In the morning, the very large party continued on the road to Zora's Domain.
Many of the Zora that followed Sidon had, apparently, known Link before the Calamity. In fact, to his surprise, Bazz told him that he was actually the individual that taught several of the Zora how to fight with both sword and spear. Sidon had grown excited by that, telling Link that his personal guard were among some of the best warriors that Zora's Domain had to offer.
Reluctantly, Link told the group of Zora his story. He and these Zora had, once, been friends, and he felt that he owed them the truth. They listened with rapt attention, and once he was finished, each of them declared with no uncertainty that his lack of memories didn't matter to them. They were just happy that their friend still lived.
Link wasn't sure what to think of that.
Ferdinand seemed to be getting on with Sidon. "Excellent craftsmanship on these tridents. Reinforced silver?"
"Naturally," Sidon agreed. "In a watery environment like Zora's Domain, steel is rather useless. Reinforced silver is better. Fortunately, there is a large silver deposit beneath Zora's Domain."
"I can assume that is why the Lizalfos haven't been able to invade Zora's Domain successfully," Ferdinand posited.
"Exactly so," Sidon confirmed. "Steel Lizalfos weapons rust all too quickly here. Though recently the Lizalfos have been equipped with more rust-resistant weapons. It's not just the shock arrows that have made them a problem recently."
"Do you suppose the Yiga Clan might be responsible for arming the Lizalfos?" Ferdinand suggested.
"It is possible," Sidon said.
As they reached another Zora-built bridge, Lorenz admired the architecture. "Excellent craftsmanship, and quite visually pleasing as well."
"Indeed!" Sidon agreed. "Some might not agree, but in my opinion, there are no buildings in Hyrule more beautiful than the ones in Zora's Domain."
"Hopefully we can do something about this rain," Hilda said. "I bet it would look even more beautiful in the sunlight."
Claude noticed Petra seemed miserable. "What's wrong, Petra?"
"I am cold," Petra said. "Brigid is not cold like this."
"I understand," Claude said. "I'm also used to it being warmer. And drier. Hopefully we can do something about that."
"I'm sure we will get rid of the rain soon," Sidon assured them. "Then you won't be so cold, and you can see our great city in all of its glory!" He smiled, his teeth sparkling.
"How do you do that thing with your teeth?" Dorothea asked.
"Really good toothpaste," Sidon answered.
The story was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Letters," announced someone.
Seteth opened the door and took a basket of mail. Most of it was for Rhea, but there were letters for most of the students as well.
"We should probably read these. They could merit a reply," Edelgard noted.
"Eh, it's almost lunchtime anyway," Raphael said.
Rhea thought of something. "I would like to speak to Edelgard and Hubert privately. The rest of you can go to lunch."
"Would you like me to bring you three something?" Link asked.
"I'll take care of it," Cyril assured him.
Byleth looked at Jeralt. "You go on ahead, kid. I'll make sure they don't start fighting."
Byleth nodded and left for the mess hall with the students.
Rhea looked at Edelgard. "Why?"
Edelgard thought about what she wanted to say. "I could blame the Agarthans who infiltrated the Imperial government. I could say I fell victim to their manipulations. But that wouldn't be true. I planned to conquer Fódlan because I thought I knew what was best for the continent, and that anyone who disagreed with me was holding the continent back.
"But if you mean why I wanted war against the Central Church specifically, I had blamed it for a number of mismanagements of Fódlan's problems, only some of which were truly the Church's fault."
Rhea maintained a neutral demeanor. "What that the Church has done could justify war?"
Edelgard admitted that she did believe the Church was behind events that it had not actually been responsible for, such as the War of the Eagle and Lion. However, she did have a number of criticisms of the Church that Rhea had to acknowledge were valid. That said…
"What would you have me do about the Crest system?" Rhea asked. "I admit, I had an opportunity to end it after the War of Heroes, and for both the safety of my own family and that of the Elites' families, I chose not to take it. It was never intended to last as long as it did, but at this point I no longer have enough power to change things without the support of the nations' leadership."
"I understand now that you couldn't tell the truth about the origin of Crests, but surely there was a lie that wouldn't have had such lasting consequences for Fódlan," Edelgard suggested. "Still, I understand now that there is only so much you can do in the present. Though that, in and of itself, is your own fault, but it wouldn't merit war."
"And what do you believe might have?" Rhea asked.
"The Crest system must end," Edelgard said. "And I hope to set in motion the chain of events that will end the feudal system entirely."
Rhea wasn't sure she wanted that. The end of the feudal system sounded like it would be violent and chaotic.
But maybe it didn't have to be. Mother could get the nobles' people to refuse to support them if they decided to resist.
"You could have just asked for support. I might consider supporting you in this endeavor—but only after we deal with the Agarthans, and only once I have been able to make…preparations," Rhea told her.
"What sort of preparations?" Hubert asked.
"I intend to ensure as few of the nobles' people as possible support their resistance as possible," Rhea told him.
Edelgard nodded. "And what do you want in return?"
"A few things," Rhea said. "First, I want Count Varley removed from his position as Minister of Religious Affairs. He is a miserable toad of a man, and his being associated with the Faith is quite frankly insulting."
"I intend to strip him of his title as soon as I ascend to the throne," Edelgard told her.
"And I want the Church to have a presence in the Empire again," Rhea added. "It doesn't need political power, but as a religious organization, the Church has been separated from Adrestia for too long."
Edelgard hesitated. "I think we should discuss the Church's teachings a bit further. I will accept that the true history of the Church must remain secret. But certain teachings of the Church must change."
Edelgard explained her conditions, and Rhea agreed to cease the veneration of Nemesis and the Elites as former heroes, and to change the Church's teachings to reflect the Goddess's true power.
The former was long overdue. Hopefully, soon she wouldn't need to change the latter at all.