[Diluc indeed has hit the jackpot. While Byleth could be... strange, and couldn't deceive his way out of a paper bag, he was professional, honest and terrifyingly skilled - he can also be easily paid in food rather than money here, amazingly enough (this is why Jeralt negotiated their pay).]

Setbacks, more like. When I arrived, a race for an Oracle began soon after, and it was one claimed by the Zeniths. Not due to any particular gap in skill or ineptitude on our part: neither group knew how claiming an Oracle worked. Fortune favoured Zenith, and thus they won.

[As one Meridian had summed it up: "they were just as stupid as us".]

Following that, a mysterious Blight has begun to encroach on the land, which is a threat of its own. For now, all that can be done is to try to mitigate the Blight's spread, secure Springstar's source of sustenance, and be prepared for the next Oracle.