Chapter 122: Normalcy has its perks.
Work found him swiftly upon the return to the Monastery.
And the lack of further news regarding the Demonic Beast was further leading him to believe that nothing had happened to it. Either on account of news coming from those who might have spotted it, or those who would have come from Almyra.
Though he cursed the speed at which news travelled across Fodlan, the time taken for one message to move between cities and towns was such a length that to him, it seemed a mind numbing eternity.
Something dire might have happened, but none would ever discover what until days after the incident at best. Weeks if the weather meant for slower travel or if harm befell the messenger. Either on account of highwaymen in the case of human, or natural predators if one were to use messenger birds.
Antiquated.
But he found himself torn between stepping in and purposefully designing a superior system and then holding himself back on account of not being the one to grant all the answers for humans. That was never his role and even if he was taking in a more active role, all he was doing was giving them tools to better themselves.
It was a marked difference to acting merely to make his own work more convenient.
Tiresome, in many more ways than he could have ever expected.
With great reluctance, he decided to make do with what was afforded to him and to merely wait on the probability that a message would arrive swiftly and without problem.
Until then, he had other means of distracting himself.
Breath flowed from between his lips, blowing dust and wood chips away from the shape as he moved the tools back and continued the carving. The shape was rapidly taking form, one slower than the others before, but that was on account of the additional designs. It was slow progress, but it was ensuring perfection in everything that truly mattered.
Had it been a golem, he supposed Flayn would have been far more excited about it.
Though he had not made the option available to her, and if Anna became aware of it, then he could imagine the lengths she would go to in order to convince him to start marketing such luxury items. Though he would not do that to her, for he had no idea how long he would remain in that business.
But…he would admit that there was some use out of it.
And of all the ventures to engage in, this was far from the worst.
As of right now, he saw no reason to discontinue his work.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he let the tools twist in the air, the hammer and chisel altering their angle of attack and then resumed with a mental twitch. They continued chipping away at the shape, the block of wood forming the head of the fighting fish with greater distinction now, but it was still rougher than could be allowed.
Sanding and filing would be needed, but that was for the end.
Chirps and beeps brought his eyes to the edge of his workbench and to the sprinting form of Flauros, the finch charging back and forth across the bench chasing down the wood chippings with some juvenile interest of pecking at them. He brushed the chippings away before the bird lost common sense and decided to try and eat one.
"You ate less than an hour ago."
Not that he expected the bird to understand his words, but he did expect them to understand the tone behind them.
Flauros stopped charging and sharply turned to look at him, swiftly tilting their head to the side and blinking several times in rapid succession.
The expectation was naked across their face, even without any discernible way to show emotion.
He had long since come to understand that specific stance.
Flauros was hungry.
Further chirping came naught but mere moments later, proving that the bird had elected to ignore his words and his tone in favour of its baser instincts.
The noise was not so grating that he was unable to ignore it, but that was merely the noise. When Flauros opted to clamber up his mantle and all the way up to his shoulder just for the sole purpose of further crying into his ears, even his great patience started to wane. His eyes slid to the bird and lingered upon it.
Chirping stopped as the two made eye contact and the bird remained expectant of him.
"You forget your place, Flauros." The utterance contained only a hint of warning as he brought his arm to bear, the bird jumped from his shoulders to his outstretched finger and danced back and forth across the digit. Now holding the clear excitement that it would be bestowed more food.
"...If I am to indulge this gluttony of yours, then I expect you to make greater efforts with your training. I shall not have an investment turn sour because of incompetence. Your predecessor was much too full of himself to understand that…Too taken with his emotions and his vices."
Flauros just chirped once more.
And Goetia realised he was still merely speaking to an animal.
His lip curled at the display which was otherwise a mockery of him and lowered his arm down, letting the bird jump back to the workbench.
Fortunate it was, then, that he needed not wipe the minds of anyone who would stumble upon this scene.
Sharp knocks at the door broke him from his moment of reflection, he shifted his neck and glanced at the door to his workshop and called out. "You may enter."
A workshop in the mundane sense and little else.
The door creaked as it opened up, Hapi stepped inside and immediately stopped and set her eyes upon himself and then onto Flauros. He saw the surprise but it seemed to be derived more from finding something rather than being shocked by the presence of the small bird. Though he could do without her gawking at him from the doorway, time was precious and he was not putting more into this than he wished to do so.
Wordlessly, he gestured to the interior of the room, his chair rose a foot off the ground and turned with him still sitting upon it, watching the girl in silence as she moved into the room. Without anything more than a mental command, a second chair presented itself for the girl as his own lowered back to the floor.
"I hope there's a good reason for this." Hapi broke the silence with the expected complaint. "I'm not the most popular among the knights."
"They are rightly afraid of what you might bring upon their heads. It is a very real danger that you represent and that is not something to be ignored. Consider yourself fortunate that they have not taken it upon yourselves to act upon their fear."
Hapi offered no retort save for a troubled grimace, but one that lacked any real sense of dread.
Evidently it was a line of argument she had heard before and considered at great length.
Further proof she was not totally foolish.
"This-"
Goetia waved a finger forwards, the patter of small feet on wood accompanied the gesture.
"-is Flauros."
Hapi slowly blinked at the bird and leaned back into her chair, or slumped back into it without any regard for appearance. He would liken the image to that of a tired housecat than that of a girl with some noble birth about her.
The blatant relaxation implied dismissal.
It vexed him somewhat, something which was made clear to her with a brief frown on his face and a narrowing of his eyes. She looked to complain but thought better of it, straightening up and only crossing one leg over the other while her arms folded over her chest.
"...Cute pet." Hapi replied slowly. "Though I thought you'd be more of a cat person."
"A feline as a familiar is more traditional and prone to stereotype. As is true with a bird, but Flauros would be more capable of escaping any traps set upon him by someone trying to rob me of the view."
Hapi's expression betrayed her thoughts immediately.
She understood nothing of what he said.
Unfortunate.
"This relates to your crest, as I would assume you have managed to deduce by now." He changed the topic instead, getting to the heart of the matter and away from distractions. "While it would normally serve me to have you learn this within your own time, simply waiting for you to come to grasps with your power would take…years."
Hapi raised a brow and then nodded her head, he saw a measure of impatience about her at the prospect. One that was clearly as appealing to her as it was to him, though likely for very different reasons.
"For the time being, I shall be measuring the extent of your Crest and the manner of animals it holds influence over. I very much doubt it is solely limited to those with an excess of magical energy…To that end, we shall begin a series of elementary tests for your power and understand where it currently stands."
He would have continued, but noticed the slight tension when he mentioned testing.
Hmph, it seemed she harboured an irrational fear about what he would do.
"Rest assured that none of these tests would contain anything that would require me to be dragged before Seteth."
"Like he would care-"
"He very much would." Goetia interrupted sharply, narrowing his eyes. "I am no ardent follower of the Church either and there are many detractors for me that yet remain, but Seteth remains unbiased in his management of myself and of you…And it would be wise to remember that he is no enemy of yours. In spite of your current condition."
Once more, she was smart enough to hold her tongue, though looked far from pleased at the rebuttal.
Fine, let her seethe.
So long as she listened, he cared very little if she did not like his words.
"Returning to the relevant topic, I would begin with focusing your Crest on smaller mammals that would serve to be harmless, even in greater numbers. I very much doubt you will receive sour looks if you were to summon forth a colony of rabbits to the doorstep of the Monastery, odd though that might serve as a sight."
Hapi's lip twitched briefly but no further, then her brows furrowed. "Weren't we going to learn how to stop summoning beasts so that I didn't need to rely on you putting a spell on me every so often?"
Her naivete was certainly a challenge. "And when you do not even understand the basics of your crest or how to activate it beyond sighing, how do you suppose to learn the methods to stop it? No. Your only solution is to hone your skill so that you can wield it as a power just as anyone would use a limb."
His tongue clicked, the signal was what Flauros needed as the bird shot upwards and flew to his shoulder, hopping around and then falling into a seat of comfort upon the silver brace across his shoulders, the one that remained hidden beneath the dark shoulder mantle.
"And then perhaps we might undo whatever damage the luddite who tried to make use of your crest prior to my arrival did. I am truly astounded at the utter lack of talent…Even gazing upon it wounds my eyes."
Hapi blinked once, then twice, then leaned back. "What are you even-?"
There was no disguising her guarded and alert tone of voice.
"Make no mistake, your past holds little interest with me. Rather, I would prefer to never have my faculties dirtied by doubtless hours of storied stupidities the previous mentor of yours inflicted."
"...She wasn't exactly trying to teach me."
"Then she was stupid beyond even my capacity for words, we shall speak no more about her and I would urge that you banish whatever words she had for your crest. I have no doubt that each and every one of them is ill-informed and far removed from even the trace amounts of sanity one would expect for a mage."
Hapi looked at him, then raised a brow, her manner almost sardonic. "That bad, is it?"
Goetia regarded her in silence before supplying an honest answer.
"The chaos inflicted on your crest from previous training is an insult to the very word of teaching. Not even a mule kicked fool would have ever called what was done to you progress in any capacity. Were I to know who had done this and have them stand before me, I would kill them purely for the incompetence they doubtless possess."
She raised a brow. "And not because she experimented on me?"
"You complain because you did not benefit from the experiments and now live a life of seclusion."
He put the tools to rest behind him and walked past the girl to the door.
"Had your previous mentor shown more intelligence and greater skill, then you would not have been in this position and would have, most likely, considered the potential pain as a worthy trade for the power you unlocked. I am aware of many mages who would think much the same for lesser abilities."
"...That's just…"
Hapi sounded a mixture of offended and disgusted.
Frankly, he cared little as to which she felt.
He swung the door open and stepped out, stopping and beckoning her to follow him.
"Wait, we're going now?"
Goetia frowned and cast a disparaging look at her.
"You are not suggesting that I would invite you here purely to tell you of plans I would conduct at a later date and then send you on your way, are you?"
The silence was telling once more.
He turned away with no words for her and continued on, the steps followed after him not much longer later.
Good.
She was at least willing to work with him.
Hapi was unsure what the right response to this was.
Either recoiling in disgust or laughing at the sight of it all.
Or being freaked out by how eerie everything seemed.
As she could not settle on a single response to give, nor was she able to blend them all together, she instead just stared down at the objects of her confusion and bewilderment. Her eyes drifting over each and every one of them with the expectation that a singular blink would be enough for them to just vanish as if they had never been there before.
She did just that.
And they were still there.
Turning her eyes away from the sight, Hapi instead looked upon the one responsible for all of it.
Perhaps the fact he looked utterly uncaring as to what he had just done was contributing to her current feelings, especially as he looked as if he had done nothing out of the ordinary, or nothing worth mentioning at the very least.
His face remained straight throughout the duration of her long stare, right until he finally desired to move.
And all he did was cock a single brow at her.
"I believe I have already told you what to do."
Yeah, he had.
But that didn't mean she suddenly understood a single thing that was going on at the moment, she was sure it was reflected in her expression as his apathetic gaze shifted into one of exasperated annoyance. For a moment it looked as though he might have been tempted to even roll his eyes on her, but decided against doing so.
"If you are concerned for the range, then I shall put your fears to rest. The effective radius of your ability has been reduced once again, surely you recall the last time I enacted a spell such as this one, yes?"
Hapi remembered it, yes.
But that was far from the problem.
Without taking her eyes off Goetia, she raised her hand and gestured towards the multiple little eyes currently staring at her from the grass, numbering perhaps a dozen or more, each one of the owners of the little orbs remained unmoving to her, despite where she knew they would have fled in any other situation.
Her first immediate thought was ' why can he even do this?'
But it was then followed by an internal roll of the eyes and the sarcastic response of ' because why couldn't he?'
And that was that.
Goetia followed her gesture with his eyes, then darted back to her. "What of them? Field mice are numerous enough and will aid in understanding the effects of your crest on different fauna. I would assume as a resident of Abyss, you would be long accustomed to the sight of vermin."
There was something vaguely insulting in that statement, but it was also true as well.
She'd seen baby rats bigger than these mice.
Hapi focused herself with a slight shake of the head and abandoned the thought, setting aside whatever annoyance she might have had for the comment, regardless of how true it actually was.
"Right, but what do you want me to do-"
"Sigh at them, I have explained as such."
Hapi closed her eyes and fought back the urge to groan instead, rather she moved her hands up and pinched at her brows for a moment, then dragged her palms down the length of her face and opened her eyes once again. "I mean…What are you expecting to happen?"
Goetia's expression shifted very slowly at those words.
Hapi barely suppressed the twitch.
He was looking at her as though she was an idiot.
"If I was aware of that." He drawled back with half-lidded eyes. "Then I would not have bothered summoning the vermin for this display. Now if you could sigh, then we might sate both our intrigues with this question."
Hapi nearly face palmed at that, but she instead took in a deep breath and steadied herself.
"Fine."
The words slipped out quietly, she nodded her head and turned down to face the little mice.
Her resolve faltered a little as she stared at all their little faces, it was really disturbing having them all just watching her like that. Faces full of that little animalistic innocence. She traded one last look with Goetia and saw that his face was starting to harden with impatience, apparently he really wanted this over and done with.
And how sorry she was that her reluctance to experiment with her body was eating into his time,
The air she built up settled in the back of her throat before she loosened it, opening her mouth and letting the sigh slip out. Her eyes remained focused on the mice as she did so. Halfway through the sigh, it shifted into a small gasp of surprise mixed with alarm as the mice abruptly sprung into action.
There was no warning when they moved, nor did they give any other indication.
In one moment, they had been sitting there and at pace and in the next moment they were squealing rather loudly and turning off to take flight in whatever direction that was not towards her. Hapi watched as they charged as if their lives depended on it and vanished into the greenery of the field.
Tall blades of grass were shoved aside by the fleeing rodents and she even saw one or two of them as far as the nearest bush before she lost sight of them completely.
It had lasted no more than perhaps ten seconds at the most before she lost sight of the last of them.
Hapi blinked several times before she slumped her shoulders and flattened her features, she had never quite seen that happen before. But now she could at least tell the others that if they ever had another rat problem, then she could at least sigh at the vermin and that would send them fleeing for their lives.
She turned and looked to Goetia, seeing what his reaction to this would have been.
He was just staring at the place where the mice had run away to, then gave a single nod of the head as if that went as expected before looking back to her.
Raising his hand, she saw the faint glimmer of light around his finger before the undergrowth came alive once more, shuffling and writhing, she looked down and frowned as the mice returned and stood in line before her once more, perhaps the same number or perhaps more, she could not tell.
But she could tell what he was going to ask her.
"Are you really bringing me here to scare mice?"
"I am forming a conclusion based on fight and flight responses." He responded with, but that was an answer all by itself.
Lowering his hand, he continued on. "These mice shall be the base and we shall progress in size and scope. We already know of the Demonic Beasts being attracted, but the nature of the arrival remains shrouded in mystery. Either an alert that a rival has entered a territory or a warning that an ally - or a pack mate - is in danger and needs assistance. For the time being, continue to sigh at the mice."
Sigh at the mouse.
Hapi turned blank eyes to the small mice and felt a little bit guilty over it for a moment or two.
"...Is it really alright to continue scaring them like that though?"
Goetia was not long in answering. "They are mice."
He said it as if that was reason enough.
Of course he didn't care about the mice, he was probably just a bird person.
She'd be unsurprised if he neglected to use birds during the tests.
Hapi sighed once again and the mice took off into the field once more, terrified squeals left in their wake.
Goetia just watched on without reacting at all.
Hapi was left thoroughly unsurprised.
Shamir found him easily enough, but he wasn't trying to hide.
Though she stopped just a few metres away as she closed in on him, in the company of one of the Abyss residents. She'd been told of the ones of importance and the red haired girl was definitely right up there because of what she could reportedly do.
Not that Shamir had ever seen her do it.
Not that she actually wanted to see it done either, which was why she felt only a little wary about approaching when it became clear what was going on.
Though her caution faded slightly as she figured that Goetia probably wouldn't be stupid enough to put himself in harm's way while he was still recovering. Then again, she had seen plenty of people do stupid things over the years. So if he accidentally got himself mauled, then he only had himself to blame for it.
Up ahead, Goetia twitched ever so slightly and turned his head so that he could fix her with a side eye.
She wasn't trying to be stealthy and given what he was doing and who he was with, that was probably why he was on alert for sudden intrusions.
At least he was aware of it, she supposed.
Though he gave no indication to the other girl that she was closing in, instead the eye lock lasted for barely a fraction of a second before it was broken and he turned back around to what he probably deemed more important.
That was fine with her, she wasn't really here for long anyway.
"Shamir."
He greeted as she was close enough to be within speaking distance, still not turning to face her.
"Goetia."
She nodded back to him, her own eyes not parting from the girl.
Who just now realised that she was actually there, judging from the sudden startled noise from her and the way she whirled around to face the pair of them. Her eyes briefly lingered on Shamir with clear surprise before they switched onto Goetia with irritation, probably annoyed she'd been spooked.
"For one whose very breath can draw Demonic Beasts, you should have been far more alert to the oncoming presence of Shamir. You have only yourself to blame."
It was decent enough advice, she supposed.
But she would be surprised if the girl could actually figure out she was being watched by her, of all people. She had been practicing this for a very long time.
The girl clicked her tongue and looked away, sending a glare towards…field mice?
Shamir raised a brow at the sight but didn't comment on it, given how no one reacted to it.
"Can I have a break now? I've been scaring mice for…what…an hour?"
Goetia was silent for a moment, then he nodded once. "You are granted a five minute rest."
It seems the Black Eagles were right with accusations of being a taskmaster.
…He and Catherine had quite a bit in common.
Odd they'd barely interacted.
Well, at least before they started punching each other out.
She put the thoughts aside as she beheld the full attention of Goetia and prepared to say her piece.
"Catherine asked me for a favour."
Goetia slowly raised a brow at her but said nothing.
She supposed he wanted a little bit more than that.
"There's a brawling competition."
Goetia creased his face like he'd swallowed something unpleasant.
Shamir figured that would be the response she would have gotten from him, really she was curious why Catherine had even wasted one of her hard earned favours on something that anyone could have seen coming.
"Did she truly put you up to ask such a task?"
Her silent answer was clearly more than enough.
Goetia sighed and shook his head from side to side. "I should not be surprised with this. She had the foresight to understand I would have rejected her outright, but to think she would not have been wise enough to see I would reject you also?"
"Catherine is stubborn." She warned. "And she'll not let go of something like this easily. So the best you can expect is more attempts from her until you eventually relent. Try and outlast her and she'll take that as a challenge as well."
She got the strangest of looks from Goetia at that, an expression that was just short of an amused smile but quite derisive as well.
"I am certain I have a great deal more patience than Catherine can muster."
He made a show of glancing at his right side before back at her.
"And would it not be concerning for her knights to see how eager she is to strike at a man crippled?"
Shamir could not help the snort that escaped her at that, "You'll find few convinced of your helplessness within the Monastery. Most are aware of how strong a mage you are and if any were convinced you were a helpless cripple without magic, you proved them wrong when you started trading punches with Catherine."
He grimaced. "Then it will no longer serve as an excuse for those in the know. A pity but I would prefer to avoid being considered an invalid. Regardless, I will convey to Catherine that it matters not what sort of messenger she conjures up, I am ill prepared to meet her in a brawl."
"She's still going to try."
Goetia exhaled. "She is your acquaintance. Convince her of the folly of this-"
Another dry laugh escaped her.
"...Or perhaps not." He corrected himself after her interruption, looking more exhausted than annoyed with the revelation that he would not be escaping Catherine any time soon. "No matter, these are the consequences I must bear for my actions…I was aware it would cause some change in how I was viewed."
That was something she was rather curious about, if only slightly.
"Why did you fight her hand to hand anyway?"
"Catherine or Byleth?"
"Both."
She would have been hesitant to meet either in a fair fight, or as fair as things could have gotten at least. Shamir worked best when she wasn't having to get up close and personal in the face of someone.
Not that she couldn't do it and she would probably win a fight with Catherine perhaps half the time in a straight brawl?
She would not have accused Goetia of being foolish anyway, he seemed much too sensible.
"I cared little for accusations that without magic I was helpless. I saw a chance-"
Shamir slowly raised a brow.
That was not an answer she believed, else Goetia would not have harboured such irritation with his previous statements or the way in which Catherine was now harassing him for a proper match from start to finish.
Falling silent, he watched her with rapidly thinning lips.
Then he turned to the red haired girl and called out to her. "Resume your training."
She whirled around with wide eyes. "That was not five-"
"Are you accusing me of being an inaccurate time keeper?"
The girl was silent at that.
"Then prepare yourself for training to resume."
Mild looks of annoyance aside, the girl did comply.
Shamir supposed that would have been something.
Yet there was a little more to her visit that she had been meaning to speak of.
Her eyes turned on Goetia and then moved across to his shoulder, the spot where she could see the small Adrestian finch resting on his person. It had bunched itself up and looked to be otherwise calm, but she had noted that the bird had not once taken its eyes off her.
A rather curious thing, more so as it looked at her with what she would have accused to be some sort of intelligence.
Ordinarily, it would have been a statement dismissed out of hand.
But she was never quite sure when it came to Goetia, she held a level of scepticism in regards to what he could and could not do.
Red eyes flicked to her instantly.
"I was wondering when you would show your interest."
She hummed. "You knew?"
"I suspected." But he spoke it in a way that made it clear he certainly knew. "It would suit your skillset if you were to hold a familiar like that of Flauros. Though their own training is coming along at a steady pace and it shall be weeks until they are fully capable, he serves his purpose well enough."
Goetia stopped, then turned to face her properly.
"But you hold more interest in what a familiar does, do you not?"
Shamir grunted and nodded her head. "I knew about a few who spent their lives training hawks to do tricks and talents. Take out carrier pigeons or raise an alarm when they see certain banners."
"Useful talents." Goetia rumbled with a faint incline of the head, but he looked far from impressed. His eyes moved to Flauros for a moment and he raised his left arm, holding out his finger to the bird with but a few inches of clearance between the two of them.
Without further prompt or even a verbal command, the bird lept to him and settled on his finger, standing to attention and fixing her with a look right into her eyes.
"But Flauros holds talents which would be rather more…decisive."
"Such as?"
"Is this out of true curiosity or shall these words find their way to Seteth's ears?"
Now that was a curious thing to ask, but she could already guess what the answer would be.
"I won't lie if he pays me for the information, but I'm not going to bring it up."
Goetia watched her for some moments, then gave a short nod. "A fair answer from you. Though soon enough, all those in the Monastery shall become aware of the abilities of a familiar. Though that would depend on the nature of said familiar."
His eyes returned to the bird.
"Flauros holds a talent for reconnaissance, as I am certain you would appreciate. Trading thoughts and visions to me at great distances without the need for much else. A literal birds eye view of wherever I wish."
That was…
Shamir kept her face rather cool and collected, but what he was talking about sounded as though it would make her job rather much easier. Especially if it was used for scouting.
She eyed the little bird with greater scrutiny, already aware there was something special about it, but now it all made sense.
"...Bernadetta had the bird during the battle."
"She did." Goetia admitted, then moved the bird to his shoulder once more. "Though I was not utilising Flauros in his official capacity as my farseeing eyes and ears. He served only to provide the girl with an objective that was designed to be more manageable."
Shamir didn't quite understand what he was talking about.
Unless he simply told Bernadetta to keep the bird safe.
In which case, she understood it to an extent.
Well, it was none of her business.
"And when would you be holding those lectures?"
She did not bother to hide her interest.
"That is not currently something I am aware of, though admittedly it would be sooner as opposed to later."
He spoke more for his own benefit than for her, turning his head slightly and frowning to himself for a mere moment, then grunting.
"Whenever I might do so, I will be sure to inform you prior. Assuming that is where you have your interest in, yes?"
She nodded.
"Hmph."
That was a good talk, she decided, and turned around to leave.
"How far has Cyril progressed?"
She was stopped before making it even half a step, turning back to face Goetia and inclining her head. Debating the question for a moment before she found the right set of words she was looking for.
"Not the best and not the worst."
He looked as though he expected the answer.
"I see."
"Why?"
"I had not gotten the chance to observe him lately and was curious as to what your thoughts on him would be, as his teacher in archery. I would wager he has greater determination than most others, though all of it is driven for his objective of being devoted to Rhea and being useful for her."
Shamir shrugged. "Everyone has their motivation."
"...That is true enough." He mumbled to himself, then sent her a glance. "I have taken up enough of your time. You are free to leave."
He sounded pleasant enough about it, but she could read between the lines.
More so when he had looked right back to the girl as he spoke in a very pointed manner.
She could respect him for that, with a slow nod of the head, she turned around and walked back the way she had come.
Familiar, he called them.
Curious name.
She'd have probably gone for something a little bit less obvious than a sparrow only found in Adrestia if she were to use it for spying.
But he probably had his own uses for the bird.
And she knew what to look out for now.
"I heard you got bashed in the head."
Goetia only hummed as he examined the block of marble stone in front of him.
A finer piece than he would have thought, the composition of the stone was a cut above the regular sort, but not quite of the level found inside the monastery itself.
"And I heard you got kicked somewhere."
He would have ignored that comment as well.
But it was the nature of it that gave him pause, slowly he turned his head across to stare at Anna.
She only looked back with the face of perfect innocence, the same polite smile on her lips that she would greet all her customers with.
"You are remarkably well informed for something that occurred barely a few days prior."
Anna only smiled a little wider. "I wouldn't be a very good merchant if I didn't keep my ear to the ground and listen for all the latest bits of gossip now, would I? Best to get on top of the latest trends and figure out which way the winds are blowing when it comes to sales, you know?"
Prudent strategy for marketing, true.
Though there was one gap in her logic.
"And how do the current tastes of the populace equate to knowing whether I have or have not received several blows to the head?"
Anna's smile turned more lopsided, her brow slowly raised and her hands dropped to her hips. "Given you're my business partner, I would say that it is rather necessary for me to actually know whether or not you've been seriously injured in a training accident. Wouldn't you say?"
" You were concerned for my well-being?"
His voice came out flat, his eyes turned lidded.
Anna put on a look of false shock, pressing a hand over her heart, her tone matched the same level of exaggerated horror. "You're talking like that's somehow out of the ordinary, Spellbook. Are you suggesting that I would be so heartless as to hear news of my business partner getting hurt and remain unaffected?"
"I would assume your first concern would be on whether you have lost a source of ideas and a means for swift production."
She opened her mouth, then she stopped and teetered her head from one side and then to the other.
Her lack of denial was proof enough.
But he did not resent her or think less of her for it, this was exactly the sort of behaviour he was expecting.
"Well, there is that." She continued after a moment and confirmed what he already knew, clapping her hands and then pointing at him. "But that's not the whole…no, that is mostly the whole truth of it. I'd just appreciate you being a bit more careful in the future, you know?"
She stepped forwards and then tapped a finger against the side of his head. "This has so much it can offer the two of us."
Goetia stared at the offending limb until it was removed from his personal space, continuing to eye it even as it came to rest beside the girl. Then he looked back at her and grunted once, turning his head to the marble.
"I have not forgotten, nor did I take any risks which could be considered even remotely dangerous. Rest assured, Anna, you shall not be deprived of a prized source of income."
"Again, you make it sound like I don't care about you at all."
Goetia did not snort, but his lip did twitch slightly. "That is not the case at all. You have made it abundantly clear you care a great deal about what I might offer you, by extension this implies you do care about my wellbeing. It is a mutually beneficial partnership between the two of us. I would offer similar words if I were to discover you plotted a route to take yourself through known bandit territory simply because it was swifter."
There was a sharp nudge in his side, this time he did glare down at her elbow which had struck him in a light jab.
His eyes turned on Anna who did not even seem to care or recognise what she had done, continuing to speak in her own amused tone of voice.
"And I would never do something that silly. Do you have any idea how many bandits and thugs would kill someone to get a glimpse at what I've been trekking around Fodlan for some years now? I've had to fight off more than my fair share of chancers."
That implied she was capable of fighting.
It was a novel development, all things considered.
She raised a hand and gestured to the marble. "Well?"
Goetia saw the change of conversation for what it was and allowed it.
"An investment from the client?"
"I recommended you very highly."
He gave the marble stone a final glance and curled his lip. "It would have cost quite a sum."
Anna chuckled in a low tone. "I was told that it did, yes. So I'd very much like it if you were to bring all of your magic to this one, Spellbook."
"Your client shall have their statue of Seiros in due course." He reassured her, especially as this would serve as his primary project in her company for the next few weeks. It would take as such time to alternate between the different positions.
That being said.
"Did the client provide a prompt for how Seiros would be depicted?"
Wordlessly, she handed him a sheet of parchment.
He took it from her and held it aloft, squinting at the words.
The handwriting was dreary indeed.
Majestic, inspiring, humble…approachable?
He lowered the parchment and looked at Anna.
She only shrugged her shoulders and smiled at him in a rather thin manner. "Make the magic happen, Spellbook. You're probably going to need it."
"...Evidently so." He grumbled as he mentally sent the parchment across the tent to one of the tables, dismissing it from his mind and sight both. The less time spent thinking of such things, the better.
"I shall gather my tools and then discover a prompt of my own."
"I leave it in your capable hand."
She was truly stressing the words as this went on, he turned for the exit of the tent and moved forwards.
He supposed convincing her would be simple enough.
Seteth was entitled to a greater salary than he was currently being afforded.
At current, Rhea was only dealing with perhaps a third - if that - of the number of documents that crossed his desk in a single week alone and already she found herself rather exhausted with all of it. Many of them were of little to no consequence at all, requests for her presence at a local harvest to provide some sort of blessing to the crops for a bountiful season the next year.
Or applications for the next year of students to enter the academy.
She had seen a few of those, only the ones Seteth felt were of great importance, but he dealt with all others.
Logistics for the Knights, movements and patrols, requests to change the patrols, requests to change the training times, requests to change the complement of the patrols and the requests to begin recruitment efforts.
It was work she did have experience in, true.
She had led armies into battle once.
A very long time ago and even then, she recalled that it was still Seteth who oversaw the logistics before the battles, she was rather more talented at the battles themselves.
The only thing of some real importance was a request for aid and the sole reason it had caught her eye was because of the location of it.
Remire village.
As far as she recalled, that was where they had found Jeralt and the Professor during an altercation with bandits.
Rhea felt herself go wistful for a moment, it felt like such a long time ago.
Yet in comparison with her lifetime, it was so very short.
Simpler times, she supposed.
She eyed the request once more and found herself frowning as her eyes skimmed down the page, by the time she finished, she set the letter down and rolled her jaw.
She would need to speak with Seteth about this, it sounded like an ailment that was spreading rather swiftly and they lacked the needed healers to properly combat it. They could certainly spare a complement of clerics for the restoration of the town and it could hardly be said to be a long journey to Remire village.
It would do the reputation of the Church some good.
…And it was the help these humans sorely deserved.
The letter was set to one side.
Her head twitched at the knock on the door, glancing towards it and calling out. "Yes?"
The door latched and swung open, a knight stuck her head inside. "Begging your pardon, Lady Rhea. Lecturer Goetia wishes to speak with you…Shall I send him in or away?"
Goetia wanted to speak with her?
…Well, his requests and talks were always a distraction from what she was doing and rarely proved boring.
Rhea slowly eyed the pile of documents on the side of her desk, then quickly turned her focus to the knight and smiled. "You may bid him entry. Thank you."
The knight nodded her head and retreated, and Goetia quickly took her place less than a second later, pushing his way into the room. He had probably been listening and was just waiting for her answer. Though the eagerness with which he entered was concerning, but he lacked the grave look in his eyes for bad news.
And he went through the trouble of knocking.
"Goetia."
She greeted with a nod of the head.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of a visit?"
His eyes briefly passed her over and to the documents on her desk, there was a small rumble in the back of his throat that might have been slight approval, but she could not quite tell. Whatever the case, he quickly looked back at her.
"Do you still have the garments you wore as Seiros?"
Yes.
Rarely boring conversations.
"...And before I respond, might I inquire as to why you have need of this information?"
Goetia was not long in responding. "I have taken up a commission to produce a statue of the prophet Seiros and I would have asked you to provide the model for it. I would need only a single glance before you are consumed with the misunderstanding that you would stand for hours and hold no pose."
There was quite a bit of information in such a short string of words.
"...I was not aware you had taken up the role of an artist, Goetia."
Goetia frowned. "Were you not aware of my trade in sculpting?"
"Children's toys." She felt the need to point out, holding her amused smile. "Would you not say it is quite a leap to go from making charming wood carvings for children to producing sculptures for the masses as a whole to offer prayers unto?"
"...They are similar in principle."
"In that they are both crafted, yes. They are similar." She allowed him that, though her smile widened only a little bit at his answer. "And you wish to sculpt this statue of Seiros in my image?"
He raised a brow. "You have another suggestion then?"
No, she did not.
Rather she was unsurprised, all things considered.
"Though I would otherwise commend you for historical accuracy." She gave slow words of reply, shaking her head after a moment. "I fear as though many would certainly come to notice that you have crafted the statue of Seiros with the face of the current Archbishop and I have little doubt there would be some questions."
"And I would make the argument that I drew heavy inspiration from the current Archbishop of the Church."
His reply was swift and practised, clearly another had brought up this problem.
"...Very well."
Goetia looked rather…she would not say surprised, but he did look as though he had not been expecting her to agree.
"...You agreed easily."
She raised a brow. "Is there a reason for me to refuse? This is far from the first statue of Serios commissioned and you have said it will take but a moment."
Rising up from her chair, she paced across the room.
"So I shall give you what you require and then I shall observe your progress."
That got a reaction from him, Goetia looked with some small amount of suspicion and quite a bit of confusion.
"For what purpose?"
She stopped and sent him a dull look. "You would ask why I would wish to oversee the sculpting of a Seiros statue?
"...No, I suppose no." He inclined his head, then cast one final glance at the papers. "Attend to those sooner, rather than later. They will grow in size."
Rhea felt her eye twitch slightly. "...I am aware."
Goetia gave no answer, merely exiting the room in silence and shutting the door behind him.
She hummed to herself.
It was still baffling for her to conceive.
He made children's toys.
She turned to the desk and paced for the letter.
First thing was first, she could pass this along to Seteth with the implication she expected something done about it.