him, mouth slightly open, eyes wide.
"Nice to finally meet you."
She took a step back, her arms reaching for the sword on her hip before she looked around and relaxed.
"That's right. Just relax," Lechter said casually. Despite his calm demeanor, he actually panicked a little when she went for her sword. There was nothing he could do if she drew it and gained people's attention. Alternatively, she could just shout to gain attention, and all he could do was pretend that he wasn't bothering her. But luckily, she didn't do that. Yet.
Unexpectedly, the girl just turned and walked away without saying any words.
Lechter opened his mouth, but no words came out.
What? Did she just...?
He reached towards her before realizing how bad it would look for him to make a scene. So he just sighed before catching up to her, matching pace on her sides as they walked towards Station Street.
"Don't follow me, creep," the pink-haired girl scowled before walking faster.
"Wait, I just want to ask you some questions. You can ask me back in return."
Now that the situation had gone out of hand, he needed to give the concession to pacify Juna Crawford. Truly, even his intuition never guessed that this girl would just choose to go away silently.
Juna paused her steps, narrowing her eyes at him, trying to discern whether he was telling the truth or not. Well, he was! He knew just this one time that he was outwitted by the girl beside him.
"If you don't behave, I'll just shout that a pervert is following me. Come on," Juna slowed her pace, gesturing for Lechter to follow him.
Lechter let out a relieved sigh. Thankfully, Juna was not unreasonable. He quickly went to Juna's side, following her lead.
"So, what do you want to ask?" Juna said as the two walked slowly towards Station Street.
"Ah, before that. Let me introduce myself. I am-"
"Lecher Arundel. I've heard," she quickly cut off his introduction.
"So you've... wait, I'm Lechter! Lechter! not Lecher!" He corrected the girl. He did not want somebody to misheard his name and concluded that he was a lecher!
Juna just stared at him. "...What else should I call a grown-ass man who chases an underaged girl?"
...Well, when she said it like that... he really looked suspicious. Lechter could only laugh at Juna's accusation. "Moving on. I do have some questions for you, Juna. Can I call you Juna?"
"...Whatever."
He didn't need his intuition to tell that the girl was feeling annoyed at him. Still, this was important, so he pushed aside his hesitation and continued.
"So... what do you think is the chance that it will rain today, tomorrow, and two days from now?
Juna looked at him weirdly. Probably thinking, 'What kind of things is he thinking about?' But there was a reason why he specifically asked those questions, the same one he asked Claire before.
Before he could say anything, Juna widened her eyes and let out a small snort. ...is it possible that she was onto him? How? He didn't even say anything. Was this her ability in action?
The smile was gone from Lechter's face. He had to face the younger girl with no more leisure. Otherwise, he'd be caught off-guard once again.
Instead of answering, the pink-haired girl turned to look forward as they passed the Crossbell Station.
"Hey, Mr. Suspicious Intelligence Agent named Lecher Arundel," Juna suddenly started, which prompted a response from him.
"I'm neither a lecher nor suspicious! Though I'm an Intelligence Agent. If you discard the suspicious and lecher part., I'll let it pass."
"Don't you think that whenever it rains, it feels like the sky is crying?"
Huh? Lechter was taken aback by the change in topic. It sounded like a lie you told children to make life more fantastic for them before the inevitable growing up sucked up their life.
Juna giggled, "Sounds childish, isn't it? But hear me out. What if it's true?"
Lechter didn't say anything as Juna's emerald orbs fixated on him. What could he even say? Juna was probably attempting to divert the topic from his question about the probability of precipitation.
"Hey, Mr. Intelligence Agent. Can you tell me what is the Goddess' domain again?"
The Goddess? Was she perhaps not a believer? "Aidios is the Goddess of the Sky," Lechter answered straight to the point.
"Exactly! Aidios is the Goddess of the Sky. So when it rains, that means Aidios is crying," Juna nodded to herself. "You might be thinking, what is this weird girl talking about? That's a childish reasoning you use to fascinate children."
...not exactly word for word, but she completely nailed his thoughts.
They left the Station Street to the Ursula Road. Juna turned her steps towards the bus stop. Lechter had no choice but to follow.
Once the two were seated next to each other, Juna turned to him from her seat. "If you ask me whether it'll rain at the conference or not, I'll answer it with another question. Do you think the Goddess would be sad when her Children decide to meet each other peacefully and potentially prevent any sort of atrocities and war?"
...
"...ah, so that's it," Juna suddenly nodded to herself after Lechter's silence. "Erebonia had no intention to play nice, is it?"
Did she just...
Lechter laughed.
To think that he was completely outwitted by a young girl, and one not even trained in basic intelligence analysis or even interrogation, not just once, but twice! This was his own fault for underestimating the girl.
"Sorry, I accidentally got Erebonia's political strategy for the conference," Juna laughed sheepishly as if she hadn't just done something extraordinary to a seasoned intelligence agent like him. Was it truly an accident?
"So you think it'll rain, then?" Lechter tried to probe for more, disregarding his blunder.
"Nope," Juna smiled, to his confusion. Then all that spiel about the Goddess crying really was just her attempt to get information out of him?
"Then..."
"It won't rain."
Lechter sighed. "So all that was just mind games, huh?"
"Not really," Juna denied. "I truly do believe that rains are the Goddess' tears. But do you think the Goddess would easily cry from just Erebonian scheming against other nations?"
...Well, that was true. If Aidios had cried whenever Erebonia plotted, then there would never have been a sunny day in Erebonia.
Still... that was such a weird leap of logic just to say that she thought it wouldn't rain. He wasn't sure whether to believe her logic or not. ...or maybe that was her way of concealing whatever ability she had from him. Yeah, that made so much more sense.
"Well, my bus is here," Juna pointed at the oncoming bus. "You still wanna follow me?"
Lechter shook his head. "No. That was enough. Thanks for answering my question," although it didn't help him understand the girl at all. "As promised, you can ask me something back."
"Can I take you up on the offer later? I need to go now."
...This girl really didn't think a free question to an intelligence officer of another country was important. Honestly...
"Sure." Lechter wouldn't mind talking with her again. But next time, he wouldn't underestimate her craftiness.
As the girl entered the bus, Lechter took a few minutes to let the information sink into his mind.
"It was my complete loss," he admitted to himself. "She played me completely."
Despite her reluctance at first, she ended up coming out as the better one between them. When Lechter replayed their encounter in his mind, it all started after he asked her the question. Before that, she was completely rude, not wanting to do anything with him. But her expression changed once he asked her for the probability of precipitation. ...It was like she realized something when he asked that question. Not just his attempt to probe for her ability but also something else in him.
Maybe his suspicion about her ability at work was correct. That was exactly the moment her ability worked because it was like she turned into someone else after he asked her the question.
Lechter quickly stood up and went back to Neue Blanc and used the orbal phone again. He once more called the RMP, asking for Claire. After several minutes, Claire was finally on the line.
"Lechter... why are you calling me again?"
He heard her sigh in resignation. Sorry, Claire, but this one was important.
"Can you tell me again what the chance of rain is in Crossbell?"
"I believe I've told you before, accounting for all relevant variables plus some projection from me, the chance for rain today is... huh? It's 0%?"
Lechter grinned. Bingo.
"That doesn't make sense. How did it change from around thirty percent to zero? Lechter, what did you do?"
"Nothing," he answered shortly with the truth. "Try calculating the chance for tomorrow and the day after. I'd be surprised if it isn't zero."
"...How...?"
"Well, thanks for the confirmation. See ya later, Claire," Lechter ended the call.
It looked like his intuition was correct.
He started thinking about it when the SSS warned him about the ILF attack on Garrelia Fortress. How and why did his intuition not flare up with any warning before the SSS told him about it? It wasn't like the potential of such an attack passed by him. After the old man told him to leave the attack on the conference alone last week, he tried to see if anything else flared up his intuition.
Nothing of note was picked up, not even a possible attack on Garrelia Fortress.
Imagine his surprise when his intuition told him of the attack after the SSS told him. It was as if, in the sequence of events, his intuition picked up and changed after the SSS told him about the possibilities.
So he thought hard about how such a thing could happen, and the one thing that stuck out was the involvement of the 'SSS's Informant.' Thankfully, Millium's report helped him identify the person behind the nickname. The meeting he had just now with Juna Crawford was a deliberate part. He wanted to confirm whether his theory was correct or not, so he asked Claire about something simple like the probability of precipitation and asked Juna about the same thing before asking Claire one last time.
"I take back my words. It seems like we both came out of the meeting as a winner, Juna."
After all, despite her attempt at concealing how she came to the answer, he now had confirmation about how dangerous Juna Crawford's words are if she was uncontrolled.
"Let's hope nobody else finds out about this before I can get her to join the Erebonian Intelligence Agency."
The first step was, of course, letting things play out like how the old man predicted.
30/08/1204 09:30
Celdic, Erebonia
"At any rate, Let me thank you again for all your help during the recent crisis in Heimdallr," Claire expressed her gratitude towards Group A of Class VII. Although, only some of them were involved in last month's debacle in the group, namely him and Laura. The rest were in the other group, which also helped but not directly like his group last month.
"Ah... Don't worry about it," Rean scratched his cheek in embarrassment.
"We simply did our duty as citizens of the Empire," Laura, though, was a little more dignified in accepting the gratitude.
"More importantly, what's the meaning of all this extra security? And what is this 'Eisengraf' you mentioned?" Jusis asked for clarification. Considering they were preparing for the attack on Garrelia Fortress, it looked weird to see Celdic station being full of security.
"Heh. You'll see what I mean soon enough," Claire let out a small giggle.
Not a second after, there was an announcement from the speaker.
"A special express train will momentarily be passing by platform one. This train will be passing through at high speed, so travelers on the platform are advised to exercise caution."
"A special express train?" Gaius wondered aloud.
"Ah, right on time," Claire said before turning towards the railway on platform one.
Soon after, the ground shook a little, and a honking sound reverberated inside the station. A shiny red train with gold accents passed at a high speed.
Rean's keen eyes caught Towa's figure for a split second, then Prince Olivert and an unknown blue-haired man beside him.
And then... him.
BA DUMP
His heart beat harder than usual for an instant before the train went away.
"..."
"So that was the Eisengraf..." Laura folded her arms, still looking at the long-gone crimson train.
"Come to think of it, I've heard rumors of a special crimson train. It's supposedly reserved for use by members of the Imperial government," Jusis remembered a tidbit of information and shared it with everyone.
"I've been on it before! It's really fast! It's pretty fancy inside, too!" Millium nodded to herself.
"The Eisengraf-or the Iron Count, in the common parlance- was so titled in honor of Chancellor Osborne himself," Claire explained to the others.
"Well, I do hear him being called the Blood and Iron Chancellor all the time, so I can understand the 'Iron' part..."
"...but isn't the Chancellor a commoner by birth?" Emma finished Gaius' question.
"He is, indeed. However, he was granted the title of count by His Majesty when he was made chancellor eleven years ago. Supposedly, that's what led to the train being given its name shortly thereafter."
"Heh. I doubt he, of all people, sees any worth in titles or peerage," Jusis remarked after getting the explanation from Claire.
"...Rean?" Laura finally noticed that he hadn't paid any attention to their conversation.
"Y-Yeah...?"
"Is something bothering you? Your attention seems elsewhere."
Now that Laura had pointed it out, the others jumped onto him.
"Still feeling tired after yesterday?" Gaius followed up.
"No, not really... I just happened to catch a glance of Towa and Prince Olivert on the train as it passed by," Rean deflected.
"Wow! I'm surprised you could even make them out!"
"You must have a hawk's eyes to be able to see them when the Eisengraf whooshed by so quickly."
The exclamation of surprise and praise from Millium and Claire still couldn't shake off the weird feeling he had when he saw the chancellor. It was more than just a glance. He could clearly see them in detail.
"Speaking off, Laura, does your father have a brother or something? I saw a blue-haired man beside Prince Olivert," Rean deflected again.
"Hmm...? I believe he doesn't. However, if we're talking about another blue-haired noble, there's the House Schleiden in Nortia. If I remember correctly, the current head of the house, Johann Schleiden, had a long mane of blue hair," Laura answered.
"Shouldn't you know about them since you're from Ymir, Rean?" Jusis raised a good question, but Rean had already prepared the answer for this kind of stock question.
"I'm an adopted child, so I kind of... distanced myself from noble education," Rean let out a sheepish laugh to Jusis' sigh.
"So what does Lord Schleiden do with Prince Olivert?" Emma asked out loud.
"Obviously, he's going with the prince to the conference, right?" Millium pointed out.
"Hmm, to be honest, I don't really know. The RMP doesn't actually deal with the delegation; it's just the preparation for the smooth ride for Eisengraf."
So, Claire didn't know that the prince would bring another noble.
"Laura, is Lord Schleiden strong?" Gaius asked the blue-haired girl. "Because if he is, then Lord Schleiden is probably brought along for protection."
"Yes, he is. The Schleidens are one of the founders of Eisenritter alongside the Arseids. So I believe that Gaius is correct," Laura nodded.
"Viscount Schleiden is also known as the Glorious Spear if I remember correctly. He's one of the premier users of Spear in Erebonia," Claire elaborated. "Even without the Viscount, though, I'm sure Prince Olivert would still be okay since he has his bodyguard, Major Vander."
"I see..."
"We would like to thank all passengers for their cooperation with today's security measures. Transcontinental Railway service bound for...Crossbell State... now arriving on Platform 2."
The announcer announced. This was supposed to be the train they would use to go to Garrelia Fortress. According to Instructor Sara, Group B would have already been inside since they came from Jurai.
"Here it comes."
The figures of the other group came out of the train one by one.
"Hey, there they are!" Alisa pointed at them from near the train.
"Rean, over here!" Elliot waved his arms.
That was the cue for Group A to bid goodbye to the good captain.
"Well, if you'll excuse us, Captain."
"See ya later, Claire!"
"Of course. Have a safe trip, everyone," Claire answered with a smile on her face.
Once they entered the train, Claire was approached by her subordinate.
"Captain, you got a call from Captain Arundel waiting for you."
"Lechter? What does he want? In any case, any other reports?" Claire asked them back, hanging Lechter for a second because it was Lechter.
"We've received word from Squad 08. No unusual movements have been detected near the Twin Dragons Bridge."
"We've also received word from Squad 21. They report all high-speed armored cars are in position."
"Understood. Remain vigilant until the Eisengraf has finished passing through," Claire commanded. "Once it reaches Crossbell City, have all squads switch to Phase D."
"Yes, ma'am."
30/08/1204 09:50
Transcontinental Railroad, Erebonia
The two groups and one Instructor converged and shared their experience as one class. Group B talked about their time in Jurai, while Group A shared their experience of going inside the Lohengrin Castle at night.
"That said, Instructor, you've gotten Toval's message, haven't you? What do you think?" Rean changed the topic into a more important one.
"Heeh, what are you talking about?" Crow leaned forward, wanting to know what he and Instructor Sara were talking about.
Sara sighed. "Group A dropped a bomb at me via my former colleague, Toval. ...hey, why do I have to be the one telling Group A?! Rean, go tell them!"
Of course... Rean just rolled his eyes at his instructor's antics.
"Because you're our teacher?" Machias asked. Sadly for him, that was a rhetorical question, so their instructor didn't appreciate the answer.
"Aaah, I wish I had some drinks..."
"She ignored him..." Elliot looked at Sara with a disappointed look.
"As expected of Sara. When I think she couldn't get any lower, she exceeds my expectations," Fie said flatly despite the content of her sentence.
"Fie. Don't be too harsh on Instructor Sara. Despite acting like deadbeats, she's still our instructor," Laura chastised Fie, but there was no ill will. In fact, Laura smiled at the younger girl. After the last Field Study, the two had grown closer, but this was Rean's first time seeing them joking.
"Oi, your words are even harsher than Fie, Laura!"
"In any case, there was an unexpected encounter in Legram. Well, I say encounter, but to be honest, it was done via orbal telephone," Rean then started telling Group A and Sara about what exactly happened in Legram, from the call with the mysterious SSS's Informant, to her prediction about the lost children (which came true even after they tried to prevent it), and about the ILF attacking Garrelia Fortress tomorrow.
Group A's reaction was varied, as Group B expected.
"Sounds like nonsense to me," Machias frowned.
"I don't exactly disagree, although it's more about the SSS's Informant being too suspicious. Don't you think so, Rean?" Alisa asked for his opinion.
Rean's lips formed a thin line. "We thought so too, at first. But..."
"Her words about the lost children came true despite our efforts to prevent it," Emma finished, voice trembling.
"Not only that, she also perfectly predicted where the lost children would be," Rean added. It was still one of the things that terrified him of the SSS's Informant. He unconsciously grabbed the notes pocketed on his jacket.
"...That's..." Elliot was at a loss for words.
"So that's the reason why you believe there's going to be an attack by the ILF tomorrow?" Crow asked. His usual playful demeanor was nowhere to be found.
"No, it's the opposite," Jusis answered. "We didn't believe her words at all. We still didn't believe her words, even though we told Instructor Sara about it and warned the children not to go to the castle. Not until Millium said the Intelligence Division also got the same information from the SSS's Informant and confirmed that it should be taken seriously."
"Yes. From there, we actually thought that maybe... just maybe the children might lost without our warning," Gaius continued.
"And the children are still lost anyway, despite our efforts to warn them," Millium said casually. "Makes you think that despite all of our preparations, the ILF will still attack, doesn't it?"
"Why would they attack Garrelia Fortress, anyway? Did your informant tell you about it?"
"No, she didn't tell me about that," Rean answered Crow's question. He was glad that even Crow took things seriously this time. "But I do have her numbers. Should I ask her about it?"
"You should, I think..." Emma was the first one to push for him to call the SSS's Informant.
"I agree with Emma. We need to know more about tomorrow," Laura supported the decision.
"And put it on the speaker to allow us to hear her words directly," Alisa advised. Oh, right. He kind of forgot about that ARCUS feature.
"Alright," Rean nodded before pulling out his ARCUS and calling the SSS's Informant. He quickly put it on speakers for everyone's sake.
A few seconds passed before the informant picked up the call on the other side.
"Hello?"
"Good Morning, SSS's Informant," Rean started.
"Ah, Rean Schwarzer, is it? Is there something you need?"
Rean exchanged looks with his classmates before he nodded. "Yes, there is. You said that the ILF will attack Garrelia Fortress. Do you know why they would target Garrelia Fortress?"
"Hm? Wait, I haven't told you yet, have I?"
"Yes, you have not."
"Last night, I was so focused on the missing children that I didn't remember to tell you about it. Sorry," the SSS's Informant said apologetically.
"Ah, no. You don't need to apologize," Rean exhaled. "It's also my fault. We didn't believe you at first. But after last night..."
The SSS's Informant giggled. "Yeah, don't worry about that. The only one who believes in me from the start is the SSS, so I don't hold any grudge whatsoever to you or anyone else."
She had a very unwavering trust in the SSS. If he could have something like that with the other Class VII members, he'd be very happy. Speaking of, he still didn't know what SSS stood for.
"SSS?" Machias asked Elliot, who looked as confused as the bespectacled man was.
Ah, it was a cue for him to ask her, then. But that was for later after she explained why the ILF would attack Garrelia Fortress.
"So, about the Garrelia Fortress...?" He tried turning the conversation back on track.
"Ah, right. It might not be obvious if you're not on this side of the fortress." On that side of the fortress? Rean furrowed his eyebrows. "Have you arrived there?"
"No, not for another half an hour at the least. I don't know how long our journey using the train is."
"Okay. To make it short, the ILF is probably going to hijack the huge railway cannon the fortress has and aim it at the conference, considering it is held in the tallest building in western Zemuria."
Their group fell into silence for a second before everyone let out their opinion at once.
"Are you serious?!"
"No way!"
Some voice their disbelief like Machias and Alisa.
"That's gonna be a bloodbath..."
"If it's true, then the people of Crossbell..."
Fie and Emma looked from a broader perspective. Attacking the conference wouldn't just kill Osborne, but also Prince Olivert, Towa, the other nations' delegation, and Crossbellans.
"Inciting war against Calvard. Kidnapping the princess, and now this..."
"They really are the worst."
Elliot and Gaius voiced their distaste at the Imperial Liberation Front.
"We have to stop them!"
"They need to be stopped by all means."
Laura and Jusis embodied the noblesse oblige by choosing to stand against them as their first response to the news.
"I guess with all the preparations, Lechter had thought about this," Millium noted casually.
The only ones staying silent were Crow, Sara, and him.
"Oh, I heard a cacophony of voices. Are you with your classmates. Hello, Class VII."
"She knows us?"
"I believe she asked Rean about Thors because I remember him talking about our Field Study," Laura answered Fie's question.
"Anybody wants to say hello?" Rean offered to his classmates.
"Umm..." Emma nervously raised her hand so his ARCUS was passed to their class rep. "Are you a seer?"
Surprisingly, the other line laughed. "No. Did you guys really think that I am some kind of witch?"
"A-Ah..." Emma hid her face using her hands.
"Oh wow, that was very adorable, Class Rep!" Millium couldn't help but chime in.
"It's rare to see Emma being so embarrassed," Fie commented with a small snort.
Rean waited for Crow's usual quips but was surprised to hear none. He turned towards the white-haired man to see him looking pensive. Hmm... nevertheless, Rean had one last question for her.
"Do you have anything else? Because I'm about to arrive at my destination."
Oh, was she perhaps also in public transportation like them?
"I do have one question for you. How did you come to this conclusion? Because it is as illogical as your declaration that the children will be lost," he asked for clarification.
However, the SSS's Informant only sighed. "You Erebonians are curious fellow, aren't you?"
"Huh?" Rean mumbled in confusion.
"I just had Lecher Arundel asking me questions, too. He looked like he wanted to know my method, too, so I just distracted him. Thanks for the warning, by the way."
"Huh? So Lechter does seek her!" Millium exclaimed in surprise.
"Wait, what did you just call him? Lecher Arundel?" Sara, for the first time since she dodged her responsibility for the nth time, opened her mouth to ask the SSS's Informant a question while trying to hold back a laugh.
"What else should I call a guy stalking me to ask me a weird question?"
Now that she got confirmation, Sara couldn't hold back her laughter. "Fuhahahaahaha! Aaahh, that was a good one! Maybe I'll use it if he's bothering me in the future."
Rean just laughed awkwardly at the situation. So the SSS's Informant could be vicious when she wanted to be, huh?
"Oh boy, I hoped the nickname wouldn't catch on. I'd feel bad if it replaced his alias," Millium whistled.
"Ah, I see. That's what you're also doing with us, huh? Distraction," Rean realized what the SSS's Informant was trying to do.
"Caught on, have you? Well, my answer is simple. It's a secret. A woman ought to have some, doesn't she?"
Rean could feel that if she was here in front of him, she would have winked at him as she finished her sentence.
"Ah, I'm about to go off my bus. Call me if you have any more questions. It's the least I can do to involve you with the situation."
"No, I should be the one thanking you. We'd be caught off-guard if you didn't tell us anything. Thank you for that. And maybe I'll take up your offer in the future. You might shed some light on some of my questions," Rean ended the call.
"So that's the SSS's Informant, huh? Quite a crafty woman," Sara commented.
"Yes... did she say she fooled Captain Arundel?" Gaius asked for confirmation.
"You heard correctly," Alisa confirmed. Since they were the ones who met Lechter at Zender gate, they knew that he was the one who defused the tension on the border between Nord and Calvard. To think that she could run around someone like him... just how dangerous was she?
"In any case, we need to prepare ourselves if we are truly going to face against the ILF again soon," Laura reminded everyone.
"Who's the commanding officer of Garrelia Fortress? Would they be amicable to our help?" Emma asked in worry.
"I believe it is General Craig," Jusis answered as he looked at Elliot.
"You're correct. Your Instructor, Neithardt, will also be there since he's originally from the 4th Armored Division," Sara answered.
"'Craig?'" Crow looked at the orange-haired boy. "Elliot, my man. You didn't tell me anything about your father being a general."
"Ahaha..."
"Ohhh, doesn't General Craig has a reputation as a stern commander?" Millium joined in.
Rean tried to imagine how a stern commander which garnered respects could have someone as adorable as Elliot as his son.
"Cannot compute..." Alisa sighed.
"You'll see," was Elliot's ominous closing words.
It was then that Rean remembered something. He didn't ask the SSS's Informant what SSS stood for! Oh well, maybe she could give him the answer later.
A/N: I hope you like the Lechter and Juna meetup. If you still don't understand, Juna thought Lechter was prodding her for her method while what he wanted was her answer. So yeah, another wrong conclusion from her. It seems to be a running theme for her. But well, that does mean she isn't some kind of all-knowing Mary Sue so this story is all the better for it. Also, I believe the next chapter should be the unveiling since there's nothing else of note happening in the time between. And please forgive me, the Lecher Arundel joke is just too good to pass up on.
There's also a surprise with the inclusion of a certain noble. Well, this is my way to honor the origin of this fic in the first place. I hope Randomguy won't mind me using his OC. I've asked for permission but he hasn't been online for a few days so I decided to just push this out now. But Jessica is canonically placed in the 'dumping ground for troublemaker' so there should be a reason why she is placed in the Branch Campus, and Randomguy has made the Schleiden Viscounty lore so canon-compliant that it's so easy to integrate into canon. So here it is: Without JesSIca being an SI, Olivert still reach out to nobles for his third way, and Johann Schleiden is one of the nobles who openly supported him. That's why Jessica is placed in the Branch Campus. It's just a coincidence that I need a strong nobleman to accompany Olivert after the letter from Dieter cautioning him to bring more bodyguards. Tehee~