[IS]: Insert song - "Bathed in Light and Darkness (Tales of Vesperia)"
[ISE]: Insert song end

"Are all the pieces in place?"

A woman sat on her bed with a transmitter placed next to her. It was the middle of the night, so she spoke in a hushed voice so as to not wake anyone next door.

"They've already begun to move, to be precise," a low, warped voice replied. "Comrade G is fulfilling his role at the border of the Republic as we speak. Is the situation the same on your end?"

"The actions of our generous patron have been pushing everyone to the edge. I had hoped my little experiments would add some degree to that, however…" The woman looked at the door to her room. "Ever since a day ago, I feel as if there is someone watching my movements. It has become increasingly difficult to step outside."

"Your vigilance has always been one of your admirable traits."

She smirked. "As is your silver tongue."

"Then allow this silver tongue to present you with a concerning bit of information," the low voice responded. "There have been a number of rumors regarding one of our patron's relatives."

"The old marquis, I presume?" the woman guessed. "I've heard enough of those rumors to know that his selfishness knows no bounds."

"What if I told you that he was willing to let go of his precious project for several million mira?"

The woman's mouth was agape. "You cannot be serious. The value of the Lusitania is more than worth its weight in money."

"Both him and our patron do not seem to think so," the low voice drily remarked.

"Might this have something to do with the incident that occurred last November?"

"You mean the arrest of that director from the Reinford Group? I highly doubt that. But frankly, it is not our place to judge. What IS important is that letting something like the Lusitania go aroused a great deal of suspicion in the Intelligence Division, so much so that they have decided to dispatch a team from the RMP to investigate the issue."

The woman's face paled. "Will the Icy Maiden be among them?"

"It depends on how important they think this matter is," said the low voice. "But since it involves someone closely related to the leader of the Four Great Houses, the probability is high."

"Now that IS concerning."

"However, this contributes perfectly for our plan," the low voice continued. "The Intelligence Division will likely be stationed all across the western seas, from Ordis all the way to Bryonia Island. If something else were to happen, say a giant monster was let loose, then the Chancellor's forces would be perfectly divided."

The woman furrowed her eyebrows. "Do you know what you're implying? This could easily blow our cover."

"We could also, perhaps, chalk it up as the next experiment of a certain underground organization. After all, the artifact you and Comrade G are using are derived from similar sources, are they not?"

The woman looked at the artifact in question: a small jar with faded paint that, when opened, produced small arthropods that could attach themselves to non-human hosts, granting them accelerated abilities at the cost of their sanity. Additionally, once a host was successfully infected, they could spread its effects to other species of similar or lesser strength, creating a parasitic virus. She did not question where their leader had acquired such an item back then, but her curiosity grew as time passed.

"At times, I shudder to think about the connections that you possess," the woman said. "Have you contacted Comrade V?"

"He has informed me that he is laying low in Raquel for the time being. There shouldn't be any changes to him picking you up tomorrow, assuming neither of you run into any complications."

The woman looked outside her window at the night sky. "Well, if you see no issue with it, leader, then I suppose we can afford to give the Chancellor's henchmen a little greeting. Fortunately for the both of us, I have just the specimen in mind…"

"...We will leave the inn before the sun rises. After that, we will implement our plan in full."

"And what IS the plan? The suspense is killing me."

Laura and Fie pointed to each other as they told Morgan their plan.

"I want to fight her," they said in unison.

…

"You know, I wasn't surprised that this was the outcome you guys chose, but…" Morgan sneezed before she could finish her sentence. "D-Did you really have to settle things at th-this time of day?!"

She, along with Laura and Fie, were walking on the path from the inn area to the shrine. They had left the inn around 5:45, which meant that the sky was beginning to enter the latter stages of twilight. Morgan hadn't brought leggings with her—she never anticipated going outside in the middle of the night—so her body was shivering from the cold of the early morning. Her classmates, meanwhile, were unaffected by the current temperature, something that irked her to no end.

Finally, they came to the fork in the road that separated the path to the shrine from the rest of the island. Laura and Fie took several steps along the dirt path to the right.

"This spot should do," Laura said, nodding. "What do you think, Fie?"

Fie analyzed the surrounding area and gave her observations. "Dirt and grass, a cliff to the left, mostly even terrain save for a few slants. You good with making that rock the boundary?" She pointed to a boulder that was in the middle of the road.

"I have no objections." Laura turned to Morgan. "Morgan, will you stand on the other end to mark the other boundary?"

"I guess I'm a human boundary now?" Despite her quip, she complied with Laura's request.

With everyone in position, Laura and Fie stood a short distance from each other.

"We are in agreement, then?" Laura asked.

"If you want your spoils, then you'll have to take it by force." Fie drew her gunswords from their holsters. "But you already knew that."

"That is fine…" Laura unsheathed her sword. "Because I have no intention of bringing anything less than my full force. I have been anticipating this duel for quite some time, and now I can finally have my catharsis."

"...Heh." Fie let a rare smirk appear on her face. "Makes me wonder what kind of catharsis you're looking for here."

"Y-You sure you want to do things like this?" Morgan asked one last time, still shivering from the cold. "You already talked things out, right?"

"There are some things in life you can only share with someone by fighting," Laura stated. "Was that not what you told me?"

"W-Well…" Morgan thought back to her duel with Laura. She didn't expect her words to come back and bite her in this manner.

"We're just two normal students getting ready for show-and-tell," said Fie. "Nothing more, nothing less."

Morgan scratched the back of her head and sighed. "Argh, fine! Do whatever you want! But if I think things are getting too dangerous, I'll stop you two myself, got it?"

"Very well." Laura looked at the horizon. The sky above them was a lighter hue than when they left the inn. "I estimate we have around a half hour at most before the sun rises. Let's aim to finish this before then."

"Fine by me." Fie adopted her fighting stance. "Got anything you want to say before I kick your ass?"

"If you insist…" The swordswoman closed her eyes. "Growing up, my father told me, 'Mercenaries are the hounds of duty, and jaegers are the bloodiest of them all.'"

"Words I can understand, please?"

The moment Laura's eyes bolted open, Morgan and Fie knew that she wasn't going to hold anything back. "They are disposable!" [IS]

A dangerous blue aura flickered around Laura, acting as a visual representation of her power.

Fie steeled herself. "Not if I can dispose of you first."

The silver-haired girl exhaled and concentrated all her intent on her opponent. In response, a purple aura manifested around her small frame.

Morgan decided now was a better time than ever to begin the duel. "Ready...begin!"

As soon as the signal was given, both combatants immediately rushed at each other and clashed their weapons together. After a brief second in each other's faces, Laura used her superior strength to push her opponent away and attempted a horizontal swing with the flat of her blade, which Fie avoided by performing a backflip. While still in the air, the silver-haired girl retaliated with a sweep of bullets from her gunswords. In response, Laura held her sword forward to protect herself as she slowly advanced forwards. Once she was within striking distance, she leapt upwards and raised her sword above her head. Fie easily dodged the attack with a combat roll as Laura brought her sword down.

"Good reflexes," the swordswoman commented. "As expected of a former jaeger, your judgement is-"

Her sentence was interrupted by Fie choosing that moment to shoot at her feet.

"As expected of a knight, you talk too much."

Laura lowered her eyebrows, appearing none too pleased that her statement was rudely interrupted. "Then I shall let my actions speak for themselves."

The time for talking long since passed, the two combatants continued their clash. Laura brought forth the full knowledge of Arseid school, performing various techniques that ranged from powerful single-hit strikes to precise two- to three-hit sequences. Fie, meanwhile, responded with the pragmatism of a jaeger, using her small frame to get in from Laura's blind spots and using every weapon in her arsenal to break the swordswoman's guard, from her gunswords to flash grenades to even sweeping kicks aimed at Laura's feet.

"Haaah…" Laura stood in place and raised her sword above her head. Underneath the twilight sky, her sword appeared to glow faintly as energy began to concentrate itself on the blade.

Fie's eyes widened, immediately recognizing the move as Laura's Earth Cleaver technique. With no time to spare, she fished out her grappling hook and fired it at the cliff next to her. The hook lodged itself into the rock.

"Yah!" Laura slammed her sword down, releasing the energy forward as a shockwave that ruptured the earth.

At the last possible second, Fie zipped out of harm's way. Once her feet touched the cliff, she ran a short distance along the wall before backflipping off it and raining down a storm of bullets from above. Though Laura blocked the majority of them with her sword, a few bullets managed to graze her skin. Fie then landed on the ground and crossed her weapons in front of her, using the same technique that she performed against the Ancient Ossa to scud forward at blinding speed. Having anticipated an approach from a blind spot, Laura responded to the oncoming attack with a well-timed parry, forcing Fie back.

All Morgan could do from the sidelines was watch in awe as her classmates threw everything they had at each other. With each passing second, their movements became more erratic. With each direct clash, more sparks flew. As the intensity of the fight grew, so too did the amount of grass and dirt that kicked up from the ground. When Laura and Fie's weapons came together in their climactic exchange, the ringing sound of metal clashing against metal forced Morgan to cover her eyes and ears as dust raged around the combatants.

When Morgan opened her eyes again, she saw that Laura and Fie had reached a standstill, both combatants showing varying degrees of fatigue. Laura's eyes were momentarily closed and her breaths were heavy. Fie's head was lowered, making it difficult to see her face, but the way her body moved up and down indicated that she was similarly winded.

'They should almost be done,' Morgan thought, recognizing that the duel probably wouldn't last much longer given the state both of them were in. 'But when will one of them concede?'

Slowly, Fie looked up to reveal her face. Morgan squinted her eyes so she could get a better look before widening them in disbelief.

'Is she...smiling?!'

The dark sky made it difficult to make out certain details, but there was no denying it—the silver-haired girl was indeed grinning.

"Hehe…"

Morgan turned to Laura. In between the swordswoman's heavy breathing, she could've sworn she just heard a chuckle in there somewhere.

"Impressive…" Laura said softly.

"...Same to you," Fie responded.

Morgan almost couldn't believe what she was seeing. She was almost certain that given the way the duel began, things were going to get ugly very quickly. Instead, it almost seemed like Laura and Fie, once at the brink of wringing each other's throats, were having the time of their lives. Even during her own duel against Laura, the swordswoman didn't show this much contentment until after their duel was over. Why were things different this time?

Eventually, Morgan came across a realization. In contrast to a pair like Machias and Jusis, Laura and Fie were, at their core, individuals whose lives were shaped by combat; learning how to fight was just as essential of a living skill as learning how to breathe. Laura used combat as a virtue to bolster her code of honor as a knight. Fie used it as a means to preserve her existence as a jaeger. Of course talking things out wasn't going to be as effective; to them, combat WAS their language, and now that they had shown each other their upbringings through the breadth of their respective techniques, there was nothing left to prove. Therefore, the only way to go now was forward.

Of course, it can also be argued that the reason the outcome was different now was because when Morgan and Laura had their duel, the latter hadn't sorted out her feelings yet. A week had passed since then, which was plenty of time for Laura to come to terms with her emotions. But there was another reason that Morgan thought of. Both Laura and Fie came forward with the intention of showing everything they had. Meanwhile, in Morgan's case, she hadn't shown off everything she was capable of.

In other words, while Laura and Fie laid all their secrets bare for each other to see, Morgan was still holding back. [ISE]

"I have seen it. I have seen your future."

Morgan sat expectantly in front of Holly as her crystal ball glowed a mix of blue and green. "And?"

"There are a number of things that, when put together, can result in a variety of meanings," Holly said as she released her hold on her orb. "But despite the variability, there are still some constants. Regarding your main question…" Holly opened her golden eyes. "I can say for certain that in your current situation, you will not be the one to resolve their dispute."

Morgan's heart fell. "What?"

"As I mentioned earlier, the elements I chose for you were Wind and Water, elements that are associated with change. When someone has found that they are capable of instigating change, they often begin to think that they can do anything. For that matter, I witnessed a humbling in your future, an event that will bring you to the same level as others."

"A...humbling?"

Holly nodded. "Correct, although it would perhaps be more apt to describe it as a trial by fire. That is all that I was able to see."

"So I should just do nothing and watch from the sidelines?"

"Well, doing nothing would be a bit of an extreme; the only way for any future to come about is for someone to take action. However, what I can say is that though you have intervened before, there will be instances where you are powerless to do anything. When that time comes, you must learn to accept your place in the world and let events play out as they were preordained."

"Preordained?" Morgan didn't particularly find herself liking that word for some reason. "By whom?"

"The natural order of the world," Holly said. "Forces that neither you nor I can begin to comprehend."

"..." Morgan looked down and clasped her hands together. "Can I ask you for your opinion on something, Miss Holly?"

"What is it?" the fortune-teller inquired.

"Am I in the wrong? For wanting to help people?"

As Morgan thought on the fortune-teller's words, Laura and Fie began to adopt familiar stances.

"Then I won't hold back." Laura began concentrating all of her remaining power into her blade, causing it to glow. "Allow me to show my strongest skill learned from my father."

Fie crouched low to the ground. "Then I'll show you my strongest...learned from the boss himself!"

At once, Morgan snapped out of her reverie. "That's enough, ladies!"

The two teens looked at her in surprise, almost like they forgot that she was there.

"As much as we'd like to see what would happen if both of you used your strongest attacks, we can't risk either of you getting hurt, so I'm ending the duel here."

Laura eased the hold on her sword. The saintly glow that was beginning to form promptly faded away. "Should we leave things here, then?"

Fie returned to an upright position. "Fine by me."

Both combatants walked forward to shake each other's hand, but the moment their hands were about to connect, they both completely missed each other. Their fatigue had caught up to them completely, causing them both to fall forward and collapse onto the ground.

"G-Guys!"

Morgan quickly hobbled over to her fallen companions, taking care not to stress her ankle, and began applying first aid. Fortunately, Laura and Fie had taken care not to use any of their more lethal attacks against each other, so the most they had were small cuts and bruises. However, for all the effectiveness that healing balms and healing arts provided, there was no cure for fatigue, so they were left with little choice but to remain in place until Laura and Fie could stand on their own feet again.

"So?" Morgan said after putting her orbment away. "What did you two learn about each other?"

Fie shakily pointed her finger at Laura, who was laying beside her. "I learned that she takes things way too seriously. I thought she was going to kill me!"

"Yet you continued to respond time and time again," Laura fired back, "And in ways I did not anticipate. Using your grappling hook to evade my Earth Cleaver was unexpected."

"When you're in a real fight, you have to use everything to your advantage, including your surroundings," said Fie. "But I guess they don't teach you that in sword academy."

"As a matter of fact, they don't," Laura admitted. "But a duel can occur at any time and at any place. If I hope to survive on the battlefield, then this knowledge will be important to keep in mind."

"That's...good, I guess."

"And you, Laura?" Morgan directed her question at her other classmate. "What did you learn about Fie?"

"Hmm…" The swordswoman closed her eyes and hummed to herself. "I think that Fie is very skilled in the art of deception."

"Well, yeah, cause she was a jaeger-"

"It's not just that," Laura continued. "I had theorized that Fie was holding back her emotions behind her stoic front, and this duel confirmed my hypothesis. Were we not given this opportunity to lay all our secrets bare, I would have gone on assuming that she never felt anything."

Fie glanced sideways away from Laura. "How would you know?"

Laura softly chuckled. "Partly because I am also guilty of such practices at times." She put a hand to her chest. "You wish to become stronger so that other people wouldn't have to be hurt. I assume you felt that way when Rean was wounded last month, and you felt that way when I protected you against yesterday's monster. We both wish to protect people from harm; we simply go about it in different ways."

That statement was left to linger in the air as Fie chose to close her eyes. Meanwhile, Morgan was amazed that Laura had just admitted to being similar to Fie in a way. She matured a lot in such a short span of time.

Finally, Fie gave her response. "You're wrong about one thing."

"Hm?"

Fie sat up. "You said that I become stronger so other people wouldn't have to. I'm not that selfless. Really, I only care for myself these days."

Laura lifted herself from the ground to face Fie as the latter continued. "It's not that I wanted to be stronger; I just didn't want to be weak. I didn't want my family to become weaker because they were worried about me."

"Your...family?"

Fie narrowed her eyes. "Maybe jaegers are disposable to you. But to me, they were the closest thing I had to a family. And now that they've left me behind, the only person I'm left to fend for is myself."

"Fie…" Laura frowned. "You aren't by yourself anymore. You are a part of Class VII now."

"But…"

Laura shook her head. "No more buts. If you think that your background would prove a detriment to us, then we would have left Class VII already. Yet here we are, talking amongst ourselves. If anything, it simply goes to show just how colorful of a roster our class has."

Fie let her words sink in before smirking. "Morgan said the same thing."

"I told you you should try and put a little faith in us," Morgan reminded her.

The silver-haired girl sighed. "Like I said last night, I pretty much gave up on you ever accepting me. I thought I already used up my second chance to live normally."

Morgan nodded. "Mm, old habits die hard. Well, here's hoping you've learned that lesson."

Fie held her legs close to her body. "So now what? We gonna be friends now?"

"Before that…" Laura turned to Morgan. "Morgan, who would you say was the victor of our duel?"

"H-Huh?" Morgan pointed to herself. "Me?"

Both of her classmates stared at her expectantly. Morgan had been so concentrated on ending the match peacefully that she didn't realize her classmates were expecting her to be their referee.

"As far as I could tell, it was a draw," she decided. "Maybe if you went through with your final attacks, then we would've had a clear winner, but both of you would've also gotten seriously hurt."

Laura sighed. "Well, I suppose it is what it is. I'll simply have to continue my training and challenge you again another time."

Fie hummed to herself, seemingly content with the current state of affairs.

With their stamina mostly restored, Laura and Fie stood up and dusted their clothes off. Together with Morgan, they made their way back to the inn.

"Oh. The sun's here."

Laura and Morgan turned to the silver-haired girl, who was pointing to the east. Sure enough, the sun had just begun to creep over the horizon, coloring the sky with a bright orange.

"Right on time," Morgan remarked.

"I guess in the end, we didn't end up meeting our original goal."

"But we did make a little progress," Laura said to Fie. "And a little, as they say, is better than nothing."

'"Little" would be putting it lightly,' Morgan thought. Laura and Fie had already made leaps and bounds when it came to understanding each other. How this would translate into their combat performance remained to be seen, but it can be said for certain that they didn't outright hate each other anymore.

And just as Holly had foretold, she didn't play a substantial part in resolving their dispute.

That begged the question: why did she even go with them in the first place?

Morgan paused her contemplation when she and the others noticed the sounds of a loud commotion that grew the closer they approached the inn area. The girls decided to pick up the pace and hurried to the inn, where they were greeted by a squad of men and women wearing gray uniforms and caps assembling in front of the residential area. Two ferry boats that weren't there when they left were also docked at the pier.

Fie put a cautious hand around her gunswords. "What's going on?"

Morgan and Laura recognized the uniforms that the people were wearing. "Railway Military Police," the former stated. "What are THEY doing here?"

By the time Machias and Elliot woke up, the Railway Military Police had already made themselves comfortable at Bryonia Island. Though they insisted to all residents staying at the inn that it was a temporary circumstance, it still resulted in a heck of a double take when they went downstairs and found people in RMP uniforms interspersed in the usual morning crowd.

The second shock of the morning came from Laura, Fie, and Morgan. Not only were all three of them already up and informed of the situation, when Machias and Elliot found them, they were sitting around a table and chatting amicably with each other. Considering the tense state that two particular members were in last night, it was a surprise to see them talking as if they were long-time acquaintances. Needless to say, the two boys felt that they had missed out on a lot, and when they approached the girls, they were more than happy to share everything that had occurred earlier that morning over breakfast.

"So, let me see if I have this right…" Machias began. "You three snuck out of the inn in the middle of the night for some super secret training, and by the time you got back, the RMP were already here?"

"Well, we technically didn't sneak out," Morgan refuted. "We had permission from the manager to leave early."

"I'm pretty sure 5:45 in the morning is still too early to be considered early."

"You just say that because you've never woken up before 6:30 in the morning."

"I-I do too!"

"Getting back on track…" Elliot coughed. "What sort of training did you guys do? I mean, it must've worked, seeing that Laura and Fie are acting all buddy-buddy now."

"We merely endured a session of show-and-tell, as Fie aptly put it."

"Sh-Show-and-tell?"

The silver-haired girl shrugged as she ate her potatoes. "You left out the part where we kicked each other's asses, though."

"Okay, I don't think that counts as show-and-tell!"

Morgan couldn't help but snicker to herself at Elliot's reaction. "It makes sense in context. At any rate, since the RMP are stationed here, it's likely that the residents are going to turn to them for help. We don't know what this means for our field study, but Brittany said that she'd come over later to explain the situation to us."

"So there's a chance we won't have any field study tasks today?" Elliot asked worriedly.

"It'd be nice if we could have the whole day to ourselves…"

As soon as Fie said her statement, the door to the inn opened. "Sorry to rain on your parade, but things aren't that simple," a familiar voice said.

The students turned their heads to find the island's co-manager walking towards them.

"Brittany!" Morgan waved her hand. "Morning!"

"Morning to you, too." Brittany waved back. "You're looking better today. How's your ankle doing?"

"Still a bit sore," Morgan admitted, "but I can walk with no problems. What was it that you were going to say?"

Brittany's smile disappeared. "It's true that the police are stationed here, but that's because they're on stand-by for their own mission. Whether they want to help the people is up to them, but anything that involves venturing into the island is a no-go. As such, it'll still be your guys' responsibilities to handle those tasks."

Fie pouted. "So much for that."

"Haha! Sorry. But on the bright side, our animist ritual is still good to go in the afternoon, so at least you'll be able to take part in that."

"Do you need us to help with anything?" asked Elliot.

"Meet me inside the management house next door after you finish breakfast," Brittany told them. "There's someone I want you to meet first. After that, we'll talk about what you're going to do today. Sound good?"

The students gave their consent, and Brittany left the inn soon after.

"Who do you think she wants us to meet?" Morgan wondered.

"I would assume the main leader of this operation," Laura guessed. "We should make sure we adequately prepare ourselves before we go to the management house."

"Yeah," Machias agreed. "It must be someone pretty important if we have to see them ourselves."

Group B hurriedly finished what remained of their breakfast and made sure that their equipment was in order. Then, as Brittany told them to do, they made their way to the management house right next to the inn. They knocked on the door, and Brittany's voice told them to come in.

The management house was a modest one-story cabin that, save for a few office desks, was indistinguishable from the kind one would find in the mountains, being outfitted with the bare necessities like a table with chairs, drawers, and a cupboard off to the side. A pair of single guest beds were also situated in the far left corner.

Upon entering, Group B found Tom conversing with a stern-looking man with blond hair wearing a faded gray and green overcoat over his uniform. Tom noticed the students and waved his hand at them. "Ah, good morning, students! Yes, perfect timing. I was just telling the major here about you."

The students straightened their backs as best they could as the officer came over to see them. If the manager's comment was to be believed, then this person was someone who was very important in the Railway Military Police.

"So you're Class VII. Or at least, one half of them, from what I've heard." The officer put his hands behind his back. "I am Major Michael Irving of the Railway Military Police. It's a pleasure to meet all of you."

"Likewise, sir." Morgan saluted back, and the rest of Group B followed her lead. "It's an honor to meet you."

"At ease, cadets...is what I would say if I was your commanding officer." The major's expression eased a bit. "So please, you needn't be so formal around me."

Morgan and the others eased their posture. Even as they did, they were careful not to appear overly casual. There was just something about the major's discerning gaze and the way he composed himself that naturally made people want to be on their best behavior around him.

"I'm sure you all are wondering why the RMP suddenly arrived this morning," Major Irving continued. "While I cannot explicitly tell you all the details, I can assure you that our activities shouldn't get in the way of your field study. My squad and I are currently on stand-by for the ones back on the mainland, so we can't venture too far into the island, but if there are any issues that are confined to the perimeter surrounding the inn, then feel free to ask any of us for assistance."

"If I can ask a question, sir…" Morgan raised her hand. "What sort of investigation would involve splitting up a squad across the sea? You won't be able to contact each other when you're that far apart. Wouldn't it be more efficient for the whole squadron if you were all in the same place?"

"Your name was...Morgan Daraen, correct?" Major Irving asked, to which Morgan replied with a nod. "If you must know, Miss Daraen, it's because we can never afford to leave any part of the area go unchecked during an investigation. Fortunately, Manager Kono was kind enough to let us install an orbal repeater so the main team can contact us."

He pointed to a beeping cylindrical device that was resting on the table. "Where there are people, there are leads, as Captain Rieveldt likes to put it."

"Captain Ree-velt?" Fie tried to say the name with little success.

"Captain Claire Rieveldt," the major specified. "Some of you may know her by her nickname, the 'Icy Maiden.'"

"The same person who helped us when we were in Celdic," Laura remembered.

Major Irving nodded. "As it so happens, she is the second reason why some of us are stationed here. When she heard that a group of students from Thors was staying at Bryonia Island, she personally requested that she take a handful of members and check in on them. However, her investigative skills are vital to the operation, so I offered to be the one to come here in her stead."

"Sounds like she's the one who's carrying the entire team," Fie whispered to Morgan.

Morgan made a face. "Fie, that's not a very nice thing to say."

"Which brings us nicely to the topic of your field study tasks," Tom cut in. "As you know, our animist ritual will take place today at noon. During that time, everyone is invited to take part in the festivities. Yes, that includes the five of you. Because of this, your field study tasks will be divided into two segments, one for the morning and one for the afternoon. That should make things simple and orderly, hm?"

"As promised, here are your field study tasks." Brittany stepped in to hand Morgan a folder that contained their tasks for the morning. "We have enough hands on deck to handle preparations on our own, but if you finish early, you're welcome to come on over to the shrine and help us get ready. You can never have too many helping hands in a community. Other than that, you're all set!"

"Thanks," said Morgan. "Mind if we borrow that table?"

"Irving the Tenacious?" Laura asked.

"That's right," Machias confirmed once the adults were out of earshot. "He has the best track record for the number of resolved cases in the police. Out of the eleven squads in the RMP, his is one of the most elite, not to mention he has the sharpshooting skills to match."

"So if both he and Captain Claire are here…" Morgan began.

"Then that means there's something serious going on," Machias finished. "At least, that's what it seems like, anyway."

"You know, I've been wondering something." Fie raised her hand. "If this Captain Claire is so incredible, how come this Irving guy outranks her? Or maybe it's different in the RMP?"

"No, majors are above captains, same as in the army," Elliot replied. "Captain Claire is part of an elite group of operatives who directly serve Chancellor Osborne called the Ironbloods. That means she has a bunch of other things to do in addition to being in the RMP. If she devoted all her time to the police, then she'd easily be a major, hands down."

"It's more than just that," said Machias. "It's the Noble Faction's way of keeping the Reformist Faction in check."

"Are you saying there is more at play here?" Laura inquired again.

"Well, this is based off of what my dad told me…" Machias lowered his voice. "Let's be real here: if we were basing it purely on skill and charisma, then, like Elliot said, Claire would be an automatic pick for a major or even commander rank. But since she works for the Chancellor, it means that she carries his direct influence. If someone like her became too powerful, then the Reformist Faction would pretty much have full control over the Railway Military Police. The Noble Faction wants to keep Osborne from monopolizing the most influential parts of Erebonia, which is why they made it so Claire can't advance any higher than the rank of captain in exchange for her enlistment."

Laura raised a confused eyebrow. "I was under the assumption that the Railway Military Police as a whole pledged their allegiance to the Chancellor."

"Well, you aren't wrong," Morgan responded. "The Railway Military Police is officially under his jurisdiction, but it's not like it's solely composed of reformists. Like the Imperial Army, there are some members of the opposing faction in there, too. The upper-class people want to maintain whatever influence they DO have in there as much as possible."

"You three sure know a whole lot about RMP," Fie noted. "You part of a fan club or something?"

Morgan chuckled. "Well, we're all from Heimdallr, aren't we? I guess it comes with being a local."

"Not to mention that Machias's dad is the governor," Elliot added. "You must have seen a lot of these Empire bigwigs while you were at home, huh?"

"Not as often as you might think," the bespectacled boy admitted. "I saw a few politicians here and there when my dad first started his campaign, but we live in the Ost District, which is on the opposite side from where he works, so we don't get many guests."

"And your dad works in Valflame Palace, so…" Morgan harshly breathed in. "Ooh, yeah. That's got to be one heck of a morning commute."

"You don't know the half of it." Machias then looked at her oddly. "Wait, how did you know he works in Valflame Palace?"

"Uh…" Morgan stared at him dumbfoundedly. "You mean he doesn't work in the same place as the Chancellor?"

Elliot scratched his cheek. "She's got a point, you know. It's a pretty common assumption that everyone who's important in the government works in the same place. Or does your dad usually work from home?"

"N-No, he doesn't." Machias glanced to the side. 'I thought she would've reacted differently. Maybe I was mistaken?'

Morgan stacked all the papers that were in the folder Brittany gave them. "Right. On that note, we should get moving if we want to finish all of these before noon. One of these in particular is a monster extermination request, so we need to be prepared."

"Oh, wait. I didn't see that one yet," piped Elliot. "What monster are we supposed to fight today?"

Morgan handed him the request form. As the musician looked at the name of the monster they were supposed to hunt, his face paled.

"Why is it that every time I don't want something to happen, Aidios decides to make it happen anyways?"

There, written in red, was the name of the monster along with a picture: the Scalyptera.

Author's note: With this chapter, I have made my first departure from canon. In the game, Laura and Fie didn't resolve their dispute until the field study after this. Here, they are already taking steps to resolve it. I dropped some hints leading up to it that this would be the case, and I hope that I didn't disappoint in my portrayal of their conflict. Something important to note is that they haven't resolved things entirely, but they will in due time.

Additionally, I have also added some conflicts for Morgan to better flesh out her character. She is someone who has been established to be shamelessly self-driven, so I wondered how I would explore that particular trait in the context of this field study. This is going to lead to a major event coming up soon, so look forward to that.

Finally, I introduced a character that wouldn't appear until a couple games later. I figured if I was going to borrow some references from Cold Steel III, I may as well see how far I can push the canon.

With that, thank you for taking the time to read this chapter! See you next time, and stay healthy out there. ｖ(⌒ｏ⌒)ｖ