At the behest of Balthus, Byleth ended up bringing a few students along to help him with the 'Missing Hapi' problem. Edelgard, Shez, Monica Claude, Hilda, Mercedes, and Luke all joined. Even Anna tagged along, but for her own reasons. Constance and Yuri already had some business, so it just felt like everyone else was tagging along with them for some reason. "Thanks again for the help, Professor!"

"Baltie..." Hilda began, giving Balthus a somewhat knowing look. "Why did you ask Professor Byleth to bring us here?"

"I'd like to know that too, big guy." Yuri was curious. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you had a real big reason to hurry here."

"Whatever the case is..." Constance began, slowly. She was in the sun, so her other personality was out now. "You do not have to include me. I would only hold you back...but I am still honored you would bring me nonetheless."

'Uh...you asked to come." Yuri let out a small sigh, but he had to remember which one he was dealing with here.

"It's for Hapi's sake!" Balthus stuck to that. "If we don't find her soon, she's gonna get sold off in a box and we'll never find her!"

"That would be terrible..." Mercedes placed a hand on her cheek. "How did something like this happen?"

"Uh, well...you know! She fell asleep in a box!" Balthus nodded. "And it was waaaay too late for me to try and stop them."

"If I remember hearing correctly..." Anna tapped her chin. "The Black Market is around here. It would be bad if she was sold."

"The...Black Market?" Byleth blinked slowly. Not familiar with the term.

"Oh, so that's why you came along." Luke said in a tone that contained plenty of hindsight.

"In short, Professor Byleth!" Anna held her finger up and grinned. "The Black Market is a place where many...shady deals are made, far from the Church's watchful eye. It's location moves around often and it's never in the same place twice."

"Black Market..." Monica closed her eyes. She tagged along because she was curious about something, but hearing the Black Market did make the wheels in her head turn. She heard something about that before, but unlike the real Monica, she could not remember what.

"Oh. I suppose that makes sense." Byleth nodded. But then she had a question. "...So why is it in Enbarr?"

'"I was going to ask the same thing." Edelgard frowned a bit. Knowing such shady operations were happening right under her nose in the capital... "Although, I think the better question would be...how did you know Hapi would be here in Enbarr, Balthus?"

"Er...!" Balthus' eyes widened. He was getting caught in his lie. All eyes were on him as everyone stared curiously, wondering what his true motives were. There was still a chance he could lie his way out of this if he were clever enough... "Well, when I saw her shipped off, I had to ask around with my merchant contacts...and they said she'd probably be here."

"Oh, really?" Anna quirked a brow. As a merchant, she knew exactly the load of bull he was spitting, but there was a part of her that wanted to see how far he was willing to take this.

"Yeah! So...let's split up and search the town! We've got plenty of people, so we'll cover more ground that way!" Balthus said with a nod, doing everything he could to move the conversation along.

Although...

Hapi herself approached the group, frowning. "I can't believe you, B! Well, I can, but that doesn't make me any less angry!"

"Wow, we found Hapi. Good job, team!" Claude said with a coy smile, hands placed behind his head.

"Whoa, easy there! I have a good reason! Trust me!" Balthus said.

"This should be good." Shez said with a snicker.

"I had a feeling it was going to end up like this." Yuri wasn't surprised.

"Don't even try to weasel your way out of this! Ooh, you're the worst!" Hapi was fuming, but she really had to withhold the aggravated sigh her body instinctively wanted to release.

"...Where were you, if you weren't in a box?" Byleth asked.

"I was just in Abyss! When I came to the surface, everyone was gone! And then I heard he dragged you all here." Hapi groaned.

"Well, isn't that a funny story." Yuri couldn't help but laugh. "I guess the case of the 'missing Hapi' has been solved. But if you guys don't mind, Constance and I have to make our way to Duke Gerth now."

"Okay, okay...you guys are free to go. Let me just explain first!" Balthus said. "I heard someone was being sold on the Black Market. It's my mom's..." Before he could finish, there was a loud roar off in the distance that caught everyone's attention.

"What the hell was that...?" Luke's eyes were wide, because he knew what kind of roar that was, yet...

.

.

At the eastern end of the city, Myson was there, scowling as Duke Gerth managed to elude his current assault. "Filthy rat. That will be mine. If I have to pry it from your dead hands, all the better!" Myson wasn't alone either; he had numerous Argathans within him. On top of that, he 'enlisted' the aid of some rogues to help corner Duke Gareth. But they weren't the type of help they thought they were. Myson would never ask a dirty beast for help. No, he'd force them. "Children of the beasts! Expose your true selves!"

One of the rogues could feel something in his body pulsing. He was given a strange stone and told it would help him. But it felt like it was doing the opposite. "Ngh...st...stop it! Please, make it stop! Arrrgh!" The rogue held his head in agony. But with that pain fueling his body, he ran towards where Duke Gerth actually was.

Meanwhile, Duke Gerth managed to narrowly escape a few rogues and repelled them with his magic. He was panting softly, growling at the fact he was on the run. But the Relic in his hands was important; he had to make sure he got it to Yuri. "That thief nearly bested me, but I will not allow the Relic to be taken!" Gerth said with determination. As he made his way through the city, he encountered one of the rogues pursuing him. "I won't allow you to steal the relic! Leave now!"

"L-Leave the...argh..." The rogue groaned, barely able to control his own body. With his hand, he rushed at Gerth and attempted to take a swing at him. The duke was able to evade this easily, and fired back by blasting two fireballs at the assailant. They both struck and the rogue flew back, his body hitting the ground lifelessly. That should have been it, but...the rogue's body, upon his near death, transformed into a Demonic Beast that let out a deadly cry.

Gareth's eyes widened at this strange transformation. "W-What is that thing!?" A normal person in Fodlan would never normally lay eyes on a Demonic Beast. They would never even know such a thing existed, since the Church kept that information to its chest. It worked in keeping the peace, but in a moment like this...

Myson noticed this transformation, a subtle grin etched onto his lips. "Now this is an unexpected obstacle. But this only proves that our experiments are showing some worth after all..."

.

.

In the southern side of the city, Baron von Ochs and a few of his attendants just exited the Black Market. Baron Ochs had Varija Mutshi equipped onto his person, smiling with a relieved expression. "We got what we came for. With this, my sweet daughter will finally..."

"Yes, the young mistress will finally be safe again!" One of the attendants said. "Let's return home at once! But first, oh dear...it seems some thieves are causing trouble in town..."

"Thieves?!" Baron Ochs' eyes widened. "Oh no...we must keep the Relic safe. I cannot afford to let it slip away from my hands! Not when I'm so close!"

The other attendant quietly snickered at Baron Ochs' determination. "That's right. We have to do what we can to keep this relic safe..."

.

.

Things in Enbarr were spiraling quickly. Demonic Beast in one side of the city, while there was some commotion in the other. "Oh dear..." Constance said with a heavy sigh. "It appears the thieves chasing Duke Gareth have turned into Demonic Beast...I fear we will make poor reinforcements, but we must help him."

"Uh..." Anna blinked several times. This was not something she was expecting to have happen.

"Whoa..." Monica was dumbstruck, but also in awe. "So is this what Solon was referring to...? If this is a prelude to what's to coming, then I can't wait to see the complete results!" She had to resist the urge to smile at the sight. There was excitement building within her, but she had to mask it to keep her guise.

"This is a problem." Edelgard grit her teeth. She could see Myson off in the distance, which informed her of the situation at hand. Of course he would be here!

"What's he doing here..." Shez also spotted Myson across the way, narrowing her eyes. She had unfinished business with him and she knew it went the other way around.

"I don't wanna add onto the list of problems here..." Balthus spoke. Already, everyone disliked where this was going. "But if you see anyone with a Hero's Relic, make sure to take it from them, stat!"

"What!?" Hapi's eyes went wide. "Why would a Hero's Relic be here!?"

"...Long story." Balthus said.

"Looks like this is starting to get a little interesting..." Claude admitted.

"And crazy! I did not sign up for all this work." Hilda groaned. But since she was already here, she had no choice but to do her best with it, unfortunately.

"We have to split up." Byleth told everyone. There was too much going on in the city for them to tackle it all at once. The Demonic Beast was the most pressing concern. "Yuri, Constance, Claude, Hilda, and Edelgard, we'll take out the beast and protect the Duke."

"I was hoping you'd say that. I wasn't going to leave him alone." Yuri said with a nod.

"I will probably drag you down...but I will do my best." Constance said with a dejected sigh.

"You can count on me, Teach!" Claude gave a thumbs up.

"As you wish..." Hilda wasn't so enthusiastic about this, but she was already here. She already had to fight.

"The rest of you...deal with Myson. But be careful." Byleth warned. "We don't know how many of them they're actually are."

"It could just be him..." Monica commented.

"Wow, this is not how I expected my trip to Enbarr to go..." Anna could now see why Luke always reported to her with the craziness of every mission at the end of the month.

"If anyone gets hurt, please come to me!" Mercedes said.

"I want Myson." Shez summoned her special sword. Everyone was splitting up and already went their separate ways. Byleth, Edelgard, Claude, Yuri, and Constance ran off to support Duke Gerth and defend him. Shez, Luke, Anna, Mercedes, Balthus, Monica, and Hapi went to deal with Myson. But as they did, Shez could see someone else off in the distance. Not Myson, but Baron Ochs instead. "Hey...what's that...?"

Balthus looked in the direction that Shez was pointing. He saw Baron Ochs with his Hero's Relic. "Oh man, he's got it?!"

"Huh?" Monica glanced in that direction as well, red eyes nearly popping out of their sockets when she saw Baron Ochs. Monica's father. "W-Why is he here!?" That's bad. That's really bad. That was the one man in the world not affiliated with their plans that could point her out. While it was clear to Edelgard and Hubert that she wasn't Monica, Baron Ochs would figure her out instantly if she allowed it.

"Who is that guy?" Luke asked.

"That's M...My father...!" Monica exclaimed.

"Oh, shit..." Luke whistled. An Empire Baron caught red handed in the Black Market? That was an entirely new can of worms to open.

"No time to worry about anything else. We have to stop him before he hurts himself...or anyone else." Monica was good at the concern she was putting into her voice. Internally, however, she was panicking. Her cover could be blown right now if she didn't play this carefully. There was only one way to make sure Baron Ochs didn't spill the beans. "You have to die."