Deserter hints, anyone?

[Kurozora Konoi]

Soo... yeah... I'm by the end of the game, and I'd really like hints about how to deal with the deserter.
From what I can gather, he'd rather not fight, but I can't seem to get him to back down at the moment. And I'd rather not play AGAIN only to get killed at the end while saving my gryphon or Neeris.

I did the cure quest, and my gryphon has all average stats (but they're all above 50). My characters strongly leans towards the Council, has high knowledge, is very nice and has average charm.
I can try to tweak things like the gryphon's stats, but I'd rather stick with my character as they are. So, is there a way to talk the deserter down in conditions close to these? I don't need to befriend him, only to get safely home. If it's impossible to talk him down, is it possible to defeat him instead? I'd rather not kill, but well, I'd like a good ending, so yeah...

I'll probably keep trying soon even if I don't get any answers, but it would be nice not to get stuck for too long, and I have a hard time altering my choices if I don't absolutely need to. That makes if difficult to actually change things on my own.

So anyway... Thank you very much!

[Holo]

you can let Neeris talk the deserter into leaving.