Time for a load of slice-of-life!

Chapter 80 – Busy Days at Garreg Mach (Ethereal Moon)

The crow of a rooster started Dorothea's day as she yawned herself awake. The sun's rays beamed down into her room from her window, providing a bit of warmth to the otherwise cold winter air. Frost, however, could clearly be seen against the glass.

Dorothea listened to the sound of chatter outside her dormitory as she slipped out of her nightgown and into her uniform. There weren't going to be any lectures that day, but she had a lot to do planned out.

The first thing on her list was to get a certain recluse to come out of her room for the day.

Exiting her room, Dorothea was met by the sight of Garreg Mach Monastery covered in a beautiful white blanket of snow. There were already plenty of people up and about, each going about the start of their day. A few of them gave her a brief wave that she returned with a smile as she made her way to one of the rooms a few doors over.

And though she couldn't hear the one inside moving at all, Dorothea could tell she was awake. The singer knocked on the door as she said, "Bernadetta? Bern, are you up yet?"

"D-Dorothea?" Bernadetta replied.

"Yep, it's me. Time to get up, Bern."

"Aw, do I have to? It's cold out…"

"Come on, Bern. They're serving Stir-Fry today~"

"T-They are? That sounds good." Bernadetta gave a loud sigh and then said, "Okay, come on, Bernie, you can do this."

Dorothea was pleased as she heard the purple-haired girl moving within her room, knowing all she had to do now was wait.

…

Byleth looked down at the sheet of paper in her hand with disappointment. She had hoped Caspar would do better on his exams, but the brash boy had only barely passed the written test. Had he made one more wrong answer, she would've been forced to fail him. She knew she would have to speak with him about studying more.

Dipping her quill into her inkwell, Byleth wrote out a stern "D-" grade on Caspar's test before setting it into a pile of tests she had already graded. Caspar's had been the lowest grade so far for the first-year students, but Raphael had also done poorly. Technically, Hapi's had been even lower and would've qualified as a "fail", but Byleth intended to accommodate for the girl because of her lack of education. What the girl lacked in book smarts, she made up for in street sense.

Then, as Byleth took another test sheet to grade, she heard footsteps approaching her.

"Professor," said Linhardt in his usual unmotivated tone.

Looking up, Byleth said, "Linhardt, is there something I can do for you?"

"I just remembered I still needed to hand this in."

Linhardt then handed a few sheets of parchment to Byleth, an essay in his handwriting. This earned a look of annoyance from Byleth.

"You were supposed to hand this in two weeks ago," Byleth said sternly.

"Isn't the old saying 'better late than never'?"

"Linhardt, we've talked about this. Even if your essays are well-written and researched, that isn't an excuse for tardiness."

"My apologies, Professor Eisner. I actually did finish it on time, but I got distracted by my research and, well, I only thought to hand it in now."

Byleth let out a sigh of disappointment before saying, "I know you mean well, so I'm going to let this slide. But I don't want to be having this conversation again, understand?"

"Yes, yes, I–"

More sternly, Byleth said, "Understand?"

Realizing the point Byleth was trying to make, Linhardt said, "Yes, Professor Eisner. I won't hand in my assignments late again. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find someplace warm to have a mid-morning nap."

Linhardt made a yawn as he turned to leave, with Byleth watching him in exasperation.

…

Dorothea let out a grunt of annoyance as she buried her shovel into a mound of snow. She and Edelgard had been assigned snow shoveling duty that day, but manual labor wasn't one of the singer's strong points.

She looked out at the long lawn that sprawled out before the classrooms and saw, to her dismay, that they were only about half done. And they had been at it for over an hour.

Groaning, Dorothea said, "Edie, this is taking forever. I've got stuff to do."

"Complaining about it isn't going to make it go faster, Dorothea," said Edelgard.

"Ugh, why did I have to get assigned this anyway?" Sighing, she then said, "There's got to be a way to make this go faster."

Edelgard made her own sigh as Dorothea stopped to ponder the situation. She didn't like having to do this either, but it wouldn't help to whine over it.

Then, with a flash of inspiration, Dorothea said, "Hey, I got it! Edie, stand back for second, would you?"

Confused, Edelgard stepped away from the snow-covered lawn as she asked, "What are you planning to do, Dorothea?"

Then, as she looked at the singer, Edelgard was alarmed to see Dorothea preparing a fireball in her hands.

"D-Dorothea!"

"It's just a load of ice, right?" the singer said confidently. "Then it should melt all the same!"

"Wait, don't!"

Edelgard rushed to try and stop Dorothea, but it was too late. The brunette's fireball careened forward and swept over the snow, quickly melting it into water and revealing the withered grass below. Thankfully, none of the grass caught fire due to how damp it was.

But as Dorothea looked at her fireball, she almost panicked at seeing it was about to hit Professor Hanneman. The aged scholar was oblivious to the oncoming threat.

"LOOK OUT!" Dorothea shouted.

Her warning came just in time. Hanneman looked over and made a loud yelp as he stumbled back, narrowly avoiding being charred by Dorothea's spell. The fireball dispersed as it passed Hanneman, vanishing as its magic faded.

In a mixture of surprise and aggravation, Hanneman turned toward Dorothea as the singer shouted, "Sorry! Sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there, Professor Hanneman!"

"Miss Arnault, you should know better than to throw spells so carelessly!" Hanneman said crossly. "It is not a shortcut for your chores!"

Dorothea could only laugh nervously as she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. Beside her, Edelgard looked at the lawn and made a sigh.

The snow had been mostly melted. It would only take another two minutes to clean up the rest.

…

Ingrid let out a sigh as she brushed the feathers of Celdia's wing. Her Pegasus had not fully recovered from its injury at Pallardó's fort, so Ingrid was extra careful not to agitate her steed. As she brushed Celdia's feathers, Ingrid looked over at the other mounts in the stable. There were empty troughs and some of the stalls needed extra hay.

The food and the hay were there. The problem was that Ingrid couldn't handle everything that had to be done alone. And her partner for the day was missing.

Just then, Ingrid heard a familiar voice yelping, "Ow! OW! OWOW! P-Professor, that– ACK! Cut it out!"

Ingrid stepped away from Celdia to look outside, and immediately saw Byleth leading Sylvain toward the stable, the teacher grabbing the redhead by his ear.

"Come on, Professor, I was so close to asking her out to the dance!" Sylvain yelped.

Byleth said nothing, but her cross expression spoke for her.

Finally, upon leading Sylvain up to Ingrid, the bluette let go of the redhead's ear.

"Professor Eisner!" Ingrid said in surprise. "You didn't have to go to all this trouble."

Looking at the stable, Byleth said, "Clearly I did." Then, looking at Sylvain, she said, "I expect these horses and Pegasi to be well fed and their stalls filled with hay before dinner. Understood?"

"Professor, do you see how many of these stalls there are? This is gonna take all day!" Sylvain whined.

"Then I suggest you get started."

Byleth turned and strode away from the two Blue Lions.

Just as Sylvain was about to protest further, he yelped as Ingrid grabbed him by the collar and said, "She's right, Sylvain. Get to it, or you're going to be eating what we're feeding the horses tonight!"

Realizing he wasn't going to get away for more of his flirting, Sylvain whined in defeat.

…

Dorothea made several quick swipes with Joyeuse as she followed Felix through a series of steps. Each blow struck a spot on a training dummy with precision, though not necessarily with the speed Felix wanted.

"Again, faster!" Felix barked.

Dorothea grunted as she went through the slices again, hitting each spot as she intended a bit faster than before.

"Again!"

Dorothea swiped several times again, and again she was slightly faster.

"Faster, Arnault!"

Now annoyed at Felix, Dorothea slashed again and again, faster and faster.

Then, as she finished the steps again, Felix said, "Good. You're improving."

Dorothea took a moment to catch her breath, but then Felix said, "Again."

Growling in annoyance, Dorothea decided to show Felix just how fast she was and swung Joyeuse around, the tip not even at inch from his face. Felix's expression showed he hadn't quite expected her to do such a thing.

After a moment of silence, Dorothea said snarkily, "Fast enough for you, Felix?"

Felix's response was to sweep his leg at Dorothea's right ankle, which she had put forward in her movement, and tripped her. Dorothea yelped as she hit the ground, and then she let out a grunt as Felix stepped on her back, pressing her bountiful chest into the floor.

"I've told you before to watch your footing," said Felix.

The swordsman then stepped off Dorothea's back before extending a hand to help her up.

Groaning as she took his hand, Dorothea hissed, "You can be such an insufferable ass, you know that?"

"If I were an enemy, you'd be dead right now. Understand? Now, run through the steps again and keep going faster."

Dorothea let out a loud sigh of annoyance, and then, not wanting to admit to Felix that he was right, went back through the steps again.

…

Byleth remained silent as she went about watering some of the plants in the greenhouse. She had to be careful not to overwater the ones she was currently tending to, as they would otherwise wilt.

Finishing with her watering can, she turned to look at Dedue as the Duscuri man gently cut a few vegetables from their vines and gently placed them into a basket. As he went about his harvest, Byleth picked up a small handful of seeds and went to an open patch of soil in the greenhouse. She moved aside a patch of dirt, spread the seeds, and then covered them with the soil.

"Be sure not to bury them too deeply," said Dedue. "They must be able to reach the surface quickly or they will not survive."

Byleth nodded at this and gingerly swept some of the soil off where she had buried the seeds, leaving only a thin layer to cover them.

"Do they need much water?" asked Byleth.

"Only a small amount. A quarter of a can should be enough."

Byleth nodded again and filled her watering can to the specified amount before slowly pouring its contents onto the mound of dirt she had prepared. The water slowly seeped into the soil to nourish the seeds below. Now all she could do was wait.

Turning back to Dedue, Byleth asked, "Do you need help with those?"

"I would appreciate it."

Byleth smiled as she went to get a pruning knife so she could help Dedue with his harvest.

…

Dorothea felt at her best when she was singing. She stood next to Manuela, Hilda and Marianne as they all let out their voices in the cathedral to a hymn. Dorothea had to do her best not to make everyone feel inadequate compared to her, but she found it difficult not to show off.

Then, as the verse ended, she realized just how quiet Marianne was being.

"Mary, why are you being so quiet?" Dorothea whispered.

"I… I can't sing very loud," said Marianne.

"That won't do at all," said Manuela. "You need to sing from your diaphragm, Marianne. Like this!"

As Manuela let out a loud "LAAAA~!", Dorothea and Hilda couldn't help giggle at this.

"Yeah, Mary, just like that," said Hilda. "You can do it!"

"Come on, let's hear you loud and proud!" said Dorothea.

Marianne squirmed before them for a moment, unsure of what to do. But then the pressure seemed to overwhelm her, and she let out a loud, shrill "AAAAAHH!"

It was high pitched and tone-deaf enough that several people in the cathedral had to cover their ears.

Marianne was left blushing a bright red as the others decided she should stick to a lower volume.

…

Byleth jerked back on her fishing rod as she pulled another Teutates Loach from the water, the fish flailing around as it landed on the dock.

"Well done, Professor," said Gilbert.

Then, as his own rod jerked, he pulled back on his catch and, after a few seconds, pulled a White Trout out onto dry land.

"Excellent work, Sir Gilbert," said the Fishkeeper. "They're really biting today."

"Indeed," said Gilbert. "It is surprising, given how many we caught during the fishing contest two months ago, that they are still so numerous."

Byleth nodded at this, and then felt her line jerk again. Immediately she pulled back on the fishing rod and, after struggling for a few seconds, saw a set of glimmering golden scales coming toward the surface. The bluette pulled back hard, and her catch, a glimmering Golden Fish, was sent crashing onto the dock.

"Oh, that's a beauty!" said the Fishmaster. "Well done, Professor Ei–"

Just as the Fishmaster was speaking, a stray cat ran up to the Golden Fish and, before anyone could react, grabbed it and ran off.

Byleth had been too surprised by the cat to stop it, and by the time she regained her wits, the feline was long gone with her prize.

…

The smell of cooked meat filled Dorothea's nostrils as she stood next to Mercedes in the kitchen, doing her best to make a dish of Beast Meat Teppanyaki. The singer wasn't a huge fan of such a dish, but she still intended to do her best with it.

"Okay, now we add some salt to it, but not too much," said Mercedes.

Dorothea grabbed a pinch of salt from a small bag and sprinkled it over the meat. It sizzled within her pan, creating a mouth-watering aroma.

"You've gotten really good at this, Dorothea," Mercedes said with a smile.

"Yeah, thanks to you and the others," said Dorothea. "I never realized I could be so good at cooking."

With a small laugh, Mercedes added, "I'm sure your search for a good man will go so much smoother now that you can cook like this."

"Oh, really? Do all men really think with their stomachs and not care about 'this' meat?"

Dorothea smirked as she put a hand to her left butt cheek and gave it a pat. This made Mercedes laugh even more.

But then, the two smelled something different. Something was burning.

Mercedes was the first to realize what it was.

"Ah, Dorothea! The meat, it's–"

"AH! Oh no, no, no, no!"

Dorothea almost ended up dropping her creation on the floor as the meat almost caught fire.

…

Catherine messily stuffed a slice of Beast Meat into her mouth as she sat next to Shamir. Byleth sat across from them, slightly aghast at Catherine's horrible table manners.

"Mmm! Dish ish gud!" Catherine said with her stuffed cheeks. "Hoo made it?"

"I think it was Dorothea's turn to cook," said Byleth.

Swallowing, Catherine said, "Well, she's gotten good! Even if she burned it a little."

As Catherine laughed at this, Shamir said, "I apologize for my partner, Professor."

Byleth said nothing to this, not wanting to get in the way of Catherine enjoying herself. In any event, trying to reason with the Crusader wasn't likely to have any effect right now, as Catherine had already downed a couple of pints of beer. Her cheeks were flushed with inebriation.

"Hey, Shamir, you've barely touched your serving. You don't mind if I…"

Without finishing or waiting for Shamir's permission, Catherine skewered some of the meat on the sniper's plate and wolfed it down. Shamir groaned in annoyance at the swordswoman's gluttony.

"Mmm-mmm, so much meat!" said Catherine. "And not just this stuff, but…"

As Catherine spoke, she slung an arm over Shamir's shoulder and then, to the sniper's surprise, placed her hand on the Dagdan woman's left breast.

"This meat too! This big, juicy, pillowy bit of meat! Am I right, Profess– UHH!"

Catherine was sent to the floor on her back as Shamir slammed her elbow into the blonde woman's face.

"You're incorrigible, Catherine," Shamir said irritably.

Byleth, on the other hand, could only laugh nervously.

…

Nighttime came to Garreg Mach shortly after dinner, and after helping to clean up the dining hall, Byleth decided it was time to get to bed. But as she made her way toward her quarters, she saw Dorothea coming out of the passageway that led to Abyss. She looked positively exhausted.

Curious, Byleth walked up to the diva and asked, "Dorothea, what were you doing down in Abyss?"

"Huh? Oh, hey Professor…" Dorothea said tiredly. "I was just… just singing for the people from Remire. I was… was there longer than I meant to be."

"Well, you'd better get to bed. You look tired."

"Th-Thanks, Professor… I think I'll just… just… uhh…"

To Byleth's alarm, the singer began to topple over, and Byleth had just enough time to rush forward and catch Dorothea in her arms before the diva lost consciousness. The teacher was about to consider taking her to the infirmary when she looked down at the singer's face and realized Dorothea had simply fallen asleep right then and there.

With a warm smile, Byleth gently carried the brunette back to her room.

I went over my word limit here. Oops.

I got a little carried away with this one, but I hope you'll enjoy seeing a day of life at Garreg Mach for our leading ladies. It's both a show of how far they've come, and a lighthearted moment before what's coming.

And yes, I totally imagine a drunk Catherine would grab Shamir's boobs. XD