(Author's Note)
Hey guys! Remember me? I uh... Hope so!
Yeah, I am REALLY sorry about how long this took to get out. Things in my personal life have been something of a rollercoaster these past few... God, 2 months? Yeesh, I thought I was doing better on that.
Point is, things were a bit of a mess. Finals had just shown up, which was a stress filled nightmare that got me looping around to a point where I was so stressed I was calm, and then that was followed up by the desperate rush of trying to find work for the summer once the year was out.
Needless to say, while I was working on the chapter in-between these points, it wasn't an easy or even smooth time.
I love writing the classroom scenes in this story, it's really fun and I can shove a lot of character interaction into it. Unfortunately for me, they're also the scenes I have the most struggles with writing. So a lot of the time trying to write this chapter was going back and forth on what the hell I was even going to do.
In the end, I've come up with a bit of a change to how I'll be writing the story going forward. It's not a major change to what I will be focusing on, but is more to ease into picking the pacing up, as instead of going through an in story day per chapter, like it seems I've done so far, instead I'll be covering specific moments through said days. Each Day will have a quick blurb at the top of their segment to show what day it is in the month, so hopefully that will help keep things grounded and clear.
Now with all that out of the way, let's get onto Reviews!
To Mark The Gamer Of Grima: As things are now, I'm fully planning on keeping my usage of Three Hopes stuff to a minimum. There will be some things brought over, as I imagine a few of you can see right now, but for characters like Shez, they will not be making an appearance.
To Docscherer: I can see why that might be seen as an issue, but Lysithea's persona is not the same Nyx from P3. It's in reference to another character of the same name in Fire Emblem Fates.
To Pixelitus: Welcome aboard! So, there's a few reviews you left with answers I'll answer real quick. First, the initial comment of Joker taking murder fairly easily. I don't know if that's still a thought had, especially as I establish later that it's not, but I figure I'd touch on that real quick. Second, Three Houses has a LOT of characters. And even if I did have enough confidant slots for all of them, it would be a nightmare to manage. Third, the line "Our Professors said that the team who brings AN enemy flag wins. Not THE, AN!" is to clarify that the rule was not to bring the enemy to the goal, but any enemy flag, which shows that if either professor brought one of the flags to the goal, they'd win. Hope that clears all that up, and I hope that I didn't end up being redundant otherwise.
To ScarletEmperor: I KNOW! The lack of content bridging the two games together like I am here was mildly infuriating, though more often it was just disappointing, to the point I just decided to do it myself. On the subject of pairings, my current... plans, which are WAY later down the line, don't have a lot of flexibility to do specific "what if's?" regarding non-canon pairing scenes. And with how the relationships are built up throughout the story, it'll be especially hard to do such things when I plan on having things progress smoothly and not suddenly reaching a tipping point at the end of a confidant. That's not to say the normal "I should choose my words carefully" bit isn't gonna show up somewhere, but it's more to say that it wouldn't fit as well with how I plan on doing things.
And that's everyone! Thank you all for reviewing! They really help with my motivation, and I love the audience feedback and communication it affords me. If you have time when the chapter's finished, please leave a review. It can be literally anything, your immediate thoughts on the chapter, any questions you want to ask or bring up, etc. I try to cover as many as I can, so yeah.
Alright, now that we've gotten past all THAT, let's get into the meat of things. Hope you enjoy!
[Day 7 of the Harpstring Moon, 1180]
"Okay, they should be arriving soon. Are you ready for this?" Morgana asked, looking over at Ren.
"It's math." Ren replied with a raised eyebrow. "You've seen my test scores."
"Just because you know the material doesn't mean you know how to explain it." Morgana replied. "And yes, I know you do, I was there during your many tutorings of Ryuji and Ann for exam week. I'm just asking because you're a bit off."
"It's not this class I'm worried about. It's the next."
"The Blue Lions?" Morgana asked. "Why's that?"
"So far, both the Black Eagles and the Golden Deer have both been… accepting of the lessons I'm teaching in the Box, but I know for a fact that I'll have more resistance from them." The thief replied, shaking his head. "The way I see it, is that they're knights, or at least highly honor bound. They're the epitome of all those fairy tale knights, the ones who are honorable, who look at underhanded tactics with discomfort. My class is going to be draining. Both for them, because of how heavy it's likely going to clash with their moral compass, and for me, because they'll push back against the lessons."
"Hey, it's not like you didn't have a few like that in the other classes."
"But in those cases, they were the minority." Ren stated calmly, picking up a piece of chalk as he began writing on the board. "It's not with the Blue Lions."
"Hey, no need to fret about it now though." Morgana said, turning to face the empty classroom. "Take it one step at a time. There's a reason you got a schedule."
"Your friend is right, Trickster." Angel said, his voice echoing in the thief's head. "Worrying won't lead you anywhere."
"I mean, it might get him spinning in circles?" Sprite said with a shrug.
"I think either way you're going to get resistance." Succubus said, before what sounded like a purr emanated from her. "In which case, why not… Play to their wants?"
'...I'm going to need you to elaborate on that.'
"Well, if they're so adverse to learning under the assumption that they'll be using these "Underhanded Tricks", then why not make them assume you're teaching them these things so they know what to look out for against more underhanded opponents?" Succubus replied.
"...And like that, almost all my concerns have evaporated." Ren said aloud, breathing out a sigh of relief.
"Wait, what? How?" Morgana asked, raising an eyebrow at the teen.
"I'll tell you later, but I'm fairly sure I know a way for the Blue Lions to be more receptive to the Box now." The thief replied with a smirk, placing down the chalk as he looked at the board in front of him. "Now, all we have to do is wait for the class to show up."
As if on cue, the doors to the classroom swung open, alerting the professor as he turned around to face the familiar faces of his students.
Well, he would have, if it wasn't for the sole person walking in that while familiar, definitely wasn't his student.
"Morning, Sensei!" Slyvain said, an easy smile on his face as he walked through the doors of the Black Eagle House.
Ren blankly stared at the red headed Blue Lions student in confusion, before he reflexively spoke aloud. "...For real?"
It was the chiming of bells that signaled the end of Math. Ren idly stretched from his position at the front of class before he glanced over the students present.
Everyone was here luckily, at least now at the end. He had to ask Dorothea to fetch Bernadetta for him while he began class proper, but otherwise the class was all there.
It was so full that they even had an extra! No, wait, that was just the red headed blue lions student that happened to be sitting in today's math class. "Alright. That's all for today's math class, you're free to go and grab lunch before your afternoon classes." Ren began, before looking to Sylvain. "Sylvain, if you'll stay behind for a few minutes. I need to discuss some things with you."
Sylvain nodded, getting a few odd looks from some of the other black eagle students, before standing up to walk over to the thief as the rest left. "What can I help you with, Sensei?"
"...A few things." Ren began, crossing his arms as he looked down at the attendance form that was handed to him during the middle of class by Cyril, an update to the old one apparently. "First, welcome to the Black Eagle house. I assume you transferred in with Professor Eisner's permission?"
"I did. I asked and while she seemed confused at first, once I explained the process she accepted without too much fuss." Sylvain replied with a shrug.
"Right…" The thief nodded slowly. "And why exactly did you decide to transfer?"
"A few things. I think I could learn a lot from you for one. You decimated the Blue Lions during the mock battle. Well, your house decimated everyone, but semantics." Sylvain waved his hand, before tilting his head. "Also, you can only spar with the same people for so long before you stop learning new things."
"You make some good points." Ren said with a nod, before he narrowed his eyes at the teen slightly. "Though unless I'm mistaken, I believe most of the students are unfamiliar with the others in their house, with only really knowing them for the short time they've been here at the monastery."
"True, but I've known his highness, Ingrid and Felix, since we were kids." Sylvain noted with a shrug. "Hence my point."
Ren glanced to the side at Morgana, who was merely staring at the red haired teen. "He went through Byleth to transfer right?" Morgana asked, getting a slight nod from Ren that the thief played off as if he was thinking. "Then why didn't he mention anything about learning from her?"
Ren blinked, turning back to look at Sylvain as he raised an eyebrow. "While I'm flattered you think so highly of me to transfer into the Black Eagle house, why go through Professor Eisner?"
"Should I not have?" Sylvain asked, placing a hand on his hip.
"No, but it's just that every answer you've given for switching houses has been either about the other students, or my ability to teach." Ren said, uncrossing his arms as he played with his hair. "While on the other hand, you said nothing about Byleth, who was the one who signed off on your transfer to begin with."
"Of course," Ren continued, placing his hands in his pants as he leaned against the desk behind him, not leaving any room for Sylvain to get a word in. "If you wanted to learn from me specifically, it would make sense that you'd ask me to go through the process. Byleth and I both likely knew the same level of knowledge regarding the process, which means you likely had another reason for requesting a transfer this early."
Sylvain hummed lightly, eyes narrowing slightly as the two teens stared at each other. "You are certainly sharp."
"I've had plenty of practice." Ren replied with a shrug.
"She's very skilled, and from what I've heard is able to go toe to toe with you and more." Sylvain began, crossing his arms. "The both of you helped his highness during that training exercise, and-"
"She's easy on the eyes, right?"
"Yes, that she-" Sylvain paused, blinking at the Professor in front of him, a sly smirk on the thief's face. "...You really are good."
"Practice." Ren said with a shake of his head. "I've overheard you sometimes while walking around the academy, so considering everything? You transferred for eye candy."
"When you put it like that it sounds vastly more deplorable than it really is, Sensei." Sylvain replied, letting his arms slowly relax at his sides. "I wasn't lying when I said all those other things. They were legitimate reasons I transferred houses."
Morgana huffed. "But it was Byleth that tipped the scales, huh?"
Ren nodded, before pushing off the desk as he walked over to Sylvain, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Well, it's not like I could do anything to revert the transfer at this point. Besides, no point in it. You're here to learn from the two of us, so I hope we'll live up to the hype. Welcome to the Black Eagles, Sylvain."
Ren patted the red head's shoulder once before moving past towards the main doors, Morgana leaping up onto his shoulder as he walked past him. "Also, I should see you in the Blue Lions house later today for my class, since I believe you still are required to be there for at least that class so you're all caught up for the next classes and all, right?"
"Ah, right." Sylvain nodded, looking over at Ren as the teen gave a wave over the shoulder as he left, leaving the redhead on his own. "...I think that went well."
"Is this seat free?" Ren asked, walking down the aisle to the empty cafeteria seat next to Byleth.
The blue haired mercenary shook her head, and motioned to the chair as she turned back to look at Edelgard, who was sitting opposite her. "Sensei." Said imperial princess greeted as the thief sat down.
"Edelgard." Ren replied with a nod before he turned back to look at Byleth. "How has your free day been treating you so far?"
"Well enough." Byleth said, taking another bite of her food.
Ren let his third eye activate for a moment, catching sight of Sothis idly floating next to the blue haired merc. "And by that, she means spending all day in the training grounds practicing." The girl said once she realized Ren was looking at her.
Ren deactivated his third eye with a nod, looking down at the food in front of him, some grilled fish and rice. He cut a piece off and passed it into the hole of his bag.
"Um, Sensei?" Edelgard asked with a raised eyebrow. Whatever question she had was quickly answered by the flash of blue eyes staring out of the bag. "Ah, Morgana."
Ren nodded slowly, taking a bite of his food himself before he glanced over at Byleth. "So, Sylvain transferred into the Black Eagles."
"I did the paperwork for it yesterday." Byleth replied with a nod.
"Were you unaware of his transfer, Sensei?" Edelgard asked, eyeing the thief.
"I was." Ren said, taking another bite of food before lightly tossing Morgana another chunk of fish.
Byleth silently took another bite of her food before nodding suddenly, likely responding to Sothis if Ren had to make a guess. "I apologize. In the future, I will be sure to give you warning if another student will be transferring into the class."
Ren smiled, before shaking head. "Speaking of, I figure I should let you know while I have you here, we're going to have another student transfer into our House."
"Another transfer?" Edelgard asked, raising an eyebrow. "Who?"
"Lysithea. She has an… interest in my method of spellcasting that led her to asking. I believe she's signing the forms at the end of the week, so it will likely be a smoother transfer than what Sylvain's is probably going to be." Ren answered with a shrug.
"Thank you for the warning then." Byleth said with a nod.
"Lysithea…" Edelgard repeated to herself. Ren glanced over to the white haired student, barely catching a glimpse of the thoughtful expression on her face before she returned to a neutral expression. "She's from the Golden Deer, correct?"
Ren nodded. "Hm."
"I'll do my best to make her transfer welcoming." Edelgard said after a moment, returning her attention to Byleth. "Have we heard anything about this month's assignment yet?"
Ren felt Morgana shuffle from his bag, both of their attentions grabbed by the question.
"Not much." Byleth said after a moment. "The knights apparently heard word of them fleeing north, but have since lost track of sightings."
"North… Isn't that close to Count Rowe's territory?" Edlegard asked. Ren looked over at Edelgard out of the corner of his eye, keeping his expression neutral as he looked at her. "Have they looked around the outskirts of said region?"
"Not that I'm aware of." Byleth continued, shaking her head. "The knights only have rumors right now, so there's not much to be done."
"I see." Edelgard said. "It was merely a thought."
"For now, it is probably best we focus on the now." Ren said, giving another piece of fish to Morgana. "Such as lunch?"
"Right, I suppose so." Edelgard nodded, turning back to her food.
Ren narrowed his eyes at Edelgard lightly, but shook his head and went back to his food.
'Something feels… off.' Ren thought to himself as he ate. 'That was weirdly specific of her.'
'Well, he certainly knows how to use that.' Ren thought idly to himself as he dodged the practice knife being swung at him.
"The news was taken remarkably well." Angel noted from inside Ren's head.
"What gave you that idea?" Sprite replied, voice dripping with sarcasm.
'Guys.' Ren cut in, dropping to the floor as he spun on his hand, sweeping Felix's legs out from under him before rolling to a stand to make distance. 'Perhaps chat later when I'm not trying to get stabbed.'
"They're fake though." Sprite replied.
"Doesn't mean they won't hurt." Panser noted.
Ren sighed as he watched Felix pull himself off the ground. "Alright, let's pause this now." Ren said, eyeing the other students of the Blue Lions for a moment before locking back at Felix. "Felix. Good job. You were applying constant pressure, which meant my options were noticeably decreased."
Ren held up a finger. "However, there were also other issues with applying so much pressure. What do you think one of those was?"
"I was unprepared for your drop. I couldn't recover in time and as a result had my legs kicked out underneath me." Felix said, crossing his arms.
"Right. But you're only thinking of how it ended and not what led to it." Ren said, glancing over to the other students. "Anyone else have an input?"
"You were leading him around." Dimitri said after a moment, looking at their positions in the classroom. "You both started the fight closer to the desks, but you ended it there, in the open corner of the classroom."
"You also started on the other side, closer to the desks than Felix was, so you had to maneuver so you two were flipped in order to lead Felix there." Sylvain noted, eyes narrowing slightly.
"Correct. Felix, pressure is good. But it's easy to get tunnel vision when you're pushing like that. I was able to maneuver as much as I did because you weren't paying enough attention to anything but me." Ren said, nodding to the teen. "That said, it was an impressive showing. You can sit down now. Anyone want to volunteer to go next?"
Felix walked past the thief, handing the practice knife over with a nod as he moved back to his seat. There was a jostling of red as Sylvain stood up, a glint in his eyes as he looked at Ren. "I'll take you up on that Sensei."
"Any objections?" Ren asked the rest of the class, before nodding to Sylvain at the lack of said objections. "Alright. Show me what you can do."
The thief passed the practice knife over to Sylvain, getting a smirk from his newest student as he looked over it. "Ready?" Ren asked, taking a step back.
"Ready." Sylvain said, quickly moving in with the knife.
Ren narrowed his eyes and began his evasion, ducking and weaving between the various strikes, allowing himself to be maneuvered towards the more spacious area of the classroom.
Sylvain swung high with the knife in his right hand, leaving himself seemingly open for Ren to counter. The thief narrowed his eyes and moved in, only for his eyes to snap open as he caught sight of Sylvain's left hand as it emerged from his pocket.
The arm swung, throwing whatever had been the contents of said pocket into Ren's face. The thief felt the impact over his eyes, forcing him to shut them with a grunt. 'Pocket sand!?'
The thief took a step back to right himself, the sound of the Blue Lions class going into an uproar was drowning out almost every other sound, but luckily, it wasn't loud enough to mask the sound of the air being cut.
Ren thrust his hand up, blindly grabbing the blade of Sylvain's knife. The classroom went silent as the wood smacked into Ren's awaiting palm. "Sylvain…" The thief began, blinking the pocket sand out of his eyes as he turned to look at the Teen.
Sylvain stared back, both of them wearing faces as hard as stone. "Heh, not bad." Ren said, letting go of both the knife as he smirked. "Alright, how about we go over what went wrong during that match?"
"Sylvain threw pocket sand at your eyes." Ingrid said, lightly glaring at the redhead.
"He did. But that's not what I'm asking about." Ren shook his head, getting a confused look from Ingrid. "The Box is about training and teaching you how to survive. How to grow and adapt. And how to otherwise outsmart your enemies. I have presented today's lesson so far as simply learning what to look out for so you won't get caught by it. However, when put into a life or death situation, if you're caught between choosing a dishonorable action that would save your life or dying to preserve your honor, I'd rather you all live."
"Hence why I'm not faulting Sylvain for his use of the pocket sand. It was a valid tactic, and an effective one as you all saw." Ren finished. "So, as I asked. What do you all think went wrong."
"You weren't prepared for the pocket sand." Ashe said, eyes slightly furrowed. "While you clearly recovered quick enough to block Sylvain's attack, you still were put on the back foot for a few moments."
"And those few moments may have been all Sylvain needed." Ren replied with a nod. "There's never any real time to be prepared for something like that, but there are signs you should look out for. As an example, Sylvain was overextending himself to lure me in. I didn't notice the hand in his pocket until it was too late."
"Unless you're observant, even a slight like that can end poorly." Ren continued with a nod to Sylvain. "Sylvain, I'll take the knife back. Feel free to sit down."
The redhead passed the practice knife back to the thief as he made his way to his desk. Ren took a breath, glancing around the classroom once more. "Alright, who wants to go next?"
Ren stared down the horn of the record player before him. He had spent a small chunk of his evening assembling it, and a larger chunk of it troubleshooting any of the major problems that had come up.
"Finally…" Ren said, leaning back slightly. "I think that's everything."
"Great. Let's give it a listen!" Morgana said, leaning to the side as Ren grabbed one of the records from the box, slipping the vinyl out of the protective sleeve.
"Showtime." Ren said, setting the record onto the player, lowering the needle down before flicking the on switch.
Slowly but surely, the record began to move, sluggish at first before evening out to a smooth and consistent rotation.
The sound that came out of the horn however…
"...So it's not supposed to sound like that, right?" Morgana asked, looking over at Ren.
Ren stared at his creation for a few seconds, the off tune sound of the music echoing throughout the attic for a moment before he facepalmed. "...Brass! Gah, I'm an idiot!"
"Oh. Oh…" Morgana nodded in understanding, before shaking his head with a sigh.
"Of course it sounds off, the material of the horn is messing with it… Should have just made it out of brass to begin with…" Ren groaned with an explosive sigh. "...Which would involve having Brass from the start as well, of which I have none even now, so…"
"Hey, we could always ask Anna for help tomorrow." Morgana said, flicking the record player off.
"Yeah… That's fair." Ren nodded. "I just want to be done with this thing."
"Perhaps we should do something else." Morgana said. "You have to be up early tomorrow, so it can't be something you'll agonize over for a while."
"Speaking of schedules." Ren began, standing up as he walked over to the calendar hanging up on the attic wall. "Tomorrow is battle theory."
"Right, what are you planning to do for it?" Morgana asked with a raised eyebrow.
"...Do we still have the map of Kamoshida's Palace, right?" Ren asked, grabbing his messenger bag as he searched through it. "...Nope, we do not."
"I remember the rough layout. Why do you need it?" Morgana asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, we have a class where I'll be asking my students how they'd handle specific engagements, and I will later likely have various maps and floor plans for whatever Palace we'd be tackling…" Ren said with a smirk. "So in that case, why not have my students work out how to best handle a Palace run?"
Morgana's eyes widened, before they narrowed as a wide grin grew on the cat's face. "Oh, that is devious! Good thinking, Joker!"
"Luckily, class is in the afternoon, which gives us time to look over and prepare for the course." Ren said as he picked up his tools and started work on removing the horn of the record player. "It also gives me time to bring this to Anna and ask if she can get me a version of this in brass."
"Well, hurry up then. After all-"
"Yeah, I need to sleep, I know." Ren shook his head with a smile, pulling the horn off the record player. "Give me a minute."
[Day 8 of the Harpstring Moon, 1180]
Ren smiled, walking over to the corner of the plaza and the Redhead currently looking over her goods. "Anna!"
The merchant blinked, glancing over her shoulder before smiling wide as she turned to face the thief. "Well now, if it isn't my favorite customer!"
"I don't really buy that, but I will take the position of your favorite business partner." Ren said with a smirk as he came to a stop in front of the woman, lightly adjusting his grip on the bag in his right hand. "Speaking of, it's been a couple days. Any luck on getting an initial interview for the book?"
"Maybe, but nothing concrete yet." Anna said with a sigh. "It's not exactly what I'm known for, so right now I have interested fish, but no biters."
Anna shook her head, her smile forming back on her face. "We'll anyways, what are you actually here for?"
Ren smiled, pulling the horn out from the bag he was carrying as he placed it on Anna's table as a response. "You wouldn't happen to know where I could get this remade in Brass, would you?"
Anna picked the horn up, idly rotating it as she looked it over. "Hm… Not what I'd expect you'd come to me for." The merchant noted, before placing it back down. "It'll take a few days, but I should be able to get it done."
"Well, that's certainly great news." Ren replied, crossing his arms. "So, what do I owe you?"
"It'd be a commissioned piece, and seeing as I can't make it myself, I won't know the price until I'm given it." Anna said with a shrug. "That said, I can wait until it's done to collect. At this point, I know you're good for it. Besides, the book sales go through me first, so if you do end up trying to cheat me, I can always take the cash out of that."
"The thought never even crossed my mind, but good to know you're prepared." Ren said with a chuckle. "Right, I needed to make this a quick visit since I have class later today and I need to prepare. Let me know if there's any update on either!"
"Will do!" Anna replied with a wave as the thief walked away. She glanced down at the horn in front of her with a slightly raised eyebrow. "...Brass, huh? Wonder what you're for then."
Ren idly glanced back up at the chalkboard before him. Even erased, there were still noticeable, but faded, chalk marks from Byleth's class earlier that day. He gave the board another wipe, just to be safe, before writing Battle Theory out near the top.
"...Okay, we're ready, right?" Ren asked, glancing over at Morgana.
"Why are you looking at me? You were the one to draw out the map and bring it with us." The cat noted, lightly tapping his paw against the rolled up sheet of parchment paper.
Ren rolled his eyes. "I like being prepared, and you're good at keeping me on track." The thief said with a shrug, before turning to face the front doors. "Okay, they should be here any minute now…"
The two settled into a comfortable silence as they awaited for the arrival of the students. The thief idly flipped through the notebook he had written out today's lesson plan, while Morgana stood up and hopped to the floor. "Hey, I'm heading out to start looking."
Ren nodded, locking eyes with his partner as Morgana left the classroom. The teen turned back to his notebook, idly going over the specifics of today's exercise.
Eventually the doors opened, and fresh from their free period, the students began to trickle in. Ren glanced up from his notebook, eyeing all of the students silently as they filled the desks of the classroom.
As the door closed behind the last pair to enter, that of Dorothea and a begrudging Bernadetta, Ren closed his notebook with enough force for the sound to ring out. The thief smirked when all eyes fell to him. "Alright, everyone's here."
"Welcome to Battle Theory. For the unaware, much like your earlier class of Combat Theory with Professor Eisner, this class will be focusing on various aspects of your engagement when out in the field." Ren began, placing his notebook down on top of his desk. He stepped out from behind it and moved a bit to the side. "The difference is that unlike the theoretical aspects of face to face combat that Byleth has started to go through with you all, we'll be taking a step back to look at the bigger picture."
"Specifically," Ren began, slipping his hands into his pockets. "We'll be going over the bigger picture. This class will be focusing on the battle, the overall engagement you'll encounter when on a mission."
"There might be some overlap between this course and some of the lessons I'll be teaching in The Box, but if there are, it'll be from a different perspective." The thief continued with a shrug. "As for now, we're going to be focusing on one specific aspect for today's class."
Ren turned around and wrote once more across the board. "The rules of engagement." He began, turning back to face his class. "We'll be reusing this idea a few times throughout this class, as it's a good leaping off point for specific exercises. Before I go any further, are there any questions?"
The teen glanced over the class, noting the lack of raised hands, before nodding as he walked over to the rolled up sheet of parchment. "Alright, in that case, let me explain the scenario." Ren began, before he unrolled the parchment and hung it up on the blackboard. "This here, is the map you've been given by an advisor."
Said map was a segmented section of Kamoshida's palace, or at least one they drew from memory. Ren glanced over the features of the map. It started with a single hallway leading into a courtyard with various furniture present to break up sight lines. At the back was a large door, a locked one, that connected to the main tower that stood behind the courtyard. Running along the outside of the courtyard and tower was a brick wall, one wide enough to run along if needed.
"The rules of engagement dictate what course of action you and your fellow knights will take in a battle. In this scenario, your advisor has also brought reports from intelligence, stating the rough layout and numbers of your enemies." Ren continued, quickly marking out red circles for each enemy, three in the hall, and about 15 in the courtyard. The tower at the end was left devoid of such markings. "Your goal is this tower. You need to get inside. This time, you have nine people for this operation. In this case, you may assume they're your fellow classmates."
"Now, I'll be splitting you all into three groups of three for this exercise. Once you've reconvened in those groups, you'll brainstorm a plan of attack. When you've all come up with a plan, we'll go over them together and then spend the rest of class working through this as a whole. For now though, 1, 2-"
That… was it?
Edelgard glanced down at the scaled down map her group had been given, running the scenario over in her head.
It was simple, or more accurately, lacking.
The map was clearly a section of a larger local, and there was no information on what kind of opponents they would encounter. They had a number, and that was it.
The imperial princess looked up from the map, taking in the faces of the others in her group. Sylvain and Petra. Sylvain was the immediate focus, having transferred into the Black Eagle house the day before. She wasn't sure what to think of him yet, as he hadn't tried to talk with her before now.
Petra glanced down at the map as well, eyebrows narrowing slightly as her eyes flicked across the parchment. "There are nine of us, right?"
"In the scenario, yes." Edelgard nodded, crossing her arms. "Our objective is the main tower, but our opposition is nothing to scoff at."
"Not exactly what I expected, but considering who's teaching, it feels like his teaching." Sylvain noted with a nod, before pointing at the courtyard on the map with his index finger. "Hm… We're not going to have a good time with these guys."
"There's fifteen within the courtyard, and we'll have nine of us. The three in the hallway leading up need to be taken care of without alerting the others if we hope to have the best chance of dealing with the bigger group." Edelgard noted with a nod.
Sylvain nodded. "This house has archers, right? I know one of them was in the mock battle, but not if that was everyone."
"I, as well." Petra said, nodding at the redhead.
"Okay, so then that's two?" Sylvain said. "In that case, we could have someone take out the first in close range and leave the other two to our archers. That'd clear the hallway."
"It still leaves us outnumbered in the courtyard." Edelgard noted, frowning slightly. "And while I have faith that we could just rush in and try to capitalize on their surprise, it leaves massive room for error."
Petra tilted her head slightly to the side. "Why would we not sneak?"
"I… Don't follow?" Sylvain said after a moment, eyebrow raised.
""Would", in this case, implies it was an option they've considered, Petra." Edelgard blinked, swerving in her seat quickly to catch sight of their professor standing next to their table.
"When did you get there?" Sylvain asked the teacher.
"I've been roaming." Ren replied with a shrug.
"He, too, has been sneaking." Petra nodded, a look of recognition in her eyes.
"I'll let you get back to this." Ren waved off, moving over to another group composed of Bernadetta, Hubert and Linhardt.
"...Perhaps you could explain what you mean by that, Petra?" Edelgard asked, turning to look at the girl.
"The lesson only says we need to reach here." Petra said, pointing at the tower. "It does not say we must kill everyone."
"Our objective is the tower, these guys are just the obstacles then." Sylvain said with a nod, looking over the map. "Which means if we could sneak our way into the tower, we would not have to engage them."
"Yes, that would work." Edelgard remarked, looking down at the map. "Here. I was wondering why the wall was also mapped out, but judging by the size and scale, it would be easy enough to walk on top of."
"And there are no enemy on top." Petra said, motioning to the map.
"Which means as long as we could get up, we would be unchallenged." Sylvain added, before looking at the map. "Though there's no telling how high up the wall is, or if we could get inside the tower from it."
"Either way, it would greaten our chances of getting inside without further conflict." Edelgard noted with a nod. "In that case, I think we have a plan."
"This was not what I would call a difficult exercise." Sylvain noted with narrowed eyebrows. "I know this is only the first class, but it's still weird."
"I agree. It feels like there should be more here…" Edelgard noted, glancing over at the Professor, who was making his way back to the blackboard.
'Well, they decimated that.' Ren thought idly to himself. 'I definitely need more time to plan out these exercises if the group portion is as bare as today's was.'
"Alright, I think I've heard conclusions from everyone at this point, correct?" The thief asked his class, nodding at the affirmations he received in response. "Good. Let's go over this then. Caspar, Dorothea, Ferdinand, what did you three come up with?"
Ferdinand cleared his throat and stood up, idly dusting his front down as he did so. "A straightforward offensive. Our objective is the door and so we'll make straight for it. I have no doubt that our forces would be capable of fending off the numbers in the courtyard if push came to shove."
"Arrogance."Panser noted in Ren's head. "If that is all they came up with then perhaps the amount of complexity we started with was a good idea."
"Ooh, Dorothea's standing up now!" Sprite noted with audible glee.
"Of course, going straight through without foresight would be a poor decision." Dorothea noted, getting a nod from Ferdinand and a begrudging affirmation from Caspar. "So we thought it would be best to cause a commotion in the hall first, that way when the larger group would try and engage, their movement would be confined to the hallway. It would also make fending them off easier as only so many would be able to attack us at once."
"But once we'd take all of them down, getting to the door at the end is a simple walk away at that point." Caspar finished.
"It's not a bad plan." Angel said. "It would make taking on the opposition as they plan to into something plausible."
"An interesting plan. The trick of luring them into the hallway to restrict their movement is not a bad one either." Ren praised. "However, your plan with the hallway would also restrict your own movement, so you'd be introducing some added risk there for yourselves as well. Overall, a good plan."
Ren turned away from the prideful faces of the group and looked to the next. "Hubert, Linhardt, Bernadetta, you're on deck."
Hubert stood up, the other two seemed fine with sitting back, or in Bernadetta's case, leaning away from the attention. "Our plan is to take each of them down one at a time, stealthily, without alerting the others." He said, locking eyes with his professor. "On your map, you've marked various obstacles and objects that would be good at keeping some of us out of sight. Our plan would have a few of us sneak through and methodically remove the threats. If for some reason we are unable to take all of them out before the rest are alerted, then we'd take on the rest of the now thinned numbers with the rest of us."
"Well, he sure took charge." Succubus noted, humming lightly to herself.
"It's a good strategy, if risky. One wrong move in stealth before you're in a position to clean up, as you've put it, and it could all come crashing down on you." Ren replied, crossing his arms. "But, assuming it does work, it's an effective way of keeping out of sight and lowering the risk of casualties."
Hubert sat down with a smirk at Ren's nod. The thief glanced over to the final group, and let his arms return to his sides. "And lastly, Petra, Sylvain and Edelgard. What plan of attack did you come up with?"
"Stealth, Sensei." Edelgard said, standing up together with Petra and Sylvain.
Ren raised an eyebrow at the beat of silence she left open. "Interesting. And how is your approach to stealth different from their group's?" Ren asked, motioning to Hubert, Linhardt and Bernadetta.
"The goal would be to reach the door with minimal fighting." Sylvain picked up, motioning to the map. "Instead of taking each and every enemy down, we would only be dealing with the necessary obstacles."
"The front hallway has two targets. Archers would silently kill them, gifting us free passings to the courtyard." Petra continued. "Then, we'd make our way inside the tower. No more fighting needed."
"But what about all those enemies?" Caspar interrupted, a confused look on his face. "There's almost twenty of them between you and the door. There's no way you wouldn't have to fight at least a few."
Ren glanced over to Caspar, holding the glance for a moment before looking at the group again. "No more fighting, hm? How do you propose you'd manage that?"
Edelgard smiled, just slightly, but it was sharp. "You included something rather interesting on the map. While normally you left the boundaries of the castle as thin lines to denote the walls, the wall on the west side of the courtyard is not. In fact, I'd almost say it looks wide enough for someone to move across."
"Oh, the Trickster's clearly excited now." Sprite noted with a giggle.
"And how would you get up the wall? Since the plans are without elevations, you may not be able to climb up to take such a path." Ren replied with a raised eyebrow, the edges of his mouth curling up into a light smirk.
Sylvain nodded, placing a hand on his hip. "Well, that could be true, but as established with Hubert, you also left various objects on the map. A few of which are placed against the wall, and might give us a lift up."
"And I could climb up with rope if that would not be enough." Petra followed up with a nod.
"From there, we would just need to walk down the wall until we reached the tower, where we could then either enter from a possible window, or through the front door, assuming we brought rope to do so." Edelgard finished. "All in all, it would take more preemptive planning, and we would need more materials, but it is a strategy that could plausibly work. It also would keep us from expending more energy fighting enemies we may not have had to."
Ren turned back to the map with a nod. "Well, I think we can all agree that this was an enlightening exercise." The thief said to the class behind him. "And you all had varied and interesting strategies, all of them likely to earn you a victory out in the field."
"Of course, that was only two rooms. Battle is unfortunately not likely to exist in such a vacuum." Ren continued, before pulling down at the top two corners of the parchment, opening the map up further to reveal a larger one that had been folded up in advance. "And with the dramatics out of the way, let's get into the meat of today's class. We'll be spending the next class going over this as well."
"This is what we'll be doing. As a group, all of you will be working your way through this map. As you do, I'll be giving you more and more information pertaining to the various halls and rooms you'll traverse. You will have a set amount of information known off the bat, courtesy of your hypothetical intelligence officers." Ren explained, turning back to the group with a smirk. "Your goal is to reach the objective in this map, a captive soldier that has information necessary to defeat the enemy. You do not know where he is kept, other than that it is within this stronghold. Same rules apply as before, nine of you, however many enemies within. Now, let's get started."
"Ren." Byleth's voice cut through the silence of the empty classroom as the swordswoman stepped inside.
"Byleth, good to see you." Ren said, glancing over at her as he rolled up the maps from today's class. "Just packing these up, but what do you need?"
"Checking in. How was Battle Theory?" Byleth asked, sitting down on one of the tables.
"Good. I'm starting with smaller scale battles and the like right now, and they've started working through an engagement I came up with." Ren said, placing the maps in a basket next to the blackboard. "It's been honestly kind of fun, in that I've been able to present the exercise sort of like a game. I think it's helped."
The thief dusted his hands off before turning to Byleth. "And what about you? Combat Theory was earlier today, right? How did that go?"
"As well as it could. While we didn't discuss a lot about actual fighting, I believed it was a good idea to start with weapons, their uses and how to best maintain them." Byleth said, before she tilted her head to the side. "Speaking of weapon maintenance, I don't think I've ever seen you maintain yours."
"I do constant maintenance on Daredevil, as there's a lot of moving parts that need proper upkeep so it works as needed." The teen shrugged, before pressing his lips together lightly. "Though now that you mention it, I've never had to do anything like that for Paradise Lost."
"Paradise Lost… Your sword, correct?" Byleth asked, getting a nod from the thief. "Interesting choice of name."
"Did I not bring it up before?" Ren asked, before shaking his head. "Well, even if I did, it's not important right now. But yeah, that's its name."
"How have you not needed to do maintenance on it? You've used it often enough, it's been coated in blood multiple times now." Byleth listed, before pausing as she looked back to Ren. "She's asking you to stop ignoring her now."
Ren shook his head with a huff of laughter, activating his third eye. "Alright?"
"Is your sword magic or something?" Sothis asked, getting a raised eyebrow from Ren. "It's weird. I never really paid attention to it before, but it's got an aura that's… Unique."
"Unique? How?"
"I don't know, it just feels wrong. Like a wall with two doors that both open to the other." Sothis said, shaking her head. "It's very strange."
"Well, that's promising." Ren deadpanned.
"Is it?"
"Maybe? I don't know if it's magical, but I definitely think it'd be unrivaled compared to other swords of the like." Ren replied with a shrug. "It just feels right in my hands I guess."
"Anyways, we've gotten off track." Byleth said.
"Right." Ren nodded, idly waving bye to Sothis before he deactivated his third eye. "That topic being?"
"Classes. Specifically, tomorrow's." Byleth said, looking at the teen. "We have a free period."
"Right. We get free reign of what we use it for." Ren nodded, crossing his arms. "Do you have an idea for it?"
"We give them a free period." Byleth said. "The first week doesn't have a lot going on, so we can afford giving them the time to use it as they see fit."
"I'm not opposed, but that still leaves Saturday to consider." Ren hummed. "We have two periods to decide what to do with. What's the plan there? It seems like a waste to leave them open as well."
"That's what I came here to ask." Byleth said. "I'd say we could use it to check in on their personal training, like we do on Mondays, but that might be better suited for one period than two."
"Hm…" Ren closed his eyes, a hand against his chin as he thought up various ideas. "Well, we could leave it up to the students."
Byleth raised an eyebrow, tilting her head at the thief's idea. "The students?"
"Well, there are two of us. There are likely some who would rather spend the time learning about one thing over another." Ren explained, rolling his wrist. "So, why not let them express their interests and we'll pick between the most popular ones. One idea with you, another with me, and let the students choose who to spend that free period with. Of course, we should use the other for personal training either way, but it gives us a chance of helping them pursue personal interests that we may not have normally."
"It's not a bad plan." Byleth nodded, before turning around. "I'm heading out."
"Oh, one other thing." Ren cut in. "Do you know if Manuela is back in her office? I had a few questions I wanted to ask her when she wasn't busy with classes."
"She might be. She has been around this time the last few days." Byleth replied.
Ren shrugged. "Well, better than nothing. Thanks."
Byleth turned around and walked out the house doors, leaving Ren alone in the classroom.
"...I wonder how Morgana's handling things right now." Ren thought idly to himself before making for the doors. "Hopefully he'll find something out. Mementos will lock us out of deeper floors if we can't find a target that will raise our notoriety…"