Chapter Two
Ever since his run-in with the House Riegan heir a few months ago, Yuri had been reluctant to return to the surface.
He wasn't afraid of anyone up there, not in the least. There wasn't a single noble brat in the entire Officers Academy who'd be able to put up a fight against him, and he didn't have any particular qualms about offing them if it came down to it. Sure, it'd completely shatter the fragile alliance he'd managed to forge with Rhea and her church, but that was only if he got caught. Which he wouldn't.
So no. It wasn't the students that frightened him, or even the knights, really. It was that damned new professor.
Byleth Eisner, the Ashen Demon herself.
He hadn't gotten a chance to see her himself, but his scouts had been coming back with reports on her since her arrival at the end of the Great Tree Moon. Each report was different, but they were all relayed to him with some similarities. That she was a force of nature, that her beloved deerlings excelled far beyond the other two house thanks to her tutelage, that she was ubiquitously loved by all despite her supposedly apathetic nature. And of course, he was more than familiar with her other title. Everyone in Fódlan's underbelly had heard stories of the Ashen Demon and the Blade Breaker's mercenary band. They were legends, plain and simple.
He would begrudgingly admit he was impressed.
That said, Yuri still wasn't afraid of her. Especially once he learned she was no older than himself. Sure, she'd been a mercenary for most of her life, but so had he. While he didn't have the Blade Breaker teaching him how to fight, he'd still wager that they'd be evenly matched.
But what did worry him was what would happen if she caught wind of his presence. Her perceptiveness was supposedly second-to-none, and despite her lack of expressiveness, the reports made it sound as though she cared about her students quite a bit. Enough that—should she perceive any explicit threats to their lives—she wouldn't rest until they were eliminated. All it would take was a single sighting by her or one of her students, and she'd be on his tail.
And he couldn't have that, now could he? It was his understanding that Rhea was unhealthily obsessed with the woman, and if the professor snapped her fingers, everything he'd worked for in Abyss would likely disappear in turn.
"Boss, did you hear? That new professor and her brats took out Lord Lonato."
Balthus entered the Ashen Wolves classroom as he always did. Loudly. Yuri was sitting at one of the desks working on his faith magic—not his favorite skill, but a necessary one—when Balthus threw open the doors and barged in.
Yuri arched an eyebrow. He'd heard about Lonato's rebellion, but he hadn't realized the professor had been assigned to quell it. Seemed rather intense for a class assignment, if you asked him. Not that it really mattered—after all, all those noble kids in her class would have to do it eventually. It was probably good for them.
"You seem oddly excited by that news," Yuri noted, closing his textbook. It was a lost cause; no work would be done until Balthus decided to leave. "Don't tell me you owed that old man money?"
"No!" His response was immediate and sure, though after a few seconds a flicker of doubt crossed over his face. "Well, at least I don't think so...but that's not the point! It's just—the professor, she's getting all this crazy action."
There it was. Another conversation about the professor. Yuri was half-convinced Balthus was in love with the woman, even though he was fairly certain he'd never laid eyes on her either. But every time news made it into Abyss that the professor had done something new, Balthus was often the first to start talking about it.
"And this is important to me, why?"
Balthus frowned. "I'm getting there! I was talking to Aelfric, and he said that the professor found a note that had plans for an assassination plot against Rhea."
Now that was interesting. "You're certain?"
"Of course," Balthus affirmed. "I even sent some of our scouts to confirm it. One of them overheard the professor and the von Riegan brat talking about it—apparently it's supposed to happen during the Goddess's Rite of Rebirth at the end of the month."
The mention of von Riegan made Yuri bristle slightly, but he couldn't help but perk up at the news. If someone was plotting against the Church, that meant everyone of consequence would be focused on stopping them...including the professor and her precious students. It would be the perfect time for him to return to the surface. He'd needed to sneak into the library for weeks now, as there was some information he needed to gather relating to his next big scheme.
It sounded like the end of the month was the perfect time to do it.
"You're an absolute genius, you know that, Balthus?"
Balthus chuckled. "Of course I do, Boss. I'm the smartest guy I know."
Now, Yuri didn't have time to delve into that, so he settled for a noncommittal hum instead.
"By the way, I'm thinking of sneaking up to the surface for an hour or so to go to the marketplace," Balthus mentioned in a casual tone, as if it was a normal thing for him to say. "I heard there's a merchant from Kupala visiting this month, and I've got a note to send."
Yuri didn't respond right away. Going up to the surface was all but forbidden for the Ashen Wolves, but they'd all done it from time to time, obviously. Usually it was in the dead of night, though, when it was less likely for them to be spotted. Going out in broad daylight was a gamble...but he understood why. Kupala was Balthus's home region, and its secluded nature meant it was nearly impossible to get messages out. If Balthus didn't go today, there was no telling how long it'd be before he got the chance to contact home again.
"Fine," Yuri conceded. Balthus hadn't explicitly asked for permission, but Yuri knew he was looking for it. "I'll be coming with you, though. Can't risk you getting into trouble at the pub and ruining our lives."
"Hey, Teach! Think you could spare a minute?"
Byleth looked up from her papers (reason quizzes—almost all of them terrible except for Lysithea and, surprisingly, Lorenz) to see Claude sauntering towards her. He had that grin on his face she'd long since learned indicated he wanted something. At first she'd found herself dreading those looks, not wanting to get swept up in his complicated and oftentimes very illegal schemes, but now...well, she couldn't say she minded them.
She hadn't chosen Golden Deer because she felt some immediate sort of kinship with Claude. Quite the opposite, actually. When she'd first walked to Garreg Mach with the three house leaders, she found herself overwhelmed by Dimitri and Edelgard's attempts to sway her to their respective causes. She'd respected Edelgard's cool attitude and found Dimitri's earnestness endearing, but they both seemed more interested in "beating" the other to gaining her loyalty than anything else.
Claude, on the other hand, was a locked box. Despite his easy grins and pretty words, his eyes were as closed off as she'd often heard her own were. Compared to the other two leaders, he didn't seem to particularly want anything from her. When he'd asked for her name, she had the feeling he genuinely wanted to know. A simple reason to choose his house, she knew, but when she was forced to make her decision her mind went back to that moment instinctively. The way he'd smiled when she told him. It was a real smile. The only one she'd seen from him so far.
And maybe there was a small part of her that wanted to see him smile like that again, though she wasn't sure why.
You're an idiot. Sothis sighed in the back of her mind. It's sad, really.
Ignoring her and whatever she meant by that, Byleth nodded to Claude.
"What do you want?" she deadpanned. Might as well get right to it.
He pouted at her tone, though she was certain he wasn't actually offended by her bluntness. Her students had long since gotten used to her way of speaking, and frankly any misinterpretations at this point were their faults.
"Why is it you always think I want something?" Claude sighed, clucking his tongue. Byleth frowned at him, and he rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. I need you to come with me to the marketplace."
That certainly wasn't what she was expecting. "And you need me to go because...?"
"Because, Teach, I heard there's going to be a merchant from Kupala there today."
Kupala. Byleth had been there once when she was very young. She didn't remember much about it, except that its people were exceedingly secretive and had a habit of attacking outsiders. Her father had only gotten them in by invitation; he had an old friend who was a native. Byleth couldn't imagine what business Claude could have with someone from that place.
He'd obviously gotten better at reading her silences, because he took it as a cue to elaborate.
"The Kupalans have a unique relationship with magic. Lots of mystical do-dads and whats-its that can make miracles happen. I'm hoping we'll find something that will help us figure out who's trying to off the archbishop."
"That explains your interest in going, but not why you need me to come with you," she pointed out, though she was already standing up. Deep down, she knew there was no use fighting it. Claude had a unique talent in getting her to do what he wanted.
"Because, Teach." His grin was downright lethal. "You're the one with the fat sack of Church gold."
Yuri hated crowded places, and the marketplace was particularly infuriating. Noblemen and commoners alike pressed together as they tried to get the best views of the various merchants' wares, shouting and screeching over one another in attempts to barter for better prices, or curse out merchants who refused to accept any less than the listed amounts of gold. One thing he actually preferred about Abyss was its open, cavernous architecture. No matter where you went, it was never crowded.
He could hardly say the same for the surface.
"You're sure about this, Balthus?" Yuri hissed from beneath his hideous brown cloak, made out of some rough fabric that he could just tell was completely ruining his hair.
"As sure as I've ever been," Balthus boomed back, having no issue getting his voice to carry across the loud marketplace landscape. In any other setting, he would have yelled at Balthus for being so careless. But he was certain no one was paying any attention to them with the chaos that surrounded them.
They walked around for another five minutes or so, stopping only once, when a particularly enthusiastic merchant with a shock of magenta hair made a very enthusiastic effort to sell them new shields. As Yuri did his best to ward the woman off in a marginally polite manner, Balthus let out a large shout.
"There! I think I see him!"
Yuri turned around immediately, his eyes tracing the line of Balthus's finger to a small cart in the corner of the marketplace. Laid out before it were piles of inexplicable objects, likely magical talisman of some sort. Kupala had a knack for doing weird things with magic—he had his own run-ins with its natives to attest to that.
He and Balthus made there way quickly over to the cart, and Yuri sighed in relief when they arrived. At the moment the merchant only had two other customers: an attractive blue-haired girl and a handsome boy with brown skin of a similar tone to Hapi's. They were too busy sifting through the merchant's goods to pay him or Balthus any mind. That suited Yuri just fine. It would make slipping the note to the merchant even easier.
As Balthus busied himself with doing so, Yuri let his eyes wander over the Kupalan objects. All of them were so strange, some glowing with barely contained magic while others were carved out of materials that Yuri had never seen before. He hummed in interest, picking up a small, metallic orb that buzzed in his hand.
"Well, this stinks," the tan-skinned boy's voice travelled to Yuri's ears. Something about it was familiar, though he couldn't exactly place what. "I really thought we'd find something here, Teach. I'm sorry to have wasted your time."
Yuri's brow furrowed. Where had he heard that voice before? He edged closer to the pair, taking care to move slowly as to not alert them to his movements. His curiosity was simply getting the better of them.
"That's alright," the woman's voice, on the other hand, was wholly unfamiliar. Smooth and sure, it was quite a pleasant sound in his ears, but not the one he wanted to hear at the moment. "We'll find answers some other way, I'm sure. How about we go back to the monastery? It's almost time for lunch."
So they lived in the monastery. Neither looked like people of the Church, nor did either seem old enough to be knights. That could only mean...Yuri stiffened. Officers Academy. The very people he'd been hoping to avoid.
"I guess," the boy mumbled, clearly upset about whatever he'd been unable to find. "I was just really hoping I'd be able to make it easier on us..."
"Honestly, Claude. Don't worry about it."
Oh, no.
Yuri hadn't been able to get a good look at the von Riegan heir that night, but now he was kicking himself for not realizing it sooner. That voice. How could he have forgotten? Plus, he'd heard the rumors that von Riegan was not entirely Fódlan-grown, to say the least. His skin tone should have been a dead giveaway. And that meant the woman had to be...
"Balthus, we need to leave. Now," Yuri hissed, twirling around to face his companion, who was now chatting animatedly with the Kupalan merchant. "Those two behind me. They're the von Riegan brat and his professor."
Balthus's eyes widened.
"The professor?" He looked over Yuri's shoulder, his eyes no doubt scanning over the woman he'd been obsessing over for months. "No way. She's so tiny!"
Yuri privately agreed; the woman hardly looked like the otherworldly force his scouts had made her out to be. But they didn't have time for that discussion now. They'd managed to run into the two people he'd been intent on avoiding, and they needed to move quickly in case von Riegan recognized him.
"Hey, Teach, am I crazy or do you smell strawberries?"
Shit. That was him. And it was the same scent he'd been wearing that night.
"Move. Now." Yuri grabbed Balthus by the hand and started dragging him through the marketplace, not caring how much of a scene they were making. Von Riegan catching wind of his presence was a much bigger issue than a random merchant seeing him. After all, he hadn't tried to kill any of the merchants.
...At least, not that he remembered.
"Claude, you're acting strange."
Teach peered at him from behind her teacup, her voice a pitch or two higher than her normal speaking voice. The subtle change was the closest she ever got to sounding concerned, so he knew she had to be genuinely worried about him.
Claude sighed, sipping contemplatively on his Almyran pine needle tea. Teach had bought a box of the rare drink once she realized his affinity for it, as she'd done with each of the Golden Deer's favorites. It was sweet of her. And it was part of the reason he was even considering telling her about what he'd seen in the marketplace.
Had anyone told Claude two months ago that he'd be sharing tea with the Ashen Demon as he prepared to bear his soul to her about an assassination attempt, he'd not have believed them. He'd kept his distance from her for those first few weeks with her as his professor, her blank stare still unsettling. He thought she'd never prove herself to be someone he could trust.
Then they'd all somehow survived their mission against Kostas and his bandit gang, and Claude knew that—had Teach not been the one to lead them there—not all of them would have made it back to the monastery alive. All the Deer knew it; Hilda even made her a bracelet to show her gratitude, and Claude had been there when she presented it to Teach.
He still remembered the smile that had crossed her face at the sight of it.
It was small, barely an upturned quirk of her lips, but it was real, and that alone was enough to make his chest pound. Claude started seeing his Teach in a new light after that (for one, she became his Teach), and he was certain that, with a little bit of convincing, she'd prove a powerful ally when the time came.
But the present situation still remained: should he tell her?
"Claude," Teach pressed again, depositing her teacup on the courtyard table with a small frown. "You've been like this since we left the marketplace. Are you really that disappointed that we didn't find anything?"
He smirked at her, hoping that he'd be able to tease her enough to divert her attention.
"Aw, Teach, I didn't know you paid that much attention to me."
He'd expected a blank stare in return. Maybe even a glare, if she had the energy to muster one. But instead of boring into him, her big purple eyes blinked rapidly and looked downward at her teacup.
"Of course I pay attention to you." Her voice was little more than a whisper, and Claude had to lean in to hear her properly. "You're my student. It's my job to look after you. To care."
There it was again. That odd feeling in his chest.
The words were hardly laced with emotion, and logically Claude knew she likely meant nothing grand with them. But coming from Teach? It was probably the kindest thing she'd ever said to him. To anyone, he'd wager.
"I'm touched," Claude joked, though he wasn't joking. "Anyways, I'm really fine. I just...I thought I saw someone I knew at the marketplace, and it surprised me."
He decided he didn't want to worry her with the truth. Teach had enough on her plate already. But what he said wasn't quite a lie, either, and that made Claude feel a bit better. He didn't like the idea of lying to his Teach.
He hoped she knew that.