Alright, onto the next paralogue: Felix's.
It's unusual for you to ask for help.
Yes. It's an unusual favor.
Your father? Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius, the highest ranking member of the Faerghus nobility.
I can't recall. Warriors from Duscur killed King Lambert of Faerghus.
After the king's death, public order disintegrated. Bandits continue to raid villages across the Kingdom, including those within Fraldarius territory.
And you want me to join you?
Precisely. Good guess. Perhaps I shouldn't pull you into this... It stems from my family's failure to secure the region. But honestly, I want to see you in action. I never tire of watching you fight. And it'll be much more interesting for you than the training ground.
I'll join you. Excellent! While I'm at it, I have a second favor to ask of you. Could you recruit more fighters? I bet there will be willing volunteers, if you're the one inviting them. I'll set off on my own, and meet up with you there.
♪ As Swift as Wind ♪
Hoo boy. This map. I'm not a fan of it.
Here's who I'm deploying. I forgot to set adjutants. I would not normally send in this many 4 Mv-locked magic users, but they all need EXP. I have Ingrid and Petra for mobility, but it's honestly not really enough on this map.
Look at all of those green units. The one in the middle of the map is Rodrigue, Felix's father. Half of the rest are soldiers of the Kingdom of Faerghus, and the other half are villagers that die to a stiff breeze.We need to save all of the villagers to get a Hero's Relic. The villagers are very frail, slow, and the soldiers are a little less than an even match for the enemies.
This is as irritating as it sounds.
The enemies themselves aren't that notable for their level, aside from the boss being incredibly speedy even with a Steel Sword.
The Brawlers are very fast too, I guess. Magic will pretty much instantly kill them, though.
♪ Tempest of Seasons ♪
Some villagers are trapped. Let's help them escape.
Felix, my son. You've finally brought reinforcements!
Time is of the essence here, so I have Linhardt buff up Flayn, Annette, Dorothea, and Mercedes's low Mv.Every turn you take on this map runs a big risk of a villager dying without you being able to do anything about it.
Ingrid moves down and snipes this Mercenary so the path to the reinforcement-creating enemy is clearer.
Petra can survive this.
Bad damage, but it locks these two down.
You can't stop me!
Well, that's one way to compensate for bad Mag.
The center guys tend to be problematic for keeping villagers alive, so taking care of the Brigands and locking the Mercenaries down is a pretty good way to start.That level is mediocre, but it's got Mag, so it's not as mediocre as it could be. I guess.
Womp womp.
You can see how much of a fight the soldiers put up against the enemies here.
Can't touch her.
ooh god that was too closethank you, Annette, for dodging an attack with 87 Hit
it almost makes up for that very bad level
I'd normally be mad about ally units taking kills, but I'm much more concerned about clearing the map as quickly as possible.
Cold cuts.
And that's why keeping bows and Curved Shot around is a good idea.
Mneh. Please get Str, Petra.
Defenseless, are we?
Thank you, Ingrid.
Meh.
Wow. What an exciting enemy phase.
Rodrigue can fend for himself...to a point. Aura slows him down very badly, so it's very easy for him to get doubled.This is a very big problem on Maddening, especially when you remember that it's a game over if Rodrigue dies.
He's a Holy Knight, meaning he has considerably more Mv than most of your healers. It's very hard to keep him alive. It's very hard to keep a unit who causes a game over if he dies alive.
I hated this map on Maddening.
This'll give Sylvain, Marianne, and Petra the Mv boost they need to take out the other source of reinforcements. Thank you for being at the very edge of Linhardt's movement, random villager.
And there go the reinforcements.Sylvain gets an amazing level from that.
This is why the Levin Sword+ is very good—Marianne would be in danger if she moved one tile to the left, to be within 2 range of that enemy.I won't say no to more Spd, even if you only get mediocre stats otherwise.
Incidentally, this probably goes without saying, but Stride combines very well with Canto. You can make really good use of the extra Mv to cross a wide distance, hit an enemy, and then get entirely out of the danger zone.
Annette'll be fine, come the enemy phase.
Yeah. You can see how badly the villagers are outmatched by the enemies here, and why I'm hurrying through this map so quickly. Let things go on too long, and some villager will either suicide on an enemy, because they have aggressive AI for some godsforsaken reason, or put themselves in a position that results in them getting 100 to 0'd during the enemy phase.
Good job, Annie.
You can see that Rodrigue gets doubled by a common enemy here.
Rodrigue you fool why are you going right into a mob of enemies
This might look dangerous, but remember that the chokepoint here, and lack of ranged enemies, means that only one enemy can hit Annette. I am kind of banking hard on the order of enemy AI evaluation prioritizing the axe user over the Brawler, though, since the Brawler will absolutely demolish Annette.
Try this on for size!
Everything I could ask for from a round of combat. Unnecessary but cool crit? Check. No counterattack? Check. Excellent level? Check.
Marianne silences this Mage. This is a key part of keeping that villager with a reckless disregard for his own life alive.
So is putting Petra in this exact spot. With her there and Rodrigue right next to her, all of the enemies here don't have enough Mv to reach the villager up there, saving him from an untimely death.
I will win!
Everyone's feeling crit-happy today.
Remember, you can heal and Rescue ally units. Use this to your advantage.
Good job, Sylvando.
Try as you might, you cannot even hope to harm Sylvain.
lol
Phew, my assumption about how enemy turns are evaluated was correct.
The Mage parked on the exit tile is precariously close to a villager, by which I mean one tile away, so let's Silence him.
Defenseless, are we?
Ingrid, what the hell.
Wunderbar.
This is going to hurt, okay?!
Okay, what luck am I sapping from myself for all this?
Well, that'll help patch up her lagging Mag.
This Thief will double Flayn on the enemy phase, but she'll kill him on the counterattack, so she's fine.
Squish.
This is to make it easier for the ally units to kill that Mage.
Just the Mage and boss left.
Str, Petra, Str.
♪ Wrath Strike ♪
And that is that.That level is very bad.
For saving all of the villagers, we get the Aegis Shield, the Hero's Relic of House Fraldarius.The Aegis Shield gives a whopping +6 Prt and +3 Rsl, but weighs a hefty 6. In addition, for units who have the Crest of Fraldarius—so, Felix—it gives them the effect of both Pavise and Aegis.
Pavise: Chance to reduce sword/lance/axe/brawling damage by half. Trigger % = Dex stat.
Aegis: Chance to reduce bow/magic damage by half. Trigger % = Dex stat.So, effectively a Dex % chance to halve any incoming damage. This shield is absolutely wonderful, but that 6 Wt really encourages getting Felix to at least Heavy Armor C for Weight -3. It'd tank his AS otherwise.
Keeping at least half of the villagers alive gives you an Extra Large Bullion.
The Fraldarius Soldiers are a very offensively powerful battalion. It requires Authority B, and has 105 endurance. At max rank, they give +7 Phys Atk, +20 Crit, and +6 Prt. They have Onslaught for a gambit.
I doubt those bandits will stop any time soon. But at least this village is safe. This village was important to the late king. If we hadn't saved it, I wouldn't have been able to face His Majesty.♪ No music ♪
Pardon? We were protecting your subjects, not your ego. I don't give a damn as to whether you can bring yourself to face a dead king.
I will not tolerate such language from you. I came here to hone my blade, and to save innocent people. I suppose if I had died, you would say the same thing you did after Glenn's death.♪ A Lonely Figure ♪
... I have nothing more to say. I'm going back.
He's been that way for four years now.
Tell me.♪ Calm Winds Over Gentle Waters ♪
To this day, I'm proud of Glenn. He gave his life to protect Prince Dimitri. If he had abandoned His Highness and fled, I don't know that I could have forgiven him... I would have been deeply ashamed. But no one would have been more ashamed than Glenn himself. It was in his nature to be noble and true. As a knight serving the royal family, his duty was to be loyal to the end, even if it meant his life. If he had abandoned that duty and survived the incident, there's no way he could have lived on in peace. Felix can't understand that. He's young and foolish. Of course, I understand his sentiment, to some extent.
I understand Felix as well.
So, that's how you feel about it. How fortunate Felix is to have met someone like you. There's nothing as heartening as having someone around who really understands you. He's an odd boy. Thick-headed in some ways. But he's my son all the same. I'm glad he has you to look after him.
...Now I see why Felix is so jaded and focused on training in combat.This might sound a bit harsh, but fuck you, Rodrigue. The proper response to a family member dying, let alone one of your children, is not "He died like a true knight." Especially to your younger child, who was all of 12 or 13 years old at the time. I don't know how close Felix was to Glenn, but I imagine for most people, losing their older sibling way too early, regardless of attachment, is a pretty traumatic experience. The literal worst possible thing you can do in that case is to tell a grieving child that their older sibling's death was good, actually.
Remember Felix/Sylvain C, where Sylvain says he remembers Felix being much more emotional as a kid? That wasn't him bullshiting, as you might've expected. Felix was scarred deeply by Glenn's death.
Also, just in general, fuck that concept of dying to protect your betters. Glenn didn't die because he wanted Prince Dimitri to live, he died because the code he stuck to demanded that he give up his inferior life for that of his betters. That whole concept just...rubs me the wrong way intensely.
♪ A Guide for the Future ♪
Ah, geez, that's a lot of supports. Let's close on them.
Edelgard/Bernadetta B.
Ah! Lady Edelgard! Wh-what can I do for you?
I appreciate all the effort you're making to overcome your fear of me. Your dedication is commendable. However...
I'm just getting in your way, aren't I? Knew it, Bernie. You're just an intruder. Nobody wants you around! Stupid! Oh...
Bernadetta! Yes!
That's why your efforts are in vain. You need to listen instead of jumping to your own conclusions.
...
Are you...listening to me?
Yes! Then why aren't you responding? Um... I wanted to listen until you were finished. Ah, sorry! Were you finished then? I was. Then, may I please scream now? By all means. But please try to make it a fairly quiet one. Just a tiny one. ...
That's weird. I forgot why I was about to scream, and now I don't even need to. What a nice feeling!
B-but what? What'd I do this time? I'm so sorry! Whatever it is! I'll go to my room and never bother you again! Wait, you didn't let me finish! I was only going to say that— Aaaah!
♪ A Guide for the Future ♪
Poor Bernie.
Ferdinand/Marianne C+.
Oh! Ferdinand! What do you need?
I have been thinking about what you said. I didn't mean to upset you. You should just ignore me and— You misunderstand. It is not that you upset me. Honestly, you mystify me. You are a noble, and yet you do not wish to be one. Is that not so? I did not expect to hear that from the daughter of Margrave Edmund.
But...I'm not actually his daughter. He's a distant relative. We share very little of the same blood.
But still, you come from a noble lineage, do you not? Oh, no. I'm just a minor noble from the countryside.
We did not choose to become nobles. We were born into the nobility. I understand, but that's why...
Why I said I don't care to be responsible. I had no say in the matter!
Marianne! I— My parents and I have suffered because of this bloodline and Crest. Even so, I am prepared to do what I must as the daughter of a noble family... But to be told that's still not enough, I...I just... Ugh! I...I see. I will not pretend to understand. But you should try to calm down a bit. Certainly, things did not turn out the way you had hoped. But the conditions are such that— The conditions? Those will never change. There's nothing to do but give up! Please, just leave! Ignore me! There will be no convincing you. Very well. I will go.
♪ A Guide for the Future ♪
Ah, Ferdinand... I know you have the best of intentions, but please be conscious of other peoples' emotions when you do so...
Linhardt/Dorothea B.
I suggest ignoring them.
Ah! Lin, don't scare me like that!
You seem less scared than surprised, but that's quibbling, I suppose. As for those two gossips? Unimportant. I suggest forgetting all about them and their petty words. Join me for a meal. I've been the target of a lot of gossip, and eating generally makes me feel better. Don't pretend we're the same. If I could brush it off so easily, I would. It doesn't seem particularly difficult. Where's the problem? Is this about your pride?
No. Not even a little bit. What then?
That's fine. But your life is your own business. It's not something that can be affected by the petty words of a stranger. Ah, sorry. I kept talking, didn't I? I'll stop now.
♪ A Guide for the Future ♪
Linhardt... I know you were trying to present your best case for ignoring those two fuckwits, but sometimes you have to know when to be quiet and let someone recover from being slandered.Also, I want to fucking strangle those two shithead soldiers for having the godsdamned gall to suggest that a woman who wasn't born into wealth could only get into the Officers Academy by seducing a noble.
Linhardt/Annette C.
Linhardt! Hi! I'm so glad you're here!
I don't know if I'll be able to handle all these...
I thought I may as well get it over with, so I decided to carry them all at once. Big mistake. Smart thinking. "Do it all at once!" That's what they say, right? Work smart, not hard.
I think you've got it from here, so I'm off to take a nap. Good luck.
Gah. It's fine. It is fine. Just a little further to my quarters. I've got this.
Huh? They didn't fall...
Linhardt! I thought you had an important nap to get to. I'd call it insomnia, but I suppose it was really just a guilty conscience. I came to see if you needed help. And sure enough, here you are, about to tip all the boxes on the floor. Thanks. Though it may have been best if you had just chipped in from the start...
Huh? But it was your job. Why would I step in? You clearly had things handled. Then why help me at all? If the boxes had fallen just now, everyone would have had to help tidy them up anyway. If anything broke, more boxes would need to be carried... And if all of that came to pass, then there'd be noise and more noise and no chance of my taking a nap.
Correct. But there was no danger yet, and so there was no need for my help. So I left you to it. Try carrying one box at a time instead of straining to do it all at once. Work smart, not hard, as they say. All right, well, I think you've got it from here, so I'm off. Good luck.
♪ A Guide for the Future ♪
Sometimes the cost-benefit analysis isn't the best way to go about things, Linhardt.
Dorothea/Petra B.
Please do.
Why have you come to Garreg Mach? Is your goal different from the rest? Yes, I suppose. Everyone here's an heir or an heiress. But not me. I'm just a commoner. When I enrolled in the Officers Academy I was different than everyone else.
I wanted to secure my future and...my big idea was to marry money. Ever since, I've been dating different terribly well-to-do men, searching for a good one...
Marrying money? That is not sounding like a good idea. Money would be a bad husband. Pretty much.
But you treat me well. I have so much gratitude. Why do you show me such friendliness when I am not money? Oh, no, Petra. This isn't like that. I like spending time with friends. It's wonderful being friends with you, and I hope we can stay close for a long time to come. Yes, I have that hope too. But I have also been thinking of who is good for me. Oh. I see. And still I am thinking we should be friends.
Yes, we both have troubles. Feels nice, doesn't it? Knowing that, together, we can irritate that many people?
♪ A Guide for the Future ♪
Hell yeah, sticking together out of a mutual admiration of each other's ability to piss off nobility.
Dorothea/Ingrid C.
We're going to perform an opera in the cathedral.
Uh...we are? Yes! It's a small one, but I need some volunteers. Let me tell you, Alois is very excited. He's already doing a ton of work for the show. I see... What's it about? Classic opera fare. A tragic love story. A princess who falls in love with a handsome commoner. But our princess, she carries the fate of her country on her shoulders... And no matter how in love she is, she can't just marry whoever she wants... Or can she? That's quite a story—sounds tragic and beautiful. Who will be playing the princess? Me. I was a singer in an opera company, though I hope I'm not being too presumptuous casting myself.
Even if you're not interested in being part of the production, you will come to see it, won't you? I'm asking everyone to dress up properly. I want it to be a stylish and elegant night.
That does sound quite lovely... And I do want to go, but I...um... Please don't worry if you can't make it. I understand we're doing this on such short notice.
I don't really do myself up in elegant clothing and makeup and such. If fashion's your concern, lady, you're in luck.
I am? If you don't dress for the occasion, no one will take you seriously. But don't worry about a thing. I'll happily work my magic on you. When it's time, I'll meet you in your room. We'll make you the most beautiful woman in the theater. Oh, goodness. OK...
♪ A Guide for the Future ♪
As a woman who has no clue how to do makeup at all, Ingrid doesn't know how much of a blessing Dorothea is. I'm jealous.
We'll end today on Annette/Mercedes B.
You're so good at sticking to a plan. I should leave the shopping to you. I'll stay out of your way and just browse.
Hey, that's not fair! I want to browse too!
Uh, Annie? Is this a friend of yours? I've never seen this person before. I'm sorry to be rude, but we're kind of busy.
Step back, Mercie. This could get dangerous. Listen here, you! There's no way you can win against me. I don't want to fight you, but I will if I have to. So just...back away!
Oh! The knights are coming!
I hope so...but what were you thinking? That sort of behavior isn't like you at all! I just... I thought you were in danger, Mercie! You're actually blaming me for this? It's like I don't even know you anymore!
♪ A Guide for the Future ♪
Oh no... Gotta be careful of miscommunication when tensions are high.And that's that for now. Next time: the Remire Calamity.
That's not an ominous battle name at all.
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