'Everyone, say hello to our house's new professor,' Edelgard said.

The students Byleth had met the day prior all sat at the two rows of desks in the room. A mixture of grunts and greetings came from them. She led him to the scratched desk at the front of the room where he turned and faced the Black Eagles.

Dorothea sat at the front table to his right with Petra whilst Ferdinand and Lindhart sat on the opposing side. Behind Dorothea and Petra sat Caspar (who's eyes were narrowed) and the pale-faced girl who'd slapped him, the one Dorothea had called "Bern". She stared down at her desk, shaking. Across from them sat Hubert.

The man glared at him.

'Hello, Mr. Lovely Professor!' Dorothea said, winking. Petra waved. Ferdinand rose to his feet and bowed.

'It is a pleasure to see you again, and I am delighted that you shall be the one to help us achieve our potential.'

'I'm aware that you met everyone yesterday,' Edelgard said. 'We met last night and decided that we wanted you as our professor.'

'Some of us did,' Caspar mumbled. Edelgard stared at him.

'Caspar that's a bit rude,' Dorothea said, turning around. 'We've spoken about this.'

The boy shrugged. 'Just being honest. He didn't give me much confidence yesterday when I spoke to him. He's gonna have to win me over.'

'You know it's a waste of time to expect politeness from Caspar,' Linhardt said, rubbing his eyes. He nodded at Byleth. 'It will be a pleasure learning from you, Professor. Now, if you'll excuse me, (he yawned) I'm just going to rest my head on the table.'

'I'm not only one he has to win over,' Caspar said. 'There's Hubert and Bernadetta slapped him.'

Edelgard's paused. 'She did what?'

"Bern" (or Bernadetta) jumped. 'Caspar!'

'Oh Bern,' Dorothea said. She turned to Edelgard. 'It was an accident. The professor went to leave the classroom and bumped into her. She got a fright and slapped him. We didn't bring it up last night because she said she wanted to tell you in private, sorry Edie.'

'I-I'm sorry, I d-didn't mean to,' Bernadetta said, whimpering. 'I'-

'It's alright,' Edelgard said, pinching in between her eyebrows. 'Just apologise and make sure it doesn't happen again.'

'S-Sorry p-professor,' Bernadetta said, not lifting her head.

'It's okay,' Byleth said. The girl still didn't look up and he saw her shiver at his voice.

'I expect you to apologise as well, Caspar,' Edelgard said. 'Regardless of how you feel about his ability I expect you to treat him with the same respect you'd want granted to you.'

Caspar's brow furrowed. 'I know but- (he sighed and rolled his eyes) sorry.'

'I'd say it would be wise to give him a chance, Caspar,' Ferdinand said. 'He's already gained an impressive reputation as a warrior, he even has his own nickname, the Ashen Demon.'

Byleth's blood went cold. Ferdinand looked to him. From the corner of his eye, he saw Bernadetta raise her head.

'The nickname comes from your fighting prowess, I presume?'

Byleth nodded but then Hubert spoke for the first time.

'Partially,' he said. He didn't smile but Byleth saw a glint in his eyes. 'I learnt a bit more about our professor this morning. It appears that the name also refers to his lack of emotion. He doesn't smile, laugh, cry or show anger, he can't, supposedly. He kills on the field of battle with the same expression you see on his face now. The name comes from those who wonder if he's even human. (His eyes narrowed.) Imagine if those same people heard that he was our teacher now.'

The room was only silent for a moment and yet for Byleth it felt like an eternity. They stared at him, and he felt his chest tighten.

'You are h-human, right?' Bernadetta asked, not meeting his eyes.

'He is Bernadetta,' Edelgard said. 'Please, don't take the name so literally. I believe his name refers to his emotional discipline, not a lack of feelings. Controlling your emotions is something you could do with working on yourself.'

'I like the name,' Ferdinand said. 'But despite your reputation outside, in our class we try to treat each other as equals, despite any differences in age, personality or status. Personally, I would love to include you in that inner circle if you would allow it?'

'You have a gut to teach so young, Professor,' Petra said.

'Petra, I believe you mean to say that our professor has guts,' Dorothea said, giggling. 'That's a bit different from having a gut.'

'Oh? Please take my apologies. I have not yet mastered this language.'

'And as I said before, please treat me as you do the others,' Edelgard said. 'I may be the Imperial princess, but here at the academy, I'm just another student.'

'Sure, sure,' Caspar said. 'Now, can we break the ice and do some training? (he glared at Byleth) I want to put our new teacher's skills to the test.'

'Why will the ice be broken? Is this a custom I have missed in my studies?' Petra asked.

'Not real ice, just the ice of...um... Well, it just means let's get to know each other.'

'A training session sounds like a wonderful idea,' Ferdinand said. 'It would allow me to demonstrate my mastery in the art of the lance.'

'I don't want to train,' Bernadetta said.

'Let's all calm down and have a nice cup of tea, how about?' Dorothea said. 'Doesn't that sound lovely, Professor?'

Byleth blinked. Mercifully, Edelgard spoke.

'If the professor agrees,' she said. 'I think it would be best if we spent this time introducing ourselves properly. We know much about him but he knows very little about us, including our fighting styles. Knowing more about us will allow him to consider how to best use our abilities in the upcoming mock batt'-

A loud snore erupted from Linhardt, making Bernadetta jump.

Edelgard rolled her eyes. 'Ferdinand, please wake Linhardt up.'

Most of the morning was spent with the students introducing themselves formally. Edelgard von Hresvelg, of House Hresevelg was seventeen and was the Imperial princess whilst Ferdinand Von Aegir, of House Aegir, was the same age and son of the Imperial Prime Minister. Hubert was twenty-one and heir to House Vestra, who served the Hresvelg family whilst Linhardt, sixteen, was heir to House Hevring, who were responsible for the Empire's domestic affairs. Bernadetta (who Edelgard had to speak for) was seventeen and heiress to House Varley who ruled over the Empire's Ministry of Religion whilst Petra Macneary, fifteen, was the heiress to the Kingdom of Brigid, an archipelago west of Fódlan. Caspar, sixteen years of age, was part of House Bergliez, but as the second son wasn't an heir. Dorothea Arnault, who was eighteen, was the only one (apart from himself) who was a commoner and not a noble.

In other words, most of them were the future of the Adrestian Empire… and he was supposed to teach them.

The conversation eventually moved onto each of the students' fighting styles. Caspar, Edelgard, Ferdinand and Petra specialised in close combat with axes, swords and lances. Ferdinand spent what felt like an hour describing his "noble ambition" of becoming a "horse-riding champion of the people". That part went in one ear and out the other for Byleth. Edelgard then spoke about Berandetta, who, unsurprisingly, wasn't a close combat specialist but instead an archer. He looked at the girl as Edelgard spoke. She sat with her head still lowered, tense and shaking. He couldn't imagine her firing an arrow let alone being on a battlefield.

Finally, there were the magic users. Dorothea and Hubert were the "offensive wielders" of the class whilst Linhardt was the magic healer. He'd fought mages with the mercenaries and had learnt how to deal with a range of their spells. He himself, however, didn't know how to use magic and Hubert was quick to remind him that the other professors did. Edelgard also mentioned that some of them, herself, Linhardt, Ferdinand and Bernadetta all have crests that "complement" their battles abilities. Before she went into detail about them, Dorothea interrupted.

'Sorry Edie but I'm getting a bit nervous about what the mock battle involves. Could you go through it?'

Edelgard nodded. She described it, and to Byleth it was one of the most bizarre scenarios he'd ever heard. The three houses, each led by their professor would face off in a three-way battle using practice weapons and non-lethal magic spells. The last house standing, or the one with the most students left standing after a two-hour time limit would be considered the winners of the battle.

Edelgard continued to speak and as time passed, Byleth picked up less and less of what she said. He'd gotten a full night's sleep and yet his eyes were heavy, his mind felt like mush and his body was tense.

And what little amount he had left was being sapped away by Hubert who continued to glare at him.

BACKSTORY

15th Wyvern Moon, 1170

'Knock knock,' Arthur said, grinning.

'Who's there?' Pieter asked.

'Interrupting horse.'

Pieter frowned. 'What? Interrupting h'-

'NEIGH!'

The mercenaries howled and giggled, many slapping their thighs and spilling beer. Lilia snorted, spraying a mouthful of soup down her chin. Jeralt shook his head, wiping tears from his face before downing the contents of his tankard.

The mercenaries had been seated around the large and crackling campfire for most of the evening, Byleth included. He sat watching them, occasionally rubbing his eyes. Large bags hung underneath them.

'Arthur…,' Jeralt said, 'I… I… uh,' he rubbed his forehead. One of the mercenaries beside him hiccupped and squeaked. Jeralt broke down into a fit of hissing giggles. The others did the same. The same mercenary hiccupped again and slid off the back of the log onto the grass. Jeralt snorted and the others howled with laughter.

Byleth watched the mercenary lying on the grass, Agron, repeatedly and try and fail to get up. He forced a small smile onto his face.

'I… I… was… going to say,' Jeralt said after a moment, swaying on the log. The others still giggled on either side of him. 'T-that, Arthur. I-I don't know if you're funny, or if the b-beer makes you funny, bec-because usuall'-

'J-Jeralt,' Arthur said, rubbing his eyes and giggling. 'You're… you're drunk'-

'No… no let me finish,' Jeralt said. 'I uh… (he scratched his forehead) what was I saying? Something about beer….'

Thundering laughs filled the evening air. Only two of the mercenaries were silent. One was Alain, who was hunting in the night. The other was Byleth.

"'I don't want your gold you little freak…."

"How about you fuck off and join that tramp on the stage over there?"

Byleth's forced smile faded.

'Arthur's jokes are r-ridiculous,' Pieter said. 'T-That last one d-didn't even'-

'What did the fish s-say when he swam into a wall?' Arthur asked. (Jeralt let out a girlish squeak.) 'Dam.'

'It's definitely the beer that's m-making everyone laugh,' Pieter said. No one heard him. Jeralt roared with laughter, sliding off the log onto the ground. Lilia dropped her soup and squeaked. Argon, who had nearly clambered back onto his log, tumbled backward, howling.

Arthur had told Byleth that joke many times before and it'd always made him smile. It didn't that night.

"The crowd would love it. You're a freak as well. You'd be called the "Walking Corpse Act". Now fuck off!"

Byleth stiffened. He watched the others laugh, needling his fingernails into his gloved palms.

END OF BACKSTORY