Harpstrings Moon
Foddlan year 1880
In the Officers' Academy, there were few people who would wander around before the school hours. Most of the students, usually, would delay the beginning of their day as much as possible in order to gain a handful of bonus sleep, and even the staff would rather spend their early morning in the tranquility of their room or class, dealing with annoying paperwork or planning the lectures of the day.
There were exceptions, of course. Jeritza, for example, could always be found near the training grounds, sharpening his skills, while the calming ambient noise of the marketplace filled the near-empty gate hall. Some peculiarly diligent fellows, like Seteth and the Gatekeeper, would be fulfilling their duty long before the sunset.
And then, there was Cyril.
The little boy was currently busy bringing the horses and pegasus' hay to the stables, so they could be fed later by those who happened to be assigned to such a duty. To this end, he was employing a rather sizable handcart which, due to his small size, would slightly lean backwards.
After succeeding in getting yet another delivery at its destination, the young, tanned everyman attended at his damaged and hay-infested shirt, which had been irritating him since half an hour already. When he was about to go back to work, however, he began to let his eyes wander on his surroundings with a mixture of awe and serenity.
Yes, all the labor may be hard, but he was happy living in Garreg Mach, and he wouldn't have it any other way.
Right before he was going to grab the cart and go back to his duty, though, Cyril caught the rather bizarre sight of a human silhouette on top of the wooden roof of the stables. At first glance, it was difficult to identify the figure, but its blond hair could clearly be seen and its overall shape suggested a man.
"Hey, Sir! Could you get down, please?"
Reacting to the boy calling him out, the mysterious man turned his head around and seemingly examined just who had spoken. Without hesitation, the blonde jumped off his elevated platform and landed right in front of Cyril and immediately proceeded to look down on the tanned boy.
Now that the stranger was up close, the little laborer was able to get a better view of his quite unique features. First of all, he was quite tall, maybe even on the level of height of Professor Hanneman, and he was quite well-built, even if slender. His hair was moderately long and mostly untamed, with a small braid here and there, placed at random points on his head, while he had a sharp, fully faced beard. As for his clothes, he was wearing dark-colored pants with a red, sleeveless shirt with green inscriptions written on it.
"Hey, little fellow. I didn't quite catch what you told me when I was up there, mind repeating it?" Said the blonde with a kind smile.
"Okay, well, I was just asking you to get down, so that's alright. I'm going back to work, now, so please don't climb on the stables again, Sir." Responded the young man before getting a hand on his wooden cart.
"Ha! The person who will make me stop climbing is not yet born, kid, but I'll oblige for today if it can make you happy…" Exclaimed the man with a good-hearted laughter before he took notice of Cyril's whereabouts. "Hey, are you doing this all by yourself?"
"Yes, I am. Now, I have work to do." Retorted the everyman with annoyance.
"This has got to be heavy…" Then, after watching the boy walk a few meters away from him, he shrugged and caught up to the boy in an instant. "I'll help you with that."
"You really don't have to, Sir. Don't you have a duty of your own?" Asked Cyril, looking over this strange individual.
"Oh, no! For now, I'm just passing time here, doing pretty much nothing until I find something more constructive to do. Thus, I'm bored as hell, and the weapon handling classes don't start before an hour or two."
"Okay, then. You can help if you want." Responded the boy with a shrug before continuing his work.
Thus, for an hour, man and boy continued the latter's duty in silence, and once they were done with the hay delivering, they began doing some cleaning up of the Academy's grounds. At this moment, the stranger decided to reinitiate conversation.
"Hey, I was wondering, what is your name?"
"Cyril."
"Huh. Mine's Link."
"Alright."
…
"You look a lot like the Almyran merchants. Are you Almyran?"
"Yes, I am, but I don't remember much from there. I've mostly lived in here."
"Working at the monastery? Are your parents employees as well?"
"They're dead." At this, the blonde outsider's face sombered slightly by pity for the boy in front of him. "Lady Rhea made me a place here, and that is all I could have ever asked for."
Nodding slightly, Link then looked up and saw the position of the sun. His eyes widened slightly as he looked in the direction of the training grounds.
"Well, Cyril, it has been nice meeting you. We'll speak more next time, okay?"
At this, the young Almyran rolled his eyes and went back to his work. Then, the morning bell rang, announcing the beginning of the classes.
In the classroom of the Blue Lions, the day had begun solemnly with Hanneman exposing his plans for the school year.
"… It is important that you know that while I will help you optimize your skills in field that you already are talented in, I will insist that you develop a more diverse set of abilities. Thus, I will let you choose just what are the subject matters that you want to study in this year."
Meanwhile, as most of the class was dutifully listening to their teacher, Sylvain and Felix merely faked interest, just so they wouldn't be pestered after for not paying attention. The redhead looked to the side and whispered to his friend.
"Wow… he's so boring on top of it all… at least, we'll have the weapon lessons."
"I suppose so." Responded Felix.
"Well, at least from back here, I've got a nice view on our group's ladies, am I right?"
"…" At this moment, the heir of the Fraldarius decided that listening to his old teacher was becoming preferable to having to hear his friend's idiocies. As such, he turned his head forward and ignored any further word uttered by Sylvain.
During this time, Hanneman was listing the different courses and specializations that the Academy endorsed, being the handling of swords, lances, axes, and bows, melee combat, Reason and Faith magic mastery, authoritative skills, heavy armor, cavalry and flying. Each student would have to pick at least two, with the possibility to try out more as the year progresses.
Of course, the extremely zealous Annette immediately lifted her hand.
"Yes, did you have something to ask?"
"Yeah, uhm… do you know if you will give supplementary classes after the regular hours?"
"Oh, yes, of course I will reserve time for you outside of class if you feel that you need it, Annette. However, I do need to keep some for my own projects, so I may not always be able to." Responded the Crest specialist.
At this, the orange-haired girl nodded comprehensively and looked over to the side, where she saw Mercedes, looking quite distraught. Not wanting her classmate to stay in this state, Annette leaned to the side and asked her, as Hanneman was speaking to her House leader:
"Hey, Mercie. Is there something wrong?"
"Oh… no, I do not think so…" Answered the elder member of the group. Not satisfied, though, the clumsy mage decided that she wouldn't let the matter go so easily.
"Come on, something is clearly on your mind… what is it?"
"I… Have you seen the weapon handling teacher?"
"Jeritza? Yeah, I did. Why?"
"He… he reminds me of someone, that is all."
"Oh, alright, then."
While the two girls were busy chatting, the rest of the classroom had begun choosing their academic objectives, at least for the time being, with Dimitri going first.
"I will personally take Lance and Authority for now. As the future king, I need to learn much about leadership." To this, however, Felix frowned and scoffed.
"Oh, right, the Boar Prince is taking leadership courses. Now, we're all saved."
The rest of the class, used to the Fraldarius' antagonism to their prince, contented themselves with shrugging this off and continuing with their own choices while their professor scolded the recluse young man for his disrespect toward a fellow student.
Thus, over the next fifteen minutes, the rest of the students had chosen their first objectives, and with the exception of Sylvain's inattention or Felix' outbursts, no particular incident perturbed the class much.
While the Blue Lions were having a monotone class for the morning, the atmosphere at the Golden Deer's room was much, much heavier. While Raphael, Hilda, Lysithea and Marianne were acting well enough like their usual selves, the rest of the group were much more silent than usual, with Ignatz being even more nervous than usual, even if it was on the others' behalf.
At the front of the class was seated Lorenz. While he kept his composure, it was undeniable that he was not feeling as confident as usual. His controlled, but heavy breathing and nervous tapping of his fingers on his desk were good witnesses of that. Furthermore, instead of trying to up-noble everyone else in the group like he normally would, he mostly kept to himself and even avoided eye contact with everyone else.
Leonie, for her part, was evidently not in a much better mood. Rubbing the arm that had been wounded by Hubert and Ferdinand's attacks the day before, she was using a dagger to carve figures in the wood of her desk. While she wouldn't normally be the kind of girl to perform such revolting acts of vandalism – or at least, a certain bureaucrat would tell you that it was –, she needed to vent her frustration on something, and she didn't have anyone to fight right now.
Even Claude, the eternal jokester and trickster, was far more serious looking. Instead of angry or ashamed, though, he merely seemed pensive.
When Byleth entered the class, no one dared to speak up first. When she began to, the attention of everyone was immediately turned on her.
"Well? Can someone tell me what today's battle was?"
In the absence of a response from those concerned, the young Lysithea got impatient and lifted her hand before answering.
"A disaster, that's what it was."
"Exactly, thank you, Lysithea."
With a heavy sigh from Lorenz being the only noise filling the place after that exchange, Byleth went on with her class.
"Now, can each of you explain to me why? I do not want names, we'll do that later."
Now, it was Claude's turn to speak as he rubbed his chin.
"I would say a total lack of cohesion to the strategy. Some of us stuck to the plan, others did otherwise, but almost no one really worked together yesterday."
"And that is true. I had a plan that would have worked well in our favor if we had followed it, but even it was not perfect." Responded the new teacher. "With the Black Eagles' strategy, we would have had to fight the Blue Lions while under their fire. However, there is one another extremely important reason why we lost."
Following that was further silence, upon which Byleth elaborated.
"Before that, however, I will tell you something: it wouldn't have mattered if we won or lost this mock battle. There were no stakes, and no reward for the winners. Plus, if you have to lose, now is the perfect time for it. No one wins every time. Do you think I won every fight during my time as a mercenary?"
Silence imposed itself, once again, with everyone's eyes focused on her.
"I have several scars that will stick with me until the day I die, dealt by enemies who wanted to kill. If you learn from yesterday, then you will avoid receiving such injuries. Now, can someone tell me the most important reason we failed yesterday?"
At everyone's surprise, it was Lorenz who spoke up first.
"It was because we did not know how everyone else would act. Some of us performed actions because they assumed things about others, and I have myself been guilty of such a thing. Yes, cooperation was terrible, but it was impossible to succeed without proper knowledge of our classmates."
Now, the silence was from stupor rather than plain shame, and even Claude nodded in agreement. For as much as the two bickered, they did share some opinions.
"To add on what Lorenz here said…" Said the tanned leader. "To know each other better would have helped us to comprehend everyone's fighting styles. That would have been great to better decide what role we would fulfill."
"Yes, thank you, you two." Said Byleth, with a small smile on her face before the latter vanished, letting place to a more serious expression.
"I have been hired to make you the best combatants that Fodlan would have to offer, and that is what I intend to do. Despite what I have said earlier, the results of yesterday's battle revealed that even the best of you are quite naïve when it comes to fighting, and that you can easily fall for enemy traps. As such, I have decided of a moonly routine from now on.
During the first week of each Moon, you will all decide on what you will be learning with me in private tutoring sessions. During these, the ones who are not busy studying will be assigned to chores or will be free to do what they want. Then, the first weekend will be free time for you all.
After that, however, we will spend every other weekend of each Moon out of the monastery, fulfilling requests all around Fodlan, be it fighting monsters, bandits, or anything else. This way, you will be putting your theoretical knowledge to practice, and you will be given the opportunity to grow as an appropriate squad. I have already the permission from Seteth to put you all into practice battles with the Knights of Seiros before our assignment at the end of this Moon."
At this, the reactions of the group were rather diverse.
Claude and Lorenz at the front, as well as Leonie, nodded as Byleth explained her plans, rather content to get such a zealous teacher. As for the rest…
Raphael was mostly indifferent, but he was glad that his professor had made no mention of forced magic tutelage. Lysithea had the same reaction, but with physical activity.
Hilda, for her part, began as exhalted to learn that she would get so much free time, until she heard that most of her weekends would be spent fighting off some outlaws everywhere, without mentioning the chores.
Ignatz and Marianne, however, were mortified. The forced fighting was something to be expected in this kind of establishment, but to this extent?
One thing was clear for everyone in the Golden Deer: this was not going to be your typical school year.
However, none of them could imagine just how much this statement would be true.
At the training grounds, the Black Eagles began to get themselves installed for the morning by gathering their favorite type of weapon in the pile of wooden models. While most of them were unenthusiastic at best, The young Petra took a great breadth of fresh air while the little ball of pure blue energy known as Caspar was stretching out before he did a few jumps in his excitement.
Seeing that his fellows didn't share his utter joy of finally getting out of the restrictive classroom, he frowned a little, but it didn't prevent him from preparing to perform a few practice swings with his axe.
On one end of the area was Jeritza, who had been given the group by Manuela for the time being. Busy with distributing the training weapons to the students, he had been approached by Edelgard and Hubert, who had insisted on being the first members of the class to get personal lessons from him. Of course, Ferdinand had complained, but the issue was not important enough that he insisted too much.
Meanwhile, scattered around the sand-covered grounds were the rest of the Black Eagles who were focused on whatever they thought important to do. Caspar had found a dummy to bash on, Dorothea and Ferdinand were practicing their magic and lance techniques respectively, Petra had preferred to begin the training session with stretches and, of course, Linhardt and Bernadetta were practically immobile, way too busy with napping or cowering.
In the other end of the place was sitting Link, who was content with lazily observing the students training with a good bit of amusement. Seeing these youngsters strive to hone their abilities… it wasn't exactly exciting, per say, but it was heartwarming, in a weird way.
Looking at his surroundings, Link ended up finding the few documents that Jeritza needed to manage the class. The Hylian guessed that even learning how to swing a sword around had to be organized in a place like this.
Of course, with his curiosity taking over as usual, he reached out for the paperwork nearby and began to examine it. He wasn't certain that the establishment would like him reading through their official stuff, but the weapon instructor had not made the impression of a particularly uptight guy, unlike a certain green-haired fellow.
The first thing he saw was the list of the various courses that were offered by the academy, with those that Jeritza could provide being surrounded in red. Since this particular matter bored Link, he almost immediately passed to the list of the eight main students. His eyes narrowed as he made an effort to go through the names.
Edelgard von Hresvelg , the red-caped House leader…
Hubert von Vestra…
Ferdinand von Aegir…
Caspar von Bergliez…
Linhardt von Hevring… Wow, folks in Fodlan really liked needlessly complicated names…
Petra Macneary, this one sounded kind of familiar…
Dorothea Arnault, and finally…
…
Bernadetta von Varley?!
Link's visage flinched back in genuine surprise when he managed to decipher the last name before he lifted his eyes to look after the students. When he finally found the mauve-haired girl, the latter noticed that the Hylian was staring at her and shrieked slightly.
Her horror only grew when the bearded blonde stood up and began to walk towards her. With the way the sun and the tall man were placed, the morning light threw a menacing shadow over the outsider's eyes, which did not help the troubled girl to calm down at all. Even hiding behind a pillar didn't do any good since he simply went right around it. Once he was close, Bernadetta got on her knees and closed her eyes.
"Oh, no, Please! I don't know what you want to do with me, but at least make it quick!"
While the rest of the class' attention had been attracted by the frail girl's behavior, Link contended himself with standing in front of her for a few seconds, before a slight chuckle shook his entire body. Once he was finished, he remained immobile for a moment, further prolonging the utterly bizarre scene before he went on one knee so he could be at Bernadetta's level. He then put a hand on her shoulder, which made everyone else in the area, save for Jeritza and Hubert, hold their breath, and he spoke softly with a sad smile.
"You've not changed one bit, kid."
After these words, either from the stranger's kind tone or sheer terror, the young woman's eyes opened slowly and began to observe him.
"You don't remember me? Link! The weird outsider?"
To everyone's complete bafflement, the girl's facial features quickly softened as she got a better view of the man who was speaking to her. After a while, her respirations even started to slow down.
"… L-Link?"
Ethereal Moon
Fodlan year 1877
The sun was still shining bright in the early afternoon of the western part of the Varley territory, but it didn't help much to warm the chilling temperature of the winter. As such, Jonas von Varley was quite eager to finally arrive at his destination. Accompanied by his trusted bodyguard, he ordered his horse to accelerate his pace as the duo traversed the desert road. While he was still outside, he decided to at least take a good look at the superb scenery that was offered to him.
The snow-covered road which the noble and his companion were traveling on traversed a small valley which traversed by the sides of the mountains of Oghma, which offered a splendid white glow to anyone there to witness it. Further down the trail, there was a thick forest which the two cavaliers would have to go through.
"Sir, are you sure about this? It is still not so late in the day and there could be bandits in those woods. We could make a detour and stop by a village if the cold inconveniences you this much." Inquired the knight, reasonably unnerved.
At this, Jonas took a few seconds to think. It was true that there was a risk. However, he did not want to arrive quickly to his destination merely to evade the temperature. Indeed, knowing his brother, the mansion was probably not even properly warmed. No, he wanted to see his little niece as soon as possible.
"I understand your concerns, my friend, but I am willing to take that chance. Let's pass through as fast as we can!" Exclaimed the overweight noble with a warm smile.
"As you wish, Sir."
Thus, the two men continued on their intended path, leading them to enter the menacing woods only a quarter of an hour later. Once they went past the edge of the forest, the knight shuddered at the sudden drop in lighting, which was caused by the snow stuck in the trees' branches that blocked any sunlight.
Keeping an eye out for any possible ambush, the duo advanced in a moderately quick pace. When the noble's weight began to tire his mount, however, they found themselves forced to slow down. Even with this inconvenience, however, the two ended up approaching the open field at the other side of the woods in a relatively short amount of time, causing Jonas to joyously exclaim:
"You see, my friend? You didn't need to worry all th-"
As if fate had been tempted by his words, however, a loud screech immediately traveled throughout the entire forest as the two men looked to the side with horror.
Indeed, a Giant Wolf had appeared to their left, growling with a savage expression as it slowly walked in front of the two cavaliers, terrifying their horses in the process. The knight wished that he could distract the monster so his master could escape unscathed, but the wolf had placed itself right between them and their exit.
Still, he was not about to leave his master and friend to die right before his holiday reunion. As such, he demounted and raised his hands, the latter glowing with a bright, blue light.
"Step back, Sir Varley! I will fight off this thing."
As the noble slowly backed off with a mixture of fright and worry on his visage, his bodyguard took an extremely nervous step toward the beast, who was now showing its teeth. He gulped a little as he prepared for battle. He may have not been at the top of his class in his time at Garreg Mach, but he was still a proud graduate of the Black Eagles.
Even with his best intentions, however, he found himself blindsided when the beast suddenly plunged forward and tackled him to the ground, forcing the poor man to raise his arms and keep the thing's jaw from biting his face off.
After realizing that its tactic wasn't effective, the monster moved its oversized snout to the side in order to destabilize its smaller opponent. After making a few rolls as an aftermath, the knight was laying on his stomach and trying to get up, defenseless against the beast lunging at him.
That was, fortunately, until a pillar of light suddenly erupted from the ground beneath the monster, causing it to shriek as it took a few steps forward. Taken aback by this event, the knight looked back at his master, who had just performed an Aura attack in order to save him. Not wasting any time, he placed his hands as a cup and threw a mighty Thoron attack directly at the thing's head, hoping to cause as much damage as possible.
To the two men's horror, however, when the dust settled, the Giant Wolf was merely growling with even more ferocity. They had managed to burn some of its fur off, but the skin under it was still perfectly intact.
"Sir, it's useless! This thing has absorbed magic to become this big; we are not powerful enough to damage it with magical attacks!" After these words, the bodyguard withdrew the sword from its sheathe attached to his hip and prepared himself to confront the thing directly.
Suddenly, before either the men or the beast could move, a whistling sound came from the side of the road toward the monster, and when it reached it, a powerful explosion threw the wolf to the side, taking both Jonas and his friend by surprise. At this moment, a voice yelled out of nowhere:
"Look out, people!"
At this point, the two cavaliers were met with the sight of a bearded blonde man, who was wearing warm-looking white pants and a grey sweater, rushing out of the depths of the woods and running at the beast, wielding a strange mace that was as massive as himself. Too taken aback to move, the two observed as the stranger jumped forward and swung his enormous weapon right in the face of the creature in a show of what could only be superhuman strength.
After the first blow, the Wolf growled and screeched at the newcomer before using its enormous paws to grab a massive boulder from the ground and throw it on the blonde. At the moment when the projectile was supposed to make contact, however, the mysterious man jumped to the side and rolled on the ground before he put his mace on his back and pulled back in its place a golden-colored bow.
"Come on, you toothed bitch…" whispered the blonde man as he readied his arrow.
When he fired, then the knight understood what the nature of the first attack had been: a normal arrow, with an explosive charge attached to it. He realized this because the stranger was now firing a second one in order to destabilize the creature. Once that was done, he repeated his previous tactic of smashing the thing with his oversized weapon with as much force as he could. This time, instead of bringing the mace down, he swung it forward, making contact with the beast's lower jaw.
When the blow connected, the sickening sound of bones breaking apart was clearly heard by everyone present as the body of the Wolf was sent back and fell on the ground, completely limp.
A few seconds of silence followed these events as the blonde man sighed heavily and stretched his arms. During this time, Jonas and his companion finally got out of their stupor and the knight took a few hesitant steps toward the monster's body in order to inspect it.
"It… it is dead. You have completely shattered its jaw and broken its neck in half!" Exclaimed the bodyguard, putting his sword back in its proper place before turning to this mysterious stranger. The latter directed his lazy gaze at the creature and shrugged in response.
"I guess so. A bit less durable than the others, this one." Was the stranger's only answer.
"Excuse me, my good sir!" Said Jonas, who had retrieved the two horses. "Please accept my eternal gratitude, as well as my companion's!"
"Huh?" Said the confused knight.
"Oh, you're welcome. Though, seeing at how weak it was, I think you could have beaten it on your own." Retorted the blonde man.
"Do not be so modest, young man. What it your name?"
"… Link."
"Well, my name is Jonas von Varley, and here is my personal guard and friend, Johnathan!"
"If it isn't too much to ask, mister Link…" Began Johnathan, wiping the cold sweat that had formed on his forehead. "What were you doing in the middle of these inhospitable woods?"
"Oh, that? I was hunting this thing, of course!" Said Link.
The two other men looked at each other with incredulity before the guard asked back:
"You are hunting down those things?"
"Yes, this way I can make more potions of my own recipes."
After this moment, the noble and his companion let Link go to the corpse and retrieve its guts before taking apart its meat. As they asked themselves how he was supposed to transport all of this… merchandise, the strange man took out a stone plate and, after tapping on it a few times, almost all of the wolf disappeared into it!
"Whoa, what was that just now!" Asked Johnathan in surprise.
"Oh!" Seeming embarrassed, the blonde scratched the back of his head as he looked back at his magical tool. "That's a special sealing spell from my homeland, you wouldn't know of it."
"I see…" Said Jonas solemnly.
"If I might ask, exactly where do you come from?" Said the guard before his friend raised a hand at him, gesturing him to stop.
"It is of no matter. This man just saved both of our lives. Sir Link, if you would accept, I would like to offer you some time in our company, as thanks for your precious help."
The outsider was now looking back at the pair that he had just half-heartedly helped and brought his hand to his chin as he reflected on his options here: Passing time in what was probably a warm mansion or some snowy spot.
Really, what a tough choice…
"Well, consider me in. I hope I will not interrupt anything?"
"Certainly not!" Exclaimed the nobleman. "In fact, I know someone who will love to have another likeable presence around…" At these words, Link frowned slightly at the implications while Johnathan cringed slightly.
"So, do I get on one of your horses?" Asked the outsider.
"Yes, you can come with Johnathan, I'm sure he will be glad!"
Just as the latter was about to protest, however, Link smiled and sealed away his heavy weapons in his stone plate, at which point the bodyguard was a bit more willing to comply. Thus, the three men resumed their journey to House Varley.
"I really am grateful that we happened to meet you, mister. My niece will surely adore you!"
After a few more hours of traveling on horseback, Jonas, Johnathan and Link had finally arrived at the destination of the former two. While they approached the entrance, the Hylian observed the mansion that he had excitedly anticipated to sleep in.
Its exterior was placated with somber planks of wood, with several decorative stones which had been carved in order to make the ensemble look more pretty. There were a few windows, which the current evening lighting prevented any peeking from the outside.
At least, the owners must be quite rich to possess such a home, so Link wasn't so much worried about his comfort for the night.
Once at the doorstep, Jonas knocked on the door with a strange metallic handle which allowed to make more noise when used on the wooden door. Probably so the guest could bother as many people inside as possible, Link jokingly thought.
After a moment, a maid in a cold-proof uniform opened the entrance and Jonas announced his arrival, alongside the presence of his personal guard Johnathan and a supplementary guest, at which point Link waved at the young woman.
After this little introduction, she went back inside and the three companions then stood in the cold exterior, giving uncertain looks to each other, right before the front door opened again. This time, a muscled man with violet hair was standing in the entrance, looking at Jonas first with a slightly annoyed look then glancing at the guard and the wanderer who were behind him.
"Greetings, brother. You have brought unexpected guesses?" Spoke the supposed owner of the house.
"Ah, but Johnathan always comes with me wherever I go." Retorted the overweight noble.
"And what about this man?" Asked the violethead again, pointing at Link with his chin.
"Yes, he is a new acquaintance of ours. I will tell you the story inside!" Said Jonas.
After this quick exchange, the man, who introduced himself as Count Varley, invited the three guests in his home while rubbing his chin with his hand, as if he was pensive. When Link entered, the maid from earlier instructed him to take off his snow boots before he could go further, which the Hylian did without a word. Right after this, however, the violet-haired man looked him over and frowned before speaking to Jonas.
"Could your new acquaintance at least have the civility to shave and look somewhat presentable? I will not tolerate filthy peasants in my home."
Struggling against the urge to mock the nobleman, Link instead did his best to remain passive as he asked for the way to the bathrooms. After all, being in a vast and organized kingdom meant that he needed to not get on the bad side of the wrong people. It wouldn't mean danger to him, per say, but it certainly would be annoying.
After the maid gave him some directions, he walked over to the designed place while his two temporary companions made themselves comfortable in the beautifully decorated living room. Once he arrived, he took some of his time to examine his face and, reluctantly, realized what von Varley had meant by 'filthy'.
His visage, while still handsome with no doubt, was covered in dirt and other filth, which his long beard particularly suffered from. As such, he conceded silently that some hygiene would not hurt, especially after spending his time hunting down the pack of wolves in the forest.
Really, there were a lot of them. Jonas and Johnathan were lucky to have met him.
After shaving off his facial hair and spending some time washing his face, Link took a new look in the mirror in front of him and he smiled proudly. He had aged like fine wine, and his now naked chin put some emphasis on his sharp jawline. In a way, seeing himself in this way made him feel nostalgic of the first days of his new life, when he hadn't yet reached the jaded state that he was now stuck in.
Once he was done taking care of himself and admiring his own image, the Hylian returned to the living room where Jonas and his brother were discussing the former's travel while Johnathan contented himself with drinking tea and flirting with the Varley's maid.
"Ah, yes. I was certainly eager to arrive, but I have taken a bit too much of a risk, I will give it to my old friend…" Said the overweight noble with a resting expression.
"Were the roads dangerous to this point?" Asked his brother with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, they were. Can you imagine, John and I went face to face with a Giant Wolf in a forest near here, and it was much more powerful than either of us!"
"…" The Count frowned again as his brother spoke. When Link went into his field of vision, his expression grew even more somber. "Only one? How did you defeat it?"
"It is all thanks to this charming young man over there that we are still alive and breathing!" Exclaimed Jonas. "You should have seen him in action, brother, he looked like a prime example of the Knights of Seiros! He killed this beast in a mere few hits!"
"Yeah, and again…" Interrupted the Hylian, seemingly offending the Count by his lack of politeness in the process. "I've been there for some time, and there were far more of them before. If I hadn't been there, your brother was quite dead."
After Link told these words, the atmosphere of the room became quite heavy at the idea of the anticipated holiday reunions being ruined by such a tragic death. Count Varley, for example, could only sigh while glancing at the blonde outsider.
"I see. Thank you for saving my brother's life, peasant. I will allow your presence for these celebrations."
Now, this talk of peasantry was beginning to irritate Link slightly. He absolutely did not care about what others thought of him, but nobility was such a stupid concept in his eyes. Moreover, he was, technically, a noble in Hyrule.
"In any case…" Said Jonas with a wide smile. "Where is my little ray of sunshine?"
"Oh, right…" Count Varley whispered before shouting with a booming voice that made Link flinch back in surprise.
"BERNADETTA! YOUR UNCLE IS HERE, COME!"
A few seconds after this nonsensical yelling, Link distinctively heard a few stepping noises coming from upstairs in a hurried fashion. When the Hylian looked up at the second floor's door, all he could see was a little head peeking out, the one of a frightened little girl with messy hair of the same color than the Count.
At first, she looked all over the place with intense fear in her eyes before she finally caught the sight of the fat nobleman who had stood up and raised in arms forward, preparing himself for an embrace. At this moment, she seemed to calm down considerably and she rushed down the stairs and practically jumped in her uncle's arms. At the sight of this scene, a little smile crept up on Link's face, which strained some muscles which had not been put to work for a long time.
"Hello, my little Bernie, how are you?" Said Jonas, letting go of his niece and rubbing the top of her head, causing her to giggle slightly.
"I'm… alright, uncle…" Shyly said Bernadetta, before her sight fell on the knight and the wanderer who had accompanied the sizeable man. At this moment, she let out a little cry and returned close to her uncle.
"Oh, right, let me introduce you to mister Link!" He said, gesturing to the blonde man, as the latter nodded respectfully upon being gestured to. "He is very strong, and he just saved my life, can you imagine?"
After this short introduction, the frail girl could only nod rapidly with an embarrassed smile.
"Now." Stated the overweight noble while clapping his hands. "Weren't we here to celebrate?"
Foddlan year 1880
Harpstrings Moon
In the training grounds, everyone was continuing to stare at the outsider and the recluse girl who had stayed immobile for a good moment now. Link, with his soft smile, was still kneeling down while Bernadetta was still looking just as confused as when the bizarre scene began.
Even Jeritza, who would normally take advantage of this kind of moment to have some time for himself, found the current events interesting enough to pay attention to them, while Hubert observed the pair with a frown.
Right as the normally noisy area was at the peak of silence, however, the frail violet-haired girl's eyes suddenly watered up as she let out a few sobbing noises. She then lunged into an embrace with the Hylian, burrowing her face into his shoulder while crying silently.
At this, the entirety of the Black Eagles were thrown into complete bafflement as the young woman that they had all known to be the peak of social reclusion just threw herself in the arms of a complete mystery of a man. The outsider, in response, was holding on her tightly as he tapped her back.
Meanwhile, Caspar had begun to come back to reality as he looked around to examine his classmates' reaction. Even Linhardt, who hardly paid mind to anything, was staring at the two centers of the attention right now. Not far from him was Edelgard, who looked quite confused as well.
"Can you tell me what's happening? 'Cause I'm completely lost, here…" Admitted the brawler to whoever would be willing to listen. However, no one else was able to get more information on the situation than he was and thus, silence continued to prevail.
After a moment of this, Jeritza decided that he needed to have the class continue, no matter whatever adorable – or strange, depending on your perspective – event was occurring. He thus ordered the students to keep on training while he went to the hugging pair.
"Link, when you are done with this… whatever this is, I would like if you stopped distracting my students."
Hearing this, the Hylian looked up and nodded slowly to the masked instructor before he grabbed the young Varley by her shoulders.
"Come on, now. Get up and practice your bow shots, I'll go see you in a moment."
As the frail girl smiled shyly at Link and obliged, the blonde outsider looked over her whereabouts for a second before turning to the confused instructor.
"Yeah, we have met a few years back." Said Link in order to answer Jeritza's unspoken question.
"I thought that you did not have any records in Fodlan?" Responded the masked man.
"Really?" Asked the outsider with a curious face. "I guess he preferred not to…"
"Pardon?" Asked Jeritza, now getting slightly suspicious.
"Oh, nothing. Just… just go easy on this girl, alright? She's not got an easy life."
In a little town, not far from the mountain where Garreg Mach stood, life was following its usual pace, with the main street in particular being quite busy with the farmers, artisans and salespeople who disputed the available clientele as well as they could.
One of them was Anna, who had moved her stand from the monastery during the night in order to offer her services to as many clients as she humanly could. Her men were taking care of the business for the morning while she searched for something rare that she could hope to resell at an egregiously high price.
Unfortunately, the search for a hidden treasure did not seem to be fruitful today. The pink-haired merchant frowned as she thought of the very unfortunate missed opportunity that the outsider had prevented her from taking advantage of. Selfish prick… keeping this amazing little stone thingy instead of giving it away…
Despite this little inconvenience, however, she consoled herself as she thought of all the money that she would be able to amass from today's very busy selling day.
While she was lost in her thoughts, a little ruckus began to form at the entrance of the town. When it reached the marketplace, only then did the money-obsessed woman bothered to direct her attention to the source of all the commotion. Already, a few people were running in terror as a large and bearded man took parole in the marketplace.
"Alright, folks, I'm going to be clear, here. We are here to take stuff, and we don't need you to piss us off and play the hero. Don't come in our way or you'll see!" Despite the way those words were said, the grinning face of the fur-wearing bandit who was yelling at the crowd did not inspire any encouraging thoughts whatsoever.
"Like hell we won't!" Said an old farmer who had been carrying his crops. "Who the heck do you thugs think you are?"
In front of this defiance, as the numerous inhabitants of the small city became more and more agitated, the large bandit leader advanced toward the old man, lifting his chin in order to look down at him.
"Here's what I think I am." And, with these words, he grabbed the farmer's neck with his enormous, rugged hands, before throwing his free hand closed as a fist on his face, sending him flying across the street under the looks of the horrified citizens. Before anyone could intervene, the thug then took a few steps forward and grabbed his axe, looking around him, almost as a challenge.
Then, just as Anna had managed to sneak into the front of the crowd, the bandit leader swung his iron-made weapon across the old man's chest, sending blood on the ground as the body of his unfortunate victim fell on the ground.
Now, all hell broke loose as everyone who wasn't a trained fighter ran for their lives in a completely disorganized mess, which is exactly what the invading outlaws had been expecting. Content, the bearded brigand began barking orders at his two dozens of men, the latter which immediately proceeded to pillage the various vending stands that had been put into place.
As a few others had done, Anna refused to step back in fright, nor did she stay idle while watching innocents get robbed or killed. Many may consider her a greedy, selfish and self-serving stereotypical merchant, and they would be completely in their right to think so. However, for all of her faults, she never did anything illegal. She needed society to function correctly if she was to make a fortune, and the brigands' current actions were threatening this required balance and peace.
Instead, she quickly reached for the dagger she hid under her sweater and rushed the first bandit she could find. A quick slash to the throat had done wonders to stop the thug's wrongdoings, as the latter's gargling noises could attest.
Following her example, several other citizens who had some semblance of fighting skill had begun to fight back against the hostile invaders, with several merchants and their staff protecting whatever they could. Each example leading to another person standing their ground, the bandits quickly found themselves cornered, forcing most of them to retreat in favor of not getting brutally murdered like they had tried to do beforehand.
After this quick, but bloody scuffle, Anna wiped the blood off her blade with an angered expression as the people around her were slowly coming to their senses and expressing a mix a of relief, terror, or mourning.
Then, once the dust had settled, the pink-haired woman lifted her eyes up as she heard the sound of several horses arriving at high speed in the town.
After the dinner period of the Academy, the classroom of the Golden Deer was quite silent for right now, with only Byleth, Lysithea and Hilda.
The former two were in the middle of a private tutoring session, while the latter was busy reading through some books. She had claimed it to be some sort of study, but the new teacher suspected that it was only an excuse to slack off while the others were finding some chores to accomplish.
Sooner this day, after the general group talk about war tactics and the little speech she gave to the squad as a whole, Byleth had decided to give private sessions to those who had not participated in the mock battle first while the others would go accomplish various chores, beginning with Marianne.
Saying that this girl was a challenge to work with would be the mother of all understatements.
First, Byleth had planned to establish a list of the strengths and weaknesses of each student so she could know what to focus on in her teachings, what not to insist on too much, and what their role in the group would be during the field missions. Now, this is a simple enough exercise, which simply requires an adequate level of self-awareness.
With Marianne, however, it quickly turned into a seance of the young woman trying to convince her teacher that she didn't have a single worthwhile skill whatsoever. This was despite the letters sent by her adoptive father, Margrave Edmund, which praised her talents in the usage of Faith magic. Eventually, the former mercenary managed to get Marianne to recognize that she at least had some kind of affinity in this area.
At the end of the time that she had intended to be the teenager's given tutoring time, Byleth felt somewhat conflicted. On one hand, she absolutely wanted to gie every student in her class an equal amount of attention and time. On the other, though, this girl was clearly distraught by something and she obviously needed help to get out of her shell.
The former mercenary figured that she would ask for the help of Manuela or Hanneman for her lessons in magic, as she herself had practically never done anything of the sort in her life.
Given all of this, the succession from Marianne self-loathing festival and Lysithea's own turn had been, for lack of better terms, like a passage from night to day.
Despite being the youngest member of the group at a rather precocious fifteen, the white-haired girl was among the most confident Golden Deers, with only the likes of Lorenz and Leonie matching her trust in her own skills.
"First things first, however. There is one thing you must know, Professor." Said the prodigy, pointing a finger at her teacher. "I am here thanks to my sheer skill and hard work alone, not because of my Crest or status. I am not some 'cute child' that must be sheltered. Understood?"
"If you say so." Responded the new teacher before changing the subject as if it had never been brought up. "Let's do something easy enough. I want you to tell me about your greatest strengths."
"Of course, I can!" Exclaimed the white-haired girl, puffing her chest with pride. "I am extremely well taught in the art of both Reason and Faith, although I still need to learn a lot more if I really want to call myself an expert…"
Good, thought Byleth. She knows that she is not infallible and that she still needs improvement…
"Now, tell me your weaknesses, please."
Once she said this, though, the new teacher's previous excitement slightly shrank as Lysithea's face contorted before she began to pout.
"Weakness? Well… I don't really know what…"
"Really?" Responded the former mercenary with a scrutinizing expression before she reached out to get a grab on the young girl's arm, which got a small offended cry as she jerked her limb back. "And what if you tried to spar with one of your classmates? Do you think that you stand a chance?"
"I… fine. I will admit, I am not one for physical prowess." Said the young woman, diverting her gaze. "However, I am confident that I don't need to be in order to be a good combatant."
A small pause then occurred, during which the small mage stared at her professor.
"Do I?"
"No, not necessarily." Admitted Byleth. "Someone who tries to be good at both magic and physical attacks may manage to adapt their strategies to their foes' weaknesses, but more often than not they only succeed in being mediocre at both. If you truly believe that your magical might is enough, then I will not insist on the physical side, apart from some basic exercises so you stay in a good shape."
Lysithea then let out a small sigh of relief as one of her greatest obstacles for her graduation had suddenly disappeared.
"So, for my classes, Professor… do you have enough knowledge in magic to teach it?"
"No." A short and awkward silence imposed itself on both women as Lysithea frowned slightly. "I cannot teach you much about magic, as I have never really used it. I will try to have shared classes with the other teachers, as I am better at war tactics and strategies than they are."
"Oh, I see. Then, does that mean that we have pretty much… nothing to do for now?"
Before she would answer, Byleth took a few seconds to reflect on this. Of course, having absolutely no experience in her student's most important academic goal was a rather significant inconvenience. Of course, it did not mean that there was nothing she could teach the girl. As such, the tutoring session shall go on.
"Hey, Professor? There's someone who wants to talk with you!"
Right as she was about to respond to Lysithea's question, however, both of the two women's attention was caught by Hilda, who had gone out to take a break in her current activity of doing nothing. The pink-haired woman was standing at the doorframe with another person who easily towered over her. Because of the lighting, Byleth couldn't distinguish their facial features for now, until the guest began talking
"Yes, thank you Hilda. Professor, Lady Rhea requires an audience with you."
As the figure advanced inside the class to approach the former mercenary, the latter began to recognize her interlocutor's distinct stern look and green hair and beard.
"Seteth." Said the professor in a simple salute before she turned to Lysithea. "You are dismissed for today, young woman. You may go study or rejoin your classmates in their activities."
In response, the young girl shrugged and picked up the various books that she had brought for the lesson before she got up and headed for her apartment, passing by Hilda in the process. Once this was done, Byleth glanced at the bureaucrat who was patiently standing near her and nodded.
"Very well, I will come." As the pair exited the Golden Deer's room in order to go meet with the Archbishop, Byleth frowned slightly at the man who was leading her the way. "Seteth, could you tell me why you thought this audience so important that you interrupted my tutoring?"
At first the green-haired man did not answer apart from a tired shaking of his head, although he did slow down his pace as he reflected on his own questionings.
"I did not decide of this, Professor. Lady Rhea did. For my part, despite my current reservations regarding you, I would much rather encourage the excellent work ethics that you have displayed so far."
'This didn't really answer my question, but I guess I'll find own soon.' Thought Byleth.
The two continued in silence for a moment before Seteth took parole again. "Although… if you could help it, I would prefer not to be disturbed near midnight again. I sometimes have flying patrol duty, and I need to be as alert as possible."
"Of course." Responded the new teacher almost automatically before the implications of the bureaucrat's last sentence sank in. "Hold on, you ride flying mounts?"
"Indeed, I do." Answered Seteth. Although Byleth could not see it, since she was walking behind him, the green-haired man's face lit up ever so slightly as his interlocutor seemed interested in his own skillset. "Wyverns are fierce beasts, but once tamed, they will be the most reliable ally one can have on the battlefield."
Now, Byleth was getting quite curious of the bureaucrat in front of her, if her amused smile was anything to go by. The two continued their conversation as they entered the main facility of the monastery.
"I would not have guessed that you were a fighter on my own. Where do you come from? The Kingdom's army? The Alliance's military? You wouldn't come from the Empire, they are not exactly friendly with the Church…"
"My origin is of no importance, Professor. Now, come upstairs with me, we are almost there."
Thus, after a few more moments of silence spent traversing the building's bright hall and dark staircases, the pair finally arrived in the room where Byleth had met the Archbishop and her assistant for the first time and, sure enough, Lady Rhea was standing in its middle. Once they were in front of the green-haired woman, Seteth bowed with his fist on his stomach as Rhea smiled softly, although she seemed to lack her usual serenity.
"Very well, now we can discuss a little with our new professor." The Archbishop then took in a deep breadth and closed her eyes. It would be nearly unnoticeable to the untrained eye, but Byleth distinguished the look of refrained anger in her facial expression. "I know that it is still early in the month, but there is a mission that I believe to be adequate for you and your class. You must recall the group of bandits who have attacked our children a few days ago."
After a quick nod from the former mercenary encouraged Rhea to continue.
"The ones who have escaped your and your group's onslaught had retreated, but we did not know where. Now, however, they are beginning to harass the towns around the monastery, pillaging and murdering as much as they can get away with. However, they always flee back in the same direction: The Red Canyon."
At the mention of this place, Byleth's eyebrows actually lifted in surprise.
"The monster-infested fissure?"
"It is not only that." Explained Seteth, taking parole. "It is also a territory of extremely high spiritual value for the Church of Seiros. Somehow, these thugs have found a way to avoid or to ward off the beasts who live there and they have established camp there."
"The fact that these outlaws dare to soil those holy grounds is utterly unacceptable!" Exclaimed Rhea, elevating her voice for the very first time since Byleth had met her. "As such, your mission for this month will be to find those bandits and to eliminate them. Do you have questions, Professor?"
Before she responded, however, the new teacher had to take some time to reflect on the situation that the Archbishop was putting her in. She had barely come out of the mock battle, where her class revealed themselves to be a completely ununified mess in a magnificently disastrous fashion. Now, she was being tasked of bringing these children into a place full of dangerous beasts in order to find and kill a bunch of bandits. At this point, the killing itself was going to be the easy part…
"I will come back to you if I have some later, Lady Rhea." She finally answered, bowing in the typical Fodlan's way. "However, the potential presence of monsters in the mission will be quite hazardous."
"Worry not about them. Your class will be escorted by Knight Alois and his men, as well as Link. This will be a good exercise for them as well."
"And of course, Professor…" Continued Seteth. "I will organize a simulation battle with the Knights of Seiros for you and your students during the next weekend. Your own mission will officially begin after this. Until then, we have troops looking out to prevent these bandits to continue their rampage."
After this quick recapitulation of what was going to be the month for the Golden Deer, Rhea concluded the meeting.
"Now, Professor, you may enjoy the rest of your day. May the Goddess bless you and your students."
As the given time for supper was approaching, the training grounds found themselves quite silent, as both the Black Eagles and the Blue Lions had finished their training sessions for the day and, in the absence of an official course of lessons for the Golden Deer, not much of their members had bothered to show up.
Of course, there are often exceptions.
While the usual weapon instructor had gone on his way to the marketplace, he left in the arena two students who were particularly eager to further develop their skills after what had happened the day before.
The first one was Lorenz who had grabbed a wooden lance in the large pile of low-quality training weapons before he went on the sanded floors in order to practice a few fighting techniques that he had learned under a private tutor from House Gloucester. Although the man had been a talented lancer, the violet-haired noble had simply been too young at the time to make something useful of these moves.
Meanwhile, near one of the pillars was Leonie, who had been busy shining up one of the old rusty bows from the place's reserves in order to use it in training later. Right now, however, her attention had been attracted by the sight of the heir of House Gloucester performing a few jumps and spins in the air. After a while, when Lorenz decided that he would take a short break from his practice, the mercenary wannabe got up and approached him.
"Hey, fancy meeting you here, Lorenz."
"Greetings, Leonie. Are your bruises feeling better?" Responded the nobleman in-between two deep breadths.
"Yeah, they're almost gone now. Come help me out, while you're not busy, will you?"
At this, the young man frowned slightly as he glanced at his classmate. Despite his displeasure, he decided to keep up his courtesy.
"What is it that you need help for?"
"Simply cleaning up all of those rusty things over there. Instead of being left to the trash, it could become useful later." As she said this, Leonie grabbed one of the axes that she had gathered and raised it in the Gloucester's direction, hoping that he would take it. In return, she was only met with annoyance and a scoff. "What?"
"I am sorry, but I must refuse. This sort of work is hardly befitting of someone of such a high status as me, and I have other matters at hand."
"Come on, stop sticking a broom up your ass for a minute and give me a hand. Is it really that humiliating for you to take care of some old weapons?"
"If we were talking about ancestral pieces with actual historical value, it would be different. I have responsibilities as a noble, notably to protect the common folk and as such I cannot take part in such… menial tasks."
For a few seconds, the arena went awfully quiet as noble and commoner glared at each other, both trying to outlast their foe in this staring contest. Eventually, Leonie spoke out.
"Well, then, let's suppose that a member of the common folk was right besides you and needed assistance from your person. What do you do?"
"In this particular case, I decline, as such a task is degrading to someone of my nature."
"Alright, then. Now, imagine that instead of doing something to help someone else, you instead acted up like a straight up asshole who believes that his ancestor or Crest or whatever grants him some kind of special place."
Another moment of silence came as Lorenz examined Leonie with utter contempt.
"If you wanted to have my help for anything, then attempting to guilt me into doing your bidding and throwing insults at me will not help you. Now, I require an apology for your arrogance and mistreatment of my person." After this, the violet-haired lad stood straight and crossed his arms with an expectant expression.
At this, the orange-haired young woman could only stand still, staring at her interlocutor with her mouth agape, until an irresistible urge to laugh took her over. With her voice echoing through the training grounds, Lorenz' visage lost all confidence in favor of utter confusion.
"Wo- Ha- Wow… 'Apology'? 'Arrogance'? Just how delusional are you?" Then, her amused expression turned sour as she lost all patience for the nobleman's antics. "All I asked for was some help. I could have repaid you the favor eventually."
"I would rather not. I am not a man to withhold such engagements from others. And for your information, you may benefit for now from being in neutral ground here, at Garreg Mach, but addressing the heir of House Gloucester in this manner will not end well for you. I would rather have you know now."
If Leonie had looked furious before, now she was livid.
"Now, you threaten me? You know what, fine. Spout your empty words at me all you want, I'll go eat."
As she stormed off, she did her best not to pay attention to her classmate's last retort.
"Great idea! This insipid conversation was beneath my time in any case!"
Much later that evening, as the time of the curfew was about to come, most students had long since reached their rooms, for various reasons. They were tired, afraid of being caught by the monastery's staff, of simply glad to be in the comfort of their bed.
It was not the case for Claude, however.
The future leader of the Alliance had instead turned his sight on the vast library of Garreg Mach, which was always filled with numerous literary pieces of all sorts, from legendary adventures of ancestral figures to history books to even encyclopedias, everything was here – except for what the Church did not want to let be known, of course.
The yellow-caped brunette was currently sitting at one of the many long tables which served to facilitate reading, with several books scattered all around his person. The one which was open right now was some sort of instruction booklet to the usage of Wind-type magic spells. The read was interesting enough, but this was not why Claude was here.
As he was turning the page, a gruff, yet soft voice suddenly peeked from behind him, startling the young man.
"Are you enjoying your stay here, youngster?"
When Claude turned around to see who had spoken to him, he uttered a mental sigh of relief when he recognized the hunched and balding figure which had appeared. Wearing a light mage robe, the old librarian Tomas was smiling gently at the young outsider as he peeked over the latter's shoulder to see what he was reading.
"Oh, of course! This place is really a treasure. Thank you for letting me stay so late."
"This is nothing, young man. However, I must tell you that the night is coming fast, and I don't want Seteth being mad for something so trivial."
"Wouldn't want that again, now would we?" After the old and the young man shared a chuckle, the tanned archer looked over to the books he had brought with him with a sad look. "It's just that I would have liked to read those as well, there is just too much! Hey, could I bring some to my room and bring them back early tomorrow?"
Rubbing his balding head with his right hand as he rested on his cane with the left, Tomas reflected on Claude's request for a few seconds.
"I… Yes, why not? Just do not damage them, please? This library is the work of my life, after all…"
"Oh- Of course! I will be back tomorrow by three of the morning, I swear, let me just…"
Then, Claude grabbed a few of the works he had put everywhere on the table and quickly put them in a beautiful pile. The one on top of it was identified as 'The Hero's Relics and History', which made Tomas lift his eyebrows.
"Ooh, a young man of culture! Those things are much more than meet the eye, you only need to see one in action!"
"Yeah, I know. My family has one of their own, so I guessed that I might as well learn more on the subject, right?"
"It is the right mindset to have. Have a good night, now!"
"Yeah, same thing!"
And thus, Claude headed up to the exit of the place as the old librarian realized that he was going to have to place back the books that the young Golden Deer member had not picked up.
'What a sweet old man', Claude thought. 'Perfect for my newest scheme…'
Indeed. Now that he was out of sight of anyone else, he gave a peek to a few of the other books he had borrowed: 'Registration of visitors of Empire Houses, Years 1869-1879' and 'Criminal affairs of the Empire'. Getting access to those had not been easy and getting them to his room would have been outright impossible if not for the innocence of Tomas. However, they were essential if he wanted to learn a bit more about the ambulant mystery that was this Link.
With the kind of skill displayed during the battle against the bandits, Claude expected the blonde outsider to be a trained soldier from his homeland or, at least, a mercenary like his new teacher. Since he talked reasonably well Fodlan's language despite spending so much time alone, it must also mean that he must have spent quite a period in the continent, hence the records of visits book. The criminal affairs one was in case there was a reason for which the guy spent so much time outside of society. He had also begun to search for Imperial records, since Link was in Remire, which is in the Empire.
Now arrived to his room, the leader of the Golden Deer lit a small candle on his night desk and stretched a little before getting into his new read.
He was going to discover this man's secrets.
Alright, it's notes time!
So, first off, I want to specify that character relationships will not necessarily go in the same way that canon ones did. Some event will occur that will strain or better some friendships.
Also, for the matter, I am trying to give every character a chance to shine in this story, but inevitably some will take a backseat in numerous parts of the story. Three Houses' cast is just too big for me to make them main characters.
Finally, if you have some personal thoughts that you would like to give about the chapter or the story in general, please go right ahead!
Have a nice day, and thanks you for reading. I hope you're having as much fun as I did writing it!
P.S.: I have editted this chapter in order to remove one of the books that Claude stole from the Church, as it was not only unrealistic for him to find it at all, but it complicated the story afterwards needlessly.
Edit for those who will care: Due to irl events, I'm going to take a short brake from writing this. It should not be long, but it is in order to let you all know that the next chapter isn't coming in the next week or two. (2019-12-11)