Chapter Text
Day 20, Great Tree Moon
Father suggested I start writing a diary. I suppose it’s because of the new life we are to lead. We went to the rescue of three students from Garreg Mach’s Officers Academy today. Edelgard von Hresvelg, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd and Claude von Riegan. One of their supervisors encountered us. He asked us if we would follow him back to Garreg Mach. Father seems to think we’ll be staying there for a while.
I suppose I should write this down. The girl I see in my dreams has become more vivid. She has also come to my aid. I now possess the ability to rewind time. I didn’t like her calling me a fool for my combat instincts though. Still, time rewinding powers are nice. Not sure how to use them myself though.
Musings: Edelgard is measuring me, Dimitri is intimidating, Claude is suspicious. Must explain why before I trust them.
Bethany Eisner
Day 20 of the Great Tree Moon
Claude, as usual, screwed up my plans. Strategic retreat… I’ll show him a strategic retreat. If he didn’t lead me to that mercenary, I’d say screw subtlety and separate his head from his neck. Can’t get in more trouble than what I’m in already, after all.
Notes on Bethany Eisner:
- Does not seem to react emotionally. Could be useful.
- Does not know about the Church of Seiros. It’s unbelievable, but if true, fortuitous.
- Seems most interested in learning about the Leicester Alliance. Figures, Claude’s the one making a show of hiding his secrets behind friendship.
- Despite being a common mercenary, I can sense a Crest. I’ll have to eavesdrop on Hanneman’s test.
Bethany saved my life, when that unreliable rat Kostas tried to kill me. Note to self, never commit to any plans where my life is in genuine peril. Still, I wonder how Bethany knew Kostas was going to charge me so quickly…
For the future of Fodlan
Edelgard von Hresvelg
20 GT Moon
So, bandits attacked. Scared our new professor to death, enough to send him packing. Well, he didn’t actually collect his stuff. I wonder if Rhea will see fit to return his possessions to him later. Or who will possess them if she doesn’t. I mean, I don’t think anything in there really matters who it belongs to, but it can’t hurt to know.
We were assisted by Captain Jeralt, the Blade Breaker. Leonie’s going to be fun to listen to. For a long time, because good ol Alois invited him and his kid to the monastery, and Rhea’s probably going to find some excuse to keep them there. Thank the stars Beth’s a girl, or Leonie would waste no effort in trying to court him. Come to think of it, I wouldn’t put it past her to try anyway.
Bethany Eisner, the Ashen Demon… she’s one powerful warrior. Jeralt was by far the best combatant on the field, but Bethany was a much closer second than someone her age ought to be. She’d fit right in among the students at the Officer’s Academy, and here she is preparing for things before the enemy telegraphs them! I can only hope I never have to fight her. There’s only so much one can do to deal with an opponent who may or may not be able to read minds.
Wait, if she can read minds on the battlefield… I’ve got to figure out what she uses, if anything. I don’t want her reading my mind and blabbing my secrets! (Edelgard’s secrets, though, blab away.)
Claude
Day 21, Great Tree Moon
I’m a teacher now. I will be responsible for teaching one of the classes of the Officer’s Academy. Each class has eight main students. There were a lot of new people to meet. It’s hard to imagine keeping them all straight. The three classes are Black Eagles (Adrestia), Blue Lions (Faerghus) and Golden Deer (Leicester). I chose the Golden Deer. It was a hard decision.
Claude’s group seems nice enough. They’re a rowdy bunch. They think I’m one of them. I can’t think of myself as one. Claude has given me notes on their strengths, weaknesses and training. I’ll copy them into this diary to help consider them. I will focus on studying pedagogy before the year begins in earnest.
...Who decided I could teach?
Bethany Eisner
Claude von Riegan: Good with swords, bows. Commands well. Has flying training. Can flying units shoot arrows?
Lorenz Hellman Gloucester: Good with lances, offensive magic and riding. Probable cavalier.
Hilda Valentine Goneril: Good with lances, axes. Says she’s a delicate flower. Test.
Raphael Kirsten: Good with axes, gauntlets. Can carry heavy armour. Probable armour knight.
Lysithea von Ordelia: Good with magic. Mage.
Ignatz Victor: Good with swords, bows. I’m told he has authority on the battlefield. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Marianne von Edmund: Good with swords, healing magic. Strong affinity with animals. Can heal from horseback?
Leonie Pinelli: Good with lances, bows. Firm hand on riding. Keep at distance. Please.
Day 21 of the Great Tree Moon
Beth has chosen to lead the Golden Deer House. This is a wrinkle that will take some time to properly address. Her power is not to be underestimated, but I believe it is still possible to salvage this situation. I would like to avoid needing to kill her unless strictly necessary, since attacking her would incite the wrath of the Leicester Alliance, Captain Jeralt and from the sounds of things, Rhea herself. On the other hand, involving her in Adrestia’s dealings would mean involving Claude, and there’s no way Claude can be trusted with matters as important as that.
Bethany did visit the Black Eagle’s classroom while making her decision. She seemed most interested in Dorothea and Petra. I have invited those two to approach Bethany as well as myself or Professor Manuela, but I think they suspect me of setting them up as spies. As long as Bethany doesn’t suspect me of anything she deems too sinister.
For the future of Fodlan
Edelgard von Hresvelg
21 GT Moon
The new professor turned out to be Beth. And she’ll be leading our class, the Golden Deer. Truth be told, I was a little concerned at first. But Beth seemed attentive to our strengths and is demonstrating some thought in her lesson planning, so I think she’ll make a fine teacher. Just… one I’ll need to give some guidance to before she really picks up.
Lorenz thinks this whole thing is beneath his concern, of course. As long as she instructs him adequately. Raphael doesn’t really care because he’s Raphael, don’t think the kid’s cared about anything since he arrived. Ignatz is worried about her stance on his painting- I’d be worried, too, since Beth doesn’t seem to do much other than her duty. Lysithea’s angling for grades. Marianne’s too shy to get a lot of conversation in with someone who speaks so bluntly. Hilda’s trying to get out of work, but I think Beth sees through her. And Leonie… well, it went predictably. Trying to keep up with her was the only time I’ve seen Beth express any emotion, albeit mild.
Still have no evidence for or against the mind-reading theory. Perhaps it only expresses itself in combat? At least I won’t have to worry about Beth blabbing to anyone. She probably wouldn’t tell anyone if the classroom caught fire.
Claude
Day 25, Great Tree Moon
Hanneman scanned me for a Crest. He doesn’t know what kind of Crest it is. Crests are apparently a big deal in Fodlan. I asked the kids. Claude, Lorenz, Lysithea, Hilda have Crests. Ignatz, Raphael and Leonie do not. Marianne was cagey.
Claude’s Riegan Crest allows him to keep on his feet when using advanced combat arts.
Lorenz’s Gloucester Crest increases the power of his magic. Could be useful.
Hilda’s Goneril Crest makes her best moves leave enemies stunned. Hardly ‘useless’.
Lysithea’s Charon Crest increases the power of her weapon arts. She agrees with me that she shouldn’t be swinging a weapon to begin with.
What kind of Crest is mine? Why don’t I know what its effect is? Are Crests that important when it comes to analysing combat?
Bethany Eisner
Day 25 of the Great Tree Moon
I got caught eavesdropping on Hanneman’s analysis of Bethany’s Crest. Nothing came of it, fortunately, but I didn’t get any idea what sort of Crest Hanneman detected. Apparently, neither did Hanneman.
Hanneman’s Crest doo-hickey apparently can’t display her Crest. I want to see how it would respond to the Crest of Flames I possess, but if the faculty caught wind of it, there’d be too many awkward questions and conclusions drawn. I cannot let Rhea know I have that particular Crest at any cost. Hanneman doesn’t deserve whatever Thales cooks up to keep him quiet. I need to find an opportunity where Hanneman is out of his office and I’m not busy. And who knows if my question will even be answered then.
Besides, what are the odds some random mercenary has the Crest of Flames?
For the future of Fodlan
Edelgard von Hresvelg
Day 27, Great Tree Moon
Sundays are free days. I took the chance to explore the monastery. I talked to some of the other kids and investigated some of the facilities.
Dedue and Ashe of the Blue Lions house showed me a little gardening. Seemed pleasant. I think I get to keep some of the stuff I grow too. Or at least share with them. We’ll cross that bridge once the stuff grows.
I went fishing with Linhardt and Flayn. Linhardt did a lot of the teaching. Flayn was just there for the fish.
I had a nice talk over lunch with Dorothea and Petra, of the Black Eagles house. Dorothea was nice. I didn’t talk as much as her though. Petra was also uncomfortable. I think it’s because she can’t speak our language as well. Perhaps I should try to learn Brigid’s language? It wouldn’t help much, though.
The mock battle is approaching. I am informed that I must include Claude and three members of my house. At this moment, I am inclined to choose Hilda, Lysithea and Marianne. I’ll have to run it by the house.
Bethany Eisner
Day 27 of the Great Tree Moon
Bethany is getting more comfortable around the monastery. She’ll need to form a routine for free days before I can start keeping an eye on her, of course. She still doesn’t know the full extent of what she can do around the place.
Dorothea and Petra had lunch with her. Petra’s language barrier poses a greater concern than expected and Dorothea was more forward than Bethany could reciprocate with. Dorothea is willing to adjust her approach, so I will entrust the task of making a Black Eagle friend of Beth’s to her.
Bernadetta confided in me that Bethany noticed her. I wonder how Bethany will take to her. If she turns out sympathetic, I wonder if she can get away with disposing of Count Varley for me. On second thought, Thales will probably have him replaced before I can do anything about it. Best to have him keep the seat warm. (To check: Is Count Varley actually one of those who slither in the dark, or is he just a horrible human being?)
For the future of Fodlan
Edelgard von Hresvelg
27 GT Moon
Beth’s making strides to fitting in. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of surprises to come with regards to her, though. With the Princess of Adrestia, Prince of Faerghus and yours truly all together, and with a bandit attack under our belt before the school year truly begins, it’ll be a wonder if all of us make it to graduation.
Beth invited two Black Eagles for lunch. As far as I could tell, the conversation didn’t wind up going as planned, but she does seem interested in getting to know all of the students, not just us Golden Deer. Maybe I could get the Golden Deer to help- a unified Fodlan would help. With friends in power in Adrestia and Faerghus, we could tighten the bonds that hold Fodlan together and set up a nice position in twenty, thirty years.
Can Almyra wait that long? Honestly, the question really is whether that’s enough time for the Almyrans to be ready for introductions that don’t involve battle. I’m also thinking about Brigid, with Petra’s presence and all. What accomodations for Brigid should I make? Too few and I get accused of favouritism, and nothing changes practically. Too many and I run the risk of having to add in Dagda and Sreng and whatever other countries don’t get namedropped too often around the monastery and the plan takes even longer to happen.
I have a lot of time, but I don’t have forever. I think. Do Crests give longevity, again?
Claude
Day 30, Great Tree Moon
Won the mock battle. Hilda and Marianne tried to weasel out of participating. Everyone else agreed that they were good picks. After watching them fight, I agree. Marianne’s healing was critically important. Hilda’s definition of delicate flower is much different from mine. Apparently, Hilda is judging herself as worse than her brother. I feel like Father would break a sweat fighting her.
Next major mock battle between three houses is Wyvern Moon. Battle of Eagle and Lion. All students will participate. I wonder how strong we’ll be by then. In the meantime, my job is to instruct, to train and to complete missions assigned by the Church. Next moon’s mission is to take care of bandits. Child’s play. Well, these are kids. I have also been given the set of Beginner’s Exams. The students will take them at my discretion. I need to gauge their roles as a cohesive team first, but there’s only four different exams.
Claude considered poison. I told him firmly no. I won’t be involved in harming the other houses. That said, I don’t want to discourage his scheming. Just choosing his targets better. It would be nice if I knew what these other ideas he had were. I want to plan for it.
Bethany Eisner
Day 30 of the Great Tree Moon
It is to no one’s surprise, but Bethany won the mock battle. I would praise the Golden Deer, but it was clear that it wasn’t them that got the win. Half of them clearly did wish to participate, but Bethany got them to perform all the same, and that was quite the performance. I can’t help but feel a little envious. And not just because I have to deal with Linhardt and Bernadetta.
Hubert asked me why I appear to watch Bethany so often. I told him I was gauging the strength of an unknown quantity. Knowing Hubert, he’ll probably appear to Beth at some random time and make threatening advances towards her before disappearing. I really don’t need that sort of interaction with her, I need to keep my relationship with her as friendly as possible if I’m going to have any chance of recruiting her to my side. But it’s not like Hubert is my only obstacle there.
Next month, our education begins in earnest. I’m excited to see what my classmates will come out of our year of Garreg Mach capable of, if uncertain that they will choose my side. I must take care not to neglect my bonds with them in my pursuit of Bethany’s allegiance. If I must… no. Best to avoid having to come to blows at all.
For the future of Fodlan
Edelgard von Hresvelg
30 GT Moon
When I first saw my class, I was not expecting to match up well against the Black Eagles and their strongest soldiers, nor the Blue Lions and their well-oiled teamwork. Don’t get me wrong, I was ready to pull out all the schemes I could cook up to steal victory- or at least make the other two houses work for it. But Beth just put all those plans to shame, and won with pure strength.
Now, I’m the last person to say that strength will win the day when a good scheme could be applied. But even I have to admit I needed exactly what Beth provides: a battering ram of a secret weapon that can be pointed at problems and crushes them. And she’s going to be teaching us all. Hilda and Lysithea were powerhouses, and I had all but written them off as never reaching this level of skill.
My only concern is that Beth’s a good sport, and offers encouragement and consolation to the other houses. And even then… I could always figure out a way to get Edelgard and Dimitri on board. Just needs a little Riegan charm. Besides, before I start really complaining about anything, I’ve gotta make it clear who my enemy is. The combat strength of Adrestia and Faerghus means little if my opposition is societal pressure and excessive traditionalism. You can’t just enforce that by conquest and edicts.
Claude