I looked at the Knights of Seiros surrounding me, swords trained on me for if I showed any sign of fighting back. Edelgard and Byleth had been forced back, now standing near Rhea.
Byleth looked very unhappy with the situation, looking at Rhea with a frown. Sothis was matching her, looking at Rhea with an angry look. She could tell- Rhea was lying, she just wanted my sword.
Edelgard's reaction was just one of pure disappointment and bitterness, as though she had her suspicions about the Church of Seiros confirmed.
I glanced around at the Knights of Seiros surrounding me carefully... None of the known faces were among them like Shamir or Catherine, not even Alois...
Seteth was stood by Rhea, defending her... His eyes were also trained on my sword, though with slight longing rather than fanatic need like Rhea's.
"Let's cut the bullshit," I spoke up. "You're not arresting me because Photon Ray is a Hero's Relic... You can just feel the divinity coming from it, and believe it's related to your Goddess, correct?"
"How dare you speak to the Archbishop in such a manner?" One of the knights snapped, inching closer.
"Hold," Rhea spoke simply, the knight backing off as her eyes narrowed at me. "You claim the sword has no relation to the Goddess? I, the Archbishop, am very familiar with the Goddess's presence. That sword undoubtably carries her power."
I scoffed. "My sword carries a power of a similar nature to the Goddess- one sharing the same origin. The god themself is entirely different from your goddess."
"A blasphemer and a non-believer," Rhea scowled slightly.
"Oh, I know your Goddess is very real," I told Rhea... I could see the Goddess looking very upset with Rhea, after all. "But you are acting very aggressively right now, Lady Rhea... I'm sure your Goddess doesn't appreciate people who judge and attack without evidence."
Her eyes narrowed. "You dare-?"
"Byleth, could you please rewind time!" I yelled at her, right as a sword was lifted due to my sudden shout and swung towards my neck.
Byleth reacted immediately.
WHOOOSH!
I quickly stood up after I finished telling my story to the girls, Photon Ray vanishing as it astralised. I sighed in relief, running my hand through my hair. "Thank you for that, Byleth."
She gave a nod. "It was no trouble; I was unhappy with the situation as well."
"What are you both- wait, are you saying that Professor Byleth just rewound time?" Edelgard asked, quickly catching on. "But why?"
Suddenly the doors opened, and the Knights of Seiros poured into the room once again, weapons trained and prepared in case something happened.
Rhea stood at the back, looking around- but she didn't find whatever she was looking for.
"Archbishop Rhea?" Edelgard asked in surprise. "What brings you here..." She paused. "Was it that strange energy pulse?" She feigned as though she didn't know.
"Yes," Rhea nodded, slowly stepping forwards. "I presume you came here looking for it as well?"
Edelgard nodded. "Yes. Professor Byleth and I were coming here to unload some new weapons since the others were starting to get worn out. This young man is a Lynx, the man who sold the weapons and he generously offered to help us. When we felt the pulse, we rushed here- but we only found the training ground in its disturbed state."
"I see..." Rhea looked around and frowned, clearly displeased. "I'll need to ask the three of you to leave while the Knights search the scene."
"Of course, we'll get out of the way," Edelgard agreed quickly.
The three of us left the room while the Knights of Seiros investigated… We ended up deciding to go to Byleth's room, for some privacy.
I immediately flopped onto a chair once we arrived, groaning. "Fuck me…"
"Vulgar," Edelgard told me as she took a seat, shaking her head. "So, that was why you rewound time..."
"Yes... The Archbishop was being unreasonable, and I didn't like that," Byleth nodded. "So, when Lynx told me to rewind time, I acted."
"It was Photon Ray," I sighed. "The Archbishop felt its presence through the crest and believed it must have been something related to the Goddess."
"But why?" Edelgard asked. "It's from another world entirely, why would she react in such a way?"
"Because the Goddess of Fodland also exists in my world," I told them. "She was a Goddess of a Pantheon known as Egypt; however she eventually migrated into the Greek Pantheon and became known under the same name as in Fodland while under their leadership. Because she and Mars shared the same nature as Greek Gods..."
"The presence was similar," Byleth was the one who spoke. "She must be familiar with the presence of the Goddess, so she reacted."
Edelgard put a hand on her chin and frowned. "Then... Following the natural progression of things... You would be imprisoned or executed so that she could have the sword to herself... Damn that Archbishop..."
"Well, what's done is done," I told her and sighed. "I'll need to start using swords other than Photon Ray when not in the Dungeon- at least until I'm strong enough to handle the attention," I cracked my neck.
"Yes, that might be the best for you," Edelgard gave a nod.
I sighed once again and shook my head. "For now, let's put all those issues to the side. Do you know a place where I can put down the Anchor?"
"I would have suggested the training hall, but I'm not sure that's an option now," Edelgard sighed, running a hand through her hair. "At the very least, it's not viable. Lady Rhea will have her eyes on it for quite some time..."
"What about the Black Eagle's Classroom?" Byleth suggested. "We meet there to start the day anyway, so it would make it easy to get to the door. If we put a 'Do Not Enter' sign on it, then nobody else will enter."
"Oh, that's a wonderful idea, Professor," Edelgard smiled at her words. "Yes, the Black Eagle's Classroom should work perfectly for our purposes."
"Right then, give me a little while to de-stress from this bullshit, and then we'll go," I groaned.
Edelgard blinked and smiled slightly. "You're a rather vulgar man, even in the presence of royalty, Lynx."
I offered a shrug. "Literally do not give a fuck that you are a princess, I'm not adjusting how I speak for you."
"No, no," she waved it off with a smile. "Rather, I like it. It's very refreshing, it pleases me to know you can talk in such a way around me, even knowing that I am a princess."
I just chuckled in amusement and leaned back in the chair, closing my eye as I took a moment to de-stress.
"Honestly, that Rhea," Sothis huffed. "She's a real piece of work... Be careful about her from now on, Byleth. We don't know what she's planning."
Oof... Looks like Rhea had ended up causing her mother to get angry at her...
After a long rest, the three of us left Byleth's room and headed to the Black Eagle's Classroom. And, on the middle of the wall on the left side, the door an elegant match for the other doors in the monastery.
"There we go, door in place," I told them, before I added a little extra modification- the emblem of the Black Eagle House on the door. "With that, only members of the Black Eagles will be able to enter this door, so you won't have to worry about other students or teachers entering. Even Rhea herself wouldn't be able to enter the shop through this door."
"Excellent," Edelgard smiled. "Thank you for this, Lynx. This will be a great help to the Black Eagle house."
"Not at all," I waved it off. "Oh, one more thing. Since I'm going to be your benefactor from now on, the Black Eagle House will get a discount on Systems from now on. Usually, it costs 5000 Gold per person, but I'm willing to knock the price down to 2,500."
"That will be very helpful, thank you," she nodded, a look of slight relief on her face. There were roughly ten students in the Black Eagle House, including herself. Plus, with the training room discount, she was likely going to try and grow the house to at least twenty students for the biggest possible training room discount.
Just because she could afford to get everyone a system didn't mean she wanted to do so. After all, it was quite a lot of Gold.
I cleared my throat. "Right, I think I've had enough excitement for one day," I told them. "I'm going to get back to my shop and take the day off. I'll be open tomorrow morning, so feel free to bring your students and start your dungeon crawling."
"Yes, thank you for your help," Edelgard gave me a pretty smile that made my heart skip a beat once again.
"Mm, thank you," Byleth nodded as well. "Be safe. I look forward to when we can finish our fight."
I just gave them both a wave as I headed inside of the shop and closed the door behind me.
Only once I was out of sight did I finally relax completely, removing my jacket and tossing it onto the counter as I slumped behind it, breathing heavily.
I had fucked up.
Making a show of unleashing Photon Ray just to look cool was one of the dumbest decisions I'd ever made. Had Byleth not been there, then I would have needed to use Lord of the Shop to return to my shop... But, in doing so, the Fire Emblem: Three Houses World would have completely become taboo for me until I found a way to resolve the situation.
On top of that, my fight against Byleth revealed a lot. I was far too weak
Today, I had been glaringly shown my own weakness.
I closed my eye, thinking about when I had used Analyse on Rhea.
Seiros
Race: Divine Dragon
Job: Chef Level 82, Merchant Level 90, Blacksmith Level 81, Architect Level 71, Tailor Level 88, Enchanter Level 89
Class: Paladin Level 100, Bishop Level 100, Holy Knight Level 100, Gremory Level 100, Dragon Knight Level 100
Value: 250,000,000,000
A total level of 500, with five maxed out classes, and six jobs- all of which were over level seventy, and five of which were level eighty or higher.
A total value of 250 billion.
It was no wonder they'd spend hundreds of years preparing for the return of Nemesis in order to exact their revenge on Seiros once and for all. With a Level 500 at the Church of Seiros, they must have been doing their best to only act when they felt there wouldn't be a chance of direct confrontation.
But seeing Rhea's stats, surrounded by Knights who's average Level must have been at least fifty or higher, had left me feeling utterly helpless- utterly powerless.
My hand clenched into a fist slowly, and I slammed my hand on the counter hard, rage and indignation filling me.
I didn't like this feeling.
For some reason, something about how inadequate I was feeling... It pissed me off. It filled my entire being with indignation that I had needed to ask Byleth to help me instead of being able to handle it on my own!
I ignored the door opening as both Duae and Tria entered, looking at me with concern beneath their masks.
This incident- I wouldn't let it happen again. I wouldn't let myself be so powerless before another person like that again if I could help it.
I would become stronger. Strong enough so that, at the very least, I would never be so completely helpless and trapped like I had been when I was surrounded.
Strong enough so that I wouldn't need help from someone else if something like that happened again.
Strong enough so I could take what it was I wanted for myself.
I slowly outstretched my hand, my gaze sharp as I strengthened my resolve. "Summon Servant."
And I would start that by building my army and raising my servants- one at a time.