Byleth, for the majority of her time thus far on their journey to the Monastery, had not taken her eyes off Goetia.
Even when she was speaking to the Noble children, she would always keep the rather out of place man within her eyesight. Ordinarily she wouldn't have given him much thought. He was out of place, both physically and socially. He often avoided conversations entirely unless he was approached first.
Even then, they would mainly be one sided towards whoever had approached him in the first place.
In that regard, she supposed he reminded her a little of herself. Neither of them seemed to have an interest in seeking out conversation unless they were to inquire about something, often she caught him simply observing the others. There was something in his gaze when he saw people, like he was trying to understand something.
Although Byleth didn't really understand what.
However, what really convinced her that she should keep an eye on him was what the voice in her head had to say about him.
She frowned, perhaps she was placing too much trust in her hallucinations...or was Sothis a ghost?
The little girl denied it, but Byleth figured that was exactly what a ghost would say.
However, when Sothis first saw the man, the only thing she had to say about him was "What is that thing?" which Byleth found to be a little insulting. Sure he didn't look like most people, but that didn't really give her the right to call him a thing.
She actually found his presence to be rather pleasant. Yes he was strange, but at the same time she could be considered a little strange too. In that regard they were kindred spirits.
When she had explained to Sothis not to insult the man, the little ghost had instead flown into a tangent about how 'Wrong' he felt and how he seemed to be 'more' than what he let on. Sure he didn't tell everyone everything about himself but neither did a lot of people.
Sothis eventually gave up and just said to 'wait and see' when it came to Goetia.
Oh? Byleth blinked in surprise. It seems Goetia was talking to her father. They didn't seem to have much in common, but she guessed he must be curious about something.
X
"You seemed hesitant to return to the monastery." Goetia pointed out when the pair were out of earshot of the other knights. He had wanted to have a more complete understanding of the system, the zealous nature of the knights would likely impede any logical judgements that they could make about the Seiros sect, therefore he decided to ask an outside source.
He noticed that throughout the journey the mercenary captain, Jeralt, had seemed to be rather...uncomfortable when it became clear they were approaching their destination. Goetia decided that this man was likely less overzealous than his compatriots.
"What makes you say that?" Jeralt asked, still looking ahead of them as they travelled down the road.
"Alois presence made you uncomfortable." Goetia pointed out "Their suggestion to bring you back to the monastery was also met with apprehension."
"Figure that out did you…" Jeralt muttered.
"I do not judge you." Goetia said "My purpose for travelling here is simply a learning opportunity."
"You could ask the knights about the monastery, you know?"
"True." Goetia admitted "However I fear that their zealotry would blind them to potential issues." he gave Jeralt a sideways glance "Something you lack."
The man released a humourless chuckle "I suppose I would stick out when surrounded by the knights..."
"However you avoid the monastery. Issues with the current religious hierarchy?"
"I won't speak ill of the Archbishop." Jeralt declared, then looked behind him to check where Alois and the other knights were, determining that they weren't anyway near him he leaned in closer to Goetia "However...Rhea is...just be careful when in the monastery is the only advice I'll give you."
"I see." Goetia nodded, he then looked back to the group. He and Byleth made eye contact. Goetia had noticed that since she awakened her divine core, she hadn't taken her eyes off of him. Did she sense that he wasn't affected by her time reversal? If she was then she hadn't confronted him about it. Did she sense something different about him? He was human, for all intense and purposes, so he didn't think so, although he was likely of a different magic construction as every other human.
And competent magus would be able to tell his body was only a few weeks old.
He turned back to the front, before thinking of something. "Your daughter...she is not very emotive."
"Byleth?" Jeralt asked in surprise at the sudden change in conversation, he cast a glance over his shoulder at the girl, who he noticed was staring at the pair of them, then looked back to his talking companion "No, she isn't. Hasn't been since the day she was born."
"Rather peculiar." Goetia noted "However, she seems to reveal her thoughts through her eyes despite her face never changing. In that regard she is the most emotive human I have seen in a while."
"...What?" Jeralt stared at him in confusion "Her eyes? You're saying you can understand what my daughter is thinking...by looking at her eyes?" he began to glare at the tanned man in suspicion "What is your interest in my daughter?"
"She is interesting." Goetia replied, completely ignorant to the man's growing suspicion. "At least enough so to have caught my intention."
"Pal…" Jeralt narrowed his eyes at him "I've met some idiots in my time...but I've never met one whose dumb enough to tell me about their plans to court my daughter to my face."
"What?" Now it was Goetia's turn to look confused "I hold no romantic feelings towards your daughter. I am certainly not Solomon."
"Huh?" Now Jeralt was confused "So...you're not planning on trying anything with my kid?"
"No." Goetia stated "Romantic attachments are of no interest to me."
"Right...right…" Jeralt nodded "Good." he sighed, that was something he really, really, didn't need to worry about right now.
Goetia stared at the man for a few moments before turning back to his own thoughts. He was slightly puzzled as to how saying Byleth was an interesting person somehow translated into him wanting to pursue an intimate relationship with her. Rather peculiar.
X
"So, what do you guys think of tall, dark and golden?" Claude asked the others as he walked alongside them.
Dimitri turned to him with a frown "Claude, if you were going to ask Goeita for his name, the least you could afford to do would be to refer to him by it, especially considering he did save your life."
"Sure, sure." Claude waved him off "Its a term of endearment! Seriously though, what do you think of the guy?"
"He is…" Dimitri began, then frowned "I suppose I could say rather professional. He speaks more like the scholars that would travel through the capital."
"I'm surprised at both of you, talking about a man behind his back like that." Edelgard scoffed.
"Oh yeah?" Claude smirked "What about you, your highness? Don't tell me our glittery haired friend is just a daily occurrence to you?"
"While his appearance is rather unorthodox, I do not believe it is right to judge him solely upon that." She countered.
"I saw you speaking to the guy, so what's your opinion of him."
"Were you spying on me, Claude?" Edelgard accused, Claude held up his hands and put on an innocent face.
"Spying is such an ugly word…" He said, then smiled "I prefer to think of it as 'observation'."
"That is still spying, Claude." Dimitri pointed out.
"It also makes him a capable spy, considering he wasn't caught." Byleth spoke up for the first time in the conversation "Although he probably knew you were there."
"Wait seriously?" Claude turned to her with a surprised look "Has the guy got like a sixth sense or something?"
"He's got good instincts."
"Huh…" Claude blinked, then turned back to Edelgard "Although you didn't answer my question."
The girl sighed "If you must know, I find him to be an intelligent man, however he isn't what I would refer to as a scholar. More an observer."
"An observer?" Dimitri parroted with a hint of intrigue, Byleth also found herself listening more closely than before. She would admit that the man was probably the kind of person who would rather watch something occur than act.
"He admitted as much himself." Edelgard pointed out "His saving of us benefited him in some way which did not involve currying political favours."
"Oh, ho, ho." Claude chuckled "Our mystery man with mystery motives. How...mysterious…"
He got no laughs in response. Eventually he turned to Byleth "What about you? You were at the village with the guy before we arrived, what does he seem like to you?
"Lonely." Byleth said after a moment "Strange, unused to interacting with other people and is easily disappointed by them."
"...Okay then…"
The group fell into a silence before Claude spoke again "How do you think he gets his hair to glitter like that?"
That was a question which stumped everyone. Even Byleth would admit she was a little curious about how the man was able to get his hair to take on such a form.
X
"We'll make camp here!" Alois announced "Spread out and find firewood men! Gavin? Prepare the hunting gear, hopefully we'll find some game out here." he turned to Goetia with a wide smile "Unless you could magic us up some food?"
"Denial of nothingness is beyond me." Was Goetia's blunt reply.
"Worth an try." Alois shrugged then turned back to the closest knight "You heard him, better find some deer!"
"Yes sir!" The man immediate ran off. Leaving a majority of the group alone.
"Percy? The firewood." Alois said, the next night nodded and walked off into the woods.
Goetia took this as an opportunity to sit down. Resting his hand on his knee he closed his eyes as he would admit that emptying his mind was at least satisfying in some regard. He could, for but a brief moment, forget about humans and all they did and could just focus on nothing.
Would he consider this meditation? No, it was the complete absence of thought rather than dwelling on one.
"You are not as silent as you would hope Byleth." Goetia said aloud, the footsteps came to a stop in front of him. His eyes still closed.
"You could tell it was me?" Byleth asked, despite her rather monotone voice, Goetia could still pick up a slight hint of surprise.
"Anyone else would have made more noise." He slowly opened his eyes and trailed his head up to look at Byleth "Do you need me for something?"
"You were speaking to my Father earlier." She pointed out, it was phrased as a statement but Goetia could easily pick out the hidden question.
"I was curious about our destination. Your father appeared to be familiar with it, I was simply asking him." Goetia replied.
Byleth nodded her head and went back to being silent. To anyone else it would have appeared to be an awkward moment between the two. Both of the 'Demons' however were more than comfortable in the lull in conversation.
"Hey, goldilocks!" Claude called out as he walked up to the pair, Goetia turned his head to the boy and raised a single eyebrow in response to the nickname.
"Goldilocks?" The tanned man parroted in confusion.
"Yeah, well…" He hummed and leaned down and gave Goetia a once over with a thoughtful expression "It's not my best work, but so far its either that or glitter."
"A title of endearment rather than my actual name then." Goeita hummed "Ultimately what you choose to call me is irrelevant. I have given you my name, whether or not you use it is up to you."
"Thanks." Claude nodded as he plopped himself down next to the glittered haired man "So, I was wondering...how did you get your hair like that?"
Goetia looked at his hair and then back at Claude "I was born this way."
"Oh." Claude nodded "Work of a Crest then."
"As you say." Goetia didn't see the need to correct him. If he wanted to draw upon his own conclusions he was free to do so. Although the former Beast doubted he had a 'Crest' which was in any way similar to those that the humans of this world possessed.
"So...what's it like where you're from?" Claude asked "Don't get to meet too many foreigners that often."
"Did you not speak with the Lady Edelgard?" Goetia asked in intrigue "Beyond that, were you not privy to our conversation." a statement, Claude figured that out immediately. Turns out that the one armed man did, in fact, know he was listening in on his conversation with Edelgard.
Byleth sent a look to Claude which somehow, despite her not showing any emotion, seemed to scream 'Told you so', much to the Alliance heir's embarrassment at being caught red handed.
"Caught me did you?"
"You lack the presence concealment necessary for espionage." Goetia replied "However given that the skill is more befitting of an Assassin than a future ruler that is to be expected."
"Huh, guess I'll have to step up my game." Claude muttered under his breath, then flashed Goetia a smile "Okay, maybe I might have eavesdropped on your conversation a little but to be fair you didn't say that much when talking with her highness."
"There is very little of interest about my home." Goetia replied with a dull tone of voice "Despite whatever visual differences there may be, it is ultimately no different from Fodlan if one were to observe the two peoples and their motives."
"Huh." Claude pursed his lips "Well...what's your home called?"
"Why should it concern you? I very much doubt you will have the opportunity to visit it." Goetia asked in mild confusion, the location of his creation was of no relevance to this man, and he doubted it would in any way effect him if he were to learn of it.
"Just curious." Claude admitted "Not everyday you meet someone from across the sea."
"Hmph." Was the grunt he received as a reply "I came from a city called Jerusalem, in the 'United Monarchy'. The people lived under the rule of King Solomon by the time of my...birth."
"Oh?" Claude smiled wider "We're getting somewhere, what was it like?"
"The kingdom...Was said to have prospered under his reign, he was referred to as the 'Wise King' and was granted the title of the 'King of Magecraft' for his works on magic. Said to have been granted wisdom by Yahweh, God, in the form of ten rings."
Claude let out a whistle "Sounds like quite a guy, maybe a little too serious but doesn't sound like a bad king."
"He was the biggest fool mankind ever produced." Goetia snarled, something which caught both Claude and Byleth off guard as the usually reclusive man seemed to suddenly burn with rage. "Granted wisdom by God to see all that would occur with humanity, all the suffering they would endure, all the pain they would cause themselves and he accepts it! His wisdom was nothing but empty words. How can one be called wise if they accept the suffering of humans and do nothing to prevent it!?" he took in a deep breath as he got his emotions back under control.
Goetia was internally confused, while he had always hated Solomon, he rarely lashed out like that. He was also feeling more than rage towards the man...was that disappointment? It wouldn't surprise him, his personality was based off the man, so it always confused him how he and Solomon could see the same things and reach different conclusion.
"Okay…" Claude blinked, then looked over at Byleth who was equally stumped by the sudden outburst. He fell into an awkward silence as Goetia continued to get his breathing under control.
"Apologies…" Goetia said after a few moments, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath before schooling his features "Solomon...we have disagreements."
"I can see that…" Claude nodded his head "That why you left?"
"Disagreeing with him now would be a pointless endeavour. He is dead. Whoever rules the kingdom is of no concern to me." Goetia sighed "Although...perhaps I am travelling in search of something...Solomon brought many questions upon me which I will answer myself. That is why I am...not where I was born."
"You don't need to tell me if you don't want to." Claude held up a hand and gave him a more sympathetic expression "You're free to your own secrets."
"You asked. I answered."
"Suppose I did…" Claude mumbled under his breath, then stood up "Sorry to cut our little chat short, but I'm gonna see if their royal highnesses have anything interesting to talk about...at least I'll find them before they try and gang up on me for talking to you guys first." he waved to them and walked off towards his companions. Who at this point were glaring at him.
"Children...Confuse me." Goetia commented, Byleth nodded her head, then decided to sit down with Goetia.
"You are unfamiliar with the monastery?" Goetia asked after a few moments. Byleth nodded her head.
"I didn't really know it existed, or the Church of Seiros." That caused Goetia to widen his eyes slightly in surprise.
How curious, he thought, he himself may be a recent arrival in this world but he had found out about the church within the first few days of his arrival by pure coincidence of encountering a travelling pilgrim. Since then he had regularly encountered the faithful.
For the girl to be completely ignorant of the single most practised religion in the continent was...surprising.
It also gave way to several questions. Clearly Jeralt had kept mention of the Church around her to such a minimum that she was virtually unaware of its existence for a reason. What could have compelled the man to keep the existence of the church a secret from the girl for her entire life?
He had said to be careful about the Archbishop, however there had to be more than simple suspicion to cause such an act of omission. Did it involve her Divine core and ability to manipulate time?
He blinked. Why was he so concerned about this? It didn't affect him in any meaningful way. So what if the girl could manipulate time to a basic degree, in the grand scheme of things it didn't affect him.
Why did her pursue such a line of investigation?
Was he, perhaps, just simply curious about the mystery the girl represented? What a bizarre thought.
"I assume then that this shall be an interesting visit for you?" Byleth shrugged at his question. She didn't really know, even after she'd heard about the Church she didn't really find it particularly life changing to her. She didn't really know what she would do when she found herself in a Church.
"Is that so?" Goetia nodded "I suppose considering your ignorance towards the existence of the church in the first place it would be difficult to garner a strong reaction from you."
"What about you?" Byleth asked, slightly intrigued about how he felt about visiting the Church.
Goetia's face remained blank "I have seen other religions who are similar to the Seiros Church, its existence is nothing new to me." he furrowed his brows "Although, this will be the first time I visit upon once such religion. I suppose we have that in common."
Byleth hummed in response "What did you do before coming to Fodlan?"
"Curious I see?" Goetia nodded "In truth, my role has changed very little since coming to this place. I am ultimately an observer wherever I go...I once tried a more proactive role, however I found I was unsuccessful." he tilted his head at her, his eyes glinting with intrigue "I shall assume you have always been a mercenary?"
Byleth nodded "Father trained me young, haven't done much else besides mercenary work."
"Simple life, if a little barbaric." Goetia noted "Still, you do not strike me as one particularly affected by the role."
"A job is a job." Byleth replied "It doesn't really matter what I do. Its just what my Father wanted me to do."
"Do you have aspirations beside that of the work of a sell-sword?" Goetia asked, he was honestly curious if she considered any other role. She seemed reasonably intelligent, he supposed. Not so much a scholar but at least more so than the common man.
"…" Byleth didn't have an answer, she frowned. She hadn't been anything else except a mercenary, she didn't really give much thought into her life besides that. Her father had always been the one to make the important decisions regarding her life so far.
"It is fine in its own way if you do not have an answer." Goetia replied, then looked away from her and to the others at the camp "Some humans find purpose in a simple life of servitude." he frowned "It does not confuse me any less, but I acknowledge its existence as a way of life."
Despite saying that, Goetia was still perplexed by it. How could one find a reason for living when their life was entirely dependent on the whims of another? While Byleth wasn't a slave in the traditional sense, Goetia still saw her as a slave of sorts to her own lack of imagination. She couldn't envisage a life outside of being a mercenary, despite her apparent intelligence she had never considered being anything else aside from a sell-sword.
He could concede that her disposition made it easy for her to be born into the role. A lack of emotional understanding would make it easy for her to complete less than civilised tasks. However, if she could not derive joy from her life why did she bother?
Even her own efforts were effectively futile. The bandits she killed, while they would ultimately no longer threaten the village, were not the only ones in existence. He suspected that even at this very moment, humans were being killed by those of a similar occupation, she must have known that to. So why bother saving anyone or killing the bandits?
Even if it were happening elsewhere, the principle of humans killing eachother over possessions remained the same.
It perplexed him. There was nothing rewarding about this type of life. There was banditry before she was born, her life will have marginal impact on the practice at best, and it will continue long after she is dead. So why bother in the first place?
X
"We found deer!" Alois announced to the camp, several heads turned in his direction. The man gestured in the direction of another knight, currently holding the animal carcass.
"Percy!" Alois exclaimed to another man, who was coming back from the woods holding a small collection of twigs and branches in his arm "Get that campfire set up!"
"Yes sir!" The knight saluted with his free arm and went about setting up a small campfire.
For several minutes the group watched him fail to start a fire, eventually Alois sighed in exasperation. His good cheer beginning to wane at his subordinates failure at making fire.
"Percy…"
"Sorry, sir…" The knight slumped his shoulders "Its normally Fredericks job to make campfires...but he didn't come with us this time…"
"Right...we're going to have to put you through a bit more outdoors training I suspect…" He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, deciding it would be best to light the fire himself.
He was about to tell the young knight to stand aside when he looked up and noticed that their recent addition, Goetia, was standing next to the young knight. His lone arm pointed downwards at the fire.
A second later, a small flame burst to life and began to crackle away. Goetia lowered his hand and stepped away from the fire. His face, blank as ever.
"Thanks." The knight looked up at Goetia with a wide grin, much to his own confusion. He didn't do anything that the boy should thank him for. He completely upstaged him after his failure. At what point did he do something worth thanking him for?
He could understand it if any of the other knights had thanked him, they would have reason to. He started the fire and saved them further delays when it came to the opportunity to eat.
He sat back down at the edge of the camp. Still confused about the knights gratitude.