Damn Cloudflare. Keeps making it hard to view anything on this site. I already verified that I'm human, dammit!
Anyhow, we'll be getting our way back to the warzone. Sorry, couldn't think up more Support scenarios that would fit.
Chapter 86 – Return to the Front (Great Tree Moon)
Ferdinand watched as the soldiers of the Church rushed about, gathering their equipment and saying farewell to their loved ones before they were to march to battle. Byleth had given the order for the Church's army to mobilize as quickly as possible after receiving a message from Seteth. Ferdinand didn't know what the message was, but he knew it couldn't be good news. Byleth, Dorothea and Anna were all readying horses so they could rush to the front ahead of their troops, leaving Yuri to command the army on its march.
Though Ferdinand wished he could have been given the responsibility of leading the troops, he knew Byleth's decision was for the best. He still hadn't fully recovered from his wounds, and Byleth had put the responsibility of leading the monastery garrison on his shoulders in her absence. It was not an enviable task he had been given, as he would have less than 500 men to command if the Empire or the Dukedom decided to attack.
As Byleth helped Dorothea onto their steed, Brigitte shouted, "Pick up the pace, everyone! Let's go! Let's go!"
The soldiers of the Church redoubled their efforts to ready themselves as quickly as possible. As Brigitte barked out orders, Ferdinand watched Byleth and Dorothea, who were riding the same horse, as they rode away from the monastery with ten Cavaliers escorting them. Anna also rode alongside them on her own steed.
As he watched them ride off, he heard Brigitte say, "Hey, Ferdinand, you have a moment?"
Turning to the redhead, Ferdinand asked, "Do you need something, Miss Stark?"
"Well, firstly, don't call me 'Miss Stark', okay? Brigitte's fine."
"Very well then, Brigitte. What do you need of me?"
"Could you keep an eye on Alicia for me? She's… well, she's been doing pretty badly ever since the bridge. She's blaming herself for what happened to Cyril and for that whole thing with the wolves."
"I will do what I can. You have my word."
"Heh, never thought I'd find myself asking an Aegir for a favor. Not after what happened to Rosa."
"Rosa? Dorothea mentioned that name once in her anger. May I inquire as to who she was?"
"Rosa was… she was my best friend years ago. Everyone at the Opera House loved her, and she ended up marrying the heir of House Temper."
"Osric?"
"Did you know him?"
"Not directly, but word of his engagement spread like wildfire." Ferdinand grimaced as he added, "Along with how bandits massacred the entire Temper family."
"It wasn't bandits, Ferdinand. The Tempers were slaughtered by soldiers led by your father, Duke Aegir. He had evidence planted at the estate to frame a gang of thieves for the crime. Rosa lost everything to them. Her husband, her baby… everything. She came back to us days later as a broken woman. I tried to help her, but she… she just couldn't take it."
Ferdinand quickly realized the implication Brigitte was making, and so he asked, "She took her own life?"
"Yeah. She hanged herself. We… everyone at the Opera House was devastated when it happened. We all knew it was your father who ruined her life, but we couldn't lift a finger against him. We had no proof, and he was the damn prime minster. What could we do against him?"
Putting a hand to his forehead, Ferdinand said, "I should have known. Father was elated when news of the Temper massacre spread. Duke Temper had been a firm supporter of Emperor Ionius IX during the Insurrection of the Seven. I should have realized then that my father was responsible for their deaths." Ferdinand paused and then said, "Brigitte, I give you my word that I will look after Alicia in your absence. And I promise you that, if we should find my father, he will face justice for his crimes."
"Justice won't bring Rosa back, you know."
"Nevertheless, my father cannot be allowed to go unpunished."
Brigitte sighed and said, "If that's how you want it. If I see him first, though, I'll be beating him black-and-blue before you get to have a word with him."
Ferdinand couldn't find anything to say to Brigitte, unsure if she was jesting or not.
Brigitte then said, "And… thanks for saying you'll look after Alicia."
"Hey, Brigitte! Come on!" shouted Caspar. "We're ready to go!"
"Good luck to you, Brigitte," said Ferdinand.
Nodding with a smile, Brigitte turned and rushed to accompany the Church's army back toward the Great Bridge of Myrrdin.
…
It took a full day of riding as fast as their mounts could manage for Byleth, Dorothea and Anna to reach the Great Bridge of Myrddin ahead of the rest of the Church Army. The three were immediately met by Seteth, Judith, Shamir and Claude. Looking at the bridge, Dorothea was concerned that there were no Loyalist forces around.
"Teach, good to see you," said Claude as Byleth, Dorothea and Anna dismounted.
"We got your message," said Anna. "Where's Dimitri?"
"That's what we need to tell you," Judith said. "Things have gone downhill fast."
"What happened?" asked Byleth.
"Over the past three days, several messengers from both the Loyalist and Alliance forces have been found murdered," said Seteth. "And the evidence points to them being slain by the opposite side."
"What?!" Dorothea said in horror.
"I assume you didn't give any orders like that, Claude?" said Anna.
"Of course not," said Claude. "But someone's been using weapons made by my forces to kill several of Dimitri's men, and vice versa."
"Some of our own messengers have also been found dead," said Shamir. "Killed by weapons of both Loyalist and Alliance origins."
"Where is Dimitri?" asked Byleth.
"Unfortunately, King Dimitri has severed all diplomacy with both the Alliance and the Church," said Seteth. "I personally went to speak with him yesterday and was met by a volley of arrows before I could get anywhere near him. It's clear that he's ordered his men to attack us on sight."
"Godsdammit, Dimitri," said Anna. "Doesn't he realize he's just playing into the Empire's hands?"
"I need to speak with him," said Byleth.
"Didn't we just tell you how his men tried to shoot Seteth down?" said Judith.
"I hate to say it, Teach," said Claude, "but Dimitri's not gonna listen to any of us now. He's always been the type to jump to conclusions."
"Besides, you're needed here, By," said Anna. "I'll go have a word with Dimitri. Maybe he'll listen to me."
"That's too dangerous, Anna," said Byleth.
"By, we can't have Dimitri at our throats when the fighting starts. And it'd be too risky for you to go speak with him. The army needs you here."
"But what about you, Anna?" asked Dorothea. "What if they attack you too?"
"Then they'll find I'm hard to catch."
Knowing she couldn't dissuade the merchant, Byleth sighed and said, "Please be careful, Anna."
Anna nodded before following Shamir across the bridge while Byleth and Dorothea continued to listen to Claude, Seteth and Judith.
…
Dusk began to fall over Fódlan as Dorothea took a seat outside the barracks. She watched as Ignatz, Raphael and Balthus continued to direct troops and supplies across the bridge.
Hilda, meanwhile, was taking the time to stretch her arms out as though she had done any work, which Dorothea knew had to be untrue. She could tell the pinkette was trying to show off her beauty for some of the passing troops. Dorothea had no objection to it, though. It was keeping the men who passed by in high spirits, even if a lot of them were gazing at Hilda's body rather than her face.
"Still love to show off, don't you, Hilda?" asked Dorothea.
Hilda chuckled at this and said, "What can I say? The boys love a nice view."
"Really? That's not how I remember it during our academy days. Remember our mock battle at Gronder?"
Hilda now frowned and said, "How could I forget you groping me in front of everyone?"
Dorothea chuckled for a moment, thinking back to how mischievous she'd been as a cadet. Yet as she looked back on how that day had been, the memory turned bittersweet.
"If only we could go back to the way things were then…" Dorothea said wistfully.
"Yeah… I miss those days," said Hilda. "I still can't wrap my head around why Edelgard decided she had to tear it all down. Did she really think things were that bad?"
Dorothea didn't answer this. She too wanted to know just what Edelgard had been thinking when she decided to declare war on the rest of Fódlan. Was there truly no alternative in her friend's mind? Did she think all the death and destruction was justified? The singer had no idea.
The whinny of horses caught the attention of the two women as Leonie and Lorenz arrived at the bridge. They both appeared to be in bad spirits.
Curious, Dorothea got to her feet and walked over to the pair of riders with Hilda in tow. Byleth, who was nearby, had already walked up to them.
Seeing the women approaching, Lorenz said, "Lady Eisner. Dorothea. It is a relief to see you return in good health."
"You don't really look all that relieved, Lorenz," said Dorothea.
"What's wrong?" asked Byleth.
"We just came back from a farming village called Favorsham," said Leonie. "Everyone in the village was slaughtered."
Both Hilda and Dorothea were dismayed by the news.
"Oh no… Any idea who could've done it?" asked Hilda.
"A merchant caravan claims they saw Imperial soldiers leaving Favorsham when they discovered the massacre," said Lorenz. "Among the Imperials were… the Black Eagles."
Shocked, Dorothea said, "What?! You mean Ladislava… Why would she do something like this?!"
"Probably to get back at House Gloucester for turning on them," said Hilda.
"I am not so certain of that, Hilda," said Lorenz.
"What do you mean?" asked Byleth.
"Leonie and I investigated the village and found there were no signs of a battle within the village itself. The buildings were left intact, and no one appeared to have been killed within their homes. Whatever happened took place on the outskirts of the village, where we found several Imperial bodies in… various states of dismemberment. Yet Favorsham's citizens had little in the way of weapons outside of farming tools. It does not explain how they were able to inflict such losses upon the Imperials."
"We found most of the villagers' bodies had been thrown into a pile and then burned," said Leonie. "Imperials don't normally do that."
"Maybe the Black Eagles wanted to send some kind of message?" said Hilda.
"Wait, 'most of'?" said Dorothea. "What do you mean by that, Leonie?"
"We found the corpse of an old woman in one of the houses," said Lorenz. "She appeared to have died at around the same time to some kind of illness. However…"
"What is it, Lorenz?" asked Byleth.
"The body we found showed the same symptoms as those who perished in Remire five years ago."
Byleth and Dorothea both went wide-eyed at this.
"Are you sure, Lorenz?" asked Dorothea.
"The woman's veins were bulging with tainted blood, and her eyes had lost all color. It was all too similar to the plague that Solon unleashed upon the people of Remire."
"Well, either way, I'm glad you're both safe," said Hilda. "You heard about the dead messengers, right?"
"Yeah, we did," said Leonie. "Why the hell would Dimitri do this now, of all times?"
After pausing for a moment, Byleth said, "Maybe he didn't."
Knowing where Byleth was going with her deduction, Lorenz said, "You believe a third party was involved."
"It's a strong possibility. Dimitri has nothing to gain from attacking the Alliance or the Church. And from what you've told us of what happened in Favorsham, it's possible that the people responsible for that may have had a hand in the murder of the messengers. Did you find any bodies with black robes or armor near Favorsham?"
"I'm afraid not. There were clear signs of a struggle near the northwest side of the town, but we found no bodies despite a copious amount of blood."
"This is getting really creepy," said Hilda. "Ugh, I still remember that huge undead monster Solon made."
"But Byleth killed Solon in the Sealed Forest," said Dorothea. "It couldn't have been him, right?"
"It may have been one of his associates," said Byleth. "And it's possible they could be the ones behind the murders."
"That may be, Lady Eisner," said Lorenz. "But we do not have enough evidence to be certain. All we know for certain is that the Imperials had some hand in the massacre of Favorsham. Whether they killed its people in retribution or for some other reason, I cannot say. Yet I have my doubts that Ladislava would have endorsed a punitive attack on a farming settlement. I have met the Black Eagles on more than one occasion and Ladislava is an honorable warrior."
"More than one occasion, Lorenz?" said Leonie. "That explains what that blue one was saying to you."
"Blue one?" asked Hilda.
"Trauare Wrede," said Lorenz. "She is a highly talented water mage, yet she has never thought highly of me."
"Probably because you flirted with her a lot, and she kept saying no, right?" Leonie asked jokingly.
"Only on one occasion, actually. But she made it quite clear that I was, quote, barking up the wrong tree, unquote."
Realizing Lorenz's implication, Leonie said "Oh…" in a flustered tone.
Deciding not to pursue the subject any further, Lorenz and Leonie turned to find Claude, hoping he could shed some light on what they had found.
Pondering what she had heard, Byleth and Dorothea both prayed that Anna would return safely.
So many riddles for our heroes to ponder.
The whole dead messengers thing is done in both Azure Moon and Verdant Wind, so it makes sense for it to be in this adaptation. Dimitri overreacting to it is also, to my memory, accurate to how it happens in those two routes, though perhaps him having his soldiers fire on the Church is a bit overkill. We'll just have to wait and see if Anna can pull off a miracle.
At first, I was thinking of having the Alliance characters overreact to what happened at Favorsham, but I felt it would be better if Lorenz and Leonie investigate the village and end up questioning what really happened there. Either way, the Alliance isn't gonna be happy to see the Black Eagles again.
Speaking of which, we'll be shifting back to them, as well as Edelgard and Cornelia, in the next chapter. The Battle of Gronder Field is still a little bit off, so stay tuned.