Book One The Black Lion Old Version

confessions

Edelgard had to approach this situation carefully. Monica was back in the monastery, and they wanted to question her. Where was she who kidnapped her? There was a huge risk that she was considering. Would it be worth it? She had no idea that stakes were high if she cut her alliance with Those Who Slither in the Dark it could be a recipe for disaster, but she saved Monica.

The girl was asleep in her arms. She had been through so much Edelgard knew tactically it would have been better to let her die. She had lost so much of her sisters and brothers, her father barely able to hang on; she did not want to lose another person if she could help it.

What would be the correct decision to make? How could she have plausible deniability? She could not think of a way that did not end in disaster she could convince Monica not to reveal who kidnap her by lying that she doesn't know in order to delay the inevitable. Though that wasn't without its risk her dual identity that she is expected to embrace was the flame emperor was something she had to consider as well.

There were multiple choices, and none of them were right. Which choice was the right one? She hated the fact that destiny was even a concept; was her destiny really already decided, even though she had altered the destiny of Monica by saving her life?

In frustration, she wanted to slam her fist against the wall, but she couldn't do that. Not only would it wake Monica, but everyone in the monastery who was near her. There had to be a way; she remembered a lesson that Hinata had once told her about when it came to Shinobi: one of their greatest weapons and their arsenal in deception.

Flashback 15 days after the shy girl squad victory

Hinata and Edelgard were alone; they weren't doing anything in particular. They were just enjoying the weather, and she had wanted to talk to him. However, the opportunity never presented itself, and it happened very rarely. There was something about the Bell Test that she heard from a Jonin about one of the methods on how to test their students and see if they were capable of being ninja at all.

"I was wondering if you don't mind me asking Hina-chan, what is the point of the Bell Test?" she asked in Hinata's language.

"Oh, you mean where there's two bells, but there's three people; what is the point of the test? The answer is simple: if you know how to spot deception." Edelgard was curious.

"The test exists to see if we are capable of working together and see through traps sent by the enemy. If we're willing to put our differences aside and sacrifice ourselves for our village and for each other, teamwork is obvious, but a lot of people fail the test because they cannot see through such deception. The two bills exist to see if the students will see past it. Most of them fight amongst themselves because they believe in 'survivor of the fittest', that only they and they alone should be allowed to be Shinobi."

Hinata answered. Edelgard thought it was a really good idea to weed out those who would be troublemakers, though not in her homeland, it wouldn't work because the culture is different. But if you're doing a three-man cell, it's a good idea to test if the team can see past such deceptions and work together.

"There are multiple kinds of deception to be a proper Shinobi. We must be able to see through it and have the ability to use deception to our advantage. One effective way to weaken an enemy is to put them against each other, whatever it takes to make them fight among themselves. If the enemy is stronger than you, and there's another enemy who works with one of your enemies, it's best to set them against each other while they're too busy fighting each other to notice you coming. You could strike where they're both at their weakest; they won't see you coming until it's too late."

Hinata finished her explanation, which could be useful in the future; she thought.

"You have given me something to think about there's so much I don't know about Konoha despite us spending time together there, I don't feel like know anything"Edelgard admitted.