Author's Notes
The second Paralogue!
Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo
Fire Emblem is owned by Nintendo
Me? I only own the story you're reading right now.
3rd Person POV
White Clouds
Day 12 of the Wyvern Moon
Balthus goes up to Bambietta. "Hey, pal. Any idea where Hapi is?" He asked.
"I haven't seen her, so... no clue." Bambietta shrugged.
"Right. This is bad. Real bad." Balthus grumbled.
"What's bad?"
"It's nothing. Well... OK, fine. If you insist, I'll tell you what's happened. Thing is... a box was delivered yesterday. Filled with feathers. Pricey ones. For bedding. Hapi loves a good nap, so she climbed on in. Now she and the box are nowhere to be found. I checked with my merchant contacts. Turns out it was taken to Enbarr to be sold... on the black market. You catch what I'm throwing, yeah? Hapi was fast asleep in the thing when it was stolen..." Balthus explained.
"You know, given how sleepy Hapi can be, I think that sounds completely believable." Bambietta pointed out.
"Thanks. I mean, yeah. That's Hapi for you. She runs like clockwork, that one. Goes to bed at sunset and won't wake up until sunrise. If we don't go and find her, something terrible could happen. One sigh and a demonic beast could come barreling through town..."
"Whoa. If that were true, that would be bad." Bambietta said, a hand to her chin.
"Right! Way I see it, I have no choice but to rush off and rescue her. You in?" Balthus asked.
"You know I'm in." Bambietta answered.
"Heh, knew I could count on you! Let's get to it." Balthus asked of.
Black Market Plaza
"Finally, we're here." Balthus sighed. "Now where's Hapi? We've gotta find her before that box is sold... Let's split up and search the town. We'll cover more ground that way." He said.
Later...
"Ugh... Still no sign of her..." Bambietta grumbled.
"I know. Where in the hell could she- Gah!" Balthus exclaimed as he sees Hapi.
"I can't believe you, B! Well, I can, but that doesn't make me any less angry." Hapi growled.
"Whoa, easy there! I have a good reason. Trust me." Balthus asked of.
"Don't even try to weasel your way out of this. Ooh, you're the worst!" Hapi exclaimed.
"Hapi! I'm glad we found you..." Bambietta sighed in relief.
"You didn't need to find me. I was relaxing in Abyss. He made up that story as an excuse to drag you here." Hapi told.
"Look, I may be a scoundrel, but I stand by what I did. Let me explain. I got a tip-off that a item was being sold on the black market today. Not just any item. My mom's-"
"There you are! How dare you interfere with our business!" A Brigand growled at Balthus as he and his buddies appeared.
"You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into. You're finished!" One of the Brigand's buddies declared.
"We'll continue story time later. First, I'll need your help clearing out these thugs." Balthus said.
Battle Preparations
Bambietta POV
Oh, Balthus... What have you gotten yourself into? Oh well.
Let's see. Balthus, Hapi, and I are necessary units, so we're not getting out of this battle any time soon.
I bring Ignatz, Linhardt, Flayn, Cyril, Ingrid, Leonie, and Ferdinand with me. Ashe is my Adjutant.
I replenish everyone's demoralized battalions.
A little repositioning, and we should be good to go~ Okay. We're ready!
"We got what we came for. With this, my sweet daughter will finally..." A Baron tried to declare.
"Yes... The young mistress will finally be safe again. Let's return home at once!" One of the attendants actually declared. "But first... Oh dear, it seems some thieves are causing trouble in town."
"Thieves? Goddess, no... We must hold on to our treasure!" The Baron exclaimed.
"What hypocrites..." I growled.
"There's just one thing you need to remember, yeah? If you see anyone with something that looks like a Hero's Relic, grab it. You already know this, but it would get real bad real quick if we let them run wild with that thing." Balthus told me and everyone else.
"Wait a second. How did a Hero's Relic end up being sold on the black market!?" Hapi gasped.
"That doesn't matter right now, Hapi. All that matters is that we get. That. Hero's Relic." I told Hapi.
I go to a Ballista and score a critical hit on one of the Brigands in Hapi's way.
Ignatz shoots a Brawler.
Leonie finishes off that Brawler and grows in maximum life energy, strength, and speed.
Balthus defeats an archer by hitting him four times. He then grows in maximum life energy, strength, magic, dexterity, speed, defense, resistance, and charm.
Cyril uses his Training Gauntlets to attack and hit a Cavalier four times and gets hit himself.
Ingrid does the same to an archer and defeats him. She grows in strength, dexterity, speed, and luck.
Ferdinand defeats another archer by striking twice with his training lance. He grows in maximum life energy and charm. His lance skills are now at B rank, granting him the ability Swordbreaker.
Hapi waits while the other students advance.
A cavalier attacks and misses Cyril who counters twice. Another cavalier actually hits Cyril but gets countered twice himself.
A Bishop attacks Ignatz who dodges and counters. Ignatz grows in magic and defense.
A Mage attacks Flayn with fire, but her high resistance makes it hard for her to get hurt by magic.
A brawler attacks and hits Ferdinand four times while he counters.
A mercenary attacks Balthus who counters twice.
I use the Ballista I'm on to hit the other Brigand in the way, but don't quite kill him.
Ignatz defeats the Bishop that attacked him with Wrath Strike. His Authority rises.
Ferdinand hits the Brigand that attacked him with the Mad Melee Gambit. His Authority rises.
Balthus defeats the mercenary that attacked him.
Flayn hits the mage that attacked her with her Training Axe. She grows in magic and dexterity.
Cyril finishes off a cavalier that attacked him with Monster Breaker. He then grows in maximum life energy, strength, magic, and speed.
The rest of my students either wait or advance.
The cavalier that failed to hit Cyril fails again, so Cyril finishes him off. Cyril grows in maximum life energy, dexterity, speed, resistance, and charm.
The mage runs from Flayn and pelts her with fireballs, but he can't do anything.
Same for a mage that attacks Ingrid.
The brawler attacking Ferdinand misses his attacks on Ferdinand who counters, defeating the brawler. Ferdinand grows in maximum life energy, magic, dexterity, luck, and charm.
Hapi finishes off the brigand that I failed to defeat and grows in strength, magic, dexterity, and resistance.
Leonie attacks an Armored Knight twice.
Ignatz finishes off the Armored Knight then grows in maximum life energy, magic, dexterity, speed, defense, and resistance.
Flayn hits the mage with her training axe again.
Ingrid finishes off the mage with her Wrath Strike then grows in maximum life energy, luck, defense, and resistance.
Linhardt goes to a Fire Orb and hits another armored knight.
The rest of my students and I advance.
The damaged armored knight attacks and misses Ignatz who counters twice, defeating the armored knight.
The damaged mage does the same futile thing.
Two thieves, two Brawlers, an assassin, and a warlock appear. "Gotta pay the toll if you wanna pass. The blood toll!" The warlock laughed.
"You're not going anywhere. Can't leave any witnesses alive!" A brawler exclaimed.
"What's the goal? Treasure! Damn it, we've got to get there first!" The thief cursed.
Oh please... I shoot the warlock down even though he countered with Thunder.
Flayn finishes off the mage she pursued.
Leonie goes and attacks one of the Baron's attendants. "Don't come any closer! If you do, I will have no choice but to unleash this power upon you!" The Baron warned.
"Easy there, buddy. Danger wise, that thing's on par with a Hero's Relic!" Balthus warned back. "If you don't have a Crest, you'll turn into a hideous monster!"
"You can't scare me! No price is too high to save my precious daughter!" The Baron ignored Balthus's warning.
Leonie hits the Warlock attendant with Curved Shot.
Balthus hits the assassin twice. The assassin counters, but Balthus dodges.
Linhardt attacks the Baron with his Fire Orb. "I harbor no ill will. All I ask is forgiveness, for the sake of my house!" The Baron told.
Linhardt's attack hits, making him grow in maximum life energy, strength, magic, speed, luck, and resistance.
Ferdinand finishes off the assassin.
The rest of my students advance.
The baron attacks Ignatz and scores a critical hit, making Ignatz retreat.
The damaged attendant defeats Leonie, making her retreat.
The thief attacks and hits Ferdinand twice.
Another thief attacks me, but I dodge and counter twice, making me grow in strength, dexterity, and defense.
The rest of the enemies advance.
Linhardt heals Cyril with Physic.
Cyril finishes off the Baron, growing in maximum life energy, magic, dexterity, speed, luck, and charm.
"I... No..." The baron grunted before roaring in pain, turning into a monster.
"Yikes... You weren't kidding about the hideous monster thing. Is that what you were looking for, B?" Hapi asked.
"That's it, all right." Balthus answered.
Ferdinand hangs back and attacks the thief that attacked him with his training bow.
Balthus finishes the thief off. Balthus grows in maximum life energy, dexterity, defense, and charm.
The rest of my students and I advance.
The monster attacks and hits Cyril who counters to the best of his ability.
An attendant finishes Cyril off, making him retreat.
The rest of the enemies advance.
I heal Ferdinand with Recover. Ashe grows in maximum life energy, magic, dexterity, and speed.
Linhardt uses the Fire Orb to deal damage to a Brawler.
The rest of my students advance.
The injured Attendant attacks and hits Ingrid while another warlock finishes her off, making her retreat.
The injured brawler attacks Linhardt twice but gets countered, defeating him. Linhardt grows in magic, dexterity, luck, and resistance.
Another brawler attacks Balthus twice who dodges and counters.
More reinforcements appear. How annoying... "All this fighting is ruining our business!" A bishop exclaimed.
"They're fighting back! Don't let them get away!" A cavalier ordered.
Balthus finishes off the injured attendant.
Ferdinand finishes off the injured brawler and grows in strength, dexterity, and charm.
Flayn attacks the bishop with her training axe. He counters twice, but couldn't deal any damage.
Linhardt attacks one of the Brigands with his Fire Orb.
I trade the Training Gauntlets I have with a Vulnerary in the convoy and use it to heal some of my wounds.
The rest of my students advance.
A Warlock attacks and deals big damage to Linhardt who dodges the second attack and counters.
A brigand attacks Linhardt who dodges and counters, defeating him.
The bishop attacks Flayn with Resonant Flames, but Flayn dodges just in time.
The rest of the enemies advance.
Ferdinand hits the monster with the Mad Melee Gambit.
Balthus attacks the monster with his bare fists. "At least I tried. All I can do now is end this quickly." Balthus declared before hitting the monster twice.
Flayn hits the bishop.
Linhardt hits the monster with the fire orb.
I shoot down the monster's first set of life energies.
The rest of my students advance.
The mosnter hits Ferdinand, but Ferdinand counters critically, cutting down the monster's second set of life energies, stopping its attack. Ferdinand grows in maximum life energy and dexterity.
The Warlock finishes off Linhardt, but not before Linhardt dodges his first attack and lands a counter hit. Linhardt retreats.
The bishop attacks Flayn who is dealt no damage and counters.
The rest of the enemies advance.
I break the last bit of the Forlorn's barriers with my Assault Troop Gambit.
Ferdinand finishes off the monster's last set of life energies, growing in maximum life energy and dexterity. All right. Now all that's left is to defeat the enemies that worked for him.
Flayn hits the bishop with Tempest Lance.
The rest of my students advance.
The warlock that defeated Linhardt tries to use Resonant Flames on me, but misses.
The bishop attacks Flayn who counters, but neither one of them could damage the other.
The rest of the enemies advance.
I defeat a mage with one swing of my sword.
Balthus finishes off the warlock that Linhardt was defeated by. Balthus grows in maximum life energy, strength, magic, and charm.
Flayn attacks the thief with Nosferatu and grows in magic, dexterity, speed, resistance, and charm. Flayn's Faith is now at B level, earning her the magic Rescue.
The rest of my students either wait or advance.
A cavalier attacks Balthus who dodges and counters twice, defeating him.
Another cavalier tries their luck and hits me, but is countered twice, defeating him. I grow in magic, dexterity, resistance, and charm.
The bishop attacks Flayn, but neither one of them could damage the other.
The rest of the enemies advance.
I defeat a Brigand in my way. Ashe grows in maximum life energy, strength, magic, dexterity, and luck.
Flayn hits the thief with Nosferatu again.
The rest of my students advance.
The bishop and Flayn attack each other again, but to no avail.
The rest of the enemies advance while the injured thief retreats.
I advance and finish off that thief.
Flayn attacks the bishop with her training axe.
A mercenary attacks me, but dealt no damage. I defeat him easily.
A brigand attacks and hits me, but I counter him twice, defeating him easily.
The bishop attacks Flayn who counters.
I use Bolganone on the bishop twice. The process repeats until either Flayn or I defeat him. Or at least it would be if I had more Bolganone uses. I decided to say... FUCK IT. So I let Flayn attack him so he'll run out of uses for his Nosferatu. I then finish off the Bishop. Ugh... That was fucking taxing... But the students agree that I did the most. I kinda had to agree with them. Thanks to my efforts, all of my allies' motivations increased along with my renown. Oh, and I earned the Leicester Dicers Corps and the Timotheos Magi Corps battalions.
"Forgive me, my daughter... Monica..." the Baron groaned before he died. Oh. He was still alive?
"Nothing more you can do, pal. At least we got it back." Balthus pointed out. "I know I owe you and Hapi an apology. So, uh... I'm sorry. Really sorry. Mean that."
"I'm sure you had your reasons. When we get back, you better explain what the heck those reasons were." Hapi warned.
Entrance Hall
"So what's the story with this Hero's Relic?" Hapi asked Balthus.
"It's not exactly a real Relic, per se." Balthus told, showing the gauntlets the Baron held.
"Wait. It's not? What do you mean?" I raised my own question.
"It's a replica. Crafted after the War of Heroes. It's a secret family heirloom of sorts from my mom's village." Blathus answered. "Somehow, word of it got out recently. As happens with valuable things, it was stolen soon after."
"So when you heard it might be on the black market, you tricked others into helping you steal it by telling them I'd been kidnapped." Hapi said.
"You're still mad, yeah? Look, I'm sorry. OK? There. You can go ahead and cheer up now." Balthus groaned. "I only did it because if they turned into monsters, there was a chance I couldn't take 'em on my own. Couldn't risk telling you the truth. If the church had caught wind, they'd have taken it for themselves."
"How uncharacteristically wise of you, B. So that's why you felt a need for this bizarre scheme." Hapi realized.
"Oh, and, Professor. Guess I owe you an apology too. Sorry. Shouldn't have done you like that." Balthus apologized. I look at him, a little surprised.
"...I'm still mad, you know." I grunted at him.
"Maybe we should cut him some slack, Chatterbox. He was doing it for his family. That's kinda sweet." Hapi told me.
"Hmph. Fine. I guess." I grumbled.
"What was up with that noble guy, though? He didn't seem interested in hearing what we had to say." Hapi brought up.
"Yeah, good point. I wonder why he wanted this thing to begin with." Balthus said.
"It seems Baron Ochs has passed away. That's who you're referring to, I presume?" Edelgard asked as she appeared.
"Eddy. Do you know why he was after this thing?" Hapi asked back.
"I can't say for certain, but it's possible he wanted that item for his daughter. His daughter went missing last year. She was found only recently." Eddy answered.
"What does that have to do with the Relic? Uh, the non-Relic, I mean."
"Word has it that Baron Ochs received a proposition. His daughter's safe return, in exchange for a Hero's Relic."
"Of course. This whole mess happened because somebody wanted to get their mitts on a Relic." Balthus grumbled.
"It's possible. But we weren't able to get anything out of Baron Ochs." Eddy pointed out. "The head of that house died years ago, and the whole family has been a mess ever since. We have no choice but to find another source for that information."
"Are you sure you want to return this thing to your village? People might come looking for it." Hapi brought up.
"Good point. I actually got a letter from my mom on the subject. She suggested it would be safer in Garreg Mach. She also said my Crest should allow me to use it... She's entrusting it to me...which is a bad idea, so I'm entrusting it to you, Professor." Balthus said.
"Whoa, wait. Are you sure?" I asked.
"Positive. You'll know what to do with it. Give it to me or someone else, whatever you think." Balthus answered.
"Um, B... That's a priceless artifact." Hapi told.
"Sure is. Lose it and you'll owe me, heh!" Balthus declared.
Huh. Okay then. Either way, I received the Vajra-Mushti, the gauntlet-type Hero's Relic, huh?
Day 13 of the Wyvern Moon
More instruction time.
I instruct Lorenz, Ferdinand, Caspar, and Petra in Authority.
I instruct Ingrid in Bows.
I then begin the lecture.
Leonie comes up to me with a suggestion. "It'd be really useful if I could fire a bow more accurately from horseback. Think we could work on my riding, along with my bow skills?"
"Yeah, sure, why not?" I shrugged.
I see what Lorenz wants to talk to me about and increase his motivation to his maximum.
Day 16
I do the same for Ingrid.
Day 17
It's Ashe's birthday. I host a tea party for him. We didn't have much to say to one another... Dammit... I screwed up...
Day 18
Mari and Claude did perfectly, getting me 1,000 G and 5 smithing stones.
My students report their findings.
Claude learned the ability Defensive Tactics.
Sylvain learned the abilities Swordbreaker and Lancebreaker.
Ingrid and Yuri each learned the ability Axebreaker.
Day 19
All right. What's next?
END OF EPISODE
