Chapter 26: Mountain Madness
The bustle of armoured knights occupied the courtyard, dozens of the soldiers marched through the gate in a long column as a small detachment of Wyverns flew overhead.
Goetia watched them move past him with a blank expression, his red eyes scanning the crowd as they searched for a specific individual. The Classes of the Blue Lions, Black Eagles and Golden Deers stood just to the side of the knights as they allowed the Church soldiers to march ahead of them. Red eyes flickered through students before they came to a stop on the object of his attention. The white haired girl felt the prickling sensation of being watched and turned her head to see Goetia staring at her.
Lysithea turned back to Claude, quickly whispering something to him, before she hastily moved over to where Goetia was standing. The man watched as she approached him, she came to a stop in front of him with an unusually grim expression.
"You are to depart soon then." Goetia stated, Lysithea mutely nodded her head in response, a frown still in place on it. The pair remained in silence for a few moments before Goetia spoke again "Something is troubling you?"
Lysithea flinched, her eyes darted to the side momentarily before coming back to Goetia. The young girl fidgeted on the spot for a few moments before she released a small breath "I...would not refer to it as being troubled Teacher." the girl slowly explained "However I find myself more concerned than anything else. I know that as a Noble, more so as a student, we have a duty to ensure the continued safety of the people of Fodlan. However...situations like these are better suited to the knights, and with what Seteth told us-"
"You are concerned that if the knights could not put down a simple militia, what hope do you have?" Lysithea winced but slowly nodded her head. Goetia remained blank faced for several moments before his eyes trailed away from her, falling onto the column of soldiers "You, as mere students, are far from being prepared to fight in a true battle. Putting down a small mob of bandits is entirely different to putting down an active rebellion." he paused for a few moments, slowly turning back to the girl "However, I would not say that you are entirely without hope of victory. In truth, I have every confidence that this will end as such."
Lysithea blinked at him, then furrowed her brows "How can you be so sure?"
"From speaking of my own experience, I find it best not to underestimate those who could be considered the weak link." He paused "Besides, brute strength is a poor substitute for skill. If I am correct, the militia have sacrificed intellect for simple power. As a student yourself, I assume you see the folly in that specific way of thinking."
The girl slowly nodded her head "Yes, I suppose that makes sense. I would rather have my brains than muscle like that oaf Raphael."
"Brute strength of your classmates aside, you have one of the Chruch's elite knights with you and-" He paused as he gestured to Catherine, his eyes staring at the sword on her hip. Lysithea watched as his eyes widened before squinting, his lip slowly curling in disgust before they trailed over to Seteth, the man watching the procession from atop his Wyvern mount perched on the gatehouse. "That is unexpected." Goetia muttered, shaking his head and dismissing whatever thought he had at the time "As I was saying. You have the aid of the elite knights to support you, and your role is to simply fight Lord Lonato."
Goetia paused for a few moments "In truth, I am more concerned with how Young Ashe reacts to the mission of killing his own father, but that is within Byleth's realm of concern."
Lysithea widened her eyes in realisation, having forgotten entirely that the Blue Lion boy was the adopted son of the Lord in question "Do you think-"
"I can make no claims to his current feelings." Goetia replied "I have known the feeling of disappointment and disgust in one's progenitor...But I doubt the boy feels that right now." he shrugged "Regardless, once Lord Lonato is either dead or captured, it will be a simple matter to put an end to the rest of his forces."
"Hey!" Claude's voice called out from where the Class was "Lysithea! We're leaving!"
Lysithea turned towards Claude, giving a quick nod before looking back to Goetia "I shall do my best to return, Teacher."
"Of course you will." Goetia frowned at her "Having you die a simple death in such a way after investing my time in you would be a pity." Lysithea cracked a tiny smile in response "One more thing." he held up his lone hand to stop her before she left, tilting her head to the side, she watched as his hand went to his robe pocket before it pulled out a simply bracelet made of twine, handing it to her.
Lysithea took it, blinking at it in confusion before staring up at him "Teacher? What is it?"
"A…" Goetia paused, working his jaw for a few moments before reply "Good luck charm." he replied, although Lysithea felt there was more to it than that, but she nodded her head "It will remain on your person until you remove it."
The girl nodded her head, fitting the simply accessory to her wrist and watching as the small inscriptions along the surface glowed a subtle green before snugly fitting around her wrist. Neither too tight nor too loose.
"Thank you, Teacher." Lysithea bowed to him "I will ensure I return so that your teachings do not go to waste!" with those parting words, she quickly rushed back to Claude.
"A little old for friendships bracelets, aren't you?" Claude joked to her as soon as she was within range of him. Her mildly pleased expression soured instantly, replaced with a scowl aimed in his direction. Her hand moving to cover up the small twine ring around her wrist.
"It is not a friendship bracelet." She almost hissed at him "It is clearly a magical construct of some kind."
"Right, right." Claude held up his hands in mock surrender to her, his expression set in a carefree smile "...It just so happens to look like something little kids give to their best friends."
"Why you-!"
"Oi." Jeralt grunted as he strode past them "Get a move on. I don't care if she's been secretly passing letters to her crush, if you dawdle anymore you'll miss the whole battle."
"I could live with that you know." Hilda remarked, then let out a small 'eep' as Jeralt aimed a glare in her direction.
"While I'm sure you could, you're quite an important part of the plan meaning quite a few others wouldn't." He nodded his head towards the gate "So get going."
"Yes, sir." Hilda sighed, falling into step with her classmates as they made for the gate alongside the soldiers. Jeralt watched her drag herself with a sigh, he reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head before turning his eyes to the side. Just in time to catch a glimpse of Goetia's golden hair as the man disappeared through the crowd and back into the monastery.
While he would certainly appreciate the help that Goetia would have provided them, he didn't blame the man in the least for not taking part. In truth, this was the kind of thing that Jeralt himself had hoped to avoid entirely when he left the knights. Other reasons excluded, as a mercenary you weren't traditionally hired to deal with hold rebellions.
The worst he ever had to face were bandit raids.
He missed the simpler times already.
Goetia's expression was blank the entire time he journeyed towards the library. Moving into the room, he looked around briefly. Most of the scholars had gone with the army, considering they had some manner of light magic they could use for healing it was expected of them. The only exceptions being himself and Tomas who remained, the latter simply because he was an old man.
Or at the very least, he appeared that way to everyone else.
He also noted that Tomas was currently not within the Library, not that he cared much. Whatever the man under the guise of the Librarian had to do was none of his concern, it also worked out to his benefit in this situation.
Moving over to the front desk, he sat himself down in the chair. Reaching into his robe pocket, he withdrew a small doll. Made from the same twine as the bracelet he had gifted Lysithea, the small effigy in the shape of a human with a small green gem in the centre of its chest which glowed brightly.
He stared at it for a few moments before he sat it to one side, ensuring it was still within the corner of his eye.
The rather startling revelation that the Hero's Relics appeared to be constructed out of dragon bones was certainly unexpected, especially because of who had them to begin with.
He had barely skimmed over the history of the relics, but he had been certain there was no mention of Dragons within Fodlan's history at all.
Rising from his seat, he made his way over to the bookshelves containing history. This was one particular conundrum he was going to have answered. Dragons were always territorial, however the actions of those living within the Monastery were outside of the norm for dragon behaviour.
If all the weapons were presumably made of dragon bones, it begged the question as to why. He could have argued for it being useful for dealing with different factions of dragons during the initial establishment of the Church, perhaps they needed to eliminate them. However, the complete lack of any type of mention of dragons was peculiar.
He would have another read through of history. If nothing else, it would at least take his mind of other matters.
Seteth's wyvern landed onto the rock edge which overlooked the path. His eyes narrowed as he stared across their soon to be battlefield. The fact that the journey here had taken only several hours honed the point of just how close Lord Lonato and his forces were to the Church.
He turned his head back down to the front line, the soldiers already setting up positions. The more heavily armoured knights moved to the front of the line, slamming their tower shields into the ground and readying their spears.
The small detachment of archers came in behind them. He looked behind them to see Shamir and her small group of trained Rangers climbing the rock face at the edge of the path to get into overlooking positions. The entire path was barely ten metres wide, one side was a the large rising face of the mountainside, while the other was a perilous drop into the misty depths below them.
It was, apparently, the best place for a battle. Seteth could acknowledge it. It certainly dealt with their issue of being outnumbered and prevented them from being flanked. He slowly looked up to the side of the mountain, nearing the stop with a small frown.
He found it difficult to justify the strategic choice of using children to carry out their plan beyond sheer desperation. They simply had no one else that they could use. The one good thing he could possibly see coming from this was the fact it had unified all the different House leaders under the same goal, and if they were victorious it would hopefully lead to closer ties between them.
If they won anyway.
A firm hand gripped Claude's shoulder, pulling him away from the edge just as he watched the footing where he had been crumble away and fall down, clattering against the side of the mountain as it tumbled out of sight.
The boy stared blankly at the drop before turning his eyes towards Dimitri's less than impressed gaze.
"...I feel as though every time you go out, it always ends with someone having to save your life Claude." The Prince sighed as he pulled him further away from the edge "I would very much prefer you keep cautious, especially now."
"Right, right." Claude nodded, casting another glance at the edge "...I would like to point out that when I went on the Demonic Beast Hunt, I didn't actually have a close call."
"That is certainly very fortunate."
"Thank you, but my point was that I've almost died twice now and both time I was near you." The boy shrugged, giving a tiny smirk "Maybe you're a bad luck charm."
Dimitri gave an empty laugh in return "Indeed...I have a knack for letting those near me get hurt."
Claude winced, visibly cringing at the response as his shoulders slumped "Dimitri I didn't mean-"
"I know Claude." The boy replied, giving him a smile which very clearly didn't reach his eyes "I am aware that was not your intent...that was my own fault for dragging up the past." his head turned further up the path "Come, we'd best not dawdle any longer, we need to be in position for when the battle begins."
The small column of students with nearly two dozen knights moved along the upper portion of the cliff, just above the main route. The walkway was barely two metres wide, leading to a two person line moving along.
"Once we're in position, we'll need to wait for Shamir's signal." Catherine explained as she walked alongside Byleth "According to some of the older information we had, there's a small incline which leads to a short drop onto the main path. That's what we'll use to get down, and hopefully be able to ambush Lord Lonato."
Byleth nodded, then looked back to the students "There room for further discussion once we can properly observe the terrain?"
Catherine frowned, letting out a low hum before slowly nodding her head "With luck, yes otherwise we'll have to pass messages along." she paused "Why?"
"Want the Archers and Mages to line the ridge rather than drop down with us, they can provide support and spot better."
"Makes sense." Catherine nodded, turning around to face the group "Alright, can you…" she trailed off when she saw who she had turned around to. Her expression changed into a complicated one, Ashe gave her a tired smile.
"I can pass a message along." He replied "You want myself and the other archers to remain on the hill, yes?"
"...Yeah." Catherine nodded, then made to turn back around before she froze for a few moments, chewing on her lip and casting another glance back at the boy "Ashe, right?"
"Yes." He nodded his head "I'll pass along that message."
"Right." Catherine turned back around, schooling her expression quickly. Sothis floated in front of her, invisible to the knight with a small frown on her face, looking over the woman's shoulder to Ashe before sighing.
"It appears that there might be more to this than simply the child's problematic family." She cast a glance over to Byleth "It appears this Catherine may have closer ties with them than previously believed."
Byleth frowned in thought and did well not to send an inquisitive glance in Catherine's direction. Despite whatever personal curiosity she had towards the woman's strange reaction to Ashe, there were more important topics at hand.
"Up ahead." Catherine gestured towards the front of them, the group came to a stop at the start of a small incline going down towards the main path. There was a wide space for them to gather around ten metres moving towards the inside of the cliff, the incline itself went down for several metres before leading to a small drop which didn't appear to be too great to cause any harm to the individuals. Catherine went ahead, poking her head inside the small cave before nodding to herself "In here."
The group filed into the cave before getting into positions. The knights, Catherine and Byleth at the front with the students behind them. Byleth turned her head to stare back the way they came, towards the route where the Church forces were due to gather.
"We'll probably see Lonato's army first." Catherine nodded to herself, then turned around "Keep quiet when they pass, if we alert them to our presence here then the whole plan goes up in smoke."
She got quite mutterings of affirmation in response, the knights and students shuffling into the cave to keep themselves quite.
"...Cosy, huh?"
"Shut up Claude."
"Just saying...Anyone got any good stories?"
"Claude." Edelgard firmly spoke, the boy in question sighed and sat down.
"I'll stop."
The group remained silent for much of their time,. However, by nearly an hour into their wait the knights and Byleth looked far more concerned than before. Sporting a frown, Catherine directed a glance to the entrance of the cave.
"Something isn't right." She whispered "We should have heard them by now. With the time they were making and their numbers, they should at least be audible."
Byleth frowned in response, that didn't bode well for them. The woman crouched down, silently moving past Catherine as she made her way towards the entrance of the cave. Once she passed the mouth, she slowly peaked over the edge of the incline towards the road.
Her eyes widened in shock.
The entire road was covered in a thick blanket of fog, she couldn't make out anything below. No, that wasn't right. She could vaguely, if she squinted hard enough, make out some shapes moving through the fog but there was no sound.
Nothing.
"That fog…" Sothis muttered, a look of surprise coming to her face "That fog is...wrong." the Goddess muttered, shaking her head "Its wrong...I can clearly see something moving in it but there is not a sound to be heard and it is far too sudden."
Byleth nodded, crawling back to the cave whereupon she came face to face with Catherines expectant face "Well?" the knight whispered to her.
"Fog covering the road." She replied "Might be magical. Can see some shapes but can't hear anyone."
Catherine widened her eyes in alarm, looking over Byleth's shoulder to the mouth of the cave "...Shit." she cursed under her breath "We have no idea how long its been there...you're sure you could see shapes?"
Byleth nodded.
"Must be magical then, dammit!" Clicking her tongue, the knight scowled "If we can't see them, we have no idea where Lonato could be until we were right on top of him."
"Mages will be at the back, keeping it up." Byleth murmured "If they die, the fog will lift."
"True, but we can't risk splitting into two groups when we can barely see our hands in front of our faces." She slowly crept past Byleth towards the entrance of the cave "There's also the issue of the Church soldiers…"
Seteth frowned as he stared down at the fog moving over them. It was far too sudden and far too convenient to be anything other than a magical creation. He was aware of at least several court mages in the Gaspard region, but never had he envisaged something to this scale. Not that such spells for creating small fogs were uncommon, but they were localised and certainly didn't appear to be this effective.
It would make it difficult for Shamir and her rangers to provide accurate support if they couldn't see their targets clearly.
The grasp of the fog passed over the front lines, the knights muttering to themselves as they stared out in front of them.
Jeralt stood at the front of the line, halberd tightly held in his grasp as he looked out in front of him with a scowl. He could already tell this was the work of a mage, but it was all wrong. They had barely seen the fog coming before it was already upon them, however they couldn't hear a damn thing coming from it.
The fog passed over him.
Jeralt felt as though ice had been rammed up his spine as something washed over his body, as soon as he found himself unable to see barely a few metres in front of him, he heard it.
The sound of heavy footfalls. Hundreds of them rushing towards them. It was so sudden and so loud that there couldn't have been any chance that they missed them.
If it weren't for the face the other knights around him instantly shifted into a state of readiness, he would have thought he was going senile in his old age. Shifting the halberd so he held it in two hands, he assumed a stance of his own as he prepared himself.
The echo of sprinting got louder and louder.
A blur rushed past him and he heard the tell-tale sound of something meaty slamming into heavy armour, which was soon followed by the sound of steel colliding with the ground and a panicked gasp from someone. He dared not look in the direction as the sound of a piercing thud came to his ears and something collapsed to the ground.
"Steady…" Jeralt growled out to the knights, who began to nervously shuffle. He risked a look to his left and would have gaped had he not other things to worry about.
The knight who had barrelled over remained on the ground, unmoving with the body of a peasant in rags slumped over him. The knight to the right of the pair ripped his spear out of the peasant and looked to his comrade before visibly recoiling.
Jeralt honestly didn't blame him.
He knew that a helmet was not supposed to bend that far inwards.
Looking back to the front, he wet his dry lips as more of the shadowy blurs slowly became more visible.
Or rather, they were visible for a split second.
Then hundreds of foaming at the mouth crazies were upon them in a heartbeat, literally throwing themselves at the nearest knight.
"Spears!" Jeralt just about shouted out the command before being shoulder barged. He felt the air forcibly leave his lungs in a short gasp as it felt he had been kicked by a mule, made worse when his assailant looked no older than eighteen. Although it was hard to tell with the crazed expression on his face, his eyes were a bright red and frantic, the boy swung his short sword towards the mercenary captain faster than should have been possible.
He was thankful for Seteth's report or he might not have been ready, he stepped back as the blade passed just shy of his body before he slammed the butt of his halberd into the boys throat. The individual recoiled backwards, more instinctive than anything else due to the lack of change in facial expression. Although it was more than enough, swinging the halberd the other way, he brought the bladed side down through the head of his attacker before retching it free and kicking the body away.
He barely had a second rest before another shadow charged towards him.
This time it was a grey haired old man.
The knights along the front line buckled as the militia threw themselves at them. Several were barrelled over, leaving a slight gap in the lines which were quickly exploited by nearly a dozen fast moving berserker's.
The nearby archer had barely enough time to look surprised before his head was removed from his shoulders. His attacker continued charging forth, another knight caught sight of them and raised their shield to block the downwards slash.
They needn't have bothered.
Cutting through hardened steel as if it were made of paper, the sword cleaved through the man's forearm, the two halves of the shield fell to the ground and the knight barely began screaming before another berserker was upon him, slamming into him with enough force to knock him to ground before they began to bring their sword down on them repeatedly in wild slashes.
Seteth stared down at the fog with a small frown. He hadn't heard anything from the knights, whereas he had been occasionally hearing the odd shuffle of armour it had now become quiet.
Too quiet.
He was beginning to feel a cold sense of dread creep up his spine, he cast a glance further up the line where the fog hadn't yet touched the troops. All of whom were standing around with an obvious sense of confusion about them.
A scream split the air.
Seteth instantly fixed his sight on the edge of the fog as a woman in baking apron came charging out, covered head to toe in blood with a wild expression on her face. The fact she was missing an arm not registering to her as a problem caught him completely, and the closest knight to her, completely off guard.
It was a greater mistake for the knight. The woman shot towards him with much more speed than she had any right too, slashing towards his midsection.
The knight raised his sword to block the strike.
Only to watch in muted horror as sword was shattered instantly and the blade carried on, cutting through his plate armour and splitting him in half. The woman made to turn to her next target before an arrow to her head stopped her. Seteth glanced in the direction of the attack to see Shamir nock another arrow, her expression somewhat shaken.
It hit the pair of them at the same time.
They hadn't heard the woman until she cleared the fog. The pair instantly turned their sights back to the grey river of mist below them with a new sense of dread.
He nodded to Shamir, the woman reached onto her belt and soon removed a small ball of kindling, wrapping it around the arrowhead, she then pulled out a small bottle and poured it over the arrow in question. Soon reaching for flint and lighting it up in a spark, nocking the arrow she then aimed it upwards before shooting it into the sky.
"Archers!" Seteth called out, swinging his spear over his head "Aim further up the fog, away from our lines!"
They couldn't see what they were shooting at, but it was at least guaranteed they probably wouldn't hit their own men.
"That's the signal." Catherine grunted, watching as the burning arrow was shot into the air before looking down into the fog and raising her sword "With me." she called out to the knights before sliding down the incline and jumping into the fog, soon disappearing without a sound. The two dozen knights followed after her.
"What about us?" Dimitri asked as he came to a stop near Byleth "Shall we follow her?"
The woman nodded, unsheathing her sword and jumping into the fog after them.
"Blue Lions!" Dimitri exclaimed "Follow our Teacher!"
The students, although far more visibly hesitant, followed after their House Leaders as they jumped into the fog.
The moment Catherine's feet touched the ground, she was already parrying away a blow that would have taken her head. The woman grit her teeth at the power behind her attacker. A rather malnourished looking old woman, this entire situation rubbed her the wrong way. Not least of all because of her attackers but also because of the state they were in. None of them were in their right frame of mind.
She had known Lonato, known that he bore a grudge against the Church, and more specifically against her, for years following the death of Christophe.
However she never even imagine in her cruellest nightmares that he could stoop as low as this.
The old woman stumbled with the parry before trying to raise her sword to press the attack. Catherine brought Thunderbrand down through her collarbone, killing the old woman instantly with a disgusted grimace before looking around her. She could barely make out the knights next to her as they tried to fight through their own attackers.
She looked down at Thunderbrand as an idea came to mind, the sword glowed a brilliant orange before she raised it above her head "Rally to me!" she cried out, attracting the attention of all the other knights and students alongside her "Stay close to my sword."
It wasn't a good plan to attract the attention of everyone within earshot to her.
Soon proven when a six foot tall man wielded a sword bore down on her, clearly he had been a lumberjack of some variety. Slamming his sword into her own, the man leered down at her with a crazed expression. Catherine found her knee's buckling as he applied more strength to his attack.
The tip of a steel sword erupted from the front of his chest, causing the man to halt before it was just as quickly removed from him. The man's eyes lost their light before he slumped over. Catherine let out a sigh of relief, barely catching sight of Byleth as the woman was instantly assaulted by another individual. Catherine herself soon found no shortage of targets as they wildly threw themselves at the group.
Lemegeton watched the horde charge forwards into the front line of the Church. They behaved little more than animals in their current condition, but it was a state he needed to truly hone down the threat that existed.
It would better benefit them.
They narrowed their eyes tilting his head slightly as they focused further into their bounded field. There was someone there. They could sense them at the forefront of the Church knights at the very edge of his bounded field.
They were like them, or at least like their host body. They had the blood of a dragon within them.
They raised himself up, a new thought coming to mind.
"Is something the matter?" They soon stopped, turning to look down at Lord Lonato, the man raising an eyebrow at him.
Lemegeton shook their head "It is merely a desire to do more, Lord Lonato." they replied smoothly "I feel as though I can accomplish more to further your goal from a more active standpoint."
Lonato frowned at him "What of the 'berserkers'?" he asked "Will they not pose a danger to you?"
They gave an easy smile in response "The swords are my own creation, Lord Lonato. I have nothing to fear from their wielders."
"And should you encounter one of the Church knights?"
"I do not mean to boast…" They chuckled in response "But as you can see, I am no stranger to combat." they gestured to their body, although the majority of it was covered in a dark cloak. A hood cast a shadow over their face so that all that could be seen were their eyes.
And the red orbs with dark cross shaped pupils stared back without a hint of malice or arrogance. Lonato frowned for a few moments more before he grunted "Very well...I can understand the need to personally fight the heathens." he growled "Especially that woman…"
"Indeed." Lemegeton nodded their head, turning away from the Lord and moving towards the front lines, the mob of sword wielders stood aside as they passed them, moving towards the point of interest.
Their only other source of information on the blending of Divine blood of these phantasmals had come from their own host body. The information that could be learned from this one was far too valuable to be lost in a simple engagement such as this.
They would need to observe it first hand.
AN:
Lemegeton be like: I will deal with this myself.
Also yes, it was in fact a bounded field.
So we're going into the chaos, sorry it was a little speaking heavy in the first few paragraphs, but I like to think that the second half kind of encapsulated the madness of fighting the crazed guys with mystic codes.
So yes...The next chapter will be entirely combat focused and will be an absolute shit show.
So yeah…
Expect Byleth and Sothis to be using time reversal frequently.
Omake: Sumanai man.
There were times when he knew it was awkward being him, where he would make the situation worse.
He was sure this was one of those times.
"Rhea..." Seteth pinched the bridge of his nose "Archbishop...you cannot invent charges for him."
"I can and I will." The woman adamantly declared, sparing another heated glare at his direction before turning back to Seteth "You know as well as I do why I want his done."
"Rhea...Not all of us were as reasonable as you seem to believe." Seteth frowned, gesturing to him "More importantly, he has done no harm in the time he has been here."
"He has been here long enough."
"It has been barely an hour!" Seteth exclaimed "He has done nothing to warrant this treatment."
"You are allowing yourself to be deceived by him." The woman hissed "He will cause nothing but chaos for all of us, not to mention his aura. It reeks of murder."
"Sorry." Siegfried mumbled under his breath.
"Stop apologising all the time." Rhea snarled at him "No one believes your false apologies."
"Sorry..."
"Rhea..." Seteth shook his head "He knows what we are and openly admitted his feat, more importantly he has already stated that it was an evil dragon."
Rhea guffawed at him incredulously "'Evil Dragon' as if any of mothers children could be-"
"He wasn't a child of the Divine." Siegfried mumbled, Rhea paused and stared at him. He continued on "Fafnir is...an embodiment of the Sin of Avarice. As long as their host possesses enough greed, they will change into a Fafnir."
The Archbishop remained silent for a few moments before frowning "That doesn't make sense."
"Different type of Dragon." Siegfried replied, then cringed "He is somewhat of an outlier among his own kind as well...it is better to describe him as a concept than as an individual."
"...So they weren't a dragon?"
"No, they were." He replied "Just not as you would describe yourself."
Seteth pointedly looked at Rhea with a raised eyebrow "As you can see, simply allowing them to explain themselves works out far better than-"
"Here Siegfried!" Flayn soon came running in with a beaming expression "I did just as you said!"
Siegfried looked down at her an smiled as she raised her fish like a trophy "You caught it?"
"I did indeed! Your fishing tips were most helpful! Where did say you learned them again?"
"A spear wielder from a distant country showed me." Siegfried replied "If you need more help, I would be glad to offer it."
"Thank you very much!" Flayn nodded, then turned to Seteth "See brother? I caught this fish all by myself!"
Seteth stared blankly at the fish before slowly turning to the knight. The man didn't know why, although the blank expression brought to mind only one word which he felt could truly have any impact.
"Sorry."