Strawberry rhubarb pie is proof that God exists, and that he loves us.

Unfortunately, the trading post was somewhat short when it came to the number of horses for sale. Specifically, it only was selling five suitable horses. "This will slow us down."

"Will it really?" Linhardt asked. "You and a few others could just ride ahead, activate a Shrine, and let the teleporters do the rest."

"That's actually not a bad idea," Link said. "Lorenz, Leonie, Ashe, and Ferdinand…"

"Actually, I would prefer to stay here for now," Ferdinand said. "I have a rebuilding effort to begin planning."

"I'll go," Bernadetta said. "I'm a good enough rider."

"All right," Link said. "Let's get ready to move out."

As Link and the other four made their preparations to leave, the others began setting up around the trading post, maintaining their equipment, doing combat drills, and doing various things that needed to be done. As Hapi was sharpening her axe, she overheard a conversation between Dedue and one of the local workers.

"And about this monster on Satori Mountain?" Dedue asked.

"To be fair, I'm not sure if 'monster' is the right word," the worker said. "Nobody actually knows what the Lord of the Mountain is, only that he's very powerful, and very strange. But it's said that while he's temperamental, he's not hostile. At least, not unless you go to Satori Mountain for nefarious reasons, or to mess up the nature there. Still, people don't build anything there. Never have, probably never will. Sometimes people go up Satori Mountain and leave apples for the Lord of the Mountain. It's said that sometimes he'll help you find things if you do."

"Interesting," Hapi thought. She internally filed the information away for future reference.

Dinner at the local inn was nice. They had a quite delicious honey crepe for dessert. Lysithea had ordered three, which had turned out to be a mistake, because now she couldn't sleep.

She went outside for a walk. Edelgard was sitting by a campfire, so she decided to talk to her.

"How are you feeling?" Edelgard asked.

"In general? Better than I have in years," Lysithea said. "I'm liking my new Crest. It's like it has all of the benefits of the Crests I had, and none of the drawbacks. You?"

"In terms of my new Crest, good," Edelgard said. "Emotionally..." she sighed.

"What's wrong?" Lysithea asked.

"It's just...I always thought that Hubert would always be by my side," Edelgard said. "Since the deaths of my siblings, I have walked a lonely path. But I always had Hubert. He was always there for me. But now...we can't continue as we did before. It's not what's best for anyone, least of all Hubert himself. And I know we haven't parted ways yet. But even just knowing that someday we will have to...for the first time since I left Duke Aegir's dungeon, I feel alone."

Lysithea thought for a moment. "Maybe you don't have to be."

Edelgard looked at her, and she continued her thought. "You and me? We've been through the same hell. Maybe it means something that we met. I never had someone like Hubert. I had to come to terms with what happened to me on my own. But now, I think we should stick together. I could take Hubert's place."

"You would do that for me?" Edelgard asked.

"On a few conditions," Lysithea said. "One, if we ever get back to Fódlan, I want you to ensure my parents are well cared for. Two, no arranging a marriage for me without my consent. Three, don't expect me to be a yes-woman. If I don't agree with a decision you make, I'm going to confront you on it. I'll give you a chance to explain your reasons, but I won't just go along with whatever you decide."

"Deal," Edelgard said. "But I need you to agree to something for me." She took the dagger off of her belt. "I've had this dagger for as long as I can remember. If I ever stop acting in the best interests of the people I have sworn to serve, the Adrestian people if we make it back or the people of Hyrule if we never do, I want you to kill me with it."

"This is a lot to trust me with," Lysithea said. "How do you know I won't kill you for a bad reason?"

"Because I'm not going to give you immunity from being punished for my assassination," Edelgard said. "If you kill me, you will be executed for my murder, just as anyone else would. That way, I'll know you won't be killing me because you want to, but because you have to. At that point, I'll know that stopping whatever I am doing is worth both of our lives. I promise, no matter what, if you draw this dagger on me, I will not try to stop you from killing me, and I will make sure no one else does either."

"Okay," Lysithea agreed.

Edelgard unsheathed the dagger and placed her right hand on one edge of the blade. Lysithea placed hers on the other. Edelgard pulled tge dagger out from between their hands, opening a cut on each of their palms. The two of them shook each other's bleeding hands.

Edelgard then sheathed the dagger and gave it to Lysithea. "Thank you."

Lysithea nodded. "I don't want to call you Lady Edelgard if we're not in an official setting."

"If we're in private," Edelgard said, "you can call me El."