3,233Chapter 124: Overtime
Rhea found herself frowning as the words came from the mouth of Seteth.
The longer he spoke, the less able she was to contain her growing worry and alarm at the contents of his report. She recalled it had barely been a week since it had crossed her desk and she had dispatched some word for healers to ride out to the village of Remire and then render some aid to the populace.
As far as she was concerned, it was to be nothing more than a mere spot of goodwill before life continued as it should have done for the people and that entire situation would serve as little more than a bad memory, with the thoughts of poor harvests serving as a greater source of unrest for them than this.
"I am not sure I understand." She at last spoke when the moment arose for her to get a word in, her eyes lingered on the man standing opposite her and saw his own measure of concern written cleanly upon his face. "The word of Remire was that this was nothing more than a mere disease born of some foul water, how could this endure even now?"
Hands on his hips, Seteth's frown grew. "It would seem that the initial warnings we received did not do the plague justice enough, or it has worsened from the first showings. Whatever the case might have been, the news I have received back from the healers I had sent held only dire words."
Pointedly, his eyes dropped to the letter that she held in her hands.
He had started speaking before she had a chance to read it, and his words had been bad enough to pull forth all her attention upon him.
Slowly, her eyes moved to the parchment and rolled it open, no more than a sliver as her eyes focused on the small writings across.
Sir Seteth.
News of Remire is dire. The plague worsens with each passing hour and efforts to treat it have been met with failure. None have yet perished, but they are fading swiftly.
I fear this plague will not wait long in spreading and I am not certain we are safe from it. For our own protection, I have isolated us within the village until we have found some small victory against this pest, but my hopes are dim.
She tore her eyes from the paper and looked back towards the man, still grim faced.
Her mind whirled and came to only one terrible conclusion.
"Do you suppose that…?"
"This might well be another coming of the plague of the Holy Kingdom, yes." A slow nod of the head. "If it has resisted all manner of healing arts that our own clerics are proficient in, then I am unsure of what else they might accomplish. It is early days yet, but they did not write with much hope in their quill."
Rhea could see that rather clearly and she felt herself frown further than even the man before her, it was a terrible thing to consider and already the notion that this could become another ravaging infection such as the one which had held a deathly hand over the lives of the Holy Kingdom was a thought that would keep many with wide eyes in the waning hours of the day.
Slowly, she took in a breath.
"What measures would you suggest be taken, Seteth?"
He was silent for some moments, a flicker of thought over his face before he rolled his lips thin.
"The village has been cut off and the clerics have already established a cordoned off zone to keep the infected within, including themselves. I cannot make more judgement unless we have seen firsthand…and we cannot be sure of the means of infection either. I ordered the man who brought me that message scrubbed down and washed thoroughly and then to remain in isolation for a day before he returned to active duty."
As always, Seteth was nothing if not efficient.
And thorough.
Nodding her head, she lowered her hands down. "Nonetheless, I have made a pledge to aid the people of Remire against this plague and it would serve us better to eliminate it now, so that if it does emerge elsewhere, we are better protected against it."
"Manuela is certainly our most knowledgeable physician we have within the monastery and there might yet be others across the other churches, those devoted to the healing arts."
There was another that was just as skilled, if not more so, than Manuela as well. One whose protection against such illnesses was far beyond any regular human or even one who held the strength of a crest. They both knew as such, but he would never agree to the idea and she would never seek to force him into doing so.
And bringing the matter up with Flayn directly would lead to one sure conclusion.
"I am inclined to agree." Rhea said, then frowned. "But how would she be kept safe from this plague? It would not do for her to make an effort to cure the sick, only to become infected herself. We have no guarantee that our protections against this plague will keep even our own clerics safe from harm."
"Goetia-"
"Is skilled indeed and perhaps he would find some simple cure for this illness."
She would not deny that.
And yet…
"But he would do nothing more than wave his hands and declare the people cured before he disappears once again, back to whatever task he considered of greater urgency. Already he has his duties with Abyss and whatever other indulgences he holds. Asking him to stalk the countryside and cure plagues is far too much-"
Seteth slowly raised his hand. "I was to suggest that Goetia could cast some protection upon her and then he could take over her duties."
Rhea found herself blink.
It was a suggestion that held merit.
"Already he serves as a lecturer and he holds some good repertoire with the Golden Deer."
"It would require his consent first and foremost. There are others just as suited for the position."
She inclined her head in a nod towards him.
Seteth looked puzzled for a moment, then he twitched and cast a look to the side, reluctance played itself upon his face with a rather long hold for the short seconds that passed them by. The silence ended with a drawn out sigh and a shake of the head. "Serve the role I could well do, but I have many pressing duties that cannot be done without my guidance."
"I might ease your burden-"
"That-"
Seteth's words sounded sharp, a glint passed through his eyes.
Rhea did not wince, but she leaned back and schooled her face quickly. A silent retreat from him.
He looked back to her, then closed his eyes and lowered his head. "That is not necessary for you to do. I will ask Goetia if he would be willing to accede to these requests and then we can discuss what is to come next if he should refuse. Or if he should accept."
Bowing, he turned and moved for the door.
"If that is all, Archbishop. I shall keep you abreast of the situation as it transpires."
Rhea stepped forwards and opened her mouth, eyes still fixed upon his back.
…He passed out of the door without even knowing.
Closing her mouth, she thinned her lips and looked down to the floor.
At least he still spoke with her, perhaps it was more than she deserved.
"It is one of the basic spells taught to all mages."
Goetia pulled the chalk over the board, speaking all the while he wrote across.
"Structural analysis is the basic understanding of what comprises the chosen object. A very simple enough spell with wide reaching uses and applications. As the name so conveniently suggests."
The chalk made a sharp turn as he pulled it from the board and stepped back, turning about to face his class.
"Some of you might already be aware of the spell through my earliest lessons. As such, I have greater expectations for those of you who understand what I discussed. For those who do not, then I will explain it to you."
Stopping for a moment, his eyes sought out those who had been part of his original class when it was little more than a meagre gathering in the corner of a library and nothing else. At the very least, they looked to be familiarising themselves with the terms he used, if the nods of the head were any indication.
However, he would at least provide them with suitable warning.
"Before that, I believe I have discussed what may transpire if the spell is used incorrectly or if the caster is too incompetent. Suffice to say, the results are gruesome and if nothing else. I would prefer you to spare your peers the sight of your flayed corpse."
His words were met with some sickly expressions, one or two looked mildly amused.
At least until they realised that he had not made some manner of morbid jest, they looked rather more serious after they came to the conclusion. Satisfied with that, Goetia leaned backwards and turned side on to the board, drawing across it once more and forming the basic symbol of a bounded field.
"As some of you might be curious, it can similarly be intertwined with the basics of a bounded field. As I remarked, this shall remain a long standing goal. At current, you all demonstrate the ability to form a bounded field."
Pausing, he turned about and narrowed his eyes.
"If only in passing. Do not be conceited with whatever success you have stumbled yourselves into. Your bounded fields are clumsy and only some of you have bothered to try and advance their applications further. Once you have achieved a satisfactory level with structural analysis, you shall then be tasked with intertwining it with your bounded fields and then finding an object of your own choosing and presenting a detailed explanation of what it is comprised of."
Stepping away from the board, he twitched his hand and moved the chalk from his palm and in the same movement, pulled across one of the books from the tables nearby. He did not bother to read the title, instead he flashed through his own analysis and understood in an instant what the book was composed of.
"The cover of this book was bound with the leather of a cow, the cow in question perished twenty-two years, five months and seven days ago. The individual pages were crafted from a calf which perished within the same time span, with a difference of two days later than that of the cow."
Pausing for effect, he glanced across the room, then frowned.
"Naturally, none of you have any proof that I am telling the truth. Which you shall keep in mind for when you attempt this."
He stepped back and returned the book where it came from.
"And for-"
Something pricked his senses, he turned his head across the length of the hall and to the door.
It was only a single moment later where Seteth rounded the corner and stopped, briefly staring across the hall before looking towards him. "Goetia."
His voice brought a muted silence to the room.
"I was hoping that we might have a moment to speak."
Goetia frowned. "I shall assume it is a matter of importance that it cannot wait?"
Seteth shook his head but said nothing.
"...Very well." He stalked forwards and spoke as he did so. "Dorothea, Mercedes and Lysithea can explain in greater detail the basic steps of structural analysis. Heed their words and then provide me with your explanations, I shall fill in any gaps if there is a requirement to do so."
A chorus of responses and then hushed whispers as the room transformed to get the named individuals to the front of their newfound audience.
Goetia and Seteth stepped around the corner, he watched the green haired man and noted the tension over him. The deep frown and the way he was almost coiled like a spring. It was clear then, that it was no ordinary problem which had brought him to Goetia and he felt some small sense of apprehension towards it.
Not because he foresaw a problem.
Quite the opposite.
Because he had no interest in being turned into a problem solver.
"Remire village is suffering from an illness which has thus far been untreatable to our own clerics."
Goetia kept his face even.
He could avoid making rash conclusions, but he was finding himself aimed towards a single one.
"I see."
Seteth did not show the least bit of a reaction to his words. "Manuela is to be headed there to provide her expertise, but we cannot be sure any of our attempts and stopping the plague will keep her safe. It has proven resilient in the short span of time that we have been aware of it."
Manuela was headed there?
…Curious.
This did not sound as though it was the groundwork to ask for him to step in and help.
"And where do I factor into this?"
Seteth rolled his lips. "It was our hope that you could bless her with a charm of protection that she would be able to carry out her research into this illness without fear of succumbing to it. Her experience is far too great to risk losing to something such as this."
A bare minimum level of assistance, he supposed.
Certainly a trivial feat for him to do.
Yet he did not think that would have been the end of the request, so he waited for Seteth to list the remainder of his appeal.
He was met with nothing more than silence and an expectant look.
Goetia did not blink, but the lack of words that came from the man brought him dangerously close to showing surprise. His brows slowly started to pinch together as the length of silence passed ten seconds. Surely there had to be more to it than asking him to do that? Were they not going to impress upon him the importance of helping the villagers of a domicile he had once sought refuge with?
"...Is that the extent?"
Seteth shook his head after a pause.
It confirmed his suspicions, at least. He imagined it would have been too little an ask for him to provide nothing more than a charm to protect Manuela from ill effects. Though the range of what he could be asked for was rather vast. He supposed that they might similarly ask him if he would travel with them and examine the pathogen as well.
Possibly worth an investigation, if it had proven resistant to the healing spells that had been cast upon it.
"If possible, and I say this merely as a request and not a demand, it would be appreciated if you could step in to fulfil some of Manuela's duties during her time away. Serving as an interim Professor of the Golden Deer along with others until she returns. Your role would purely be in terms of academic and magical learning, while the combat would fall under the purview of-"
The rest of Seteth's words turned to little more than a mute ringing.
Goetia kept his face without emotion as he stared straight ahead without blinking.
Was that it?
Was that the extent of what he was being asked to do?
Seteth came here to do nothing more than conjure up a pitiful charm to make sure Manuela was able to avoid contracting a cough and then watch over the Golden Deer for some indefinite - but still presumably short - length of time? And he would not even take over the complete list of duties from her?
"Goetia?"
Was this truly all they had come to him to ask?
It seemed to be far flung from the original demands which lay upon him.
Could it be that they thought he was limited somehow?
Perhaps they were under the mistaken belief that he was overworked?
The mere notion that he could not handle dealing with both a plague and the lectures of the Golden Deer was insulting. He served as the shadow of Solomon for decades and for centuries after, he managed the union of the Demon Gods. Three Thousand years of detailed management and decision making placed him far and above the likes of whatever Manuela was capable of.
"Goetia? Is there something the matter?"
Seteth could surely not be fool enough to think that he, of all people, was somehow incapable of multitasking such a feeble list of duties?
It was an insult against his skill.
Was he being pitied?
Were they being misguided by emotion?
No, this was…
"Is that the extent of your request?"
He spoke before Seteth could open his mouth once again, the man looked at him oddly for a few moments before nodding his head.
"That is the extent of it, yes. Though if you do not wish to further increase your duties, then that is acceptable. All that is asked is for you to provide Manuela, and those she will be working with, an inoculation so that they can determine the source of this plague and work to cure it."
…This was bizarre.
It was strange to consider.
He frowned. "...Do you doubt my capacity to cure it?"
Seteth raised a brow. "Goetia, I am of the impression you could merely travel to Remire in the blink of an eye and then turn it into the healthiest village that has ever existed in the history of Fodlan and bless their crops with a bountiful harvest that would never fade and then return to me before I had even so much as a chance to blink."
Goetia felt unsure of how best to respond to that sudden burst of confidence in his skills.
"Perhaps." He answered instead, watching Seteth for a few moments and then gradually raising his brow. "And yet you ask only for so small a boon, despite this knowledge of what I am capable of?"
Seteth folded his arms and frowned. "I know you are no fool, Goetia. I am certain you can infer why I would ask you only to protect the healers and not to restore the sick."
Because-
Goetia straightened.
"...I see."
If that was truly the reason why, then he…had no arguments against such a thing.
Rather he felt…strange.
Hmph.
"Manuela has agreed to pass over brief ownership of her class to me?"
Seteth nodded. "She agreed only if a suitable temporary replacement could be found for the Golden Deer. Though the knowledge that you are also keeping her safe did soothe her concerns."
"...She made comments, did she not?"
"I will not utter them."
"...Hmph."
"I will…begin work on the charm as soon as possible. How swiftly will Manuela be preparing to leave?"
"Early next morning." Seteth replied. "I trust that you can have your charm prepared by then?"
He could have had it completed within the next hour if it was truly needed, but if he was to make additional copies for those who Manuela would be working with, then it was time enough for him. Not that he truly needed to say as such, he nodded his head in response, earning a brief flash of relief from Seteth before his stoic countenance returned.
"In that case, I shall inform her of the good news." Stepping backwards, the man nodded his head towards the door of the classroom. "I shall leave you to the remainder of your lesson, Goetia. I will impress upon Manuela the importance of leaving behind suitable notes and lesson plans for you to manage her class in her absence."
"That is unnecessary."
"Perhaps, but it is expected of her." Seteth countered without pause. "And be sure to speak with Professor Jeritza as well. The two of you shall be working together for the Golden Deer in the coming days. Though with some fortune, perhaps this shall be ended in no more than a week."
Goetia would have told him to manage his expectations more realistically, but he was sure Seteth knew that himself.
Especially as the man did not sound as though he believed his own words.
With nothing further to add, Goetia turned and walked back into the lecture hall.
His eyes took note of the students engaged in animated discussions with one another, or how he would have preferred it. Lysithea seemed to be speaking more to herself as she tried and failed to articulate the nature of structural analysis to her peers. Whether by lack of experience or by any other metric, it would need to be addressed.
But such could be done later.
For the moment, he would use the free time to draft up plans for the Golden Deer.
And for the charms.
Three hours later, he found himself standing before the office of Manuela.
With one small problem.
She was not in her office.
Goetia suppressed a twitch of irritation at the lack of punctuality, but reminded himself of who he was dealing with. The knowledge that he would have been more surprised if she was present was a rather disappointing excuse. Though at least this time he could assume that she was busy with other important work.
It did, however, leave him the chance to engage with one of the staff members who he could not recall ever directly engaging in a single conversation with before today.
Jeritza, one of the combat professors who as he learned through second hand information, served as the main instructor for the students who were with Professors not as militarily minded as their peers. Byleth and the Blue Lions had been the sole exception for this trend, hence why he had never met with the man.
Before today, at least.
Their areas of expertise never crossed over.
Jeritza stood opposite him and stared back, a blonde man wearing a mask of white across his eyes. Taller than him by a decent enough margin, the man looked down with a glint in his eyes that was measuring. Acceptable, given his current employment and the nature of their first meeting and what would doubtless be subsequent meetings with one another in the not-too-distant future.
Goetia was taking stock of the man as well.
He had never seen them fight, but even now they were coiled and ready to pounce.
A natural state of alertness.
Curious development.
All the more so when neither of them had exchanged a single word between them since they both arrived, merely staring at one another.
Even empathic glimpses had yielded nothing of worth, save for a slightly elevated level of aggression and some sense of irritation, but that was not aimed at him and seemed to be pointed inwards. He could not say for certain as it was a mess, by accounts the man seemed more tense than his peers, but in the same moment he was still of calm mind and gave no indication of his current levels of apprehension.
"I have heard of you."
Goetia could not say the same, not in the way that was implied.
"I would be puzzled if you had not."
"Why am I still needed?"
"For combat instruction."
Jeritza looked at him with eyes that tried to pierce his very being, there was a sharpness in those orbs as if they saw something that Goetia himself was ignorant of. A foolish notion, yet perhaps the question of his own competence was dawning on him. It would explain the frustration.
"You are a killer."
"A broad accusation." Goetia flatly responded. "The students are killers also, as are the knights, the professors and even some of the clergy. I am certain it is only a matter of time until the cleaning staff obtain a body count. Though yes. I have killed in the past and am not foolish enough to believe I will not kill again."
Jeritza nodded his head slowly. "I have heard you are skilled at it. Why then am I still needed to teach the students?"
Goetia huffed. "Our styles are dissimilar to one another. Surely you know that just as much as I."
"Perhaps." He acknowledged. "And yet yours is proven to be just as effective."
This line of questioning was curious indeed.
Angling his head, he watched the man for moments before he responded. "Do you believe that the students would be better served learning magic as a means of killing, as opposed to using a blade? I can confess the efficiency of it. The ease that comes with fatal uses of magic, far more so than with a blade…Are you so swift to speak yourself free of a position of teaching?"
He was sure that was not it.
And yet the questioning remained.
Jeritza was searching for something, some manner of answer from him and he had not yet received it.
The blonde man silently shook his head. "No. It is merely that you are spoken of as trained and yet…I have heard tell of what transpired to Lonato. Saw the manner in which you fought on Gronder field against Professor Eisner. You can do more than wield spells, can you not?"
"...I am no master of physical combat, if you have stumbled across that assumption of me."
"No, yet you could teach them, could you not? Why?"
Teach them his hand to hand?
It was a thought that did not even occur to him.
"Because it does not interest me. That is your role, not mine. Though if you are so eager to cast it aside, I am sure that Catherine would be content in resuming her status as trainer of the Golden Deer. I understand she replaced you during that time in the lead up to the Battle of Eagle and Lion, did she not?"
Jertiza met his barbed words without even so much as a twitch.
"It would be…unwise to have us. Our styles of teaching would clash with one another."
He noted the brief spike in their anger…it was a swift and sudden thing but it was forced down just as quickly as it had emerged. Without even the time to surface.
This human was…different.
Could they be…
…Hmmm.
"I see. Assume, then, that our styles of teaching would clash. I am freely willing to only teach in the area that holds interest to me. I will say this that I find violence to be distasteful."
There was a brief flash of confusion across the face of the man before it evened out, then he frowned just a touch.
"I see. Then I will ask no further questions regarding it."
Goetia supposed that was the end of the topic.
He turned and sent forth a pulse of magical energy across the length of the Monastery, no more than a mere blip to determine the location of Manuela. It was answered back not even a second later. The location of the woman and how rapidly she was closing in on them. Her point of origin was not far from the class of the Golden Deer themselves, so it seemed she was doing work.
…How unexpected.
"Manuela approaches. She will be here within one minute."
Jeritza merely hummed. "Can you find anyone so easily?"
"It is simpler for you to imagine what I am not capable of, than what I am."
"...I see."
Silence fell once more.
Goetia resumed his silent observation of the man.
A puzzling individual.
Rather unlike the others in the Monastery.
Perhaps with the sole exception of another, but they had not suffered an episode in some time.
It was as he predicted though, Manuela arrived upon them a little under a minute later and stopped to look between them. Flashing them a briefly apologetic look before she stepped between them and opened the office door and moved inside. Goetia would have followed if she had not struck something and cursed under her breath, the sound of something metal skating echoed rather loudly.
He stared at the back of her head in silence.
As he expected.
Jeritza was similarly unmoved.
"I thought I picked that up." Manuela mumbled before opening the door wider and moving further into the room, marching around her bed as she did so and going for the drawers.
Goetia stepped in, flanked by his co-professor, and stopped at the doorway to survey the damage.
It was not the worst room he had ever seen.
But given his extended history and eyes which beheld all of human history, that was far from the reassurance that any would have thought it to be. Between the pile of clothes just hanging off the foot of the bed and the faint scent of wine in the air, Goetia would have found himself unsurprised if he were to discover some unnamed man hiding under the bed or in the wardrobe.
"You invited us here for a purpose, I assume."
"Yes, yes." Manuela had a half-hearted answer as she scowled and slammed the drawers closed, turning around and walking towards the other end of the room to pull open yet another chest of drawers and begin a less than delicate search within those. "If you would just bear with me a moment…"
He could have pointed out that she was late to the meeting she had called.
But instead he just watched her.
"Ah-ha!"
A loud declaration, Manuela pulled away and revealed - in her hands - a series of parchments which were bound together with a loose thread in the top left corner. Turning around and marching towards them, she thrust them at his chest without further words and stared at him expectantly.
Goetia lowered his eyes to the papers and slowly pinched them between his fingers, pulling them from her grip and holding them up. Sparing barely a second to gaze at them before he memorised the information and looked away from it.
"Your lesson plan was kept here?"
"Yes." Manuela replied with a touch of indignation, she looked close to frowning but stopped herself just short of it. "I hear enough of it from Hanneman. If you must know, I had them with me to make some last minute adjustments during the night-"
"I do not need a comprehensive explanation from you." He cut her short and turned the page around to look down at it.
Pretending to read it for a moment or two, he passed it across to Jeritza who took it from him and silently flipped through the pages.
Manuela looked at him rather unimpressed for a few moments before she exhaled. "Well, that was mostly the extent of it. Though you will also find that it holds my personal-"
"Notes on the students that you would not keep inside your classroom for them to happen across, because the likes of Von Riegan would doubtless use any chance to sneak a glance at whatever you had written down."
Manuela closed her jaw and stared at him wide-eyed.
Jertiza had similarly stopped and levied a side-glance his way for a brief second.
"Rest assured that the students will continue their education without indecent while you are away and finding cures for plagues. I will have your charm prepared for you in short order, as well as additional copies for your peers. I believe that has answered any and all questions or concerns you might have?"
He watched her for a moment.
She placed her hands on her hips and raised a brow at him.
"...There was no need to be so rude. You did agree to this, as I've been told."
"Yes." He nodded. "I did. Which means that there is now a certain level of expectation for the Golden Deer. Irrelevant for the time being, I will not keep you from your final preparations."
"And will you wish me luck?"
Goetia curled his lip down.
"You are being made a charm by my very own hand to protect you from illness and curses alike. What need have you for luck?"
Manuela gave him an empty smile. "Then I will instead thank you for your thoughtfulness."
He did not put much thought into it.
But that was her choice.
He had what he had been summoned for, he turned about and walked from the room and called back as he did so.
"We had best examine these notes."
Jertiza's words echoed behind him. "Indeed."
Jeritza was not sure what to make of Goetia, now that he had met him in person.
He had seen him about the Monastery, they were a hard one to miss, but more than that he had felt their presence. It had been so much like watching some manner of terrible Demonic Beast walk past. As though a mere turn of the head would spell death for any who found themselves earning its ire.
A point which had been proven.
Hushed stories of what befell the demonic beasts that had stalked a town.
Accounts of the fall of Lonato's rebellion and of the golden haired man who beat the former lord to death until nothing but pulp remained of their head. How they moved from that to cut down dozens with nothing more than spells and did not even so much as blink as they did so.
Stories that could well have been exaggerated.
But none of them were.
He could see it.
Feel it in his gut.
This man, Goetia.
They could kill him.
It was a fact, an immutable fact. They could kill him before he even realised what had happened, he was certain that it would be nothing more than a twitch of the finger to end his life and it was a thought that played on him throughout the entire meeting with Goetia. The entire time he stood opposite him.
All it would take would be a twitch.
If he had tried…if it had tried to slay him.
Would they have even had the time to draw steel before they perished? Would they have been able to utter a single noise before they perished?
A thought that should have been terrifying.
And yet…to him it was almost a relief.
That there was something that was an even greater killer than the thing that lived within him, that the monster who thirsted for death and destruction would be cut down before it could draw but a sliver of blood. He saw what they could achieve when they fought Catherine and the new Professor.
The Professor who could likely slay him also, but it was different.
It would be a hard fought battle against the Professor, or against Catherine.
Those were fights.
To engage Goetia.
He could feel only one certain outcome.
Death.
It was exhilarating.
How twisted it was, that he could stare at this man silently from across the table and watch as they looked down to the papers in their single hand - because they were bereft of even both arms - and know that even in this relaxed form. Even in this posture which told him they did not even consider violence as a possibility.
He could try and charge across the table, try and thrust a dagger into his gullet.
And it would be he and not Goetia who'd meet death.
…He wanted to see it.
Both he and the thing inside of him.
They were joined in that common cause of wishing to know just how quickly it would happen.
"Lysithea is reluctant."
A comment made as Goetia swept through the pages.
The name filtered through his mind and his thoughts were sharpened like a blade, the small girl with white hair who had a fire about her, and yet it was not aimed towards the same interests as his own. Despite the abilities she had shown with her magic and despite who she had as a teacher.
Perhaps she had not yet inherited that same deadliness yet?
Or perhaps she was just…
"She has not the drive for it." Jeritza answered. "Nor, do I believe, she has the ability for it. Catherine had taught her well enough to dodge, but she can achieve only that for a short time. Her body is weak. Frail."
"Lysithea is a girl of fifteen." Goetia spoke as if that was an excuse.
Perhaps.
"And?"
Goetia was silent for a moment. "I have spoken with her and know where her interests lie. She has neither the inclination for physical practice, nor is she able in body to achieve the same feats as her peers…For the moment, at least."
For the moment.
That sounded like a promise to him.
Though none of his concern.
"I see." Jeritza nodded slowly. "And the others?"
"They have no excuses."
How cold.
And yet he claimed to find violence distasteful, a curious mixture. Though perhaps he merely found pointless violence distasteful. He would be content with it if it served a purpose for him, if he killed with some meaning behind him.
Unlike him.
Yes, that might have been it.
However he called everyone killers.
So he was aware of it.
"I see no reason for you to conduct your lessons in a different manner than you have done thus far. I have no complaints in regards to your work."
Jeritza was unsure what to make of that comment.
So he just watched the man in silence as he went about his business.
"Perhaps."
Jeritza spoke after a moment.
"Something suited for the girl."
Goetia showed no immediate reaction, save for turning over the paper and skimming down before he brought his eyes up and looked at him with some trace amount of interest. Barely even holding the attention of the man.
"A level of defence, suited for her. That plays into her…weakness."
"...Such as?" Goetia raised a brow and sounded apathetic to it. Neither interested nor dismissive of the idea.
Jeritza himself did not care much for the girl, but for the reaction his words would have upon Goetia.
"She struck you in surprise."
"She did."
"And if she had a knife and knew where to aim?"
Goetia was silent for a moment, but Jeritza watched as the page slipped from his fingers and dropped back to the table. The tanned man straightened himself ever so slowly and his eyes parted away from him. There was an underlying interest in the movements now, a brief flicker where Goetia seemed to truly be considering the words.
"You mean to educate her on the manner in which she might slay a human swifter than her peers might do. To fight not for prolonged periods of time, but to instead land a single and decisive blow if the moment calls for it."
He nodded his head.
"Very well."
There was no delay in his words, he acceded to the request swiftly.
"If you believe she can learn such a manner of killing, then you are welcome to teach her. Though it was your own words that she does not have the drive for learning swordplay."
"Swordplay, no." Jeritza confirmed. "She is aware of her own weakness. But this is a different style of fighting. Not suited for traditional knights and more for…killers."
"All manner of fighting with swords results in killing." Was the blunt comment which sounded dismissive. "Byleth and Catherine are no fools to using every advantage to win in battle. I would have thought others would learn from their example by now…Hmph. Do you have some hidden preference for 'honourable duels'?"
Jeritza blinked slowly.
It would have laughed at the question.
"To fight is to accept the chance of death. Any who wish to live would accept any advantage that would promise them the chance to draw breath."
Goetia was silent, then hummed. "Good, you understand that much. I am…puzzled as to why you have only just brought up this argument, however. Did you make a similar case to Manuela and find yourself rejected?"
He shook his head. "I did not believe they would take to my words. None of them had shed blood. They are different now. Honed in battle and have faced down their fellow man. Some almost died in the attempt…a reminder of how easily life can slip through their fingers would persuade some that they should cling to it more deeply."
A drumming of nails.
Goetia leaned back into the chair.
His hand rested on the table, his fingers drumming up and down as he stared at him.
Jertiza almost shivered at the gaze.
It was a deep and piercing one, as though he was being examined so closely.
As if there was not a single thing that he could hide from the man and that to even consider it was bothersome.
…Like the prey under the eyes of the predator.
It was exhilarating and terrifying.
To know that the thing within him was…cowed by this man.
Yet they had never fought, there was a spark of defiance.
The urge to challenge him just to see lingered on, but he had to know first.
Distasteful of violence, but not of killing.
Or finding it bothersome, but doing so anyway.
Goetia remained silent, the drumming of fingers was the only sound to be heard before he slowly nodded his head up and down. "Yes, perhaps that was the correct catalyst to encourage their development. Or make them more willing to discard the notions of honourable battles. This change is welcomed by me. Explain as such to the students and impress upon them the importance of learning how to survive."
He welcomed it.
Jertiza nodded once more before he angled his head. "Do you not believe Lysithea to be more deadly with your spells?"
"She might well be more deadly, but what would she achieve if met with a mage of greater skill than her before she has reached the peak of her potential? She is young, she still has many in this monastery greater than her even with me excluded."
Goetia hummed and shook his head.
"And some might prove themselves resistant to spells or smart enough to avoid them. A repeat of the near death experience against Lonato should be proof enough of this. Had she the knowledge, she would have slain the man then and there. It needs only one well placed blow to end the life of your enemy."
"...I see."
He was forming his understanding of Goetia.
Violence was not to be considered a challenge.
It was to be a means to an end, not the end itself.
How…fascinating.
They were a better killer than him by nothing more than coincidence alone, they did not seek to kill but were willing to do it.
The thing inside him desired to kill with every passing second, and yet he did not believe it would ever be as skilled as this one.
And yet, even with that…did they truly view life as something so similar?
Goetia truly was…
…An interesting man.
He felt some rising sense of excitement within him as he moved to his own papers and started to write up the plans for the students of the Golden Deer.
He would indeed follow the advice of Goetia.
He would teach them to be killers, not knights.
Lysithea was a student of Goetia.
And she had fire.
Perhaps if she were granted the same means…he would see something more.
There was so much to learn.
Was Goetia friend or was he foe?
And which option would prove to be the more stimulating for him?
…Jeritza could not wait to find out.
"I heard you're teaching the Golden Deer."
Goetia cast a look to the man as he approached, smiling as he sat down opposite him with the bowl of stew and the roll of bread on his tray.
"Word travels fast."
Harold nodded his head, frowning not long after. "Most are talking about Remire village though…not a lot of people are all that comfortable. There are a couple who are from the Kingdom and they can still remember the plague."
The plague.
Goetia wracked his mind for a moment. "They believe the two to be linked?"
Harold shrugged. "Not sure. I think it's mostly because the last one was so bad that they'd rather not go through something like that again. I wasn't really affected by it at the time. I was here training, but it was still something…It even claimed the Queen Consort at the time and that really…everyone is still thankful of Cornelia for what she did."
Cornelia, yes.
He knew of her, or had heard of her achievement.
"I am surprised they did not send word to her, if this plague is such a concern."
Harold only shrugged. "She probably has a lot of responsibilities. I don't think she's left the kingdom capital for a few years now…Well, we have Manuela looking into it. So I'm sure that everything will be fine."
Goetia paused briefly and raised a brow. "You have confidence in her capabilities."
The knight chuckled. "I know what you think of her."
"Do you indeed?"
"She doesn't leave the best impression, I'll admit." Harold sounded as strained as he looked, tearing off a section of bread and dipping it in the stew. "But she's been healing for a long time and I've never met anyone who's as good as she is. I think she's actually a really smart person, she just doesn't show off about it as often."
As always, Harold avoided expressing a negative opinion.
Still.
If Manuela had been able to achieve her role, then she would not be so incompetent.
"You misunderstand me. I am not accusing her of being incapable, merely that she seems to have interests beyond her work that overlap with her duties more often than they should do so. Her inability to separate her personal and professional lives is more for her own detriment."
Harold blinked at him slowly, swallowing the bite of food, then making an 'o' shape with his lips.
"So you're just worried that she's getting too hung up on stuff outside of work?"
"...Yes."
"Ah, that makes sense. You're probably right."
There was something else, however.
"On the topic of my peers, what are your thoughts regarding Jeritza?"
Harold kept silent, then reached up and scratched the side of his head just underneath his helmet. Adjusting it ever so slightly and then thinning his lips.
"Professor Jeritza? Have you two not met one another before?"
"No."
"Huh. Strange." Harold mumbled, then shrugged. "Well, I've never spoken much with the man either, but I've heard he's very good at what he does. Quite young as well. Maybe about the same age as me? I'm not sure. No one really knows. He was recommended the position by Lord Arundel-"
Fascinating, but not what he was interested in.
"I am asking about his personality."
Harold went quiet for a moment, then murmured in understanding. "Well…Jeritza keeps to himself. I don't think I've ever seen him try and speak with anyone else. He normally waits until everyone leaves the lunch hall before he comes in for his food."
Pointing to himself, "I only saw him once when I stayed behind to help collect all the bowls left over. He looked like was was eating ice cream, so I guess he might have a sweet tooth? But that's really all I can tell you. He's a fairly private guy and normally speaks about work. I think some of the others tried to get him out drinking but he never went with them."
Hmmmm.
Interesting.
"Why do you ask?"
"...I find him curious."
Harold blinked. "Really? Has he spoken to you?"
"About work."
"Ah, that makes sense." The man nodded. "Well, I hope you can make friends with him. I think you might get along well."
"...Hmmm."