Lysithea had always prided herself on being a mature, rational young woman. Her grades were among the highest in the Golden Deer—nay, the entire Officers Academy—and her magical prowess was unparalleled. Even some of the more magically inclined students would come to her for assistance from time to time, and it did Lysithea's heart good to know that the taller students still managed to look up to her. Due to this, she prided herself on always maintaining a level head and not once losing her cool.

"WHAT?! What do you mean you're out of honey cakes?!"

… Until now.

"Yeah... it's more baffling than anything else, really," the woman at the other end of the counter said. "What's really tragic is that we had a fresh set baked just this morning, but they practically vanished out of thin air. I swear, you turn your back for two seconds and…"

Large pink eyes grew even wider as Lysithea stood unmoving, mouth agape. How could this be?! An entire set of honey cakes… gone, just like that? It defied any and all logic.

Annette, who had been standing behind her at the time, kept a smile on her face even as it faltered ever so slightly. It was no secret that she too enjoyed sweets—something she and Lysithea had bonded over—but she strove to maintain a positive attitude all the same. "Oh... That's too bad. Oh, well. C'mon, Lysithea, let's go—"

"No." Lysithea shook her head with a defiant scowl. "Something is wrong here. Honey cakes don't just go missing like that! It defies any and all logic. One set is typically comprised of at least twelve cakes, and thirteen on a good day. No one person could eat that many in such a short amount of time without leaving so much as a crumb!"

She turned back to the now slightly amused lunch lady. "Do you happen to have any more information? Was the platter itself left behind? Any footprints or fingerprints anywhere they shouldn't have been?"

"Look, kid, all we know for sure is that the cakes up and vanished. Though now that you mention it... we never did get the platter back either. Weird."

"H-Hey! I'm not a kid!"

The line behind them was beginning to pile up, so Annette grabbed a few plates of food for herself and Lysithea before urging her to follow. "So sorry about my friend here. Have a nice day!"

"I just don't get it!" Lysithea blurted, elbows on the table as she ran her hands frantically through her white hair. Annette sat on her left munching a sandwich, and Mercedes and Ashe sat across from them as they listened to Lysithea's ramblings with great intrigue. "Who could possibly devour that many cakes in such a short period of time?! I mean, I could, of course, but obviously I didn't if I'm only just now finding out about this! Who's to blame for such a crime against humanity?!"

A bead of sweat formed on Mercedes's head. "Don't you think you're exaggerating just a little bit, Lysithie? Come, now; your soup is getting cold."

"This isn't even the first time something's gone missing this week," Ashe said. "Why, just yesterday Bernadetta was crying about misplacing her sewing needle, Sylvain was going on and on about a lost tube of lipstick, and Dorothea..."

He trailed off, blushing. "Ah... w-well, perhaps the less said the better..."

"How peculiar. Has anyone asked the twins about it? Professors Byleth and Byletta often come across lost or misplaced items while they're roaming the monastery."

"No one's seen hide nor hair of them in days." Annette shook her head, frowning. "It's really weird... I hope they're both okay."

Lysithea rested her hand on her chin, eyes closed as she racked her brain. "Very strange indeed... Still, what would they want with my honey cakes? They've never really been one for sweets. I know of only two people here at the monastery who on average eat more food than anybody else..."

There was a loud uproar of laughter from a nearby table as she whirled her head around to glare at the duo in question. Caspar and Raphael were having a loud and lengthy conversation over lunch, and quite a large lunch at that if the mountains on their plates were any indication.

"Aha!" Lysithea rose from her seat and stormed over to their table, anger bubbling within her. Concerned with keeping the peace, Annette and Mercedes got up as well, dragging a still-hungry Ashe with them.

"Oh, hey, Lysithea!" Caspar greeted once he spotted her, pointing a thumb towards his plate. "Want a chicken leg?"

"'Oh, hey' yourself!" she yelled, putting her hands on her hips. She glared at the boys with those frightening pink eyes of hers. "Do either of you mind explaining the conspicuous lack of honey cakes in the dining hall today?"

"They're out of honey cakes?!" Raphael gasped. "No way! What happened? Did they run out of ingredients?"

Lysithea narrowed her eyes at him. "No. They made a fresh set this morning, but they disappeared! I know of only two other people at this academy capable of eating such a large number of sweets in such a short amount of time. Do you know what that means?"

"Uh…" Caspar scratched his head. "I dunno. Is Ingrid one of 'em? She looks kinda slim, but she can put away food like nobody's business!"

"... Three. That's three people I know."

"I don't understand, Lysithea," Annette said, frowning. "Did someone really eat them all? Wouldn't there be a trail of crumbs or something? The lady even said that they couldn't find the platter afterwards, but... What would someone want with that?"

"Maybe they wanted to get rid of the evidence." Caspar immediately grew livid at his own suggestion. "Gahh, that rots! Those cakes were meant to be for everyone, and some jerk stole 'em all for himself! When I find him, ooh boy..."

Ashe shrugged. "From what you told us, Lysithea, there were no signs of a struggle. I seriously doubt one of the chefs would just throw them out or take them out of the dining hall when they shouldn't have."

"Ooh, I know!" Annette perked up, clapping her hands together. "Maybe the culprit used magic to spirit the cakes away! If there's no physical evidence, then—"

"Clue number one," Mercedes chimed in, "the suspect is a phantom!"

Lysithea froze in her tracks, fear overcoming her senses as the dreaded thought filled her mind. "A… a phantom...?"

"Oh, that's right, I forgot," Raphael said with a friendly grin. "You're afraid of ghosts, aren't you, Lysithea? Well don't you worry; if I find the ghost responsible, I'll give 'em something to chew on! And it won't be food, I tell you what!"

"G-g-ghost?! There's no ghosts here! I'm not scared of ghosts that don't exist!"

Mercedes stifled a giggle as Annette and Ashe exchanged a knowing glance. The redhead was the first to speak up with a determined expression. "Well, we're not gonna bring the culprit to justice by sitting around talking! Let's ask around the monastery and search for clues!"

"Huh?" Lysithea asked. "You… you guys are gonna help me?"

"Of course!" Ashe nodded. He twiddled his thumbs nervously. "I just... hope we're not actually dealing with a ghost here, haha."

"Yeah! And if we are, I'll protect all of you!" Raphael yelled, flexing his biceps.

"Me too! I ain't afraid of no ghost!" Caspar shouted, jumping to his feet. He turned to his right where Linhardt was sitting, face resting against his arms as he slumped over. "C'mon, Lin! Let's go nab us a pastry thief!"

Linhardt opened one eye, stared at his companions, and then shut it once more. "No."

"Er… Right. Then I guess it's just the six of us then!"

Mercedes shifted uncomfortably, and Annette picked up on the oddity at once. "Mercie? What's wrong?"

"Well," she began, "I would like to help you all with your investigations, but I already made an arrangement to meet Shamir in the training grounds for archery practice. I'm really sorry, everyone…"

"Aw… well, that's okay, Mercie! Wouldn't wanna keep her waiting, after all. Have fun!"

Mercedes giggled. "Hee hee… I will. Well, I'm afraid I must be off. I wish the rest of you luck!"

She left the dining hall with a spring in her step, humming a tune all the while as she left Lysithea and the others to their devices. Caspar placed his fist and his palm and said, "Alright, team! If we're gonna work together on this one, we're gonna have to have some sort of team name. I volunteer Caspar and the Casparettes!"

"Eww! No!" Annette protested, scrunching her face up. "How about… the Clue Crew? Cause we're gonna be looking for clues and stuff!"

Raphael shrugged with a grin. "I kinda like that one. What about Brawns and Brains? Cause you three got the brains, and Caspar and I got the brawns!"

"Um…" Ashe shifted in place. "What about… Ghosthunters?"

Lysithea nodded with a grin, folding her arms. "Ghosthunters… I love it! There's no way they stand a chance against us with such an indicative name! … Not that I believe in ghosts or the like, of course."

"Then it's decided!" Annette grinned. "From here on out, the five of us shall be known as the Garreg Mach Ghosthunters!"

"Ngh... roll credits..." Linhardt mumbled in his sleep.

One by one, each of the five newly established Ghosthunters placed their hands in the center, with Lysithea's being at the very top. They then threw their hands into the air and let out a cheer.

"Right!" Lysithea said, calming down as her face grew serious once more. "So, what's our first order of business?"

"I think we should split up and ask around for information," Ashe suggested with a smile. "I can ask Ingrid if she had anything to do with the honey cakes, but there are other students who've reported missing items as of late."

"Leave it to me!" Raphael stood up straight. "I can run around and ask the other Golden Deer if they've lost anything! I mean, maybe the ghost's been targeting more than one person!"

"I-it's not a ghost!" Lysithea argued. "I just... went along with the team name to ward off any potential ones, that's all. N-not that they exist!"

"Yeah, yeah, enough chitchat!" Caspar clenched his fists and grinned. "I'm gonna rally the other Black Eagles and see if they know anything! Edelgard and Hubert are kinda spooky at times, so maybe they know! See ya in a bit, team!"

Caspar immediately sprinted out of the dining hall, with Raphael following soon afterwards. That just left a baffled Lysithea with Ashe and Annette, the latter looking even more cheerful than usual as she bounced up and down.

"Ooh! Can I come up with our theme song, Lysithea?"

"... What? Why do we need a theme song?"

"Uh…" Annette paused, wringing her hands together as her cheeks grew red. "Um… w-well, for morale, of course! Plus I hear that singing makes you more likely to catch a thief!"

Lysithea gave her an uncertain look. "That doesn't make any sense..."

She changed her tune once she saw Annette's pout, complete with puppy dog eyes. "... But okay! Sure!"

"Awesome!" Annette perked up once more, leaving her friend to question whether or not her sadness was genuine. "Just give me a little more time and I'll have one ready."

"Lovely." Lysithea turned to Ashe. "In the meantime, can I ask you to check the greenhouse and fishing pond for clues, Ashe?"

"You can count on me!" Ashe nodded, taking on a determined expression. "I'll leave no stone unturned!"

"Wonderful! Meet us back here in the evening for dinner. If I know Caspar and Raphael, they'll be here too. We can discuss the information we gathered while we eat."

"Sounds good to me! See you back here in a few hours!"

The dining hall was growing more and more crowded as the lunch hour hit, causing Lysithea to drag a brainstorming Annette outside by the arm. "C'mon, Annette! There's no time to waste! There's a pastry thief on the loose, and I won't stop until I catch them and bring them to justice!"

"I'm with you, Lysithie!"