Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem Three Houses, all rights to the owners.
Let's see what ends up side-tracking me this chapter. Apparently it's… uh… merchants? Also, no Claude in this one. You'll get Hilda, Marianne, and Ignatz this chapter.
Ignatz restlessly scans the road behind the cart. Both hands rest on his bow, located in his lap. His quiver is on his back rather than lying against a wall like Leonie's.
"Come on Ignatz, chill out!" The girl in question calls from the back of the cart. She has a deck of cards out, and she, Hilda, Lysithea, and Raphael are engaged in some card game. "We're not even close to Gloucester yet."
"We're in Exetar. That's reason enough to be worried." Ignatz responds. He doesn't take his eyes off the path.
It's been a day and there are no bandits in sight. Admittedly they aren't that deep into Leicester territory, or even along the stretch that is supposed to be bandit-infested, but Ignatz can't bring himself to relax. Exetar road safety is notoriously inconsistent.
So no, he won't chill out. As a merchant himself, he knows full well how dangerous Exetar territory can be. There's a reason his parents avoided it despite the potential profit.
"Wh-Why is that?" Marianne asks softly. She's sitting along the side of the cart, occupied with scriptures in the form of a palm-sized travel book. She marks and closes the book upon asking her question.
It's probably pure coincidence that the sun is behind Marianne when Ignatzs glances over. The rays dance across her hair in a way that's oddly angelic. Ignatz suddenly wishes he could pull out his paints.
Ignatz quickly looks away. He doesn't want to stare. He does that enough already, albeit under entirely different circumstances. Circumstances he absolutely should not be thinking about right now. "Uh, well, Exetar's duke is notoriously unreliable. The roads might be safe for months only to go completely unpatrolled for the next half dozen when some arbitrary interest prompts the duke to move all his soldiers, quite literally every single soldier on some occasions, towards some new goal and forget that he actually has a territory to protect. At least, that's how I've heard other merchants put it."
So despite the fact that he can't see bandits, Ignatz doesn't feel safe. If this were Goneril or Daphnel territory, he could be assured the road was safe, but it isn't.
"Then again, so many roads aren't safe lately. I always keep an ear to the merchants who visit the monastery, listening for news, and every week it seems like I hear of some attack on merchants in Leicester territory." Ignatz admits.
"That's… worrying." Marianne murmurs. A flicker of blue enters the corner of Ignatz's vision and he jumps a bit, only to discover it was Marianne taking a seat next to him at the back of the cart. "Leicester is worse now than it was before?"
"I- well- not really." Ignatz says, trying not to stammer. His fingers fidget on his bow, and he tries to sit up straighter. He fights the urge to pat down his hair and adjust his glasses. He's been getting those impulses a lot lately. "Gloucester territory is as risky as ever, Exetar is always hit or miss depending on Acheron's whims. Edmund has been dangerous recently, b-but I suppose you knew that."
Ignatz could punch himself when Marianne nods solemnly. Of course she knows Edmund is dangerous for merchants. She's the margrave's daughter, and they went on that mission to kill the dire boars precisely because of the lack of security in the territory.
"But Daphnel and Goneril always have well-patrolled roads, and the other territories are at least decent at keeping the roads safe." Ignatz says. "You just have to know where to go. My parents usually travel between Goneril and Reigan territories, making a line from Derdriu to Neit."
"The territory capitals." Marianne recognizes. "Are they trade centers?"
"Yes. Very much so." Ignatz nods. "Derdriu especially, but Neit is the best place to buy Almyran goods outside of Almyra itself. My parents make most of their money buying Almyran art from Almyran traders in Neit and selling it in Derdriu, and then bringing back exotic fish from Derdriu to sell to the Almyran traders for the next batch of art."
"Exotic fish…?"
"Yeah. The bay of Derdriu has a lot of unique fish you can't find anywhere else. Even just one fish of certain types can be quite valuable locally, so you can imagine how valuable they are in foreign markets." Ignatz explains.
"Ah." Marianne frowns slightly. "I see."
Ignatz notices the frown. "I got off topic, didn't I?" Oops. "Uh, anyways, the mission we're going on now has to do with Gloucester's poor security, actually. Selectively poor security I should say. Gloucester is notorious for levying extra fees against merchants with the intent to travel to Reigan territory, and it seems that now Count Gloucester has extended that to not protecting merchants going to Reigan." After a moment, he adds: "Maybe because a lot of merchants just stopped admitting they were going to Reigan..."
"How cruel of him." Marianne says, her frown deepening.
"That's just the way of nobles." Lysithea grumbles. Ignatz hadn't realized she could actually hear them. "There's a reason I ignore politics. It's a mess of spite and petty personal grudges. It's rare to find an unselfish motive, especially when it comes to money."
Marianne's eyebrows furrow for a moment, like she wants to protest, but she doesn't.
"I can't speak for all nobles, but their whims do tend to get in the way of a merchant." Ignatz admits hesitantly. "But that's just merchant life. You're at the mercy of border taxes, market fees, and road security, half of which is almost directly under some noble's control." His eyes, which had turned to look at Marianne, drift back to the road. "Hence why I'm keeping watch. Acheron isn't reliable."
Marianne nods silently. Though she goes back to reading she remains next to him, and somehow makes Ignatz yearn for his paints even more from how picturesque her pose looks.
It's incredibly distracting actually. Ignatz has to make an active effort not to watch her the whole time, and ends up glancing at her every few minutes anyways.
He ignores the raised eyebrows of Leonie and Hilda when they stop for lunch. It's nothing weird, and it's none of their business anyways! The fact that he looks away in embarrassment probably doesn't help his case though.
###
She's horribly, terribly selfish. She can claim this is for the benefit of Edmund, but she could have talked to any merchant. She could have talked to Raphael. Instead she's being selfish, and using this as an excuse to monopolize Ignatz's attention even though he's trying to keep watch.
She didn't have to bring back the topic after lunch. She could have taken her seat on the side of the cart and gone back to reading.
"Well, there a lot of things that affect where merchants go." Ignatz explains. Once again, his hands fiddle with his bow, and Marianne feels a trickle of silent shame that her mere proximity is cause for anxiety. Of course it is though. She's dangerous. "There's the things I mentioned before of course. Fees, taxes, security. Those are all big. Of course, there's the potential money that's valuable as well; something unique to buy, or a unique market to sell to. Of course, I suppose if it was that simple your uncle would have done it already."
"Yes." Marianne murmurs. "Change takes time… but a ruler doesn't have time. That's what my uncle says. There's always someone who you're responsible for who doesn't have two years to wait for the money you invested into the fisheries to result in more fish on the market so prices can go down so the common man doesn't have to pay an arm and a leg for one fish. Not everyone has that much time… and so…"
"The sea route."
"The sea route." Marianne repeats quietly. "Try to clear away the monsters on the edge of the Sreng bay to entice merchants. It's quicker than skirting the coast from Derdriu to Fraldarius territory, and there's a sizable island so you don't have to sleep on a boat if you want to go straight across. Even if the merchants are going from Derdriu to Fraldarius, not buying or selling within our borders, Edmund would still make money from fees. We just need to be able to boast a shorter, more convenient sea route."
"I… didn't figure you were versed in being a merchant."
"I'm not. That's why I'm asking you." That and, of course, her growing attachment to him that she doesn't deserve to feel. "But, as the heir to the Margraviate of Edmund, I am versed in rulership, encompassed among that being economics."
Ignatz stares at her in surprise, and Marianne looks away quickly. It would be strange to be reminded that a monster like her was to be a ruler one day. One expected such skills from Dimitri or Edelgard or even Hilda to an extent, but not her.
"Wow." Ignatz says. Marianne could almost mistake his tone for being awe. It's probably shock. "I… I guess I forget about your status sometimes."
Marianne shifts uncomfortably in her spot. Her status. Just another privilege she doesn't deserve, and one which grants her near immunity to the consequences of her feedings. No one would dare act directly against the daughter of a margrave without absolute proof. "And I that you are a merchant, or the son of them."
"Yeah." Ignatz's tone is strangely quiet, and Marianne recognizes that tone. She uses it so much herself. It's the tone of someone who's been reminded of something they'd rather not think about. "I am."
Having accidentally killed the conversation, Marianne isn't sure if she should get up and leave, or if that would be even more rude than just sitting there in uncomfortable silence.
Part of her wonders if a comforting hug would be in order, if she were someone closer to him. The hungry, predatory voice in the back of mind urges her to do it anyways, whispering that if she just takes off her necklace she can make everything better, that she hasn't fed in a few days and Ignatz is perfectly, deliciously vulnerable at this moment.
It's merciful when Raphael's voice breaks the silence, asking if Ignatz has seen his spare shirt.
###
Hilda won't pretend to be particularly interested in the mission. It's Gloucester being Gloucester. Petty as always. She's pretty sure Lorenz is still up front, guiding the horses with the Professor and trying to convince him that surely this isn't Count Gloucester's fault, except that it totally, obviously is.
Worse is that she doesn't have Claude for entertainment on this mission. Instead she has to pretend that card games interest her and watch Marianne and Ignatz fumble through conversation. They make out at least once a week but barely know anything about each other? It's funny in a sad sort of way. It's as if they're scared of each other, which is absurd considering how much trust they've put in each other. Marianne has to trust Ignatz to keep quiet about everything she's done, and Ignatz has to trust Marianne with his safety when she feeds.
Whatever. She's no stranger to people being irrational. She's friends with Claude after all. He still acts like she might stab him in the back despite constant evidence to the contrary.
Speaking of Claude… he's not around right now, and that leaves Hilda in the odd position of being the de facto leader of the Golden Deer (aside from the Professor, of course). You think it would be Lorenz, and he might be if he wasn't such an annoyance all the time. Instead, when it was time to set up camp last night, everyone looked to Hilda to decide who was responsible for what and mediate who would take what shift as night guards.
Maybe it's just her association with Claude that everyone expects her to know how to lead like he does.
Hilda also wishes the Deer had one of Jeralt's mercenaries along to help. As much as she's sure they can handle this mission, they are down a key member of their class and some help would have been appreciated.
Deciding she doesn't want to win at yet another round of poker, because everyone else has terrible poker faces, Hilda gets out of her seat, glances disappointedly at Marianne who is hiding in the corner with her nose in her book to avoid the embarrassment of her failed conversation rather than just changing the subject, it's not that hard Marianne, he wasn't even offended, hops over the divider to the driver's seat, and settles in between the Professor and a surprised Lorenz.
"Hello to you too Hilda." Lorenz says dryly. "There is such a thing as announcing your presence."
"I did." Hilda says, and flicks one of her ponytails haughtily. "You noticed me sit down, didn't you?"
"That's not what I mean."
"It's what you said though."
"I meant to say you might consider announcing your intentions before you do them."
"I'll consider it." Hilda says in a tone that makes it clear she's not going to do that. She turns her attention to the Professor. "Hey Professor, are you sure it's a good idea for us not to have any backup?"
"Why not?"
"Well, we happen to be down a member, unless you've forgotten." Hilda says.
"I remember."
"So we're weaker than usual."
"Yes."
There's a pause. Hilda expects the Professor to say more, but the man instead says nothing as if a simple "yes" explains all there is to know. "So… why didn't we get help? A church knight or two, or one of your father's mercenaries?"
"They're busy."
Hilda's eye twitches. "The mercenaries or the knights?"
"The mercenaries."
"And what about the knights?"
"Also busy."
Hilda could strangle him.
"We'll be fine." Byleth says neutrally, still staring at the road. "We'll kill them all."
"Great." Hilda mutters. She exhales quietly. "Just fantastic..."
###
"Goddess forgive me my sins. Deliver unto me your mercy, and unto others protection from me." Marianne whispers. "Grant me salvation from my urges, and my victims deliverance from my hunger."
She says victims, plural, as if that hasn't been narrowed down to one person by this point. She prays as if there is salvation from her urge to feed, despite knowing full well that there's nothing that can be done about it short of changing her species. The goddess cannot, would not, simply remove a fundamental part of someone. There is no tale, no myth, no scripture, that gives any indication she will or has ever done such a thing.
"Please, Goddess." Marianne says, then hesitates. It's usually here she'd ask to be taken, and she still feels like she deserves to be taken, but she rudely, desperately doesn't want to be taken anymore. She's selfish, oh so selfish. Selfish for enjoying her newly found companionship with Ignatz. Something she shouldn't have, that she got only through exposing the worst part of herself… but she can't convince herself to give it up, to give him up, now that she has him. "Guide me."
"Guide me" feels like such a tiny, unworthy replacement for her usual plea. How dare she ask for guidance she doesn't deserve?
She knows what Acrim would say, and what her uncle has said in the past: "It's not your fault. You've done the best you can. Your species is not you. The only one making you out to be a monster is yourself." Some of those are starting to feel just the slightest bit true, and Marianne loves, hates, and fears that it might be the case.
And the idea that any of the things she does to Ignatz might not be wrong is so… alien… to her. Alien in the same way that claiming the Goddess isn't real would be alien. Something that seems fundamentally, obviously incorrect, but in this case it somehow isn't.
Squeezing her eyes shut, Marianne finishes the rest of her prayers. She's too emotionally exhausted from the day already to think deeply about this. She wants to finish her prayers and read.
Of course, she only has two books with her. One is her personal travel book of prayers and scripture, and the other is a book on species she bought from a merchant before leaving so she'd have something non-religious to read.
Marianne told herself it was because there was a section on succubi, but that's a bald-faced lie and she knows it. After needing Acrim to explain her own psychology and biology to her, Marianne realized that if she was painfully ignorant of her own species, she must know virtually nothing about others.
The fact that the book was titled "Humans, Halflings, and Half-Elves" had absolutely nothing to do with it. No connection to Ignatz at all. She does not have the halfling page bookmarked, and is not trying to consider any and all implications of what she reads inside.
Not that there's as much to consider as a succubus. Halflings don't have predatory energy siphoning powers warping the way their psychology is formed after all. However… Marianne is a succubus. Reading about "normal" psychology is still eye-opening for her. It's one thing to pick it up through context clues over years of knowing you aren't normal, and it's another thing to see it spelled out in plain Common on a page.
It's this book, right at the bookmark, that she pries open after her prayers are done. It feels like a guilty pleasure and she treats it like one, reading by candlelight in her tent rather than the campfire that's not too far away so others won't see her.
Realistically she doesn't have anything to hide. No one is going to give her more than a side-eye for her choice of reading material. Really, the reason she refuses to let this be seen is the chance that Ignatz will recognize his new importance to her through seeing the book.
It's such a petty reason with such a slim chance of happening, but her embarrassment insists she hide herself as her fingers carefully trace the lines, mulling over every subtle point and possibility with the same attention she'd given to Acrim's words not so long ago.
She will understand, both herself and others…. and if she's going to understand others, she may as well start with the person she pins to a bed once or twice a week.
###
There's no time to plan. They hear a scream as they turn a corner, and suddenly there's a monster and a dozen brigands just a bit down the road. How they didn't hear them is beyond Ignatz. A dire wolf, twice the size of a horse and many times as strong, is tearing through the cloth cover of a merchant's wagon with its teeth as the bandits clamber through the entrance, pushing back a teenager with a spear. Up at the front of the wagon one of the bandits is also engaged in a fight with a middle-aged man who is holding a longsword. At the very back of the wagon is a middle-aged woman, a young girl, and an infant boy. Everyone, merchants and brigands, look human.
"Kill them all!" Is the only order Byleth shouts before lunging into battle. Ignatz can hear Hilda curse under her breath as the Deer scramble for their weapons.
"I'll deal with the wolf!" Hilda barks. She lifts her mordenkrad and leaps over the front of their cart in a surprisingly elegant movement. "Raph, push through to those merchants! Leo, help the man up front! Sithie, I need a path! Everyone one else, kill the ones close to the merchants first!"
No one argues. Lorenz, Lysithea, and Marianne's hands all flicker with different colours as they call upon their respective magics. Raphael lowers his shoulders before charging headlong into the group of bandits while Leonie runs right by them (while swiping one of them in the side with her spear for good measure) in a mad dash to help the middle aged man, and Hilda obliterates the body of the one bandit who didn't get out of the way of Lysithea's dark spikes attack as she makes a run for the dire wolf.
The small arrow Ignatz launches at the brigands feels quite underwhelming in comparison to everyone else.
The battle quickly devolves into chaos. Raphael bulls through the main bulk of the bandits, scattering them everywhere, and one of Lorenz's fireballs hits the wood where a bandit's head used to be, setting it ablaze. Another line of dark spikes only scatters the bandits further as they frantically try to dodge, and soon the Deer have bandits coming at them in a semi-circle rather than just one direction.
Ignatz can feel a sudden, intense desire to flee when he sees the bulky, angry men charging at him. This feels all too much like when he and Marianne got cornered in the forest, and he can feel the same shaking in his arms as he hastily tries to line up a shot.
Once again, his shot goes wide. It slips by a bandit's ear, only hitting his hair and nothing else. Once again, Marianne is the one to step in and save him. Blizzard slips from her fingers and blasts the bandit in the chest.
Ignatz fumbles his underused sword out of its sheath as the bandits make it into melee range, but he has little chance to use it. Anyone that gets close to him is struck by blizzard or nosferatu before he can actually take a swipe at them. Despite Marianne standing almost directly behind him, there's no question as to who is protecting who.
Of course, not everything is as simple as hitting a bandit with one spell. One bandit pushes through the blizzard spell that meets his chest and Ignatz hastily brings up his sword to try and block the axe.
Forgetting, of course, that you can't block an axe with anything short of a shield, and even that tends to be insufficient.
The axe effortlessly smashes past his sword and into his chest. Rather than pain, a sharp, piercing numbness sprouts in Ignatz's body and his vision goes hazy as his breath no longer seems to be working.
He's only vaguely aware that he's still standing, somehow, even as the axe is wrenched from his body. A tingling can be felt around his upper body, accompanied by a faint white glow.
Then all of a sudden the world comes into sharp focus, like breaking through the surface of water. Pain sprouts in his chest, burning like a tea spill but ten times worse, only for the feeling to be rapidly snuffed out in a surge of healing magic. His hands, devoid of sword or bow, frantically try to find something to defend him with.
It's unnecessary.
In a scene that feels all too familiar, Ignatz can see the brigand in front of him, paralyzed on the spot. The man's hands are up around his neck, trying to pull off the delicate fingers that are clamped around his windpipe. His veins stand out all over his body, and Ignatz can see the telltale reduction of muscle in his body as Marianne siphons the life out of him.
It's not nosferatu. There's no glow of magic in her hand. That's her natural powers. Ignatz didn't even know she could use her powers with her necklace on.
The bandit drops bonelessly to the ground, and Ignatz tries to grab his bow, but Marianne doesn't release him. She clutches him protectively as she continues to sling spells at other targets.
Off to one side, Leonie has finished her duel with the bandit accosting the driver, and to the other Hilda is having trouble with the wolf. Unlike the lizard monsters, the wolf isn't stupid enough to sit still as she swings her mordenkrad at it. It hops back and forth, trying to find an opportunity to lunge at the purple-skinned girl. Raphael has successfully pushed through to the merchant family, and is helping the teenager hold the entrance of the wagon against a trio of bandits.
Ignatz tries to pull out of Marianne's clutches, but his squirming only results in her tightening her grip.
"Marianne!" He shouts. The girl startles, apparently not having expected him to talk. "Can you let me go? I need to grab my weapons."
"O-Oh! Of course." She stammers, and she releases him quickly as if he gave her an electric shock. "S-Sorry, I wasn't thinking…"
Ignatz scoops up his bow and his sword. He's readying another arrow to shoot at the bandits (precious few of them that are left anyways) when Marianne nervously lays a hand on his shoulder. He turns his head to look, only to see her holding his glasses.
He didn't realize they'd fallen off. His eyesight is working just fine at the moment, better than it has without glasses in years in fact, but he nods his thanks and slips them back on anyways.
Through the rest of the battle Ignatz is hyper-aware of Marianne hovering behind him. She's so close that drawing his bow often has his elbow touch her dress, and the flashes of her magic appear just over his head, where he can sometimes see her fingers.
Is she still worried that he's going to get himself hurt? Is he really that bad at fighting? It's hard to think he's not. That's twice he's fumbled a shot when it mattered most.
The Professor eventually finishes with whatever fight he was in off to the side and helps Hilda pin down the dire wolf, and outnumbering the remaining bandits easily allows the Deer to route them.
As soon as the battle is over and all the bandits routed, Marianne starts to fuss about his injury. Ignatz feels perfectly fine and tries to insist as much, but Marianne won't hear it.
"I still need to check to make sure my magic didn't miss anything. You might still be in shock, and can't feel any injuries you might actually have!" Marianne insists. One of her hands is on his shoulder to keep him from moving away, and the other is near the bottom of his shirt.
"I'm fine Marianne!" Ignatz protests. His own hands are gently pushing Marianne's away. He doesn't know why, exactly, he's so opposed to having her check. Maybe it's embarrassment, both at his injury that he couldn't prevent because he can't handle a sword or make a simple shot, and also at the basic idea of Marianne pulling up his shirt and staring at his chest. "Your healing magic worked. It's okay!"
"But I should check!" Marianne repeats. "It's standard procedure!"
That's a good point, and Ignatz knows it's true. He swallows his embarrassment and is about to allow it, only for Hilda's voice to ring out.
"Marianne! Can you pull off his shirt later? One of the merchants was injured!"
Marianne flushes bright red, and she pulls her hands away from him at great speed. "H-Hilda! I- I wasn't-! He was hurt too!"
"Yeah, great, get a room later, whatever, get over here!"
Marianne scurries off to tend to the injured, leaving Ignatz to stand around in flustered confusion for a few seconds before the Professor calls everyone else over to help track down one of the merchants' horses that broke free.
It's a perfect distraction to avoid thinking about his own incompetence and whatever just happened with Marianne.
###
Hilda takes a deep breath. She can feel her muscles flex as she exerts serious effort into her lift. The object isn't the heaviest thing she's ever had to lift, but all the weight is away from her, so she's constantly fighting the object's want to lean and fall as well as it's actual weight until she can get herself properly underneath it.
The merchants watch in slack-jawed shock as Hilda lifts their entire wagon out of the ditch and over her head, takes a dozen slow steps back to the road, and slowly sets down the vehicle on the packed dirt.
The horses paw the ground and shake their manes nervously, probably unnerved by the sight of something so big moving in such an unnatural way.
The merchants, of course, thank her profusely. They seem to think she's in charge. Maybe it's because she didn't run headlong into battle and actually gave orders, Professor. That might have something to do with it.
"This is why I let Claude lead. Now I have to run everything." Hilda complains silently to herself while smiling and accepting thanks on the outside. "I blame this on you Claude, and the Professor too. Stop making me put in effort!"
The Professor only speaks up once, and it's to offer to escort the merchants to the next town. Hilda tries not to groan. She doesn't want to do more waiting around. She just wants to go back to the Monastery already!
Fine then. Whatever. If everyone else really wants to get attacked again, they can escort the merchants. Yes, Ignatz and Raphael are merchants and they're worried about Ignatz's parent's livelihoods and bla bla bla. She gets it, they're worried, but they're barking up the wrong tree. Killing a few bandits and monsters won't do much. Count Gloucester is the problem. He's the one letting bandits run around in the first place, and he can always hire more, or just have some of his soldiers dress up as bandits. He's the one really stymieing trade from Gloucester to Reigan and putting lives at risk; the bandits are just the pawns.
Not that Ignatz and Raphael could do much to Count Gloucester. You'd need actual political weight to make Count Gloucester do anything reasonable, the petty bastard.
Goddess damnit, She's actually going to have to do something about this bandit issue herself, isn't she? She can try and get Holst to put pressure on Count Gloucester. Maybe something about offering troops since Count Gloucester apparently can't defend his own roads? Threatening a noble's pride usually works.
"Good work." The Professor says, patting Hilda on the shoulder in a very awkward fashion. Has he never given praise? Also, Hilda is not in the mood to deal with the Professor at the moment. "You took command as expected and did well."
"No thanks to you." Hilda thinks. She smiles politely and thanks the Professor of course, no sense in making enemies, but Hilda really just wants to take a nap or something. She spent too much effort actually trying to hit that dire wolf with swings actually meant to be powerful, and when she puts actual strength into her attacks they're actually tiring.
Yes, actually.
"If you don't mind Professor, I need to sleep." Hilda says. "Just an Old Blood thing."
"What?"
"You know, Old Blood? Uh, me?"
The Professor blinks uncomprehendingly.
"I'm an Old Blood Professor."
"Oh… what's that?"
Hilda can feel blood throb near her eye. Shouldn't he know this? Her species isn't hidden on her file, Claude confirmed as much. Did he just not bother to read them? "I'm incredibly strong, but it takes a lot of energy. So I either need to sleep a lot or eat a lot when I use my strength. I prefer sleep"
"So the purple skin isn't-"
"And I'm purple." Hilda says with a sickly sweet smile. Is he trying to wear her patience thin? "So can I sleep, Professor?"
"Sure."
Hilda waits a moment, expecting the man to say more, but the Professor simply turns around and starts to repair the damaged wheel of the merchants' wagon. Hilda lets out a long, frustrated breath, marches over to their cart, and lies down on the back bench using her backpack as a pillow.
A thought suddenly crosses her mind. The Professor said she took command "as expected", and unlike most fights he didn't offer a single input for tactics. He intentionally left the Deer to do their own thing and just assumed she'd step up. That bastard.
Hilda hates this stupid trip.
So yes, this was Death Toll. I had a lot of fun this chapter. I expected to mostly enjoy Marianne and Ignatz because I'm a sucker for relationship stuff and Marianne struggling to figure out herself, but Hilda getting fed up with Byleth's shit was strangely entertaining.
Maybe that's just me.
