Before heading to the dining hall, Edelgard made a brief stop to the library. The librarian—Tomas—seemed a bit friendlier than she'd suspect, but she still took a look around to see what kind of books were there. Unsurprisingly, a majority of them were historical records with biased accounts based on the church's ideals, or textbooks chosen to help the students with their work.
As she went back towards the dining hall with Hubert close behind, Claude approached her.
"Hey, Edelgard!" Claude called, giving a little nod as his greeting. She paused for the moment and returned the acknowledgement. "I was wondering—why not all of us house leaders eat dinner together? I mean, we're going to be cooperating or arguing with each other for the rest of our lives after the academy anyway—might as well know who we'll be cooperating or arguing with."
She nodded, seeing no particular harm in it. There may not be as many opportunities to talk with them later.
"I wouldn't mind sharing a meal with others," Edelgard replied.
"What, Hubert over there isn't a good conversation partner?" Claude asked, sporting a joking grin for a moment. He partially shook it off when it failed to prompt any further conversation from princess nor retainer. "Anyway, it's not that far—I'll just walk with you."
He seemed to expect some kind of protest, but Edelgard didn't mind. Claude gave a little shrug, and the short trip to the dining hall didn't hold any extra conversation. When they got to the dining hall in question, they got out however much they wanted to eat and sat down; Hubert found a spot on a different table but close enough to still hear, while Edelgard noticed Dimitri already sitting down and took a spot close.
Claude chuckled a bit when he sat down. "I was the one who suggested this, and it's still strange to think about."
"I can't imagine there would be many chances to all sit together after our time at the academy is over," Dimitri agreed. "It's good to have times like these; there isn't any harm in understanding each other a little better."
Edelgard nodded, and despite the enthusiasm they started eating before anyone spoke up. Perhaps unsurprisingly considering it being his request, Claude was the first to try to strike conversation.
"By the by, Edelgard," the Alliance heir said, "How's your shoulder doing?"
She waited to swallow her food before replying. "It's mostly healed by now, and it doesn't bother me at all," she said simply. She looked at both of them. "Neither of you walked away completely unharmed—you must have had some wounds of your own?"
"Nothing that was a nuisance for long," Dimitri replied. Claude nodding his own agreement.
"And speaking of those bandits," Claude began, putting on some scheming expression, "What do you two think they were after? It sounded like they knew we were nobles, at least."
He had a bit more to him than she first thought, if Claude had considered that what they saw wasn't the full picture. Edelgard humored the speculation for now.
"It's possible someone told them the expedition would be going in that direction," she suggested. "They weren't incredibly well-armed or well-trained—perhaps they were offered something in exchange for their work."
"Just to chase after a few kids?" Claude asked.
"It's not unheard of," Dimitri pointed out, looking over at him. "Our group wasn't particularly quiet, nor is it unlikely that at least one person has an enemy of some sort that would want to attack them."
Claude let out a low whistle. "People here are that strange, huh?" He leaned back in his chair a bit. "Still, makes me wonder who would've hired them in that case. Think they knew who they were messing with?"
"I can't imagine they wouldn't have seen the knights, at least," Dimitri reasoned. "Word must have gotten around of our enrollment, as well."
"I'm sure the knights are investigating it on their own," Edelgard said. She couldn't tell if their deductions were impressive or too close for her liking. "If we're lucky, they might ask some of the students to come with them."
"Wouldn't that be neat?" Claude mused. He readjusted his position a bit, putting on a smile. "Regardless, I'd kind of like to meet whoever directed them there. I don't know if it was genius or insane, but it's something. Certainly an interesting start to the school year."
"'Interesting' puts it lightly," Dimitri said, frowning a bit in contrast to Claude's nonchalance. "I, for one, hope the rest of the year goes better. I do not want to consider what kind of omen that would be."
Edelgard resumed eating to prevent herself from making any reactions.
If all went well, this year will be the beginning of great change. She doubted that the school year would be much like any before it.
…
Sneaking out of the monastery was harder than expected, but she managed nonetheless. Dressed in full armor that Thales had 'gifted' to her as a reminder of their agreement, she went to the location where she promised to pay the thieves. The forests to the west of Garreg Mach looked much less threatening when seen in the daytime.
The thieves in question were hiding just far enough away from the monastery to stay undetected by the knights. They noticed her around the same time she saw them.
"You appear to be short a few people," she noted, her voice changed thanks to the mask.
One of the thieves turned in her direction. "You! Kostas died during that job! We lost a good man out there!"
"That's not any of my concern," Edelgard replied evenly. She took out the bag she put their pay in, and one bandit took it without being prompted.
He hastily searched through all of it, then tossed it towards the ground.
"We were promised more than this," he said firmly.
"You were 'promised' to be paid. I never said how much." She took a step forward to take the small bag back, but the bandit picked it up again.
"We should get more than that," another said after glancing at the amount. "Kostas was one of our best fighters."
"If you wanted compensation," Edelgard maintained, "You would have done it correctly. You took too long to act and you were too hasty when you did. You let untrained teenagers beat you; there will be no second chance."
"What, so we're done here?" A third bandit asked.
Edelgard took a step back. "Consider this your first and only job from me. Pray that we never cross paths again—I don't take kindly to people like you."
One or two readied a weapon, but she was gone before they even got close.
