Chapter 83: The Calm

When Byleth awoke, it was to the sound of someone knocking on her door. Her brows furrowed ever so slightly as she pulled herself up into a sitting position and turned her head to the door. She was quick to regain her senses and become fully alert, life as a mercenary did that to you, but there was the curiosity of who was knocking on her door in the first place. She had never overslept a day in her life so she refused to believe it was something like that.

"You haven't overslept." Sothis reassured her in the back of her mind, sounding a little tired herself but slowly coming back into the realm of lucidity. Albeit more than a little slow and with a touch more exhaustion about her than Byleth felt. The next words she uttered made it perfectly clear why she was currently speaking like that though. "But it is…rather early in the morning for visitors."

It was good to know that her senses hadn't dulled, but it made the current situation no less peculiar to her. Bringing her hands up, she rubbed her face and cleared her vision, sweeping her hands over the edge of the bed and silently rising to her feet. Moving across the room without even a creak of the floorboards towards the door.

Another knock sounded again, it was rather gentle. Just enough to wake her but not nearly enough to send her into a state of panic. Then she heard a muffled voice through the door, a little louder than speaking but not quite a shout. "Professor? It's Dimitri…I realise it's early but there's something I'd like to-ack!?"

It did become a shout, or rather a hacking cough, towards the end when Byleth swung the door open and stepped out in front of the blonde. The boy instantly widened his eyes and took a half step backwards, his eyes briefly glanced down to her night clothes before they swung back up at impressive speeds and rapidly away from her, snapping his eyes shut.

"P-Professor." It sounded as though there was a clear effort to keep his voice measured as he spoke, taking in a sharp breath before he exhaled. "Professor, I understand that it is early in the morning but if you had asked me to wait I would have been more than willing to do so until you were in a state of presentability." She raised an eyebrow at him silently.

He was the one who knocked on her door so early in the morning, what was he expecting she was going to do? Provided on how early it was, she was probably going to go back to sleep anyway once this conversation was over. Why would she get dressed just to get undressed again? Besides, it was hardly as though she had shown up naked in front of him. So his embarrassment was hardly warranted.

"You wanted to speak with me." She remarked, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back. Falling silent as she stared at him, there was the unspoken cue for him to ask what he had come to her to ask. Though he still kept quiet with his head firmly pointed away from her, to the point she was actually getting more than a little concerned. Nobles were supposed to be all about protecting their bloodlines or something, she couldn't see someone like Sylvain acting like this when a woman stood before him…maybe Ashe, but he was a little different.

Certainly not someone like Dimitri.

"Professor, I'm asking you to consider your own honour here." Dimitri urged with a strained tone of voice, bringing his hand up and covering his face, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I am merely commenting that I believe conducting a conversation like this is wholly inappropriate for us."

It was?

"It is?" She blinked at him, then tilted her head to the side "Aren't you still sharing a room down in the town with the others? Do you all get changed before you speak with each other?"

She was rewarded with a sigh, Dimitri slumped his shoulders and brought his head back around to face her, opening his eyes back up and suddenly looking as though he was the one who had just woken up from a nap rather than herself. Still, so long as he was finally going to get to what he wanted to talk about, she didn't much care how he looked.

Dimitri shook his head with a clear look of exasperation. "No, you are right we don't get changed before speaking with one another." The confession was rather useless considering she already knew that but it was just one of those things. "Forgive me for being a little prudish, I suppose…" his smile was a little strained.

"You wanted to talk about something?"

The smile vanished, replaced by a look of seriousness "Yes, I did." pausing, he rolled his lips. "While it could have likely waited until morning, it was something that I wasn't able to get out of my head since I noticed it and from how things appear, it has gotten progressively worse…I would have brought the issue up with Professor Manuela but I don't…" he sighed "I believe that the ultimate cause for this situation is Goetia and I am aware that the Professor does not have the same rapport with Goetia that you do."

He gestured to himself. "I would have brought the matter up with him myself but I feel as though it would only serve to make things more strained. Especially considering I already feel as though I am overstepping my bounds between classmates as it stands. Though…" he shrugged his shoulders "This is something that I cannot bring myself to ignore any longer and I know that you and her share a history as well given that you were in the same class and…"

She cut him off by raising the flat of her hand. Byleth had absolutely no idea what he was actually talking about, he had mentioned Goetia a few times but she didn't know what he was truly referring to. Inferring that someone was troubled by something that Goetia had done was about the limit of how far her mind had been able to comprehend the words that had been flung her way, but without something specific she doubted she was going to be of much aid.

With the prince now silent, she posed the question. "Who are we speaking about?"

Dimitri blinked, then made a face of embarrassment "Ah, forgive me. I appear to have run away on a tangent…" the teen awkwardly replied to her, shifting on his feet before he took in a deep breath and composed himself a little bit more. Looking her dead in the eye. "This might seem a little unusual, but I have recently been concerned with the behaviour of Lysithea."

Byleth fought back a blink of surprise, instead just staring at the face of Dimitri as the same registered instantly in her mind. Lysithea, she knew who the girl was and knew what her relationship was with Goetia, or she thought she knew. To her understanding, it was something that had more in common with a teacher and student relationship in much the same way that she and Dimitri were affiliated. Her mind cycled through the sentences of Dimitri before they reached this point and she felt confusion move through her mind.

First of all, she would have assumed this was the responsibility of someone like Claude or Professor Manuela, first and foremost. Considering they were the two who were actually affiliated with Lysithea and the other Golden Deers in the first place. Though now that she thought about it, the relationship between Lysithea and Claude had looked somewhat strained even to her, and she wasn't even an affiliate of the Class beyond being a peer of Manuela.

Manuela herself was someone who…didn't look as though they were suited for the job they were in, but Byleth had been a mercenary for her entire life so she could hardly find herself in a position to talk about who was and was not suited for their jobs. She had been a Professor for longer than Byleth so she was obviously doing something right.

Bringing her hand up, she pinched the bottom of her chin while keeping her eyes on Dimitri "You are concerned with Lysithea." she remarked in a flat tone of voice "So you come to me."

Dimitri nodded his head up and down "I understand this looks rather bewildering and, indeed, I am not going to deny that it might be something I have little to no business in actually getting involved with in the first place." he explained further, his shoulders dropping and a somewhat sardonic smile coming upon his face. "But…it seems I am not quite capable of leaving well enough alone as I would have liked and as much as I believe Claude to have noticed much the same as I…there is the matter of Lysithea being somewhat hostile to him in recent weeks."

Yes. That.

Yet there was still something else. "And you don't want me to speak to Lysithea…you want me to speak with Goetia?"

Dimitri nodded again "Lysithea is a prideful young woman. I suspect that if you approached her with the claim of trying to help her she might rebuke your efforts under the belief that she was being treated like a child." he waved his hand, the fact that Byleth could honestly see a conversation going along those lines was probably telling that it would happen like that. "Hence why I believe it would be better to avoid Lysithea and move to the root cause of the problem."

"Goetia is the problem?" She furrowed her brows slightly, it didn't make much sense to her that Goetia would be the problem. To her understanding, their relationship was rather amicable, unless something had happened in the meantime that she had missed but beyond that, she couldn't quite imagine why Lysithea would be put off when around him. "How? Did something happen?"

The blonde, however, dismissed that line of thinking with a shake of his head. "I would not so much call it a case of something happening as much as I would call it a case of something not happening." folding his arms over his chest, he exhaled. "I might well be reaching to nothing here, but I cannot help but notice that Goetia has been increasingly absent around the Monastery…I know that he has been frequenting both Abyss and the areas of the Market as of late and it took very little for me to deduce that he is doing something in regards to the improvement of that area."

His lip twitched upwards into a more honest smile "It is…something both saddening and gratifying to see. I suppose."

Sad and gratifying to see? That didn't make sense. How was it that Goetia helping out the people of Abyss was a sad thing to see? Shouldn't it be a good thing to see in the first place?

"Goetia is neither human nor is he from Fodlan." Sothis remarked in the back of her head, Byleth internally turned her attention onto the Goddess as she explained in a rather distant tone of voice. "That he is the one who is actually making an effort to bring some rightness into the lives of the citizens rather than those in power is…a sad state of affairs. Hmm…unless I am projecting my own feelings onto this young man but…regardless, it is not relevant for the moment."

That didn't really make sense to her, if people were so concerned where the help came from then people like her wouldn't be employed. There was no shortage of people who complained about sellswords and they still ended up paying her wage when she showed up. Getting worked up over who was solving the problem didn't matter as much as the problem getting solved.

Sothis sighed as her thoughts reached their climax, "Once again I am left in awe by your simplified line of thinking. Truly, I wish there were others who thought as you did." a beat. "And I mean that most genuinely."

Dimitri blinked "Once again, my apologies I got distracted. My point being that Goetia spending time with the people of Abyss, pleased as I might be…" his expression turned complicated. "I wonder if he has been neglecting Lysithea and the others…"

Byleth blinked. "Neglecting." She repeated the word back to him, allowing it to cycle through her mind at the same time. She would not describe it as neglecting but now that she thought about it, those lessons which Goetia had been teaching had not yet returned.

That…was rather odd to her.

As far as she knew there was nothing that prevented their return and Goetia had gone to lengths to get them back and yet he had not resumed them. In that case, it would be a case of neglect. Especially considering Lysithea seemed rather enthusiastic about them in the beginning and there hadn't been one in a while.

Her brows slowly pinched themselves together and a hum rippled through her throat. "Lysithea misses Goetia's lessons?"

Dimitri nodded in affirmation "I would say she misses his company as well. I dare say she is more invested in the short sessions she had with Goetia than with the actual curriculum within the academy itself." He finished with a chortle, then shrugged. "Not that I can blame her…she and Mercedes made it sound rather interesting."

Dimitri paused, then raised his hands in surrender. "I do not understand it myself, before you get any ideas about training me as a mage…but they sounded interested in it." There was an odd look in his eyes that had Byleth genuinely wonder if he was actually concerned she was going to try and make him into a mage or whether or not he was making a joke. She didn't think he had the aptitude for it…

Then again, appearances could be deceiving and he might very well be something of a prodigy when it came to spells and the like. Though the chances of that were so unlikely that it might as well have been impossible and even if it was not, she wasn't going to risk it so close to their leaving mission with the Knights.

She was able to infer enough of the message from Dimitri to understand what the problem was, though it partially sounded as though the curriculum of the academy was to blame for Lysithea finding more interest in what Goetia was teaching than with the actual reason she was here in the first place. That being said, she supposed someone like Lysithea did seem the sort to rush into this sort of education and cling to it like a barnacle did to a ship and both she and Goetia seemed to get along well enough. In fact, he had outright gone back to the surface just to grab her assistance during the whole problem with the Chalice of Beginnings so it was clear he valued her in some capacity.

Byleth slowly found her lip curling down into a thoughtful frown, eyes turning away from Dimitri himself and her arms folding themselves underneath her chest. The Prince had raised an interesting point and even without the concern for Lysithea, she herself had all but forgotten about the existence of those 'Magecraft' lessons of Goetia and the many other things he had told them about. It sounded as though there was still more to teach and Goetia didn't strike her as the person to get bored of something midway through and just quit, namely because he wouldn't have bothered in the first place if he didn't care.

She could feel Sothis approval of her statements in the back of her mind, though the Goddess didn't vocalise them. Yet this didn't quite explain what Dimitri wanted her to do about them, sure enough she could speak with Goetia if the concern was truly pressing enough but it was hardly as though she could force him into teaching them again, especially if it had somehow slipped his notice.

Her eyes landed back on the Prince. "I can speak with Goetia, but I am unsure what you want me to achieve. Lysithea is neither my student nor is Goetia. I cannot force them into speaking with one another again, especially if Goetia has other matters to attend to that he thinks are more important."

Dimitri shook his head from side to side "You misunderstand Professor, I have no interest in tearing Goetia away from the people of Abyss. I only ask that you speak with him about his lessons in general, considering you were similarly a student as well along with others." he pointed out as he gestured to her. "All I ask is that he give some measure of assurance that his lessons are either placed on a hiatus or have been permanently cancelled…I believe it is more the lack of awareness that is troubling Lysithea more than anything else."

Byleth slowly felt her eyes narrow on the Prince, gradually leaning herself towards him. It took Dimitri a moment to realise what was going on, when he did the slightly taller boy wore a more apprehensive face as he started to lean back in counter to her advance, eyes darting from side to side in a clear show of confusion before they returned to her face. Wetting his lips, he offered a strained smile "Is there…something the matter, Professor?"

She slowly leaned back, uncrossing her arms and placing them on her hips. "First Ashe spends time with Petra a lot-"

Dimitri's brows climbed up his forehead instantly, eyes snapping to the side and his lips rolling inwards as though he was trying to hide a smile. Byleth noticed the movement immediately, namely because the Prince could not have been more obvious if he shouted out at the top of his lungs that there was something going on between Ashe and Petra. This further fuelled her suspicions over what was going on.

"-and now you seem to spend an awful lot of time talking about Lysithea." She accused, Dimitri's eyes swung back onto her with a clear look of panic which gave way to incredulity.

Letting out a scoff, the boy waved his hand from side to side in a clear display of dismissal as he avoided meeting her gaze. "I believe you might be reading too much into that Professor. I might almost think that your time with Sylvain has made you believe that there are interpersonal relations between many of the students." his hand fell back to his side. "I assure you, there is nothing untoward about my concern on behalf of Lysithea, I merely feel as though I should make some effort to bring her condition to the attention of the staff."

Though he was speaking rather confidently, the fact he couldn't quite meet her eyes was telling enough that he wasn't being completely honest with what he was saying. Adding onto that was the fact that he could have just as easily told Professor Manuela about Lysithea being concerned or rather, Professor Manulea could have dealt with it herself and Dimitri could have just made a private note of her behaviour and done nothing else. She wasn't going to criticise him for coming to her, just that there were other options available at the time.

…It might well be nothing, but she imagined that she was not being led down a wild goose chase here. There was certainly something going on between Dimitri and Lysithea. Perhaps he was attempting to convert her into the Blue Lion Class? In which case, she would allow his attempts. To her knowledge, it was necessary for Kings and the like to have a charisma to them that made people want to follow them. If he could convince Lysithea to switch allegiance to the Blue Lions, then that was a suitable test and demonstration of his potential skill as a ruler. That sounded like the sort of reasoning that Goetia would give, that sort of reasoning made sense to her.

Though, for whatever reason, she could feel the exasperation of Sothis in the back of her mind. She did not quite understand what problems the Goddess had with her reasoning and perhaps it did not truly matter at the moment.

Her mind, once more, returned to Dimitri and focused on him. The false confidence still lingering in his eyes, yet the silence while she had pondered his words had clearly had some manner of effect on him, given that his expression was looking more and more tense, the slight strain of his lips as the smile was looking increasingly more forced. For a Prince, he did not hide his emotions very well.

Exhaling, she returned to her original posture. "Your relationship with Lysithea aside-"

"Professor, I feel as though you misunderstand something and I do not wish to give the wrong impression-"

"-what you are asking me to do is to speak with Goetia and then have him reassure Lysithea that he has not forgotten about her." She cut the prince off and finished her initial point before he could complete his sentence, mouth hanging open as he had made the attempt to speak, then slowly snapped his jaw shut and nodded his head up and down in confirmation of her words. "Hmmm. I can do that much, I suppose."

Besides, it would give her something else to speak with Goetia about. Though her own problems took first priority, that might have been slightly contradictory as a teacher but she figured that both topics would likely end up as lengthy discussions with Goetia and she would much rather that he spend more time speaking with her on the topic that she was most interested in. Nothing against Lysithea, but Byleth doubted that her concerns were as deeply rooted as Byleths currently were.

Nevertheless, she could at least make the effort. "If the chance comes up, I will be sure to pass the message along to Goetia." she paused for a moment, realising there was nothing else left to say. Well, not quite. There was still something else that she could say in regards to this matter, as she took a step backwards and placed her hand on the door, she looked Dimitri dead in the eye and gave him a serious look. "If you intend to win over Lysithea, ensure that she is not put off. Even if she rejects you, it would not do to make an enemy of her."

Dimitri made a face somewhat between horror and surprise, though he wasn't able to get a word in before Byleth closed the door. Turning back around and moving towards her bed once more. That sounded like good enough advice to her.

She blinked as Sothis manifested in the air directly in front of her once more, the Goddess regarded her with an expression that looked almost utterly vacant, eyes half lidded and lips drawn into a perfectly even line. The green eyes of the Goddess slowly traced her up and down before finally coming to a halt on her face, the head of Sothis gradually turned at an angle before the arms of the girl slowly folded over her chest. When she eventually did speak, it was in a tone bereft of emotion.

"While you did indeed grant the young man the correct answer, I believe you misunderstood the equation." Byleth furrowed her brows ever so slightly at the words of the Goddess. It didn't make all that much sense to her what Sothis was talking about. Though the Goddess barely gave her enough time to think of a response before she closed her eyes, letting out a long and suffering sigh. "Though what's done is now done. The concern of young hearts is not truly what interests me this day, perhaps I might have been more inclined to encourage you if we had not larger concerns at present."

Her eyes opened up once more, waving a hand at Byleth "The hours are still young, it will be some time before you are required by the youths. I would recommend getting yourself more rest, for your sake and my own." Sothis pulled her lip into a sardonic smirk "I am left with the belief that it will be some time before we do so with true ease."

Byleth wasn't sure if Sothis had noticed it yet, but she was starting to speak in a very similar manner to Goetia.

"I most certainly am not!" Sothis loudly exclaimed, the aura of grandeur vanished and was replaced by an expression of petulance. "That line of thinking is beneath both you and I! There are many I would sound like in this world and I would hardly include Goetia among them." huffing, she crossed her arms "He wields his intellect like a club, haphazardly fusing his sentences with overly complicated words for little reason other than demonstrating his own lexiconical superiority over all others. He could just as easily craft explanations that are more easily understood, but he forges complex sentences first so that he might have the opportunity to deconstruct and reconstruct them in such a way that it makes you feel a fool for being unable to comprehend his words within the first iteration of his explanation."

…

…Yes. Definitely like Goetia.

He was more than a little surprised that he did not even need to use his abilities to track down Von Riegan, but then again despite what the heir of the Leicester Alliance would propagate as his personality, he was a remarkably predictable individual. That and it was normally expected for them to seek out food at this point in time during the day. The initial conundrum would have been discerning which location he would be dining at.

Successfully removing the higher end establishments had been his first action, it was well known that Von Riegan did not flaunt his heritage to his own advantage unlike others about the Monastery. Furthermore, his lack of care towards his appearance when taking into account his station was also well documented, he had extended what he supposed was gratitude that he did not need to constantly watch over his manners when around the likes of him.

Not that Goetia understood why Von Riegan felt as though he was in a position to slip in his appearances, though he was more surprised that the boy put in the effort to create them in the first place, given how cavalier he was with maintaining them.

All that said, it brought Goetia to this specific establishment that was still on the path of the main street and yet its standards were average. Its clientele were average - the ordinary peasant - and their only seeming requirement was to ensure that one ate their food in peace and left others alone. All Goetia needed to do was a simple scan once he was close enough and, sure enough, he detected Von Riegan inside, likely in the beginning of getting his lunch.

"Are we finally going to do something?" A somewhat irate voice came from his side, though he did not even spare the speaker a glance as he continued forwards on his path. He would have expected a sigh of frustration to follow if this was any other person, but this specific individual was clever enough to reveal their annoyance in other capacities. If only because they could not afford to demonstrate their emotional state…given what the repercussions would be.

The sound of teeth clacking together as someone tightened their jaw reached his enhanced hearing. "Look, if you're not going to tell me why I'm here, then I'm just going to go back to-"

"No you won't." He saved her the humiliation of making such a foolish and empty threat, all she served to do was embarrass herself. They both knew she wasn't going to leave because he had asked her here for a specific reason, she would have made the threat of departure and then done nothing afterwards. "Because you are at least intelligent enough to understand that I would not take you here for such pointless endeavours. Your motivation, in that you personally care for Abyss, will ensure that you remain around to observe what my intentions are with you and how they work to the benefit of Abyss."

They made a strangled noise of irritation before they took in a deep breath. When they spoke again, it was in a slow and measured tone of voice, yet slips of annoyance spilled through the cracks of her words. "No, I won't leave. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to get annoyed if you keep me in the dark like this. I'm only human and if you keep pushing me like this, then I am going to end up sighing."

Yes, her temper had been accounted for and he was aware of the results of her continued aggravation. Though she was the one who was taking everything he was saying and interpreting it in the worst way. If anything, it was her fault for being too demanding in expecting him to explain every minute detail of his plan to her.

Coming to a halt, he hid his own irritation at her consistent pushing and then turned to her. "Given that I have delegated roles amongst Abyss for the time being to ensure stability within the town, it is natural that I address the second glaring fault that it currently faces. That being the influx of supplies, reliance on the Church is pure folly as that provides them with the means to control your population. Worse, when one considers that the Church barely tolerates your existence, though you hardly need me to tell you of that."

Hapi offered him a curt nod of the head, the girl folded her arms over her chest and assumed a somewhat lazy posture of her own. Shifting her weight onto one leg and giving him her undivided attention.

"Therefore, it is necessary to find another faction who would be willing to support Abyss. The Holy Kingdom cannot be relied upon because they would view the people of Abyss overwhelmingly as a gathering of heretics and heathens." He brought up his left hand, raising a single finger as he did so. "The Adrestian Empire is, if the reports are to be believed, riddled with corruption due to the weak grasp of the current Emperor. Entering into a deal with them or any one of their noble houses is offering yourself up for exploitation."

Hapi drummed her fingers on her arm, then spoke up in an obvious tone of voice. "Yes, yes. That just leaves the Leicester Alliance-"

"The gathering of nobles, most of whom acquired their wealth through trading and merchant works or are involved with the prominent merchant families." He explained, lowering his hand. "As far as all of the factions of Fodlan are concerned, the Leicester Alliance is the most agreeable faction that currently exists. Though that leaves the problem of what Abyss can truly offer the Alliance if they were to enter into an agreement of trade. Given they are not currently recognised as a separate existence from the Church."

The girl raised an eyebrow "I assume this is where you tell me how we become separate from the Church?"

"You cannot, you exist directly beneath the monastery of Garreg Mach. Being recognised as a separate entity from the Church would invite embarrassment beyond accepting your existence at all." Shooting that down quickly, Goetia was treated to the sight of Hapi putting on a strange face as she looked him up and down. Dropping her arms to her side and then placing them on her hips. "Therefore, the first step is to be recognised as a boon to the Church."

Turning from her, he resumed his walk towards the restaurant in front of him and pushed open the door. Making it a few steps inside, his eyes swinging immediately in the direction of the tanned young man with dark hair. Likely sensing his arrival, or rather sensing someone staring at the back of his head, the boy turned around and then paused midway through a bite of his toasted bread, lowering it back down to the plate and raising a single eyebrow.

Von Riegan offered him a single nod of the head, though the surprise remained on his features somewhat. "Hey…Sparkles. I'd call this a coincidence but you don't really strike me as the type to do that sort of thing." leaning back into his chair, the boy dusted down his hands on his simple brown shirt as he swivelled in his chair to face him, an intrigued smile now playing upon his lips. "So then, what can I do to help you?"

His eyes moved past Goetia and onto the person who entered just behind him, the smile vanishing amidst another look of surprise, although it seemed as though he was more pleasantly surprised than irritated, despite the interruption of his breakfast. "And Hapi as well? Not a combo I was expecting…so I can only assume this relates to a little place where the sun doesn't shine all that brightly?"

Goetia made a noise "I can see that your mind is not utterly deprived of sense just yet." He moved towards the boy, advancing on one of the empty seats next to his table. Von Riegan gestured to the seat in approval, not that Goetia was looking for any in the first place. Quickly taking a spot next to the boy, with them regarding him with the same intrigue as before. "Though if you would ask for me to say the words more clearly-"

Von Riegan brought up the flat of his hand, smiling to himself and shaking his head. "I won't make you dumb yourself down for my benefit. Though I'm rather curious as to what you need from me if it does relate to Abyss…unless you need me not as Claude, student of Garreg Mach, but as Claude Von Riegan, heir to the Leicester Alliance?" His eyes tracked the movement of Hapi as she took a spot on the other side of him and opposite Goetia.

The demonstration that Von Riegan could actually infer what his intentions were without making specific sentences did little to comfort him. Further proving that the boy was actually intelligent, just that he masqueraded with a veneer of stupidity. Or that he was a fool who would occasionally stumble upon a brief glimmer of insight. Whichever it was didn't matter at the moment, what did concern Goetia was his capabilities as heir to the Leicester Alliance.

The eyes of the teen lingered on Hapi for a moment longer, then returned to Goetia and inclined his head to the man. "I'll assume it's the latter of the two, given your silence. But I don't need to tell you that anything I promised right now wouldn't mean much for quite a while…given that I am not currently the leader of the Leicester Alliance. Yet if you're coming to me now…I suppose that means you understand this is going to be a…" the boy cycled his hands with a smirk on his face "...an investment, would you say?"

Goetia hummed "Evidently." Hapi, meanwhile, was staring at the boy as though he'd grown another head or had said something surprising. Not that he could blame her, it was easy to forget that Von Riegan was actually going to be a leader of an entire faction. "Though in relation to Abyss, it would heavily rely upon what you would be capable of providing."

Raising an eyebrow, Von Riegan hummed as he turned his head back to his food. "I'm fairly certain that those should be my words." he reached to the toasted bread and picked it up, loudly crunching it as he put on a thoughtful face, when he swallowed he resumed speaking. "Given that if you're coming to me, it means that you need supplies and figured the Alliance is the best place for them. Which…you'd probably be right. At least better to justify in the Alliance of Merchant guilds and barons than with the Nobles of Adrestia and Faerghus."

Goetia hummed "But if there was to be some manner of tradable good?"

The boy nodded his head up and down "If I could appear before the council with proof that something like Abyss was worth putting money into then I could foresee being able to convince enough to send supplies and the like but…well…this would be a rather tall order and noble intentions for the denizens of Abyss will only touch so many hearts." he offered with a knowing smile aimed at him. "Some of the people are rather…material in their gains. They enjoy the idea of seeing their good will in a reflective form."

As expected, for once the inclinations of humans and their natural greed worked to his advantage. Vexing as it was to benefit from such vices, he would not complain in this particular instance. He had used the folly of man to his own gain before and he would do so again if need be. It was hardly his fault that humanity could be so easily manipulated, he leaned back into his seat, looking Von Riegan up and down for a moment. "And if these individuals could be assured that they would see their contributions reciprocated, then they would be more willing to aid even those who would otherwise be considered an…undesirable sort by current standards."

Von Riegan rolled his lips into a coy smile "I am sure that they could be persuaded, though if such a place of undesirables was to be more welcome within Fodlan and present itself as more of a…out of sorts settlement rather than what might be seen as a hideaway from criminals." pausing, he spared Hapi a glance and then offered a vaguely apologetic expression. "Present company excluded, obviously."

The girl rolled her eyes at him silently, then resumed her observation of the pair of them. At the very least she could keep her mouth shut, but Goetia could already see the gradual increase of puzzlement about her posture. Even if he avoided peering into her emotional state, he did not need to even waste that level of effort. He suspected that when all was said and done, she would be hurling questions at him. So long as she was satisfied with the answers he provided her then he could tolerate one or two needless inquiries.

Besides, Von Riegan had all but confirmed what he had suspected. Though he held no illusions about an immediate partnership with the Leicester Alliance, it did provide him with the seeds by which he could nurture a possible relationship with the faction. Something that would allow Abyss to exist without the influence of the Church and perhaps grow beyond the kingdom known as Abyss itself. Though there came with it the problem of what they could provide the Alliance with, Goetia was certain that it remained a matter of discovering something.

With a single nod of the head, he gradually rose from his seated position "I would assume that someone who is to lead the Alliance could make no such promises that could be seen as a commitment. Given that such a thing would imply that he was biased with the success of the endeavour."

Von Riegan nodded his head once "Naturally, the leader of the Leisceter alliance would have to approach this from a neutral view and see the pros and cons of entering into a relationship with a place that does not currently fit within the acceptable social structure of Fodlan." he explained somewhat apathetically "Given that presenting himself as supporting such a group publicly would serve to undermine his ascension. That being said, he will watch with great interest and would be more than willing to throw a little bit of weight around to ensure that some are motivated to provide…harmless aid. In the name of charity and goodwill."

Goetia would never describe charity as something that was paid for, but it was all in the implication. He had his assurances and all that remained was to reach the end goal, at least the end goal was secured in part. With a nod to the head of the young man, he turned away from the boy and moved towards the door once again, there was a faint scraping against wood as Hapi pushed her own chair away from the table, her footsteps rapidly closing in on him as he exited the building and moved back into the streets. Making it a few more steps before he stopped and spared a single glance over his shoulder, watching as the red headed girl stopped walking and then folded her arms over her chest rather forcefully.

"If you have questions, I can provide the answers to you." He spoke before she even had the chance to do so. Briefly blinking at him before her brows furrowed and her expression tightened, eventually her eyes closed and she visibly rolled her jaw before her eyes opened back up, expression smoothing itself over ever so slightly.

"Alright, I can understand enough of what happened-"

"Good. That will cut down on the length of time needed to explain the events which have just transpired, if I need to at all." Hapi made a face of displeasure at his comment but didn't seem to reply to it, instead continuing on with her own point.

"-but I don't suppose there is anything that can actually provide something more solid than some vague words from Claude Von Riegan." She finished, keeping her arms crossed over her chest and staring at him with vague annoyance. He was more surprised that was where she had been aiming for, but given her history it would seem that she was reliant more on tangible evidence than word of mouth. Pity that there was none to give her.

He turned to face her fully "When dealing with Von Riegan, all that is required with him is word of mouth and little else. Abyss requires another potential benefactor beyond the Church and as I explained earlier, neither the Kingdom not Adrestia will-"

"Yes, yes, you don't need to explain all that to be all over again." Waving her hand, Hapi cut him off with another roll of her eyes, then lowered her hands to her hips and frowned even deeper than before. "It's just that, in spite of you saying all this, there is nothing that Claude can even say to convince me one way or the other." her lip curled "And weren't you the one who was talking about solving small term problems first? Now you're rushing off and speaking with the next head of the Alliance?"

"About a matter which will not occur for years to come." He pointed out with a shake of the head, turning to face her. "And it was not so much for my benefit as for your own. I had little reason to visit Von Riegan save to grasp where you stood on an intellectual capacity." Hapi blinked, opening her mouth to speak. "Your criticism of me has proven emotionally charged, ergo I was not able to fully understand where you stood in relation to the others, given your seemingly lethargic nature to dealing with problems directly."

Constance was ego made flesh with none of the tempered wisdom or might that would be ultimately deserving of her repeated boasts. She had far more in common with a theatre performer than any true noble he would trust leading anyone.

Balthus was a simpleton but when it came to security, he was at least someone who knew the tricks that would often be used. Not to mention his ability to keep everything under control. Goetia knew where Balthus was, he was not someone to be trusted with exceedingly complicated goals and was self-aware in his own status next to the others.

Yuri was by far the smartest one but also the least trustworthy, given his nature being similar enough to Von Riegan but with none of the moral boundaries. He was certain that Yuri had killed in the past but that was hardly his concern, the man could at least be trusted with the safety of Abyss given that he was effectively the leader of it during the periods of Aelfric's absence. The people looked to him for support and guidance during those periods and he seemed to provide and had done just that in recent days through what could only be imagined to be a sudden transition.

Then there was Hapi, who had not yet had the chance to demonstrate her capabilities to Goetia. She had shown to possess an inkling of magical talent and some peculiar ability to trigger the instincts of Demonic Beasts and summon them to her side. Yet her personality was atrocious, spending most of her time complaining about something or the other while providing little to no solutions of her own.

Her comprehension of his goals thus far had shown she had some capabilities, namely as he was deducing who would be suited for which role upon the temporary council of Abyss.

Hapi furrowed her brows "Wait so all of this was…just so you could test me, was that it?"

"In part, that served as the greater motivation."

"You could have just asked." She very nearly growled at him, displeasure washing over her features and her hands balling themselves into fists. "I don't like being played like that."

Goetia raised his brow "Were you not the one who spoke openly about demanding to see the evidence of something before word of mouth?" He looked her up and down before huffing. "How quickly your priorities change when you find yourself placed under the receiving end of them. I shall also ask that you spare me your delusions about how it is different. The result is the same in principle regardless of what it is referring to."

Hapi let out a very loud sigh, then froze a split second later. Clamping her hands over her mouth and her eyes flying wide, head whirling around from side to side and then finally upwards, a look of horror rose across her rather suddenly. Goetia regarded her with a calm expression, then found himself unable to fight back a scoff. Rather, he embraced it.

"Did you think I would allow you in my presence with the full knowledge of what you were capable of and not have a means by which I could negate it?" Regardless of her personality, he had his answer in regards to Hapi now. She was at least smart enough to understand nuances, but that was likely brought on by her desire to not be taken advantage of again. However, the fact remained that her cynical personality might prove something of a liability if she was to negotiate with someone. The summoning of monstrous beasts went without saying.

A hand grabbed his shoulder and flipped him back around, he found Hapi very nearly in his face with an expression somewhere between shock and desperation. "No, no, no! You don't just walk off after saying something like that." wetting her lips, she let out shuddering breath "Are…are you saying you-"

"Do not be so foolish. I cannot cure you of your crest any more than I could cure your blood type." Preventing such mistaken hope from taking root, he dismissed with a wave of his hand rather quickly and watched as the hope fled from the eyes of the girl in front of him. Replaced by bitterness just as quickly. "It remains a Crest that you have allowed to remain in this unstable state. Do not presume to command me to correct your own oversights."

That was something that vexed him about her.

Hapi opened her mouth to speak, growing anger painted on her features. Though he wasn't sure why she was getting annoyed at him, he wasn't the one who did this to her and he wasn't the one who neglected to try and control her abilities to not be set off randomly through a medium that would be impossible to prevent forever.

Besides, what he said was technically true. He couldn't cure her crest because it was not a disease, it was merely a feature of her bloodline and stripping it away from her would be problematic and damaging to her health. The opposite of a cure, there would probably be methods of stabilising her link but for the most part this was likely due to how unimaginative she was in regards to her crest. Summoning some monstrous beasts once and then deciding to never sigh again rather than to train her mind to avoid doing such things in the future.

The girl closed her eyes, wiping the anger from her face in a moment and schooling her features as best that she could manage. Though Goetia still saw the slight twitches on her face from where she was fighting back a more violent response.

"Fine." The girl ground out, opening her eyes again with forced calm. "Then just teach me whatever spell you're using to keep the demonic beasts from appearing."

He raised his eyebrow at her "That would likely take years to do, given that it is reliant on very specific frequencies of sound that must be regulated. If you were to attempt it now, you would just as easily render everyone in the vicinity deaf." he waved his hand at her dismissively "It would be swifter if I stabilised the effects of your Crest or lowered their intensity."

Her eye twitched "And that's better than them ending up dead because I slipped up?" she rolled her lips "Fine, then do that second thing-"

"Why?"

She froze. "...What?"

"Why would I?" Tilting his head, he looked her up and down as if she had grown a second head. Why would he actually consider doing something like that in the first place? "It would be a long and complicated ritual that, in the end, serves very little purpose and you would end up right back in the same situation as you grew and the power of your crest regained its former strength. Much easier for you to merely focus your mind on controlling it-"

"I don't want to control it!" Hapi hissed at him, all pretence of calm gone and replaced with genuine anger. "I want it gone! Why would I ever want to learn how to just summon Demonic Beasts in front of me when I sigh? What possible incentive is there for something that puts everyone around me in danger?" thrusting a finger into her chest, she continued onwards. "I didn't want this in the first place and it's caused me nothing but trouble. So yes. I want it gone. That's why."

He frowned at her. "Just because you cannot perceive the benefits of such a thing does not mean they do not exist." bringing up his single hand, he pointed at her. "But this is not a topic I am going to engage further with you. Your life is not threatened by your crest aside from your own capability with it. Speak with Marianne of the Golden Deer, she would be better served in making you understand the extent of your abilities, given her own empathy with the wildlife."

Hapi stared at him in shock "Did you not just hear a word I-"

"But if you cannot keep your emotions in check." His eyes narrowed and looked her up and down "Then I can craft a minor mystic code to lower the range of your sigh. In the unlikely event that there is a Demonic Beast within twenty metres of you, then I suspect others will have already noticed its presence." taking a single step forwards, Hapi leaned backwards as he loomed over her. "I trust that should end whatever little complaints you have as of this moment?"

Despite looking as though she wanted to say something more, she wisely held her tongue and nodded her head up and down.

That was good. Hapi's Crest would play an important role in the future trading of Abyss. Namely so they had something to trade in the first place. Demonic Beast's were a rather valuable commodity in terms of their pelts and other items such as their teeth, claws and meats. Though quite why anyone would eat their meat was beyond him, it offered no additional benefits and a hunter would just as easily find the roles reversed.

Yet if Hapi was going to demand he remove her Crest, then he would have to find alternate solutions to that problem. Giving Hapi one final look, he turned away from her and resumed his walking through the streets, her keeping a close distance behind him but not that close. He could feel her eyes still burning into the back of his head, her irritation was quickly dismissed. She was letting her emotions cloud her judgement once more, like with most humans. He could see it in her eyes, that repulsive fear.

Once again, fear was starting to hamper humanity.

…Evidently, he would need to make corrections and ensure that others would not so quickly risk the revitalisation of Abyss. He still needed assurances that his efforts would not be thwarted by the religious zealots of the Monastery. Which meant he would have to return there in force. Seteth seemed reasonable enough, or more willing to accept his arguments, but the fact of the matter was that Seteth was not the deciding influence in the Monastery. It was Rhea and she had secluded herself in privacy since his departure.

"Goetia." A divine presence flooded his senses, his mind instantly tuned Hapi out and turned towards the direction of the individual. Not alone as Hapi similarly turned to them. Byleth stood not too far from them, though her expression was unchanging as always, this one carried something different about it. Goetia felt his own brows furrow the longer he stared at her. There was something different about her today, though he had not registered any problem deviations since the last time they met one another which was…some time ago.

It had been longer than he thought.

Byleth looked him dead in the eyes. "We need to speak."

Though her did not change, nor did her expression, her eyes told a different tale. Making it perfectly clear to him that this was not going to be a conversation she was going to step back from and would force, one way or the other. He did not know where this came from, but he suspected that she wasn't going to let him leave either. Nor did he imagine that she was the only one who wanted a conversation with him.

Given the presence he felt.

He slowly nodded his head once "So it would seem."

AN: Yeah, this is a slow chapter but it sets groundwork.

Namely what has become of Goetia since he started working on Abyss.

It's more to show the state of mind Goetia and that are currently in when compared to how he will be in later. This is Goetia getting back in touch with his inner self, using humans without giving much thought for how it appears and putting them in situations where he can manipulate them.

Basically, Goetia being Goetia.

Also I wanted the next chapter to be completely devoted towards the conversation and that.

That and the Miklan stuff will happen very soon, I haven't forgotten him.

Also needed to remind people Lysithea existed.