Combat training and formations time. Once again, my father, Clark, and Diane were leading the training. At the moment, my students were all still in inadequate shape. They weren't quite up to snuff yet on basic fundamentals. And, seeing how I didn't know how to give those out, I left the job to the professionals who were more than willing to do so.

There was a thud in the distance, and a voice called out. "Damn my eyes… I was foolish… and careless…"

"Yeah, yeah. Get your sorry behind off the ground and keep running!"

I ignored Diane treating a cadet harshly and instead focused on the more important things later today.

Like my date with Delly.

Technically, Rhea hadn't said anything about our marriage yet, so we couldn't do anything in public. At least, not without being bothered. While I could imagine that the attention would fade after the truth… or Rhea's version of the truth, came out, I still didn't want to bother Edelgard with having to deal with any more stress in her condition.

In that case… the best bet was something private.

Our date would be held over dinner… so maybe I should cook something? Meet at my room?

"I-I'm done for… I wonder if… anyone will notice… I'm gone…"

"I will, you piece of trash! Pick yourself up and get going before I toss you!"

Clark's voice echoed.

I ignored it.

Hm… There was the problem of Stella too. My dear sister had been having sleepovers with the other Black Eagle girls these past few days, but I couldn't just keep bumming off of them forever. At the same time, I couldn't relax if she was there with us on the date.

Hm…

"I-I can't die until we've seen this through to the end… Even if I cannot fight- even if I can do nothing…"

Another cadet lamented their fate. A female one.

Hearing that, I shook my head. "Your fault for choosing to transfer to my class."

No I still wasn't bitter about having to grade over thirty quizzes after tomorrow.

Anyway, date plans. No, dinner plans.

Obviously, the best bet was something private. In my room would be best… though it'd be trouble if anyone found out. Then maybe in her room…? No, that was worse.

Argh, if only there were private dining halls.

Private… Private? Hm. Maybe I should talk to Hubert. He was sure to be happy to help out if it meant Edelgard was happy, right? And he did manage to secure the perimeter around my room before when he tried to kill me that one time. Maybe he could do it again… and he'd also appreciate the chance to make sure I didn't do anything untoward to Edelgard as well.

I nodded.

That was settled then. We would be having dinner in my room.

Now the question was… what would we eat? Something fancy… Cakes were a given. I could probably pull one off with my materials. Other than that… maybe pasta? Or a steak. Hm…

Probably a good time to bug the Blue Lions. They had all the master chefs, so-

"Professor?"

A female voice called out to me.

I blinked and focused.

There was a girl standing not far from me. Pale skinned, snow-white hair, ruby eyes… Lysithea.

I blinked and then frowned. "IS something the matter?"

She shook her head. "Not really. It's just… I can't do this type of training. Captain Jeralt sent me over here and asked if you had anything else I could do."

I paused and then nodded. "That's right. Your body's a bit weak, isn't it? I remembered hearing about that from Manuela."

Well, not really, but close enough to the truth.

Lysithea frowned and crossed her arms. "If only my body wasn't so frail… Argh. I didn't ask to be this weak. It's not like I don't want to train with the others. It's just… I can't."

The frustration was clear in her voice.

I could understand that. Lysithea was a hard worker and always eager to improve herself. However, her body couldn't quite keep up.

That reminded me though.

"Hm… I might have a solution for that."

Lysithea's eyes widened and she said, "Truly?"

I nodded. "I think so… But I'll need to double check with Manuela first. And Hanneman, probably."

Her body was weak because of the clashing effects of her Crest… but she was also someone without a Crest to begin with. While her blood managed to get reconstructed to use the Crest of Charon and Gloucester, her body wasn't attuned to either. In that case, the problem might be fixed if I could use my blood as a medium…

Maybe. It was an idea at least.

I'd have to talk with Hanneman at some point about it.

I shook my head and said, "Anyway, since we can't have you collapsing on us, why don't we go over your goals? I've given you my notes on things you might be able to improve, but do you have anything in particular you want to talk about?"

Lysithea shifted her feet and said, "Will that not cause a problem, Professor? While I appreciate the personal tutoring, will the others not be jealous?"

I glanced over at the crowd of cadets being worked half to death and shrugged. "If they've got a problem, they can take it up with Seteth and transfer out. They're the ones who chose to be in my class, not the other way around."

Lysithea's eyes widened. "You… You're trying to make them transfer out!"

I laughed and patted her head. "I knew you were smart. But yeah. Since that petty guy let them all transfer here and won't transfer them out without the student's own approval, I'm doing my best to get my dad and the others to convince them to quit and… Ah. Sorry." I realized that I was ruffling Lysithea's hair like I did with Stella and quickly pulled my hand back. "Force of habit."

Lysithea blinked and then frowned, giving me a strange look.

"…Did it bother you?"

"No." Lysithea shook her head. "It's just… odd." She stared at me and then said, "If you were Claude, I'd be upset. Treating me like that… It's patronizing. But when you do it… It's strange. Somehow, you remind me of your father."

"What?"

"Ah." Lysithea sighed. "My apologies. I did not mean to be rude. It is just… Comforting." She frowned. "Strangely supportive. It seems that you truly are the Archbishop's grandson."

I opened my mouth to dispute her words, but quickly closed it when I felt something burning on my left arm.

I frowned and then quickly focused. While unexpected, after what happened with Ferdinand, I recognized it. Two unfamiliar mana patterns were forming. While I couldn't visually inspect them, I could guess at what they were considering Lysithea was the trigger.

It'd be a problem if my sleeve caught on fire though, so…

I followed the flow of mana and then carefully distributed it. The heat was from the mana pattern weaving into my own mana and the crest I formed in my left arm, so if I spread it out a bit instead of letting it do it by itself, it shouldn't be as bad.

That was the plan… And it worked. Just hurt a lot more instead of burning.

"Professor?" Lysithea stared at me, her eyes furrowed. "Did I say something wrong?"

I shook my head. "No. Just an old wound acting up."

Not necessarily a lie, considering my crest was a self-inflicted one.

"An old wound?" Lysithea glanced at me, staring at how I held my arm, and then frowned. "I didn't expect you to have those… but I suppose you are an experienced mercenary." She glanced up at me and then frowned. "Do we have to expect to deal with the same in the future?"

I rolled my left shoulder, letting the pain ease up with that, and said, "With any luck you won't have to… but I won't say that you won't for sure. All that you can do is prepare. And speaking of preparing… about your notes. Any questions?"

Lysithea nodded and then rummaged in a side bag she was carrying. "Yes… Ah. Here." She handed me a sheet and said, "I have been working on Reason magic like you asked, but despite your excellent notes, I cannot conjure even the simplest fire spell."

"Hm?" I frowned. "Really?"

I knew that Lysithea couldn't use ordinary Reason spells in the game, but for reality to be that way… I couldn't see why.

She nodded, her face dimming. "Truthfully Professor, I have always had trouble with ordinary Reason magic. I can understand the theory and recite it, but the application… For some reason, it never works." She frowned, frustration clear on her face.

"Show me."

Lysithea nodded. "Hopefully you can determine what is wrong… I will begin." She held out her hand and started chanting. Familiar glyphs formed, the ones I recognized as Fire. Her mana surged, the spell was on the verge of completion… and then it fell apart, crumbling like a sandcastle in the waves.

Seeing that, my eyes widened.

Lysithea huffed and crossed her arms, her eyes narrowed. "Again…!" She shook her head and said, "I've asked Professor Hanneman, but he had no answer to why I can't use Reason Magic. My theory should be perfect and my calculations aren't wrong. So why…?" She sighed and looked at me. "What do you think, Professor? Have you come across something similar in your time as a mercenary?"

"I'm… Maybe. Could you do it again, Lysithea?"

Lysithea frowned, but then she nodded and held out her hand again.

This time, however, I focused. My left arm drew in the ambient mana and checked the levels. My eyes narrowed and tried to see the flow of mana, like I did for the Agarthans.

Lysithea started casting. The glyphs for Fire showed up again. She chanted… and then the spell stopped, the glyphs crumbling apart like sand.

But that time I saw it.

Lysithea sighed. "Well, Professor?"

I shook my head and then held out my hand. I copied the way her mana flowed, the shape of it, the form, and then tried casting a Fire spell.

Unlike Lysithea, I managed to get a flame to form, but it quickly spluttered out of existence. No, instead of spluttering, it dissolved. Almost as if blown away into dust.

Lysithea's eyes widened and she pointed. "That! That's exactly what happens the few times I make a flame, Professor! You have to tell me what you did!"

I frowned. "That…"

How could I explain it?

Usually, mana was continuous. A wave form that carried energy to enact phenomena.

Dark Magic was different, breaking up mana into discrete particles and realigning them in a particular structure to enact a phenomenon.

It was just a guess, but from the results I had, it turned out to be the answer.

Lysithea's mana was casting Fire like it would for a Dark Magic spell. No, it would be better fit to say that her mana was only suited for a Dark Magic spell. It was too erratic and volatile, probably from the clash of the two crests. While that made it easier to break the mana into pieces, collapsing the waves into particles, it made it impossible to cast ordinary Reason Magic, which operated under the assumption that mana would be continuous.

I paused and then said, "What about Faith Magic, Lysithea? Have you had any problem with that?"

"Hm?" She paused and then shook her head. "No. At least, I don't believe so? I can cast Warp without any issue if that is any use."

Right. That was true.

Then again, Faith magic was a bit weird. It was sort of just trusting the magic to work out, meaning the makeup of the mana didn't matter. It just moved to fill whatever you needed it to do.

"I think I've figured out your problem then."

Lysithea's eyes widened. "You have?"

I glanced around and then said, "This isn't the best place to talk about it though."

"Hm? Why not… Ah!" She nodded. "I heard that you have trade secrets, Professor. Is this one of them? If so, I completely understand."

I shook my head. "No. Nothing like that. This… has to do with your own secrets."

Lysithea froze, her eyes completely locked on me.

I frowned and said, "Now I won't pry. After all, there isn't any one of us here who doesn't have their own secrets that they want to keep under lock and key. However, I will say that your affinity towards magic… no, your very mana itself has changed to become incompatible with ordinary Reason Magic."

"My mana?" Lysithea placed a hand on her chin and frowned. After a few moments, her eyes widened and she lowered it. "The experiments-" She cut herself off and stared at me.

I quickly averted my gaze, staring out at the other students.

"…You already know, Professor."

It wasn't a question.

I sighed. "Sorry."

Lysithea shook her head. "It's fine. You're my Professor, so it was inevitable that you would learn of it eventually." She sighed. "I will not ask how you found out, but since you already know, there is no point to hide it." She lowered her gaze and said, "My Crests… I did not always-"

I shook my head. "Don't tell me."

"Professor?"

I sighed and said, "I don't want you to feel pressured to tell me. And it's not like I need to know to help you. While I'd like to hear the full story sometime… let's do it over some nice tea and sweets, alright?"

Lysithea stared at me for a moment and then nodded, a smile on her face. "Very well, Professor. That's a promise."

"Of course. I'll even bring out some cakes and cookies."

"B-Bribing me won't win you my favor, you know! I am no child!"

"Isn't that obvious? But I have been meaning to practice baking, so it's a good excuse."

"O-Oh."

"Anyway." I shook my head and said, "We should probably get started on solving your mana problem."

Lysithea frowned. "You have a solution? I do not meant to doubt your abilities, Professor, but…"

I shook my head. "It's not permanent, but it should be good for a little while. Long enough for you to get some practice in."

Lysithea stared at me, skeptical. "And that would be?"

"First, I need your hand."

Lysithea flushed and took a step back. "P-P-Professor! You are already engaged! F-Furthermore, we have barely gotten to know each other. A-And…"

I blinked and then sighed. "No. I'm not asking for your hand in marriage, Lysithea."

I knew I should have cut off the talk about marriage and love earlier… It seemed like young corruptible Lysithea got her head full of weird ideas.

Lysithea let out a long sigh. "Thank the Goddess. Ah, not that I think you are unattractive, Professor! In fact, I do believe it would be hard to find a husband more qualified in all of Fodlan. Moreover-"

I laughed and shook my head. "It's fine, Lysithea. I can see where you got the misunderstanding." My face dimmed and I said, "…And it seems like I got my first volunteer for team building exercises tomorrow."

Ferdinand did want to have a chat with Dorothea. What better way than under shared misery?

A win for him and I get to punish Dory a bit for bringing up the talk about marriage and lovers.

"Anyway, I don't mean anything by it. Besides, you're more like a kid sister to me than anything else."

"A sister?"

"…Does that bother you?"

Lysithea shook her head. "No. But… Hm. I think I can understand what Linhardt meant now when he talked about you…"

I frowned. "That guy's been talking about me behind my back? Looks like he doesn't need that much extra credit after all if he's got that much spare time…"

Lysithea laughed.

I blinked at that.

She paused, surprised her self and then quickly put on a proper face. "My apologies, Professor."

"It's fine. Anyway, your hand?"

Lysithea nodded and walked over. Still, it seemed that the talk from this morning was still on her mind as she flushed a bit when she reached out her right hand.

I decided to not bring it up. Wouldn't end well to tease the young girl with the magical force and control to use Quake Sigma better than I could. Instead, I grabbed her hand with my left hand and focused.

"U-Um, Professor?" Lysithea stared at me and said, "Might I ask what-"

"Shush. Be quiet and try to draw out your mana. Like you're casting a spell, but without forming any glyphs or chanting."

Lysithea frowned and then nodded.

As soon as she did, I could feel it. Mana pulsing through her body, flowing through her veins. At the same time, I used my artificial crest to draw a bit into my own body to analyze it.

Lysithea winced. "Professor. Your hand is cold."

"Focus."

"But… No. I understand."

She sighed and continued.

…I'd have to remember to get her a treat after this. She was placing a great deal of trust in me, something I didn't quite earn yet. But hopefully after this, I should make it up a bit.

But first… Lysithea's mana.

As expected from having undergone the Agarthan experiments, it was completely jumbled up, more so than Edelgard's. However, it wasn't quite as dire.

Where Edelgard's body was on the verge of being overtaken by her Crests due to them going berserk, Lysithea's body seemed to just be damaged from the fluctuations of her dual Crests.

It was a similar event, but also different.

The Crest of Flames and Seiros were stable in Edelgard's body, the two forming a balance for the most part until Solon did something to break that balance, causing the two to strive for dominance. In the process, however, they were draining at Edelgard's natural mana and life. While a byproduct of that was increased strength due to both Crest being constantly active, it was a precarious line and something that wouldn't last.

Lysithea's situation, however, seemed to be different. Unlike the Crest of Flames and Seiros, her Crests weren't stable. The two constantly clashed, the mana from the Crest of Gloucester and the Crest of Charon breaking apart with each impact and forming particles. Those particles were being dissolved into her bloodstream, mixing with her ordinary mana. But because they were so volatile, it broke that up too, causing a chain reaction.

No wonder she wasn't given long to live. The body wasn't designed to use mana as particles… at least in this world, so it was causing harm to her rather than good. Almost like free radicals in chemistry. The high energy particles were causing damage to her body by bouncing around everywhere.

Knowing that, her nickname of being a magical nuke was more than just a bit ironic.

I shook my head.

Lysithea frowned. "Can you not do anything after all, Professor? If so-"

"I can. Just thinking. Give me a bit."

This was new information.

The first plan was for me to cast Fire holding onto her so she could get a feel for the spell until I figured out a solution, but now…

The main problem was that her mana was being broken up into pieces. That was essential in casting Dark Magic, but the worst when casting ordinary Reason Magic. Unfortunately, Lysithea didn't have any control over that, since her Crests were forcibly ripping her mana apart due to their clashing natures.

In that case, the solution was simple. I just had to bring them back into alignment... Or so I would if it wasn't for the possibly dire consequences of a single misstep.

That was something that I'd discuss with Hanneman and Manuela first.

But for now, there was one way I could help.

Lysithea's problem in casting Reason Magic was that she had no ordinary mana to use. While I couldn't the source of the problem, I could alleviate the symptom a bit.

After all, I had a handy dandy mana converter in my left arm and my mana was about the most stable anyone could get considering how pure it was.

So…

I focused on the flow of Lysithea's mana through her veins and then carefully added my own into it.

The moment I did, Lysithea's eyes widened. "P-Professor? This…?" She looked confused, but I ignored her.

I had to focus. While nothing bad would happen to her if I messed up… I'd be pretty low on mana if I did. And considering that I had a date later, that'd be a problem.

Lysithea noticed my focus and kept quiet, though she looked more surprised as time went on.

After a few minutes, I let go of her hand and sighed. "There. It's only temporary, maybe only for about an hour, but you should be able to cast Reason Magic for a while."

Lysithea didn't respond. Instead, she slowly opened and clenched her hands. After that, she moved her body, taking slow steps. "It… doesn't hurt?"

"Hm?" I narrowed my eyes. "What was that?"

"N-Nothing, Professor!" Lysithea quickly shook her head and said, "So, how should I do this?"

The way she deflected my question… It seemed like I'd need to have a talk with Hanneman and Manuela sooner rather than later.

And make sure to personally stab a few Agarthans in the near future.

I shook my head and said, "Your theory is perfect. Just follow it and things should work out."

Lysithea nodded and then slowly raised her right hand before starting to chant.

Was she still doubtful? The glyphs forming were small, only enough to conjure a small flame rather than a fireball. Still, as she continued casting, instead of crumbling away, they solidified, forming a small flame.

Lysithea's eyes widened and she stared at the flame, transfixed.

I smiled and patted her head. "Good job. Looks like it worked. Now, remember that-"

Before I could say anything else, Lysithea wrapped me in a tight hug.

"Thank you, Professor! You have… you have no idea how much this means to me. Ever since that time, I… I thought that…"

I sighed and patted her back. "Enough of that. Go practice a bit. Wouldn't want the others to think I'm trying to win you over too or something…"

She laughed and stepped back. "Of course. I wouldn't dare want to earn the ire of Edelgard." After that, Lysithea moved over to the side and started practicing magic with all the energy and enthusiasm that a girl her age should have. Not the serious and gloomy nature that she had taken to carrying.

Seeing that brought a small smile to my face.

Especially considering the important hint it gave me to fixing Delly's problem.

And speaking of Delly… I still had to figure out what to do for dinner with her.

I sighed and started wracking my mind again.

Maybe I should try making some pasta…

Author's Notes:

It seems possible that I may have caught something again. I've been going to the gym every day to work out, so I think it's probably because of that. Public places and colds, sweating, etc...

Just have a cough now, and hoping it stays that way, but I might take a few days off if things get worse. Just a heads up.

There's a few references in this chapter with the cadet's 'deaths', so kudos to whoever can point those out.

Thanks for reading and leaving your input! Not too sure how this chapter is, but I hope it was enjoyable nevertheless.

I'll see you hopefully soon! Take care and stay healthy!