Time for a new moon, and for Dorothea to show her skill at swordplay.
Chapter 39 – Test of Merit (Lone Moon)
Dorothea smiled as she watched from her spot in the dining hall as the workers, merchants, and soldiers enjoyed Alicia's freshly baked bread. No one had to go hungry that day, and no one had to fight over scraps or try to steal them from each other.
Though there were thousands of new mouths to feed, Judith had thankfully accounted for this and brought with her army a large supply of food, more than enough to keep everyone in Garreg Mach fed for weeks. Additionally, her army's arrival at the monastery had encouraged many farmers, merchants and craftsmen to start pitching in for the Church, their former hesitance to become involved swayed by the victory at Ailell.
Yet despite all the new arrivals, Dorothea knew their position was still precarious. With the losses sustained in Ailell, Judith's army had only brought the Church up to 2,800 strong. More volunteers and recruits had brought this to approximately 3,000, but the Church knew that still wasn't nearly enough to take the Empire head-on, which numbered in the tens of thousands.
For now, though, Dorothea was content to watch as a group of children gorged themselves on full meals, children who weeks before had been forced to eat meagre scraps. It gave her hope that things could, perhaps, become peaceful again, like they had been over five years ago.
"Enjoying yourself, I see," asked Judith as the Hero Daphnel strode up to the diva.
"Oh, Judith," said Dorothea. "Are you looking for Byleth?"
"Actually, I was looking for you, Dorothea."
"Me? What can I do for you?"
"I wanted to see whether you've been working on your swordsmanship over the years. You've clearly gotten stronger as a mage, but I remember you weren't much of a fighter when I first met you."
Dorothea almost winced at the memory of their first meeting. It hadn't even taken five seconds for Judith to have the diva on the floor back then.
"Oh, well… umm…"
"Well?"
"I still don't think I'd be a match for you, Judith."
"That isn't what I'm asking. I want to see how much your technique has improved. You didn't get that fancy sword for nothing, you know."
Dorothea said nothing to this, reminded of how she had received Joyeuse for her nineteenth birthday from Edelgard. The Mythril rapier was still in nearly flawless condition, despite how many battles she had put the blade through. Time and again, she'd survived harrowing ordeals thanks to the weapon.
Yet despite all this, and despite how much practice she had put into wielding it, the diva still felt like a novice.
"I can't say I've improved all that much," Dorothea said pessimistically.
"I'll be the judge of that, girl," said Judith. "Come on."
Realizing Judith was insisting, Dorothea sighed as she got to her feet and followed the Hero of Daphnel to the training grounds.
…
One of Judith's men yelped as Felix disarmed him of his wooden axe before hitting him in the chest with a practice sword.
"Not nearly fast enough," said Felix.
The soldier scowled as he stepped away from the swordsman, joining several of his comrades as they nursed their fresh bruises. Felix was disappointed in them, but it wasn't because they weren't giving him a challenge. He still enjoyed a good duel, but these soldiers needed to improve for the battles ahead. And while he didn't expect any of them to match him, they were falling short of his expectations.
As Felix set down his wooden sword, he turned to watch as Byleth sparred with eight other soldiers, wielding a practice sword and Rhea's shield as each took their turns striking at her. The Archbishop skillfully parried and deflected each strike with her wooden blade and her shield, rapidly turning from one soldier to the next as their pace increased. Felix smiled at seeing how much Byleth had improved at using a shield in such a short time.
Byleth soon stopped sparring, leading many in the training ground to applaud her skill.
"Well done, Lady Eisner," said one of the soldiers.
"Shouldn't have expected less from the head of the Church," said another soldier.
Several others gave their compliments as Byleth modestly thanked them for their kind words.
As this went on, some of the soldiers turned as Judith arrived at the training grounds with Dorothea in tow.
"Lady Judith, ma'am!" said one soldier as she stood at attention. Several others followed suit, saluting their leader.
"At ease, everyone," said Judith. "I need some volunteers to help me see how good Miss Arnault here is at wielding a blade. Anybody up for it?" As several hands went up, Judith raised her arm to a pair of them and said, "Caldwell, Labatt, you'll do. Everyone else, back to your drills."
Two of Judith's soldiers stepped forward as several others voiced their disappointment at not being picked. Caldwell, a lithe woman with black hair, and Labatt, a scarred man with a brown beard, both followed Judith and Dorothea to a section of the training grounds. Several other soldiers followed to watch the upcoming fight. Brigitte, who had just finished brawling with another soldier, caught sight of Dorothea and went to stand next to Byleth as the Archbishop took a spot nearby.
Judith grabbed a pair of wooden swords and tossed them to her two subordinates as she said, "Labatt, you'll go first. Dorothea, take your spot."
"Umm, don't I need a practice weapon?" asked Dorothea.
"I want to see what you can do with that Mythril blade, girl."
"Oh. Okay then…"
Hesitantly, Dorothea drew Joyeuse, knowing she'd have to be more careful with it than a wooden weapon. She didn't want to accidentally hurt her opponent.
"Don't hold back on my account, miss," said Labatt. "Give me your best shot."
Seeing that Labatt wasn't planning to make things easy for her, Dorothea assumed her graceful stance as Labatt gestured for her to attack first. Dorothea rushed forward, taking several thrusts at Labatt. The veteran soldier, not expecting the diva to be so fast, barely managed to parry the first three strikes, but then yelped as the fourth one struck his chainmail, though Dorothea had deliberately withheld the force of her strike so as not to cause serious injury.
The soldiers applauded Dorothea's first victory as Labatt, embarrassed that he had been bested so quickly, laughed at his own defeat. Byleth and Brigitte both smiled at Dorothea's win.
"Haha, nicely done, miss," said Labatt. "You're pretty good with that thing."
"Or you need to be faster at your blocks, Labatt," Caldwell said admonishingly.
"Well, let's see you outdo me then, Caldwell."
Caldwell stepped forward as Labatt moved off to the side, assuming a fighting stance.
"Don't expect me to be nearly as easy as him," said Caldwell.
"That's what she said," joked another one of Judith's soldiers, prompting the others to laugh at his innuendo, and for Caldwell to scowl at their crude humor.
Dorothea, despite chuckling a little at the joke, resumed her stance as she squared off against Caldwell. Watching the black-haired woman's stance, Dorothea realized the woman would be a lot faster than Labatt, and thus a much more dangerous opponent.
Caldwell made the first attack, taking several thrusts and swings with her wooden blade at Dorothea. The diva parried the first two thrusts, dodging the third, and then parried and deflected Caldwell's next four swings. Caldwell quickly became frustrated at not landing a blow and made another swing at Dorothea. This time, Dorothea saw her chance and met the wooden sword with Joyeuse, performing a controlling swing that sent Caldwell's arm wide out to her right side, leaving her exposed. Dorothea followed up with another quick thrust, sending Joyeuse's blade less than a few millimeters past the left side of Caldwell's neck. Caldwell could almost feel Joyeuse's edge against her skin as her brown eyes went wide with surprise.
The two were still for a moment before Caldwell growled, "I yield…"
At hearing Caldwell's surrender, the other soldiers cheered again at Dorothea's win. Brigitte was now clapping her hands in applause as Caldwell stormed away in frustration, while Dorothea couldn't help smiling at all the praise she was getting.
"Great work, Miss Dorothea!" said one soldier.
"That was good!" said another soldier.
More words of praise showered Dorothea as she turned to Judith.
"Nice work," said Judith. "Of course, those two were just a warm-up."
Dorothea's prior elation suddenly vanished as she asked, "They were?"
Nodding, Judith said, "You've certainly gotten better with that blade of yours. But now I want to see just how good you are."
To Dorothea's dread, Judith stepped forward and drew her own blade, a silver rapier of excellent craftsmanship. It wasn't nearly the exquisite blade that Joyeuse was, but in Judith's hands it was still extremely deadly.
"W-Wait a second, you want me to fight YOU?!" Dorothea stammered.
"It's the best way for me to gauge your skill, girl," said Judith. "You're not scared, are you?"
Dorothea hesitated to answer, turning to Byleth as though wanting the Archbishop to protest.
To the diva's surprise, Byleth was looking at her expectantly. She wanted her to fight the Hero of Daphnel.
"Byleth…?" Dorothea said in confusion.
It was at this moment that Byleth realized what was going through the diva's head.
Stepping forward, Byleth said, "Give us a moment, Judith."
Judith nodded, seeing the diva's discomfort.
Byleth walked over to Dorothea and whispered, "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong? Byleth, I can't beat her!" Dorothea whispered back.
"You won't know until you try, Dorothea."
"But I already know! I know I'm no match for her. She's the best fencer in Fódlan!"
Byleth was about to speak again when Brigitte, who had overheard their whispers, said to Dorothea, "Dorothea, stop being such a worrywart. You've got this."
"No, Briggie, you don't get it! I'm not as strong as her! I'm not as fast or precise! I… I can't beat her." Lowering her voice, Dorothea said gloomily, "I'll never be as good as her."
Byleth looked around to see everyone watching Dorothea, confused as to why she hesitated to fight. She looked to Judith, who silently gave Byleth a nod, as though knowing what the Archbishop was going to say to her friend.
Byleth then said, "Dorothea, you don't need to be just like Judith. No one here expects you to be just like her. Just do your best. That's all we're asking of you. It doesn't matter if you lose."
"B-But I–"
"Dorothea, you sang that Hymn in Ailell even though you didn't know if it would work." As Dorothea looked into Byleth's eyes, surprised that the teacher had noticed, Byleth said, "It's no different from this. You might not know if you can win, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. Just do the best you can, even if you lose."
Dorothea was silent as she stared into Byleth's green eyes. Heartened by her friend's encouragement, Dorothea said, "Okay… okay, I'll do it."
Byleth smiled as Dorothea turned back to face Judith. The Archbishop moved back to give the two fencers some room for their duel.
"Had enough of doubting yourself, Dorothea?" asked Judith.
Taking a deep breath, Dorothea steeled herself and said, "Ready when you are."
The brunette raised Joyeuse to Judith as the Hero of Daphnel, seeing a new fire burning in Dorothea's eyes, readied her own stance. The two were still for five seconds as everyone watched in anticipation, waiting for the first move.
Dorothea moved first, rushing at Judith, her blade poised for a quick thrust. Judith swung her blade to parry it, but to her surprise, Dorothea suddenly shifted her arm and slashed at Judith's parry, sending the veteran fencer's arm away. The crowd around them watched in awe as Judith, briefly shocked by Dorothea's unexpected move, quickly dodged back when the diva followed up her first strike with a real thrust, narrowly avoiding Joyeuse's edge. Recovering, Judith made several swipes at Dorothea in response, forcing the diva to deflect each strike, each blow narrowly avoiding her skin.
The crowd began cheering at the duel as Byleth watched with a smile, proud that Dorothea was overcoming her doubts.
The duel between them was intense, with each combatant's strikes coming perilously close to drawing blood. Whenever Dorothea went on the offensive, Judith would meet her strikes with masterful parries and ripostes. Then, when the Hero of Daphnel began attacking, she weaved her sword in ways that Dorothea barely had any time to defend against. One thrust passed narrowly by Dorothea's left ear, cutting loose a few strands of her brown hair. In response, Dorothea countered with a slash that almost hit Judith's right thigh, so close that Judith could feel the air around the blade.
Then, with a shout, Judith rushed forward at Dorothea, forcing her to lock Joyeuse with Judith's blade, the two women pushing against each other. But Judith was far physically stronger than Dorothea, who struggled to hold back the veteran swordswoman's rapier.
Dorothea grunted in exertion for a moment before, suddenly, Judith shoved hard and knocked the diva off balance. Dorothea stumbled back as Judith followed up her blow with several lightning-fast thrusts. To everyone's amazement, Dorothea recovered just before the first thrust would hit her shoulder, moving Joyeuse in front of Judith's strikes and blocking them in a split second.
All but one, that is.
Dorothea yelped as she felt Judith's blade slice a shallow cut into her right arm, drawing blood.
The diva stumbled back and clutched her new cut with her left hand as she gasped for breath.
The duel was over. Judith was the winner.
The crowd cheered loudly as the duel concluded, with many praising both Judith and Dorothea for their performance. The duel had only taken about one minute, but Dorothea felt as though it had been much longer.
Dorothea, her adrenaline settling, fell to her knees as Byleth rushed over to her to assess her wound.
"It's not that bad," Dorothea said before Byleth could ask.
"Not bad indeed, Dorothea," said Judith. "You gave me a real run for my money there."
"R-Really?"
Dorothea looked up at Judith in surprise as the Hero of Daphnel answered, "Excellently done."
"Th-Thank you, Judith."
Byleth immediately healed Dorothea's wound with her magic, leaving no trace of the cut aside from the bloodstains. Dorothea rose to her feet as Judith moved her rapier to her left hand and reached out to Dorothea with her right for a handshake. After a few seconds, Dorothea did the same, shaking Judith's hand.
I took some inspiration for this from Sword Art Online, specifically the duel between Asuna and Yuuki. It's honestly a shame we don't get Judith as a playable character in Three Houses, but I suppose the reasons are obvious.
As for those two Daphnel soldiers, don't expect them to make another appearance; I've got enough OCs for now. They were just one-shot NPCs.
We'll be sticking around the monastery for a little while with some chapters that'll play out like Support conversations (in a sense), but most of this moon is going to be devoted to the other factions (Black Eagles, Loyalists, Alliance, and Cornelia). Like the last month, it's gonna be a while before we get to the next major battle.