Erza II
After being allowed to stay the night, Erza knew that it was only fair to help Jaune carry his grain into town with his family. To her surprise, they didn't have any beasts of burden, and instead Erza had to help Jaune drag their grain on a wagon. Something that had caught the knight's attention as they did that, was how much of it was on the wagon. Fleur and Ada were following behind them.
"How big was your harvest?" she asked, figuring it must have been if they were sending in this much.
"Same as always," Jaune answered simply. That surprised the scarlet-haired knight, as she glanced back at the haul. She figured it must have been big if they could give away this much.
"Ah, we're here," Jaune said, with a smile.
"Good, I think…" She abruptly stopped talking, as Erza stared at the village, and a tingle slithered up her spine, as a feeling of express horror washed over her. This village, if it could even be called that, was mostly a series of poorly made huts and structures. The people were dressed in similar rags to the ones Jaune was wearing. Further up the dirt path that constituted as a "road" was a castle, which Erza figured was the home of the lord.
"Um," Erza said, not sure what to say.
"I just have to drop off the shipment and we'll be back on our way," Jaune said, "The tavern is the largest one there." The "largest one" was apparently a "building" that was somewhat larger than the rest.
"If you don't mind me asking," Erza said, "This looks like a lot of your crop. Shouldn't more be left to yourselves?"
"Oh, we only keep one tenth of our crops," Jaune said simply.
"What?" Erza asked, positive she'd misheard that.
"Nine tenths of our profits are delivered to Count Castil," Fleur explained as she came up, "In exchange, he offers us protection from the dangers of the world."
"That is… depraved!" Erza cried out loud. There was no other way to describe it, it was absolutely depraved. If this pile of dirt that could somehow pass as a village counted as protection, Erza shuddered at the thought of what the lord may have been willing to stoop to.
"There is nothing to be upset about," Fleur said with a smile, "The knights of Bretonnia are our shield. We are the steeds and they are the riders. What is one without the other?"
"That analogy is ridiculous," Erza said, "The common people aren't just animals for others to call upon when needed."
"What's an 'analogy', Mama?" Ada asked.
"I'm not sure, dear," Fleur answered, after a brief period of pondering
"Well, regardless," Jaune said, smiling as well, "We are content with our life here. We will serve our lords as they will protect us." At first Erza couldn't understand the smile, but then it soon became apparent; she had seen it once in the Tower of Heaven, these people had known literally nothing else outside of this life. That infuriated the woman, as she glared at the castle as they came into the town. Despite that, Erza helped Jaune bring the grain to the town center, where a few men dressed in armor and carrying swords were standing. The armor was fairly ornate, leading Erza to ponder if these were the so called "knights".
"You're late," one of the men said, glaring at Jaune.
"My apologies sir," Jaune said, "The road was rough. Not that Count Castil doesn't keep proper roads." Erza tried not to scream out loud at that.
"Who is this woman?" one of the guards demanded, gesturing to Erza.
"I'm…," Erza began.
"Was I talking to you, bitch?" the guard growled. If Erza was anything like Natsu, she would've cut them to ribbons already, but she wasn't Natsu, so she just sucked in a breath, and remained quiet.
"She is a mercenary."
"Ah," another guard asked, stepping forward, "We have been in need of another sword at the castle."
"Thank you, but I'd rather serve a liege who deserves it," Erza answered with a false smile.
"And you would imply our liege doesn't deserve it?"
"No," Jaune quickly tried to say, "She…"
"That's exactly what I'm saying," Erza interrupted, "Any man who leeches off his people like that is…"
"Ah!" Erza whirled around, to see Ada on the ground. Standing over her was a man in an elaborate, colorful robe. He had neatly combed, dark hair, and a similarly styled beard and mustache. He was apparently dusting himself off.
"Such filth," the count said as he stared at some supposed stain, that even Erza with her keen eyes couldn't see, "It seems their mere presence spreads filth." It didn't take long for the scarlet-haired knight to determine that she didn't like this man, whom she assumed was the "noble" Count Castil.
"Forgive me, my liege," Fleur said, as she ran up to Ada, and wrapped her arms around her, "It was only an accident."
"Of course accidents happen," Count Castil said, as he fiddled with his beard, "But they should not happen twice." That was when Erza noticed that he was standing on Ada's doll.
"Ms Pretty!" Ada cried. She tried to go for it, only for Fleur to pull her daughter away.
"Oh be quiet," Castil said, as he started to raise his arm to strike, only for a red flash to push him back. Everyone could only stare at what they saw: Erza was standing between the count, and the family, her sword in the ground.
"Leave her be," the scarlet haired woman ordered, narrowing her eyes. For a time, everybody was silent; the silence was finally broken when Castil started babbling and screaming incoherently.
Y…y… you lowly commoner!" the noble eventually forced out, "You would da…" He couldn't finish, as an armored gauntlet socked him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Erza then bent down, picked up the doll, and gave it back to Ada, who promptly took it and hugged it.
"This is the second time I've had to give back a lost doll," Erza said jokingly. However, when she looked around, she saw the villagers looking at her with horror. Erza wasn't surprised; this probably never happened before.
"Kill her! Kill her!" Count Castil suddenly snapped, "I command it!" The guards all charged at Erza, who spun her sword through her hand, and got ready, cracking her neck.
What ensured wasn't so much a fight, but a one-sided curb stomp. The first guard leapt at Erza who easily evaded the attack, and knocked him in the back of the head with her sword. Another guard brought his sword down, only for it to be parried, after which Erza swept his feet out from under him. The third guard came at Erza only to be tripped, and kicked in the face. That left the last guard staring in shock at his defeated comrades. He then met the steely gaze of the scarlet knight.
"Get out," was all she said. The warrior promptly dropped his sword and ran, with Erza kicking him in the ass as he did. Then she turned to the count, who was still in utter disbelief.
"Those were knights of Bretonnia, and you struck them down as if they were mad snotlings." Erza had no idea what a "snotling" was, but she still snorted.
"You call these fools 'knights'?" she said, "True knights defend the weak and ask for no reward; they don't strong-arm them and then demand one. Lowly cowards like you don't deserve to call yourself such." Castil continued to stumble over his words, before he finally stood up.
"This isn't over you red haired bitch!" the count said, as he ran out of the village. Erza didn't bother to chase him. She then looked out at the villagers, who were staring at her in absolute horror, including Jaune and Fleur.
"Listen…," Erza began, before the villages all started shouting over each other.
"You fool!"
"Who is going to protect us now!"
"This is why you can't trust outsiders!"
"Without the great count, who is going to protect us from the beasts!"
"You don't need him!" Erza shouted. Everyone was silenced, as they stared at her.
"Men like that won't protect you unless its in their interest," Erza explained, "You cannot count on them for your safety. You must protect yourselves, and your families."
"But what can we do?" Jaune said, stepping forward, "We are simple peasants. We do not have the abilities the knights do."
"Then I will teach you," Erza responded, before driving her sword into the ground before in demonstration and saying, "And you have my word, I will protect you until then." The peasants of Brionne just stared up at Erza, and while they had seen knights before, something about this woman seemed more chivalrous and noble.
Note: I'm actually kind of surprised by the amount of people who got on my case regarding how the peasants seemed to know the Empire. Well, there are some distinctions to make. One, Fleur only named the Empire, she didn't say what it was, and two, while the Bretonnian peasants may live in a bubble they can't leave (perhaps "prison" would be more apt a word), that doesn't mean foreigners can't enter. Is it really such a reach to suggest that a mercenary or traveler may pass through a local village? At any rate, I'm not going to bind myself absolutely to the lore; that would severely hamper the story. I'm more using the lore as a larger template to structure this story around.
That said, I believe a true knight like Erza could easily beat any so called "knight" of Bretonnia, though a Grail Knight may be a different story. Speaking of, Grail Knights do sincerely believe in chivalry and protecting the weak, but the same can't be said for other knights.
Be sure to review. In the next chapter, we'll see more of Natsu.