'Winged horse riders are gathering down on the west side. I think the Eagles and Deer are in battle,' Sylvain said.

'If that's true I think we could charge the forest now,' Felix said. 'Take the Deer by surprise.'

'We must be careful not to throw away our advantage,' Mercedes said.

'Agreed,' Dimitri said. 'The moment we enter the woods our numerical advantage will be weakened. If Dedue and Annette can keep eating away at the Deer's defences and what's left of the Black Eagles then the time limit should force Claude and whoever is left to come out and face us.'

'Boring at the bar, boring on the battlefield too,' Sylvain said grinning. Dimitri chuckled.

'I must admit, I would relish the opportunity to head straight to where the action is. The opportunity to face Byleth would be incredible.'

'I can imagine,' Hanneman said, 'but the best victory, as Nemesis once said, is one where you needn't fight at all.'

'Hmph, I'd rather lose if it meant I got some good sparring practice in,' Felix muttered. He sighed. 'I suppose I'll be able to show Lorenz and that professor who's superior in the training grou'-

A purple light suddenly dazzled them. The Blue Lions jumped. Dimitri stumbled and Hanneman tumbled over. Mercedes suddenly screamed and Felix spun.

'Mercedes!' Sylvain said. 'Are you o- nuts.'

Mercedes' torso was enveloped in a feint purple light. When it faded, the blue sash that'd been there was gone.

'Claude,' Felix spat.

'No way he can hit us from that far!' Sylvain said.

'Get back now!' Dimitri shouted.

'Gotcha,' Claude said, grinning from atop the tree he was on.

'That's Leonie down there isn't it, with Byleth? She's a pretty big fan of yours apparently,' Catherine said.

Jeralt grunted a sound that sounded similar to "yeah". Catherine sighed. 'You are the most boring person to watch a battle with, y'know that?'

Jeralt grunted again. It was drowned out by another loud cheer.

'Goodness, was that Claude who took out the girl?' Alois said, wide-eyed. 'He has some range! What do you think, Shamir?'

Shamir grunted as well.

Below, the crowd had become more animated. The purple-haired Deer boy was throwing his arms about the place in an animated fashion, as if issuing commands to the fighters on the battlefield. Spectating students began chanting the Leicester Alliance song from before again.

Further down the observation platform, Edelgard had missed the arrow eliminating Mercedes. Her eyes were fixed elsewhere. It was Linhardt, who'd woken up, who'd noticed that her incessant nail picking had drawn crimson. He opened his mouth.

But when he saw her expression, he closed it.

Had Leonie been sneaking up on anyone else, her lunge would've been successful.

But the speed of which Jeralt's son grabbed her arm stunned her. Before she could raise an eyebrow, the man yanked her forward and drove his knee upward. Red-hot pain erupted in her stomach and she gasped. His hand moved for her sash. She clawed it away and stumbled back. She bent over, heaving in air. She moved a hand to her stomach, cradling her sash. She was still in the battle.

But so was Jeralt's "son", she looked up and-

-and he'd moved. He now stood at the edge of the decline. He was on one knee, his arm cocked behind his head and an arrow pulled back on his bow's string. She frowned.

'Hey, I thought you were a swords'-

"Thwish".

There was suddenly a yelp from below. There was a pause, and then Leonie realised who he'd hit.

'Well done, boy! Think you're so good hiding all the way up there, huh? You'-

Leonie cringed but the piercing sound of Manuela's voice shook her back into action. She sprung forward but Byleth spun back in her direction. Dropping the bow and picking up a sword from the grass.

'You're a pretty good shot,' Leonie breathed. 'I bet that's thanks to Captain Jeralt.'

The man seemed to ponder this. 'Partly.'

'Partly?' Leonie said. Her head started to pulse. 'What do you mean partly?'

'It is partly thanks to my father that I'-

'I know what you mean,' she spat. The throbbing in her head was getting worse. 'How's your illness? You know, the one that you've magically recovered from just in time for this battle? The one you made up to keep you in your job as a professor after Caspar beat you up?'

Byleth took a deep breath in. 'It was real.'

She crinkled her nose and raised her lance. 'Nonsense, you're a liar, and you bring disrespect to your father's name. Captain Jeralt is a hero, one of the greatest warriors to ever live, and he must have sacrificed so much for you, yet you don't even care about him. You don't seem to care about anyone for that matter, you're just a selfish coward.'

She stepped forward.

'You're not worthy of being his successor. I'm his greatest apprentice, and I'm going to show you why.'

She stared at Byleth. His expression didn't change, yet she saw him mutter words under his breath. She frowned. 'And by the way, you don't have half of Captain Jeralt's charisma, you're heartless. Ever heard that one before?'

Byleth didn't respond and that only made the pulsing in her forehead worse. A shout then came from below.

'Professor?' Ferdinand called. 'Are you o'-

Leonie spat. 'Shut up, Ferdinand!'

'I will just be there Ferdinand,' Byleth said.

'Okay,' Ferdinand called, lacking his usual enthusiasm. Leonie turned back to Byleth, her eyes bulging. 'You think you're going to be beat me so easily? Unlike you, I have Captain Jeralt's skill and'-

'You talk too much,' Byleth replied.

Leonie started to shake. She charged forward, but something had changed.

She was no longer going for his sash.

Byleth knew that, however. Leonie lunged and thrust her lance forward. He side-stepped, grabbed the lance and yanked it. Leonie was pulled towards him once again. He gripped her with strength that made her gasp. He tugged the lance away.

'You fight rashly to hasten victory,' he said. 'That will kill you on the battlefield.'

He pushed her backward and she landed with a thud. What he'd done exactly, she wasn't sure, he'd been too quick, but when she looked up at him again, she saw her yellow sash in his left hands His right gripped her lance. He let it roll into the valley and then picked up the bow before eyeing her.

'I care about my father very much.'

Before Leonie could respond, he disappeared down into the valley.