"Ah, Maxis! There you are!"

"Hey, Virion," I said tiredly, turning around to see him but not look at him.

"Hello, my good friend." He put his arm around my shoulder as he started to walk with me down the halls of the castle. "Something on your mind? Perhaps it's your little… addiction?"

I paled.

"Don't worry, my friend, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Which is why I have a solution. The problem is that you spend your nights alone rather than with a woman, is it not? So, the obvious answer is to find a woman to keep you company. Let us go down to the village and see if we can find any lovely ladies to charm, shall we?"

"Uh… No, thanks. I'm good," I replied as I let my eyes wander away from the archer of dubious morality.

"'Good?' How do you mean?"

"I mean… I'm… I don't… want to… do that."

"Whyever not?" Virion asked. "Being with a woman is a pleasure like no other! Why, I can't even begin to comprehend why you would refuse! Have you never lain with a woman? Then that should be all the more reason to come with me!"

"I have to go…!" I exclaimed before ducking under his arm and walking as fast as I could in the way I had come. The one thing—the only benefit!—that I was thankful for was that I was not interested in real sex. My ruined brain knew that the screen would give me more pleasure with less effort than the flesh of a real woman. I wasn't even tempted to masturbate by our conversation. But really, that just goes to show how ruining pornography is. And there are much worse-off people out there.


After wandering the castle halls for some time, Matthew found me. "Hey, Maxis!" he started.

"Matthew," I said in a breath. "I need to talk to Anna."

"Sure, alright," he said, losing his steam.

When we made it to her office, I pushed the door open, instantly regretting it as it slammed against the wall. Matthew closed it and left quietly as I sat down on the couch in front of the small fire. Hunched over, I held my head in my hands, trying to find the words I wanted to use in this delicate situation. As I moved my lips like a fish, Anna beat me to it, saying simply, "I'm sorry." I looked at her and saw the concern in her eyes. "Virion came in here demanding—we were talking about you, and he overheard it, but—! Look, Maxis, I don't know what's going on out there, but I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!" Silence loomed as I continued to struggle to find appropriate words. She stood up. "Maxis, please understand that—that I had no other choice! He was—! Please, we need all the help we can get here in Askr!" By now, she had stepped around her desk, and I turned around, raising both hands up in an effort to stop her.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. As soft as I could, I said, "I understand. …But… who? What… happened?" As she regaled the tale to me, I pondered what kind of man Virion really was. "…Who…? …Do you know…? What—what do you know about Virion?" I asked, not changing my volume.

Anna swallowed. "I know that he's an aristocrat from the World of Awakening. An archer in Prince Chrom's army, the Shepherds."

"Do you know that…? Is that all you know?"

"Alfonse would be able to tell you more!"

"Could you get him?"

Anna nodded vigorously before rushing toward the door. She opened it, and I heard her say, "Could you get Prince Alfonse for us?" I sighed. Matthew had been listening. "Matthew is going to fetch Alfonse right now."

"So it would seem."

Some time had passed until the prince entered. "You wanted to see—? Maxis! G-greetings!"

"Alfonse, what can you tell me about Virion?"

He looked at the commander before turning back to me. "Lord Virion is a Hero from the World of Awakening, specifically the duke of Roseanne on the continent of Valm. He fled to Ylisse when Walhart the Conqueror was at his doorstep, hoping that his cowardice would convince his people to surrender so that their lives would be spared while he searched for a force to aid him in retaking the continent of Valm. He met Prince Chrom while he was accompanying the knight Sully, another of Prince Chrom's Shepherds, and fought back a Risen horde with them. A few years later, he would convince the prince, now the Exalt, to take up arms against the Conqueror and succeed in freeing Valm from his clutches. Then he would assist in stopping the Fell Dragon, Grima, whose aim was to destroy the world and all life on it."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "…Okay." He answered my question, but I wasn't exactly interested in his life story. "Do you… know what his hobbies are?"

"His hobbies? W-well, I believe he was interested in drinking teas."

"'Tea?'"

"Y-yes."

"Anything else?"

"W-well…!"

"Do you know what he told me today?"

"N-no, Great—! N-no, sir."

"He wanted to take me into town… and… find some women."

Alfonse and Anna glanced at each other and back at me.

"And I'm not talking about tea…"

Alfonse swallowed. "Are you talking about…?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about… don't you?"

"Y-yes, summoner." The prince hung his head.

"M-Maxis," Anna started. "We can…!" She lowered her voice. "If… there's anything we can do about this, we'll make sure it's done."

I thought for a while, breathing in and out. "He shouldn't be… Doing such things is just abhorrent."

"Frankly, I agree! But—! But, we need allies. Anyone to help us beat back Embla."

"'Iron sharpens iron. So too does a man sharpen his friend.' Do you know what that means?"

"No."

"It means that one must help his fellow man to be a better man. …Go get Virion."

The door opened again, and the commander spoke, "Go get Virion."

A considerable amount of time later, Virion had arrived. "Greetings, everyone! How does the day find each of you?"

His flamboyant mannerisms were met with a disappointed look from the commander, a neutral face from the prince, and absolutely no reaction from me.

"Is… something the matter?"

Anna took a deep breath. "Virion, did you offer to take Maxis to the village so that you could have a one-night stand with a couple of women?"

"What?! No, of course not! I merely offered to show him how to talk to a lady and keep her company!"

"Overnight?"

"W-well, perhaps that word did come up…" He swallowed, glancing between us, gauging our reactions.

"Virion, your reputation as a… ladies man is no secret to us. Now, we will keep this under wraps if—"

"Hold a moment; I've done no wrong! I haven't even found the time to talk to any women much less bed them!"

"Virion, Maxis's addiction is a big problem—a massive problem! You cannot encourage him to do such things!"

"I wasn't encouraging him, I was—! I was simply…"

Alfonse let out a polite cough. "If I may, Lord Virion, it seems to me that the summoner is not doing this only for himself." He hesitated a moment before continuing. "I believe that he said that he was doing this for religious reasons."

"Whatever the case may be," Anna interjected, "it is extremely important that he overcomes this addiction. Understood?"

Virion nodded. "Y-yes, commander."

"Good. Now, we won't punish you, but if you do anything like this again, we will. You are dismissed."

"Yes, commander." He left with a bow and left the three of us alone. Silence permeated the air until the door opened once again. Matthew poked his head in.

"Commander, I took the liberty to gather up everyone who, uh, found out."

I shared a look with Anna before she said, "Send them in."

The spy stepped around the door and ushered in Bartre and Gunter before closing it, he himself staying as well.

Anna swallowed. "How did… How did you all find out?"

"Bartre and I were catching up when Virion… well, uh, tipped us off, I suppose. So I decided I better cut our conversation short and follow him, see what's up."

I looked at Anna, and she explained, "I told Alfonse only to tell trustworthy people and… Virion must have heard that part."

"Makes sense," Matthew commented before continuing. "Anyway, then he told Gunter, and he was about to tell Azura and Olivia before he stopped himself."

"Sounds like he has at least something resembling a brain," I commented.

"Heh, yeah. And he didn't tell Maria or Raigh, either; I saw her trying to get him to play with her, and Virion only spared them a glance before moving on."

"Good, good," the commander muttered. "Those are the last two who should know."

"Last four, really," I added.

"Right." Anna took a deep breath before looking at the three men. "Alright, go ahead. Ask whatever you want."

Gunter was the first to speak, his voice curious but not judgemental. "When did you first become attached to this activity?"

"Uh, thirteen, about."

"Thirteen?"

"It's really easy to access in my world. Plus people think it's normal to watch it regularly."

"I see. And for how long have you been trying to quit?"

"Sheesh, as far as I can remember. But I can' really remember anything besides… the bad I've seen. Another effect of addiction."

Bartre spoke in a saddened tone, "I knew of someone who destroyed himself in a similar way. Spent all his money on women and would look like he was dying when he ran out of coin."

"Sounds about right… There was a quote about it, er, I should say someone similar. A man in Russia had so many pictures and he said, 'As long I have these girls, I'm happy, so make sure to bury me with all of them.' 'Cept, of course, you can't bring anything with you to the next world; jus' yer sins and yer deeds."

"What have you done in attempt to quit," Gunter asked.

I shrugged a shoulder. "Tried, but never hard enough, it seems. Pray is a big one, 'n' distractions. I became Catholic t' try an' help, as a matter o' fact."

"Does prayer work?"

"Yeah, when I do it. An' pray for long enough. Hard enough."

"Do you exercise?"

"I've been trying to off an' on again."

"I see. I have caught more soldiers than I care to admit in compromising situations, and all of them I have disciplined thoroughly. Starting today, I will be doing the same with you."

"I'll help, too!" Bartre said with a winning smile.

"I suppose I'll have to, as well," Matthew added as he moved to sit in an armchair. "Though, I'll likely be busy with spy work, so I couldn't tell you when I'd be around."

"Thank you, everyone," Anna sighed out. "I'm sure you three will be a great boon to not only this army but to Maxis as well."

"'Today?'" I asked.

"That's correct," the veteran knight affirmed.

I sighed. "I suppose so."

"Is something wrong with my proposition?"

"No, not really."

"Are you feeling alright?" Anna asked.

"Well, I… relapsed yesterday. So… no, not really."

"O-oh…"

"All the more reason to train," Gunter commented. "A healthy punishment will do wonders for you."

"Yeah, I know…," I murmured. "Jus'… don' wanna…"

"And why is that?"

"Because I feel awful…? I'm gonna be feeling like this tomorrow, too, until I get t' confession."

"And exercise will make you feel better."

"M'kay."

"What's confession, though?" Matthew asked.

"It's a Sacrament," I said. "The Sacrament of Reconciliation."

"Like apologizing?"

"Yeah. Exactly that."

"Why do you have to apologize," Anna asked. "And to who?"

I turned around and narrowed my eyes at her. "To God. And wouldn't you apologize for doing something that someone didn't want you to?"

"Yes, I would, but I just don't see why you would need to apologize for… doing that."

I sighed, taking the time to remember what the Church's answer was. "It removes love from the act meant to show perfect unity. Marriage is a Sacrement, too."

"Do you mean having a child?" Bartre asked.

"Yes, exactly. It's not just having a baby, it's the union of two souls to create one in order to honor God."

"Makes sense to me," he said as he smoothed his mustache. "Being with my wife and having my daughter was one of the best experiences of my life."

"Er, right," Anna spoke. "If you'd all excuse me, I have some paperwork to get back to."

"Yes," Gunter replied. "And we have training to get underway, Maxis."


Hey, uh, I have some bad news. I was rereading a favorite childhood book of mine, and I found out I was formatting dialogue wrong, so I have to go back and change all that. So if you get a bunch of pings or emails or whatever that I'm updating this story a million times in like the span of a week, that's why.

P.S. What happened to line breaks on this website? I was rereading some old works of someone else's and where there should have been line breaks, there was nothing! I thought it was just the app because there's always an issue with that thing (and then it gets fixed and an old issue replaces it in a never-ending cycle), but when I checked my own work, it's gone.