The Dustbin
Day 27: Joint Session Part 1
10th of Verdant Rain Moon, Morning
With the thought of an upcoming bandit raid in the back of everyone's minds, both the student and faculty bodies were all in a fervor to prepare themselves for the upcoming excursion. Whether training themselves both in-facility or out in the fields, collecting funds to promote themselves to stronger classes, gathering weapons or contracting battalions, everyone were off their bottoms and up and running for the coming threat.
After all, a Heroes' Relic in the hands of the unworthy? What other situation can be considered more dire?
Still, everyone had their own methods of coping with the impending catastrophe. But for the Dustbin? It was business as usual. And today's business: clear out Magdred Way of highwaymen for safe passage for the merchants using that path.
"Highwaymen spotted," Selene remarked as she looked through her uncovered eyes and spotted a group of 7 Fighters, 2 Monks, and 6 Myrmidons, "they're just standing there out in the open like the own the whole bloody place."
"Let's change that," Cyril remarked, who joined with the Dustbin as a favor from Shamir to "get his feet wet", "a few bandits can't stop me from becoming a proper knight!"
"We ain't here to babysit yer arse," warned Sorcha as she hefted her [Claymore] over her back, "git yerself killed, it ain't our fault, alright?"
"Enough talk," Karna ordered, his hands crackling and hissing with purple smoke as he picked up his [Crescent Sickle] from the ground, "setting off."
Karna fires his [Swarm Z] to disorient the group up ahead, allowing the group to attack the bandits while they were too busy flailing around in the cloud of bugs scattering them about like a panicked mob.
"What the hell?!" screamed the Fighter as he flailed his hands while the arcane insects swarmed all over him and his group, "dammit! I can't see!"
"A little of the ol' chop-chop!" cackled Sorcha as she brought down her [Claymore] into the bandit's head through the dark fog, splitting it in two.
"We're under attack!" the Myrmidon cried out as he saw a group of armed people through the cloud of bugs before an arrow struck his throat, killing him instantly.
"Regroup! Regroup!" the rouge Monk ordered through the panic as sounds of screams and flesh being ripped was heard through the buzzing, "regroup dammit-"
The Monk was then taken from behind before having his throat slashed open by Topaz, not noticing her climbing onto his back due to her light weight.
"Crush em, Darius!" a horrific neigh bellowed followed up by the sound of heavy hooves drumming the earth, above the demonic steed being none other than Cyrus, fighting with reinvigorated pride and honor of now being caught up as a Soldier.
"A Soldier on a horse?!" the remaining Monk exclaimed, "but I thought-" his complaints were cut off as soon as the Battuian boy ran his [Steel Lance] through his chest, the dead Monk hanging from the tip like a speared fish.
"Back-to-back! Back-to-back!" spoke the Fighter as he and the remaining survivors of his bandit group all found themselves within the fog of bugs swarming around them, "don't let them take you by surprise! Cover all corners!"
Karna noticed the remaining bandits taking a defensive stance as a last ditch measure to save themselves, assuming if they had any chance to begin with. "Selene," asked the Professor as the Brigidian girl shot her own arrows in tandem with Cyril, "how many are left?"
"Four down," she answered before letting loose another arrow, "make it five."
"Hey," Cyril spoke as he shot his own [Iron Bow], striking a Myrmidon in the leg before Selene shot her own arrow at the bandit's neck to finish him off, leaving the bandits only at six "where's Byron? Isn't he supposed to be out there, helping?"
"Evidently, he volunteer to stay behind," answered Karna, "after learning [Silence] earlier than expected of a practitioner of Faith Magic, he is currently in a seminar taught by Manuela to learn more about it. Particularly about himself."
"Six left," Selene pointed out as she shot another arrow, only for her to see that some Fighters brought [Iron Shields] with them, "they're dug in like ticks."
"But I thought he knew everything," Cyril pointed out, "all of the Academy grounds knows that he's the smartest person around!"
"'Smart' doesn't necessarily equate to 'intelligent', Cyril," Karna explained, "Byron is smart, both academically and practically. But it's because of that is why he's starving to learn something new. Call it... 'self-discovery'."
"So why didn't he prominently use Faith Magic in the first place?" the boy asked as he continued shooting his arrows at the bandits, who were now being cloistered by Sorcha and Cyrus's hit-and-run tactics while Topaz tried to find an opening in their formation by lying low to the ground to slip through the forest of legs beneath, "I mean, if he's so smart, why didn't he use both Faith and Reason Magic?"
"At the end of the day, Byron's still human like the rest of us," the Professor replied as he looked back, spotting Vidar hyping himself up by banging his [Iron Gauntlets] together, "we have our likes, dislikes and limitations of what we can do at one moment."
Karna then thins the cloud caused by his [Swarm Z], allowing the bandits to drop their guard at this sign of false mercy.
"Get em," Karna signaled Vidar, to which the bandaged boy sped past the three like a bolt of lighting made of pure violence, his speed and power behind his charge being more than enough to knock all six bandits off of their feet.
"... H-How?!" Cyril remarked at the sight of Vidar scattering all six bandits with one blow, "he's thinner than me!"
"Call it 'pure rage'," smirked Selene, "pure, unadulterated rage."
"Alright," Karna banged his [Crescent Sickle] into the earth, "finish them off!" he ordered as his weapon dragged through the arid earth, leaving behind a trench in its trail that arced up into an explosive slash of dark energy. The dark slash travels across the earth towards the scrambling Myrmidon before bisecting him from the crotch-up.
Another Myrmidon charged at him with a [Steel Sword] raised over his head, swinging it down towards the Professor before the latter blocked the blow with his (stolen, from one of Lord Lonato's border forts) [Silver Shield] before giving the former a good kick to his stomach that knocked him back flat, allowing Selene to plant her [Iron Lance] into his body, killing him instantly.
"Dammit! We're through!" a rouge Fighter cried out as he and his remaining survivors all tried to make a run for it.
"Selene?" Karna remarked, to which the recipient pulled out her [Iron Bow] and began shooting. One by one, the fleeing bandits fells to the ground, unable to run fast enough to elude their pursuers. "Good shooting," Karna complimented, "Cyril boy, mind doing the honors?"
"Do what?" he asked before he was handed a knife.
"Finish them off," Karna ordered, "it is cruel to prolong an animal's suffering, now is it?"
"But... they're not animals!" Cyril pointed out, "they're people!"
"Yes, they're people," the Professor remarked, "but they're bad people. And what do you think is going to happen to them when we, I don't know, bring them back alive?"
"Boyo, I'm gunna be real with ye for a sec," Selene spoke out, "they're gonna put der heads on a choppin' block and make em into an example," she answered the boy's question, "one example out of too many."
"So killing them now is the better option?!" Cyril cried out, "but the Goddess shows mercy to those who repent! Surely, the church will too!"
Karna huffs a dry snort. "But we don't," he shook his head as the sounds of screaming and flesh being rent were heard from a distance as Karna finally clears away the [Swarm Z] with a wave his hand, allowing the boy to see the now-headless bodies of the bandits. "Now look at that. Your chance to prove yourself has already disappeared. A shame really, you would've learned a thing or two from us if you had listened."
With the bandits dead, all three of them approach where the rest of the Dustbin were at, all of them looting whatever were on the bandits' person, hopefully, anything that can be sold for a few gold coins.
"What ye lookin' at, squirt?" Sorcha glared as she looted a Monk's body, "just to yet ye know, I called dibs."
"Looting bodies?!" Cyril pointed out, shocked at their barbaric acts, "haven't they been desecrated enough?!"
Behind Karna, Byron came towards his class on a back of a wagon. "Thanks for the ride," he remarked, "I'll come back with my class, so you can go by yourself."
"If you say so," the driver replied as the cart drove away leaving Byron behind.
"You're here early," Karna remarked at the sudden appearance of his student, "I thought you were at Manuela's seminar, learning about Faith Magic."
"They kicked me out after I asked too many 'inappropriate' questions," Byron remarked with obvious dry humor in his voice, "how am I supposed to know how to heal others when even I don't even know how the human body is supposed to work?!" he snapped in frustration, "waste of time, I tell you! Apparently, I thought seminars were supposed to answer the questions that I have, not leave me with more questions!"
"What kind of questions did you ask that got you kicked out?" asked Cyril as Byron took out his [Hand Axe] and began cutting open the slain bandit's body, much to the page's absolute disgust.
"This," Byron remarked as he held out a meaty sack that he'd extracted from the bandit's cadaver with ripped valves hanging down from the top, "this is where blood comes from, correct? If so, how are they made? What is the function of this organ and the blood it supposedly makes? Can this organ be healed by itself? And what is the correlation of this organ and the school of Faith Magic-"
"ENOUGH!" the boy cried out, causing all of the Dustbin to stop what they were doing for a second.
"Whoa," Sorcha remarked, almost impressed by the boy's volume, "... boyo's got a set of pipes on im."
"How come you all... enjoy having blood all over you?!" Cyril questioned the Dustbin, who were all covered in varying degrees of sanguine red all over their clothes, "you're all no different from what the Almyrans do every day!"
"... Eh, been called worse," Sorcha shrugged, "... wait, isn't Cyrus Almyran?"
"I'm technically from Battu, you racist twats!" Cyrus cried out from a distance while he continued looting the dead bodies, "I'm only half-Almyran from my father's side! Get it right! The two of you!"
"Kid," Karna remarked in shock at Cyril's surprising amount of vitriol exploding from him, "did you just equate the word 'savage' to an entire ethnic race and culture?"
"What other nation incites wars for fun and leaves nothing but orphans behind?!" Cyril pointed out, "why do they keep attacking Fodlan, when we have done nothing and consider the act of taking lives as 'fun'?!"
"War is death, child," Topaz walked up towards Cyril, her short stature barely standing over the actual child's own, making them look at each other eye-to-eye, "your time to mourn has already passed."
"My parents abandoned me!" Cyril slapped away the Hassashin, to which the latter slapped back, knocking the boy to the ground, "... you're nothing more than bad guys..."
"Now there's the fallacy," Byron pointed out as he walked into the conversation, "what differentiates from those bandits we've wasted are that we, the Dustbin, are usually the ones killing those 'bad guys'," he stated, "usually. ... Unless there's a mistake. But I doubt that the Church doesn't give a damn as long as their vision of 'order' is maintained..." Byron then squeezed the heart hard enough to make it pop in his grip, splattering blood onto both him and Cyril (Topaz dodged the splash), "even if it means the price of peace is paid in buckets or ocean's worth of blood."
"... Just what do you know about me?" snarled the boy as he grabbed Byron by his collar with a surprising amount of force coming from someone who'd yet hit puberty, "YOU WEREN'T EVEN HERE TODAY!"
"True, but you're still young," Byron replied cooly, "when I was your age? I was fighting for my whole life. I lost my parents, just like you. However, unlike yours where they chose to die over raising you, I simply acknowledged that neither my parents or the people in the manor that I was born and raised in weren't strong enough to protect me. Ever since then, I learned that in order to protect myself and those who are dear to me, I was going to have to get used to the taste of blood," he pointed out, "I had to grow up without anyone's help. I had to become twice as smarter as others at twice the pace. I had to grow twice as cunning and dirty because I couldn't realistically match other Faerghusians in physical strength no matter how much or long I train. I had no direction but myself and the class of rejects who I could somewhat relate with. And that is just me, with the rest of my fellow students not having the opportunities to grow up what you or the Church deem as 'normal'. So, with that in mind, what do you have to say for yourself, you spoiled orphan?"
"... The Church could've helped you," Cyril choked, feeling a weird sense of sympathy towards Byron's icy glare, rationalizing that he never found the Goddess unlike him.
"Oh trust me, they did," Byron answered, much to everyone's surprise, "specifically, the Western Church."
"Wait, ye mean those schmucks that got hanged last week or so?!" Selene pointed out before reading the room, "... sorry if I called em schmucks..."
"No need to apologize," Byron remarked, "they made their choice, just like now... and 10 years ago."
"What happened?" Cyril asked, doubly surprised at the student's past regarding those heretics who've helped him in the past despite the Church claiming that they were heretics who've conspired against the Church.
"I don't wanna talk about it," Byron glared, "the past, stays in the past."
Cyril lets go of Byron, the latter brushing his hair upward with blood running along his temples with the ink that he'd bleached his lavender hair with. "But still, sorry if we were too hard on you," apologized Byron, much to the Dustbin's shock at this sudden show of humility coming from him of all people, "one orphan to another, you'll soon have to find your own way forward. With or without the Church," he stated, "because if you don't, how will you be able to define yourself as 'Cyril' rather than another one of the nameless faithful?"
"... I..." Cyril stammered as he genuinely realized that there wasn't an alternative future for him when he grew up into a proper adult, "... I don't know... I just thought that I can someday be a Knight of Seiros..." he fidgeted, "... just like Catherine or Shamir..."
"Look on the bright side, you at least have someone to look up towards as you grow up, unlike us," Byron smirked semi-approvingly, "so rather than see todays... rather off-putting display of what we consider normal, how about take this whole day as a... cautionary experience? A sort of a... sacred straight."
"... Yeah, I guess," Cyril sighed out, too exhausted to continued arguing, "... but if there's one thing I don't hate about you guys... is that you don't baby-talk me as much as the other female students and staff do to me and the other pages back at the Monestary. It gets a little annoying and you guys don't bother me as much while I'm doing my chores."
"Well, don't run yourself to the ground, alright?" Karna chimed in, "trust us, we were already run into the ground dozen times over. It ain't pleasant."
With the situation somewhat deescalated by Byron, the Dustbin and Cyril all walk back towards the Monastery after an exhausting incursion.
"... So," Karna spoke to Byron, "about how much of that was a lie?"
"Professor, surely you don't think of me as a habitual opportunist," smirked Byron, "I may not like children, but that doesn't mean I go out of my way to torment them."
"Still though," Karna then looked towards the slightly-sullen Cyril walking next to Sorcha, the latter trying to cheer the boy up, much to her lack of success, "do you see yourself in him?"
"Perhaps," smirked Byron, "he would be what I be if I haven't found Vidar on that day."
17th of Verdant Rain Moon, Afternoon
After a thorough scolding from both Shamir and Catherine for going too far with Cyril's outing, the Dustbin spent the past days apologizing to him in tandem with their studies along with forfeiting half of their reward money from their previous mission as compensation for "emotional damages".
They couldn't help it. The Dustbin weren't exactly considered normal compared to other students, behaving more akin to career soldiers/killers rather than actual students. Such discrepancy would rear its ugly head once again when the Dustbin were sent on a mission to the region of Charon to suppress a sudden surge of bandit activity currently taking place.
"Bogies inbound," Selene spoke as she peeked through the thrush, behind her being both the entirety of the Dustbin and the Blue Lion house, "I see 5 Fighters at the front, 3 Archers and 2 Mages at the middle, and I see a Mercenary leading the pack from behind, next to him being a pair of Armor Knights with a [Steel Axe] and a [Killer Axe]," she listed the arrangement of enemies that they were facing, "... they're lookouts. The whole group ain't here."
"Why do you think that?" asked Ashe, slightly amazed at the girl's nigh-supernatural sense of sight, "I mean, a group of 13 guys? Seems already loaded enough as is."
"Trust her," Karna remarked, "counting our luck, we might as well be facing an army."
"Of course you'd think that," scoffed Felix, "it's a miracle that you rejects haven't all been found dead in a ditch as of yet."
"Would you like to find out how that feels?" threatened Topaz as she prodded her [Bolo] at the Blue Lion student's rib, "listen, swordsman. I can kill you in your sleep in lieu of a duel. Consider the fact that I cannot due to legal issues a mercy, so don't push it."
"Whoa whoa," Sylvain got between the two that were about to draw their blades against each other, "we're all friends here, right? I mean, especially you and your twin..."
Sorcha sticks her tongue out before spitting onto his face. "Yer not me type, anyway," she remarked, "too scrawny."
"Someone has better taste than him," Ingrid snarked at Sorcha's barb, "you and me spar sometime?"
"We're banned from the training grounds," pointed out Cyrus, "that is, until we get back into the good graces of the Church faculty."
"For everyone's sake, I wish you all the best of luck," Dedue spoke.
"Right," Dimitri agreed, "despite our... initial differences," he spoke to both Byron and Vidar, "I wish you all for the best in your future endeavors."
"Don't push it, Prince," Byron smirked, "we'll be beyond you and your whole class before you know it."
"So Merice," Annette pointed towards Vidar, who is looking listlessly into the trees around them, "what his deal? He's honestly creeping me out, covered head to toe in bandages and his eyes never blinking..."
"Annie," Mercedes scolded her younger friend, "it's rude to point."
Vidar grunts as he moved himself closer to the Professor.
"I'd say," Hanneman remarked as he adjusted his monocle to spot 4 more Brigands and 2 Brawlers coming towards the Mercenary leading the group from a distance, "your student was right!"
"So, any entrance strategies?" Karna asked Hanneman, to which the latter came up blank, "... don't tell me all of you start your encounters running out into the open and expect the enemy to do the same!"
"And you call us doomed to die," Topaz rolled her eyes, "pick them off one at a time now or wait for an opening?"
"Latter," Karna replied, "all of you, get comfortable. We're in it for a long haul. Wait for one of them to relieve themselves or something."
And so, the two classes waited. They kept waiting, hiding at different spots around the forest where the bandits lounged at, waiting, in anticipation that one of the bandits had to move eventually...
... Waiting... until the sun itself had set upon them.
"This sucks..." groaned Ingrid as she leaned against her [Iron Lance], "... we should be out there, bringing them to justice... not wait for them to come to us..."
"I agree," Felix clicked his tongue in annoyance, "there's something distasteful about us waiting for an opening like common crooks."
"Get used to it," Byron rolled his eyes, "we all know how you guys normally operate, so here's how we operate. We'll kill all of them in their sleep if we have to."
"What is warranting us to make us wait for this long?" Felix asked, "do you lot doubt my swordsmanship? I can take them all by myself in my sleep."
"That," Byron pointed to the Mercenary's peculiar-looking sword sheathed around his hip, "that's a [Brave Sword]. A lightweight blade that allows its wielder to make consecutive attacks and is only used by the most skilled of fencers," he pointed out, "underestimate him at your own peril, that man has probably killed more people than all of us combined, which I'm pretty sure that my whole class has picked up."
"To be fair, we just started," Ingrid remarked, "but if he's dangerous as you claim to be..." her hands trembled, much to her surprise, "... no amount of training we did up to this point would allow us to take him on a fair fight."
Felix nodded in agreement, begrudgingly acknowledging Byron's point of caution as a cautionary measure that sort of respected compared to the popular mentality of Faerghus's reckless martyrdom culture. Especially coming from another Faerghusian like him.
Elsewhere, Vidar, Karna, Annette and Mercedes were watching the bandits light a campfire for tonight's dinner.
"They're about to make dinner," Karna remarked, "alright, which one of folks would like to make a distraction?"
"I'm a Priestess," Mercedes remarked, "I'm my class's healer."
"I got a few spells up my sleeve," Annette spoke, "but I don't think my [Wind] spell would make much of a difference, if we're going by destructive prowess alone."
"Understandable," Karna nodded before Vidar tugged on his shoulder.
"... Me... go," Vidar grunted as he pointed towards the bandit camp, "... me... fight... for... friends..."
"Negative," Karna rebuffed the feral boy's suggestion, "the leader has a [Brave Sword]. He'll gut you all faster than we can blink!"
"... Use... bug?" Vidar pointed out Karna's [Swarm Z] spell.
"We're at nighttime," Karna replied, "I do that here, we might end up stabbing each other instead! We'll save it for last resort."
"Goodness Professor," Mercedes remarked in surprise, "you thought of everything, didn't you?"
"Well, it's not like I have the ability to turn back time when one of you bite it," Karna pointed out, "my motto when it comes to battles: 'one chance, one victory. If all else fails, sew chaos."
"That... kinda sounds really weird," Annette remarked, "isn't deliberately sewing chaos in a middle of a battle a bad thing?"
"With my luck?" Karna smirked, trying to hold in his chuckle, "... it evens out."
Across from the quadruplet, Cyrus, Dedue and Dimitri were all standing by for one of their own to initiate the opening assault.
"The bandits are either more patient than we initially anticipated..." Dedue narrowed his eyes as he kept his [Iron Axe] steady in his grip, "... or they're just that complacent when their leader is simply strong just because of his weapon of choice."
"Come to think of it," Dimitri looked at Cyrus, "doesn't your horse simply run over everything that is smaller than itself?"
"Do not treat my horse like a blunt instrument, Prince," Cyrus snapped, "Darius is a living, breathing creature that deserves more respect than you could ever give."
"If he's worthy of such respect, then why doesn't he simply charge in by himself?" Dedue asked in a touchy manner upon hearing his liege being disrespected.
"Professor told me to keep him at the back until their guard is down," Cyrus answered, glaring at Dedue, "unlike you, I actually treat everyone equally," he claimed as his eyes looked towards the side, "... except for that Goneril wench. She's a special case."
"You two, enough!" Dimitri scolded the two, "Dedue, I understand that you're looking out for me, but don't let your obligation and loyalty compromise our survival!"
"Forgive me, my liege," Dedue bowed his head.
"And you!" the Prince spoke towards Cyrus, "I have heard that your horse Darius is the only link between you and your home that you gravely desire to return, but let the record show, we're all living, breathing beings like Darius too, so don't rule us out!"
"... You have a point," sighed Cyrus, "I yield."
"Good," Dimitri nodded in approval, "now I hope the other groups are doing fine..."
Next to each other, there were two groups hiding in adjacent positions.
"You know, when I first headed out this morning, I thought this was going to be like the stories of brave knights I've read about," Ashe remarked in a disappointed tone, "but this? ... Feels like how I was going about before Lord Lonato took me and my siblings in."
"Fail to distinguish between fantasy and reality, your death will be painful," warned Topaz as she kept her grip around her sheathed [Bolo], "... that said, my condolences of your loss. He's now in a better place."
"Your compassion is appreciated, yet poor in timing," Hanneman sighed out, "my class loses one family before we lost another..." he shook his head in regret, "... I'm not so helpless to simply stand by, but I wish I can do more for the next generation..."
"Death is merely the product of life," Topaz pointed out, "to live thinking that life will go on forever is foolishness."
"I know," Hanneman agreed, "but it's too soon. No one is ready for their own kin to go..."
"I have no kin," Topaz bluntly pointed out, "my only kin is the Dustbin, who I deem as bringers of my perfect death."
"... Dark," Ashe pointed out, "... life isn't simply about waiting for death, you know?"
"No," she replied, much to Ashe's relief, "you find it."
"... Your belief," Hanneman blinked at the girl's semi-nihilistic worldview, "... well, let's just say it wouldn't be commonplace around here."
"Don't remind me," Topaz spat in disgust, "you Fodlaners live clinging to life at the expense of dignity."
At the other (and final) group, Sylvain, Sorcha and Selene are keeping their eyes on the bandits having their dinner while trying to not give themselves away.
"You know..." Sylvain leaned against Selene, "... we're not doing anything right now-"
Sorcha softly grabs the flirt between his legs. "One more word out of ye, I'll make sure yer the last of yer line, princess," the McCarthy twin sister menacingly whispered into the last Gautier's ear.
"Easy now..." he shuddered, the sensation where arousal was supposed to happen now superseded with unrelenting horror, "... just making good talk."
"Do that when we're not in a life-or-death situation," Selene spoke as she noticed a Fighter getting up from where he was sitting and walking into the woods, "I see an opening. Git ready to jump."
The three then move towards where the Fighter was heading towards, with Sorcha and Selene on their bellies to give themselves more stealth by going low to the ground. Sylvain does the same, only to ogle at their ample behinds.
"Enjoy it while ye can, lubberboy," Sorcha snarled as she and her twin kept crawling on the earth, "yer next-"
Suddenly, it felt like there was a lukewarm liquid behind poured onto Sorcha's head.
"... Bloody ell'," she snarled as Sorcha reached for her [Claymore] from her back to draw the massive blade.
In one swing, she cuts off the Fighter's bare legs through the back of his knees, sending him flailing about screaming as he lost his blood from where his legs were supposed to be before Selene shut him up with an arrow shot through his lower jaw.
"Hey! I heard somethin'," one of the bandits spoke as the Fighter's death throes caught their attention.
"Shite, they're comin'," Selene began crawling away fast as they could, "move!"
The three crawled as fast as they could away from the dead Fighter as the other bandits and their leader converged towards their fallen brethren.
"Someone's onto us," the leader Mercenary growled as he drew his [Brave Sword], "spread out! Find the dastard trying anything funny!"
As soon as the bandits dispersed, the other groups in waiting took notice. It was now 16 of them against 18 of the now-angered bandits.
"Alright," grinned Karna as he picked up his [Crescent Sickle] from the ground as two Fighters with [Iron Axes] came near them, "pick em off one by one."
Both Karna and Vidar shot themselves off of the ground, pouncing at the two Fighters like a predator tackling and pinning down its prey before delivering the killing blow. Before the two, an Archer fired a panicked shot towards them, only for his arrow to miss with Annette's [Wind] spells disorienting his aim, allowing both Karna and Vidar to double-team the bandit and kill him off without issue.
Behind Annette, Mercedes was caught from behind by a Brigand who'd snuck behind them and taken her hostage. "Move and the wench gets it!" the Brigand threatened, "drop your arms! Now-"
The Brigand was cut from behind by Felix with his [Killing Edge], letting go of the Blue Lions' healer as he fell dead. "You bandit-types love hearing the sound of your own voices," he snarked, "I find it grating."
"Hey," Karna looked towards the Blue Lions' fencer, "where's the other two-"
A sound of a vase shattering was heard from a distance, luring the group of five towards where the noise came from, revealing it to be Byron and his [Frost] spell freezing an unfortunate Brigand over, as evidenced by his entire upper body being shattered behind his disconnected legs.
"... He didn't know that I was very ticklish," snarked the Dustbin's prodigy as he walked past the group lost in thought, "first [Frost], then [Blizzard]... surely, my mind is being stretched to their utmost limits..."
Coming from the main camp, a heavy grunt coming from both Dedue and Cyrus pushing a pair of the remaining two Brigands in a contest of strength was heard by the gathered students.
"Come on you brats!" the Brigand taunted, "you're years too early to take us on!"
"Then it's a good thing..." smirked Dedue.
"... That we're not fighting alone!" Cyrus then blows out a shrill whistle, which was replied with a loud braying of a horse heralded by its hooves drumming the earth itself.
Running in tandem with the beast was Dimitri, both man and beast matching each other in speed and weight of their charge. As soon as the duo got close, both Dedue and Cyrus let go of their respective muscle locks and dodged out of the way for their respective partners to attack one of each Brigand bandit. Dimitri's [Steel Lance] pierces through the bandit's neck while Darius the Battu Steppe King trampled onto the bandit's head, crushing it underfoot like a rotten fruit.
"Huh," scoffed Felix, "guess the boar finally made a beast friend."
"... Friend..." smiled Vidar, much to the young fencer's shock and disgust, "... good."
"How many left?" asked Dedue.
"2 Fighters, 2 Brawlers, 2 Archers, 2 Mages, 2 Armor Knights and a Mercenary still at large!" Karna pointed out, "move! The others are still being pursued!"
Elsewhere around the forest, Ingrid managed to reunite with Sylvain, Sorcha and Selene, however, the four of them were confronted by a pair of Armor Knight bandits, armed with thick steel armor and shields, in tandem with each of them wielding a [Steel Axe] and a [Killer Axe] respectively.
"What do we do with em?" asked one Armor Knight.
"Leave the blond one alive," answered the other Armor Knight, "she'll fetch us mint gold when we sell her off."
"Oh please, and I'm not gud enough?" Sorcha took slight offense to being excluded.
"Have you seen your teeth?!" the Armor Knight exploded, "lady, your teeth are rocks-!"
An arrow slips through the gap of Armor Knight's visors, piercing his eye while he wasn't paying attention to Selene.
"Yer welcome," Selene snarked, "now run!"
The four take off as the sluggish pair of Armor Knights waddled behind them.
"Did ye hear that?!" Sorcha remarked, "he called me teeth rocks!"
"Come on, they don't look that bad," Sylvain pointed out.
"Ye ain't helpin'!" Sorcha barked back, "I ain't a girly girlie, but if any bozo calls me ugly, den der dead!"
An arrow buzzed past their heads before sticking into the tree ahead of them. "I see em!" an Archer cried out as he fired another arrow with his [Steel Bow], "there's three of em ahead of me!"
Behind the Archer, the two Armor Knights now accompanied with a pair of Fighters came running towards them.
"Shite shite shite!" Selene cursed up a storm as she panic-fired her [Iron Bow] at their pursers, "walk straight, ye bastards!"
"Watch out for de Archer!" Sorcha told her twin as she saw that they had no other choice but to stand their ground, "lubberboyo! Ye watch me back!"
"Won't let you down!" Sylvain faced the Fighters with his [Steel Lance] while Sorcha drew her [Claymore] at the Armor Knights.
Selene then sniping at the bandit Archer with her [Iron Bow], keeping his attention away from her sister and the Blue Lions' flirt. Due to it being in the middle of the night, her supernatural sight wasn't able to be utilized to its fullest in near-total darkness. At least the Abyss had ambient lighting, but out in the middle of the woods, with the only source of illumination being the campfire at the center? She was effectively caught in a rock and a hard place; either she continues firing blindly into the dark or get lured towards the illumination and get picked off herself.
Right now, hiding in the dark and using her ears was the best way forward.
"Dammit all," Selene cursed herself as she took her glasses on and off every time she peeked out of the bushes to get a better look at her dim surroundings, "... why can't I be able to see in the dark?" she bemoans right before ducking under an incoming arrow, "... bloody ell'."
The other Sniper snickered as he was able to make where Selene was in the dark, tracking her movements by hearing where the bushes are rustling. "Not such a hotshot in the dark, aren't ya?" he taunted as he nocked another arrow to his [Steel Bow], "at Faerghus, even during summers, the nights are long and dark!"
But from behind, the Archer was stricken by an arrow from Ashe, who himself was with Hanneman after the latter fended off the two Mages.
"Wow, Felix is right," Ashe remarked, "bandits sure love to talk."
"Oh bloody ell'," Selene sighed out as she came running towards the two, "it's ye guys."
"Trouble seeing in the dark?" Hanneman asked Selene, the latter nodding in agreement, "me too. Being from the Empire and all."
"Wait," Selene looked at the two, realizing that there was someone missing, "... where's Topaz?"
"Where's Ingrid?" Hanneman asked, "she was with your group, right?!"
"I think I got lost while runnin' until I found ye guys," Selene pointed out, "where the munchkin?!"
"We're looking for her right now-" Ashe then ducked under a [Fire] lobbed by the Mage followed up by a [Thunder] from the other, "move!"
As the group of three entered into their firefight, Sorcha and Sylvain were still trying to fend off unfavorable odds, being outnumbered 2 to 1 each. Despite neither side taking any debilitating damages, it was obvious that facing a numerically superior foe with little-to-no established coordination between students between differing classes were making things less favorable than it should be at the moment.
"This is so unfair!" Sylvain remarked as he jousted away the Fighter's blows with the long-reach of his [Steel Lance] being the only thing keeping him from getting killed by their [Iron Axes], "what about you? How are things on your end-"
An Armor Knight lets out a pained yelp after getting struck by the knee with Sorcha's [Claymore], for which, despite being unable to actually pierce through the armor, the weight behind the blow was enough to cause him to take a knee before the Brigidian girl stabbed her massive sword through gap opened between the bandit's helmet and armor.
"You brat!" the surviving Armor Knight then charged towards the girl, only for Sylvain to leap over her shoulder and thrust his [Steel Lance] towards the bandit's armored chest, knocking him flat onto his back.
"Sorry," apologized the Blue Lions' flirt, "but I can't afford to look and sound weak in front of a lady."
"Alright," Sorcha nodded as she and Sylvain swapped opponents, "let me handle the softies."
The two Fighters both charged at once towards Sorcha while the Armor Knight rushes towards Sylvain.
"Let me show you what I've learned," Sylvain boasted as he took a stance with his [Steel Lance] wound up behind his shoulder. Upon the Armor Knight getting close to his swinging range, he swung his weapon in a burst of strength, the arc sweeping across the bandit's legs, causing him to trip over before Sylvain plants his lance through the gap of the bandit's armored visor.
"Holy shite!" Sorcha exclaimed as she knocked back two Fighters with her [Claymore]'s size, "the hell was that?!"
"[Knightkneeler]," he answered, "Armor Knights are heavy, so when they can't use their legs anymore..."
"Heh, yer kinda cool," she grinned fiercely as Sorcha faced the still-alive Fighters, "but it's time for me to show off a little."
Sorcha then takes her own stance before she charged towards one of the Fighters, swinging her heavy slab of crudely-sharpened raw iron towards the bandit, lopping his head off in a single swing.
"[Wrath Strike]!" she declared before another Fighter charged towards her, only for Sorcha to smash her [Claymore]'s pommel into his nose before the heavy blade cut his entire chest open after a downwards swing, "... pretty cool myself, right?"
"Haha..." Sylvain mirthlessly laughed at the sight of blood being sprayed onto her face, "... yeah, I guess-"
From behind, he was taken by surprise by a lariat from a Brawler while another charged towards Sorcha. She blocked and parried the bandit's blows with her blade, but the speed of which the blows came from his [Iron Gauntlets] caused her to be nicked in several places from a few sneaky blows.
"Not so tough without your boyfriend, eh?" taunted the Brawler before Sorcha herself headbutted the bandit into his nose, forcing the latter to back off.
Sorcha then drops her [Claymore] as she pulls out a pair of [Training Gauntlets] from her back that she'd bought this morning for a discount (70 gold rather than the usual 140, did a little haggling) earlier this week.
"Put em up," Sorcha then began bobbing her legs and body up and down as she put her covered arms up, "cuz yer gonna be another first-round knockout."
As the two then engaged in their fistfight, the other Brawler, out of curiosity, looked at the delirious Sylvain's face.
"Huh," the Brawler scoffed as he pulled up the unconscious Sylvain by his hair, "small world to see a boy with bossman's face."
He then hears a scream followed up by a thrust from an [Iron Lance] which the bandit rolled out of his way of. From the bushes was Ingrid, now defending Sylvain.
"You leave him alone, creep!" Ingrid cried out, pointing her weapon towards the bandit, "he doesn't swing that way!"
The Brawler bandit blinked for a moment. "... Woman, is he your boyfriend-"
Ingrid then thrusts her [Iron Lance] towards the Brawler, to which the latter parried away before getting into a fighting stance of his own.
"... Alright," said the bandit Brawler as he put his fists up, "forget the minted gold. I'll settle for damaged goods."
Meanwhile, Ashe, Hanneman and Selene managed to reunite with Karna, Annette, Mercedes, Byron, Vidar, Cyrus (with Darius), Felix, Dimitri and Dedue, the former group still being pursued by the Mage pair shooting [Fire] and [Thunder] at them respectively.
"Well this is annoying," Karna remarked as he ducked under an arrow, a signal that the Archer has joined the other Mages in holding the chokepoint, "any ideas?!"
"Normally, we let the boar's cur take the blows to give us an opening," Felix remarked as he ducked under another [Fire] spell, "but given that there are two Mages, I doubt even he would last for long."
"Any, better ideas?" Karna disregarded Felix's bigoted statement.
"I can still use [Wind]..." Annette remarked before she jumped away from [Thunder] that struck the ground, "... but a little stiff breeze can't do much other than 1-on-1 combat! Not multiple enemies at once!"
Suddenly, Karna felt his shoulder being tugged. "Professor..." Vidar groaned, "... use... bug... with... [Wind]..."
"Vidar..." the Professor replied with an approving nod, "you, are a genius!" he praised before he turned towards Annette, whose hair was grazed by an arrow, "hey ginger-nut!"
"I have a name you know!" Annette cried out as she ducked under a [Fire] spell, "it's Annette-"
"I'LL APOLOGIZE LATER!" Karna yelled back as her words were cut off by an arrow nearly pinning into her head, "ON MY COUNT, I WANT YOU TO USE YOUR [WIND] SPELL AT THE BANDITS AND I'LL USE MY OWN!"
"Wait," Annette confused expression, "what-"
"NOW!" Karna ordered as he casted [Swarm Z] in tandem with Annette's [Wind] spell, the resulting compound spell being an accelerated swarm-cloud of arcane insect constructs buzzing around the three sharpshooters, causing them to stop firing from their sights being fogged and allowing the group to overwhelm them in ease.
"... Oh?" Byron remarked as he noticed two Mages and an Archer dead before his feet, "what just happened?"
"Pay attention," Karna scolded, "we're still in a fight for our lives."
"... Sorry," Byron sighed out, "still taken aback after Manuela's seminar..."
"Worry about it later," Karna replied, "for now, try to keep your head on a swivel-LOOK OUT!"
Karna tackles Byron out of the way of the bandit leader's swing from his [Brave Sword], its light yet durable construction making the swing fast as the wind on an open plain.
"Well now, you and your lot took good care of my boys," the Mercenary spoke menacingly, "now allow me to take care of you two first... by nipping the bothersome tops off of you all!"
Elsewhere, both Sorcha and Ingrid were fighting off their respective bandit Brawlers. Fist against fist and lance against fist, the dance of death continued for these young maidens of war as the two routines converged into one.
"So," Sorcha asked as her back was to Ingrid's, "what kept ye waitin'?"
"I was looking for your sister," Ingrid pointed out, "will she be okay?"
"I'll find her later," Sorcha spat out a wad of blood, "... took a few licks meself. What about ye?"
"I'm fine," Ingrid snarled through her fractured rib, "let's waste these creeps!"
The two girls then fought the Brawler pair, knuckle to knuckle, weapon to weapon they clashed. Sorcha taking glancing blows from her Brawler, cuts forming around her face with the claws from the [Iron Gauntlets] as she delivered blow after blow with her wooden rods perpendicular to her grip towards the Brawler's vital areas.
Ingrid meanwhile, was using her reach from her weapon as an advantage, due to being the one to protect the unconscious Sylvain from the Brawler's advances (or so she thinks).
"Hold still you dastard!" Ingrid screamed as she jabbed her [Iron Lance] towards the agile bandit, blocking his sneaky blows with the shaft of her weapon.
"Fat chance!" taunted the Brawler as he sent a flurry of blows towards her, the latter slowly being backed into a corner by the oncoming onslaught of iron blows, "that brat behind you... my boss might be interested in him!"
"For the last time!" Ingrid yelled back, "he doesn't swing that way-"
It then hit her. Bandits recognizing Sylvain? The [Lance of Ruin] being stolen? The entire Gautier bloodline being reduced to a single known person?
"... You guys work for Miklan?!" Ingrid remarked in surprise, "he's still alive?! He's behind all of this?!"
"Jig's up," the Brawler smirked as his [Iron Gauntlet]'s claws locked with her [Iron Lance], "thought a little family reunion might be welcome."
"I won't let you," Ingrid's eyes blazed with an ugly feeling of fear and rage combined together, "not to him! Never to him!"
She then pushes back the Brawler with a burst of hysteric strength fueled by the memories of Sylvain being attacked by Miklan, yelling and roaring like a woman gone mad as she pinned the bigger man down with her [Iron Lance] before sweeping her spearhead across the bandit's neck.
Sorcha, taking the chance provided to her by her opponent being distracted by his compatriot being slain, knees him in the nuts, punches him in the throat before pouncing atop of the Brawler before drumming away at his face with her fists, bloodying him up as if Sorcha was killing the Devil himself; with furious zeal and rage that would make Catherine on her worst possible "bad day" look like a kitten's mew in comparison.
"And that..." Sorcha buried her fist into the bandit's face before pulling it out all red and sticky, "... is for callin' me teeth rocks."
Sylvain grumbles before slowly getting up, finding two girls, both of their faces covered in their enemies' blood.
"... Wow," he remarked feeling unsure about his sense of the female attraction right now, "... I don't know how to feel about that."
"Den shaddup," Sorcha replied as she picked her [Claymore] back up, "come on, we got to find the others-"
The three of them all hear a scream coming from the bandit camp.
"... Found em," Sorcha spoke before she ran towards the center, "come on!"
Sylvain tries to run, only for his sense of balance to be disoriented enough for him to be unable to walk upright due to his head injury, forcing Ingrid to carry him back.
"... You know..." Sylvain remarked sheepishly as he felt his arm be grabbed by his first (non-courted) crush, "... this is the closest we've ever been together." Ingrid doesn't reply to his double entendre. "... Uh, isn't this the part where you either threaten or actually drop me-"
"It's Miklan," Ingrid spoke, "your brother... he's not only alive, but he's also the one leading the bandit group who has the [Lance of Ruin]!"
All thoughts of possible perversions disappeared upon Sylvain hearing his monster of a brother being alive. "... I'm listening."
At the camp, despite being the last man standing for the bandit's side, the Mercenary with the [Brave Sword] wasn't making himself an easy prey. His fast consecutive swings and nigh-impeccable grace of both offense and defense made him an impossible opponent to decisively end the fight in one fell stroke.
"I TOLD YOU THAT WE SHOULD'VE KILLED HIM WHILE HE WAS ASLEEP!" Byron cried out as he fired both [Frost] and [Blizzard] in tandem at the Mercenary, only for the latter to quickly dodge out of the way while performing a rolling slash towards Karna, who blocked the blow with his [Crescent Sickle], "NOW LOOK AT IT! IT'S NIGHT AND HE'S MAKING THE FIGHT NEEDLESSLY DIFFICULT!"
"Huh," Selene remarked, "never took him for the one to lose his cool," she muttered to herself as she shot another arrow, only for her target to dodge it, "guess being kicked out of the seminar really affected him."
"Well, I hope he turns out fine..." Hanneman remarked as he shot a [Fire] spell towards the Mercenary, only for the latter to parry the flaming projectile by cutting it in two, "... good Goddess, the man could give Catherine a run for her money!"
"Nevermind that!" Annette remarked as she shot her own [Wind] spell at the bandit leader only for her to miss completely and blow out the campfire, now rendering the forest completely dark, "how're the others?!"
"They're fine, but not enough to fight!" Mercedes pointed out as she repeatedly cast [Heal] on her wounded classmates, Dimitri and Felix having multiple cuts across their chests and Dedue looking like he's been mauled by a wild animal, "Dedue took the worst of it! He lost a lot of blood! Dimtri and Felix are out cold as well!"
"Forgive me, my liege..." Dedue whispered, lamenting at his failure to be his class's stalwart shield, "... I have failed..."
"You'll be fine!" Mercedes retorted the Duscurian student's self-pity, "as long as I'm alive, no one is allowed to die!"
"With that all said..." Selene looked around, still finding them a few short in numbers, "WHERE THE BLOODY ELL' ARE YOU TOPAZ?!"
"Come on!" the Mercenary taunted as he rained blow after blow upon Karna's own weapon, "give it up already!"
Cyrus then comes charging in with Darius, only for the heavy horse to accidentally stamp its hooves near Karna and send him flying off of the ground instead. "Sorry!" Cyrus apologized before he maneuvered Darius away from the Mercenary from jumping onto his back.
"Damn it!" Karna cried out as he fired [Swarm Z] towards the Mercenary, only for the swarm to instead hit Darius and send the horse from hell on a panicked rampage, "DAMN IT!" he cursed as he jumped out of the way as Cyrus tries to calm his steed down while shooing away the bugs created by Karna's magic.
"Come on! Just give it up already!" boasted the Mercenary as he continued his hit-and-run blows between both Karna and Byron, "not even little Eddie can bring me in chains!"
"... Eddie?" Annette recognized that name, "... you mean dad couldn't beat him?"
"BYRON!" Karna cried out as he was pressed against the Mercenary's [Brave Sword], "GET YOUR HEAD BACK IN THE GAME OR WE'LL ALL DIE-"
The sound of metal snapping in two echoed throughout the air. At the center of the dim bandit camp, everyone had witnessed Karna's [Crescent Sickle] snap in two, much to everyone's horror sans for the bandit leader.
"... You've got to be kidding me," deadpanned the Professor, "now of all times?"
"NOW DIE!" roared the bandit as he raised his [Brave Sword] above his head and towards the moonlit sky.
"Marked for death."
But just before the weapon could be brought down, Topaz jumps from the top of the trees, lands onto the bandit leader's back, and slits his throat open with her poisoned [Bolo], the vented rectangular blade raking itself across the Mercenary's neck, killing him where he stood.
"Executed," she declared as the little Hassashin sheathed her blade before she came up towards the now armless Professor, "are you alright? Your weapon seems to be shorter than usual."
"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU THIS WHOLE TIME?!" both Karna and Vidar yelled at the same time, justifiably upset that Topaz didn't show herself until the last minute.
"I was merely waiting for the opportunity," replied the Hassashin, "the man had no openings until he got too overconfident in his victory. At least none of are actually dead."
Behind her, Sorcha followed up with Ingrid carrying Sylvain around her shoulder came out of the bushes.
"Oh," the Brigidian girl remarked, "there y'all are."
"Professor!" Ingrid cried out as she dragged Sylvain behind her, "I have something to tell you..."
24th of Verdant Rain Moon, Afternoon
"... And that is the report of what we've found regarding the missing [Lance of Ruin]," Karna spoke to an audience consisting of the Archbishop, the Knights of Seiros and representatives from the Kingdom and the Alliance (Empire representative, Lord Arundel, couldn't make it due to "personal matters"), "thanks to last week's incursion between the Dustbin and the Blue Lions House, we've connected the motive that Miklan's cartel of human traffickers and black marketeers are the ones in possession of the [Lance of Ruin] due to the bandits we've fought against back then being direct subordinates to the underworld organization."
"I concur," Shamir spoke up, "there's been a string of increased bandit activity across the regions adjacent to Galatea, all of the supply chains that my squadron intercepted all confirmed to be converging towards Conand Tower," she explained, "we can surmise that the increased aggression is tied to their head being in possession of the Relic, making them believe that they're on par with a whole nation of their own."
"Great," Catherine rolled her eyes, "so we got a bunch of highwaymen playing kingmaker. When can I go out and gut them?"
"Until we choke their supply lines out," Jeralt pointed out, "that Miklan person has created a whole web of suppliers all over Fodlan's underworld. My men are in the process of besieging the whole place and flushing any incoming or local bandit actives out," he explained, "at best, we're going to need a whole week to properly begin our breach."
"So, the disgraced scion of the House of Gautier has returned from the shadows to take his revenge on all of us," spoke the Archbishop as she turned towards the Faerghus representative, "Lord Rodrigue, what is your opinion on this... twist of fate?"
"... Miklan wanting to take the [Lance of Ruin] for himself, I can understand, given that he'd always seen the Relic as his birthright despite his lack of legitimacy," he spoke, "however, he's crossed the line at kinslaying. This is no longer a matter of legitimacy or what our culture and its fallacies has birthed. This is a matter where if we don't act, justice will cease to be."
"Lady Judith," spoke Seteth to the Leicester representative, "your opinion?"
"He's a national threat, plain and simple," she pointed out, "his little cartel is also mucking up my nation's merchant union and their supply chain, so I have a bone to pick with him. I'll be sure to thin his influence out at Leicester so you guys can go in swinging," the representative spoke with a cocky grin, "if there's anything that gets the fat cats upstairs and their behinds moving, is when their pockets are threatened."
"So regarding Miklan's... cartel," Rhea sighed out, both glad that there is some unity between the nations against a common threat while frustrated that said nations need an incentive to act in the first place, "... how many are we looking at?"
"My men have faced their forces head-on," Alois remarked, "I estimate at least 1,000 members and growing with new recruits and old blood alike if Karna's mention of a veteran Mercenary with a [Brave Sword] is taken to any value."
"It's true," Hanneman vouched, "three of my students almost died while Karna's own barely fended him off weren't it for Topaz striking while he grew overconfident. I swear, my life started flashing before my eyes..."
"Poor kids..." Manuela sighed out, "all everyone wanted was a peaceful school year and now we're dragged into another conflict."
"And we will have our peace," Seteth pointed out, "if we work together," he stated before the adherent began issuing the next decree, "our siege will come to an end by the end of this month, for which we will then launch an assault on the main forces of the cartel, with the students of the three houses and Dustbin acting as a surgical strike force aided by Knight of Seiros, Gilbert Pronislav and Alois Rangeld."
"I will not fail," declared Gilbert, "as the Church's shield, I won't let the students die before me."
"Seconded," Alois also stood, "any bandit that dares bring harm upon them will have my axe!" he declared, only to realize what he said can be taken out of context, "... to their heads, that is! Or... anywhere that my axe lands... I'll keep the students safe!"
The room's tension was sort of lifted with the sunny Knight of Seiros' accidental levity. Even the normally stone-faced Gilbert cracked a small smile, knowing that Alois' declaring being genuine, and also swears to protect the others to the best of ability in order to not let everyone else down.
They're counting on me, Gilbert thought, they're counting on all of us...
"Meeting's adjourned," Rhea declared, "all of you, see to yourselves that you're all prepared for what's to come."
The meeting room clears out, with Karna walking towards the Study Hall and meeting his students there.
"So," Karna spoke out, "how did it go?"
"We passed," Cyrus beamed, "got another 73%. I think tutoring with Catherine is sort of paying off."
"A shame that we don't have enough gold for all of us," Topaz remarked as she looked towards Byron and Sorcha, "then again, Byron can easily take any test in his sleep and Sorcha is strong enough as is."
"... Vidar... get stronger..." the bandaged boy spoke, gradually becoming more coherent in his speech, "... stronger... for Byron... friends..."
"No more draggin' our heels," Selene remarked as she took out her [Intermediate Seal] with the other test takers, "time for us to git even."
All four throw their artifacts into the air, gathering energy as it floated above their heads before baptizing their heads with a bolt of energy before fading away.
Selene goes from a Soldier to an Archer, trading in her breastplate for a leather tunic and lighter armor. Vidar transforms from a Fighter to a Brigand, his leather armor becoming a scaled armor with heavy fur around his shoulders. Cyrus becomes a Cavalier from a Soldier, his yellow-green attire still remaining even as his plate armor is modified to become that of Fodlan's rider armor with open crotch armoring and tight black riding pants and Darius's equine armor being comically small to the point where the Intermediate Seal's manifested armor simply burst off of the Battu Steppe King, with the only things that stayed on being the saddle and bridles. And finally, Topaz's dusty-pink Myrmidon ensemble became that of a Thief's, her brown shoulders and left thigh now bared open from her sleeveless fur top and asymmetrical pants.
"I feel dirty," Topaz winced at her (comparatively) exposing outfit, "someone get me proper pants and top."
"Darius doesn't need armor," boasted Cyrus as he rode a few trots around the bridge, "all we need is each other!"
"... Vidar... stronger..." the bandaged boy boasted as he banged his [Iron Gauntlets] together, "... together... stronger... er."
"Finally, somethin' easier to move in..." Selene jumped a few hops in her lighter attire, "hey sis! I'll wait for ye on de other side!"
"Right," Sorcha remarked, "save some heads for me, wouldya?"
"Byron?" Karna spoke to his ace student, who's been looking predisposed as of late, "... is something the matter?"
"... I feel as if there's nothing left for me to know," he spoke in a troubled manner, "or rather... Fodlan itself is actively suppressing new knowledge itself."
"Look, I talked to Manuela this week," Karna explained, "what she said... I both agree and disagree," he pointed out, "look, I'm not asking you to dumb yourself down just to fit in, but at the same time, you also have to understand that not everyone is ready for what you're ready to learn."
"... Even the adults?" Byron remarked, "who are supposed to know more than me, despite everything that says otherwise or claim to be taboo?"
"Well, as long you're not cutting living people open in public in the name of 'knowledge', then you're fine," Karna remarked, "but for now? Let's keep it between you and me, okay?"
The student nods before letting out a heavy sigh. "Right," Byron muttered, "we're different. All of us," he pointed out, "I guess having hope sent me into denial that I wasn't able to learn anything new just because I did it earlier."
"We're our best teachers," Karna pointed out as he and the rest of the class walked elsewhere, "... and our own worst students."
The Dustbin then ends up at the Marketplace near the Monestary's gates, spotting two new stalls opened as they walked in.
"Uh, Professor?" Cyrus raised his hand, "what are we doing here?"
Karna lets out a deep sigh before breaking the news to them. "Dustbin, I have nothing but bad news," he stated, "our own weapons are on the verge being broken, and while the Smith had just opened up this month, we unfortunately don't have enough gold or materials to repair said aging weapons," the Professor announced as he brought out his [Crescent Sickle] that snapped in two last week, "and as a result, we're going to have to resort to the weapons that we pilfered throughout our... excursions, if they weren't immediately declared contraband and confiscated from our possession upon being found hidden at the stables."
"So what? Yer saying that we have to fight bare-handed?" Sorcha remarked, "... I mean, no problem, but git de feelin' that we're gonna be weaker than usual."
"Technically, you can still fight with broken weapons," Byron pointed out, "but said weapon's performance is neutered."
"... We... stuck," Vidar grunted, looking at his own [Iron Gauntlets], its quality clearly having seen better days.
"Indeed," Karna remarked as he sat on the stairway, only for Byleth to walk by before stopping by them.
"Sup," spoke Byleth as she looked at their poor quality of arms in their possession, "... don't tell me you're planning to fight a war with slag like those."
"Normally, we wouldn't," spoke Topaz, whose [Bolo] was in semi-decent quality for its scant use being only utilized in one-hit kills.
"How about I help you guys out?" said the ex-sellsword, "got more [Wootz Steel] and [Venomstone] then I know what to do with, and plenty gold to spare."
"... What's the catch?" Karna remarked in suspicion at this unexpected charity.
"You don't spike my coffee with laxatives for the next month?" she replied, stone-faced and unimpressed by Karna's prank earlier this month.
"... Fine," Karna groaned as he handed his vials of homemade laxatives to the ex-sellsword as they headed to the Smith and repaired their damaged weapons.
It was a blow to the Dustbin Professor's pride despite the comically small admission, but a favor was still a favor. And Karna was smart enough to not bite the hand that is feeding him.
31st of Verdant Rain Moon, Morning
A whole week of nonstop besieging of Conand Tower took place. The collaborated efforts of the Knights of Seiros besieging the tower headquarters along with Rodrigue's knights and Judith's mercenaries cleaning up their respective nations of Miklan's influence, and even though Lord Arundel didn't show up for the meeting last week, he was notified of the situation and closed down his borders until Miklan himself ceased all of his criminal activities. In short, the hammer was brought down hard on Miklan's arms trafficking of foreign-made weapons (copies of Brigidian [Claymores] and Almyran [Shamshirs]) and numerous prostitution rings, breaking the majority of them up in an alarmingly short amount of time.
After a whole week of the cartel's supply lines being intercepted daily and all of his active bandit forces being concentrated at the region of Galatea, today was now the day where Miklan's base of operations was finally to be breached, as evidenced by the carts carrying barrels of black powder ready to go off at their commander's discretion.
"Alright, ladies and gentlemen!" Karna barked out as his recently-repaired [Crescent Sickle] twirled and gleamed around him, with said wielder on cloud nine for the upcoming slaughter that was about to take place as the siege raged on around them, "who's ready to dance?!"
To Be Continued...
Support Conversations:
- Karna and Vidar (C):
Karna: Vidar? Where are you?
*Hears a thud coming from around the corner, Vidar surrounded by other belligerent students with one already on his face and beneath Vidar's foot*
Vidar: ... Weak... all you... weak...
Student: ... You... you freak!
*Student tries to throw a punch, Vidar catches it before twisting his arm behind the student's own back*
Karna: Yikes, that's gonna dislocate his shoulder.
Vidar: ... I will not... kill... I... student... of... Garreg Mach...
Student: YOU MONSTER! YOU DON'T BELONG HERE!
*Karna steps in, firing his [Miasma Δ] at the ground, scaring the students' aggression*
Karna: ENOUGH. HE IS MINE TO DEAL WITH. GO TROUBLE SOMEONE ELSE OR NO ONE AT ALL.
*Beligerant students all disperse elsewhere*
Vidar: ... Thank you... Professor.
Karna: Yes yes, that too. What are you doing here, getting into fights? I mean, I know more than half the school hates us, but there's gotta be better way to deal with it!
*Vidar points to injured cat behind him*
Vidar: ... They throw... rocks... Vidar... hates... picking... weak.
Karna: ... I see. Well, it won't get any better if we leave this munchkin to the cold. You wanna help out? Garreg Mach can use more cats and dogs.
Vidar: ... Yes... Vidar help... weak. Vidar... not kill... weak...
- Selene and Cyrus (C)
Selene: Ugh... me head...
Cyrus: Is something the matter? You look... kinda bothered.
Selene: If I'm bothered, then leave me de fek alone ye big bastard!
Cyrus: ... Oh... uh.. sorry?
Selene: ... Oh shite, I'm sorry. It just... slipped out.
Cyrus: ... I guess... Can I sit next to you?
Selene: Whatever. Go ahead.
*Two sit next to each other on the stairwell, staring out into the open, watching students and staff walk by and do their business or leisure*
Cyrus: ... You ever get the feeling that there's something inside your head that drives your killer instincts? Something that is turning you into a beast so that you can come out alive every day, from waking up to killing other bad people?
Selene: ... Yah. Whole world's scarier place when ye can barely see shite up close. Every day, I feel like I'm swimmin' through a sea of shite, the shite becoming more rank the longer I stay here.
Cyrus: Agreed. Fodlan is a terrible place for us. Structures, laws, people... we're born for a more dangerous and unpredictable world where they wouldn't last aa day in our saddles. Walls depress me. They're signs of fear of the unknown and death. And now, we're trapped, and our inner "beasts" can only be let out when the Church sees an enemy to slay.
Selene: ... We're dogs, aren't we?
Cyrus: Until the day we are free. Let our jailers be blissfully ignorant... until we all ride together free.
Selene: ... Wow, that sounded pretty cool.
Cyrus: I know right?! Came up with that myself for a while. ... Still though, I think the way we're coping? Not such a bad way to go about things.
Selene: I guess. ... Wanna go see the other students piss themselves when they go on flying duty?
Author's Notes: Another funny story, someone pointed out that after "Tower of Black Winds", it's "Rumors of a Reaper". My bad. My brain was in squirrel-mode at the days I was writing my previous chapter, so yeah. Had to make another adjustment. Consequently, that also meant that I had to cram in two chapters worth of content into a single chapter (meaning that this chapter is now the longest in The Dustbin) in order for the fic chapters to be released on schedule, so apologizes if it feels rushed in my. Regardless, whoever pointed that out, thank you for doing so, and no, Flayn will not join the Dustbin for a reason (named Seteth), but "casual conversationalist" is the closest they'll ever get.
Regarding my take on Cyril, I kinda find him a bit flat in terms of characterization. It's justified, him being a kid (despite being insisted to be treated otherwise) with a lot to learn, but my flak is that his worldview revolving around the Church and him being a semi-boomerang bigot isn't challenged. That's where the Dustbin come in. They're here to show that not everything is cut and dry, and while Almyra's culture is infamous of leaving orphans behind, Fodlan's own culture of Crest supremacy isn't exactly a picnic either. While the Dustbin did apologize for being too rough on him, Cyril will come back, and the next time he goes with the Dustbin, his insular worldview (then again, he's just a kid) will be shattered. When will it happen, I will not know but I look forward to writing it (if I have enough room to divulge from the game's canon).
As for the Blue Lions collaborating on a random mission to suppress bandit activity with the Dustbin, this was meant to serve as a gateway point where Miklan's sphere of influence is exposed. In the canon game, Miklan was already implicated right out of the gate, but thanks to Lord Lonato's insurrection happening differently (and the Flame Emperor's faction being more proactive destroying any evidence that implicates them), Miklan's little bandit gang pretty much expanded into a 80s, Miami-esqe cartel in a medieval-fantasy setting. It is mentioned by Edelgard that Miklan has good leadership skills to keep a bunch of bandits together, so with the Flame Emperor's help/approval, how about show his leadership chops by expanding his business? I mean, we don't see what happens as it rises to its prominence (for time constraint reasons), but let the records show, Miklan's influence won't end with his or the cartel's death. It's gonna have long-term consequences, all of which the Dustbin will have to clean up.
Also, Karna calling Annette "ginger-nut"? Well with the exception of his own Dustbin class, Karna starts calling other people by nicknames (Alois: pun-man, Catherine: thunderbird, Byleth: any misogynistic slurs that'll earn Jeralt's ire) when he gets either really mad or frustrated. He doesn't handle pressure very well, and spending his whole life on the run and the whole world itself out to kill him in the most painful way possible didn't do his social etiquette any favors. That will be addressed later on in the fic itself or become more prominent in later chapters.
References:
- Topaz's line to Cyril is a reference to Deen's line from Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, if Deen is present in your party after one of your units gets killed in a battle ("War is death. You can mourn later.").
- Byron's line towards Cyril is a reference to Vigilante's line from Peacemaker (2022) ("What separates us from other killers is we only kill bad people... Usually... Unless there's a mistake.").
- Karna's nickname to Annette "ginger-nut" is from a line Hot Fuzz.