The Dustbin

Day 10: First Exam Part Final


27th of the Great Tree Moon, Dawn


"Are you sure they'll be okay down there?" asked Dimitri as he and the others ran back up to the surface while being led by the Abysskeeper, "I mean, that wolf was massive!" he pointed out, "they'll be devoured whole!"

"Realistically speaking, do you think you have a better chance at handling it than them?" asked Claude, "personally, I'd like to think that they're staying because they know what they're doing... I hope."

"Hopefully, you're right on that," Ashe replied, "I guess they aren't the worst of Garreg Mach when they're willing to stay back."

"Personally, I think they revel in the carnage," Linhardt remarked, "they seem to have no reservations of killing people at a whim, so my doubts of their supposed valor."

"As long as I don't have to chip a nail, I'm good," said Hilda, "I really don't need to make my own big brother Holst even more worried on top of his position."

"Whatever the case, it's my class's fault that we were all dragged into this mess," apologized Edelgard, acknowledging that her senior Black Eagle students were part of the conspiracy, "I'll make this up someday, that I swear."

"So... bunk out the Black Eagle classroom during nighttime?" Byleth remarked.

I dunno, they don't like the responsible type, Sothis pointed out in the ex-mercenary's head, and that's coming from who has to put up with someone like you. No offense.

None taken, Byleth mentally deadpanned.

"Only if they come back alive!" Seteth pointed out.

"Brother, you seem oddly faithful of the hooded professor," Flayn pointed out, remembering the prior instance on the battlefield when the two were bickering while taking out their opposition with surprising coordination.

"... Call it a hunch," Seteth replied, "... but I think the walking anathema that dares to call himself a professor might pull something out of his sleeve."


Back at the Colosseum...

"Okay, so here's the rundown on how people usually deal with Demonic Beasts," Karna began explaining as the giant lupine bared its teeth at them, "firstly, due to their giant size, people usually attack it from all sides to keep it figuratively pinned down," he pointed out, "so rather than just aim for one part-"

The beast then slams its forepaw towards them, causing them to be separated.

"... Well, consider that the starting bell," Karna remarked, "now go!"

The Dustbin students then began circling around the beast haphazardly. Byron shooting his [Frost] spells at the creature's left forelimb, Sorcha smashing her blade into the beast's side, Cyrus attacking the hind left leg, Selene shooting her arrows at the beast's other hind leg, Vidar grasps onto the right side of the beast and begins punching it hard as he can, Topaz then hacks through the beast's right leg, and Karna fires his [Miasma ∆] at the beast's face.

"Alright, did we get em!?" Sorcha remarked as the beast swayed, only for her hopes to be dashed as the beast then swipes its paws towards Karna, knocking him away from where he stood.

"The hell!?" Cyrus cried out as the beast resumed its rampage, "I thought hitting it from all sides would keep it down!"

"Actually!" Karna cried out as he ran from the beast continuously swiping its paws at him during its pursuit, "there are about nine parts that you must strike!" he yelped out as he'd jumped away from another swipe, "the head, the four legs, the two sides, the tail, and finally, the median body!"

"Okay, so that's what you meant..." Cyrus remarked before realizing something else, "HOW!? THERE ARE ONLY SEVEN OF US!"

"Usually!" the professor cried out as he'd stumbled into a roll while dodging another one of the beast's sweeping attacks, "each commander!" Karna yelped out mid-dodge, "comes with their own battalions that can cover multiple areas!" he cried out again mid-dodge, "however!" he cried out again before he himself was swatted across his side and sent flying across the arena before crashing into a pillar.

"Professor!" Byron cried out as he'd slid towards Karna by slicking the floor with his [Frost] spell to get to him quicker, "Professor! Are you alright!?"

"... Been through worse," Karna grunted out as he slowly got back up. But just as the Giant Wolf was about to attack the two of them, Vidar jumps onto the beast's back and begins beating his fists into it.

"RIGHT HERE!" Vidar screeched out as the beast then redirected its attention towards the bandaged youth mounted onto his back, now trying to throw him off of its back by flailing itself around wildly.

"So, Professor," asked Byron as Karna walked towards the battlefield, "any other ideas on how to defeat this monster?"

"You're already seeing it," Karna pointed towards Vidar clinging onto the beast's back.

"... Um, not that I'm doubting his strength, but you realize that he alone can't take on something that big, right?" pointed out Byron.

"Who says he's fighting alone?" retorted Karna as he threw a [Javelin] at the beast, catching its attention after it had staked into its shoulder, "HEY YOU DAMN MUTT!" he taunted as he waved both of his hands in the air, catching the monster's attention, "I'M OVER HERE!"

The Giant Wolf then charges towards Karna, but not before saying the following towards Byron as he ran for it.

"AS SOON AS I RUN, HIT IT AND RUN!" the professor cried out before being chased by the beast.

At first, Byron was hesitant to put himself in danger for anyone else's sake other than himself and Vidar's, but given that reality has just presented them with a titanic lupine creature who sees all who can fit into its mouth as food, reservations were quickly cast aside.

He and Vidar were practically raised alone together, and losing everyone else means losing him as well.

"DAMMIT ALL!" Byron roared out in frustration as his hands shot out a stronger variant of his [Frost] spell. "[BLIZZARD]!"

A frigid gale of icy wind blasts towards the beast, freezing its eye and the side of its face before it faces him.

"COME AND GET ME YOU OVERGROWN MONGREL!" Byron provoked the beast as he then took off running.

The Giant Wolf then chases after Byron, the latter now looking around frantically for someone else that he can take the heat off of himself.

"SORCHA!" Byron cried out, "GET THIS FURBALL OFF OF ME!"

The Brigidian girl then jumps in between Byron and the beast as she then thrusts her [Claymore] into the beast's snout, pulls the blade out of its blooded nostril before striking it with its pommel then followed up by a swift reverse-heel kick across its lower maw.

"What's wrong, fido?" Sorcha taunted, her face getting dangerously close to the beast's own, "smarts, ain't it?"

The claw-tattooed girl then lets out an uproarious laughter as the beast then chases her down while swiping its paws towards her like a cat trying to pounce onto a small bird that landed before itself.

I get it now, realized Byron, the beast itself is massive, but it can only focus on one target at a time, usually at the last person who gave it a good smack. But as he continued to observe the beast, Byron then began to notice that its behavior was becoming more erratic and frenzied, its movements becoming more harried and wild akin to a berserk dance.

Then, it saw it tail perk up mid-jump.

"EVERYONE, GET AWAY-"

It was too late. With the beast now utilizing its massive bulk, it violently torques its body around in a dizzying axel, swinging its entire tail and body around with the force of a vicious cyclone.

Everyone caught in the attack found themselves swept off of their feet like dust to a broom. Upon landing, Byron, Sorcha, and Cyrus found themselves hitting the ground hard, their rattled bodies now too staggered to move.

"... Oh goddess," Byron cursed as the beast encroached upon them, maw open and drooling in anticipation.

But before it can devour him whole, a small veiled figure latches onto the beast's neck followed up by a small spurt of blood spilling out of the lupine's nape as the beast lets out a pained howl.

"Topaz!?" Byron remarked.

"Go," signaled the lithe Almyrian as an arrow struck dead into the beast's left eye.

"That's me sister right there!" Sorcha boasted as she saw her wing-tattooed twin strike true with her [Iron Bow], "Ahaha! Attagirl!"

"Your turn," Selene ordered to someone behind her, "make the beast suffer."

An inhuman howl echoes from the darkness of the halls, and from it sped out Vidar, now completely enraged at the sight of his comrades wounded and harried.

"DIE!"

A scraping and horrible crunching sound reverberated throughout the masonry of the coliseum as Vidar rams his whole body into the beast's lower jaw, completely dislocating it off of its hinges.

"How unfortunate," Karna's voice remarked followed up by an explosion of dark-violet onto the beast's head, "you had to go and do that, don't you?" he remarked with a smirk as his hands glowed in the same shade of the explosion. "You won't live long enough to reflect upon your errors."

In time, Byron and Sorcha pull themselves back up to their feet, while Cyrus's horse, Darius, helps the giant lad back up by pushing its master's body back up with its own head before the former pulls himself back onto the latter's saddle.

The Dustbin then rallies around their professor, making their final stand as the beast does the same as it lets out a defiant roar.

"Now then..." Karna remarked as he then brandishes his newfound [Crescent Sickle], twirling it around his shoulder and body before pointing it towards the beast, "... let's try that again, shall we?"

The whole class then charges towards the roaring beast, raising its paw up into the air before swinging it down towards them.

"SCATTER!" Karna barked out as he and the others jumped in different directions away from the impact. Karna then clears the cloud of dust with the swing of his weapon, facing the beast head on as it charged towards him.

He then blocks the beast's charge with his weapon's shaft, sliding back several feet from where he'd initially stood before getting out of the way for another swipe from the beast's paw. Karna then retaliates by striking the beast's face with his [Crescent Sickle], staking the blade into the beast's flesh, and the recipient letting out a muffled howl of agony.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Karna sneered as he ripped the weapon out of the beast's face before evading another swipe.

But before the Giant Wolf can follow up with another attack, the beast's left foreleg was then stabbed by Topaz's [Bolo], poisoning the beast even more as shown by its bruising skin pigment beneath its coat.

The Giant Wolf retaliates by shoving its whole body in a sideways ram, but Topaz takes advantage of her small stature by simply maneuvering herself under the sudden bodily ram.

"Give me your hand!"

Topaz reaches out her hand where the voice came from, herself being suddenly lifted off of her feet and find herself atop a saddle top and behind Cyrus's back.

"Hold on!" the Battu youth rider remarked as he'd then extended out his [Iron Lance] and slid the spearhead across the monster's right rib, leaving behind a trail of laceration across the beast's body.

Cyrus than snaps his mount's bridles to pick up speed as the beast then pursued after them, drawing its attention away from the others as they continued to scatter themselves all over the coliseum to lessen the impact of the wolf's desperation state when it begins using its bulk to its advantage.

"Professor!" Byron called out as he'd saw the wolf chasing after the two Almyraians with increasing agitation and desperation, "what do we do!?"

"Harassement tactics!" Karna ordered as he readied his [Javelin], "one at a time, time the intervals to about 20 second after each attack, and make sure that the attacks don't come from the same plane of its view! Surround it! Don't cluster up!"

He then throws the [Javelin] at the Giant Wolf, the tip embedding into its nape, causing it to turn its snarling head towards the hooded professor.

"HEY MONGREL!" Karna barked out, "I'M OVER HERE!"

The beast then dashes towards professor, only for the latter to spring away by casting two [Flux H]s against each other to create a repellant force between himself and the ground that his feet are on. As the professor made himself scarce before the beast's sight, what now stood and fast approaching towards the beast was now a giant stone pillar that it was now speeding towards headfirst.

Its attempts to stop itself was in vain as its head rammed through the stone pillar, the rubble collapsing atop of it, and the subsequent impact dazing it.

"Okay..." Karna remarked as he now found himself clinging onto a ledge of one of the stone rafters above the center of the coliseum, "... how do I get down?" he asked out loud as his grip onto the ledge began to slip. "Dammit all, why did I have to wear gloves of all things at a time like this!?"

He lets one hand go, shakes off the glove, and grabs back onto the ledge with his bare hands for a more stable grip before pulling himself up towards the ledge. Upon the successful vaulting, he finds himself perched atop the arena rafters, looking down upon the whole battlefield from a rather precarious position.

"... Oh well," he sighed out as he flexed his gloveless hand, "at least I didn't plummet to death."

He then activates [Flux H] again, this time, using the spatial distortion to rappel himself back down, provided that he doesn't get snatched up by the beast mid-descent and make things worse for everyone else.

"... Here's goes nothing," Karna remarked as he'd then slowly descended into the spatial flux, slowly maneuvering his way down through the tunnel of bent and affixed dynamics while he watched the scene below unfold.

Below, the others were now dealing with the Giant Wolf as per instructed; one attack at a time, keep themselves separated, and above all else, keeping its plane of view to only see them one at a time.

"DAMMIT ALL!" Sorcha cursed as she hacked her [Claymore] across the Giant Wolf's left rib to draw its aggression towards her from Byron, "IT ALREADY LOST AN OCEAN'S WORTH OF BLOOD ALREADY, SO WHY IT AIN'T GOIN' DOWN!?" she cried out as she jumped out of the way from the beast's downward swipe.

"Uahhh, I really hate calling for attention..." Selene whimpered as she nervously drew her [Iron Bow]'s now-trembling string that was about to snap at any moment, "... maybe I can try what the professor did?"

She let loose another arrow, which then hits the beast's right eye, now completely blinding it as it goes into a maddened frenzy as its hunt for potential meals has now turned into a desperate struggle for its own survival. Selene then sees its body torque and twist itself around the air, gathering wind into its centrifugal force, drawing itself ever closer to where she was at.

Selene then takes off into a desperate dash as the beast unleashes its staggering blow with the force of a raging cyclone. She then takes the inspiration from Professor Yuga by luring the beast's trajectory towards the pillar that she was hiding behind in order for it to crash itself against it, and hopefully slow it down again.

As soon as the Giant Wolf's cyclonic tackle rammed through the stone pillar, the latter then topples onto an adjacent stone pillar before that said pillar topples into another, all of them leading to a chain reaction of every single pillar in the coliseum now collapsing into themselves.

"SHITE! RUN YA BASTARDS!" Sorcha cried out as she and the others made a hasty scramble around the arena to not get flattened by roughly several thousand tons of ancient masonry.

Karna meanwhile, as he slowly floated down back ground, now found himself caught between several pillars that are now falling towards him.

"How unfortunate," Karna bemoaned, "... typical day at the field for me," he remarked as he'd reminisced of the time where he was still a part of the Adrestian Empire's Magical Research Division, where he was renowned for leading field experiments that produced groundbreaking results that usually came at the cost of heavy casualties from bandits to ornery noblemen sending their assassins to kill him, only for them to get killed during Karna's outright-freakish streak of misfortune. "... Shame that my security detailed all died last time. I wonder who that guy with the [Silver Sword] was..."

As one of the pillars fell down upon him, Karna, still floating down, grabbed onto the said falling pillar in order to evade the other falling pillar and to speed up his descent towards solid ground, jumps back into the spatially-distorted tunnel before said pillar he was riding on can crush him flat, and soon as he was in a safe-enough height to jump down, he does so, rolling his body across the ground to evade the rest of the pillars that were falling into the coliseum's center. As soon as the last pillar hits the ground, Karna picks up his loose glove mid-roll before slipping it back onto his right hand as he got back up into a casual stride, all the while, without missing a beat.

"Nailed it," Karna said to himself as Byron and the others came to him.

"Professor!" Byron spoke in an exhausted sense of relief.

"I'm well," the professor replied, "what about the rest of you?"

"I'm a little mentally worn out after trying to make Vidar spit out the rocks that he'd had in his mouth, Sorcha and Selene are cover in dirt, and Cyrus is carrying Topaz over his shoulder after the latter threw up while riding on Darius," Byron reported.

"... No more..." Topaz begged as she hurled behind Cyrus's shoulder that she was leaning over, "the world is moving too wobbly... I need to train more..."

"Who gets sick when riding a horse?" Cyrus asked, "I mean, the shaking isn't that bad..."

Motion sickness, Karna mentally noted as he saw the Almyran assassin's green-gilled face, ... I'll need to make note of their strengths and weaknesses more throughly later on.

Behind them, the pile of rubble explodes into a cloud of dust, revealing the beast, still alive despite its wounds and injuries, and now completely memorized of their scents to know where they are without seeing them.

"... Well, of course it had to survive," Karna deadpanned at the Giant Wolf's surprising durability of surviving two stone pillars crushing it, "no giant-scale fights are over in about less than ten minutes regardless of the damage inflicted."

"... What's in this bloody continents waters that make that shite a reality?" Sorcha remarked before the beast makes a desperate charge towards them.

Only now this time, the Dustbin were more than antiquated with how to deal with giant enemies as per their experiences with the beast and its behavior earned from the past ten minutes.

"First the legs!" Karna barked out as he, Cyrus, Sorcha, and Vidar swept all four of the beast's legs as the Giant Wolf pounced towards them.

Karna and Sorcha both cleave through the beast's forelegs with their [Crescent Sickle] and [Claymore] respectively, both ripping open deep incisions that opened all the way to the marrow, and following from behind, Vidar and Cyrus aim their attacks for the beast's hind legs, with Cyrus swinging his [Iron Lance] across the beast's leg so hard that the shaft itself was bent upon impact, and Vidar simply performs lariats the beast's last good leg with his outstretched arm, nearly dislocating his shoulder in the process, but still managed to snap it back in place as the beast was now rendered immobile with all of its legs now destroyed beyond function.

"Next, the ribs!" Karna barked out, with Topaz and Byron attacking the beast's sides. The former plunges her [Bolo] in the beast's flesh before sliding the blade down through its puncture to form a laceration, where as Byron imbued his [Blizzard] spell into one of of his [Hand Axe]s, upon being thrown and landing its mark, the ax-head embedded into the beast's flesh then explodes into a cluster of ice spires that ruptures out from the beast's right rib.

"The head and hind!" Karna barked out the next orders, with an arrow now piercing into the beast's head between its eyes from Selene, and while the beast was distracted by the other attack to the head, Sorcha takes the time given to her to run towards the beast's rear, ready her [Claymore], braces her whole body weight to be released into a singular thrust...

"THE HELL!?"

... and the [Claymore]'s gigantic blade pierces into the Giant Wolf's rectum, much to everyone's horror, sans Sorcha and Vidar, the former taking great joy, while the latter couldn't comprehend on why everyone's suddenly so horrified of this seemingly (in his mind) tactically brilliant move.

"... Congrats losin' yer anal virginity," Sorcha smirked as she pulls her blade out of the beast's unfortunate spot, spraying out blood and feces onto her. "... Aw shite, now I gotta find me a river to wash in," Sorcha bemoaned upon being covered in the worst possible filth, "... and it ain't even Saturday!"

Everyone looked towards Selene for context.

"... Us Brigidians only bathe on Saturdays," Selene nervously remarked, "... I never bothered asking why, but it had to do with somethin' about that day being a non-fighting day."

"We'll deal with it later!" Karna rebuffed as he imbued his [Crescent Sickle] with his [Miasma Δ], the curved blade now emitting a faint violet glow. "... I'll put it out of its misery before any of us gets further traumatized than we need to."

And so, with mercy behind cruelty, Karna strikes the beast's back down with his weapon as the finishing blow. As the beast let out its final death throes, Karna slides down from the beast's body and returns to his students.

"... So, that's how you defeat a giant enemy," Karna remarked as he planted his weapon into the ground as he'd slumped over in exhaustion, "... by the way, all of you pass for not dying and managing to take some command of the situation without my aid."

"Um professor?" asked Byron, as he pointed towards behind Karna, "is it just me, or is the carcass glowing?"

Everyone then turns towards the ever-brightening corpse of the Giant Wolf right before the glow reaching its crescendo had forced everyone to cover their eye lest they go blind.

As the light subsided, in the place of the Giant Wolf's dead body was that of a normal, mangy dog's own, a similar kind that wouldn't be too out of place rummaging through a village's wastes, but covered in the same wounds as its prior monstrous state.

"... We almost got done in by a doggo," Sorcha remarked in disbelief, "SHITE!" she screamed as she threw her [Claymore] down in frustration, the fell blade letting out a loud clang that echoed throughout the stonework mausoleum, "I SHOULD'VE KILLED THOSE TWO SODS BACK AT THE RESTROOM WHILE I HAD THE BLOODY CHANCE!"

"Sorcha, but we would've been executed!" Selene pointed out.

"DAMN THE CHOPPING BLOCK!" she screamed back, "I'D TAKEN THAT OVER A LITERAL DOG'S DEATH!"

"Whatever the case, we're alive," Byron pointed out as he'd slumped down onto the floor, "let it out as much as you need, Sorcha, you're gonna need it."

Suddenly, Karna falls to his knees while mumbling.

"... Professor?" asked Byron at the suddenly-sullen Karna, "... is the body troubling you-"

"No," Karna flatly muttered before his speech descended into an undignified mess, "NO NO NO NO NO NO!"

He then hastily crawls towards the canine carcass, flips it over, and looks at its face.

The face was that of the same dog that he'd befriended back at the village, now twisted by his own, unwitting machinations triggered by self-preservation.

"NOOOO!" Karna wailed as he begin pounding the earth with his fist, "YOU MANIACS! WHO DID THIS TO YOU!? DAMN YOU ALL! DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!" he belched out before he started sobbing at the poor soul's tortured and mutilated body.

After the others leave the grieving professor alone for a few minutes, they help him bury the dog in a somewhat proper grave.

"... Not to be insensitive, but why a dog?" asked Byron.

"... I... kinda have a lot blood on my hands," Karna explained, "... I always had a trail of misfortune behind me, and in turn, a lot of people inadvertently die because of my bad luck." Karna then continued to stack the rocks around the dog's body as he continued to explain his sentimentality. "The least I can do is not forget to those who've reached out to me only to die in the end," he remarked, "whether it someone important as a noble with a heart of gold, or a dog I happened to run into in an alleyway during my fieldwork, I have to remember them... otherwise I'll forget their kindness."

"Professor," asked Byron, "if we all die because of you, will you remember us?"

Karna gets up, walks away, and lets out a sigh.

"... Then answer me this, Byron Amadeus Noa," asked Karna, "will all of you remember me if I die?"

Byron and the others get up and walk alongside the professor as the Dustbin leave the arena.

"You know what," Karna redacted his prior statement, "... Let's make sure that we don't come to that," he remarked, "agreed?"

As Garreg Mach's worst students head back towards the Abyss, one thing was left behind in their wake stood in the limelight, carved crudely atop of the gravestone.

Thank you for being my friend that helped me make more friends.

- Karna Yuga, a proud Professor of the Dustbin -

When the seven return back to the Abyssian compound, they run into Yuri.

"Pine-hair told me to pass this along," Yuri remarked before reciting the message, "Please return to the surface and meet me in my study, I will accept your terms of negotiations provided if you and your students are on your best behaviors.' End report."

"Well, with everything else said and done, thanks for taking us in for tonight," Karna thanked the Ashen Wolves leader.

"Think nothing of it," Yuri replied, "the Abyss welcomes all who are downtrodden in the world of light."

As Karna and the rest of the Dustbin walked in the Abysskeeper's direction, the professor remarks the following.

"Will there be a day when all of you can come back up without fear?" Karna asked.

"Unlikely," Yuri bluntly replied, "... but that itself doesn't sound so bad."

With that, the Dustbin depart from the Abyss and back up to the surface.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SMELL!?"

Upon exit, they find themselves standing before the silver-armored Swordmaster of the Knights of Seiros, Catherine.

"Hello," Karna greeted in a deadpan tone, "I take it Seteth is now fast asleep?"

"SOMEONE GET WATER AND SOAP!"

And after a bath to cleanse them of their filth (while still having their clothes on), the Dustbin and their professor now found themselves huddled before the monastery's torchlights to dry themselves out until the crack of dawn.

The stench of blood and feces have persisted throughout the academy throughout the entirety of the next day.


Outside of Garreg Mach...

"He was a fool thinking that bearing my visage would make him just as capable as I."

In the dense shadows of the surrounding forests of Garreg Mach, a pair of red lights glowed in the pitch black.

"Still, it has proven to be of most fortuitous," the enigma remarked, "an entirely different bastion of underdwellers lurking in the shadows of the very church..."

The eyes then shift towards behind itself before letting out a frustrated sigh.

"... The use of a companion as a weapon," the enigma rebuked, "... that is low even for them, for I only slaughter impartially and indiscriminately."

The pair of glowing coal pits that call themselves eyes then fade into the darkness of the forest's shadows.


To Be Continued...


Support Conversations Available:


- Byron and Vidar (C)

*Byron and Vidar stop running after they've shook off their anonymous pursuers*

Byron: Haah... haah... you okay there, Vidar?

*Vidar lets out a grunt of affirmation*

Byron: ... Did they get you anywhere? Any arrows or burns?

*Vidar shakes his head*

Byron: Good... what did you do to tick them off enough to come after our heads other than me being a wanted man?

*Vidar shrugs in befuddlement*

Byron: Whatever the case, they're not gonna stop coming after us now that they've remembered my face.

*Vidar begins growling in rage*

Byron: Wait. Don't. Normally, I'd kill them where they stood and took everything what they're holding, but the risk and reward balance is too leaning towards the former than the latter, so I rather not get excess blood on our hands. Is that clear?

*Vidar grunts in agreement*

Byron: Good. Now let's try and stay out of trouble; as much as possibly we can within a school environment.


- Vidar and Selene (C)

*Vidar sniffs around the air, only for Selene to get the jump on him*

Vidar: ... You.

Selene: Let this me make this clear, I am not your enemy.

*Vidar continues growling*

Selene: ... What troubles you about me?

Vidar: ... You... like me... smell... blood... like death...

Selene: Everywhere here does, yet they choose to deny it.

*Vidar grunts and turns around to leave*

Selene: Wait.

Vidar: ... What?

Selene: ... Nevermind, you can go.

*Vidar leaves*

Selene: ... You're right, Vidar. I am like you. Which is why...

*Selene's legs begin to tremble*

Selene: ... I fear you.


- Cyrus and Topaz (C)

Cyrus: So, uh... never talked to you ever since you've ended up here with me.

Topaz: You are a disaster when off of your horse. Tell me, how did you function prior to your capture?

Cyrus: Well, for one, I was born and raised on a saddle. Typical Battu custom. We lived and died by our horses, with the whole Battu Steppe making this whole place feel cramped in comparison. Us of the Golden Horde never had to contend with things like buildings and castles during our travels. We only had to deal with two things; merchants and rival tribes.

Topaz: I take it that the former are of the Almyran ilk?

Cyrus: Pretty much. Hell, my mother kidnapped one of them and that man became my father... out of the three.

Topaz: Your people practice polygamy?

Cyrus: Us of Battu don't judge, only that they provide, and my mother even let my father take over her position just so that she can go back to fighting on the frontlines, and my father proved to be a good leader, all things considered, with how our people managed to not die as much thank in part to his navigational skills around the Steppe. Heck, the whole "sea of grass"? My father memorized the whole place like the back of his hand. ... I really miss my plains and family... Anyway, I have to ask, what's your family like?

Topaz: No comment.

*Topaz smokes out*

Cyrus: ... Never took her for the shy type.


- Sorcha and Karna (C)

Sorcha: Oi Professor!

Karna: What is it?

Sorcha: ... Can I be honest with ya? I... I kinda have a bit of a beef with how I speak Fodlan.

Karna: Your accent, is it not? I don't see what the problem is, you convey your speech coherently enough for anyone to understand. Unlike other foreigners whom I met in Fodlan, who often try and suppress their native accent in favor of trying to fit into the traditional Fodlan lexicon, you on the other hand have seemed to grasp the language just fine.

Sorcha: ... I know, but still. The princess said that me speech is... how do I put it... "barbaric"?

Karna: Ah, you mean the political prisoner? I can now see it, since you tend to wear your heart at your sleeve whereas she is forced into the whole "formal" language of the Adrestian Court.

Sorcha: Can't fit is like a porcupine trying to tunnel up into my arse. Just wanna be honest with myself when I speak... I kinda wanna speak like ye, Professor Karna.

Karna: ... Alright, I suppose I can make arrangements. But remember, I'm not forcing you to speak "properly". I won't teach you what to speak, but rather, how to speak for yourself. Am I clear?

Sorcha: Crystal.

*Sorcha leaves*

Karna: ... Fodlan really has a problem with how they treat with people who aren't them... I would say religion itself is the root of all prejudice, but if I did said that, then I would be no better than those who enforce the status quo. Let them speak how they wish as long as they get the point across, damn it.


- Vidar and Topaz (C)

*Vidar and Topaz stare down at each other while other students are present*

Blue Lion Female Student: ... Who are those two? They're nothing but bad news...

Golden Deer Male Student: Heard the guy in the bandages bit off a guy's ear during sparring while the short chick in the funeral veil is rumored to have been captured by the Knights of Seiros themselves when she snuck into the monastery and found assassination tools on her person.

Black Eagle Male Student: So why haven't they killed her off then? The Empire would've had her head rolling off of the chopping block for that!

Blue Lion Male Student: They lack concise proof and the fact that she hasn't killed anyone yet, nor do they know who she was after. I heard she wouldn't squeal during interrogation, even at the threat of torture. Rather... she wanted to be tortured for fun. That was so off-putting even for the Knights of Seiros to handle, so they just put her on probation just so she wouldn't get the satisfaction of getting tortured for her sick pleasures.

Black Eagle Female Student: What!? Is she sick in the head or something!?

Golden Deer Female Student: Whatever the case, I'm out of here!

*All students leave Vidar and Topaz alone*

Vidar: ... Hello.

Topaz: ... How is the weather?


- Selene and Topaz (C)

Selene: ... What do you want with me? Did I piss ya off or somethin'?

Topaz: Don't hide it. I know.

Selene: ... And what makes ya say that? Ya dove into my dreams or somethin'?

Topaz: I'll be straight with you then; join my order.

Selene: ... What.

Topaz: My order's name, I won't confide, but all I can say is that my order can use people like you. Those who slither in the darkness of the night's shadow... hearts without mercy, a resolve like that of a solid steel blade gleaming in the moonlit night. Join me Selene, as a fellow child of the Angel of Death.

Selene: And if I don't wanna?

Topaz: You will, even if it means I have to kill your loved ones-

*Selene grabs Topaz's arm and presses her up against a nearby wall*

Selene: TOUCH MY SISTER, I WILL MAKE YOU BEG FOR DEATH.

*Selene snaps out of her funk before running off, leaving Topaz abated for breath*

Topaz: ... Grand Hassan... I've found the one... my fellow chosen by Azrāʾīl.


Author's Notes: And with that, the Dustbin earn their very first victory, but not without its consequences, both dramatic and comical.

After the fic-original action prologue, the next arc will be more about the typical grind of a classroom, but given the walking anathema that is the Dustbin's professor can't go two minutes without something happening to him and people around him, and the fact that in canon, the actual game has something going on once a month, expect something else to happen.

References:

- Sorcha's colonoscopy: a reference to Golden Kamuy's Kiichirou Wakayama's method of killing the bear with his katana.

- Karna's breakdown: twofold; Planet of the Apes and Archer's Krieger