The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
This summary contains spoilers for The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
Intermission - Returning Home
At the close of September, Class VII was summoned to Valflame Palace in Heimdallr.
There, they were to be recognized for their bravery at both Garrelia Fortress and the Sachsen Iron Mine.
It turned out their presence had been requested by none other than the Emperor of Erebonia himself, Eugent III.
They were granted an audience with him, Empress Priscilla, Princes Olivert and Cedric, and Princess Alfin.
During their visit, they also encountered Chancellor Osborne and Governor Regnitz...
...as well as the heads of the Four Great Houses--Dukes Albarea and Cayenne, and Marquis Rogner and Hyarms.
Emperor Eugent invited Class VII to take a short vacation in a hot springs town that had ties to the Imperial family.
That town was none other than Ymir, where Rean grew up.
They went by special train followed by cable car for the last leg of the trip, and soon they found Ymir, which was full of fall foliage.
Upon arriving, they were shown to the Phoenix Wings, a gift from the Imperial family, where they would stay for the duration of their trip.
They left their belongings in their rooms, then held a meeting to figure out everyone’s roles in the concert for the academy festival...
And while some members of the group had objections, everyone eventually agreed to Rean, Elliot, and Crow’s various proposals.
Afterwards, Rean was reunited with his father, Baron Teo Schwarzer, and his mother, Lucia Schwarzer.
They were not related to him by blood, but they welcomed him as warmly as any biological parents would.
Rean’s father gave him a letter from Master Ka-fai, who seemed aware that Rean was still hesitating.
All his classmates could do was watch over him as he continued to do so.
That night, after his classmates had gone to bed, Rean received a surprising request from Angelica.
She told him that her father had forced her to withdraw from the academy, and as a parting gift, she asked him to accept her orbal bike.
Unsure what to do, he was unable to answer immediately, and decided to think about it in the open-air bath.
Talking to Laura and Alisa there eased his spirits, but as they spoke, he saw something that shocked him.
It was snow--something he wouldn’t have expected to see in early October.
Snow continued to fall heavily well into the following morning, suggesting that something was amiss. Rean decided to find out what.
In some ways, Rean took this as a chance to overcome a similar traumatic experience that had occurred eight years prior.
His classmates happily accompanied him without a second thought. Soon enough, they encountered a giant monster made of ice.
After a fierce battle, they defeated it and came face to face with Bleublanc of Ouroboros.
He was fascinated by the many mysteries surrounding Rean--even going so far as to taunt him.
But Rean refused to be taken in by such pettiness, and Bleublanc was forced to retreat.
In the end, they were able to stop the strange snow and returned to Ymir unharmed.
As Baron Schwarzer bade farewell to them, he handed his son a scroll that he had received from Master Ka-fai.
It was an Eight Leaves One Blade intermediate-level scroll, which would give Rean a new target to work for.
They said their farewells and finally left for the trip back to the academy, with Rean feeling as though they had all grown greatly as a result of the experience.