Fire Emblem Three Houses: The Ashen Demon

Chapter 2

BACKSTORY

30th, Harpstring Moon, 1166

'Jeralt, don't, not now,' Pieter hissed.

'Something's clearly up with them,' Jeralt murmured.

'A bunch of ragtag commoners who live in the woods, leave them be.'

'I think the man's injured, Pieter, and the woman's clearly pregnant.'

'Good for them. We haven't eaten yet, Jeralt, and we've got another hour or so before we reach the market. We're mercenaries not heroic knights, leave them be.'

'What's he gonna do?' one of the other mercenaries asked.

'He wants to talk to those people ahead,' Pieter whispered, rolling his eyes.

Groans rung out amongst the band of mercenaries.

'Ah c'mon, leave them alone.'

'We need to have breakfast!'

'He always does this!'

Lilia walked at one side of the group. Her stomach grumbled but she didn't join in on the protests. She didn't agree with them. Byleth walked at one side of her and Arthur at the other. The man snorted.

'Why you all worried? You think they're gonna ask Jeralt to spend the day building a new hut for them?'

'Wouldn't surprise me,' one of the mercenaries beside him said. 'They'll ask him to build them a whole damn village! He always gets asked to do stuff. He's'-

Lilia turned her head left. A feeling, an instinct made her. She looked down at Byleth and noticed his eyes. She paused. She looked up at Jeralt and then back at the boy.

The boy, who'd spent most of his life gazing blankly, now had his eyes fixed on his father.

'Hey, you guys okay?' Jeralt called out. The towering man in orange armour approached the wooden hut that sat amongst the trees. There, Lilia saw the couple Pieter had labelled a "bunch of ragtag commoners." A man with a scruffy beard and tattered tunic sat amongst the grass with his legs splayed. A woman sat on a chair beside him, cradling her large belly. Her eyes were blotched red.

'Twisted my fuckin' ankle,' the man grumbled. 'I was carrying logs and I slipped.'

'We can help,' Jeralt replied. He turned. 'Lilia, come heal this man's leg.'

Lilia did, and after a few minutes, the man was able to stand.

'Thank you,' he breathed.

'You must take it easy for the rest of the day at least,' Lilia said. 'No running or heavy lifting.'

The man cursed. 'I'll need to move I'm afraid. The thing is...'-

'We don't have food,' the woman said in a wavering voice. 'T-The market is an hour away and I-I can't walk I- (she rubbed her belly) I'-

'It's okay,' Jeralt said, putting a hand on her shoulder 'We ate the last of our supply but we'll go to the market for you. What do you need?'

'It'll take you two hours to get back here,' the injured man said, his eyes wide.

'It's alright,' Jeralt said. 'We have time.'

'That's going to delay us,' Pieter hissed, tapping Jeralt's shoulder.

'We have time,' Jeralt repeated. The man recorded what the couple needed on a scrap of paper and then the mercenary group were on their way again.

'I don't get why you do that,' Pieter said, once they were out of earshot of the couple. 'Wasting all this time for two commoners you don't even know. You won't get a reward, you know that right?'