"So? What does it look like down there?" Claude asked Ashe, who was observing the canyon with a spyglass.

"I think we have a problem," Ashe said. "That's not a military base. There are civilians, children, and old folks down there."

"Fuck, it's a civilian town," Hapi said. "That's probably where the soldiers' families live."

"So…how do we handle this?" Ingrid asked. "We could set up a siege, blockade both sides of the canyon—"

"We will attack," Count Bergliez declared. "If we try for an extended siege, that will give Ohm a chance to send reinforcements after us. No. We have to kill that pyromaniac, and we have to do it fast."

None of the Rising Sun Company liked that answer. "That seems as if it could be resulting in a massacre," Petra protested.

"I'll ensure the soldiers know there are civilians in the canyon, and that any soldier who attacks a civilian who doesn't attack first will be sent to the gallows," Bergliez said. "But we will do this. If you don't want to take part, you can step off and go complain to the Emperor."

"No, no," Claude said. "We'll attack."

"Good," Bergliez said.

At first, everything seemed as if it was going well. The soldiers had easily broken though the meager fortifications at the mouth of the canyon, and slowly progressed through, letting the civilians stand aside. The soldiers checked each house, leaving it alone with no blood spilled when it was clear that Lucio wasn't there. There had been two close calls, when seeming civilians tried to fight the Adrestian soldiers, but fortunately the civilians around them hadn't joined in.

Then everything went to hell.

One of the houses caught fire. Whether it was an Iron loyalist trying to help Lucio escape, or an Adrestian soldier who hadn't listened to Bergliez, or a genuine accident, none of them ever found out.

All they knew was that the fire was spreading, fast.

"Damn it!" Claude cursed, but he didn't hesitate for more than a moment. He knew what he had to do. "We have to save these people!"

"We have to find Lucio!" Bergliez protested. "We can't let him get away, or he'll do this to more towns!"

"If we don't save these people, they'll die!" Claude protested. "Didn't you take an oath to protect the weak and helpless?"

"We don't owe them allegiance," Bergliez argued. "These people are Iron Dominion! Have you seen what their 'heroes' do to people? We're not the villains here!"

"I understand that a leader needs to know when to make compromises," Claude said. "But he also needs to know when not to. And the time not to is now! Or are you going to let Lucio drag you down to his level?" He then ran into one of the burning buildings, to start rescuing people.

Bergliez, despite his protests, realized that Claude was right and rallied his men to start fighting the fires and rescuing the people trapped in their homes. Soon, the Iron Dominion civilians and Adrestian soldiers were all working together to fight the fires.

But not everyone was on the same page. While Bernadetta was helping an old man out of his burning house, she saw Lucio and two of his men at the door.

"Come along, girl," Lucio said. He was a big man in heavy, gilded armor, with an indigo-colored mustache that was just starting to go gray. "I need to get away from here, and there may be more Adrestians at the mouth of the canyon. Be a good hostage and I won't hurt you too much." He stabbed the old man in the eye with his sword. "Refuse, and I'll cut off your legs and let the fire do the rest."

Bernie glared at him. "You shouldn't have done that."

"We don't have time for this. Grab her," Lucio told his two guards.

Bernie didn't hesitate. She threw a table at the three men, and while they scrambled to avoid it, knowing her bowcaster was a poor weapon for close combat, she removed her lance from the Korok-made sheath on her hip.

"I have seen terrible things," Bernie said. "Evils out of your worst nightmares." She thought of Calamity Ganon's wicked gaze, the Lynel on Shatterback Point, the Fireblight Ganon on Death Mountain, the Dark Beast Ganon, Nemesis amidst the bodies of his victims, and the degraded Manakete in Waldebert's slaving camp. "So tell me, what makes you think I have any reason to fear three pathetic little thugs like you?"

The fight that followed didn't last long.

An hour and a half later, the houses were all evacuated, but the blaze was still far from under control.

And then, suddenly, the fire went out. All at once, through the entire canyon.

And Claude turned and saw her.

She was a tall woman, about 175 centimeters. She had long, white hair, and the irises of her eyes were red. Her skin was as pale as Lysithea's had been. She had a beautiful face, with high cheekbones. She wore Trickster armor, and a sword at her hip. And every one of Claude's instincts was screaming in fear. He got the same impression from her as from Nemesis, that if she was trying to kill him, there would be nothing he could do to stop her.

"What happened here?" she asked. Good. That meant she wanted to talk rather than fight.

"We came here to hunt down Lucio," Claude said. "A fire broke out; we don't know how, and we've been fighting it. Saving as many lives as we could."

Silvia looked at several of the civilians, who nodded. Turning back to Claude, she raised her eyebrow. "I'm curious. What kind of man sets aside his mission to save the lives of his enemy?"

"These people aren't my enemy," Claude said. "I was just doing what any decent person would."

"The Order of Iron wouldn't," Silvia said.

"I know," Claude said.

Silvia raised both eyebrows. "I would think you would be more tactful in front of someone you're so obviously terrified of."

Claude swallowed. "Would you rather I lied to you?"

Silvia smiled slightly at that. "No, I think not." She shrugged. "Oh well. I am not here for you. I came to retrieve Lucio."

Claude cringed. "Yeah...about that..."

"His body will serve," Silvia said. "Ohm instructed me to retrieve Lucio. He did not specify that Lucio needed to be alive. It might have been implied, but I do as I can."

"Oh," Claude said, relaxing. "We'll get that for you. Bernie! Raphael! Bring the lady Lucio's body!"

As they left to retrieve what was left of the Iron general, Silvia looked at Claude thoughtfully. "Maybe I should kill you now. You have already killed three of the Order's generals. I am certain that we will be called to face each other eventually."

Claude began to sweat nervously. "Or, and hear me out on this one, maybe you could abandon Ohm and join us? I have friends who know Seiros and Lycaon; I'm sure I could arrange a full pardon for you and your men."

Silvia stared at him for a very long second. "Thank you for the offer. But I cannot accept it."

Claude flinched. He instinctively wanted to go for his bow, but he recognized that he had no hope of challenging the sheer magical power she had displayed. Instead, he stayed still, not moving a muscle. Thankfully, all the soldiers nearby decided to follow his lead rather than panicking.

"Silvia," a man wearing yeoman's gear, save for his helmet which looked as if it should belong to a set of much heavier armor, said, putting his hand on her shoulder in a familiar way. "They did save the lives of many of our soldiers' families."

"So they did, Ian," Silvia agreed. She pronounced his name strangely, pronouncing it ee-ahn rather than ee-in.

As Bernadetta and Raphael brought Lucio's corpse, she came to a decision. "You showed mercy today. It would be indecent if we did not do the same. Ian, prepare the civilians for travel. I will send the requisite messages to ensure that new homes can be prepared for them as quickly as possible."

She turned away, and for a moment, Claude got a glimpse of her ear. It wasn't pointed, but it still looked odd to him.

"What is your name, sir?" Ian asked.

"Khalid of Almyra," Claude answered, appreciating the irony. "But most of the locals here call me Claude."

"Ian Konstantin," Ian said, removing his helmet. He was a young man, probably not much older than Claude himself, with wavy, light brown hair and brown eyes. "You acted with honor today. Ohm is just going to call that weakness, and see it as reason to fight all the harder. So because no one else in the Order is going to say it, I will. Thank you."

"You don't really seem like you belong in the Order," Claude said.

Ian sighed. "I know. But I can't leave."

"Someone you can't leave behind?" Claude asked.

"I promised to stay by her side, be it in victory or in death," Ian said. "I will not break that promise."

"Ah. I see how it is." Claude chuckled. "Well, if you change your minds, let me know."

If you want to know what Silvia and Ian look like, they look like Selvaria Bles and Karl Oswald from Valkyria Chronicles. Or, well, the Valkyria Chronicles anime, in Karl's part, because he never took his helmet off in the game.