That morning, it was another day of their strategy to get Eva relaxed. Hanse had let her go by herself right after breakfast, something they took together rather silently for once since they both seemed to be overworked to a point. Hanase san, Eva knew, had been trying to fill in all the holes that Eva had left as she went off to train by herself rather recklessly. It had, for sure, taken a huge toll on him both mentally and physically but he never told her that or even showed it on his face. He had been the same as always when he made their plan about two nights ago. Even he seemed to agree with her on one thing that they needed to leave Crocus early after finishing everything off for Hargeon, something that had been on Eva’s mind for a long time. Grimoire heart had attacked and Eva was not there to see it or help the city. Since none of the messages she sent from Nanuq and Oak seemed to reach the Council, Eva had tried again right after arriving in Crocus, finally getting a reply back that the Council was unable to reach her due to Eva being away from the main lands and the fact that a storm had prevented any sort of communication they could possibly opt for. In the end, since they seemed to have passed any sort of time that Eva could possibly get back and join the frontline, they had wisely opted to replace her with someone else, hoping that Evangeline would have a better reason for not being somewhere she was expected to be. She had spent some time in writing the very same report, a two pages long essay on how she was sorry and what she had been doing in Nanuq as well as Oak, something they seemed to be pleased so far with since the letter that came in reply had asked her to take her post back almost immediately in helping Hargeon to rebuild their city, if anything would be left for rebuilding.

In the end, after everything was done and said, Eva had came straight to the park where she found a most comfortable seat at the side of a huge field, staring up at the sky with her Rune Knights mark on full display, something she got aware of since anyone that walked past her seemed to looking straight at her exposed collarbone under which snuggly sat the great Ankh symbol in all its glory, the mark of Magic Council’s army, the mark of excellence. It was something to be proud of yet something that Eva was starting to feel burdened with. While her thirst for improving herself made her want to keep climbing the Rune Knights ranks, the heaviness of the responsibilities o her chest seemed to weigh her down, only, Eva was very much stubborn to actually give up.

“A Rune Knight?” Eva finally looked down once she heard a noise, opening her eyes with curiosity, looking at the young man in Rune Knight’s garbs much like herself. This was…Eva wasn’t sure but she seemed to have seen him somewhere. “I’m Armin Barthelomew,” he introduced himself, at which point, everything clicked and Eva sat up straight. Barthelomew was an excellent Rune Knight, one of those that the recruits were always taught to take after and it seemed that she had ran into his very own son. “Hello, ‘m Evangeline,” She had replied, now standing up and showing her polite manners to the older man. “You are a seated knight too, aren’t you?” he seemed to be looking straight at the symbol below her neck and she nodded. “Great, I need a favor”

Those words had somehow teleported Eva right into the middle of trouble with exactly five young boys staring up at her in contempt. Apparently, the help that Armin wanted with her was training a few Rune Knight recruits, something he was hundred percent sure she could do with the position she enjoyed among the Rune Knights herself. Although Eva wanted nothing out of it, once she learned that the recruits were for Crocus’ Rune Knights branch, Eva had agreed immediately since a good job in Crocus was a good job in her record books back at the Council. The only catch, however, was the fact that Armin seemed to have forgotten to tell her that the bunch of hooligans she had to train all had one or the other insult to throw at her for being a woman, something that infuriated Eva to the point that she had intentionally constructed a very difficult training regimen, something she forced the boys to do despite hteir groaning and moaning and mischief. They had, at some point, had enough of Eva as they tried to take her own by themselves, failing miserably as she showed them why Eva was a seated knight and they were still recruits. She had, at one point, used the same technique to motivate them as she had used back at Era while she was trying to teach a couple of brats a lesson, to take lessons seriously. They scrambled around afterwards, looking up at her with what she at least thought was recognition once the day slowly rolled to an end, all five of them completely beat from the harsh training that she had dealt to them. While it was harsh, Eva also knew that the training regimen she had made was fit to even turn a wimp to a good Rune Knight. If they were to follow it in moderation, something she mentioned to Armin once he came back, these boys would soon start seeing results in their physical capabilities. The older Rune Knight who seemed to be very happy with what she did, rewarded her rather nicely too, promising to put in a good word at the Crocus station for her which he as well as she knew would reach the Council’s ears soon. She thanked him, bidding him and the slightly shaken boys farewell.

1010/1000