Storm Envoy I

With Iyolin newly crowned, the Alliance turns to its next move. Draupnir Mond secretly summons G.S and gives him a covert order to weaken the Empire's forces — routed through a diplomatic audience with Bifrost's ruler, meant to secure the duchy's military support for Silver Arrow. Before leaving the castle, G.S, who has decided to accompany Landam Kelvins, tries to meet with Iyolin; unable to bring himself to speak to her in her grief, he leaves without saying goodbye.

With a notorious reputation trailing them, G.S and Landam steel themselves as they enter the edge of the Rubinia Snow Mountain on the way to Bifrost. Imperial Armsman Anton picks up their trail and pursues them the whole route, a chase that follows them all the way to Bifrost's doorstep.

At last, G.S and Landam arrive at Bifrost Castle and are granted an audience with the duchy's ruler — Duke Moselle — delivering the Silver Arrow Alliance's message. He asks for time to consider and requests that G.S and his party wait.

The wait proves fatal: the Duke is assassinated by an unknown killer, and G.S — resting nearby — is accused of being the culprit. With the help of his friend Strider Nox, already established as the Duke's secretary and ranger, he decides to escape Bifrost rather than face the accusation.

G.S's party pushes through Bifrost's elite Valkyrie unit in a desperate escape. The unit's commander, Sara Randgrid — captain of the Bifrost Valkyries — is startled to recognize a familiar face in the fugitive she's cornered. After hearing him out and clearing up the misunderstanding, she lets G.S and his party go rather than press the pursuit, and they promise to reunite with her before finally leaving Bifrost.

What happens next — G.S framed for a killing he didn't commit — is what strands him in Bifrost for the rest of this arc. Anton, the Imperial Armsman who chased him from the Rubinia Snow Mountain, appears only in this chapter with no indication yet of a larger role.