Three Houses - Let Loose
28th of the Great Tree Moon, 1180
Reidun couldn't be happier.
There were bubbles in her mind and fireworks in her chest. A satisfied warmth permeated her body and the fiery puffs of energy made her want to dance!
…so she did.
A bounce, a twirl, and finally a curtsy, right in front of another camera.
She remembered when Joseph had first described the device to her, and she'd read about them in his copied stories, but now she got to see one for real!
'...though it is a bit different from the ones I know,' she thought idly. It was understandable, of course. These villains seemed to have a very different design philosophy. She still recognised it as a camera, a lens is a lens after all, and in context it made a lot of sense. 'If they have cameras, I wonder what else they have?'
At that thought, she felt a spike of irritation from her ghostly keeper. She didn't need to be in his head to have a gander at what her mentor was thinking.
"Something, something, danger. Something, something, not the right time," Reidun surmised out loud, prompting another bout of irritation.
"I really don't see the issue, Joseph. I think I can talk out loud all I want," she chimed, skipping and dancing through the halls over another burnt corpse. "So what if they figure out you're here? That's only a problem if you leave anyone alive."
Her words prompted another burst of irritation.
She ignored it and let her mind wander.
She'd realised back when she'd first left her home village that Joseph could do so much more if she hadn't been holding him back, and that was before he'd become notably strong.
She didn't like it.
Sure, she wanted to be a knight, but she'd have been just as happy being a vehicle for Joseph to go around doing good as well. But no, he insisted that her life was hers to live, no matter her own opinion on the fact.
Learning how to get him to budge from that position had been hard, but she did eventually figure out that there was one case where he'd stop sitting back and actually step up: when she couldn't save herself.
So if she wanted to get Joseph to do anything, then obviously all she needed to do was put herself in danger!
It was a solid plan in her mind, the main issue being actually finding any villains and evil-doers worth siccing her friend on.
Joseph was hardly cooperative on this front, for the same reason she needed the plan in the first place, and she hadn't been able to really find anything on her own otherwise. So she needed to play along, have Joseph drop his guard and slip up.
It worked, and now she's in a secret lair surrounded by evil doers and villains without any way to defend herself.
Whatever could she do?
In fact, it had worked out much better than she'd hoped.
Thanks to Tomas' Silence spell, Joseph hadn't been able to just warp her out. Not that it would have stopped her: she'd have just walked back up to the evil not-old man.
It was a bit of an oddity though. She'd been the target of the spell, but for some reason Joseph had also been affected. Another file for the 'suspicious oddities' folder in her mind's 'ghost mechanics' section.
She was miffed that she didn't get a look at the person who knocked her out though. They'd just been too quick!
Whoever they were, they hadn't let go of her until she'd been warped a few times, and –as Joseph put it– it's hard to warp someone out of another person's grip. He also needed to have a general idea of where he could warp her too, and this hideout was big enough that he couldn't reach the outside from here.
He could have still attempted the warp, but that would run the risk of either putting her in a wall, in the earth, or an unhealthy distance above ground level.
In other words, as already mentioned, this had gone much better than planned!
At best, she'd just been hoping Joseph could take out the villain pretending to be Tomas and a couple of his allies, but instead she managed to score a whole hideout of enemies!
'...and if whoever was on the other side of that radio(?) actually calls for reinforcements, Joseph can take them out too!' she thought gleefully.
"My magic has limits, Reidun!" Joseph shouted angrily, finally within range of her hearing. "This! This is why I don't tell you things!"
Reidun simply whistled as she kept walking.
Though… she would have to reevaluate just how angry her ghostly mentor would be with her. She might have underestimated it a bit.
Just a bit.
"Nah, it'll be fine."
A burst of alarm from Joseph took Reidun out of her thoughts. Just in time to see a figure dash through the doorway towards her, sword brandished and ready. With how many of them she'd seen by this point, it wasn't hard to identify him as a Thief.
Though it wasn't fair to group him together with all the other's she'd seen. The way this one moved screamed of grace and dexterity, despite the rapid desperation in their steps. The control they had over the steel grade blade in their hand hinted at a skill that approached the peak of potential, and the fact that they could do so effortlessly implied a speed and strength that far surpassed Reidun's own physical abilities.
All in all, this random nameless individual was in the same tier as Viktor, if not higher.
They were also covered in burns.
Specifically, Reidun's eyes focused on the two most intense spots, the crimson scar in the man's gut, and the burnt black remnants of the man's shoulder piece.
'Ah, Joseph missed a shot,' Reidun realised calmly. "Things would end pretty badly for me if you managed to attack me, huh…"
She could just take a couple steps back so that Joseph could catch up and deal with him for her, but if he was that injured already…
A step. A slash.
…even an amateur like her could finish him off if she took the initiative.
Another wave of irritation pulsed from the ghost, which Reidun assumed was probably due to the 'unnecessary risk' or something silly like that.
She took a glance at the body at her feet.
'I did only just barely manage…' she admitted to herself. The heavy steel blade she'd taken from the body of the guard who'd been standing outside her cell was a lot more unwieldy than she was used to, even if it did pack more of a punch thanks to its weight. The man had almost managed to dodge and almost managed to endure her Wrath Strike. 'So it was a bit of a close call.'
The thought only seemed to irritate the ghost further, and again, she could make a decent guess as to what he was thinking.
"You think?!" or something like that.
Instead, given the distance, the only answer she received was the sudden booming of thunder which Reidun figured was probably because he'd run out of Fire.
Through Joseph's sight, she saw another figure make a break towards her. She saw him stumble as Joseph clipped his leg with a hit, while the ghost's follow-up impacted the wall abd the enemy fell through a door into the hallway.
He 'coincidentally' landed right in front of Reidun, whoseher blade was already in motion.
"Wow, that's two who made it that far," she joked, turning her attention to the ghost. "Are you slacking off?"
"You know that wouldn't be an issue if you weren't walking towards the enemies I'm fighting," Joseph criticised in a mockingly deceitful calm that didn't at all reflect the mass of anger emanating from the ghost. But before he could start his actual rant, they both noticed another group approaching, and Joseph dashed off through the wall to meet them.
Reidun herself, decided to kick the body at her feet over to its other side.
'Hm, he hasn't got anything interesting on him,' she noted. 'Why can't more of these people carry cool loot or something?'
She'd just have to reward herself afterwards.
She picked up the dead man's radio-thingy again before continuing her stroll.
While being a knight was her main goal, she did find it fun to play other roles as well.
'Given the circumstances…' she thought. '...time to be a bit villainous.'
Click.
"Hello again! I am so happy about all the friends you keep sending my way," she teased, before warping her face to express a confused innocence. "But mister… Why haven't you sounded the alarm yet? If I run out of playmates, I'm going to have to come for you, you know."
Surprisingly enough, she actually got an answer this time.
"This is Myson speaking," the device sounded. Based on the difference in voice, Reidun realised that this was not the one who'd been giving out orders in a panic earlier. Though she could just barely hear that man freaking out in the background. "Do you really think you're going to get away with this?"
'This one's calmer too,' she noted, clicking the device again. "Oh, but am I really doing anything so wrong? I'm just a silly little girl."
"Don't take me for a fool," Myson answered. "If I call for reinforcements, that will simply bring more of Solon's agents here, no? I don't know what he's scheming, but Thales won't stand for it."
'Huh?' she thought in befuddlement without dropping her facade. That answer was entirely nonsensical, unless- 'He thinks I work for Solon?'
She couldn't help herself from laughing.
'Behold! I, an agent of my dark master, sent here to sabotage his meagre rival!' she joked, and despite his current irritation, it did garner some mirth from the ghost. 'Now, how do I play into this?'
If she went ahead and mixed in this new addition into the act…
"Aw, it's cute that you think they don't already know," she teased. 'A good psycho character always slips in foreboding comments to hint at the coming plot after all.'
Things were quiet for a moment and Reidun noticed that Joseph seemed to have finished up.
"I see…" Myson finally said, surprisingly, still calm. "So there are further schemes in the works. Shame you won't be around to see it."
'Oh?' Reidun thought curiously.
"I've activated emergency measures. In a few moments, the entire base will be flooded with poison gas, excluding this chamber," Myson clarified.
"So you're saying that I just need to reach you?" Reidun said.
"You won't reach me. In fact, you will not make it any further at all," Myson taunted. "The same emergency measures are sealing every chamber between us. You may have slaughtered my useless minions with your peculiar magic, but you've played your hand and revealed yourself to me. I am well beyond your maximum range."
Supporting his claims, the door up ahead suddenly slammed shut, followed by every other door in the room.
"Oh wow, you got me," Reidun lied. "You're right, I do have a maximum range…"
She let her smile widen from innocent to dangerous.
"...but do you really think I couldn't fake my reach?" she taunted back, just as Joseph made it through the last wall between them.
With Joseph's sight, she saw the white skinned man's eyes widen in shock as his features scrunched up into a glare.
"Still, you would perish! Your death has been signed, and it is only from here that it can be undone!" Myson assumed. "I'm sure we can come to an arrangement, one far more generous than Solon's own. Just–"
"Nah, not interested," Reidun cut him off. "Goodbye."
It wasn't particularly climactic.
Joseph simply blasted Myson and his assistant twice each with Nosferatu, and they died. Then he fumbled a bit with the controls until the 'emergency measures' were turned off again.
'So that's that,' Reidun thought, continuing her stroll towards the 'control room' or whatever it actually was. 'Now that the danger has passed, I guess it's time to receive that lecture.'
Still worth it.
'Hopefully.'
When she finally arrived, she looked over at Joseph expectantly.
She felt him tense up, so she braced herself.
Then… he just deflated.
"What would be the point," he said with a sigh. "You know what you did, and you know why I'm angry. Let's just get you out of here."
Reidun flinched, her mental defence undermined and subverted.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled.
"No you're not," Joseph pointed out tiredly, and Reidun felt her shoulders sinking further.
So they fell into silence while the ghost worked the terminal.
Reidun had known that Joseph's world had had technology, but seeing him actually interact with some really sent the point home. Focusing on it also helped distract her from the waves of disappointment flowing from the man.
"...and there. Camera controls figured out," he said to himself "Now, to find the way out…"
The images on the terminal shifted as Joseph cycled through the connected cameras.
"Wait, Joseph. Stop," Reidun suddenly said, successfully garnering the ghost's attention. "Isn't that..?"
On the main screen was a redheaded prisoner, chained to the wall the same way Reidun had been. A prisoner, who was also wearing the Officer Academy's uniform.
Joseph's minor interest vanished.
"That's supposedly Monica, but it's probably just one of them wearing her face," he explained simply.
"Probably?" Reidun asked pointedly.
The ghost closed his eyes and took a deep calming breath. Then he opened them again, focused.
"As you already figured out, the Agarthans have some way of stealing people's identities, right down to wearing their visage," Joseph started. "In the game, one of the characters shows up wearing that face."
Joseph emphasised the matter by pointing at the student.
"...and she made her appearance in the same way, a supposed prisoner. But that's still supposed to be a couple months from now, so I suppose there is a chance that this is the original," he continued, before concluding, "I think it's best that we just leave her here. Even if it is actually Monica, with everyone else dead, she'll probably manage to escape eventually."
"Not if they come back," Reidun pointed out, her fleeting guilt already swept aside.
Joseph stared.
"Not sorry at all."
Then he sighed again.
"I see you've made your decision," he said. "Let's at least be careful…"
"Yo!" Reidun announced, slamming the door to the cell open and clearly shocking the girl inside. "I see that I found a fellow kidnapee!"
"What? Who?" 'Monica' –if that's who she really was– said in confusion.
"She's not armed," Joseph confirmed, having finished floating around the girl.
'Thank you,' Reidun thought, before strolling up and stopping in front of the girl with her hands behind her back. "So, before I try to rescue you…"
Reidun leaned closer, shifting her expressions slightly to add an intimidating glare.
"...Are you actually Monica?" she asked, "or just someone wearing her face?"
The girl's reaction might have been informative, if Reidun had been someone else.
"U-um, yes?" the girl answered, and Reidun immediately dropped the entire act.
"Alright, let's get you out of there," Reidun said cheerfully, walking up with a ring of keys she'd taken from one of the guards in hand.
"She was lying," Joseph noted, the accompanying objection clearly implied.
'Are you sure?' Reidun thought, not stopping.
"She's nervous," he elaborated.
'Of course she's nervous. She was just approached by a stranger deep in an enemy base,' Reidun countered. 'I think you might be trying a bit too hard to confirm your own biases.'
"I'm still going to keep my eye on her," he said.
'Of course. I'm optimistic, not stupid,' Reidun agreed, setting the key in the last chain as she did so. "Oh, by the way…"
Reidun looked straight into Monica's eyes with a wide Cheshire smile.
"I'm not arming you. If I catch you carrying any weapons, trying to sneak away, or contact anyone before we reach the monastery, I'm going to have to assume you were lying and kill you. Nothing personal."
Click.
The last chain fell to the ground, and the girl collapsed along with it.
"Congratulations, you've managed to terrify her," Joseph remarked sarcastically, to which Reidun visualised a shrug.
'You're the one who thinks she's an assassin,' she thought. Then she adjusted the rucksack filled with all the valuables and loot she'd managed to take, before heading out. "From the cameras, the stairs out of this dungeon are over this way…"
"Are you sure it's safe?" Monica asked, trailing after cautiously.
"It should be," Reidun answered without stopping or even turning her head to look. "Everyone else here is already dead."
Through Joseph's eyes, Riedun saw Monica freeze.
"Everyone? What about your allies? The people who helped you?" she asked.
"Don't know what kind of impression you got from inside that cell, but it's just me," Reidun clarified with a dismissive wave. 'If you count Joseph as my Stand, that is.'
"For real?" Monica uttered in a quiet voice, her gaze falling on the wealth of dead enemies littering the grounds. "That's insane…"
Reidun didn't pay it any mind, instead continuing up the stairs.
At the end, she was met with a much more common brick wall, which contrasted heavily with the strange smooth metallics of the area below.
'I reckon that lever probably opens this up,' she thought, quickly following through and opening up the hidden wall.
A basement.
A castle basement, from the looks of it.
In the distance she could hear voices, but couldn't quite make out the words.
She stopped, and didn't need to ask for Joseph to float over that way and have a look.
"Why are we stopping-?" Monica asked.
"Sh," Reidun cut off.
Then Joseph floated back.
"Bandits," he noted. "I think you can take them."
Reidun nodded.
'...and her?' she asked, prompting the ghost to raise an eyebrow.
"You did pack the chain she was tied up with earlier," he noted.
Reidun nodded again, before turning back to Monica.
"Looks like we have company," she explained, reaching into her pack as she did so and brandishing the chain Joseph mentioned.
"Wait- what are you planning to do with that?!" Monica asked in a panic.
Reidun tilted her head to the side in an innocent looking expression.
"Tie you up of course," she answered. "It would be hard to keep an eye on you while I'm killing everyone upstairs. So…"
Reidun brandished the restraints again.
"...chains or death?"
"Ch-chains!"
Reidun accepted the answer with a smile.
"Thank you. It's not personal, I just don't trust you," she said as she approached the dejected young woman.
"Yeah, yeah…" Monica answered with resignation, offering her wrists as she did so.
"Great, I'll be back in a bit."
12th of the Harpstring Moon
Supper was a pleasant affair. Though it would be incorrect to call it relaxing, Edelgard mused. The Black Eagles were a rowdy bunch in their own way, after all.
There were new faces amongst them, and some who'd left. Since the new professor, Byleth, had been providing very active instruction to all houses equally, the barriers between the houses had naturally loosened and begun to fade.
Earlier, they'd exchanged Linhardt for Felix. Both seemed to be thriving well in their new houses, with Linhardt studying crests under Professor Hanneman; and with Felix studying the blade under Professor Jeritza.
Since then, Dorothea had left and joined the Golden Deer to learn from her former senior in the opera, while Ferdinand seemed to have coaxed Lorenz over to the Black Eagles over a cup of tea.
That only appeared to be the start of it.
Mercedes had approached Edelgard with a few questions concerning Jeritza. She seemed oddly interested in the Death Knight, so there was a chance she would join them later. If she did so, then her friend Annette was likely to do so as well.
On the other hand, Petra seemed to be getting quite comfortable around Claude. Edelgard thought she'd been welcoming, but clearly she hadn't been able to soften the culture clash the same way Claude seemed to manage.
On top of that, were the new arrivals to the academy all together.
Flayn had been expected by this point. She had already been spending much of her free time amongst the Eagles, and had even been allowed to sit in on some of their homeroom classes. Edelgard had expected the girl to be as stubborn and blind as the rest of the church, but her desire to be better had been a pleasant surprise. The optimism was endearing, even if it was unfortunately quite naive.
On the other hand, what Edelgard hadn't expected was for Byleth to suddenly arrive and drop off Constance von Nuvelle. The fact that the academy staff seemed just as surprised made it clear that Byleth had not communicated his plans of recruiting the three students from Abyss with anyone ahead of time.
Yet, Rhea had simply waved it off and allowed it.
As such, Constance was inducted into the Black Eagles, like Hapi was in the Blue Lions and Balthus was in the Golden Deer. Edelgard had not yet managed to learn anything beyond that about the latter two from the rumour mill. She'd already asked Hubert to look into them further.
Constance fell in line well with Lorenz and Ferdinand, whenever she wasn't being a bother.
'Far be it for me to criticize someone's ambitions,' Edelgard thought, sighing, 'but does she have to be so insistent?'
Edelgard supposed that was par for the course when one is surrounded by peers rather than subordinates, or… she supposed she could say she was surrounded by friends.
Once again, she sat back and just enjoyed the atmosphere.
It was nice..
Then, from the corner of her vision, she caught Hubert's eye.
It seemed that she had to get back to work.
…
As usual, Hubert had managed to find them a quiet spot.
"What do you have for me?" she asked, cutting straight to the heart of the matter.
"Our 'allies' have been busy," Hubert began. "Whatever it is they have planned with Reidun, it is either dangerous or important enough that they've been rushing, possibly panicked. Enough so that their carelessness allowed my agents to discern where she was likely taken."
Edelgard rested a finger on her chin as she processed the information.
Then, after a moment, she made her decision.
"Send an anonymous tip to the church," Edelgard ordered. "With any luck, Reidun will expose Solon and give us the opportunity to move against them."
"As you command," Hubert acknowledged with a bow before leaving.
The course may have changed, but the plan remained the same.
It mattered little who her primary ally was. She would pit her enemies against each other, use them for all they were worth, and then crush whatever remained.
18th of the Harpstring Moon
The Black Eagles, led by Byleth, were facing off against the knights.
Isabella knew that the Professor had already fought this battle once with the Golden Deer, and planned to do so again with the Blue Lions afterwards.
How he managed to organise and find the time, she couldn't fathom.
That didn't matter though, she had a job to do.
"Form up! Defensive positions!" She ordered the soldiers under her cohort leader's command. The men quickly complied, forming a line between Felix and the incoming church soldiers.
She waited a moment.
"Brace!" she commanded in the last second, just before the enemy lancers made impact.
This was her duty. The cohort were their honour students officers, the people they could rely on to relay their orders or otherwise fill in, so that they could focus on other tasks.
Given Felix's lack of interest in anything beyond swordplay, 'filling in' meant taking command entirely. It was up to her to interpret Felix's intent and move their battalion to accommodate.
'...and Felix is much easier to read than Reidun is,' Isabella thought.
She saw the line buckle under the enemy's charge, but it held and she spotted the opposing commander in the chaos.
"Sir, over there!" She pointed them out for Felix.
"I'll take them out," he said, charging forward.
"Duel!" Isabella ordered the men. "Focus on our counterpart!"
It was one of the few non-standard order's she'd needed to coordinate with the men ahead of time. Felix preferred not to have his allies in the way, so for him to be at his best, they had to give him space.
So the line broke into two pieces, giving Felix a straight shot at the enemy commander.
'Now to do my part,' she thought, drawing her own sword and diving into the fray.
20th of the Harpstring Moon
Byleth stood in Jeritza's room.
He hadn't been invited, but that was probably fine. He wouldn't have a key if he wasn't allowed to use it.
'It's… supposed to be here,' he thought. Except, at the same time… 'It's too early.'
He observed a bookcase.
He could tell that there was a secret passage behind it that he knew was supposed to be relevant.
…but based on the accumulated dust at the foot of the bookcase, that passage hadn't been used for quite some time.
'She's not here.'
He locked the door again on his way out.
23rd of the Harpstring Moon
The Blue Lions were on the road, approaching the location of their mission.
"Now, everyone. I understand that our assignment was given to us on short notice, so I will remind you what we'll be doing," Dimitri said, addressing the rest of the class. "From what we have been told, the Church has lost contact with one of its patrols in this area. The last we heard from them was in the village up ahead. We have been tasked with discovering what occurred and finding the knights if possible."
Dimitri turned to speak directly to Professor Hanneman.
"Did I miss anything, Professor?" He asked.
"No, you summarised everything quite nicely," the Professor answered, before addressing the class himself. "Once we arrive, we shall ask around to see if we can discover any further clues. Be careful not to find yourself alone. The Knights of Seiros are a formidable force, and if they have truly come upon an unfortunate circumstance, then caution would be wise."
…
Annette wasn't having much luck.
Everyone she and Mercedes had talked to confirmed that the knights were here, but no one seemed to know why they left!
She would just have to double- no, triple her efforts!
"Thank you for your time sir," she said to the shopkeeper, before turning to her friend. "Come on Mercie!"
Before she could get very far, an elderly gentleman waved to get her attention.
"Excuse me miss, I couldn't help but overhear. Did you say you were looking for the knights?" He asked in a kindly voice, as he slowly approached.
"That's right, we were! If there is anything you've heard, I'm sure it would help!" Annette answered with her usual cheer.
The man chuckled.
"I can do more than that, dear," he assured, resting his weight on his walking stick. "I warned the knights about some bandits holed up in the old fort out that way."
He gestured out to the forest surrounding the village with a nudge of his head.
"My boys are all hunters, you see. They're out there more than most and saw those rascals a couple of weeks back," he clarified.
"Oh, oh, so that's where they went," Annette put together. "Have you heard anything else mister?"
"I'm sorry, but I asked my boys to steer clear until we heard back from the knights," he said solemnly with a shake of his head. Then suddenly, it seemed like something came to him. "Ah, actually, there was one more thing…"
He looked her straight in the eyes.
"One of them saw a girl wearing something a lot like you amongst them," the man said. "Another mentioned seeing her again with someone else, leaving the fort just a bit after the knights went there themselves."
…
"Hm, it is strange that no one else heard of this…" Ingrid pointed out when everyone shared what they had learned.
"Indeed, but as of this moment, it is the only lead we have," Dimitri added. "Professor, shall we investigate?"
The man appeared to ponder the subject for a moment.
"It appears that we will," he decided. "That is the task assigned to us, and if we find our missing student, then that is all the better. Arm yourselves and be vigilant. Let us go."
…
They found the missing knights.
…or at least what was left of them.
'Such a waste,' Linhardt thought morosely, standing with the rest of his class before the field of bodies.
The sight didn't even evoke disgust, it was just a tiring thing to see.
"We have to-!" Dimitri started urgently ready to move in, but was cut off by Hanneman's extended arm.
"Hold, Dimitri," the Professor warned. "While I understand your urgency, a hasteful demeanour will only cloud the truth. Before we approach, we must first observe, lest we inadvertently destroy the very evidence that would grant us the insight we are looking for."
The words seemed to sap the young prince of his strength, as his shoulders fell dejectedly.
"Right, of course, Professor," he reluctantly agreed.
…
The class proceeded carefully, investigating the fort's surroundings and inside the fort itself. It was soon time for them to reconvene and discuss their findings.
Ingrid herself was, at the moment, deepest within the structure, accompanied by Linhardt.
She felt like she was missing something.
Something important.
A part of her must have noticed it, or she wouldn't be feeling this way.
'What am I missing?' she thought with irritation, stepping down into a basement. It was dark, so she lit up a torch to see. 'That's odd…'
Blood stains, but no bodies.
"Linhardt, what do you make of this?" She asked.
"Hm?" He responded, walking over without an ounce of genuine interest and taking a glance. "These stains appear to be older. Closer to 3 weeks old rather than between 1 or 2 like the rest."
Ingrid had been thinking the same, if perhaps not as precisely.
"...but why would there be blood here? There's nothing," she pointed out, to which the boy shrugged. Not even a body. 'Unless it's been moved–'
The sharp blow of a whistle ended the thought.
She turned to rejoin the rest, taking a final glance over her shoulder at the far wall before leaving.
…
"Let us review," Professor Hanneman began, turning to Ashe. "Why don't you begin?"
"Right," Ashe accepted. "I explored the outskirts and noticed that there is only one set of tracks leaving the fortress. A pair of individuals. Other than the tracks from the knights, there is a lone trail leading here from elsewhere."
Dimitri turned to Annette as this information came to light.
"Did our friend, the hunter, not say that one of them spotted a pair of students like us leaving the area?" He asked.
"That's right," Annette confirmed. "Right after the knights were supposed to be here too."
"Could that be Reidun?" Ingrid asked.
"It is possible…" Hanneman considered. "...but then, who is her companion?"
"I think what we found might help," Annette interjected.
"Oh? Please, elaborate," the Professor urged.
"There was a cell! It's empty now, but it looked like someone had been held there—maybe that was Reidun and she got away?" She answered quickly.
"...Or it could be the other way around," Linhardt added, gathering the group's attention. "Perhaps the other girl was restrained and escaped with Reidun, if it was her at all."
"Hm, we can only speculate at this point," Hanneman concluded. "Why don't we continue, Dimitri?"
"Hm, yes," the young prince accepted. "Dedue and I also explored the fortress. Like the rest of you, we too found the bandits all slain within the walls."
"That is the crux of the issue, is it not?" Hanneman pondered to himself.
"Pardon?" Dimitri asked.
"Ah, it is a simple question," Hanneman elaborated. "If the enemy was slain within the walls, then why did the knights die outside them?"
"Did the bandits kill them?" Annette suggested.
"If that were the case, then who killed the bandits?" Hanneman countered.
"Regardless of that, based on the damage, most of the fighting seemed to happen within the fort itself," Ingrid added.
"A third party," Linhardt answered, turning to Ashe. "Did you not mention that there had been a separate set of tracks that approached the area from a different direction?"
"Why, yes…" the boy answered, a bit unsure what more he could add.
"Then would that not be the obvious culprit?" Linhardt pushed. "An individual would have left less trace of their fighting than a large group would."
"Are you seriously implying that Reidun either killed the knights or is working with the one who did?" Ingrid asked darkly.
"All I am saying is that things make sense if we blame our mysterious stranger," Linhardt defended. "The possibility that they might be Reidun is a separate matter."
"Let's not be hasty," Dimitri intervened before tensions could rise any further. "Professor, I don't think there's anything more to be done here."
"Agreed," Hanneman said. "Let us make our way back to the Monastery and report our findings."
An: That's chapter 20. Nothing suspicious happening here. Pay no attention to the timeline or dates.
I want to thank Neo-Metal Saiyan for Beta reading this chapter as well.
To Blackplant (Jan 13, 2025): Right on the money in terms of prediction. Though he hit the limit and clocked out.
To eseer (Jan 13, 2025): Aha, I got that one! Also, murder mode engage muahaha! I had a listen. Could tell it was the same artist as Rightfully (first Goblin Slayer anime opening theme). Thanks for the recommendation!
To Maxxus Herald (Jan 14, 2025): Oh, oh yes.
To Incognito74 (Jan 14, 2025): XD
To Infernal Enby (Jan 14, 2025): She figures it out in that scene, probably realising that it might have something to do with the healing she showed Felix (since Isabella was there as well). mhm! Characters are learning things about her. Now how well they interpret the information presented though...
Pft, those guards probably deserved it... probably.
To Ver'dan (Jan 14, 2025): Heh, I'm happy with it. Got one or more chapters of the arc left to write, but then I reckon things are probably going to slow down again unfortunately. I hadn't thought about the scene that way, though now that you mention it, yeah that's the vibe I was going for.
To chromeillusion (Jan 14, 2025): Words speak and sentences sing. Hidden beneath is a canvas of brilliant colour, painted by intention. It's a beautiful picture, and I'd love to show it back. Thank you. I appreciate the kind words. (Even if poetry isn't quite my forte)
To Uemei (Jan 14, 2025): It's nice to be appreciated. I've still got some speed in me. (...even if rewriting the last Blue Lions section took 10 times longer than writing the first draft of the chapter did...) I will neither confirm nor deny whether or not that's how the ghost interactions will go. I can see how that would be fun, but I've had the specific mechanics in mind for a while now. Heh, I'll keep writing. Hopefully I'll keep giving you this problem.
To NightmareKnight1 (Jan 15, 2025): Gotta take advantage of that 3rd person PoV somehow. I'm glad you enjoy it!
To Royalrain20xx (Jan 16, 2025): Three cheers for Psycho Reidun! Being haunted by a ghost all her life has definitely not warped her ability to value life. No siree.
Joseph is the one who wrote everything, yeah. It's basically what he's been spending every knight the last 17 years doing. In large part to maintain his own sanity during the long periods of complete isolation (Since him agreeing to let Reidun skip sleep is actually a pretty rare thing). Also yup, that is actual English, there may be some interesting things in there...
Glad you enjoyed it! and oh, yeah, you are absolutely right about that drastic turn. You see, [spoiler].
An 2: I reckon it's about time I shared Joseph's stats as well, huh?
JOSEPH, lvl 58
STATS {base + other (base growth)}
HP: 0+49 (50%)
Str: 0+19 (25%)
Mag: 0+39 (45%)
Dex: 0+27 (40%)
Spd: 0+30 (40%)
Lck: 0+28 (35%)
Def: 0+23 (35%)
Res: 0+24 (35%)
Cha: 0+31 (40%)
Total: 76 (345%)
SKILLS
Sword: E ( )
Lance: E ( )
Axe: E ( )
Bow: E ( )
Brawl: E ( )
Reason: C ( )
Faith: S+ ( )
Authority: E ( )
Hvy Arm: E ( )
Riding: E ( )
Flying: E ( )
Personal Ability: Foreigner
Can bend the rules in their favour. (Such as switching Adjutant stance mid battle)
Mastered Classes:
Commoner, Monk
Spells:
Faith - Heal, Nosferatu, Physic, Warp
Reason - Fire, Thunder
Miscellaneous other notes:
So yeah, Joseph has 0 base stats and no strengths/weaknesses. The reason for this is [spoiler].
For all that Joseph complains about how spoiled Reidun is in terms of white magic, it's that very white magic spam that put him at his current level. (I did the math. His level is based on spending all his magic every day since he learned it... admittedly that was before I decided to apply Maddening exp penalties)
As a ghost, he can neither inflict nor be inflicted harm via non-magical means. Consequently, his biggest weakness is his limited pool of magic. As of the end of the chapter he has 3 uses of Nosferatu available to him.