"It needs to be delivered to the Imperial Museum by tonight."

"Uh huh..."

"It's fragile, so be careful with it. The client won't pay me a single mira if it ends up busted!"

"Yup..."

"And don't open it, either! Neinvalli is all about client confidentiality and all that, so delivering an opened package would make me look bad!"

"Sure thing..."

"...Are you even listening to me?"

"Okay..."

"Stop that! Come here, Cerberus!"

Fie was broken from her blissful moment when the puppy she had been pampering freely let out a sad whine before heeding his master's command and trotting away from the jaeger. Fie couldn't help but glare fiercely at Jingo, "Why'd you do that?"

"Because you weren't listening to me! Plus, Cerberus is a guard dog in training! You can't just be standing around petting him when he has work to do."

Fie very much begged to differ about that last bit, but for now she held her tongue. The first half, however? "Imperial Museum by tonight. Fragile, don't open."

"Huh, alright. So you were paying attention. Not bad, Sylphid." The tiny shop-keep nodded in respect before handing over a fairly large wrapped box, "Normally I'd use the Capua Delivery Service for this, but Mama wants it delivered quickly, so you'll have to do."

Fie hadn't expected to be saddled with a delivery job after school that day, but she hadn't refused the surprise offer she got after stepping into Neinvalli either. It was a pretty good deal, all things considered. Deliver a simple package and she'd get access to some of Jingo's more quality wares at a greatly reduced price.

For a former killer for hire now trying to live on a student's stipend it was a great deal!

She was just about to leave the store with the box in hand when she paused. Was it just her or was there a ticking sound coming from her package? She looked back towards Jingo but the authoritative child had seemingly dismissed her in lieu of stocking a shelf.

Had she just given Fie a bomb to deliver?

It... probably wasn't a bomb. Sure Neinvalli dealt with some less than legal things, but delivering a live bomb was so far out of their usual work that she really wanted to dismiss the idea outright.

...But that ticking was actually kinda loud.

Deliver the box by the end of the night. That was what Jingo had said. Perhaps Fie should go a little quicker to make sure not only was the package delivered on time, but that she would be well away from the capital, just in case.

Decision made the speedy girl raced directly towards the train station. She had no idea what schedule they were running on that night, but if she was lucky she wouldn't be forced to wait around too long for the next train. The town was pretty busy at that hour as people got off work and students were returning to the dorm, but not wanting to be stuck answering questions when the train could be leaving soon she stealthily and deftly evaded each and every one of her them.

"...And where are you going?"

Correction. She stealthily and deftly evaded each and every one of them except for Rean. It was annoying how that guy was always able to find her when she didn't want to be found. With a frustrated groan she turned to the teacher, "To the capital. There's no rule against that, is there?"

"Well, no..." He answered unsurely, causing her to smirk victoriously, "...But you do know the next train headed that way is still an hour away, right?"

Her smirk fell. "Dammit!"

"Why are you going to Heimdallr anyways?"

She didn't need to tell him, but answering the question would be quicker than getting the guy to leave her alone, "Jingo hired me to deliver this package." To reinforce the point she held said package up for his inspection.

"I hear ticking... Is that a bomb?"

"No!" She protested with little confidence, causing him to frown dubiously, "I-I mean... I don't think it is?"

Rean glanced between the package, her, and the nearby train station, "...Maybe you should stay off the train tonight." Fie opened her mouth, ready to argue the point, but he spoke before she could, "If you promise to focus on your job and come right back I'll grant you permission to make use of one of the orbal bikes."

"Wait, really!?" A slow nod was his only response. Fie couldn't help but feel a sense of giddiness at that offer. She was being permission to use the bike! With nobody to watch over her! This was insane! "Awesome! You're the best!"

"Haha... I think that's the first time you've ever said something nice about me."

It was probably for the best that the elated girl barely heard her instructor as she set off towards the campus at an accelerated rate, because she would have been mortified at the slip of the tongue. How shameful.

Within a matter of minutes she was already at the school's hangar. Tita wasn't there, but that might have been for the best. Fie didn't need the distraction of a friend trying to socialize with her when the orbal bike was right there!

The excited girl was quick to grab one of the bikes before taking it out of the hangar, securing the box onto it, and mounted up. With a whoop of excitement she accelerated and began zooming across the academy field and out the gates. It was a good thing there was nobody on the path at that moment as she had no real urge to slow down to avoid them.

With Leeves in her rear the girl began the short trek to Heimdallr. As it was the end of the day and the capital roads were the busiest in Erebonia she encountered some traffic congestion, but one advantage of a bike over a car was that she was free to sway around traffic without losing any momentum. In a way the added vehicles created a fun little obstacle course for the former jaeger to navigate through en route to her destination.

Even though the bike had a far lower top speed than the train she still managed to reach the outskirts of the Vermillion capital in about the same amount of time the latter would have taken. Sadly, traffic inside the city was a lot thicker than the road to it, so this time she actually had to slow down. In fact, as soon as she reached the main street in the center of the city she found herself bringing the bike to a complete stop as a stray thought came to mind.

She... actually had no idea where she was going.

Sure she had been to Heimdallr a few times during her life, but what kind of girl goes to a place like this just to visit a museum of all places!? Not this kind of girl, that's for sure.

This left her with two options. The first – and the one she really wished she could do – was to cruise around the city until finding some sign of the place. From what she had heard the Imperial Museum was some big famous place, so it couldn't be that hard to find, right?

The only problem with that idea is Rean made a point of telling her to hurry back. Now while she fully intended to be a little loose with her interpretation of 'focusing on the mission', the time it would take to drive around the city would almost certainly go above and beyond whatever leeway Rean would allow her. She wasn't gonna lose her bike privileges over something as trivial as this!

That was unfortunate as it meant she had to rely on the second option – Ask for directions. It was the lame option and would make her look like some clueless tourist, but it was all she could do. Fie glanced around. It was a desperate hope, but maybe she could find someone who could give her directions without making a scene-

Fie blinked. Maybe the hope wasn't as desperate as she thought.

At a nearby food stall there was a pair of familiar faces. Elliot and Machias - Rean's old classmates and allies who had helped out a ton during their last couple field exercises.

Perfect.

They must have noticed her as she moved the bike onto the sidewalk near their position, as the two older boys approached. "Haha... When I heard a bike I thought it would be Rean, not one of his students. You're... Fie, right?" Asked a curious Elliot as she dismounted the bike.

"Uh huh." She answered blandly.

"What are you doing-" Machias paused before straining his ears. He sent a suspicious glance towards the package in her hands, "Is that a bomb?!"

"Nope... At least I don't think it is?" Her answer did not appease the two boys at all, causing her to shrug a little. "Got a job to deliver this to the Imperial Museum. Dunno where it is, though."

The musician made a noise of understanding, "That makes sense. You're on Vainqueur Street now, so to get to the Leica District where the museum is you'd need to head down the main thoroughfare until you take the third right turn, at which point you'd want to continue straight. The museum is past the music shop and the Vander training school, so just-"

"Uh..." Fie was sure she'd be able to find it eventually given that information, but her brain was not ready for all those directions.

Machias rolled his eyes, "Perhaps it'd be better if I showed you the way? I have nothing planned for this evening." Elliot nodded his head in agreement, "That being said..."

He didn't finish his statement, but Fie could put two and two together. They were standing in line for food, after all. "Thanks a lot. And I don't mind waiting for you guys to finish."

"Want to join us?" Fie's initial instincts were to refuse, but she hadn't eaten anything that evening. The student bit her lip in consideration... "...I'll pay."

"Sure. Why not?"

"...I don't believe you've met him yet, but he might be the most self-centered egotistical jerk in all of Erebonia. By the Goddess I can't stand that guy."

"Machias says that, but I don't think anybody was more worried about Jusis when we were all separated at the start of the war than he was."

"Hey!"

"I mean I can't really blame you after Jusis went through all the effort of rescuing you during your field study in Bareahard..."

"As if! It was Emma's magic that got them through the doors and Rean did most of the heavy fighting! Albarea was just along for the ride!"

Fie wasn't fully sure how it happened. She had been expecting a quick meal from a somewhat decent food stall before the three of them departed to the Imperial Museum to complete her request. Instead they had spent over an hour sitting at one of the nearby tables.

It had started innocently enough with Elliot asking her a couple questions about her Class VII and Rean as a teacher, which she answered succinctly enough. Then things began to change when the two started sharing their own Class VII experiences with the girl. Not the bland heroic stories that she was expecting from Erebonia's most famous class, either, but the embarrassing stories that would make Rean and the rest of his classmates blanch in horror.

Oh how she was looking forward to sharing them with Juna and the rest as soon as she got back to the school.

The seventeen year old let out a yawn. It was still early in the evening, but sitting at a table under the summer heat after having eaten a rather filling meal?

She couldn't be blamed if her eyes were getting a little droopy, right?

Elliot must have noticed as he shot her a sympathetic glance, "I think we're all finished eating, yes? Wanna head to the museum now?"

Fie nodded and gave a little stretch while listening to the ambiance of Heimdallr. Erebonia's largest city was arguably its nosiest, too. From the ongoing conversations of dozens of people at once, to the sounds of a musician playing at the street corner, to the thrum of an orbal bike roaring to life-

Wait, what!?

Drowsiness faded instantly as that last noise filtered into her brain. Orbal bikes were still really uncommon on the streets. She hadn't seen a single one during her time in the capital. So why was she hearing one unless...

"That asshole's stealing my bike!"

Righteous fury filled her chest as she watched some guy sit himself on her bike. She was quick to leap to her feet – and out of the corner of her eye noticed Machias and Elliot doing the same – before rushing towards the thievery in progress. Sadly, for all of her speed she wasn't fast enough to cross the crowded street before the thief noticed her, sent her a mocking wave, and sped the bike down the street and out of her sight.

"Dammit!"

She considered chasing after him, but a gentle hand on her shoulder held her back. Turning she saw Elliot give her a shake of his head, "We'll never be able to catch up to him on foot like that, but that doesn't mean we can't catch him."

"Yeah. Elliot and I know Heimdallr like the back of our hands. Come on!" Machias didn't need to tell her to get moving as she was already chomping at the bit. Sure she doubted the school would hold her responsible for the bike getting stolen, especially if the original Class VII provided their testimony, but she was sure that an incident like this would prevent her from ever having the freedom to take the bike on her own again.

Absolutely unacceptable.

"He went east. Given how few bikes are in Heimdallr he should know he sticks out like a sore thumb and will probably try to leave the city." Elliot surmised as he led the trio down some back street that Fie'd never been on before.

"Right." Machias agreed before taking out his ARCUS, "I'm going to contact the authorities. I doubt they'll hunt him down, but at the very least the RMP should secure the exits to the city. As long as the bike remains in Heimdallr we can find it."

Moving away from her target at the pace of these two older boys was not Fie's style at all, but she did her best to reign herself in. Even if these guys didn't look like much they were still members of the Old Class VII. If they were capable of standing alongside the likes of Rean and Laura than the aggressive girl really should allow them to take the lead, especially as they knew this massive city far more than she would ever.

Of course that didn't mean she had to like it, "Can't you guys go any faster!?" She hissed to Elliot since Machias was already in hushed conversation with someone on the other end of his connection.

"Haha..." Elliot didn't seem to mind her irritation one bit, "You really like to move full tempo, don't you? I can't say I blame you right now, but you gotta find your rhythm for something like this. Charging in blindly won't do us any good. We'll find it, I promise."

Fie rolled her eyes, "You really are a musician, aren't you? How many music puns was that, anyways?"

This time Elliot couldn't help but flush a little as he rubbed his neck sheepishly, "Did I? Oops. Bad habit, I guess. I guess a lot of my classmates were like that too, now that I think about it, but with swords and the wind instead..."

Swords definitely sounded like Laura. Possibly Rean? Wind, though? That was a weird one.

"Alright." Machias reentered the conversation as his call ended, "Luckily I was able to get into contact with Captain Engels. He's agreed to pass on the word to all the RMP and guards in the capital. He promised to call me back as soon as the bike is spotted."

"Cool." Normally Fie didn't place much faith in the rank and file, but in a city of around a million people she couldn't deny that they would be a lot more effective at this than her group of three would, assuming that their target was a rank amateur and not a professional, at least.

If the guy who stole her bike was a professional jaeger or someone infamous like the legendary Phantom Thief B than she was screwed. Best to not think about that possibility.

"We should wait at Mater Park." The musician suggested, causing Machias to nod in agreement. Since she probably looked a lot more dubious he quickly elaborated, "Mater Park is placed right between the port and the residential districts on this side of Heimdallr. Waiting there will allow us to respond quickly in any direction, or we might just get lucky and spot him passing by regardless."

"Plus it's a pretty major hub for the trams. I don't know about you, but I'm not usually in the mood to run around the capital all day."

"Wouldn't bother me much." Despite her words she grudgingly acquiesced to their suggestion. Waiting around when her target was on the run with her bike wasn't exactly her forte, but all in all it wasn't that much different from a scouting mission on the battlefield.

Wait for the enemy to make the first move before striking back with overwhelming force. She could vibe with that idea.

The walk to the park was a quiet affair, which irked the student as she was waiting very impatiently for someone's ARCUS to ring to break the monotony with some good news. At least the distance they had to walk wasn't particularly far and before long they had reached Mater Park. An island of green in the middle of one of the continent's largest urban jungles. Given the late hour it was fairly deserted, which only added to the peaceful feeling of the park.

"Doesn't this remind you of something?" Elliot asked his partner as they took a seat at one of the available benches.

"Haha, yeah. Two years ago, right?" Machias turned his focus to her before elaborating, "Rean, Laura, Elliot and myself were tasked with patrolling this side of Heimdallr during the Summer Festival. A good thing too as terrorists ended up attacking this very park and hurting my dad. Luckily we were able to stop them from abducting the princess and Rean's sister."

"Wait, seriously? How'd that happen?"

Whatever answer she was expecting never came as at that moment Machias' orbment began to ring. The bespectacled inspectorate was quick to answer, "Hello?" She couldn't hear what was coming from the other side of the conversation, but it must have been important as his eyes widened before he shot to his feet, "He is? Alright, we're on our way!"

Once he ended the call he elaborated for her and Elliot, "Our thief was stopped trying to exit at the east gate, as we expected. Before the RMP could detain him he took off towards the port. We should have a few minutes before he arrives."

"Can we make it in time?" Fie asked impatiently.

"Definitely. The port is just a few blocks over." The musician answered positively, "And look! That tram parked right there will be going straight to the port. We should hurry and get on!"

Fie felt more confident in her speed on foot when compared to a slow moving tram, but if the older boys were right then they had plenty of time. Best to arrive fresh and ready to go.

Luckily they had remarkably good luck on their side, as within a few seconds of them getting on board the vehicle it spurred to life. Like Elliot said, the trip itself was really short and within two minutes the tram came to a stop at its destination. The smell of the ocean greeted the three of them as they quickly brushed past a few slow moving civilians in order to get off the tram as soon as possible.

This time Fie didn't wait for the others. Their experience and knowledge of the city had proven useful, but now was the time for her brand of action. Even if she wasn't as familiar with the city as the others she quickly picked out which road would lead towards the east exit. That was where her target would be arriving from.

And that was where she set her ambush.

It wasn't much of an ambush, in all honesty, as she wanted to be seen. Hopefully the thief would realize the heist was a bust once he saw the person he stole from and would surrender peacefully...

Of course the guy could always not do that, but she was prepared for that outcome too.

It was just a few minutes later when the telltale sound of her bike sounded down the evening street. Even in the dimming light of the evening sky Fie could easily make out the vehicle as it rounded the corner. The guy driving it looked panicked, as if he was starting to realize that trying to steal someone's bike in the middle of an extremely large and militarized city was a terrible terrible idea.

Perfect.

With no vehicle between her and her target Fie ran into the middle of the road before holding out her arms in the universal gesture to stop. If the thief had good sense he'd follow her instructions-

"Out of the way, girlie!"

Fie sighed. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. At least the bike slowed a bit as the thief tried to wave her out of the road. She wasn't sure if he intended to swerve past her or was just gonna run the student over, but she wasn't prepared to wait around and find out.

If diplomacy failed, then Plan B was a friendly little warning. Said warning came in the form of her gunblades, which she quickly took aim of before feathering the trigger lightly. Naturally she wasn't aiming to hit him – or more importantly her bike – but a few warning shots at the ground in front of the bike should get the job done, right?

Fie casually ignored the panicked screams of a few nearby bystanders as she waited to see if her efforts bore fruit. Sadly for her it seemed the jerk who stole her bike was either a little braver or stupider than what she had expected, as instead of slamming the breaks to avoid the barrage of bullets he swerved dangerously away from her.

Fie sighed again. Time for Plan C. The plan that would guarantee success, but would come at the cost of one of her precious flash bangs. As the now dangerously swerving bike got closer the former jaeger pulled out one of her tools, pulled the pin, held it for two seconds, and threw it straight at the bike.

One of the perks of spending much of her childhood playing with dangerous tools like grenades was that she was pretty resistant to their effects. It took only a handful of seconds to blink away the effects of the flash enough for her to survey the effects of her attack.

It was a good thing the bike had been moving a lot slower after her previous efforts, as it seemed the thief lost control completely after that final move before falling off the bike. Fie frowned. Hopefully her bike was unharmed.

Ignoring the jerk who was responsible for this whole mess she hurriedly approached her vehicle before letting out a sigh of relief. Save for a few scratches and small dents it seemed alright. She'd have to buy Tita something special from Recette to make up for the extra work she was foisting on her friend, but that was a small price to pay.

"Seriously, Fie?"

She rolled her eyes as she turned to the two members of the Original Class VII who had finally caught up to her. Machias looked peeved for some reason, "What? I stopped the thief, didn't I? And nobody got hurt!"

"I think he's upset that you opened fire in the middle of the capital..."

Oh. Now that she had time to stop and think, Elliot's words made sense. That... probably hadn't been a smart thing to do, had it?

That thought was confirmed a few minutes later when a pair of guards approached her, weapons at the ready.

"...I'm honestly surprised they let us go with just a warning."

Fie rolled her eyes at Elliot's surprise, "Maybe they felt guilty that we're doing their jobs for them."

"I seriously doubt that." Leave it to Machias to be a complete killjoy, "Pretty sure they were going to take us in until they heard we were Class VII. Having a famous musician in the group certainly helped, too."

"Says the son of the Imperial Governor..."

The silver-haired student tuned out her predecessors as she instead looked to the sky before grimacing. Between the time spent chasing the thief and the hour or so they were dealing with the officials it was already dark out. There was no way she was getting back to school without being questioned by Rean.

And more importantly... "Is the museum even still open?"

"Honestly... I don't have a clue." Machias' response did not instill confidence. "Normally it isn't, but they tend to stay open later in the summer. If we're lucky we can still make it."

Fortunately for her the package she was carrying seemed to have made it through the ordeal intact, at least if the ominous ticking was any indication. That meant it wasn't a bomb as an explosive probably would have detonated in her face by now after all that running around!

...Probably.

One truly annoying thing about the entire situation was that despite having retrieved her bike she couldn't actually use it, as without a sidecar she couldn't carry both boys with her, and neither of them wanted to be left behind. Instead she was forced to leave it behind – in a secure garage this time – while the three of them made the trip on tram.

But now they were finally reaching the end of their journey, "I really like that music shop." Elliot stated as they passed a building, "Oh and that fishing shop is supposedly really famous with anglers!" Mental note – check out the fishing shop at some point.

"One of your classmates is a Vander, correct?" At her confused nod Machias pointed towards a large building off to the side, "That's the Vander's primary training hall. I suspect that is where his family would be."

Huh. That was Kurt's home? Good to know.

Finally, mercifully, the trio arrived at a massive building at the end of the street. Fie didn't need to see the sign to know that this place was her final destination. There was only one problem... "It's closed."

Hell no. She wasn't about to fail her mission just because the stupid museum decided to close before she arrived. The lights were still on so she ran up to the door before knocking harshly.

"Sorry! We're closed!" Came the female voice from inside, "Come back tomorrow!"

Fine. Being polite failed. Time to threaten the person inside with the promise of explosives to blow the door open-

"Dorothee! Let us in! You owe me for using my likeness in one of your books alongside a character with an uncanny resemblance to Albarea!"

Fie blinked in surprise at Machias' outburst. The hell?

That being said, oddity aside it proved effective as after a brief pause the door opened, "H-Hey Machias." The bespectacled woman nervously greeted, "Elliot too! And, um..."

"She's Fie. One of Rean's students." Why Elliot chose to answer for her she wouldn't know, but whatever.

"Really? Well hello there, I'm Dorothee. I went to school alongside your teacher and these two." For some reason the woman was all smiles, "What can I do for you?"

"Um... Here." Fie handed the package over.

Mission complete.

"Oh! Is this the package Neinvalli was sending us?" At the student's nod Dorothee brightened, "Great! We were starting to think it had been delayed!"

The woman took the package before returning inside the museum. The three members of Class VII shared a glance, "So what exactly is it?"

"Is it a bomb?" Elliot continued after Machias' question.

"Huh? A bomb?" The museum operator seemed confused, "Not at all. Here, let me show you." The three followed her into a backroom in the museum. Setting the package on the table she unwrapped it. The mystery of the ticking package was at last revealed...

"...A clock?"

Wow. What a letdown. Sure Fie didn't want it to actually be a bomb, but she was hoping it could have been something cool.

"Not just any clock," Dorothee corrected, "But a clock that predates modern civilization. Actually, the professor thinks it might be an unknown artifact."

Fie paled before taking a hasty step back. Sure she had wanted it to be something interesting, but an artifact!? Boss had mentioned them to her a few times when she was a kid. Artifacts were crazy and dangerous enough to make even the fearless Jaeger King a little nervous. To think she had carried it around all night...

A bomb would have been a lot safer!

An exhausted Fie grimaced as she beheld her dorm. By the time she had arrived back at Leeves and returned the bike to the hangar it was well after midnight. She was definitely gonna get an earful in the morning.

At least she had completed her mission. Even if the girl was no longer a jaeger she still had the pride that came from being one. Completing her contract was a source of pride to the lithe warrior.

And as an added bonus Dorothee even gave her a signed copy of a book she wrote. While Fie was no fan of reading the pale traumatized expression Machias wore when the book was revealed was enough to make her a little curious. Plus she felt like she had heard mention of these books before.

From Maya, maybe...?

Either way, as she returned to the dorm she did so with a book in hand. Jingo was probably asleep so she'd have to stop in in the morning to report her success, but that was fine with the former jaeger. Right now all she wanted to do was sneak into her room and go to sleep without anyone noticing.

So when Fie opened the door to see a light on and her instructor sitting at the table she knew she was screwed. "H-Hey, Instructor Rean. W-What are you doing here?"

Said teacher rose from his seat before giving a stretch. How long had he been there anyways? "I was waiting on you, naturally."

"O-Oh." He didn't seem angry. That was a good thing, right? Best not to press her luck, "Sorry about that. I encountered some... complications during my trip."

"I know." He held up his ARCUS, "Elliot called me a little while ago and explained everything. A thief, huh?"

Fie exhaled. Rean trusted Elliot, so the musician telling him everything probably put her in the clear, "Yeah, it was a wild night. Well then. I'll just be going to bed-"

"He also told me about how you caused a panic in the capital by firing your guns and throwing a grenade in public before getting arrested."

Crap! Fie let out a nervous laugh as she wracked her brain for an excuse, "U-Um... I think Elliot was exaggerating a bit..."

"Possibly." Surprisingly her teacher agreed with her, "Elliot can be like that at times. Still... I'm planning on talking to the principal and Instructor Randy about adding a class to the curriculum about the proper rules of engagement in a populated area. When that happens you're going to volunteer yourself each and every time we call upon a student to assist. Am I understood?"

"Y-Yes sir." Despite the fact his calm expression seemed unchanged Rean looked awfully scary at that moment.

"Good." Her teacher's horrifying visage faded away, "Now I'd strongly advise you to go straight to bed. Good night."

She nodded hastily, "Y-Yeah. Got it."