Aside from Annette and Linhardt, the rest of the Company arrived a few days later at Rito Stable. There, they encountered someone they knew. "Kass!"
"Welcome, my friends!" Kass greeted them. "Please, come, eat! Dinner's on me! I recommend the Spicy Meat Stew, it's the inn's specialty!"
He looked around at the Company. "Hmm. It appears you're three people short. Where are Annette, Linhardt, and Monica?"
"Annette and Linhardt are at the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab, working on a suit of armor," Claude said. "As for Monica-"
"With any luck, she's been eaten by monsters by now," Lysithea said dismissively.
"That's just cruel," Ashe said, frowning at Lysithea.
"Who cares?" Lysithea asked.
"...That's a contentious issue," Claude summarized.
"It sounds like it," Kass said. "Well, if it's a sore subject, let's not think about it tonight. Tomorrow, I'll be accompanying you to Rito Village."
"Why don't you tell us a bit more about Rito Village?" Ignatz asked, seeing that some of the others were ready to start arguing.
"Why, certainly," Kass said. "First, Hylians call it 'Rito Village,' but it's technically a town, and it isn't the only Rito settlement. The Rito have more villages around Strock Lake, Lake Kilsie, and the Hebra River."
"Around bodies of water," Ignatz noted.
"Yes, Rito largely eat baked goods, but fish is an important part of the Rito diet," Kass said. "We have a not-insignificant Hylian population in the area, mostly lumberjacks and builders. Rito bones are too brittle for very heavy labor. You likely won't find Gorons, Gerudo, or Zora in the area, though. They don't like the cold."
"Neither am I liking it," Petra mumbled.
"Yeah, I don't care for it either," Hilda said.
"Well, I think the temperature out here is perfect," Sylvain said. "It reminds me of home."
"Many Rito prefer the cold," Kass said. "There are Rito who don't, but they don't live in the Tabantha region."
"What's the situation with the Divine Beast?" Link asked.
"Vah Medoh attacks any Rito who get too close, but it's content to stay away from any actual Rito settlements for now," Kass informed him. "However, in recent days, it has been flying a bit too close to Rito Village for comfort. Still, I don't think it's such an urgent issue that you have to try to free Medoh tomorrow. You'll likely have time to prepare."
"That's good. I don't think we had much preparation time for the last two Divine Beasts," Edelgard noted.
"We had some time for Ruta," Dimitri recalled.
"I have a question," Ignatz said. "Kass, do you know what the Divine Beasts were named for?"
"I know Vah Medoh was named for Medli, a leader of the Rito from long ago," Kass answered. "The Rito are an old race, but compared to the other races in Hyrule, we were the last to settle in this land. Medli was the first of the Rito to be counted among the Seven Sages."
"The Seven Sages?" Dorothea asked.
"The Seven Sages are the protectors of the Sacred Realm," Kass said. "It's said that a great power dwells in the Sacred Realm, and that Ganon sought to wield it more than once. The Seven Sages prevent evil from reaching it. When one dies, a new one is appointed. Some say that the Sage's power is always passed from parent to child, but that isn't the case. It often is, but there have been times when it wasn't, such as when it was passed to Medli. As for Vah Ruta, Vah Rudania, and Vah Naboris, they were named for Sages as well, namely Princess Ruto of the Zora, Darunia of the Gorons, and Queen Nabooru of the Gerudo. Yes, the same ones who fought in the War Across the Ages. Medoh is a slight oddity in that she became a Sage long after the three of them had died. The three of them having been Sages at the same time."
"You know a lot about the Sages," Claude thought, but he kept the thought to himself. If Kass had inside knowledge, that was Kass's business, not theirs. The Seven Sages would do their job, and the Company would do theirs. It didn't matter if Kass was or knew one of them.
"I can't tell you who the Sages of today are," Kass continued. "Perhaps you will find out at some point on your journey. Regardless, we are getting off topic. Do you have any more questions about Rito Village?"
"You mentioned that Hylians call it Rito Village," Dedue noted. "Do the Rito have a different name for it?"
"Yes," Kass said. He then made a noise that would be quite impossible for human vocal chords to reproduce. "For obvious reasons, only the Rito use that name."
Before anyone else asked any questions, Lysithea noticed a familiar merchant. "It's that guy again! How does he keep getting places before we do?"
Kass followed her gaze, and called out to the merchant. "Beedle! Would you mind showing these nice people your airship?"
"I don't know," Beedle said. "It's a lot of hassle to set up, and—"
"I'll give you a Bladed Rhino Beetle if you do," Kass said.
"Deal!" Beedle said enthusiastically.
Beedle's airship was an interesting sight. From what it looked like, it seemed to be some sort of very large balloon. Below the balloon, it had an enclosed booth, and attached to the booth were two Ancient Tech engines, seemingly having been taken from a Flying Guardian.
"I literally had to sell the shirt off my back to do it, but I'm so glad I was able to get these Ancient Engines," Beedle noted. "The bicycle-powered propellers were a source of very sore legs."
"Impressive," Lysithea said.
"It's just a prototype at the moment," Beedle said. "Unfortunately, I can only transport small items. Only room for one person and a few tradable items in there. But I'm working on getting a balloon big enough to hold up a small ship! Then I can transport goods in bulk! Only thing is, I would need a better heat source. I've been using an engine powered by a Fire Rod, but a Wizzrobe Fire Rod only goes so far. If I had one of those special Fire Rods that the Royal Mage Corps used, that would be ideal. Or maybe with powerful enough Ancient Tech engines, I wouldn't need the balloon."
"Maybe you could talk to Robbie at the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab," Lysithea suggested.
"Already did. He says he doesn't have the machinery he needs to build the engines my ship would need," Beedle said. "Maybe one of you could talk to him and see if he knows where to find the machinery? But the Royal Mage Corps Fire Rod might be simpler. Then again, the most likely place to find one would be in Hyrule Castle, or possibly the Akkala Citadel, so it might not be simpler."
"We'll see what we can do," Link said.
"Wait, Hyrule has machines that facilitate air travel?" Seteth asked.
"Sort of," Lysithea said. "It's still in its early stages. In the future, though, it might become mainstream."
Seteth and Rhea shared a glance. Neither of them liked that. Air travel was one thing. Fodlan had its own version of air travel, based around wyverns and pegasi. But the Hyrulean version of air travel seemed a lot more conducive to dropping bombs.
That said, for now Hyrule didn't seem to have the kind of bombs that would result in the mass destruction they feared.
"Anyway, after that, we pretty much just bathed and got to bed," Hilda said. "The next day, Kass took us to Rito Village."