It was rare to find Lysithea in the Mess Hall, mostly because she usuallu had her meals in either her own bedroom or the library. Technically you weren't supposed to eat in the library, but she was the general exception to most rules in that place.
Unfortunately, Marisa was here now. And that meant getting dragged from her room in the morning and forced to eat with her at the same table. Not that having a meal with her was entirely unpleasant… honestly it was quite nostalgic.
"Food here's pretty good," Marisa commented with her mouth full of Beast Meat Teppanyaki.
"They have to keep to high standards for the nobility," Lysithea explained as she quickly devoured her Saghert and Cream.
"Must be nice having people ready to cook for you all the time."
"Well we need to spend as much time as possible training, learning, and studying… Also we're occasionally assigned kitchen duty."
"Kitchen duty eh…"
"Is this seat taken?" A regal and poised voice asked.
"Edelgard!" Lysithea quickly perked up at the entrance of the Imperial Princess. "Of course it isn't! There will always be a seat for you."
"Thank you," Edelgard nodded before sitting next to Lysithea with her own Fish and Bean soup. "You must be the new arrival," she then addressed the Ordinary Magician. "I am Edelgard Von Hresvelg, Princess of the Adrestian Empire."
"Royalty eh?" Marisa tilted her hat. "Marisa Kirisame. Ordinary Magician and Incident Resolver Extraordinaire."
"Did your House's assignment go well?" Lysithea asked the Princess.
"We dispatched the enemy quickly and completed the mission with few losses on our side."
"That's great. It seems like all the Houses have done well for their first missions."
"Indeed. Our classmates this year seem exceptionally talented," Edelgard looked over Marisa carefully. "Especially you if the stories are to be believed."
"Well Dimitri's seen how I fight," Marisa replied smugly.
"Lysithea actually. She told me quite a lot about you." Edelgard glanced at Lysithea. "This is the dear friend you were talking about, correct?"
"… yes," Lysithea admitted with a light blush to her face.
"Dear… friend?" A bright smile appeared on Marisa's face before she suddenly leaned over the table to rub Lysithea atop her head. "Never thought you could be so sweet to me."
"If you'd prefer me to roast you alive, I can do that right now," Lysithea bit back.
"Sure, I can go for a round, after we're done eating of course," Marisa replied as she sat back down. "So what exactly did Lys say about me?"
"It is not my right to say," Edelgard replied much to Lysithea's relief.
"Too bad. There are a lot of stories I could tell you if you had something for me."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Anyway," Lysithea interrupted, eager to change the subject. "What are your opinions on the Blue Lions now that you're in their class?"
Marisa put on a thoughtful expression. "A bit too early to say, but they're interesting. Actually, I got a meeting with Hanneman later. Says he wants to test my blood for something."
"For a Crest?" Edelgard asked. "You wouldn't happen to have one?"
Marisa shook her head. "Nah. Just an ordinary human. Nothing special about me."
"An even more impressive feat then, at least from what Dimitri has told me about your combat prowess," Edelgard replied.
"Ah that's nothin," Marisa waved her off. "There's a reason they call me the number two of Gensokyo."
"It is something. You'd be surprised by the effort Marisa will go to hide her actual effort," Lysithea informed Edelgard.
"Ah Lys. Why you gotta rat me out?"
"For calling me a child. And for having to clean help up your messes every time an experiment or new spell of yours fails. Which is a lot by the way, she can be very reckless with her methods."
"Ah, better to try and fail rather than be too scared to do anything at all," Marisa argued. "You and Patchy spend so much time putting in safety measure after safety measure, but it's not like either of you are completely faultless either."
Lysithea nodded. "I admit to that. It is the concessions and risks one has to make to truly delve into magic. But it's one thing to take necessary risks for the sake of progress. It's another to leave gunpowder next to an open window or leave an unmarked glass vial of Aqua Regia in your kitchen."
"Hey, that thing was perfectly sealed and put into a stasis spell. You were the one who decided to try and clean up my kitchen without even asking me what it was."
"That's because your organizational skills are non-existent! I'm surprised you're able to find anything in that trash heap!"
"Look, I know where everything is when I need it. And it ain't trash. Most of that stuff has got some real value!"
"Ahem," Edelgard interrupted the two before they could argue any further. "I'm glad you two are getting along, but perhaps the Mess Hall isn't the best place to be having this sort of conversation."
"My apologies Edelgard," Lysithea was quick to apologize.
"Eh sure, time and place for everything," Marisa conceded. "You're the leader of a House right, Edelgard?"
Edelgard nodded. "Yes, the Black Eagles."
"Are you trying to recruit Lys into yours?"
"Marisa!" Lysithea said, slightly affronted. "This isn't something that you should just accuse-"
"I have considered it, yes," Edelgard admitted.
Lysithea looked at Edelgard in shock and awe. "What?"
"You're an excellent student, you're skilled in magic, and I find you good company," Edelgard replied plainly. "I would not be against you transferring Houses, so long as that is what you wish."
"That… I'll have to get back to you on that," Lysithea replied. It was definitely something to consider. She might've jumped right on the opportunity if she had been offered it before the school year had started, back when Claude had done his bit to embarrass her in front of the entire Monastery. Now though… "Claude is not… entirely objectionable as a House Leader as infuriating he can be. And the Professor has a lot of promise despite being newly assigned to his role."
"I understand," Edelgard replied. "Teacher is an exceptional individual. It makes me wish he would've chosen to teach my class, but the past is the past. All we can do is move forward."
"We can all agree on that," Marisa replied.
"Well Miss Kirisame, your blood results have come back. You do not have any trace of a Crest."
"Told ya," Marisa replied as she sat in Hanneman's office. "You think I was lying about that?"
"Not at all. I just wished to make sure, on rare occasions a person might actually have Crest but simply never had an opportunity that would cause it to activate and thus make itself known."
"These Crests, are they really gifts from a Goddess?"
"So they say. But there is much about Crests that we do not know, which is why I wish to see if their presence can be found in other lands."
"Not in Gensokyo," Marisa replied. Or at least not in the same way a blessing was given here. Probably best not to talk about the whole medley of Gods that decided to live there. "Too bad you had to waste your time on my blood."
"It wasn't a waste at all. In fact, it helps to have samples from people of foreign lands whether or not their blood has special attributes. In most cases it seems that their bloodwork matches up with ours, which suggests a similarity to those of Fodlan despite having a different appearance or culture."
"I could tell you that. People are people and I'm completely and utterly normal."
"What is normal though?" Hanneman asked. "Its definition is something that changes depending on the people and culture you ask. If you're asking whether your results of your blood are within a healthy range, then yes. Though even in that there are cases where average results can be strange as well."
"How so?" Marisa asked.
"You know Lysithea well, correct?"
"Yea."
"Well could you take a look at her results? Lindhart and I have been quite curious about them."
"You sure you should be showing me this?" Marisa asked as she grabbed the page she had been handed. Her eyes immediately went wide as she looked at the results.
Damn it. Lys had messed up. Bad.
"I'd assume you know something about this," Hanneman now looked at her with way too much interest. "Considering your reaction."
At that moment Marisa realized that she had messed up too.
"Aha, Lysithea. I've been meaning to speak with you."
"Unfortunately, I do not have the time," Lysithea replied to Lindhart before she turned around and walked away. She needed to get away from him before he ruined her morning.
Lindhart spent way too much time with Hanneman and both were passionate in their pursuit of Crests. She wanted nothing to do with Crests or either of them.
"Are you sure? It's a perfect opportunity to speak considering that it is unlikely that anyone could overhear us," Lindhart gestured to their surroundings.
Lysithea paused. "And how is that important?"
Lindhart smiled. "It's wrong to tease, yet I can hardly help myself... I know a secret. Your secret in fact."
"What are you talking about?" Lysithea was quick to reply.
"Well... It's a secret that could completely overturn what is considered common knowledge in Crest research..."
There was no way. No one here knew she had Crests.
Lysithea glanced at her ring. It should've prevented anyone from detecting her Crests and she had made sure to give Hanneman a false blood sample that she herself had created. "You know I haven't tested for any Crests, right?"
"A blood sample you provided. Yet you left behind other things such as hair and saliva that I could test on."
"That is clearly disgusting and an invasion of privacy. I should have you reported to the Knights."
"I'd say submitting a false blood sample would also get you in trouble. Also, why Crests in a plural sense and not just a Crest?"
… Shit.
Lysithea tugged on her ribbon. He had gotten her, but it still wasn't enough. She could get away with this. "I was just saying that of the many Crests out there, I didn't test positive for a single one."
"You pull on your ribbon whenever you're feeling nervous," Lindhart replied.
Lysithea froze. Her hand on the end of her ribbon like he had said. She was disgusted that this… boy had paid such attention to her without her even knowing and even more frightened of the possibility of what else he had observed. "And how is that any of your business?" she asked as she put her hand down to her side.
"You also didn't deny the possibility of someone having multiple Crests. Normally people would point that out. It is also peculiar how you have a tendency to avoid Hanneman and I."
"That still doesn't answer my question. How is this any of your business?" Lysithea asked.
"Lysithea. Don't worry," Lindhart leaned in a bit closer and lowered his voice. "If someone were to learn that you have two Crests, I might lose you as a test subject."
Test subject. What she was with those men in those masks back when she was a child. When she was considered more of a thing than a person in the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
Lysithea's hands lit up with black flames. She slowly moved forward as Lindhart carefully retreated with wide eyes.
Never again. She refused to be that again. "If you think that there will be anything left of you to do that to me or to let anyone else know." She raised her hand in his direction. "Then you have another thing coming."
"Wait!" Lindhart shouted and raised his hand in surrender. "I was just testing a hypothesis. I wasn't too sure if my guess was accurate, that's why I confronted you about it."
"That doesn't give me any reason not to kill you."
"Do you really think you could hide my corpse from the faculty and clean up the crime scene in broad daylight?"
"Tch." Lysithea lowered her hands.
He was right. She couldn't just kill him. But…
She suddenly reached forward, grabbed him by his arm, and turned him around with her hand against his back. "We are going to my room and if you run or try to scream for help, then you'll know it's like to feel the wrath of a Witch."
"Are the bindings really necessary?" Lindhart asked as made no move to escape from the chair that he had been magically tied to. He didn't seem scared at all, surprisingly. "Also, you have a very interesting room."
"Yes and yes," Lysithea replied as she continued to write onto a scroll with her quill. It had been difficult to get him into her room without anything, or at least she hoped no one saw. It would be hard to explain.
"What are you doing?"
"Creating a Contract."
"A Contract?"
"A Witch's Contract," Lysithea replied as she filled out the last margin and set down the quill. Once the ink dried she sat down in front of Lindhart and showed him the contents of the scroll. "All the terms are here. You will read it and then stamp down on it with your own blood in order to enact the magic tied to it."
"A Magically Binding Contract then. Those are quite rare, I'd imagine there are very few mages in Fodlan if any that know how to do it," Lindhart replied with interest as he read the Contract. "Can't you just take my blood then?"
"Magic like this has to be done with consent," Lysithea explained. "Without it this would essentially just be a low level hex or curse, that wouldn't really work as well. This though guarantees your cooperation."
"I am to not inform anyone about your Crests. If I say anything about your Crests I will be compelled to destroy all of my research, correct?"
"Yes."
"Okay I'll sign it. How will this be done? Cutting me and dripping down the blood or will pricking my thumb work?"
Lysithea blinked, not quite expecting how easy that had been. "You realize that this is a binding Magical Contract that will enact its price should you break it? There's nothing on it that you want to discuss or change?"
"I was never planning to tell anyone else in the first place, at least not willingly, so this is hardly an inconvenience," Lindhart explained. "Neither was I ever planning to do anything physical to you without permission."
"Then why did you confront me about it!?"
"Scientific curiosity. When I said test subject, I only meant it as someone I could observe and a few questions, I didn't mean to trigger some past trauma."
"I'm not," Lysithea set down her scroll and began to hug herself. "Traumatized."
"Clear evidence states otherwise."
Lysithea sighed. "Whatever. So you really did this just to satisfy your curiosity?"
"That and my quest for knowledge. Crests truly do fascinate me, but I have no intention of hurting anyone with my research."
"Wait, so this Contract was entirely unnecessary then?"
"Very much so. Though I would do my best to convince you to join in Hanneman and mine's research on Crests neither of us would go out of our way to force it on you. The most we'd do is end up annoying you."
"Hanneman knows too?"
"We have the same suspicions… though he did encourage me not to approach you in the way I did."
"Maybe you should've listened to him," Lysithea replied as she snapped her fingers to quickly cut Lindhart's ropes.
"Is the Contract permanent by the way?" Lindhart asked as he was cut free.
"No. I put a clause in it that lets me cancel it at any time. Why?"
Lindhart suddenly bit down on his thumb, swiped the Contract out of Lysithea's hand, and then stamped it on the scroll.
"What are you doing!?" Lysithea shouted.
"Just ensuring your trust. I could've been lying just now to deceive you; this proves that I am genuine with what I just said."
"… You know what, it's fine," Lysithea replied as she set the scroll on fire and nullified the Contract. "If you and Hanneman both know and haven't told anyone else yet… Okay, I just have to ask. How did you get suspicious of me?" She needed to know so that she could avoid something like this in the future.
"Well as I said before you tended to take great strides to avoid Hanneman and I, but what really tipped me off was your blood sample. The results were too normal."
"Too normal?"
"Almost everyone's blood has something that's divergent from the mean. A slightly higher white blood count, a slight discoloration, clotting, there's always one thing or another that will go slightly outside of the average. Variance, it is a result of biological processes and what makes each of us unique. Especially when it comes to a Magic user. Even if you're casting your spells safely some trace of it should've been left behind in your blood. So, imagine mine and Hanneman's surprise when your blood came out completely average on all fields. Utterly and completely average, no variation or imperfections whatsoever. Like it was created in a lab and not coming from a real person"
Lysithea put a hand to her forehead as she realized what he was saying. She had spent so much time constructing a perfect blood sample that it ended up being too perfect for any person to have. "You know what. I think we're done for today. I need to go and slam my head on my desk."
As soon as she deactivated the spells in her room that would essentially soundproof the room from outside, someone began to knock on the door.
"Lys we've got an issue," Marisa said from the other side.
Lysithea let out a groan as she opened the door and let Marisa in. "What now?"
"I-" Marisa looked at Lindhart, the chair, and then the cut ropes on the floor. "What sort of kinky shit have you two been doing?"
"Damn it Marisa it's not that. I was just ensuring Lindhart's silence on certain matters. Not that it was apparently needed," Lysithea grumbled.
"This about your Crests?"
"I had a feeling you'd know too," Lindhart commented.
"Yea well… pretty sure Hanneman knows something about it too."
Lysithea sighed. "What did you do?"
"I can't believe you jumped out of his office window," Lysithea said as she shook her head. It was perfectly understandable that Marisa would get outed by Hanneman much like Lindhart had done to herself, but wasn't that a complete overreaction?
"I'm sorry I panicked," Marisa apologized.
"At the very least Hanneman is willing to say that you were just delivering something for him," Lysithea sighed as she sat on Marisa's bed. "And that he and Lindhart will keep my Crests a secret."
"Isn't that a good thing Lys?"
"You haven't seen how persistent those two can be with anything that catches their interest. I should expect to be approached by them on a constant basis. As if the proposals and invitation for tea weren't enough."
Lysithea had given them a proper sample of her blood and left it like that. Any attempts earlier today and in the future to get her to assist in their research or talk to them about her Crests would be met with a quick and resounding no. Just because she wasn't going to kill or force either of them into a Magical binding Contract didn't mean she had to work with them.
"I actually just got a few of those," Marisa informed her. "Think I'll take some of them up on that offer if I'm not busy. The tea, not the proposals. Definitely not ready to get married yet."
If at all, judging by the state of Marisa's room. The girl had only been there for a night and the mess was already starting to build. Lysithea had also seen how bad Marisa's house could get back in the Forest of Magic; she couldn't imagine anyone willing to live in those conditions.
"I should warn you, some of these nobles are absolutely insufferable," Lysithea warned her.
"Eh, if they're really annoying then I'll just leave. Nothin stopping me."
"Basic etiquette?"
Marisa stared at Lysithea blankly.
"Fair enough," Lysithea conceded. Marisa was definitely going to piss off a lot of people and break some hearts over the school year.
"You really hate your Crests, don't you?" Marisa asked.
"And you hate your dad," Lysithea bit back. "Should we talk about that and the Kirisame household?"
Marisa frowned and crossed her arms. "Fine, don't need to make it personal."
Recent years and certain changes in the Kirisame family had made Marisa even more sensitive to that topic. Lysithea knew it hurt and she was guilty for using it against her friend… but her Crests were a topic that were just as sensitive to her. Besides, every Witch had secrets they had to keep.
Someone suddenly knocked on the door.
"Hey Marisa, have you seen Lysithea?" Leonie's voice came out from the other side.
Marisa looked at Lysithea again, shrugged, and smirked before going to open the door. "Yea she's in there," the human magician informed the girls of the Golden Deer that had gathered just outside her room.
"Did you need me for something?" Lysithea asked.
"Well, we just wanted to see if you wanted to have a girl's day out. Go to town, get some cool clothes or accessories, then get some dinner at the Mess Hall before we had a sleepover," Hilda explained.
"Really?"
The fact that they had gotten Marianne to agree to come along was the biggest surprise. Well, not so much if Hilda had been the one to pull it off.
The invitation itself didn't have anything objectionable to it either. In fact, if a day with the other girls could help learn how be like them and look a bit more mature-
"Lys would be happy to go," Marisa answered.
Lysithea looked at Marisa, annoyed. "I can make my own decisions Marisa… but yes your invitation does sound appealing to me."
"Great!" Hilda clapped her hands. "Do you want to come to Marisa? Since you and Lysithea are such good friends?"
"Sorry, apparently I was assigned to do something in the afternoon," Marisa replied. "Kinda wasn't listening so I gotta ask them when I get there."
"Don't really style my hair much apart from some ties and hairclips," Leonie commented as she looked through the selection of accessories at the store. "We could change that ribbon out for something else I guess."
"I'm not against styling my hair but the ribbon stays," Lysithea replied. She wasn't against changing her ribbon per say, but it had to be with something that she genuinely liked. Even then it'd be a temporary change at most, she had worn her ribbon for too many years to give it up now.
"Fair enough. There's this old charm Jeralt gave me that I always keep," Leonie replied as she picked up a barrette and set it aside. "Your ribbon's kinda big though. I'm no Hilda, but I think it makes it hard to add anything that will match with it."
"Well Hilda's a bit busy right now."
They both turned to said girl who was busy trying to get Marianne to try a variety of rings, necklaces, bands, and other such accessories. Marianne seemed unused to the attention but even then didn't go out of her way to reject Hilda's doting.
"You think Hilda's being too much?" Lysithea asked.
"Nah. Knowing Hilda she knows how to draw a line… or test them at the very least. You'd be surprised what she knows she can get away with."
"Doesn't stop the Professor from getting her to train."
"Well, he's different. And also can you blame her for trying?"
"Not really." Even Lysithea had to admit that sword lessons sucked.
Lysithea went back to browsing the merchandise before quickly picking up a black headband. "What about this? I think it'd work on you."
"Simple and practical," Leonie took the headband and tried it on. "But a little off to me."
"Probably need to grow your hair a bit longer I guess," Lysithea suggested.
"But long hair is such a hassle. And it's easy to get it caught or have it pulled on in the middle of battle"
"I find that having long hair isn't too much of an issue, at least in my case, though I guess I do prefer to keep my enemies at a distance. You could always try tying it in a side braid if you do grow it out. Should help keep it out of the way and you could even wrap it around the neck."
"I'll keep that in mind." Leonie put down her headband just as Hilda rejoined them with another bag full of recently purchased goods.
"Wasn't able to get Marianne much, except for a ring. By the way Lysithea, where did you get that ring of yours. It looks really cool and I don't think I've seen anything like it before."
"It was a gift from my Sensei that she made," Lysithea told her. "I can theorize the process she used to gather the material and create it, but it's likely outside my current capabilities."
"That's a shame, though magically created jewelry could have a great market," Hilda mused. "You've gotta introduce me to your Sensei or come to me once you've learned it. We could make a killing making that a trend across Fodlan."
"I'll keep that in mind," Lysithea replied as she looked at the large bags in Hilda's hands. "Is there anything else you bought?"
"Oh this? I figured we could start doing each other's nails. Get a nice manicure going."
"A manicure?" Leonie looked highly doubtful.
"We don't have to paint your nails or anything. Just clean them up a little, sand off the rough parts, and then add some conditioner. Just because you do a lot of manual labor with your hands doesn't mean they don't have to look good or healthy while doing it."
By that point Leonie looked convinced. "In that case, sure. Could use a little protection for my nails. Don't really know how to put it on though. Never really had much of a chance to use the stuff back at the village."
"And Marianne isn't that good either when it comes to this stuff," Hilda mulled before turning to Lysithea. "What about you?"
Memories of having to do Remy's nails and then being forced to do it to her Sensei while the Witch was being held down by the vampire were immediately brought back. Sensei had been mad about that for weeks, which was only slightly longer than how long the nail polish lasted. Apparently nail polish created with the magic and skills of a fate manipulating vampire was hard to get rid of, even for an experienced Witch. Who knew? "I don't claim to be an expert but I have some experience."
"Great! Means I don't have to do all the work." Hilda glanced through her bags. "Think that's enough for today. I'd say that this was a great day of shopping."
Technically Hilda had done the shopping for all four of them, but yes it was a pleasant enough experience.
"Soon we're going to get you all prettied up Marianne," Hilda said to the quiet girl.
"You don't have to go out of your way to do this for me," Marianne replied.
"It's no problem. And if I help you out now, I'm sure you'll repay the favor in the future. Now let's go girls, dinner and our sleepover awaits!"
The walk back to the Monastery wasn't particularly long and it only took a bit before they stepped through the gates where a certain House Leader of theirs happened to be.
"Yo," Claude greeted. "You ladies have a good time? Got the rest of the boys in the Mess Hall for dinner, you want to join?"
"Since we've already gathered like this it wouldn't hurt to have a meal together." Lysithea sniffed the air and quickly realized the duty that Marisa had been assigned to for the day. "Marisa's on cooking duty."
She stated it as a fact, not a question.
"Yea she is," Claude confirmed. "Looked really busy in the Mess Hall, already drawing a crowd."
"You can tell?" Leonie asked.
"Yea." Lysithea would always remember the distinctive smell of Marisa's cooking. It wasn't bad by any means, smell and appearances aside, just slightly inconsistent and the ordinary magician had very distinct preferences. "Do you guys like mushrooms, grease, and weird unidentifiable ingredients in your dinner?"
"I've had my experience with strange foods," Claude replied. "Not too sure about the rest of the guys."
"Well when it comes to Marisa's cooking it's best if you just sit down, eat, and try not to ask too many questions. I'll make sure to let the staff know the same."
Marisa, wearing a large kitchen and a chef's hat way too large for her, stood in front of the Mess Hall and smiled as she watched the full Mess Hall happily eating away at the food that she had cooked. She was no career chef, but she could appreciate when people liked her cooking.
"It seems you've taken well to this Academy Miss Kirisame," Seteth and his sister approached her with trays in their hands. "I would hope that you continue to be on your best behavior."
"Lys warned you about me, didn't she?"
"Extensively. But she, along with Dimitri, and Byleth have made great efforts to convince me and the Archbishop to allow you to attend this Academy as a student. They've put a lot of trust into you, make sure that you're worthy of it."
"Understood. I won't do anything too crazy," Marisa replied.
"Have you finished cooking?" Flayn asked.
"Yea, mostly. All the stuff is prepared so the rest of the staff can just get it ready for any stragglers."
"Then why don't you join my brother and I for a meal! I would much appreciate it if we could speak of the land that you came from. It's so hard to get much information about places outside of Fodlan."
"I admit, I am quite curious myself," Seteth admitted.
"Sure. I'll join you guys," Marisa set her hat aside, grabbed a tray for herself, and joined them at a table in the Mess Hall.
Flayn ended up doing most of the talking. Asking question after question with Seteth only occasionally asking for a bit more clarification. On Marisa's part she simply gave them the same answers and explanations she had given to the Blue Lions.
"My. This Gensokyo sounds like an incredibly unique land," Flayn commented.
Seteth on the other hand looked a bit more doubtful. "This land you described and how you ended up in Fodlan. It seems rather-"
"Unlikely? Convoluted? Like I'm just making it up? To be honest that's kind of the norm in Gensokyo," Marisa informed them. "If you do ever go there sometimes you just got to shut off that part of your brain that's complaining about common sense."
"I'll keep that in mind," Seteth replied before he took another bite of his stew. "It certainly explains your cooking though."
"Don't like it?" Marisa asked.
"It is actually quite enjoyable, just different and the techniques involved seem rather unique. I didn't think it was possible to get the mushrooms we had to this color. Did you marinate them in a specific sauce?"
"Those? I picked them from the forest out back."
It didn't take her very long to fly out there and find what she needed. The areas around the Monastery had a nice variety of fauna it utilized for cooking or her experiments.
Seteth dropped his spoon and stared at Marisa with gradually widening eyes. "What!?"
"Oh come on," Marisa replied casually as if she didn't realize the trouble that would come from an outraged Seteth. "Wild mushrooms are the best. And the ones I picked are perfectly safe, even for you guys."
Seteth paused and even Flayn looked a bit surprised.
"What do you mean by you guys?" Flayn asked.
"I mean just other people in general," Marisa replied to their visible relief. Huh something about. Maybe they weren't fully human or something? "I've got a resistance to poison from testing them out so there's a lot that I can eat that others shouldn't mess with."
"Testing them?" Flayn asked.
"Well, you know. Watching what animals are willing to eat them, putting them in potions to see what happens, eating them myself if I really want to know what they do."
"You've been eating wild and possibly dangerous plants to determine their effects?" Seteth asked, now disturbed.
"Since I was a little brat. Fodlan's got some interesting stuff too. You know some of those weeds out in the garden would make a great salad."
"I knew it!" Dimitri's triumphant voice could be heard from the middle of the cafeteria.
Seteth pinched his brow. "I can't believe this needs to be said to another person, but please Do Not Eat The Weeds! And especially don't put them in…" His eyes widened in realization and he looked down at the plate of salad that he had been content with eating just a moment ago. "You didn't."
"What? Been getting a lot of compliments on that salad," Marisa replied loudly. Enough that everyone else nearby could hear. "Though that might be because of the dressing. You have no idea how hard it was to find the woodworms and grind them up for that."
Pandemonium. Pure and utter chaos. That was one of many ways to describe that day in the Mess Hall.
The entirety of the Golden Deer, apart from Claude, Raphael, and Leonie, quickly put down their utensils and pushed their plates away as panic erupted all around them. The situation in the rest of the Mess Hall though could only be described as an absolute riot.
Dedue was busy trying to get the food away from Dimitri while Felix was trying to give the prince his portion, Mercedes looked ready to murder Marisa while she comforted a grieving Annette who sobbed that she could no longer be a bride due to worm mouth, Edelgard had practically gone catatonic in her chair as a desperate Hubert tried to resuscitate her with a fan and a wet towel, Dorothea had joined Annette in her crying while accompanied by a comforting Petra, and Byleth looked mildly curious about what was happening before continuing to eat his own food.
Lysithea in her part simply took another bite of her salad, which had a generous drizzle of honey and Marisa's dressing on top, as chaos erupted all around her. "Told them not to ask too many questions."
By the next day a new pair notices had been posted for all the students to see.
All meals cooked in the Mess Hall shall only be made with approved ingredients.
Marisa Kirisame is banned from all Mess Hall related duties.
