Chapter 55

The Secret Seller

"Phila, Cordelia, fly ahead and warn the village!" Walter barked. "Robin, form up the Shepherds! Forward, for the glory of Ylisse!"

"For Ylisse!" the others cried, before Robin stepped forward. "Sully, Stahl and Gaius, move ahead and flank those archers! Walter and Donnel, engage the spearmen and axemen trying to cross that bridge to the south! Libra, Olivia, you're with me; we're going after the swordsmen to the east! Virion and Tharja, engage at your own discretion! Once you've eliminated your targets, rendezvous at the village gates! Let's move!" With a shout, the Shepherds quickly took off toward the enemy. Olivia looked rather hesitant, but quickly steeled herself and followed her betrothed and the tactician into the fray.

Phila and Cordelia had flown back hastily and informed them that one of Walter's own villages was under attack, by the same bandits they hunted. Walter had grown furious then, and demanded they be put to the sword. Nobody else had even thought of arguing, and they'd marched double-time to the nameless little village in question. It was nestled into the corner of two intersecting rivers, next to a small mountain that was really more of a steep hill. The ground was covered in snow, being the dead of winter, and the woodlands were thick here. They'd arrived to see well over two dozen bandits making their way toward the village. Walter prayed for the villagers' safety as he and Donnel charged at the fifteen or so men in front of them from out of the trees.

"This is the Lord's will!" Walter roared at the surprised bandits, before ramming into one of them shield-first and swinging his mace at another, who hastily brought his buckler up to block it. His arm broke from the sheer force of Walter's blow, however, and he was quickly dispatched as he dropped his weapon and clutched his shield arm in agony.

"Yeeeeehaaaaaawwww!" Donnel shouted uproariously as he launched a leaping strike against one of the axemen, cutting him down without a fight. He then sheathed his sword and drew his war axe almost faster than Walter could track, and launched himself at his next opponent, a spearman this time. Two arrows sailed past Walter, hitting the two men in front of him squarely in the forehead, giving him a brief reprieve; Virion's work was as impeccable as ever. Walter spared a quick glance back toward the village to see how the others fared; Robin, Libra, and Olivia were holding their own, the cavalry and Gaius were now breaking off to join Phila and Cordelia at Robin's command, Cordelia was removing her lance from a bandit's chest, and Phila was…By God, Walter thought in shock. Phila was a virtual storm of destruction atop Erinys, thrusting her heavy steel lance so swiftly and easily that Walter could scarcely track it. She was surrounded by the bandits, at least eight of them, causing Walter to worry for her safety briefly, but with a flurry of thrusts and swipes, three of them fell to the ground, missing limbs from the sheer force of her lance swipes or holding deep puncture wounds to their torsos. Erinys moved the pair about like water, easily evading the attempted counterattacks, before taking the pair off into the air, where Phila promptly turned them about and dove back into the fray, skewering two of her assailants at once. Walter had thought her a fine soldier on foot, but when mounted she was a force of nature. I guess she really is rubbish on foot, relatively speaking, Walter thought as his chest swelled with pride and affection.

Walter was quickly brought back to reality as an axe crashed down against his pauldron, bruising his flesh and eliciting a cry of pain from Walter, even through the heavy steel plate. He leapt back and turned to see his opponent, and his brow furrowed in anger; this was clearly one of the twins. He wore armor not unlike Mustafa's which only made Walter angrier that he would so resemble a man he respected, and his slick black hair was neatly trimmed and combed, giving the bandit an almost mocking air of nobility as he twirled his axe absently.

"Give up now," the bandit said in a surprisingly refined manner that only served to fuel Walter's anger. "I was born a Victor, and victory will be mine!"

So, this is Victor, Walter thought as he growled and leveled his mace. "I am Sir Walter of House Lennart, Grand General of the Ylissean Army and Duke of Nordenheim! Your life ends now!"

"I think not, 'Duke'," Victor snorted mockingly. "I'll have your head, sell your fancy armor, and build Vincent the finest home in all the land!" With that, he snarled and leapt forward, bringing his enormous battle axe down toward Walter. He sidestepped the heavy, slow weapon easily and swung his mace horizontally. Victor leapt back, grinning madly, before launching a flurry of strikes against Walter. Walter dodged or blocked all of them, but the superior reach of Victor's weapon was forcing him out of his own effective weapon range. His one or two attempts at a spell were quickly cut off by Victor leaping forward, viciously chopping with his axe to interrupt him.

"Just give up!" Victor shouted gleefully. "Some blueblood like you can't win against me! I'm going to kill you, capture the girl, sell her, and live like a King!" What girl is he talking about? Walter wondered.

"Careful, love," a cheerful, feminine voice said, before a sword erupted from Victor's abdomen. "We traders are known to make some very deep cuts." Victor's reply was a strangled gurgle, before falling to the ground, dead before he even touched the snow. Around them, the bandits dropped their weapons or fled. A couple of bandits still fought on, but Donnel was on them like a pig in slop, and made short work of them.

Walter looked to see who had finished Victor off, and was surprised to see a short, flame-haired woman wearing an equally red traveling outfit, looking at him and smiling cheerily. "Hello handsome!" she greeted. "Thanks for distracting him! I'm Anna, also known as the Secret Seller. The next time we run into each other, I'll make sure to give you an extra-special deal!"

Walter raised his eyebrow. "You're a merchant? Courageous of you, to step in between bandits and their targets."

"I do love that rush you get from doing the right thing," Anna answered jovially, "but more importantly, this village is a really important stop on my trade route! The inn's really good, and more importantly, really cheap. There's also no other resting point between here and the Longfort, and as much as I love camping, I prefer a warm bed."

Of course the merchant is worried about money, Walter thought wryly. "Regardless, it was a brave thing you did," he said aloud. "I am the new ruler of this Duchy, and you've helped save one of my villages. If you have need of a favor in the future, you have but to ask."

"I appreciate it!" Anna replied. "I'll give it some thought. Until then, tootle-oo! May the gods of the open road keep you." With that, she spun on her heel and practically skipped away.

"Well, ain't that the darnednest thing?" Donnel said as the merchant disappeared into the trees. "Wouldn't reckon a merchant'd just jump inta somethin' like that."

"The world is full of surprises," Walter said with a grin. "You did well today, Donnel," he complimented. In the short time he'd been fighting Victor, Donnel had dispatched most of the other bandits single-handedly; only four or five sported arrow wounds.

"Aw, shucks, Sir Walter," Donnel said bashfully, "Just doin' my best."

"Your best is better than most," Walter replied, clapping his hand on the boy's shoulder proudly. "You're a fine soldier. Your mother will be very proud of you. Let's go regroup with the others." Beaming, Donnel followed Walter back toward the village, where the Shepherds were gathering in front of the village gates, the obvious elder of the village speaking to them.

"Walter!" Robin shouted worriedly as he approached. "Did you happen to see a young, redheaded woman about? She was fending off the bandits before we arrived, but slipped away when Phila and Cordelia arrived. The villagers wanted to thank her."

"Yes, we encountered her," Walter answered. "She slew the bandit leader before leaving. For a merchant, she was quite quick with that blade." As Robin and the village elder sighed in relief, Walter turned to the latter. "Send a message to Nordenheim, to a man named Seth. Tell him that the Duke is ordering a contingent of guards to be deployed to this village, and to increase patrols in the area. There's still the other twin scurrying about, and I will not leave my villages defenseless."

The old man's eyes widened and his hand tightened on the ornate staff he was carrying. "You're the new Duke, then?" he asked in awe. Walter nodded. "Thank the gods for ye! Here, take this for your troubles, milord!" he said, raising the staff. Walter could tell it was of extremely high quality, and became hesitant. "Oh, come now, milord!" the man said insistently, "Ain't a healer in this village anymore since my beloved was killed by those damned bandits last winter, we ain't got not use for this anymore! Anabelle would be honored that her staff be given to the men who avenged her. Take it, I insist!"

Walter hesitated a second longer, before sighing and accepting the gift. "Thank you," he said humbly. "It will not go to waste."

"I'm sure it won't, milord," the elder responded kindly. "You are returning to Nordenheim now?"

"No," Robin answered, and the pair turned to him. "When their leader was slain, the bandits fled, doubtlessly back to their lair. Cordelia and Stahl are tracking them now. We need to strike while the iron is hot, before Vincent can regroup and take revenge."

"I agree," Walter said. "Shepherds, we move out for Vincent's hideout when Cordelia and Stahl return!"

"Please, you're welcome to rooms in the inn, free of charge!" One of the villagers called from within the gates of the village. "It'll take some time yet, I think, come on in out of the cold!"

Robin and Walter shot each other a look and a shrug, before following the elder into the village.

000

"This is the place?" Walter whispered from the bushes they were hiding in.

"Yes," Cordelia answered, dismounted and hiding next to him. "The bandits fled here.

Three days had passed since they'd killed Victor and saved the village, and Cordelia and Stahl had located the bandits' lair. They were now in the woods just north of the Longfort, near the ruins of an old fort. Walter assumed it was part of the border defense long before the Longfort was ever built; the ruins were positively ancient, and the stonework worn away by the decay of time. The ruins were mostly empty at the moment; just the leader, Vincent, and a few bandits remained. Stahl had reported that the majority had left maybe a day before they arrived, and Walter and Robin had agreed to wait until the majority of them returned before they launched their attack. The bandits, with Victor being the exception, had proven to be poor fighters, so neither of them was worried about being overwhelmed, and they wanted to ensure this gang was put down here and now.

The Shepherds were currently staked out in the woods, surrounding the ruins from the east and west. Walter was hiding with Cordelia, Stahl, Donnel, Sully, and Phila; he was overseeing the assault from the west, where the forest was thicker but farther away from the ruins themselves; that was why all of the most mobile members of the team were with him. They would be able to cross the distance faster.

"'ere they come Sir Walter," Donnel whispered urgently, gesturing back toward the road at the south end of the fort. Sure enough, the remaining couple dozen bandits were returning now. Walter frowned, however, when he saw what the two in the front were carrying.

"They've captured Anna," Walter growled.

"That's the merchant from the village?" Phila asked, and Walter nodded, not taking his eyes off of the girl. "How do you think they caught her?"

"I don't know," Walter stated shortly, "Why don't we go find out?"

"Wait!" Stahl hissed. "Vincent is coming out!" Walter turned back to the ruins of the fort, where surely enough Vincent, the spitting image of Victor, was storming out of the front gates of the dilapidated fort. Walter growled as Vincent walked straight up to Anna and slapped her hard enough for the impact to be heard from their position.

"We have business, you and I," Vincent roared, "and I aim to settle the debt! A life for a life! Victor will be avenged today!" Walter gestured to the others, and they climbed atop their mounts.

"I'm…sorry?" Anna asked, apparently bewildered by the accusation. "Have we met before?" Walter cursed again as Vincent slapped her again, even harder this time, as he mounted Erinys behind Phila (much to the pegasus' chagrin, but Phila soothed her quickly).

"Your sword, Donnel," Walter whispered as the boy passed, holding out his hand. Donnel obliged, drawing his blade and handing it to Walter with a confused look.

"Playing dumb won't save you, cunt," Vincent snarled, grabbing Anna by the throat and hauling her out of her two captor's arms, lifting her up in the air by the neck. "The gold you fetch from the slavers will build Victor the finest grave in all the land!"

Phila took off then, and Vincent's tirade was interrupted as spells erupted in the back the bandits ranks; Tharja's work, judging from the black flames that were now consuming several of them. The bandits immediately broke formation and ran for cover, Robin's group popping out of the woods to pursue them

"This is the Lord's will!" Walter cried as they cleared the treetops, casting his own spells toward the back of the enemy so as to not hit Anna. Vincent yelped in surprise as one bolt of lightning just barely missed him, and finally dropped her. The swift merchant then immediately bolted for her saviors, though limping heavily on one leg.

"Oh, no you don't!" Vincent snarled, before taking off after her. Phila immediately angled toward the pair as Vincent began gaining on her. They were almost there when an archer targeted them, and Phila was forced to pull up to avoid the arrow. Walter quickly came up with a rather foolhardy plan.

"Anna!" Walter shouted, before throwing the sword down the path shortly in front of her. The blade stuck into the snow hilt up, but Walter wasn't paying attention anymore. As Phila shouted his name in fear, Walter leapt from the pegasus, about thirty feet above the ground.

Vincent was so focused on Anna that he was completely unprepared to be hit by hundreds of pounds of flying steel and flesh. Walter collided chest-first with the bandit leader, and they crashed to the ground, both letting out cries of pain. Something in Walter's left shoulder went horribly out of place as he landed, and he could hear the snap and accompanying cry of pain as Vincent's leg broke from Walter landing on it.

Walter quickly rolled off of the disoriented and pain-ridden bandit leader, quickly stumbling to his feet and drawing his mace. His left shoulder was throbbing in agony; he had dislocated it. His shield arm would be useless in this fight. Vincent, however, still managed to stand, though obviously favoring his only healthy leg.

"Who the hell are you?" Vincent snapped. "I've got business with that little harlot; now get out of my way!"

"I am the Duke of Nordenheim!" Walter responded. "I was the one responsible for the death of Victor. The merchant is not your quarry, I am."

"Is that right?" Vincent said, grimacing in pain, before drinking what Walter recognized as a healing elixir. Rare, expensive, powerful, and likely ill-gotten. A second later, the empty bottle was thrown to the ground, and Vincent's leg was healed. "Well then, Your Lordliness, I guess I'll just have to kill you instead!" With that, he leapt forward, bringing his axe to bear with frightening speed. Walter just barely managed to evade the blow, wishing sorely that he hadn't dislocated his shield arm.

Walter quickly found himself stuck on the defensive; Vincent was clearly the stronger of the two brothers, and faster to boot. It was all Walter could do in his injured state to avoid the deadly axe as Vincent hacked away at him. More than once Walter found himself forced to use his shield arm anyway, crying out in pain as the shock from the blows sent waves of agony up his arm.

"I am a conqueror by name and a conqueror by nature!" he boasted as Walter scurried away from his onslaught. "You never had a chance!" he continued as he cornered Walter against the wall of the fort, the paladin breathing heavily.

"Careful love," a sickly sweet woman's voice said before a sword delved into his ribcage from the side, "prices aren't the only thing I can cut in half." Vincent cried out in pain as the sword dug in further, before it was ripped violently out through his back, quite nearly bisecting him. Vincent gave an unintelligible curse, before slumping down to the snow, dead.

Walter laughed tiredly as Anna cleaned the sword off on Vincent's cloak, before turning to him. "That's…funny," he chuckled breathlessly as Anna shot him a curious look. Walter noticed the last of the bandits being run down and killed by the others and opted to relax a bit, sheathing his mace.

"What, that little one liner? I spent a lot of time working on it, I'm glad to know it's funny to other people too," she said cheerily. "Thanks for distracting him, handsome. I'm Anna, some folks like to call me the Secret Seller."

Walter laughed again, and Anna's gaze turned even more curious. "No," he clarified. "I remember you from before. You killed Victor just like that too," he said, gesturing to the cooling corpse of the second twin. "It's almost…poetic."

"What, first these bandits think I killed one of their buddies, now you do as well?" Anna sighed. "Wait, you said you remembered me…you must have met one of my sisters. That also explains why these bandits kidnapped me too, if one of my sisters killed their friend. I bet I know which one it was too! I keep telling Anna not to stick her nose into things like that," she sighed in exasperation.

"You…you have a sister?" Walter asked. "You look identical."

"Yep!" Anna replied happily. "There's a strong family resemblance. And we're all traveling merchants too!"

"…with the same name?" Walter asked, nonplussed. Anna nodded happily. "Good Lord, your family gatherings must be chaotic."

"Aren't everyone's?" Anna responded amusedly. "But I can't just send you on your way after helping two members of the Anna clan! Why don't I-?"

"Walter!" came Phila's voice, shortly before the flapping of wings, clopping of hooves, and a comparatively light weight barreling into him from the side cut the conversation short. Phila had dismounted and latched onto him. He gently patted her back with his good arm, chuckling softly. "You foolhardy, insane man!" she roared as she let go and punched him straight in his wounded shoulder, causing him to yelp. "What were you thinking, leaping from that height!? You could have gotten killed!"

"But I wasn't," Walter corrected with a smug grin, earning himself another punch to his wounded arm. He cried out in pain and nearly fell over. "I suppose I deserve that," he sighed as Phila harrumphed and strode over to the now clearly amused Erinys, fishing for the staff they'd gotten at the village and grumbling about how all men were idiots.

"Aww, is that your wife?" Anna asked sweetly as Walter sat down with his back against the walls of the ruined fort. "You two are so adorable! But as I was saying, why not take me with you?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Walter asked, bemused. "Take you where?"

"I dunno, wherever your little mercenary group goes?" Anna replied. "I can be quite useful. I can fight, use a staff, and even pick locks!"

"A thief, then?" Walter responded. "Our group already has one," he said, gesturing to where Gaius was currently patting down the corpses of the bandits for extra gold…or more likely sweets in the thief's case.

"A locksmith, I'll have you know!" Anna cried indignantly, before her faced turned cheerful again. "Come on, what do you say, handsome? You'll never make a loss with me in tow, I guarantee it!"

Walter thought about it briefly, and was about to accept, when he heard some strange growling noise; glancing toward the source, he saw Phila glaring at Anna with the utmost loathing. "You may come along," he answered, and Phila's heated glare turned to him, and Walter suddenly felt quite warm, despite it being the middle of January. "Just…no cutesy nicknames," he sighed.

"It's a deal!" Anna cried happily, seizing Walter's uninjured hand and shaking it vigorously. "Now, I'm betting these bandits had quite the hoard built up, so I'm gonna go see about picking some locks. Be back in a trice!" Before Walter could say yes or no, the young redhead was gone, bolting into the doors of the now abandoned fort.

"Do we really have to bring her?" Phila asked distastefully as she walked over to Walter, staff in hand.

"We do not have to, but having another…'locksmith' will come in handy," Walter replied, and Phila huffed. "Her technical skills aside, she is a merchant. Robin could make use of her talents in planning the reconstruction effort."

"Does that mean she'll be going to Ylisstol?" Phila asked hopefully as she set down the staff and grabbed hold of Walter's arm, preparing to set it.

"Are you jealous, Phila?" Walter asked teasingly, before crying out in pain as his bone was reintroduced to the socket quite abruptly and without warning.

"Not at all," Phila replied stiffly as she lifted the staff.

"Well, that's good then," Walter said, his voice strained, as she began channeling her magic. "I mean, why would you be jealous when you're the most beautiful woman on earth?"

"Flatterer," Phila scoffed, trying desperately to hide her smile. She could do nothing about how red her face was turning, however. "There, finished," she said, before helping Walter to his feet by his now-healed arm. "Do try not to jump off of a pegasus again, dear."

"I will endeavor not to," Walter replied, before giving her a brief embrace. "The experience was less than pleasant. Come, let's find the others and inform them that we have a new member."

"Let's hope she doesn't call Gaius 'handsome'," Phila said with a laugh, "or Tharja will have a new test subject." Walter just chuckled as they regrouped with the others.

One problem down, one to go, Walter thought to himself soberly. After these animal traffickers are taken care of, we can finally involve ourselves fully in the business of peace.

AN:

Lol why the fuck did they have Victor and Vincent in the ass end of Regna Ferox anyway? Like I get the world map isn't that big, but come the fuck on. Like the Shepherds have absolutely no reason to be going all the fucking way up there, especially by the time Vincent's paralogue comes up. And the intros to the levels made it seem like they just stumbled upon the villages on their way to whatever they're doing in Plegia/Valm too, which makes even less sense. So, yeah, we're changing that. And also I figured I'd let Walter get his ass kicked for once. Guy's rusty, the bandits have been operating for over a year, and Walter's been kicking a little too much ass so far, excluding getting thrashed by Gerald in the Coliseum. He's a veteran and Kendal praised him as "the greatest warrior he's ever met" or some such, but nobody is unstoppable. Especially when they're a dumbass who forgot that gravity is a thing that exists.