(Clear)
"Today's the big day, huh…" Robin leans against the blackboard. "So, class, how are we feeling?"
We have one more morning lesson before the mock battle starts in order to get some last-minute training done.
"Better than you were yesterday," Linhardt yawns. "Are you sure you're alright, Professor? You seemed really out of it yesterday."
"Don't worry about this old man," Robin grins. "I'm sure that I can keep going for at least another day or two. How are you feeling today, Linhardt? I'm counting on you to keep everyone in the fight."
"I made sure to sleep more yesterday in preparation, but I'm still…" Linhardt stifles a yawn. "…a bit sleepy."
"Alright. I'll make sure to assign Caspar as your buddy then," Robin nods with a sly smile on his face.
"W—Wait, Professor!"
"Alright! I'm making sure that Lin doesn't even blink!" Caspar pumps a fist up into the air as the green-haired cleric in question groans in disappointment.
"And what about you, Princess? How are you feeling about the mock battle this afternoon? Confident? Apprehensive? Nervous?" Robin turns to look at the other person with white hair in the room.
"With your skills, I am sure that we will win," Her eyes narrow. "However, I am unsure why we have not seen a full tactical brief yet. I was sure that a person of your calibre would have drawn up plans in advance."
"Good eye, Princess," Robin's grin widens even more, even as Edelgard visibly flinches at Robin half mocking use of a Royal title. "See, the problem I see with the Black Eagles is the lack of cohesion. Take this order for example."
Robin takes a deep breath.
"Ferdinand, Petra, give me visual! Cad a fheiceann tú?" Robin barks out with the tone and force of an extremely strict drill sergeant. I even had the urge to stand at attention. (Even I had one! It is curious, our link.)
Predictably, Petra stands up instantly, her chair clattering and complaining as it's pushed in order to give Petra enough room to stand.
"Níl aon rud naimhdeach sa cheantar, a cheannasaí!" She states in the same forceful way, although in replying in Brigid a wave of confusion rippled through the room. Of course, I understood. Josan had spent too much time ramming Brigid military phases into my brain for me to ever forget.
"Petra, dear," Robin sighs. "Remember the purpose in what you're doing. You're trying to communicate and nobody here can understand Brigid. What was the equivalent in Fodlani again?"
"Oh… I am apologising, I responded using reflex," Petra blinks and a slight blush rises up to her cheeks. The class, especially Ferdinand, is confused.
"Nothing…" Petra scrunches up her face as she tries to remember. "…hostile spotted, the commander!"
"Drop the 'the' in front of the commander and you'll be perfect," Robin claps. "Don't sweat the details too much, Fodlani is rough to learn as a foreigner."
"You managed to learn, professor," Petra frowns as she sits back down.
"That's beside the point," Robin chuckles. "Now, Princess, do you see what I'm talking about?"
"No…?"
"Petra responded perfectly to my request for information while Ferdinand couldn't care less about it," Robin gestures towards the two students in question. "If I put Petra in charge of the left and Ferdinand in charge of the right, Petra would be able to communicate efficiently and effectively with the rest of the army while Ferdinand will go off and do N—I mean, Goddess knows what with that section of his army."
Robin unhooks a metal flask from his belt and takes a drink.
"See, this is the reason I can't give you a tactical brief. Half of this class won't understand it or they'll just ignore it, while another fourth can't pull anything off with that brief. I can't have you, Hubert, and I charging off while the rest of our house does whatever they fancy at that time," Robin gestures at her with the flask. The scent of…alcohol…drifts through the classroom.
"Professor, are you drinking during a lecture?" Ferdinand is both furious and confused at the white-haired mage. No, Sothis, I will not write 'Purple Mage'. (Awww! Why not?) "It is frowned upon for members of staff to be teaching while under the influence!"
"Aww…really?" Robin hics. I roll my eyes. I have never seen Robin drunk, even after slamming back sixteen glasses of brandy. That was extremely impressive. Jeralt only managed seven before dropping out, and Solkis only got to ten because he is a cleric and continually purged his body of poison. Robin still managed to beat him. I doubt he could get drunk off of a tiny sip of wine.
"That's…too bad," Robin half-grins. I stifle the urge to laugh. His fake drunkenness is terrible to me as someone who knows how much that man can handle, but it's surprisingly good acting for someone who doesn't know him. "I was…hic…thinking of having a little—"
A sudden crack of lightning races past Ferdinand's ear as the entire class, excluding me of course, jumps from the sudden noise.
"Thank you, Ferdinand, for demonstrating the first lesson I have to teach all of you before I can even begin the tactical brief," Robin suddenly returns back to his earlier state. "That lesson is misdirection. By the way, Ferdinand, I drank water. It's a hidden flask that contains the wine."
Robin flings the contents of the metal flask at the young heir of house Aegir, causing the boy in question to raise his arms to block the incoming liquid.
"Gah! What was that for?"
"For underestimating me," Robin chuckles. "Seriously, getting tipsy after a single sip? I drank Gregor under, for N—Goddess's sake. I'm not going down after barely a single touch of alcohol."
Robin sighs and reattaches the flask to his waist.
"Right, misdirection. Always keep your enemies guessing. If they don't have a plan, they're screwed, or at the very least, they're much easier to rout," Robin scans the room. "I don't expect you to be able to pull off a feinting attack, but I need all of you to have multiple directives in mind this afternoon. There is no single goal, not even victory. Always have a list of objectives in mind that you have to remember, and be able to switch between them. That's the essence of misdirection."
"Secondly," Robin continues on. "Communication."
Robin walks over to the desk.
"I. Cannot. Over. State. How. Important. Communication. Is!" Robin slams the table with his palms after every single word as his eyes blaze with a determination I have never seen before. "I don't care what you're doing, you have to know what everyone else is doing as well! If our army is quiet, we've lost already! Report everything! Even if it's a squirrel taking an afternoon stroll, I want to know about it!"
This sudden change in demeanour once again takes everyone by surprise. Again. Seriously, they need to get used to Robin's ability to change tone on the spot.
"Thirdly," Robin walks away from the desk. "Initiative."
Robin sucks in a quiet breath.
"What does that mean? That means thinking for yourself. I won't be there to always direct you. You need to understand the flow of battle. You need to understand what to do even by yourself. If you see a gap and know that the cavalry is right behind you, open the gap! If you see that a flank is crumbling, help them!"
Robin stares at the quiet classroom intensely, his eyes blazing with a wave of controlled anger at something.
"Lastly, control. Even if something goes wrong, control yourself. Even if someone dies, control yourself. War is controlled chaos, and the side with the most control will win. So, I need all of you to control your emotions, whether that be vindication, vengeance, or grief. Focus on the battle, everything else will come after."
Robin takes off his flask and takes a sip, only to frown as he remembers that most of the flask's contents are now on Ferdinand's sleeves. His eyes gain that milky veil that wrapped around his pupils yesterday, but it quickly abates.
"Tch. Not now…" Robin sighs as he reclasps the flask back onto his belt. "Right, teaching…Any questions?"
The class only stares back in deathly silence.
"Great," Robin smiles. "Well, that was also an exercise in getting your attention. Glad to see my acting training with Olivia and Azura paid off."
The students still seem shell-shocked.
"Well," Robin chuckles. "It seems all of you have glasses orbs for eyes right now. Take a ten-minute break. We'll come back and start a group tactics meeting."
Are you sure that was a good idea?
Robin curls his lips inwards and sighs, his arms crossed over his chest in quiet contemplation.
"Sothis…they haven't seen war yet. The blood, the gore, and the excruciating uncleanness that massive battles entail…they aren't ready," Robin shakes his head and sighs again. I almost expected him to pull a cigeretto from his cloak and light it.
"They're…so fragile…" Robin smirks a little. "Honestly, I see a bit of Morgan in them. Ah, Morgan is my daughter."
Explain what your daughter has to do with any of this?
"Morgan…she had amnesia like I did…" Robin looks away in…is that shame or is that sadness? (Is there much difference?) "She hadn't ever seen the bloody mess that a large-scale battle has. She was so excited to take command of a platoon when we were at Steiger. I know, it was probably the worst time for her to get an assignment…but we lost so many, and she was the only person that could replace Stewards…"
Robin takes a shaky breath.
"It didn't go well," I state bluntly.
"That would be an understatement," Robin snorts. "I was among the casualties at Steiger, took an Arcfire to the thigh and four arrows caused me to lose enough blood to have to be carried back to camp on Nah's back. Tiki was…apprehensive, but she understood the risks and didn't break. Morgan…poor, poor Morgan…"
Robin's voice cracked up.
"She decided to charge straight into the fortress and managed to get her whole platoon slaughtered… She didn't even realise, poor girl… Being a dragon has its perks, I suppose," Robin chuckles half-heartedly. "To answer your question, Sothis. I mention Morgan because I see her too much in the day-to-day actions of these students. They're all too naive. Too naive about what war entails. I can see every single one of them making the same mistake that nearly cost my daughter her life."
I…see…
"Morgan lacked communication. She didn't tell anyone, not even her mother, that she was going to charge in. She lacked initiative. That was not the time to charge, damn it! They had just changed regiments; that's double the usual amount of troops to face! She lacked control. Just the sight of my injuries was enough to send her into an uncontrolled rage," Robin's eyes start to get watery as his eyes focus on something off in the distance.
Somehow…I can relate. For some reason, I feel the same about these students…I…I suppose this is the right course of action, isn't it?
"I don't know…" Robin sighs. "I really don't know."
He leans against the blackboard once again.
"I didn't get to spend much time with Morgan, a year and some spare change at the very most. Even then, due to our circumstances, I was only able to meet her with most of her memories gone but still a grown teenager. It's not much to base a parenting style on, is it?" Robin chuckles. "In all honestly, I am a man of peace. I believe my skills are better used reaping grain than reaping lives. Yet, all I have known is war. From the moment I awoke with no memories to that last fateful second on Grima's back, I was engulfed in war, or at least the consequences of war. I only knew peace for half a decade and I spent most of that time trying to not have the country I served crash and burn fiscally."
"I don't know how to teach, Sothis," Robin looks up mournfully. "If I did, then I wouldn't be in most of the messes that I got myself in. I'm doing my best with the hand that the gods and goddesses of this world have handed me."
After that small rant, all of us fall into a depressing silence.
I take a moment to digest Robin's words, but I don't really understand much. Perhaps I will understand more when I grow up. Jeralt always told me that before we found Robin. (That's because he didn't know how to explain anything…)
Do you…regret anything?
Sothis finally breaks the silence.
"Regret?" Robin laughs. "I have no regrets. I did everything I had to. Maybe I didn't make the best decisions, but everything turned out fine in the end, didn't it?"
Yes, for everyone except for you.
Sothis makes a comment that Robin seems to be implicitly ignoring. Robin winces as he takes in what the voice in my mind just said. It looks like the mage has been slapped across the face. Emotionally, of course.
I'm surprised that Sothis managed to understand Robin so well. She doesn't seem like the person to be able to comprehend just complicated things like emotions. (Hey! I am very good at understanding emotion! Also, are you sure you want to call the pot black, kettle?)
"I…don't matter," Robin bites his lip. "I am…simply a person that Chrom found in a field one day…"
"Who's Chrom?"
Robin doesn't answer my question. Instead, he just looks at the door with a frown on his face.
"Robin? Are you alright?" I ask, worry seeping into my voice.
"I…think I am. I'm not sure anymore," Robin sighs. "Enough of that, we need to think about what to do to win."
As always, you're diverting focus away from yourself. Never mind that…it's working this time. I am very curious about what plan you have cooked up this time.
"You expect too much out of me," Robin chuckles a bit, the light returning back into his eyes. "I'm cracking open the tried and tested tactic of charging forwards."
That sounds incredibly stupid…
"That's because it is!" Robin smiles with a grin that lights up his eyes. "That is, it is incredibly stupid, so nobody will expect it, so it's not that stupid."
"Claude will no doubt have erected some sort of defence on the hill, and I doubt this class can defeat the Blue Lions in an uphill fight," I supply.
"We're going after Claude, not Dimitri and his gaggle of half-profession soldiers," Robin snorts. "I'm a risk taker, not a maniac, no matter how much Chrom likes to yell at me after I spend some quality time with my wife in the air. As for the possible palisade…"
Robin's eyes twinkle with the same shine that occurs every time he thinks of something insane that just barely works.
"…Well, I don't think you haven't noticed my strange stockpile of alcohol, do you?" Robin reaches out a pulls out a red tome.
Suddenly, everything clicks.
"You're not serious…" My jaw is open as I stare at the white-haired magician.
"It's worked once before, and it's worked countless times before that, so I don't see what the problem is," Robin grins like a wildman.
"Won't it danger the students?"
"It's just a small fire, not a Naga-damned Valflame, By," Robin sighs. "It's going to have the firepower of an Elfire at most. It's nothing that dangerous."
I sigh and concede the point.
Hold on! What are we talking about? Why do I not understand?
"I believe Kiran called it a…Molly? Molotov's Cocktail? I'm not sure what exactly he called it, but apparently, where he's from, they used it to destroy the human equivalent of Seiðjárn. Anyway, it's just any liquid that can be used as fuel put inside of a bottle and then lit. I'm using Burgundian Brandy because it's the easiest high-alcohol spirit that I can get my hands on," Robin shrugs as he explains to Sothis. "By and I used one against the Alymrans during one of Holst's raids. Burned down the supports to one of the walls and gave us enough time to evacuate third platoon."
You lit alcohol on fire and burned down a castle?
"Half of a castle. Alymran too. Did I mention that part?" Robin frowns as he puts a hand up to correct Sothis.
That doesn't make it…well, I suppose I can excuse it this one time. Still! It feels so wasteful for someone to be literally burning away someone else's hard work!
"Woe to the torch and candlemakers, then," Robin chuckles.
That isn't…! Ugh, you get my point…
"I do," Robin nods. "But I still paid the winemaker, did I not? What I use his brandy for after the sale is none of his concern. In fact, I believe he would be happy that I'm burning his brandy; I'm still going to need some to drink, and I'm not going to drink burnt brandy."
…I hate how much sense you make sometimes, you know?
"I do," Robin nods slyly. "I try my best. Though, I think this conversation needs to come to an end. Is that a very curious Princess that I spy over there?"
Robin turns his head to stare at the doors. The slightest it of silver can be seen through a minuscule crack in the frame, and that's all it took for Robin to spot the heir apparent to the Empire.
The heiress in question sheepishly opens the door and sits down in her seat.
"A bit early, Miss von Hresvelg, but not too early," Robin nods. "Maribelle would approve."
"Who—"
"Heir to the Duchy of Themis, not important right now, page 145 of A Former Shepherd's Account of Valm if you want more reading," Robin waves her off. "Where's your shadow?"
"Who?"
"Hubert," Robin frowns as he directs that word to a corner of the classroom. "I can see you, you know? All that mana leakage is light up your location like a purple-green lighthouse."
An extremely confused and irritated dark mage materialises from the dark corner with a hiss of disapproval.
"How could you tell?" He spits.
"I've had better dark mages track me for longer," Robin casts a quick hex on himself as he shrugs. "It's not too much of a stretch to assume that I've picked up on some tricks."
With a flick of his wrist, he disappears entirely from everyone's eyes, much to Edelgard and Hubert's surprise.
"Doesn't hide your voice, though," Hubert jumps (He actually jumped. I'm serious, he was scared.) as Robin's disembodied voice comes out from behind Hubert's left shoulder. "I can write up the spell matrix for you later if you want to see it, but just know I have countermeasures for even this spell."
Robin rematerialises next to the blackboard as Hubert turns a different shade of white and decides to sit down.
The rest of the class slowly trickles in, with Dorothea dragging a deflated Bernadetta fifteen minutes after Robin called for a break marking full attendance.
"So, any thoughts?" Robin grabs a piece of chalk and starts to draw out a rough map of the upcoming battlefield.
This question causes rounds of confusion to pass through the student body.
"Um…Professor, I believe that you are the one who comes up with a plan?" Dorothea frowns.
"Am I now?" Robin turns around from his half-finished but still quite accurate diagram of the battlefield. "Ferdinand, when you step out of the monastery, who is your liege?"
"Emperor Ionius…?" The ginger man responds with a confused expression on his face.
"Exactly. I do not have any control over what everyone does here. I am your teacher, not your tactician. If you want a tactician, well," Robin crosses his arms over his chest. "You better start learning tactics."
The class falls silent as Robin continues working on his map once again.
"So, you don't have a plan, Professor. How curious, I'd—" Hubert says dryly.
"I do have a plan," Robin shoots back bitterly. "This is a lesson, Hubert. I'm not going to give you knowledge without having you think through how best to use it and why that piece of knowledge is. That would be like giving a man a fish and a fishing rod and expecting him to do the rest."
The class falls silent again. Hubert in particular looks as if he was just slapped in the face. Considering Robin, I wouldn't be surprised if he somehow conjured up a magical hand and slapped.
For a while, the only sound coming from the classroom is the sound of chalk on a blackboard.
"Now then," Robin sighs. "Where do we start?"
Silent is his answer.
"Seriously, why'd you all get so quiet?" Robin crosses his arms over his chest. "I need those minds to think right now."
After about a minute of further noiselessness, Robin gives up.
"Alright then," Robin points at Bernadetta. "Miss von Varley, what do you see here?"
The purple-haired girl makes an eep sound and tries to shrink into her chair. Robin stares at her with his amber eyes, half amused half irritated.
"Umm…Two hills?" She finally answers.
"Two hills? Petra, is she correct?"
"She is correct," Petra nods, a confused look on her face.
"But is that everything?" Robin frowns, scanning the room.
Linhardt yawns before he replies.
"No, Professor. There are woods to the south of the two hills and a team of 9 people occupying both hills and the forest," Linhardt slumps forwards and cradles his head in his arms.
"Thank you! Now, Miss von Hresvelg, what would you do in this situation?" Robin smiles.
"I would…" The princess takes a moment to answer. "…set an ambush in the woods?"
"A decent idea," Robin nods to himself. "Mister von Aegir? Anything to add?"
"I believe the action most befitting someone of my station as a member of the nobility is to charge ahead!" Ferdinand announces triumphantly.
"A stupid decision," Hubert snorts. "Please take caution to never embarrass yourself again, Ferdinand."
Robin then frowns.
"But why would that be a stupid decision, Hubert?" He asks with a raised eyebrow. "Honestly, I'm curious."
"Because Claude no doubt already has a trap set up. We are wasting our position to assault a prepared and uphill position," Hubert explains.
"Yes, but consider that I will be participating," Robin folds his arms. "I have no doubt that you have dug up every single story that you have found of me before my professorship was confirmed and know what I am capable of, even if Mikal likes to downplay my abilities. How does that change your outlook?"
Hubert sits back down to stew this over.
"I am believing that charging is a good idea," Petra suddenly speaks up.
"Oho?" Robin grins. "Is there a reason for that, Miss Macneary?"
"You," Petra says simply.
"Explain," Robin folds his arms with a smirk. He has a plan, doesn't he?
"You are powerful enough to beat anyone," Petra supplies.
"But…aren't the Professors not allowed to participate?" Caspar raises his hand and speaks his question at the same time.
"Caspar, if you're going to raise your hand, please wait to ask your question after the professor calls on you…" Linhardt's sigh is promptly ignored by the blue-haired man.
"To answer your question, we are allowed to participate, but it's an unspoken rule that until one professor enters, we all stay out of the fight," Robin explains. "Considering that I could take on both Manuela and Hanneman at the same time and not break a sweat, I don't care about not breaking that rule."
Caspar nods and retracts his arm, Robin's answer satisfying his curiosity.
"Professor," Edelgard put her hand on her chin. "While I do believe that you could win this mock battle even if all three houses attacked you at once, once we factor in Seteth's restriction on magic, I do not believe that you could win alone."
She very quickly changes her tune after I give her a withering stare. Has this girl really forgotten the utter beatdown that Robin gave her house last week?
"Well, at the very least," She sighs. "It'll be a bad look if you are the only person left standing in our house."
Robin nods in agreement but then grins again.
"Princess, could you please go to page 544 of A Former Shepherd's Account of Valm and tell me what Mr Daraen said about the Battle of Demon's Ingle?" Robin smiles.
"Um… alright then…" Edelgard grabs the large tome out from her bag and flips to the page. She starts reading.
"…and after letting the Emperor of Chon'sin's army march up the eastern trail, the tactician of Ylisse ordered his troops not to harass the Dynast's army. The reason for this was quite simple. Yen'fai did not know where exactly Chrom and Say'ri hid their troops, and the arrows that the Ylissean and Feroxi troops used differed greatly from the arrows of the Valmese resistance. Yen'fai knew that the weakest part of the Ylissean League's forces were the ragtag members of the resistance who had stuck with the League even after the betrayal of most of the Dynasts…" Edelgard reads out. "…When the Valmese forces finally marched up Demon's Ingle, tired and sweating from climbing one of the highest mountains in all of Valentia, they were not met with the neat and ordered lines that usually characterised the Ylissean league under Chrom and his tactician's command. Instead, they were met by the thundering hooves of the Themis calvary and the roar of the Feroxi Warrior. Ylisse's tactician had ordered the entire army to charge the tired and unorganized Valmese troops."
"Why would he do that, though?" Hubert frowns. "He had a prepared defensive line, and Sir Montier has praised this tactician's ability to form extremely tight and controllable infantry formations. Why would he give that up?"
"Momentum," Robin points at Hubert with his right hand. "Good observation, Hubert. Sure, Ylisse's tactician could have simply held the line, but he chose instead to charge. That allowed a much smaller force to push back a much large one by striking when they were least expecting it, and after killing the enemy commander, cause a massive rout."
"You seem to have a lot of experience with this battle," Dorothea notes. "Did you see this battle firsthand?"
"See the battle?" Robin snorts. "Miss Arnault, I was one of the tacticians that helped Chrom orchestrate the battle. Of course, I would know about what happened, I was standing with the venerable Grandmaster Tactician himself when we met the Valmese in battle."
This seems to shock the entire room into silence as Robin sighs again.
"Petra, do you think we can emulate a similar movement here?" Robin folds his arms across his chest as he finally puts down the piece of chalk that he'd been holding this entire time.
The Brigid girl frowns and makes a myriad of faces before she finally answers.
"If the other houses are coming down, we can be of attacking them?" She replies.
"A good idea," Robin nods. "Now, which house is most likely to attack us?" Anyone?"
"The Blue Lions," Linhardt answers, much to the surprise of everyone. It's the first time he's actively engaged in a lesson this much. The fact that he isn't already asleep is a minor miracle. "They're disciplined enough to pull it off, too."
"I never said who could pull it off, just who is going to abandon their position first," Robin smiles.
"…The Golden Deer," Dorothea realises. "Lorenz doesn't listen to Claude. In fact, I've heard that sometimes he will do something just because Claude said to do the opposite…"
"And Claude will definitely want to stick to the hill," Edelgard finishes that train of thought. "Making the Golden Deer the prime target for an attack. Claude is either forced to support Lorenz and waste people in defending him, or he leaves him out to dry, allowing us to concentrate or forces."
"Exactly!" Robin claps his hands together. "Took you guys some time, but you've reached the same conclusion I have."
Linhardt opens his mouth.
"Don't worry about that, Linhardt. The barricades will be dealt with by yours truly," Robin waves him off.
Linhardt closes his mouth.
"Now, we also have a similar person, do we not? Ferdinand?" Robin turns to look at the ginger noble.
"Y—Yes, Professor?" Ferdinand gulps. He doesn't like the attention now, does he?
"Listen to what I say. If you don't do that, I'll be forced to stick by you and make sure that you listen, is that clear?"
"Crystal, Professor," Ferdinand nods.
"Good! I'm expecting great things from you!" Robin smiles wickedly. "In fact, I'm expecting great things from all of you!"
I believe this was the moment that the entire class finally realised who they were dealing with.
I did not participate in the mock battle. I didn't even go out to the field, much to the disappointment of the little goblin in my head. (You better believe that I was mad! I still am!) I tried to tell her I had better things to do (You just swung your sword around! How is that better than watching purple mage?), but she just wouldn't listen. Instead, I have decided to have my students write a report on what happened and piece an account of what happened from those reports. (You just didn't feel like assigning any meaningful work!)
(Linhardt)
If I'm forced to write this, I guess I'd better make it readable. Considering what we've just witnessed, I don't want to make the Professor mad…
I thought the Professor was scary after that day on the training field, but this has caused me to realise how wrong we were…
The Mock Battle started out normal enough. The shade of the trees that we were in made standing outside bearable. Professor Robin grabbed a bottle of…I think it's brandy. I'm not too good with different alcohol types so I'm not sure what exactly the Professor decided to bring to the Mock Battle.
"Professor, while I understand the appeal of drinking before stressful situations, I believe drinking when we're already out here isn't a good idea," Ferdinand frowned when he saw the large bottle of amber liquid that the Professor brought with him.
"And it would get you drunk, no?" Professor Robin chuckled. "I'm not drinking this stuff, Ferdinand. The swill is a bit too alcoholic to be drunk. It's nearly 80 per cent."
A small flame appeared on Professor Robin's pointer finger.
"What this is for, however, is a bit of light arson," A maniacal grin appeared on the Professor's face. I saw Bernadetta and Ferdinand both flinch at the Professor's facial expression, though for different reasons.
"Alright, everyone!" Edelgard decided to get everyone's attention by yelling out…
(Edelgard)
Seeing Professor Robin manage to accidentally distract my house, I elected to assist him in controlling the house once again. My Teacher, how do you deal with him? I do not understand how you managed to focus when he is around you. He seems…so out of it, sometimes.
"Alright, everyone!" I called out. "Today, we are here to win! Today, we will win! Do not think that we will lose just because we have been put in a lesser situation! Our victory is assured!"
My play seemed to do the trick as the Black Eagles House all looked towards me.
"Ok! Thank you, Miss von Hresvelg," Professor Robin nodded. "Now, all we have to do now is wait for Miss Rhea to start the mock battle. We all know what we have to do, right?"
A round of affirmatives rang out through the forest. Caspar's extremely enthusiastic yep startles a few birds which earns him a disapproving look from the Professor. Deserved.
It was surprising, then, that the first thing that the Professor did after the horns that signalled the start to the mock battle blared was he sent a blast of lightning up at the sky…
(Ferdinand)
But what was not surprising in the slightest was Lorenz's decision to charge at us. While usually, this would be the peak of noble behaviour, I could see the problem with his choice. Professor Robin had baited him perfectly and when Claude sent only Hilda and Ignatz to support him, we charged out of the forest to meet them in glorious combat!
Well, that is what I expected would happen when we charged out of the forest, but my assumption was cut down as suddenly, a swift bolt of lightning cut through the skies above and a miasma shot out next to it.
The former was a bit wobbly and scorched the ground next to Hilda, causing her to gasp in shock, but the latter hit its intended target and knocked Ignatz off his feet, causing him to tumble down the hill instead of running down it.
"Good shots! Petra, Bernadetta, you're next!" The Professor roared out his orders.
Two arrows whistled by overhead. Both miss their mark on their intended targets, but they have caused both Hilda and Lorenz to slow down enough that their speed coming down from the hill has been negated.
"You ready for this, Edelgard? I can take over if you do not wish to exert yourself," I smirked at Edelgard. I know that I can defeat her, even if my current showings were a bit lacklustre.
"And miss out on a chance to smack Claude with an axe?" Edelgard snorts. "He's mine, by the way."
I shrugged. I have no anger towards Claude, even if he does act in ways that the rest of the nobility would not like.
"Hold that thought," The Professor runs up to us with incredible speed. Even though he was with the rest of the backline just moments before, he managed to reach the front line in a matter of minutes. "Princess, you do want to see a show first?"
"Wha—When did you get here, Professor? And what do you mean by a show?" Edelgard frowns as she turns to look at our white-haired Professor. Is there some kind of blood relation here? Their hair colours are very similar…
"Well, we have some students that I'd like to terrorize—I mean show off in front of," The Professor nods his head at Lorenz and Hilda, who have both slowed down in order to carefully avoid the massive barrage of arrows and spells coming their way. "So, Princess and Mister von Aegir, if you'd take out the pink-haired one I would be very pleased. Leave the idiot to me; discipline is my speciality."
For some reason, and even though I am a noble, a slight shiver went down my spine as the Professor ran off up the hill with the speed of a horse.
"After you," Edelgard gives me an amused look.
"Ladies first," I gesture.
"Of course," She nods and gestures for me to go forward. I blinked a couple of times—
(Hubert)
I did not expect the Professor to be such a taskmaster. I had never trained for speed of casting, and that showed. By the fifth cast of miasma, my mana had dropped to unacceptably low levels as I tried to brute force my way through dark magic, which was going as well as you'd expect.
It was then I noticed that the Professor had run off. Not in the direction I'd expect, sure, but still surprising. What was more concerning than surprising was the speed he managed to travel. I could see him in the corner of my eye one moment, and the next he was already standing next to Lady Edelgard and Ferdinand at the foot of the hill. This is when I realised how lacking in skill we truly were.
After a quick conversation with Lady Edelgard, Professor Robin bolted forward like a falcon diving towards prey. Lorenz was already shocked enough that the Professor had entered the battle, and was spewing something from his mouth that was utterly incomprehensible from the position where I was standing.
"How much do you bet that Lorenz is underestimating the Professor's ability," Dorothea gives me a smirk.
"Not any money against it," I replied, shaking my head. "Knowing Lorenz, he is probably…unsure of what exactly is going to happen within the next couple of seconds."
My words turn prophetic as the Professor manages to take Lorenz out with a swift blow to the crotch, causing the noble to kneel in agony as—
(Dorothea)
I was talking to Hubert when I heard an extremely loud scream. Like seriously, I've trained my voice to be as loud as possible and even I can't reach that level of screaming.
That was when I realised what had happened. Professor Robin may be extremely rough with us already, but at least he cared somewhat about our well-being. With the other houses…well, Lorenz probably won't be trying his luck for at least a month.
With the titular Lorenz out from taking a massive blunt object to the crown jewels, Hilda looked a lot less confident in her own abilities.
"Well, what are you four waiting for?" The Professor hollered from out in the open. "Come on, backline, do your job!"
I flinched back as I realised that the four of us still in the forest had ceased fighting to watch the display that the Professor had put on. Huh, is that why he calls his fights shows? Would explain a lot, actually. (B- Yes. Everyone at the monastery isn't strong enough to actually get him to fight, which is why he calls everything shows.)
"On its way!" Petra is the first to recover her wits and sends another arrow flying at Ignatz. Poor Ignatz. I doubt he actually wants to be here. I'm fairly sure that he wants nothing more than to sit and draw right now.
"Dorothea! Bernadetta! That means you two as well! Cover us, we're going up!" The Professor roared, finally breaking me out of my stupor. I have to admit, the way that the Professor fought was very engrossing. It was hard to keep my eyes off him if you get what I mean. (B- I don't.)
"R—Right! Sorry, Professor!" I give a verbal response as I spy Claude peeking out of the barricade that he'd erected at the very top of the hill. A quick zap of thunder kept him from firing an arrow at Edie, but Bernie was still having trouble following the Professor's orders. She looked like a small deer caught away from mother, shaking all over and eyes jumping around with no rhyme or reason.
Fortunately, help was there. Unfortunately, that help was in the form of Hubert, which is less motivation than it is coercion. Still, by the end of the minute, her quiver was getting lighter, even if the arrows fired out were incredibly wobbly.
By the time that I decided to look back on the melee going on the hill—
(Edelgard)
"How has it taken you two this long to take out a single person?" The Professor's sighing voice alerts me to his presence as I dodge another swing from Hilda. Damn her, she's much better than I expected!
"Ferdinand, why are you just standing there? She's wide open!" The Professor continues, pointing at the ginger man. "Go get her!"
"But— Then it'll be an unfair fight!"
"This isn't a duelling tournament, Ferdinand— oh, Marth's ass!" Professor Robin contorts in a way I would not expect a normal human to be able to contort as he bends over to dodge one of Claude's arrows. "Dorothea, keep the tricky bastard suppressed!"
He goes back to yelling at Ferdinand after a surprised affirmative from the singer.
"Get your ass in the fight, you idiot!" Professor Robin roars once again. He is really loud on the field, much louder than in the classroom, that's for sure.
A dejected Ferdinand joins me in trying to take Hilda out.
"Awww! This doesn't seem fair, does it?" The pink-haired girl cries out as she realises that both Ferdinand and I have started engaging her.
She narrowly parries a jab of a lance from Ferdinand.
"Sorry, Hilda, Professor's orders," Ferdinand winces. "Not much I can do except—Whoa!"
I roll my eyes as Hilda takes the small amount of hesitation that Ferdinand has when he sagged his shoulders to speak to swing at him.
This does make her open to attacks from my direction, so I drive my axe between her shoulder and her neck, causing her to yelp in pain.
"Hey! That hurt! Well, I guess I'm out…" She sighs, muttering something under her breath.
"Are you guys finally done over there?" A slightly irate voice uphill from us calls down. I jerk my head up to see the Professor standing with his arms crossed over his chest in front of a relieved Ignatz who was leaving the field. "I managed to take out two people and give out commands in the time it took both of you to take out a single person combined. Abysmal, Princess, Ferdinand."
He shakes his head.
"Backline! Archers provide covering fire, mages move up! Front line, on me!" His orders are clean and precise as he gives the two of us a scalding look again before turning around and walking up the hill.
"Yes, Professor!" Rings out through the area as all of us respond at once.
"Hey, Edelgard! What happened that made Prof so mad?" Caspar runs up behind me. Originally, he was supposed to be Linhardt's partner but since he was better as a front-line unit the Professor had Hubert pair up with Linhardt and he himself would pair up with Caspar.
"Hilda was a bit tougher than expected, and Ferdinand wouldn't listen to the Professor," I respond.
"Seems like an—"
"Caspar, arrow coming at you from your right," Professor Robin snaps. "From Ashe in the Blue Lions."
Caspar blinks once and rolls forward, causing the long arrow shot to miss him.
"Bernadetta! Counterfire!" The Professor points to our right. A wobbly arrow is launched at Ashe, who easily dodges it.
When she makes no attempt at another shot, however, Professor Robin sighs and mutters something under his breath.
"Bernadetta, counterfire means to keep going! Make sure Ashe doesn't get another shot off!" Robin turns back to yell at the tree line.
"Y—Yes!" Bernadetta's reply is punctuated by another arrow flying out.
"Gracious, nobody here knows how to fight correctly," This time, I manage to hear what the Professor is saying. "First, the male equivalent of Maribelle decides fighting with an advantage is for wimps and now an archer doesn't understand counterfire?"
"Professor Robin, aren't we suppose to charge the hill?" I ask him as he stops running up the hill to shake his head. Thankfully, Petra, Dorothea, and Hubert and doing their job well enough that Claude, Lysithea, and Marianne haven't been able to get a shot off.
"Well, any further and we'll have to deal with that barricade," He points to the small palisade Claude had created this morning. "And I can deal with said barricade from here, so I'm electing to not go any further. If you want to go up and be caught in the blast zone be my guest, but I've already promised to keep actual bodily harm to a minimum so you're going to have to explain to him why you decided to move up."
After that, all three of us in the front line stopped. Professor Robin then smiled, pulling out the bottle of brandy that he had from earlier.
"Ferdinand, I remember you asking what this is for," He said, tossing the large bottle up into the air and catching it over and over again. "Well, this is what."
With a grunt of exertion, he chucked the bottle in a high arc at the palisade.
And then—
(Bernadetta)
(B- I had trouble fitting her and Caspar's testimonies into the summary as they were both so different from the rest, but I liked this part so here it goes.)
Timed seemed to slow down after the Professor lifted the container of sinful liquid.
I held my breath as the Professor achieved something that his namesake animal does as an afterthought but we humans think it as impossible.
Dirt falling from his boots, the Professor lifted himself up into the air on a current of magic, arcane symbols swirling all around him as he pulled out a tome bound by flame-red covers.
A bright flash brighter than the sun accompanied the screaming of the spell's name: Arcfire.
A bolt of purple-red flame shot across the sky towards the brandy still in the air as the Professor drifted back down from the air a triumphant phoenix.
When the spell finally made contact with the alcohol, a massive explosion of glass and flame erupted in the sky, peppering the palisade with flame and sharp glass.
Screams could be heard as—
(B- There were no screams. Claude might have yelled a lot of profanities after the explosion, but nobody was hurt in the explosion.)
(Linhardt)
It was then that the Professor called up the backline. The fire had caused most of the Golden Deer to be more focused on fighting it than us. I can't blame them. Fire is much more dangerous than most of us. Most of us. I would rather fight a raging forest fire than Professor Robin though. At least the forest fire won't hurt you emotionally.
"Make sure you keep Ashe and Annette pinned," The Professor glares at the group of archers. "I need everyone to take the hill, even with the Golden Deer distracted! Caspar and Petra, help me form a rearguard! Everyone else, take the hill! They're distracted right now, I think you can take them out without my help! Don't make me come over there!"
Petra and Caspar nods their heads ash they rush down the slope to disincentivise the Blue Lions from pushing against our position.
That left the rest of the Black Eagles house to assault the strong position that the Golden Deer had. Rather, the currently on fire and glass-filled position that the Golden Deer were trapped in.
"Hiya!" Dorothea grunted with effort as she sent a thunder spell slamming into Leonie's chest.
"Aww! I didn't even get to do much!" The girl groans as she walks off into the medical tent.
"Tough luck," Dorothea shrugs.
"Keep your head in the fight, Dorothea!" The Professor shouts from down the slope, causing the brown-haired girl to jump.
"Y—Yes!"
"Claude! Get over here!" Edelgard charges in, either forgetting the broken glass or ignoring it. Her boots are probably thick enough to withstand it, though. Claude, seeing Edelgard with an axe rapidly approaching his location, makes the smart decision to leg it out. Raphael decides to come in and intercepts Edelgard, resulting in a small duel as Claude hurriedly takes out his bow again.
He is immediately targeted by Dorothea's thunder spells, forcing him to take cover behind a log.
"Oh yeah! Tell me when Manuela decides to join in, I've got a nasty surprise for her when she does," The Professor yelled out from the bottom of the hill.
"Dear, you're not going to surprise me if you yell that out loud!" Professor Manuela yells back.
"You underestimate me, Manuela! Come on, take a potshot against one of my students, I dare you!"
That exchange goes for a while before Manuela charged up a Nosferatu. At me.
"She's attacking, Professor!" I yell as loudly as I possibly can. I've been on the receiving end of one too many Nosferatus to not do so.
What happened next…
(Hubert)
It was chilling enough to see a spell with the same offensive power as a Bolganone thrown around with such a lack of respect for the power of that spell, such as its usage as a simple ignition source, but it was another entirely to see the Professor show off his swordplay.
He appeared like a phantom behind Professor Manuela with a black-bladed sword that seemed to burn with infernal flames.
"Care to dance, Manuela?" He laughed. To someone else, it may have seemed like a normal laugh, but I could hear the undertones. (B- No, that is just how Robin laughs.) Should this have been a real battle, I am under no illusions that Professor Manuela would be standing there right now. Instead, her head would probably be rolling on the ground with a surprised expression on her face. (B- Alright, that's fair.)
"You scared me there! Was that the surprise you had for me?"
"No, this is," Robin gestures to his sword. "I'm something of a swordsman myself, and to see another user of both magic and blade is rare, so I thought we could have a proper duel."
"Well," Professor Manuela laughed. "I'm happy to oblige."
The two Professors crossed blades. It was clear, however, exactly who was the better swordsman right from the beginning.
Professor Manuela was using a light sword, thin and able to be bent, while Professor Robin's sword was big and hefty. Yet, Professor Robin was able to dictate the flow of the battle much more than Professor Manuela.
"The Blue Lions have started to attack!"
"Understood! How many Golden Deer are left?"
"Just Claude and Raphael! Marianne got out by Bernadetta!"
"And Hubert got Lysithea!"
"Understood! Hubert, Bernadetta focus down Claude, Edelgard take out Claude and everyone else hold out against the Blue Lions until I can finish up with Manuela here!"
"Understood!"
Professor Robin was so unfazed by the duel that he was participating in that he was able to order around the House while dodging a jab from the female Professor.
"I'm sorry, Manuela, but I believe I have to finish up here. Hanneman seems to be getting off his old ass and getting more involved in the fight than just sending Ashe to take potshots at me and Caspar," Professor Robin chuckles.
"Aww…that's such a same. I was hoping you'd dance a bit longer. Please do be gentle; Lorenz didn't deserve what you did to him,"
"In a way, he did," Robin shrugs. "And…you're out."
Robin taps the pommel of his sword on Professor Manuela's forehead, causing the female Professor to blink in confusion and sigh.
"Anticlimactic, don't you think? I was thinking a bit more action before you stopped,"
"Miss, you do realise that if this was a real battle, that strike would have been hard enough to crack your skull," Professor Robin says dryly before he vanishes. Again.
(Dorothea)
The Blue Lions charged up the hill, Dimitri in the lead with Felix and Dedue not too far behind.
"Well?" The Professor's voice appeared behind me, spooking me slightly. "They are in perfect range, are they not?"
"R—Right! Firing!"
I send more thunders down the hill, though none of them finds their targets. I hear the sound of boots behind me.
"I am back, Professor. Raphael and Claude have both been taken out,"
"And where is Ferdinand?"
Edelgard winces.
"Claude got him with an arrow right before Hubert hit him with a miasma spell,"
The sigh following that statement has got to be one of the loudest I've ever heard. I'm pretty sure even the Goddess could hear it up in her home in the stars.
"N—Preserve me, I am surrounded by children…" The Professor shakes his head.
"Technically—" Linhardt began to say, but was immediately cut off by the Professor.
"Not now Linhardt. Focus on the enemy, not on my words,"
That was when Petra managed to catch Sylvain with an arrow.
"That's the spirit, Petra!" Professor Robin cried out. "Come on Bernadetta, I know you can be just as good as Petra!"
"R—Really?"
"Yes! Look, I'll tell you a story when we get back with a victory, so do well now, alright?" The Professor nodded. "It's about a girl who was probably meeker than you are now, but still managed to get over it and became one of the best archers I know!"
"R—Right!"
Bernadetta's arrows flew remarkably better afterwards.
I managed to zap Felix with a thunder spell but he kept going afterwards and the referees ruled it as a manageable hit. Yet, when Linhardt got zapped in return by Annette, that was disqualifying?
At least Annette caught an arrow from Bernie, so all is right in the world.
Dimitri finally managed to reach melee range, and who other than our house leader Edelgard fought him?
Felix had the worst luck since he decided to target Petra only to realise that she was just as good with a sword as she was with a bow. That duel lasted a while.
Dedue got hit with a miasma spell from Hubert that caused him to tumble down the hill, nearly knocking Ingrid off her feet. Embarrassing.
"Come on, Edelgard!" Dimitri chuckled. "I thought you could fight harder than that!"
"That…won't be necessary!" Edelgard suddenly backsteps as a axe slams into Dimitri's back, courtesy of Caspar.
"Oh yeah! Didya see that, Professor?"
"I did!" Professor Robin grins like a madman. "Keep it up, Caspar! Go help out Petra and be a general nuisance to Felix!"
"I gotcha Professor!" Caspar returns that grin and runs off.
"Dorothea, how good are you with the sword?"
"Er—good enough?" I respond.
"Alright then, we're taking out Ingrid together then," He nods. "Hubert, you're in charge of keeping Ashe off guard! Don't let him fire back, eliminate him if you can!"
"Understood!"
I follow the Professor as Ingrid, with slightly laboured breath, makes it up the hill.
I mouth her a I'm sorry as I quickly jab in with my sword.
Her eyes widen as she sidesteps it, but her balance is already off.
"And out," The Professor taps her on the head. "Better luck next time, Miss Knight."
He flashes her a quick smile before returning to the battlefield.
"I really am…" I apologize to Ingrid once again.
"There is no need, really," She shakes her head. "I got surprised by the two of you, it's my own fault that I got out."
She paused for a moment to watch Felix barely dodge one of Caspar's wild swings only to get tapped by Petra's sword.
"Professor Robin is an effective tactician, isn't he?" She notes. "We charged up here following Dimitri, but Professor Robin was able to quickly delegate and managed to outnumber individually even though we outnumber you."
"Yes, but he's even better as a fighter. Have you seen his sword skills?" I reply.
"That's…true," She agrees.
(Edelgard)
With Felix out due to the timely assistance from Caspar, there were only Ashe, Mercedes, and Professor Hanneman himself left.
"Hubert, how many more Miasmas can you throw out?" The Professor asked.
"Not…many," Hubert huffed from exhaustion as he launched another ball of black miasmic energy at Ashe, who deftly dodged it.
"Dorothea? How much magic you still have left in the tank?"
"Not much here either, Professor," The former songstress shakes her head. "I'd say four more casts of thunder and I'll be out."
"Both of you need to work on sustained casting, especially since you two don't use tomes," The Professor shook his head. "I'll get you both started on a beginner's course."
"Professor I—"
"Yes, but you're barely able to cast twenty miasmas and Ricken, a mage a couple of years your younger, mind you, was able to launch nearly forty thunders without rest. Be able to do that first, then tell me you already know how to cast spells," The Professor sighed. "For now, I will be doing your job as battlefield support for you."
The Professor formed a massive wall of extremely sloppy wind casts. Weirdly enough, they were pink instead of the usual blue-green.
"Annette, Lysithea! I know you're watching me, be sure to take notes!" Professor Robin yelled out to the spectator stands, where Annette and Lysithea were indeed watching and the former was indeed taking notes. "This is called Celica's Gale, a spell first recorded in the Valentiad, the origin myth of Valm. As the name suggests, its first user and creator was Celica Lima, Queen of Zofia and Valm. It's very sloppy, yes."
Suddenly, the entire wall of wind spells lashed out like an ocean's tide and swamped poor Ashe, who stood like a deer caught in front of a wagon at the incoming wave of spells.
"But that doesn't matter when you have enough wind spells to cause an entire sector of airspace to be unviable to fly in," Professor Robin shrugged. "Petra, if you'd take out Mercedes that'll help a lot, Bernadetta please hand me your bow."
Petra obliged and a couple of seconds later Mercedes too walked to the medicine tent nursing a nasty bruise on her shoulder.
"U—Um, why do you need my bow?"
"To show everyone something," Robin grabs an arrow from Petra's quiver and nocks it onto the bow. "With enough training—"
He sent the arrow flying with perfect accuracy at the opposing hill.
"—Anyone can do anything," He handed the bow back to Bernadetta as Professor Hanneman walked out and into the medicinal tent, a hand clutching his shoulder.
"And that, my students, was your first test. Grades will be out by the end of the week,"
Something in my stomach dropped.
AN: Hello There! Acardia here!
Sorry for the late upload, CNY took more time out of my schedule than expected. Sorry!
Anyhow, I hope you like this edition of the first mission of Three Houses with, well, the Three Houses. Robin here is a bit (a lot) overpowered. As expected; he's level 40+10 or something similar. That last bit with the arrow is a personal joke. Daniel, if you're reading this, my Robin ended up with 4 Res by the end of the game, even lower than his luck stat. I still don't know how that happened.
That's all for this week.
Acardia out!