Jusis Albarea hummed thoughtfully as he watched Rean, his students, and Millium all depart from the Cayenne manor as a group. The conversation they had just concluded left the younger Albarea with a lot to think about.

The new Class VII was certainly an impressive collection of individuals. Certainly Rean deserved a lot of the credit, but for that group of students to fare so well against a large group of veteran jaegers spoke highly of the next generation of his class. He was fairly certain they would've found a way to extricate themselves from that sticky situation even without he and Millium coming to their aid.

A shame they couldn't catch the enemy jaegers, but Rean keeping his students from pursuing was undoubtedly the prudent move to make in that situation. Who knows what kind of traps or potential ambushes were waiting for them had they tried to follow?

After the battle they had accepted his invitation to convene at the Cayenne estate with Patrick to go over what they had all discovered. Unfortunately a lot of information was exchanged there wasn't much he could make use of at the moment, even if it did sate his curiosity over the brewing situation. Still, that hadn't been the main goal of the gathering.

He simply wanted a chance to check out the successor class for himself.

As a swordsman he could see from a glance just how skilled Class VII's Vander was. Same with the tall blonde who carried himself with the grace of a veteran fighter despite his seemingly rough exterior. The pink-haired Crossbellian – Juna Crawford if he recalled correctly – kept sending curious glances his way, undoubtedly seeking to compare the second son of House Albarea to the one that was currently in charge of her home.

As for Altina... Well, that would've been a hell of a surprise had he not known about it in advance. It was something Millium liked to bring up. A lot. In fact he couldn't remember the last time he had a full conversation with that blue-haired gremlin without her bringing up the fact her 'sister' was one of Rean's students. Even still, it was certainly shocking to see just how different their former adversary had become.

The other silver-haired girl had quite impressed him as well with her knowledge of jaeger groups, which he supposed wasn't a surprise given what he had heard of her former background. While she admitted to not being positive, Jusis was willing to bet good mira that her guess that the jaegers they encountered were a remnant of the Northern Jaegers was close if not completely on the mark.

That the group his father had employed to raze Celdic was around was an unsettling thought to be sure, but it wasn't something he had authority to act upon in this province.

Assuming they were the Northern Jaegers then that meant the 'Dragons' Rean had heard them reference likely was the Nidhoggr corps he and the others had encountered in the Nord Highlands during the war. It was a shame that Instructor Sara wasn't present as her knowledge of jaeger corps would prove quite valuable at that moment, but at the very least it seemed the new Class VII had a Sara all of their own.

Minus the drinking, of course. And hopefully without the many many other foibles that defined their instructor.

Of greatest interest, however, was the last member of Class VII, Musse Egret. On the surface nothing more than the granddaughter of the advisor to the previous Duke Cayenne, but if Jusis' suspicions were correct then she might be a whole lot more. If he was right then perhaps there was an opportunity for hope in the upcoming meetings that he had previously been dreading so much.

It was absolutely imperative that Marquis Ballad not become the Duke of Erebonia's most prosperous region if the nobility wanted to have any shot at opposing the chancellor in the future.

But that all depended on two things. First he needed to confirm if she was who he suspected she truly was. And with that he needed to ensure she was willing to accept his proposal – as important as it was he had no intention of nominating someone unwilling to accept the position.

And just as importantly it was up to Rean, Millium, and his students to solve the ongoing jaeger crisis. There would be no resolution while Ordis was under siege from mercenaries, especially as they almost certainly had someone equally malicious pulling their strings. Still he had confidence in his friends, especially as he had received word that potential reinforcements might be closer than expected.

Hmm... Now that was an idea. Perhaps he should send a message to their former instructor to back up Class VII. A little insurance never hurt, even if the noble had full confidence in his friend and successor class. He turned to Patrick before giving a silent nod. They had a lot of work to do to ensure these next few days ended successfully.

Still, for the first time in what felt like ages the temporary Duke Albarea felt hope for the future.

After exiting the mansion and separating from Millium Class VII trekked back to North Street to turn in Ash's lame seashell. After that Rean allowed them all to visit Musse's home. Nothing too interesting occurred there, but at least Musse's grandparents seemed nice and the snacks offered were pretty tasty. And her sorta-friend sorta-bringer-of-chaos was a lot happier after the encounter, so it was a worthwhile use of time in Fie's eyes.

Although it did bother the former mercenary a little that her worldview on most nobles being arrogant foppish losers was taking hit after hit as it seemed like Class VII was meeting one that broke those stereotypes every other day. Between Patrick Hyarms, Jusis Albarea, Musse's grandpa, and even some of the other random ones they met like Rean's old schoolmate Ferris Florald, all seemed rather nice and helpful.

But at the same time they had an encounter with Marquis Ballad who checked every stereotype so hard that in her opinion he single-handily countered the virtues of all the other nobles combined.

With that last thing they needed to do in Ordis out of the way Class VII made the brief return trek to the field camp. There they reported everything that had occurred that morning to the other instructors alongside Major Claire. That Randy seemed to agree with her guess that the jaegers they discovered were probably remnants of the Northern Jaegers was a relief as she still wasn't entirely certain of her guess herself.

Still, even with that assumption there was little they could do about that knowledge at the moment.

Instead, after a short break they were off again – this time in the opposite direction towards the entertainment city of Raquel. From Ash's description of it it definitely sounded like the kind of place a jaeger would want to hang out, which meant it was their best shot at finding more intel.

And as a former jaeger Fie definitely was looking forward to checking out the place at night. A shame she was still a couple years away from drinking, but she was close enough to eighteen that she could probably slip into a casino without being questioned. Rean definitely wouldn't allow it and most of her classmates were a little too law-abiding to consider such a thing, but Ash would definitely be in on the idea. Maybe they could slip out in the middle of the night and-

"Please don't do whatever it is you are thinking about."

She scowled. Rean didn't even look away from the road in front of them while making that statement and yet she knew it was directed towards her. Damn him and his stupid observation powers!

The path to Raquel took them through a large canyon. Just the sort of place a group of jaegers would be hanging out at if they were trying to go unnoticed by authorities. That was enough for Fie to focus much of her attention on their surroundings in the unlikely event any mercenaries decided to ambush them. Much to her pleasure she noticed all of her classmates doing the same.

Still, as wary as they were she wasn't at all surprised when they passed through the area without being attacked by anything more than a couple of stray monsters. Even if jaegers were there there was no reason for them to attack a group of travelers on the road, rare as they may be. Too much risk for too little reward, especially as Rean kept them away from the side roads where they'd be easier marks.

After a brief but tense trip the city of Raquel came into view. Even though Ash had warned them that it wasn't the most exciting place during the day she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed upon first glance. Sure there were a handful of tourists out and about and the place had a higher density of shops to explore, but outside of that it looked pretty similar to most other Erebonian towns.

At least those were her thoughts until Ash led them to the other end of the town where the casino, the theater, and a fancy club that she was fairly sure belonged to the Red Constellation lay. A glance towards Rean earned her a shake of the head, which wasn't all that surprising since that mirrored her opinion on the matter.

It might be a clue, possibly, but it was a little too obvious to be the answer they were searching for. A place like that would've been the first place authorities would've scoped out as soon as the incidents began. The Red Constellation weren't the kind of novices to make such a rookie mistake.

Instead they went with the tired but effective method of asking around in the town with Ash serving as their guide. While he lacked the same level of enthusiasm for the place that Musse had for Ordis there was a hint of something in the way he carried himself that belied his true feelings.

Under all that gruff exterior he probably cared about his home just as much as their other classmate.

This meant they had seen the homes of Kurt, Juna, Musse, and now Ash. Seemed a little much to be a coincidence, but Fie wasn't really thinking about that. Juna had said that her home was at Leeves with the rest of Class VII, and despite her best intentions Fie was starting to believe it. But could she express that feeling with the same pride all her classmates had with their homes?

It was something she would've loved to ask Altina about as they were the only two Class VII members without an actual hometown of their own, but it probably would've been a moot point. Her friend had made it clear that her home was at Rean's side and she wore that role with a confident certainty, even if she probably hadn't realized it herself.

Oh well. If nothing else she at least understood that people can react to their homes differently even if they loved them all the same. Kurt was more subdued as home reminded him of his perceived failures, Juna wore her hometown pride on her sleeves, Musse carried on with happy professionalism, and Ash tried to act cool and detached.

Maybe one day they'd get to visit Rean's hometown. Or perhaps the homes of Tita, Sandy, or any of the other friends she'd made since arriving at Thors?

After the fun that was Raquel's main street came the far less interesting but still fruitful rest of town. There was a church that was extremely out of place in a town of sin, but one with a sister that amusingly gave Ash a hard time – or at least she tried until the punk turned the tables on her. There was a pawn shop that quite obviously dealt in info as much as it did junk, not that they were able to get much of anything useful about the jaegers.

And there was Ash's apartment. He had been reluctant to let them in, but peer pressure was both fun and effective. With a groan the blonde unlocked the door and let them in.

Given that he had been at Thors and his mother had long since passed it wasn't surprising that the tiny apartment was covered in a layer of dust, but that didn't detract from the warmth of the place. It was mostly empty, but there was one picture that naturally drew the attention of all the students and their teacher.

It was a much younger Ash with a woman that could only be his mother.

Hearing about his childhood caused Fie to feel a modicum of respect for the woman in the picture. Someone struggling to survive, yet still willing to take in an orphan with nowhere else to go despite being completely out of their depths. Sure she might not have been a jaeger, but the parallels were too obvious for her to ignore.

"Boss would've loved her..." She hadn't meant to whisper it out loud, but to her relief it seemed like none of the others heard her.

The slight upturn of Ash's lips after her words were uttered was easily ignored by the somewhat embarrassed girl.

After spending a few minutes airing out the apartment the group of six departed, this time for the inn. Surprisingly the woman behind the counter had some info about the jaegers they were looking for, but nothing that'd help their immediate investigation unless they were willing to wait around into the night for the mercenaries to come in for a bite – something which she suspected Rean would not allow.

But that wasn't the only thing they had to do at the inn as Kurt reminded them all that they had a request in this town, something which Fie had completely forgotten. The client for that request was located right up the stairs in his rented room.

After enduring abuse from the arrogant man they eventually learned he had had an extremely expensive Star Sapphirl gem stolen from him the previous night. Given the man himself was completely fine and nothing had been done to the room he was in Fie found the story to be a little fishy, but kept her mouth shut on the off chance the thief was someone like the legendary Phantom Thief B. After a little pressing they were able to get the man to give up his travel itinerary for the previous night and so they began retracing his steps for their investigation.

The first place they visited was the train station. The woman working there was able to recall their client thanks to the man showing off his stupid gem. After briefly checking the lost and found she confirmed it wasn't there and that the man must've brought it out of the station with him. Admittedly it wouldn't have been hard for her to lie about it, but Fie was fairly certain the station employee didn't have the air of a con artist to her.

With that they retraced their client's steps to the theater where they heard a similar story – He had the gem, bragged about it to everyone around him, and left with it shortly after. That he wasn't robbed after being an idiot for so long led them to believe it hadn't actually been stolen like he claimed and that the moron had simply lost it before arriving at his room.

Rean gave them permission to call the request at that point if they wanted, and given how stupid their client had been Fie was sure she wasn't the only one considering the offer, but luckily – or unluckily – they remembered the pawn shop they had visited earlier. With Ash leading the way they doubled back to the small shop before asking about any gems that had turned up.

To their satisfaction, there had been one. A Star Sapphirl to boot. And the one trying to sell it was a rank amateur according to the pawn shop owner. A perfect match for someone who happened to find the gem and decided to try quickly pawning it off rather than return it to the owner.

Having Ash in their class was actually helpful for once because the shop owner was willing to go out of his way to give Class VII info on who the potential seller was and where they could find them, all without asking for anything in return. Ironically it was right back at the inn where they had started at.

Returning they were quick to find the guy – just some drunk wasting his day away at the bar. At first he tried to play ignorant when questioned and even seemed to know who they were for some reason, but the sorry excuse of a man wasn't smart enough to keep his mouth shut and gave up the game pretty quick. After that he instead adopted the argument he deserved a finder's fee for recovering the gem.

Were it Fie she would've probably done the same, but the difference was that she would've tried to find the rich owner immediately for the reward and not try to pawn it off before feigning ignorance when pressed. Instead the drunk was forced to give the gem up for nothing once the inn-keep threatened to cut him off from his booze.

As badly as she wanted to hit twenty so she could finally drink there was absolutely no way she'd end up a lame drunk like that. She was definitely gonna be a cool drinker, one who could hold her drink well with absolutely no adverse effects.

With the Star Sapphirl in hand the seven of them made the extremely quick trek up the stairs and back to the room of the original owner. Overjoyed he was quick to pay them an amount Fie was certain was well below a finder's fee, but at least he was surprisingly contrite enough to admit fault with his story and a promise to keep his gem under lock and key in the future.

Mission accomplished, but it didn't leave them any closer to solving their mean reason for being in Raquel.

Or at least that had been her thought process right up to the moment when they left the inn and were immediately accosted by a slimy looking older man named Miguel who acted overly friendly with Ash. Given the way the blonde punk looked like he'd just swallowed a lemon it was obvious the feeling wasn't mutual, but he did admit the guy was the biggest information dealer in Raquel.

Which was why it was shady as hell when the guy offered them the location the jaegers were hanging out for free. Information wasn't Fie's game, but one only needed to hang around in a jaeger corps for a little while before picking up the basics. And the first rule of information was a simple one:

Nothing was ever free.

Mira was the obvious price, but intel often came at the exchange of other intel, or perhaps even the promise of a future favor. But to freely give away the information that Class VII was looking for?

Yeah. This had shady written all over it.

At best this guy was sending them on a wild goose chase for the hell of it, but the more likely explanation was that he was sending them into a trap. After Miguel slunk off she turned and was about to warn the others of her opinion...

Only to see Rean and Ash sharing words quietly. They already knew.

Musse didn't appear as worried, but the thoughtful look on her face spoke volumes. She was too cunning to fall for something like this. Both Kurt and Altina appeared wary even if she didn't think they fully grasped the situation they were in. As for Juna...

Well, five out of six wasn't bad.

It was another reminder that she needed to stop underestimating her friends. Even if she was the only one with a jaeger background the others had a few months of experience with these outings to back their innate intelligence and skill. Something as obvious as this wouldn't trip them up.

That was enough for her to relax. If Rean was allowing them to follow up on this shady intel then that meant they would simply need to gather their own intelligence on the jaegers by seeing what kind of trap was awaiting them in the canyons that Miguel had pointed out. So long as they were wary and sufficiently prepared they should hopefully be able to manage whatever was waiting for them there.

"So..." Fie drawled out quietly to Ash as the two of them took up the rear after the group dismounted their bikes just short of the place Miguel told them about, "You and Rean discuss an actual plan to deal with whatever we're walking into or what?"

"Heh. Should've known you'd have figured it out. As for a plan? Nah. We'll simply kick the asses of whoever is waiting for us."

She rolled her eyes, "Figures. You sure you aren't a former jaeger? That's the kind of lame bravado I'd expect from a Red Constellation member. Want me to refer you to Shirley the next time we meet? She'd probably love you."

"Heh. As if I'd want to join that psycho. And do you really think you'll have time to refer anyone to Shirley while she's kicking your ass again?"

The girl did her best to ignore the insult. She already knew that if she fought Shirley again she'd probably still lose, but at the very least she was hopeful that with her recent growth the fight would be a little less humiliating, "Yeah. You're right. Next time we encounter her or those other enforcers I'll leave them to you. You're badass enough to handle them on your own, right?"

"Heh. Damn straight I am. But unlike you I'm not stupid enough to take on an enforcer on my own when I have you meat shields there to help out."

He wanted to play that game, did he? "Right. Instead you'll attack them in a soldat and still get taken out in a single attack."

"By the Aion! The hell was I supposed to know it was hiding behind us like that?!"

"Dunno, but for someone who claims to fight so smartly your situational awareness sucked."

"Grr...!"

"Teehee. It's so wonderful to see the two of you are becoming such good friends."

Musse's comment stopped them cold. Whoops. Their conversation had carried on so long and grown so loud the others were not staring at them. As for the comment itself, "Not a chance-"

"You know? I kinda see it." Juna mussed, "Sure Ash wins in being loud and obnoxious, but Fie is just as combative and even snarkier. If I didn't know she was harmless I'd probably see her as just as rude."

"I'm not harmless!"

"I don't get it." Altina stated, ignoring Fie's protests, "If they are such good friends why do they argue constantly?"

"That, Little Bunny, is the fine art of trash talking. Everyone worth their salt does it. Especially when you aren't friends like me and Jaeger ain't."

Kurt's sigh drew eyes to the swordsman, "Ignore Ash. Not everyone trash talks."

"Everyone who's anyone does. Tell me, Little Bunny: Do you want to keep being a bore like Vander here, or do you wanna learn how to trash your opponents with the best of them?"

Despite herself Fie couldn't help but bob her head in agreement, "It's true. I wouldn't do it on a real battlefield, but it's a fun way to spruce up a friendly fight."

"I see. I shall take your words under consideration."

"Please don't teach Altina something so pointless!" Rean pleaded, finally entering the conversation, "And as riveting as this conversation has been, we're getting close to the meeting point, so let's keep it down."

"Ja." He was right. Fun time was over. Now it was time for them to walk straight into an ambush.

That wasn't to say they were going to be unprepared, of course. Fie had all of her senses strained to the max as she sought out anything out of place in the canyon, and she was certain the others did too. Given how good her teacher's sensing ability was she was at least fairly confident they'd have a few seconds to prepare before any trap was sprung.

A little ways in as they were crossing a natural overpass Rean stopped them, "Hold on. I don't sense... anything."

His statement was weird. Not the words themselves, as they all – minus Juna – already knew they were walking into trouble. While listening to said girl freak out upon being told that little detail was pretty funny, the lithe student was busy trying to figure out why their teacher wasn't sensing anything.

Had they merely been sent on a pointless chase instead of an active trap? If so that would've been a major letdown, but Fie's gut was telling her this wasn't the case.

"Schwarzer. Who do you think's behind this? Who'd use a fake informant to get us out here just to beat the hell out of us?"

Fie hadn't thought that far ahead, but to her annoyance Ash brought up a very good point. If this was still a trap than someone was obviously behind it. This wasn't the kind of tactic Zephyr would use, and the Red Constellation were a lot more direct in their confrontations. So if this were a jaeger group-

"My money's on the fourth jaeger corps."

Yep. That one. Thanks, Rean.

If her earlier guess was correct that would make their enemies Nidhoggr. Not a top-tier corps by any stretch of the imagination, but they were professionals through and through.

She was about to relay that information to them when the sound of gunfire drew all attention. At first she assumed this was the much awaited ambush finally rearing its ugly head, but the instinctive fear of gunfire faded as soon as they realized a very important detail – it was a long ways away.

"We need to confirm the situation. Stay alert and follow me!"

Class VII made good time as all they needed to do was cautiously follow the sounds of combat, something which seemed to intensify even as they closed the distance. Without the fear of an ambush and with the sounds of battle masking their approach it wasn't hard for her and her classmates to arrive at the battlefield undetected within just a few quick minutes.

And what they saw was entirely unexpected in hindsight. They knew the jaegers they encountered earlier were after Nidhoggr, so seeing those purple-clad warriors fighting the black uniforms of the dragon made perfect sense. It was hard to get a good grasp of the battle from a distance, but to her experienced eyes it seemed like the former had launched a surprise raid on the latter, which was understandable if Nidhoggr had been waiting to ambush Class VII and not them. A coincidence which made Class VII's life a lot easier.

Having accomplished their mission the Northern Jaegers broke off their attack. Nidhoggr, naturally, launched their own pursuit. Instead of chasing directly after them the Nidhoggr commander seemed to order his men into a pincer as the jaegers split into two groups. It might've been an effective tactic save for one teensy tiny issue:

One of the pincers was headed straight for Class VII.

For the second time in the day they prepared themselves to fight against a bunch of jaegers. Despite the innate uncertainty of battle Fie wasn't all too worried. From what she could remember Nidhoggr were more prone to unleashing ambushes or flank attacks compared to most other corps, but that specialization left them weaker in a head on fight.

"Who the hell...?!" The first jaeger exclaimed as soon as they noticed the students. Once again she couldn't launch a preemptive assault thanks to Rean's ordered restraint. Instead she settled for fingering her gunswords impatiently while her teacher tried to question the jaegers. On paper it might've had a shot at succeeding considering Nidhoggr's enemies were the other jaegers and not them.

Sadly, it seemed the jaegers were in a foul mood after the attack and thanks to having had a prior encounter with Rean and his classmates during the war weren't feeling inclined to chat. Instead the entirely expected outcome of a battle commenced.

Four jaegers and two military monsters against the six students and one war hero? It wasn't a particularly difficult battle for Class VII, with Rean taking on two of the jaegers by himself leaving the students to overcome jaeger experience with skill and sheer numbers.

But once again history saw fit to repeat itself as the other half of the Nidhoggr pincer returned just as they were about to interrogate the defeated jaegers, again stealing victory from them at the last second. Still, they had come out of the fight almost completely unscathed and the second group was only a little larger than the first, so the situation wasn't nearly as bad as it had been earlier when Jusis and Millium arrived to-

Wait.

Wait a second.

She wasn't a superstitious person by nature, but this encounter had been an almost exact repeat of earlier. And that fight – like so many others the previous two months – had been interrupted by the arrival of the Old Class VII. Fie risked taking her eyes off the jaegers to glance left, right, in front of her, and behind them.

Only then did she relax a little. Fighting a bunch of jaegers was annoying enough, but at least it beat having a bunch of show-offs once again appearing at the last second to bail them out-

"Suckers!"

It took almost all of her restraint to resist the urge to facepalm. Of course. How could she forget to check the cliffs above them?

With a tired groan the former jaeger watched as a streak of purple surged into the jaeger formation, gun and sword being used in unison to great effect. Fie blinked as realization dawned on her. She recognized this person.

Fie barely paid attention to the arrival of another girl atop an orbal bike as she stared blankly at the jaeger turned bracer who had taken her from prison and brought her to Thors.

Being rescued once again was still annoying as hell, but meeting up with Sara Valestein kinda made up for it. Maybe.

She began to second guess herself when the Purple Lightning turned and shot her a cheeky wink before refocusing in the jaegers. For some reason that gesture sent a chill down her spine.