AN: A small note about Seteth's comments on knights: The word knight has the same root as the German word Knecht (= farmhand, manservant, male servant in general; Waffenknecht literally meaning weapon servant, i.e. man-at-arms). As such, a knight's primary function is to serve. In an amazing display of convergent evolution in language, samurai is derived from the word saburahu, which means "to serve."

Chapter 22: Consequences

The same night. Byleth's mindscape.

I sighed, and not for the first time on this night. My heart was heavy for more than one reason. Chief among them was the weariness that had accumulated over the course of this night's soul-soothing sessions with the victims of the slavers. The other reasons were worry for the students' psychological states, the Agarthan captives from yesterday and, lastly, Sothis' words from about an hour ago.

The matter of the victims was depressing to say the least. Overall, there had been just over 16'300 people living as slaves in the city. Considering Nuvelle's population of 280'000, that was a hefty chunk for a place where slavery was banned by law. The only consolation was that relatively few had been shipped out of Fodlan. Apparently, the remnants of the Dagdan nobility were only interested in red-haired girls and women. As such, almost everyone could be recovered in time. Still, even one person out of reach was one too many.

Their mental states were also worrisome. The type of slavery in this city was incomparable to relatively lax systems like in the Roman Republic/Empire. Basically all of them had been treated horribly for the sake of entertainment. Men, women and children had had to endure torture, rape, exploitation and wanton killing of their loved ones. Their minds and souls bore wounds and scars in accordance with this. A lot of them would need at least a dozen sessions of soul-soothing before they could begin the healing process.

I was also going to recommend another psychological check for the students. Much of what they had seen today was going to haunt at least some of them. They had caught a glimpse of one of the ugliest sides of humanity. It was bound to leave a mark on them. Byleth, too, would receive some of my attention. The signs of recklessness I'd seen today were worrying.

Speaking of mental states, I would have to do a thorough evaluation of the Agarthans we'd captured yesterday. It was highly likely that at least one of them was similar to Kronya. The Dark Shell was an abomination that could not leave anyone unscathed by its very nature. The road to recovery would be long and arduous, and there was still the matter of how to confine them. Foreign influence or no, they were likely unstable and had probably committed some serious crimes before. Even if they were not technically guilty, it could be dangerous for them to roam free until such time as their mental states were stable.

Last on my list of worries were Sothis' words to me. No matter how sincere she had been when saying them, I doubted their veracity. Statements like that came with expectations, and I was unsure whether I could live up to them. I feared that my responsibilities would grow beyond my ability to handle. Soul-soothing and listening to people was all well and good, but what else was I doing that warranted the label of "good person?" Even then, I treated it as practice and I had trouble empathising with my patients. No, I didn't think I would life up to the expectations that Sothis' faith in me carried with it, and that scared me. This wasn't even mentioning the weight of the oath I had sworn when ascending to the throne of the Underworld. If I wasn't careful, that weight would crush me in time.

I laid in my bed for some time and went over my thoughts on the other topics again in a bid to distract myself. Feedback loops of self-loathing and self-pity were a massive bitch and I had no intention of immersing myself in them any further. Instead, I concentrated on the question of what to do now.

Today's battle for Nuvelle was going to be a significant moment for the future, both good and bad. Sure, we'd won the day, but I could also spot a problem. Byleth had used Reveal on the fleet. It wouldn't be long before the Agarthans knew about it, and that they had not been expelled from Garreg Mach by something as stationary as a specialised ward. They would either become a lot subtler or they would begin a rampage so as to deviate from the path we predicted. On the upside, with the harbour of Nuvelle accessible again, trade could flow from and to Albinea. Food, clothes, weapons, maybe even mercenaries could be brought in from there for the war effort.

Further contemplations were cut off by a knocking sound on one of the bed posts. "Hyperion? Are you awake?" I heard Sothis call.

"Yes," I answered, "One moment." I drew back the curtain and went on, "I haven't forgotten about our daily session."

She smiled tiredly. "Good. I've been looking forward to it. I've got some news before we start, though."

That roused my interest. "What news?" I asked.

"Cichol prayed to me and I got him to give me a full report," she answered.

"Is everyone alright?" I asked.

Sothis made a face that didn't fill me with much confidence. "The students all got away with only temporary injuries, but about half of the troops are dead and a good chunk of the rest have been crippled," she said.

"That's…. not good at all," I commented.

"It isn't," she concurred. "I was really worried when Cichol prayed to me and asked for strength two days ago. I lent him what I could, but at that distance and with my state, it was not as much as I would have liked."

"It's amazing that you could pull it off at all, though. The range in which you can receive and respond to prayers has grown immensely," I said. My range was still limited to a few dozen kilometres despite its recent growth.

She sighed. "That's the silver lining, I guess."

I contemplated this for a bit before I spoke up, "There's nothing we can do at the moment. Worrying about things outside our control won't do us any good now."

"Fair enough," she responded.

"In that case," I began, "Let's start with the soul-soothing."

She nodded and sat down next to me so I could reach her head easily. Then, I did just that and started the treatment.

29th of the Verdant Wind Moon 1180. Task force camp inside Nuvelle, command tent.

"To summarise, of the 17'000 soldiers deployed, 12'000 participated in the battle while 5'000 maintained a cordon around the city. Of the 12'000 fighting soldiers, roughly 3'200 died and a further 2'900 have been injured. Of those, a good 1'000 will not be able to continue their duty as soldiers. Most casualties were incurred at the gate we chose as entry point. Considering that we assaulted a fortified position held by over 6'000 enemies, that is a decent result," stated Baron Ochs.

"That's still a lot," said Byleth.

The Baron inclined his head. "That is true," he said, "But sieges are always very costly, even more so when the actual process is reduced to an assault. I take it that this was your first battle for such a task?"

Byleth nodded. "It was."

"Then I hope this was an opportunity for you to gather experience. Only trickery or overwhelming force would have led to fewer casualties. We had access to neither," said Baron Ochs.

The young Professor had to concede that point. It was disappointing, but nothing could be done to change it. Sieges could last for months, sometimes even years, precisely because the casualty count of an assault was prohibitive. What they had done had been very risky, seeing as the task force's momentum could have collapsed completely in the event of a defeat. From a purely tactical and strategic point, losing a bit over 4'200 soldiers in such an assault was not a huge price to pay. The way the Baron had talked about it made sense in retrospective.

Duke Gerth butted in at this moment. "Strategically speaking, this was a great victory," he said. "We've destroyed the main base of our enemy. The rest will fall within the next month. Restoring order might take a bit longer, but it will be doable without Baron Ochs' troops."

General Arnold's hair on the back of his neck stood up. The way this was phrased put him on edge. "Will the Baron's troops be needed elsewhere?" he asked.

"You could say that," answered the Duke. He then produced a large stack of papers and laid them out on the table. He went on, "These are the contents of a safe one of the Warp specialists transported out from the treasury of the mansion. He risked missing retrieval via the Rescue spell and has been rewarded accordingly. However, the documents are worrying."

The other high-ranking officers took some of the documents and read through them. "These are inventories and transaction histories," commented Baron Ochs. "They list buyer, seller, prices, origin of the merchandise and other such things. Planned transactions are also listed."

"That pig!" shouted Manuela, startling the others. In her hands she held a rather thick folder.

"What is it?" asked Byleth.

"This," she said angrily as she pointed at the folder in her hands, "Is the Varley folder. Every person listed in it was sold to these people by Count Varley himself. And this here is the worst of them all!"

She slammed one of the papers on the table. Once her hand stopped obstructing the view, the others looked at it and read its contents. There, black on white, was the single most infuriating thing Byleth had ever had the misfortune of witnessing.

"I'll kill him," he said.

The document in question detailed the sale and unfulfilled delivery of a single girl. It was a girl he knew. Her name was Bernadetta. That was no coincidence. The age, physical description and the small sketch all fit. That piss-poor excuse of a human being had sold his own daughter to slavers.

The thing that truly angered Byleth beyond the normal was that Bernadetta was one of his students. Sure, she was not one of the Golden Deer, but he had taught her too. She was his student in his eyes and so, he was responsible for her. That girl was under his protection and it irritated him that someone had had the gall to try and harm her.

"Now I know why her mother ordered a servant to stuff her into a sack in the middle of the night and had her carted off to Garreg Mach. She wanted to save Bernadetta," commented Hyperion, interrupting the young Professor's thoughts.

"This is an outrage!" thundered General Arnold.

Baron Ochs nodded. "That is why my troops will be needed elsewhere," he said. "This crime warrants execution at the very least. House Varley will likely be attainted. Of course, the Count will resist, and Duke Aegir will support him as there are also documents pertaining sales of slaves from Aegir territory as well. Counts Hevring and Bergliez will either be neutral or support those two, but armed conflict is inevitable either way."

"I must return as soon as possible in that case," said the General.

"Yes," replied Baron Ochs. "The capital must be secured and purged of traitors immediately. Recruitment of troops must also begin on the double."

"I will inform Bernadetta and Ferdinand of this development," said Manuela.

Baron Ochs furrowed his brows. "Wouldn't Ferdinand be an intelligence leak?"

Manuela shook her head. "I don't think so. It is more likely that he will condemn his father for having a hand in this. He is also very protective of Bernadetta. Everyone in the class is. He will take her side over his father's if it comes down to it."

Byleth had to agree. Spending any amount of time around Bernadetta had one of two effects: supreme annoyance or incredible protectiveness. That she'd nearly ended up as a slave caused a burst of the latter.

"There is more," began Baron Ochs. "I will have to fortify my eastern border. The man masquerading as the late Lord Arundel will also respond. He sold Lady Anselma to the slavers, which means that he, too, is involved in this mess."

Duke Gerth spoke up again, "I will start a recruitment campaign in Nuvelle lands as well. There should be enough volunteers. That army and the fleet will likely be our only offensive elements."

"Don't forget mercenary companies," remarked Byleth.

"Our enemies will have access to those too," retorted Baron Ochs.

The Duke looked contemplative for a moment. Then, he responded with, "That only holds true for local companies. Both Albinea and Morfis have extremely strict anti-slavery policies. Any mercenary group that signs a contract with slavers or slaver-affiliated groups would be summarily hunted down and destroyed. As for the Dagdans, I'll keep them busy."

"How?" asked General Arnold. "I can't imagine them passing up an opportunity to harm Adrestia."

"As you know," said the Duke, "The Kingdom of Dagda was destroyed and its capital razed. The country collapsed. However, there were those who saw it as a stroke of luck. A small rebel group found itself in an advantageous position after the end of the war. They then formed the current government. It is why the ascendant Dagdan Republic has a decent though distant relationship with the Adrestian Empire. If I give them copies of the documents pertaining slaves sold to Dagdan nobles, the Republicans will recover them for us."

That raised some questions. Manuela was the one to ask. "Why would they do that? They have nothing to gain from this."

Duke Gerth shook his head. "They do. These documents give away the locations of the nobles mentioned in them. The Republic will be quick to hunt them down. This will have the side effect of keeping all Dagdan mercenaries in Dagda as they will either fight for or against the Republic. Repatriating any freed slaves would then free the new government from any debt they could have incurred with us, which is an additional incentive for them to do it."

"Hmm… I guess you're not the Minister of Foreign Affairs for nothing," stated the General. "I will give the plan my provisional agreement. The Emperor will have to ratify this decision, but I cannot imagine His Majesty objecting to it."

"There is another matter," said Byleth, inserting himself in the conversation again.

"What would that be?" asked Baron Ochs.

Byleth looked him straight in the eyes and answered, "We need to deal with the soldiers who violated standing orders."

"I concur," added General Arnold. "They were clearly warned about the consequences of their misdeeds and their punishment must be doled out in accordance with it."

The Baron hummed. "Time and place?" he asked.

The green-haired Professor made his suggestion known. "I recommend we do so in the afternoon in a semi-public setting, most likely the docks. The students and soldiers should watch and learn what it takes to enforce discipline."

"Have you already managed to procure an executioner?" asked Duke Gerth.

Byleth looked at him strangely. "An executioner? I will punish them personally."

There was confusion in the air. Nobles and officers didn't execute people personally. It was considered dishonourable. "That would besmirch your honour!" remarked one of the junior commanders.

"Where is the honour in letting other people do your dirty work?" countered Byleth. The commander stayed silent, mulling over that. Nothing further was said about this topic.

"Very well, then. Leaving that aside, there is only one further thing to discuss right now. We need to figure out where Lady Anselma would be safest. We cannot leave her here," said Baron Ochs.

General Arnold was the first to speak up on the topic. "Her hometown is out of the question. It is deep in Arundel territory. The capital is unsafe as well. Hresvelg territory as a whole could be compromised by spies and assassins. Lady Anselma would not be safe there."

Baron Ochs added to this, "My territory is also unsuited. It will become a battleground soon. The rest of the Empire will soon become hostile territory as well."

Duke Gerth spoke up, "The Kingdom would also not be safe. If she were recognised, the turmoil would be disastrous. To top it off, the Alliance is a political death trap. She would be found out almost immediately."

"The answer is obvious. Garreg Mach," stated Byleth.

Contemplative looks spread across the tent's interior. After a while, Duke Gerth said, "It might be the best place. I don't like placing such an important figure into the hands of a foreign political entity, but the Church is unlikely to exploit the situation."

Byleth shook his head. "It is obvious because she wants to stay close to Edelgard," he said.

Tired groans and hands slapping foreheads could be heard. "We failed to consider that," said Baron Ochs. "Very well, then. If there are no objections, the complement from Garreg Mach will take Lady Anselma into their custody."

6th day of the Horsebow Moon 1180. Garreg Mach, Seteth's office.

The last one and a half weeks had been terrible for Bernadetta. Her mind had been filled with the images she'd seen during that battle. Ever since that day and her panic attacks had gotten even worse. The blood, the screams, the smells, the cellars with chained-up people in them; they haunted her. And worst of all, she'd found out that she would have been one of those chained-up people if not for one of her mother's rare moments of compassion.

The one silver lining was that both Professor Manuela and Professor Byleth frequently checked up on her. She always felt a bit better after treatment. They had also both promised to be available if she needed to talk about it. Professor Byleth had even sworn that she could come to him for protection if she ever needed it. That had moved her, and it was the sole reason for her presence here.

Across from her was Seteth. He was always so scary with his severe looks. It left her with the impression that he was always judging her and found her wanting, even when he wasn't looking at her at all. She was scared of talking to him, but Professor Byleth told her that it might be good for her.

The two of them sat in awkward silence for some time. Seteth looked intently at her while she was lost in her own thoughts. She was even shaking slightly.

With a concerned expression, Seteth began the conversation. "Bernadetta, what is the problem?"

"Ah!" she cried out in fright, "I'll never do it again, I promise!"

Alarm bells rang in Seteth's head. Something was seriously wrong. When he'd heard of her situation, he hadn't wanted to believe it at first, but there was no doubt that she had been grossly mistreated. The discovery made in the city of Nuvelle was just the cherry on top. Seteth's blood boiled thinking about it. However, rage was not needed at this time.

Trying to mitigate the situation, he said, "Calm down, Bernadetta! I'm not angry at you. You have done nothing wrong." He refrained from trying to grab her shoulders for a simple yet concerning reason. She looked twitchy, as though she expected physical pain to accompany his words.

After a few more seconds of frightened twitching, she seemed to return to her senses. "Huh?" she said. It appeared that she was confused.

Seteth did his best to soften his features as he spoke, "Please remain calm. I am not here to do anything to you."

"You're… not?" she asked.

The statement and the tone of cautious wonder in which it had been said were concerning to say the least. Heart-breaking was another word for it. For her to expect violence just because she was being addressed, it must have happened often during her childhood. That was unacceptable.

"No," answered Seteth while shaking his head. "We are having this talk because Professor Byleth recommended it."

"Oh. Yes. I remember," she said shily. "I… don't really know why though."

Seteth closed his eyes and took a slow, deep breath. His eyes opened again as a sigh escaped him. "Over the course of my life, I have come across many troubled people. Many of them were hurt, sometimes by people they trusted. I wish to share the experiences I had with these people with you because you have been hurt as well."

The twitchiness returned. This was not what Bernadetta had expected at all. Her eyes clenched shut on their own accord and she shrunk in on herself. She couldn't say yes or acknowledge that she had been hurt or she'd be back in the chair again. Complaining meant ropes and ropes were painful and then she'd cry again, which meant more ropes for even longer, and then she wouldn't be able to sleep the whole night. And then-

"Bernadetta!" came Seteth's voice. It was firm, but it held none of the bite she'd feared it would have.

While she'd had her panic attack, Seteth had left his chair and was now next to her. He'd sunk to one knee beside her chair to make sure that her head was higher than his. From his experience he knew that it sometimes helped. It would make her subconscious mind think that she had the power advantage in their interaction.

"Breathe," he said calmly.

"I'm… I'm trying," replied Bernadetta with a shaky voice.

"Remember that you are safe here," said Seteth.

Bernadetta nodded reluctantly and concentrated on calming her breath. It took much longer to untense, however. Fortunately, Seteth remained silent as she did this. After several minutes, her head had finally cleared a bit. At this point, she felt ashamed and humiliated because of her display.

"Thanks," she muttered.

Seteth shook his head. "It is the least I could do," he said. "In fact, I must apologise to you."

That confused Bernadetta. "Apologise? Why?" she asked.

"Because the Academy and its students are part of my responsibilities. I have failed in my duties by acting too late. I should have done something about this sooner," he answered.

"No, it's alright," said Bernadetta.

"It is not," he retorted. "You should not have been left without support for so long."

"I do have some support," she responded. "My classmates try at least, but I'm always so scared." She sighed. "I guess it's different with Professor Byleth and Alois."

Seteth scratched his chin in thought. "Hmm… interesting. Can you describe why that might be the case?"

She was pensive for a moment. Then, she said, "The Professor just… kind of feels safe. I can't describe it better than that. And Alois, he kind of reminds me of my uncle who was always kind to me. That's why he doesn't scare me."

"I see," said the Nabatean. "Is there anything else that can calm you down when you're afraid? Something you like doing perhaps?"

"Well," began Bernadetta, "I like embroidering, I guess. And carnivorous plants; they can just sit around all day in the earth and all their food comes to them. I don't know how much that helps me, though. And…" Her voice died down as she mumbled to herself.

"And what?" asked Seteth.

The girl looked away as she answered, "I also like drawing and painting."

Seteth thought about that. "I have heard that it is calming to some people. Is it the same for you?"

Bernadetta nodded shily. "A bit," she said, "But they all turn out bad. Nobody would want to look at them."

"Let me be the judge of that," he responded.

"What?!" she exclaimed in a high-pitched voice. She looked just about ready to bolt, but fortunately, she wasn't panicking.

"You cannot say that nobody wants to look at your drawings if you don't let anyone look," explained Seteth. "How about you take some with you when next we meet?"

"Next time?" she asked.

"Indeed," said the Nabatean, "I am currently writing a book on Saint Indech and I am looking for an illustrator. I will lend you my manuscript to read through if you're interested."

She was unsure, but she was also really interested in the book. After some internal wrestling with herself, she finally said, "I… could try."

Seteth nodded. "That is all I ask," he said.

He slowly stood up again and walked over to his desk. He opened one of its drawers, from which he then took a thick stack of paper. Once he had it in his hands, he went back to Bernadetta and presented it to her.

"Here," he said. "Read through it and tell me what you think of it."

"Right now?" she asked.

Seteth shook his head. "Whenever you wish. Sadly, we must cut our talk short here as there is still much work for me to do today. I hope that we will talk again soon. Keep the manuscript until then."

7th day of the Horsebow Moon. Audience Chamber of the Archbishop

"Considering the events that have taken place recently, I have decided that the Officers Academy will not accept any regular missions this month," announced Rhea. "Our focus should instead lie on preparing for the war that is no doubt about to break out."

"That is a dauting task indeed," commented Hanneman. The opinion was shared by the other occupants of the room.

The Archbishop had called all the Professors as well as Jeritza, Yuri and the majority of the Cardinals, plus some senior knights and monks. All of them were gathered in the audience chamber for this briefing, making it a bit of a tight fit. Everyone present had been cleared to have access to many pieces of confidential information. Therefore, there was need for only a little bit of deception.

"How shall we accomplish that, your Grace?" asked one of the Cardinals.

Rhea answered, "The focus of everyone here should lie with their respective fields. Jeritza and Shamir will instruct the students on how to properly train new troops. With the recent influx of volunteers, that lesson is more important than ever. The same task will fall to the knights.

The monks and nuns for their part are tasked with securing new sources of supplies, most of all food. As you well know, we have started evacuating many people from danger zones. They will be able to help you in this regard. Employ them as hunters, gatherers, fishers, tanners and woodsmen, then farmers and millers come spring. Have experienced people teach them.

Yuri, I need you and all your contacts on intelligence gathering duty. Information is always important during war and it is vital that we keep up in that regard. Our funds will soon become limited due to all our expenditures, so I implore you to be careful with your budget as you do this. Therefore, it would be great if you could actually manage to secure more funds instead. It is not a priority, however. Just keep us informed about important matters.

Professor Hanneman, Professor Byleth, I regret to do this, but I must add to your workload even more. I want for you to intensify your research into more advanced magic. Activate the special research and combat unit for this task. We must not fall behind in terms of firepower, for once this war reaches Garreg Mach, we will be greatly outnumbered. It is imperative that we close this gap by any means necessary.

Professor Manuela, you are to cooperate with this unit in the development of new medical spells. Your main duties will lie with training new medics, however. Monks and nuns with this specialty will be assigned to aid you in this matter. You and Professor Byleth will also be responsible for the psychological evaluation of all staff effective immediately. I wish to stabilise unstable elements within our command structure at once. Jeritza, your… sponsor should have informed you by now that you will be the first to be evaluated."

The man in question nodded. Edelgard had indeed told him about Hyperion and had ordered him to let this new God do his work, seeing as it was effective with her. The lure of the possibly of being able to be Emile again, of being able to enjoy time with his sister without feeling the urge to kill, was incredibly powerful. And so, he relented.

"Yes. I will report for an examination immediately after this briefing," he said.

One of the knights looked nervous as he raised first his hand and then his voice. "Your Grace, why are we even preparing for war? A civil war in the Empire shouldn't affect the Church of Seiros."

Rhea took a deep breath before she answered. "The Church of Seiros was founded on the ideals of peace and stability. We are the servants of the Goddess who offered her life so that ours may continue. It is our sacred duty to preserve the world which she saved. Therefore, because the side of the Seven is supported by an organisation which seeks to see all the works of the Goddess undone, we will be interfering in that civil war."

Mutters broke out among those who had not yet been informed about this matter. "You have seen some of their members months ago during the debacle with the infiltrators," continued Rhea. "Since then, they have interfered with several of our missions. It was they who incited both Lord Lonato and the Western Church to rebel. It was also they who tried to sabotage our recent mission in Nuvelle."

The answer seemed to satisfy the audience. Instead of questions, there were now just a bunch of grim and some nervous faces looking in her direction.

The Archbishop then finished her speech. "That said, the Officers Academy will still respond to emergencies in case of any occurring. Evil never sleeps, and neither can we." She then gestured to Hanneman, who stepped forward and turned to the assembled people.

"Before this meeting, the Archbishop has asked me to teach you a spell devised by Professor Byleth and his patron," he said.

Some were confused by the statement, but most of them knew who the patron in question was. "What kind of spell is it?" asked one of the nuns.

Hanneman answered, "It is called Reveal. It was this spell that caused the disguises of the infiltrators to fail during the incident. It is a rather simple spell, but it requires a specialised magic circle, so it might take an hour or two until you can cast it."

With that, the briefing turned into an introductory lesson on Thaumaturgy. Unfortunately, not everyone learned it in the allotted time since it required some small proficiency with magic. However, they would learn it eventually.

"It appears we have run out of time," said Hanneman at the end of their session. "Please teach this spell to as many of your subordinates as you can so as to lower the risk of infiltrators getting the better of us."

10th day of the Horsebow Moon 1180. Hyperion's prayer space.

As I sat here, waiting for more guests, I admired my handiwork. I was still far behind Sothis and would likely forever be, but I had finally managed to turn this place into an actual environment instead of simply a mass of grey, blurry fog with nothing in it. Instead, it was now a small room containing a table and several comfortable armchairs. The colour scheme followed my own, which meant mostly a combination of black and red. I also added a bit of green and gold here and there so nobody would think I had some special loyalty to Adrestia.

However, the look of the place was by far not as important as the function that came with its completion. With a finished prayer space, I could now pull in an astral projection of those who prayed. Not only would that make conversations less awkward, it would also allow me to compress time to an even greater degree. The speed of thought was no longer a hard or even a soft limit. This also allowed for longer conversations with my guests, such as the one I was having now.

"This is… new," said the woman across from me. Her gaze fell on me. "You don't look like I expected you to."

Her voice, figure and skin easily gave her away as Kronya. We'd had several talks ever since her capture, the frequency of which had varied depending on whether she was out of my range or not. As such, I had come to know her quite well. She'd made an impression on me as someone who was not at their core a bad person, but had been manipulated into becoming one. She had realised it too, and we were on the way to remedy the problem.

The one precautionary measure I took with that was to recount every encounter to Sothis. I was rather gullible and sometimes too forgiving and I didn't want that trait to be abused. One couldn't be too careful with old conspiracies such as the one Thales and his posse of discount philosophers were in the process of enacting.

"Being a God doesn't automatically make you attractive, though I will say that it fixed me up. My circumference has decreased drastically, for one," I responded to her statement with a laugh before switching the topic. "Do you like the place? I've just finished furnishing it today."

"It looks alright, I guess," she answered. She fidgeted a bit in her seat, which did wonderful things to her chest, I had to admit. "Comfortable too," she added.

Damn it, I really had to stop being so bloody horny. I blamed Sothis' growth spurt for this. This had to stop! With a sigh, I took a moment to shake off these thoughts and concentrated on what this was about.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure?" I asked. "A casual chat or something more serious?"

She fidgeted again and looked down at the table. "Something more serious this time."

I shifted in my seat and straightened my back. "Alright. What is it?" I asked.

"It's… Well… I don't know how to say this," she stumbled over her words. She stopped and gathered her wits for a few seconds and then spoke up again. "Why haven't I been interrogated?" she finally asked. "You know I have information that is useful to you. Why haven't you tried harder to get it?"

I contemplated my response for a bit before answering, "It's a good question. In short, I told them not to do it."

"But why? I don't understand," she said. It appeared that she was perplexed.

"I didn't want to force you," I answered. "Besides, any intel you have on military operations is likely outdated or straight up false."

"You could have tortured me for information if I didn't provide enough," she said.

I shook my head. "I only hurt girls when they like it," I said in an overly joking tone and wiggled my eyebrows in an exaggerated manner. She snorted and laughed. Good to know that it wasn't just Sothis and Byleth who laughed at my shitty jokes. "But to be serious," I went on, "There are two reasons for that. The practical reason is that information gained from torture tends to be unreliable. People will say anything to make it stop once it reaches a certain point. The moral reason is that I just don't want to have it done on my orders or for my sake. I may not be the nicest guy around, but I have no desire to become a monster."

Her face, too, had gone back to a serious look. "Thank you for that," she said. "I don't know why you did it, though. I thought you hated me."

That was confusing. After a second or two, a sudden sense of understanding came over me, however. "Ah, I think I see where the root problem is," I said. "I know little about how it is done in Fodlan and even less in Shambhala, but torture is not only reviled where I grew up but also highly illegal. Whether I hate you or love you doesn't matter in this regard. Aside from that, the prison system back home operates on a rehabilitation first policy. The removal of the Dark Shell gave you a second chance. I'm not about to take it away from you for a reason as petty as dislike."

She blinked and looked at me as though I'd grown a second head. "I… see," she finally managed to say. "Though, what do you mean by Dark Shell?"

"It's the name I gave to the soul parasite you carried. We've found more of those in your fellow Agarthans, by the way," I explained.

"That is… depressing," said Kronya. "It wasn't just me, then. I guess that's what they do when they tell us to report for sunlight resistance surgery before our first deployment."

Now that was an interesting piece of information. It appeared that the lower ranks at least all had Dark Shells. Getting such information hadn't been my goal at the start of this conversation, but it seemed that I would get some as a nice bonus.

"It's fairly consistent with the track record of tyrants," I pointed out.

She gave me an intrigued look. "What do you mean by that?"

"The thing about tyrants is," I began, "That they often claim to protect their people and to do everything they do for the people's benefit. However, nobody does more damage to their own people than the tyrants themselves. They kill and enslave those they supposedly protect, destroy their culture and then replace it with a new, oppressive system that only benefits those in charge. And so, it happened to your people as well. Do you even know what your language is or was? Your history? Your people's religions?"

Kronya appeared very pensive for a long while. She was likely deep in thought. Suddenly, she said, "I don't know about languages, just that our script looks different. And we don't have any religions anymore. We only distinguish between the True Gods and the False God, but we don't follow any."

I thought about this for a little bit. I was not ready to reveal to her that I knew a bit about the interior of Shambhala by talking about the Cyrillic script, but there was something to talk about. "Hmm… I think I can help you a little, teach you the things I know about who your people could have been back in the day," I told her.

Her wide and slightly confused eyes bored a hole into my skull. "How would you know that?"

"I know roughly how the world was before the Agarthans ever called themselves that," I explained. "Do you want to hear about it?"

"Sure," she said. "I'm interested."

"Alright then. Let's get started," I responded. "Let's start with the composition of the Agarthans. From what I could gather, your people came from at least three different cultures, those being Greek, Egyptian and Slavic, most likely the Russian subset.

These peoples all had different religions. At the point when the Agarthans first emerged, the Abrahamic religions had probably become unpopular and their former followers maybe looked back to more traditional faiths."

"Why do you say that?" asked Kronya.

"It's because your people still revere the sun," I answered. "The highest God of the Egyptian pantheon was Ra, the God of the Sun. Though part of your people's worship of it might be the obsession your founder group had with it for other reasons."

She followed up with another question. "What about the other religions?"

I smiled. Mythology was right up my alley. I was by no means an expert, but I loved the stories and the intricate web of interconnected legends they created. "I don't really know much about the Slavic religion. The only God of theirs I know anything about is Cernobog. He was considered evil and often associated with misery, misfortune or death. As for the Greeks, their pantheon, just like the Egyptian one, had many Gods in it. Their highest God was Zeus, God of Lightning. He was God of a lot of other stuff too, but I'm keeping the titles short for the sake of brevity.

Now then, how about I tell you some stories about these Gods and what I remember of the cultures of the people that believed in them?"

What followed was quite a long talk during which we exchanged much information. I found myself enjoying this quite a bit, as I had always liked talking about these tales. In turn, I found out much about the current cultural and political climate of the Agarthan nation. It was mostly a dismaying picture of distrust, blatant abuse of power and dog-eats-dog mentality. Still, it gave me insight into their world view. It was the first step into the direction of coexistence after the war.

15th day of the Horsebow Moon 1180. Grand Cathedral of Garreg Mach.

As he entered the huge building, Jeralt wondered what was going on. He had been recalled from the front only a few days before and urged to return via Warp spells and platforms. Apparently, something big was supposed to happen today for which he had to be present. He had no idea what the occasion was, though. The only thing he had been able to pick up from a bunch of monks was that there was going to be an award ceremony coupled with a memorial ceremony and a big announcement.

He spotted Jana in the crowd together with Lars, the lad who always clung to Byleth. He approached them. "Hello you two," he said, "Do you have any idea what's going on here?"

"Hi there, Captain. We probably know as much as you. We were told to be in the front row, but that's all," answered Jana.

"Let's go, then. We won't figure out what's going on unless we get there," said Lars.

Jeralt gave a short laugh. "That's true."

The three of them made their way through the mass of people that was gathering in the Cathedral. As such, it took them a few minutes to reach the front row. Once there, they saw a bunch of people standing in the open space where a Cardinal or the Archbishop would usually hold a sermon. Indeed, Rhea was there, but so were the Cardinals as well as Byleth, Edelgard and beside her a brown-haired woman Jeralt had never seen before. She looked very similar to the girl, though. Of interest was the ornate one-handed flamberge of white steel on a cushion which was held by the woman.

Whatever was going on, his son had to be at the centre of it. The kid stood in front of the Cardinals and on Rhea's left side while the Princess and the woman stood at her right. What the Hell have you been up to, kid? he asked himself.

It took some time for everyone who wished to attend this ceremony to enter the Cathedral. Nearly half an hour passed before its heavy doors fell shut. The wait continued for a few minutes more so everyone could settle down and find a place to sit or stand. Nevertheless, silence finally settled. People waited for the Archbishop to speak, and so she finally did.

"Welcome everyone to this extraordinary ceremony. We hold it not only to honour those who have given their lives in the largest battle of the current campaign, but also to honour those who yet live and continue to fight in spite of the hardships they have suffered," were her introductory words. Her hands swept wide and she said, "Before we begin, let us pray for the brave men and women who have lost their lives in the sacred mission of delivering innocents from slavery."

All who were not already standing rose and clasped their hands in a prayer gesture. "Great Goddess," began Rhea, "Bless the souls of the brave soldiers who have risen to your kingdom in Heaven. Embrace them and grant them rest. Give solace to the loved ones they have left behind and soothe their pain. We also ask you to bless those they have saved and take into your care the unfortunate ones who could not be saved in time. Forgive us for our failure and give us strength to do better in the future. Praised be the Goddess!"

"Praised be the Goddess!" echoed the crowd. After this, prayer gestures were released and the people with seats sat down again.

Rhea, too, had unclasped her hands and spoke, "With that, I declare the beginning of this ceremony. I shall now read the list of the deceased."

Many people expected this to be a short matter as usually only those of high status or of extraordinary skills would be named during a memorial service such as this. Therefore, the attendees were shocked to see one of the cardinals produce a small book. They were shocked further when, after ten minutes, they realised that the Archbishop intended to read the name of every single fallen soldier within the book. Fortunately for them, the list only bore the names of the roughly 500 church soldiers who had perished during the battle of Nuvelle. It still took a bit over half an hour to get through all of them, however.

Next followed another grand benediction for the dead. Other ceremonial rites were also performed, including a short hymn sung by the Cardinals and the Archbishop herself.

Light fades and darkness draws near;

None remain to bear the weight of day;

Ruin comes to all things we hold dear;

The world grows heavy with decay.

Yet in the darkness there shines a light;

Though weak it seems and it is but one;

Thousands wake and rise to join its might;

They burn and die until the night is gone.

The crowd was stunned. Very few had ever heard the Archbishop sing. Her voice captivated the listeners. The Cardinals' singing only seemed to enhance her performance rather than drown her out. Somehow, the light that shone through the windows seemed brighter all of a sudden. It appeared to many as though the Goddess herself was watching this ceremony take place, which was technically the case.

When the hymn had ended, Rhea waited for some time before she spoke, "Now that we have honoured the dead, we turn our attention to the living with an award ceremony." She paused again for a bit and then continued. "Before we do that, however, I feel that I must explain a piece of Fodlan's history."

Her gaze swept across the gathered people to make sure that everyone was paying attention. Satisfied after some time, she said, "When the Adrestian Empire was founded, Emperor Wilhelm Paul Hresvelg and Saint Seiros forged the covenant of the red blood and the white sword. The covenant is a sacred agreement between the Adrestian Empire and the Church of Seiros. It grants the Emperor his or her divine right to rule in the eyes of the Church and guarantees the Church's legitimacy within the Empire's borders. It is by this covenant that the Church lends its aid to the Empire in its current campaign. It is also by this covenant that the Church and the Empire now grant this award."

As she finished saying this, Edelgard and Anselma moved closer to Rhea. Anselma positioned herself between the two, prominently displaying the flamberge to the crowd. "Professor Byleth Eisner. Step before us and kneel," said Rhea.

From the front row of the spectators, Jeralt watched as his son complied. The young man walked up to the three women, turning his back to the audience, and went down on his knees. Rhea then picked up the sword from the cushion. As the brown-haired woman who had held it stepped back, the Archbishop moved the blade in front of Edelgard. The Princess took off the glove of her right hand and gripped the blade before dragging her palm across it.

As she bled from the cut, she said, "By the red blood…"

"And by the white sword…," continued Rhea.

"For great valour displayed in the face of grave danger to yourself during the rescue of Her Highness Concubine-Consort Anselma von Arundel, by the order of Emperor Ionius IX von Hresvelg…," added Edelgard while the Archbishop moved the blade and lowered it gently on Byleth's right shoulder.

Rhea continued again, "… And, for unwavering devotion to the ideals of justice and righteousness, by the will of the Goddess…" Here, she lifted the sword, only to lower it on the former mercenary's left shoulder.

"We hereby declare you Knight of the Covenant," the Princess and the Archbishop concluded. Right thereafter, Rhea added, "Henceforth, you shall enjoy all the privileges afforded to bearers of this title and the responsibilities thereof. From this day onward, no knight and no Cardinal may call you their lesser. Rise now, my grandson, and take your place among them as Sir Byleth of the Covenant."

The instant Byleth began to rise, a shout of joy escaped Lars while the rest of the audience was in silent shock at the last-minute revelation. Jana joined in without hesitation and so did Jeralt. The Golden Deer were not far behind either. Soon, the entire Cathedral was cheering for the newly appointed knight as he took position between the Cardinals.

"Damn it, kid," muttered Jeralt as he applauded his son, "I don't look for one minute and you go ahead and become a hero." His lips formed into the shape of a proud father's smile. The smile waned a bit as he thought about the end of the ceremony. He just knew that Rhea's last statement was going to be a massive pain in the bum.

The festive mood persisted for the rest of the day, but it received a dampener on the morning of the next one.

"Why would my father write me at this time?" Lorenz asked himself as he examined the letter he had received.

AN: Hello everyone!

I hope you've enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I've enjoyed writing it. On that note, I would like to once more thank everyone for their reviews, favourites and follows. Going by favourites alone, Headmates is now in 17th place of all M-rated Fire Emblem stories. Again, a huge thank you to everybody who has followed my story this far.

At the end of last chapter and during part of this one, I provided some more characterisation to Hyperion. It's proven quite difficult because background information on a self-insert character is a bit of a privacy problem. A section that didn't have this problem was the (for some) long-awaited meeting between Seteth and Bernadetta. It was still very tricky to write, though. I hope it was enjoyable to read.

This is a small lore note concerning Anselma's position which I don't know how to include in the actual story:
When Emperor Lycaon I witnessed the lecherous proclivities some of his descendants displayed, he sought to prevent the destruction of his House that would no doubt result from them. In order to curb their behaviour, he designed the Law of Imperial Succession. In short, any and all children of the Emperor would be considered legitimate and thus eligible for inheritance of the throne. Furthermore, any person who was involved in the conception of any such child would immediately become part of the Imperial family, even if there was no marriage. The married spouse would be called the Empress-Consort if the spouse was female or Prince-Consort if the spouse was male. All others would be called Concubine-Consort regardless of gender. The law was successful in its intent inasmuch as Lycaon I's descendants immediately stopped bedding every person that they liked and instead limited themselves to a select few. A side effect was the prevention of violent succession disputes thanks to the overabundance of parents for the Imperial children, who usually fostered strong family bonds among them.

Now then, today's recommended story is Gone Rogue by Rouge Ebony. I realise that I have recommended one of her stories before, but it's honestly good, at least to me. As with the other story of hers, it takes place in the setting of Persona 5. This time, however, the focus lies on Ariella, a self-insert with no meta-knowledge. I recommend you at least check it out if you're a fan of the series.

Well then, until next time! Stay healthy, everyone.