"Spill it, half-wit. What is your connection with the Archbishop?" Priscilla kicked Emilia's bed with enough force to shake it.
It made Heitor pale. It went without saying that he was super worried about the half-elf right now. While Felix had healed her on the spot, broken ass healer that he was, there was undoubtedly wounds in her heart that would not be so easily healed.
However, Emilia had been pushed out of her silent phase. "I... Geuse..." She bit her lip. "I don't know...! I don't know...!" She grasped her own head, and began to cry.
Heitor sighed, and put a hand on Priscilla's shoulder. "Milady, perhaps we should give her more time before we proceed with this..."
He wasn't crazy enough to say Emilia shouldn't be questioned, there was no way people would let that slide. But... giving her sometime to recover was fine right? Not only for the half-elf's sake, but also because she wouldn't be able to answer shit in this state anyways.
Priscilla slapped his hand away. "Time is of the essence, so no piggy, we cannot give this useless waste of a woman time to recover." She glared at Emilia. "If she can even recover at this point." The usual Priscilla spite.
It was always a shock. Priscilla could show care for the people close to her, but she really spared no pity for those who she deemed as pathetic, even if they had done nothing wrong. As Al had once said, either she set you for life, or she ruined your life.
Heitor still tried to defend Emilia however. "Well, she did get better, just... look at her." It felt wrong to say that.
To say that someone who was crying to themselves in a mad panic was 'better', but it really was compared to her previous state.
Priscilla rolled her eyes. "She changed her brand of madness to another. That is all." She pointed at Emilia. "Now speak!"
She did, but not what Priscilla wanted to hear. "Petelgeuse... Petelgeuse...! No...!" She just kept screaming to herself.
It made him want to avert his eyes.
And in this situation, Heitor wasn't the only one feeling pity for the half-elf.
Crusch stared at the baroness right in the eyes. "I concur with Heitor. I'll... eventually extract the truth from her, but right now all we are doing is torturing Lady Emilia. Nothing will be gained from this."
She sighed. "Let's just head to the capital. If you are worried, we shall return and handle the villages plague later... We might even have handled it already for all we know."
Priscilla clicked her tongue. "The plague is not the issue. What I want to do is kill those cultists." She wanted to fight them again!? "With the Sun shining, my victory is all but assured."
That's right the Sun had risen, so Priscilla was theoretically at full power. Except everyone else was exhausted. Felix for example, had definitely wasted a ton of mana healing Emilia.
And besides that, there was one more problem Heitor could see. "Lady Priscilla, how do you even plan to track those cultists anyways?"
The baroness smiled. "I know how they operate. If we are lucky, and we will be lucky, then we must simply march to the closest village, it is very likely that the Archbishop of Sloth is still committing his terro—."
"You killed him." Emilia glared at Priscilla. "You all killed him, killed Geuse..." It was the first hint of emotion that wasn't despair that she had shown.
Maybe it would have intimidated someone else, but not Priscilla.
It probably just made her feel more smug, really. "We did not, the man has simply transferred bodies... Also, do not give me credit for what the Valkyrie has achieved. I need no such gifts."
She continued. "However, I do indeed plan on taking that thing's life. For his own good if nothing else. If that bothers you... come and kill me before I do it, waste of space."
Emilia held tightly on her bedsheets. Her cold, teary eyes seemed to genuinely be considering.
Heitor clenched his fists... This... If it came to a fight... Then in the end he would choose Priscilla. She was his employer, after all.
Emilia however, gave up. Going back to crying.
Priscilla sneered. "Truly pathetic." He had a feeling her respect for the half-elf would have actually risen somewhat if she had actually attacked her.
And so, the baroness continued, unbothered. "As I was saying, knowing how that thing operates, we must simply follow his path of destruction and kill him. Once and for all. Naturally, we shall deal with the plague as well."
Wasn't that too much for her plate. "Lady Priscilla, you broke tons of your jewelry, so—."
She huffed. "I shan't need them, I'll win." If she said so... "And you must simply buy me more once you receive your first salary. Perhaps that she-fox shall have something worthy purchasing?"
Why did he have to waste his precious money with that!? "Right... I'll try to find you something nice." His poor wallet would cry. "How do you guys even know how Petelgeuse acts though?"
Julius interjected. "Out of the Archbishops, Sloth is the only one who has been recorded as active, well besides Greed, but we know very little about the latter." He put a hand to his chin. "Sloth is old. Around a hundred years old, and occasionally he attacks a village or two."
He continued. "His method is aiming at small towns far from the protection of any knights or militia, recruiting what he can there, and then leaving. His... army consistently stays small, and lives off the land, making him fast and hard to capture."
So... guerrila warfare essentially. What a scary Fire Emblem villain this guy was...
He sighed. "There has been some talks of requesting Reinhard to hunt him down, but... as usual, bureaucracy has tied my friend's hand. I fear no major effort has been made to kill him in recent times."
His eyes shined with resolve. "Which is why... I am on Lady Priscilla's side. To eliminate this blight would be the most honorable thing we can do... Even if I agree Lady Emilia is far too indisposed to do anything right now."
Felix was the next to interject. "I can't believe I'm saying this since it might put Lady Crusch in harm's way, nyah... But yeah, we can't let the Witch's Cult run wild."
He made a disgusted face. "Especially since for all we know, they're involved with this plague. As a healer... as a knight... I cannot let such a wicked thing continue. No matter what."
Crusch grinned. "Worry not my friend, although I do not support Lady Emilia being mistreated at all, I do agree that we should fight the Witch's Cult... Especially since Lady Priscilla seems to truly believe she has the key to winning the battle."
Priscilla smirked. "Oh, I always knew you were the least worse of mine rivals." She giggled. "Then it is settled, we destroy Sloth today. And as for the half-elf... I grow tired of her. Do as you please."
They... they really went and decided on a massively important course of action without hearing his input at all...!
Crusch nodded. "Then let us keep our previous idea of sending Lady Emilia to the capital with the villagers. She is already sound of mind enough to where she can protect herself so she won't need a bodyguard, and the preparations for the travel are already made."
Was she really sound of mind though?
Through all of this... she was just being ignored as people planned around her existence. He understood why she was being treated this way of course, but even so, it left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Enough that he cut through their planning, and looked at Emilia in the eyes. "Lady Emilia, do you want to help us in the coming battle?"
A weird silence filled the room. Emilia had refused to answer even basic questions, so to ask her to outright fight was definitely shocking.
She stared back at him. "I..." And then looked down once again. "I don't know..."
Priscilla sighed. "Don't waste your time with her, piggy. Let's just send her away and forget about her troublesome... her disgusting existence." She really didn't mince words at all.
This environment couldn't be good for Emilia.
So Heitor ignored his own survival instincts, and followed his heart. That was the correct thing for a Fire Emblem protagonist, right? "Actually, can I talk with Lady Emilia alone for a bit?"
That was what had started this, maybe it would be what ended too.
Emilia's eyes widened. "H-huh...?"
Priscilla closed her eyes for a moment. "Hmmm... Very well, since you led us to a successful victory against Sloth, I shall grant you this. Know however, that piggy you may be, but you deserve better than slop." D-did that count as a compliment?
Well, he would take it. "Thank you Lady Priscilla. I appreciate it..."
Priscilla rolled her eyes, and left the room.
Crusch was next. "Well then... Please meet us when you are ready to depart Heitor. Your abilities will be of extreme importance in the coming battle." And leaving with her, were Julius and Felix.
Heitor and Emilia were left alone.
Now... how was he supposed to approach this?
He genuinely didn't know. Even back in Earth he would already find it difficult to comfort someone who got dumped by their girlfriend, so how was he supposed to comfort a girl who her legs ripped out...?
"So... Lady Priscilla can be kind of a jerk sometimes, huh?" He settled for his prime instincts.
Complaining about his boss.
Emilia recoiled to herself. "She hasn't said anything that isn't right..." Yikes...
Heitor sat on the bed. "I don't know about that Lady Emilia... But..." He sighed. "I can't believe I'm doing this again, but do you want to talk about that... Geuse guy...?"
He kind of expected an immediate rejection from the half-elf. She hadn't said anything to anyone else, so why would he be any different?
But to his surprise, she actually started talking. "He was... a friend of mine, when I was really young..." When she was young huh...
Petelgeuse apparently had records of him acting all the way back to a hundred years ago. He had mentioned a century to Emilia as well... However, the event caused by the Witch of Envy had happened four hundred years ago.
Heitor had no idea what the hell was going... but he didn't need to think about lore right now. He needed Emilia to snap her out of her funk, at least somewhat.
He put a hand to his chin. "How young? Were you a child back then?" He actually didn't know what young meant for an elf... or an half-elf.
She nodded. "Uh-hum... but Geuse was already an adult... He would come to the village, and play with me and Mother Fortuna." She sobbed. "But that's all in the past now."
It was clear she needed a bit more time to herself before delving deeper into that.
So he switched the topic. "Hey Lady Emilia, I thought you had amnesia? Did you recover, or did you always remember that?"
She frowned. "I recovered... during our last conversation. I remember then, that I had always been a bad girl... One who hurt everybody around her."
She sent him a pleading look. "Sorry that I can't help you and everybody else, Heitor. But in the end I always bring trouble, so I should just... go away."
Well, she had brought more trouble by not helping in the first fight, but then again, that fight had kind of happened in the first place due to her being there... No, he shouldn't even think about that.
He crossed his arms. "I remember you being super helpful against the assassins and the undead, but okay... It's your decision in the end. Still... don't go away."
"Why?" Was she serious asking that.
The answer was way too embarrassing. "Because I'll... I'll miss you, Lady Emilia."
The half-elf hadn't become a irreplaceable part of his life or anything that insane, they hadn't know each other for that long. But parting ways like this so she could... disappear just made him sick to his stomach.
Her eyes widened. "You'll miss me...?"
He nodded. "Of course. You're my friend after all." He winked at her. "And together we can accomplish whatever we set out to do, remember? It would be a shame to lose that..." His precious B-Support...
She sat up. "Heitor... do you really see me as your friend?" Her eyes were strangely... empty.
He tilted his head. "Yes...?" This was definitely not good, so he amended it. "And I'm sure everyone else wants to see you as a friend too, so—."
She hugged him. "Do you love me...?"
He sputtered. "That's a bit of an increase in the stakes, don't you think!?"
Her hug got tighter, as she completely ignored his comment. "You know... if you say yes... I'll help you." Huh? "I'll follow you, I promise. I just need to hear it."
A shiver of fear ran down his spine. He could smell a budding yandere from a mile away...! More than that though, this desperation just made him sad. If Priscilla was here, she would probably go ballistic on the poor girl.
He sighed. "Lady Emilia... as I was saying, I'm sure everybody else wants to be your friend too, so please don't disappear. Okay?" There was no way he could say it.
If he lied, it would just make things worse later.
She pulled back from the hug. "Why didn't you answer me?"
He got up from the bed. "Because you wouldn't like to hear the answer." She flinched. "But things can change you know? Rome... Lugunica wasn't built in a day. You never know where love may sprout from! So..." This wasn't working...
It really wasn't working at all, so... but lying wouldn't be good...
Heitor took a deep breath, and changed his approach.
It was time to talk like a Fire Emblem protagonist...! "My friend... if you want love, then you won't find it by throwing everything away, of that I assure you."
He cleared his throat. "Emilia... I don't love you. But I could love you, just as Julius, or Crusch, or anybody else could. That won't happen if you stay like this though."
She growled at him. "That's...! That's not true! Nobody could love me...!" Was anger better than sadness...? "B-but... but I'm fine with a lie too, so please tell me you love me! If you do... if you do I'll become your perfect Emilia!"
He shook his head. "We both know that such words aren't true. There are plenty of people who love you... or at least loved you once."
She glared at him. "There aren't! There aren't...!"
He pushed back. "You mentioned a Mother Fortuna, did you not? I'm certain she loved you." Hopefully. "And she wasn't the only one. Puck loves you." Even if he's an asshole. "And Geuse did so once as well..." Maybe.
As he began talking, he understood her desperation for love more and more. Why did all these people come with caveats?
She grit her teeth. "Mother Fortuna, she's... she's gone! Geuse... hates me now! And Puck does too!"
Heitor immediately pointed at the crystal. "You know that isn't true! He's just waiting to be put on another crystal!" Almost as if to agree with him, the broken piece of jewelry glowed for the slightest moment.
He continued. "And as for your mother... Do you think her being dead devalues her love in anyway!? As a kid who got raised by a single mom, I can feel her love all the way from another world! A mother's love transcends everything and anything!"
Emilia gasped, as if she had just come to a sudden realization. "Heitor you..."
But he didn't feel like stopping to hear her. "And Petelgeuse... I don't know what made him like that, so I can't say anything... but while the current him may hate you, that doesn't disprove my thesis!"
He pointed at her. "Which is as thus! You are lovable Lady Emilia! People can fall for you, both romantic or otherwise, so keep working hard!" Julius is single!
Or something like that...
He took a deep breath. "And more importantly... more important than the love of other people... Please love yourself as well. Otherwise you will make me feel stupid for thinking I can one day love you!"
In this short conversation, Emilia had gone from despair, to anger, and now she was blushing. Was that good? Heitor didn't really know, and he doubted she was actually gonna get through this with one single conversation... but this is what he could do right now.
So he turned around. "I'm gonna go see Lady Crusch. We'll genuinely kill that Geuse guy... so if you have any questions for him, I suggest coming with us."
"Prove it!" Hah?
He turned around to face her once again. "Prove what?"
She pointed a trembling finger at him. "T-that you... and other people can love me... That someone could love someone like me..."
He raised an eyebrow. "What, do you want a kiss or something?" Would he get executed for kissing a princess? Probably.
She sputtered. "T-that's... there's no way anyone could do that..."
You know. As a man, and as a protagonist, and as a decent human being, he shouldn't go around kissing depressed princesses.
But embarrassment was better than depression, right?
He walked towards her, and faced her head on. "Lady Emilia, is that a challenge?"
Steam was almost coming out of her ears. "N-no...! But...! No!" She looked away. "It would be really bad...! But it wouldn't happen in the first place, and—."
Heitor rolled his eyes, and planted a peck on her cheek.
The half-elf's ears were completely red. "T-that was...!"
Heitor snorted. "Not a kiss, but hopefully good enough." This was Fire Emblem land after all. People had to be prudes for the age rating, so even a kiss in the cheek was special.
Although... considering how the Petelgeuse affair had gone, maybe that age rating was a lot higher than normal.
"B-b-but...!" Either way Emilia had become a mess. "I-if you missed for just a bit you would h-have kissed me!"
He began walking away once again... trying his best to look cool. "Wouldn't be the worst fate in the world." Especially for a commner. "Anyways, see ya, Lady Emilia."
Hopefully she would decide to come to the fight, but if she didn't that would be okay too. As long as she was feeling better... better enough to keep going, that would be a win in his books.
But he was forced to turn around once again, as the half-elf fell from the bed. "L-Lady Emilia, are you okay!?"
She nodded, as she tried getting up. "Y-yes, j-just having some difficulty balancing myself...!" Well, Ferris did say that could happen.
He was by her side in a instant, helping her. "Why did you get up from bed so suddenly...?"
"Because I'm going! I-I have to talk with Geuse!" Oh.
Oh! He had his magic caster back!
"Excuse me mister..." While he and Emilia walked, very slowly of course, to Crusch, a little girl had pulled on his sleeve, while her other hand held a book.
Heitor smiled. "Yes...?" She was one of the villagers that were about to leave. Hopefully without a sudden attack this time.
The girl bowed. "Thank you for protecting us...!" She looked at Emilia. "Thank you too lady!" She was clearly afraid of the half-elf, but was willing to push forward to show her gratitude.
Emilia's eyes became cold. "I..." She hadn't helped during the Witch's Cult attack. That's probably what she was thinking.
But she had helped against the undead. So as far as Heitor was concerned, receiving this type of gratitude was totally okay.
Which is why he laughed and interrupted whatever thing Emilia was going to say. "You're very welcome little lady. Your thanks is all the reward we need."
The little girl blushed. "O-okay... but you two are going to fight more bad guys soon, right...?"
Heitor nodded. "Yeah. We gotta pursue those bad guys that attacked us during the night. Don't worry though, we'll definitely win." Priscilla had said so, and they had Emilia with somewhat freshened spirits.
Not to mention how this time they would be on the attack, not the defense.
The girl smiled. "Right! But..." She shyly raised her book. "I want to give you this, mister!" Could it be...!? His reward for saving all the green units!? "G-grandpa was a warrior, and recorded his techniques here! Please it well!"
Heitor took the book with great care. "I will." He was surprised though.
The book didn't immediately burst into nothingness like the Speedwing. Was this not a Secret Book like he had been expecting? Where was his plus two skill!?
The girl run off before he could make more questions... Not that he would bother her with that.
Emilia weakly smiled. "Now, wasn't she ni~ce..." She was definitely still struggling with the earlier praise, but nonetheless she pushed through.
Heitor opened the book. "Yea—." And then the book disappeared.
You know, until now his Weapon Ranks had given him skills with the sword, but no particularly special techniques. It was like knowing Taijutsu, but not the Hidden Lotus. That is to say, he lacked a special technique...
Until now.
You have learned the Skill: Luna!
—A special technique that breaks through physical and magical defenses.
Emilia looked horrified. "T-the book got destroyed! Oh no!" Ah.
His triumphant moment did look weird from the outside, didn't it?
AN: The specific item Heitor got was a manual from Thracia 776.
Oh, for those wondering why the Priscilla S-Rank didn't happen, it's the same reason why the Al B-Rank has yet to happen. They didn't really get alone together in a room.
At least that's the in-universe explanation. The truth is that I want to do that post-Petelgeuse.