Chapter 123: It's for fun
His fingers ran along the back of Flauros head, the bird inclined further to allow him greater access.
All of which transpired under her watchful eyes.
Something that was rather cute, she supposed.
Still.
She never would have thought him to get a pet bird, even if he would probably never call it a pet at the end of the day.
"Reverse pitfall."
Byleth raised a brow at him and tilted her head. "That is a thing?"
That sounded rather absurd to her, if she understood the definition correctly, at least. On the chance she was mistaken, she assumed that he would probably explain it correctly to her during the following elaboration. He never liked leaving something unexplained like that, but all the same.
It didn't sound as though it existed.
"Careful application of gravity based spells." Goetia rattled off without missing a beat or pausing in either of the tasks he was currently engaged in. Either painting the wooden fish with his magical powers or petting the little bird.
Briefly pulling his hand away, he gestured to one of the quills across the table and flicked upwards, she watched as it levitated up before striking something invisible and then bursting into flames, it was a fire that lasted no more than a mere instant before it was snuffed out and whatever burns lay on the writing implement were repaired before it was dropped back to the pot it had come out of.
"You just wanted to show off."
Sothis did not let it go without a comment, floating not too far from either of them with her little throne under her, the Goddess looked more amused than annoyed as she made the comment, landing a stare on Goetia that seemed almost knowing.
Byleth admitted it as well.
He did not need to demonstrate.
"I don't mind it."
Goetia said nothing, merely waved a hand to her while shooting Sothis a pointed look, another short interaction that earned a roll of the eyes from the Goddess but nothing more, the smile remained on her face all the while.
Byleth opted to return to the conversation.
"So they float into the traps and no one sees them until it's too late."
"Useful during sieges." Goetia continued on. "As Leonie and Lysithea demonstrated, the application of bounded fields in combination with the runes can lead to some novel implementations of the spells. Though the pair of them have done little more than scratch the surface of what is possible."
He stopped for a moment, then turned away and looked thoughtful.
"Flayn would doubtless seek them to be used in a medicinal manner."
Probably.
"Could they?"
"I explained as such during her question in the initial lecture on bounded fields, did I not?"
"Oh, yes." She had forgotten that.
He gave her a side eye, then returned to his work. "That is beside the point however. You asked what manner of trap would be best served? That is my answer. Leonie and Lysithea can offer tutelage if they are so inclined - I would encourage seeking them out - and if they wish, they can offer you the means of creating them. You might even experiment with non-lethal variations of the spell."
Non-lethal.
That sounded suitable for a training exercise, she leaned forwards on her chair and folded her hands together. Slowly, she nodded her head up and down as she thought of the plan. Letting her students try and hunt her down through the forest while she set up traps and the sort for them to be delayed by.
The objective was to find her before she eliminated all of them.
It would certainly raise their awareness and adaptability.
Her eyes flicked up.
Sothis was giving her a half-lidded stare.
Goetia turned in her direction for a moment, then to the Goddess. "I assume that she was concocting some manner of plan to use this against her students?"
"Yes."
"Hmmmm."
"So then!"
Sothis leaned forwards, now looking excited.
"What is this I hear about toys for the children?"
"...As always, you demonstrate an impressive capability to recycle old information."
Sothis excited smile dropped right off her face with such speed that it was very nearly amusing.
Perhaps it was a little amusing, but Byleth gave no visible reaction to it, not that she really needed to. Sothis levelled her with a half-hearted glare before giving up and huffing, throwing herself back into the throne and tightly folding her arms over her chest. For a moment it looked as though she might have actually pouted as well.
"I was merely searching for a topic of discussion that did not revolve around anything that was threatening, morbid or otherwise depressing."
Goetia hummed. "And thus you chose my side-venture as a manufacturer of wooden constructs?"
"...Children's toys." Sothis sounded like she was muffling a laugh. "And truly, can you expect me to hear of such incredible things and say nothing more about them? Rather, I am very much in support of this use of your abilities! I dare say that it better suits you than anything that could otherwise be done!"
"Better suits me?" He sounded a touch bemused with her words, though not quite offended yet.
But it was the sort of in-offence that someone would get after hearing a question that made no sense. The type that was just impossible to get offended at.
"Of course." Sothis continued further, waving a hand towards him. "It is a task that can still allow you to demonstrate your impressive abilities while also spreading smiles and joy, as opposed to death and misery. Would you not call this a far more worthwhile pursuit for the learned such as yourself? And certainly less depressing, is it not?"
Goetia gave a slow blink, turning fully away from the wooden fish and tilting his head.
He turned and stared at her next, an expectancy in his eyes.
Byleth shrugged. "Are you making good money out of it?"
For some odd reason, Sothis slapped her hands against her face and growled into them. Byleth leaned back at the sudden - rather primal - reaction of the Goddess and raised a brow at her, only marginally, before she dropped the eyebrow back down and faced Goetia once more. Awaiting his answer.
She did not see how there was anything wrong with her question, or why it earned that reaction.
"For an endeavour that I began merely because I was looking to expand my influence in the markets, I would state that the return capital has been within acceptable parameters."
He paused, then grunted.
"That is to say that the profits far exceed the cost and manpower is no issue of mine. Perhaps it will present a problem for Anna when this ends, but she has survived this long as a businesswoman without the presence of small carved models or commissioned statues of religious icons-"
Something about that last one felt out of place compared to the original topic.
Religious icons?
"Like the Saints?"
Goetia thinned his lips rather quickly and avoided answering her.
Byleth reached out and grabbed her chair, then scooted forwards with a rather harsh sounding noise of wood across stone. It was a closing distance of perhaps a foot or more, but nothing further than that.
She leaned forwards once again and angled her head to the side.
"Are you making a statue of the saints for someone?"
There was some strange hesitance about him.
Though he eventually sighed and nodded his head. "I have received a commission to carve a statue of Saint Seiros."
Wasn't that just the Archbishop?
Oh, right.
People weren't supposed to know about that other thing, were they?
"How much?"
"Why is that the first question you would ask him!?"
The chair of Sothis floated back around until it hovered before the pair of them, Byleth turned her head to the girl and shrugged once more.
"Why not?"
Sothis opened and closed her mouth, a rather puzzled look flashed over her before she pouted once again, slumping down into the chair and grumbling to herself all the while.
Was she missing something important here?
It felt like she was.
With a lethargic turn of the head, Sothis regarded Goetia with an apathetic stare. "Well then? How have you decided to go about this one? I doubt one as detail oriented as yourself would ever use someone other than the actual figure depicted as inspiration."
Goetia scoffed. "You speak as though I did not already achieve the basis for the statue itself. Seiros was willing to accede to my desires and proved to be an efficient model…Though she had some mild stipulations regarding the process, but that was to be expected. It would be problematic if the Archbishop were to decry my work as problematic within the faith."
His lip twitched.
"Rather, it is fortunate for me she did agree and made clear her agreement would be public in the eyes of Anna. It allows for an additional value to the statue which can go above the original price of the commission."
"...You're good at this."
Goetia side-eyed her, the faint twitch of the lip which someone could have tried to argue was a smile vanished instantly. There was a strange and almost distant look in his eyes before he turned away sharply. His voice came out monotone.
"These simple tactics hardly compare to the business acumen of the Queen of Sheba. Her talent for business was…exceptional."
That sounded rather like praise coming from him.
No, it was praise.
He did not even make an effort to turn it into an interpretive sentence either.
Queen of Sheba? He had some very important friends back in the day then, didn't he? And picking up business tips from her? Now Byleth was a little curious, yet there was something that stopped her from following up with the question. She leaned back into her chair and watched Goetia for a few moments.
He was quiet, no more than usual.
But this was a silence that had weight to it.
The same sort that Jeralt sometimes had, normally before he would go out drinking.
She let the silence linger as it was for a moment.
"How is Abyss doing?"
It was something she was mildly curious about as well, not just because she was only aware of it as a different line of conversation.
Goetia made a half turn towards her, reaching out with his left hand and placing it flat against the head of Flauros once more, stroking back and forth while he spoke. It looked so natural that she was not even sure he was aware of what he was doing in the first place.
"I receive reports on its status when I am unable to attend. If you are so invested, it could be arranged for you to visit. I doubt any of the ruling council would hold grievances with you investigating their current status."
Ruling council?
That would be the Ashen Wolves, she assumed.
"So it's going well?"
Goetia frowned. "As well as could be expected, but the progress has been slower than I would have initially approved of. Even with the assistance of Anna and whatever support she has materialised, convincing well respected merchants they should now start publicly selling to criminals and heathens is difficult to market. Not that I am ignorant to the ramifications and the Church cannot officially support the existence of Abyss…but the silent tolerance is assent where it truly matters."
That sounded good enough to her.
"It's not stressful then?"
Goetia looked bemusedly upon her. "Do you imagine that I would be stressed with so mundane a task? Fortunately the Ashen Wolves are not so incompetent as to require my constant attention with every deed…but my assistance is required. I am due for a visit in short order…if you truly wish to see the results for yourself?"
She hummed and nodded. "It was just that you sounded busy. Lots of responsibilities."
"I have dealt with far greater workloads in the past-"
"You were different then, weren't you?"
He fell silent instantly, a sharp look that lasted no more than a second before he caught himself.
"...I am still aware of my limits."
If he said so, then she had no reason to doubt him.
With a curt nod of the head, she leaned back.
"...Have you seen the progress of the sauna yet?"
Goetia stopped working, not just in his personal movements but also in the movements of the wood painting. His eyes closed and he released a sigh that was barely perceptible. Byleth felt herself almost frown at the action, something she thought was irritation, then he slowly turned his head to face her once more, this time when his eyes opened, he looked more tired than anything else.
"...Before I deign to answer that rather bizarre inquiry." The way he stressed the word had her actually frown this time. She did not think that the question had been that odd. Perhaps it hadn't really been led into in any way, but she didn't think it was a weird thing to ask in the first place.
"Might I ask why you are currently throwing several different topics at me with each one being less relevant than the next?"
He wanted to know why she was asking these questions?
That was easy to answer then.
"Why not?" Her own question was met with a long silence, one coupled with the unblinking and almost piercing gaze of Goetia. The way he looked at her was not too dissimilar to how she imagined she looked when tracking something. Searching for the next possible clue.
His lone hand moved up and scratched at his brow for a moment or two before it dropped down.
"...Why not." He murmured back, shaking his head. "I am left with the impression that any answer I gave you would not be wholly satisfying. I cannot think of a reason why you would not ask me such questions, merely why you think I would even have an answer for any of them in the first place?"
"Because you know things."
"...Yes."
His voice seemed oddly flat.
"I know things."
Byleth gave a single nod of the head.
She was aware of that as well. "That is why I asked you."
"You outrank me in terms of importance within the academy." Goetia replied in a slow and measured way. "If there was something worth learning in regards to the sauna which is in the process of being built, then I assume that you would be among the first to know. Certainly more than I would be inclined."
On paper, that might have been true.
But she was not so easily convinced because if there was one thing that Goetia made sure to be aware of, it was everything that was happening in the monastery. She recalled him making such a comment a while ago that he needed to know everything so that he could judge whether he needed to know it in the first place.
"But you would still know."
"Why are you so persistent on this topic?" The tone of voice made it clear that he was not offended or even annoyed, just a little confused.
"Because you still haven't answered yet."
There was an amused chortle from Sothis, the Goddess leaned forwards on her throne and rested a fist under her chin, propping herself up with it with her elbow planted firmly on the armrest of the chair. Eyes half-lidded but still holding an intensity, she peered down at Goetia with a rapidly growing smile.
"Come now, surely you can answer a question as trivial as that, Goetia? It is such a small matter for one who knows as many things as you."
A dull glare was levelled which Sothis did not react to, lasting seconds before it vanished and Goetia turned in his chair towards the wood carving once more. The painting continued as though it had never stopped.
She eyed the fish.
It was very nice looking.
"Flayn will like that."
"Are you so desperate to leap to another topic that you will abandon the previous one without hearing the answer?"
"So you will answer it?"
A hop and a chirp from the little bird, it jumped in place and tilted its head towards her rather curiously. Then looked up to its owner and chirped again. Byleth would have almost called it confusion but…actually, she would call it confusion.
Flauros was a smart little bird.
Was she allowed to get one as well?
Goetia dropped his head into his hand with a thud, the movement of the little bird jumped back halfway across the table before landing down. Hopping back and forth, chirping all the while and almost looking as though it was dancing or trying to cheer him up. Goetia just sat there, head in his hand.
"...I have seen the sauna. The construction is proceeding as expected. I am sure it will be available for use within the span or a month, barring the sudden emergence of another crisis. Is that enough to satisfy your yearning for knowledge?"
He turned and raised a brow.
"Or are you interested in learning the exact science behind the sauna and what effect it has on the human body? Mayhaps you wish to learn the process behind the steam? Or the heating of the coals or-"
"Will you use it?"
"Will I what?"
"Use. It."
He blinked once.
Then blinked again.
Then he squinted at her, a length of time passed without a single word. It took her a moment to realise that Goetia was not alone in his silent judgement, Sothis had similarly turned her head and was staring down at her with pinched brows and a bemused turn of the lips. The Goddess tilted her head and rolled her jaw back before she glanced at Goetia.
"You heard her question."
"You cannot be this deprived of stimulation," Goetia said, looking at the Goddess with a frown. "that you would go out of your way to try and find benign uses for my time as this. This is…is this some manner of juvenile practical joke? Have the two of you decided you would spend your free time throwing pointless questions at me and seeing how easily I might answer them?"
Byleth internally frowned.
She was sure that it had not been coming across like that, but perhaps she had been varying too much with her questions.
"Sorry. Not used to this."
Her head jerked to Sothis.
"She isn't interested in strategy talk. I don't know much else."
At this, she turned and looked at Sothis directly.
True to her expectations, the Goddess corroborated her claims with a roll of the eyes and a sharp shrug of the shoulders. A lone hand was waved towards her while her focus returned to Goetia. "What else would you expect of me? As though I am to feign interest as she discusses the killing of those who are my children in all but name. I will make no excuse for finding the talk unappealing."
"No, you would much rather drag up conversations of my carving wooden constructs."
"I would like for you to make me a cat."
"..."
Sothis smiled unapologetically.
Goetia turned his neck on her once more and flattened his features. "I can understand the desire to seek conversation with a more enlightened partner-"
"Hmph!"
"-but to badger me with topics that are far from my own realm of expertise is hardly something that will award you a stimulating experience. We might speak of Abyss at length if that is where your interest should lie, I am not opposed to entering such discussions."
He raised his hand towards her and waved it in an almost patronising manner.
"But truly? What conversation did you expect if you were to ask of the sauna's?"
Byleth slowly blinked. "I was expecting a conversation about the saunas."
She was not quite sure where the confusion was coming from.
Sothis, for whatever reason, cackled at the news and it was not one of her light chuckles. No, the Goddess threw her head back and unleashed a laugh that sounded as though it was dragging all the air from her ghostly lungs. Byleth turned on her with a tilt of the head and very nearly furrowed her brows, though her expression remained impassive.
It was still the thought of such which transmitted between the two of them.
She turned back at the movement, watching as Goetia moved to pinch his brows only to stop just short. His hand curled into a fist and dropped back onto the table, eyes closed. With a inhale and an exhale, he slowly rose from his seat and brushed down his robe, evening out all the creases.
"I am not so strained by time that I cannot find some method of alleviating boredom. If only that you will be-"
"Lets go to the tavern-"
"And your first suggestion to taking me to partake in alcohol?"
"Yes."
She nodded her head, turning on her heel and walking for the door.
"I interrupted your drinking last time." It was something she did not know he did, but it was worth learning all the same.
Then she paused and turned back to face him, meeting his bemused expression with her usual face. Though perhaps he was able to see the bit of enthusiasm she was feeling, as he slowly raised a brow at her and held the expectant look of receiving news in his eyes.
Sothis caught onto her thoughts, or so she assumed, because the Goddess sputtered and gaped at her in a manner not far removed from a fish-
"What an outrageous comparison!" Sothis pointed accusingly at her.
Byleth mentally apologised, then faced Goetia.
"I think you should speak with my father more. He is…" She paused, searching for the right words. "...Happier when drinking."
Goetia slowly turned back around and moved to sit down again.
She was already across the room and catching him under the arm before he returned to his seat.
"...This was not what I envisioned."
"We can ask more questions."
"...I am inclined to ask whether it is you who has been drinking. I have never seen you this insistent before."
Byleth stopped before she could respond.
Really?
She was sure she was not acting too differently from how she usually acted?
Hmmmm.
Goetia was probably just imagining things.
"Come on." Not waiting for any further arguments, she turned about and dragged him along. Either because of his unwillingness to argue or because he was too lazy to try and fight her. There was no resistance as she dragged him along.
Only the indigent comment that he was capable of walking without her aid.
She did not let him go, however.
As she had the strangest inkling that he might teleport away.
Seteth dragged his hands across his forehead, a dull ache coiled tighter around his temples and forced him to lean just a touch away from his desk and close his eyes. It was a small respite as for a moment he was freed from staring down at the block of paperwork.
Even then he was still blessed with the knowledge it was there and would be waiting for him when he opened his eyes once more.
Slowly, he pulled his hand up his forehead and peered down through barely opened eyes, spying the papers with a look as full of expression as stone.
He sighed and dropped his hand back to the table with a thud.
Rhea had taken on some of his work and passed recommendations back towards him and he was appreciative of her assistance, there was the problem of running through all she had examined to check for errors and then there was the matter of her recommendations themselves.
The logistics of finding healers and having them prepared to be dispatched to Remire, not to mention sending word ahead of time via messenger.
Well, not the greatest crusade he had ever been tasked with managing, he supposed.
And he would hardly complain about the context.
With a sigh, he pulled the next report towards himself and dipped the quill into the inkpot once more, leaning over and staring down at it, eyes gliding over every word as he made sense of what was actually in front of him.
Yet another complaint levied against Sylvain from the town.
How many was that? Five this month?
Though most had been on behalf of the fathers, or mothers. Rarely had he seen a complaint from the girls in question but that was beside the point. Pinching his brows, yet another sigh drummed its way out of his throat and he moved his hand across the page, marking it as having been seen by himself and then setting it to one side.
Pulling his journal towards himself, he noted down a reminder to pull Sylvain aside for a meeting and a reminder about the responsibilities not just as a noble, but also as a student of the officers academy.
Quite frankly, he was only as concerned by this because the boy was still here.
It reflected poorly on everyone, not just himself.
Closing the journal, he slid it back and moved to the next report.
Heavy thuds against his door had him jerk, it was a sound which echoed across his entire office and had him crack his knee against the underside of his desk. For a moment he winced, less to do with the pain and more to do with the reflex of it all. Pulling his eyes towards the door, he peered at it for a moment before calling out.
"Enter."
The door swung open and thankfully stopped just before it could slam into the wall, but only by the large hand which closed around the handle and dragged it back, the man strode into his office and pulled the door not quite shut behind him, still left ajar so that anyone who happened by would doubtless hear their conversation.
Seteth peered at the gap, then pulled his eyes towards the man in question.
Already, he figured he would be in for a long conversation.
"Jeralt." He began, dropping the quill back to the pot and bringing his full attention to the knight. "How might I help you?"
There was a slight pull on his lips, the beginning of a frown as he tried to consider why Jeralt would have come to him. He was not quite sure it would relate to the monastery or the knights, Jeralt either acted through Alois or sent his reports via paper, never with a face to face meeting.
And that was before…the incident.
The taller blonde stepped into the room and dropped his arms to his hips, eyes swept over the contents of the desk and fixed themselves on the paperwork.
Seteth saw the man wear a flash of disdain that he made no effort to hide, as if he had spotted something foul.
An emotion he understood - paperwork of this sort held no appeal to him either - but it was necessary all the same. He let the silence endure, waiting patiently as Jeralt came to deliver what he had come to deliver.
"How long have you been doing this?"
Slowly, his brow raised at the bemusing question. His own eyes moved to the pile of papers and he gave a faint nod of the head towards it before returning his focus to the knight. "This particular group or this job? Because both would hold the same answer. Long enough that I have grown numb to it."
Adjusting his seating, he leaned back into his chair.
"Did you come here to discuss paperwork with me?"
Jeralt, for a brief moment, looked sickened by his words and gave him a stare as if he had just revealed his original form to the man. But it was replaced by a shake of the head that was almost desperate, there was still some hesitancy on the face of the knight. An emotion that he had recognised only now, but was finding himself increasingly perturbed by.
The only thing that kept him outwardly calm was the knowledge that if no one else had come barging into his office and started shouting, then it could not have been so urgent.
And the opened door told him Jeralt cared little whether the topic of conversation was overheard by others.
"When was the last time you took a break?"
Seteth stared.
His frown slipped completely off his face and he was unable to contain the blink that followed.
A break.
Of all the things that Jeralt would have come to him with, that was certainly the last one that he would have expected.
Nonetheless.
"When I am afforded the time to take one." Was his well crafted response, it was one that might filter back to Flayn. He purposefully eyed the door for anyone who might have overheard that remark and gotten it back to her, then he turned his eyes quickly back to Jeralt and adjusted his seating.
With a grunt and a nod of the head, Jeralt accepted the answer and stepped backwards, turning away from his desk and then started to…pace?
Seteth watched with some strange sense of bemused fascination as the man walked back and forwards across the length of his office with seemingly no care for whether or not there was anyone else there. For one startling moment, it would have appeared as if Seteth was somehow intruding upon whatever thoughts occupied the mind of the knight.
A few more seconds passed, and he cleared his throat.
Jeralt stopped and twitched, remembering where he was and casting him a small look out of the corner of his eye.
"Is there something that troubles you, Jeralt?"
He purposefully cast a look at the door before back at the man.
Jeralt clicked his tongue and moved across the length of the room, taking the chair in front of him and pulling it out and then dropping down into it.
"Flayn is your daughter, right?"
Seteth slowly nodded his head.
"What would you do if she came up to you with a guy?"
He stared.
Unblinkingly.
"...In what context?" He at last questioned.
Jeralt rolled his jaw. "...I don't know…she says she's going for drinks with him and invited me along to make us get closer."
Seteth blinked very slowly, the fall of his eyelids were as though they were tumbling rocks down a mountain before they climbed back up and he continued his blank stare across towards Jeralt.
Then he tried to imagine Flayn in the place of who was doubtless to be Byleth.
His eye twitched.
"...The context sounds suspect."
Jeralt slammed a fist onto the table with such force that for a moment, Seteth was worried he might have broken it, but it was soon followed by the man pointing to him with an expression of relieved triumph. "That's exactly what I thought!"
He looked to the door and saw a couple heads looming around towards the gap, he shook his head slowly and they retreated away from view.
Jeralt rubbed at his brow. "She went out with drinks before with the guys from the company but she never invited me to them…well, sometimes she did but it was drinks for everyone. So what if she's inviting just one guy? There's no real difference and he's already said that he doesn't have any interest in her."
Suddenly this conversation made a great deal of sense to him.
"And from her perspective?"
Fast as lightning, Jeralt looked up and pinched his brows. "Excuse me?"
"Far be it from me to comment on the personal lives of the Professors, but if Flayn were to…"
The words felt like bile in his throat, he choked through them all while struggling to maintain the mask that was his expression.
"Bring…someone…to meet me…I would assume them to be a good friend. Or a trusted ally."
Jeralt slowly nodded and muttered under his breath. "Trusted ally…hmph…that…yeah. Ally. That's…that's good. He's just like a convenient guy to have in a fight and she wants me to make sure he's not terrible for the aftermath. That's it."
That was not quite the conclusion Seteth had reached.
But he saw no reason to sow discord where there was-
"Father."
The door pushed open and Flayn strode in, he felt his countenance brighten for only a moment before the weight of the previous conversation slammed into the back of his head like a punch. His smile twitched ever so slightly but quickly evened out, spying a brief look at Jeralt and noting that he seemed to be in a world of his own.
Flayn stopped in the doorway and took notice of Jeralt quickly, a brief flash of guilt crossed over her before it was mixed with some confusion as she took notice of the posture of the man. Hunched over in a chair and mumbling to himself, Seteth supposed it would have been an odd sight.
His daughter jolted back to him as he cleared his throat and looked pointedly at her.
"I apologise for disturbing you." She smiled, for only a single second.
The smile died as she stared at the paperwork and then turned towards him with a rather sharp gaze.
…She had her mothers perceptive eyes.
Seteth rolled his jaw inwards and quickly turned his head downwards, hiding his eyes from her as best he could and moving to write once more. Though he could hardly focus on the paperwork at the moment, not when he had what amounted to some theatre performance taking place right in front of him.
"Is there something that is amiss, Flayn? Myself and Captain Jeralt were discussing some rather urgent business regarding the knights and movements of the still missing Demonic Beast."
He peered up at the Captain.
The man hadn't even responded to him, still cupping his chin and mumbling under his breath.
"Yes."
Flayn's words were as arid as the wastes.
"I can see that you are hard at work, Father."
Her voice was also much closer now, he slowly glanced to the left and saw that a shadow had fallen over the corner of his desk. A pair of hands fell down onto the wood and pressed upon it, an ominous creak as his daughter leaned down onto the desk, the top of his head burned with the weight of her stare.
Seteth closed his eyes and sighed.
"Flayn, I do take my breaks when I am afforded the chances to do so." He dropped the pretence and shook his head. "But you have long understood there are many responsibilities that come with running the monastery and academy, none more so than recent times. I can assure you that whatever belief you have that I am stretched too thin, it is nothing more than exaggerated caution on your part."
"There is something to be said regarding your words and the term 'exaggerated caution' is there not?"
Furrowing his brows, he stared at his desk for some moments as he tried to make sense of the tone of voice she was using. It sounded as though she was alluding to something that he should have been aware of, and yet nothing quite came to mind for him.
Not with how she inferred, at least.
He blinked, then brought his head up and frowned at her. "What do you mean?"
His daughter just frowned at him as though he'd somehow given the wrong answer and then stepped backwards, taking in a breath and placing her hands on her hips. For some long moments, there was a look upon her face that held some disappointment. The sort that told him he'd missed the obvious.
It might have been desperate, but he cast a slow look towards Jeralt in the hopes that the man was now paying attention and might shed light on this mystery.
Unfortunately, Jeralt looked as though he held no interest in getting involved.
Not that he could be blamed for wishing to remain neutral to whatever this was.
Flayn clicked her tongue disapprovingly before shrugging her shoulders. "Forget I mentioned it at all, if it does not strike you when it stands right before your very eyes, then I am resigned to the fate that it shall never dawn on you."
"Flayn, if there is something you should-"
"What is this I have heard of Remire?"
The sudden change of topic was as forceful as it was abrupt, he straightened in his chair. Debating whether he should drag the topic back to the original one.
No, he would get no answer from her on that front, he supposed.
"There have been some reports of a potential outbreak of some illness among the population. It has been decided to dispatch a small force of healers to offer some aid and nurse the villagers back to health. That is all there is to it, there is nothing else that I am aware of."
Flayn looked at him, then gave a single satisfied nod of the head. "That is rather troubling to hear, but if that is all there is to it, then I will accept it…I suppose if I were to-"
"No."
She frowned. "You would not even hear me-"
"No." He repeated once more, greater force than the first. "I know what you would ask of me and I shall not let you run as you were in these dangerous times. Not while there might be some unseen elements still operating in Fodlan…Flayn…"
Leaning forwards, he rolled his lips right. "I cannot risk something happening when you are beyond my sight, or outside of the protection of your soon to be classmates. You are to join them shortly, are you not?"
He returned back and cast his eyes to the desk. "I hope that you have been keeping yourself active with your academics."
"I have, yes." There was a faint huff in her words, but it was without true weight. "Professor Eisner has been kind enough to lend me some notes of her class topics as they progress and I have been making my own journeys to the library…I have also been stepping in to Goetia's lectures and he has told me I have some grand potential."
Seteth looked at her. "He used those exact words."
For a brief moment, Flayn faltered before she puffed forth her chest and folded her arms, upturning her chin. "It was implied with his words that he held me with high expectations."
Yes.
He could not imagine why.
"I'm sure he has." Slowly, he looked back across and took notice of the odd expression on the face of Jeralt.
The rather sour look which…
Ah.
The mention of Goetia.
He knew that Professor Eisner and Goetia seemed to be good friends with one another.
For a variety of reasons which could not be made public, but were well known within this little group.
"Now Flayn, is there something else you needed?"
"Yes." Flayn nodded her head and smiled rather beatifically at him. "You."
Seteth raised a brow. "Has there been an incident with the students?"
His brows furrowed and his lips tightened.
"Have you been involved in an altercation?"
A more alarming thought emerged.
"Has Sylvain been-?"
"I shall thank you not to try and involve yourself with my personal life so intimately." Flayn was all smiles but no warmth.
He felt a bit shocked by that, he had only shown her his honest worries.
Could he have said something wrong?
Either oblivious or uncaring to his thoughts, his daughter gestured her hand with deliberate slowness to his desk. "This consumes too much of your time and I have rarely seen you away with a moment to yourself. Thus I believe it would do you some good to be drawn to a less…stressful environment."
Seteth exhaled. "Flayn, I cannot stop away from my duties-"
"For no more than a mere hour?" She pressed further, a saddened look crossing her face as she inclined her head. "And not even to spend time with your daughter?"
…
…He tried.
He truly did.
Seteth slumped. "...You had a suggestion?"
"As a matter of fact, I crossed paths with it not even ten minutes ago!"
With a look of defeat aimed her way, he paused as he noticed she was no longer staring at him, now she looked upon Jeralt with some greater intensity than before.
Flayn felt rather delighted at this turn of events.
She had seen it play out in her mind, they would have all gone for a nice relaxing stay and when all was said and done, they would have parted as better friends than before.
Really, she felt there was more in common between all of them that would serve to lay the foundations for something she felt would blossom into rather beautiful friendships. Already they were colleagues with one another, so she could see no reason why they would not have found a reason to come together as one before today.
Yes, it was a delightful plan which should have been showing incredible success.
And yet there was something terribly wrong with the silent table she was greeted with, where she was the only one smiling and everyone else looked at the other in a rather daunting silence which had stretched on since the moment they all met up with one another and head on inside.
Even with their drinks before them, only Jeralt himself had actually indulged himself.
And it was a single quiet sip before he placed the flagon down and went back to giving an unbroken stare.
One that, rather unfortunately, Goetia had been matching without even so much as a twitch or an acknowledgement of anything else.
Flayn felt her smile start to falter as the silence endured, she would have spoken up earlier but every time she wished to open her mouth, it was as though some phantom weight anchored her tongue down and made certain that her words never climbed up her throat.
All of which had led to this.
The five of them sitting in silence.
She looked to her father.
And found him staring down into his own reflection, more obsessed with admiring himself and his vacant eyes than he was in actually having a drink.
Closing her eyes, she took in a breath.
No.
That phantom weight was dislodged and her courage parted whatever wall kept her words at bay.
"This is becoming a far greater trial than it needs to be."
She opened her eyes after her declaration and frowned deeper as not a single person, save for Byleth, actually spared her a look. Yet it was difficult to tell what the Professor was thinking when she looked at her. Given that she had readily agreed with Flayn's suggestion, she would have thought there to be an ally in her time of need.
Yet for all that belief, Byleth had not seen fit to speak up either.
And it had been her idea to bring Goetia and her father together for a conversation, or so she had been led to believe.
She would not accept that it was the presence of her and her father that had stopped them from speaking.
"Come now, can we not think of a conversation for us all to engage in?"
Meeting with silence, she slumped.
"...Have you had any difficulties with your lectures, Goetia?"
Flayn frowned and turned it towards her father for the topic.
And Goetia immediately saw fit to answer.
"Nothing that will not be solved with time. Those who are invested in my words remain while those of lacking attention have seen fit to remove themselves from my line of sight that I need not waste further effort upon them."
Flayn pressed her palm against her face. "Must you phrase it as such?"
"And how would you phrase it?"
"Perhaps that there is a certain level of…" Trailing off, she shook her head from side to side and removed her frown. "Am I the fool here for wishing that we could take some time to be away from our books and our papers? I had thought this was to be an occasion where we might get to know one another better."
Silence greeted her once more.
Flayn gestured towards Goetia. "How fares your business of making toys?"
Jeralt snorted loudly, a crack of a smile on his face as he looked across to Goetia. "You make children's toys?"
"And?" Goetia stared across at the man with a hint of challenge.
The man snorted once more and shook his head, reaching for the flagon once more. "Nothing. Just…wait…are they those little snake looking things?"
"The hydra's yes."
"Higher-dra?"
"Hydra."
"That's what I said."
"..."
"What?" A grumble. "Fine. Whatever. The snakes with four heads. Why did you make that?"
Goetia exhaled. "Because they are a rather well known form of phantasmal monster in the lands I am from. Infamous for their regenerative abilities and their venom which is potent enough to kill a man from the mere fumes a hundred times over and spell agony for even those blessed with divinity."
That sounded exaggerated to Flayn, and yet Goetia spoke with that tone of certainty.
She leaned forwards. "Have you ever seen one before?"
He paused for a moment. "...Not personally, but I have observed them from afar with scrying."
"So you never fought one?" Jeralt questioned further with a tilt of the head and a raise of his brow. "Didn't you defeat all those demonic beasts not long ago?"
Goetia made a sound which was akin to an offended laugh. "To even compare those base mongrel beasts to the likes of a Hydra is a luxury you are afforded in ignorance alone. There is as much difference between them as there is between a babe holding a knife and you with a sword in hand."
Holding up his hands, Jeralt shook his head from side to side. "Alright, alright. But why make something like that?"
"They have an exotic appearance."
Jeralt looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged. "Fair enough."
Flayn felt a bit of a smile on her face.
This might actually work, though the topic was slightly morbid.
"Have you actually fought anything?"
Goetia raised a brow. "You seek tails of my exploits for a comparison? I rarely engaged in personal fighting and did not do so until it was absolutely necessary for me…"
He went silent for a moment.
Flayn clapped her hands and smiled. "Perhaps topics for happier times? We can discuss joyful moments of the past?"
She cleared her throat. "I shall go first."
A moment later, she found herself not speaking.
Right.
Happy times.
…Why couldn't she think of one?
The eyes of the table lingered on her with a growing weight behind them.
Goetia broke away and stared at Seteth. "Have you had a chance to repair the pond?"
Seteth turned to him. "That is one of the later projects, but we have some contractors in to observe it. I would estimate perhaps a month of repair before we might be able to start joining it with the stream once more? Though I cannot be quoted on such things. The efforts to build the sauna are-"
"You mean that's real?" Jeralt sounded shocked. "I thought Alois was trying to get one up over me but you're actually building that?"
"It was a suggestion for the sake of student relaxation and I felt there was some merit behind it…There was support from the faculty as well."
Goetia grunted. "Manuela, no doubt."
"She was one who voiced her support, yes. Though Catherine was another proponent."
"Hmph."
"It is welcome for the use of all staff and students of the academy."
Byleth nodded her head to Goetia. "I asked him earlier if he would use it. He didn't answer me."
A frown crossed Goetia's face. "Does it truly matter whether or not I make use of the sauna?"
"It's good for you." Byleth nodded, then stopped. "...I think."
A slow sigh from Goetia. "There are medicinal benefits, yes. Though that does not serve as evidence for-"
"Just use the damn thing if it's there." Jeralt lazily waved a hand, taking a longer slurp from his flagon. "Why not?"
"Hmph."
"You always do that when you can't think of an answer." Byleth commented, Flayn blinked and raised her brows.
Byleth was right, she realised.
"..."
"You were about to grunt just now."
"...I will not fall for this crude attempt to entrap me."
"Hmph." Byleth managed to match the exact nature of Goetia's own grunt. It was rather uncanny.
Flayn stifled a chuckle.
Goetia turned away with a deeper frown than before, it lasted a single second before it was wiped clean off his face.
"...You inquired about the nature of Abyss some time ago."
Flayn flattened her face as the topic once more shifted to work, something that her father leaned into.
"I did." Seteth nodded. "I heard there have been some good tidings as of late?"
"Construction efforts have made the housing situation more hospitable. I am required to report as to the existence of a chapel for a multitude of faiths, but I will not make clear where the location is."
Seteth was silent, then nodded. "In which case, I shall not ask further. Food provisions?"
"Acceptable for the moment. Far more than the people are accustomed to, but their rations have improved and with them, steps have been taken to examine the health of the more able bodied for a workforce. The more intellectual have been singled out for other pursuits in medical fields."
Flayn perked up and opened her mouth.
Seteth looked at her sharply out of the corner of his eye.
She pouted and leaned back.
Then she recalled some other news.
"I heard you have a pet now, Goetia?"
"Their name is Flauros and they are not a pet."
It was somewhat impressive how he could respond to that without even losing face or stopping to register her words.
Jeralt squinted. "That's a pet."
"No, they are not."
"...Yes. They are."
Byleth coughed. "It sounds like a pet to me."
Clicking his tongue, Goetia scowled.
Flayn leaned forwards. "Might I get a fish?"
"...As a familiar?"
She nodded slowly.
"...I could make the necessary modifications so that it could follow you outside of the water-"
Flayn felt herself go very still.
"...'M not drunk enough for this." Was a barely audible comment from Jeralt, but Flayn paid it no mind.
She was looking right at Goetia.
"...You can have a fish swim in the air?"
Goetia nodded slowly. "It would take some effort but-"
"Please."
"It defeats the purpose of learning how to contract a familiar if you have me do it for you."
Flayn leaned forwards. "I beg you! It would take years to learn how to do that, I can tell already!"
Goetia merely looked at her with a raised brow, uncaring for her heartfelt plea. "As I understand, years are no more a concern for you than weeks."
She slumped backwards.
"Fish in the air." Jeralt mumbled. "That's perfectly normal. Nothing wrong there."