完璧主義⋮ perfection incarnate

Tsubaki's charge upon Homura, with plenty of experience as a rider, allows him to cut through the distance quickly. Rider and mount together create a sudden duo, coming out of the fog, as they approach the shadow, who, upon closer inspection, appears to be nothing more than a burly giant of a man in humble clothes, associating him with the town.

"WHAT IN THE--?!" his deep voice calls out in deep surprise; the fog obscured enough that Tsubaki's appearance only registers when he is already so close. The giant acts upon reflex...and the improvised box slips out of his hands and instead falls off the side of the cliff, plunging into the waters below. When it makes impact, it explodes with a loud BOOM and jets the water up with a tremendous splash. The earth on this cliffside trembles for it, testing one's balance, and all four Garreg Mach visitors gathered can clearly hear that outcome and from where it came.

The giant flings himself over the cliff's edge, hanging over halfway, with his arm outstretched as if to reach for his fallen object, but it is lost to him now. The man's expression is utterly crestfallen.

"No! I needed that!" The man wails and, in the center of his misery, Tsubaki-- with the aid of Uka's rallying magic-- bets on chance. Homura is blazing fast, picking the man up off of the cliff before he can push himself off. He is in the duo's clutches, yelping.

"Thank you, Uka!" Tsubaki calls out to the student amidst the chaos, before their gaze sharpens back to their newfound culprit.

"Hey! Let me down! Get off me!" He thrashes. "Where'd you even come from?! Nobody...! Goes to this damn lighthouse!"

But for all his flailing, he's caught to your whims. This doesn't stop his complaining though.

He freezes at the introduction of a new voice in the fog, soon revealed to him as what looks like a boy with fox ears. Each of the men can see one another clearly in their predicament, to which the captured man whips his head up to Tsubaki, whining: "And now you also have FRIENDS?" Irritable though he might be, he at last stops physically flailing around, but he still remains sour in expression. "Don't tell me you all were just waiting for me! And listen! Whatever lady lives in that lighthouse wouldn't have been bothered! She never comes out at night anyway if she's even REAL!"

... In the end, it looks like the others were correct and Nel's instincts had failed her. Once Tsubaki and Homura clear the way, serpentine eyes finally catch sight of a lumbering man with that same mentioned box in his hands-- not for long, however, because it flies over the edge of the cliff before exploding with enough force to shake the ground they all stood on. No rocks are loosened, at least. Reckless, certainly, but her fellow professor managed to pull it off. It may have ended worse if they hadn't taken the initiative. In the pouch that rests against her lower back, she'd stowed away that strangely thick rope from the ship; pulling it out, she uses a rough hand to grab the cloth at this man's shoulder. It's not hard enough to truly hurt, but it is enough to send a message as she begins to wind the rope around him. "I would rather avoid an unnecessary chase. He seems to be intent on speaking nonsense." "Explain. What do you mean 'if she is real'? I believe it would be quite plain to see."

"Ack! What the hell, man? Uh, Ma'am?" he corrects himself. In the next beat, he's disgruntled again though. "What are you talking about? I've been to this mine trying to get that god damn stupid flower every single night this past week and I've never seen anyone come in or out of that lighthouse!"

... Flower. Hadn't the other professor mentioned something like that? Nel glances in Tsubaki's direction for a moment, brow raised as if to ask a silent question. "For what purpose? You certainly would never find your query were you to set off those explosives here."

Homura gracefully lands back upon hilltop as Tsubaki's companions enter the scene, properly apprehending the young man. Tsubaki lets them lead the interrogation, electing to tie loose ends to theories as the eccentric man speaks. Despite his size, he's rather juvenile in behavior.

"Katerina, the lighthouse's keeper, told us that the villagers were unable to properly excavate the mines due to feeling an overwhelming sensation of 'wooziness'," they recall, "I felt perfectly fine when I had excavated the mines earlier, however."

His brow dips, "Are the mines magically enchanted? What is the importance of the flower you seek?"

"Damn! Now you're showing off to me too?" the man complains. "Must be nice being fine through the mines," he grumbles under his breath. At Uka's laugh, he turns, shooting a glare, then raising an eyebrow in suspicion, before he turns back to answer Tsubaki. "I dunno. Maybe the mines are, maybe they aren't. This whole island's the Goddess's body or whatever, right? So if it's enchanted, it's her fault," he posits. "The flower… it's got this nice smell, and once you smell it, you just feel more alive. Stronger, happier, full of energy and so on. That's what the legends say anyway. I haven't smelt it myself. But there's a legend that if you give it to someone you care about, it's meant to say you want them to be healthy always."

I wasn't--" Tsubaki frowns, "Nevermind." The island is considered the Goddess's body, however? Interesting. Then, could the voice they have heard been the goddess? "That sounds like quite the flower…" Tsubaki muses, keeping his tone leveled to their captive's disgruntlement. "Could you tell us what this flower's name is? To make up for our transgression, I wouldn't mind returning to the mines to aid you in obtaining one."

"You'd help me?!" the man's eyes gain a hopeful glint within them.

"Of course. You desrve to celebrate a wonderful Spring Herald too, right?" Tsubaki smiles.

"It's called the ashblossom! And uh, are you keeping me in these ropes all night?"

“Do you want to be~?” Uka teases with a wink. “What’s this flower look like? Because i did come across an interesting smelling flower…” Uka hides his hands within his kimono sleeves, implying that something hid within. “I picked it to show my sister, but if you need it more…”

"And we're going towards it?!" What a spectacularly bad idea! Uka has half a mind to turn tail and run—he didn't care about being called a dirty coward so long as he could still breathe. But he knows that the others wouldn't be so selfish. Standing by while others throw their lives away... it wouldn't be a new experience for Uka, but that did not make it any easier.

"...Professor Tsubaki!" On a pegasus, he's the fastest and most unimpeded by terrain. Uka takes the opportunity to cast a certain spell he's learned at the academy, similar to Crossedge but for speed. "Here goes nothing!"

Tsubaki's charge upon Homura, with plenty of experience as a rider, allows him to cut through the distance quickly. Rider and mount together create a sudden duo, coming out of the fog, as they approach the shadow, who, upon closer inspection, appears to be nothing more than a burly giant of a man in humble clothes, associating him with the town.

"WHAT IN THE--?!" his deep voice calls out in deep surprise; the fog obscured enough that Tsubaki's appearance only registers when he is already so close. The giant acts upon reflex...and the improvised box slips out of his hands and instead falls off the side of the cliff, plunging into the waters below. When it makes impact, it explodes with a loud BOOM and jets the water up with a tremendous splash. The earth on this cliffside trembles for it, testing one's balance, and all four Garreg Mach visitors gathered can clearly hear that outcome and from where it came.

The giant flings himself over the cliff's edge, hanging over halfway, with his arm outstretched as if to reach for his fallen object, but it is lost to him now. The man's expression is utterly crestfallen.

"No! I needed that!" The man wails and, in the center of his misery, Tsubaki-- with the aid of Uka's rallying magic-- bets on chance. Homura is blazing fast, picking the man up off of the cliff before he can push himself off. He is in the duo's clutches, yelping.

"Thank you, Uka!" Tsubaki calls out to the student amidst the chaos, before their gaze sharpens back to their newfound culprit.

"Hey! Let me down! Get off me!" He thrashes. "Where'd you even come from?! Nobody...! Goes to this damn lighthouse!"

But for all his flailing, he's caught to your whims. This doesn't stop his complaining though.

The winds shift, carrying a worrying scent. "Uh, guys? Hold on..." Uka's nose may not be as keen as a dog's or a wolf's, but he knows this scent all too well. "Smoke?"

It wasn't untrue, even though she had not called it out to him just yet. To hear he had only found coal was disappointing, for the sake of this daughter Lachesis would never meet. Better that he keep his focus, then, on what mattered - she could take care of herself, if the only obstacle was a few irritable animals.

"It's a lovely red color - I think I've gotten quite lucky! I believe rubies are rare, are they not?"

She considered the corridor ahead of her, took a moment to regain her bearings before taking another step forward and finding the rush and screech surround her once more, buffeting her from all sides with the veritable stormcloud of wings.

With a little huff of frustration, Lachesis stepped back, carding fingers through her hair in frustration, forcing herself to laugh the sensation out and hear it ring against the walls of the cavern.

He's not sure how to properly pronounce the gem's name, therefore he does not utter it.

As he appraises the gem beneath the dim light, something scutters past his feet. It startles Homura, who breaks out into a whinny. She stomps her hooves, wings aflutter, and the sudden outburst causes Tsubaki to jolt. One wing in particular slams against his head and the sky knight looses his footing, half of one foot slipping down an unknown ledge, and he tumbles down.

"うわっ！” Elbow slams into the sharp ground, sending nerves sparking before the impact has him roll, his side struck next as he tumbles and tumbles until he smacks against the way. Dazed, Tsubaki wheezes, body alight in pain before he slides to sit upwards. Homura, above, cries louder with the disappearance and discomfort of her parner.

"いてて…” Tsubaki hisses under his breath, feeling the pulsating pain in his foot. "ホムラ、何で。。。” The world still sways beneath him as he tries to lift himself up. He winces and stumbles back to his mount now that she's stopped stamping, choosing instead to blow her nostrils and shake her head in frustration.

"よしよし、いい子だー” Tsubaki grabs the reigns with twitching fingers and tries to make Homura walk in attempt to distract her from distress. Notably, as he feels his foot swell, he quietly takes the path away from Lachesis. Homura huffs, again, and Tsubaki uses his good hand to scratch behind her ear.

Lachesis bit her lip, exhaled long and slow through her nose, listening to the crunch of dry conifer needles beneath her horse's hooves as they meandered closer to their destination.

Her points had been, summarily, dismissed, regarding both magical interruption and the veracity of the festival - it shocked her briefly that none of them questioned even remotely that such a location could even be the source of anything, or that it could hold celebrations to the turn of a season that seemed like a distant dream.

Her fingers tightened around the leather bridle, and Lachesis looked down at her hands, eyes narrowing a moment. There was little to say that even this moment was not a dream.

"You may call me Lachesis," she replied, instead of voicing this, too. "Should the worst occur, I will be by your sides. However, in the event that this is a festival in sincerity…I should like to enjoy ourselves, don't you think?"

"I am Professor Tsubaki of the Blue Lions." He follows everyone else's courtesy with an introduction. "Everyone's safety is of my utmost priority as well. However, I cannot say whether I shall be able to indulge in the festivities until safeguards are properly established~?"

He gives a remorseful look to Lachesis, before pulling up a smile towards his companions again.

She hummed a sound of agreement, the corners of her eyes creasing fond and warm. Her steps had retraced themselves back to the exact crevice they had entered from, and continued forward following the marks that he and his pegasus had made. From his initial suggestion of a competition, it seemed clear that he was the type of man who would not take so kindly for her to trail behind him and offer suggestion - that would have been against the spirit anyway, no matter that she had found her prize and it rested comfortably in her pocket.

"How has your search come along, then?" She lifted her voice, determining from his reply which tunnel to venture down before continuing with a grin, "It's quite the large mine, but we may not know how much of it has been quarried and plundered."

It was mostly a tease, a little prod - she hoped that he found something, regardless. If not for himself, then for the love he shared with his daughter.

"You know," Lachesis said, veering along a separate path, deeper into the impenetrable dark, "I believe that our country's naming conventions, or at least, the reasons we choose names, feel rather similar. We don't have quite the same poetic word for such a symbol as a matoi, but Ares, and Nanna - and Diarmuid as well, my eldest, my son - they are all classical names, the names from our myths and our legends of folklore. Warriors all.

"My brother, he is the height of chivalric competency, and of course he named his little boy for a god of war. Nanna in some stories is the wife of a great Crusader, and Diarmuid a shining exemplar of men. I think," she added softly, fondly, "that the best we can do is give a child a name that is a promise - not something they need live up to, but a gift that we give to them, an assurance for how the world may be."

Or perhaps that was yet the fanciful girl in her, who had dreamt of a family in whole, while staring at the back of her brother as he rode forth on campaign.

The stones clattered underneath her feet, and the light of her spell guttered just enough at the shift in the ground, and Lachesis turned, and coughed, stepping lightly over a small crevasse, and finding when she lifted her gaze and the light once more to be rammed by a wall of dozens of flashing eyes, the screech of bats and the buffer of wings against her face familiar from the last time she had explored the depths unknown.

Now that Lachesis pointed out the mine's condition, however— Tsubaki doesn't think that its particularly hurting of bounty though. But, truthfully, this is his first time in a cavernous mine! He'd thought the conditions were a result of his own pitifully novice state but— is this considered lesser or more than the average cave deposit?

"Wonderful names," Tsubaki comments and he's reminded of the beauty in international exchange. "That's the beauty of humanity, isn't it? Our countries may be lands apart and yet our mindsets are similar… Perhaps it's not culture but, rather, the essence of parenthood? A promise is aptly put. Through the deliberation of her name, I prayed that my daughter would feel the presence of our love unto her, even in the days of my absence."

A bittersweet sensation washes over them. It does not last for long, as a shimmer catches their eye— a flash of a gemstone, certainly! Tsubaki sets themselves to retrieve it, pickaxe carving into rock, until an odd sound reverberates faintly through the cave's passageway.

"Lachesis?" Tsubaki calls out, his tone heightened with hesitancy. He ignores the stone that tumbles down to his feet. "Is everything okay there?"

He, too, was an illusion-crafter.

Lachesis' mouth shut and her eyes narrowed, listening thoughtfully to the woman's disparagement of being played with - it had felt that way, hadn't it? That it was a game, that they were being shown one end of many, but whether or not it was compulsory to meet that end or to find more entertaining circumstances remained to be seen.

"I suppose to any who had been directly addressed it must have felt personal. There are only so many voices that one can hear in one's own mind." It ruffled her to think of even one other soul taking root within, let alone others. Her glance flashed curiously over to Tsubaki, quiet for a moment, before;

"While I don't believe that it is a barrier of some kind, the thought is a sound one. It could be of some equivalent, even if I don't believe its purpose was…at the very least, it's worth remembering that we were invited. If we were meant to be kept out, then that would contradict intention. No, it does seem as though we are wanted, but for what purpose."

The path wended along the cliffs, and in the distance she heard the echo of gulls against the froth of waves.

The lighthouse was drawing nearer, sky as grey as the sea below it, as the drab streaks of forest they had left behind, and even the sterile earth beneath their feet. It strained credulity to believe that any fruit came from this island, named so after a toxin, let alone tropical.

"Have any of you heard of this Herald of Spring festival before? Or known anyone else who has attended?"

Tsubaki's head slightly tilts back up skywards, gazing at the endless crawl of clouds.

"That could be why we all had the same exact dream, which included an identical sequence of events and script. I believe that we are not being actively targeted by a malicious party, who has painstakingly cast mind-altering magic upon us individual by individual but, rather, that we had activated a field spell through entering a certain threshold, that then resulted in the same illusion being broadcast to us. An automated welcoming message of sorts, though its intent is unknown."

Whoever cast the message to us may not be the interloper in this case but, rather, us despite the invitations. The voice regarded us as facets of their project, yes? Then, perhaps we are not prey being hunted down by a predator in this scenario but fish caught by a fisherman's net. We were lured and subsequently snared, as pieces to a presumed game."

His attention dips back towards the expanse. For a land once regarded for it's natural bounty, Baile is in sorrowful conditions. If he hadn't known better, then this could have hardly been considered the land responsible for exporting exotic harvests.

"That is the pessimist outlook, anyway~" Tsubaki smiles, brightening the mood as his voice drifts into an airy quality. Until they research further into this land, their hypothesis are no greater than throwing ideas onto the wall and seeing what sticks.

"I have not heard about the Herald of Spring festival before arriving to Fodlan. This is a decades long tradition that Fodlan commits in honor of being loyal trading partners with Baile, yes? They are responsible for many of our exotic fruit imports, since their flora possess unique mutations. This year especially doubles as a homage to the daughter's sixteenth birthday! At least, this is what I have heard and read about in our months preparing for the festival." He wishes he could have been more excited for this; it's always heartening to celebrate community, nevertheless the birth of one's child. "I once tried to visit Baile, admittedly, when I had volunteered for a supply run. However, a terrible snowstorm cut our aspirations short."

A key figure in defensive forces was a lot of words to describe a soldier, but the weight and heft of them imagined a noble position such that she remembered her brother and his Cross Knights, those who kept post against the border to savage Verdane and protected the Kingdom from the threat without - a distraction from the threat within, but one that could not have been avoided, for her brother's honor, for the king's.

Lachesis finally emerged in a small alcove - short enough that she need crouch, shoulders pressed inward, but the light from her spell shone forth, and her gaze alighted on a pile of debris which might have been leftover from previous mining attempts. She nearly glanced away, pushed herself back through the passage, but for the glimmer that caught her attention, brought her to kneel and dig her hands through the scree and dust to find an immaculate ruby, vibrant and fiery, uncut, unpolished, but seeming to glow from within.

"Perfect," she said aloud, parroting Tsubaki's statements. "Yes, I quite understand. I have two, you know - my daughter Nanna is here, with me, and her cousin little Ares, but my son, my eldest, he is back home."

It felt strange to refer to Agustria in such terms - or rather, not the terms, but the wistfulness, as though it were a place that she missed and not its people.

Standing, she pocketed the ruby, dusted herself off, and pushed herself back through the crevice into the more open cavern whence they had entered.

"The matoi in my kingdom's culture is symbolic for protection. Long ago, they were the rallying standards of commanders on the battlefield. Eventually, they evolved into the banners flown by firefighters, signifying the presence of flames. When one sees the matoi soar, they are immediately notified of incoming calamities, and those sworn to protect them from it."

Tsubaki closes his fist around the coal. With more pressure, with the outside presence of fire, even an ordinary rock could power a kingdom. He thinks, briefly, about how they should have asked Katerina if she needed a resupply. She generously offered them lodging, after all, no humble the circumstances.

“They are emblematic of support, unity and, to me, the presence of change.” After all, the calamity they exhaust is the catalyst for transformation and rebirth, the departure of stagnancy for progress. “That is what she means to me.”

He's almost grateful that they are speaking through distant, raised voices and cavernous echoes. There is something bashfully vulnerable about admitting their genuine thoughts aloud, as if he's offered Lachesis a platform to bear witness to his heart. He loves his daughter undeniably and has always been terribly, perfectly doting but—- to give one more than a surface level glimpse of his thoughts is just so— embarrassing!

But perhaps Lachesis is the right person to gush about this with, comes another smaller whisper in Tsubaki's mind. He becomes certain of it as she speaks reason to her daughter and nephew, a truth that resonates deeply— strongly, uncontrollably, and wholeheartedly— within him.

"I understand. My daughter's birth bestowed me with truth." He shares, "Through her, my vision cleared. I knew my purpose and what I symbolized. It dawned upon me, what it means to protect—" Their grip upon the coal loosens, "—And the definition of family…"

"Or something like that!" The tense atmosphere is broken as his voice returns to its usual airy quality, followed with a laugh. "I just love her to bits!"

They decide to pocket the coal for now. If they cannot scrounge a gemstone for their daughter, then they could at least aid their host in replenishing their power source. A lighthouse, after all, requires a great sum of energy.

"If we agree on a word and our minds are invaded, would that interloper not still be able to wrest that free? It felt real," she said, as close to an admission as she would make, lifting her chin and narrowing her eyes against the mist. "But that is our mind that led us astray, sheerly from within - it was of no material substance."

That they knew about. It was true that the visions had detailed more smoke and destruction than where they currently found themselves, but there were accuracies prophetic nonetheless - the faces of villagers, the mayor, the layout of the town itself, a disappointment that none anticipating a festival could have predicted.

Lachesis cocked her head.

"For that matter…doesn't it strike as odd? Even though the dream was false, its location was still here, before we even set foot on the island. Do any of us know, personally, those who reside here?"

"I read much about Baile in preparation for our journey," Tsubaki admits, speaking up at last. His lips quirk lower into a frown. "But even someone as skillful as I couldn't have readily conjured a dream like that, not without intimate knowledge of the community."

Unless—

"The wider the audience, the less concentrated the spell," He wonders aloud as his currant gaze breaks above the canopy of trees, back to where the reflective light of the lighthouse faintly emits. "I agree that it cannot have been a dream, if shared by four. I, however, cannot say with confidence that we were targeted intentionally. Perhaps, our arrival had triggered a magical barrier or field spell of sorts?"

He quirks his head back towards his companions.

"My kingdom, Hoshido, once boasted a similar defense. Our late queen, Mikoto-sama, had cast a similar defensive barrier around our land. Her magic barred those with violent will from entering our borders— Could Baile, too, possess similar magic? Once we have passed a certain threshold, we activate its effects— A message of sorts, emitted to us? Therefore, we are not directly targeted but, rather, influenced."

Homura lets out a small sound; Tsubaki subconsciously runs his fingers through her mane again. "Does anyone remember any dialogue from their 'dream'? If similar, then… Perhaps that give a hint towards us on whether we were targeted or not~? There is a difference between a personalized message and a generalized one, yes?"

Not that she did much of getting her hands dirty in such a manner, but her eyes brightened at Tsubaki's challenge, at the mention of family of his own, and her head whipped around in a flurry of golden hair draping around her shoulders.

"You as well?" Her steps did not stop entirely as they ventured further within, the light of her spell breaching the dark and allowing her clarity on the whole glittering affair. "That's precisely who I intend to find something for - my daughter, Nanna, a student back at the Academy."

There were stakes now, weren't there? To call it a competition was formality at its height, for what mother could allow another's daughter to be at the receiving end of a lesser gift?

Her hand dragged idly along the wall as she ventured deeper, finding it stabilizing to the vastness of the network - and illuminating, in its own way, opening before her a path that led towards a nook she would not have noticed before.

"What is your daughter's name? Is she here?"

It takes a well-trained tongue to keep excitement at bay. Quietly, Tsubaki's smile simmers into something more mild as he patiently listens. Lachesis speaks of her daughter with a fondness that resonates within Tsubaki. Their gaze flickers sheepishly away, back towards the abyssal paths winding before them. Nanna— Lachesis's daughter, they quickly learn to identify— is present with her at the academy. This is where they diverge.

Tsubaki roams down the rockier path. Stalacites carve the walls as he, now unmounted from Homura, treads with hesitant, yet attentive steps.

"Her name is Matoi; She does not attend this academy." Odd, Tsubaki thinks, as a twisting sensation wrings inside him. They find themselves pondering; Would Lachesis think lesser of them now, knowing they position they've taken abroad despite the sacrifices? "Rather, she is currently serving as a keystone figure in Hoshido's defensive forces. Many herald her for her limitless talents and natural battle prowess, but to me—"

He readies his pickaxe, eyes locking partially upon a sizeable boulder, "—She is simply perfect."

The pickaxe swings down upon the rock structure.

"She is my daughter, after all." Another swing; only rocks tumble. "And what more can a parent ask for than that?"

Brows dip into concentration. He searches, again. "You understand, don't you? The love we give, as parents."

The path to the cliffs, and down into the mine itself, was as desolate as the march through the forest to get to their destination. Indeed, both felt like a march, one that she had done time and again through landscapes are barren and with a heart empty of anything but her rage, her despair to keep her company.

Her nose wrinkled gently at the path zigzagging down the cliff-face and into the opening quarry, dismounting briefly to guide her horse downward. It was a foolish task, but there was something in her gut that would not allow it to leave her sight. At worst, she would need to send her horse back to the entrance, and move on by foot.

This was not the outlook she should be having for a vacation. The thought had occurred to her many a time, on the ship in between those wretched nightmares, and when they had broken ground, and when they had marched - there that feeling again, that she was on campaign once more, and not visiting a tourist attraction to acquire a unique gift for her lovely daughter.

Lachesis exhaled a rough sigh, then smiled at her companion. "I see the entrance just ahead, Professor Tsubaki. Here, allow me."

Lifting a hand, she called forth the light that expanded and caught along the walls of the mine's entrance.

The quarry presents itself like the ones Tsubaki had read about in Nohr. Unlike the glittering Hoshidan springs, where one must dive deep into warm waters to pan out gemstones, the ores of Baile are protected in a dark, cavernous maze.

Homura gives a pensive huff as they approach the deposit's entrance. Gloved hands idly smooth down her braided mane to calm her as Tsubaki nods at Lachesis's words.

"Of course. You know, I'd never imagine we'd be mining on our vacation," Tsubaki adds in and he titters, at last, with the aid of Lachesis's amicable demeanor. "My eyes are quite set on acquiring the perfect gemstone for my daughter! It's been a while since the last time I've mined for gemstones, but no worries. I'll excavate with graceful aplomb!"

"This all feels rather like a strange dream," she murmured, which did not wholly answer the question. She had, of course, experienced nothing less than a shocking nightmare in the sway of the ship before they had reached port, but these types of experiences were nothing new for her, and for a while she was content to wave it off as merely the turbulence of the passage, in spite of the pointed voice telling her of its deliberation.

Of those she had been assigned bunk, she only knew Professor Tsubaki in passing for his competence at their dance during the Ethereal Ball, months hence, but of these other two she knew even less.

Her eyes narrowed at the passing tree trunks until the smell of salt broke the air, and she turned to see the figure of the lighthouse itself, towering and imposing in the distance, waiting for them.

"What was it that you saw?" Not admittance, but neither dismissal.

Even the lighthouse protuding proudly from the earth rings with unsettling familiarity…

It's about all Azama can do to keep a grin from splitting his face.

Impalpable…!! Ha!

How… polite.

"That is precisely the problem," Azama assures. "Humans aren't infallible. Humans are vulnerable creatures, prone to failure. One might get the impression you are trying too hard, and in such a sense not being genuine… or, in other words: you come across incredibly suspicious."

Not that Azama really thinks Tsubaki has anything to do with the Church's wily enemies or anything, heavens no. He's always been this obsessed with perfection for as long as Azama's know him.

“You are a royal retainer, Azama.” He reminds the monk, not sharing his amusement. His tone is pointed, alluding to the gravity of this reminder. “You mustn’t say things that could bring shame to Hinoka-sama, even in jest.”

Rattling windows fill a moment’s worth of silence; the snowstorm rages on. Tsubaki tries to brighten their expression with a smile again.

“Fortunately, I’ll forgive you for that comment, as well as the ones you’ve uttered previously, since you consider me above the human average~" Which is exactly what perfection entails! Tsubaki plays dense. “Regardless, I'd prefer if you'd not color me with your assumptions: I have not said you were unpleasant for your eccentricities."