Chapter 14 Fights and Food
"Okay class, are you all ready for our training?" Isaac asked the Golden Deer students. Today was Sunday. Isaac woke up to receive a letter from Seteth about what time he was scheduled for a sparring match with some new knights. It was taking place nearby where the mock battle was held.
The Golden Deer class nodded, though their faces were entirely different.
Claude looked rather casual about it
Lorenz and Lysithea looked determined
Leonie, and Raphael looked excited
Ignatz, and Marianne looked nervous
Hilda looked bored
"Now then. I have devised a plan for the battle. Leonie, Lorenz, Raphael, you are the front guard. Claude, Hilda, and Ignatz will be support. Marianne and Lysithea will be with me. Our job will be to take out the soldiers that will try to take us by surprise from the many forest areas in the battlefield. Understood?" Isaac asked
Everyone nodded, but Lorenz did frown.
"Now, I hate to constantly bring up the mock battle we had, but with our first mission approaching us, I don't want to see a repeat of the mock battle. Treat this like you would a real battle understood?" Isaac asked
Everyone nodded. Some looking rather upset.
"All right. Head out to the gate and I will be there shortly. Lorenz, can you wait a moment?" Isaac asked. Lorenz nodded and the rest headed out.
"You need something professor?" Lorenz asked
"Do you and Claude have a problem? Back before the mock battle, you seemed pretty fine with the plan until I said that Claude was providing support and just now you gave the same expression when I said that Claude would be support, you didn't look thrilled. Is there something wrong?" Isaac asked
"It's nothing to concern yourself Professor." Lorenz said
"Lorenz. I'm your professor. I know this school year is still new, but I need you to know that you can trust me." Isaac said
Lorenz sighed. "I'm unsure how much you know of this, but House Riegan is the leading house to the Alliance."
"Leading house? I thought the alliance had a council." Isaac asked
"We do. There are five houses that make the council of the Leicester Alliance. House Riegan, which is a cadet branch of House Baiddyd and founder to the Leicester Alliance is tasked with leading the roundtable. While we may not have a king or an emperor, House Riegan is the closes we would have to them." Lorenz explained
"I see. But what does that have to do with your dislike of Claude?" Isaac asked
"House Riegan's previous heir Godfrey Von Riegan died in an accident sometime ago. Then suddenly, Claude shows up out of nowhere last year as the new ligament heir of the alliance. That doesn't strike you as suspicious?" Lorenz asked
"If I wasn't of House Riegan, then how would you explain my crest?" Claude asked appearing behind Lorenz causing them both to jump.
"Claude! What are you doing here?" Lorenz asked surprised
"I forgot something in the classroom." Claude said. "But either way, I do possess the Crest of House Riegan, do I not?"
"A crest is insufficient. I am talking about your noble disposition, or lack thereof." Lorenz said
"Well, that's what I came here for after all. I can only hope you will assist me in the art of snobbery Professor Lorenz." Claude joked
Isaac could only facepalm at his two students.
"I don't think that you even grasp the significant of the responsibilities you bear. Do you even know what it means to be the leader of the Leicester Alliance? I take no joy in saying this, but much of the chaos in our ranks is due to the failings of House Riegan's leadership!"
"Enough!" Isaac called out getting their attention. "I am not asking you to accept Claude right now Lorenz. That's not fair. But I am asking you to put it aside for the battles. Can you at least trust me?" Isaac asked
"…I suppose so. I do have to admit that this new magic you brought with you has raised some concerns with me though." Lorenz pointed out.
"That's fine. If you want, when we get a chance, I'll tell you anything you want to know. But for now Lorenz, we are all a team, whether you like it or not. I don't need you to go running out of formation, trying to take out the enemy yourself. Hate to break this to you, but while I may not be a noble, what you did during the mock battle isn't what a leader should do." Isaac pointed out.
Lorenz flinched at that. "Yes professor. I will…cooperate for the time being."
"That's all I can ask for now." Isaac said
"However, Claude, don't think for a moment that this doesn't remove my suspicion of you. Once I reveal you for the fraud that you are, and reclaim my rightful place, I will finally set things right within the alliance." Lorenz said to Claude firmly as he walked out of the classroom. Though he stopped at the door. "To be blunt, it would be better if you didn't show your face here." And with that he left.
"LORENZ!" Isaac shouted. Suspicion or not, that was uncalled for.
Claude just sighed. "Geez, that guy can't be reasoned with." He then turned to Isaac. "I'll meet you out there teach." And with that, he left.
Isaac just sighed. "I try to find out more about my students, and more problems are shown as a result."
Flint appeared next to Isaac. "I noticed that you're taking the Jupiter Lighthouse incident pretty seriously."
"Can you blame me? My reckless action nearly got my team killed. If I had just slowed down like Ivan and Mia said, we wouldn't have fallen into that stupid trap, and we would have easily taken those two Proxians." Isaac said
"Hey, it was a close match. Those two were pretty exhausted after your fight. Even Jenna was commenting that their fight was rather easy." Flint tried.
"Doesn't matter. I lost. That's all there is to it. If Felix didn't interfere, I would be dead regardless if it was a close match or not." Isaac said
"I see. Well anyway, what about Claude and Lorenz?" Flint said trying to change the subject.
"It seems that Claude has quite a lot of secrets about himself. I can't really blame Lorenz for not trusting him. Although what he said at the end was beyond rude." Isaac said
"What is it that you think of Claude Isaac? Honestly." Flint asked
"…He's a nice guy, and he's been pretty helpful to me so far, but there are times when his smile feels…strange." Isaac said
"Strange?" Flint asked.
"I'm not sure. I don't think he's a bad person, and when we talk alone, he acts natural, as is his smile. But when he speaks to others…sometimes it just looks odd. I can't describe it." Isaac said
"Maybe when we get a chance, we can try to crack what's he hiding, and why he's hiding it." Flint suggested.
"Good idea." Isaac said
"Well, cheer up for now. We have a battle to get to, and then a party!" Flint said
"Right. After the fight, we need to set up Raphael's birthday party in here." Isaac said
"Then we better not keep the students waiting." Flint said as he vanished
Isaac nodded and headed out the classroom to join his students.
With everyone all set, Isaac led the Golden Deer to the designated spot.
"All right. Claude, Marianne, Lysithea! No Psynergy for this battle." Isaac said
"Oh, come on!" Lysithea cried out. "I have excellent control. You saw it in our last class!"
"I know you do. All three of you do. But for now, let's wait." Isaac said
'Probably is just saying that because of what those soldiers said earlier this week. Can't fully blame him but still...' Claude thought "Come on teach. We need to get better coordinated with each other's Psynergy so we can fully be ready for the mission coming up." Claude pointed out.
Isaac was silent. Claude did have a point there. "Fine. But keep it basic." Isaac relented.
Lysithea was jumping for joy. She really wanted to try her Psynergy in battle for a while. Marianne just nodded. She could honestly go ether way. Claude was the same as Marianne, but he did have to admit he was looking forward to seeing the effects of it in battle.
The captain of the group they were fighting approached the Golden Deer.
"Are you guys ready?" The soldier captain asked
Isaac nodded. "We're all set. Ready to start whenever you are ready."
The Solder nodded. "All right then. I'll get back into position and we can begin."
Once the solder was back into position, a trumpet was heard and the solders armed with their training weapons charged at the Golden Deer students.
"Okay, remember the plan. Lorenz, Leonie, Raphael! You three advance!" Isaac commanded
"You got it!" Raphael shouted
"Leave it to me!" Leonie cheered
"I will comply." Lorenz said
Leonie charged at a knight with a training lance with her own training lance. The Knight struck, but Leonie blocked and countered with her lance knocking him back. She was about to finish him, but the knight managed to recoil and push her back, much to Leonie's surprise.
Thankfully, Hilda threw her training axe at the guy knocking him down in one hit.
'Opps. I may have thrown it too hard.' Hilda thought.
"Wow Hilda. You're stronger than you look." Leonie commented
"Uh, no. I just got lucky. Yes lucky! That's it!" Hilda said frantically
Leonie just looked confused.
Raph rushed towards one with a pair of training Gauntlets. Gauntlets may have less range than any other weapon out there, but they do allow far more mobility in exchange. Raphael easily dodged the training sword that came his way and gave an uppercut to the soldier knocking him out.
Another came right at the guy big guy, but Ignatz fired an arrow at the soldier making him falter as it hit his shoulder. Raphael took advantage of this, and went for the final blow.
Lorenz also faced against a solder that was using a sword. He got hit by the sword in his left arm and stumbled, but he retaliated and wacked the solder with his lance taking hm out.
Marianne approached Lorenz. "Do you…need healing?" Marianne asked softly
"That would be nice, thank you." Lorenz bowed
"Ply." Marianne said casting Psynergy on Lorenz's left arm.
"You're using Psynergy?" Lorenz asked
"Oh, yeah. I needed more practice with it. I don't get to practice as much during Psynergy class. I'm sorry. Do you want me to use Faith magic instead?" Marianne asked
Lorenz sighed. "No, that is all right. Do whatever you feel comfortable with."
A female solder with a lance and a male solder with a sword approached the Golden Deer from the side, but Claude and Lysithea were ready.
"Whirlwind!" Both students shouted
A gust of wind sent both solders flying away. Claude then pulled out his bow and shot another solder that was hiding nearby.
Isaac went to check on the two solders that were sent flying. They were both unconscious, but otherwise, they weren't hurt too bad.
"They do have good control. That's good. Hopefully we won't have another room fire." Isaac said. One solder approached him.
"Great. More freaks with strange magic." He grumbled.
Isaac rolled his eyes. "You here to complain, or fight?" Isaac asked drawing his sword.
The man drew his sword and charged at Isaac. The two locked blades with the solder trying to push Isaac back.
"Let us show you what real magic, from our devotion to the Goddess can really do!" The man growled as he jumped back. A female monk then raised her hand.
"Nosferatu!" She shouted
Light particles gathered around Isaac and closed in on him. Isaac dodge rolled out of the way, before they could drain his strength.
The male solder charged at Isaac as he got back up.
"Quake!" Isaac shouted as the ground below the two solders started to shake making them both lose their footing. Isaac charged at the two solders and took them both down with a strike. Isaac went to rejoin with his students.
Lysithea took out another soldier with her dark magic Miasma. Isaac had to admit, whether it was Reason magic or Psynergy, Lysithea was a powerful mage for someone so young.
Soon all that was left was the captain. He grabbed his sword and charged at Marianne. Lorenz intercepted with his lance and held up his hand.
"Fire!" Lorenz shouted shooting a fireball at the captain causing him to stumble. Raphael then charged forward and knocked the captain down with his gauntlet.
With the captain falling down, the Golden Deer emerged victorious.
Once the knights were patched up, the captain gave Isaac a thank you for a good fight, though some of the solders were glaring at him and some of his students. Isaac kept an eye on them to make sure they didn't say anything to his students…or do anything. Once they left Isaac addressed his students.
"Well, you guys were definitely more cooperative this time around and our victory was the result of it. Remember that well, and our first mission should go off well. Now everyone, head back and shower. Come to the Golden Deer classroom in an hour. I have more to say then."
Everyone except Claude and Ignatz groaned but complied.
Isaac was setting up the food for Raphael's party when Hanneman and Byleth entered.
"Ah Isaac. How was training?" Hanneman asked
"They cooperated…for now. It's likely the results of the mock battle are still in their minds, but soon they may start to drift apart again if I'm not careful." Isaac said. 'With what Lorenz said about Claude, there is a good chance that those two might have an argument that will really screw us over. Hopefully I can get them to let it go if it does come to that.' Isaac added in his head.
"You having a party Isaac?" Byleth asked
"Yep. I'm celebrating Raphael's birthday today." Isaac said
"Really? Usually we just buy flowers or something for the students, but a party? I'm surprised you got permission for this." Hanneman said
"Well, Lady Rhea did want us to bond with our students, I argued a birthday party would be a great way to do so, and not even Seteth could fully argue." Isaac explained "Also, we had some leftover food apparently that wasn't enough for the dinning hall, but Lady Rhea wanted it gone so…yeah." Isaac added
"A party to get your students closer…huh." Hanneman commented
"What about you two? How's your classes going?" Isaac asked
"Well, Felix is kind of a jerk. He really doesn't like Dimitri and keeps calling him a boar. Ingrid also doesn't trust Dedue for some reason and Sylvain is his own pain, but other than that the Blue Lions aren't much trouble." Byleth explained
"I was talking to Dedue earlier this week and he brought up a 'Tragedy of Duscur.'" Isaac said
"Tragedy of Duscur?" Byleth asked
"It was a rather unfortunate event that happened four years ago. Several Kingdom nobles, including King Lambert and his wife were killed on their way to Duscur for negotiations." Hanneman explained
"So, Dimitri's parents…" Byleth began
"Were killed, yes." Hanneman said
"I see…Thank you for sharing this." Byleth bowed
"As for the Black Eagles, well, Ferdinand is a good student, but his desire to be better than Edelgard may drive him to do something foolish. Lorenz wasn't the only one who made a reckless move at the mock battle." Hanneman said
"I heard." Isaac nodded
"Doretha also doesn't like him. I asked the class to pair up for a small reading assignment, and when I paired up Doretha with Ferdinand, she practically begged me to switch her partner. Hubert's interaction with any student that isn't Edelgard is…questionable to say the least. He'll work together in battle sure, but that's as far as it goes. And then there is Edelgard. For some reason, she is keeping her distance from me and I am unsure why. I leave my door opened and she never wants to visit. She had trouble with a homework assignment once, but instead of coming to me, she asked Hubert to come instead. He claimed she was rather busy, but I am not so sure about that." Hanneman said
"Really?" Isaac asked surprised
"Truly. Don't get me wrong, she is by no means a bad student. She does mostly live up to the role that you would expect of a house leader, but I wish to know why she avoids me." Hanneman said
"She acts normally in Psynergy class." Isaac muttered. Still, Isaac was rather surprised. He had quite a number of problems the Golden Deer had to work on, but he didn't know that the other two had their own fair share of problems. Especially Byleth since her students did so well in the mock battle.
"Well, we'll let you be Isaac. Have fun with your party." Hanneman said
"Later Isaac." Byleth waved as both left.
Isaac went inside the classroom to finish up the preparations for the party before the others arrived.
Claude and Ignatz arrived earlier than the others did, but Raphael and the rest soon arrived.
"So, any idea where our house leader or Ignatz are?" Lorenz asked
"I think they went on ahead." Leonie said
"I wonder what the professor wants?" Lysithea asked
"Only one way to find out." Raphael said as he opened the door to the classroom. What he saw surprised all of them.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAPH!" Isaac, Claude and Ignatz shouted
"You guys…" Raphael muttered speechless.
"Wow, you guys actually made a party for Raphael's birthday? When my brother went to school here, he said all he got were some flowers for his birthday." Hilda said surprised
"It was Teach's idea. Ignatz and I decided to help." Claude said
"Well, have some food and enjoy ourselves. Sorry I couldn't get you a present Raph." Isaac said
"Who cares about that. Thank you, Professor. You to Claude and Ignatz." Raphael smiled as he went for the food.
"We better get some to before it's all gone." Leonie laughed as she went for some food as well.
"I suppose I could use a bite to eat." Lorenz admitted.
Everyone was eating and chatting and just enjoying themselves. Lorenz stayed away from Claude, who was chatting with Hilda so, there was no drama to ruin the party, which is all Isaac could ask for at this point. Raphael then noticed Ignatz and went to speak to him.
"Hey Ignatz!" Raphael greeted.
"Oh, hey Raphael." Ignatz said a bit awkwardly
"Mind if I sit and eat with you?" Raphael asked
"Oh, sorry but, I just finished." Ignatz said
"Really? There's still food on your plate." Raphael pointed out.
"Oh well…I'm not hungry anymore. Here, you can have the rest." Ignatz said.
"Oh…thank you?" Raphael said confused
"Sorry but, I have to go help…sort the equipment for the upcoming mission. I promised to help. See you later Raphael and Happy Birthday!" Ignatz said as he hurried out of the room.
"Uh…bye?" Raphael said still confused
"What was that all about?" Isaac asked, having seen the whole thing.
"I don't know. Lately Ignatz has been avoiding me." Raphael said
"You want me to talk to him?" Isaac asked
"Thanks professor, but I think I'll talk to him myself." Raphael said
"Okay. But if you need anything, let me know." Isaac said
"Thanks Professor. And seriously, thank you for the party. It means a lot to me." Raphael said
"No problem Raphael. Happy Birthday." Isaac smiled.
And that's a wrap!
Sorry for the wait, things were pretty crazy with the holidays coming up.
Anyway, I'll bet some of you are wondering when I will FINALLY get to the first mission. Well, I wanted to have a little while of Isaac being by himself before the others started to show up. I have about 2 or 3 more chapters planned before it starts, but it will come soon. But I also want to get Dimitri and Edelgard their first Djinni before the first missions so...next chapter.
Next chapter, Isaac learns about the four saints when Saint Macuil's day arrives, and Dimitri and Edelgard continue to look for their first Djinni. See you guys then.