[Byleth hummed quietly at the end of Yuri's speech. He appeared unaffected, but he was taking his warning into consideration. Yuri had been here longer than he, after all, and he was a very shrewd man, from what little Byleth had observed.
However, he needed to correct something.]
But I don't trust them. I don't trust anyone who isn't Jeralt.
[He can place trust in his allies, like Yuri, that they would watch his back in combat, and to, perhaps, support him outside of it... but he didn't trust them. He wasn't sure if he could trust anyone that wasn't Jeralt. Not with everything he had. Maybe if he made a friend, he'd change his mind, but for now... Yuri had pragmatic trust, and everyone else had nothing.]
However, I see no need to be actively hostile or distant. For better or for worse, we're trapped here with them. Better to have them view us favourably - or as gullible fools. They're more likely to lower their guard, or say things they otherwise wouldn't, no?
[That's what Jeralt said, at least, that with clients you couldn't quite figure out, it was better to appear genial and accommodating. If they thought you blithely obeyed them, they tended to say a lot of things they otherwise would've kept to themselves. Byleth wasn't good at lying or tricking people, but he was fairly good at being passive and blank-faced, and letting people assume whatever it was they wished from that.
Though, usually, he passed on what he had learned onto Jeralt, who did all the actual tricky, sneaky stuff. Here, Byleth would just have to stay on his toes, and try to see how much he could trust Yuri here. If it came to it, it may just be them against everyone in this strange, alien place, and he'd see if he could upgrade Yuri from pragmatic trust, to actual trust.]
no subject
However, he needed to correct something.]
But I don't trust them. I don't trust anyone who isn't Jeralt.
[He can place trust in his allies, like Yuri, that they would watch his back in combat, and to, perhaps, support him outside of it... but he didn't trust them. He wasn't sure if he could trust anyone that wasn't Jeralt. Not with everything he had. Maybe if he made a friend, he'd change his mind, but for now... Yuri had pragmatic trust, and everyone else had nothing.]
However, I see no need to be actively hostile or distant. For better or for worse, we're trapped here with them. Better to have them view us favourably - or as gullible fools. They're more likely to lower their guard, or say things they otherwise wouldn't, no?
[That's what Jeralt said, at least, that with clients you couldn't quite figure out, it was better to appear genial and accommodating. If they thought you blithely obeyed them, they tended to say a lot of things they otherwise would've kept to themselves. Byleth wasn't good at lying or tricking people, but he was fairly good at being passive and blank-faced, and letting people assume whatever it was they wished from that.
Though, usually, he passed on what he had learned onto Jeralt, who did all the actual tricky, sneaky stuff. Here, Byleth would just have to stay on his toes, and try to see how much he could trust Yuri here. If it came to it, it may just be them against everyone in this strange, alien place, and he'd see if he could upgrade Yuri from pragmatic trust, to actual trust.]