Passion to Spare [Fire Emblem Edelgard x M!Reader]

Chapter 8: Lending a Hand

- (Y/N)'s POV -

I've been fighting some bandits that were near the village for a few hours now. After beating them, I tied them up near each other so I can keep an eye on them to prevent any from running away.

One of my old neighbors came up to me to thank me as I was finishing up tying the last of them.

Neighbour: "Thank you (Y/N) for coming back! You saved us!"

This makes me smile.

Me: "Don't worry. This is my village to protect. I promised you guys that I would protect you all to the best of my abilities. I wouldn't dream of going back on my promise."

I pick up some of the weapons from the bandits and handed it over to my neighbor. He takes them from my hands and looks up at me confused.

Neighbor: "Why are you giving me this?"

Me: "Well I won't always be here to protect the village. It'd be nice to know that you guys can defend for yourselves and that you don't need to rely on me all the time." 

Neighbor: "But who'll teach us?"

Me: "Isn't that obvious? I will. I want to see you guys progress in your swordsmanship skills."

Suddenly I hear rustling in the nearby bushes. I unsheathe my sword and swing it around before getting into my stance. I hear more of the rustling in the bushes and notice the figure exiting the leaves. 

Before they did, I threw my sword in the air. Then as they came out of the bushes, I jumped over them, catching my sword mid-air, and bringing it down on their necks, killing them... well that would've happened but I stopped myself at their neck when I saw who it was.

Me: "Hubert?"

He chuckles.

Hubert: "How very unfortunate. Almost killed by the one who we were trying to help."

Me: "We?"

I heard more rustling behind me and I turn to see the white haired girl that I grew a close attachment with the past few months.

Edelgard: "Your friends at Garreg Mach." I look behind Edelgard and saw everyone- including the Professor, walking out of the bushes. "We couldn't let you go on a class mission by yourself."

Me: "I am honestly super confused but also really happy you guys are here. But what about this being a class mission?"

Byleth: "Archbishop Rhea assigned us to come to this village and protect it from the Bandits."

Me: "But I am not coming back..."

Edelgard:  "Why not?"

Me: "She said that I wasn't allowed to return here because she said that it's her responsibility to protect the students... so I said I am leaving."

Dorothea: "Well we were able to convince her to allow us to come here. As your friend, I couldn't let you get yourself hurt."

Everyone else agrees with Dorothea. Edelgard on the other hand points at me.

Edelgard: "Come see me before the fight."

She stomps off with Hubert following her and I look at everyone confused.

Caspar: "She was worried the most out of all of us (Y/N). She is the reason why we are here."

Me: "Well I'm sorry that I made you guys worried. I just thought that since it's my own problem that I would have to deal with it myself."

Ferdinand: "Well as heartwarming as the reunion is. I believe we should be dispatching the bandits. I want to get a head start on Edelgard on eliminating the enemies to show that I am superior."

We all groan at Ferdinand's comment before the professor decided to speak up.

Byleth: "Well we don't have backup from the knights as far as I know. So everyone please be careful when initiating the enemy. We don't want any casualties today."

Later...

The plan the Professor has created was to wait until the Bandits arrive tonight and ambush them since we didn't know where they currently resided. 

After the strategy meeting, we had to prepare the villagers to defend themselves just in case and they thanked us by giving us some food. I looked around for Edelgard and I spotted Hubert walking towards me.

Hubert: "I would like to remind you Lady Edelgard requested you see her."

Me: "Yes I know, do you know where she is?"

Hubert pointed into the forest that was next to a small lake. I thanked him and walked into that direction after I grabbed a little bit of more food for Edelgard.

I found her resting her back on a tree near the village that gave a perfect view to look at the nearby lake. I approached her and tapped her shoulder with a loaf of bread. This gets her attention and she grabs it before eating it.

I sit down next to her and stare at the glistening lake in front of us.

Edelgard: "So this is where you lived huh?"

Me: "Yes. Yes It is." The silence between us was heavy. The tension that was between us, her slapping me and me lying to her in the first place, it was clear that it had to be talked about. "Uhhh Edelgard... I'm sorry for lying to you. I wanted to deal with this problem myself."

Edelgard: "...why though? We are friends and I thought as partners, we can trust each other with our lives. Why did you have to deal with this yourself?"

Me: "I... made a promise to the village when I was younger and so I thought it was my responsibility to keep it."

Edelgard: "A promise?"

I look down at my hands. The hands of a warrior... or a murderer.

Me: "When my family passed away, my neighbor took me in." She turns around and we look at each other in the eyes. "Shortly after that, I picked up a book about learning how to use a sword. Luckily there were underground sword fighting tournaments nearby and I was able to practice and learn even more from my opponents. Eventually sometime last year, Bandits came again and I drove them off after defeating their leader. I guess they must've heard that I left to attend the Officers Academy."

Edelgard: "You learned how to use a sword by yourself?

Me: "Well yeah I had to. I won't lie, it took me about two years to even feel confident wielding a sword. I was about fifteen when I won my first sword fight. Granted it was against some guy who entered as a joke, but I still won which gave me confidence. A year later, I had a record of 60 wins and 12 losses. By the time I was seventeen, I was known around here as the Refined Blade for my unique combat style."

Edelgard: "At these tournaments, did you have to kill your opponent?"

Me: "No you don't kill them. But when I killed for the first time, my body would shudder every time I thought of it. I killed 4 bandits that were on the road trying to mug a merchant. For a whole month after that, I had to deal with the screams of them, telling me that they wished I was dead for killing them. At the end of that month, I realized that if I didn't stop them, others would've suffered from them. That helped with the pain and guilt that I had and now I can find myself somewhat at peace."

I look up to see Edelgard reaching out for my hand to which she massages it. We both give each other a smile before we both notice a bright light that was illuminating the naturally dark area as the sun was almost gone.

We turned to see where the source of light was coming from and noticed a lot of smoke. A second later, screams were also heard.

We get up from the tree and nodded at each other before rushing to the scene.